On September 2, 2007, Larry Donn was a special guest at Blues Fest. When he got there The Mudcats were playing and he discovered just about everyone on the stage had played in his band. It didn’t take too much arm twisting to get him to join us. Here’s a couple of pics from Blues Fest at the Craighead Forest Bandshell.
The “1957 Blue Suede Blues” is on my Burning! CD. Here’s a link to my CDBaby page with “Burning!”.
Hi,
I sent Pete a link to this blog because I know he’s all about roots Rock n Roll. This is his comment on Larry Donn’s performance.
Hi Larry, thanx for that, I was amazed at how much Larry Donn’s
vocal and phrasing sounded so much like Elvis!I shut my eyes, and it sounded like Elvis and Jerry Lee playing together.
True Rock N’ Roll, with a real country flavour in there.Great stuff, take care, stay cool and Keep On Rocking in Arkansas.
Pete.
What a great review.
Here’s a link to Pete’s page on Delta Boogie.
Pete Mitchell – The Stratmaster
Thanks Pete,
Hairy Larry
Hi,
I recorded this August 13, 1993 at the VFW in Jonesboro, Arkansas. These songs and were featured on my Something Blue radio show.
And there’s more here.
Larry Donn Live at VFW on August 13, 1993
Enjoy!
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
In Rockabilly Days Larry Donn writes about mosquitos in Arkansas and Alonzo Buzzard.
A sudden invasion of Arkansas vampire mosquitoes left me little time for writing a column this month. Armed guards are quite expensive these days, so I’ve been up almost every night keeping watch with a 12-gauge shotgun. Not many of them can survive a blast of double-naught buckshot, but I keep a club handy to finish off the bigger ones.
I have asked my old friend, Alonzo Buzzard, to guest-write this month’s column. You will, of course, remember Alonzo’s big hit of 1953, ‘Love Me Strange’. He was awarded a plywood record (by his uncle, who felt he needed encouragement) for selling 500 copies. His two friends each bought a copy and his mother bought the other four-hundred ninety-eight. The record is extremely rare and would probably command nearly a pound a copy if she would part with them.
You can read the whole article here on Delta Boogie.
Great stuff. Enjoy!
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
W.S. Holland played with Carl Perkins in the 50s, Carl Mann in ’59, and joined Johnny Cash in ’60. He played with Cash for thirty-seven years. In ’59, when “Honey Bun” was released, we played several shows with Carl Perkins, and one night when our drummer didn’t show up, we asked W.S. to play with us. He did, even though he had to play the whole four sets. Our drummer who didn’t show up was Sammy Creason, who later played with the Bill Black Combo on the Beatles first tour of America, then Jimmy Buffett, Tony Joe White, and so many more, spent 18 years with Kris Kristofferson, and was playing with Jerry Lee when he died.
In about 2000, W.S., or “Mr. Flukas”, as I call him most of the time, was a guest on my television show, and then played a few shows with my son, Joey, and me, as a trio. The video you might see here, called “Bono Boogie”, was recorded during a show at Arkansas State University.
A W.S.-related note: I’ve just found a tape with W.S., Sonny Burgess, Billy Riley and me at a show a few years ago. We had a bass player and another guitar player besides Riley and Sonny, but I don’t remember who they were. The balance is a few degrees short of wonderful, but the voices are reasonably clear, and there are some rocking cuts. I’m putting selected tracks on a CD, so maybe you’ll get to hear them one of these days.
LD
The video from the Tennessee in London was made by Bill Dixon in 2000, and the video from Arkansas State University was made by Mark Denny in 2001. The videos with Sonny Burgess and/or Billy Lee Riley were made by Glen E. Swindle in about 1990. Keep watching. We’ll be adding more videos later.
Larry Donn
Great rockabilly piano with Larry Donn, his son Joey on bass, and W.S. Holland on drums. For those who are scratching their heads about the title Larry Donn lives in Bono, Arkansas. Hey! Could be worse. Could have been Toad Suck Arkansas and then it would be the Toad Suck Boogie.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um70cKBFxJQ&hl=en&fs=1]
Click Here for “The Bono Boogie” video on YouTube.
Besides working with Larry Donn, W.S. Holland has played drums for Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. He’s a Rock n Roll legend in his own right.
Oh that Boogie Woogie just makes me want to get up and dance.
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
The video was made by Bill Dixon in London at the Tennessee, in May of 2000. The Houserockers, formerly the Playboys, were my back-up band. We got started late, and my show would have been after midnight, so we decided to let the Blue Moon Boys, of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, close the show. They did a fantastic job, and I was glad I didn’t have to follow them. They’re no longer together, but we’re still friends. Kenny Taylor, the leader and lead guitar player, played some solos on my latest album.
More later, Larry Donn
