Morris Eugene Simmons (July 10, 1937 – August 29, 2006), better known as Jumpin' Gene Simmons, was an American singer and songwriter best known for his 1964 novelty single "Haunted House".

Biography

Gene Simmons was born in

Itawamba County, Mississippi Itawamba County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 23,401. Its county seat is Fulton. The county is part of the Tupelo, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county was ...

, and began his recording career with

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...

in 1956 a couple of years after performing as an opening act for former labelmate

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

. However, the label released only one (non-charting) single from his recording sessions. His first and only Top 40 hit was "Haunted House", a cover of a 1958 recording by Johnny Fuller, which peaked at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1964 and No. 7 in Canada. The song represented one of

Hi Records Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent partne ...

' early successes. The track was later covered by

the Compton Brothers The Compton Brothers was a duo consisting of brothers Bill and Harry Compton. The group won a talent contest in 1965 sponsored by Columbia Records. Between 1966 and 1975, they recorded for Dot Records, charting in the top 20 of the Hot Country Son ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...

Ace Cannon John Henry "Ace" Cannon (May 5, 1934 – December 6, 2018) was an American tenor and alto saxophonist. He played and toured with Hi Records stablemate Bill Black's Combo, and started a solo career with his record "Tuff" in 1961, using the Black ...

Hasil Adkins Hasil Adkins (April 29, 1937 – April 26, 2005) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His genres include rock and roll, country, blues and more commonly rockabilly, and because of his unusual playing and singing style ...

Sam the Sham Domingo "Sam" Samudio (born February 28, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, United States), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipme ...

, John Fogerty, and John Anderson. His last work was "

Indian Outlaw "Indian Outlaw" is a song written by Jumpin' Gene Simmons and John D. Loudermilk, and performed by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released in January 1994 as the first single from his album '' Not a Moment Too Soon''. It was M ...

," which he co-wrote, and was a hit for

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

in 1994. Simmons' Hi Records recordings were released as an anthology, ''Haunted House: The Complete Jumpin' Gene Simmons on Hi Records'', in June 2001. Sun Records followed suit in December 2006 with the 33-song collection ''Drinkin' Wine: The Sun Years, Plus''. He had recorded several albums with both labels but they were never released. In late 1962, he travelled to Mexico to appear as a diver in Paramount's ''

Fun in Acapulco ''Fun in Acapulco'' is a 1963 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress. The film featured the Top 10 ''Billboard'' hit "Bossa Nova Baby" and reached No. 1 on the national weekly box office charts a week after the ass ...

'', starring Elvis Presley who, incidentally, could not travel there as he was persona non grata.

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

covered one of Simmons' singles, "Peroxide Blonde in a Hopped Up Model Ford," for his 2005 album ''Rockabilly Riot, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Sun Records.'' A year later, on August 29, 2006, the 42nd anniversary of the entry of "Haunted House" into the top 40, Simmons died after a long illness at age 69 in his hometown.

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

bassist Gene Simmons (birth name: Chaim Witz) chose his stage name as a tribute to the singer.

Discography

*''Jumpin' Gene Simmons'' (1964) *''Goin' Back to Memphis'' (1987) *''706 Union Ave. And Beyond'' (1998) *''Haunted House: The Complete Jumpin' Gene Simmons on Hi Records'' (2001) *''Drinkin' Wine: The Sun Years, Plus'' (2006)

References

External Links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Jumpin Gene 1937 births 2006 deaths American rock songwriters People from Tupelo, Mississippi American rockabilly musicians Place of death missing 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from Mississippi Country musicians from Mississippi Sun Records artists Hi Records artists