Hank Cochran R.I.P.

Legendary songwriter Hank Cochran died on July 15, 2010, at his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Cochran started his career with the young Eddie Cochran as the "Cochran Brothers" in California. He became a profilic songwriter and penned such hits as "I Fall to Pieces", "Make the World Go Away", and "Ocean Front Property". He also had chart hits in his own right, including the Harlan Howard song "Sally Was a Goord Old Girl". Cochran was 74 old.

Read more at hillbilly-music.com.

Rocket Records story

I wanted to to write about Rocket Records much earlier but when I began to write, I realised that I had not enough material about this label. In fact, Rocket was/is a very rare record company and information is hard to get by. So, you can imagine how happy I was when one of Rocket's original artists contacted me a couple of days ago, who was able to provide some rare info.

Rocket Records was founded by Herb and Milton Yakus in Boston, probably in 1958. Milton Yakus was the co-writer of the Patti Page hits "Go on with the Wedding" and "Old Cape Cod" among others. Both Herb and Milton ran the Ace Recording Studios on Boylston Street in Boston during the 1950s and 1960s. Rocket Records was presumably their first attempt to get into the record business. You can see a photo of the studio at night, made sometimes between 1954 and 1958.
The first record was Rocket 100 "Teenager's Party" b/w "R.R. Boogie" by the Rhythm Rockers, which was recorded and pressed in 1958 but never released originally. It was not until 1990 that these two rockers saw the light of day. Rocket 101 was by the then 18 years old Mel McGonnigle, who had worked a few gigs with Ricky Coyne & the Guitar Rockers around Boston in 1957/1958. His "Rattle Shakin' Mama" was recorded in 1958 at Ace Studios and is now a minor rockabilly classic.

There are three other known releases on Rocket, one by Alan Barnicoat (Rocket 105), ony by the Oddballs (Rocket 110) and one last by Doug Fore (Rocket 528). The latter was pressed by Rite out of Cincinnati, Ohio, the other records were manufactured by an unknown pressing plant. Being professional songwriters, Herb and Milton Yakus often got songwriting credits on the Rocket releases, although they possibly never participated in composing any of them songs. They kept on running their recording studio and recorded many garage bands in the 1960s, setting up a new label called Ace. Milton Yakus died on November 6, 1980, in Boston at the age of 62.

Milton Yakus' obituary in the Billboard magazine, November 1980
Discography
Rocket 100: Rhythm Rockers - Teenager's Party / R.R. Boogie
Rocket 101: Mel McGonnigle - Rattle Shakin' Mama / Cheryl Baby (1958)
Rocket 102: Ricardo feat. Bill Leavill Orch. & Chorus - Fool, Fool, Fool / Destiny
Rocket 103:
Rocket 104:
Rocket 105: Alan Barnicoat - Trip to the Orient / Savage (1958)
Rocket 106:
Rocket 107:
Rocket 108:
Rocket 109:
Rocket 110: Oddballs - That's My Baby / Rockin' in the Jungle (ca. 1958)
[Rocket 528: Doug Fore - For Heaven's Sake, Don't Hesitate / Come Back to Me, My Love (1959)] *

* Rocket 528 was probably not released on the same Rocket label. Bob from DeadWaxblog suggested this record was a custom pressing from the Globe Studios in Nashville.

Special thanks to Rockin' Country Style, Mel McGonnigle, Bob

Charlie Louvin in hospital

Country legend Charlie Louvin, who was a hit maker with his brother Ira as the Louvin Brothers, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On his website, Louvin wrote that he will go to hospital on July 22 to undergo a six hours long operation in order to remove the cancer.
Louvin just turned 83 years old on July 7.

Tops Rock & Roll Soundalikes

My belated download post from monday. This comp wasn't finished on monday, so I'm posting it today. Tops was a label founded by the Tops Music Enterprises in the early 1950s in Los Angeles and had success with their cheap versions of the hits-of-the-day. In 1960, Tops was sold and the new owner discontinued the label in the mid-1960s. Some of the Tops recordings were actually recorded by the Starday company and issued on their budget imprint Dixie. The masters were later leased to Tops. Hope you enjoy it!

Download

track list:
1. Hank Smith - Heartbreak Hotel
2. Dave Burgess - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
3. Dusty Glass - Jailhouse Rock
4. Stevens Mark - School Day
5. Johnny Curtis - Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie
6. Johnny Ryan - Hot Rod Lincoln
7. Scott Otis - Heard Headed Woman
8. Hank Smith - Blue Suede Shoes
9. Uncredited artist - Hound Dog
10. Mimi Martel - Rock Love

Merle Travis - Lost John

The great Merle Travis performs "Lost John", a song also recorded by many other great artists such as Hank Thompson. I'm always fascinated about Travis' thump finger pickin' style... a pleasure to listen to and to watch!

Bill Logsdon & the Royal Notes

The Royal Notes were probably an Ohio based band led by William Carlos "Bill" Logsdon. The first single by this group was released around 1959/1960 on Jon Ryan's Lorain, Ohio, based Athena label with "Come to My House Rock" / "Spitfire". While "Come To My House Rock" is an primitive rock & roll outing, the flip is a typical late 1950s instrumental by Logsdon and the Royal Notes. It appears that probably not Bill Logsdon was the vocalist on the first side but Pat Logsdon, who seems to be a relative to Bill (maybe his brother?).

The single seems to have made some action around Ohio, for the Destiny label, owned by Bob Sellers also from Lorain, picked it up and issued it again. It was released as "Come-To-My-House-Rock" / "Spitfire" under the name of "The Royal Notes featuring Pat Logsdon" (the first side) or "The Royal Notes" (the flip). The Destiny release was reviewed in Billboard on November 21, 1960, but was only rated as "limited sales potential". It were the same masters as on Athena, but the Destiny version of "Come to My House Rock" features a short guitar intro that was cut off in the Athena version.


In 1964, another record of the Royal Notes appeared on Athena, comprising "Shall We Dance" backed with the instrumental "Cool It". No mention of Bill Logsdon again but Pat Logsdon is credited as the vocalist of the first side. There was also one single as by "Bill Logsdon and his Royal Notes" on Queensgate called "Turning Back the Pages" / "Big Black Train". I don't know from which year this one is.

I have no photo of Bill Logsdon or the Royal Notes and it is also not known to me, when the group disbanded. Bill Logsdon later played with the Bear Mountain Boys in Red Lick, Kentucky. He died on May 20, 1994.

Discography
Athena 729: Come to My House Rock / Spitfire
Destiny 501: Come-to-My-House-Rock / Spitfire (1960)
Athena ARCO201: Come Dance with Me / Cool It (1964)
Queensgate no#: Turning Back the Pages / Big Black Train

Download

track list:
1. Come to My House Rock (Athena version)
2. Spitfire
3. Come Dance with Me
4. Come-to-My-House-Rock (Destiny version)

If anyone is able to provide "Cool It" or the Queensgate release, please contact me!

Sources: Ohio Sounds blog, Rockin' Country Style, Uncle Gil

Roy Acuff - Wabash Cannonball

Enjoy!

R.I.P. Jimmy Dean / Lattie Moore

Both Jimmy Dean and Lattie Moore passed away recently on June 13, 2010. While Jimmy Dean was a country music super star and famous for such hits as "Big Bad John", Lattie Moore was less famous but will be remembered by country and rockabilly lovers.

Dean was born in Plainsview, Texas, and started his career in the 1950s as a country singer. During the 1950s and 1960s, he notched up several hits, including his massive crossover "Big Bad John" in 1961. He later came to success with his own sausage brand.

Lattie Moore recorded numerous songs for various record labels in the 1950s and 1960s, including Starday and King. He was a country and rockabilly musician and is best rememberred by collectors for his "Juke Joint Johnnie", a song that was covered by such artists as Red Sovine and Eddie Bond.

Dixieland Blues

Voilá ici, here's my next selfmade comp! Inspired by the many early country music blogs coming up in the last months, I compiled the best tracks of them. A special thanks goes to the Hillbilly Researcher blog, from which I got many tracks. Liner notes are in the download folder, hope you like it!

Download

track list:
1. Bill Case - Just a Little More Lovin'
2. Glen Thompson - Dixieland Boogie
3. Dub Adams - Pocahuntas Stomp
4. Curt Hinson - Cotton Pickin' Baby
5. Snake River Outlaws - I Won't Go Huntin' Jake
6. Uncle Ned - I'll Wait for You
7. Tex Dixson - Honky Tonk Swing
8. Doug Harden - Good for Nothing Woman
9. Lester & Darold - Drive Inn Blues
10. Earl Peterson - Take Me Back to Michigan
11. Ludy Harris - That Glory Bound Train
12. Clyde Chesser's Texas Village Boys - Lost Highway
13. Sam Nichols - I Want My Alimony
14. Jimmy Prince - Live and Let Live

Ricky Coyne & Mel McGonnigle story

Nearly every bigger city in the USA of the 1950s had his own country and rockabilly scene. Memphis, Dallas, Houston, Jackson, and even Miami had record labels, clubs, shows, studios, and radio stations to support local acts. Boston, Massachusets, was no exception during the rock & roll craze of the 1950s. Two of the local artists that took advantage from the lively scene were Mel McGonnigle and Ricky Coyne, both born in the 1940s and still in their teens when they made their first records.

Maybe one of the most famous Boston rockabilly songs is "Rattle Shakin' Mama" by Mel McGonnigle. Although a wild rocker, McGonnicle had valiant struggle to keep track of his song's basic rhythmic structure on the original recording.
McGonnigle just turned 18 years when he rent a local studio in Boston to cut two demos of his self written songs "Rattle Shakin' Mama" and "Cheryl Baby". Accompanied by 35$ in his pocket and his backing band, Ricky Coyne and the Guitar Rockers, he went into the studio and began to cut his two songs. During the session, he was interrupted by a local record producer, who owned the Rocket record label in Boston and offered McGonnigle a recording contract (McGonnigle was still underage, so his father had to sign the contract). At the end of that day, a single was recorded and later released in the spring of 1958. Because of Rocket's lacking promotion, the single went nowhere. McGonnigle then vanished from the radar.
Today, he still is busy with music and has announced a comeback. Actually, he recorded four new songs which were digitally released and can be heard here.

McGonnigle's backing band, Ricky Coyne & the Guitar Rockers, had several singles issued on New England based labels themselves. Leader Ricky Coyne was born in 1943 in Boston and still in his teens (ca. 15 years old), when his first single "Rollin' Pin Mim / I'll Love You Forever" was produced on the Boston based Fenwick label. The record seems to have enjoyd some success, for in December of 1958, Event Records picked it up and issued it again, this time with the credit "Ricky Coyne & his Guitar Rockers". Two other singles were issued in 1959 on Event by Coyne and his band, but none of them was able to crack the charts. The Guitar Rockers kept on playing into the 1960s I think, but never established them on a national basis. Coyne had at least three sons later in his life and is still active as a musician.
Eagle Records issued Coyne's songs on various compilations. Besides his issued sides, also live recordings and some unissued tracks were compiled.

Discography Mel McGonnigle
Rocket 101 - Rattle Shakin' Mama / Cheryl Baby (1958)

Discography Ricky Coyne & his Guitar Rockers
Fenwick 1011 - Rollin' Pin Mim / I'll Love You Forever (1958)
Event 4289 - Rollin' Pin Mim / I'll Love You Forever (1958)
Event 4294 - Angel from Heaven / I Want You to Know (1959)
Event 4298 - Little Darlene / Kaw-Liga (1959)

Event unissued:
Short Fat Fannie (1959)
Blueberry Hill

Download three tracks:
1. Mel McGonnigle - Rattle Shakin' Mama
2. Ricky Coyne and his Guitar Rockers - Little Darlene
3. Ricky Coyne and his Guitar Rockers - Short Fat Fannie

Ricky Coyne (right) with a Guitar Rockers member called Bobby
Sources: Rockin' Country Style, Billboard December-1-1958 issue, Ricky Coyne's son Robert