Updates

• Added info on Jimmy Ford, thanks to Volker Houghton. • Extended and corrected the post on Happy Harold Thaxton (long overdue), thanks to everyone who sent in memories and information! • Added information to the Jim Murray post, provided by Mike Doyle, Dennis Rogers, and Marty Scarbrough. • Expanded the information on Charlie Dial found in the Little Shoe post.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Something about Bill Bowen #2

There are some updates on Bill Bowen. I also uploaded all of his recordings I have.

Download

Wilbur J. Bowen, also known as Bill Bowen, was a rockabilly singer who recorded only one single at the famed Meteor studios for Les Bihari's Meteor record label. On this record, Bowen was backed by the Rockets, a group composed of lead guitarrist Terry Thompson and an unknown bass player. However, releasing "Don't Shoot Me Baby" b/w "Have Myself a Ball" (Meteor 5033) on June 30, 1956, the record didn't sell well and Bowen vanished from the music scene. Ray Harris stated in an interview shortly before his death that Bowen and Harris played together in a country band around Memphis in 1954. They also played together on a radio station outside of Memphis. Bowen reportly also cut a country version of "Don't Shoot Me Baby" at the Sun Studios. The reissue LP "Memphis Bop" also credited Bowen with cutting "Two Timin' Baby", and the singer on this tape sounds very much like Bowen. His Sun recordings probably were made after he went to Meteor. Anyway, Bill Bowen remains one of the most obscure figures in rockabilly music.

1 comment:

meathead said...

Oh man! These tunes rock and swing.
There's a power in the longevity of the recorded sound and the info you have provided.
thanks.