What to do to celebrate 100 downloads?Hmm, I thought, hmm...
Why not celebrate the lowest reaching top 40 hit by pioneer Oz rocker Johnny O’Keefe who died in 1978? What else!
I picked this song because it has rarely been included on any C.D. compilations as it doesn’t match the sound of anything much from the 1970s, the decade in which it charted. The song “High Rollin' Man” harks back to a sound and style of a Memphis rocker of the 1950s.
Most of Johnny’s work got higher than this one in the charts. “High Rollin' Man” just got to #45 nationally in 1973. It was a follow up to his big hit of 1972, a remake of his earlier hit song “So Tough”, which was originally in the high end of the top 40 back in 1958 (the same year I was born).
Johnny’s rendition of the classic crowd-anthem "Shout" remains, to this day, an integral part of rock'n'roll's global legacy (B&W vintage footage of O'Keefe performing live is used on the opening sequence of the ABC's weekly video program Rage), oh another little known fact (lol), his nephew Andrew O'Keefe is a T.V. host who can sing, but doesn't!
Just a moot point, look at the list of performers and their songs at Sunbury in 1973's Rock Festival. I wonder if many of them are as well remembered as J.O.K.?
SUNBURY 1973
Carson - Friday Night Groove, Johnny O'Keefe-High Rollin' Man, Friends-Bird On The Wire. Mighty Mouse - Sunset Song, Friends-La La Song, Healing Force - Erection, 69ers-Harry Rag, Country Radio - Silver Spurs, Lobby Loyde-Johnny B. Goode, Matt Taylor - Brisbane To Beechworth, Madderlake-Down By The River, Sid Rumpo - Sailing, Mackenzie Theory - New Song, Madderlake-12lb Toothbrush, Band Of Light-Messin' With The Kid, Glenn Cardier - Australia, Bakery - Living With A Memory, Billy Thorpe-Going Back Home, Blackfeather-I'm Gonna Love You.
Here is the extended 4 minute 12” Tom Mix version of “High Rollin' Man”:http://rapidshare.com/files/179608072/Johnny_O_Keefe_-_High_Rollin__Man__Ext_Tom_Mix_.mp3
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