Rock 'n' Roll (1959 film)

Last updated
Rock 'n' Roll
Directed by Lee Robinson
Produced byLee Gordon
StarringJohnny O'Keefe
Production
company
Distributed byLee Gordon (Australia)
Kerridge Organisation (New Zealand)
Release date
30 October 1959 [1]
Running time
80 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Johnny O'Keefe performing at the Sydney Stadium while being filmed for the documentary Rock 'n' Roll Johnny O'Keefe at the Sydney Stadium 1959.png
Johnny O'Keefe performing at the Sydney Stadium while being filmed for the documentary Rock 'n' Roll

Rock 'n' Roll is a 1959 Australian film directed by Lee Robinson. While often referred to as a documentary, it is essentially a complete filming of a rock concert held in October 1959, at Sydney Stadium. The film was commissioned by Lee Gordon to promote a string of 1959 shows entitled Lee Gordon's 1959 Rock'n'Roll Spectacular, mainly showcasing Australian and New Zealand artists. While the show was largely based around native talent, the headline act was the American singer and pop idol Fabian.

Contents

Removed from film

Production

Ad from SMH 16 Oct 1959 Concert ad for Rock n Roll.png
Ad from SMH 16 Oct 1959

Filming took place over concerts at the Sydney Stadium on the 15 and 16 October 1959.

The film was shot on seven cameras over four concerts. Cameramen included Johnny Leake, Keith Loon, Bill Grimmo Bobby Wright, and Ron Horner. [3]

Release

Australia

The first showing of Rock 'n' Roll was in Newcastle, NSW on 30 October 1959 followed by very limited showings in Melbourne and Sydney, the film disappeared from the public eye. Apart from a stint in New Zealand, it was not shown in any other country.

Robinson says the film's release was hurt by Gordon who would not let distributors have the film under normal terms. [3] According to the official website of the film, Fabian appeared in the original cut of the movie but was removed after objections from Fabian's management. [1]

It played at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in December 1959. [4]

In December 1959 Johnny Devlin was granted an injunction preventing the exhibition of the film by Greater Union theatres. Devlin claimed that the film grossly defamed him. However after Gordon agreed not to release any more Devlin recordings without Devlin’s permission, the injunction was dismissed. [5]

New Zealand

Poster from The Press 30 Dec 1959 Rock and Roll 1959.png
Poster from The Press 30 Dec 1959

The movie did receive a reasonably wide release in New Zealand through the Kerridge Organisation who paid £3,000 for the movie. [1] [6]

Besides small sections of the film with no audio attached, The O'Keefe performance of "Shout" was thought to be the only surviving piece of the films footage until recently. This performance in the film has been used in the opening credits of ABC Australia's music show Rage since 1987.

Lee Robinson would periodically licence the surviving amount of film to other filmmakers. [7]

Status as 'lost' film

Up until 2020 Rock 'n' Roll was classified as a lost film by the NFSA and rested in their 'most wanted' list for a number of years. Its recent discovery is arguably the most important Australian cultural artefact recovered in the last 50 years, due in no small part to the fact that Rock 'n' Roll was the only 35mm feature-length film of a live Rock 'n' Roll concert ever made in the 1950s. Moreover, it is arguably the only piece of 35mm Rock 'n' Roll live footage from the 1950s in existence, since The Pied Piper of Cleveland (the only other 35mm live film shot in this decade) is considered to be lost by many researchers.

Rediscovery

In March 2020, 60 years since its premiere in Newcastle, the film was unearthed in Melbourne, Australia by Mark laria. [7] It is reported to be in excellent condition for its age, with the image quality far surpassing any existing footage of this era. This was in no small part due to the equipment used for the filming, and that the film was shot on 35mm safety film.

Rock 'n' Roll is a unique and priceless piece of Australiana and Rock 'n' Roll history. Having been filmed by arguably Australia's most important pioneering director, Lee Robinson, it is also, just as importantly, a treasured record of Australia's cinematic past. The film's worth is also enhanced by the fact that the sound and camera technology used for its filming was ahead of its time. 7 cameras were used to film the wild scenes that evening at the Sydney Stadium, capturing the essence of the Australian/International Rock 'n' Roll scene in the 1950s like no other.

In early 2021, a short clip from the documentary was posted onto YouTube, featuring Johnny O'Keefe performing "Swanee River". Follow this link.

Re-release

The film screened at ACMI, Melbourne for the first time in over 50 years on 6 December 2021. And then in a restored state for the first time at Dendy Cinemas Newtown [8] Sydney, on May 22, 2023. The May 22 screening included 3 stars of the film in attendance, including Col Joye, Lonnie Lee and Tony Brady.

Reception

Stephen Vagg, reviewing the film for Filmink said he "had a great time" watching it. "The fact that it was shot on 35mm film, meant that it has aged very well and it is a fascinating glimpse of a time now passed...The cinema had a healthy amount of boomers in the audience, which added to the enjoyment – they would excitedly whisper to each other during the film going “I remember that singer”, and sing along to some of the tunes." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trisha Noble</span> Australian singer, actress (1944–2021)

Patricia Ann Ruth Noble was an Australian singer and actress. Initially performing as Patsy Ann Noble, she was a teenage pop singer in the early 1960s, with regular appearances on the Australian music and variety television series Bandstand. In November 1961, she released her biggest hit single, "Good Looking Boy", which reached the Top 10 in Melbourne and Top 20 in Sydney. At the 1961 Logie Awards, she won the Best Female Singer of the Year award from TV Week. By 1962, she had transferred to the United Kingdom and continued her singing career by releasing singles there.

Maxwell James Merritt was a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who was renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors, his best known hits are "Slippin' Away", which reached No. 2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached No. 13. Merritt rose to prominence in New Zealand from 1958 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, in December 1964. Merritt was acknowledged as one of the best local performers of the 1960s and 1970s and his influence did much to popularise soul music / R&B and rock in New Zealand and Australia.

The Sydney Symphony is internationally renowned and regularly performs in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House under Chief Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. City Recital Hall is dedicated mainly to chamber music and chamber orchestra concerts, featuring many famous international artists as well as concert series by fine local groups such as the renowned Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney's foremost Baroque orchestra, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

Barry John Stanton was an English-Australian rock and roll musician. He performed on pop music programs, Six O'Clock Rock, Bandstand, Johnny O'Keefe Show, Sing Sing Sing, Saturday Date, and Woody's Teen Time. He issued a compilation album, A Tribute to the King Rare Songs 1957-1965, in 1988.

Leedon Records was an Australian record label active from 1958 to 1969. It was founded by American Australian entrepreneur Lee Gordon in early 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marv Johnson</span> American singer and songwriter (1938–1993)

Marvin Earl Johnson was an American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist. He was influential in the development of the Motown style of music, primarily for the song "Come to Me," which was the first record issued by Tamla Records, the precursor to the famous label.

Colin Frederick Jacobsen, better known by his stage name Col Joye, is an Australian pioneer rock singer-songwriter, musician and entrepreneur with a career spanning almost sixty-five years. Joye was the first Australian rock and roll singer to have a number one record Australia-wide, and experienced a string of chart successes in the early Australian rock and roll scene, performing with his then band the Joy Boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny O'Keefe</span> Australian rock and roll singer (1935–1978)

John Michael O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the early 1950s. A pioneer of Rock music in Australia, his hits include "Wild One" (1958), "Shout!" and "She's My Baby". In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe released over fifty singles, 50 EPs and 100 albums. O'Keefe was also a radio and television entertainer and presenter.

<i>Six OClock Rock</i> Television show of Australia

Six O'Clock Rock was an Australian rock and roll television show broadcast on ABC Television from 28 February 1959 to 1962 at 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lonnie Lee</span> Musical artist

Lonnie Lee is an Australian singer, who has fronted Lonnie Lee and the Leeman and Lonnie Lee and the Leedons. He is a pioneer of Australian rockabilly music and has worked in the industry for 60 years. At the peak of his career, Lee had eight top 100 singles, which included three top 20s, "Ain't It So", "Starlight Star Bright" and "I Found a New Love" (September). He achieved five gold records. Although Lee released his last single, "Sad Over Someone" in 1969, continued to tour and perform into the 2000s and released his last album in 2019 called Back to Base X,

<i>Bandstand</i> (TV program) Australian TV series or program

Bandstand is an Australian live pop music, variety television program screened from November 1958 to June 1972. Featuring both local and international music artists, and produced in-house at the studios of the Nine Network in Willoughby, New South Wales, it was originally broadcast only in New South Wales, It became a national program in the early 1960s as the network expanded into other Australian states. The host of Bandstand for its entire existence was radio presenter and television newsreader Brian Henderson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Gordon (promoter)</span> American entrepreneur and rock and roll promoter

Lee Gordon was an American entrepreneur and rock and roll promoter who worked extensively in Australia in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Gordon's jazz and rock'n'roll tours had a major impact on the Australian music scene and he also played a significant role in the early career of pioneering Australian rock'n'roll singer Johnny O'Keefe, serving as his manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Devlin</span> New Zealand singer, songwriter (born 1938)

John Lockett Devlin is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, and musician known for his influential role in the country's early rock and roll scene. He has often been compared to Elvis Presley.

Lee Robinson was an Australian producer, director and screenwriter who was Australia's most prolific filmmaker of the 1950s and part of the creative team that produced the late 1960s international hit television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

Shadow of the Boomerang is a 1960 Australian drama film directed by Dick Ross and written by Dick Ross and John Ford. It is a 'Christian Western' about a cattle station manager who learns to overcome his prejudice against aboriginals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dig Richards</span> Musical artist

Digby George "Dig" Richards was an Australian rock and roll singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, musical theatre actor and television presenter, active during the late 1950s and early 1960s as lead singer with the R'Jays. Richards was the first Australian rock and roll artist to record a 12" LP record in Australia, with the self-titled album Dig Richards, released in November 1959. From 1971 he performed as a solo country music artist. According to the Kent Music Report he had four Top 30 national hit singles, "(My) Little Lover" / "Quarrels ", "A Little Piece of Peace", "People Call Me Country" / "The Dancer", and "Do the Spunky Monkey". On 17 February 1983 Digby Richards died of pancreatic cancer, aged 42. He was survived by his wife, Sue and two children.

Lorraine May Chapman, professionally known as Laurel Lea, was an Australian popular singer of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Lea appeared regularly on TV series, Bandstand, Six O'Clock Rock and Saturday Date. In 1974 and 1975 she toured throughout Australia with contemporaries Johnny O'Keefe, Johnny Devlin, Lonnie Lee and Barry Stanton. On 31 January 1992 Lea died of leukaemia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Crescents</span> Vocal music group of 1950s and 60s Australia

The Crescents were a vocal harmony group which formed in Sydney, Australia in late 1958 under the name The 4 Tops. The Crescents were best known for their Top 10 hit "Mr. Blue" and for their tours with Lee Gordon's "Big Shows" supporting Johnnie Ray, Fabian, and Ricky Nelson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Col Loughnan</span> Australian jazz saxophonist and composer

Colin John Loughnan is an Australian jazz saxophonist, teacher, and composer, best known as a member of the Delltones, Ayers Rock, Judy Bailey quartet, and as a teacher of saxophone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Although Loughnan has long been associated with jazz music, the first nine years of his career were spent as a non-instrumental vocalist with vocal harmony groups The Crescents, and The Delltones starting in 1958. In the 60s, he learnt to play the saxophone, performing as an instrumentalist with Col Nolan and The Soul Syndicate, and as a founding member of the Daly-Wilson Big Band. At this time Loughnan was proficient in saxophones, flutes, and clarinet.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "History". Rock'n'Roll official website.
  2. "They've got their diploma". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 27, no. 18. 7 October 1959. p. 7 (Teenagers Weekly). Retrieved 24 March 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 Robinson, Lee (15 August 1976). "Lee Robinson" (Oral history). Interviewed by Graham Shirley. National Film and Sound Archive.
  4. "Previews of new films". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 December 1959. p. 39.
  5. "Rock'n'Roll Singer". The Press. 17 December 1959. p. 10.
  6. "Advertisement for film". The Press. 14 October 1960. p. 1.
  7. 1 2 3 Vagg, Stephen (30 June 2023). "Rock'n'Roll is Back Again". Filmink.
  8. "Rock'n'Roll 1959 Film". rocknroll1959.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.