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Lest We Forget

Greene County Gold Remembers Those Who Have Gone On To Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven

Jimmy Dean

Singer/Songwriter/Actor best known for the 1961 hit "Big Bad John"

1928 - 2010

Jimmy Dean, best known in music circles for his hit "Big Bad John", passed away Sunday, June 13, 2010.  He was 81 years young.

Dean was born in Plainview, Texas in 1928.  He dropped out of school after the 9th grade. However his mother instilled a love of music in him, teaching him to play piano.  Dean went on to teach himself how to play guitar, harmonica and accordion.

Sixteen year old Dean joined the Merchant Marines and two years later enlisted in the United States Air Force.  While he was stationed in Washington, DC he performed with a group known as the Tennessee Haymakers.  After leaving the Air Force, Dean formed his own group, The Texas Wildcats.

He scored a few minor hits during the 1950's, including "Bummin' Around" for "Four Star Records".  During this time he also secured a television variety show.

But it wasn't until he wrote and recorded a song about a coal miner that his career really took off.  According to legend, Dean was flying out to a recording session and needed one more song for the album.  He began working on a story song about a man from "New Orleans" that stood six foot six and weighed 245.  He finished the song in less than two hours and it became "Big Bad John" which eventually went #1 on both the pop and country charts in 1961.  "Big Bad John" also earned Dean a Grammy.  Other hits followed, including "P.T. 109" (about John F. Kennedy), "Little Black Book" and the sequel to "BBJ", "The Cajun Queen".

In 1963, Dean secured a daily variety TV show that helped to propel artists like Roger Miller to stardom.  Another performer that got a big boost thanks to the show was future mupeteer Jim Henson.  Henson's piano playing muppet dog "Rolf" was a regular on the show.

Jimmy Dean also made forays into acting, including the 1971 James Bond movie "Diamonds Are Forever", in which he portrayed billionaire "Willard Whyte". Dean was also the first guest host on the "Tonight Show".

In 1969 Dean created the "Jimmy Dean Meat Company".   And while he continued to accept acting gigs, most of his time was spent on the meat business.  Dean did wander back into the recording studio during the 1970s, even scoring a Top Ten country hit in 1976 with an ode to moms with "I.O.U.".

Dean sold his company to Sara Lee Foods in 1984.  But in 2003 they dropped Dean as their spokesperson, with Dean issuing a statement stating "Somebody doesn't like Sara Lee".

Dean is survived by his wife Donna Meade Dean, three children, and two grandchildren.

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Johnny Maestro

Lead singer for The Crests and The Brooklyn Bridge

1939 - 2010

Singer Johnny Maestro, who performed the 1958 doo-wop hit “16 Candles” with The Crests and enjoyed a decades-long career with The Brooklyn Bridge, died March 24, 2010 of cancer. He was 70 years young.

Born John Mastrangelo, Johnny got his start in New York singing with a group of guys on the subway in the mid 1950s.  According to legend, one afternoon a subway rider gave the group his business card.  He was a record executive…and wanted to record them.  They dubbed themselves “The Crests” and cut a few singles for Joyce Records.  However it wasn’t until they signed with Coed Records that the hits came.  One 45 rpm in particular had the “A” side (supposedly the ‘hit’ side) as “Beside You” with the “B” side being a ballad called “Sixteen Candles”.  The “A” side went nowhere.  The “B” side on the other hand made it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.  (“Sixteen Candles” wasn’t the original name of the song. It was supposed to be called “Twenty-One Candles”.)  Other doo wop hits recorded by the Crests include “Six Nights A Week”, “The Angles Listened In”, “Trouble in Paradise” and “Step by Step”.

Coed tried to groom Maestro as a solo act in the 1960s, but most of his solo work went nowhere.  So in the mid to late 60s he teamed up with another doo wop group, “The Del-Satins”.  (The Del-Satins are best known for their work with Dion DiMucci.  They backed Dion on hits like “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer”. However the Del-Satins also scored some classic doo wop hits on their own with songs like “Teardrops Follow Me” and “Does My Love Stand A Chance”.)

Then in 1968 The Del-Satins joined forces with a Long Island Band known as “The Rhythm Method”.  But what to call this mega group? After all it boasted eleven (or more) members on trumpet, sax, organ, guitars, and drums plus back-up singers. Their manager said that selling the band to promoters would be “harder to sell than the Brooklyn Bridge”.  So they called themselves “The Brooklyn Bridge”.

Their debut album included “The Worst That Could Happen”, which not only made the Top Ten on Billboard, but also went “gold”.  Other hits included “Blessed Is The Rain”, “Welcome Me Love” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

Although the group, re-dubbed “Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge”, continued to record through the 70s, 80s, 90s and even as recently as 2009, the hits were elusive.

On a personal note, I had the pleasure of meeting Johnny Maestro a few years ago when he was part of a package show at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. Johnny couldn’t have been nicer to me.  He shared stories of how his first group got started and how he teamed up with the Del-Satins. But he insisted that I talk with the rest of the band as well, thus allowing me to talk with members of the original Del-Satins as well as the gentleman who was the original touring drummer for “Jesus Christ Superstar”.

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Bob Bogle

Guitarist of The Ventures

1934-2009

Bob Bogle, one of the founding members of the 60s instrumental group "The Ventures", passed away on Sunday, June 14, 2009. Bogle suffered from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Bob Bogle and Don Wilson founded the band in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. In 1960 the group took the song "Walk, Don't Run" to #2 on the pop charts. For over a decade they recorded over 38 albums and toured the world. In 1969 they scored their last major hit with the theme from the TV show "Hawaii 5-0". In 2008 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sadly Bogle was too sick to attend the ceremony. Bob Bogle was 75 years young.

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