I had an itch to listen to Gene Vincent last night, then woke up this morning to find that, hey, it’s the anniversary of Vincent’s birth today. The intense rock ‘n’ roller would have been 77 today. This documentary, Rock and Roll Singer, filmed for the BBC, covers the first four days of a 1969 tour, beginning in England.
It was recently announced that a number of backing bands would this year be following their lead men into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, among them, Vincent’s Blue Caps. Here’s Gene and his Blue Caps performing the slinky “Baby Blue”, I believe from the 1958 film Hot Rod Gang. (This clip typifies what HiLobrow has to say today about Vincent’s appeal. Yow.)
And here’s another performance from 1958, this time of Vincent’s most enduring song, the incomparable “Be-Bop-A-Lula”, played on the Town Hall Party television show.
