Some Roots of Rock'n'Roll

  Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five - I Want You to Be My Baby (Decca 9-28883), 1953

  Lillian Briggs - I Want You to Be My Baby (Epic 5-9115), 1955
Another Bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

Louis Jordan & His Typani 5 had numerous R&B hits from 1939 right up until the early 50's. Some even went high on the pop charts. He had 4 million sellers and was a well known sax player, singer, and comedian. He recorded "I Want You To Be My Baby" on May 28, 1953, at the end of his contract with Decca Records. It was released that same year and reviewed by Billboard in October. Jordan went on to record or re-record for several labels and had a dynamite stage show for many years. As far as recordings, he was considered "old school" and D.J.'s pretty much ignored him after he left Decca.

The song came to the attention of Alan Freed and he took it to his recent protegé Lillian Briggs, then age 24, having just signed a contract with Epic records, recorded a cover version which went to the top 20 on Billboard in September 1955 and sold over a million copies. Decca re-released Jordan's version in late summer 1955 (Decca 29655) in order to catch some of the thunder of Lillian Briggs' recording. Ms. Briggs was a trombone player, singer, comedienne, whose wild stage act and tight dresses earned her the name "The Queen Of Rock-n-Roll", and it stuck.

One hit record and the right connections had her playing Las Vegas, Miami and many other venues for many years. She did movie soundtracks, made TV appearances galore all over early TV and piled up a fortune before settling in Miami with several successful business holdings. Both are long deceased, Jordan in 1975 and Ms. Briggs in 1998, but it's fun to check them out again.

Billboard's October 23, 1955, review of
Louis Jordan's version

"Bobsluckycat", a frequent contributor to this page can now be revealed as Bob O'Brien of Columbus, OH, USA. He has written a new Western Novel set in 1892 Montana. Further information is available at his web page on his publisher's web-site http://booklocker.com/books/7052.html 

Thank You, "Mellow".

Mac Curtis R.I.P.

Rockabilly legend Mac Curtis died September 16, 2013, in Weatherford, Texas. Curtis was one of the true legends of Rockabilly, recording such classics as "Granddaddy's Rockin'", "Half Hearted Love," "You Ain't Nothin' But Right," "If I Had Me a Woman" and many others. In the 1970s, he also recorded for Ronnie Weiser's Rollin' Rock label and was rediscovered by European fans around the same time. He remained active on stage until his death following a car accident.

Read more here.

Hawkins County Barn Dance

Advertisement for the Hawkins County Barn Dance
in "Rogersville Review" on July 10, 1952

One of the many live stage shows during the 1950s, the Hawkins County Barn Dance originated from the town of Rogersville, Tennessee, and was the creation of a local DJ named Speedy Clark. The show started in 1952 and was on the air as early as in July that year over WJHL (Johnson City, Tennessee). It was first held at the American Legion Auditorium in Rogersville but had moved to McConald Hall by October 1952, as Speedy Clark reported in Billboard. At that time, a barn was built for the show. Located between Bristol and North Knoxville, it was said to be able to house 2000 people. 

If anyone has more info on the show, please pass it along.

Artists on that show included:

• Smiling Oscar Keppler
• Wayne Allen and the Stone Mt. Boys
• Ole Joe Clark
• Ronnie Knittel and the Lonesome Valley Ramblers
• Ronnie Talley and the Cherokee Mt. Boys
• Smiling Jack Lane
• Laure Lipe
• Hickman Brothers
• Thelma Davis
• Bailes Sisters Trio
• Coy Shelton
• Allan Brothers: possibly Wayne Allan mentioned above?
• Ralph Mayo: Fiddler for such acts as the Stanley Brothers, Moore & Napier, the Webster Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Faron Young, and many others. Part of many shows such as Louisiana Hayride, WWVA Jamboree, Farm and Fun Hour, among others. Mayo could be also heard on WJHL. Born in 1930, died in 1992.
• Blind Boy Jack
• Glory Land Quartet
• Speedy Clark: Possibly the same artist that appeared on the Brown County Jamboree (WLW, Cincinnati, Ohio) with the Lonesome Pine Boys. This artist's birth date was August 6, 1900.
• Hack Johnson: From Scotts Hill, Tennessee, Johnson was the emcee of the show. He recorded some 78s as well as 45s and also performed with his brother Clyde. Johnson had a band called the Tennesseans which appeared on WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. Also was on WRVA.

Tompall Glaser RIP

Country music singer, songwriter, producer and one of the "Outlaw" movement's pioneers Tompall Glaser died August 13, 2013, at the age of 79. Born in Nebraska, Glaser started his musical career with his two brothers as "Tompall & the Glaser Brothers." They first recorded for Marty Robbins' Robbins label and later also toured with Robbins as well as Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and others. By 1970, they had opened their own studio in Nashville. Glaser was also featured on country music's first million selling album "Wanted: The Outlaws" that also included material by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Jessi Colter.

Read more at hillbilly-music.com.

Billy Lee Riley - Two Albums

Another Bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

A lot of this is going to be speculative based on my knowledge of the way things were in 1963 - 1966 at Mercury Records. The Two Albums presented here are the first and third LP's that were released on Mercury Records  between  mid-1964 and early 1965.

Billy Lee Riley was at this time doing session work on the West Coast and the three albums were produced by leading Capitol Records producer Nick Venet, who also did some outside producing on spec and placed those on various labels.

Mercury signed Jerry Lee Lewis to their Smash label in 1963 and Bill Justis as well, Charlie Rich also in 1965. Shelby Singleton was a major producer at Mercury and an executive with the label who more than likely influenced the pick up of the Billy Lee Riley sides for Mercury. Singleton, as you know, later bought Sun Records and carried forth with their catalog and newer recordings for many years and mined it for all it's worth.

The first Riley LP was an intriguing set of instrumentals mixing oldies and a few new cuts as well. The stereo versions were strange, but the mono versions had a superior mix down that was in effect a wall of sound and the results are a mixed bag.

"Page One Funk" in my opinion the best cut on the LP. The second LP a cover of the Beatles early hits was also a wall of sound but at the time everyone was also covering the Beatles from Bluegrass to whomever. I no longer own this LP as I sold it for major money several years ago. The third LP and the best of the three, hands down, was "Live At The Whisky A' Go- Go". It showcases a much more subdued but excellent version of Billy Lee's talents.

At this time, both Trini Lopez and Johnny Rivers were producing hit singles and large selling Lp's for Reprise and Imperial Records respectively to great success. Billy Lee's effort to cash in on this trend failed miserably.

Only two singles in support of these LP's were released by Mercury to complete apathy on the part of the D.J.s of the time, with no support.

The Sun era had passed a few years previous to this and except for Johnny Cash, Roy Orbision and Elvis, himself, the Sun roster couldn't give away a record. It was five full years before Mercury could get things right with Jerry Lee Lewis on Smash. His first five LP's all went into the cut-out bins with a year of release with short pressings at that.

That brings me to the point about Billy Lee Riley. All three of his LP's were released in fairly rapid succession of each other and did not sell enough to warrant a second pressing. Indeed, by 1966-67 all the three were in the cut-out bins at Woolworth-Woolco, all drilled and cheap. Why they are now so scarse is due to the fact that the practice was that all unsold vinyl was melted down and recycled at that time.

So this fills in a piece of the puzzle. Enjoy. Bobsluckycat

Download: Billy Lee Riley's Big Harmonica Special

Download: Whisky a Go Go presents Billy Lee Riley live!

See "Billy Lee Riley - No Name Girl" and "The Spitfires on Jaro Int." for further reading on Billy Lee Riley.

Sylvia Mobley discography

Sylvia Mobley 45rpm and 33 ½ Records Discography

 The following discography is an attempt to list all of Sylvia Mobley's released 45rpm records. A protégé of Jimmy Haggett at one time, Mobley recorded for numerous small Arkansas and Tennessee labels. Corrections and additions are highly appreciated.

Santo 502
Sylvia Mobley
 If I Had You Again (Glenn Honeycutt) / All By Myself (Ronald Wallace)
S-104 / S-105
1962

Cotton Town Jubilee 113

Sylvia Mobley

Are You Sorry (O'Neal - Williams) / Worried Over You (M. Grisham)

A /  B

Big Style 102

Sylvia Mobley

Every Time I See You (Sylvia Mobley) / Tell Me Clouds (Sylvia Mobley)

A / B
1964

"Produced by Chuck Comer & Bozy Moore & J.C. Wooten / Dist. Nationally by Cotton Town Jubilee Records"

 
Cotton Town Jubilee 115
Sylvia Mobley
I'm Not Alone Anymore (Chuck Comer) / Every Time I See You (Sylvia Mobley)
S4KM-1791 / S4KM-1792 (RCA)
1965

Millionaire 660S-0885

Sylvia Mobley

Hearts Have a Language (G. Williams) / In and Out of Love (M. Endsley)

SK4M-0885 / SK4M-0886 (RCA)

1965

Jeopardy JS-100

Sylvia Mobley

Take Care of Me () / Summer Rose (Leland Davis)

1968 (BB)

Jeopardy JS 101

Sylvia Mobley

One Careless Moment () / Tinsel Dreams (Glenn Honeycutt)

"Allen Hunt - Guitar"
1968 (BB)

Starday 45-876

Sylvia Mobley

Treating You Cool (Sylvia Mobley) / Swapped for the Bottle (Sylvia Mobley)

634-45-9046 / ?

"Produced by Louie Innis"

1969

Villa V-2908
Sylvia Mobley
Poison Love (Laird) / Under Your Spell Again (Buck Owens; Dusty Rhodes)
MS-391 / MS-392
1972
"Produced by: Tom Livingston"

Villa 2909/2910

Sylvia Mobley

Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes (Slim Wilet) / Searching (Murphy Maddox)

October 1972 (on label)

"Produced by Tom Livingston / Arranged by Big Jim Whitby"

Villa VR-1001

Sylvia Mobley

I Need a Body (Bill Robinson) / The Hurt Finally Came Home ()

UR-338-A / ?

Note: "Jan 10 1974" stamped on label.

Phoenix PXR-124

Sylvia Mobley

I Give In, Till I Give Out (Now I Give Up) (Sylvia Mobley) / Let Me In (Sylvia Mobley)
1975 (on label)

"Produced by Scotty Moore"

Belle Meade BM 1615

Sylvia Mobley

Silent Love (Sylvia Mobley) / If I Only Knew (Sylvia Mobley)

BM 16103 / BM 16104
1975 (on label)
"Producer: Scotty Moore"

Belle Meade LP 1003 "My Needs Are You"

Sylvia Mobley

My Needs Are You / I Give In, Till I Give Out / If I Only Knew / I Think of Love / Searching / Don't Let the Stars (Get in Your Eyes) / Poison Love / Let Me In / Silent Love / Under Your Spell Again

1975

Rays Gold RG-22784 "Songs for Ma Ma"

Sylvia Mobley

Ma Ma / Can't You Remember / Life's Railway To Heaven / Keep On Keepin' On / Will the Circle Be Unbroken / Satisfied / One Day at a Time / His Name is Jesus / Song Of Praise / If I Could Hear Mother Pray Again

1984

Slim Whitman / Tom Tall RIP

Country music crooner Slim Whitman died June 19, 2013, at the age of 90 years in Orange Park, Florida. Whitman started his music career in the late 1940s and found success in the 1950s with several hits, including "Indian Love Call." During his career, he cut more than 500 songs and 100 albums. His song "Rose Marie" was a No.1 hit in the UK in the 1970s. Read more here.

Tom Tall, Country music one-hit wonder, passed away already on June 14, 2013, at the age of 75. He was famous for having the #2 C&W hit "Are You Mine" with Ginny Wright. Read more here.

Billy Riley - No Name Girl

  Billy Riley - No Name Girl (1959), Sun 313
Undoubtly, Billy Lee Riley was one of Sun's most colourful artists and a legend since the Rockabilly Revival of the 1970s. Playing everything between Country and Blues, Rock'n'Roll and Pop, his 1997 album "Hot Damn!" was even nominated for the Grammy award. Though today's featured song is probably not as sophisticated as this LP, "No Name Girl" is nevertheless a much more elaborated approach than his early raw Rockabilly sides for Sun.

Born October 5, 1933, in Pocahontas, Arkansas, Riley grew up in poverty. He spent his childhood on the cotton fields around Osceola and Forrest City. Being one of eight children, his ancestors were both of Irish and Indian origins. At the age of seven, young Riley learned to play harmonica and later followed up with guitar while in his teens. Working on the fields, it is needless to say that Blues music was probably the greatest influence on him, as he remembers:

Blues is the music I grew up hearing on the plantation. There were black and white families all living together. We were poor, and playing music was our main form of entertainment.

After leaving the Army in 1953, he first moved to Jonesboro, where he played in C.D. Tennyson's Happy Valley Boys, before moving across the border to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1955. He got to know Jack Clement and soon joined Slim Wallace's Dixie Ramblers band. Playing bars and clubs at night, Wallace founded his own record label in 1956, named Fernwood Records. Riley was the first to record for this label but after a demo session, Clement took him to Sun and owner Sam Phillips signed Riley instantly to his label. The first session took place in early 1956 at WMPS studio in Memphis and produced the classic but back then unsuccessful "Rock with Me Baby" b/w "Trouble Bound." This recording also introduced guitarist Roland Janes and drummer Jimmy Van Eaton to Sun, who became the backbone of Sun's house band.

During the next two years, Riley recorded numerous sessions that produced wild and raw Rockabilly classics such as "Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll," "Pearly Lee," "Red Hot" and many others. Unfortunately, Sam Phillips focused on other artists like Jerry Lee Lewis. This led to the tragic decision to push Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" instead of Riley's "Red Hot," which just had begun to do well in the south.

Today's selection, "No Name Girl," was recorded around December 1958 at the Sun Studio with Riley on vocals and guitar, Martin Willis on sax, either Charlie Rich or Jimmy Wilson on piano, Pat O'Neill on bass, and Jimmy Van Eaton on drums. On that same day, Riley also recorded Rock'n'Roll versions of two old standards, "Down by the Riverside" and "Swanee River Rock." Released on Sun 313 in early 1959 with "Down by the Riverside" on the flip, the record only stimulated low sales. Billboard, however, gave a promising review on February 9, 1959. It was even "A Billboard Pick" of the week.

Review from Billboard, February 9, 1959, issue

Due to low sales and Riley's frustration with Sun, he left and began producing his own records on an independent base. During the early 1960s several discs by him appeared on small labels, none of which caught on. He eventually became a session musician while living in California, before returning to the south in 1966. He kept on performing and recording and was "discovered" by a younger audience in the 1970s. Since then, he recorded albums and performed regularly in Europe. Riley died in 2009. 

Read about Riley's first single after his depature from Sun: The Spitfires on Jaro Int.

Marshall Lytle RIP

Famous bassist Marshall Lytle passed away on May 25, 2013, at the age of 79, in Port Richey, Florida. Born 1933 in North Carolina, Lytle joined Bill Haley's Saddlemen in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1951. He stayed with Haley and the band throught the first part of the 1950s and can be heard on Haley's most well-known song "Rock Around the Clock" among many others. He left in the mid-1950s and founded the Jodimars then.

Read more here.

The Mark Four

Hangin' Out with the Mark Four

Special thanks to Jim Patton

A lot of bands during the 1950s and 1960s were called the Mark Four. Some achieved moderate success with their records, other remained obscure acts. Today's Mark Four were a group from California whose two singles for Pacific Challenger became two minor classics in Surf/Garage music.

Four young boys founded the Mark Four in the fall of 1963. The line-up consisted of Rick Whittington on lead guitar, Jerry Ainsworth on rhythm guitar, and David O'Brien on drums. Jim Patton on vocals and sax joined the group soon after. Their manager became Whittington's father, who possibly got them a recording contract later on. Since all of boys were 16 or 17 years old, the band didn't play any clubs but appeared at a lot of sock hops and dances all over southern California. They regularly played the Retail Clerks Union Hall, the Rolldrome, and of course many high schools.

Mark Four promo picture, 1964. From left to right: Jerry Ainsworth,
Dave O'Brien, Rick Whittington, Jim Patton

Already in 1963, the band got aquainted with producer Bob Mahoney, who signed the boys to his Pacific Challenger record label. The band held two sessions for Mahoney, the first one took place in 1964 at Western Recorders in Los Angeles and produced the single "Just My Dream" b/w "Swingin' Hangout" (Pacific Challenger 1002), two Jim Patton originals. Patton remembers the record sold about 5000 copies but never saw any money from it. A second disc was recorded later that year at Mahoney's Pacific Challenger studio in Hacienda Heights, California. The result was "Go Away Now Little Girl" coupled with "Forget It Baby" released on Pacific Challenger 1004.

Mahoney had some business connection with Murray Wilson, manager of the Beach Boys (and father of three of them: Dennis, Carl, and Brian). Through Murray's help, the Mark Four opened a Beach Boys concert on February 7, 1964, at the Pavilon Ballroom in Huntington Beach.

The Mark Four lasted for abour one and a half years, disbanding around the end of 1964. Jim Patton went to college and remained friends with Dave O'Brien but lost track of Ainsworth and Whittington. Patton and O'Brien still make some music together and recently produced a demo CD with a selection of their songs.

Discography

Pacific Challenger P.C. 1002

Just My Dream (J. Patton Jr.) / Swingin' Hangout (J. Patton Jr.)

A / B

1964

"Produced by: Bob Mahoney"

Pacific Challenger PC 1004

Go Away Now Little Girl () / Forget It Baby (J. Patton, Jr.)

A / B

1964

"Produced by Bob Mahoney"