The 1970’s Most Underrated Songwriter
Sometime in 1971, I got home from work and found a case of expensive wine from someone named Bill Parsons at my front door. Well, the only Bill Parsons I had ever met was the guy who supposedly had written and sung the country/rock crossover hit All American Boy over ten years earlier. But, I didn’t... Read the full story
Music of the 1960’s: What Was It???
In the four decades that followed the First World War, each calendar decade had only a couple types of music that were really popular, and usually one of those was so predominant that it defined the decade. But, by the time the 1960’s rolled around, there were so many genres of popular music, none... Read the full story
The Greatest Old-time Rock and Roll Songwriter
If we define (as I always do) “old-time” rock & roll as the period from the mid-1950’s to the “British Invasion” of the mid- 1960’s, then there is no doubt that the partnership of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller was most influential in terms of their proliferation of songs written and their... Read the full story
The Greatest Old-time Rock and Roll Guitar Player
No single person invented Rock-and-Roll, although Little Richard Penniman and Bill Haley, early on, had the right idea of how to combine the chord pattern of Rhythm & Blues (that used the chords of the earlier Blues) with the melody notes that came more from Country or Swing than from Blues, along... Read the full story
The Greatest Old-time Rock and Roll Duet
In the early days of Rock and Roll, there were dozens upon dozens of top hits sung by duets. In many cases, the duos were mediocre artists who simply recorded catchy tunes; and in some cases the duos were quite talented. But, there is no duet in the history of rock and roll that had the musical talent... Read the full story
Dave Hammer: How The Beatles Changed Rock & Roll
I define “old-time rock and roll” as encompassing the period of 1955 to 1963 that mostly utilized two basic chord patterns. The first was the normal 12-bar blues pattern that may have originated in the cotton fields: I/ I/ I/ I/ IV/ IV/ I/ I/ V/ IV/ I/ I/. (Musicians use Roman numerals to denote... Read the full story
Ralph Hammer: Dragony Guitars
“In 1998 I started searching for a D’Angelico arch top guitar, Gibson Super 400 or L5 to add to my vintage guitar collection. After years of searching and being unable to find a good performance guitar, I heard one of Joe Dragony’s arch top instruments at a live performance. Soon after, I met with... Read the full story
The Greatest Old-time Rock and Roll Musician
No one could argue about Elvis being the most popular rock-and-roll entertainer; let’s face it, he sold over one BILLION records. Despite his stage presence and velvet voice, I don’t think he was a great musician. No one could argue whether Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder had singing abilities and... Read the full story
Dave Hammer’s Top 50 Rock and Roll Classics
Some people say that rock and roll began with the Chords singing Sh-Boom, but I can’t buy the idea that it was rock and roll. I believe it all began in 1955 when Little Richard Penniman screamed “a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-bam.” Incidentally, Tutti Frutti’s lyrics are, to this day, misinterpreted... Read the full story
