Freddy Cannon was born Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. in 1939 in Massachusetts.
He grew up listening to Rhythm and Blues.
After graduating from high school in 1955, he recorded his first song "Cha Cha Do".
He became a success from his many appearances on "American Band Stand".
His hits include "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".
Freddy is still performing today.
Note...I knew Freddy's little sister Mary Lou when I used to roller skate at the rink my dad worked at in North Hollywood in the 1960's. Never did meet Freddy though.
Actually, since Dolly is still going strong, this is not really a "Do You Remember" because I think just about everyone knows Dolly.
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in Tennessee in 1946. She is one of twelve children born to a poor tobacco farmer and his wife.
Before she could read or write, she was making up her own songs. She got her first guitar at age 8 and by age 11, she was singing on a Knoxville, TN radio station.
The day after she graduated from high school in 1964, she moved to Nashville
In 1967 she had recorded her first two songs "Something Fishy" and "Dumb Blonde". Porter Wagoner heard hear and hired her for his TV show.
In 1974 Dolly left Porter to go solo and the rest is history.
She has recorded many songs, won many awards and has starred in several movies, my favorites being "Best Little Whorehouse In Texas" and "9 To 5".
In 1986 Dolly opened an amusement park in Pigeon Forge, TN as a way to give back to her roots. The park is called "Dollywood".
Some of Dolly's biggest songs include "Coat of Many Colors", "Jolene" and the theme song to the movie "9 To 5". But her biggest his will always be "I Will Always Love You".
Annette Joanne Funicello was born in New York in 1942.
At age 12 in 1955, she because one of the original Mouseketeers on "The Mickey Mouse Club".
Besides being on the TV show, she also sang and starred in some "beach" movies with Frankie Avalon.
Annette is now wheelchair bound due to multiple sclerosis and it was rumored in 2009 that she had died from her disease, however, the rumor was not true.
She never really had any "huge" hit songs as she was more known for being a Mouseketeer and her movies, however, here one song that did well was "Tall Paul".
Conway Twitty was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in 1933.
He was both a "rock & roll" singer (1950's) and a country singer (1960's to 1990's).
Conway had many hit songs during his career.
He teamed up with Loretta Lynn for several of his hits.
Conway passed away in 1993 from an abdominal aortic aneurysm while on tour.
Some of his hits included songs like "Hello Darlin'", "That's My Job", "Tight Fittin' Jeans", "Linda On My Mind", and "Slow Hand". My favorite was "It's Only Make Believe".
After a week of temperatures in the 100+ range, we finally had a nice cool summer day. Ben had to work today so I headed over to Placerita Canyon for a 2 1/2 mile hike this morning. Temps were in the mid-60's and the sun barely peeked out from the marine layer. Things are still dry and brown in the canyon, but it was nice to get outside since I've been cooped up the house all week with the A/C.
Bobby Darin was born Walden Robert Perciville Cassotto in The Bronx in 1936.
Bobby started his music career by writing songs and later started singing his own songs.
He also did some acting.
In the early 1970's he had several heart surgeries and died of heart disease in 1973.
Among his many hits were "Splish Splash", "Mack The Knife", "Beyond The Sea" and my favorite "Dream Lover".
Barbara Ann Mandrell was born on Christmas Day in 1948 in Texas. Her family was a "musical family".
She was reading music and playing accordion by the age of 5.
Six years later, she was playing steel guitar for Joe Maphis in his Las Vegas act.
Barbara can also play the saxophone and banjo.
As a child she toured with superstars like Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and many others.
In the 1980's she and her sisters Louise and Irlene had one of the highest rated TV shows of that time.
Barbara retired from the music business in 1997 to spend more time with her family.
She had many hit songs such as "Sleepin' Single In A Double Bed", "Crackers", "If Loving You Is Wrong" and "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool".
We are in a flash flood warning right now, but I don't think we will get any rain. It is raining out in the high dessert in some places. The wind is kicking up out there too. We drove up to Agua Dulce to look at the thunder clouds.
Bobby Rydell (born Robert Louis Ridarelli) was born in 1942 in Philadelphia, PA.
In 1950 he competed on an amateur talent show and came in first place, which won him a permanent place on the show. He stayed with the show for 3 years and changed his name to Bobby Rydell.
In 1959 he recorded "Kissin' Time" which launched his career and made him a teen idol at age 17.
Some of his other songs were "We Got Love", "Wild One" and "Swingin' School".
His biggest hit was "Volare".
Bobby still performs today.
Brian Hyland was born in Queens, NY in 1943.
He studied guitar and clarinet when he was a child and sang in his church choir.
His first single "Rosemary" came out in 1959.
He had songs like "Sealed With A Kiss".
His biggest hit was recorded when he was 16 in 1960. It was "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini".
Hyland continues to tour internationally with his son Bodi, who assists on drums from time to time.
John Royce Mathis was born in Texas in 1935. He was the 4th of 7 children.
When he was a small boy, his family moved to San Francisco where Johnny learned an appreciation for music.
At age 13, he began to take voice lessons.
In 1955, Johnny began singing in clubs on the weekends.
In 1956, he recorded his first record. He also started working with Mitch Miller and recorded "Wonderful Wonderful" and "It's Not For Me To Say".
From then on, Johnny's career took off and he is still going strong today.
He's had many songs including "Misty", "The Twelfth of Never" and "Chances Are".
Jerry Butler was born in Mississippi in 1939.
He was the original lead singer of the "Impressions".
Jerry started out singing in church.
Today, Jerry serves as a Commissioner in Cook County, IL where he is a member of this 17-member county board, he chairs the Health and Hospitals Committee, and serves as Vice Chair of the Construction Committee.
He can also sometimes be seen on PBS when they have their "Doo Wop" revivals.
Jerry is know for songs like "For Your Precious Love" and "He Will Break Your Heart".
Connie Francis (Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero) was born in New Jersey in 1938.
She had attended Newark Arts High School for awhile before her family moved to another town. After high school, she continued to perform at various functions.
Her first record "Freddy" was recorded in 1955 and was a flop.
She met Bobby Darin and his manager, who took her under their wing and helped promote her. Connie and Bobby had a romantic relationship until her father ran Bobby away at gunpoint.
In 1958, she recorded "Who's Sorry Now" and appeared on "American Bandstand". She became one of the biggest selling female singers of the time.
She also appeared in several movies but never really made it as an actress.
In later years, Connie had financial and business problems leading to several lawsuits.
Today she still sings all over the world to the delight of her fans.
Some of Connie's other songs were "Lipstick On Your Collar", "Breaking In A Brand New Broken Heart", "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You", "Stupid Cupid" and my favorite "Where The Boys Are".
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney was born in Connecticut in 1940.
Gene started singing at a young age.
He and some high school friends put a band together.
He had a record contract in 1957 and 1958, but never really got anywhere until 1961.
He recorded several songs..."Only Love Can Break A Heart", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"...but his biggest hit was "Town Without Pity".
Gene passed away in 2006 at the age of 66 from heart disease while on tour in the UK.
Ritchie Valens (Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes) was born in Pacoima, CA in 1941.
(Ben and I lived in Pacoima for 11 years before we moved to where we live now)
Ritchie started singing at age 5. He played the trumpet and the drums and a neighbor helped him restring an old guitar and taught Ritchie how to play it.
He played at family parties and other small functions.
In 1958, he was playing at a matinee movie theater when he was discovered and signed to a recording contract.
His most famous record was "La Bamba" and he also had a hit song called "Donna", which he wrote for his girlfriend.
In 1959, Ritchie was killed in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper.
Del Shannon was born in Grand Rapids, MI in 1934.
He worked during the day as a truck driver and moonlighted in a night club until he hit it big with the song "Runaway" in 1961.
In the 1970's, Del's career began to slow down due to alcoholism.
In 1990, Del committed suicide with a .22 caliber rifle at his home in Santa Clarita, CA which is the city I live in. I just now found out from researching the Internet that this is where he died.
It was 70 degrees already when I got up this morning at 6:00 a.m. It is now a little after 10:30 a.m. and it is 87 degrees and humid. As I've said before, here in SoCal, we usually do not get much humidity. As far back as I can remember, our summers have been hot and dry, but each year, we seem to be getting more and more humid during the summer. I took some photos of the sunrise this morning from my front porch and the very last photo was taken from Discovery Park while I was out for my morning walk.
Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett Spector (born 1943), her sister Estelle Bennett born (1941) and their cousin Nedra Talley (born 1946) were The Ronettes.
They began to sing together in Manhattan, NY.
Their grandmother entered them in a talent show contest at the Apollo Theater in 1959, which they won.
They had many hits during their career with the biggest being "Be My Baby".
Ronnie married Phil Spector the record producer.
Estelle passed away in 2009.
Ronnie is still in the business.
William Jan Berry born in 1941 and Dean Ormsby Torrence born in 1940 became Jan & Dean from the late 1950's into the mid-1960's.
They were both born in Los Angeles, CA and met in high school while playing football.
Their biggest hits were "Surf City", "Deadman's Curve" and "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena".
In 1966, Jan Berry was almost killed in a car crash at the real "Deadman's Curve" in Los Angeles. He received severe head injuries and was never the same. He died in 2004 at the age of 62.
Dean Torrence still travels around the country singing his "surf songs".
When I got up this morning at 6:15 A.M. it was 62 degrees. Weatherman says it's going to be 102 degrees here in Canyon Country, CA. I got out early for my walk. Only did 1 mile this morning because I had to get back and clean the small bathroom. After breakfast, I went outside and put some bird seed out for my little feathered friends and filled the hummingbird feeder. It is now a little after 10:00 A.M. and it is already 80 degrees.
We just got back from the "proverbial Sunday Drive". It's very hot out there. Right now as I look at our indoor/outdoor thermometer on the living room wall, it shows that it is 97 degrees out on the patio.
I took a couple of photos over near Vasquez Rocks County Park in Agua Dulce, CA while on our drive.
Kathy Young born in Santa Ana, CA in 1945
At the age of 15 in 1960, she recorded "A Thousand Stars" with a group called the Innocents
In 1971, she moved to Central California where she lived for 20 years and worked on her family's citrus ranch.
In 1994, she moved back to the Los Angeles area where she still lives. She works for a major international company but still sings in her spare time. She travels around the country doing "oldies shows".
.jpg)
+Berries.JPG)
