When you think about Arizona music, a few names come to mind right away. Linda Ronstadt, Duane Eddy, Lee Hazlewood. Even Alice Cooper. Internationally recognized country and rock musicians. But what you may not remember, is that in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Phoenix had an R&B scene. There was soul, doo-wop and funk, all being recorded here in Arizona.
Now, Arizona's "unofficial music historian" Johnny D is releasing a compilation of some of these recordings, from a Phoenix record label called Ramco. All of the music was recorded at a well known Phoenix studio, Audio Recorders, between 1956 and 1971. And almost all the bands were from Phoenix. So what was the Phoenix music scene like at the time?
We talked about the new Phoenix R&B compilation "Sha-boom Bang" with Johnny D. It is available at azmusicdude.com.
Updated 3/31/2014 at 1:07 p.m.
Editor's Note: This story has been changed to reflect the correct spelling of Lee Hazlewood.
