Fogerty rocks Milwaukee crowd

Veteran rocker John Fogerty made
a pit stop in Milwaukee last week, playing
material from Creedence Clearwater Revival,
his solo career and the new "Blue Ridge
Rangers" CD.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

John Fogerty, perhaps best known as the heart and soul of legendary rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, brought his Blue Ridge Rangers to a rapturous reception in Milwaukee on Nov. 19.

"Blue Ridge Rangers" was actually the name of Fogerty's first solo LP, released in 1973, a year after Creedence disbanded following a run of hit singles and albums.

Fogerty recorded all the instruments on his solo debut, but recruited a crack band to play on this year's "Rides Again," just the second disc to carry the Blue Ridge Rangers moniker. Both albums feature covers of Fogerty's favorite songs from other artists.

For the date at the historic Riverside Theater, Fogerty was backed by Kenny Aronoff (drums), Billy Burnette (guitar), Jason Mowery (fiddle/mandolin) Matt Nolen (keyboards/guitar), Hunter Perrin (guitar), David Santos (bass) and James Pennebaker (pedal steel).

As my wife Sue and I settled into our seats just a few feet from the stage, a near-by security worker named Fred asked, half-jokingly, if we we going to "bum rush" the stage. Probably not, I told him, although we might have years ago.

Still, an older crowd at the packed 2,500-seat venue leaped up, cheered and applauded as Fogerty and the Blue Ridge Rangers made their way through 16 CCR classics, six songs from Fogerty's 1985 and 1997 "comebacks" and four tracks from the new album. Fogerty even tossed in a long forgotten single as a surprise.

The 64-year-old swamp rocker launched the program with a scorching version of "Up Around the Bend," from the CCR album "Cosmo's Factory."

"Let's rock and roll," Fogerty announced as the band tore into into "Green River," a staple of the Creedence catalog.

The singer/guitarist brought the crowd up to date with "When Will I Be Loved," a stand-out track on his fresh album. Originally a hit for the Everly Brothers, the song was penned by Phil Everly.

Fogerty then returned to CCR's 1969-1970 heyday for four tracks. "Looking Out My Back Door," featured some inspiring guitar work from Burnette. The crowd was standing for "Born on the Bayou," while Aronoff demonstrated his drumming chops on the extended instrumental, "Ramble Tamble."

After talking briefly with a fan, Fogerty strayed from the set list to perform Leadbelly's "Cotton Fields" for "Eddie."

"Rambunctious Boy," from 1997's "Blue Moon Swamp" LP, was the first Fogerty solo offering of the evening and featured mind-blowing fiddle from Mowery. CCR's "The Midnight Special," a traditional American folk song, followed with Fogerty thanking the audience for "singing along."

As the song ended, Fogerty pointed to a woman in the audience wearing a fluorescent green T-shirt with "God Fogerty" printed on it. "Nice shirt, but that title's already taken by Eric Clapton," Fogerty said of the idolized British musician, referred to as a guitar god.

Despite the accolades given to Clapton, Fogerty's guitar and vocal skills rank him among the best on any list of iconic musicians. In top form at the Riverside show, Fogerty seemed fortified by by the audience's response to his singing and guitar playing.

Fogerty led his band through the John Prine song, "Paradise," from the new album, complete with a fine pedal steel performance by Pennebaker.

"Centerfield," Fogerty's 1985 masterpiece, was the source for the next song, "Big Train (From Memphis)," which included another Mowery fiddle demonstration. That was followed by "Back Home Again," a new number, composed by John Denver.

CCR's classic "Commotion" was followed by "Keep On Chooglin'," with Fogerty trading his guitar for harmonica. Aronoff's fierce drumming and Perrin's unbridled guitar playing added to the song's intensity.

The crowd sang along to CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," while Rick Nelson's "Garden Party" followed.

Fogerty returned to "Blue Moon Swamp" for that album's opening track, "Southern Streamline."

Ray Charles got a tip of the hat with "The Night Time Is Right Time," which closed CCR's 1969 album, "Green River."

Fogerty told the audience he "resurrected" the next song for his "Royal Albert Hall" concert, just issued on DVD. "Comin' Down the Road," a solo single from 1973, had a distinct Creedence flavor, but failed to chart when it was originally released.

To close the show, Fogerty alternated between solo and CCR songs: "Rock And Roll Girls," "Down on the Corner," "Centerfield," "Bad Moon Rising," "Old Man Down the Road" and "Fortunate Son." Fogerty played his infamous bat-shaped guitar during "Centerfield," which has become a baseball anthem.

After completing the 25-song set list, Fogerty left the stage with the audience in a frenzy.

Brought back for an encore, Fogerty performed two tracks from CCR's venerable "Bayou Country" album: a rousing take of Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly" and the band's breakthrough hit, "Proud Mary."

I've been a fan of Fogerty's since I first heard "Proud Mary" on the radio, back in 1969. It was the first song Sue and I danced to.

Prolific in his early years, Fogerty wrote, produced, arranged, played lead guitar and sang lead vocals on nearly all of CCR's recordings. The group issued seven studio albums from 1968-1972.

Fogerty's solo career has been equally stellar, but he has released only eight studio albums in the last 38 years.

The Milwaukee concert marked the fourth time we've seen Fogerty perform. The others were Cleveland in 1995, Chicago in 1997 and Mount Pleasant in 2005.

It seems each show is better than the last.

There aren't enough superlatives to adequately describe the veteran rocker's Wisconsin appearance.

Somehow, Fogerty can meld decades of unforgettable songs into an evening in which musicians and fans elevate rock 'n' roll into the the purest and most sublime of art forms.

Niles, 45s boast Tommy James

Rocker Tommy James formed the original Shondells
and recorded the No. 1 hit "Hanky Panky" in the small
lower peninsula community of Niles.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Rocker Tommy James, pride of the small lower peninsula town of Niles, made an impression on millions of youngsters during his reign in the 1960s.

As leader of Tommy James and the Shondells, the singer hit the top of the charts in 1966 with "Hanky Panky" and three years later did the same thing with the psychedelic "Crimson and Clover."

Both those songs, as well as "Crystal Blue Persuasion," "Mony Mony" and "I Think We're Alone Now" are contained on the "Best of Tommy James and the Shondells," the first long playing (LP) record I ever owned.

My memory of that old album was jogged recently by my friend Ken Raisanen. A teacher by vocation and a drummer by avocation, Raisanen is head honcho at public radio station WOAS- FM 88.5 and writes a music column for the Ontonagon Herald called "From the Vaults."

The topic of one of his recent columns was "firsts." Raisanen told readers about his first 45 rpm single, first concert, first CD, first LP and other sundry firsts.

An LP was a major purchase when I was a teenager at about $5. I preferred the 45 rpm singles, which sold for about 69 cents each.

My Tommy James and the Shondells' album, however, was a good value since it contained ten songs, all of them hits.

Tommy James and the Shondells reached international stardom-- with the help of a lucky break-- from a modest start in Niles, a southwestern Michigan community of 12,000.

Born Thomas Gregory Jackson in Dayton, Ohio, on April 29, 1947, the future rock 'n' roll star moved to Niles with his family in 1958.

He formed the Tornados, later to become the Shondells. This "original" group of Shondells included Larry Coverdale (guitar), Larry Wright (bass), Craig Villeneuve (piano) and Jim Payne (drums).

The high school friends played parties and dances.

James even got himself a job at a local store, Spin-It Records, where he learned about the music business.

The group drew the attention of J. D. Deafenbaugh, who worked as a disc jockey under the name Jack Douglas on local AM radio station WNIL. Deafenbaugh brought the teenage group into the station's studio in early 1964 to record four songs, including "Hanky Panky."

James had heard another band perform "Hanky Panky" in a club in South Bend, Indiana, and noted the tremendous response from the crowd.

"Hanky Panky" and "Thunderbolt" were paired on a 45 record released on Deafenbaugh's new label, Snap Records.

Written as the flip side to a single by the Raindrops in 1963, "Hanky Panky" was composed by the famous Brill Building team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich.

The single was a hit in the tri-state area of Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, but didn't go further because Snap lacked national distribution.

Several years passed and "Hanky Panky" faded from memory.

Somehow, a few copies of "Hanky Panky" found their way into the stock of a used record store in Pittsburgh owned by Ernie Kashauer.

The disc got played at a teen club run by Bob Mack who told local disc jockeys about the wild reaction kids gave "Hanky Panky."

Thinking it was a new single, youngsters began calling Pittsburgh radio stations requesting "Hanky Panky."

Since the single was out of print, an estimated 80,000 gray market 45 rpm singles were pressed in Pittsburgh to meet local demand for "Hanky Panky."

As "Hanky Panky" was taking Pittsburgh by storm, DJ "Mad Mike" Metrovich called James, telling him about the single's surprise success and looking for the Shondells to appear in Pennsylvania.

James, who was working as a solo act, told the caller the Shondells had broken up.

Still, the singer agreed to play. In Pittsburgh, he auditioned a group called the Raconteurs to serve as the new Shondells.

Not long after, James traveled to New York where he sold his recording of "Hanky Panky" to Roulette Records for $10,000. With Roulette's marketing muscle and distribution, "Hanky Panky" became the nation's No. 1 single on July 16, 1966.

Their first LP, also titled "Hanky Panky," was issued soon after. The Shondells at that point included Joe Kessler (guitar), Ron Rosman (piano), Mike Vale (bass), George Magura (sax) and Vinnie Pietropaoli (drums).

During their stay with Roulette, Tommy James was given creative control of his music. Consequently, with producers Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell, Tommy James and the Shondells hit the Top 100 with 19 songs.

Many of the group's songs also included Ed Gray (guitar) and Peter Lucia (drums), when Kessler, Magura and Pietropaoli left the band.

The collaboration resulted in such hits as "Mirage," "Sweet Cherry Wine" and "Sugar on Sunday."

The propulsive "Mony Mony" was one of the group's most successful singles.

While growing up in Marquette, my music columnist buddy Ken Raisanen remembered practicing the drums to the tune in his basement.

"I used to open my basement window and crank the song and my drums to '11' for the benefit of the girls sunbathing outside of Spalding Hall," Raisanen recalled. The girls "used to yell and wave at me when I was out in the yard: 'Hey, play your drums.' Ah, the benefits of living across the street from a girls' dorm in your formative years, in 6th and 7th grade."

Although Woodstock promoters asked Tommy James and the Shondells to perform at the historic music festival in the summer of 1969, the group declined after being told the event was a "stupid gig on a pig farm in upstate New York," by their booking agent.

After Tommy James collapsed on stage in 1970 and was hospitalized for several weeks, the Shondells broke up.

James managed to hit the charts a dozen more times as a solo artist, most notably with "Draggin' the Line" in 1971.

The group's songs have returned to the charts in versions by other artists.

Joan Jett had a hit with her take on "Crimson and Clover" in 1982, while in late 1987, Tiffany and Billy Idol, respectively, had consecutive No. 1 hits with their renditions of "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony."
Even today, hits by Tommy James and the Shondells are fondly recalled by fans and continue to be heard on oldies radio.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to spin a Tommy James and the Shondells' record for old times' sake.

'Smiley' fans support show, CD

Almudena Aguirre and Mike Riegel joined
the Lark Brothers for a rendition of "Sweet
Home Chicago" during a charity show at the
Terrace Bay Inn on Nov. 7.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Fans of Jim "Smiley" Lewis gathered on Nov. 7 for a tribute show which included the release of a new compact disc of the late bluesman's recordings.

Held at the Terrace Bay Inn, "Paws for the Blues" benefited the Delta Area Animal Society, Smiley's favorite charity.

Performers included headlining act the Lark Brothers, keyboardist Steve "Doc" Yankee and other musicians who played with Lewis during his four-decades long career.

Lewis, who died in 2005 at the age of 57, was a superbly-gifted singer, songwriter and guitarist who devoted himself to blues and rockabilly music.

The tribute show, following similar events in 2006 and 2007, was organized by blues enthusiast Wendy Pepin, a friend of Smiley's.

The Hip-Tonics (Mike Riegel, Jesse Pepin and Greg Ducheny) opened the proceedings with "Pipeline," a 1963 surf classic by the Chantays. Fittingly, Riegel learned the song from Smiley.

This year's program also included performances by Augie Peters and Almudena Aguirre, Old Dawgs (Fred Cavill, Dan McDonald, John Roman and Brad Gleason), ToHuboHu (John Beck, Bruce Cassell and Dave Potvin), Grassfire (Allen Stenberg, Tom Caron, Bruce Irving and Marv Anderson), Fast Eddie's Blues Blues Band (Fast Eddie Consolmagno, Kurt Touimila, Rob "Crab" Samsey and Scott Stevenson) and Red, White and Blues Band (Russ "Fingers" Fennick, Jay Olivares, Rick "Sugar White" Bailey, Jake Jacobs, and Jay "JJ" Davis).

The Lark Brothers, featuring Dave and Bill Lark, Dean Peterson, Mike Larsen and Yankee, delivered a set of blues in the afternoon and reconvened to end the evening's entertainment with several friends, including drummer Dave Cass and bassist Bob LaLonde.

Dave and Bill Lark shared a love of the blues with Smiley. At one point, they formed the Blues Bombers with drummer Craig Seckinger.

The tribute show concluded with Yankee and the Lark Brothers performing a powerful version of "Bad Dream Blues," a track from Smiley's just-issued CD, "Rebel Without a Pause."

Yankee, an East Lansing resident, plays on the studio take of "Bad Dream Blues" and several other selections on the new CD.

The disc contains seven tracks Smiley recorded at home with Jay Brodersen on stand-up bass, four songs with the Shuffle-Aires, and five numbers from a reel-to-reel tape dating from the 1990s.

Menominee musician Ron Patron plays drums on a couple of the tracks, as well.

Brodersen, who produced the recordings and penned the album's liner notes, said Smiley "was a true blues disciple who was into the blues long before it became trendy."

"He shared many stories with me of hitchhiking from Escanaba to Detroit, Minneapolis or Chicago to seek out blues bars and the musicians who played them. Many times he would be the only white person in the club, listening and learning both the music and its history," Brodersen noted.

Nearly an hour long, Smiley's CD opens with "I'm Ready" and "Keep Your Hands Off Her." By Muddy Waters and Leadbelly, respectively, the two songs were staples on Smiley's set list.

Three sterling originals follow: "Love Bug Blues," "Bad Dream Blues" and "Disappearin' Blues."

Next, Smiley covers his blues hero, Howlin' Wolf, with "Who's Been Talkin'." The traditional "Tell Old Bill" features Smiley on mandolin.

Smiley recorded a number of tunes with "Big" Al Ek and Mary Corbett as the Shuffle-Aires. He interprets "Statesboro Blues," Corbett takes the vocals on "Hollywood Bed" and "I Hear You Knockin'," while Ek sings Jim Liban's "Without Her."

With the exception of Brodersen on bass, Smiley plays all the instruments on "Route 66," originally recorded in 1946 by Bobby Troup.

Smiley also runs through B. B. King's "She's Dynamite," Bo Diddley's "You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover" and "Dirty, Low Down and Bad," by Keb' Mo', a contemporary bluesman he admired.

The disc concludes with Smiley's original, "Blacktop Blues," a long-time fan favorite.

Simply put, "Rebel Without a Pause" is a treasure. It follows the excellent 16-track "No Explanation Necessary" album which Smiley released in 1991.

Smiley's friends and fans snapped up the disc and reminisced during the get-together at the Terrace.


Steve "Doc" Yankee

Veteran musician Steve Yankee, a native of Iron Mountain, told me his friendship with Smiley began about 1974 when Lewis was gigging around Grand Rapids as a solo act.

"I was impressed with how professional he was," Yankee remembered.

For a while the two played in the Jim Galligan Band.

Not long after, Yankee, Smiley and his girlfriend moved into an apartment on Union Street in the Heritage Hill district of Grand Rapids.

Together with a second guitar player, bassist and drummer, Smiley and Yankee assembled a five-piece blues outfit, the Union Street Boogie Band.

Union Street played all over Michigan, Yankee recalled. The band even did five nights at Steve Mitchell's Stephenson Street Distillery in Escanaba, also known as The Still, in 1976.


The Union Street Boogie Band

"We did a few originals. Jim had written a fast little instrumental number we used for a break song. We did a couple of mine and a couple that one of the other band guys wrote. But mostly it was stuff Jim picked out for us," Yankee said of the group's repertoire.

According to Yankee, Union Street lasted several years, then reformed as a four-piece called Bacon Fat. "A year later we started working as the Boogie Boys, doing a duet with guitar and keys. We did that for maybe half a year, before I got married and retired from the band biz," Yankee related.

"He had exquisite taste when it came to the blues," said Yankee about Smiley, his buddy and bandmate.

With a fresh CD, a tradition of tributes featuring his musician friends, and plenty of shared memories, Smiley's legacy seems secure for years to come.

U. P. labels met local demand

Upper Peninsula-based independent record
labels, including Princeton, Peninsula, Spoke,
HerMi and Tevar, released 45 rpm singles during
the 1960s era.


By STEVE SEYMOUR

Although they were minuscule compared to Capitol, Columbia or RCA, the Upper Peninsula sported a number of independent record labels labels in the 1960s.

The U. P. labels lacked the financing and national distribution of the majors, but they weren't promoting big names like the Beatles, Bob Dylan or Elvis Presley, either.

What the small labels did, however, was offer local acts an opportunity to get their songs recorded and manufactured.

Having a 45 rpm single with their name on it distinguished those bands from their "unrecorded" brethren who couldn't brag about having a record.

The labels bore such names as Princeton, Peninsula, Spoke, HerMi and Tevar.

In fact, the labels were founded to meet the demand from the many bands which surfaced during the musically-prolific decade.

The labels allowed regional bands to have product to sell at gigs, send to booking agents and give to radio stations.

Disc jockeys of the period had some latitude in determining play lists, so many did indeed play the seven-inch vinyl offerings of local bands.

The records were generally pressed in quantities of up to 1,000 copies, sometimes just a few hundred, making many titles quite hard to find today.

Based in Marquette, the Princeton label issued at least six singles, from such acts as the French Church, "Country" Tommy James, Renaissance Fair, Mike Koda and the Executives.

Marquette's French Church recorded the debut Princeton record, "Without Crying"/"Slapneck 1943."

Little is known about "Country" Tommy James, although he apparently worked as a one-man band, and was not the same artist who recorded "Hanky Panky."

Both Renaissance Fair and the Executives hailed from Sault Ste. Marie. Renaissance Fair taped original tunes for their two 45s, while the Executives recorded cover versions of "Cara Mia" and "My Special Angel."

Mike Koda, meanwhile, recorded a song called "Let's Hear a Word (For the Folks in the Cemetery)" and went on to form Brownsville Station, famous for "Smokin' in the Boys Room."

A discography of the label, owned by Fred L. Crook, is incomplete. But, based on the catalog number of known 45s, two or three additional discs may have appeared under the Princeton imprint.

Escanaba's Peninsula Records, meanwhile, issued 45 rpm singles by local bands the Riot Squad and Prophets of Doom.

Peninsula was owned by Leon Smiltneck, brother of promoter Gene Smiltneck, who founded Bands Unlimited to book bands in the upper Midwest.

Riot Squad was the first to have product appear on the label with their cover versions of "Come On, Let's Go" and "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey."

The Prophets of Doom, on the other hand, wanted to issue original songs on their 45, according to founding member Dave Watchorn, who played lead guitar and sang for the group.

In the year before Prophets of Doom got together Watchorn met Irene L. Davis, owner of Manistique's Spoke Records.

"I was with Dave Brooks in Manistique, 'bombin' the drag' when he remembered he had to make a stop to sign some papers. Irene had papers ready for him to apply for a copyright for one of his songs. I believe it was 'Baba Do Wah.' I asked him about her after we left and he said she was a music publisher."

Later, Watchorn told Gene Smiltneck the Prophets of Doom wanted to make a record using original songs. Smiltneck told them original songs would have to be copyrighted and a music publisher would have to be found.

"I think I blew Gene away when I told him we had two songs, one of which was copyrighted, another song almost ready, and the big one, that I knew a music publisher," Watchorn recalled.

Consequently, the Prophets of Doom recorded Watchorn's "I Told You" and Brooks' "Baba Do Wah."

Both tunes were published by "Five State Music," owned by Davis, and a New York-based music publisher, "Hankbee Music."

"Irene was a big help in getting my song copyrighted and published. There are a lot of legalities and contracts involved and she and Gene shared a lot of information," Watchorn remembered.

Davis, meanwhile, issued at least three 45s on her Spoke label, none of them by Upper Peninsula acts.

The label's first release was "Suddenly Just Like That"/"Walk the Waves," by a group called the Innocence. It's uncertain where the band originated, although it was certainly outside the U. P. A second 45, "Just as Much"/"Nicotine Fit" was recorded by a Chicago group named the Society.

A third Spoke 45, "You Can't Hardly Tell"/"So Little Time," was taped by Frank Perry, who may have been from Wisconsin.

On the other hand, the obscure HerMi label was attached to just one release by the Vigilantes, a Copper Country-based rock group.

The group recorded "Warm Wind" at radio station WHDF in Houghton in 1962, and moved to the Chicago area the following year.

Drummer and founding member Jay Mihelich, who now lives in Muskegon, told me he owned the imprint along with bandmate Don Hermanson, who played guitar for the Vigilantes.

The HerMi moniker was a combination of the first few letters of their last names, Mihelich explained.

The record's label credits the song to Vic Scerney, although Phil Geratano actually composed it, Mihelich said. Mihelich learned that from his La Grange, Ill. neighbor Jim Holvay, who wrote "Kind of a Drag" for the Buckinghams.

Jim Kirchstein, owner of Cuca Records in Sauk City, Wis., where many U. P. groups recorded, was supposed to publish the song, according to Mihelich. "But, I don't think it ever was," he added.

"We pressed 1,000 copies with Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis, but there are probably less than 50 in existence as I ground up over 900 of them at our pressing plant in the early seventies," Mihelich revealed.

Menominee's Trevar label put out two 45s, both involving the local rock band Infinite Blue.

On the first disc, young folk singer Patti Whipp performed her songs "Walking"/"It's Gone," with Infinite Blue playing the instrumental backing.

In 1971, Infinite Blue released a 45 under their own name containing the songs "Black Train"/"Lies." The A side was composed by Dick Wagner of the rock group The Frost, while the flip was an original song.

The Trevar label was owned by Menominee brothers Jim and and Philip Ravet, who reversed the letters in their last name to identify their record label.

Actually, Princeton, Peninsula, Spoke, HerMi and Trevar were just some of the labels which have operated from the U. P.

Although acts which recorded for such labels may have hoped their singles would become nationally-charting hits, none did.

Those U. P. imprints, like hundreds of independent labels around the country, preserved local music from the 1960s era, then vanished.