rockintheblues.net - Informed by Blues,Jazz, R&B, Hillbilly ,Country Music, Rock 'n' Roll And Rockabilly became the first music to aim directly at a teenage audience, and it hit. Rock 'n' Roll extended an unparalleled influence around the world.
Tommy Sands / Rock and Roll
Tommy Sands
Thomas Adrian Sands (born August 27, 1937)
is an American pop music singer and actor. Working in show business as a child, Sands became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on Kraft Television Theater in January 1957 as "The Singin' Idol". The song from the show, "Teen-Age Crush", reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Cashbox.
Sands was born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois;]
his father Ben, born in Russia, was Jewish and was a pianist, and his mother, Grace Dickson, a big-band singer.
He moved with the family to Shreveport, Louisiana. He began playing the guitar at eight and within a year had a job performing twice weekly on a local radio station. At the beginning of his teen years, he moved to Houston, Texas, where he attended Lamar High School and joined a band with "Jimmie Lee Durden and the Junior Cowboys", consisting of Sands, Durden, and Billy Reno.
They performed on radio, at county fairs, and did personal appearances.
He was 15 when Colonel Tom Parker heard about him and signed him to RCA Records.
Tommy Sands and singer Nancy Sinatra married in 1960 and divorced in 1965.
His career had declined significantly by 1965, triggering speculation that Frank Sinatra had him "blacklisted" in the entertainment industry after their divorce.
Such reports were denied by both Sands and Sinatra.
In 1974, Sands married Sheila Wallace, a secretary, in Honolulu, where he had relocated in an attempt to revive his career.
Johnny Powers / The Sun Record
Johnny Powers
Johnny Powers was playing country music with Jimmy Williams & the Drifters when he began to be inspired by early rockers including Carl Perkins (1932–1998).
He formed his own band, Johnny Powers and the Rockets.
With his new band, Powers began adding rock and roll influences to his music and turned out rockabilly classics including “Long Blond Hair” and “Honey Let’s Go (To a Rock and Roll Show.” He was signed by Sun Records, releasing the 1959 single “With Your Love, With Your Kiss.” After a brief period with Sun, Powers joined Motown Records, and he is believed to have been the only artist to work with both Sun and Motown.
With Motown, Powers concentrated on writing and producing. He was a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Johnny Powers jouait de la country avec Jimmy Williams & the Drifters lorsqu'il commença à s'inspirer des pionniers du rock, notamment Carl Perkins (1932-1998).
Il forma son propre groupe, Johnny Powers and the Rockets.
Avec ce nouveau groupe, Powers intégra des influences rock and roll à sa musique et composa des classiques du rockabilly tels que « Long Blond Hair » et « Honey Let’s Go (To a Rock and Roll Show) ». Il signa chez Sun Records et sortit le single « With Your Love, With Your Kiss » en 1959. Après un bref passage chez Sun, Powers rejoignit Motown Records et serait le seul artiste à avoir travaillé pour les deux labels.
Chez Motown, Powers se concentra sur l'écriture et la production. Il fut intronisé au Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
