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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Georgia man recalls recording legendary singer-songwriter Roy Orbison


Aztec man recalls recording legendary singer-songwriter Roy Orbison

By James Fenton The Daily Times

Sharon and Jake Hottells perform a duet together on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013, at their home in Aztec. (Augusta Liddic The Daily Times)
 
AZTEC — As a teen in the early '60s, Jake Hottell cast a wish that he would one day meet legendary singer-songwriter Roy Orbison.
A little more than a decade later, he met The Big O.
Hottell, 67, served in Korea as an Army electronics engineer and recorded Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis in Nashville, Tenn. Now he runs his own recording label and publishing company in Aztec. When he is not busy promoting healthy eating at area schools, he plays duets on the guitar with his wife.


In high school, Hottell played rock 'n' roll and was a big fan of Orbison, Buck Owens and Hank Williams. He had a rock band that practiced in his mother's Aztec flower shop.
"We were sitting in the flower shop, and I said, 'I know that if we could meet Roy Orbison, he would help us make it,'" said Hottell, who graduated Aztec High School in 1965. "And isn't it amazing that I ended up working for Roy Orbison? I didn't even know he was in Nashville."
Hottell landed a big break when he began work as head engineer at Orbison's Nashville studio.
It was there he engineered Orbison's country-inflected, back-to-roots 1970s album, "I'm Still in Love with You."


He recorded many others, including Jessi Coulter (Waylon Jennings' wife), the Statler Brothers (backing vocal group for Johnny Cash) and Latin American country star Johnny Rodriguez.
But it was his affiliation with Orbison, the legendary singer behind the dark shades whose baritone voice fueled songs of regret and dreams, that clearly meant the most.
Orbison, known for his demanding studio preferences, especially his dislike of track overdubbing. The album Hottell recorded for Orbison involved more than 30 musicians -- Orbison, band and orchestra section
-- all at once.
 
 
"That was an extremely demanding session for the engineer, trying to have everything work for all those musicians in a single take," Hottell said.
He became friends with Orbison and his family, but it was the music that Hottell said was really was special.
"One day I got the chance to drive over to Orbison's four-story mansion, next door Johnny Cash's, just outside Nashville," he said. "He and I went into his writing room and for the entire day, we wrote songs together."
No songs from that day resulted in a chart-busting hit, but Hottell cherishes the experience, despite the challenges.
"I would work over 100 hours each week at the studio, in that smoke-filled control room," he said. "I didn't drink or do drugs, but a lot of folks did. They're all dead now."
After years working behind the recording console, Hottell is committed to promoting greater health.
"I had a number of inoculations from the Army and worked in a factory that produced the 'selective weed killer,' known as Agent Orange," he said. "By the time I was 36, I had bad rashes and acid burns on my face and arms. I had daily migraines. My liver was in bad shape."
He and his wife, Sharon Hottell, credit chlorophyll, a barley-grass supplement called Green 


Roy Orbison, right, with his father, Orbie Lee Orbison, in an undated photo. Jake Hottell worked as an engineer at Orbison's Nashville studio in the 1970s. (Augusta Liddic The Daily Times)

Monday, August 26, 2013

Joe Mazza, Show Will Be Missed

ust learned that another of those rare folks 'of another era' has passed away. You probably never heard of JOE MAZZA. He had what would best be described as a nostalgia radio show for 20 years but it certainly wasnt something the mainstream media would pick up. So, Mazza was relegated to small stations on a talk radio network. we were lucky to pick up one of these stations on regular radio (before internet radio really developed) .  Sometimes the signal was week  or non existent .

Mazza was one of those unique iconoclasts, much like Huell Howser was to travel talk (Howser also passed recently at about the same age as Mazza and you can read and see wonderfully, unique style,too, @ http://bayareabackroads.blogspot.com).  Mazza, much like Howswer had a unique delivery as well as an accent , which only added to the charm. while some wrote them both off as overly enthusiastic we thought it most refreshing in an era of cookie cutter, boring interviewers. Mazza and Howser were personalities in their own right, even though they weren't trying to be such.

They say the celebrities from the 50s and 60s loved coming on Mazza's little show because he was 'generous' to them -see (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2011/05/10/joseph_f_mazza_66_radio_host_charmed_listeners_with_nostalgia/

As a sidelight , I had a good friend,  PW, who also loved the show. It was fun to talk to her about Joes latest guests but, even more, Mazza's unique and unintentional style. He had is trusty dog , Sebastian 'the wonder dog' by his side. We wondered why we hadn't heard much from Mazza of late. Now we know. Joe actually passed back in 2011 and, very sadly, PW passed not long after -and about the same time as two other of my young friends, and worse I won't boreyou with. yet people probably still wonder why I often look back. 

well, it's just one more good element missing now from today. And, because of Mazza's narrow audience and scope it's hard to find any you tubes or tapes of him, though I have some cassettes ill try  to upload, if possible. One has to sometimes wonder why folks like Mazza and Howswer 'go out ' so early. perhaps could it be , in part, to not fitting in or being questioned by today's mainstream people who write them off as 'loons' totally unjustly? Just a comment we had to make as society becomes increasingly more homogenized with fewer and fewer REAL personalities. When it comes to interviewing, there's really nobody left since they pushed Larry King off CNN in favor of a boring Young Brit. Fortunately, we do have now Internet radio, which gives us 'outsiders' some options. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

RARE MOMENTS WITH THE KING - ELVIS BACKSTAGE, on Milton Berle

RARE MOMENTS WITH THE KING BACKSTAGE - Elvis on Milton Berle Show Elvis Helps Milton about Girls ELVIS Rare Moments with the king video 1

Monday, August 19, 2013

'55 FLEETWOOD CADILLAC REMINDS NEW OWNER OF MARILYN MONROE, 'WONDERFUL ERA'

-OR- TOP 10 REASONS TO BUY A 1955 CADILLAC FLEETWOOD
 
Tony Lukaszewski of Walnut Creek shows his 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan, which has been repainted the original color called Pacific Coral with a Cape Ivory top. (Photo by David Krumboltz) . Otherwise the rest of the car is original with only 55,000 miles, Kukaszewski is the fourth owner.    All of the big three auto manufacturers had spectacular models   but 'Cadillac firmly established itself as 'Standard of the World,' eclipsing Packard, in  1955.
 Foreign  luxury cars were not yet a major factory in this country, says David Krumboltlz , in his article  appearing int he Contra Costa Times newspaper.  
'Luke' as he's known bought the car for the color, mainly. The car /'reminds me of a wonderful era. It's funny how cars mirror women, and to me this car reminds  me of the MARILYN MONROE-era, especially the coral-and-ivory color.' The Fleetwood was synonomous with top-of-the-line  Cadillacs. To identify it as a 1955 Fleetwood, the car had 12 vertical chrome hash marks plus a Fleetwood script on the trunk lid. The car measures nearly 19 feet  as campared to 16 feet for similar models today. It weighs 4,545 pounds -almost   2  1/2 tons.
There were 18,000 of these Fleetwoods produced. This model sold for $4,728,
(SEE ELVIS' SIMILAR '55 FLEETWOOD BUT PINK, PICTURED IN PREVIOUS POST)



 The 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan sports an air scoop. (Photo by David Krumboltz)


 



Air vents are visible inside the 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan. (Photo by David Krumboltz)




1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan features an electronic eye headlight dimmer. (Photo by David Krumboltz)



 The gas cap is hidden behind a taillight on the 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan. (Photo by David Krumboltz)




 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan's spacious interior. (Photo by David Krumboltz)
 (sounds like a commercial, doesn't it)






The 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan has a spacious interior. (Photo by David Krumboltz)
Four feet for your two legs, or something like that. Back seats were not an afterthought in these days.




The 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan has been repainted the original color called Pacific Coral with a Cape Ivory top. (Photo by David Krumboltz) We see the use
of 'fender skirts' over the tires , here, mentioned in a previous article




 The radiator and the grille on the 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood four door sedan. (Photo by David Krumboltz)


Monday, August 12, 2013

ART LABOE - Last of the West Coast Original DJs, First to Play Rock and Roll and other Firsts



Rare interview , below, with the great ART LABOE, still going strong with his 'lowrider oldies' niche programming in LA @ http://youtu.be/YbIdmFrZCcw Didn't know he started at KSAN in SF with Jumpin George Oxford and then the first to play rock and roll on west coast at Scrivner's drivein. Talks about 'inventing' 'Oldies but Goodies' and his other 'firsts' . Now all the other LA originials are gone - Huggy Boy, Hunter Hancock, Wolfman, etc. Laboe recounts his colorful LA radio history. May he continue on long...









Laboe broadcast from Scrivner's Drivein, Los Angeles

DJs used to do a lot of remote broadcasts. Here Laboe did a regular gig at Scrivner's Drive In.
On a personal note I remember as a kid visiting Los Angeles at the Roosevelt Hotel(?) and hearing a DJ broadcast from Dophin's (?) across the street on Hollywood Blvd, I believe. Exciting stuff


The  recently passed, great CLEVE DUNCAN, second from leflt, and his PENGUINS (Earth Angel)
doing record shop promo in the 1950s.


The Penguins were the biggest thing to hit L.A., with Earth Angel as Rock and Roll and
rythm and blues intersected in 1955. Laboe was there to capture the Penguins and sign them to his Oldies but Goodies.
Another new piece of info for me, was that Laboe was the one to put out the great early '60s 'Memories of El Monte' single and album by the Penguins. The song paid tribute to a very popular stadium for early rock and roll shows, just outside of Los Angeles. The song was written by none other than 13 year old Frank Zappa. 




Listen closely to the lyrics of Memories of El Monte and , even if you weren't there at the time,  you can
get a feel for what it might have been like at County Legion Stadium, El Monte, CA



Bob Keane, who had his own record label, DelFi, in Los Angeles, where he was also a big part of the LA scene and no doubt a part of Laboe's circle. Keane discovered and recorded Richie Valens and Sam Cooke among others


Laboe's famous series that originated in the early '60s. This was Volume 1 of many.  Artists were
many of the aforementioned local artists.


Home of 'Oldies But Goodies'


L:aboe with another great local DJ  via Philadelphia, Dick Clark

Whereas Laboe had a more normal vocal syle, 'Jumpin' GEORGE OXFORD had a real unique 'jive'  broadcast, also of KSAN, where Laboe began. 
Oxford might argue  that HE was the first West Coast DJ to bring R and B together with Rock and Roll, though
he's not around to protest. He may have been as big or bigger in the San Francisco Oakland
area in the mid 1950s as Laboe was in Los Angeles. He would move to KDIA in Oakland  where he emphasized the R and B sound at one of the first black oriented stations.
Hear Oxford's 'black' sound, by clicking on his face, above



Laboe was the ALAN FREED of the West Coast with his oldies shows. San Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Little Richard, Richard Berry, Jesse Belvin,  the Shields, The Larks along with the Penguins  were among the popular West Coast artists who would perform on such bills



Thursday, August 1, 2013

A Real Oldie but Goodie - ROAD TO SUCCESS Celebrating 100 Years - FOLLOW!


Wishing You  HAPPY DAYS



The Original ROAD TO SUCCESS Poster
Now Celebrating it's 100th Year!

Back for a limited engagement, our famous Road To Success print approx 26" x 17",
circa 1913, pointing the way to true success. Boy, does the world need this today! 
It can be yours for a mere $15 or two for $20 plus $5 shipping
- We're been selling them since 1982 and still have some remaining from 30 years
so send now.. Makes great gift for students , business or anyone seeking the true path
to success (You'll  love all anachronistic   expressions of the day.


LIKE POLITICS BUT HATE WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING?
 LIKE SPORTS BUT HATE PEDs IN BASEBALL? 
LIKE WORDS OF WISDOM IN PICTURES AND CARTOONS? 
Then follow the complete blog,
and 





Pray More, Worry Less, Laugh More, Stress Less,
Hug More and Hurry Less





The World Needs More Mayberry and Less Honey Boo Boo



LIKE POLITICS BUT HATE WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING?
 LIKE SPORTS BUT HATE PEDs IN BASEBALL? 
LIKE WORDS OF WISDOM IN PICTURES AND CARTOONS? 
Then follow the complete blog,
and