New Seniors

If you enjoyed the Birth of Rock & Roll, Part One, you’re going to love Part Two. So get ready to rock with some of your favorite songs by the original artists and remember what it was like when we were young.

Jerry Lee Lewis: Great Balls of Fire

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded this song October 8, 1957 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. The song was a hit on the pop, country and R&B charts. It also reached number one on UK pop charts. Goodness gracious! We love it!

Little Richard: Tutti Fruitti

This was Little Richard’s first hit record. With its opening cry, hard-driving sound and wild lyrics Tutti Fruitti became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the models for Rock & Roll itself. “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!”

Buddy Holly: That’ll Be the Day

December 1, 1957, Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Fourteen months later Holly died in a plane crash along with Richie Valens and The Big Bopper on a three-week tour across the Midwest.

The Big Bopper: Chantilly Lace

“America’s Oldest Living Teenager” introduces The Big Bopper on The Dick Clark Show. Be sure to notice the girls in the audience are all chewing gum, and wearing buttons that say “IFIC.” That’s because Beechnut gum was the sponsor and the “IFIC” pins they were wearing was for “FLAVOR-IFIC,” because terrific was as popular as “Oh My God” is today.

The Big Bopper, whose real name was Jiles Perry “JP” Richardson, Jr. was a disc jockey who became a singer/songwriter. On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Richardson was killed along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens when their plane crashed in a cornfield near Clear Lake, Iowa.

Dion: Runaround Sue

Dion DiMucci had a string of hits in the late fifties with vocal group, The Belmonts. He took on a solo career in 1960, and in 1961 released the hit single Runaround Sue backed by vocal group, The Del Satins.

Dion and the Belmonts went on the “Winter Dance Party” tour in 1959 with Buddy Holly. On 2 February 1959, after playing at the Surf Ballroom, Dion decided that he could not afford the $36 cost of a flight to the next venue. The plane crashed, and Holly, Valens, and The Big Bopper were killed. However, the tour continued, with Jimmy Clanton, Fabian and Frankie Avalon filling in as headliners.

Dion: The Wanderer

As a perfect companion song to “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer” tells the male side of the same story. Both songs were international hits, and made it onto The Rolling Stone magazines list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The Diamonds: Little Darlin’

This song was released by The Diamonds on March 16, 1957. The Diamonds version was number two in sales for eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the “cover” of a recording by The Gladiolas, a black vocal group, released the same year. The Diamonds version was featured in the film American Grafitti.

The Silhouettes: Get a Job

This song was recorded by The Silhouettes in October 1957. By February 1958 it had reached the number one spot on the Billboard pop and R&B singles charts and it sold more than a million copies. Richard Lewis, who wrote the lyrics said “When I was in the service in the early 1950s and didn’t come home and go to work my mother said ‘Get A Job’ and basically that’s where the song came from.” The song was later featured in the soundtracks of the movies American Graffiti, Stand By Me, the end credits for Trading Places and Joey in which the group also performed it. The revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song’s catchy doo-wop introduction.

The Isley Brothers: Shout

Although this song never made it higher than #47 on Billboard’s charts, it became The Isley Brothers’ first gold record on the basis of its longevity. The Isely Brothers are the only act to have made it into the Top 40 in six separate decades. Makes us want to shout!

Elvis Presley: Blue Suede Shoes

Elvis released his version of Blue Suede Shoes September 8, 1956, about a year after Carl Perkins’ original hit. Elvis’ single reached #20, whereas the Perkins version had topped the chart, but for pure Elvis-ness, this clip is a rare jewel from the crown of “the King.”

Click here for The Birth of Rock & Roll 1954-1959, Part One

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Click here to learn more about the New Seniors Music Collection.

Keep your eye on NewSeniors.com for more great music as part of the New Seniors Music Collection series. And stay off of my blue suede shoes.

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