New Buffalo Bop & Collector releases

According to Terry Gordon, the famous reissue label Buffalo Bop released new CDs with obscure rockabilly and rock & roll tracks. Buffalo Bop is associated with Dee-Jay Jamboree Records from Germany and continued the Bison Bop label that issued the Bison Bop LPs, later known as "Buffalo Bop - the Bop That Never Stop".

New Buffalo Bop releases:

1. BB 55191: Play It Cool
2. BB 55192: Desperate Dolls
3. BB 55193: Wicked
4. BB 55194: Rock Choo-Choo Roll
5. BB 55195: Rockabilly Hicks

Note that the label's website is inactive, so these new CDs aren't listed there.

Die Flamingos & Arizona-Boys on Philips

Kind of German western/pop music. I don't know a thing about the Flamingos or the Arizona-Boys. "Thomas Rock aus Alabama" (en: Thomas Rock from Alabama) was a cover of the US pop hit "The Shifting Whispering Sands". The flip of this was a song called "Oklahoma-Tom", another corny western song. The combination of "Thomas Rock aus Alabama" b/w "Oklahoma Tom" was also recorded by another similar group called 'Die Texas-Boys und Johnny Guitar' (acompanied by the Original Prairie Serenaders) for Electrola Records (Electrola EG 8686), maybe it was the same group.

However, this one was released around 1956 and must have been a hit here in Germany, since "Thomas Rock aus Alabama" was used on one low down budget comp containing 1956 German hits. This comes from my own collection - the sound quality isn't good, I apologize for this. Hope you like it, though!

Download

Coon Creek Girls day

The Coon Creek Girls were an all female band that played through the 1930s and 1940s. They got most of their fame in radio, as it was custom in those days. The Coon Creek Girls consisted of Lily May Ledford (banjo), Opal Amburgey (bass), Bertha Amburgey (fiddle), Rosy Ledford and Susan Ledford (guitar). Although they made some recordings for ARC labels like Conqueror and Vocalion, they got popular over radio and appeared on such barn dance shows as John Lair's Renfro Valley Barn Dance and WLS's National Barn Dance out of Chicago, then one of the most popular country music shows in the country. The Amburgey sisters later started a solo career under the names of Martha Carson and Jean Chapel.

Three tunes:

1. Jim Along Josie
2. Poor Naomi Wise
3. Pretty Polly

Something about late 1950s Rock & Roll groups

In the late 1950s, Rockabilly vanished and dispersed into a kind of mainstream Rock'n'Roll. Musical features of these late 1950s Rock & Roll was the line-up of an electric guitar, an electric bass, a sax, drums and often also a piano. The songs were based on simple blues chord patterns - easy to play also for country boys who hadn't much experience in music. Instead of one featured artist, the whole band appeared under one name (e.g. not Elvis Presley & the Blue Moon Boys, but The Hi-Lites - hope it's clear). When these small bands that played in clubs and at high school dances made a record, the flip was often an instrumental dominated by an easy guitar riff that was used through the song, only slightly varied.

These small rock & roll groups later emerged into the Beat combos in the style of the Beatles and were the basics for the latter. I selected three bands today that also recorded some singles, one of them had limited success, the other two remained in obscurity.

The Skipper Hunt Combo was a Nashville based Rock & Roll group that played in the late 1950s and early 1960s, appearing in Nashville clubs. In 1959, the group made one single for the Hammond, Indiana, based label Glenn Records, a subsidiary of Mar-Vel'. "What Am I Gonna Do" b/w "Scalded" seems to be the only recording of this group. Members included Skipper Hunt (guitar/vocals), Joe Gleaves (bass), Roy Hepburn (drums), Bill Akins (piano) and an unidentified sax player.

The Nightbeats were a local group from Arizona, recording two singles for the local, tiny Zoom label. In the spring of 1959, their first release, "Lonesome Road Rock" b/w "Nightbeat", appeared. "Nightbeat" was an instrumental much in the style I descriped above. Their second single followed in the fall of that same year, featuring "Cryin' All Night" backed by "Doreen". There was also one unissued track called "Sea of Love". Members included the brother of Linda Ronstadt, Pete Ronstadt, on vocals. Pete also wrote much of the material for the band. There was also another group of the same name, calling themselves "The Nitebeats", which included Razzy Bailey and which recorded one single on Peach.

The Rock-a-Tunes were a band from Canada that had one chart success with "Danny", which reached the charts in Canada I think. They were based in Edmonton, Alberta, and recorded their first singles on Hank Smith's Rock-a-Tune label, including "Danny". After the success came, the Rock-a-Tunes switched to Columbia. Their first release there was "Tomorrow" b/w "Girls Nowadays". They kept on recordings but eventually members left. Before the group dispanded, they toured as the "New Fendermen" with original Fendermen member Phil Humprey. Members included Hank Smith and/or Butch McGillis on vocals, Al Ginard and Gordie Gray.

Free Rockabilly Music

A wonderful blog, "Free Rockabilly Music" by Rosie x, was removed one or two weeks ago by blogger. Rosie previously said that "they are on to me". Sad to see that a another wonderful blog is gone with music that mostly isn't available on CD anymore.

Wish you all the best, Rosie.

Tennessee Smith dies

John Orvia "Tennessee" Smith, a member of the Sunshine Boys Quartet and the TV Wranglers, died on September 2, 2009, in Griffin. He was 91 years old and is survided by his wife and many children. Smith was born in 1918.

The Sunshine Boys Quartet was a gospel group that recorded several sides for Decca. I think it's not the same group known as the Sunshine Boys, another gospel quartet that was on the WWVA Jamboree and well known around Atlanta. Smith was also a member of the TV Wranglers, another Atlanta based country group that was very popular in the 1950s on radio and TV. The TV Wranglers were inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 1991.

Jim McDonald story

I don't know much about him, but since he was an important part in the Kansas City scene, I have to mention him as well:

Jim McDonald was a record label owner and artist himself, recording some good rockabilly. He first appeared on the scene in 1957 as "Tennessee Jim", recording on the Choice label "Hold Me Tight" b/w "My Baby She's Rockin'". By 1958, McDonald and label buddy Cliff Shepherd left Choice to form their own label, KCM Records (KCM = Kansas City Musicians). On this label, McDonald had another release called "Let's Have a Ball" b/w "My Hearts Need Breakin". The first one in particular is a master piece of rockabilly, but enjoyed only little success in KC, due to the bad distribution and promotion.

However, McDonald was also involved with other country/rockabilly groups in Kansas City. He was a part of Conny & the Bellhops, a group that recorded one single on R Records, and also played with the Strangers.

Discography:
1957: Hold Me Tight / My Baby, She's Rockin' (Choice 45-852)
1958: Let's Have a Ball / My Heart Needs Breakin' (KCM 45-3700)

120% Heroes of Country CD2

No folks, I'm not dead, just ill! I apologize for not posting anything this week, so here we go with disc two of "120% Heroes of Country". This one kicks off with another Cash song just like the previous CD, featuring J.C.'s rendition of "Rock Island Line". And look at this, there's Waylon Jennings' cover of the Roy Orbison hit "Dream Baby", followed by an obscure Buck Owens song called "After the Dance". Ol' Hank is also heard with "Last Night I Heard You Crying In your Sleep", a lesser known tune of the Drifting Cowboy. Well, the disc comes to an end with Johnny Paycheck's wonderful "Someone To Give My Love To", I used to listen to this very often!
BTW: Get ready for another story of 'Kansas City Country Rockers' tomorrow!

Download

track list:
1. Johnny Cash - Rock Island Line
2. Billie Jo Spears - It Coulda Been Me
3. Patsy Cline - Sweet Dreams
4. Faron Young - If You Ain't Lovin'
5. Freddy Fender - Since I Met You Baby
6. Gene Autry - South of the Border
7. Waylon Jennings - Dream Baby
8. Dolly Parton - Girl Left Alone
9. Buck Owens - After the Dance
10. Hank Williams - (Last Night) I Heard You Crying In Your Sleep
11. Lynn Anderson - Ride, Ride, Ride
12. Roger Miller - The Last Word In Lonesome is Me
13. Skeeter Davis - I Can't Stay Mad at You
14. Slim Whitman - Any Time
15. Merle Haggard - Cherokee Maiden
16. Willie Nelson - Suffering in Silence
17. Ferlin Husky - Gone
18. Faron Young - Alone with You
19. Skeeter Davis - I Can't Help You (I'm Falling To)
20. Johnny Paycheck - Someone To Give My Love To

Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three live at San Quentin 1969. Cash and the band play "Folsom Prison Blues" - this is one of my favorite videos of Johnny, 'cause he and the whole band play so wild and are full of energy, it's amazing. Listen to Bob Wootten's modified solo, it's terrifying!

Westport Records story

Since the Rockabilly Ranch posted a whole bunch of Westport recordings, I researched a little the history of Kansas City Country and Rock'n'Roll history. KC had never the reputation as a big recording center or a lively music scene, but in the late 1940s, the 1950s and early 1960s, there were a lot of Country and Rock'n'Roll artists in the city. I start my journey through the 'Kansas City Country Rockers' at Westport Records:

Westport Records was formed in 1955 by Dave Ruf and his brothers as an outlet to record both their son and daughter, billed as the Westport Kids (the whole Ruf family is pictured right). The first single released by the new label was Westport 132 by the Westport Kids called "Right or Wrong / Hold My My Darling". I don't know why the company's catalog began at 125 - a mystery that probably never gets solved. However, Westport started out as a country label, recording also such artists as Mild Dickey and Jimmy Dallas, who was a local country star in Kansas City. Their recording studio cllaed Westport Enterprises, Inc was based in Westwood, Missouri, a town near Kansas City, where the Rufs also lived. The studio was active as early as the late 1940s and I suppose many of the later Westport recodings were cut there.

Westport's probably most famous records by Texan rockabilly Alvis Wayne came first out in September 1956. Alvis was one of the few rockabillies on the label, although Westport was also one of the first labels in Kansas City that jumped onto the 'South Rockin' Railway' and recorded the 'big beat'. But Westport's most sucessful artist never visited Kansas City, he recorded all his sessions in Corpus Christi, Texas, or Houston, Texas. The recording contract was set up by Tony Wayne, who was Alvis Wayne's mentor and background musician along with the Rhythm Wranglers. Alvis Wayne's first record on Westport was "Swing Bop Boogie / Sleep Rock-a-Roll Rock-a-Baby", which got only little airplay in Texas and sold about 2000 copies. Wayne's next record, also recorded in a little studio on Corpus Christi, was Westport's and also Wayne's biggest record. "Don't Mean Maybe Baby" was issued in 1957 and got good reviews by Cashbox and charted in South Texas at No.1, leaving also Elvis Presley behind. But the Top 100 were still far far away.

Wayne's last record on Westport came out in September 1958 on Westport 140, the slightly pop oriented "Lay Your Head On My Shoulder / You're the One". During the years of 1956, 1957 and 1958, Westport had continued to release singles by Milt Dickey, one record by Alvis Wayne's back up band Tony Wayne & the Rhythm Wranglers, the Westport Sweethearts (maybe also children of the owners?), Bob Dougherty and Jimmy Dallas. Dallas had a release on Westport 136 that featured a song called "Eeny Meeny Miny Mo", a title that often appeared as a title for rockabilly songs (also used by Hoyt Johnson and Bob & Lucille, both different recordings). I have no info on Dallas' Westport records, but it sure would be nice to find out if this particular one was a rockabilly styled song, it's not listed in RCS.

However, Westport had two other Rock'n'Roll singles after Wayne's departure from Westport. In early 1959, the label released Lee Finn's Country Rock & Roll outing "High Class Feelin' / Pour Me a Glass of Wine", while a single by the duo Ronnie & Marlene came out in the fall of '59 ("I Wanna Love You / Marlene", Westport 144). This was Westport's last rockabilly record.

The company's last issue came out on Westport 145 by Gene Chapman, probably in 1962. After that, the label was closed down by the Ruf brothers. Westport never gained a national hit, just releasing singles for the local market. The total output were only about 22 singles in seven years. Concerning the few releases the label made, it is an interesting fact to know that Westport was one of the more profilic record labels in Kansas City, showing how small the local scene was.

You can find a bunch of Westport recordings at the Rockabilly Ranch.