LONNIE LEE

Lonnie Lee was born as David Laurence Rix, in 1940 and grew up on a sheep farm in Rowena, New South Wales. At the age of seven he started singing in the local church choir, he took up the guitar and did Johnnie Ray impersonations as a teen. He also impersonated Nat King Cole. After leaving secondary school he started work as a bank clerk in Greenacre. In 1956 he competed in a radio talent quest, 2UW's Alan Toohey's Amateur Hour, where he came second. In February of the following year, as Laurie Lee, he won a contest for "Australia's own Elvis Presley" and was soon managed by fellow rock 'n' roller, Johnny O'Keefe. O'Keefe recommended a name change to Lonnie Lee – in tribute to Lonnie Donegan – and got his artist signed to Leedon Records, owned by Lee Gordon. The label issued his first single, "Ain't It So", which was written by O'Keefe and became a top 10 hit in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart in November 1959.

Lee started Sydney's first rockabilly trio. In July 1959 he made his first TV appearances on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's rock and roll show, Six O'Clock Rock, as well as Nine Network's Bandstand. His backing band, the Leeman, initially had Peter Bazley on rhythm guitar, Tony Gaha on drums, Johnny Ryan on bass guitar, Dave Scott on saxophone and Derby Wilson on lead guitar. He later recalled, "It wasn't until 1959 that I did TV. Things really changed. Within a month, I was recording. Within about six weeks I was performing at the stadium to 10,000 people and it just went on and on and on. And all of us knew that." 

His singles in 1960 were, "Starlight Star Bright" (January), which reached Top 5 in all capital cities less Perth, "Yes Indeed I Do" (May), "I Found a New Love" (September). Both those singles charted well around the country. In 1961 Lee was awarded a commercial radio award, the Golden Microphone Award as Australia's Most Popular Recording Star. Throughout the 60s Lonnie Lee's recording output was prolific releasing two albums, seven EPs and over a dozen singles. By the mid-1960s his backing band were Jeff Denton on bass guitar and piano, Graham Dunn on rhythm guitar, Frank Griffith on drums and Lance Ransome on lead guitar. Lonnie supported international artists: Fabian (1959), The Everley Brothers (1960), Ricky Nelson (1960) and Tom T Hall (1974)

During the 1960s Lee toured the United Kingdom and United States before settling in the US from 1971 recording and writing songs. His song writing included work with Roy Orbison, Cher, Florence Henderson and Glen Campbell. In 1984 Lee returned to Australia where he performed classic rock'n'roll with, Lonnie Lee's Rock'n'Remember Show. He brought many of that era's stars out from their regular jobs and back onto the stage. Lee had a weekly radio show of the same name. In 1984 he enticed a Sydney promoter to bring Fabian to Australia for a series of concerts and performed himself on these. As well as performing with his band, the Leemen, he started a record company, Starlite Records, to release his back catalogue and new material.

In October 2007 he toured with fellow performers Crash Craddock, Bobby Vee and Lesley Gore from the original rock'n'roll era and many still say he was the standout on that tour. It was an historic tour as 49 years before, he had toured with Craddock and with the Everly Brothers. In 2008 he launched another show, Lonnie Lee's Cry!, which featured songs made popular by Johnnie Ray. As well as that show he performed in others, The Best of Lonnie Lee, Solid Gold, The Hillbilly Cat and The Roots of Aussie Rock. He performed across Australia as a 1950s rockabilly singer. His shows are different from others of his era and he continued into the 2000s. 

SINGLES

''Ain't It So (#15) / Shame On You, Miss Johnson'' 1959 Lee Gordon
''Starlight, Starbright (#6) / She's Doin' Me Wrong'' 1960 Lee Gordon
''Yes, Indeed I Do (#14) / Lover Doll'' 1960 Lee Gordon
''Defenceless / I Found A New Love'' (#2) 1960 Leedon
''Sit Around And Talk To Me (#18) / Baby Baby Bye Bye'' 1961 Leedon
''You're Gonna Miss Me / Sitting By The River'' (#40) 1961 Leedon
''When The Bells Stop Ringing (#25) / Sunday'' 1962 Leedon
''Don't You Know (Pretty Baby) (#56) / Sure-Fire Bet' 1962 Leedon
''Acres Of Everything But Love / I'd Like To Leave If I May'' 1963 Leedon
''She Is The One Girl For Me (The Great Escape March) / Fun In The Summer Sun'' 1963 Leedon
''I Need You Now / Free, Free Man'' 1964 HMV
''On The Run / My Baby Don't 'Low'' 1964 HMV
''More Than Yesterday / Love's Gonna Live Here'' 1965 HMV
''Little White House / The Waltz You Saved For Me'' 1965 HMV
''Hello, Love / Sad Over Someone'' 1971 Sunshine
''Starlight, Starbright / The Traveller'' 1971 Sunshine
''(It's) Johnny Rock 'n Roll / (I'm) Holding On'' 1986 Starlite

EPs

'This Is Lonnie Lee' 1959 Leedon
'Lonnie's Golden Record' 1959 Leedon
'Frankfort Special' 1961 Leedon
'I Found A New Love' 1961 Leedon
'Walkin' With Lonnie Lee' 1961 Leedon
'In The Middle Of An Island' 1962 Leedon
'Sitting By The River' 1962 Leedon

ALBUMS

'A Night Out With Lonnie Lee' 1961 Leedon
'Don't Look Back' 1993 Starlite

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Lee

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/