Hob Nob Records was a low scale label, based in Harrison, Arkansas. It was owned by Earl Nicholson and operated by Hugh Ashley out of his store, which also included a small recording facility. Ashley had played in a band with Mike McAllister, Mike Collins, and Kirk Coffman and in fact, McAllister would record a single for Ashley's label in 1958.
Wallace Waters |
Mike McAllister recorded a rollicking and echo-loaded "Twenty One" with a girl called Nancy, whose identity otherwise remains unknown. The flip side was "I Don't Dig It," written by Hugh Ashley. It very well could be that the band heard on this record was Ashley and McAllister's group. "I Don't Dig It" was also re-issued by Rockin' Ronnie Weiser on his Rollin' Rock Records in the 1970s.
Upton Horn recorded a country single for Hob Nob, also in the late 1950s. He went on to become a DJ on KHOZ in Harrison and recorded another single for Table Rock Records in Omaha, Arkansas. Horn was born September 26, 1924, but died tragically way too early on September 9, 1984, in Harrison at the age of 59 years. He was a local celebrity in the Harrison area through the 1960s and 1970s.
If anyone has more info on Hob Nob Records, feel free to pass it along.
Discography
410: Upton Horn - In and Out (Of Every Heart in Town) / A Good Way (for a Good Man to Go Wrong) (poss. 1958)
441: Mike & Nancy - Twenty One / Mike McAllister - I Don't Dig It (1958)
442: Slim Wilson - Holiday Hill / Jealousy's Made of Fear (1959)
443: Wallace Waters - Holiday Hill / Walking and a-Thinking (1959)
EP-401: Frank Watkins - Blue Mule / Saddle Old Spike / Soldier's Joy / Bay Rooster
EP-408: Frank Watkins - Girl I Left Behind Me / Kansas City Rag / Watkins Hoedown / Bad Whiskey / Missouri Fever / Frank's Breakdown (1958)