10 / 10
PREVIEW
10
My Bonnie Lassie
in 1956). They continued
to have hit records, but
Rockin’ Shoes
was
the closest they got to rock ‘n’ roll. It was
the B-side of their version of
Tammy
, the
title song from a Debbie Reynolds movie
(and Debbie’s version far outsold theirs).
Rockin’ Shoes
is a good record. The
brothers harmonize in their characteristic
style, and they get good pop-rock backing
from band leader Joe Reisman (whose work
two years earlier on
Bo Diddley
, Track 19
of this collection, was not so good). The
guitar work behind the vocals provides a
vaguely Latin-sounding beat that’s not
exactly a cha-cha, often called a ‘rock-a-
cha’ in those days.
Pop vocal groups of the early 50s
usually sang as an ensemble, with an
occasional moment of a solo by the lead
singer. In the rock ‘n’ roll era it was more
common to have a lead singer doing the
tune and the other singers backing that up,
sometimes with some repetitive ‘doo-wop’
figure. Reisman’s arrangement on this
record combines the two approaches,
backing up the ensembleAmes Brothers with
the Ray Charles singers.
The songwriters, Augustus Stevenson
and ‘David Hill’ (about whom, more in a
minute) had real rock ‘n’ roll credentials.
Together, they wrote
Frenzy
, recorded by
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Elvis’s hit
I Got
Stung
. ‘David Hill’had the original recording
of
All Shook Up
(which was turned into a hit
by Elvis) and as ‘David Dante’ had the
original record of a song he co-wrote,
Speedy
Gonzales
(which was turned into a hit by Pat
Boone). His real name was David Hess. In
addition to songwriting, Hess did some acting
and appeared in numerous TV shows and
movies.
The song’s title and lyric borrow freely
from Roy Brown’s (and covered by many,
including Elvis)
Good Rockin’ Tonight
.
Brown wrote,
“I want you to bring along
my rockin’ shoes/’Cause tonight I’m gonna
rock away all my blues.”
TheAmes Brothers
sing, “we’re gonna dance away our blues.”
They, however, didn’t seem to need anyone
to deliver their shoes.