Down the Mississippi Line

• Christie - Yellow River

• Christie - Down the Mississippi Line

CBS 4911 (German pressing), 1970

I picked this one up last month at a flea market. "Yellow River" of course is the hit song everyone knows but the real gem here is side two with "Down the Mississippi Line." A real great song, I hope y'all enjoy it, too. I wrote some info on Christie some time ago, so I won't go into detail here. "Yellow River" reached #1 in the UK, #2 here in Germany and #23 in the US. The record featured here is a German pressing, released in April 1970 on the CBS label.

Also visit Jeff Christie's website, some great photos there.

The Humming Bees from Texarkana

The Humming Bees - Blessed are the Pure in Spirit (Universal Artists UAR 1006), 1967
I bought two of the Humming Bees' records from Mack Stevens in Texas, including this one. The Hummbings Bees were, to all accounts, a black gospel group from the Texarkana, Arkansas, area. Their style was much in the vein of the many bands recorded by Style Wooten in Memphis, although they never made it onto one of Wooten's labels, as far as I'm concerned.

The Humming Bees were likely formed in 1949. They were active in the Texarkana area and also across the border in Texas, as an Paris, Texas, newspaper snippet from 1956 suggests. They still (or again) performed in 1990, celebrating their 51th anniversary. The Humming Bees recorded twice for their own custom label Humming Bee(s), first in 1960 and then in 1964. They followed up with at least two discs on Universal Artists.
Universal Artists Records was a local venture from Texarkana and only sporadically active from 1967 until about 1976. Later releases carried no catalogue number, just the Rite matrix numbers. Most of the material issued on the label was gospel, apart from some country and rock'n'roll. Also, Universal Artists was somehow associated with the Humming Bees, since the label on the Religious Five's disc reads "Universal Artists Records - Hummming Bees - Texarkana, Arkansas presents".

Universal Artists Discography

(all records pressed by Rite)

1001: Bill Gentry - Baby What'ya Say / If You Want My Love (1967)
1002:
1003:
1004: Vycounts - Can't You Tell / I Need You Tonight (1967)
1005: Vicki Scott - I'm Not a Toy / I Just Lost Your Love (1967)
1006: The Humming Bees - Jesus Steps Right In / Blessed Are the Pure in Spirit (1967)

#: The Humming Bees - Jesus Has Done So Much for Me / Send It On Down (1972)
#: Willie Gulley, Jr. and the Bright Stars - Take a Little Time to Pray / Too Close (1975)
#: S. V. Hale - He Won't Leave Me Now / Pass Me Not (1976)
#: The Religious Five - Guide Me Over / I've Been Changed (1976)

House of Joan

Johnny Albert and Bobby Wayne - Roll Clean Out of Your Life (House of Joan No.#), 1962

This is possibly another piece of radio personality Bobby "The Wizard" Wayne's career in music history, of which I didn't know when writing about his life in 2012. There are some indications that lead me to the conclusion this could be the same Bobby Wayne, although it is not confirmed yet.

Bobby Wayne started his career as a DJ on local Charleston, West Virginia, radio stations. He recorded a thrashing slab of rock'n'roll in 1962 for the local Bonita label ("Swing Train Twist" / "Twistin' Swing Train", Bonita #45-1313). Wayne would spin records on various stations across the USA until his death in 1990.

The House of Joan record was pressed in 1962 by Rite Record Productions in Cincinnati, like Bobby Wayne's Bonita disc. Label design, especially color and font types, are very similar. In addition, both records must have been pressed very close to each other since the matrix numbers are very close: House of Joan had 7585/7586, Bonita had 7589/7590.

Unfortunately, I cannot spot any link between neither Wild Bill Graham and Bobby Wayne nor between the Johnny Albert and Bobby Wayne. Wayne left for Cincinnati in either late 1962 or early 1963 for a short while. So there was a short time frame when Bobby Wayne and Wild Bill Graham could have met in Ohio and recorded this song.

Wild Bill Graham was a drummer and band leader from Columbus, Ohio. He probably first recorded in 1956 for Cliff Ayres' Emerald label out of Fort Wayne, Indiana ("Mama Chita" / "Sinbad Blues", Emerald #2010). In 1958, he recorded with Paul Rey the R&B song "Good News Baby" on Canto Records (Canto #CN-45-31458). This label was also from Ohio. 

Billboard R&B review, May 12, 1956.

By 1967, Graham had founded the Escalators and performed regularly around Columbus. As Tim Fleischer, member of the Edicates, put it: "Wild Billy Graham and The Escalators were a black soul band with a brass section and they were about as funky as it gets. We opened for them a couple times. They released a record called Ooh Poo Pa Do in ‘67 (I think) which became a big regional hit." This particular hit record was in fact was "Oop-Poo-Pa-Doo," which was originally released on Nassau Records from Columbus. Coupled with "East 24th Ave," it was the label's first single (Nassau #100). Nassau was operated by WVOK DJ Bill Moss, also called "The Bass Hoss" and "Big Nassau Daddy." He was a colourful person and business man, also running "Nassau Daddy's Pit Bar-Be-Que" for some time. Graham's single became a regional hit and was picked up by Atlantic in late 1966 (Atlantic #45-2372). It was also distributed by Atlantic in Canada and the UK. Wayne Lowery, son of the Escalators' lead singer, recalls: "Used to hang out at Uncle Billy's house with my sisters [...]. Used to watch the band practice on many occasions and saw them play one of the little stages at the Ohio State Fair a couple of times." See here for two pictures of Graham.

Wild Bill Graham and the Escalators

Johnny Albert was also a local Columbus musician. He performed jazz with Bobby Shaw in the 1950s under the name of "Chickadee and Chickadoo." See here for a picture of Albert and Shaw.

See also: Interview with Tim Fleischer with 60sgaragebands.com

Tommy Tucker on Hi

Tommy Tucker - A Man in Love (Hi 2014), 1959

I won't go into detail here on Tommy Tucker's life and career because an upcoming feature on him in American Music Magazine in the near future will do this. Anyway, some of you may know this song, some may not. "A Man in Love" is a really beautiful track that was also recorded by Nick Lowe. Personally, I consider Charlie Feathers' demo recording of it as one of the best recordings Feathers did. The simplicity of it just speaks for itself.

Tommy Tucker

Tommy Tucker was a local Memphis artists and friends with Charlie Feathers. They would perform together on occasion at bars and clubs during the 1950s and 1960s, sometimes also with Ramon Maupin. In the early 1960s, Tucker was also a regular guest on Gene Williams' "Cotton Town Jubilee" on KWAM in West Memphis. 

He started his recording career in the late 1950s in the newly founded Hi record label and released his first disc in 1959, comprising "A Man in Love" and "Loving-Lil," the latter being an excellent Memphis cashalike song from the pen of Charlie Feathers and Jerry Huffman. "A Man in Love" was written by Charlie Feathers, Quinton Claunch, as well as Bill Cantrell and possibly dates back to the mid-1950s, when the trio was working at Sun Records. Feathers had recorded a demo of this song in 1958 at Royal Studio with just his guitar and him singing. Tucker's version featured a vocal chorus and a banjo picker, thus it had a certain Johnny Horton feel to it.

After another single on Hi, Tucker switched to RCA-Victor and recorded "Return of the Teenage Queen" / "Since You Have Gone" for the label. Both songs were also released in Australia and New Zealand. Tucker kept on recording for various small Memphis labels, including XL, Pen, Western Lounge, and others. He also left behind several unreleased tapes. Tucker died in 1985.

Broken Lines review

It has been five years since Hank Becker, John Oaks, and Todd Wilson, better known as "The Rubber Knife Gang," have released their last album "Drivin' On." Now, in 2015, the group is about to complete their third album "Broken Lines." Not officially issued yet, I was able to check it out last week as one of the first apart from the band itself.

"Broken Lines" has essentially everything that made "Drivin' On" so fascinating: catchy and beautiful melodies, clever lyrics and, last but not least, the unique harmony singing. There are songs to sing along with, songs to dance to, songs to dream to. And although the Rubber Knife Gang stays true to its sound, the three musicians nevertheless have added a couple of new elements to their music. This time for example, there are several calm songs, more striking chord patterns and riffs.

In contrast to "Drivin' On," the tracks on "Broken Lines" have a deeper, melancholic feeling to it. Though, the band is able to catch the "feel good" mood on their songs, for example on "Draw the Line." One of the album's hightlights is "House of Fire," on which banjo and guitar seem to rise in higher spheres. The listener feels like being transfered into another age. Possibly into the times of the ancient Egypt? Or perhaps to the hills of Tennessee? I don't know for sure, which doesn't matter at all. The easy and cushy sound of the band is also well presented with "Siren Serenade." On a couple of tracks, for exaple "Damn You December," also percussion is used, which adds much to the sound. On "Gone Away, " the group sounds a little bit like the bluegrass version of JD Wilkes' Dirt Daubers and suprised me with long and virtous instrumental passages.

My conclusion: "Broken Lines" is a worthy follower to "Drivin' On" and an advancement of the Gang's music to be sure. My conclusion is as precise and clear as the band's music: I'll recommend this album to every Americana fan out there!

Hap Records

The Story of Hap Records

Happy Herbert and the Mountain City Recording Studio

The city of Chattanooga, located in Southeast Tennessee on the banks of the Tennessee river, has been home to radio stations and local country musicians from the 1930s up to the 1950s. Radio stations like WDOD, WDEF, and WAPO featured country music acts - WGAC even hosted the "Tennessee Hayloft Jamboree" in the mid-1950s. By 1960, there had been some small record labels but none of them were professional companies. Herbert Schleif's Hap record label was likewise semi-professional but its recorded output was - compared to other labels - immense.

The Dome Building in Chattanooga

"Happy" Herbert Schleif, a clothing store owner and part-time country music promoter in Chattanooga, established the "Mountain Recording Studio" in early 1960. He was living outside of Chattanooga in a house near Daisy, Tennessee (renamed Soddy Daisy in 1969). His studio was located on the corner of East 8th Street and Georgia Avenue in Suit 3 of the Dome Building, which was built in 1892 for the Chattanooga Times and it seems that it later housed also offices by other businesses. Billboard reported on April 25, 1960, that Schleif had just "launched the Mountain City Recording Studio there in partnership with Carl Allen." Who Carl Allen was remains unknown at this point. Schleif was friends with local musicians Peanut Faircloth and Norman Blake, who performed in a bluegrass band called "The Dixieland Drifters" since the mid-1950s. The Dixieland Drifters would become Schleif's first act to record.

At the same time Schleif started his studio, he also set up his own in-house label Dub Records and his own publishing firm Mountain City Publishing Company. The Dixieland Drifters, then consisting of Howell Culpepper, Charlie Evans, Norman Blake, and Peanuts Faircloth, had recorded previously an unissued session for Sun Records in Memphis and several discs for Murray Nash's BB label in Nashville. The group was approached by Schleif and recorded "I Can't Do Without You" and "Cheating Love" at his studio. Both recordings made up the initial release on the Dub label (Dub #1001) in June 1960. It is interesting to note that Schleif did press the record on both 45 and 78 rpm format. At that time, most companies stopped pressing the ancient 78 format and concentrated on 45 and 33 rpm records. Also, be aware that this is not the same Dub label owned by Foster Johnson in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Dixieland Drifters, 1961: Howell Culpepper, unidentified,
Houston "Buck" Turner, Norman Blake

Dub seems to have been only a short-lived venture. No other singles appeared and by June, Schleif had already formed a new outfit he called Hap Records. Schleif was said to "[...] always [have] a delightful grin on his face," hence his nickname "Happy" and the label's name. Raif Faircloth, Peanut Feaircloth's son, however, remembered it was a acronym for Herbert and Peanut. According to him, Faircloth was involved in the Hap label and was a co-owner. He remembers regarding the Dixieland Drifters: "[...] My memories of the Dixieland Drifters were mainly going way out Lookout Mountain, past Plum Nelly to the Blake home place when they'd rehearse. It was dad, Hal, Charlie and Norman at that time."

Hap's first release was by female vocalist Gloria Ramsey, whose "Good Poppin' Daddy" b/w "My Love" (Hap 7998-5/7999-6) appeared approximately in May 1960. Probably recorded at Schleif's studio, its record number yet escaped the later chronologial numerical system of the label. The next three releases, to all accounts released during that same year, are still unknown to me. Hap #1003 was by country music singer Kirk Hansard, who recorded Peanut Faircloth's "Johnny Collins" and the Webb Pierce/Danny Dill song "Two Won't Care." Billboard reviewed the single on August 29, 1960, in the C&W field. Born in Flatrock, Alabama, Hansard had recorded earlier for Dot in 1956 and continued his work as a recording artist for Bethlehem (1962), Columbia (1963-1967), Chart (1968-1969), and Kapp (1970). While recording for Hap, he was based in Knoxville and worked the Mid-Day Merry Go-ROund show on WNOX as well as the WWVA Jamboree out of Wheeling, West Virginia.

Gene Woods, who appeared on WBCA in Cleveland, Tennessee, recorded for Schleif "Afraid" / "The Ballad of Wild River" (Hap #1004, 1960). For the label's next release, Schleif coupled "You Won't Fall in Love" / "Will Angels Have Sweethearts" (Hap #1005) by the Dixieland Drifters, who had recorded both titles likely in summer or early fall that year at Mountain City studio. The record appeared around October. "You Won't Fall in Love" was a song composed by Fletcher Bright and his wife Marshall, while the flip was a band's original. Bright performed with the band at that time occasionally. He recalled that "[...] it was an old 45 single. I think Norman Blake was on the dobro, Peanut Faircloth was singing. My late wife Marshall wrote the words, borrowing heavily from a Jimmy Van Heusen tune ('It Could Happen to You'), and I supplied the melody. I was playing with the Dixieland Drifters at the time."

At that time, singer and songwriter Houston "Buck" Turner had joined the group. Turner had performed and recorded with Tani Allen's band in the 1950s and also played the clubs in the region with his own band. He secured a songwriting contract with Murray Nash's Ashna Music Publishing in Nashville and used the Dixieland Drifters for his recordings. The first record with Turner's recognizable participation was "Bongos and Uncle John" / "How Big A Fool" (Hap #1009) in the spring of 1961. While "Bongos and Uncle John" was penned by Charlie Evans, Norman Blake, and Howell Culpepper, "How Big a Fool" was a Buck Turner/Gene Woods song. 

This particular record surrounds some inconsistencies. The song was re-released in June 1962 by Murray Nash on his Do-Ra-Me label (Do-Ra-Me 1412) under the name of "Uncle John's Bongos" with a different flip side, "Walk Easy." The latter song had been recorded and released by the Dixieland Drifters already in 1958 on Nash's B.B. label. Likely due to promising sales, the 20th Fox label picked it up and issued it again in late 1961. The fact that it was first released on Hap suggests that it was also cut at Schleif's Mountain City studio. Murray Nash, however, claimed that all of the Dixieland Drifters recordings he was connected with were done at his studio, Sound of Nashville. It adds to the confusion that a guy called Norm, nephew to a woman called Marylove Matthew, claimed his aunt was the owner of the studio and that he was present at the recording session in Nashville. His memory on this issue was probably a bit weak. But who was Marylove Matthew? And how was she involved in running the studio? Further research on her remains abortive.

Buck Turner and the Dixieland Drifters, however, stayed with Nash to produce their following records. Nash gave "Uncle John's Bongos" one last try in the spring of 1962, coupled with "The Best Dressed Beggar in Town." The Drifters broke up around 1963, while Turner kept on performing around Chattanooga. Schleif continued Hap well into the 1960s, recording and releasing at least some 70 records, mostly country and bluegrass. One of the Hap singles featured his wife Viola with "The Voice of the Americans." Both Herbert and Viola are now deceased but their descendants remember them still today with fondness. Buck Turner died in 1999, Peanut Faircloth in 2010.

"Happy" Herbert Schleif's recorded legacy still has to be unearthed and reissued in a proper way. Many of the recordings still have to be found, a detailed research has to be made. I promise I'll do my best to give Schleif the recognition he deserves.

Discography

7998-5/7999-6: Gloria Ramsey and Sound Dealers Orchestra - Good Poppin' Daddy / My Love (1960)  
1000:  
1001:  
1002:  
1003: Kirk Hanserd - Johnny Collins / Two Won't Care (1960)
1004: Gene Woods - Afraid / The Ballad of Wild River (1960)
1005: Dixieland Drifters - You Won't Fall in Love / Will Angels Have Sweethearts (1960)  
1006: Alan Marlo - Sleepy Time Girl / ? (1960)  
1007:
1008: James Padgett - Gonna Rock the Ocean Waves / ? (1960)  
1009: Dixieland Drifters - Bongos and Uncle John / How Big a Fool (1961)
1010: Wally Hester - Rock'n Roll Jump-Stick / ? (1961)
1011:  
1012:  
1013:  
1014:  
1015: Sand Mountain Playboys - Wild Bill / ? (1961)  
1016: Chuck Cain - Blue are the Tears I Cry / ? (1961)  
1017: Arlie & Charlie - Johnny Reb Get Your Gun / ? (1961)
1018: Earl Scott - Opal Lee / ?  
1019:
1020: Lonnie Smith - Jonah / ? (1962)
1021: Warrior River Boys - My Love Song for You / Five String Ramble  
1022:  
1023:  
1024: Yellow Jackets - There's No Telling / ? (1962)
1025: Jim Taylor and the Yellow Jackets - Zemo / ?  
1026-1059:  
1060: Viola Schleif & Cathy Chapman - The Voice of the Americans / ?

801: Arnold Sanford - I Know How Lonesome (Old Lonesome Can Be) / You Can Do Allright with Me (1968)
802:
803:
804:
805: Marvin Thomas and the Playwrights - Call of th Whippoorwill / (The Legend of) Johnny Collins (1969)
806:
807:
808:
809:
810: Ron Gordy & the Nashville Tennesseans - Boogie Woogie All Night Long / ?

Cash McCall on Topic

Cash McCall - My Friend Johnny (Topic 8010), 1965
Not connected with the blues musician of the same name, country singer Cash McCall was an uprising talent during the mid-1960s in the music scene. What predicted him from being a star is lost to history. He had a string of releases on independent labels but national success eluded him. However, he built but a reputation as a local radio stalwart in his Michigan home.

In 1963, Billboard reported that a British country artist named Cash McCall recorded for Ember Records in the UK. He is also probably the same who had a string of releases in Italy but is not connected with Cash McCall on Topic.

Today's featured Cash McCall was born Larry Thomas Maske on April 16, 1939. He probably hailed from Michigan and started his career in the early 1960s, playing locally around Jackson, Michigan, as a guitarist, bassist, and singer. He used the stage name "Cash McCall" for his musical activities, probably unaware of the other performers that used the same pseudonym. McCall also worked as a DJ by 1964 on WIBM in Jackson, before switching to the city's WJCO in November that year. The station underwent a change at that time and changed its programming to a country music format. McCall had a morning as well as afternoon show and soon became the station's program director. During his career, McCall would perform with several bands. At that time, his group was called the Greenbacks.

McCall started his recording career in 1962 on the Memphis Executive label with "The Ballad of Billie Sol" b/w "Breaking Up" (Executive #1019, September 1962). Both songs were co-written by local Memphis singer Jay Rainwater. The disc seems to be out of place location-wise but I found no other hints about a fourth artist of the same name.

In 1965, McCall began recording for Bill Brock's Topic Records in Nashville. His first single coupled "Once in Every Lifetime" and "My Friend Johnny" (Topic #8010), which appeared around October. Later that year, he followed up with "In Time" / "My Best Friend" (Topic #8014). Both "In Time" and "Once in Every Lifetime" were "predicted to reach the Hot Country Singles Charts" according to Billboard but seem to have failed in the end. In May 1966, "Don't Give Me a Chance" appeared on Topic #8022, which was promoted by Topic as a "smash country hit" in Billboard. Around the same time, "Shoot Low Sheriff" on the Sincere label was released (Sincere #BB-833-6).

McCall eventually left WJCO but returned to the station in early 1971 to his early morning slot. Around the same time, the Greenbacks disbanded and McCall formed a new group called "Free Soil." By 1974, he was backed by the Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboys and started a tour with them through Canada that summer, booked by Cat Billue Enterprises. Billboard reported on October 12, 1974:

SIOUX STE. MARIE, Ont. - Country music reached new dimensions this week when Cash McCall & his Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy Band began perform behind a strip act here. Strippers heretofore had not been known to the strains of country music. McCall and his group are at the Lock City Hotel here, where the show is taking place.

McCall and the Stardust Cowboys toured Canada well into the next year. Michael Kirby, one of the band's musicians, recalled in 2023: "I played keyboards in the Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboys in late 1974 into 1975, having met the band in Northern Ontario, playing in a different band, when their guitarist and drummer quit. 'Cash" and Johnny recruited me, and I called my drummer friend Jim back in Toledo. [...] We were only together for six or so months, but the adventures during that time play a prominent role [in my upcoming book]." 

McCall and his bands toured extensively but eventually returned to Jackson. In the 1980s, he continued to work for WJCO radio and TV as well as performing around town in bars and jam sessions. By that time, he had achieved good reputation among fellow radio men and musicians alike. "Always the teacher, he mentored young performers but also warned of the dark side of the business. He mentored us in an old falling down farmhouse converted into a radio studio, always playing classic country. [...] By this point in his life, he did most jobs at the station including custodian. He was selling ads, had a morning and afternoon show, and played live until 2 a.m. many nights. The performer spent years jamming at local night spots like the Eagles Clubs. We always wondered when he slept!" recalled Parrish L. Stahl in McCall's obituary.

Cash McCall passed away on May 16, 2016, at the age of 77 years at Allegiance Health in Jackson County, Michigan. 

Discography

Executive 1019: Cash McCall - The Ballad of Billie Sol / Breaking Up (Sept. 1962)
Topic 8010: Cash McCall - My Friend Johnny / Once in Every Lifetime (1965)
Topic 8014: Cash McCall - In Time / My Best Friend (Nov. 1965)
Topic 8022: Cash McCall - Don't Give Me a Chance / The Picker's Story (May 1966)
Sincere BB-833-6: Cash McCall - The Fool in Me / Shoot Low, Sheriff (Sept. 1966)

Sources

• 45cat entry

• Obituary

• Parrish L. Stahl: "'Cash' McCall Fondly  Remembered" (The Exponent), 2016

Johnny Lee on Delta

  Johnny Lee - Middle Tennessee Blues (Delta DR-1006), unknown year
Here's a record I have only little information on. The Delta record label was based - as shown on the label - on 1119 East Broadway in West Memphis, Arkansas. Here's an excerpt from Rachel Sylva's essay "Walk Through History: Downtown West Memphis" (see here) that deals with the historic buildings of West Memphis:

To the east of the "Home Away from Home" building at 1117 E. Broadway, there was a large 1-story building with at least 2 storefronts. Craft’s Record Store was located in one side at 1119 E. Broadway until 1977 (or 1979?) when a fire in the dress shop next door spread to their building and they were both destroyed. The Crafts had a recording studio in the back of the building at 1119 E. Broadway with a music store and insurance business up front.  

The Craft brothers were most likely Dan Craft and his brothers. Dan had at least two records released. One with Chuck Comer on Style Wooten's Big Style label in 1964 ("Date with the Angels" / "Secret Love", Big Style #104) and the other on Craft Records, which was probably his own venture. It featured "Gone, Gone, She's Gone" b/w "Don't Say Goodbye" under the name of "Dan and the Craftsmen / Vocals with the Craft Bros." and credited Gene Williams' Cottontown Publ. from West Memphis with publishing, thus it was released sometimes between 1962 and 1965.

The Delta label as well as CMC Records, which was operated from the same adress, were likely run by Dan Craft. Chuck Comer, Sonny Blake, Doug Stone, and others recorded for CMC. Memphis artist and radio personality Jim Climer (a friend of Eddie Bond's) recorded a gospel disc for Delta. I wonder of the producer of this disc, Stan Neill, was also Stan Neal, who was at one point a member of Eddie Bond's band in Memphis.

And Johnny Lee? Of course not the same Johnny Lee of 1970s country-pop fame. This singer performs two Jimmie Rodgers style recordings. In fact, the flip of this one is a cover of Rodgers' "Waiting for a Train." 

To the right 1117 Broadway and across the street in the left half of the picture
1119 Brodway, where Dan Craft's shop and studio was located.

Tiki Records

This is another piece of the long lasting Buck Trail career as a songwriter and performer. Tiki Records was lauched by Ronald Killette (aka Buck Trail) in 1969 after his sensational success as the producer of the O'Kaysions blue-eyed soul hit "Girl Watcher," written by him. As it was his usual strategy, Killette would let unknown local singers record his compositions and released them on his own small labels. Except for the O'Kaysions, none of those records ever became a national hit. 

Tiki was active from 1969 at lest until 1971, only producing a a couple of singles. Also involved in this venture was a certain Gene Tyson, who doubled as a producer and songwriter for the label. Killette's company "North State Music" also appears on record labels as a producer and publisher. Killette ran Tiki out of Raleigh, North Carolina, which was one of his stomping grounds, besides South Florida.

Discography

T-777: Buck Jones - When You've Got the Blues / How Do You Know (1968)
T-778: Margie Griffin - Boy Watcher / I'd Rather Have a Memory (Than a Dream) (1969)
T-779: The Dreamer - The Beachcomber / Sand Pebbles
T-800: Buck Jones - A Box of Grass / ?
T-801: Carl Deakle - The Unfinished Letter / Old Blue
T-802: Carl Deakle - Pencils and Chewing Gum / The Angels Christmas Song
T-803: Buck Jones - Girl Watcher / Down in the Boondocks (1971)
T-804: Buck Jones - A Box of Grass / I'm Made for Loving (1971)
T-805: Carl Deakle - Hobo's Last Hop / Baccer

Read more:

• Buck Jones on Tiki

• Skyland Records

• The Glendale label

• Helen Thomas on Trail

Buck Jones on Tiki

  Buck Jones - Girl Watcher (Tiki T-803), 1971
No, this is not the famous western movie actor of the same name. This is Buck Jones from North Carolina, a country music performer and DJ. Jones worked with Tommy Hagen in the late 1950s and early 1960s, spinning the records over WGTM out of Wilson, North Carolina. The duo specialized in Louvin Brothers songs and did their first recording in 1960 for Ronald Killette's Glendale label.

I found out the truth about their first record only a couple of days ago. During my research on Ronald Killette alias Buck Trail, I learned of his Glendale label in Orlando, Florida. The second release on this label was by Buck and Tommy, "Beneath Miami Skies" / "Lady Friend" (Glendale #1001). I always assumed this was Ronald Killette under his stage name "Buck Trail," who teamed up with a singer called Tommy, which I also stated in my article about Trail (American Music Magazine #137, December 2014). Actually, I'm now pretty sure this is wrong and - in addition - I'm quite sure this duo is in fact Buck Jones and Tommy Hagen. Killette hailed from Goldsboro, North Carolina, and may have known Jones and Hagen already earlier. Also, Killette was active in both South Forida and North Carolina on and off during the 1960s and 1970s. 

The fact that the duo on Glendale was made up of Buck Jones and Tommy Hagen instead of Ronald Killette makes me doubt of the picture I used in my article. This supposedly showed Killette with an unknown singer but now to me it seems more probable that this was in fact Buck Jones and Tommy Hagen.

Buck Jones and Tommy Hagen had another release on Jim Price's Jim Dandy label out of Newberry, South Carolina (see here for more info). "A Lost Love" / "Never Love Again" (Jim Dandy #1007) was released around 1961/1962. Buck and Tommy had worked with a guitarist named Jimmy Capps, who joined the Louvin Brothers' band in 1960. Tommy Hagen did the same in 1963: about eight months after the Louvins' split-up in 1963, he joined Charlie Louvin as a mandolin player and vocalist, taking over Ira's high parts.

Buck Jones, however, stayed in the Wilson area and appeared on local radio, TV and in nightclubs. He also kept on recording for small labels. And now, we're coming to today's selection. Around 1971, Jones again recorded for Ronald Killette and released at three two singles on Killette's Tiki label, which was based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The first one was "A Box of Grass" (Tiki #T-800, flip side unknown to me, ca. 1969), "Girl Watcher" / "Down in the Boondocks" (Tiki #803), followed by another issue "A Box of Grass" / "I'm Made for Loving" (Tiki #804, 1971). "Girl Watcher" was a big hit in 1968 for the O'Kaysions, produced by Ronald Killette at Pitt Sound Studios in Greenville, North Carolina. I supsect the Tiki released were recorded at Arthur Smith's studio in Charlotte.

I couldn't turn up any other info on Buck Jones. If someone has, please feel free to contact me.

Further reading:

• Helen Thomas on Trail

• The Glendale label

• Pat Parker on Skyland

See also: Charles K. Wolfe: "In Close Harmony: The Story of the Louvin Brothers"