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Ronnie Self had the greatest career that never
was. Although he recorded with major
labels like Columbia
and Decca, he only managed to hit the Billboard charts once, with "Bop-A-Lena"
in 1958. The recording is
considered to be a forerunner to the garage and punk movements. Self grew up listening to Elvis and
formulated his own style of country, R&B, rockabilly, and rock and
roll. It is possible he had the
same trouble charting as Carl Perkins did, as he didn't fit into any
one category. An energetic
performer on stage, he was dubbed "Mr. Frenetic". His real legacy is the catalogue of
four hundred songs he left behind.
The most famous of these was "I'm Sorry" which
Brenda Lee took to #1 in 1960. He
and his collaborator Dub Albritton also wrote Lee's
"Sweet Nothin's" which went to
#4 and became an international sensation. In 1969, another one of his
compositions, "Ain't That Beautiful
Singing", won a Grammy award for Best Sacred Performance. After Albritton's
death in 1971, Self moved back to his hometown of Springfield, Missouri,
and set up shop with Si Simon at Tablerock
Music. It was a short-lived
partnership. Self backed out a
couple of years later and disintegrated into a morass of pills and
alcohol. Known for his wild behaviour, on-stage and off, he was reputed to have
fired a shotgun at a shelf full of his own demos and set fire to his gold
records outside of a BMI office in Nashville. Self died in his apartment on 28th
August 1981. His other musical
legacy is his son Roman, who recently recorded A Tribute To Ronnie Self.
Diana Ross
recordings
Sweet Nothings
(Dub Albritton/Ronnie Self)
Sources:
- http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RonnieSelf1.html
- http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/artists/rself.htm
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