Handsomely produced and well illustrated, books such as this are sometimes described as a labour of love... Of interest to B&R readers are interviews with r&b artists who made a living out of the r&r package circuit in Europe and the USA – notably artists such as Mary Johnson and Edwin Starr. These Motown foot soldiers show little rancœur towards Berry Gordy's indifference while Johnny Moore of The Drifters (the ones who had pop hits in the seventies) explains their relationship with Faye Treadwell, the 'owner of The Drifters' and the joys of appearing alongside Des O'Connor.
I found out more about Gary 'US' Bonds than I knew (he was a member of The Turks) and Little Eva (of 'Locomotion' fame) talks about the pitfalls and setbacks of working in the early sixties music business. Frankie 'Sea Cruise' Ford's interview is one of the more in-depth and interesting... Bo Diddley rambles on about religion (a regular reader of the Gideon Bible in hotels), being a deputy sheriff in the early seventies, and the problems in the US education system (in true "London cab driver fashion" he opines that they should "try and weed out rapists and drug-users". (I had that Bo Diddley in the back of the cab once guv'nor...)
Of the non-r&b artists, Del Shannon, members of The Crickets and Duane Eddy held my interest. Did you know that the great Gil Bernal and Plas Johnson provided the overdubbed sax breaks on his biggest hits? You can also find out about Charlie Gracie's altercation with Dorothy Squires! Of lesser interest are ex-sixties teenboys Freddie 'Boom Boom' Cannon (so that's where Basil Brush got it from), Johnny Tillotson, Tommy Roe, Brian Hyland and Johnny 'Running Bear' Preston. Mention should also be made of Pat Boone. The God-botherer has eleven pages based on a letter to the author in which he talks about his Christian faith, youthful marriages and covers of r&b hits. In a one-sided affair Pat explains how he is eternally grateful to Fats Domino, Little Richard and Ivory Joe Hunter and how Fats returned his gratitude. Pat also ponders whether he'll ever make it to the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame. So do I.
Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm (October 2002)
From the mid-'80s onwards, Dave Nicolson has been a regular 'Stage Door Johnny' at the Sunderland Empire and other venues in the North East of England (mainly), catching up with the major American stars of the '50s and early '60s as they toured the UK. 'On The Road' is a collection of backstage interviews recorded by Dave. In all some twenty-six artists are featured. They are mainly from the Pat Boone, Bobby Vee, Brenda Lee, Chris Montez and Johnny Tillotson end of the market – the kind of acts to be expected headlining on the provincial theatre circuit. But interviews with heavyweights such as Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Duane Eddy and The Crickets are included too.
In the foreword to 'On The Road', Bobby Vee – an unlikely oracle it has to be said – makes the point that for him and most of his contemporaries their careers didn't end with their last big hit. Indeed for many, as the interviews reveal, it was then that the hard graft of grinding out a career really began.
Gene Pitney comes across as quite a wag, having had the presence of mind to record material for a memorial album on board a plane that was about to crash-land. He has little time for the nostalgia business and is scathing about guys being put up in front of an audience as museum exhibits. But then, he can afford to be. On the other hand, the late Del Shannon was quite happy to recycle his hits and saw himself as no different from an actor delivering the same lines in a long-running show. Bobby Vee, having to live with the nightly clamour for 'Rubber Ball', has settled for a similar working philosophy.
Although the various artists express no regrets about being ripped off when making their hit records, life on the road has been a bruising experience and the wish to have known then what they know now is a universal statement. There are some but not many stories of drug and alcohol abuse but, surprisingly, no sex. Perhaps backstage at the Sunderland Empire is not the best place for extracting true-life confessions. Dave Nicholson is no sensationalist. He gives the stars the time and space to tell their story in their own words. It makes for a good read.
Chris Woodford, Now Dig This (October 2002)
By and large, Dave Nicolson has waited at his home for his favorite rock 'n' roll stars to appear in Newcastle, England, and then interviewed them. I know only too well the problems of interviewing hit makers for 20, or hopefully 30, minutes before going on stage. They may get distracted (I've had some artists, understandably, more interested in arranging dates than talking to me), they may be tired (same problem) and there may be faulty equipment or poor acoustics. Glen Campbell was so upset by something in the Daily Mirror that he canceled all interviews, but no one thought to tell me until I arrived, quite happily, at the stage door.
Nicolson is to be commended for getting such good material from Freddy Cannon, Bo Diddley, Dion, Ben E. King and Del Shannon. There are some intriguing opinions: Pat Boone says that Bobby Darin took "a meagre vocal talent and stretched it". Come again? Gene Pitney says, "Phil Spector didn't really produce my recording of 'Every Breath I Take' in 1961: he was one of a million people who were all shouting at me." Tommy Roe: "When I toured the U.K. with Chris Montez and The Beatles in 1963, I got about $3,500 a week. I was probably making more than The Beatles." Fats Domino: "Sometimes it would take eight hours to record one number. Now you can record a session in no time." Funny, I thought it was the other way 'round.
On The Road is excellently produced with well-chosen pictures of memorabilia and printed on quality paper... It made me think of doing a book of my own interviews. I would present one after the other and then on the final page, there would be two lines. Me: "I've come for an interview, as arranged." Ray Davies: "Fuck off".
Spencer Leigh, Goldmine (November 2002)
There is no better way of understanding the behind-the-scenes mechanics of the pop music industry as it was during the 1950s and 1960s, than through first-hand accounts by the stars whose lives were affected by it. On The Road allows 26 hit-makers of the period to speak for themselves.
Our deep fascination for so-called trivia is satisfied on every page of every story in On The Road. For instance, Freddy Cannon says that his first record, 'Tallahassee Lassie', was a song originally called 'Rock'n' Roll Baby', and that producer Bob Crewe achieved a thumping sound on the record by hitting a microphone with a mallet. Ben E. King says that the only way he became the lead singer of the Drifters was because "after I had written the song 'There Goes My Baby' for the group" (which was inspired by Dee Clark's 'Nobody But You') "for some strange reason [tenor] Charlie Thomas couldn't sing [it]". Annoyed by this, producer Jerry Wexler said to King, 'You know the song, you sing it!'
Did you know that Dion of the Belmonts started his career singing songs by Hank Williams ("I knew over 100 [of his] songs... I got hung up on his music")? Or how Little Eva came to work as babysitter for Carole King, and how she cut the demo of her big hit, 'The Loco-Motion', which was intended for Dee Dee Sharp to sing. It's also interesting to read that Duane Eddy lists Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong among his early musical influences, and that Bo Diddley refers to himself as "a rock'n'roller" rather than an R&B performer.
Frankie Ford, Johnny Moore, Johnny Preston, Edwin Starr, Mary Johnson, Johnny Tillotson and Brenda Lee are just some of the other featured artists who tell it like it was. If you're hooked on backstage stories, you'll love this well-illustrated, up-front book.
Bob Solly, Record Collector (January 2003)
This book features interviews with 26 artists of the '50s and 60s, each one of which could have been a feature article in Blue Suede News. Only a handful of them have had articles in our pages, which should make this book of fairly great interest to our readers. Each chapter is prefaced with a paragraph by the author, and what remains is all the words of the interviewee. Since the same list of questions was presented to each artist (with the occasional exception relating to particular incidents or aspects of their individual career) there is a bit of a repetitive aspect, but as I say, these would all have made interesting articles in this magazine... The interviews were all conducted between 1981 and 2000, and the dates and places are included in an index.
Marc Bristol, Blue Suede News (Winter 2003)
