Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Don Pearly - Drag Race


They say it's going to be 60 or more today so i think i'm going to take a half day off from work and maybe head down to the beach & boardwalk here at the jersy shore. (Yeah there is no such thing as global warming right?)
So here is a little hot rod rockabilly number for the warm weather. I thought this song was fitting. Looks like this was Mr. Pearly's only record. I couldn't find much about him personally but this cut has been on a bunch of hot rod comps, one of the coolest ones i found while searching is this one by artist Robert Williams called Chrome, Smoke & Fire. I'm going to have to track this comp down because it looks pretty keen. Anyway here's today's 45 cut. Enjoy the weather whereever you are...


Don Pearly : Drag Race

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is the real Don Pearly still alive and kicking.

my only other claim to a short fame was rythm guitar on the Champs recording of Tequilla. We then toured for six months and played sock-hops at the different YWCAs all over America.

i am now living in Honduras, Central America and would like to hear from other aged stars that flourished during 1958.

Anonymous said...

Don Pearly again. I just listened to Drag Race on your mp3 site. Thank you for salvaging it, I lost my only copies in Hurricane Mitch. Does anyone have the flip-side, Crazy, Crazy?

Devil Dick said...

wow!

I haven't checked the comments here in a while but thank you for checking in!!!

I can & will post the flip!

stay tuned!

Cheers!
dd

Unknown said...

And just how do I go about listening to Crazy-Crazy? This was the side that Alan Fried thought should be the release. The sax is so typical of the era and the lyrics made sense.

I am waiting to meet the one and only Jimm (Honeycomb) Rogers. His Son lives on roatan and promised to introduce us upon his next visit. I will give him this site to check in with you.

Don Pearly

Unknown said...

HI DONALD, THIS IS ROBERT IDINI, REMEMBER?

Angry Beavers MC said...

Wow! What a treat to find this site! I've been searching google for years to find "Drag Race" on mp3. My mother has the 45 and I don't dare play it any longer for fear of scratching our only copy. I love "Crazy Crazy" also and played them non-stop for years.

Just a heads up, I see the 45 is up for sale on Ebay...(I'm not selling it!!! But am thinking about buying it...)

Anyway, again what a treat to find the site, the song, and see Don Pearly himself here! Very cool!

Thanks!
Jane

Anonymous said...

hi Angry, how are you. thanks for liking my old stuff. I bet if either of them were re-released right right now, they would be hits. What do you think.

Don Pearly

Devil Dick said...

God i Love Beaver, Angry or not...

:)

Mr. Pearly this would be a hit at any time in history or at least should have been!!!

Good to hear from you!!!

hope all is well....???

Cheers!
DD

Angry Beavers MC said...

Hell yeah!!!

Ken said...

Hello Don Pearly! Did you live in Palm Springs in 1984-85?

Ken said...

Hello Don Pearly! Did you live in Palm Springs in 1984-85?

Anonymous said...

I recently viewed Don Pearly's posts from 2008. FWIW, I'm the author of an article on the Champs (1st published in Goldmine, now online at: http://www.topshelfoldies.org/gary_myers.htm
Pearly's name never came up in any interviews I had, which included nearly all the then-living members. I found other parts of Pearly's story which do not fit, & to be safe, I just spoke with leader/producer/rhy guitarist Dave Burgess, who confirmed that he never heard of Pearly & Pearly definitely was not on "Tequila" and never had any connection whatsoever to the Champs.
It's not unusual to run into this type of claim in the music biz, but it always makes me kind of sad when someone has a need to create that sort of thing.

Anonymous said...

I'm the author of a long article on the Champs. It first appeared in Goldmine Magazine & has been online for a few yrs. I spoke with nearly every living member at the time (as well as working often with 2 of them). None of them ever heard of Don Pearly. Just to double check, I called Dave Burgess, who was the leader/rhythm gtr player/producer (also wrote the flip side & basically ran the Challenge label). He confirmed that no Don Pearly was ever involved with the recording session or the Champs.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I'm the author of a long article on the Champs, which was originally published in Goldmine Magazine & has been online for several yrs. I spoke with all but 2 living members in my research. One original member is a long time friend with whom I've worked many times. I also worked many times with orig member Danny Flores (who wrote "Tequila" as Chuck Rio). I've also recently spoken again with original leader Dave Burgess. There was never a Don Pearly on "Tequila" or in any legit touring version of the Champs.

And btw,Pearly's other "#1 hit" ("Drag Race") is a totally obscure 45 that probably never charted anywhere, certainly not in Billboard or Cash Box.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for my posts w/all the duplicate info. When the 1st one didn't show up, I thought I had messed up when I tried to send it & I composed another one, and then that all happened over again - hence 3 posts. But at least now anyone who reads this knows to disregard Mr Pearly's "claims to fame".

Don Pearly said...

Trying to clear something up. In 1958 I went on a YWCA Sock-Hop tour with what they told us was the official Champ organization. Russ Regan was the boss of Corvette Records and he sent me with them. We did county fairs and did some recording at Gold Star on Vine Street in Hollywood. WE ended up out of gas in New Orleans and had to make our way back by ourselves. Does that clear things up a little?

Anonymous said...

Anyone holding original 45s for sale? I need three