American Music 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

17/10/2025

Our November magazine (issue 206) again features the songstress Ruth Brown as we continue to chronicle her career. Our September issue completed the review of Ruth’s activities through 1953 and we now turn attention to the first seven months of 1954.
Throughout the period Ruth continued to keep to a ‘full-on’ schedule. She started the year with one-week engagements at the Howard Theater in Washington, DC and the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia in January, these followed in February by a similar stint at the Apollo theatre in Harlem. However, Ruth didn’t shy away from the one-nighter package shows which did involve a lot of travelling. The most significant in this period was advertised as: ‘The First Great Show of 54’, one which started its journey in late February and ran through to the end of March. It took-in mainly the southeastern seaboard and southern States. The headliner was heartthrob Billy ‘Mr B’ Eckstine who shared star billing with Ruth and The Clovers. The tour was reported to have consistently attracted sell-out crowds at the various venues played.
Despite Ruth’s evident ‘crowd pulling power’, her record releases weren’t reflecting this. January’s offering’ If You Don’t Want Me’/’Love Contest’ (Atlantic 1018) was given ‘Award O’ The Week’ by trade paper The Cash Box but, despite this, the paper later reported that sales ‘did not get above fair’. Her follow-up release in April ‘If I Had Any Sense’/’Hello Little Boy’ (Atlantic 1027) should have done better, The Cash Box giving this platter the same award, commenting that the top side: ‘might be the material that could do things for the gal’. It’s a great number written by the talented Charlie Singleton and Rose Marie McCoy but again failed to trouble the Billboard ‘Top Ten’ R & B chart. However, Ruth’s barren chart period would change later in the year as we’ll see in the next instalment of her story.
Presented in our much-appreciated day-by-day format, the front cover of carries another wonderful Kriegsmann publicity shot of Ruth and, as always, the feature is loaded with lots of rare photos, ads, some superb newspaper clippings and colour label scans of her contemporary Atlantic releases. A four page review section then concludes a lovely bumper 76 page magazine.

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19/09/2025

Be sure to check out our upcoming October issue as we'll introduce a new, special edition of our day-by-day series, spotlighting the great Roy Orbison! This edition will cover the years from his birth in 1936 up to his milestone contract with Sun Records in 1956.

You can subscribe to AMM here: https://americanmusicmagazine.se/editorial.html

04/09/2025

Our September 2025 issue features another superb day-by-day installment on Ruth Brown! This and more will be in our new issue!

16/07/2025

Our August 2025 issue will feature an in-depth look on one of the legendary Memphis bands, the Snearly Ranch Boys, written after extensive research by Alex Petrauskas. Alex will also introduce us in this issue to a new series, "T Birds and Long Nights", which will spotlight the lesser known rock'n'roll acts from the state of Arkansas!

26/05/2025

Look out for our June 2025 issue, number 201. Another detailed look on Johnny Cash's career. We're also featuring lots of reviews of new releases. Get your subscription here:

https://americanmusicmagazine.se/editorial.html

30/04/2025

Our 200th issue will be out tomorrow! We continue to document the career of Ruth Brown, this time covering the year 1952.