Rock-Jerry - The Complete Original Recordings 1960-61

"It feels almost unbelievable, that even though rock'n'roll arrived to Finland as early as 1955-56, our country received its first real rock star when the 1960's began. Probably won't require much intelligence to guess that the person in question was Rock-Jerry, whose springboard to fame was winning the first official "Rock King of Finland" contest arranged by the TV company in November 19th, 1959. At that time Rock-Jerry was still known as Kaj Järnström (b. June 30th, 1943), orchestra leader Onni Gideon gave him his artist name which he adopted when he made his first record in 1960.

Before winning the "king of rock'n'roll" contest Kaj Järnström had already performed rock music publicly, even appearing on television, but it was the contest that really rocketed him to stardom. The popularity was greatly enhanced by Onni Gideon - Rock-Jerry's new manager - who arranged lots of TV appearances and a record deal with Musiikkitalo Westerlund. Rock-Jerry's first EP sold well and soon appeared on the charts. This resulted in other Finnish record companies finally realizing that Finnish youth music sold well, and they hurriedly began to search for rock'n'roll singers for their own labels.

In the early days of stardom Rock-Jerry worked as vocalist for Onni Gideon's band, and met such great success that quite often he needed security guards to ensure that he could get off the stage in good shape. In the summer of 1960 Rock-Jerry quit Onni Gideon's band after he had noticed he could make better money as a free lancer.

It could also be told that in the spring Rock-Jerry made a studying trip all the way to New York, along with a group of Finnish professional musicians. He didn't perform there, but brought with him a Guild guitar which was envied by many. However, in 1962 that guitar was stolen and it hasn't to this day been recovered.

Rock-Jerry's career as a star lasted until the end of 1960, because the next year he became simply Jerry, and followed the new international rock'n'roll trends by toning down his music considerably. The new softer style didn't catch on with the audience like it was hoped to, so in the autumn of 1961 Jerry gigged as little as possible and concentrated on his neglected studies instead. A year later Jerry attempted a comeback as vocalist for guitar band The Sounds, but the plan fell through. The next time Finland heard of Jerry was in the mid-60's, as a Dylanesque folk singer performing in folk happenings. In 1974-75 Jerry made his first records in 13 years - he cut two LP's named "I'm in Love Again" and "Eezie Now".

Westerlund gave Rock-Jerry the freedom of choosing his own material to record, which was rare at the time. The best sellers were the debut EP and the single "When the Saints Go Marching In / Party". Jerry also performed "When the Saints..." in a radio concert broadcast from Stockholm in April 14., 1961. He was backed by Harry Arnold's group, and the program was heard in the whole Northern Europe.

A couple of words about The Masters, who played on Rock-Jerry's records. They weren't a real rock band, but an assemblage of well-known studio musicians. Among the best-known were guitarists Heikki Laurila and Herbert Katz, pianist Erkki Ertama, saxophonist Leo Kähkönen, bassist Heikki Annala and drummer Kalevi Hänninen. These men had primarily made their name in the jazz field, but here they showed they could play rock'n'roll music as well when asked to. A few recordings had backing vocals by top singing group Four Cats. Unfortunately the exact recording dates are unknown, but all songs were cut in 1960-61 and this LP makes for the first time Rock-Jerry's / Jerry's complete early output available. No remixing has been made, all recordings have remained as they originally were. Listen and enjoy: this is real Finnish rock'n'roll history."

- translated from the liner notes by Hannu Nyberg -

The Complete Original Recordings 1960-61
released by Castle Records in 1987:

1. Long Tall Sally
2. Waltzing Matilda
3. Stupid Cupid
4. Only Sixteen
5. Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?
6. Lonely Blue Boy
7. Party
8. When the Saints Go Marchin' In
9. A Thousand Stars
10. The Girl of My Best Friend
11. Kiddio
12. Let's Think About Living
13. Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
14. Wand'ring On


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