august 6, 2003 many summers have come and gone since those romantic years of the 50′s. great songs were coming of my broken down zenith radio. i’d tune in to hear randy’s record shop out of gallatin, tn. i’d hear guitar gable sing this should go on forever thinking how i wished millie sue simms that good lookin’ girl knew i was alive. wonder where she is today?? who ever married her got a good lookin’ woman? dean martin with that great ballad memories are made of this, the platters, the great pretender, sanford clark’s the fool, the dell vikings, the coasters, carl perkins, jim lowe and the green door, ricky nelson, teen age romance, the cadets, stranded in the jungle, nervous norvous, ape call, marty robbins with a white sports coat and a pink carnation, sonny james with young love, ferlin husky’s gone,chuck willis, c.c. rider, johnny ace’s pledging my love, johnny cash with i walk the line, the diamonds doing little darlin’, fats domino’s i’m walkin’, pat boone with ain’t that a shame, little richard was slippin’and slidin’, and bill haley did rock a around the clock. turn your radio on anytime during the 50′s especially the early years and you could expect to hear any of the songs i just named. the dj would say winx time 11:31, here’s billy lee riley on the sun record label with a real gone rocker red hot – yea you teens gonna love this one. and you could call the station and ask the dj to play it again and he’d “say boy that’s a rocker, yea, lets play it again, glad you called. hell, i was gonna play it again anyway.” those were the days everybody was rockin north to south and coast to coast. hey out there we got a new one for you here’s the crickets and that’ll be the day, give a listen … and see what you think about this one?? it was great, the dj’s wanted your opinion, “hey ya’ll come on down to the station and listen to some of the new records we just got in and we’ll play the one’s you like on the air tonite so beat it on down here you ain’t doin’ nothin’ but makin’ out with your gal. bring her down to (wanq) and lets play some rock n roll and have a ball.” those were the grand days of rock n roll up close and personal yes sir. if an artist came by your favorite station everyone was invited to meet him or her. they always had a picture to give you and many times, a copy of their record. by the end of 1958 came (the summer of the winter rain), and with it came change, jerry lee got married, elvis went into the army, little richard became a preacher, bill haley disappeared so did sanford clark. chuck willis died, the radio stations became distant and the doors were closed forever. no more personal visits. whole lotta shakin, great balls of fire, susie-q , and carl perkins’ brand of rock-a-billy disappeared from the air waves forever. then buddy holly the big bopper and ritchie valens got killed and we lost rock-a-billy music. i mean we got up one fine day and turned the radio on and our day in the sun was over. all that great music recorded at sun went down the drain. every effort to hear rock-a-billy was in vain, washed away in (the summer of the winter rain). now we still had rock-n-roll, bobby vee too weak for my rockin soul. american band stand was considered grand but i never was a frankie avalon, bobby rydell, or a fabian fan. it’s been forty four years since those wonderful days of be-bop-a-lula. gene vincent is no longer with us as are many of our rock legends it’s as if rock-a-billy was written on the sand and swept away by the sea. then one day in 1997 a fellow named bob timmers bless his little ole pea pickin’ heart opened up the rock-a-billy hall of fame and for the first time in over forty four years rock-a-billy was back. he inducted artists into the hall. you could now discover, hear and buy those great rock-a-billy sounds of the 50′s. you could read about them and actually get in touch with the legends. lo and behold you can even go to rock-a-billy shows and see them perform. bob timmers has helped restore what was lost to us over forty years ago “but” (the summer of the winter rain) is just around the corner waiting to take all away. yes my friends it can happen again and this time rock-a-billy will be gone permanently. all those who understand that great time of the 50′s and what it means to american musical history are getting old and won’t be with us much longer, when they are gone the history they helped make will be gone forever. if you love rock-a-billy and want to preserve it for generations to come and if you don’t want that time in america distorted by people who were not there when it was taking place?? if so, hen support the rock-a_billy hall of fame by pledging $120.00 or $10.00 per month for one year and keep the doors open for us to enjoy. i am giving $120.00 for this year and will do so each year to support the music i love. i hope many of you will do the same and prevent another (summer of the winter rain).