On This Day – Don’t Knock The Rock
Oct 12, 2011 On This Day
On this day in 1957 (no I don’t remember it) A film called “Don’t Knock The Rock” opened.
In the late 50s and during the 60s rock was regarded with suspicion (to say the least) by the establishment. As a consequence films trying to show the positive side of real rock and blues tried to make rock ‘comfy and non threatening. Some Hopes.
This film was in that tradition. The star was Alan Dale, and the plot is pretty flimsy. AD is a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest. He is dismayed to discover that the responsible adults have banned Rock & Roll in the local theatres. To show that Rock is a positive thing he enlists his friend Alan Freed to show that Rock is A Good Thing. Not so much the plot thickens as the plot sickens. Anyway, film makers wanted to cash in on Rock in those days and this type of rubbish plot was common.
I can not help thinking of some film in the 60s during which one of the characters shouts “Hey Kids! Why don’t we put on a show?” The kids then clean up an old theatre, put on the show, and prove that Rock is A Good Thing……. I ask you, urgh.
Back to Don’t Knock the Rock. It also included the usual suspects, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Dave Appell, and the Applejacks. Perhaps the most interesting of the acts to take part in the customary show in the film were The Treniers. They were a teen beat combo, as Zappa might have said, R&B when R&B was R&B. They recorded some fantastic stuff that certainly helped lay the foundations for Rock and Roll. Their Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie still stands up. It was written by Bill Haley, but none the worse for that.
Tags: alan freed, Bill Haley & His Comets, classic rock music, love rock music, On This Day, real rock and blues, rock and blues, the treniers
On This Day – Stagger Lee (Yet Again)
Feb 9, 2010 On This Day
On this day in 1959 Lloyd Price reached number one in the States with “Stagger Lee”.
“Stagger Lee” has been recorded many times under many names by many people.
The song has been Bowderized, revised, chewed up and spat out by too many people to mention. Some of whom should have known better and some of whom had no idea of the history of the song and what it was about.
The definitive recordedversion was by the wonderful Mississippi John Hurt in 1928 although the song had been sung ever sinc ethe original crime in 1895.
Just why this particular crime became immortalised is not known (at least to me). The facts of the case m’lud, as the say, are quite simple. Stagger Lee Shelton was pimp and taxi driver in St. Louis. Not just any pimp along with a number of other pimps collectively known as “The Macks” they seemed to love the attention they got. Stagger was friends with Billy Lyons. One night they were drinking and began to talk politics, that developed into an arguement. Billy took Stagger’s hat from his head. Stagger demanded it back, Billy refused and Stagger shot him.
Killed over a hat.
Stagger and Billy became subject of a song that has mutated and survived during the following 100 years and shows no sign of being forgotten 115 years after the crime.
Alternative titles have included; “Stagolee”, “Stackerlee”, “Stack O’Lee”, “Stack-a-Lee”, “Stack Shot Billy”, and other variants that owe a lot to the original like The Clash’s “Wrong ‘Em Boyo”.
Among the artists that have sung and recorded the song are; Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, Sidney Bechet, Beck, Pat Boone, James Brown, Cephas & Wiggins, Neil Diamond, Johnny Dodds, Fats Domino, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Woody Guthrie, Bill Haley & His Comets, The Isley Brothers, Taj Mahal, Memphis Slim, Modern Life is War, Wilson Pickett, Professor Longhair, Sam the Sham, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Ma Rainey, Tom Rush, Ike and Tina Turner, Dave Van Ronk, Doc Watson, George Thorogood, Muddy waters, Billie Holiday, Nick cave
Anyway you get the idea virtually evryone who is someone has recorded a version of the song.
The interesting thing about Lloyd Price’s version? It removed any referrence to the murder and Stagger and Billy just shouted at each other and made up the next day…..
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