James Brown at Gilley's? Really!!!

~ Branson, Missouri * November 14, 2016 * photo by Suzanne

Welcome back Rockabilly fans!  Hey, I haven't been gone too long, have I?  Well, I hope I have found you all doing well, and practicing up on your "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" moves!  Oh no you don't...you cannot get away with telling me you're too old to rock around that tree!  I don't think we ever feel too old, once the spirit of Christmas starts to set in, am I right?

Just kidding, lol!

***
The week before Thanksgiving was a fast and busy week for me.  I made a quick trip to Kansas City to visit my mom and sister, and, we jumped on a cool bus to Branson, Missouri.  It was just a few hour's drive, and the weather was perfectly Autumn!  We had the best hostess and host, who put together a great itinerary for the trip, that had something for everyone to enjoy.  

One such venue was "Christmas with George Dyer" at the Mickey Gilley Theatre.  George Dyer is a fabulous tenor, who has been dubbed "Branson's  Vocalist of the Year".  He and his lovely family perform an exciting variety of songs, adding comedy, and, always bringing us to our feet with applause and cheering!  George Dyer began his exciting career in New York City, during the late 1990's.  Aside from performances at the New York City Opera, Mr. Dyer has appeared with various symphony orchestras as a soloist.

 * Well, here's the man of the hour now!  George actually stepped aboard our bus before we unloaded to file into the theatre!
   (we all became friends on a first name basis, at that point)

~photo by Suzanne * Branson, Missouri * November 14, 2016

Just a few of the highlights of the George Dyer show include a spellbinding performance by Mr. Dyer of  "Music of The Night", from "Phantom of The Opera", and "Mary Did You Know",  with George's beautiful daughter, Kendra.  This show was so amazing with its bright, colorful costumes, and, breathtaking performances by George Dyer and his family.  The band was fantastic, just rolling into song after song, effortlessly, and with professionalism!  They were good!!!
*** 
* Here they are now!  What a beautiful family...and, all are wonderful singers, dancers.  They also jump in with great comedy, engaging audience members to participate.  We got to visit with the family for a few minutes after the show, and, praise them for a most enjoyable array of performances!


George Dyer, and family * Branson, Missouri * photo by Suzanne 11-14-16

 Oh, how I want to share one of the numbers from this show, if you have the time to watch and listen!  As I said earlier, Dyer's band is incredible.  One breathtaking performance was brilliantly executed by the bass guitar player, Shaun Munday, and George Dyer in 
James Brown's "This is a Man's World".

* Now, wasn't that great!  A little bit of soul, and a little bit of opera! 
  My sister and I were on our feet, with tears in our eyes...what a performance! 
Even though it is not exactly a Rockabilly song, I hope you all enjoyed this performance as much as we did!

***

Well, my dearest rockabillies, and readers...it's getting late, and I guess it's time for me to sashay on out of here, and, start checking off other fun items on my "to do" list!  

As we all know, it's the time of year that we scramble around, and fight the crowds to shop for our favorite folks at Christmas!  But, what we really believe, is, that this is a time to spread Joy and Love throughout the world, and, rejoice in the birth of our Saviour, Jesus.

Let me take a moment to thank each one of you for coming by.  I appreciate you all, and would love to hear from you anytime!  If I don't see you before Christmas, please be safe in your travels.  
Be kind and charitable whenever you can! 

I also want to thank:
Blogger
Google
Yahoo
YouTube
explorebranson.com
branson.com
Mickey Gilley Theatre
George Dyer and family
Mom and Leta
*** All photos, where specified, were taken by Suzanne * 
* unlabeled photos are courtesy of Yahoo images




* Branson Express, Branson, MO *
~photo by Suzanne * 11-15-16

*** My earliest memory is of the best Christmas gift ever, a toy train.
  I remember riding that thing all through our house."
~Coco Jones

for you, Dad ♥

Merry Christmas to you all!  See you next time! ♫

P.S.  What's going on with my font size?  It keeps changing! 😕

'Rockin' Them Blue Shoes'!

Carl Perkins

Here we are, finally hitting the beautiful Autumn season, with pretty, earthy colors, and, hopefully cooler weather for most of us.  I hear it's pretty muggy out Florida way though!  I feel for you folks, and, I'm  trying to send some relief your way! 

I guess you're wondering why Carl's picture is headlining this post.  Well, Karo used to talk about Carl Perkins a lot.  He dearly loved Elvis, but, swore that Mr. Perkins probably set the stage for Rockabilly, and Rock n Roll music, as early as the mid 1940's.  Carl and Elvis did collaborate some, and, enjoyed 'jammin' with good ole Jerry Lee and, sometimes Johnny Cash.

Here is one such event...Million Dollar Quartet-I Shall Not Be Moved
Recorded at Sun Studio on December 4, 1956

Wasn't that cool?  Growing up, I never figured that great artists such as these guys could get together as friends and send out amazing music and song like this!  I mean, this could have been a sold out concert, if only...

Carl Perkins grew up in Tennessee, under pretty poor conditions. His father was the only white sharecropper on a cotton plantation, and, for a time, the family lived in a one room storehouse,   Carl listened to gospel, country and blues music every chance he got, and, mastered the guitar at the age of thirteen.  Well then, he and his two brothers formed a group, and performed a song that Carl himself wrote, at a local talent show.  They won the show, and, here is that song!

"Movie Magg"
written by Carl Perkins, released on Flip Records in 1955

In the late 1940's, the Perkins Brothers had added a drummer to their group.  They began performing at the El Rancho Club in Jackson,Tennessee, and,  on WDXT radio in Jackson.  Carl's brothers also worked in the cotton mills, and Carl worked as a baker for the Colonial Baking Company.

In 1953, Carl got married, moved to a Government housing project in Jackson, and began his family.  He and his wife, Valda, had three children, and were married until Carl's death in 1998.

Movie Magg, which was released on Flip Records was slow to sell.  Sam Phillips with Sun Records was very interested in Carl Perkins, but, he was reluctant to sign with him while he had his hands full with Elvis (I'm sure that was a job!).   Although the song Movie Magg was lagging in sales, it did help Carl score some bookings, and he even opened for Elvis and Johnny Cash.  Once Elvis left the Sun label, Sam Phillips focused on Carl Perkins as the major Rock and Roll & pop artist on the label.



~Sun Studio * Memphis, Tennessee
photo taken by Suzanne on location in 1999

***

One night in Parkin, Arkansas, oh, I'd say around 1955,  after a show, Carl Perkins overheard a guy on the dance floor telling his date to stay away from his new blue suede shoes!
Let's take a listen!

Wow!  I don't know about y'all, but I loved this!  I didn't know Carl was quite the dancer, did you?  Well, that's what the internet gives us now...the pleasure of seeing our favorite artists actually perform!  I was 7 or 8 years old when he was on this show.  If my parents watched it, I'll bet they were pretty impressed!

Within about a month after Carl recorded Blue Suede Shoes, it was released on the Sun label.  And, it put Carl Perkins on the map!  Well, then, Elvis came along, recorded the song, and, it became his third song to hit the top 40!  I think Carl was a bit knocked back about it, but, he did reap rewards, and, gently rocked over to the country side of music!

I could go on and on about Carl Perkins-I certainly wasn't aware of his accomplishments and popularity in my younger years.  And, I find that he had quite a following!  I believe it was John Lennon who said, "Without Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles!"  One such example is the song Carl wrote and recorded in 1956 called "Matchbox".  Wow!  Perkins recorded this one on the Sun label in 1956, and it was released on the B side of  'Your True Love'.  Matchbox became very well known, and was recorded by the Beatles, and performed by the likes of Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and, Johnny Rivers!  That's just naming a few!  Next to Blue Suede Shoes, this song is my favorite Carl Perkins song.  I watched a performance of Matchbox on YouTube with Carl, Duane Eddy, and the Mavericks in 1994, and loved it!  Below we have a photo of Bob Dylan and Carl Perkins performing together-Dylan was a real fan of the song Matchbox.


~Bob Dylan and Carl Perkins

The  following are some accomplishments and credits awarded to Carl Perkins:
Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Memphis Music Hall of Fame
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
Grammy Hall of Fame
* Carl Perkins helped establish the first center for
The Prevention of Child Abuse in Tennessee

Carl Perkins passed away in 1998 at the age of 65.

Thank you so much dear readers for stopping by.  There is so much more to Carl Perkins than what I was able to touch on.  I now know why my husband Karo admired him so.

Thank you, Google, Yahoo, Blogger
Wikipedia, allmusic.com, history-of-rock.com, Youtube

Step in and say hello if you get the chance.  I will be out of pocket until sometime early next week.  Computers are in need of medical attention, lol!

* Be safe this weekend,  hugs to you all!  ♫

Way Back To Rockin' Autos!

~1924 Buick Roadster * photo taken in Bridgeport, TX around 1957

Old cars and old songs just kinda walk, or drive, hand in hand, don't they?  I'm the tow-headed kid sitting to your right on the fender, my leg hanging over the tire.  My brother Danny is sitting on the other side, and my late cousin Butch is the cool guy sporting the flat top hair cut.

Daddy was a jack-of-all trades!  He was an entrepreneur, being the owner and chief cook of a cafe, a farmer, auto mechanic, and, he dearly loved to deal in antiques.  We would take road trips to states in the Midwest, looking for good deals on old cars, guns and furniture. 

One such venture netted the automobile you see above.

Old Aubrey Gordon from Decatur, Texas, a truck driver who hauled grain and feed to and from the Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska states, would come into the cafe on Saturday nights with his friend, Sam Green, the school bus driver.  They would have dinner, and talk about Aubrey's travels on the road, and how he would come across old cars from time to time.  He was friends with the grain broker who knew everyone in the town of Concordia, Kansas, near the Nebraska line, and mentioned an old car that had been sitting in a shed since 1934.  Daddy was all ears on this one, for he just loved to work on, and restore old cars.  Before we knew it, we were on the road, heading for Concordia, Kansas to see about that Roadster!  Did I mention that I was about 6 years old then?  Well, there we found that old Buick, that had been sitting in a dilapidated shed for a bit over 20 years.  The roof of the shed had caved in on top of the car and crushed the rag top on it.  I don't know what the owner was asking for the car, but Daddy paid him $100.00 and his friends told him he had been shafted.  For another $100 dollar bill, I don't know how he got that dang thing loaded, but Aubrey picked that car up, and hauled it from Kansas to Bridgeport, Texas.

Daddy restored the car, had it re-upholstered in red leather, and had a new top made for it.  This vehicle had an electric starter, which was also the generator .  It stayed engaged in the flywheel, thus keeping the battery charged.  And, a new one for you car buffs who are familiar with the gear pattern of a 3-speed transmission...this car's shift pattern was backwards!  Go figure!  Then, a few years down the road, daddy traded that car for a very large antique gun collection!  And, that, my friends will be a totally different story!

***

Well, I guess you've noticed I haven't posted anything in a while.  You see, I've been ill, and, it's hard to get a story out of me if I'm not feeling well.  Thank you so much for coming by.  I hope you all are doing very well.  Bless you all!

***

Regretfully, I must say that Karo passed away in January 2016 after a long illness.  However, if you don't mind, I hope to continue sending old stories your way in my husband's honor!  Believe me, he had plenty of them!

Stop by and say hello if you get the chance, and, I happen to know a lady over at KardKornerKrib, who would like to start writing again.  I think she just needs a little push from some old friends!

Be safe, laugh and love ♥

Karo and I previously agreed that this fun automobile song is appropriate in closing!