Red Robinson's Legends

Back when rock was young I had the pleasure of being the MC for The Show of Stars at Vancouver’s Georgia Auditorium on October 23, 1957. The all-star cast included Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Frankie Avalon, George Hamilton IV, Buddy Knox, The Everly Brothers, Paul Anka and Eddie Cochran. All this for three bucks!

Typical of the anti-rock attitude of the day, The Vancouver Sun’s Alan Hope wrote: “What the audience lacked in mobility they made up for in rapt attention. Occasionally the jungle beat caught them and they strained forward, hands clapping.”

Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen called their band The Rhythm Orchids. Buddy had the first rock and roll million-seller with Party Doll. He went on to record and sell millions of records. Jimmy Bowen switched from performing to become a very successful record producer. Here we are in this time capsule, young and positive. Oh, the memories!

In praise of the piano; where he got the name. Recorded at CKWX /Vancouver studios, 1957

Ernie Freeman came to Vancouver in 1956 as bandleader and arranger with the first "Show Of Stars". I chatted with Ernie backstage, we talked about rock'n'roll and I learned the meaning of the word "zeitgeist"!

Ernie released "Jivin' Around" in 1956 and he appeared in Columbia Pictures' classic teen flick "Rock Around The Clock" Ernie's cover version of Bill Justis' "Raunchy", his biggest solo success, reached #4 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart in 1957.

Ernie played piano on a couple of classic early Sixties instrumentals: B. Bumble and the Stingers' first hit, "Bumble Boogie" and "Percolator (Twist)" by Billy Joe & the Checkmates. He also performed with and arranged for the Routers ("Let's Go") and the Marketts ("Out Of Limits").

As a staff arranger for Liberty Records, Ernie worked with Liberty stars Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, and Gene McDaniels. Ernie Freeman went on to work with Jimmy Bowen, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Connie Francis, Johnny Mathis and Petula Clark. He won Grammy awards for his arrangements of Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" (1966) and Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970).

Ernie Freeman died in 1981 in Los Angeles but he left an indelible mark on pop music.

Connie talks about the enduring appeal of ballads.

Where did they get their start?

Chuck Berry was among the performers at the historic 1956 "Show Of Stars" at Vancouver's Georgia Auditorium. This first "Show of Stars" was an all-Black show in the sense that the performers were basically Rhythm and Blues stars. The line-up included Chuck, Bill Doggett, The Five Satins, Fats Domino, LaVern Baker and Clyde McPhatter. Out of this show grew my admiration for the true roots of rock'n'roll. I could appreciate Bill Haley and the Comets and Elvis Presley, but after this dynamite show I realized where it had all begun.

Chuck Berry impressed me the most musically. He would follow his early hits, 1956's "Maybellene", "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" with a string of rock'n'roll classics: 1957's "School Day" and "Rock and Roll Music"; and "Sweet Little Sixteen", "Reelin' and Rockin'", "Johnny B. Goode", and "Around and Around" in 1958.

Chuck Berry received a Grammy Awards Lifetime Achievement award in 1984 and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In a Rolling Stone interview, he shared the origin of his trademark “duck walk” at a 1956 concert at the Paramount Theater in New York:

“I had to outfit my trio, and I always remember the suits cost me $66, $22 apiece. They were rayon, but looked like seersucker by the time we got there. I actually did the duck walk to hide the wrinkles in the suit. I got an ovation, so I figured I pleased the audience, so I did it again, and again.”

Chuck Berry is probably rock’n’roll’s most influential figure. You can hear his guitar riffs in the music of Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, and many more bands and artists.

Here's my 1956 interview with Chuck Berry!

Guy tells Red why things are different in Canada; his roots and how he spends his free time.

LaVern talks about "Jim Dandy"; memories of an early visit to Vancouver.

Bill shares his thoughts on rock'n'roll. Recorded at the "Show Of Stars" at Vancouver's PNE Forum, 1956