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Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr.
(Born May 27, 1935)
Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career…
At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz; he
would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eldee Young (Who would later form the group Young-Holt Unlimited) to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio: The trio started as primarily a jazz unit and released their first album, Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing, in 1956.
Following their 1965 hit "The In Crowd" (the single reached #5 on the pop charts, and the album #2) they concentrated more on pop material…
In 1994, Lewis appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, alongside other prominent jazz artists, Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayers. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine…
Early in 2005, the Ramsey Lewis Foundation was created to help connect at-risk children to the world of music…
MAY 27: HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAMSEY LEWIS!
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Junior Parker stuffed a lot of life into his thirty nine years! Born in Arkansas, he was on the scene in Memphis, playing with B.B. King and Bobby “Blue” Bland’s Beale Streeters by the time he was eighteen...
—That’s where her got “discovered” by Ike Turner…
Young Ike Turner
With the help of Turner, Junior was signed to Modern Records, putting out one single (“You’re My Angel”)...
This brought him to the attention of Sun Records’ Sam Phillips and he (along with his band) scored a Sun contract...
At Sun, Scotty Moore promptly “borrowed” the guitar riff to Parker’s “Love My Baby” and turned Elvis Presley’s version of “Mystery Train” into a smash hit…
Later that year (1953) Junior started touring with Bobby Bland and Johnny Ace as members of the highly successful Blues Consolidated Revue (a staple on the “Chitlin’ Circuit”) and became associated with the Duke Record label…
Here’s Junior with Little Milton:
1970:
Junior Parker died on November 18, 1971 during brain surgery...
May 26, 1940: Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm hits the planet...
(May 26, 1940
– April 19, 2012)
Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school…
THE HAWKS
After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins' band, “The Hawks”--A popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada, and on the East Coast of the United States…
By the mid 1960s, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked The Hawks to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans' negative response to Dylan's new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, during this period, Helm ended up working on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band….Helm returned to the group, then referred to simply as "the band"
Helm, center, performing with The Band. Hamburg, 1971
In 1968, The Band recorded their own album Music from Big Pink...
The album catapulted The Band into stardom…
Levon on mandolin in 1971
Helm remained with The Band until their 1976 farewell performance…
Helm with The Band, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium 1976
Helm's performance career in the 2000s revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, "The Barn," in Woodstock, New York…
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Levon Helm #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time…
On April 17, 2012, Helm's wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that Helm had end-stage cancer. They posted the following message on Helm's website:
"Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.
Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing morethan to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...
We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy
Surrounded by family and friends, Helm died on April 19, 2012, at 1:30 pm at in New York City…
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Levon Helm #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time…
Remembering Levon Helm. Recorded here playing with The Band at the Second Chance night club in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1984 on April 10th…
R.I.P. LEVON!!!
NOTE: Most of this blog was gleaned from info readily available on Wikipedia. There’s a LOT more to know about this incredible musician—GOOGLE THE MAN AND BE AMAZED!
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"Twist And Shout" was written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell and was first recorded as "Shake It Up, Baby" by the Top Notes in 1960 with a very young Phil Spector producing...
This recording flopped...
Then the Isley Brothers decided to have a go at it, and Bert Russell changed the title to "Twist And Shout"...
Their recording with Ron Isley doing the lead vocal went to #17 on the pop charts during the summer of '62...
The following year, the Beatles would famously cover the tune with John Lennon singing lead...
Check out The Who doin’ the tune in concert at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.
16th December 1982...
Even Celine Dion tears it up, Twistin’ & Shoutin’ on a Memphis concert date which produced her album Celine Dion Live in Memphis...
Not a bad track record for a tune which failed under the production of a very young (to be fair) Phil Spector and then, first hitting the charts with Ronald Isley on lead vocals, only peaking at No. 17 on the U.S. pop top 40—Of course THE ISLEY BROTHERS version DID hit No. 2 on the US R&B charts...
TWIST & SHOUT, Y’ALL!!!
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