Marvin & Johnny weren’t so much a permanent act as Marvin Phillips and several partners that he would name “Johnny.” The “duo” started in 1952, when Phillips and Jesse Belvin had had a hit with “Dream Girl” and Phillips chose “Marvin & Johnny” to suggest the name of the original duo. Phillips then went on to use a bewildering array of singers as “Johnny” (although none of them was actually named Johnny) Continue Reading On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas Music – 2012 Edition

In the 1940s and 1950s Merl Lindsay and His Oklahoma Night Riders were a popular Western-swing band. The band recorded for Mercury Records, M-G-M Records, as well as other smaller labels, including Bullet Records, who released this single in November 1947.  Continue Reading On The Eleventh Day Of Christmas Music – 2012 Edition

The success of Bob Seger’s first ‘indie’ single led to a contract with Cameo-Parkway Records for whom he recorded 4 more singles. One of those tracks was almost the breakout single he needed (“Heavy Music”, which charted in Canada, reaching #87, but only ‘bubbled-under’ at #103 in the US). Another of the Cameo-Parkway tracks he recorded was Sock It To Me Santa, recorded and released in 1966.  Continue Reading On The Tenth Day Of Christmas Music – 2012 Edition

The Cats &The Fiddle started recording in 1939, and over the next 10 years had a string of hits and movie appearances that established them as one of the better practitioners of jive music. “Hep Cats Holiday” was recorded in July of 1940, and released in September of that year on the Bluebird imprint. Continue Reading On The Ninth Day Of Christmas Music – 2012 Edition

More sugary Christmas pop, this time from Austin Texas based Andrea Perry.  Continue Reading On The Eighth Day Of Christmas Music – The 2012 Edition

Shortly after the sudden death of their drummer Jon Bonham in 1980 Led Zepplin, lead singer Robert Plant assembled a new band to satisfy his long-time goal in having a rock band with a heavy R&B basis. Coinciding with the release of their initial EP, The Honeydrippers appeared on an episode of Saturday Night Live on December 15, 1984, performing “Rockin’ at Midnight” and “Santa Claus is Back in Town.” The band that night also featured Brian Setzer on guitar and Paul Shaffer on piano. Continue Reading On The Seventh Day Of Christmas Music – The 2012 Edition

If you follow my musical rambling to any extent, you already know of my affinity to the Blues, and so it should come as little surprise that my collection of blues-based Christmas music is also pretty extensive. Taken from his 2006 Ace Records release Round Like an Apple: The Big Town Recordings 1977-1978, here’s Smokey Wilson with Christmas.  Continue Reading On The Sixth Day Of Christmas Music – The 2012 Edition