Книга: Tommy James «Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James&The Shondells»

Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James&The Shondells

Производитель: "Неизвестный"

Everyone knows the hits: a??Hanky Panky,a?? a??Mony Mony,a?? a??I Think Wea??re Alone Now,a?? a??Crimson and Clover,a?? a??Crystal Blue Persuasion. a?? All of these songs, which epitomize great pop music of the late 1960s, are now widely used in television and film and have been covered by a diverse group of artists from Billy Idol to Tiffany to R. E. M. Just as compelling as the music itself is the life Tommy James lived while making it. James tells the incredible story, revealing his complex and sometimes terrifying relationship with Roulette Records and Morris Levy, the legendary Godfather of the music business. Me, the Mob, and the Music is a fascinating portrait of this swaggering, wildly creative era of rock a??na?? roll, when the hits kept coming and payola and the strong-arm tactics of the Mob were the norm, and what it was like, for better or worse, to be in the middle of it. ISBN:1439172889

Издательство: "Неизвестный" (2011)

ISBN: 1439172889

Tommy James

"For the football player of the same name see Tommy James (football player)."

Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson, 29 April 1947, Dayton, Ohio) is an American pop-rock musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as leader of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells. Tommy currently resides in Monroe, Wisconsin.

Early life and career

In 1958, when Tommy was eleven, his family moved to Niles, Michigan. In 1959, when he was twelve, James formed his first band called Tom and the Tornadoes. In 1963, the band changed their name to The Shondells. By 1964, a local DJ at WNIL radio station in Niles formed his own record label, Snap Records. The Shondells were one of the local bands the DJ recorded at WNIL studios. One of the songs was the Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich ditty "Hanky Panky," which was recorded as The Raindrops. The song was a hit locally, but the label had no resources for national promotion and it was soon forgotten.

In 1965, a DJ in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, found a copy of "Hanky Panky" and played it as a station "exclusive." Listener response was positive, with many wanting to know where they could get a copy of the "new" single. Another DJ started playing the song at local dance parties. Responding to the demand, a local bootlegger taped the song off the radio and began pressing copies of it. Eventual sales of the bootleg were estimated at 80,000. Pittsburgh DJ "Mad Mike" Metro tracked down Tommy James and informed him that his record was No. 1 in the city. James almost hung up on Metro, but was convinced to come to Pennsylvania and make appearances promoting the surprise hit. Soon, James was in New York, selling the original master of "Hanky Panky" to Roulette Records. By the late summer of 1966, it was the top-selling single in the nation.

Tommy James and the Shondells

The Shondells had long since broken up, and did not wish to reform in order to travel to Pittsburgh. James flew there solo, and hired a local band named The Raconteurs to become the replacement Shondells. The group needed a follow-up and selected a song called "Say I Am (What I Am)". Although not as successful as "Hanky Panky", it reached #21 on the charts later in the same year.

Roulette assigned songwriters Richie Cordell and Bob King the task of writing songs for Tommy James & The Shondells. From 1967 to 1969, the group turned out hit after hit on the Roulette label, including six more that made it to the top ten: "I Think We're Alone Now", "Mirage", "Mony Mony", "Crimson and Clover" (the group's second and final U.S. #1 hit), "Sweet Cherry Wine", and "Crystal Blue Persuasion".

olo

In early 1970 the illegal drugs that Tommy James injected into his system took its toll when, during a concert, James collapsed and was pronounced "dead" at the scene. James cheated his death, however, and refused to perform for a time. He survived by vegetating and moving to the suburbs. Hating the recording studio, James decided that there would be no future for the Shondells after his semi-retirement. Tommy James and The Shondells broke up in 1970. James then went solo and had two further chart hits with "Draggin' the Line" (Writen by Bob King) (#4 in 1971) and "Three Times In Love" (#19 (Adult Contemporary #1) in 1980). James has had twenty three gold singles, and nine gold and platinum albums. He also wrote and produced the million-selling 1970 hit "Tighter, Tighter" for the group Alive 'N Kickin' (Writen by Bob King).

In October 2007, Tommy James and the original Shondells reunited in a New Jersey studio to record once again.

Miscellany

The song "Mirage" uses the chords and structure of "I Think We're Alone Now" in reverse. It was created when the original was played backwards during a writing session.

The song "Smokey Roads" on their 1968 album Crimson and Clover (album) begins with a backwards masked quotation from An Address by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Aug. 12, 1855. Played in reverse, one hears: "Extricate the quadruped from the vehicle, and constabulate him to something nutritious, and when the aurora rises in the heavens, I will return and compensate thee amply."

Tommy James and the Shondells' "It's Only Love" album cover was the first professional photo shoot by Linda Eastman McCartney in 1966.

Tommy James and the Shondells declined an invitation to play at the Woodstock Festival on the advice of their agent, who felt it would be a career killer.

Several bands have covered James' hits. Joan Jett (managed by former Shondell Kenny Laguna) had a top ten with "Crimson and Clover" in 1982. In November of 1987, Tiffany and Billy Idol had back-to-back #1 hits with their respective cover versions of "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony."

In 1987, "Hanky Panky" resurfaced in the parody "Homer Hanky," released during the Minnesota Twins' run to the World Series.

More recently, in 2006 Finnish garage rock trio The Micragirls included a cover of one of The Shondells' lesser-known recordings 'Go Go Gorilla' on their LP 'Feeling Dizzy Honey'.

When James went solo in 1970, Shondells bass player Mike Vale and Shondells drummer Pete Lucia formed Hog Heaven, and released one album for Roulette Records.

olo discography

1970 "Tommy James"
1971 "Christian of the World"
1972 "My Head, My Bed & My Red Guitar
1976 "In Touch"
1977 "Midnight Rider"
1980 "Three Times in Love"
1989 "Tommy James - The Solo Years"
1990 "Hi-Fi"
1993 "Discography: Deals and Demos"
1996 "A Night in Big City"
1997 "Tommy James Greatest Hits Live!"
2005 "Sweet Cherry Wine" (CD single)
2005 "Isn't that the Guy" (CD single)
2006 "Lupe & Joe" (MP3 single)
2006 "Love Words" (CD Single)
2006 "Hold the Fire"

James himself had thirteen charting solo singles, with the three highest-charting being 1971's "Draggin' the Line" (#4), 1980's "Three Times in Love" (#19), and 1971's "I'm Comin' Home" (#40).

External links

* [http://www.tommyjames.com Official Website]

Источник: Tommy James

См. также в других словарях:

  • Crimson and Clover — For the album, see Crimson and Clover (album). Crimson and Clover Album cover for Crimson Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells …   Wikipedia

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