Duane Eddy - Best Of The RCA Years - Hits Rar... !EXCLUSIVE!
The Bel-Airs were still in high school at the time. They were best known for their 1961 hit "Mr. Moto", an instrumental surf rock song, written by guitarist Paul Johnson, that featured a flamenco-inspired intro and contained a melodic piano interlude. Their potential was cited by many, but it was an argument about use of the then new Fender reverb unit that led to their breakup. The Bel-Airs were originally formed by two guitarists, Eddie Bertrand and Paul Johnson, both 16 years old at the time they recorded "Mr. Moto". In early 1963, Eddie Bertrand heard Dick Dale using the Fender reverb unit and wanted to start incorporating heavy reverb into The Bel-Airs songs. He felt reverb was the sound that would come to define surf music. Even at 17, Johnson was something of an independent thinker and told Bertrand that The Bel-Airs had done quite well without reverb and he didn't see any reason at all to begin using it. The argument escalated until Bertrand finally left the band which then broke up for good shortly after. Johnson confirmed this story in the liner notes he contributed to The Bel-Airs reunion album released in 1986.
Duane Eddy - Best Of The RCA Years - Hits Rar...
In 1964, they released their hit album K-39. The title track became a big hit and is one of their best known songs. The group continued their successful career, recording several albums a year, shocking by today's "one album every two years" pattern. They also had their own TV show called "Surf's Up" hosted by Stan Richards in '65-66 and appeared frequently on another dance show called "Hollywood A Go-Go" hosted by Sam Riddle in '65-66. From _Challengers_(band)
There was a time when the mark of a good country song was how smartly its lyrics resonated through clever wordplay and dramatic twists. Croce's posthumous greatest-hits collection, Photographs & Memories, illustrated just how keenly the singer-songwriter constructed a story, expertly setting you up for an unexpected emotional one-two punch. On the poignant "Operator," a man tries to place a call but the number on his matchbook cover has faded; it's only when he offhandedly sings that "she's living in L.A. with my best old ex-friend Ray," that we begin to feel the tune's depth. On uptempo boogie-woogie numbers "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" and "Don't Mess Around with Jim," skiffle rhythms and honky-tonk piano help put across stories of bad guys getting their comeuppance. Country artists Josh Turner, Donna Fargo and Ty Herndon have covered "Jim," lured, no doubt, by the lyrics' down-home wisdom. L.R. 041b061a72