Rip it Up

"Rip It Up" is a song written by Robert Blackwell and John Marascalco. It was first released by Bill Haley and his Comets and Little Richard in 1956. The Little Richard version hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart for two weeks and peaked at number seventeen on the pop chart." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_It_Up_(song)





Robert Blackwell - From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Blackwell

"Robert "Bumps" Blackwell (May 23, 1918 – March 9, 1985) was an American songwriter, arranger, and record producer, best known for his work overseeing the early hits of Little Richard, as well as grooming Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Lloyd Price, Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert, Larry Williams, and Sly and the Family Stone at the start of their music careers. He should not be confused with another songwriter: Otis Blackwell.

Born Robert Alexander Blackwell in Seattle, Washington, he led a jazz group in the late 1940s that included pianist Ray Charles and trumpeter Quincy Jones. He moved to Hollywood, California to continue study composition, but he instead took a job at Art Rupe's Specialty Records as an arranger and producer. He worked with Larry Williams, Lloyd Price and Guitar Slim, as well as producing Little Richard's rise to stardom in 1955.

In addition to producing Little Richard's breakthrough hit "Tutti Frutti" following hearing him sing the song in the studio, Blackwell also produced Little Richard's other mid-50s hits, co-writing some as them as well, including: "Long Tall Sally"; "Good Golly Miss Molly"; "Ready Teddy"; and "Rip It Up". They all quickly became rock and roll standards, and have subsequently been covered by hundreds of artists including Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

He also produced Sam Cooke's hit "You Send Me". Blackwell left Specialty in 1957, taking Sam Cooke with him to Keen Records. He was the West Coast A&R director for Mercury Records from 1959 to 1963, and produced Little Richard's gospel recordings for that label. He became Richard's manager and continued to work with him into the 1970s.

In 1981 Blackwell produced some songs for Bob Dylan's album, Shot of Love, including the title track.
Blackwell died at his home in Hacienda Heights in Whittier, California in 1985 of pneumonia."

John Marascalco - From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marascalco

John Marascalco (born John S. Marascalso, 27 March 1931 is an American songwriter, who is most noted for his collaborations with Robert Blackwell. Marascalco had a hand in some of the big R&B and rock and roll hits of the 1950s and 1960s.


Together with Robert Blackwell, he wrote the songs "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Ready, Teddy", and "Rip It Up" made famous by Little Richard. Like Norman Petty with Buddy Holly, Robert "Bumps" Blackwell put his name on the songwriting credits although Marascalco was the actual writer of the songs. Also for Little Richard, Marascalco co-wrote "Heeby Jeebies", "She's Got It", and "Groovy Little Suzy". He also co-wrote the song "Goodnight My Love" with George Motola made famous by Jesse Belvin and Paul Anka.

Furthermore he co-wrote songs with Fats Domino ("Be My Guest"), Scott Turner and Harry Nilsson, and helped to finance Nilsson's early recording efforts. Marascalso and Turner collaborated on songs for Nilsson, such as "I Just Ain't Right" and "Building Me Up," both of which appear on the albums Nilsson '62: The Debut Sessions and Early Tymes. Marascalco and Nilsson wrote songs together, including "Baby Baby" and "Born in Grenada" (Spotlight on Nilsson).

Marascalco co-composed "Send Me Some Lovin'" with Leo Price, and this was recorded by Little Richard. The Crickets for their 1957 debut album, The "Chirping" Crickets, Sam Cooke, and John Lennon also recorded the song. He also penned "Wouldn't You Know", which was recorded by Billy Lee Riley.
Marascalco tunes have been recorded by everybody from Little Richard to Creedence Clearwater Revival to the Stray Cats.

Wooden Heart - Muss i denn

"Wooden Heart" ("Muss i denn") is a song best known for its use in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit for Presley in the United Kingdom, making number one for six weeks, but was not released as a single in the United States until November 1964 as the B-side to "Blue Christmas". Presley performed the song live during his Dinner Show concert at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas in 1975. The recording is available on the Elvis Presley live album, Dinner At Eight.

"Wooden Heart", created by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and adapted and arranged by German bandleader Bert Kaempfert, based on a German folk song by Friedrich Silcher, "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", originating from the Rems Valley in Württemberg, Southwest Germany. "Wooden Heart" features several lines from the original folk song, written in the German Swabian dialect, spoken in Württemberg. The Elvis Presley version was published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company." Read More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_Heart

Marlene Dietrich recorded a version of the song sometime before 1958, pre-dating Presley, in the original German language, which appears as a B-side on a 1959 version of her single "Lili Marlene"', released by Philips in association with Columbia Records.

Joe Dowell released a cover version in 1961 after Elvis and made it to No 1 in the USA.
here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNNwqm-joJM


The Elvis Presley version featured two parts in German, the first one is the first four lines of "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", whereas the second part appears towards the end and is based on a translation of the English version (therefore not appearing in the original German folk lyrics). This part being "Sei mir gut, sei mir gut, sei mir wie du wirklich sollst, wie du wirklich sollst..." This literally means "Be good to me, Be good to me, Be to me how you really should, How you really should..."

Friedrich Silcher- Composer of the German Folk Song  - Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus

"Silcher was a preeminent composer, poet, editor, music teacher, director, and preserver of German folk song and traditional choral music.

Philipp Friedrich Silcher was born on June 27, 1789, in a schoolhouse in the wine area of Schnait in Remstal, a son of the teacher Karl Johann Silcher.

As a teenager in 1803 he began a three-year apprenticeship as "Schulknecht" to Ferdinand Auberlen in Fellbach, who was well known as a good musician and valued arranger of men's choral music. In 1806 he became a teaching assistant in Schorndorf, where he also was a tutor in the house of the Kreishauptmann Freiherr von Berlichingen.

In 1817 Silcher became Musikdirektor at the University of Tübingen."
Read more about Friedrich Silcher here http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/bio/fritz2.html

Newcastle and International poet Keith Armstrong - The Jingling Geordie often travels to Tübingen for readings and poetic associations. He recently wrote this poem about Friedrich Silcher inspired by his statue

Keith Armstrong (Visit his website here http://keithyboyarmstrong.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/wooden-heart-new-song-in-morning-for.html?utm_source=BP_recent

WOODEN HEART: A NEW SONG IN THE MORNING FOR PHILIPP FRIEDRICH SILCHER (1789-1860)* - Keith Armstrong

Through an arch of towering plane trees,I reach to touch the hips
of an upright Swabian girl,
her lips
fresh with strawberries
from a breakfast bowl of kisses
sprinkled with sugar
and yesterday’s cream.
The birds of the Platanenallee
fly on the wings of melancholy,
the breeze of history

Photos by keith Armstrong

scenting their songs.
It dawns on me
that the rain
will lash against our faces
as we push our way
through the saluting wood.
The day is crumbling already
around us
with the leaves memorably
crunching under our futile tread.
Half way along the soaking avenue,
the sun like a song
sparkles in my eyes

and lights my last hours
with the beauty of skies.
And suddenly
you are there

Philipp Friedrich Silcher

your lump of a statue
bursting through the leaves,
a kind of terrible stone
trapping your crumbling tunes
inside rock.
To take a frail life
and carve it into something immortal
is a folly as well as a tribute
to the hypocrisy of pompous little leaders
seeking to employ music
for their brutal ends.
So I say
and so we sing
of beautiful glances
and military funerals
of dead songbirds
in the path of bullets.I climb in spiritto reach the flesh of this lovely girl,
for a moment
I am happy and then it is gone
behind the clouds of war.
And this is for you Friedrich
from my fluttering heart
in a sea of shaking branches,
reaching out
for humanity
to triumph
over the horror
of the mundane,
a gift of a song for you,
a lovely glass of wine
as the armies march again
into the blind alley
of a bleak despair:
Keith Armstrong
..............................
Wooden Heart - The lyrics
Can't you see
I love you?
Please don't break my heart in two,
That's not hard to do,
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart.
And if you say goodbye,
Then I know that I would cry,
Maybe I would die,
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart.

There's no strings upon this love of mine,
It was always you from the start.
Treat me nice,
Treat me good,
Treat me like you really should,
'Cause I'm not made of wood,
And I don't have a wooden heart.

Muss i denn, muss i denn
Zum Staedtele hinaus,
Staedtele hinaus,
Und du, mein schat, bleibst hier?

Muss i denn, muss i denn
Zum Staedtele hinaus,
Staedtele hinaus,
Und du, mein schat, bleibst hier?
(Got to go, got to go,
Got to leave this town,
Leave this town
And you, my dear, stay here?).

There's no strings upon this love of mine,
It was always you from the start,

Sei mir gut,
Sei mir gut,
Sei mir wie du wirklich sollst,
Wie du wirklich sollst,


(Treat me nice,
Treat me good,
Treat me like you really should,
Like you really should),
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart.

KEITH ARMSTRONG

*Swabian musician Philipp Friedrich Silcher originally composed the tune, based on a folk lyric, used in the pop song ‘Wooden Heart’. His statue by Wilhelm Julius Frick (1884-1964), erected in 1941, is in Tuebingen by the River Neckar.


The original version is here in English

"German folk song (Swabian / South-West German), first Appeared in print in 1827 Lyrics (in Swabian German / Swabian): Friedrich Silcherstraße (1789-1860) Chorus: Runkfunkchor Leipzig Scenes from "home" (1984): Homecoming of . a young soldier from the Great War. I did a rough translation of the lyric into standard Swabian German (High German) as follows: ----- Do I have to, I have to because away from the town, town away , And you, my darling stay here? If I come, I come, when I get back, get back, I return, my dear, to you. Even if I can simply be with you not all, relationships (gear) I but my joy (to) thee when I come, I come, when I get back, get back, I return, my dear, to you .. How are you crying as you cry, That I walk (go away) must, hike (go away) must As if love would be over now? Are just outside, just outside are many girls, many girls, My darling, I stay true to you. Do not you think if I see one other, immediately would love my past ; just are out there, just out there are many girls, many girls . My darling, I remain loyal to you over the year, throughout the year, when my grape harvest is finished, grape harvest is done, Here I am again (message me here me here again); Am I then, am I still your baby, baby still, So should (it) be the wedding. Over the year, when my (working) time is over, since (then) I belong to my and your (own person / available); Am I then, am I still your baby, baby still, So should (it) be the wedding over the year, when my (working) time is over, since (then) I belong to my and your (own available ); Am I then, am I still your baby, baby still, So should (it) be the wedding -----"
.................................

Scenes from "Heimat" (1984): Homecoming of a young soldier from the Great War.

Taken from this choral version of the original song here (You will have to go to youtube to listen as it can;t be embedded) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7vYKkpnhbA

Good rocking Tonight - Roy Brown

Good Rocking Tonight was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown and was covered by many other recording artists. The song includes the memorable refrain, "Well I heard the news, there's good rocking tonight!"


Brown had first offered his song to Wynonie Harris, who turned it down. Only after the Brown's record gained traction in New Orleans did Harris decide to cover it. Harris's version was even more energetic than Brown's original version, featuring black gospel style handclapping. This may have contributed to the composition's greater success on the national R&B chart. Brown's original recording hit number 13 of the Billboard R&B chart, but Harris' record became a number one R&B hit and remained on the chart for half a year.Brown's single would re-enter the chart in 1949, peaking at #11...

While Brown missed out on the biggest hit version of his song, its success kicked off his own career, which included two #1 R&B hits. In 1949, he released "Rockin' at Midnight", a sequel to "Good Rockin' Tonight", which might be thought of as "Good Rockin' Tonight part II" because it included updates on the same characters as the original. It reached #2 on the R&B chart, where it remained for a month. (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Rocking_Tonight )





Roy Brown was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. As with many R&B singers, he started singing gospel music in the church. His mother was an accomplished singer and church organist. After a move to Los Angeles, California some time in the 1940s, and a brief period spent as a professional boxer in the welterweight category, he won a singing contest in 1945 at the Million Dollar Theater covering "There's No You", originally recorded by Bing Crosby. In 1946, Brown moved to Galveston, Texas, where he sang in Joe Coleman's group performing mostly songs from the Hit Parade, in a club called the Club Granada. His numbers included a song he wrote entitled "Good Rocking Tonight". After being rejected by the Armed Forces because of flat feet, he secured his first major job in a Shreveport, Louisiana club singing mostly pop ballads such as "Stardust" and "Blue Hawaii." The owner of Bill Riley's Palace Park hired him, as Brown told a Blues Unlimited interviewer, because of his appeal as "a Negro who sounds white." It was at the Palace Park that Brown started developing a blues repertoire, learning contemporary R&B tunes such as "Jelly Jelly" (recorded by Billy Eckstine). He returned to New Orleans in 1947, where he performed at The Dew Drop Inn.
In 1954, "Good Rockin' Tonight" was the second Sun Records release by Elvis Presley, along with "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" on the flip side. Presley and his bandmates hewed closer to the original Roy Brown version. READ MORE  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Brown_(blues_musician)

His Latest Flame - Del Shannon

(Marie's the name of) His Latest Flame) was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and originally recorded by Del Shannon on the album "Runaway With Del Shannon" which was recorded June 21st and released in June 1961. More details here - http://davidneale.eu/elvis/originals/list1.html

Elvis recorded it soon after on June 25th / 26th 1961 and it was released in August 1961 as a single. Del Shannon's version was a possible follow up single to Runaway but they released his own composition Hats Off to Larry instead. The song featured a Bo Diddley beat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(Marie's_the_Name)_His_Latest_Flame

Hound Dog

"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952.

Big Mama Thornton's biggest hit was Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Hound Dog," recorded at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles on August 13, 1952. Thornton’s "Hound Dog" was the first record Leiber and Stoller produced themselves. They took over the session because their work had sometimes been misrepresented, and on this one they knew how they wanted the drums to sound; Johnny Otis produced the record and played drums on the recording. This 1953 Peacock Records release (#1612) was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues charts for seven weeks. Otis received a writing credit on all 6 of the 1953 pressings. However, in 1957 Otis' claim to have co-written the song with Leiber and Stoller was dismissed in the New York Federal Court.

Thornton gave this account of how the original was created to Ralph J. Gleason. “They were just a couple of kids, and they had this song written on the back of a paper bag.” She added a few interjections of her own, played around with the rhythm (some of the choruses have thirteen rather than twelve bars), and had the band bark and howl like hound dogs at the end of the song. In fact, she interacts constantly in a call and response fashion during a one minute long guitar "solo" by Pete Lewis. Her vocals include lines such as: "Aw, listen to that ole hound dog howl...OOOOoooow," "Now wag your tail," and "Aw, get it, get it, get it."
Thornton's delivery has flexible phrasing making use of micro-inflections and syncopations. Over a steady backbeat, she starts out singing each line as one long upbeat. When the words change from "You ain't nothin' but a HOUND Dog," she begins to shift the downbeat around: "You TOLD me you was high-class / but I can SEE through that, You ain't NOTHIN' but a hound dog." Each has a focal accent which is never repeated" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hound_Dog_(song)




And a live version -

Bernie Lowe suspected that "Hound Dog" could potentially have greater appeal, and asked Freddie Bell of Freddie Bell and the Bellboys to rewrite the lyrics to appeal to a broader radio audience. "Snoopin' round my door" was replaced with "cryin' all the time," and "You can wag your tail, but I ain't gonna feed you no more" was replaced by "You ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine." This new version of "Hound Dog" was recorded on Lowe's Teen Records in 1955 (TEEN 101 with "Move Me Baby" on the flip side, two of four songs the group did with Lowe that year). The regional popularity of this release, along with the group's showmanship, yielded both a tour, and an engagement in the Las Vegas Sands Hotel's Silver Queen Bar.[14] The Bellboys' Vegas version of the song was a comedy-burlesque with show-stopping va-va-voom choreography. Jerry Leiber, the original lyricist, found these changes irritating, saying that the rewritten words made "no sense". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hound_Dog_(song)





Elvis Presley's first, apparently not very successful, appearance in Las Vegas, as an "extra added attraction," was in the Venus Room of the new Frontier Hotel from April 23 through May 6, 1956. Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were the hot act in town, and Elvis went to the Sands to take in their show. Elvis not only enjoyed the show, but also loved their reworking of "Hound Dog" and asked Freddie if he had any objections to him recording his own version. By May 16 Elvis had added “Hound Dog” to his live performances. The song was done as comic relief, and Presley based the lyrics, which he sometimes changed, and "gyrations" on what he had seen at the Sands. The song always got a big reaction and became the standard closer.
Drummer D. J. Fontana put it this way: "We took that from a band we saw in Vegas, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. They were doing the song kinda like that. We went out there every night to watch them. He'd say: 'Let's go watch that band. It's a good band!' That's where he heard 'Hound Dog,' and shortly thereafter he said: 'Let's try that song.'" "Hound Dog" became Elvis and Scotty and Bill's closing number for the first time on May 15, 1956 at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis.
Presley first performed "Hound Dog" to a nationwide television audience on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956, his second appearance with Berle. By this time, Scotty Moore had added a guitar solo, and D.J. Fontana had added a hot drum roll between verses of the song. Presley appeared for the first time on national television sans guitar. Before his death, Berle told an interviewer that he had told Elvis to leave his guitar backstage. "Let 'em see you, son," advised Uncle Miltie

An upbeat version ended abruptly as Presley threw his arm back, then began to vamp at half tempo, "You ain't-a nuthin' but a hound dog, cuh-crying all the time. You ain't never caught a rabbit..." A final wave signaled the band to stop. Elvis pointed threateningly at the audience, and belted out, "You ain't no friend of mine. Over 40,000,000 people saw the performance and the next day controversy exploded. Berle's network received many letters of protest. The various self appointed guardians of public morality attacked Elvis in the press. TV critics began a merciless campaign against Elvis, making statements that he had a "caterwauling voice and nonsense lyrics" and was an "influence on juvenile delinquency," (despite the fact that when he started the movements, most of the audience laughed at it) and began using the nickname, "Elvis the Pelvis".

Recorded version -

So Glad You're Mine - Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs such as "That's All Right" (1946),"My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered by Elvis Presley and dozens of other artists. Read more on wiki -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Crudup

If I Can Dream

If I Can Dream
"If I Can Dream" is a song written by Walter Earl Brown and notable for its direct quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr. It was recorded by Presley in June 1968, two months after King's assassination. The recording was first released to the public as the finale of Presley's '68 Comeback Special.
Although the song is not technically gospel music, Presley performed the song with the intensity and intonations of southern gospel.

Brown was asked to write a song to replace "I'll Be Home For Christmas" as the grand finale on NBC's "Elvis" (June 20–23, 1968). He wrote "If I Can Dream," and when Presley heard it he proclaimed "I'm never going to sing another song I don't believe in. I'm never going to make another picture I don't believe in."

Steve Binder, who produced Presley’s 1968 television comeback special, recalled the origin of Presley’s hit “If I Can Dream.” Presley and Binder were looking for a way to end the show. The two had discussed Elvis’ dismay over the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. Binder was struck by the conversation and ordered W. Earl Brown, a songwriter working on the show, to come up with a song incorporating Presley’s concern to use as the finale to the show. So even though Presley did not write the song, his viewpoint was expressed in its composition."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Can_Dream

"I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination. The speech, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.According to U.S. Representative John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the President of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, "Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations."
At the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme of "I have a dream", possibly prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" He had first delivered a speech incorporating some of the same sections in Detroit in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin, and had rehearsed other parts.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream

The Full Text of Dr Martin Luther King's Speech
"must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone." (Read the full text here -  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/martin-luther-kings-speech-dream-full-text/story?id=14358231&page=2#.T2evWcUaP30

The Writer - Walter Earl Brown


"Walter Earl Brown was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on Christmas Day, 1928 to Walter Lincoln Brown, a descendant of the english royal family and Hattie Earl. Earl's father, Walter played in a "swing" big band so as a child Earl traveled with his parents.... Earl had a prolific and illustrious career in show business as a singer, composer, vocal arranger, and writer of special material. His work in television, films, revues, musical recordings and nightclubs began at an early age and continued until his passing. During the 40's and 50's Earl is remembered for having been the arranger and singer in the highly acclaimed vocal group "The Skylarks". He wrote a hit song for Elvis Presley in 1968 entitled "If I Can Dream", which has been re-recorded by Barry Manilow and others and which was recently performed on "American Idol" by Celine Dion as a duet, with Elvis resurrected on stage as a holographic image. Earl wrote songs for Dianne Reeves, including the Grammy winning "Who's Minding The Store?", as well as for Frank Sinatra, Mama Cass, Michael Feinstein, and numerous others. For many years he was the vocal director on many hit variety shows including "The Danny Kaye Show", "The Dinah Shore Show", "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour", "The Osmonds Brothers Show", "The Andy Williams Show", "The Carol Burnett Show" and many other television programs and specials. Most recently Earl was the vocal arranger and writer of special material for "The Palm Springs Follies" for the last 13 seasons of the revue." More here  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24119368

Walter Earl Brown

Little Eqypt - The Coasters

Little Egypt was a Leiber and Stoller composition for the The Coasters and hit for them in 1961. In the song, Little Egypt is depicted as a burlesque dancer/stripper, wearing "nuttin' but a button and a bow" and has a circus barker intro and a dramatic middle eight capped by one of the funniest images in the Coasters' entire oeuvre: "She had a picture of a cowboy tattooed on her spine, sayin' 'Phoenix, Arizona 1949.'

Elvis covered the song both in the 1964 film Roustabout -

and in the 1968 Comeback Special. -

According to Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Egypt_(dancer)
"Little Egypt was the stage name for three popular belly dancers. They had so many imitators, the name became synonymous with belly dancers generally. However the first one was  -

Farida Mazar Spyropoulos, (c. 1871, date of death unknown), also performing under the stage name Fatima, appeared at the "Street in Cairo" exhibition on the Midway at the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893.

In 1893, at the Egyptian Theater on the World's Columbian Exposition Midway in Chicago, Raqs dancers performed for the first time in the United States. Sol Bloom presented a show titled "The Algerian Dancers of Morocco" at the attraction called "A Street in Cairo" produced by Gaston Akoun, which included Spyropoulos, though she was neither Egyptian nor Algerian, but Syrian. Spyropoulos was billed as Fatima, but because of her size, she had been called "Little Egypt" as a backstage nickname.

Spyropoulos stole the show, and popularized this form of dancing, which came to be referred to as the "Hoochee-Coochee", or the "shimmy and shake". At that time the word "bellydance" ( correct name Raks Sharki) had not yet entered the American vocabulary, as Spyropoulos was the first in the U.S. to demonstrate the "danse du ventre" (literally "dance of the belly") first seen by the French during Napoleon's incursions into Egypt at the end of the eighteenth century. Today the word "hootchy-kootchy" generally means an erotic suggestive dance and is often erroneously conflated with the group of dances originating in the Middle East that we now call bellydance. It is said Little Egypt changed Vaudeville into Burlesque with her striptease and many promoters cashed in on her striptease but she never actually stripped, only teased.

A second Little Egypt was -

Ashea Wabe who became front-page news item in 1896 after she danced at a swank Fifth Avenue bachelor party for Herbert Seeley. A rival dancer falsely reported that Wabe was going to dance nude and the party was raided by the vice squad.

The raid brought some amount of fame to Wabe. She was hired by Broadway impresario Oscar Hammerstein I to appear as herself in a humorous parody of the Seeley dinner. She might have then been forgotten except for a series of photographs taken by Benjamin Falk.

A third by the name of Fatima Djemille (1890-3/14/1921) appeared at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It is said but not confirmed that this Fatima was the subject of two early films, Edison's Coochee Coochee Dance (1896) and Fatima (1897). performed at Coney Island for many years.

See more here including some video footage of the dancers http://www.streetswing.com/histmai2/d2egypt1.htm

Suspicious Minds - Mark James

"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James. After James' recording failed commercially, the song was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman, becoming a number one song in 1969, and one of the most notable hits of Presley's career. "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley's career success, following '68 Comeback Special. It was his seventeenth and last number-one single in the United States. Rolling Stone later ranked it #91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Written by Mark James aka Francis Zambon in 1968, who was also co-writer of "Always On My Mind" (which Presley would later record), the song first was recorded and released by James on Scepter Records in 1968. Even though James' recording initially was not commercially successful, Elvis decided he could turn it into a hit on reviewing the song as presented to him by Memphis Soul producer Chips Moman, owner of American Sound Studio, in 1969. Suspicious Minds" was a product of January 23, 1969 session, that took place between 4 am and 7 am. It took eight takes to produce the final song that was later overdubbed by Presley the same night." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_Minds

King Creole

King Creole was both the title of Elvis's fourth movie and a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song was recorded by Elvis on 23rd January 1958 and first released on the film soundtrack August 10th 1958.http://www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/93056

First one segues into Rockin' Robin etc..

In Britain, Cliff Richard covered the song on Jack Good's Oh Boy TV show. It was recorded on October 1958 and released on the Oh Boy Show LP December 1958.

Blueberry Hill

"Blueberry Hill" is a popular song published in 1940 best remembered for its 1950s rock n' roll version by Fats Domino. The music was written by Vincent Rose, the lyrics by Al Lewis. It was recorded six times in 1940. Victor Records released the recording by the Sammy Kaye Orchestra with vocals by Tommy Ryan on May 31, 1940 (catalog #26643, with the flip side "Maybe"; matrix #51050[1]). Gene Krupa's version was issued on the Okeh label (#5672) on June 3. Other 1940 recordings were by: Glenn Miller on Bluebird (10768), Kay Kyser, Russ Morgan, Gene Autry (also in the 1941 film The Singing Hill, Connee Boswell, and Jimmy Dorsey.The largest 1940 hit was Glenn Miller.
Louis Armstrong's 1949 recording charted in the Billboard Top 40. It was an international hit in 1956 for Fats Domino, and has become a rock and roll standard. It reached number two, for three weeks on the Billboard Top 40 charts, becoming his biggest pop hit, and spent eight non-consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart.The version by Fats Domino was also ranked #82 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.The song was Domino's greatest hit and remains the song most associated with him. From Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry_Hill_(song)

Youtube of this Sammy Kaye version taken off 

Sammy Kaye Orchestra with vocals by Tommy Ryan 

Gene Krupa version


  Glenn Miller Version here - on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsqgTEgEvis

This is classic R & B version - Fats Domino 1956

or listen to Take 5 on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEmbszM4AuY&feature=fvwrel
The writers -


Sammy Kaye (Lyrics and first version) "(March 13, 1910–June 2, 1987), born Samuel Zarnocay, Jr., was an Americanbandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era.

Kaye, born in Lakewood, Ohio, graduated from Rocky River High School in Rocky River, Ohio in 1927. At Ohio University in Athens, Ohio he was a member of Theta Chi Fraternity. Kaye could play the saxophone and the clarinet, but he never featured himself as a soloist on either one.

A leader of one of the so-called "Sweet" bands of the Big Band Era, he made a large number of records for Vocalion Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Bell Records, and the American Decca record label. He was also a hit on radio. Kaye was known for an audience participation gimmick called "So You Want To Lead A Band?" where audience members would be called onto stage in an attempt to conduct the orchestra, with the possibility of winning batons. Kaye was also known for his use of "singing of song titles", which was emulated by Kay Kyser and Blue Barron." More on Wiki -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Kaye

Vincent Rose (Who wrote the music) (June 13, 1880 in Palermo, Italy – May 20, 1944 in Rockville Centre, New York, United States) was a musician and band leader.

Vincent Rose has one of the longest histories as a band leader. He achieved much popularity with his Montmartre Orchestra in the 1920s, and recorded with the group for RCA. The same personnel later recorded for the Columbia label as the Hollywood Orchestra. After leaving California, he settled in New York, but continued to record as "Vincent Rose and His Orchestra" for various labels throughout the 1930s.

He was very active as a songwriter, publishing well over 200 songs. Among his hits are:

1920 "Whispering"

1921 "Avalon", with lyrics by Al Jolson and B.G. DeSylva, a big hit for Jolson.

1923 "Linger Awhile"

1940 "Blueberry Hill"

More on wiki  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Rose

Glenn Miller - Blueberry Hill.

Take My Hand Precious Lord - Thomas A. Dorsey

Thomas A Dorsey tells the sad but courageous story behind his song. It's sung here by Marion Williams.

Dorsey's life story has been mentioned on the Peace in the Valley post but here's the link to Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_A._Dorsey

"Take My Hand, Precious Lord" (aka "Precious Lord, Take My Hand") is a gospel song, lyrics by Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993), melody by George Nelson Allen (1812-1877).

The melody, although credited to Dorsey, was taken from a 1844 hymn entitled, "Maitland," by American composer, George N. Allen (1812-1877). Dorsey said he used it as inspiration. The "Maitland" music was for the text "Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone", it first appeared in The Oberlin Social and Sabbath School Hymn Book. Dorsey penned "Precious Lord" in response to his inconsolable bereavement at the death of his wife, Nettie Harper, in childbirth, and his infant son in August 1932. (Mr. Dorsey can be seen telling this story in the 1982 gospel music documentary "Say Amen, Somebody.") The earliest known recording was made on February 16, 1937, by the Heavenly Gospel Singers (Bluebird B6846). "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" is published in more than forty languages." More here on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_My_Hand,_Precious_Lord

George Nelson Allen "(September 7, 1812 – December 9, 1877) was an American composer and geologist who was associated with Oberlin College, where he taught for 34 years. He is primarily known today for writing the melody to the hymn Precious Lord, Take My Hand. He also served on the first geological survey of Yellowstone National Park, under Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden.

In Oberlin published Allen's Social and Sabbath Hymn Book, a collection of hymns. One of the hymn melodies in this book, entitled Maitland, was used as the setting for Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone, whose words were originally written by Thomas Shepherd in 1693. Many years later Thomas A. Dorsey would use the melody as the setting to his own hymn, Precious Lord, Take My Hand, which became popular through its association with Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement." Full text on Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Nelson_Allen

Sam Cooke with Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone.

And Elvis of course.

Peace in the Valley

"Peace in the Valley" is a 1937 song written by Thomas A. Dorsey, originally for Mahalia Jackson. The song became a hit in 1951 for Red Foley and the Sunshine Boys, reaching No. 7 on the Country & Western Best Seller chart. It was among the first gospel recordings to sell one million copies." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_in_the_Valley

Mahalia Jackson

Red Foley had a hit with it in 1951

And Elvis

And a live version

And the writer -

Thomas Andrew Dorsey (July 1, 1899 – January 23, 1993) was known as "the father of black gospel music" and was at one time so closely associated with the field that songs written in the new style were sometimes known as "dorseys." Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom.

As formulated by Dorsey, gospel music combines Christian praise with the rhythms of jazz and the blues. His conception also deviates from what had been, to that time, standard hymnal practice by referring explicitly to the self, and the self's relation to faith and God, rather than the individual subsumed into the group via belief.
Dorsey, who was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, was the music director at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago from 1932 until the late 1970s. His best known composition, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", was performed by Mahalia Jackson and was a favorite of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.. Another composition, "Peace in the Valley", was a hit for Red Foley in 1951 and has been performed by dozens of other artists, including Queen of Gospel Albertina Walker, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Dorsey died in Chicago, aged 93. Read more on Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_A._Dorsey

An interesting history of Thomas A Dorsey

Old Shep

"Old Shep is a song by Red Foley and Arthur Willis about a dog Foley owned as a child (in reality, the dog, poisoned by a neighbor, was a German shepherd named Hoover). Foley and Willis wrote the song in 1933. Foley first recorded the song in 1935, again in 1941 and yet again in 1946.
The song, later recorded by many artists including Hank Snow and Elvis Presley, became a country classic.
On October 3, 1945, Presley at age ten sang "Old Shep" for his first public performance, a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Dressed as a cowboy, he stood on a chair to reach the microphone. He came in fifth place, winning $5 and a free ticket to the fair rides." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Shep

Red Foley's original version of Old Shep 1935

And Elvis's version

Red Foley
" Clyde Julian Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968), better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II.
For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the genre, selling more than 25 million records. His 1951 hit, "Peace in the Valley", was among the first million-selling gospel records. A Grand Ole Opry veteran until his death, Foley also hosted the first popular country music series on network television, Ozark Jubilee, from 1955 to 1960."
More on Red Foley here on Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Foley

Here's Hank Snow's version