The Bobby
Fuller Four was one of the best American rock and roll bands from the early to
mid-Sixties-a time when good rave-up rock and roll was in short supply. The
band formed in Baytown, Texas, in 1961, with Bobby Fuller on guitar
and lead vocals. Fuller’s brother Randy served as the band’s bassist.
The band
started its recording career as a surf rock combo and had the song, “King of the
Beach” as its first single. The band found its sound with the fine hit single, “Let
Her Dance” in 1965. The band’s next single, “I Fought the Law,” was an instant
classic and stands today as one of the all-time greatest rock and roll
singles.
Both of the
aforementioned hit singles can be found on the album, “I Fought the Law”
(1966). This album and a number of compilation albums are recommended.
Bobby Fuller
was found dead in his car outside his Hollywood
home during the summer of 1966.Foul play has always been rumoured in Fuller's demise, but no solid evidence has ever come to the fore.
Randy Fuller tried to continue the band after
Bobby’s death, but ultimately failed.
Ethel Waters was one of the most popular
African-American singers and actresses of the Twenties. She was born in Chester, Pennsylvania,
in 1896. Waters attained success of a level that saw her eventually become the
highest-paid female entertainer of her day, an unheard of accomplishment for an
African-American woman in the early years of the 20th century.
Waters moved to New York in 1919, following several years of
touring in vaudeville shows as a singer and a dancer. In 1921, she made her
first recordings for Cardinal Records. Later, she switched to the African-American
run Black Swan label, and recorded “Down Home Blues” which would be the first
blues recording for the label. Waters recorded blues and vaudeville numbers for
the label including “Oh Daddy,” “Royal Garden Blues,” “Jazzin’ Baby Blues,”
“Sweet Man Blues,” and “Sugar.”
Waters appeared in a number of musical
productions and films during the Twenties including, “Check and Double Check,”
featuring Amos and Andy and Duke Ellington. By the end of the Thirties, she was
a big star on Broadway.
In 1949, Waters received an Oscar
nomination for best supporting actress for the film, “Pinky.” Waters died in
1977. A series of compilations called, “The Chronological Classics” are the
best sources of her classic recordings.
Billie Holiday’s life is the stuff of jazz
legend. She rose from poverty and abuse to become one of the biggest stars of
jazz during the Thirties and Forties. Holiday
was a great singer who did not possess a great voice. She employed her voice like
a horn player would his horn, and had a reputation for taking mediocre songs
and transforming them into greatness. Her singing style was influenced by
Bessie Smith’s singing and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet playing. Fellow jazz musicians
referred to her as simply, “Lady Day.”
Holiday was born in Baltimore, Maryland,
in 1915. In 1933, she was discovered by the legendary John Hammond, talent
scout extraordinaire. Hammond
signed her to Columbia Records, and she recorded for some of the company’s
subsidiary labels.
Despite being offered only mediocre
material to record, she was supported by some of the finest musicians in jazz,
including pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist, Lester Young, who would coin
her “Lady Day” and become her closest friend and musical collaborator.
In 1937, Holiday
toured with the Count Basie Orchestra and later joined Artie Shaw’s Orchestra.
She stayed with Columbia Records until 1942, only leaving once for the
Commodore label with which she recorded the classic and searing song about
lynching, “Strange Fruit.” In 1942, she signed with Decca records and later
ended up recording for Verve. One of her last sessions with Columbia produced the classic side, “God
Bless the Child.” In the late Forties, Holiday
was convicted of heroin possession and spent several months in prison. Due to
the conviction, she was unable to obtain a cabaret card, making it impossible
for her to find work in New York City
clubs. Suffering from both liver and heart disease, Billie Holiday died in a New York hospital, in
1959.
Holiday’s best recordings can be found on
the following collections: “Lady Sings the Blues” (1956), “Songs for Distingue
Lovers” (1958), “Lady in Satin” (1958), “The Billie Holiday Story” (1959), “The
Golden Years” (1962), “Billie Holiday’s Greatest Hits” (1967), “Lady Day: The
Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)” (2001), “Lady Day: The Best of
Billie Holiday” (2001), “The Ultimate Collection” (2005), and “Lady Day: The
Master Takes and Singles” (2007).
