Pete S

Couple of other bits on Hickory worth checking out, Larry Henley - Sticking up for my baby, Northern dancer by one of the Newbeats, and Barbara Mills' "Try" which is a really nice midtempo sound. I'll think of some more soon.

Now thats a tricky one because I get a few records which do play great but look like sh*t, so I would use the description that you mention above, because I couldn't grade it as EX even though it plays EX...I'd say "visually only VG but plays way better, in fact plays more like EX"

The best lead on there is Trevor Vallis, he was a producer / engineer, worked with some big artists in the 80's.

Peter, I think about 5 years ago I did exactly the same thing as you did, in fact I thought it was that thread being resurrected, it really does annoy me, especially when half the time the "priced to sell" prices are f*cking ridiculously expensive. Priced to sell means cometitively priced or cheap, not current or above current market prices.

Same problem, there's been two or three groups called The Detours. First was a mod band 1966-67. As this is 10 years later, I doubt it's them but I'll see if I can find out anything, any names on the labe to look for?

Either way I don't mind

The Chosen Few were definitely a Jamaican group, they switched from reggae to do a soul / funky album with King Sporty in Miami as mentioned above, I'm pretty sure they are the same group as on Polydor, as they based themselves in the UK. There are a few groups called the Chosen Few, I've a good 45 on Pye from 1965, features future members of Lindisfarne and Skip Bifferty but that's another group altogether so I'll shut up now

I'm a fool then cos I often argue with John over daft things like this - or disagree let's say - for instance, when he said there was no Edward Hamilton Mary jane coloured label boot and I said there was - and there was...

I listed one of these, this week, on here for £30. What's it gone up to now

I have absolutely no idea!

JACK HAMMER Born Earl Solomon Burroughs, 18 September 1940, New Orleans, Louisiana Songwriter, singer, dancer, MC (Master of ceremonies) Jack Hammer is probably best known as the co-writer of one of the immortal classics of rock n roll, "Great Balls Of Fire", Jerry Lee Lewis' # 2 hit from 1957. Born in New Orleans, he moved to California as a youngster and then, probably in the mid-1950s, to New York City, where he became the M.C. at the Baby Grand Theatre. Earl Burroughs (his real name) started writing songs at a very young age. One of his earliest compositions, credited to Earl Burrows, was the spectacular "Fujiyama Mama", written at the age of only fourteen. It was recorded by Annisteen Allen in late 1954, covered by Eileen Barton soon afterward and is probably best known in the version of Wanda Jackson from 1957, though none of these versions charted. Probably in 1955 he changed his name from Earl Burroughs to Jack Hammer, as "Rock 'n' Roll Call" by the Treniers (recorded on December 15, 1955) shows the writers as Jack Hammer and Rudolph Toombs. This song was also recorded by Louis Jordan in 1956. In April of that year, Hammer's composition "Knock Kneed Nellie from Knoxville" was recorded by the Jumping Jaguars (Decca 29938), a side-project of Franny Beecher of Bill Haley's Comets. It is possible that Hammer was a member of this group. "Football Rock"/ "So What" (Decca 30109, released October 1956) was the first release under his own name. His next appearance on record was "Girl Girl Girl" (Roulette 4046, 1958), a good rocker, followed by two singles on Kapp in 1959. Hammer is probably more important as a songwriter than as a singer. The story behind "Great Balls Of Fire" (as revealed by Stuart Colman) is as follows. Hammer wrote a song of that name and submitted it to New York songwriter Paul Case, who at that time also happened to be musical consultant for the forthcoming movie "Jamboree". Case was unimpressed with the contents but loved the title. He subsequently called Otis Blackwell, who had never met Jack, and commissioned him to write a new song around the title, to be used in "Jamboree". Hammer was in full agreement to this arrangement as the deal was to be split right down the middle. In 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis recorded "Milkshake Mademoiselle" (unreleased at the time), Big Danny Oliver cut the exuberant rocker "Sapphire" and the Cadillacs scored a # 28 hit with "Peek-A-Boo", all penned by Hammer. "Croc-O-Doll" was written for the Impacts (RCA 7583), in 1959. In that year, a record was released "Black Widow Spider Woman"/"Doggone That Moon", credited to Jack Hammer and the Pacers on the Milestone label, but this was in fact a pseudonym for rockabilly/country singer Werly Fairburn. In 1960, Hammer recorded a strange LP for the Warwick label, "Rebellion - Jack Hammer Sings and Reads Songs and Poems of the Beat Generation". The next year Hammer moved to Europe. First to Paris where he appeared in cabaret doing Sammy Davis and Chuck Berry impersonations. But he stayed much longer in Belgium, where he was discovered by Albert Van Hoogten, who had founded the Ronnex label in 1951. Jack recorded a whole bunch of twist ditties for Ronnex, which were also released in other European countries on a variety of labels (Oriole in the UK). The most successful of these was "Kissin' Twist", which sold especially well in Belgium (# 3), Germany, France and Sweden. Jack was an excellent dancer and in Belgium he became known as "The Twistin' King", which was also the title of an LP (as far as I know, the only LP that Ronnex ever released). The album had a different title in every country where it came out ; in the UK it was called "Hammer + Beat = Twist" (Oriole PS 40020, 1963). Some of the more successful twist recordings were also recorded in German and/or Spanish for the local markets. By 1971 he was living in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he played the U.S. military bases. Apart from "Swim"/"Color Combination", there were no new releases in the 1970s. Hammer moved back to New York in order to play the part of Jimi Hendrix in a proposed film, but the plans for this movie foundered in the early to mid-1980s. At present (2010) he is living in Hollywood. A BMI search tells us that he has written 144 songs registered with BMI, including those credited to Earl Burroughs and Earl Burrows. Acknowledgements : Adam Komorowski (liner notes for the Sequel CD "Roulette Rock 'n' Roll Collection"), Pete Hoppula, Stuart Colman. Currently there is no CD overview of Jack's recordings. The Belgian Marginal label released a 30-track CD in 1997, which is no longer available, although there was a Russian (!) reissue in 2001. Discography (by Pete Hoppula) : https://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/jackhammer.htm YouTube: - Hammer's version of "Great Balls Of Fire" : - Girl, Girl, Girl : - The Wiggling Fool : - Kissin' Twist : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYnNzxyv-P4 Dik These pages were saved from "This Is My Story" for reference usage only. Please note that these pages were not originally published or written by BlackCat Rockabilly Europe. For comments or information please contact Dik de Heer at dik.de.heer@hetnet.nl

What did these people do with their money though, thats what I often don't understand, employed for 40 odd years as a professional musician, recording and gigging, yet nothing to show for it. I don't just mean Uriel Jones, who I rate as THE greatest soul drummer ever. It's just a question that's all.

Pete.smith@freeuk.com 01902 326306 RARE BRITISH FOR SALE WAYNE GIBSON - UNDER MY THUMB - COLUMBIA R & W DEMO M 125 TAM WHITE - GIRL WATCHER - DECCA DEMO EX 25 TONY NEWMAN - LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL / SOUL THING - DECCA DEMO M 40 SOLD First issue demo - very rare THE BROTHERS GRIMM - LOOKY LOOKY - EMBER VG+ 50 Odd mark and click, small tol TIMI YURO - WHAT'S A MATTER BABY - LIBERTY R & W DEMO EX- 40 SOLD JIMMY HOLIDAY - GIVE ME YOUR LOVE - LIBERTY G & W DEMO EX+ 20 SOLD THE AMERICAN POETS - SHE BLEW A GOOD THING - LONDON VG++ 60 UNKNOWN ARTIST - LYING AWAKE - THE MUSIC CENTRE ACETATE EX+ 200 SOLD One-off male vocal version of Benice Swanson / Dany Chandelle - only copy, brilliant version too THE PATRON OF THE ARTS - THE TRUE PATRON OF THE ARTS - PAGE ONE M- 75 JIMMY JAMES & THE VAGABONDS - I FEEL ALRIGHT / I WANNA BE YOUR EVERYTHING - PICCADILLY EX 40 SOLD I Feel Alright - same song as Turley Richards KENNY LYNCH - MY OWN TWO FEET - HMV EX- 25 THE RONETTES - WALKING IN THE RAIN - LONDON DEMO EX+ 40 SOLD JON GUNN - I JUST MADE UP MY MIND - DERAM EX 25 First come first served, sorry no records held, need dosh! POSTAGE UK 2.20 RECORDED 6.30 SPECIAL OVERSEAS EUROPE £2.60 NORMAL, SIGNED FOR £9 REST OF THE WORLD £3.80 AIRMAIL, SIGNED FOR TBC

IKE & TINA TURNER - SOMEBODY (SOMEWHERE) NEEDS YOU - UK WARNER BROS. WB 5766. SOLD This has got to be the finest copy offered for sale anywhere. Still in it's UK sleeve, it's totally mint and I daresay it's never been played since it was made 46 years ago. Truly fantastic condition. If this was auctioned it'd probably make double this price. £75 plus £6 special delivery postage in the UK cheers Pete

Try it but I honestly don't think you'll get anywhere near that for it, but you never know with ebay. I sell it set sale for £10 still, the blue reissue knocked the price of the white one back down again, I was getting £15 - £20 three or four years ago. That's my experience anyway.

Good luck with that....where in the world do VG+ copies go for that price

Was thinking, I could count the times I heard this At WIgan as a 'top sound' on one hand. Pep played it a couple of times. It was always a minor spin, good as it was.

Early 1977...

No but it just shows what little value originals which had been pressed had back then. Don't think I"ve had a Lenny Curtis for a good ten years now, it was £300 last time I sold one.

Actually one of the few I've never had. Don't think I'd buy it now anyway, it would be £500 which is crazy for a record that you can get for £10 on a stock copy. Mick does have one, Neil Rushton also.

That was very pricey. I sold it in 1981 at the Vic for £5 - to harpo I think. Or Martyn Smith. Bought it for £5, sold it for £5.

One of the rarest UK demos of all, that one. Beautiful.

I'm with Dave on this one. £69, he must have been Freda's brother or something.

It was, might have gone up £50 since then, but no more than that...

That blank demo is superb but nobody in their right mind would pay £50 for the original demo - would they? Invictus demos are common.