Lee Gordon (promoter)
Encyclopedia
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
.
and educated at Highland Park High School
, Highland Park, Michigan
and at the University of Miami
, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration
in 1944. However, other sources claim that Gordon was in fact born in 1917 in Coral Gables, Florida
.
He began promoting jazz concerts at university; after graduating he reportedly worked in several 'colourful' business enterprises — during World War II he reportedly ran a mail-order business that operated out of Lima, Peru, and later he moved to Cuba, where he booked entertainment for the famous Tropicana
nightclub in Havana
.
A number of stories circulate about Gordon's immediate postwar career. One account says he established a chain of electrical goods stores in the USA, which eventually failed. On the supposed advice of a friend, Detroit promoter Arthur Shergin, he came to Sydney
in 1953 to investigate the possibilities of promoting concert tours there.
According to his Australian business associate Max Moore, Gordon claimed to have established a successful chain of electrical retail stores, with numerous branches in the USA and Canada, and that he eventually sold the business for US$550,000. This was a considerable fortune at that time, and it is apparently the largest single sum he ever amassed during his life. However, he said, he had lost the entire amount within three years, backing two unsuccessful Broadway productions and several loss-making music tours. Although the details cannot be readily confirmed, this pattern of action certainly accords with the rest of Gordon's career, as he repeatedly made and lost small fortunes on his music promotions and other enterprises.
Another (possibly apocryphal) version of these events, recounted by Max Moore, states that in early 1953 Gordon accepted a bet from some influential New York business people, who doubted his claims that he could start with nothing and become a success. He was challenged to prove himself and given a one-way ticket to Canada. Basing himself in Toronto, he moved into a luxury penthouse hotel suite, rented several retail properties and began advertising his new venture. Stocking the stores with TV sets, Gordon hired staff and used his proven hard-sell tactics and by the end of the first week he managed to make enough money to pay his bills; a short time later he apparently sold the business for a handsome profit. It was during his stint in Toronto that he allegedly met an Australian used-car salesman who encouraged him to try his luck in Australia.
Gordon's first Australian business venture was a marketing business utilising the latest American techniques such as telephone quizzes, competitions and discount coupons on to lure customers into a Sydney furniture and electrical appliances retailer, Royal Art Furnishings. His deal with the company gave him a percentage of the increased business, and his marketing tactics proved so successful that the company sold thousands of appliances, earning a considerable sum in a short time.
From the springboard of his initial marketing success, Gordon then established himself as a music concert promoter in Australia. Backed by his recent earnings and tapping his connections in the American music business, he founded a promotions company to bring out leading American music artists. He was keen to minimise his tax liability—Australian tax law in those days charged a double rate on performers who worked in both Australia and the United States—so he hired a skilled accountant, Alan Heffernan, who went on to become his permanent accountant and general manager, as well becoming a close friend and confidante. Heffernan played a major role in Gordon's subsequent success and he helped to keep the company going through the mysterious period in 1958 when Gordon disappeared for almost a year.
In 1954 Australian taxation law was amended, ending the punitive double taxation levied on artists who worked in both Australia and the USA. As soon as the change took effect, Gordon terminated his work with Royal Art Furnishings to concentrate on building his concert promotions business.
His new company, which traded as The Big Show Pty Ltd, opened an office at 151 Bayswater Rd in Rushcutter's Bay and in January 1955 he hired book-keeper and future promoter Max Moore as his assistant. Six months later Moore was elevated to the position of tour manager, and he coordinated most of the Big Show tours. The other Big Show staff at this time were Alan Heffernan (general manager), Perla Honeyman (publicity officer), Clive Mahon (assistant to Lee Gordon), Colleen McCrindle (Gordon's secretary) and receptionist Moira Delray.
Gordon negotiated a deal with venue owners Stadiums Ltd for the use of their venues in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and arranged the hire of Centennial Hall in Adelaide and suitable venues in other major cities. Stadiums Ltd was a famous Australian company that had been purchased in 1916 by colourful Melbourne business identity John Wren
, whose controversial life and career had been the fictionalised in Frank Hardy
's controversial novel Power Without Glory
.
Stadiums Ltd owned large venues in most Australian capital cities, including the Sydney Stadium
, Melbourne Festival Hall and Brisbane Festival Hall
. Through the first half of 20th century these halls hosted many major Australian boxing and wrestling matches, since their "in-the-round" arenas were at the time the largest indoor venues in Australia's three biggest cities. Thanks to the deal struck by Gordon, Stadiums Ltd's venues became indelibly associated with the "Big Show" tours of the 1950s.
With the Stadiums deal arranged—at a cost of AU£500 per session -- Gordon refitted the Sydney Stadium, designing Australia's first rotating stage, which was installed on top of the old fight ring in the centre of the arena.
Gordon's first major concert tour, staged in July 1954, was a 'package' bill featuring jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald
, Buddy Rich
and Artie Shaw
, with comedian Jerry Colonna. It played at the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Stadiums, but Gordon lost heavily on the venture.
Undeterred by this failure, Gordon went ahead with a tour by popular American singer Johnnie Ray
in August 1954. A week after tickets went on sale, receipts were so poor that Gordon faced ruin—according to Max Moore, visits by overseas acts were so rare at that time that many people thought these early tour promotions were hoaxes. In an effort to save the tour, Gordon launched a promotional blitz—he had four million leaflets printed, which entitled the holder to a free extra ticket for every ticket sold, and then arranged for these "twofer" leaflets to be dropped from planes all over Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The tactic helped to turn sales around and the tour was a sell-out success.
In late 1954 Gordon next tour starred The Andrews Sisters
and Billy Daniels
; although only two of the three Andrews sisters (Maxene and LaVern) were available for the tour, it was a success.
Johnnie Ray's second Australian tour in 1955 was a landmark in the history of Australian entertainment. Ray's emotionally charged performances electrified local audiences, who had not seen anything like it before. As writer Damian Johnstone notes, the success demonstrated that Australian audiences were willing to pay high prices to see American entertainers, and it kick-started the demand for large scale tours by international acts.
Although he was not a rock'n'roll performer and his popularity in the USA had waned, Ray's distinctive style was an important bridge between the mainstream popular music of the '40s and early '50s and the emerging rock'n'roll genre. He also had a great influence on Australia's first homegrown rock'n'roll star, Johnny O'Keefe, who in fact began his career as a Johnny Ray impersonator.
Ray's second tour was even bigger than the first—he was mobbed by 10,000 fans at Sydney Airport and he set an Australian record for ticket sales that was not broken until the arrival of The Beatles
in 1964. Max Moore claims that Gordon tried to whip up the audience by hiring a local tailor to stitch together a custom-made coat for Ray with 'breakaway' sleeves, and then paying young girls to pull them off when he reached into the audience during his performance. Johnny O'Keefe saw Ray perform live several times on this tour and studied his idol carefully.
Although the Ray tour was highly successful, several of Gordon's subsequent promotions—including a tour featuring singer Frankie Laine
and comedy duo Abbott & Costello -- were box-office flops. Inveterate gamblers who spent much of their free time playing poker with Australian radio star Jack Davey
, Abbott and Costello are said to have lost the equivalent of their entire tour fee, so they instructed Gordon to send their cheque to Davey, but because Big Show Pty Ltd was broke, it bounced and no-one was paid.
An ill-fated tour 1955 by American Roller Derby
teams failed to draw the expected crowds and Gordon took another huge financial loss. Ironically, Gordon proved to be ahead of its time with this attraction, which became very popular in the late 1960s when rebadged as The Roller Game.
Gordon bounced back with several successful tours during 1956, including visits by the Louis Armstrong
All-Stars (supported by Gary Crosby
), Nat King Cole
, Calypso
king Harry Belafonte
and the "Record Star Parade", which featured Don Cornell
, Stan Freberg
, Joe "Fingers" Carr, Buddy Rich
and a dance duo called The Nilsson Twins.
Thinking that he had found a winning formula, Gordon booked a similar tour for 1957, featuring Lionel Hampton
, Stan Kenton
and vocalists Cathy Carr
and Guy Mitchell
, but his attempt to repeat the success of the Record Star Parade proved to be another financial disaster.
In March 1957 Gordon mounted his first major rock'n'roll tour, an all-star bill with Bill Haley & The Comets, LaVern Baker
, Big Joe Turner
, The Platters
and Freddie Bell and The Bell Boys. Although local pundits were already predicting that rock'n'roll was a passing fad, the tour was a huge success, breaking box office records around the country, and over 300,000 people saw the show. During the tour Johnny O'Keefe met Haley several times and was given a number of songs by Haley—although with his typical chutzpah, O'Keefe greatly exaggerated the extent of the contact when talking to the press.
Gordon's second rock'n'roll tour was even more significant. The all-star bill was headed by three of the biggest stars in American music at that time -- Little Richard
, Gene Vincent
& The Blue Caps, and Eddie Cochran
, supported by a singer then being touted as "the female Elvis", Alis Lesley
. During the tour Little Richard had his famous religious conversion, which was apparently prompted by his fear that the launch of Sputnik 1
(which took place during the tour) presaged the imminent end of the world. While travelling to a concert in Newcastle NSW
, Little Richard "found God" on the Stockton ferry, which prompted him to tear a number of expensive rings from his hands and throw them into the Hunter river.
This tour also provided Johnny O'Keefe with his first big break. When Gene Vincent and his band were delayed in Hawaii en route to Australia, Gordon hastily drafted O'Keefe and his band The Dee Jays to fill in for Vincent at the first show on the tour in Wollongong.
In February 1959 Gordon promoted another groundbreaking tour starring Buddy Holly
& The Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis
and Paul Anka
. By this time the old Brisbane Stadium had been demolished; its replacement, Brisbane Festival Hall, was still under construction and the only suitable venue was the famous Cloudland Ballroom, which was located on top of a high ridge in the hills behind the city. Because of the difficult location, Gordon's staff hired a fleet of taxis to ferry patrons up to the venue. Max Moore described Lewis as being "more laid back than his image suggested", although the unfortunate Anka was reportedly subjected to some vicious anti-Semitic abuse from Lewis' entourage.
In July 1959 Gordon presented a tour promoted as "The Battle of the Big Beat - USA Versus Australia". It featured LLoyd Price
, Conway Twitty
, the Kalin Twins
and Linda Laurie
from the US, and Col Joye & Joy Boys, Johnny O'Keefe & The Dee Jays, Johnny Rebb
& His Rebels, Johnny Devlin
& The Devils, The Delltones
and Dig Richards & The R'Jays.
. It was Sinatra's first visit to Australia and it played to capacity audiences in Sydney, and Melbourne. But a second tour, booked for March 1957, was cancelled two days before the scheduled opening night, apparently because Sinatra's friend, songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, was unable to get a berth on the flight to Australia—although it was also rumored that Sinatra had simply decided to abandon the tour to play golf with Sammy Davis, Jr.
.
Big Show Ltd took a heavy loss because of the cancellation, so Gordon sued, but in an out-of-court settlement, Sinatra agreed to perform a series of concerts in the USA to compensate Gordon. However Sinatra insisted that he be flown everywhere in a DC7 aircraft, and on one occasion, when Gordon gave a non-committal answer about the aircraft's availability, Sinatra's manager Hank Sanicola reportedly punched Gordon several times in the head.
A subsequent tour by legendary comedian and film star Bob Hope
surprisingly lost money, but Hope reportedly enjoyed the visit so much that he generously told Gordon that he would waive his fee, and only asked for expenses.
to Australia, and he never succeeded in this, despite many representations to Elvis' formidable manager Colonel Tom Parker
. Remarkably, Gordon is reported to have been involved in several short U.S. tours by Elvis Presley
during 1957. Although most Australian sources suggest that Gordon left Australia sometime in early 1958, Peter Guralnick
's book Last Train to Memphis records that Lee Gordon was in America during 1957 and that he promoted at least two short tours for Elvis during that year. These included Presley's Northeast tour of March 1957, and his subsequent West Coast tour of September 1957, which included dates in San Diego, Oakland, his first concert in Hollywood and his first three-date visit to Hawaii; on this latter tour, Guralnick reports, Gordon did "his usual good job" of promotion.
later said that he avoided Gordon and O'Keefe as a pair, and that they were "... bad news together. Double trouble."
Despite his supposedly negative personal influence on O'Keefe, Gordon was concerned about his friend's career direction. He disagreed with O'Keefe's plan to try establish himself in the United States and strongly opposed both of O'Keefe's visits there in 1959 and 1960
On 27 June 1960 Johnny O'Keefe's was severely injured in a car accident near Kempsey in northern NSW. Soon after the accident, Gordon advised him to turn his misfortune to his advantage, and O'Keefe later told Sydney DJ Bob Rogers
that he had his scars "accentuated" with makeup and announced that the audience would see his face change week by week; as a result, O'Keefe said, ratings increased as people tuned in to see his face change.
Gordon also helped O'Keefe after the singer suffered a serious mental breakdown in London in early 1961. After dropping out of his unsuccessful second US tour, O'Keefe flew to the UK on impulse and checked into a London hotel but soon after arriving he overdosed on a mixture of prescription medication, alcohol and marijuana. He woke several days later in to find himself in a psychiatric hospital in Tooting Bec
. O'Keefe spent a hellish period in a straight jacket, confined to a padded cell and heavily sedated with drugs, but several days later he was recognised by an Australian doctor, who confirmed his identity. However, as soon as he was allowed out into the grounds he escaped and returned to his hotel. Luckily, Lee Gordon was in London at the time and after O'Keefe located him Gordon advised him to return to hospital; O'Keefe did so, and he was transferred to St George's Hospital, and eventually released.
labels. He registered a new company, Lee Gordon Records Pty Ltd, which traded under the Leedon Records
and Lee Gordon Records labels. Immediately after the record company was set up, Gordon disappeared overseas, leaving Alan Heffernan and Max Moore in charge.
Leedon made a deal with the Australian Record Company (which would be taken over by CBS two years later) to press the Leedon discs. The label's first two releases were "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again
" by Jimmie Rogers
and "(Make With) The Shake" by The Mark IV
. In its first few months Leedon released several more singles under licence from small US labels. They included "Endless Sleep" by Jody Reynolds
, "Rebel Rouser" by Duane Eddy
and "Rockin' Robin" by Bobby Day
.
One intriguing facet of the Leedon story is the group of recordings the label released during 1958 which were attributed to an artist called Johnny "Scat" Brown. Curiously, although Lee Gordon had 'disappeared' to the USA—where he was purportedly being treated for a nervous breakdown—Max Moore states that Gordon in fact maintained some involvement with Leedon, and that it was he who sent Leedon the tapes. Johnny "Scat" Brown was in fact a pseudonym (invented by Alan Heffernan) for an anonymous American Elvis soundalike vocalist who cut a number of covers of current US hits such as Sheb Wooley
's "The Purple People Eater" and David Seville's "Witch Doctor
". Decades later, Alan Heffernan discovered that the mystery vocalist was in fact rockabilly singer Johnny Powers
.
The Leedon label was quite successful with its early releases—Max Moore claims that Leedon scored twelve records in the newly established (Sydney) Top 40 and the company had expanded to eight staff by the time Gordon returned from overseas in late 1958. In its early years Gordon also recorded a couple of 'vanity' singles, "Get The Message" and the jazzy beatnik-styled "She's The Ginchiest".
However, Johnny O'Keefe's biographer Damian Johnstone states that Leedon found it difficult to sustain its license arrangements and often lost out to the Australian arm of the British-based EMI
conglomerate, which at that time dominated the Australian recording industry. By mid-1959 Leedon was struggling to stay afloat and it was evident to Alan Heffernan that they needed to take action to bolster the company's flagging fortunes.
Johnny O'Keefe
was brought in as the company's A&R
manager and he began signing up local artists. At this stage O'Keefe was still signed to a recording contract with Australian independent label Festival Records, but he was otherwise free to work with Leedon. Heffernan later stated that there was only ever a spoken arrangement between O'Keefe and the label, and that the fees for his appearances on Gordon's Big Show tours were increased to remunerate him for his work for Leedon. With O'Keefe's guidance, Leedon signed up a number of Australian acts including Lonnie Lee
, Barry Stanton, Warren Williams
, The Delltones
and Booka Hyland.
Meanwhile, Alan Heffernan and Max Moore kept Big Show Pty Ltd running in Gordon's absence, although the company continued to veer from success to failure. A 1958 tour by pianist Liberace
fell apart moments after the curtain went up on the first performance at the Sydney Trocadero
. Liberace came on stage and announced that because the music from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady
was "on restriction" (presumably because of copyright restrictions) he was unable to perform and he walked off without playing a note. The audience stormed the box office, demanding refunds, the tour closed, and Gordon lost "a bundle". He sued Liberace for breach of contract and the case dragged on for years.
In March 1959, after a year's absence from the music scene, Big Show returned to promotion with the "Parade of Stars" tour featuring Tommy Sands
& The Sharks, The Platters
, and Frankie Avalon
. It was a huge success, although Gordon was still in poor shape mentally and the tour's success was mostly due to the efforts of general manager Alan Heffernan and tour manager Max Moore. It proved such a financial success that Heffernan contacted Gordon's mother in America to bring Gordon back to Australia.
In April 1959 Big Show Pty Ltd promoted three major tours, with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Johnny Cash
all playing dates simultaneously at venues around the country.
Johnny Ray made his fifth visit in September 1959, when he was supported by Johnny O'Keefe, who was by then the biggest star on the local music scene.
. Gordon spotted her singing in a Sydney club in early 1959 and signed her as the support singer for the Stan Freberg
tour of New Zealand, which also featured the Australian Jazz Quartet and Frank Ifield
. Impressed, he then signed her to tour Australia with the upcoming Frank Sinatra show. The singer was rehearsing "My Funny Valentine
" for her performance when Sinatra and his then manager Hank Sanicola came into the room. Sanicola exclaimed, "This kid can’t sing that song! That’s Frank’s song!” but Sinatra said, "If the kid wants to sing the song let her sing it. She sings it better than I do.” and Trask’s version was allowed to remain part of her set. Trask opened the show and although there were calls from the audience to "get on with it”, most soon were won over by her.
As a result of her performances on the Sinatra tour, Gordon also selected her to tour with Sammy Davis Jr. Sinatra was impressed enough to suggest that she should try her luck overseas and recommended her to contacts back in the USA. Thanks to Sinatra's patronage, in August 1959 she secured a four-week engagement at the Blue Angel nightclub in New York City
. On her first night, Sinatra sent a good luck telegram and he attended in person later in the season with a group of about 20 people. Many months of touring and promotion followed, but her appearance on Don McNeil’s Breakfast Club was seen by legendary A&R manager Mitch Miller
, who signed her to a recording contract with the prestigious Columbia Records
; from there she went on to a very successful career in the USA as both a singer and an actress.
. The tour was supported by Col Joye
& The Joy Boys, Lonnie Lee
, Dig Richards & The R'Jays, Candy & Mandy (a female vocal duo Gordon had discovered) and Johnny O'keefe & The Dee Jays, making their first major concert performance since O'Keefe's near-fatal car accident earlier in the year.
By this time O'Keefe's local popularity had become so great that many visiting acts complained about having to follow him, and Gordon was obliged to put O'Keefe on first, so that there was at least an hour between his appearance and that of headliner, Ricky Nelson.
During the tour Gordon also had to contend with the intense professional rivalry between O'Keefe and rising star Col Joye
over who should close the Australian segment of the show. After much argument between the two camps, Gordon worked out a deal in which the two singers should alternate as the closing act of the first half. Joye played first on the opening night, but on the second night (when O'Keefe was scheuled to play first) he deliberately waited outside until he heard Joye go onstage before entering the venue. The next time he was scheduled to open the show, he was supposedly held up at the ABC with his TV show Six O'Clock Rock.
At the next show, O'Keefe again delayed his arrival, and Col Joye refused to go on first, but Gordon eventually convinced him to open the show. Needless to say, as soon as Joye began playing, O'Keefe made his entrance. However Gordon was reportedly so upset by O'Keefe's antics that he retaliated by locking O'Keefe in his dressing room. Although O'Keefe reportedly flew into rage, kicking the walls and screaming to be let out, Gordon kept him locked in the dressing room for the entire show and he did not appear that night. By the following night a chastened O'Keefe had learned his lesson and the rest of the tour went off without incident.
, it is known that late in his career he embarked on several projects in collaboration with Abe Saffron
, the reputed kingpin of the Kings Cross
vice scene. One was the conversion of a former cinema in Kings Cross into one of Australia's first discothèques, The Birdcage. After Gordon left Australia it was leased to promoter John Harrigan and renamed Surf City; it became a popular and influential venue in Sydney during the early days of the 'beat boom' in the early-to-mid 1960s, and is particularly associated with Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
. Gordon and Saffron also opened the first striptease
club in Sydney (which later became the famous Les Girls
nightclub) and established the first drive-in restaurant in Sydney, Big Boy on Parramatta Road at Tavners Hill.
Although Gordon made huge profits on some tours, others lost heavily, and by the late Fifites he was suffering from mental health and drug-related problems. He was overseas for much of 1958-59, leaving his company in the hands of his executive staff; he was eventually located when his mother contacted his company to inform them that Gordon had suffered a serious mental breakdown and was being cared for in a sanatorium in Hawaii
. He returned to Australia in 1960 but by this time he was deeply in debt. He quickly sold Lee Gordon Records and the Leedon label to Festival Records
, against the advice of business manager Alan Heffernan.
In January 1962, Gordon travelled to Acapulco
, Mexico
, where he married his de facto partner Arlene Topfer, with Frank Sinatra as his best man.
In Sydney in June 1963, Gordon was charged with attempting to obtain the pethidine
without a prescription. He left Australia in July and travelled to the United States and London
looking for work.
He was found dead in his hotel room in Kensington
, London, on 7 November 1963, reportedly from a coronary occlusion
. He was survived by his wife, daughter and a five-year old son.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
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
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...
.
Early life and career
Many aspects of Gordon's biography remain sketchy or obscure, and many accounts contain contradictory information. According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Gordon was born in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
and educated at Highland Park High School
Highland Park Community High School (Highland Park, Michigan)
Highland Park Community High school is a public high school in Highland Park, Michigan. About 775 students currently attend HP. Its mascot is the polar bears, and its school colors are Blue and white The school motto is "Striving for Excellence; Learning for Life."-History:The current Highland...
, Highland Park, Michigan
Highland Park, Michigan
- Geography :According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 16,746 people, 6,199 households, and 3,521 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,622.9 per square mile . There were 7,249...
and at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Business Administration
The Bachelor of Business Administration is a bachelor's degree in Commerce and business administration. In most universities, the degree is conferred upon a student after four years of full-time study in one or more areas of business concentrations; see below...
in 1944. However, other sources claim that Gordon was in fact born in 1917 in Coral Gables, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
He began promoting jazz concerts at university; after graduating he reportedly worked in several 'colourful' business enterprises — during World War II he reportedly ran a mail-order business that operated out of Lima, Peru, and later he moved to Cuba, where he booked entertainment for the famous Tropicana
Tropicana Club
Tropicana is a world known cabaret and club in Havana, Cuba. It was launched in 1939 at Villa Mina, a six-acre suburban estate with lush tropical gardens in Havana's Marianao neighborhood.-Influence:...
nightclub in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
.
A number of stories circulate about Gordon's immediate postwar career. One account says he established a chain of electrical goods stores in the USA, which eventually failed. On the supposed advice of a friend, Detroit promoter Arthur Shergin, he came to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1953 to investigate the possibilities of promoting concert tours there.
According to his Australian business associate Max Moore, Gordon claimed to have established a successful chain of electrical retail stores, with numerous branches in the USA and Canada, and that he eventually sold the business for US$550,000. This was a considerable fortune at that time, and it is apparently the largest single sum he ever amassed during his life. However, he said, he had lost the entire amount within three years, backing two unsuccessful Broadway productions and several loss-making music tours. Although the details cannot be readily confirmed, this pattern of action certainly accords with the rest of Gordon's career, as he repeatedly made and lost small fortunes on his music promotions and other enterprises.
Another (possibly apocryphal) version of these events, recounted by Max Moore, states that in early 1953 Gordon accepted a bet from some influential New York business people, who doubted his claims that he could start with nothing and become a success. He was challenged to prove himself and given a one-way ticket to Canada. Basing himself in Toronto, he moved into a luxury penthouse hotel suite, rented several retail properties and began advertising his new venture. Stocking the stores with TV sets, Gordon hired staff and used his proven hard-sell tactics and by the end of the first week he managed to make enough money to pay his bills; a short time later he apparently sold the business for a handsome profit. It was during his stint in Toronto that he allegedly met an Australian used-car salesman who encouraged him to try his luck in Australia.
Australian career
Gordon arrived in Sydney in September 1953. He stayed for a time at a private hotel in Darling Point before moving into a rented harbourside penthouse in the prestigious eastern suburb of Point Piper, where he remained until he left Australia for the last time in 1962.Gordon's first Australian business venture was a marketing business utilising the latest American techniques such as telephone quizzes, competitions and discount coupons on to lure customers into a Sydney furniture and electrical appliances retailer, Royal Art Furnishings. His deal with the company gave him a percentage of the increased business, and his marketing tactics proved so successful that the company sold thousands of appliances, earning a considerable sum in a short time.
From the springboard of his initial marketing success, Gordon then established himself as a music concert promoter in Australia. Backed by his recent earnings and tapping his connections in the American music business, he founded a promotions company to bring out leading American music artists. He was keen to minimise his tax liability—Australian tax law in those days charged a double rate on performers who worked in both Australia and the United States—so he hired a skilled accountant, Alan Heffernan, who went on to become his permanent accountant and general manager, as well becoming a close friend and confidante. Heffernan played a major role in Gordon's subsequent success and he helped to keep the company going through the mysterious period in 1958 when Gordon disappeared for almost a year.
In 1954 Australian taxation law was amended, ending the punitive double taxation levied on artists who worked in both Australia and the USA. As soon as the change took effect, Gordon terminated his work with Royal Art Furnishings to concentrate on building his concert promotions business.
His new company, which traded as The Big Show Pty Ltd, opened an office at 151 Bayswater Rd in Rushcutter's Bay and in January 1955 he hired book-keeper and future promoter Max Moore as his assistant. Six months later Moore was elevated to the position of tour manager, and he coordinated most of the Big Show tours. The other Big Show staff at this time were Alan Heffernan (general manager), Perla Honeyman (publicity officer), Clive Mahon (assistant to Lee Gordon), Colleen McCrindle (Gordon's secretary) and receptionist Moira Delray.
Gordon negotiated a deal with venue owners Stadiums Ltd for the use of their venues in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and arranged the hire of Centennial Hall in Adelaide and suitable venues in other major cities. Stadiums Ltd was a famous Australian company that had been purchased in 1916 by colourful Melbourne business identity John Wren
John Wren
John Wren was an Australian businessman. He has become a legendary figure thanks mainly to a fictionalised account of his life in Frank Hardy's novel Power Without Glory, which was also made into a television series...
, whose controversial life and career had been the fictionalised in Frank Hardy
Frank Hardy
Francis Joseph Hardy, or Frank, was an Australian left-wing novelist and writer best known for his controversial novel Power Without Glory. He also was a political activist bringing the plight of Aboriginal Australians to international attention with the publication of his book, The Unlucky...
's controversial novel Power Without Glory
Power Without Glory
Power Without Glory is a 1950 novel written by Australian writer Frank Hardy. It was later adapted into a mini-series by the Australian Broadcasting Commission .- Publication :...
.
Stadiums Ltd owned large venues in most Australian capital cities, including the Sydney Stadium
Sydney Stadium
The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, New South Wales, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay...
, Melbourne Festival Hall and Brisbane Festival Hall
Brisbane Festival Hall
Brisbane Festival Hall was an indoor arena, located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.The Festival Hall was originally known as Brisbane Stadium, which was built in 1910. In 1958, the venue was demolished and a new building constructed, by then leading Queensland Construction Company E.J.Taylor &...
. Through the first half of 20th century these halls hosted many major Australian boxing and wrestling matches, since their "in-the-round" arenas were at the time the largest indoor venues in Australia's three biggest cities. Thanks to the deal struck by Gordon, Stadiums Ltd's venues became indelibly associated with the "Big Show" tours of the 1950s.
With the Stadiums deal arranged—at a cost of AU£500 per session -- Gordon refitted the Sydney Stadium, designing Australia's first rotating stage, which was installed on top of the old fight ring in the centre of the arena.
Gordon's first major concert tour, staged in July 1954, was a 'package' bill featuring jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
and Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
, with comedian Jerry Colonna. It played at the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Stadiums, but Gordon lost heavily on the venture.
Undeterred by this failure, Gordon went ahead with a tour by popular American singer Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
in August 1954. A week after tickets went on sale, receipts were so poor that Gordon faced ruin—according to Max Moore, visits by overseas acts were so rare at that time that many people thought these early tour promotions were hoaxes. In an effort to save the tour, Gordon launched a promotional blitz—he had four million leaflets printed, which entitled the holder to a free extra ticket for every ticket sold, and then arranged for these "twofer" leaflets to be dropped from planes all over Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The tactic helped to turn sales around and the tour was a sell-out success.
In late 1954 Gordon next tour starred The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
and Billy Daniels
Billy Daniels
William Boone Daniels , better known as Billy Daniels, was a singer active in the United States and Europe from the mid-1930s to 1988, notable for his hit recording of "That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on early 1950s television.Daniels was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where...
; although only two of the three Andrews sisters (Maxene and LaVern) were available for the tour, it was a success.
Johnnie Ray's second Australian tour in 1955 was a landmark in the history of Australian entertainment. Ray's emotionally charged performances electrified local audiences, who had not seen anything like it before. As writer Damian Johnstone notes, the success demonstrated that Australian audiences were willing to pay high prices to see American entertainers, and it kick-started the demand for large scale tours by international acts.
Although he was not a rock'n'roll performer and his popularity in the USA had waned, Ray's distinctive style was an important bridge between the mainstream popular music of the '40s and early '50s and the emerging rock'n'roll genre. He also had a great influence on Australia's first homegrown rock'n'roll star, Johnny O'Keefe, who in fact began his career as a Johnny Ray impersonator.
Ray's second tour was even bigger than the first—he was mobbed by 10,000 fans at Sydney Airport and he set an Australian record for ticket sales that was not broken until the arrival of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
in 1964. Max Moore claims that Gordon tried to whip up the audience by hiring a local tailor to stitch together a custom-made coat for Ray with 'breakaway' sleeves, and then paying young girls to pull them off when he reached into the audience during his performance. Johnny O'Keefe saw Ray perform live several times on this tour and studied his idol carefully.
Although the Ray tour was highly successful, several of Gordon's subsequent promotions—including a tour featuring singer Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
and comedy duo Abbott & Costello -- were box-office flops. Inveterate gamblers who spent much of their free time playing poker with Australian radio star Jack Davey
Jack Davey
John Andrew Davey was a New Zealand-born star of Australian radio in the 1930s, '40s and '50s.-New Zealand:Jack Davey was born John Andrew Davey on 8 February 1907 and educated at King's College, Auckland...
, Abbott and Costello are said to have lost the equivalent of their entire tour fee, so they instructed Gordon to send their cheque to Davey, but because Big Show Pty Ltd was broke, it bounced and no-one was paid.
An ill-fated tour 1955 by American Roller Derby
Roller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...
teams failed to draw the expected crowds and Gordon took another huge financial loss. Ironically, Gordon proved to be ahead of its time with this attraction, which became very popular in the late 1960s when rebadged as The Roller Game.
Gordon bounced back with several successful tours during 1956, including visits by the Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
All-Stars (supported by Gary Crosby
Gary Crosby
Gary Evan Crosby was an American singer and actor. He may have become better known for writing a revealing memoir of his father, entertainment legend Bing Crosby, than for his own music and acting work. His mother was singer/actress Dixie Lee, Bing Crosby's first wife.-Personal life and...
), Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
king Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
and the "Record Star Parade", which featured Don Cornell
Don Cornell
Don Cornell was an American singer prominent mainly in the 1940s and 1950s noted for his smooth but robust baritone voice....
, Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg
Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
, Joe "Fingers" Carr, Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
and a dance duo called The Nilsson Twins.
Thinking that he had found a winning formula, Gordon booked a similar tour for 1957, featuring Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
and vocalists Cathy Carr
Cathy Carr
Angelina Helen Catherine Cordovano , known professionally as Cathy Carr, was an American pop singer.She was born in the New York borough of The Bronx...
and Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
, but his attempt to repeat the success of the Record Star Parade proved to be another financial disaster.
Rock'n'roll tours, 1957-58
The rise of rock'n'roll provided Gordon with a lucrative new avenue of promotion, and his tours effectively kick-started the rock'n'roll boom in Australia.In March 1957 Gordon mounted his first major rock'n'roll tour, an all-star bill with Bill Haley & The Comets, LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" , "Jim Dandy" , and "I Cried a Tear" .-Early life:She was born Delores LaVern Baker in Chicago, Illinois...
, Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
and Freddie Bell and The Bell Boys. Although local pundits were already predicting that rock'n'roll was a passing fad, the tour was a huge success, breaking box office records around the country, and over 300,000 people saw the show. During the tour Johnny O'Keefe met Haley several times and was given a number of songs by Haley—although with his typical chutzpah, O'Keefe greatly exaggerated the extent of the contact when talking to the press.
Gordon's second rock'n'roll tour was even more significant. The all-star bill was headed by three of the biggest stars in American music at that time -- Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Gene Vincent
Gene Vincent
Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
& The Blue Caps, and Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
, supported by a singer then being touted as "the female Elvis", Alis Lesley
Alis Lesley
Alis Lesley is a former American rockabilly singer, once billed as "the female Elvis Presley."Lesley was born Alice Lesley in Chicago, Illinois on April 20, 1938. Her family later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where she attended Phoenix Junior College. She majored in television and radio, and began...
. During the tour Little Richard had his famous religious conversion, which was apparently prompted by his fear that the launch of Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...
(which took place during the tour) presaged the imminent end of the world. While travelling to a concert in Newcastle NSW
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, Little Richard "found God" on the Stockton ferry, which prompted him to tear a number of expensive rings from his hands and throw them into the Hunter river.
This tour also provided Johnny O'Keefe with his first big break. When Gene Vincent and his band were delayed in Hawaii en route to Australia, Gordon hastily drafted O'Keefe and his band The Dee Jays to fill in for Vincent at the first show on the tour in Wollongong.
In February 1959 Gordon promoted another groundbreaking tour starring Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
& The Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
and Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
. By this time the old Brisbane Stadium had been demolished; its replacement, Brisbane Festival Hall, was still under construction and the only suitable venue was the famous Cloudland Ballroom, which was located on top of a high ridge in the hills behind the city. Because of the difficult location, Gordon's staff hired a fleet of taxis to ferry patrons up to the venue. Max Moore described Lewis as being "more laid back than his image suggested", although the unfortunate Anka was reportedly subjected to some vicious anti-Semitic abuse from Lewis' entourage.
In July 1959 Gordon presented a tour promoted as "The Battle of the Big Beat - USA Versus Australia". It featured LLoyd Price
Lloyd Price
Lloyd Price is an American R&B vocalist. Known as "Mr. Personality", after the name of one of his biggest million-selling hits...
, Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
, the Kalin Twins
Kalin Twins
The Kalin Twins were a pop music recording duo, comprising twin brothers Hal and Herbie Kalin .-Career:...
and Linda Laurie
Linda Laurie
Linda Laurie was an American singer and songwriter, best known for the novelty record "Ambrose ", which went to #52 on the Billboard chart while she was still a high school student in 1959....
from the US, and Col Joye & Joy Boys, Johnny O'Keefe & The Dee Jays, Johnny Rebb
Johnny Rebb
Johnny Rebb was an Australian singer. Real name John Dellbridge.Began as a C & W Singer but with the onslaught of Rock N Roll he began singing with a band...
& His Rebels, Johnny Devlin
Johnny Devlin
Johnny Devlin, born John Lockett Devlin , was an influential early New Zealand rock musician, sometimes called "New Zealand's answer to Elvis Presley"....
& The Devils, The Delltones
The Delltones
The Delltones, a popular Australian rock 'n roll band, originally formed in 1958. They started out as a vocal harmony group with the lineup consisting of Brian Perkins, Noel Widerberg, Ian 'Peewee' Wilson and Warren Lucas...
and Dig Richards & The R'Jays.
Frank Sinatra tours, 1955, 1957
In January 1955 Gordon scored one of his biggest coups by landing a tour with legendary singer and film star Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. It was Sinatra's first visit to Australia and it played to capacity audiences in Sydney, and Melbourne. But a second tour, booked for March 1957, was cancelled two days before the scheduled opening night, apparently because Sinatra's friend, songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, was unable to get a berth on the flight to Australia—although it was also rumored that Sinatra had simply decided to abandon the tour to play golf with Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
.
Big Show Ltd took a heavy loss because of the cancellation, so Gordon sued, but in an out-of-court settlement, Sinatra agreed to perform a series of concerts in the USA to compensate Gordon. However Sinatra insisted that he be flown everywhere in a DC7 aircraft, and on one occasion, when Gordon gave a non-committal answer about the aircraft's availability, Sinatra's manager Hank Sanicola reportedly punched Gordon several times in the head.
A subsequent tour by legendary comedian and film star Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
surprisingly lost money, but Hope reportedly enjoyed the visit so much that he generously told Gordon that he would waive his fee, and only asked for expenses.
Gordon and Elvis
Gordon's biggest unfulfilled ambition as a promoter was to bring Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
to Australia, and he never succeeded in this, despite many representations to Elvis' formidable manager Colonel Tom Parker
Colonel Tom Parker
"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...
. Remarkably, Gordon is reported to have been involved in several short U.S. tours by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
during 1957. Although most Australian sources suggest that Gordon left Australia sometime in early 1958, Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra...
's book Last Train to Memphis records that Lee Gordon was in America during 1957 and that he promoted at least two short tours for Elvis during that year. These included Presley's Northeast tour of March 1957, and his subsequent West Coast tour of September 1957, which included dates in San Diego, Oakland, his first concert in Hollywood and his first three-date visit to Hawaii; on this latter tour, Guralnick reports, Gordon did "his usual good job" of promotion.
Gordon and O'Keefe
Although he undoubtedly did much to further Johnny O'Keefe's career, Gordon's personal relationship with O'Keefe is controversial and was not viewed favourably by many of the singer's family, friends and colleagues. According to O'Keefe biographer Damian Johnstone, Gordon introduced O'Keefe to marijuana during 1957; an associate later commented that the singer took to it "like mother's milk" and they often smoked it together. Largely because of this, Dee Jays drummer Johnny "Catfish" Purser considered Gordon a bad influence on O'Keefe, and Dee Jays saxophonist Bob BertlesBob Bertles
-Career:A self taught musician, Bertles began his performing career in 1956. In the late 1950s and early 60s Bertles was a member of the developing modern jazz scene that grew out of venues like the Mocambo in Newtown and the El Rocco Jazz Cellar in Sydney's Kings Cross.Active in clubs, on TV, as a...
later said that he avoided Gordon and O'Keefe as a pair, and that they were "... bad news together. Double trouble."
Despite his supposedly negative personal influence on O'Keefe, Gordon was concerned about his friend's career direction. He disagreed with O'Keefe's plan to try establish himself in the United States and strongly opposed both of O'Keefe's visits there in 1959 and 1960
On 27 June 1960 Johnny O'Keefe's was severely injured in a car accident near Kempsey in northern NSW. Soon after the accident, Gordon advised him to turn his misfortune to his advantage, and O'Keefe later told Sydney DJ Bob Rogers
Bob Rogers (disc jockey)
Bob Rogers OAM is an Australian disc jockey and radio broadcaster. He currently presents the Bob Rogers Show, Monday to Friday between 9am-12 noon and the 6-hour Saturday evening Reminiscing program on Sydney radio station 2CH....
that he had his scars "accentuated" with makeup and announced that the audience would see his face change week by week; as a result, O'Keefe said, ratings increased as people tuned in to see his face change.
Gordon also helped O'Keefe after the singer suffered a serious mental breakdown in London in early 1961. After dropping out of his unsuccessful second US tour, O'Keefe flew to the UK on impulse and checked into a London hotel but soon after arriving he overdosed on a mixture of prescription medication, alcohol and marijuana. He woke several days later in to find himself in a psychiatric hospital in Tooting Bec
Tooting Bec
Tooting Bec is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth in south London.It is named after Bec Abbey in Normandy, which was given land in this area after the Norman Conquest. Saint Anselm, the second Abbot of Bec, is reputed to have been a visitor to Tooting Bec long before he succeeded...
. O'Keefe spent a hellish period in a straight jacket, confined to a padded cell and heavily sedated with drugs, but several days later he was recognised by an Australian doctor, who confirmed his identity. However, as soon as he was allowed out into the grounds he escaped and returned to his hotel. Luckily, Lee Gordon was in London at the time and after O'Keefe located him Gordon advised him to return to hospital; O'Keefe did so, and he was transferred to St George's Hospital, and eventually released.
Lee Gordon Records
Most accounts of his life suggest that, some time in early 1958 (soon after the Buddy Holly tour) Gordon abruptly left for the USA. Although his reasons for doing so may never be known, his company had lost considerable amounts of money on a number of failed tours. However, before he left, he branched out into the record industry, acquiring the Australian rights to the American Roulette RecordsRoulette Records
Roulette Records is an American record label, which was founded in late 1956, by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed as director...
labels. He registered a new company, Lee Gordon Records Pty Ltd, which traded under the Leedon Records
Leedon Records
Leedon Records was an Australian record label active from 1958 to 1969. It was founded by American entrepreneur Lee Gordon in early 1958.-Establishment and early releases:...
and Lee Gordon Records labels. Immediately after the record company was set up, Gordon disappeared overseas, leaving Alan Heffernan and Max Moore in charge.
Leedon made a deal with the Australian Record Company (which would be taken over by CBS two years later) to press the Leedon discs. The label's first two releases were "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again
Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again
"Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman, Dick Manning, and Mark Markwell and published in 1958.The best-known recording of the song was done by Jimmie Rodgers, charting in 1958. It debuted on the charts in February, and spent 11 weeks on the charts that spring,...
" by Jimmie Rogers
Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)
James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.-Career:...
and "(Make With) The Shake" by The Mark IV
The Mark IV
The Mark IV were an American musical ensemble, based in Chicago, who were originally named The Rhythm Makers. They later changed their name to Mark V, and then - as members left - to The Mark IV, and eventually ending in the 1980s as The Mark IV Trio...
. In its first few months Leedon released several more singles under licence from small US labels. They included "Endless Sleep" by Jody Reynolds
Jody Reynolds
Jody Reynolds was an American singer and guitarist. His biggest hit single was "Endless Sleep", which reached #5 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on July 7, 1958. He wrote it in a single afternoon in 1956 in Yuma, Arizona...
, "Rebel Rouser" by Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
and "Rockin' Robin" by Bobby Day
Bobby Day
Bobby Day , was an early African American rock and roll and R&B musician.Born Robert James Byrd, , in Fort Worth, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of 15...
.
One intriguing facet of the Leedon story is the group of recordings the label released during 1958 which were attributed to an artist called Johnny "Scat" Brown. Curiously, although Lee Gordon had 'disappeared' to the USA—where he was purportedly being treated for a nervous breakdown—Max Moore states that Gordon in fact maintained some involvement with Leedon, and that it was he who sent Leedon the tapes. Johnny "Scat" Brown was in fact a pseudonym (invented by Alan Heffernan) for an anonymous American Elvis soundalike vocalist who cut a number of covers of current US hits such as Sheb Wooley
Sheb Wooley
Shelby F. "Sheb" Wooley was a character actor and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater"...
's "The Purple People Eater" and David Seville's "Witch Doctor
Witch Doctor
"Witch Doctor" is a song written and performed by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., and released in 1958 by Liberty Records under the name David Seville, a character whom Bagdasarian portrayed.-Song information:...
". Decades later, Alan Heffernan discovered that the mystery vocalist was in fact rockabilly singer Johnny Powers
Johnny Powers
Johnny Powers is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, known by his legally changed ring name Johnny Powers...
.
The Leedon label was quite successful with its early releases—Max Moore claims that Leedon scored twelve records in the newly established (Sydney) Top 40 and the company had expanded to eight staff by the time Gordon returned from overseas in late 1958. In its early years Gordon also recorded a couple of 'vanity' singles, "Get The Message" and the jazzy beatnik-styled "She's The Ginchiest".
However, Johnny O'Keefe's biographer Damian Johnstone states that Leedon found it difficult to sustain its license arrangements and often lost out to the Australian arm of the British-based EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
conglomerate, which at that time dominated the Australian recording industry. By mid-1959 Leedon was struggling to stay afloat and it was evident to Alan Heffernan that they needed to take action to bolster the company's flagging fortunes.
Johnny O'Keefe
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...
was brought in as the company's A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
manager and he began signing up local artists. At this stage O'Keefe was still signed to a recording contract with Australian independent label Festival Records, but he was otherwise free to work with Leedon. Heffernan later stated that there was only ever a spoken arrangement between O'Keefe and the label, and that the fees for his appearances on Gordon's Big Show tours were increased to remunerate him for his work for Leedon. With O'Keefe's guidance, Leedon signed up a number of Australian acts including Lonnie Lee
Lonnie Lee
Lonnie Lee is an Australian singer. He was raised on sheep property in Rowena, New South Wales and has been performing since the mid 1950s. At the peak of his career, Lee had eight national #1 hits and produced five Gold Records...
, Barry Stanton, Warren Williams
Warren Williams (rock musician)
Warren Williams is a rock musician from Australia. In the 1950s, he was a pioneer of Australian rock music, forming the group Warren Williams and the Squares.Williams was a prolific songwriter.- The Squares :...
, The Delltones
The Delltones
The Delltones, a popular Australian rock 'n roll band, originally formed in 1958. They started out as a vocal harmony group with the lineup consisting of Brian Perkins, Noel Widerberg, Ian 'Peewee' Wilson and Warren Lucas...
and Booka Hyland.
"Breakdown" and return, 1958-59
Soon after the establishment of Lee Gordon Records and the historic tour by Buddy Holly in February 1958, Gordon disappeared overseas (although, as noted above, Peter Guralnick records that Gordon was in the USA during 1957 promoting tours by Elvis Presley). Months later, around September 1958, Gordon's mother telephoned his associate Alan Heffernan and told him that Gordon had suffered a serious mental breakdown and that she had tracked him down to a sanatorium in Hawaii, where he had evidently been staying for several months. He had been released into his mother's care and was being treated by a prominent psychiatrist, although his recovery took several more months and he did not return to Australia until late in the year.Meanwhile, Alan Heffernan and Max Moore kept Big Show Pty Ltd running in Gordon's absence, although the company continued to veer from success to failure. A 1958 tour by pianist Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
fell apart moments after the curtain went up on the first performance at the Sydney Trocadero
Sydney Trocadero
The Sydney Trocadero in Sydney, Australia, opened with a full-dress gala on 3 April 1936. It was the main venue of Big Band jazz orchestras, with the resident Trocadero Orchestra under the baton of Frank Coughlan, and the All Girl Trocadero Band....
. Liberace came on stage and announced that because the music from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
was "on restriction" (presumably because of copyright restrictions) he was unable to perform and he walked off without playing a note. The audience stormed the box office, demanding refunds, the tour closed, and Gordon lost "a bundle". He sued Liberace for breach of contract and the case dragged on for years.
In March 1959, after a year's absence from the music scene, Big Show returned to promotion with the "Parade of Stars" tour featuring Tommy Sands
Tommy Sands
Tommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
& The Sharks, The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, and Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
. It was a huge success, although Gordon was still in poor shape mentally and the tour's success was mostly due to the efforts of general manager Alan Heffernan and tour manager Max Moore. It proved such a financial success that Heffernan contacted Gordon's mother in America to bring Gordon back to Australia.
In April 1959 Big Show Pty Ltd promoted three major tours, with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
all playing dates simultaneously at venues around the country.
Johnny Ray made his fifth visit in September 1959, when he was supported by Johnny O'Keefe, who was by then the biggest star on the local music scene.
Discovery of Diana Trask
Shortly after his return to Australia, Gordon played a pivotal role in the career of Melbourne-born singer Diana TraskDiana Trask
Diana Trask is an Australian and American country and pop singer born in Melbourne, Australia. She was a popular country singer during the 1970s in the United States and also was a popular star in her native Australia...
. Gordon spotted her singing in a Sydney club in early 1959 and signed her as the support singer for the Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg
Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
tour of New Zealand, which also featured the Australian Jazz Quartet and Frank Ifield
Frank Ifield
Francis Edward Ifield is an early Australian-English easy listening and country music singer. He achieved considerable success in the early 1960s, especially in the UK Singles Chart, where he had four Number 1 hits between 1962 and 1963....
. Impressed, he then signed her to tour Australia with the upcoming Frank Sinatra show. The singer was rehearsing "My Funny Valentine
My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
" for her performance when Sinatra and his then manager Hank Sanicola came into the room. Sanicola exclaimed, "This kid can’t sing that song! That’s Frank’s song!” but Sinatra said, "If the kid wants to sing the song let her sing it. She sings it better than I do.” and Trask’s version was allowed to remain part of her set. Trask opened the show and although there were calls from the audience to "get on with it”, most soon were won over by her.
As a result of her performances on the Sinatra tour, Gordon also selected her to tour with Sammy Davis Jr. Sinatra was impressed enough to suggest that she should try her luck overseas and recommended her to contacts back in the USA. Thanks to Sinatra's patronage, in August 1959 she secured a four-week engagement at the Blue Angel nightclub in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. On her first night, Sinatra sent a good luck telegram and he attended in person later in the season with a group of about 20 people. Many months of touring and promotion followed, but her appearance on Don McNeil’s Breakfast Club was seen by legendary A&R manager Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
, who signed her to a recording contract with the prestigious Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
; from there she went on to a very successful career in the USA as both a singer and an actress.
Fabian tour
In September 1960, after two years of protracted negotiations, Gordon managed to book a concert tour by TV heartthrob and rock'n'roll star Ricky NelsonRicky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
. The tour was supported by Col Joye
Col Joye
Colin Frederick Jacobsen AM , better known by his stage name Col Joye, is an Australian popular entertainer and entrepreneur...
& The Joy Boys, Lonnie Lee
Lonnie Lee
Lonnie Lee is an Australian singer. He was raised on sheep property in Rowena, New South Wales and has been performing since the mid 1950s. At the peak of his career, Lee had eight national #1 hits and produced five Gold Records...
, Dig Richards & The R'Jays, Candy & Mandy (a female vocal duo Gordon had discovered) and Johnny O'keefe & The Dee Jays, making their first major concert performance since O'Keefe's near-fatal car accident earlier in the year.
By this time O'Keefe's local popularity had become so great that many visiting acts complained about having to follow him, and Gordon was obliged to put O'Keefe on first, so that there was at least an hour between his appearance and that of headliner, Ricky Nelson.
During the tour Gordon also had to contend with the intense professional rivalry between O'Keefe and rising star Col Joye
Col Joye
Colin Frederick Jacobsen AM , better known by his stage name Col Joye, is an Australian popular entertainer and entrepreneur...
over who should close the Australian segment of the show. After much argument between the two camps, Gordon worked out a deal in which the two singers should alternate as the closing act of the first half. Joye played first on the opening night, but on the second night (when O'Keefe was scheuled to play first) he deliberately waited outside until he heard Joye go onstage before entering the venue. The next time he was scheduled to open the show, he was supposedly held up at the ABC with his TV show Six O'Clock Rock.
At the next show, O'Keefe again delayed his arrival, and Col Joye refused to go on first, but Gordon eventually convinced him to open the show. Needless to say, as soon as Joye began playing, O'Keefe made his entrance. However Gordon was reportedly so upset by O'Keefe's antics that he retaliated by locking O'Keefe in his dressing room. Although O'Keefe reportedly flew into rage, kicking the walls and screaming to be let out, Gordon kept him locked in the dressing room for the entire show and he did not appear that night. By the following night a chastened O'Keefe had learned his lesson and the rest of the tour went off without incident.
Career decline and death, 1960-63
Gordon embarked on several business ventures in the last few years of his life. Although various accounts of his life contain unsubstantiated claims of Gordon's connections with the MafiaMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, it is known that late in his career he embarked on several projects in collaboration with Abe Saffron
Abe Saffron
Abraham Gilbert "Abe" Saffron was an Australian nightclub owner and property developer who was reputed to have been one of the major figures in Australian organised crime in the latter half of the 20th century....
, the reputed kingpin of the Kings Cross
Kings Cross, New South Wales
Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
vice scene. One was the conversion of a former cinema in Kings Cross into one of Australia's first discothèques, The Birdcage. After Gordon left Australia it was leased to promoter John Harrigan and renamed Surf City; it became a popular and influential venue in Sydney during the early days of the 'beat boom' in the early-to-mid 1960s, and is particularly associated with Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...
. Gordon and Saffron also opened the first striptease
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
club in Sydney (which later became the famous Les Girls
Les Girls
Les Girls, also known as Cole Porter's Les Girls, is a 1957 musical comedy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by George Cukor, produced by Sol C...
nightclub) and established the first drive-in restaurant in Sydney, Big Boy on Parramatta Road at Tavners Hill.
Although Gordon made huge profits on some tours, others lost heavily, and by the late Fifites he was suffering from mental health and drug-related problems. He was overseas for much of 1958-59, leaving his company in the hands of his executive staff; he was eventually located when his mother contacted his company to inform them that Gordon had suffered a serious mental breakdown and was being cared for in a sanatorium in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. He returned to Australia in 1960 but by this time he was deeply in debt. He quickly sold Lee Gordon Records and the Leedon label to Festival Records
Festival Records (Australia)
Festival Records was an Australian music recording and publishing company which was founded in Sydney in 1952 and operated until 2005....
, against the advice of business manager Alan Heffernan.
In January 1962, Gordon travelled to Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where he married his de facto partner Arlene Topfer, with Frank Sinatra as his best man.
In Sydney in June 1963, Gordon was charged with attempting to obtain the pethidine
Pethidine
Pethidine or meperidine Pethidine (INN) or meperidine (USAN) Pethidine (INN) or meperidine (USAN) (commonly referred to as Demerol but also referred to as: isonipecaine; lidol; pethanol; piridosal; Algil; Alodan; Centralgin; Dispadol; Dolantin; Mialgin (in Indonesia); Petidin Dolargan (in Poland);...
without a prescription. He left Australia in July and travelled to the United States and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
looking for work.
He was found dead in his hotel room in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, London, on 7 November 1963, reportedly from a coronary occlusion
Coronary occlusion
A coronary occlusion is the partial or complete obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition may cause a heart attack.In some patients coronary occlusion causes only mild pain, tightness or vague discomfort which may be ignored: the myocardium is however damaged....
. He was survived by his wife, daughter and a five-year old son.
1954
- Ella FitzgeraldElla FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
, Artie ShawArtie ShawArthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
, Jerry Colonna (July 1954)
- Johnny RayJohnny RayJohn Cornelius Ray is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1981 to 1990. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the California Angels of the American League...
(August 1954)
- The Andrews SistersThe Andrews SistersThe Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
, Billy DanielsBilly DanielsWilliam Boone Daniels , better known as Billy Daniels, was a singer active in the United States and Europe from the mid-1930s to 1988, notable for his hit recording of "That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on early 1950s television.Daniels was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where...
(late 1954)
1955
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
1955 Tour featuring Frank D'Amore, Lois Ray, Ann MacCormack (January 1955)
- Lee Gordon presents "The Big Show" starring Betty HuttonBetty HuttonBetty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.-Early life:Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum . While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for...
, with Morey Amsterdam, Clark Dennis (1955)
1956
- "Lee Gordon presents Frankie LaineFrankie LaineFrankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
" (2nd Australian Tour, 1956) with Eileen Barton, Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
, Joe "Fingers" Carr, Stan FrebergStan FrebergStanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
, Joe Martin and The Tune Twisters.
- "Lee Gordon presents Johnnie Ray", featuring Leo De Lyon, The Holly Sisters, Peg Leg Bates, Lola Dee (3rd Australian Tour, 1956)
- "Lee Gordon presents Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
" with Lillian Briggs, Marty Allen and Mitch DeWood, George Kirby (2nd Australian Tour, 1956)
- The "Record Star Parade" featuring Don CornellDon CornellDon Cornell was an American singer prominent mainly in the 1940s and 1950s noted for his smooth but robust baritone voice....
, Stan FrebergStan FrebergStanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
, Joe "Fingers" Carr, Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
, The Nilsson Twins, Joe MartinJoe MartinJoe Martin may refer to:*Joe Martin , character on All My Children*Joe Martin , American football linebacker for Baltimore Ravens*Joe Martin , American cartoonist...
and the Tune Twisters (1956)
- Lee Gordon presents Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and his celebrated American Orchestra in "The Big Show," (2nd Australian Season, 1956)
- "Lee Gordon presents Johnnie Ray" with Leo De Lyon, Holly Sisters, Peg-Leg Bates, Lola Dee, orchestra under the direction of Dennis Collinson (3rd Australian Tour, 1956)
1957
- Bill Haley & The Comets, The PlattersThe PlattersThe Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, Freddie Bell & The Bellboys, LaVern BakerLaVern BakerLaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" , "Jim Dandy" , and "I Cried a Tear" .-Early life:She was born Delores LaVern Baker in Chicago, Illinois...
, Big Joe TurnerBig Joe TurnerBig Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
(January 1957)
- "Lee Gordon presents Frank Sinatra" with Stan Freberg, Red NorvoRed NorvoRed Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
& his American Orchestra (1957)
- "The Second Record Star Parade" with Lionel HamptonLionel HamptonLionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
and his Orchestra, Stan KentonStan KentonStanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
& his Orchestra, Guy MitchellGuy MitchellGuy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
, Cathy CarrCathy CarrAngelina Helen Catherine Cordovano , known professionally as Cathy Carr, was an American pop singer.She was born in the New York borough of The Bronx...
(1957)
- "Lee Gordon presents Johnnie Ray" with Graeme BellGraeme BellGraeme Emerson Bell AO MBE is an Australian Dixieland and classical jazz pianist, composer and band leader...
's Skiffle Gang, Vic Sabrino, Joe Martin, Patricia Smith (4th Australian Tour, 1957)
- Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Eddie CochranEddie CochranEddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
, Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps, Alis LesleyAlis LesleyAlis Lesley is a former American rockabilly singer, once billed as "the female Elvis Presley."Lesley was born Alice Lesley in Chicago, Illinois on April 20, 1938. Her family later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where she attended Phoenix Junior College. She majored in television and radio, and began...
(October 1957)
- "Lee Gordon presents Nat King Cole" with Georgia Lee, Yolanda & Antonio Rodrigues, Joe Martin, The Gill Bros & Joe Jenkins (3rd Australian Tour, 1957)
1958
- Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Paul AnkaPaul AnkaPaul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
, Jerry Lee LewisJerry Lee LewisJerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Jodie Sands, Johnny O'Keefe & The Dee Jays (January - February 1958)
1959
- "Parade of Stars" featuring Tommy SandsTommy SandsTommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
, Frankie AvalonFrankie AvalonFrankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
, The Sharks, The PlattersThe PlattersThe Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, Johnny Rebb (March 1959)
- The Johnny Cash Show" featuring Gene VincentGene VincentVincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
, The Playmates, The Tennessee Two, Robin Luke, Frankie Sardo, Bobby Day, Col Joye & The Joy Boys (April 1959)
- Sal MineoSal MineoSalvatore "Sal" Mineo, Jr. , was an American film and theatre actor, best known for his performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause...
, The Everly BrothersThe Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, Tab HunterTab HunterTab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
, Col Joye & the Joy Boys, Johnny Rebb & the Rebels, The Delltones, Johnny Devlin, Johnny O'Keefe & the D.J's, Princess Rora (1959)
1960
- "All American Rock Spectacular" featuring Duane EddyDuane EddyDuane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
, Johnny Restivo, Crash Craddock, The Diamonds, Eddie CochranEddie CochranEddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
, Santo & JohnnySanto & JohnnySanto & Johnny were an Italian-American rock and roll duo from Brooklyn, New York, comprising brothers Santo and Johnny Farina.They are best known for their instrumental "Sleep Walk", which became a regional hit and eventually reached the top of the Billboard pop chart when it was released...
(January 1960)
- Big Show with The Everly BrothersThe Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, Crash Craddock, Bobby RydellBobby RydellBobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
, Marv Johnson, The Champs, The Crickets, Lonnie Lee (May 1960)
- "The Battle of the Big Beat" featuring Lloyd PriceLloyd PriceLloyd Price is an American R&B vocalist. Known as "Mr. Personality", after the name of one of his biggest million-selling hits...
, Conway TwittyConway TwittyConway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
, Kalin Twins, Linda (Ambrose) Laurie, Col Joye & The Joy Boys, Johnny Rebb & the Rebels, Johnny O'Keefe & the Dee Jays, Dig Richards & The R'Jays, Johnny Devlin & The Devils, The Delltones.
1961
- "Lee Gordon Presents The Twist" featuring Chubby CheckerChubby CheckerChubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
, Bobby Rydell, Del ShannonDel ShannonDel Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...
, Diane Hilton, The Peppermints, Johnny High (1961)
- Lee Gordon presents Bobby Rydell starring in "All American Rock Spectacular" with Brenda Lee, Duane Eddy & his group, Chubby Checker, Oliver Cool, Col Joye & The Joy Boys (1961)
External Links
- Lee Gordon at Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
- Lee Gordon at Australian Live Performance Hall of Fame