11 Eddy Bell: His Alter Ego Became a Star

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Illustrations xi
4. Preface xvii
5. Acknowledgments xxi
6. PART I HITMAKERS AND BOLD-FACED NAMES
7. 1 Carl Perkins Meets Elvis in a High School Parking Lot 3
8. 2 LaVern Baker: Play It Fair 15
9. 3 Frankie Laine: Bringing Passion to Pop 21
10. 4 Ella Johnson: Since I Fell for You 31
11. 5 Charlie Rich: Before the Fox Was Silver 38
12. 6 Betty Johnson: No More Singing for Her Supper 48
13. 7 Rosco Gordon: Just a Little Bit 55
14. 8 Ella Mae Morse: So Much, So Soon 66
15. PART II ONE-HIT WONDERS, WANNABEES, AND SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
16. 9 Chuck Miller: Fryers, Broilers, and the House of Blue Lights 83
17. 10 Huelyn Duvall: Close but No Cigar 94
18. 11 Eddy Bell: His Alter Ego Became a Star 107
19. 12 Sherry Crane: A Parakeet Visits 706 Union Avenue 117
20. 13 Ben Hewitt: The Best Known Unknown 125
21. 14 Joey Riesenberg: The Scrapyard Drummer 137
22. 15 Troy Shondell: The Early Years of a One-Hit Wonder 141
23. 16 Carl Mann: That “Mona Lisa” Boy 149
24. PART III CHASING THE STORY
25. 17 How Elvis and the Jones Brothers Ended Up in the Memphis Landfill 157
26. 18 Hannah Fay and Jeannie Greene: Searching for Missing Singers 164
27. 19 Allerton and Alton: Black, White, and Bluegrass 180
28. 20 Donna Dameron Loses Her Gig in an Iowa Cornfield 190
29. 21 The Kirby Sisters: Envy Wrapped in Red Velvet 196
30. 22 Unchained Melody: The Pre-Ghost Story 204
31. 23 Chuck Berry and Other Passengers on the Hellbound Train 213
32. 24 Delia’s Not Gone: The Musical Legacy of the Late Delia Green 219
33. PART IV DOO WOP STORIES
34. 25 A Brief Introduction to Doo Wop 227
35. 26 The Paragons Meet the Turbans 231
36. 27 The Channels: The Closer You Look 238
37. 28 God or Girlfriend?: The Prisonaires Create a Very Confusing Love Song 244
38. 29 Going Steady with the Pearls 251
39. 30 The Six Teens Meet the Cleftones 256
40. PART V THE BIGGER PICTURE
41. 31 The First Rock ’n’ Roll Record and Other Creation Myths 265
42. 32 Politically Incorrect Music in the 1950s 271
43. 33 “Sugartime” and Other Subtle Sexual Content in ’50s Pop Music 284
44. 34 Looking under the Covers 292
45. 35 The Dozen Most Influential Records of the 1950s 299
46. 36 Instrumental Hit Records: No Words Were Necessary 305
47. 37 Ancestors of the Chipmunks 313
48. 38 The Bobbys: An Antidote to All That Rockin’ 321
49. About the Author 329
50. Index 331