MUSIC FOR ROMAN HANDS

Photo found by Pea Hix

Well, today I did what I wished someone had done for me when I needed it. During the course of the day I reminded a half dozen guys that it was Valentines Day and they better get their squeeze something or suffer the consequences. While flowers or candy (or booze, if I know my demographic) might do it, what to do once you've handed over the goods? Try putting one of Reverend Tom Frost's Bloody Love mixes. Three different mixes of vintage make out soundtracks, roughly three hours worth. That's enough time for you to git down and have a post-coital smoke. Seal the deal with Ronnie Self's "You're So Right For Me".

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ronnie Self - You're So Right For Me mp3 at Rocky-52.net
The mixes:
A Bloody Love Mix: Part 1 at Spread the Good Word
A Bloody Love Mix: Part 2 at Spread the Good Word
A Bloody Love Mix: Part 3 at Spread the Good Word

FIND YOUR SELF IN A BOX

Ronnie Self is one of those second tier rockabilly guys that's just beyond the Sun Records mob cognition sphere. You have to get past the more recognizable names and delve a little deeper. In other words, cheat and buy a few rockabilly compilations with a bunch of names you don't know, play them a few dozen times and then walk around like some big shot know-it-all. You ought to at least check the songs below. Holy shit, "Bop-A-Lena" is all-time. Wild, crazy and everything in between. Really, one of those songs that doesn't let up. No fade out, vocals end, a couple more bars, and done. Imagine that coming from a guy who, when playing live, didn't stop for chatter or introductions. Just bam, bam, bam, from one song to the next without stopping (according to his sister's account at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame). And then this, explaining the photo above (courtesy Deke Dickerson) "Ronnie Self was so wild, and moved around so much while singing, that producer Owen Bradley forced Self to stand inside a cardboard box while recording–the only way to keep him on-mic." What a nut!

Speaking of Deke Dickerson, as happens periodically when I come across his name, I was again sucked into his web. You could spend a good amount of time just at his official site. Don't miss the liner notes he's written for reissues (Gene Vincent! Davie Allan! More!), or his blog (dormant, but still worth checking out if you haven't already). Now he's gone all modern with a Tumblr page. In addition, there's a bunch of well recorded live shows at the Internet Archive. Dude doesn't sit still.

If you've been poking around here for a while, you know that I've posted Ronnie Self's stuff before, as well as Dickerson's. As a consolation, there's a few other cuts down there of other rockabilly singers with the surname Self, including Ronnie Self's son Roman who gets it down particularly well for a modern era rockabilly singer.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Ronnie Self - You're So Right For Me mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Ronnie Self - Ain't I'm A Dog mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Other Selfs:
Mack Self - I Vibrate mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Alvie Self - Let's Go Wild mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Roman Self - Big Fool mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
G.Self - Roll On, Big Mama (streaming) at YouTube

HERE'S YOUR KISSY KISSY POO POO

Being that I've not had a squeeze on Valentines Day more often than I've had one, I don't have a lot of experience in this field, never been very clear on what all the lovey dovey protocol is. Let me see if I've got this straight, you buy chocolates that taste like crap, buy flowers that will eventually die, go to a fancy dinner that you can't really afford, and top it all off with red stuff all over the place? Really? That's what you do to tell someone you love them? Like rolled tacos with guacamole and a six pack isn't romantic? Never could figure those courting rituals out. That said, who am I to stand in your way? I know it's already the day of, and late in the day at that, but they may help you close the deal. Two mixes over at the hibernating Spread the Good Word, just perfect for your petting party. They're streaming, but you can just turn down the lights and tell your partner you moved the stereo. Good mixes too, go there and check the song lists.  There's a few single songs down there too. Is that what's called foreplay?

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ronnie Self - You're So Right For Me mp3 at Rocky-52.net
The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Girl Jukebox
Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love? mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Little Willie John - Fever mp3 at Clones Project
The mixes:
A Bloody Love Mix Part 2 at Spread the Good Word
A Bloody Love Mix Part 3 at Spread the Good Word

SELF HELP

For some weird reason Ronnie Self's "Bop-A-Lena" ran through my head today. So, here's a few from him. They've been posted before, but fuggit, "Bop-A-Lena" came calling. That was his biggee, written by Webb Pierce and Mel Tillis, and it was his only song to chart back in the day (1958), but not for lack of trying. He kept at it, recording sporadically in ensuing years. Despite having recorded at Sun, having other sessions produced by Dale Hawkins, having Grady Martin on hand for a session or two, and writing songs recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent, his most noteworthy credits (for chart watchers anyway) were the two Brenda Lee hits he wrote, "I'm Sorry" and "Sweet Nothin's".

Here's wHere my heartstrings were pulled, his sister Vicki's recollection of his live show (courtesy of the always dependable Rockabilly Hall of Fame): "He'd start at the far back of the stage, throw his guitar over his back and run out to the mike, grab the mike stand and go right down on the floor with it and sing the first song. That was how he'd start. He'd never stop moving on stage ... He'd turn around with his back to the audience and face the band - but he never stood still. He'd never talk to the crowd, just went from one song to another but the band never knew what it was gonna be." Aw hell, sign me up.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Ronnie Self - You're So Right For Me mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Ronnie Self - Ain't I'm A Dog mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Visit:
Ronnie Self at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame

LAST MINUTE DOG HOUSE PASS

Did you forget what day it is? Depending on what time zone you're in, this might be too late. A preemptive kiss up should have been posted last night, but I was too busy getting off on the Invictas. Regardless, if you're in the dog house, this might be your only chance for redemption. So here's a few sweets for your special someone. If you need to make your point with gusto, I'd start the plea Ronnie Self or the Sonics, move on to the mix from Funky 16 Corners and seal the deal with Phil Phillips. And, you can always lay it on real thick by handing over the mixes from Romeo Reverend Tom Frost that were posted a few days ago. But, as you can probably guess, I'm the last person you should take this sort of advice from.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ronnie Self - You're So Right For Me mp3 at Rocky-52.net
The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Girl Jukebox
Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love? mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Little Willie John - Fever mp3 at Diddywah
Phil Phillips - Sea of Love mp3 at Diddy Wah
Five more lovey doveys at Diddy Wah

Mixes:

Funky 16 Corners' Dance of Love - 18 song soul heavy mix from loverboy Larry Frank Wilson, Charlie Rich, Darrell Banks, Jackie Wilson, Eddie Bo and Inez Cheatham, Charlie Earlands Erector Set, JJ Barnes, Spinners, Sand Pebbles, Platters, Lee Dorsey and Betty Harris, Len Barry, Producers, Lee Williams and the Cymbals, Broadways, Velvelettes, Soul Brothers Six, Wilson Pickett

Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 3

John Buck & The Blazers, Bobby Freeman, Dorsey Burnette, Donnie & Ronnie, the Del-Vikings, Don Johnston, Marvin Rainwater, Piano Red, B.B. King, Ann Cole, the Valentinos, Soul Brothers Six, the Duetts, the Highway Q.C.'s, Del Shannon, Tom Reeves, Jimmy Kirkland, Lord Creator, Johnny Burnette, Sanford Clark, Eddie Cochran, the Four Dreamers, and the Animals

Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 2
The Cramps, the World Famous Upsetters, Ronnie Love, Lavern Baker, Mickie Most & His Playboys, the Mustangs, the Righteous Brothers, Johnny Cash, the Wild Ones, Etta James, Benny Joy, Elvis Presley, Roy Hamilton, Bracey Everett, Shouting Thomas Torment, Billy Fury, Little Willie John, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Renato Carosone, Irving Aaronson & His Commanders, Ric Cartey, and the ever amorous Wild Man Fischer.

BACK OFF ROMEO

I just ran into a post on a blog that mentioned someone with the last name of Self. If you're into rockabilly, you might have had the same sort of association that I did. I immediately thought of Ronnie Self, a rockabilly second stringer who released two songs that have ended up on more than a few rockabilly compilations, "Bop-A-Lena" and "Ain't I'm a Dog," along with a host of other solid rockabilly records. Before I even started poking around, I told myself that if I found them posted by this French guy named Rocky, I would take the opportunity to sing his praises. Why? Because in this house, Rocky (of Rocky-52.net) is a fiend by which all fiends are measured. And guess what? Good ol' Rocky had the only three Ronnie Self songs I could find posted anywhere. And it didn't surprise me. The man is a saint, Rocky-52 that is. Primarily into rockabilly and country and western, he has space on his palet for assorted other genres like Western swing, hillbilly, early rock 'n' roll, and the odd surf, blues and what not. His site looks pretty basic, but do a little digging and you'll be blown away at how much stuff is on there. Just click on "discography" (on the menu on the left side of his home page), pick an artist. If there's a speaker icon, there's an mp3. He's got a lot of top shelf stuff. About Ronnie Self: you can read about him at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, but do give his stuff a listen; especially "You're So Right For Me" which features the most self defeating delivery of any courtin' song I've ever heard. Dude sounds fucking crazy.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ronnie Self - You're So Right For Me mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Ronnie Self - Ain't I'm A Dog mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Visit:
Ronnie Self at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Rocky-52.net Note: Click on discography, pick an artist. If there's a speaker icon, there's an mp3.