Last night’s concert, at the Showground, featuring Rod Stewart, had to be cancelled, due to the storm which struck Sydney. Today was quite chilly, with a maximum of twenty-four degrees Celsius.
At the orchard, Glenburnie, in Darkes Forest, between Sydney and Wollongong, we bought three pounds of “green” grapes for a dollar, three pounds of “red” grapes for a dollar and thirty-five cents and three pounds of large plums for a dollar and fifty cents.
From 6.30 p.m., “Space 1999”; 7.30, and also on Channel Seven, “Morecambe And Wise”, with the pair’s guest being the celebrated British actor, John Mills.
At stumps, in Christchurch, New Zealand is 3-106 in reply to Australia’s 552. Doug Walters amassed 250 and the left-handed all-rounder, Gary Gilmour, one hundred and one.
David Hookes, a left-handed batsman, has scored 156 against New South Wales. It is his fifth century in six innings, for South Australia, and his fourth in succession.
At half past eight, this evening, on Channel Nine, the movie, “Kill Charley Varrick”, from 1973, has Walter Matthau cast in the title role. Another film, “Whatever Happened To Rosemary’s Baby”, is on Channel Seven.
A six months’ trial to ban smoking on public transport begins today. It is a pity that it was not introduced a year earlier as last year was Sydney’s wettest since 1963 and, as two non-smokers, we had to rely entirely upon public transport.
Sydney experienced rain this afternoon. The city, on average, receives approximately one thousand two hundred millimetres (forty-eight inches) per annum.
The rain of yesterday continued all night. I collected a Tax Rebate form from the post office at Brighton-le-Sands, and a Medibank Exemption form from St. Peters Post Office.
The First Test, in Christchurch, ended in a draw. New Zealand was 8-293 (Bevan Congdon 107 n.o.) in its second innings; fifty-seven runs short of victory.
Sander Nelson was born, in December of 1938, in Santa Monica, California. He attended the same high school as Jan Berry and Dean Torrence, who were also to have success in the recording industry, under the name of Jan and Dean.
A drummer, Sandy played on many recordings by other artists as well as achieving success in his own right, as a solo performer. Of these, “Teen Beat” peaked at No.4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, in 1959, selling in excess of a million copies.
“Teen Beat” was followed, in 1961, by “Let There Be Drums” (No.7) and “Drums Are My Beat”(No.29). Sandy struggled to chart after that and an accident suffered while riding his motorcycle, did not help. His right foot and a part of that leg had to be amputated.
In spite of this, Sandy continued to record into the early 1970s. In all, he released more than thirty albums.
The names of more of my favourite recordings appear in the suggested playlists. I shall be adding to it from time to time.
The rain went, for the day, after lunch, having teemed all morning.
At 7.30 p.m., “Serpico”; 8.30, a two hours’ programme, ‘The Trick Book’, of the “Policewoman” series, which stars Angie Dickinson as Pepper Anderson. The British actress, Joan Collins, is listed among its guest stars.
The era of the Big Bands had ended by 1949. This gave way to the rise of the solo vocalist.
In 1951, one such vocalist arrived in the form of Johnnie Ray. Despite having a series of hits in a recording career that lasted for almost a decade, the late, great Johnnie Ray is almost forgotten today.
Mainstream popular music in the early 1950s was staid, reflective of the mores within American culture at that time. So when Johnnie Ray appeared and began delivering performances which featured such a unique style, the teenagers went wild.
Johnnie became the first white artist to remove the microphone from its stand. His presence on stage was both raw and unpredictable. He would remove his shoes, roll on the floor, pound his fist on the piano, and literally cry. Such behaviour, in some quarters, earned him the nickname of the ‘Nawab of Sob’.
Years before James Brown took to collapsing on stage, Johnnie had perfected the art. An attendant would enter from a wing to ‘revive’ him by offering a glass of water. Little did the audience realise, the glass contained not water but vodka.
http://youtu.be/tIhIa72cUXY
Partially deaf as the result of a childhood accident, John Alvin Ray had been born into a deeply religious farming family, in Oregon, in January of 1927. His initial release, “Cry”, in 1951, was such a meteoric and momentous success that no one outside of his record company, Okeh, knew anything about him. Not only did “Cry”, which became his trademark song, spend eleven weeks atop the American hit parade but the record’s B-side, “The Little White Cloud That Cried”, which he had penned himself, occupied the No.2 position, simultaneously. Something that had never been achieved before.
In 1954, Johnnie appeared in the film, ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’, cast as one of Dan Dailey and Ethel Merman’s children. The film also starred Marilyn Monroe, Donald O’Connor and Mitzi Gaynor.
When Johnnie Ray visited Australia for a second time, in 1955, ten thousand fans greeted him at the airport. In fact, he was to tour that country on something like nineteen occasions and with the advent of rock and roll it was to be countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia that continued to support the sale of his records during the latter part of his career.
http://youtu.be/XvB3KbERNP4
Although not all of Johnnie’s recordings suited his style — for example, I much prefer The Drifters performing “Such A Night” to Johnnie’s cover, despite his version having reached No.1 on the British charts, in 1954 — those that did, I regard as classics of his era. “Cry”, speaks for itself as do his revivals of the numbers “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home”, “Here Am I – Broken Hearted” (both from 1952) and “Just Walking In The Rain” (1956). Whilst I am an atheist, as a person enamoured of music I must admit that I truly enjoy listening to his religious releases, such as “Satisfied” (1952) and “If You Believe” (1955); as well as the hits “Yes Tonight, Josephine” and “Look Homeward, Angel” (both from 1957) and perhaps my favourite track of Johnnie Ray’s: “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again”, which he wrote and first recorded in 1952 before a much more polished version was released in 1959. While it did little business in America and Great Britain, it reached its zenith at No.1 in Australia.
http://youtu.be/8FGEVLeaDU4
Following the monumental success of his first release, Johnnie Ray was hastily signed to record on the Columbia label. It was there that he also recorded in duet with Doris Day. The most successful of these was the ditty, “Let’s Walk Thata-Way”, in 1953.
Johnnie last appeared on Australian charts in the early months of 1960, when he took “When It’s Springtime In The Rockies” to as high as No.13. His liver finally failed him, in February of 1990, at the age of sixty-three.
For the names of more tracks recorded by Johnnie Ray please consult the suggested playlists, where you shall also find a list of more of my favourite recordings. I shall be adding to this list from time to time.
Another overcast, cool, rainy morning. It poured again by late this afternoon. I am thinking of the people from the cancelled concert of a week ago who are again trying to see Rod Stewart perform tonight.
It cost me a dollar and fifteen cents for a bottle of the new non-alcoholic ‘Grapella’ at a drive-in liquor shop in Epping.
This evening we watched a documentary on the Mount Kenya National Park, and then an episode of “The Two Ronnies”: British comedians, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
Johnny Cymbal was born in Scotland but spent his formative years in Canada. In 1963, at the age of eighteen, he had the novelty hit, “Mr. Bass Man”.
Five years later, under the pseudonym of ‘Derek’, he wrote and recorded the catchy ditty, “Cinnamon”.
http://youtu.be/707gZq_nCdE
A prolific songwriter, Johnny co-wrote the multi-million seller, “Mary In The Morning”. His songs have been recorded by many and varied artists, including Elvis Presley.
Thrice married and divorced, Johnny overcame his addictions while rediscovering Christianity. Johnny died suddenly, in Nashville, in March of 1993, at the age of forty-eight.
Australia is 7-281, at stumps on the second day of the Second Test, in reply to New Zealand’s first innings total of 229. Greg Chappell controversially used his bat to hit a streaker on the backside.
This evening, between half past six and half past seven, we watched a repetition of the documentary, “The Devil’s Triangle”, narrated by the actor, Vincent Price.