Del Shannon was born this day in 1934

Del Shannon was born this day in 1934 in Grand Rapids, MI.  He was born Charles Weedon Westover and changed to his stage name at the time of his record deal with Bigtop Records in 1960.  His biggest hit came the following year in 1961 with "Runaway" which hit the top of the charts.  He followed with hits like "Hats Off To Larry" and "Little Town Flirt".  He's also the first American artist to cover a Beatles song.  His version of "From Me To You" hit the US charts before The Beatles original version did.  Here's a look back at some of his great tunes...

"Runaway"

"Little Town Flirt"

"Hats Off To Larry"

"From Me To You" (Beatles cover)

"She" (also covered by The Monkees)

"Sea Of Love" (produced by Tom Petty)

Happy Birthday Scotty Moore!!

Guitarist Scotty Moore was born this day in 1931 near Gadsden, TN.  Scotty is best known for his work with Elvis Presley from the beginning of his career through the early Hollywood film years.  He's ranked 29th in Rolling Stones' list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2011.  His solo album from the 60's says it all...The Guitar That Changed The World.   Enjoy some clips of Scotty below...

"Lawdy Miss Claudy" with Elvis

"Heartbreak Hotel"

Scotty on meeting Elvis

"That's All Right" with Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney plays a return gig at The Cavern in 1999

This day in 1999, Paul McCartney returns to The Cavern after 36 years for a special live performance.  McCartney focused on tunes from his recently released Run Devil Run but also threw in some gems like "Twenty Flight Rock" and "I Saw Her Standing There".  Those 2 took him back to his days with The Beatles playing there over 3 decades before.  His band also featured Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Deep Purple's Ian Paice.  There were roughly 300 packed in the Cavern but it was also broadcast on the internet as well as released on DVD later.  Enjoy some video footage from that historic night here...

"Twenty Flight Rock"

"Fabulous/ I Saw Her Standing There"

"Honey Hush"

"No Other Baby"

Brian Setzer Orchestra- Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN 2013

Brian Setzer once again brought his Orchestra of Rockabillies to the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN for 2 nights (December 8th and 9th).  Our "rockabilly reporter" Jen Allen managed to not only go to both shows but catch some great moments on film.  Thanks for rockin' the town and giving us a great snapshot (several actually) of these shows.

Unreleased Johnny Cash album from the '80's being released March 25, 2014

Out Among The Stars is a collection of unreleased tracks Johnny recorded with Billy Sherrill from sessions in 1981 and 1984.  Waylon Jennings and June Carter Cash appear on this project as well.  Johnny's son John Carter Cash discovered the recordings in 2012 and with the help of Marty Stuart, Buddy Miller, Jerry Douglas and others helped finish off the recordings.  Here's the track listing for this upcoming release:

1. Out Among The Stars
2. Baby Ride Easy (Feat. June Carter Cash)
3. She Used To Love Me A Lot
4. After All
5. I’m Movin’ On (Feat. Waylon Jennings)
6. If I Told You Who It Was
7. Call Your Mother (written by Johnny Cash)
8. I Drove Her Out Of My Mind
9. Tennessee
10. Rock and Roll Shoes
11. Don’t You Think It’s Come Our Time (Feat. June Carter Cash)
12. I Came To Believe (written by Johnny Cash)

Christmas tunes from Billy Burnette

Hear a couple of rockin' Christmas tunes from Billy Burnette.  First up is one he did just a couple of years back.  Remember when The Beach Boys redid their classic "Little Deuce Coope" to make it a holiday classic "Little Saint Nick"?  Billy did the same approach by reworking the title cut of his latest project "Rock & Roll With It" to make it a Christmas holiday song called "Rock and Roll In Christmas".  Hear it HERE.

Also, here's Billy at age 7 performing "Hey Daddy (I'm Gonna Tell Santa On You)" which was his first recording.

B-side- "Santa's Coffee"