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Jamboree (1957 film)
Encyclopedia
Jamboree is the name of a black and white 1957 rock 'n' roll motion picture directed by Roy Lockwood
that runs for 71 minutes in mono RCA
sound. Its storyline concerns a boy and girl, Pete Porter and Honey Wynn, played by Paul Carr
and Freda Holloway, who become overnight sensations as a romantic singing duo who run into trouble when their squabbling managers, played by Kay Medford
and Bob Pastine, try to turn them into solo acts. Against this backdrop in cameo performances appear some of the biggest names of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s who appear to have lip-synced to their own recordings.
that began airing over Radio Luxembourg
in 1956 (the year before this movie was released). Freed recorded his featured segment while working for WINS
in New York City
. A great rivalry developed during this time between Alan Freed and Dick Clark who appears in this film. Freed was the pioneer of rock 'n' roll movies (Rock Around the Clock
; Don't Knock the Rock
; Rock, Rock, Rock
), however, Congressional Hearings into payola
practices and radio broadasting eventually ruined Freed's career, while Clark's career continued uninterrupted.
Jamboree was essentially a music film in the manner of music videos that followed many years later on MTV
where the storyline was secondary to the musical performances, with the amateurish acting taking a definite back seat to the musical performances. However, this movie is of historical importance due to the cameo performances by various musical acts that are featured.
, who performs "Hula Love", a no. 9 hit on the Billboard pop singles chart; Jimmy Bowen
, who performs "Cross Over"; Dick Clark acting as the host for a show within the film, which was released shortly after first appearing as host of American Bandstand
on TV; Fats Domino
, who performs "Wait and See"; Charlie Gracie
(who became an even bigger hit in the UK than he was in the USA), who performs "Cool Baby"; Jack Jackson
(British bandleader who acted as the disc jockey host of the Decca
records show on Radio Luxembourg
; Jerry Lee Lewis
(who belts out "Great Balls of Fire
" in a version that is different from the Sun 45 release); Louis Lymon and the Teenchords http://tracy_prinze.tripod.com/theentertainerswelove/id32.html; Jack Payne
(another British bandleader); Carl Perkins
(who sings "Glad All Over
"); Jodie Sands
, who performs "Sayonara"; Frankie Avalon
, who sings "Teacher's Pet"; Slim Whitman
, who gathered a tremendous following in Europe, who performs "Unchain My Heart"; Aaron Schroeder
in a cameo role as the Songwriter; The Four Coins
, who perform "A Broken Promise"; and, Count Basie
and his Orchestra, featuring Joe Williams
on vocals. Connie Francis
overdubbed her vocals for Freda Holloway.
Brazilian singer Cauby Peixoto, usually compared with Frank Sinatra
for his talent, made a small appearance in this movie with the nickname Ron Coby. Cauby worked a brief rock'n'roll phasis in his career, recording "Rock'n'Roll em Copacabana", a song written by
.
The film's premise for Perkins' performance, during which he plays a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with a Bigsby tremolo bar, which ostensibly occurs in a studio used by "Pop Records", is that he is "cutting (a record) at 2:30. He rarely ever uses all of his time." Pete and Honey, "America's Sweethearts", are to use Perkins' unused time. The Carl Perkins band consisted of Carl Perkins on vocals and lead guitar, Jay Perkins on rhythm guitar, Clayton Perkins on upright bass guitar, and W.S. "Fluke" Holland on drums. Perkins was initially reluctant to appear in the film, but did so for the $1,000 it would earn him. He was given the choice of performing "Glad All Over" or "Great Balls of Fire", and thought "both of 'em was junk", but performed "Glad All Over", leaving "Great Balls of Fire" for Jerry Lee Lewis. Released as a single in November along with the movie, Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" was number 2 on the national charts for four weeks. Perkins' "Glad All Over" sank "without fanfare". "Glad All Over" was recorded by The Beatles, however, who performed the song in their concerts and first on the BBC program Pop Go The Beatles on August 20, 1963. The Beatles recorded a second version of "Glad All Over" for the Saturday Club program at London's Playhouse Theatre, which was broadcast on August 24, 1963. George Harrison and Paul McCartney sang the lead vocals. The Beatles Pop Go The Beatles version appears on Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
collection. John Lennon and Paul McCartney also based their 1964 composition "I'll Cry Instead" for the movie A Hard Day's Night
on Carl Perkins' version of "Glad All Over". The Jeff Beck Group
also recorded Carl Perkins' version of "Glad All Over" on the 1972 "Orange" album, the eponymous Jeff Beck Group (album)
, produced by Steve Cropper
. Brian Setzer
recorded "Glad All Over" on his 2005 album Rockabilly Riot!: Volume One. George Harrison
sang lead on "Glad All Over" when it was performed on the 1985 HBO/Cinemax cable concert special Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session
. "Glad All Over" was much more suitable to Carl Perkins' style than "Great Balls of Fire". "Glad All Over" backed with "Lend Me Your Comb" would be the last single released on Sun Records by Carl Perkins in 1957. In an ironic twist, Carl Perkins' "Glad All Over" became one of the most well-known and most influential songs to emerge from the movie.
Dick Clark is the host of the "second hour" of a "United Charities" Telethon to raise money to fight what is described only as "this dreaded disease". Clark is listed as a dj for WFIL
Philadelphia in the credits (at the time this was filmed, he was also hosting the original Philadelphia edition of what eventually became American Bandstand
). Clark introduces a number of disc jockey's from across the US and Canada. These djs then introduce the featured stars. Later in the film djs in Europe: Jack Jackson (ATV) and Chris Payne (BBC
) in London, England; Werner Goetze (Bayerischer Rundfunk
) Munich, and Chris Howland (Westdeutscher Rundfunk
) Cologne, Germany are shown introducing "Pete and Honey" records on the air. Finally, performances are the entertainment at a "Music Operators" convention supper. Music Operators of America was a very influenital group of jukebox owners. In 1950 there were fifty-five hundred jukebox operators servicing four hundred thousand jukeboxs in the US. They bought 150 records a week, while the average phonograph owner bought fewer than 10 per year.
Roy Lockwood
Roy Lockwood, was a pioneering British film, television and radio director.-Filmography:*1930 Counterpoint*1934 Airport*1937 The Mutiny of the Elsinore*1940 The Invisible Man Returns*1957 Jamboree-External links:...
that runs for 71 minutes in mono RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
sound. Its storyline concerns a boy and girl, Pete Porter and Honey Wynn, played by Paul Carr
Paul Carr
Paul Carr is a British writer, journalist and commentator, based in San Francisco. He has also - as Carr writes on his official website - "edited various publications and founded numerous businesses with varying degrees of abysmal failure."-Memoirs:Carr's first autobiographical book Bringing...
and Freda Holloway, who become overnight sensations as a romantic singing duo who run into trouble when their squabbling managers, played by Kay Medford
Kay Medford
Kay Medford , was an American character actress and comedienne.She was born Margaret Kathleen O'Regan in New York City to James and Mary O'Regan, first-generation Irish-American parents, both of whom had died by the time she was 15 years old...
and Bob Pastine, try to turn them into solo acts. Against this backdrop in cameo performances appear some of the biggest names of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s who appear to have lip-synced to their own recordings.
Overview
Jamboree is a film that was built upon the popularity of a name which at the time was becoming associated with rock 'n' roll music and it appears to have derived its name from a show starring disc-jockey Alan FreedAlan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
that began airing over Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
in 1956 (the year before this movie was released). Freed recorded his featured segment while working for WINS
WINS (AM)
WINS , known on-air as "Ten-Ten Wins", is a radio station in New York City, owned by CBS Radio. WINS's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and transmitting towers in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.WINS is one of the nation's oldest...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. A great rivalry developed during this time between Alan Freed and Dick Clark who appears in this film. Freed was the pioneer of rock 'n' roll movies (Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock (film)
Rock Around the Clock is the title of a 1956 Musical film that featured Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed, The Platters, Tony Martinez and His Band, and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. It was produced by B-movie king Sam Katzman and directed by Fred F...
; Don't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock is a 1957 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults...
; Rock, Rock, Rock
Rock, Rock, Rock
Rock, Rock, Rock is a soundtrack album for the motion picture of the same name and is now considered Chuck Berry's first album. Only four songs on this album actually appear in the film. Eight songs by Chuck Berry, The Moonglows and The Flamingos make up the balance of the songs...
), however, Congressional Hearings into payola
Payola
Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S...
practices and radio broadasting eventually ruined Freed's career, while Clark's career continued uninterrupted.
Jamboree was essentially a music film in the manner of music videos that followed many years later on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
where the storyline was secondary to the musical performances, with the amateurish acting taking a definite back seat to the musical performances. However, this movie is of historical importance due to the cameo performances by various musical acts that are featured.
Featured stars
Included in Jamboree are Buddy KnoxBuddy Knox
Buddy Knox was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1957 rockabilly hit song, "Party Doll".-Biography:...
, who performs "Hula Love", a no. 9 hit on the Billboard pop singles chart; Jimmy Bowen
Jimmy Bowen
Jimmy Bowen is an American record producer and former pop music performer.Bowen was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He began as a teenage recording star in 1957 with "I'm Stickin' With You," originally the flip side of the hit record "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox, but ultimately a Top 20 recording...
, who performs "Cross Over"; Dick Clark acting as the host for a show within the film, which was released shortly after first appearing as host of American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
on TV; Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, who performs "Wait and See"; Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie is an American rock pioneer and singer. He was born the same day as another rock and roll singer, Bobby Darin.His father encouraged him to play the guitar...
(who became an even bigger hit in the UK than he was in the USA), who performs "Cool Baby"; Jack Jackson
Jack Jackson (British radio)
Jack Jackson was a British trumpeter and bandleader who became a highly influential radio disc jockey....
(British bandleader who acted as the disc jockey host of the Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
records show on Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
; Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
(who belts out "Great Balls of Fire
Great Balls of Fire
"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 song recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer...
" in a version that is different from the Sun 45 release); Louis Lymon and the Teenchords http://tracy_prinze.tripod.com/theentertainerswelove/id32.html; Jack Payne
Jack Payne
Jack Payne was a British dance music bandleader.-Career:John Wesley Vivian Payne was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the only son of a music warehouse manager...
(another British bandleader); Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
(who sings "Glad All Over
Glad All Over (Carl Perkins song)
"Glad All Over" is a song written by Aaron Schroeder, Sid Tepper, and Roy Bennett and recorded by rockabilly artist Carl Perkins, "The Rockin' Guitar Man", at Sun Records in 1957. It was released as a 45 and 78 single on January 6, 1958...
"); Jodie Sands
Jodie Sands
Jodie Sands was an American popular singer, who hailed from Philadelphia.She had only one major hit, "With All My Heart," which reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1957...
, who performs "Sayonara"; Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
, who sings "Teacher's Pet"; Slim Whitman
Slim Whitman
Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr. , known professionally as Slim Whitman, is an American country music singer and songwriter, known for his yodelling abilities. He has sold in excess of 120 million albums in unit sales and has had numerous successful recordings...
, who gathered a tremendous following in Europe, who performs "Unchain My Heart"; Aaron Schroeder
Aaron Schroeder
Aaron Schroeder was an American songwriter and music publisher.-Biography:Born Aaron Harold Schroder , he graduated from the school now known as the Fiorello H...
in a cameo role as the Songwriter; The Four Coins
The Four Coins
The Four Coins were a popular vocal group, consisting of Jimmy Gregorakis, George Mantalis, and brothers George and Jack Mahramas. They were all of Greek heritage and came from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania...
, who perform "A Broken Promise"; and, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
and his Orchestra, featuring Joe Williams
Joe Williams
Joe Williams may refer to:* Cyclone Joe Williams , Negro Leagues baseball pitcher, a.k.a. "Smokey Joe" Williams* Joe Williams , achieved prominence in the late 1950s* Big Joe Williams , delta blues singer...
on vocals. Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
overdubbed her vocals for Freda Holloway.
Brazilian singer Cauby Peixoto, usually compared with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
for his talent, made a small appearance in this movie with the nickname Ron Coby. Cauby worked a brief rock'n'roll phasis in his career, recording "Rock'n'Roll em Copacabana", a song written by
The film's premise for Perkins' performance, during which he plays a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with a Bigsby tremolo bar, which ostensibly occurs in a studio used by "Pop Records", is that he is "cutting (a record) at 2:30. He rarely ever uses all of his time." Pete and Honey, "America's Sweethearts", are to use Perkins' unused time. The Carl Perkins band consisted of Carl Perkins on vocals and lead guitar, Jay Perkins on rhythm guitar, Clayton Perkins on upright bass guitar, and W.S. "Fluke" Holland on drums. Perkins was initially reluctant to appear in the film, but did so for the $1,000 it would earn him. He was given the choice of performing "Glad All Over" or "Great Balls of Fire", and thought "both of 'em was junk", but performed "Glad All Over", leaving "Great Balls of Fire" for Jerry Lee Lewis. Released as a single in November along with the movie, Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" was number 2 on the national charts for four weeks. Perkins' "Glad All Over" sank "without fanfare". "Glad All Over" was recorded by The Beatles, however, who performed the song in their concerts and first on the BBC program Pop Go The Beatles on August 20, 1963. The Beatles recorded a second version of "Glad All Over" for the Saturday Club program at London's Playhouse Theatre, which was broadcast on August 24, 1963. George Harrison and Paul McCartney sang the lead vocals. The Beatles Pop Go The Beatles version appears on Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
Live at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by The Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 through 1965. The monaural album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks...
collection. John Lennon and Paul McCartney also based their 1964 composition "I'll Cry Instead" for the movie A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
on Carl Perkins' version of "Glad All Over". The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group were an English rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy sounding blues and R&B was a major influence on popular music.- The first Jeff Beck Group :...
also recorded Carl Perkins' version of "Glad All Over" on the 1972 "Orange" album, the eponymous Jeff Beck Group (album)
Jeff Beck Group (album)
Jeff Beck Group is the fourth studio album by The Jeff Beck Group and the second album with the line up of Jeff Beck, Bobby Tench, Clive Chaman, Max Middleton and Cozy Powell...
, produced by Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
. Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
recorded "Glad All Over" on his 2005 album Rockabilly Riot!: Volume One. George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
sang lead on "Glad All Over" when it was performed on the 1985 HBO/Cinemax cable concert special Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session
Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session
Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session was a concert that was held on 21 October 1985 in London England, and featured rock n' roll pioneer Carl Perkins and his house band, along with friends as guest stars, including Eric Clapton, former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as Dave...
. "Glad All Over" was much more suitable to Carl Perkins' style than "Great Balls of Fire". "Glad All Over" backed with "Lend Me Your Comb" would be the last single released on Sun Records by Carl Perkins in 1957. In an ironic twist, Carl Perkins' "Glad All Over" became one of the most well-known and most influential songs to emerge from the movie.
Dick Clark is the host of the "second hour" of a "United Charities" Telethon to raise money to fight what is described only as "this dreaded disease". Clark is listed as a dj for WFIL
WFIL
WFIL is a radio station and a former television station serving the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its transmitter is located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania....
Philadelphia in the credits (at the time this was filmed, he was also hosting the original Philadelphia edition of what eventually became American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
). Clark introduces a number of disc jockey's from across the US and Canada. These djs then introduce the featured stars. Later in the film djs in Europe: Jack Jackson (ATV) and Chris Payne (BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
) in London, England; Werner Goetze (Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...
) Munich, and Chris Howland (Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
) Cologne, Germany are shown introducing "Pete and Honey" records on the air. Finally, performances are the entertainment at a "Music Operators" convention supper. Music Operators of America was a very influenital group of jukebox owners. In 1950 there were fifty-five hundred jukebox operators servicing four hundred thousand jukeboxs in the US. They bought 150 records a week, while the average phonograph owner bought fewer than 10 per year.
External links
- "Glad All Over" on the website The Beatles Bible: http://www.beatlesbible.com/tag/glad-all-over/.