Covered: Jesse Stone: 1942-1985

Until a few days ago (writing this in May 2025), I had never heard of Jesse Stone. But I found out about him while research possible additional subjects for my Covered series on well-covered songwriters. What really caught my eye was that he was the one who wrote the song "Shake, Rattle and Roll." That was one of the most pivotal songs that launched the popularity of rock and roll music. Rolling Stone Magazine has rated it as 127 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

But while Stone is best known for that song, he wasn't a songwriting one-hit wonder. Ahmet Ertegun, the head of Atlantic Records, the most important R&B record company in that era, once stated that "Jesse Stone did more to develop the basic rock and roll sound than anybody else."

Stone's music career went way back. He actually came from a family who put on minstrel shows, and began performing at the age of four! His first big success as a songwriter came with the song "Idaho," which sold over a million copies in 1942. That's not really a style of song I like, but I've included it since it was a pivotal song in his career. Things got more interesting as the rock and rock era dawned in the early 1950s. Another big success for him was "Money Honey" by the Drifters, which Rolling Stone Magazine also put on their list of the top 500 greatest songs of all time. "Flip, Flop and Fly" by Big Joe Turner and "Don't Let Go" by Roy Hamilton were also especially big hits.

Stone had his own career as a singer, as well as a producer and arranger. He had a fine voice, but never had any hits of his own. He certainly stood out for being a successful Black songwriter in the 1950s when there were very few others. (Although Otis Blackwell comes to mind as another key exception.) His success as a songwriter petered out in the early 1960s as musical styles change. Most of these songs are the original versions, except for the last three, which came significantly later. He died in 1999 at the age of 97.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on him:

Jesse Stone (musician) - Wikipedia

This album is 47 minutes long. 

01 Idaho (Benny Goodman with Dick Haymes)
02 Cole Slaw [Sorghum Switch] (Louis Jordan)
03 Losing Hand (Ray Charles)
04 Money Honey (Drifters)
05 Shake, Rattle and Roll (Bill Haley & His Comets)
06 As Long as I'm Moving (Ruth Brown)
07 Razzle-Dazzle (Bill Haley & His Comets)
08 Flip, Flop and Fly (Big Joe Turner)
09 Crazy, Crazy Party (Cues)
10 Don't Let Go (Roy Hamilton)
11 Love Is A-Breakin' Out (Roberta Sherwood)
12 Red Hot Love (Billy Williams)
13 Private Eye (Buddy Wilkins)
14 Like a Baby (Elvis Presley)
15 Smack Dab in the Middle (Ray Charles)
16 Your Cash Ain't Nothing but Trash (Steve Miller Band)
17 Liptstick, Powder and Paint (Shakin' Stevens)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/AhbgKxJs

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/BtYyaOvcEyjyV9q/file

I don't know much about the cover photo except that it looks to be a promotional photo from the 1950s. It was originally in black and white, but I colorized it using the Krea AI program.

Various Artists - Covered: Fats Domino & Dave Bartholomew, Volume 1: 1949-1989

It's been a long time since the last time I posted something new for my long-standing "Covered" series. But never fear. This series will never die, not as long as I can help it. ;) I enjoy writing songs myself, so I really appreciate talented songwriters. And that's what this series is about, highlighting the songs of the best songwriters through cover versions others have done of their songs.

In most cases in the Covered series so far, the songwriters had most of their hits done by others, such as the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. But in the case of the songwriting team of Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino had a couple dozen big hits with these songs. Bartholomew also had a solo career, but he just dabbled in that with a small number of records compared to Domino, and didn't have any big hits. However, I wanted to post something from this team, because I get the impression that Domino's songwriting talent isn't well known, compared to say, Chuck Berry from the same era, and Bartholomew's contribution is even less known. I've found enough material for two volumes.

Domino had most of his hits in the 1950s and early 1960s. They were such big hits that I think it took a while before many people decided to make their own versions. So even though this volume begins way early, in 1949, with the songs in chronological order, it quickly moves to the 1970s and after. I didn't include any of Domino's own versions, since the whole point is to highlight these songs through cover versions. However, I did include one song recorded by Bartholomew, since few people have heard his stuff. 

If you want to know more about these two, here are their Wikipedia pages:

Fats Domino - Wikipedia

Dave Bartholomew - Wikipedia 

Domino and Bartholomew had a long and fruitful songwriting collaboration, from Domino's first hit in the late 1940s until 1963, when Domino finally switched record companies. That put him in a different company than Bartholomew and effectively ended their partnership, although it seems they stayed on good terms. That probably was a bad move on Domino's part, since that's when his hits stopped, although the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion coming the next year probably was a big factor as well. Generally speaking, the songs co-written by both of them were recorded by Domino. But Bartholomew was a producer as well, and he had a number of hits done by others, such as "I Hear You Knocking" and "One Night." Domino died in 2017, and Bartholomew died in 2019.

I'll have more to say in Volume Two. This volume is 44 minutes long.

01 3 x 7 = 21 (Jewel King)
02 Toy Bell (Bees)
03 I'm in Love Again (Fontane Sisters)
04 Shrimp and Gumbo (Dave Bartholomew)
05 I'm Walkin' (Ricky Nelson)
06 The Big Beat (Del Vikings)
07 Witchcraft (Elvis Presley)
08 Let the Four Winds Blow (Searchers)
09 The Land of a Thousand Dances (Wilson Pickett)
10 I Hear You Knocking (Dave Edmunds)
11 Grow Too Old (Bobby Charles)
12 I'm Ready (Band)
13 Sick and Tired [Return of Django] (Neville Grant)
14 Ain't That a Shame (John Lennon)
15 Blue Monday (Cat Stevens)
16 The Fat Man (Robbie Robertson)
17 One Night (Joe Cocker)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17301673/COVRDDOMINBARTH1949-1989Volum1_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Fo5fETaQ

I couldn't find any good photos of Domino and Bartholomew together when they were young (although I did find a good one for Volume 2), so I had to make one from scratch. I took a photo of Domino and another of Bartholomew and put them together. The one of Domino was in color, but it clearly was colorized by someone before I got my hands on it. I adjusted the colors somewhat to hopefully make the colorization less obvious. I took a black and white photo of Bartholomew and colorized it. He's in a grey jacket and Domino is in a blue one.

UPDATE: On September 29, 2024, I upgraded the photo with the use of the Krea AI program.