Sammy Masters RIP

Country and Rockabilly music singer Sammy Masters died March 8, 2013, in Orange, California. Masters recorded Rock'n'Roll music during the 1950s and early 1960s on various labels, most notable his Rockabilly sides for 4 Star and his chart hit "Rockin' Red Wing." Eventually, he would move back to Country and hosted popular TV shows such as "Jukebox Saturday Night" and "Country Music Time."

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Eddie Bond RIP

Country and Rockabilly music singer Eddie Bond died March 20, 2013, at his home in Bolivar, Tennessee. Bond was a celebrity in West Tennessee and East Arkansas areas, being recording artist, DJ, TV personality, promoter and producer. He did his first recordings in 1955 in Memphis for the Ekko label and is most famous today for his 1956 Mercury sides, including the Sonny Fisher cover "Rockin' Daddy."

Bond recorded countless singles and albums in six decades. He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and is regarded to be as one of the genre's pioneers.

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Claude King RIP

Country music singer and songwriter Claude King died March 7, 2013, at the age of 90. His biggest hit was the 1962 no.1 single "Wolverton Mountain," which stayed on top of the charts for half a year. He was a cast member of the Louisiana Hayride right from the beginning and also found great success in the 1960s as a songwriter.

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Bill Allen dies

Singer and Rockabilly Hall of Fame member Bill Allen died February 22, 2013, at the age of 75. Born Wilfred Allen Snivley, he was most famous among rockabilly collectors for his "Please Give Me Something" on Imperial. He also previously recorded for Eldorado and performed his whole life in the Akron, Ohio, area as well as in other US states.

Bobby Hollister on Pike

  Bobby Hollister with the Rialtos - Love's Gamble (1961), Pike 5910
Following my recent post on Pike Records, bobsluckycat came up with some real interesting memories of Pike recording artist Bobby Hollister. Bob O'brien was stationed at a Naval Air Station in Lemoore, California, in the early 1960s and was able to see Hollister perform and also to talk with him back then. In addition, friends like Lelah Lofing and Hollister's daughter Bethany contacted me and provided much appreciated information and memories, which help to build a better picture of Hollister's life and career.

According to the Social Security Death Index, Robert Harold Hollister was born on September 11, 1942. His familiy name was actually Cox but later got adopted by a man called Harold Hollister, who "owned much of Fox Island" (Washington State), as Hollister's daughter Bethany put it.

Hollister founded his band in 1959 in Tulare, California, calling themselves "Bobby and the Rialtos." Members included Hollister on vocals and electric rhythm guitar, Freddie Thomas on lead guitar, and Mike Nolan on drums. It was the year 1961: Bobby Hollister and the Rialtos performed at teen dances around the Bakersfield/Lemoore//Tulare/Visalia area (Central Valley). He still attended high school and because of their age, Hollister and the Rialtos weren't allowed to work places where alcohol was served. They had a short list of songs the teenagers at that time wanted to hear, including such pieces as "Money (That's What I Want)" and "Last Night."

Bob O'Brien remembers:

Hollister told me they had cut a record in Bakersfield in a garage, but that they couldn't afford to bring it out because they couldn't afford to pay for the pressing. He would tell the people at the dances that he had a record coming out, but it never did, in so far as I know. I found a copy a year or so later in Columbus, Ohio, in the cut-out bin of a local Woolworth store for 5 cents. I bought it just for curiosity sake.

Apparently, Hollister and the Rialtos had a record out. In fact, it were two records on Bakersfield's Pike record label. Both appeared in 1961, the first one being "Like Thunder" b/w "Breakin'" (Pike 5907), two surf instrumentals featuring Freddie Thomas on lead guitar. The second single was released later that same year on Pike 5910, featuring the teen ballad "Love's Gamble" and the rock'n'roll song "Ring Around Your Neck." Both credit Hollister, Freddie Thomas and Mike Nolan as composer. Bob O'Brien recalls the record as follows:

The record was pretty bad. "Love Was A Gamble" was a slow almost dirge like recording where Hollister tries to sound a little like Jack Scott, but fails miserably. "Wear My Ring" was a much faster nearly rockabilly song, but Hollister couldn't match the Elvis Presley/Conway Twitty style vocal that was needed.

Hollister also played with various other band during this time but by the fall of 1961, Hollister disappeared from the Central Valley music scene. He probably went to college, as bobsluckycat assumed. Hollister was drafted into the Army on February 27, 1963, and spend his military service in Korea. He got out of service in 1966 and upon his return, he restarted his musical career.

Bobby Hollister in 1967 while appearing with the Brymers

Hollister replaced Jim Mellick in late 1966 as vocalist and lead guitarist in a garage band called "The Brymers," which was quite popular in California. The band members remembered him when searching for a musician to replace Mellick. The band's record label and manager also thought he was a good replacement and hired him. Dick Lee, the group's drummer, remembers how Hollister joined the Brymers:

As mentioned, Bobby joined The Brymers in late 1966.  The group needed another vocalist for our four piece harmony.  All of us knew Bobby from the early 60's in the San Joaquin Valley.  He had played with numerous bands and our manager and record label thought he would be a good fit. The Brymers began getting national airplay on "Sacrifice" and "I Want To tell You" - so he toured extensively with us.

Hollister and band member Bill Brumley for example would do a set consisting of Righteous Brothers songs because they sounded very similar to them. Band member Dick Lee remembers one crazy happening with Hollister:

Another crazy time occurred while the group was booked into a San Francisco venue in 1967. Bobby Hollister (lead guitar and vocalist) had hooked up with this beautiful young blonde after a concert. He proceeded back to his hotel with the young lady and both entered his room. The rest of the group was next door playing poker and having a few beers to unwind. At one point, we heard Bobby yell and run out of the room. We instantly went to the door to see what the problem was. Hollister came running into the room yelling, “It’s a guy! It’s a guy! She has a penis.” To his surprise, he had hooked up with a transvestite who was a working female impersonator in a North Beach nightclub. Needless to say, Bobby was always ribbed about the incident and always checked that future women did not have a “package.”

Though the Brymers had a busy touring schedule and a recording contract with Diplomacy Records, the band members decided to disband in late 1967. They were tired of being on the road. Hollister married Sandra J. Thomas in the late 1960s and they had three children. The marriage did not last long and they were divorced in November 1968 (according to the California Divorce Index). Hollister then returned to Tulane and kept on playing music. He later married Betty Stoy, with whom he had two daughters.

When Hollister was still with the Brymers, he met guitarist Floyd Julian in Modesto, California, who played with the Jim Burget band. After the Brymer's breakup, Hollister formed his own band and landed a regular spot at the Crowsnest in Visalia, California, during the years 1967-1968. He asked Julian and his sister Lelah to join his band. In addition, Kenny Sinner (who had played with the Brymmers) completed the group on organ. Hollister was impressed with Julian's abilities as a guitarist and often visited him. Lelah recalls:

Bobby hung around our house when he was in Modesto. My brother taught Bobby a few new tricks on the guitar and let him play the new ones he was building. Bobby would borrow them and use them with the Brymmers. One of his favorite was the Julian 007. It was shaped like a rifle and easy to maneuver on stage. Bobby liked to play it behind his back. [...] Bobby - as so many other musicians - was messed up on drugs. I always thought that it was such a shame because he had one of the best voiced I had ever heard. His gift of taking a song and bringing out every emotion in it until it was rung dry was for me breathtaking.  He was one of the best entertainers I had ever seen.  He just commanded the stage. One night when we were working at the Crowsnest he had had many request for the 'House of the Rising Sun' but didn't know the words. He asked me if I knew them and if I could tell him each line as he sang them. I was so amazed how he took that song second hand, sang it, performed it, and filled it with all the emotion necessary. That was the night I new he had something really special.

Hollister performed with several other groups in the San Joaquin Valley until the early 1970s. He then moved his family to Tacoma, Washington state, and Floyd Julian followed soon after. They played together around Washington and Oregon for years until Julian joined another band and eventually left Washington. Living a turbulent live, Hollister did not stay in contact steadily with his children from his first marriage but handed down his musical talent: "I did meet him several times and even got to play and sing with him in Portland, Oregon, when I was 18. He was an amazing singer - like heaven coming out of his mouth. He wanted us to tour around together but I didn't think it was a good idea at the time," Bethany recalls.

It seems that Hollister remained in Tacoma. He died on March 23, 1993, in Washington. "They found my father sitting up against a wall at a church holding his guitar... dead of an aneurysm," Bethany Hollister remembers.

A promo picture of the Brymers, ca. 1967. Bobby Hollister is on far left.

Special thanks goes to bobsluckycat, Bethany Hollister and Lelah Lofing for providing me with info and nice memories of Bobby and the Rialtos. Other sources: Rockin' Country Style, Find a Grave Forum, Dick Lee and "The Brymers: Bigger (and Balder) Than Any One Individual" by Dick Lee

Baker Knight on Decca

  Baker Knight and the Knightmares - Love-A Love-A Love-A (Decca 9-30426), 1957
Not as dynamic and action-packed as "Bring My Cadillac Back," this Baker Knight performance entitled "Love-A Love-A Love-A" is quite enjoyable, though. Knight is commonly better known as a prolific songwriter, for example he penned Elvis Presley's UK No.1 hit "The Wonder of You." In my opinion, his 1950s career as a rock'n'roll singer is as much interesting as his later career and definitely underrated.

He was born Thomas Baker Knight, Jr., on July 4, 1933, in Birmimgham, Alabama, where he also grew up. In 1939, Knight's father died and due to his mother's poor health, he was mainly raised by relatives. He attended high school in Birmingham and took up the guitar either at the school orchestra or during his stint with the Air Force; this is not quite clear. However, Knight founded a rock'n'roll outfit in 1956 he called "The Knightmares," which included A.D. Derby on piano, Glenn Lane and Nat Toderice on sax, Shuler Brown on bass, and Bill Weinstein on drums with Knight on vocals and guitar.

Baker Knight, ca. 1956. I also had the
original Knightmares group photo but lost
it.

This outfit soon made recordings during the spring of 1956 in a local tiny studio in Birmingham, which had only one microphone. Alan Bubis' label Kit Records out of Nashville, Tennessee, released "Little Heart" b/w "Bop Boogie to the Blues" and gave Knight and his band another shot when releasing "Bring My Cadillac Back" and "I Cried" (recorded October 24 that same year). The single sold well enough locally and attracted the attention of the major Decca label, which picked it up and released it nationally. "Bring My Cadillac Back" sure would have been a hit for Knight, but many radio stations banned the song because they thought it was a free commercial for the Cadillac automobile brand.

Though, Decca had faith in Knight and let him record three more singles during the year of 1957. Today's selection "Love-A Love-A Love-A" was recorded at Knight's second session for the label on July 18, 1957, at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville. Credited to "Baker Knight and the Knightmares," the song was coupled with "High School Days" and became Knight's last Decca single. In contrast to "Bring My Cadillac Back," both sides were less energetic and more sophisticated in its arrangements. Billboard reviewed the record in its August 19, 1957, issue and told the readers:

Love-A Love-A Love-A: Good hunk of rockabilly material, well sung, and could catch on. Well-made disc can score if pushed.
High School Days: Teen bait here, altho the flip material is more appealing for a broader market.

Despite the promising Billboard review, the single sold not well. Since also Knight's earlier efforts for Decca went nowhere, the label dropped him by 1958. Anyhow, "Love-A Love-A Love-A" attracted UK singer Marty Wilde's attention, who covered it.

Back in Birmingham, the Knightmares disbanded and Knight decided to move to Los Angeles in order to try his luck as an actor. Success in this field eluded him also but he became friends with Eddie Cochran and soon found himself writing songs for Ricky Nelson. Cochran also played guitar on one of Knight's Coral releases. Ray Peterson recorded his "The Wonder of You" in 1959 and landed a hit with it - Elvis Presley had even greater success with the song in 1970. Knight's own recordings, however, remained unsuccessful and were mainly ignored. He had a respective amount of recorded material on at least 15 different labels but never broke through. On the other hand, he became a very successful composer in the 1960s and 1970s. Stars like Dean Martin, Mickey Gilley, Ernie Ashworth, Dave Dudley, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, and many more recorded his songs.

Knight died in 2005 at the age of 72.

Jimmie Colvard: Six Strings on the Road

Born around 1943, guitar playing talent Jimmy Colvard never really got the recognition he derserves. He was an innovative musician and a much used session guitarist but never really found fame. The cause of this maybe was his early death.

Colvard originally hailed from Minnesota and was playing in St.Paul-Minneapolis as early as 1957 when he was still in his teens. He performed some with his steel guitar playing friend Al Udeen and learned to play Buddy Emmons licks on his guitar. Back then, Colvard was living in St. Paul and in 1958, both Colvard and Udeen took part in some package tours across Minnesota with big country music stars like Wanda Jackson, George Jones, Bobby Lord, Marvin Rainwater and others.

Later on, he founded the Jimmy Colvard Trio with Orlo and Marvis Thompson being the other members of the band. Colvard played each week at the Flame Cafe in Minneapolis, which also featured other local acts of the time including Dave Dudley and Dick Van Hale. Colvard would play in the front lounge first with his band and then he would open the show for the big stars at the back room of the Cafe, which had a large stage. The house band at the back room was a western swing combo led by fiddler Leon Boulanger. Colvard would also play with this outfit.

Around the same time, the aforementioned Dave Dudley was making a name for himself as a singer around Minneapolis. He signed with Golden Wing in 1962 and one year later, he recorded "Six Days on the Road" at the Kay Bank studios. Lead guitarist on this session was Jimmy Colvard, who played a "popping" sound that day which eventually would become a significant element of trucker country music. The success of the song led Dudley to sign with Mercury and he re-cut "Six Days" in 1964 in Nashville. He had told Colvard he would play guitar on that session but when Colvard arrived at the studio, he learned that John Voit played guitar.

Colvard then returned to Minneapolis and recorded an instrumental version of the song with his trio for Rosie Records, a subsidiary of Golden Wing (after a legal disput called Golden Ring). But Colvard did not stay too long there and soon left for Nashville, where he found work as a session guitarist and also went on the road. He recorded with such big names as Faron Young, Don Williams, Cal Smith, Connie Francis, Charlie Walker, Dolly Parton, Little Jimmy Dickens and lots of others. During this time, he lived with his wife Laura in Hermitage, Tennessee. Sadly, Jimmy Colvard took his life in 1977 in Nisswa, Minneapolis.

You can see a couple of nice photos and hear Colvard's Rosie single on Some Local Loser.

Sunny Valley Boys on United Southern

Sunny Valley Boys - My Son Calls Another Man Daddy (1962), United Southern 5-118
I bought this record in 2013 and was struck by this raw and authentic country band. The Sunny Valley Boys, likely a local outfit from Arkansas, were led by fiddler Leon Tidwell, who takes over the lead vocals on this side. The singer on the flip was his wife Myra Collins, also backed by the Sunny Valley Boys. The United Southern label was founded in 1960. Carl Friend was the A&R manager of this company from Hot Springs and also appears to be the co-writer of the two songs on the flip side.

You can hear them here with their redition of the old Hank Williams tune "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy," a great rendition if you ask me. Note that "Teardrops Teardrops (Please Stop Falling)" was composed by Iva Sue Lovelady, who owned the Lovelady label in Walnut Ridge, Northeast Arkansas. Lovelady also recorded Earl Smith and the Night Cappers in 1962. I'd be happy if anyone has more information on the Sunny Valley Boys.

The sound file is not from my copy since vack then, turntable refused to play records at the right speed. Thanks to Michael Hancock who sent me a clip from his copy.

Story of Pike Records

Pike Records was founded in 1959 by Roy Flowers in Bakersfield, California. Both Roy and his wife Vancie originally hailed from Oklahoma but moved to California in the 1950s. At the same moment, Flowers also set up his publishing firm Flowers Music Publ. The first record of the label shows Arvin, California, as location but all subsequent singles show Bakersfield.

The label's initial release was by Flower's wife Vancie, who was a talented singer in her own right. Her musical repertoire included Rockabilly, Blues, Country, and even Pop hits of the day. By 1961 she was under contract with the publishing company American Music, Inc. from Hollywood (Jerry Capehart and Terry Fell worked for this company, too) while recording for Pike. Flowers recorded for example a cover of the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" (written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon) and an answer song to Dave Dudley's 1963 hit "Six Days on the Road" entitled "Six Days a Waiting." She also had a single out on Crest.

Another artist that had a couple of singles out on Pike was Leon Hart. Hart went on to play an important role because he purchased 50 percent of the company soon after starting to record for Pike. Flowers and co-owner Hart prolifically recorded artists during the next two years. One of these local artists was Arizona born Dickie Garland, who had written some songs and contacted Hart. Hart in turn set up his own management firm and got Garland on Pike Records. The Rialtos, a local group from the Californian Central Valley area, were chosen to be the backing band on Garland's first session, which produced "Lonely Hitchiker" b/w "Please Don't Pretend." He had another release out in 1961 with "Shake Bop."

The Rialtos, formed in 1961 by singer Bobby Hollister, had two records on Pike in their own right. The first one was released in 1961 and comprised two Surf instrumentals. The second one was a Rock'n'Roll/teen ballad cut with Hollister on vocals. The Rialtos also did a few gigs in the early 1960s with Della Quinn and her brother, known as the Quinn Teens. They had a release on Pike under their own name (Pike #5922 "Dickie" / "I Hurt So"). Another of the Quinn siblings later married Rialtos lead guitarist Freddie Thomas' sister.

Classic Rockabilly Al Hendrix artist also recorded his "Monkey Bite" for Pike in 1962. Other artists on the label were Ronnie Sessions, Bill Bryan, J.R. LaRue and many others. Tommy Dee waxed a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Vallens and J.P. Richardson together with Bonnie Owens in 1963 for Pike entitled "Missing on a Mountain." The label was active until the mid-1960s but Flowers and Hart relaunched it in 1978 for some time. This incarnation lasted at least until 1984. By that point, the company was located at 420 Oswell Street in Bakersfield. Vancie Flowers died in 2008.

Discography
5901: Vancie Flowers - What a Man / I Threw My Orchid in the Water (1959)
5902: Dickie Garland - Lonely Hitchiker / Please Don't Pretend
5903: Kuzzin Herb Henson and the Trading Post Band - Big A Special / I Lost You (1961)
5904: Ronnie Sessions - Bunny Rabbit / ? (1961)
5905: Dickie Garland / Music by the Rialtos - Shake Bop / You're Gonna Be Sorry (1961)
5906: Tommy Dee - Halfway to Hell / Loving You (on Someone Else's Time) (1961)
5907: The Rialtos featuring Freddie Thomas - Like Thunder / Breakin' (1961)
5908: Ronnie Sessions - Keep a Knockin' / ? (1961)
5909: Tommy Dee - Look Homeward Dear Angel / A Little Dog Cried
5910: Bobby Hollister with the Rialtos - Love's Gamble / Ring Around Your Neck (1961)
5911: Leon Hart - Long White Line / New Home Sweet Home (1962)
5912: Al Hendrix - Monkey Bite / For Sentimental Reasons (1962)
5913: Bill Bryan and the Goldtones - Rocking Chair / Wasted Words (1962)
5914:
5915: J.R. LaRue & the Goldtones - Three Hearts / I Know Better
5916: Vancie Flowers - Orchid / What a Man (1963)
5917: Tommy Dee - Look Homeward Dear Angel / Tommy Dee with Bonnie Owens - Missing on a Mountain (1963)
5918: Highlanders - Hot Hot Sun / Penny-Penny (1963)
5919: Tommy Lewis - Go Where You Wanna Go / Dissatisfied
5920: Vancie Flowers - I've Just Got to Tell You / Foot Prints in the Dust
5921: Vancie Flowers - Thick and Thin / Six Days a Waiting (1963)
59021: Vancie Flowers - I'm So Lonely / Birds and Bees
5922: Quinn Teens - Dickie / I Hurt So
59022: Vancie Flowers - Can't Buy Me Love / Private Part
5923:
5924:
5925:
5926:
2927:
5928:
5929: Flowers & Hart - Remembering Patsy / ? (1963)
59-17: Bill Fields - Midnight Wine / Marsha
No#: James Gilreath - Lollipops, Lace, and Lipstick / ?

598301: Kenny Walters and the Moosehead Band - Too Much Tequila / Grapevine Going Down (1983)
598302: Mark Meadows and the Blue Sky Band - Time is Killing Me / Is She Gone? (1983)
598401: Mark Meadows and the Blue Sky Band - Don't Turn Me Away / Caught Up in Your Lovin' (1984)

Thanks to: Rocky Lane, DrunkenHobo, Steve Hathaway, Anonymous, the Quinn Teens

Vern Stovall RIP

Country music singer and songwriter Vern Stovall passed away on December 21, 2012, at the age of 84. Born in 1928, Stovall recorded for such labels as Longhorn, Monument, Crest, and others. In addition, he was a talented songwriter and penned tunes for such artists as Merle Haggard, Lonnie Smith, Elvis Presley, and others.

Read more here.