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.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Alden Holloway on Dixie

Alden Holloway - Blast Off (Dixie 45-2020), 1959

This record ranks among the more expensive 45s, if you find it on ebay, a collector fair or something like this. Lucky are those who found it left alone in a box of other 45s at a flea market. The highest price I saw was 455 USD. However, the late and great Alden Holloway died at the very beginning of this year and gone is the chance now to interview him about his musical career.

Born Alden William Holloway on January 26, 1925, in Moko, Arkansas, he was interested in music already as a child. He had his first appearance at the age of five years on the counter of a local store. In addition, he also sang in the church choir. Holloway became an accomplished musician and played guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and steel guitar.

By 1944, Billboard reported he was a DJ on KNET in Palestine, Texas. Why and when he came to Texas is not known. Back in Arkansas, Holloway had met his future wife Polly at Salem High School. When Polly and her family moved way up north to Washington State, Holloway followed his high school sweetheart and they were married in September 1944.

By the  early 1950s, he had his own band and appeared on local radio stations such as KPKW (Pasco, Washington) and KWIE (Kennewick, Washington) as "Shorty" Holloway. Already in 1951, he released what became his debut record on the 4 Star custom label Northwest Records (in 4 Star's "Other People" series). Based in Richland, Washington, this was likely also Holloway's home at that time. The disc featured "I'm a Married Man" and "If I Can't Be Your Lover" (Northwest #OP-118). Until 1956, four more discs on the Northwest label followed, making it a total of four discs. The first three of them were manufactured in the 78rpm format but when Holloway released "Beaumont Blues" and "Rabbit Ears" (Northwest #OP214) in 1955, the 78rpmm format had become outdated, therefore Holloway issued this and its follow-up "Woodpecker Love" b/w "Red Rose of Arkansas" (Northwest #OP-263) on 45rpm discs.


The late 1950s saw Holloway releasing the records he is best remembered for today. Being previously a stone hard country musician, he now tried his hand at rock'n'roll. Holloway and his band, now called Tri City Boys, cut "Loving Is My Business" (written by Holloway) and "Chiquita" probably in 1958 in their home state Washington. They sent the tapes again to a custom pressing service, this time Starday Records in Houston, Texas. It was released on Starday 714 around June 1958 and I assume, there weren't much more than 1.000 copies pressed. His next single definetly became Holloway's claim to fame, at least in the rockabilly collectors scene. "Blast Off" b/w "Swinging the Rock" (Dixie 45-2020) are two great guitar driven rockers from 1959. The lead guitarist on both songs was to all acounts Holloway.

For the next decades, Holloway kept on performing in the Tri-City area of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland with personal gigs as well as radio and TV appearances. Nevertheless, to suppot his family, he held down regular day jobs, for example working at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the Alaska pipelines. He appeared with such stars as Little Jimmy Dickens, Porter Waggoner, among others and also continued to record. He had his own recording studio in the basement of his house and in the second part of the 1960s, he released two 45s on the Big Sound label.

Holloway's talents as a musician surfaced in different ways. Apart from recording and personal appearances, he would also host countless jam sessions at his house. Though he played different string instruments, the guitar became his main instrument. He played different double neck guitars and one of them was displayed in 2015 during an episode of PBS' "Antiques Roadshow".

On the private side, he had two children with his wife. In 2022, Polly Holloway was still living in the Tri-City area.


On January 1, 2013, Alden "Shorty" Holloway passed away at Kadlec Medical Center. He was 87 years old. Holloway is buried at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Richland, Washington.

Discography

Northwest OP-118
Shorty Holloway and his Prairie Riders

I'm a Married Man (Holloway) / If I Can't Be Your Lover (Let Be Your Pet) ()
OP-153 / OP-154
1951

Northwest OP-149
Shorty Holloway and his Prairie Riders

Cotton Pickin' Boogie (Holloway) / Why Can't I Go Back (Holloway)
OP-124 / OP-215
1953

Northwest OP-201
Shorty Holloway and his Prairie Riders

I Want to Squeeze You (S. Holloway; C. Tucker) / Pray Pray (S. Holloway)
OP-326 / OP-327
1955

Northwest OP214X45
Shorty Holloway & his Prairie Riders
Beaumont Blues (Alden Holloway; C. Tucker) / Rabbit Ears (Bert Wells)
OP-360 / OP 361
1955

Northwest OP-263-45
Alden Holloway and his Prairie Riders

Woodpecker Love (Alden Holloway) / Red Rose of Arkansas (Alden Holloway)
OP-470-H / OP-471-H
1956
Starday 45-714
Alden Holloway and his Tri City Boys
Chiquita (Floyd Hogien) / Loving Is My Business (Alden Holloway)
A / B
1958

Dixie 45-2020
Alden Holloway
Blast Off (Alden Holloway; B.R. Thomas) / Swinging the Rock (Alden Holloway)
2953 / 2954
1959

Big Sound No.#
Alden Holloway
Walking the Blues Away (Polly Holloway) / Oklahoma Sweetheart (Polly Holloway)
20949 / 20950 (Rite)
1967

Big Sound U-23849M
Shorty Holloway (and the Variety)
You've Gotta Live It Right (Dewey Long) / Count Me Out (Dewey Long)
A / B


There are a couple of more songs which Holloway recorded, including "Butterflies in My Heart" and "Telephone Blues", which cannot be traced back to a certain release.

Sources
Find a Grave entry
Hillbilly-Music.com
Obituary at Hillbilly-Music.com
• Entries at 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm

10 comments:

Bob said...

A 116 pages Shorty Holloway biography - in german - was published in 2010.

SEE http://www.infibeam.com/Books/alden-holloway-german-lambert-m-surhone/9786133433304.html

Mellow said...

This is really surprising! The author doesn't sound like a German. Do you have this one?

Bob said...

NO, I haven't. But found something intresting about the publishing company :

"This is one of the oddest things I’ve ever seen on the internet. A company variously calling itself Alphascript Publishing and Betascript Publishing is taking articles from Wikipedia and publishing them as books....."

more here:

http://www.chrisrand.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/27/odd-tale-alphascript-publishing-betascript-publishing/

Mellow said...

Okay Bob, then I think I know all about this. First let me say that I am the author of the German Wikipedia article on Holloway. Seems they took it and published it in this book. But it can't be 119 pages long, my article barely is one page long!

Unknown said...

Anyone familiar with this version?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4TnKdp5H38

Bob said...

Found this one on Northwest not listed in your discography :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTH5x4ujyfs

Martin said...

Here is one of Shorty's doublenecks on Antiques Roadshow:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365085733/

jjflash@canby.com said...

One of his guitars, a leather bound, twin neck, the upper neck being a 4 vs. an 8 string mandolin was shown, if I'm remembering it correctly, by his daughter, on PBS's Antiques Roadshow last Monday.
jjflash@canby.com

Anonymous said...

I am Alden Shorty Holloway’s daughter, Dianne I gave a lot of this information on line a few years back. I now have his double neck guitar. His wife Polly is still living in the Tri-Cities, along with his son Aaron Holloway.
I’m glad people are enjoying his music as much as we did. Lots of Jam sessions at our house
In his recording studio in our basement.

Mellow said...

Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you appreciate us keeping the memory of your father alive!