Sound Beat

The Everly Brothers released Bye Bye Love in 1957. It would propel Don and Phil Everly to music stardom. Not bad for a song they found in the proverbial junkpile. The song had been considered, and rejected, by 30 other performers before them. Maybe the Everlys had a thing for the underdog; A year earlier, when their first single with Columbia records flopped, the brothers had been promptly told “Bye Bye”.

They recorded this song with Cadence Records. It went all the way to number 2 on the Pop charts, planted firmly behind Elvis Presley’s “Let Me Be YourTeddy Bear”. It went to number 1 on the Country charts, though. Three decades later, In 1986, the Everlys were elected into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

The brothers have a “non-Elvis” Graceland connection. Don and Phil sang back-up on Paul Simon’s 1986 hit “Graceland”. Hear them in action right here.

Hank Williams was well-known for his “heartbreak” songs, but this one’s just a bit different.

You’re on the Sound Beat.

“Kaw-Liga”  was originally written as a…more-serious song about two Native American lovers. But collaborating songwriter Fred Rose convinced Williams to re-write, telling instead the story of two wooden cigar store “Indians”.

Some claim it was a nod to a Native American settlement, others claim it was a more blatant nod to an actual wooden statue. What we know is this: In August 1952, Hank stayed at a cabin at Lake Martin in Alabama, where he wrote this song and Your Cheatin’ Heart. Both were released by MGM in early 1953 and spent a combined 20 weeks on top of the Country charts.

This episode was written by Emily Procopio, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.

Photo: Courtesy of Papahazama, via Flickr, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

Jack Hylton’s father George was the proprietor of a public house, which you may know better as its abbreviated “pub”. You’d get a song with your service there, courtesy of George himself…. And that’s where Jack got his start, accompanying his publican papa on the piano. He recorded this tune, Aint That A Grand And Glorious Feeling, in London in 1927.

In the 40’s Hylton left performance behind and became a major shareholder of the Decca label. But his greatest success may have been in managing and developing stars like French crooner Maurice Chevalier, British comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, and Liberace.

Fred Astaire was one of the greatest film stars and dancers of all time, but there was only one partner who really filled his dance card.

The 1936 film “Swing Time” featured Ginger Rogers and Astaire.  Hardly remarkable in itself, as it was one of their ten films for RCA. This tune though, written by Jerome Kerns and Dorothy Fields, won an Oscar for Best Original song. Here’s Fred Astaire, with “The Way You Look Tonight”.

And how did Astaire himself feel about his partner? “After a while everyone else who danced with me looked wrong.”

Some believe Astaire’s finest dancing performance came from the film, during the eponymously-titled “Swing Time” number. But judge for yourself…

Here’s an up-tempo tale of tailoring gone awry.

You’re on the Sound Beat.

You might know this one well as a “Barbra” tune. (That’s Streisand, for the rest of you.) The song was written by the team of Victor Young and Sam M. Lewis. This version belongs to Vaughn Monroe, a Bluebird 78 from 1941.

Sam M. Lewis penned a number of hits, like“I’m Sittin on Top of the World” and “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?”, and…one dubbed the “Hungarian suicide song”. For more on the curse of “Gloomy Sunday” check out this episode.

Alright, excuse us for a bit of poetic license. The swimsuit had more to do with atomic bombs than rockets.

The Bikini Atoll is a small island chain in the South Pacific. In July of 1946 it served as an atomic test site, and the symbol of a dawning age.  The awesome and terrifying display of power had been implanted in the social consciousness…extending even to the fashion world. That summer, two different two-pieces hit French beaches. Jacques Heim named his the “Atome”, (French word for atom, the smallest-known particle of matter) He proclaimed it “the smallest bathing suit in the world.” But only weeks later, Louis Reard introduced his own, billing it “smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world.” And since he had “split the Atome”, he went with the catchy-sounding “Bikini”. You’ve been listening to Dexter Gordon with “Bikini Blues”. There’s a great story behind the song’s name…find out more at soundbeat.org

Buschmann gets credit for inventing the harmonica and, according to some experts, the accordion.  (Imagine your neighbor learning the instruments, now imagine them inventing both).

The accordion is actually a member of the harmonica family, and is popular with street performers, polka bands, and of course, Weird Al Yankovic. You’re listening to 1915’s NY Blues by one of the first stars of the instrument, Pietro Frosini. He recorded for both Edison and Victor in the early 1900’s, and became known as much for his compositions as his playing.

So much so that there’s a Pietro Frosini organization in Sweden, and YOU can be a member. Click right here to find out how.

With high energy shows, slightly tawdry lyrics and a style that blended Dixieland, blues and jazz, the Harlem Hamfats were just… born at the wrong time.

You’re listening to the ironically named Harlem Hamfats in 1936. First of all, no one in the band was from anywhere even close to New York. And hamfat is a low-cost filler used in cooking recipes…a cheap substitute. These hamfats were Grade A, though.  They played party music, with many of their songs about drinking, dancing…and going to town.

Critics didn’t love the Hamfats, and those lyrics didn’t help their commercial appeal. They were perhaps a bit rock and roll for the thirties, but they certainly had some devoted followers…a couple of fellas by the names of Chuck Berry and Jimmy Page.

Two of the Hamfats are buried right next to each other. Why?

Joe and Charlie McCoy, the band’s founders, were brothers. Find out more right here

This song is a bridge of sorts between two others. It started with Helen Hume’s Be-Baba-Leba, recorded in 1945. From there, the lyrics changed into the “Hey! Baba-Re-Bop” that you hear…right here:

Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps put their twist on the lyrics with “Be-Bop-a-Lula” in 1956. The biggest hit of the three: you guessed it..this one, which stayed atop the R and B charts for 16 weeks.

You’ve got to check out this video . It’s Lionel in 1982 with a comedy legend on drums and some absolutely amazing 80’s crowd dancing.