Buddy Knox - All By Myself

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Buddy Knox was the first artist of the rock & roll era to write and record his own number one hit, 1957's million-selling classic "Party Doll" -- a pioneer of the Lone Star State rockabilly sound that would later earn the name "Tex-Mex," the arc of his career anticipated that of fellow Texan Buddy Holly, yet while Holly is now enshrined in the pantheon of rock's true immortals, Knox's contributions remain sadly underappreciated. Wayne Knox was born July 20, 1933 on a farm just outside the tiny West Texas town of Happy -- during World War II, his mother Gladys performed with her siblings as part of a family gospel group, although his love of country music first inspired him to pick up the guitar. After high school Knox attended West Texas State College, earning a business administration degree while moonlighting in an amateur vocal group called the Serenaders that also included double bassist Jimmy Bowen and guitarist Donny Lanier; in 1955, the trio rechristened themselves the Rhythm Orchids, so named after their purple shirts they wore on-stage. With the addition of drummer Don Mills, who first joined the Rhythm Orchids on-stage with nothing more than a pair of brushes and a cardboard box, the group's melancholy country covers acquired a swinging backbeat approximating something close to rock & roll, much to the delight of the assembled barroom patrons.

Following a local gig, the Rhythm Orchids met Sun Records star Roy Orbison, who recommended they travel to Clovis, New Mexico to record with producer Norman Petty (better known for his subsequent work that other famous Texan rock & roller, the aforementioned Buddy Holly). Mills opted to return to school, so the remaining trio recruited drummer Dave Alldred to play on two Petty-produced tracks: "Party Doll" -- written by Knox at the age of 12 -- and "I'm Stickin' With You," the latter featuring Bowen on lead vocals. After handing Petty their $60.00 studio fee, the Rhythm Orchids returned to West Texas with acetates in hand; Blue Moon Records owner Chester Oliver soon pressed 500 copies, and when the initial run sold out -- thanks in large part to heavy airplay from Amarillo radio personality Dean Kelly -- the band founded its own label, Triple D, to issue 2500 more. Lanier's sister, a fashion model living in New York City, then passed a copy to music publisher Phil Kahl, and with partner Morris Levy, Kahl licensed the single for national release via the newly formed Roulette label. Roulette split the original Petty session into two separate releases, with Bowen's new "Everlovin'" backing "I'm Stickin' With You" on Roulette (4001) and "My Baby's Gone" appended to "Party Doll" (Roulette 4002); while the former reached the Top 20, selling in excess of a million copies, "Party Doll" proved far more successful, remaining on the best-seller list for 23 weeks and topping radio play lists coast-to-coast following a memorable rendition on television's Ed Sullivan Show.

From that point forward, Knox and Bowen pursued simultaneous solo careers for Roulette, although both continued employing the Rhythm Orchids as their backing unit. The follow-up to "Party Doll," "Rock Your Little Baby to Sleep" -- credited to "Lieutenant" Buddy Knox, a nod to the singer's then-ongoing six-month stint in the U.S. Army Tank Corps -- cracked the Top 30 in mid-1957 and again sold a million copies, as did its follow-up, "Hula Love." Knox's vocal style on these seminal efforts was clean and natural, the band's rockabilly sound more a jaunty, skittering update of traditional country than a white derivation of R&B, à la Holly -- in fact, by the end of 1957 Knox was arguably the bigger star of the two, headlining DJ Alan Freed's national package tours and even appearing in the feature film Jamboree. He closed out the year with the rave-ups "Devil Woman" and "Swingin' Daddy," followed in mid-1958 by a cover of Ruth Brown's "Somebody Touched Me" that reached number 22 on the pop charts. The subsequent "That's Why I Cry" went nowhere, however, and with 1959's "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" -- a song banned on many radio stations -- Knox & the Rhythm Orchids scored their final Hot 100 entry.

~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Category:

Education

Tags:

• pop
• rock
• oldies

[CTNWB]

Hello! Just wanted you to know that we're posting your video on WES BRYAN-MY LIFE IN MUSIC sidebar. A blog fan suggested we put some clips of music that I recorded and songs I wrote or co-wrote on the side bar so we're going to try it. Also we added this to our own station playlist. As a co-writer on this with Buddy, it's great to hear it again! Have a good one! Wes

[John1948TwoC]

@CTNWB The whole idea is to showcase the music. I'm glad that's it's being used.

[AlturasTed]

@John1948TwoC Loved Buddy Knox and I'm all for showcasing his music but I can't believe he'd have wanted another songwriter muddling history with exaggerated claims about a song they co-wrote. It can make people doubt the real stuff about him and his real hits and Buddy doesn't deserve that!

[John1948TwoC]

@AlturasTed OK, I'm not sure I understand the issue.

[John1948TwoC]

@AlturasTed This is just a great song. I wish I had some live footage of it being sung but often the audio quality gets sacrificed in those old clips. Maybe this way is just as good.

[AlturasTed]

@CTNWB Buddy Knox was a big star with some multi-million sellers back in '57 and '58 but his last record in the Top 40 was Lovey Dovey in 1961. All By Myself was done in 1962 and unfortunately his records weren't selling as well by then. He was an all around great guy and there's no need for anyone to soup up his success because he sure didn't! The pictures in this video bring back a lot of great memories. His family's created a website as a wonderful tribute.

[CTNWB]

Thanks so much for sending us a copy of this video - excellent quality too - because it's a song that earned a Gold for Buddy and which I wrote with him. I traveled the road around the United States for a couple years with Buddy in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Wes Bryan

[NongMieko]

Thank you very much . I heard this song about 50 years ago. I love it.

[gigantibyte]

Never heard of this one. Thanks for posting!