Gene Vincent

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm your host, Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will I discuss the highlights of the career of Gene Vincent, the American rockabilly singer whose swaggering, black-leather-clad image defined the look of the rock rebel!  

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott.  The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John.  It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then. 
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Transcript

Thank you for that introduction, and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm your host, Jumpin' John, and this podcast episode will be devoted to rockabilly singer Gene Vincent!

Vincent Eugene Craddock was born on February 11th, 1935, in Norfolk, Virginia.  He grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry, and his musical influences included country, rhythm and blues, and gospel.  In 1952 Craddock dropped out of high school at the age of 17, and enlisted in the United States Navy.  Since he was under the age of enlistment, his parents signed the forms allowing him to enter.  He never saw combat, but completed a Korean War deployment.  Craddock had planned a career in the Navy, but in 1955, while he was in Norfolk, his left leg was shattered in a motorcycle accident.  He spent time in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, where the doctors saved his leg.  Unfortunately, the injury left him with a limp and pain, and he wore a steel sheath as a leg brace for the rest of his life.  While recuperating in the hospital, he passed the time playing guitar and was medically discharged from the U.S. Navy.  

By 1956 Craddock was involved in the local music scene in Norfolk, and he tried his hand at country music.  He changed his name to "Gene Vincent" and formed a rockabilly band, Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.  Blue Caps was a term used in reference to enlisted sailors in the U.S. Navy.  The initial band lineup included "Wee" Willie Williams on rhythm guitar, "Jumpin'"Jack Neal on upright bass, "Be-Bop" Dickie Harrell on drums, and "Galloping" Cliff Gallup on lead guitar.  Vincent and His Blue Caps soon gained a reputation playing in various country bars in Norfolk.  There they won a talent contest organized by a local radio DJ, Bill "Sheriff Tex" Davis, who then became Vincent's manager.

The writing of the song "Be-Bop-a-Lula" is credited to Gene Vincent and his manager, "Sheriff Tex" Davis.  Evidently the song originated in 1955, when Vincent was recuperating from the previously-mentioned motorcycle accident at the U.S. Naval Hospital.  There he had met Donald Graves, who supposedly wrote the words to the song while Vincent wrote the tune.  "Sheriff Tex" Davis allegedly bought out Graves' rights to the song, and had himself credited as the lyric writer.  In early 1956, Gene Vincent performed the song on a radio show in Norfolk, Virginia.  "Sheriff Tex" Davis arranged for a demo of the song to be made, which was passed on to Capitol Records, who were looking for a young singer to rival Elvis Presley.  Capitol invited Vincent and His Blue Caps to record the song, and it was recorded at the Bradley Studios in Nashville, Tennessee on May 4th, 1956.  

Gene Vincent secured a contract with Capitol Records and signed a publishing contract with Bill Lowery of the Lowery Group of music publishers in Atlanta, Georgia.  Capitol producer Ken Nelson put "Be-Bop-a-Lula" as the B-side of Gene's first single, "Woman Love".  Prior to the release of the single, Bill Lowery pressed promotional copies of "Be-Bop-a-Lula" and sent them to radio stations throughout the country.  By the time Capitol released the single on May 22nd, 1956, the B-side "Be-Bop-a-Lula" had already gained attention from the public and radio DJs.  The song would spend 20 weeks on the Billboard pop chart.  In the U.S. "Be-Bop-a-Lula" peaked at #7 on the Billboard pop music chart, #8 on the R&B chart, and #5 on the Country & Western Best Seller chart.  It also reached #5 and spent 17 weeks on the Cash Box chart.  In the U.K., it peaked at #16 in August 1956.  Paul McCartney has said that "Be-Bop-a-Lula" was the first record he ever bought.  In April 1957, Capitol announced that over 2 million copies had been sold to date.  

Here is Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps' version of "Be-Bop-a-Lula":

Vincent was featured singing the song in the movie The Girl Can't Help It, which was released in December 1956.  The movie, staring Jayne Mansfield, showed Gene performing "Be-Bop-a-Lula" with the Blue Caps in a rehearsal room.  Also having cameos in the movie were Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, The Platters, and Fats Domino.  By March 1957 the film had reached England, and the film's influence on rock music is significant.  John Lennon had said that, as a 16-year old, he was enthralled to see his American rock and roll heroes performing in that movie.  When 15-year old Paul McCartney first met John Lennon he demonstrated his musical prowess to Lennon by performing "Twenty Flight Rock" in a manner similar to how he had seen it played by Eddie Cochran in The Girl Can't Help It. 

"Be-Bop-a-Lula" launched Vincent's career as a rock and roll star and drew comparisons of Gene Vincent to Elvis Presley.  The song is listed at #103 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".  In 1999, the 1956 recording of the song on Capitol Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  "Be-Bop-a-Lula" has been covered by numerous and varied artists.  The Everly Brothers, Cliff Richard and The Drifters (who would later be known as The Shadows),  Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were just a few of those who covered the tune.

His Blue Caps, who Rolling Stone magazine has described as [and I quote] "the first rock and roll band in the world" [end quote], would undergo occasional personnel changes.  Willie Williams and Cliff Gallup left the band late in 1956.  They were replaced by Paul Peek and Russell Williford respectively.  Williford played and toured Canada with Vincent in late 1956, but left the group in early 1957.  Gallup came back to do the next album and then left again.  Williford came back and exited again before Johnny Meeks joined the band as lead guitarist.  

After "Be-Bop-a-Lula" became a hit, Vincent and His Blue Caps released the single "Race With the Devil", which reached #96 on the Billboard chart and #50 on the Cash Box chart.  On August 13th, 1956 Capitol released Bluejean Bop!, the debut studio album by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.  That LP featured rock and roll music as well as covers of pop standards, and the single, "Bluejean Bop" reached #49 on the Billboard chart.  

On March 4th, 1957 Capitol released his second album, Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps.  Cliff Gallup was persuaded by producer Ken Nelson to temporarily rejoin for the sessions that resulted in that album.  In July 1957 the group had another hit with the single "Lotta Lovin'".  "Lotta Lovin'" reached #7 on the Billboard R&B chart and climbed to #13 and spent 19 weeks on the Billboard pop chart.  It also hit #17 and spent 17 weeks on the Cashbox chart.  Vincent was awarded gold records for two million sales of "Be-Bop-a-Lula", and 1.5 million sales of "Lotta Lovin'".  Also in 1957 he toured the east coast of Australia with Little Richard and Eddie Cochran, drawing audiences totaling 72,000 to their Sydney Stadium concerts. 

Another single, "Dance to the Bop", was released by Capitol Records on October 28th, 1957.  On November 17th, 1957, Vincent and His Blue Caps performed the song on the nationally broadcast television program The Ed Sullivan Show.  The song spent nine weeks on the Billboard chart and peaked at #23 on January 23rd, 1958.  "Dance to the Bop" reached #36 and spent eight weeks on the Cashbox chart.  It was Vincent's last American hit single.  The song was used in the movie Hot Rod Gang for a dance rehearsal scene featuring dancers doing the West Coast Swing.  Vincent and His Blue Caps also appeared several times on Town Hall Party, California's largest country music barn dance, held at the Town Hall in Compton, California.  However, by the end of 1959 the Blue Caps were no longer part of the billing on Gene Vincent records.  The late 1959 single "Wild Cat" was credited solely to Gene Vincent, and this would be the case on all subsequent Gene Vincent releases.

A dispute with the US tax authorities and the American Musicians' Union over payments to his band led Vincent to leave the United States for Europe in December.  On December 15th, 1959, Vincent appeared on Jack Good's TV show, Boy Meets Girl, his first appearance in England.  He wore black leather, gloves, and a medallion, and stood in a hunched posture.  Good is credited with the transformation of Vincent's image into the rock and roll rebel:  mean, dangerous, and dressed in black leather.  After the TV appearance he toured France, the Netherlands, Germany, and the U.K. performing in his leather stage clothes.  On April 16th, 1960, while on tour of England, Vincent and Eddie Cochran were involved in a high-speed traffic accident as passengers in a private-hire taxi.  Vincent broke his ribs and collarbone and further damaged his weakened leg.  Sadly, Cochran suffered serious brain injuries and died the next day.  Vincent returned to the United States after the accident.  Be sure to check out Rock and Roll Flashback podcast episode number 45 for my review of the career of Eddie Cochran.

Promoter Don Arden persuaded Vincent to return to the U.K. in 1961 to do an extensive tour in theatres and ballrooms.  That year he also toured South Africa.  The next four years were spent in England performing when asked and making records that didn't sell.  In 1962 he performed at The Cavern in Liverpool and was also on the same bill as the Beatles in Hamburg, Germany.  His Capitol Records contract expired in 1963, so after the overwhelming success of the 1961 and 1962 tours, Vincent moved to Britain in 1963.  He then toured the U.K. again that year.  However, Vincent's worsening alcohol problems marred the tour, resulting in problems both on stage and with the band and management.  He was drinking heavily to cope with the pain in his leg. 

Despite his on-stage bad boy persona, off-stage Gene Vincent was usually polite and humble.  However, he occasionally lost his cool and brandished firearms.  On the 1962 U.K. tour, Vincent allegedly pulled a gun on fellow musician Terence Jet Harris.  In 1963 Vincent appeared in court for pointing a gun at his then-wife Margaret Russell and threatening to kill her.  In 1968 in a hotel in Germany, Vincent tried to shoot bassist Paul Raven.  While recording in Los Angeles in 1969, he threatened to get a gun from his car and shoot producer Paul Rothchild and drummer John Densmore if they didn't leave the recording studio.  

In 1966 Vincent signed with Challenge Records in Los Angeles.  However, Vincent's attempts to re-establish his American career in folk rock and country rock would prove unsuccessful.  He is mainly remembered today in the United States for those recordings of the 1950's and early 1960's released by Capitol Records.  Unfortunately, touring and drug and alcohol abuse eventually took their toll.  In 1969 he played the Toronto Peace festival, but was lost among John Lennon, the Doors, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis.  After his 1969 tour of the U.K., due to pressure from his ex-wife Margaret Russell, from the Inland Revenue, and from promoter Don Arden, Vincent returned to the U.S.  By 1970 he had again returned to England, but in 1971 left again for the United States in failing health.  An attempt to land a new recording deal failed.  After a string of unsuccessful appearances at the San Francisco Park Festival he returned to his home in Los Angeles.  Soon after, he was admitted to the Inter-Valley Hospital in New Hall, California with a bleeding stomach ulcer.  On October 12th, 1971 Gene Vincent died at the age of thirty-six.

Gene Vincent pioneered the style of rockabilly.  His chart career was brief, especially in his home country of the United States, where he notched three top 40 hits in 1956 and 1957, and never charted in the Top 100 again.  In the U.K., he was a somewhat bigger star, racking up eight top 40 hits from 1956 to 1961.  He also was a big star in France.  Because of his raw, intense vocal style and his wild performance energy, Gene Vincent was sometimes referred to as the "Screaming End".  Vincent was the first inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame upon its formation in 1997.  The following year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Vincent has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In 2012, a special committee retroactively inducted his band, the Blue Caps, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Vincent.  On September 23rd, 2003, Vincent was honored with a Norfolk's Legends of Music Walk of Fame bronze star embedded in the Granby Street sidewalk. 

Thank you for listening to another episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, where I discussed the highlights of the career of Gene Vincent, the American rockabilly singer whose swaggering, black-leather-clad image defined the look of the rock rebel!  In 1957 a 12-year old Geoffrey Arnold Beck was fascinated when he saw the film The Girl Can't Help It, with Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps (and guitarist Cliff Gallup) performing "Be-Bop-a-Lula".  Thirty-six years later, on June 29th, 1993, Jeff Beck and the Big Town Playboys released Crazy Legs, a studio album covering Gene Vincent songs.  The album is considered to be a tribute to Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, and in particular to Vincent's early guitarist Cliff Gallup, who Beck recognized as one of his biggest influences.  I will close out this podcast with the first cut from Beck's album Crazy Legs, called "Race With the Devil".  So, fellow time travelers, may your path be smooth and your music always be rockin'!  And until next time...Rock On!