VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 19:37:49 01/28/11 Fri
Author: Randall K. (Randy) Wilson (1970)
Subject: Re: Ron Hege, Musician
In reply to: Sam M cElwee '58 's message, "Ron Hege, Musician" on 07:18:31 01/28/11 Fri

Sam, Ronald D. Hege granduated from Tech in 1957. During his Junior and Senior year at Tech he sang in the Boys Octette. I did some sleuthing in the 1955,56, & 57 Arsenal Cannon but did not see any images of him playing any musical instruments.

Did see this on the internet:(apparently his professional name is RONNIE HAIG. Sam, google Ronald G. Hege, or Ronnie Haig.
Hello all my good friends over there. Ronnie Haig here in Indianapolis Indiana sending a big hello and thank you for your loyalty and kindness to this old Rocker. I only wish I could come over and shake each of your hands personally. I love the fans, and would give anything to do just that. You see, I have a bone degenerative disease that has put me all but out of the performing business. Think of it, the thing you love with all your heart, and can't do it. Please don't think I don't want to come to your country and play for you, because that is not true. Dave Justis asked me to record an album CD which we call "Still Kickin' Butt" and I did it. What a chore, but what an album! I am so proud of my 3 months work. I pray you will take it into your homes and love it 1/2 as much as I enjoyed recording it. I love you all. My lack of activity right now does not mean I don't dream at night of being out there in front of you. I do and appreciate your patience. Please feel
free to e-mail me anytime 24/7 at backporchpicker@aol.com I promise I will answer each of them myself, as it's the only contact I have, and I cherish it. Thank you so much for buying my CD - every little bit helps. May God Bless.
--Ronnie Haig--

Ronnie Haig was born Ronald D. Hege in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 21, 1939. He attended technical highschool from 1953-1957 and started playing around with a guitar at the age of 6. He did his first gig at age 16 (he made five bucks and a sandwich) and bought his Gibson ES295 Gold in 1957 (and he still plays it today!). His 1958 releases were recorded at the Chess Studios in Chicago, and at age 18 he started out on Note Records, later on ABC-Paramount. He played on many recording sessions throughout his life, including his own. To make a living, Ronnie was a salesman all his life ("Prudential" Mack Truck). He just loves Sex, White Castle Hamburgers and Gibson guitars (not necessarily in that order) and is a fan of Chcuk Berry and Little Richard. His idea of a great evening is: turn in at 10 pm, make love and go to sleep (in that order).

The guy who was banned in Boston, condemned in Cleveland and banished from Baltimore is back and like the title of his new album says is "Still Kickin' Butt". Ronnie Haig's 1958 hit "Don't You Hear Me Calling, Baby" supposedly contained the nastiest of all nasty words in the last 18 seconds of the song (it absolutely did not!), which brought him notoriety in the rock 'n' roll world years before The Kingsmen were accused of putting supposedly dirty lyrics in a song which actually had none. Ronnie gives us the answer to that legendary hit on his new album with the very first song "Didn't You Hear Me Calling, Baby" even reprising those infamous last 18 seconds though this time there is no doubt that the answer, just like the original, contains no obscenity whatsoever. That song and the rest of the album also showcases Haig's incredible guitar work, while still playing that same Gibson ES295 that he bought in 1957 and, according to rock 'n' roll legend, traded licks with Chuck Berry one late night at the Chess Studios.

Ronnie also handles most of the other instrumental work on the album as well, and those female backing vocals are done by Ronnie's wife, Susie. Even more amazing is the fact that the entire album was recorded, produced and engineered by Ronnie in his own home studio. Cuts like "I Don't Drive No Cadillac", "The Phantom Band" and "The Wrong Side of Town" prove that Ronnie Haig can still rock the socks off any young rocker, while other songs like "You Made A Promise To Me" show off his country side and "When Doo Wop Was Young" pays homage to those sweet corner groups of years gone by. "All My Friends Are There" and "Tattooed Head To Toe" pay homage to the legends of rock 'n' roll, while "Haig's Boogie" is a rocking instrumental. All in all the album just goes to prove one thing and ultimately one thing only, that after all these years Rockabilly Hall of Famer, Ronnie Haig is "Still Kickin' Butt."

Trackslisting:
Didn't You Hear Me Calling Baby / Million Dollar Quartet / Do The Bop / All My Friends Are There / You Made A Promise To Me / The Wrong Side Of Town / I Don't Drive No Cadillac / The Phantom Band / The Magic Train / Cut My Teeth On Rock 'n' Roll / The Genesis Of Rock 'n' Roll / Rockabilly Queen / She's My Baby / Haig's Boogie / When Doo Wop Was Young / Let's Make Love All Night / The Ballad Of Ronnie Haig / Gonna Have A Good Time Blues / Don't Tell Me No Iies / House Of Blue Lights / I Hope I Don't Never Stop / Tattooed Head To Toe



RONNIE HAIG
Born Ronald D. Hege, 21 March, 1939, Indianapolis, Indiana

Singer / guitar player Ronnie Haig is best known for his 1958 single "Don't You Hear Me Calling, Baby", which has been included on the ABC-Paramount instalment of the Bear Family series "That'll Flat Git It" (Vol. 13, BCD 15972). Prior to that 45, Ronnie had sung and played with a group called The Five Stars, who had releases on Kernel, Dot, Note and Hunt, some with and some without Haig.

"Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby" was originally recorded (in the Chess studio in Chicago, with jazz man Wes Montgomery on rhythm guitar) for the small Note label from Indianapolis, owned by Jerry and Mel Herman. It caught the attention of ABC-Paramount, who took over the distribution from Note. Though it didn't chart nationally, the record earned Ronnie an appearance on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" and it did well enough locally to warrant a second single, recorded on May 10, 1958, again in the Chess studio. The harvest of this session (a split session with the Students, who laid down "I'm So Young") was the excellent single "Rockin' With Rhythm & Blues"/"Money Is a Thing Of the Past" (Note 10014). This single never made it to ABC-Paramount because of an unfortunate incident. "Don't You Hear Me Calling, Baby" had just started getting airplay on the East Coast when a listener in Boston called in to a local deejay and told him that played at 33-1/3 rpm the end of the record sounded obscene. Instead of checking this at home, the deejay tried it on the air and immediately got a call from the station owner. The result was a ban of the single in Boston because it supposedly contained the "F" word in the final seconds.

In spite of this setback, Ronnie kept on performing and touring with some of the greats like the Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, Ricky Nelson and Don Gibson. He recorded another rocking Note single (with Jerry Seifert) in July 1958, "Dirty White Bucks And Tight Pegged Pants", coupled with "Never Baby Never" (Note 10018) and again recorded at the Chess studio. His next recording session was in February 1961, resulting in four tracks which remained unissued until the early 1990s. Then Uncle Sam came knocking and on September 21, 1961, Ronnie began a 3-year stint in the US Army. After his discharge, he found out that the music scene had dramatically changed and he signed on with Prudential Insurance as a salesman, retiring from the music business until the mid-1980s. Over the last eight years, he has recorded four CD's with new material, one in the country field ("Branching Out"), one gospel album ("Treasures Of Time") and two rock and roll collections, "Up Close And Personal" and "Still Kickin' Butt" (2002).

For a review of the latter see
http://www.rockabilly.nl/reviews/ronniehaig.htm

My fellow Dutchman Robert Loers has just issued a 25-track CD collection by Ronnie, "Rockin' With the Rhythm And Blues" on his Redita label, which contains all of of Ronnie's 1958-61 recordings (some not sung by him, but with his involvement as a guitarist), mixed with five recent tracks like "Ode To Little Richard". The liner notes were written by another Dutchman, expat Adriaan Sturm (former editor of Rockville International), who has been living in Kentucky for the past 30 years. His notes and the track listing can be found here: http://members.aol.com/Zeeuw2/HaigR.htm

There's also plenty of info on Ronnie on the RABHOF site: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RonnieHaig.html plus label shots and a short bio at http://www.colorradio.com/Ronnie_Haig.htm

I can recommend the Redita CD. However, especially in the USA, it might be hard to get. On the RABHOF site, Ronnie writes that he has the only 50 copies in the USA. I got my copy from Bert Louwerse in Rotterdam.

Dik

These pages were saved from "This Is My Story" for reference usage only. Please note that these pages were not originally published or written by BlackCat Rockabilly Europe. For comments or information please contact Dik de Heer at dik.de.heer@hetnet.nl

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Re: Ron Hege, Musician -- Ron Hege (Ronnie Haig), 15:55:15 01/29/11 Sat

Hey Guys! Things must getting boring for you to bring up my name.
Actually I finished 50 yrs in the music business as a Writer, Performer, Ran my own label (GENTRE) AND PUBLISHING CO "Ronnie Haig Music BMI" I was enducted into the Rock a Billy Hall of Fame and also the Roots of Rock & Roll.I'm playing only Christian music now and enjoying my life. Moved back to the old neighborhood 6 years ago and it feels good too.
Thanks for being interested, Ronnie Haig (Hege) 1957


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Ron Hege, Musician -- Tom O'Gara, 16:58:48 01/29/11 Sat

Hi Ronnie, never had the pleasure to meet you, but i ama long time friend of Delbert Bailey. Found your hit record on youtube. Here it is for people who never heard it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6diIpvVsbbs


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> Re: Ron Hege, Musician -- John Wampner '57, 17:49:36 01/29/11 Sat

Sam, the photograph you are talking about was taken at Senior Day in the spring of 1957, too late for the '57 yearbook. It appears in the '58 yearbook but more towards the back of the book and not in with any of the regular photo sections, as I remember. It might be captioned "Ron Hege plays his guitar at senior day" or something like that. The guy wailing the upright piano in the background is Wally Moon another class of '57 musician. It was quite a Senior Day as I recall featuring a rubber burning drag race starting at about the Woodruff Place gate and continuing north towards 10th street, side by side, on that drive. Also a certain young lady, that will go nameless here, earned a trip to Ms. Turpin's office for a bit of too aaaaaaaaa "enthusiastic" dancing to Ronnie's rock and roll music. It was a great Day!!


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> [> Re: Ron Hege, Musician -- Sam McElwee '58, 07:29:33 01/31/11 Mon

John, thanks for your help in finding that photograph. I remembered that it was in either the '57 or '58 yearbook but still could not find it. After reading your note I did find it on page 131 of the '58 yearbook. I seem to remember that Senior Day '57 did cause some excitement on campus. I think our Senior Day '58 was a little quieter.

Sam


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Ron Hege, Musician -- Sam McElwee '58, 07:52:43 01/31/11 Mon

Ronnie, I am so glad to see what a successful music career you have enjoyed. Now, I understand why that Girl, who stopped us in the shoe store lobby, had such an dreamy look in her eyes.

Long Live Rock & Roll,

Sam


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Ron Hege, Musician -- Peter Smith '60 ATHS '56 Wm McKinley #39, 14:14:37 01/31/11 Mon

Seems to me I recall a Ronnie Haig at School #39 when I was attending there. If I also recall right "Ronnie" was a member in the school singing group. Music teacher at the time might have been Mrs Hendricks or Mrs Russell. The person whom I'm thinking of as "Ronnie" was also a Lt. or Capt on the school safety patrol under Mr Wayne Fairburn. Would be interested to find out with a confirm yes or a no you're all wet.

I do remember sure Ron Hege's first record "Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby" and how it set #39 "abuzz".

Another Indy boy makes good!


[ Edit | View ]


[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.