Article marking 35th Anniversary of Gene Vincent’s Death
PERIODICALS
Goldmine USA Vol 32 No 22 (27 October 2006)
Contains 2 page article Gene Vincent: How A One-Hit Wonder Achieved Mythic Status by Dan Moore
As Derek Henderson, record producer and writer of Gene Vincent A Companion recalls…
It was his appearance on the Boy Meets Girls TV show that had people’s mouths hanging open. This programme, we only had two channels of TV then, was compulsory viewing for all young people. We’d seen nothing like Vincent before. Bill Haley and the Comets’ tour of 1957 was a huge success and garnered wide publicity because, well let’s face it, he was pretty safe. Vincent on Boy Meets Girls was rock ‘n’ roll as we had imagined it listening to the early Elvis and Jerry Lee recordings, dangerous. The image appealed to the working-class boys and put off the girls, but his ability to sing like an angel, such as with ‘Summertime’ did appeal to them…
When Eddie was tragically killed on the last day of the tour and Gene injured again, he began to acquire mythic status. His ’shows’ were nothing like other performers, who posed and sang their songs. When he was on stage he was consumed by his music, utterly unpredictable. There was no pre-rehearsed act, he would smash mic stands, leap headlong onto the piano, collapse on his knees, hold the mic stand above his head, and never, ever look at the audience, gazing upwards in a sort of rapture. They were amazing performances for a crippled man.