JD Hay’s Crooners is a great resource for music from the past. The fastest way to see whose music is on the site is to go to home menu and then click on full list. This will open up a window that lists Male Crooners, Female Crooners, Groups, Instrumentals, Vintage and Top Hits of the 50′s.
The list shows under Male Crooners, such diverse singers as Gordon Lightfoot, Tony Bennett, Ricky Nelson, Frank Sinatra and Bobby Vinton, plus many more male crooners.
The Female Crooners include Connie Francis, Dinah Shore, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin and Loretta Lynn and many additional female crooners.
The Groups category includes the Mills Brothers, Andrew Sisters from the 40′s and the Lennon Sisters and Four Tops and others.
The Instrumentals category ranges from Guy Lombardo to the Ventures to the Glenn Miller Orchestra to Booker T and the MG’s.
The Vintage category includes the music of Jeanette McDonald and the music of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
The 50′s category shows the Top 30 songs of each year of the 50′s. You can see in 1953 that there was still no rock and roll songs, but in 1954 Bill Haley had Rock Around the Clock and in 1955 he made the Top 30 with Rock Around the Clock. 1956 was the first year that rock and roll started making inroads into the Top 30. Elvis Presley had four songs in the Top 15 of the Top 30, while Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent had two more songs to reach the Top #30.
By 1957 the only singers or orchestras from the past in the Top 30 were Jimmy Dorsey, Perry Como, Harry Belafonte (not really from the past but not a rock and roller), who was the last one on the list, that wasn’t part of the new wave of rock and roll music. So it is safe to say that 1957 changed the world of music from the music our mom and pop listened to…to rock and roll which took 27 of the Top 30 spots that year.
1958 showed the new era was in full force, as songs that really meant something were being sung by the younger singers. Some of those songs were named Purple People Eater (which always made me cry) and the Everly Brothers were singing about their Bird Dog. Danny and the Juniors were really rocking At The Hop, while the Coasters were singing the tear-jerker Yakety Yak.
By 1959 there was all rock and roll, with the exception of three instrumentals, with Sleep Walk by Santo and Johnny, Quiet Village with exotic jungle sounds by Martin Denny and Dave Cortez and is Happy Organ song.
There is one last category called Inspirational which includes a page of inspirational music and a few pages of Christmas songs.
There must be a thousand songs on the website if not more to listen to.
A lot of people have visited this site. Matter of a fact 1, 421,962 have visited the site since 2002.
James Byron Dean was born on February 8, 1931 in Marion Indiana. His father moved the family to California, but he sent James to live with an aunt and uncle in Indiana, when his mother died.
Dean appeared in five movies from 1951-1952, but they were all uncredited appearances. Meanwhile, he was appearing in many television series and in live theater television productions.
He also appeared in live drama productions on television, including I’m A Fool which was shown on GE Theater. The production also starred Natalie Wood, when it was shown on November 14, 1954.
Dean’s next movie East of Eden would be released in April of 1955. Dean who appearing in his first starring role as Cal Trask would be nominated, for Best Actor Award for his role. He was nominated posthumously, becoming the first actor ever nominated after his death.
James Dean and Julie Harris in a scene from East of Eden:
James Dean refused to attend the premiere of East of Eden, which almost caused him, to lose his lead role in Rebel Without a Cause. Dean beat out Paul Newman for the role of Cal Trask, when they both were in the same scene, during the screen test.
East of Eden was the only one of Dean’s best known movies to be released before his death.
Rebel Without a Cause
Later in 1955, Dean and Wood would be paired again in the movie Rebel Without a Cause. This movie made a huge impression on me, when I saw it on television. I can still remember the planetarium scene in the movie.
This first clip from Rebel Without a Cause shows James Dean and Natalie Wood:
Romantic scene with James and Natalie:
Natalie Wood is the starter for a chicken race between James Dean and the villain:
James Dean is remembered for his role in Rebel Without a Cause, but Natalie Wood would be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Judy, while Sal Mineo would be nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Plato.
Some interesting trivia about the movie: Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel) had submitted a script considered for the movie, but was rejected. Jayne Mansfield and Debbie Reynolds were both considered for the Natalie Wood role of Judy.
The three stars of the movie all met tragic deaths, with James Dean dying in a car accident, Natalie Wood dying in a drowning accident, which is still being investigated by the Los Angeles police and Sal Mineo who was stabbed to death. The policeman (Edward Platt) who knocks down Dean in the police station scene, would take his own life in later years. Platt is best remembered for his role as Control Chief on Get Smart television series.
Giant
James Dean would be nominated for Best Leading Actor Oscar posthumously, for his role as Jett Rink in Giant, while Rock Hudson also was nominated for Best Leading Actor. The film was nominated for ten Oscars, but only director George Stevens won an Oscar for Best Director.
James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor seen in a scene from Giant.
James telling Rock Hudson’s character and the others that he just struck oil:
Nick Adams provided the voice for Dean in some lines, due to Dean dying before production ended. Hudson had been given a choice, between Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor and chose Taylor.
Giant was the highest grossing movie for Warner Bros. until Superman was released. Sal Mineo who had appeared in Rebel Without a Cause was also cast in Giant.
Death
Dean was forbidden to race during the filming of Giant. He had been a successful car racer at the Palm Springs Road Races and had won some races and had placed in the top two in some other races.
He was eager to impress actor Alex Guinness with his new car, a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder and showed the famous actor his car. Guinness was not impressed and made this prophetic statement and told Dean ”If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.” Dean was dead seven days later after having been hit in a head-on collision.
This is all that remained of James Dean’s Porsche after the September 30, 1955 accident that ended his life at the age of 24.
September 30, 1955 started off as a normal day for Dean, as he planned to put his Porsche on a trailer on way to racetrack, but his mechanic Walter Wutherich thought it would be better for Dean to drive it to Salinas, California, so he could get used to being in the driver’s seat. Dean was stopped at 3:30 PM PDT for speeding, since he had been driving 65 MPH in a 55 MPH zone.
It was at approximately 5:45 PDT that Dean noticed a 1950 Ford Custom coupe coming toward him at a high rate of speed. He tried to maneuver his Porsche to avoid a direct hit, when the driver Donald Turnupseed crossed the middle line, causing him to hit Dean’s car head-on.
Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at Pablo Robles Memorial Hospital, which was 28 miles from the crash scene. Surprisingly Turnupseed only suffered facial bruises and a bloodied nose from the accident. He was well enough to walk and hitch-hike on his way to Tulare, California.
Legacy
James Dean’s death at the age of 24 raised a lot of questions. Would he have went on to become one of the greatest actors in Hollywood history? We will never know the answer to that question.
What we do know is that is that from 1951-1955 he left behind memories of him being on Broadway, on television and in the movies. His most memorable movies were released in 1955 and 1956, when Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant were released.
Many actors never are nominated for an Academy Award in their entire career, yet Dean was nominated twice for two of the three movies he appeared in over a two-year span.
Rebel Without a Cause best exemplified for me the James Dean I remember, as a troubled youth in that movie, that couldn’t find happiness in a troubled world.
