Driving The Who To Stardom

Watching The Who entertain at the Super Bowl might have caused a few people to remember another British group, an oddly-named bunch that had a connection — sort of — to the legendary rockers. The band’s name was Thunderclap Newman and it was assembled to give an opportunity to John ‘Speedy’ Keen, who actually did drive the Who during their climb to stardom — he was the band’s chauffeur for a while.

In addition to driving the guys around, Keen (sometimes incorrectly spelled Keene) was a drummer, singer, and songwriter who had provided at least one song for the band — “Armenia City in the Sky.” He was especially close to Pete Townshend, who subsequently helped him form a new group to present more of his music. Joining Keen was pianist Andy ‘Thunderclap’ Newman (whose distinctive moniker was chosen for the band’s name) and guitarist Jimmy McCullough.

Townshend acted as producer for the new group’s first record, 1969’s “Something in the Air,” a song that perfectly suited the times. Originally titled “Revolution,” it greatly appealed to those in tune with the era’s many protest movements, and it was a good listen too. Keen’s distinctive voice, coupled with Newman’s pounding piano and McCullough’s fiery guitar, gave listeners something special. It’s been said that Townshend contributed to the effort too, but whatever the case the song rose to the top of UK charts and did very well in the US too.

It also generated a classic album titled Hollywood Dream, which would be the only one for the original Thunderclap Newman group. Although the guys did continue to perform for a while they soon faded. However, the band’s hit song has shown up again and again through the years, often on the soundtrack of period films.

All three members of the original band continued to work in music through the years, but McCullough died from a drug overdose in 1979 and Keen died of natural causes in 2002. Sole survivor Newman is currently leading a revival band.

Music And The Highwayman

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to entertain me. Lately I’ve found myself watching a TV reality series called Pawn Stars — and for those who aren’t familiar with the show let me just say that it’s better than it sounds. (Video below.)

It is truly amazing to see some of the odd objects that people bring in to pawn or sell — although there is obviously some staging going on. After all, you can’t very well keep the cameras rolling continuously just on the off chance that someone will walk in with a Super Bowl ring or a pirate’s treasure chest.

But my mind is never far from music, and even though the show features expensive collectible guitars and the like, it was actually a non-musical item that — er — triggered my thoughts about a particular song. A customer brought in an antique flintlock pistol that could have been used by a highwayman. That in turn led my thoughts to the singing group formed about 25 years ago by four legendary country music stars.

When Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson got together in the studio in the mid 80s, they were already well-established stars. They’d also all worked together at various times and in different combinations, but when they recorded “Highwayman” (while billing themselves as The Highwaymen) they struck pay dirt. The song rocketed to number one on the country charts and the album that followed ended up doing the same.

I’m sure the guys had a lot of fun with the whole thing, and they ended up getting together again from time to time through the years. It’s interesting to note that they weren’t exactly the first quartet calling themselves the Highwaymen, and it’s also worth mentioning that their success might have helped inspire the formation of a pop-rock group called the Traveling Wilburys — but both of those are stories for another day.

Johnny Burnette Mirrored Elvis

It’s tempting to wonder what would have become of Johnny Burnette if he hadn’t gone fishing that night in 1964. After all, by the time that speedboat came along, he was at a point in his career where he’d managed to pull off the transition from raw rockabilly singer to genuine teen idol, hitting the Top Ten with best-sellers like “You’re Sixteen” and “Dreamin’” (clip).

It was the same process followed by many of his contemporaries, including Elvis Presley, and Burnette shared some other things with Presley too. For one thing, he’d grown up poor in Memphis, living in the same public development that housed Presley during his teen years, and both briefly worked for the Crown Electric Company. Also, Burnette — like Presley — made some early records that reflected the rich musical heritage of the area before later moving on to a style that the parents of teens probably found less threatening.

It all started around 1952, when teenager Johnny and his brother Dorsey — both of whom had tried their hand at boxing for a while — joined up with their friend, Paul Burlison, and formed a musical group they called the Rhythm Rangers. Over the next few years the guys found mixed success, but eventually moved to New York. By then they were calling themselves the Rock and Roll Trio, and they signed a deal with Coral Records that soon led to some marketing help via TV appearances and tour dates.

Unfortunately, disagreements led to a lot of turmoil and the breakup of the group the following year. Although the records made during this period were not big hits, and a few just featured Johnny backed by studio musicians, there were some jewels among them. Classics like “Train Kept a-Rollin’,” “Rock-a-billy Boogie,” and “Lonesome Train” (video below), were some of the best examples of the era’s rockabilly sound.

The Burnette brothers eventually reconciled in California, where they had some success writing songs for stars like Ricky Nelson, but by the close of the decade Johnny was ready for a solo career. The next few years would be his biggest as a performer, as he gradually built his name through a series of hit records. Unfortunately, his career would be cut short one night in 1964 when his small fishing boat was rammed and he drowned — just thirty years old.

Groundhog Day And Dad’s Polkas

This time of year it’s impossible to miss all the news stories about Groundhog Day, speculating about whether Punxsutawney Phil (the resident rodent) will see his shadow and what comes next. Most also mention the 1993 Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day, but when I see anything that spotlights one of the most memorable songs on the soundtrack — Frankie Yankovic’s “Pennsylvania Polka” — it inevitably reminds me of my Dad.

Dad was a polka fanatic. He never met a polka he didn’t like, and I know he would have enjoyed that movie just for the music — although he always liked a good laugh too. And I know he was fond of “Pennsylvania Polka,” which I mentioned in an earlier piece about him, but as I think about the music I often heard as a child, a different polka comes to mind.

Dad was a young married man starting a family during the war years, and after serving in the army he was probably busy trying to make a living, but I’m pretty sure that he also found some time to listen to music. At that time, “Beer Barrel Polka” was one of the most popular songs around. It had originated in Europe during the pre-war years and was soon showing up everywhere. It was a bouncy and lively piece that was impossible to resist, and it might have helped people forget their troubles — at least for a while.

We always had a stack of 78-rpm records around the house while I was growing up, and considering Dad’s musical tastes, you can bet that one of them was the Andrews Sisters performing “Beer Barrel Polka.” In subsequent years it was recorded by just about everybody, even Liberace, who often featured the song in his act (video below), but I think Dad liked the girls’ version best.