American Music Magazine

05/08/2026

Our new August issue ( #215) offers the fourth instalment of Jerry Lee Lewis’ activities through 1958, this time it’s the fateful month of May. We have gathered a vast amount of information for the month - photos, newspaper and magazine clips along with contemporary advertising. They go to make this 72 page issue very interesting, especially for our UK readers - this being the month when the much anticipated but now infamous tour of that country started only to be brought to a premature and sad ending. The memorabilia collected about the tour runs to several pages including pieces from both the UK and American press together with some great photos. Jerry wouldn't return to the UK until May 1962.
At the beginning of the month Jerry continued to tour with the Alan Freed ‘Big Beat’ show that had started late March, continuing through April before finally concluding on May 10th in Newark, NJ. It included the notorious incident in Boston on the 3rd where hooligans went berserk resulting in bad press. One result even being that the show in Troy, NY scheduled on the 6th was cancelled by the local police. However, these set-backs don’t seem to have particularly affected our man. On May 17th ‘The Jerry Lee Lewis Day’ was held in his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana; then shortly after this Jerry flew to England arriving on the 22nd in London where he stayed at the Westbury Hotel. He brought along his new bride Myra, ignoring advice it would be better to leave her at home. Myra was the daughter of J. W. Brown, Jerry Lee’s cousin and bass player. The tour opened May 24th at the Edmonton Regal but the Fleet Street British press, always hungry for scandals and sensations, soon found out Myra’s tender age (she was born July 11th 1944) and that Jerry was a technically a bigamist as his previous marriage hadn't been finalised in the eyes of the law. This led to a public outcry which even reached Parliament where Sir Frank Medlicott asked the Home Secretary Iain Macleod about the issue. Unfortunately many British fans reacted negatively too, and only three concerts were played before the rest of the tour was abruptly cancelled. Jerry and Myra flew back to the US on the 27th arriving in Memphis the following day. That same day the MGM film “High School Confidential” featuring Jerry singing the title song premiered on a benefit show in Atlantic City, NJ with the “official” premiere being held at Loew’s Theatre in New York City on the 30th.
Mid-May saw the release of Jerry Lee’s first LP (Sun SLP 1230) along with three EPs (SUN EP 108, 109 and 110) comprising tracks from the album. We include full colour images of all these records but this time there is no room for a review section, only a list of new releases to complete the magazine.

30/03/2026

02/02/2026

In our brand new issue ( #209) we return to the story of Jerry Lee Lewis, this as we continue our effort to chronicle his activities in our acclaimed day-by-day format. Issue 185 took us through to the end of 1957 and we now turn to 1958. Our searches of the contemporary press for that year have produced a huge number of reports and traces. Consequently this time we only have space for January, a busy month indeed for our hero. His chart-topping hit ‘Great Balls of Fire’ (Sun 281) from November the year before had taken off like wildfire whilst the movie ‘Jamboree’ (also from ’57) which included Jerry performing this hit was very popular. He was one of the top attractions in the nation, appearing on television and in person at various venues.. In addition to his hectic schedule he managed to squeeze in a couple of recording sessions at the Sun studios in Memphis.
The month ended in memorable style as Jerry went on tour to Australia with Paul Anka, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, and Jody Sands. En-route the artists stopped in Hawaii for some appearances before arriving in Sydney where this impressive package was supported by Johnny O'Keefe and an orchestra directed by Denis Collinson. The entourage also played Brisbane with the tour ending in Melbourne on February 5. They then headed back to the States, again stopping in Hawaii for another show. As usual, the feature is lavishly illustrated with contemporary photos, ads, newspaper and magazine articles, and the Australian tour programme.
We also include a nice article by Alexander Petrauskas where he re-visits Arkansas to write about some of the country/rock ‘n’ roll talent from this sometimes overlooked State. A short review section then rounds-off this 72 page issue.

01/01/2026

Our first issue for 2026 gives us the second and final part of our chronicle of Ruth Browns activities 1954 and it covers the months July to December. She continued to be one of the most popular, if not the most popular, songstress in the Rhythm and Blues Field. The readers of the magazine Cash Box voted her the best female Rhythm and Blues artist of 1954 and Down Beat's reader choose her as the number 1 personality in the Rhythm & Blues fieId. After some records that hadn't sold that good she had 2 smashes in "Oh What a Dream" followed by "Mambo Baby" in October. The feature covers 42 pages and is followed by a story of the legendary Memphis musician Joe Hill Louis (1917-1957), both articles in our acclaimed day-by-day format. Joe Hill Louis has among other activities has the honour of being the first artist issued by Sam Phillips, this on Sam's short lived label The Phillips., a joint venture with DJ Dewey Phillips (not related to Sam), He was also on SUN 178 "We All Gotta Go Sometime"/"She may be yours" in 1953, but was much more than a foot note in the history of Sun and recorded a handful of issues for other labels, worked for various radio stations and made personal appearances. Both pieces lavishly illustrated with old pictures, ads, label scans and articles from contemporary magazines and papers. And as icing on the cake a small homage to Blues Unlimited, a very important and influential UK Blues Magazine founded already in 1963. Last but not least a small review section. Stay tuned to February and the first feature on Jerry Lee Lewis and his activities during 1958..

30/11/2025

Our final magazine of 2025 (issue 207, December) chronicles Roy Orbison’s activities from October to December 1956, then follows them through to the end of 1959. In issue 205 we covered Roy’s early life and recording career including the success of his Sun single ‘Ooby Dooby’. However, Orbison had a hard time trying to maintain the success of this platter and his follow-up singles for the label didn’t do too well despite often good reviews in the trade press. In 1958 he left Sun for RCA, but the two singles he cut there failed to reignite his career. It wasn’t until July’59 when he was signed to Monument, a small label from Washington D.C. founded by Fred Foster, that things began to improve. The first single – ‘The Bug’/’Paper Boy’ was a fine outing but it was the follow-up ‘Up Town’ which proved a small success entering the lower reaches of the Billboard popular chart. It was co-written by Roy in partnership with Joe Melson although it was the third Monument single ‘Only the Lonely’, another Orbison/Melson collaboration, that firmly established Roy as a top act. However, this came in 1960 so just outside the timeframe covered in this issue.
In his personal life Roy married Claudette Frady in August 1957 and ‘Claudette’, the song he wrote for her, was propelled to fame by the Everly Brothers. It was the flip of their huge hit ‘All I Have to Do Is Dream’ but also became a big seller in its own right on both the Billboard pop and country listings. It was more evidence of Orbison’s prowess as a songwriter. Presented in our much-appreciated day-by-day format, the front cover carries a period shot of Roy and, as always, the feature is loaded with lots of rare photos, ads, some superb newspaper clippings and colour label scans of his contemporary Sun, RCA, and Monument releases. As a bonus there are also shots of the labels/sleeves of the iconic Orbison UK London EP ‘Hillbilly Rock’ which comprised Sun material.
We conclude this 76 page issue with a traditional article in Swedish about Bob Fish, the well known leader of Johnny and the Roccos. Bob is a Scotsman, guitarist and singer who, with his various line-ups of the Roccos, have excellently supported so many great American acts over here, but who also made a big name for themselves in their own right , having established a large following among rockabilly fans over the years since starting-out in the 1970s