by Robert Wilkinson
We begin our musical weekend celebrating a Master of the Wisdom and two great producers. The producers include THE MAN who gave us Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and helped launch the careers of BB King, Roy Orbison, Rufus Thomas, James Cotton, Junior Parker, and Howlin’ Wolf. The second was a pioneering California producer who gave us Sam Cooke, Ritchie Valens, and Bobby Fuller. The Wise guy, Paramahansa Yogananda, was one of the most spiritual Men of the 20th century.
We begin by celebrating the Spiritual Master of the group! Today we honor the birthday and life work of one of the greatest "producers" in history, the venerable Paramahansa Yogananda (January 5, 1893 – March 7, 1952). Author of many spiritual works, his best known is Autobiography of a Yogi, a book of great insight, humility, humor, and wit where he introduced millions to Kriya Yoga, meditation, and a line of gurus that include Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar. As we read, in that book he explained “with scientific clarity the subtle but definite laws by which yogis perform miracles and attain self-mastery.” And it is noteworthy that He was “the first great Master of India to live in the West for a long period.”
Here are a few quotes from this Great One!
“Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.”
“You do not have to struggle to reach God, but you do have to struggle to tear away the self-created veil that hides him from you”
“Read a little. Meditate more. Think of God all the time.”
“You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that God's creative principle works in you.”
“The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.”
“It is not your passing thoughts or brilliant ideas so much as your plain everyday habits that control your life....Live simply. Don’t get caught in the machine of the world— it is too exacting. By the time you get what you are seeking your nerves are gone, the heart is damaged, and the bones are aching. Resolve to develop your spiritual powers more earnestly from now on. Learn the art of right living. If you have joy you have everything,so learn to be glad and contented....Have happiness now.”
”Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them.”
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
“Millions of people never analyze themselves. Mentally they are mechanical products of the factory of their environment, preoccupied with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, working and sleeping, and going here and there to be entertained. They don’t know what or why they are seeking, nor why they never realize complete happiness and lasting satisfaction. By evading self-analysis, people go on being robots, conditioned by their environment. True self-analysis is the greatest art of progress.”
“Before embarking on important undertakings sit quietly calm your senses and thoughts and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit.”
“The deeper the Self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.”
“Retire to the center of your being, which is calmness.”
“The happiness of one's own heart alone cannot satisfy the soul; one must try to include, as necessary to one's happiness, the happiness of others.”
“Attachment is blinding; it lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object of desire.”
“Roam in the world as a lion of self-control; see that the frogs of weakness don’t kick you around.”
“The entire universe is God's cosmic motion picture, and that individuals are merely actors in the divine play who change roles through reincarnation; mankind's deep suffering is rooted in identifying too closely with one's current role, rather than with the movie's director, or God.”
Our Spiritual Brother was truly one of the best, a shining light for countless Truth Seeking Souls. Thanks for one of the best books I've ever read, and great fellowship and meditations in Southern California at his various centers. Aum Namah Shivaya! Aum Namah Mahabodhisattva!
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And now, our musical feast begins with Sam the MAN! From AllMusic:
Although he first made his mark (and a very deep one) with electric blues by Black performers, he will be most remembered for his rockabilly stars, particularly Elvis Presley. With singers such as Elvis, he was fusing the best of White and Black, and of R&B and C&W -- the main ingredients in the recipe that gave birth to rock & roll. In the mid-'50s in Memphis, when much of America and most of the South was racially segregated, this took not just artistic vision but personal courage.
When Sam Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) finally founded Sun Records, the world was shaken like never before, as that was the label of the “Million Dollar Quartet” mentioned in the first line of the article. Those classic Sun Records sessions opened the doors for thousands of great rock and roll artists to do their thing.
Also from Wikipedia:
Phillips had an open style and insightful guidance that seemed to allow musicians, especially Presley, to search and feel their way to a point to where they would perform beyond Phillips's and their own expectations. He also seemed to have a sense for when the artist was about to reach the point of their best performance. Phillips recorded looking for a feel, not technical perfection.Phillips told Elvis that the worst thing he could go for was perfection. Phillips was always seeking what he called the perfect/imperfect cut. This meant that it was not technically perfect, but perfectly conveyed the feeling and emotion of the song to the listener and gave the song a living personality, partially due to it being technically imperfect.
But there was a life before Elvis, and here’s what Sam gave the world! This song is said to be the “first rock and roll song,” done by Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner in 1951, "Rocket 88” Another cleaner version of ”Rocket 88" here.
From 1953, Rufus Thomas answering “Hound Dog” with his legendary "Bear Cat”
Also from 1953, Little Junior Parker and the Blue Flames doing the original version of "Mystery Train"
From 1954, Elvis Presley doing his first Sun recording, "That’s All Right Mama.” Here’s the flip side of That’s All Right, the Bill Monroe classic "Blue Moon of Kentucky.”
Also from 1954, Elvis’ second single for Sun, the classic "Good Rockin’ Tonight”
From 1955, Elvis doing "Baby Let’s Play House.” Here’s the flip side, "You’re Right, I’m Left, and She’s Gone."
You can catch all the early performances at the recent 2024 Scotty Moore birthday tribute where I found a whole lot of early television appearances. Of course they’ll be featured soon when we do the Elvis Presley birthday celebration.
We’ll close the Elvis performances in this part of the birthday tribute with a live set by the King back when he was still with Sun records! From September 1956, an electrifying video called “Tupelo’s Own.” For your enjoyment, here’s Elvis on stage shaking it in a big way and stressing the sound system in bigger ways! Elvis Live in 1956 – “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Long Tall Sally,” “I Was the One,” “I Got A Woman,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “Hound Dog.”
The original! From 1955, here’s another of Sun's "Million Dollar Quartet," Carl Perkins, in his Sun recording of his classic "Blue Suede Shoes.” Here’s a great live clip on The Perry Como Show of Carl bopping to "Blue Suede Shoes.” Here’s his Sun recording of "Boppin’ The Blues.” And here's Carl's tune made famous by the Beatles as sung by Ringo, ("Rock on one time for me....,") "Honey Don’t.” And this year the Beatles’ version is back on the jukebox! For your enjoyment, Ringo’s rockin’ on one time for us giving us “Honey Don’t”
We'll close Carl's Sun contributions to rockabilly with a live performance of another tune that was also part of the Beatle performance set, the swinging “Matchbox.” Here’s another live performance from 1958 with Carl looking sharp on The Town Hall Party cranking out “Matchbox.” Here’s the original the Sun studio recording from December 1956 (released February 1957) of “Matchbox.” And from Live at the BBC, here are the Beatles live in the studio cranking out “Matchbox”
Our encore to Carl’s section, features a great live 1985 performance by Carl Perkins with Ringo singing lead and playing drums to “Honey Don’t,” and from the same gig, they’re joined by Eric Clapton on guitar with Ringo sharing lead vocals on “Matchbox.” We’ll finish this set with 2 more CP tunes featuring Carl on lead vocals! First, “Blue Suede Shoes” which we'll follow with a CP tune made famous when George sang it with the Beatles, “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby.”
We now move to Ray Charles doing his 1955 Sun Records smash hit "I Got A Woman.”
In 1955, another one of "the Million Dollar Quartet," Mister Johnny Cash walked into Sun and recorded his first hit, a true classic! Here’s the original Sun recording of “Folsom Prison Blues”
He came back in 1956 to do his breakthrough mega-hit! Here’s the original studio version of “I Walk The Line” and the equally popular “B” side, “Get Rhythm”
In 1957, he came back to cut another of his popular tracks with The Tennessee Two called "Big River.”
Here’s what it was like back when! I found Johnny live in a very early Tex Ritter Show doing "I Walk The Line.”
For an extra treat, also from 1958, “the man in black” not in black in a great live tv performance on Tex Ritter’s Town Hall Party of “I Walk the Line”
And from 1959, “the man in black” (still not wearing black) in another live tv performance of “I Walk the Line”
We now move to another Sun Records legend! From 1956, Roy Orbison doing his first hit, "Ooby Doobie.”
While at Sun, he wrote and recorded a bunch of stuff, and these really rocked! Also from 1956, rockabilly! "Rock House” and this prototypical rock and roll drenched in reverb that borrows from “Ain’t That A Shame,” coming up with ”You’re Gonna Cry.” And though most associate the song "Claudette" with the Everly Brothers, Roy wrote it for his first wife. From Roy the Boy on A Black and White Night with the most amazing all-star band in history, here’s "Claudette.”
We’ll close today’s birthday tribute to Sam Phillips with another of the biggest and best! From 1957, “the Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis doing his classic "Great Balls of Fire.” Also from 1957, the original JLL version of "Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On.”
From 1957, Jerry Lee played the piano on the Billy Lee Riley classic “Flying Saucer Rock and Roll”
Getting back to Jerry Lee live performances, in February 1958 he appeared on Dick Clark’s Saturday Night Beech Nut Show to crank out “Great Balls of Fire.” 30 years later, here’s Jerry Lee rocking in Melbourne, Australia, in a 1989 live performance cranking out a wild version of “Great Balls of Fire.” This year his 16 minute set appeared! For your enjoyment, 16 minutes of Jerry Lee Lewis Live in Melbourne, Oz.
For our closer, we’ll go back to the beginning! Here’s the Killer in a 1957 tv performance on The Steve Allen Show of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On” generating a LOT of heat for the late 50s! And JLL cranks up his game in a 1964 UK tv performance of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” still generating a LOT of heat for British teens 7 years later!
For our encore, a few singles from this prototypical rock and roll label! First, from 1954, James Cotton offering up “My Baby” and “Cotton Crop Blues”
From 1955, Little Milton and “Lookin’ For My Baby”
We close this encore with four classics by Warren Smith! From 1956, “Rock n Roll Ruby” and “Ubangi Stomp.” He recorded these in 1957! While the world knows “Miss Froggie” he also had another he recorded which wasn’t issued in 1957, but has since become a classic! For you bopping pleasure, “Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache”
Thanks for everything, Sam. You kicked the doors down and let rock and roll grow into a force that shook the world!
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We now turn to our other celebration for today. It’s also the birthday of the legendary producer Bob Keane (January 5, 1922 - November 28, 2009), creator of Keen and Del-Fi Records. He’s the one that gave us Sam Cooke, Ritchie Valens, and Bobby Fuller, along with countless other talents. We begin our tribute with the great Sam Cooke in the original 1957 studio versions of “Summertime” and “You Send Me.”
Here’s First Soul Brother Sam live on The Ed Sullivan Show in December 1957 singing to a backing track. His voice was amazing! “You Send Me.” And from March 1959, Sam appeared on Dick Clark’s Saturday Night Beechnut Show where he also sang “You Send Me.”
Here’s Ritchie Valens, the first true Latino superstar, doing the 1958 studio original of “Come On Let’s Go” And I found this again! It’s a clip of Ritchie lip synching the tune for an Alan Freed jukebox movie with some home movies from way back when tacked on to the video. A final “appearance” for Ritchie Valens miming to “Come On Let’s Go”
Ritchie scored big on these back to back hits that each sailed high on the charts! “Donna” and “La Bamba”
To close this set, we have Bob’s last big find! Please check out the recent birthday post on Bobby Fuller if you want the best of west Texas rock in the finest tradition of the genre! A meteoric rise, a tragic and mysterious death, his story is one of legend.
For now, a few good ones for the encore! First, the Bobby Fuller Four live on Hullabaloo lip-synching to the Bob Keane studio version of “I Fought the Law”
Here’s another Hullabaloo lip synched version of their second hit which cracked the Top 30, a faithful offering up of the Buddy Holly classic, “You Know Love’s A Fool of You”
Here’s the original studio version of “You Know Love’s Made A Fool of You”
As with most television "performances" back then, even though it appears to be live, they’re only lip-synching to the studio versions of these songs, so it counts as a Bob Keane production! The Bobby Fuller Four – “Let Her Dance” and “Another Sad and Lonely Night”
One of the more beautiful rock and roll songs ever sung! “Only When I Dream”
RIP Bob. I gather you ran with some pretty shady characters, but I suppose anyone who made it in LA in the 50s and 60s would have to deal with such lowlifes. Thanks for the tunes.
© Copyright 2025 Robert Wilkinson
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