Classic review

An awesome album which is almost on the same level as the Rubber Knife Gang's "Drivin' On" and the Black Twig Pickers' "Ironto Special." In fact, I thought Larry Keel & Natural Bridge's new CD "Classic" is going into the same direction as the Pickers when I spotted such titles as "Fishin' Reel" and "Country Blues" in the track list but actually this is more in the vein of Cincinnati's Rubber Knife Gang or Steve Martin.

Larry Keel & Natural Bridge consist of Keel on guitar, Jenny Keel on bass, Mark Schimick on mandolin, and Will Lee on banjo. The absence of a fiddle does not stand out much. Instead, here and there the steely sound of a dobro is added to the line-up and fits really good into the band's style. A fiddle would have made a much more traditional oriented sound, which is not the case here. "Classic" sound fresh, new, and modern.

Vocal tracks as well as instrumentals are great. Listening to "Back Up on the Mountain" makes me wish to have a warm summer evening and being at a calm lake, just sitting and thinking. "Country Blues" goes more into the traditional direction and is a great rendition of Dock Boggs' old favorite. The rough vocals by Keel are great here. Another outstanding track is the instrumental "Fishin' Reel," presenting not only Keel's guitar playing but also his talented band. The band is joining all in to support the singer on "How Can It Be Wrong," a beautiful mid-tempo song. Another track worth mentioning here is Bob Marley's "Put It On," what an effort to turn a Reggae song into an equally good Bluegrass track.

To describe it best, this is high-class Bluegrass music with dreamy melodies. Fast guitar and mandolin solos showcase the great musicianship this band has. Mixing Appalachian music traditions with modern elements, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge recorded one of the best Bluegrass/Folk albums this year so far. A band to watch and a CD I can highly recommend.

Visit larrykeel.com here.

The Bo-Kay label

"Each Record a Bouquet of Music"

Bo-Kay was founded by business man Jesse Smith in 1956 in Lamesa, Texas, but later moved first to nearby Odessa and eventually to Fort Worth. Smith also owend Mary Kaye and Ector labels. Active from 1957 to around 1967, the label mostly released country material but is also famous for releasing Elroy Dietzel's rockabilly sides. Dietzel's "Rock-N-Bones" (composed by Don Carter) was later covered by Ronnie Dawson. Smith had discovered Dietzel and his band, the Rhythm Bandits, in late 1956 while they were playing a club in Lubbock, Texas, and signed them.

Other artists on the label included Billy Thompson and his band, who was the brother of famous western swing singer Hank Thompson. Another western swing band leader who recorded for Bo-Kay was Hoyle Nix, a very popular act in West Texas. Patsy Elshire also cut a single in 1963 for the label, released as by "Patsy Blane." She had been a regular on the Houston Hometown Jamboree (KNUZ, Houston) back in 1956 and had previously recorded for Capitol and Starday. Red Hayes, who was also part of Billy Thompson's band, had a release on Bo-Kay, too, as well as Cecil McCollough and Dee Mullins.

Many singles were cut in Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. Songwriter Howard Hausey, also known as Howard Crockett, worked with the label as a producer and composer.

Promo picture for Billy Thompson and his Melody Ramblers (!). The Bo-Kay record acutally showed Melody Cowboys as backing group. Thompson played in the Midland/Odessa area and performed at the Golden Nuggetin Las Vegas during the late 1960s. His Bo-Kay release was recorded at Norman Petty's studio in 1957.

Discography
Singles
K-101: Elroy Dietzel / The Rhythm Bandits - Precious Desires / Teenage Ball (1956)
K-102: Johnny Lynn - Pancho Villa / Love Me Brown Eyes
K-103: Elroy Dietzel and the Rhythm Bandits - Rock-N-Bones / Shang-Hai Rock (1957)
K-104: Billy Thompson and the Melody Cowboys - Waltzing with Sin / Love Gone Blind (1957)
K-105: The Welch Brothers - Blue Eyes and Golden Curls / Thoughts of the Past
K-106: Doug Bowman - Dis-Conted / From My Lover to My Friend
K-107: Hoyle Nix and his West Texas Cowboys - The Kind of Love I Can't Forget / The Lady in Red (1959)
K-108: Hoyle Nix and his West Texas Cowboys - Ida Red / La Golondrina Waltz (1959)
K-109: Red Hayes - Away to Free Myself / Next to Jimmy
K-110: Hoyle Nix and his West Texas Cowboys - Please Don't Bother Me / I Don't Lov'a Nobody (1960)
K-111: Sunshine Travelers - Calling You / Kneel Down and Pray
K-112: Patsy Blane - Things Look Different Now / Feeling (1963)
K-113: Johnny Wood and the Rhythm Aces - Valley of Blue / That's the Way It Has to Be
K-114: Jay Lang - Crazy Kind of Love / Someone I Thought I Knew
K-115: Billy Thompson - Oh Lonesome Me / Worried Over You
K-116: The Lambert Brothers - Dig a Hole in the Meadow / Good Times are Past and Gone
K-117: Ray Chaney - You Wouldn't Cross the Street / Where's That Forever
K-118: Dee Mullins - Riverboat South / Prison Grey
K-119: Terry White - Arms of Memory / The Things That Count
K-120: Cecil McCollough - Pages Blue / Toys
K-121: Johnny Golf - Paradise / Paradise
No.#: Red & Betty Stewart - ? / Love's Gonna Live Here
45-991/2: Morine & the Zircones - Let a Woman Through / Show Me Where It's At

Note: The Bo-Kay single as by Morine and the Zircones is probably not on the same label. This release probably originated from the Gulf Coast.

Albums
LPM-101: Billy Thompson - Big Balls in Cowtown

Thanks to: DrunkenHobo, Westex

Boom Chica Boom

 Reup by request. I listened a lot to Johnny Cash in the last few days, so this post fits in very nicely. Hope you enjoy it.

Download 

track listing:
1. Delbert Barker - So Doggone Lonesome
2. Sleepy LaBeef - Home of the Blues
3. Marie Roberson - Hell Bound Train
4. Jack Reno - The Biggest Man
5. Houston Barks - She's Gone
6. Paul Evans - I Got Stripes
7. Bill Mack - Johnny's Gal Frankie
8. Sleepy LaBeef - Don't Make Me Go
9. Charlie Stewart - Who'd Lie on Johnny Cash?
10. Lonnie Smithson - Quarter in the Jukebox
11. Kenny Owens - Hey Porter
12. Benny Barnes - Give My Love to Rose
13. Jimmy Webb - Jimmy Six
14. Kenny Owens - Ballad of a Teenage Queen
15. Johnny Sea - Frankie's Man Johnny

Johnnie Hargett on Cherry

 Johnnie Hargett and the Music Makers - Rock the Town Tonight (1960), Cherry 1016
This is what rockabilly was supposed to sound like in 1954 or 1955...but not 1960! Johnnie Hargett laid down a top notch rockabilly side which came six years too late. No info on Hargett or the Music Makers at all but this one was released in 1960 on the Scottsville, Kentucky, based Cherry label with "God's Gift to the Men" on the flip side.

Owned by Joe Dyson, Cherry is today famous for releasing Art Adams' records and Tommy Holmes' "Wac-Chic-Ka-Nocka." Hargett had two other country singles on Cherry, one in 1959 featuring "Teardrops in the Snow" b/w "Please Tell Me" (Cherry 1002/3), which was mentioned in Billboard on July 27, 1959.

Down with the Old Canoe

 Dixon Brothers - Down with the Old Canoe (1938), Bluebird  B-7449
Thanks to bobsluckycat, another nice recording finds its way onto this blog. The Dixon Brothers were an important duo in old-time music, Dorsey's songwriting is legendary by now. Here's what bobsluckycat said about "Down with the Old Canoe:"

This song was written in late 1937 and recorded on January 25, 1938 in Charlotte NC for RCA Victor by the Dixon Brothers and is a re-working of the old song from 1912 into a gospel number (of sorts).
This was re-mastered in 1964 for an educational series of LP's from Victor from 1922 through the 1940's with various themes.

 Hope you all enjoy it.

Holiday Inn Records

This label was part of the Holiday Inn motel chain and was set up in Memphis, Tennessee,  in 1961. There were two incarnations of the label. Holiday Inn was active once from 1962 to approximately 1963 and then was revived in 1968.

In May 1960, Billboard announced "Motel Chain to Bow Own Label." Wayne Foster was called the head of the label and Holiday Inn already used different distributors to release its first single on April 1, 1961, by the Rollercoasters. This instrumental groups' track "Rimshot" already sold over 6000 copies in Memphis and New Orleans after eight days and was picked "hit of the week" on WMPS (Memphis) and WPLO (Atlanta), according to Foster. By June, more than 50.000 copies were sold it was #1 in Monroe, Louisiana, and presumably other cities.

Records were mainly pressed by Plastic Products in Memphis, although the label also used RCA's custom pressing service. By 1962, Holiday Inn expanded its promotion activies and hired Chips Moman for production. The Rollercoasters were still on the label, as well as a new singer called Jimmy Foster. Buck Griffin and Frank Starr, who is known to rockabilly collectors as Andy Starr, also recorded some singles for the label. While Holiday Inn used recording studios in Memphis at the beginning, they were branching out by 1962, cutting sessions in Nashville for example.

In the spring of 1968, Sam Phillips was announced as being the president of Holiday Inn with brother Judd being national sales and promotion manager, Bill Fitzgerald became general manager, Judd's son Judd Phillips, Jr., became regional sales and promotion manager, and Sam's son Knox worked as producer. Phillips became the head of the new Holiday Inn label mainly because he was a major stock-holder of the Holiday Inn motel chain and seemed to be perfect for this job. By then, Phillips was in process to sell his Sun/Phillips International catalog to Shelby Singelton. Several unreleased masters, who were not part of the deal with Singelton, were later issued by Phillips on Holiday Inn. Around the same time, new artists such as Jerry Dyke, the Climates, Gregg Todd & the Jacks, among others were signed, a studio was set up in Memphis, and the new office was at 3756 Lamar Avenue, Memphis. Though, the label still belonged to the Holiday Inn motel chain. Billboard called the label "newly founded" in its March issue, which leads me to the suggestions the label was closed down for some time after 1962 and was revived in 1968. This would also explain why there were no singles in the mid-1960s and the change in the numerical system.

Already in February 1968, the label released the first album on the new incarnation by Dotty Holyday. In November that year, Rev. Oris May joined the label as a A&R manager and regional sales and promotion manager. Soon afterwards in December, he was out promoting Larry Brinkley's newest single. Brinkley previously recorded rockabilly in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Although the label seemed to expand, there was one big problem for Holiday Inn. Many radio DJs across the country would not play Holiday Inn records because in just saying the name "Holiday Inn" over the air amounted to free publicity for the motel chain and most if not all radio stations programmers refused to do so. The last record released on the label was by Gregg Todd and the Jacks in 1969.

Discography
A great annotated discography can be seen here.

100: Rollercoasters - Rimshot, Pt. 1 / Rimshort, Pt. 2 (1961)
101: Tookie Collom with the Roller Coasters - You Torture Me / I Could Love You (1961)
102: Jimmy Foster - Stranger in Paradise / Where Could I Go (1961)
103: The Roller Coasters - Wabash Blues / Slap-Back (1961)
104: Frank Starr - Knees Shakin' / Evil Eye (1961)
105: Kenny Lund - Greenbacks / Rip It Up Potatoe Chip
106: Rusty Curry - Tag Along / Our Love Can Wait
107: Roller Coasters - You've Gotta Run Me Down / My Fraulein Cries for Me (1962)
108: Frank Starr - Little Bitty Feeling / Lost in a Dream (1962)
109: Buck Griffin - Pretty Lou / Girl in 1209 (1962)
110: The Roller Coasters - Spanish Twist / Wild Twist (1962)
111: Jimmy Foster - Hey Little Lover / Moving Up to Love (1962)
112: Stan Daniels - Confused / Sweet Little Girl (1962)
113: Stony Martin - Talking About Lovin' / Rhythm Marie
114: Charlie Feathers - Deep Elm Blues / Nobody's Darling (1962)
115:
116: Dolly Holiday - Are You Forever / That Ever-Lovin' Memphis Sound (1968)

2200: Dianne Hall - But You Don't Love Me / Good Morning Love (1968)
2201: Lee Adkins - Together Again / Don't You Believe It (1968)
2202: Gregg Todd and "The Jacks" - Love / A Simple Thought (1968)
2203: Jerry Dyke - Come In Mr. Lonely / Things (1968)
2204: Charlie's Children - Finally Found Out / Lady Madonna (1968)
2205: "Load of Mischief" - Back In My Arms Again / I'm a Lover (1968)
2206: The Climates - Tell Him Tonight / Don't Be Cruel (1968)
2207: Portrait of Fun - Wages Man / Lonely Hapiness (1968)
2208: "Ironing Board" Sam Moore - Raining In My Heart / When You Brought Me You (1968)
2209: Robert & Randy - Good Company / I Won't Ask Why
2210: Larry Brinkley - Guitar Pickin' DJ / Every Turn That I Make Turns Out Wrong (1968)
2211: Jerry Dyke - Habit I Can't Break / I Forgot to Remember to Forget (1968)
2212:
2213: The Bogard Brothers - None Other Like Thee / Step Out
2214: Larry & the Accommodations - I Wanna Hold You / Love Is the Answer (1969)
2215: Gary Ellison - Now I'm in Trouble / How Yould You Do This to Us (1969)
2216: Charlie Freeman - Sweethearts in Melody / I Couldn't Help It (1969)
2217: Gregg Todd & the Jacks - Garden of Delight / Love Transcends (1969)

Albums
HIR-1: Dolly Holiday - Nighttime (1968)

Sources: Rockin' Country Style, various Billboard issues
Thanks to Bo, Bobsluckycat