{{Short description|American singer and songwriter (1938–1981)}} {{Infobox musical artist | image = RonnieSelf.jpg | caption = Self in 1956 | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Ronald Keith Self | birth_date={{Birth date|1938|7|5}} | birth_place=Tin Town, Missouri, United States | death_date={{Death date and age|1981|8|28|1938|7|5}} | death_place=Springfield, Missouri, United States | genre = Rockabilly; rock 'n' roll; country gospel; pop (as a songwriter) | occupations = musician (vocalist, singer-songwriter, guitarist) and lyricist | years_active = 1956 - 1980 | label = ABC-Paramount (1956), Columbia (1956–59), Decca (1958-1960s), Scratch Records }}
'''Ronnie Self''' (July 5, 1938 – August 28, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter and performer best known for his 1957 single “''Bop-A-Lena'',” which appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts in the United States and Australia.<ref name="Billboard Honor Roll of Hits, March 1960">{{cite magazine |title=Billboard |magazine=Billboard |date=March 28, 1960 |page=30 |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/c/c6/Billboard_US_1960-03-28.pdf |access-date=August 23, 2025}}</ref> Self was known for his energetic performance style and aggressive vocal delivery, combining elements of country music, rockabilly, and rock 'n' roll, which earned him the nickname “Mr. Frantic.” Although he had limited commercial success as a performer, he worked extensively as a songwriter for other artists, including through his association with Decca Records. His recordings and songwriting have been retrospectively cited as an influence on later developments in garage rock and proto-punk, due to their raw sound and intensity.
==Biography== Ronald Keith Self was born on July 5, 1938, in Tin Town, Greene County, Missouri, the eldest of five children of Raymond Self, a farmer, and Hazel Sprague Self.<ref name="Escott">Escott, Colin. Liner notes. ''Bop-A-Lena''. Bear Family Records BCD 15436, 1990. As reported in: Eder, Bruce. ["Ronnie Self Biography"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ronnie-self-mn0000333181/biography). ''AllMusic''. Retrieved August 20, 2025; and de Heer, Dik. ["Ronnie Self"](https://tims.blackcat.nl/messages/ronnie_self.htm). ''This Is My Story''. BlackCat Rockabilly Europe. Retrieved August 20, 2025. The BlackCat page explicitly states it was "adapted by All Music Guide's Bruce Eder from Colin Escott's liner notes for the Bear Family CD."</ref> Following World War II, the family sold their farm and relocated to Springfield, where his father began working for the railroad.<ref name="Escott"/> Self showed signs of instability from an early age — documented incidents include blocking his school bus by felling a tree across the road and attacking a teacher with a baseball bat.<ref name="Escott"/> His brother, Billy Self, was a member of the Dothan, Alabama group The Tikis, for whom Ronnie wrote "Somebody's Son," released in 1966.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}} ===Music career=== ====Early career and ABC-Paramount==== Self grew up in Springfield, home of the Ozark Jubilee, ABC's nationally broadcast country music program. As a teenager he frequently visited radio station KWTO and pestered staff with his demonstration recordings, having already established himself as a prolific songwriter — the BMI database subsequently credited him with 259 compositions.<ref name="Escott"/> Bobby Lord, a country singer and regular performer on the Ozark Jubilee, heard Self's material, and arranged a demonstration session which he brought to Dub Albritten, manager of Red Foley and, from 1957 onwards, Brenda Lee.<ref name="Escott"/> Albritten arranged a recording session for ABC-Paramount Records on April 24, 1956. Self recorded four songs, of which "Pretty Bad Blues" and "Three Hearts Later" were released as a single in June 1956 (ABC 9714). The single failed commercially. A second release, "Sweet Love" b/w "Alone," was assigned the catalog number ABC 9768, but no copy has ever been found and the original tapes have not been located.<ref name="Escott"/> ====Columbia Records (1957–1958)==== In early 1957, Self joined the Phillip Morris Caravan, a touring package show assembled by Albritten whose cast included Carl Smith, Red Sovine, Goldie Hill, Gordon Terry, and Mimi Roman. Self was the sole rockabilly representative on a predominantly country bill, and his animated stage performances quickly attracted attention.<ref name="Russell">Wayne Russell's research on the Phillip Morris Caravan, as cited in: ["Ronnie Self"](http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RonnieSelf1.html). ''Rockabilly Hall of Fame''. Retrieved August 20, 2025.</ref> His energetic and physically volatile performances earned him the nickname "Mr. Frantic," promoted by Albritten.<ref name="Escott"/> In February 1957, Albritten secured Self a contract with Columbia Records, where he was produced by Don Law at Bradley Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The first session produced "Big Fool" b/w "Flame of Love" (Columbia 40875), which failed commercially.<ref name="Escott"/> The session musicians at Self's February 1957 Columbia session included Grady Martin and Hank Garland on guitars, Floyd Chance on bass, Buddy Harman on drums, and Floyd Cramer on piano.<ref name="Escott"/> A subsequent single, "Ain't I'm a Dog," achieved regional success in the southern United States.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}} On December 16, 1957, Self returned to the studio with a session that included John T. Hill and Ray Edenton on guitars, Buddy Harman on drums, Ike Inman on bass, and Marvin Hughes on piano.<ref name="Escott"/> This session produced two recordings: "Bop-A-Lena," written by Webb Pierce and Mel Tillis,<ref name="Escott"/> and "You're So Right for Me." "Bop-A-Lena" was released as Self's third Columbia single and became his only charted recording, peaking at No. 63 on the Billboard charts in March 1958 and reaching No. 25 in Australia.<ref name="Escott"/> Music historian Colin Escott described "Bop-A-Lena" as "the first punk record," citing its aggressive vocal delivery and anarchic energy.<ref name="Escott"/> "Big Blon' Baby," recorded at this period, was subsequently covered by Jerry Lee Lewis in November 1958.<ref name="Escott"/> Columbia chose not to release "You're So Right for Me" as the immediate follow-up to "Bop-A-Lena," instead issuing "Date Bait" b/w "Big Blon' Baby." Self's fourth and final Columbia single, "You're So Right for Me" b/w "Petrified," was released in September 1958. His two-year contract was not renewed.<ref name="Escott"/> ====Decca Records and songwriting success (1959–1962)==== From 1959 to 1962, Self was contracted to Decca Records, where he recorded four singles under producer Owen Bradley. None achieved significant chart success.<ref name="Escott"/> His greatest commercial successes during this period came as a songwriter rather than a performer. Brenda Lee's recordings of his compositions produced several major pop hits: "Sweet Nothin's" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1960;<ref name="Escott"/> "I'm Sorry" reached No. 1 in mid-1960, with the writer's credit shared between Self and Albritten; "Anybody But Me" reached No. 31 in 1961; and "Everybody Loves Me But You" reached No. 6 in 1962.<ref name="Escott"/> The co-writing arrangement between Self and Albritten is explained in Lee's autobiography: {{quote|Ronnie was burning bridges left and right. But Dub kept loaning him money and arranging for song-publishing deals and recording sessions, eventually including some with Owen Bradley at Decca. Dub wasn't a songwriter, but his name is listed as the cowriter on a lot of Ronnie's songs. I don't think he was trying to be dishonest. That was the only way Dub could hope to recoup all the money he'd invested in that crazy guy.<ref name="Lee">Lee, Brenda, with Robert K. Oermann. ''Little Miss Dynamite: The Life of Brenda Lee''. Hyperion, 2002. p. 63–64.</ref>}} Among other artists who recorded Self's compositions during this period were Carl Perkins ("Mama of My Song") and Jerry Lee Lewis ("Love on Broadway," recorded at Lewis's final Sun Records session but unreleased until 1971).<ref name="Escott"/> Self's country gospel composition "Ain't That Beautiful Singing," recorded by Jake Hess, received the Grammy Award for Best Sacred Performance in 1969.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}} ====Later recording career (1963–1968)==== Following the conclusion of his Decca contract, Self recorded isolated singles for Kapp Records (1963), Scratch Records (1967), and Amy Records (1968). None achieved commercial success, and Self issued no full-length album in his lifetime.<ref name="Escott"/> ====Personal deterioration and death==== By the mid-1960s, Self had added amphetamines and marijuana to his longstanding alcohol dependency.<ref name="Escott"/> Following the death of Dub Albritten in 1971, Self's behavior became increasingly erratic. In a widely reported incident, upon discovering that his gold record of "I'm Sorry" would not play on his stereo, he burned his songwriter awards in front of his publisher's office on Music Row.<ref name="Escott"/> Despite his deteriorating condition, Self retained a strong following in Europe, where he was regarded as a significant figure in rockabilly history.<ref name="Escott"/> Ronnie Self died of cirrhosis in Springfield, Missouri, on August 28, 1981, at the age of 43.<ref name="Escott"/> He was survived by his son Roman Self (born 1963), who has performed as a rockabilly singer and released a tribute album to his father, *A Tribute to Ronnie Self*, in 2003.<ref name="RomanSelf">{{cite web |title=A Tribute to Ronnie Self |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/RomanSelf |website=Spotify |access-date=August 21, 2025}}</ref>
==== Legacy and influence ==== Although Self's solo recording career saw limited commercial success in the United States, his work as a songwriter has had a lasting impact. His composition "Sweet Nothin's," originally a Top 10 hit for Brenda Lee in 1959, was sampled by Kanye West for the song "Bound 2" on the 2013 album ''Yeezus''. The track's prominent "Uh-huh, honey" vocal line is taken directly from the Self-penned recording. The same sample was later used by the British duo Sigma in their 2014 UK number-one hit "Nobody to Love". In the rockabilly scene, Self remains a cult figure. His single "Bop-A-Lena" achieved greater success internationally than in his home country, reaching number 25 on the Australian charts in 1958.
==Track listing == * ''Pretty Bad Blues'' (first major release with ABC Recording)<ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly">{{cite web |title=Ronnie Self - Rockabilly |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn226U2yogclgaq5swM1sox5shWap77Gd |website=YouTube.com |publisher=YT channel: Ronnie Self - Topic |access-date=August 21, 2025}}</ref> * ''Waiting for the Gin to Hit''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q14FpDOkNag | title=Ronnie Self and sons - "Waitin' for My Gin to Hit Me" | website=YouTube | date=4 September 2011 }}</ref> * ''Bop-A-Lena''<ref name="Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena">{{cite web |title=Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXimiKjS208&list=PLn226U2yogclgaq5swM1sox5shWap77Gd |website=YouTube.com | date=8 November 2014 |publisher=YT channel: Ronnie Self - Topic |access-date=August 21, 2025}}</ref> * ''Big Fool''<ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Ain't I'm A Dog'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Big Blon' Baby''<ref name="Ronnie Self - Big Blon' Baby">{{cite web |title=Ronnie Self - Big Blon' Baby |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXimiKjS208&list=PLn226U2yogclgaq5swM1sox5shWap77Gd |website=YouTube.com | date=8 November 2014 |publisher=YT channel: Ronnie Self - Topic |access-date=August 21, 2025}}</ref> * ''You're So Right for Me'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Long Distance Kiss'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena"/> * ''Petrified'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Grandma's Rockin'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Three Hearts Later'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Date Bait'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Too Many Lovers'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Instant Man'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Black Night Blues'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Past, Present and Future'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Big Town'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Do It Now'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Flame of Love'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Oh Me, Oh My'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Hair of the Dog'' * ''I´ve Been Brought Down'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''When He Flies Away'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Long Train To Memphis'' * ''Wild And Wooly Life'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Go Go the Cannibal'' (posthumous release) <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Ugly Stick'' (posthumous) <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''So High'' (posthumous) <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Some Other World'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Blame Me For World War I'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''I Want You To'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Roll Over, Beethoven'' (live recording) <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/> * ''Sweet Little Sixteen'' <ref name="Ronnie Self - Rockabilly"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Self, Ronnie}} Category:1938 births Category:1981 deaths Category:20th-century American singers Category:American rock singers Category:American rockabilly musicians Category:Norton Records artists