RARE ROCKABILLY LP Just Rollin' with Johnny Olenn ORIG.

$

69

Here's a very rare title of an early rockabilly LP that doesn't come up very often on eBay:

Johnny Olenn - "Just Rollin' with Johnny Olenn" - Liberty LRP 3029, green label

According to http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JohnnyOlenn1.html :

Johnny Olenn (McCord, this is his complete real name), was born on December 16, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas, where he later was raised and grew up with friends like Doug Sahm, (of the today's popular Texas Tornados). As a musician he started his career in the early fifties, by playing stand-up bass in the western band of Eddie Dugosh. Later on he switched to the steel guitar and Rudy "Tutti" Grayzel, joined the band and became their stand-up bass player.

In 1954 he quit high school and stopped working in the western band of Eddie just to form his own band "The Jokers", who consisted of Cullen Offer - sax, Jerry Carnes - drums, Bobby Gene Baker - bass and Greg Nanus - piano, while Johnny himself did the vocals and lead guitar. Beside all these instruments he already played, he also plays the drums and the trumpet! After a year of playing around they got a steady engagement at the Tiffany Lounge club in San Antonio, this was in 1955 where they stayed for about 6 months.

Also in 1955 they had their first records released on Roy Tanner's T N T label. Recorded and released that year were: "Candy Kisses", Blues Stay Away From Me", "Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down" and "I Ain't Gonna Cry No More". "Candy Kisses" and "Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down" are different versions of the later in 1956 recorded Liberty versions.

Major Riddle, owner of the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, discovered them in 1956 and offered Johnny Olenn & and Jokers a contract for 2 weeks. But, because of their tremendous success this was extended into 26 weeks. That same year they were also featured in the now classic rock 'n' roll movie "The Girl Can't Help It", a 20th Century-Fox release, in which they did perform the songs "My Idea Of Love" and "I Ain't Gonna Cry No More". Their new sax player then had become Jay Orlando who performs in this movie.

This performance in the movie led them to a contract with Liberty Records, on which was released that great and today rare album "Just Rollin' With Johnny Olenn"! During their stay in Hollywood for "The Girl Can't Help It", they met Elvis Presley who was at that time in Hollywood shooting his movie "Love Me Tender" and they became good friends and would meet again a lot of times in the sixties in Las Vegas.

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1956 Liberty LP - 3029 Just Rollin' with Johnny Olenn

A: Candy Kisses / My Idea of Love / Pipeliner's Blues / Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down /  Twenty-Four Hours / Someday

B: When My Dreamboat Comes Home / The Gypsy / I Ain't Gonna Cry No More / Oh! What A Dream / Because I Love You / Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

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Some say it was pressed in 1957. Either way, it's almost 50 years old. It was his only LP which was never widely reissued commercially. The music is fantastic 50's rock and roll.

Condition:

Vinyl: The record still has a lot of its gloss and shine to it, despite its age. Only a couple small spindle marks on either side, so it does not look like it was played very often. There are some hairline marks and superficial surface marks, but nothing deep that would affect play. On my turntable (a Bang and Olufsen Beogram RX, which picks up pops and cracks very well), there was a minimal amount of surface noise, mostly limited to the beginning of cuts. Judging by Goldmine standards and my conservative collector's grading, I would rate the vinyl at a solid VG / VG+

Cover: The cover is surprisingly nice. The front graphic is clear, and there is no trace of ringwear on the front. The back shows a SLIGHT hint of ringwear, without much yellowing. There are no holes or writing on either side, the corners are relatively sharp, and the only split measures about 1 cm on the top right (an easy repair.) If it wasn't for those items, I would grade the cover at NM, especially considering its age. Because of the small imperfection and slight wear, I am grading the cover at EX+

Shipping is $3.00 media mail for this album, $5.00 priority. I will ship worldwide for extra. I accept paypal and money orders only, please. If you have any questions, please e-mail me. It will be awhile before you see this title again. Thanks for looking and good luck!