Ronnie Haig was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 21, 1939. He listened to a lot of the country superstars early on, but eventually settled on something different. In the photo above, he was in a high school doo wop group called the Twilighters, and had a good local audience. He never did leave his doo wop roots, as he did record some great harmony sides on vinyl, including working with the Five Stars and the Students. His first guitar was a Gibson ES295 Gold, purchased in 1957, and still in use by him today. His biggest hit with Ronnie Haig listed as the solo artist was "Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby" released on the Indianapolis based Note label, owned by Jerry and Mel Herman. It had good action in the midwest and was leased to ABC. He played on many other sessions with other fabulous artists, and has played some great shows through the years, including Bandstand. Ronnie is still making music today, though he doesn't do much live performing due to health issues. He has new CD's out and can be contacted at backporchpicker@aol.com. His musical contributions will continue to live on. Below is just a sampling of some of his great work.
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Ronnie had his first "solo" release on Note records in 1958. It was released on the Indianapolis based Note record label. "Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby" is a great rock and roll side that got a ton of airplay in the midwest, east coast and especially Pittsburgh. The flip, "Traveler Of Love" is much more of a doo wop side and is very respectable. The Five Stars provided vocal group back up on both sides. Released March of 1958.
As "Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby" started getting considerable airplay, ABC Paramount picked up the disc for National distribution. Above, the promo issue is shown. Notice that both songs were written by Ronnie Haig (Hege).
Here is the stock issue. The right and left side record information is moved back up to the middle portion after being dropped down on the promo.
Though not the next release by Ronnie in sequential order, ABC re-released the same take of "Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby", on issue 10209 in April of 1961. It was apparently an International release for overseas distribution. Shown is a promotional copy.
Here is the same issue as the regular stock copy. It seems fairly unusual for a record company to release the same record a second time with a different number, 3 years after the hit, but it must have sold well in International markets.
The next release for Ronnie came out again on Note records. "Rockin With The Rhythm And Blues" was another good rocker, and the flip is "Money Is A Thing Of The Past". The session was done in May of 1958, and released about July of that year.
Just before the release above, Ronnie Haig played guitar on two sessions with Jimmy Coe and the band called the Cohorts. Jimmy Coe played sax, and Ronnie Haig was on guitar. The session took place on Mother's day, 1958, and would have been issued in June or July of that year. The vocal group the Students were the ones yelling "Wazoo" in the background. It was shown as written by Jerry Herman, but according to Ronnie Haig, he and Jimmy Coe actually wrote it. The flip was another great instrumental called "Shuffle Stroll". Unlike a few of the other Note label releases, this one was never picked up by a bigger label for distribution. A great two sided instrumental, it should have broken out for more spins across the country.
Ronnie Haig participated on several notable sessions with other groups. The Five Stars was one of those groups. Their biggest hit was "Pickin On The Wrong Chicken" backed with "Dreaming". Haig is playing Guitar for the Five Stars, returning the favor as they backed him up on his first recordings. This is the original Note label release. The Five stars had a previous recording on the Kentucky based Kernal records. This issue is from March of 1958.
The Note issue was picked up by Hunt, a division of Globe and part of the ABC family. It certainly was afforded better distribution and was definitely on it's way to hit status. Rumor has it that the group tried to charge excessive amounts for their shows, and the record slowly died. It was also issued on ABC 9911. The Hunt label DJ copy is shown.
Ronnie went back to the studio to cut his 2nd release "Rocking With The Rhythm And Blues" (Shown earlier), and at the same session, backed the Students on a great Two sided effort. "I'm So Young" and "Everyday Of The Week" was the pairing, and it was originally released on Note Records. It was quickly picked up by the Chess subsidiary, Checker records for wide-spread distribution. You can hear the great intro of Ronnie Haig on Everyday Of The Week, as he sets the tone for the record. The Note label still pressed records for Distribution in Indiana and Ohio, Checker distributed for the other states. Shown above is the Checker promotional copy from August of 1958. The Note release was probably slightly earlier.
Here is the stock maroon label checker issue that most people had. The word Checker is vertical, which is original. When Checker first started, there was a web design at the top.
In 1961, Argo records re-released the Students two sides. Argo was part of Chess records, just like Checker.
Ronnie Haig was playing guitar again on the next Five Stars Record, "My Paradise" And "Friction". This was also issued in the July/August time frame of 1958. The Note label was used again, but this time, it was not released on Hunt or ABC.
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From the fine folks at Get Hip records, this has two songs on the flip, one on the side showing. A great picture of Ronnie Haig on the cover, and this was issued in the mid 1990's. |
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Here is an issue on the Silverball label from late 1992. It is one of four records they put out by Ronnie Haig, that were unreleased vintage recordings. Some were colored vinyl, others black wax. "Open House" and Unforgotten Love" are shown, with the "A" side signed by the artist.
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Another issue for the Silverball label, "Mucho Fine" is a great mid tempo rocker from Ronnie, and is the "A" side for this record. "Go On,Go On" is the flip. Both were originally recorded, but not released, in 1961. This 1994 release 33 years after the fact was on gold vinyl. |
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This is Ronnie Haig with "Pork's Chop Boogie". Both sides are the same on this promotional release for Silverball. This copy is on white vinyl, and reportedly just 300 were made. This is an instrumental with some smoking Ronnie Haig guitar, and really worth hearing.
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This is the same combination as the Get Hip record shown just above the Silverball label records. Hey Little Baby and Minute Madness is actually the "A" side, with Traveler Of Love on the flip. Maltshop was based in Pittsburgh, and this was the first record for the label. The label showed the Hoosier Hot Shots, but a label was affixed over the top. This copy was pressed on a maroon vinyl. |
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Ronnie Haig was involved in a few other recordings, most notably"Never Baby Never" and "Dirty White Bucks" by Jerry Siefert. He is still recording today, and though does not play much in public due to health concerns, he recently played the Benedum in Pittsburgh on February 19th, 2005. Listen to my interview with Ronnie Haig from December 2004, HERE!
Gone Missing: The Jerry Siefert record on Note, a couple of releases on Silverball.
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