Jumpin' Gene Simmons
" Jumpin ' " Gene Simmons (* July 10, 1933 in Tupelo, Mississippi; † August 29, 2006 ) was an American country, rockabilly and rock and roll musician. His biggest hit was Haunted House. His nickname " Jumpin ' Gene ' he got because of his wild stage presence.
- 2.1 Singles
- 2.2 albums
Life
Childhood and youth
Simmons grew up in Tupelo, the hometown of Elvis Presley. In the early 1950s, he started on an old guitar that had brought his sisters to play and soon entered the radio and on dances with his brothers. 1954 Simmons met for the first time Elvis Presley in Tupelo and Simmons recalled this encounter as follows:
"I was visiting a cousin of Elvis Presley. I did not know who this fellow what Elvis at the time, but everybody Said he played the guitar, so I handed him one. He just smiled. He was real shy. He said, ' I only play by myself. ' Personally, I thought the guy Looked weird. Greased back hair, tight pants, all that. Yeah, this guy was ' weird ' all right; hipper than we country boys. Well, one day a short time later I had the opportunity to hear his first record on the radio. I said to my brother, ' Hey, is did the guy I met? I'd sure like to hear more about this record deal. '" "
Career
Already a few weeks later a concert in Tupelo was organized for Presley and Presley's manager Bob Neal committed Simmons and his brothers for the preliminary program. After the show he asked Presley, Simmons for a meeting with Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records to arrange. Presley did Simmons favor and Phillips was impressed by Simmons, so he put on as early as 1956 sessions for him. At Simmons early recordings were, for example, drinkin ' scotch and a version of the rhythm-and - blues classic Shake, Rattle and Roll.
After Simmons was still in 1957 regularly in the Sun Studio, but no record was released, appeared in 1958 with I Done Told You and a new recording of drinkin ' scotch, now Drinkin ' Wine, called Simmons ' first record. Sun, however, had to serve plenty of other artists and projects, so for his single lacked the necessary advertising and the plate was a failure. It should Simmons ' remain only publication.
After his time at Sun Simmons toured the U.S. and recorded several singles insignificant. In Canada, he met his future wife, and when he returned to Memphis, Tennessee, came up with her, got him the producer and former rockabilly musician Ray Harris signed to Hi Records, a new label in Memphis. Beginning of the 1960s began Simmons to work as a singer for Bill Black's Combo, and had with Your True Love / Teddy Bear his first single at Hi. A- and B-side was the Cover Hits by Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. In the coming years, Simmons recorded numerous songs for Hi, but could not one single reach the national charts. By 1964, he appeared frequently with Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs in clubs and heard their song Haunted House. The producers of Hi want Sam the Sham took up this title for their label, but he refused. Therefore, they Simmons could record the song, which thus had his first hit. Haunted House managed in 1964 to eleventh place on the Billboard Hot 100
However, a connection could not deliver success Simmons and he quickly disappeared from the national music scene. In the next few years, he appeared on a regional basis, wrote songs and released records on small labels. He played country and rockabilly and lived from 1987 in Nashville, where he worked for a publisher. His last commercial success had Simmons in 1987, when Tim McGraw 's song Indian Outlaw recorded and turned it into a hit. 2006 coverte Brian Setzer Peroxide Blonde and a Hopped Up Model Ford
Gene Simmons died in 2006 after a long illness in Tupelo. Gene Simmons, member of the band Kiss, chose his stage name as a tribute to Simmons.
Discography
Singles
- Chains of Love
- Down on the Border
- Drinkin ' Scotch
- Pop and Mama ( Version 1 )
- Pop and Mom (Version 2)
- Shake, Rattle and Roll
- Crazy Woman (Version 1)
- Crazy Woman (version 2)
- I Do not Love You Baby
- If I'm Not Wanted
- Juicy Fruit (Version 1)
- Juicy Fruit (Version 2)
- Money, Money, Money ( Version 1 )
- Money, Money, Money ( Version 2)
- I Done Told You (alt. version )
- Peroxide Blonde and a Hopped Up Model Ford
- Goin 'Back to Memphis ( alt. version )
- The Shape You Left Me In (alt. version )
- Invitation to the Blues
- Listen to Me Lie
- Wedding Bells