Jumpin 'Gene Simmons
"Jumpin '" Gene Simmons (born July 10, 1933 in Tupelo , Mississippi as Morris Eugene Simmons; † August 29, 2006 there ) was an American country , rockabilly and rock' n 'roll musician. His biggest hit was Haunted House . He got his nickname "Jumpin 'Gene" because of his wild stage presence.
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Life
Childhood and youth
Simmons grew up in Tupelo, Elvis Presley's hometown . He began playing an old guitar his sisters had brought with them in the early 1950s and was soon performing on the radio and at dances with his brothers. In 1954, Simmons first met Elvis Presley in Tupelo, and Simmons recalled that encounter as follows:
“I was visiting a cousin of Elvis Presley. I didn't know who this Elvis fellow was at the time, but everybody said he played the guitar, so I handed him one. He just smiled. He was real shy. He said, 'I only play by myself.' Personally, I thought the guy looked weird. Greased back hair, tight pants, all that. Yeah, this guy was 'weird' all right; hipper than we country boys. Well, one day a short time later I had the opportunity to hear his first record on the radio. I said to my brother, 'Hey, is that the guy I met? I'd sure like to hear more about this record deal. '”
Career
A few weeks later, a concert was organized for Presley in Tupelo and Presley's manager Bob Neal hired Simmons and his brothers for the opening act. After the show, he asked Presley to arrange for Simmons to meet Sam Phillips , owner of Sun Records . Presley did Simmons a favor, and Phillips was impressed by Simmons, so he started setting up sessions for him as early as 1956. Simmons 'early recordings included Drinkin' Scotch and a version of the rhythm and blues classic Shake, Rattle and Roll .
After Simmons continued to be a regular at Sun Studio in 1957, but no record was released , Simmons' first record appeared in 1958 with I Done Told You and a new recording of Drinkin 'Scotch , now called Drinkin' Wine . However, Sun had enough other artists and projects to look after, so that the necessary advertising for his single was missing and the record was a failure. It would be Simmons' only release on Sun Records.
After his time at Sun, Simmons toured the United States and recorded a few minor singles. In Canada he met his future wife and when he returned to Memphis , Tennessee with her, producer and former rockabilly musician Ray Harris got him a contract with Hi Records , a new label in Memphis. In the early 1960s, Simmons began singing for Bill Black's combo and had his first single on Hi, Your True Love / Teddy Bear . A- and B-sides were covers of hits by Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley respectively. Over the next several years Simmons recorded numerous songs for Hi, but not a single single could reach the national charts. Around 1964 he often appeared in clubs with Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs and heard their song Haunted House . The producers of Hi want Sam the Sham to record this title for their label, but the latter declined. So they let Simmons record the song, which became its first hit. Haunted House made it to eleventh place on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 .
However, Simmons could not deliver a follow-up success and quickly disappeared from the national music scene. Over the next few years he performed on a regional basis, writing songs and releasing records on small labels. He played country and rockabilly and lived in Nashville from 1987 , where he worked for a publisher . Simmons had his last commercial success in 1987 when Tim McGraw recorded his song Indian Outlaw and made it a hit. In 2006 Brian Setzer performed Peroxide Blond and a Hopped Up Model Ford .
Gene Simmons died in Tupelo in 2006 after a long illness.
Discography
Albums
- 1964: Jumpin 'Gene Simmons (Hi)
- 1988: Goin 'Back to Memphis (Hi)
- 1988: I Done Told You (Sun)
- 2006: Drinkin 'Wine: The Sun Years, Plus ( Bear Family )
Singles
| year | title | Label # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Drinkin 'Wine / I Done Told You | Sun 299 | |||
| 1959 | Sharlene / I'm Alone | Judd J1008 | |||
| 1959 | Out of This World / You Love Me Too | Argo 5345 | |||
| 1960 | Shenandoah Waltz / The Waiting Game | Sandy 1027 | |||
| 1960 | Bad Boy Willie / Goin 'Back to Memphis | Checker 948 | |||
| 1961 | Your True Love / Teddy Bear | Hi 45-2034 | |||
| 1961 | The Shape You Left Me In / No Other Guy | Hi 45-2039 | |||
| Hop Scotch / Little Rag Doll | Tupelo 2981 | ||||
| 1962 | Be Her # 1 / 'Twist' Caldonia | Hi 45-2050 | |||
| 1964 | Haunted House / Hey, Hey, Little Girl | Hi 45-2076 | |||
| 1964 | The Dodo / The Jump | Hi 45-2080 | |||
| 1966 | The Batman / Bossy Boss | Hi 45-2102 | |||
| 1966 | Go on Shoes / Keep That Meat in the Pan | Hi 45-2113 | |||
| Unpublished titles | |||||
| 1956 |
|
Sun | |||
| 1957 |
|
Sun | |||
| 1958 |
|
Sun | |||
|
Chess | ||||
|
Hi | ||||
Web links
- biography
- Discography with audio samples
- Jumpin 'Gene Simmons at Discogs (English)
- Jumpin 'Gene Simmons at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Simmons, jumpin 'genes |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Simmons, Morris Eugene (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country, rockabilly and rock'n'roll musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 10, 1933 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tupelo , Mississippi, USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 29, 2006 |
| Place of death | Tupelo , Mississippi, USA |