Ray Scott

Ray Scott born 26 March 1926

 

 

 

 Born Harold Raymond Scott in Bicknell, he was a somewhat reclusive character, whose musical career began around 1953, when he started writing songs. In an interview with Now Dig This (issue 143, February 1995), Scott recalled how he came to write "Flyin' Saucers Rock n Roll". Standing outside his car at a drive-in movie, Ray saw an UFO flying in 1952. "It was very high and I found out later that it was seen 300 miles to the South and 350 miles North at the same time I saw it. It was all lit up and it was shaped like a cigar. It was travelling at a speed unknown at that time - I'd been in the Navy and nobody had anything flying that fast back then. It disappeared in the East in what seemed like 30 / 40 seconds. I never reported it, but I read about it in the papers the next day."

 

 Scott wrote the song in 1956 and the next year it was recorded by Billy Riley. A genuine rockabilly anthem.  It is believed that Ray recorded a demo of the song for Sun records but as yet it still remains undiscovered. From Indiana, Ray settled in Memphis in the mid-50s and sent several demos to Sam Phillips. One of his compositions, "Tonight Will Be the Last Night", was recorded by Warren Smith in 1956, though it was not released until the 1970s, the golden decade for rockabilly archaeology. Ray's demo of this song can be heard on "That'll Flat Git It, Vol. 17" (Bear Family BCD 16405), after lingering in the Sun vaults for 45 years. Another well-known composition by Ray is "You're the One That Done It", Thomas Wayne's first record for Fernwood (1958), also released on Mercury. Lattie Moore recorded "100,000 Women Can't Be Wrong", which he co-wrote with Scott. So much for Ray Scott as a songwriter.

Rock Around the Clock

 

 

Marshall Lytle, 'Rock Around the Clock' Bassist, Dead at 79 Musician recorded influential Fifties track with Bill Haley and the Comets
Marshall Lytle, whose snappy bass work anchored Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock," died Saturday at his home in New Port Richie, Florida. He was 79. According to The New York Times, Lytle died of lung cancer.
Lytle was a teenage guitar player working at a Chester, Pennsylvania, radio station when Haley, who worked at another station, recruited him to play bass. Lytle notably didn't play the instrument, but Haley taught him the rudiments of slap-bass in a 30-minute session. The technique was key for country music, which was the focus of Haley's band – then known as Bill Haley and His Saddlemen.

Leroy Van Dyke

 Leroy Frank Van Dyke (born October 4, 1929) is an American country music and honky-tonk singer and guitarist, best known for his hits "The Auctioneer" (1956) and "Walk on By" (1961). 

Born in Missouri, Van Dyke originally wanted to be a farmer. He earned a degree in agriculture and journalism at the University of Missouri, where he first began playing guitar. His uncle had been an auctioneer, and Van Dyke himself studied livestock auctioneering and worked as an auctioneer for a time. Following graduation, he worked as a newspaper reporter. Sent to Korea during the Korean War, he began performing for his peers and wrote "The Auctioneer," which recalled Van Dyke's uncle and was dedicated to his cousin. The song contains passages of actual auction calls. 

Following military service, Van Dyke returned to journalism in Chicago but kept up his performing career, appearing on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee television show. In 1956, he entered a talent contest on Chicago radio station WGN, performing "The Auctioneer." DJ Buddy Black signed up as Van Dyke's manager and slipped in a document giving himself co-writing credits and half the royalties for the song. Released as a single on the Dot label, the song hit the pop charts in late 1956 and appeared on the country charts in early 1957, where it climbed to the Top Ten.