Drummer left mark on Cedar Valley
EVANSDALE --- Ernest Klatt Jr. knew how to entertain a Cedar Valley audience, whether he was playing the drums in one of his several bands or making speeches during one of his unsuccessful bids for mayor.
The former car salesman, professional musician and nightclub owner --- and 2000 inductee to the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame --- died Aug. 29. He was 68.
"Everybody knows Ernie," said George Clark, who began playing in bands with Klatt when the two attended Waterloo East High School. "I was telling someone at the store that my best friend died, that he was a drummer, and the woman behind me in line said, 'Ernie died?'"
Then ... continue reading
Added : 7/9/2009
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'ELVIS’ HELD GIRL, 17, BOUND AND GAGGED IN A DUNGEON
AN Elvis impersonator who kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and imprisoned her in a dungeon at his music shop was jailed for at least two and a half years yesterday.
Baby-faced Tony Boden, 23, was helped by another girlfriend to hold terrified Katie Peters, 17, captive for nearly two days in the 5ft by 4ft cell beneath a trap door behind a false wall.
He gagged her, bound her hands and feet, and disabled her mobile phone.
His bizarre crime was apparently based on a ransom plot from TV crime series CSI.
Boden had also built a wooden coffin lined with satin and equipped with rope restraints, although he never used ... continue reading
Added : 7/9/2009
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.1940s gospel legend Marie Knight dies in NYC at 84
NEW YORK – Gospel legend Marie Knight has died in New York City at age 84. She came to prominence while touring with Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 1940s and singing hits such as "Beams of Heaven."
Her manager, Mark Carpentieri, says she died Sunday at a Harlem nursing home of complications from pneumonia.
Knight was raised in Newark, N.J. She began touring the national gospel circuit with evangelist Frances Robinson.
In 1946, she partnered with Tharpe. The two became the most popular gospel artists of the 1940s with hits including "Didn't it Rain" and "Up Above My Head." They toured throughout the 1950s.
Knight ... continue reading
Added : 7/9/2009
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Ellie Greenwich, `Chapel of Love' co-writer, dies
NEW YORK – Ellie Greenwich, who co-wrote some of pop music's most enduring songs, including "Chapel of Love," "Be My Baby" and "Leader of the Pack," died Wednesday, according to her niece. She was 68.
Greenwich died of a heart attack at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, where she had been admitted a few days earlier for treatment of pneumonia, according to her niece, Jessica Weiner.
Greenwich, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was considered one of pop's most successful songwriters. She had a rich musical partnership with the legendary Phil Spector, whose "wall of sound" technique changed rock music. With Spector, she wrote ... continue reading
Added : 7/9/2009
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Local woman a part of rockabilly history
MANSFIELD -- Betty Nickell had no idea she was internationally famous. But a friend's recent Internet search revealed the 72-year-old Mansfield woman had been inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
In July, Nickell received a certificate from the Nashville-based Hall of Fame honoring her musical achievements, along with a lifetime membership offered by Hall founder Bob Timmers.
The honor placed her name alongside those of performers such as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Carl Perkins and many others who made rockabilly popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
Because of her unique sound and the way she brought audiences to their ... continue reading
more info on : http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/200908230700/lifestyle/908230326
Added : 30/8/2009
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R&B Singer John Carter, The Dells, dies at 75
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Singer John Carter, a double inductee into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame as lead tenor of two Chicago-based rhythm and blues groups, died Friday in Harvey following a battle with lung cancer.
Carter was 75.
He was a founding member of the Flamingos, who were inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall in 2000. The group recorded for Chicago-based Chess Records and was best known for the hits "Golden Teardrops" and a soulful rendition of the standard "I Only Have Eyes for You."
Carter moved in 1960 to the Dells, who had formed in 1952 as a doo-wop group at Thornton Township High School, in Harvey. He replaced ... continue reading
more info on : http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/5059416.php?
Added : 30/8/2009
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Guitarist James Burton fails to set world record
SHREVEPORT, La. – Pioneering rockabilly guitarist James Burton led an ensemble of about 800 guitar players Saturday in a celebration of his 70th birthday, but failed in his attempt to make the Guinness Book of World Records.
At the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, roughly 30 miles west of his hometown of Minden, Burton led a battalion of pickers through the Elvis Presley hits "That's All Right, Mama" and "Hound Dog."
Guinness lists the world's largest guitar ensemble as 1,802 participants led by Andreas Vockrodt in Germany in 2007.
Burton, who is known for working with the Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson bands, ... continue reading
Added : 30/8/2009
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Guitar player of Johnny & the Jailbirds murdered
Ritchie Ball is the guitar player of 70s/80s UK rockabilly band Johnny & the
Jailbirds, best known for their 1980 Charly LP "Out On Bail". Johnny & the Jailbirds
reunited in 2000 and released 2 new cds, "Rockin' My Blues Away" and "Who Taught You
To Rock"
Police investigating the death of Northamptonshire entertainer Richie Ball have said they are now treating it as murder.
Mr Ball was attacked outside the Sands Hotel in Sandown on the Isle of Wight on July 25 and was taken to hospital where he died on Monday.
A post-mortem examination, which was conducted on Tuesday on the island, has found the cause of death ... continue reading
more info on : http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/police-launch-murder-inquiry-into.5570890.jp
Added : 21/8/2009
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Hank Williams Biopic in the Works
Nashville-based 821 Entertainment Group and Strike Entertainment have teamed to turn the life of country music icon Hank Williams into a feature film, report the trades. Marc Abraham, a Strike Entertainment partner, will pen the screenplay.
Williams ranks high among the most influential country music singer-songwriters, and he lived a life as hard as any character in a country song. After growing up dirt poor in Alabama during the Depression, Williams skyrocketed to fame with 11 No. 1 hits, including classics “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”
Williams also suffered from spina bifida, ... continue reading
Added : 19/8/2009
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Hepcats weekend, Weston Super Mare, 3 till 5 july 2009
Everyone who’s a rock’n’roll enthusiast should at least been to a festival in England once. The atmosphere there is still like in the fifties.
Let’s not forget that while r’nr was past it’s peak in America, it still lingered on in England. Proof of that are the late successes of “ The Everly Brothers”, “Roy Orbison”, … . And because England is an island and must more preservative then the rest of Europe. The devaluation of the pond to the euro makes it very interesting to visit England. Another great thing is that every rocker will find something there to please him. There are festival for teddyboys, rockabillies, hepcats, … .
Most ... continue reading
Added : 16/8/2009
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