Album Notes

Like most kids growing up in the fifties I was blown away by Rock ‘n’ Roll music. I suppose it first hit me when I heard Elvis Presley singing “Heartbreak Hotel”. But living in London there was no way to go and see Elvis, and he never came to England.
We had our own Rock ‘n’ Roll TV shows like “Oh Boy!”, “Boy Meets Girl” and “Six Five Special”, and I was drawn to a young singer called Cliff Richard. With his band “The Shadows” he became our equivalent to Elvis. The Shadows’ lead guitarist, Hank B. Marvin, was the first in England to play a Fender Stratocaster. I remember seeing that guitar for the first time. It was like it came from outer space.
From that moment on I knew I wanted to play the guitar. Not surprisingly, I’ve always included Rock ‘n’ Roll songs in my live set and have had many requests to record them. So I finally decided to record a complete album of Rock ‘n’ Roll songs.
I’ve included hits by Gene Vincent, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Day, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Jerry Keller, The Everly Brothers, Eddie Cochran and Elvis Presley. Then, of course, there’s a few songs by Cliff Richard. In fact, some of the arrangements of these great songs were borrowed from Cliff.
I had a lot of fun recording this music in my home studio. I played all of the instruments and sang all of the vocals (with a little help with background vocals from Angela Heatherly on Be-Bop-a-Lula, Little Bitty Pretty One, I’m Walkin’ and Here Comes Summer). My son Richard’ handled the photography for the album cover. And my friend Charles Brooks mastered the final mixes. Thanks to all involved.
I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making “Makin’ History”.....