Rocky Road Blues (Bill Monroe) Performed by Col Joye & the Joy Boys in the film Rock'n'Roll (1959)

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This is the first official release of a colourized version since our experimentation with colourizing ‘Swanee River’ a couple of years ago on our channel.

All the songs from the movie will be colourized and stored in our ‘Rock’n’Roll Jukebox’ playlist as the year progresses.

These clips come with further sound and image improvements, in addition to the advancements we achieved for the release of the film for this channel on April 6, 2024.

We have also toned down the presence of the screaming a little more to bring out the vocal qualities of the artists performing.

Rocky Road Blues is the first cab off the rank, written by American Bill Monroe and performed by one of the greats of Australian rock’n’roll, Col Joye. With his band the Joy Boys, comprising Col’s brothers Kevin on piano and Keith on bass guitar, along with Dave Bridge on lead guitar, Laurie Irwin on sax and John Bogie on drums, they would clear paths for all future Rock’n’Roll entertainers in Australia, via their relentless touring to many regional areas throughout Australia in the late 50’s and 1960s. In some instances, almost the entire population of a town would get along to see their shows.

Col’s stage presence, a combination of the unassuming Australian, a magnetic smile and the unfettered mindset of those early Rock’n’Roll pioneers, is on full display in this clip.

One might say that it was Johnny O’Keefe who won Australian minds and Col Joye who won Australian hearts. O’Keefe the brightest on stage and Joye the warmest. In any case, both sit at the top of the Australian rock’n’roll ’family tree’.

Col Joye and the Joy Boys’ pioneering efforts and latter efforts of he and his brothers, in touring names such as The Bee Gees, Bruce Springsteen, Barbara Streisand and Billy Joel throughout Australia, saw Col and his brother Kevin awarded the Order of Australia for their achievements and services to Australia.

We hope you enjoy this exploration into colour, and within it a celebration of what Col, Kevin, Keith, Dave, Laurie and John gave to the Australian music scene and cultural way of life. While some traditionalists would prefer the film stayed true to its original state, we suspect the ever progressive Lee Gordon would have welcomed colour with expectant enthusiasm and a hint of impatience.

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