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Turntable 10/05/2015

10/5/2015

5 Comments

 

     The Legends

Picture
The following email was sent to me by Dale Sievert.
​​
"My three favorite earlier songs are: "Rave On" by Buddy Holly, "Walk, Don't Run" by the Ventures, and "Lariat," by The Legends, a Milwaukee band of the 60s.  The lead guitarist, Sam McCue, was the lead guitarist from 1963-1973 for the Everly Brothers (we saw The Legends as a pre-act for the EB in July 1963, after which he was hired).  He did the song around 2000 with another local band, and that version has higher quality recording."

OK Dale . . .  Let's start with "Lariat" (The Legends 1961)

Artist Biography by Bruce Eder
"Sam McCue has been compared to James Burton by music writers who know whereof they speak, and has played alongside such luminaries as The Everly Brothers.  Born into a musical family -- his father played the trumpet semi-professionally and his mother sang and played the fiddle -- he took up the ukulele at age six and later switched to the guitar. By the early '60s, he was a member of the Legends, a Milwaukee-based outfit that rocked the city with their early single releases of "Lariat," "Bop-a-Lena," and "Say Mama" on the Ermine label, all of which topped the local charts. The group was good enough to get signed by Capitol Records, through which they released two LPs and a single in 1962 and 1963. And even though none of those records charted nationally, the exposure was enough to get McCue -- by then recognized as the main driving force within the group -- snapped up by the Everly Brothers,  for the lead guitar spot in their backing band, and was with them into the start of the 1970s. During the latter decade, he also joined Crowfoot for their final LP. He remains a guitar hero in Milwaukee and the surrounding area -- it's amazing no one ever tried getting him onto That 70's Show for some verisimilitude -- in addition to playing guitar for various artists (Atlee Yeager, et al.), he has also served as a producer for artists such as Steve Cohen."

"Uploaded on Dec 29, 2007
Remember the dances at Muskego Beach? Then you will remember these 2 Milwaukee Music Icons, Larry Lynne of The Skunks and Sam McCue of The Legends. Watch them play together along with the Doo Wop Daddies this summer in Wauwatosa."  
Youtube

Interesting stuff Dale.  I never heard of these guys before but they sound good and seem to be having a really fun time. This segment must have been from 2007 or thereabouts.  So here they are performing 2 great songs from the 50's!
And now your 2 "other" favorites from the 50's / 60's.  Buddy Holly and The Ventures! 
Hope everyone enjoyed this walk down memory lane with Dale! 

Till Next Week

Harv
5 Comments
JL
10/8/2015 07:05:11 pm

These were a paltry sum, the 'Legends' were among the few from Milwaukee that managed to cut a record, but they were not representative of the 'best'. The 'Crown Jewels' from Sheboygan were much better, and, the 'Knightranes' from Madison were also much better than the 'Legends' in Milwaukee at the time, I know because I played with both, back in the day.

Reply
Harv
10/8/2015 09:30:40 pm

Jerry - The "Legends" and the "Knightranes" might, in your opinion, have been better bands than "the Legends" but today, there is no NO TRACE OF THEM! The Legends win! Sorry Buddy.

Reply
JL
10/12/2015 11:37:29 am

Harv, just goes to show how inaccurate and irrelevant most of history really is.

Reply
Pete Christensen
10/12/2015 06:06:09 pm

Harv and Dale,

The songs played last week on the turntable brought back some memories. I remember the Legends as being a popular and well known band in Milwaukee. I spent several nights listening to Milwaukee's top rock bands at "Layton Place" located on Milwaukee's south side and think that the Legends played there. I had no idea that they recorded "Say Momma". We played it with the Saints and the song was quite popular. We recorded several songs and Say Momma was one of them. It's the only recording of our band from that time. Jim Bartleme sang, Brian Lee played lead guitar, and Bud Bugenhagen was on sax.

Walk, Don't Run was another favorite. I actually practiced the single stroke roll for hours to get that song right. What a classic rock beat!. I've never heard Lariat but it also has that beat.

My son Scott played the drums in bands through H.S. And college and his rock beat is totally different. I tried but could not get the hang of it. J.L. Has a copy of the Saints recording and I wonder if we could somehow get that on the Turntable. Those songs were what we played at Bobbies Bar, Rockwood Corner Bar, Port Sandy Bay, Point Beach, Saint Paul's , The Elks Club,Bay Beach, etc from late summer 1960 through the summer of 1962. When I left for UW Oshkosh in the fall of 62 Jim Bartleme took over the Saints and their new name became "Jimmy and The Kingsmen"

"Where Were You In 62?"

Thanks guys!

Pete

Reply
Dale Sievert
10/12/2015 06:08:09 pm

Hi John,
I recently returned home, so I finally viewed last week's Turntable. Such a nice job you did! I loved both videos. The first, with Sam McCue and Larry Lynne, was when they played with a group called the Doo Wop Daddies. Sam was a guest at that show. I am almost certain I was there, at the old Marty Zifko's Ballroom in Hartford, Wis. I have a video somewhere that I took, so I'll look for it soon to see if it is the same one. Believe me, they sounded much better in person. I've seen Sam play dozens of times when he played with an oldies band, Rocket 88, in the 90s. Larry Lynne still plays at lots of places around here, and I see him from time to time. I might have seen the video of the Ventures, but now I have it from you, so thank you so much. I just wonder if the "dancing" could be edited out. A bit hokey.

Thanks so much again for the nice lunch and visit. On the way up, I went through Stillwater, MN. It is a really neat town. If you have not been there, it would be a nice day trip there and up to Taylor Falls, just across the river from Interstate Park.

Looking forward to a possible meeting in November,

Dale

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