gene summers had a big hit with his recording of “the school of rock n roll.” the recording went nationwide a little bit at a time breaking into the one market then into another one. not many radio stations got the recording at the same time. however, the song was so powerful that it had it didn’t die out even though it took several weeks to get into a major city. once it began being played in baltimore and washington, d.c., “the school of rock n roll” was on it’s way. milt grant played it in washington d.c. buddy deane played it in baltimore. dick clark began to play it at his record hops. the milt grant show was always standing room only, broadcast from the raleigh hotel in downtown washington, d.c., tickets were at a premium and had to be purchased weeks in advance. teens all over the washington area wanted to be on the milt grant show to see in person their favorite rock star. getting on the show meant you had to know someone special and i wanted to see what the fellow looked like who made “straight skirt” and “the school of rock n roll.” anyone who made records that good, i wanted to see. well it just so happened i knew that special person his name was link wray. milt grant was his manager. i got to see gene summers sing “nervous” his second record on the jan label i was not disappointed. gene looked like a young rock star and i thought to myself, man wouldn’t it be great to be gene summers! i liked “nervous” but, i loved “straight skirt, and “school of rock n roll.” i bought “nervous” because i liked gene’s style. i played “straight skirt” over and over then i’d turn the record over and play “school of rock n roll.” gene and his band the rebels had come up with a classic. when you listen to “straight skirt” the first thing that gets a hold of you is the deep bass sound then the piano and drums and james mcclung hitting notes that jump out at you and gene telling you she wears a “straight skirt.” brother that’s pure rock n roll blasting it’s way into your soul until you want to stop the car and get and dance in the road, and on occasion, we did just that. “the school of rock n roll” was another pure rocker that never stops once played. a record will become a hit if it gets requested repeatedly. that was the way of “school of rock n roll.” teens all over wanted to hear “straight skirt and “school of rock n roll.” no dj or big wig record boss got the song played. it was played because teens loved the sound. many records were made in the time frame that gene summers started rockin: elvis, pat boone, sanford clark, carl perkins, and jerry lee lewis had left big shoes to follow not just any kind of jumped up sound would sell. the record had to be different. so it was way back when gene summers and his band the rebels got a recording contract with jan records in dallas texas. oilman, tom fleegher was looking for talent for is new label. gene had a band and had played in high school. he was popular in the dallas, ft. worth area. gene summers was ready to rock. jan records was ready to roll. gene and his rebel band james mcclung, benny williams, and gary moon headed for los angeles, and master sound studio. the group unpacked their gear and got started. they got the recording down and the sound was right. the finished product resulted in nothing less than musical magic. the four young men had out done themselves the recording was #1 hit material. gene summers and his band had recorded one of, if not, the best rock record of 1958. they also recorded for later release “i’ll never be lonely.” in this time frame of musical history in america the crescendo of rock music left an image and cast shadows that cannot and has not been duplicated to this day. what gene summers had recorded was deep rooted in southern tradition. some called it rock-a-billy, others said it was jived up country. what it was was a sound that was different from any other rock n roll song of 1958. when “straight skirt” begin to get airplay jan records sent gene on tour promoting the record. gene went from east coast to west and back again. things were doing well. the record was becoming a hit. the good news was mercury records wanted to buy gene’s contract and the rights to “straight skirt.” now the recording would have national promotions. the bad news was the people at jan records wouldn’t sell gene’s contract. in the 50′s small record companies always sold to major record companies due to high promotion cost and record distribution. in spite of it all “straight skirt” became a hit and left it’s mark as one of the best rock records of 1958. “nervous” was a great recording and was also a hit for gene. just as “nervous” was riding high in the charts, things got fouled up at jan records over a name dispute with another record company, who filed a law suit claiming they had the name “jan” first. gene’s record company lost the law suit and thousands of his hit recording “nervous” had to be returned. once again gene missed out on becoming the famous rock star he should have become, due to the mistakes of jan records. the glamour of the record business had taken it’s toll on gene. he grew tired of long hours, little pay, promises not kept and disappointments caused by jan records. being in the spotlight and becoming a teen idle was great. however, unlike other star struck artist gene’s business mind told him he was not going to work for pennies and have the record company keep all the money that he had helped them earn. he by far was no fool and had no plans to play in smokey filled bars for fifty dollars a night after the hits stopped coming. gene headed back to dallas and went into the real estate business and to this day has built a solid real estate company in the dallas area. from 1958 to the present time gene has made hundreds of recordings, many of them have become hits and he still plays in selected clubs in and around dallas and ft worth. gene had a big country hit in the sixties with “big blue diamond,” on jamie records, which did well in the country charts. since 1958, gene summers has kept himself busy. gene attended arlington state college, southern methodist university and in july of 1961 married the very beautiful deanna trentham. they have three sons david wayne, steven len, and gregory shawn. gene has appeared in two movies “backlot” in 1986. he played the part of a preacher in the film “no safe haven” with wings hauser in 1989. his wife dea wrote the song “who stole the marker from the grave of bonnie parker,” which was used in the movie “billy martin” and was released in 2000. gene owns a publishing company and front row records in garland, texas. the list of gene summers accomplishments cannot be covered in this article. the list of recordings gene has made since 1958 would take several pages just by itself. gene is very active in today’s rock-a-billy music. he is in demand and does several shows a year in the usa and in europe. i had the pleasure of seeing gene perform at the biggest rock-a-billy show ever held in green bay, wisconsin in july of 2002. i got to shake gene’s hand and tell him how much i enjoyed his performance. he put on a great show and did all my favorites. the records gene summers made in 1958 are not being made today and most likely will never be made again. the gene summers recordings are classics. i highly recommend all of gene’s recordings for your record library. gene summers touring schedule and entire record catalog can be obtained by writing to the gene summers fan club, 222 tulane st., garland, texas, 75043-2239.

~ Widmarc Clark

dea & gene summers after one of gene's recent concerts. (photo courtesy of lew williams)

special thanks to gene’s son shawn summers for the photos in the article. gene summers and his rebels legends of “the school of rock n roll.”