Robert Gordon (musician)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Robert Gordon


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Birth_name = Robert Ira Gordon
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Born = birth date and age|1947|3|29
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Genre = Rock 'n' Roll
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 1962-present
Label = RCA and others
Associated_acts = Link Wray, Danny Gatton, Chris Spedding
URL = [http://www.robertgordon.dk/main.html]
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Robert Gordon (born March 29, 1947) is an American rockabilly singer.

Early days

Robert Gordon grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of the nation's capitol of Washington, DC. At the age of nine (1956) he was greatly affected by the hit Elvis Presley song "Heartbreak Hotel" playing on the radio, and decided to pursue a Rock & Roll career at that young ageDeelen, Arjan: "Look Who's Blue - The Robert Gordon Story", Now Dig This #254, May 2004.] . His influences included Gene Vincent, Jack Scott, Billy Lee Riley, Eddie Cochran and other notable rock 'n roll artists of the period. He made his recording debut at age 17 (1964) with a group called the Confidentials. The Confidentials, with Robert (called Bob at the time) as lead singer recorded, amongst others: "Summertime", "Money",and "There is something on your mind". These rare tracks were first released in 2004 on "40th Anniversary Celebration" (a special promo CD released by Dutch author/collector Arjan Deelen).

When asked how he related to the sixties, Robert replied "I didn't." He didn't care much for the British Invasion but he identified with soul singers such as James Brown and Otis Redding whom he saw, among other great R&B acts, performing at Washington DC's famous Howard Theatre. During the turbulent times of the late sixties, with the rioting and anti-war protests of the period, Robert served in the National Guard in DC. "I didn't want to be sent to Vietnam," he recalls.

Punk rock

Robert Gordon, referred to by friends and fans as R.G. , moved to New York City in 1970 and a few years later entered New York's thriving Punk Rock scene by joining a band called the "Tuff Darts". Popular groups such as Blondie, The Ramones and Talking Heads would emerge from this scene. In 1976 the Tuff Darts recorded "All for the love of Rock & Roll", "Head over heels" and "Slash" for a compilation album called "Live at CBGB's", which included a number of other local NYC bands. That year, Robert appeared in a Punk/New Wave style film entitled "Unmade Beds" by underground film-maker Amos Poe. "Blondie's" Deborah Harry also appeared in the film.

Rockabilly revival

Record producer Richard Gottehrer discovered Robert during a rehearsal one afternoon with the Tuff Darts and soon afterward the two were talking about making a Rock & Roll record. Gottehrer was impressed with RG's baritone voice and his rendition of Elvis Presley's "One Night". After some conversation, Robert suggested working with guitar legend Link Wray. Wray was contacted and he agreed to work with them both. "Robert to me sounds a lot like the early Elvis, back when he was at Sun Records," Wray would comment. "Robert Gordon with Link Wray" on Private Stock Records was the result of this collaboration. The critics generally loved it and sales were good. Elvis Presley's tragic death coincided with the release of the single "Red Hot" from the album. The single received much radio airplay and for the first time in a long time (almost twenty years) rockabilly was on the radio again.

Robert made another album in 1978 with Link Wray on Private Stock called "Fresh Fish Special". The Jordanaires, background vocalists for Elvis Presley, would contribute to this record. This album included a song written by Bruce Springsteen specifically for Robert entitled "Fire". Springsteen also played piano on the tune. Unfortunately for Robert, the Pointer Sisters quickly covered the song which went to #2 on the charts and his recording was overshadowed. Just as the new album was gaining momentum, Private Stock went bankrupt. These events greatly disappointed him.

RCA

In late '78, RCA records signed Gordon to a contract which he described as "a dream come true" to be on "Elvis' label". In February of 1979 "Rock Billy Boogie" was released, this time without Wray (the two had argued and broken up after touring for the last album). It would be Chris Spedding on lead guitar. The title track "Rock Billy Boogie", "Walk On By", "It's Only Make Believe" and "The Catman " got much radio airplay and the album broke into the top 100 charts.The next album "Bad Boy" released in 1980 had poor sales and Gordon split with lead guitar player Spedding.The next and last album for RCA was 1981's "Are You Gonna Be The One". It is Gordon's best selling album to date, with more than 200,000 copies sold. Danny Gatton played lead guitar on this record and Marshall Crenshaw penned the single "Someday Someway" which went to #76 on the charts.

"The Humbler"

In the early 1980s Robert toured briefly with Danny Gatton. One of their gigs was later released on NRG Records as "The Humbler" and is widely considered to be contain some of Danny's most scorching performances. Several tapes of other shows from this era circulate among collectors.

Biker movie

In 1982 Gordon co-starred with Willem Dafoe in a fifties styled biker flick (inspired by Marlon Brando's "The Wild One") called "The Loveless". This was Dafoe's first feature starring role. Gordon composed most of the soundtrack including: "Too Young", "I'm Dreaming of You", "Wastin' My Time", "Goodbye Baby", and "Calypso 17". Critics mostly raved about the soundtrack but disliked the film. "The Loveless" did poorly at the box office but is now considered a cult favorite.

MTV

RCA dropped Gordon after an argument over the budget for the next proposed album, and he found himself without a label. Around this time of the early 1980s the MTV cable network began. MTV became very popular and a band much inspired by Robert Gordon, The Stray Cats, with numerous music videos, became very popular along with it, selling millions of records.

The Real Deal

There have been many re-issues of Gordon's recordings, and he has made many other albums on minor labels ever since. He continues to tour and make recordings to this day. Jerry Lee Lewis said of him "Robert Gordon is the real deal." [Now Dig This #116]

Videos

*http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xar6t_robert-gordon-move-it
*http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjja0_robert-gordon-red-hot
*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81SiwkSr_SQ

Audio

Note: A partial discography can be found on the official website, but it doesn't include track listings for the albums:
*http://www.robertgordon.dk/main.htmlA complete discography with every album, complete track listings, and year released can be found here:
*http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/gordon_robert_1_/albums.jhtml

References