Jerry Lee Lewis 'Rock and Roll Time' album review and 'The Knox Phillips Sessions' album review

The cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' new album
Rock and Roll Time finds him outside the
Sun studios where he first recorded 58 years ago.
Dig those flip-flops, Killer!

Goodness gracious, there’s a whole lotta Jerry Lee Lewis around this autumn, including a brand new album, an album of previously unrecorded material from the 70s and an authorised biography.

I’ve had all three for a while now and can say Lewis fans are in for a treat!

The new album, Rock and Roll Time, which comes out at the end of this month is one of the best Jerry Lee has ever recorded. It’s a taut 30 minutes of verve and energy up there with his 2006 duets album Last Man Standing and older classics such as his eponymous Elektra album from 1979. You’d never think the Killer was pushing 80. He sounds no different to he did aged 45 as he hammers into one of the greatest songs he’s ever cut, a blues number by Bob Dylan called Stepchild.

Other album highlights include the title song, a beery anthem penned by Kris Kristofferson, an energetic romp through Sick And Tired and an inspired cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Mississippi Kid.

A growling Blues Like Midnight continues the strong thread of blues tunes while the double time piano on Chuck Berry’s Promised Land takes us out on a high.

Blasts from the past!
A private stash of previously unreleased
Jerry Lee Lewis music from the 70s
on new CD The Knox Phillips Sessions.

The album of previously unreleased songs is called The Knox Phillips Sessions and dates from the early 70s. At the time, Jerry Lee was riding high on the country charts and playing sold-out shows all over the world but that wasn’t enough to satisfy his insatiable appetite for making music. So after recording country songs in Nashville by day, he’d book Knox Phillips’ studio at midnight to record a wider variety of music for fun.

The opening Bad, Bad Leroy Brown may prove too wild for some tastes. The Killer was playing for fun, making things up as he went along and probably never expected the track to be heard. It might have been a rehearsal or just something to vent his unedited creativity on.

As the album progresses, things get a lot tighter. A medley of Chuck Berry songs - Johnny B. Goode and Carol - rocks on the very edge of control. A mash up of Music! Music! Music! (“put another nickel in the Nickelodeon”) and the instrumental Canadian Sunset, meanwhile, show a previously unseen side of Lewis’ musicality.

Best track is the closing Beautiful Dreamer which Jerry Lee turns into a narration, telling the story of 19th century composer Stephen Foster between singing snatches of one of his most famous songs. This song should have been on one of Lewis’ country albums of the time and we can be grateful to Knox Phillips for finally making it available.

I’ll be reviewing the new book, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story in a forthcoming issue of Country Music People, so will save my comments on it till then.

Until then I can barely say how much I’m enjoying Rock and Roll Time. I gave it a 5-star review (the maximum stars) in this month’s Country Music People, but really it deserves even more than that. Ten gold stars, perhaps. I haven’t stopped playing the album at least two or three times a day for the past month and it gets better every time.

I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of Stepchild. But then Sick And Tired really rocks. And Blues Like Midnight... aw, every track is brilliant!

One girl who’d really love Rock and Roll Time is Natty Smalls, the bullet-bra-wearing rockabilly heroine of Polka Dot Dreams by Julia Douglas. Click here to read the customer reviews of this vintage clothes-clad rockabilly romance.

Live like Natty Smalls at the Vintage Festival's Classic Car Boot Sale, September 20 and 21

If you want to rock back the clock in a set of cool retro clothes, give your home a mid-century make-over or even pick up a classic car put September 20 and 21 in your diary.

That’s when London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford will be hosting the Vintage Festival’s Classic Car Boot Sale, alongside the Park's very first free mobile art fair, Portability: Art on the Move.

The event is expected to see more than 200 classic cars, with over 100 opening their boots for shoppers.

The weekend will also host a second event celebrating ingenious and extraordinary mobile art vehicles from across the country. From the smallest portable theatre, to a giant travelling seagull, a poetry potting shed and a fully functioning artist's studio on wheels - art vehicles on land, sea or air will come together to explore how artists have been taking their art out and about.

Dennis Hone, Chief Executive, London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “With a cornucopia of vintage clothes, cars and bargains, and our fascinating celebration of mobile art vehicles, this looks set to be a great weekend of art and culture on the Park.”

Launched last year at London's Southbank Centre, the Vintage Classic Car Boot Sale has proved incredibly popular, attracting around 8000 visitors a day from across the UK.  This festival-feel shopping event will host more visitors and classic car eye candy including vintage fashion, accessories, homewares, crafted products from independent designers, pop culture memorabilia and vinyl record traders offered amidst street theatre, impromptu musical performances, vinyl only DJs, an impressive display of classic cars, buses, vans and bikes and a gathering of the finest mobile eateries serving street food, coffee, cocktails and craft beer from vintage wagons.

Polka Dot Dreams
Because everybody
needs some
Natty Smalls!

And don't forget, for a taste of the vintage scene, follow the adventures of retro gal Natty Smalls in Polka Dot Dreams by Julia Douglas. Click here to read the 5-star reviews on Amazon. 
Or check out a copy from your local library!

Treat yourself to some Natty Smalls on Valentine's Day!

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, why not indulge yourself in the romantic adventures of Natty Smalls, the bullet-bra and girdle-clad vintage clothes-mad heroine of Polka Dot Dreams?

Fleeing a failed romance with a celebrity chef in London, Natty returns to her seaside home town and promptly falls head over high heels with Matt, the handsome but nervous owner of a rock'n'roll-themed ice cream parlour and pink and cream 57 Chevrolet. There's only two problems. Matt's married - so will Natty's head be turned by the mysterious Scottish Teddy Boy Cameron Swoon who plans to make Natty a singing sensation?

Click here to download Polka Dot Dreams by Julia Douglas from Amazon.

Polka Dot Dreams has two 5 stars reviews on Amazon including this one: "I love the 50s era and got so caught up in the heroine, Natty's, sense of style that I went and bought a dress just like one she would have worn! A fun romantic read."

Or check out the paperback from your local library.


Click here to read an interview with Natty Smalls - singing sensation!

Dress to Impress

Vintage events organiser
Bettina Scarlett
- interviewed in this month's
Classic American

One of the reasons I write is to enthuse people about things, so it was gratifying to hear that Polka Dot Dreams, the adventures of vintage girl Natty Smalls, has inspired short story writer, blogger and keen jiver Wendy Clarke to buy a Natty-style rockabilly dress of her own. Read all about it on her blog, Wendy’s Writing Now.

If you’re looking for vintage-inspired clothes and accessories of your own, don’t forget Bettina Scarlett’s Mid-Century Christmas Fair on December 14 at:
The Hammersmith Club
11 Rutland Grove
Hammersmith
London W6 9DH

Be there or dress square!

Oh, and you can read my in-depth interview with Bettina - a girl raised on rockabilly - in the current issue of Classic American - the No1 mag for fans of American cars and all things Americana.

Vintage clothes and where to get them!

From the forces sweetheart look of the 1940s to the full-on rock'n'roll style of the 1950s, Natty Smalls the heroine of Polka Dot Dreams has a fabulous vintage or reproduction outfit for every day of the week. But where does she get them? And if reading Polka Dot Dreams gives you the urge to buy some retro threads of your own, where will you find them?

I asked three queens of the vintage scene which emporiums of mid-century style they recommend.

Kai Hoffman, the swinging singer with Kai's Cats and the hostess with the mostess of London's premier swing night, Live and Let Jive (Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's on the first Thursday of every month) gets all her stage-wear and just about everything else she wears from reproduction 40s and 50s fashion designers:
Vivien of Holloway
294 Holloway Road
London N7 6NJ
Tel: 020 7609 8754
www.vivienofholloway.com

Jazz zinger (and that's not a spelling mistake) Kitty La Roar recommends long-established vintage shop Blackout II on Endell Street in Covent Garden.

Vintage fashion event organiser Bettina Scarlett suggests the following vintage-inspired designers:

Outerlimitz www.outerlimitz.org for evening wear and Lady K Loves www.lady-k-loves.com for good value day clothes.

You might also like to pop along to Bettina's Christmas mid-century vintage market at The Hammersmith Club, 11 Rutland Road, Hammersmith on December 14.

So now you know where to get an outfit just like Natty's in Polka Dot Dreams a vintage clothes romance by Julia Douglas. Click here to try before you buy.

Kitty La Roar - Queen of the New Jazz Age

Kitty la Roar and Nick of Time
Putting on the jazz style

She sang in the bath for an EDF TV ad, but Kitty La Roar also rocks a neat line in vintage jazz age dresses, whether backed by a full orchestra in the touring theatre show Sinatra, Sequins and Swing, or in hip London cabaret clubs like the Cellar Door with her pianist husband Nick of Time.

In this interview which recently appeared in The Stage, Kitty told me all about the vintage jazz scene.

How did you get into vintage jazz?

I got seriously into it when I was about 8, growing up in Bolton. I was a strange child, but I loved Ella Fitzgerald’s voice - that soft, intimate vibrato that was really pleasurable to listen to. I also like the sophistication of the melodies in the great American songbook. There’s something whimsical about it, but something dark as well.

The cat's meow
Kitty La Roar in
Sinatra, Sequins & Swing

Where did you get the name Kitty La Roar?

I did a drama degree at Goldsmith College and a couple of us were trying to come up with camp alter egos for cabaret work. We came up with the name between us. I’m planning a new jazz project in a couple of months and I was actually thinking of changing the name in case it wouldn’t be taken seriously. But having talked to a few people from musicians to promoters, everyone seems to like Kitty La Roar, so it’s probably something I’ll stick with.

How did you meet Nick?

I saw him playing piano at The Edge in Soho. He was inviting people to get up and do a song, so I got up and sang My Funny Valentine. We did a few gigs and kind of circled each other for a while. It was the usual worry of can you have a working relationship with someone you’re involved with? But it’s worked out really well. We’ve got residencies at the Savoy and the Dorchester. Then we play a little place called the Cellar Door in Covent Garden where we experiment with our jazz stuff. It used to be a gents toilet and it’s tiny. It holds about 40 people, which is nice, because you can see people’s reactions and when they like a song it’s lovely to see.

How big is the vintage jazz scene at the moment?

It’s becoming more and more popular. It used to be that rockabilly was the counter-culture look, but now it’s more of a Hot Club, 1920s and 30s look. We’ll get 18 and 20-year-olds coming to gigs and they look immaculate. The interesting thing is, when we started playing the Cellar Door we were doing cabaret but we’ve shifted to more of a jazz profile and the audience has got bigger.

How did you get involved with Sinatra, Sequins and Swing?

I met Kevin Fitzsimmons, who has a lovely tone for Frank Sinatra songs, when we were both doing gigs at a racecourse. He was telling me his plans for the show and thought I’d be good for the glamorous sequin element. It’s a lot of fun. I get 8 costume changes and it’s rare to get the opportunity to sing songs like Marilyn Monroe’s Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend with the full arrangements. There are Rat Pack shows that don’t sound anything like the quality of a big band, and it’s the big band people go to see, really.

For details of Kitty's gigs with Nick of Time and Sinatra, Sequins & Swing, go to www.kittylaroar.com

For a fictional look at the vintage scene, meanwhile, try Polka Dot Dreams by Julia Douglas. Click here to try before you buy.

Behind the scenes of Polka Dot Dreams

The new Writers' Forum is out - and includes the concluding part of a two-part feature on how I wrote the rock'n'roll romance Polka Dot Dreams.

If you've ever fancied writing stories for womens magazines, there's also a feature in which I talk to four top fiction editors about what they are looking for in new writers... and what will put them off a manuscript.

To read the opening chapters of Polka Dot Dreams before you buy it, click here.

Julia's Jukebox for Polka Dot Dreams

Natty Smalls, the vintage clothes-obsessed heroine of Polka Dot Dreams only listens to two types of music: “Rock... and roll.” So what would be on the soundtrack if her jive through the retro scene was made into a movie?

Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On by Jerry Lee Lewis. This is the pumping piano smash on the jukebox when Natty walks into Matt’s 50s-themed ice cream parlour and first sets her eyes on the man of her dreams.

I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. The song Natty’s landlady and Matt’s widowed mum, the irrepressible Margie, blasts at full volume while Hoovering the stairs. Although she’s partial to a bit of Abba, too.

Big Hunk Of Love by Elvis Presley. Tartan-clad Teddy Boy band Duke & The Bop Tones are roaring through this full-on rocker when Natty and Matt have their first jive at the Cinderella rockabilly club.

Chapel Of Love by the Dixie Cups. As Natty sinks to her chin in a bubble bath and thinks of Matt, what more apt tune could be playing on her retro-styled CD player than this rock’n’roll song about walking down the aisle?

Second Chance by Natty Smalls. This is the song Natty writes after meeting Matt and hoping it will be second time lucky for both of them. Cameron Swoon, the mysterious Scottish Teddy Boy, swears it’s the song that will make Natty a singing sensation. But if Cameron can get her a record deal, what effect will that have on her relationship with Matt?

Click here to try before you buy the e-edition of Polka Dot Dreams on Amazon. Or check out a copy from your local library.

Four faces of Natty Smalls!

It's always fascinating to see how different illustrators picture a character, as can be seen from the covers of the different editions of Polka Dot Dreams.

The drawing on the left is how I imagined the heroine Natty Smalls in a doodle for my own amusement while writing the story.

This is how Natty appeared on the cover of the My Weekly Pocket Novel edition of Polka Dot Dreams.

Great hair, and I love the seaside setting. Not sure what happened to the bullet bra that features rather, ahem, prominently in the book. But, then again, it was My Weekly!

Pocket novels, incidentally, have a short but glamorous life on the newsstands of shops like Tesco and Sainsburys for just two weeks. So if you have a copy, hold onto it. It's a limited edition!

Here's Natty on the cover of the Linford Romance large print paperback, which is available to borrow from your local library.

I'm flattered by how closely she resembles my original doodle, including the ice cream from Matt's 50s-themed ice cream parlous. I also like the little details in the background, such as the suitcase, guitar case and leopard print coat that she wears in the opening scene.

And here's Natty large as life and in the flesh on the cover of the new e-edition. Perfect hair colour and the way she's tucking into that ice cream is Natty through and through!

Click here to read a sample chapter on Amazon.

Introducing Natty Smalls - the sensational singing star of Polka Dot Dreams!

Julia Douglas provides an exclusive interview with the heroine of her latest ebook, Polka Dot Dreams, the irrepressible Natty Smalls.

Name: Natty Smalls!

That’s an unusual name...

Natty by name and natty by nature! My real name’s Natalie, but Natalie Smalls sounds ridiculous!

What’s your role in Polka Dot Dreams?

I’m the star, of course! I breeze into town in my genuine 1950s vintage clothes, bullet bra and Twinco sunglasses and turn upside down the lives of everyone I meet. Especially the gorgeous Matt!

Who’s Matt?

Matt runs a rock’n’roll-themed ice cream parlour and is the most stunning specimen who ever pulled on a pair of vintage Levis! He’s got a blonde rockabilly flattop, the most amazing smile and a body-builder’s muscles that are simply to die for! He is a bit on the clumsy side, but I think that’s just nerves. We’re working on those!

You obviously like Matt. Does he have any rivals for your affection?

Well, there is the smooth and sophisticated Cameron Swoon! Now there’s a sharp dresser! Most people don’t understand the Teddy Boy look - Showaddywaddy have a lot to answer for! - but Cameron gets it perfectly: the expensive tailoring of a true Edwardian gentleman! Matt is jealous of Cameron because he’s going to make me a singing sensation!

Anyone else...?

My ex, the millionaire celebrity chef David Royale. But the least said about him the better.

Natty Smalls
as I first drew
her

Who are the female characters?

Oh, just wait till you meet the marvelous Margie - my larger-than-life landlady, Matt’s mum and, dare I say it, my potential mother-in-law! Margie owns an enormous house at the seaside. The other residents are Jase, a DJ - he’s harmless and nice. Then there’s Jude, a mysterious older woman who is Not To Be Trusted. There’s definitely something going on between Jude and Matt that I don’t like the look of at all!

What’s your best line in the book?

That would be when David says, “Virginity is a rather old fashioned ideal,” and I reply, “I guess I’m just an old fashioned girl!”

Can you tell us a secret that’s not in the book?

Matt’s always introducing himself as “I’m Matt, by the way,” - but that’s not his real surname! It’s Cardy - which could have serious implications for my name if we ever get married.

Polka Dot Dreams is available to download as an ebook from Amazon for the positively retro price of just £1.97. Click here to read the first chapter for FREE.

Polka Dot Dreams is also available to borrow as a paperback from your local library.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Have you booked your tickets for the Wildest Cats in Town Annual Xmas Party?

Have you packed your circle skirt, blue suede shoes and sprig of mistletoe?

The flyer for Ritchie Gee's annual bash has just popped through my door and yule love the line-up.

Top of the bill is "The best young Elvis in the World" Travis Le Doyt. Also appearing are boogie woogie man Mike Sanchez, 80s hit-makers The Jets, and a whole host of others including the Rock-a-toons, the Bobcats, Some Like It Hot and many, many more.

But it's not just the bands that make the Wildest Cats in Town the party to be at. I've been to one of Ritchie's Teddy Boy festivals before and the atmosphere is amazing, from the ball room to the classic cars to the dining hall, where the nosh is top notch. 

It's all happening from Friday 29 November to Monday 2 December at Pontins Pakefield, near Lowestoft and you can get an apartment and meals for the positively 1950s price of just £159 per person for the whole weekend.

For details, say Hi-de-hi to Ritchie on 01530 455657 or 07976 964086 or visit www.tennesseeclub.net.

For a fictional view of the British rock'n'roll scene, meanwhile, meet rockabilly girl Natty Smalls, Edwardian Ted Cameron Swoon and rock'n'roll band Duke & the Boptones in Polka Dot Dreams by Julia Douglas. Click here to read a sample chapter on Amazon.

Tootsie Rollers - Queens of the Vintage Scene

Singing sensations
The Tootsie Rollers

You can't get away from the vintage scene at the moment. I was in Southwold yesterday, and there by the boating lake, just along from the pier, was a vintage market set up in a row of beach huts. What a fabulous idea!

But who is going to take the vintage revival into the pop charts? My money's on The Tootsie Rollers, a spirited sextet who describe themselves as the Andrews Sisters meet the Spice Girls.

I've just interviewed one of them for The Stage. The article will be out in the next week or so. In the meantime, check out their video for their theme song Tootsie Rollers - The Boys Go Wild on their website . It's the catchiest song I've heard in years.

For the story of a fictional vintage girl hoping to make it as a singing sensation, meanwhile, read about the adventures of Natty Smalls in Polka Dot Dreams by Julia Douglas. Click here to buy the ebook from Amazon for the positively 1950s price of just £1.97.

You can also borrow the paperback from your local library.

Classic American - Vintage Style!

This month, wearing my Douglas McPherson hat (a 50s Trilby with a press card in the hat band, in case you’re wondering) I’m starting a new series in Classic American magazine called Vintage Style.
Classic American is the number one mag for fans of American cars from the 40s, 50s and 60s, right through to the present. Nothing goes better with a chrome-laden classic Yank tank than a cool set of threads from the same era. So Vintage Style is dedicated to icons of vintage and reproduction vintage clothes.
In the September issue, out now, I’m talking to colourful Queen of Swing Kai Hoffman about her music, her Live And Let Jive club night at Ronnie Scott’s and, of course, her fabulous clothes. Being sponsored by Vivienne of Holloway certainly helps Kai maintain her status as an icon of 40s and 50s fashion.

For a fictional look at the vintage clothes and rockabilly scene, meanwhile, read the romantic adventures of Natty Smalls in Polka Dot Dreams by Julia Douglas. The paperback is in libraries now, and the ebook will be out shortly!



Bullet bra and ice-cream!

Natty
as I drew her

For Natty Smalls, the star of Polka Dot Dreams, it’s all about the look: 50s hairdo, vintage clothes and, living up to her name, even retro underwear in the form of a bullet bra and girdle. As she puts it, a period-perfect figure requires the right foundations; for Natty, there was no stinting behind the scenes.

While thinking about some of the rock’n’roll outfits Natty wears in the story, I found myself drawing her. So I was knocked out to see how closely the cover illustration of the Linford large print paperback edition resembles my original sketch, even down to the ice-cream, courtesy of her boyfriend Matt’s rock’n’roll-themed ice-cream parlour.

Check it out in... or, rather, check it out of your local library now!