Jimmy Heap on Capitol, Part II

Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters with Perk Williams - Cat'n Around (Capitol F2636), 1953

This was the Melody Masters' cover of Harry Choates' "Cat'n Around." Choates had recorded the song in 1950, released in July 1950 on Macy's #124 backed by "Gra Mamou" (Big Mamou). He was a popular cajun fiddler in Texas and especially known for his 1946 version of "Jole Blon," which was a #10 hit for Choates and is considered as a cajun classic today. Heap and the Melody Masters likely had the song in their repertoire for some time, when they recorded their rendition on February 27, 1953, at an unknown location in Texas. The line-up consisted of Perk Williams on vocals and fiddle, Jimmy Heap on lead guitar, Horace Barnett on guitar, Cecil "Butterball" Harris on steel guitar, Arlie Carter on piano, and Bill Glendening on bass.

Capitol released "Cat'n Around" on #F2636 in October 1953 with "Make Me Live Again" from the same session. Like Choates' original version, this was an up-temp number and quite a fair approach of the hep cat country music of the time. The Melody Masters are in top shape here, joining Perk Williams on background vocals, with Harris, Williams and Heap performing some good solos on their instruments (although Jimmy Heap seems to be a bit out of tune at the end of his run).

Recommended reading
• A Heap of Texas Music: The Story of Jimmie Heap and the Melody Masters
• Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters on Fame
• Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters on Capitol, Part I
• Perk Williams on Allstar

Billy Eldridge R.I.P.

Sad news won't end. Today, I received the message that Florida rockabilly artist Billy Eldridge passed away on March 16, 2021. He recorded several discs with his band, the Fire Balls, for the Vulco label in Fort Pierce, Florida. Eventually, he made the move to Nashville, where he enjoyed some success as a songwriter. 

Recommended reading:

• Billy Eldridge on Vulco

Earl Epps R.I.P.

I was informed today by Dave Westheimer that Earl Epps, Houston country music singer, has passed away February 10, 2021, at the age of 91 years. Epps was a mainstay on Houston's country music scene, beginning in the 1950s. He has recorded numerous records during the decades and was performing right until recent years. He was a member of the Alvin Opry for many years.

Although Epps was a country singer from the heart, he is best remembered outside Houston for his 1956 rockabilly recording "Be-Bop Blues," which he cut for Danny Ross' Minor record label. Read his obituary here.

Jimmy Heap on Capitol, Part I

Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters - Heap of Boogie (Capitol F3434), 1956

We continue our little journey through the life and times of one of Texas' popular western swing dance bands, Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters. Today featured is their 1956 Capitol release "Heap of Boogie," a western swing instrumental. By that time, the band virtually had dropped from Capitol's stable of artists.

Both "Heap of Boogie" and its flip side, the Jack Rhodes-Dick Reynolds composition "Conscience, I'm Guilty" (which would become #4 hit for Hank Snow in 1956) were recorded on December 12, 1955, at an unknown location in Texas. "Heap of Boogie" was a boogie-based instrumetal, with songwriting credits to Heap, and it featured the drumming of George Harrison for the first time. It was also only the second time the band had used drums on a recording session so far. Band members got their spotlight during the song, performing solos on their instruments, although sax player Ken Idaho is not audible. The line-up consisted of Jimmy Heap on lead guitar, Horace Barnett on guitar, Cecil "Butterball" Harris on steel guitar, Perk Williams on fiddle, Arlie Carter on piano, Bill Glendening on bass, Ken Idaho on saxophone, and George Harrison on drums.

Billboard May 16, 1956, C&W review

Capitol released both songs in May 1956 on Capitol #F-3434, thus making the Heap version of "Conscience I'm Guilty" the first one to appear on the market, as Hank Snow's record wasn't out until June. Actually, Snow recorded his version on May 31, 1956, making it a cover version of the Melody Masters original recording. This had happened to the band earlier with "The Wild Side of Life," having recorded the original version but the hit got snatched away by another artist. Although the Melody Masters were a popular band, the majority of their records did not reach the charts, as it was the case with this one. Capitol gave them a final shot a couple of months later with the release of "Mingling" b/w "This Song is Just for You" (Capitol #F-3543) from the same session.

Recommended reading
• A Heap of Texas Music: The Story of Jimmie Heap and the Melody Masters
• Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters on Fame
• Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters on Capitol, Part II
• Perk Williams on Allstar

Jimmy Heap & the Melody Masters

A Heap of Texas Music
The Story of Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters

Jimmy Heap is probably not the most famous name in country music history but was a big name in Texas' music scene from the mid 1940s up to the late 1950s. Heap led the Melody Masters, a honky tonk band that enjoyed state-wide success throughout the years. The outfit scored one major hit in 1954 with "Release Me" and had more regional strong sellers to bragg about. In the next upcoming posts, we will focus on some their records that I recently purchased. The first installment of this series will focus on Heap's and the band's career, while forthcoming parts of this series will deal with particular records of them with its background history.

James Arthur "Jimmy" Heap; Jr., was born on March 3, 1922, in Taylor, Williamson County, Texas, a small city nearly 30 miles northeast of Austin. His father, James Arthur Heap, Sr., was the son of an English immigrant and was born in 1880 in a town called Palestine in Texas, located 143 miles away northeast of Taylor. Heap's grandfather, Walter Joseph was born in 1852 in Manchester, England, and had settled in the United States by 1876. That year on May 24, he married Florence Nabors (1862-1945), who hailed originally from Edith, Arkansas, in Milam County, Texas. They had eight children, including James Arthur, who married Lizzie Vanelia Trump (1877-1971) on November 8, 1900. By then, the family already lived in Williamson County. Young Jimmy came to this world in 1922 and he also had a brother, John Arthur, who was likely a bit older. Jimmy still lived in his hometown Taylor, when his father died suddenly at the Heap's home in 1941. His brother already lived in Houston at that time.

About a year prior to his father's death, Heap got interested in music, which was surprisingly late compared to his later fellow musicians. At age 18, Heap worked at a local gas station in Taylor. Herman Bruno "Slim" Gensler, a local business man and musician, regularly stopped by and used to carry his guitar with him to play a song or two. This inspired Heap to master the guitar and take up music as a hobby. But before Heap seriously could think about a career in music, war interrupted his life. Months after his father's death, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour brought the Second World War to the United States and Heap joined the US Army Air Corps. During the war, he was stationed in Sedalia, Missouri, where he first met his wife to be.

Upon his discharge after the war, Heap took the chance and tried music professionally. He set up the Melody Masters with old high school buddies Arleigh A. "Arlie" Carter (piano), William "Bill" Glendening (bass), Louie Rincon (fiddle/banjo), Bill Kaspar, and Tommy Swenson. Soon, they performed all around central Texas and managed to land a weekly spot on Saturday nights at Dessau Hall outside Austin. Their gigs there were instrumental in gaining their first popularity.

After some time, the band began broadcasting live over radio KTAE in their hometown of Taylor in 1948. Their show was in parts sponsored by their regular venue, Dessau Hall. Previously, during the year of 1947, the band held three demo recording sessions at Peterson's Studio in Austin. By then, Horace Barnett had joined the band on rhythm guitar, fiddle, and vocals, while Kaspar and Swenson had dropped out. On their first session, they recorded three songs: the well-known fiddle tune "Cindy" (which was documented as "Sindy" by the studio, however), "Sentimental Journey," and the blues "Milk Cow Blues," which was likely rather a take on Bob Wills' western swing version than on the original by black blues man Kokomo Arnold.

Horace Barnett and Arlie Carter adopted an old fiddle tune, rearranged it and dubbed it "Dessau Waltz," a tribute to their regular night spot. An early version of this song was cut by the band during their third demo session at Peterson's. When they got the chance to record for the Austin based Lasso record label, they re-recorded it along with "Twin Fiddle Waltz" and both were released as their debut single on Lasso #100 (credited to the "Melody Masters," omitting Heap's name). The line-up on this record included Heap on lead guitar, Horace Barnett on guitar, fiddle and vocals on "Dessau Waltz," another new member namely Cecil "Butterball" Harris on steel guitar, Louis Rincon on fiddle, Arlie Carter on piano, and Bill Glendening on bass. "Dessau Waltz" was eventually re-released in 1951 by Republic Records as by "Jimmy Heap and the Ranch Hands."

"Dessau Waltz" was good enough to let Lasso record the band a follow up. "Lonely Waltz" b/w "Rugged But Right" was cut at radio KVET in Austin, where also their first for Lasso had been recorded. It appeared also in 1948 on Lasso #103. Producer of both discs was Fred M. Caldwell, who was the owner of Lasso. 

Taylor Daily Press, September 2, 1949

The band grew in popularity across Texas and the Southwest and in 1949, Lew Chudds' Imperial Records knocked on the door, offering Heap and his band a recording contract. Many other country performers from Texas were already signed to the label or would sign, although the label had its headquarter in California. Some of the  more recognizable names of Imperial's country roster were Dub Dickerson, Weldon Rogers, Bill Mack, Lew Williams, Adolph Hofner, Charlie Adams, Billy Briggs, and not to forget Slim Whitman. 

Heap and the Melody Masters recorded their first session for Imperial in September 1949 at radio KTAE's studio in their hometown of Taylor. A total of seven songs were recorded and "That's My Baby" b/w "Today, Tonight and Tomorrow" (Imperial #8064) proved to be a good seller for the band. Prior to the signing with Imperial, Houston "Perk" Williams (1926-1994) from Chriesman, Texas, had joined the Melody Masters as a fiddler and vocalist, replacing Louis Rincon. Although the band was blessed with many good singers, it was subsequently Williams, who sang the bulk of the material and gave the band another boost of success with his recognizable voice. In addition, an unknown drummer supported the Melody Masters on their first Imperial session, although the band would not include a frequent drummer until the mid 1950s.

Their recording of "A Million Tears" was an even better seller and the famed Big D Jamboree from Dallas invited them to join its cast. The years 1949 and 1950 saw the band recording several more sessions and the majority of the material was released on Imperial. They also backed Bert Haney and Bill Dowdy for Empire label releases and were recorded live while playing the Big D Jamboree. These live cuts were later released on CD.

Approximately in February 1951, Heap and the Melody Masters recorded one of the songs that would become a timeless classic and had a deep impact on country music. William Warren from Cameron, Texas, (with additions by Arlie Carter) had written "The Wild Side of Life," in which the lyrical ego moans about the honky-tonk lifestyle of a bygone love affair (inspired by Warren's earlier experiences). Recorded at KTAE along with "When They Operated on Papa, They Operated on Mama's Male," Imperial released both songs in March on #8105. The record became a good seller in their homestate and fellow Texan Hank Thompson recorded his version with the Brazos Valley Boys in December 1951. It became Thompson's first number one hit and his biggest one at the same time. The song became not only a standart in country music afterwards, being covered by such stars as Burl Ives, Ray Price, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter or Freddy Fender, but also crossed over to other genres. UK hard/boogie rockers Status Quo recorded a hit version in 1976 and still perform it in live sets to this day. Rod Stewart, Bonnie Tyler, and Vic Dana, among others, also recorded it. The line "I didn't know God made honky tonk angels" inspired songwriter Jay Miller to write an answer song, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," which was a massive hit for Kitty Wells and became another country music anthem.

Capitol Records promotion picture of the Melody Masters. The photo was taken during one of the band's radio broadcasts on KTAE in Taylor, Texas. From left to right: Cecil "Butterball" Harris, Jimmy Heap, Horace Barnett, Perk Williams, Bill Glendening, Arlie Carter

Heap and the Melody Masters enjoyed increasing popularity during these years in the Southwest and especially in Texas. They did their last session for Imperial in September 1951 and when the even bigger Capitol Records came along and offered a recording contract, they naturally accepted. Capitol was also the label that would release Hank Thompson's hit version of "Wild Side of Life." The band held their first recording sessions for the major West Coast label on November 17 and 18, 1951, abadoning the old KTAE studio in favor of the University of Texas studio in Austin. Capitol released their label debut in  February the next year, comprising "Lifetime of Shame" b/w "True or False" (Capitol #F1958).

Their biggest hit would come three years later. Vocalist Perk Williams found an old 4 Star record with Eddie Miller on it, singing his own composition "Release Me." The band liked it and added the song to its live performances. After receiving a good reception from their audiences, they decided to record it, which took place on February 27, 1953, at an unknown location. Coupled with "Just to Be with You" on Capitol #F2518 in July 1953, it became a hit not until January 1954, when it climbed to the national Top 5. "Release Me" would become another classic.

Billboard May 10, 1952, advert for their latest Capitol release

Heap and the Melody Masters combined different styles in their brand of country music. Their repertoire stretched from honky tonk tear jerkers to uptempo boppers and western swing. They recorded instrumentals like "Heap of Boogie" or country hep cat music like "Cat'n Around," which foreshadowed the rockabilly craze two years later.

Though combining hot country stylistics in their music, they did not quite reach the status of "rockabilly" while recording for Capitol. The label released two songs that nearly matched the new style, "Sebbin Come Elebbin" and "Go Ahead On" but with Perk Williams' over-the-top vocals and the undeniable western swing backing, both cuts sound more like parodies than serious attempts at the new style of music.

No more hits followed for the Melody Masters and by the end of 1956, they dropped from the Capitol roster. They had done their last session for the label in December 1955 and by then, the Melody Masters had been expanded due to the addition of drummer George Harrison and sax player Kenneth "Ken Idaho" Aderhold. Capitol continued to release discs by them until September 1956, the last being the instrumental "Mingling" coupled with "This Song Is Just for You" (Capitol #F3543).

Left without a major recording deal, the core of the Melody Masters - Heap, Harris, Barnett, and Glendening - decided to record independently and either release the results on their own labels or lease them to other companies. Pianist Arlie Carter had left the band after their last Capitol session and Perk Williams would depart in late 1957. The band released their first independent production in 1957, recorded in June at KTAE, with "See No Man No Yo Yo" b/w "Too Little Much Too Late" on their own label Big Band (#JH-1001). Although Williams was still part of the band at that time, Bill Taylor was already recording with them, who would from time to time fill in as a vocalist during the next years (along with other singers besides the band's members). Born in Alabama, Taylor came from Memphis, where he had performed and recorded with Clyde Leoppard's Snearly Ranch Boys and now teamed up with the Melody Masters. He would perform as "Wild" Bill Taylor or William Tell Taylor occasionally. 

In the fall of 1957, the band recorded the first session for their newly founded Fame label. This would be Perk Williams' last recording with the band. After that, the group ventured more and more into rock'n'roll music and continued to cut records for their own Fame and Splash labels as well as Pappy Daily's D and Dart labels or Slim Willet's Winston label.

With the addition of drums and sax, the band had become more of a rock'n'roll band and by the early 1960s, the members had grown out of their western swing image and had transformed the Melody Masters into a popular dance band, performing the hits of the day. They slowed down recording activities but remained a popular live act. They even played stints at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, where they erased some public annoyances with a controversial sex comedy routine by band member Ken Idaho. Instead of backpedaling, they took it even further and recorded a couple of "sex party albums."

A couple of the band's "party albums" that they released on their Fame imprint

Though their heyday was over, the band, at that time renamed "The Jimmy Heap Show," remained a popular live club and dance hall act until 1977, when Heap disbanded the group in June that year. Later that same year, he recorded an album for Huey Meaux's Crazy Cajun label, which also resulted in one single on the subsidiary label American Pla-Boy.

Sadly, Jimmy Heap drowned in a boating accident on December 3, 1977, at the age of 55 years. He is buried at Taylor City Cemetery in his hometown of Taylor. Heap and the Melody Masters may not have been the most successful country music artists but they had a deep impact on country music, recording the original version of one of the genre's leading song examples, "The Wild Side of Life," and scoring the first hit version of another standard, "Release Me." Moreover, they left the legacy of numerous Texas honky tonk and western swing recordings as well as a slew of late 1950s Texas rock'n'roll. Bear Family Records re-released the Melody Masters' complete capitol sides in 1992 on CD. In 2006, another German reissue label Cattle Records, added a second CD reissue entitled "The Wild Side of Life" featuring their Imperial output. A definitive reissue of Heap and the band's complete legacy is still missing, however.

Recommended reading
• Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters on Fame
• Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters on Capitol, Part I
• Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters on Capitol, Part II
• Perk Williams on Allstar

Also visit their homepage

Sources
• Taylor Daily Press newspaper article
• Find a Grave entry
• TSHA Handbook of Texas
• Austin Chronicle: "Cum on Feel the Noise - The New Dessau Music Hall" (1998)
• Praguefrank's Country Discography entry
• 45cat and 45worlds entry
• Rockin' Country Style entry

Rit Corso on Perfect

Here is an addition to the Perfect label history courtesy of Joe Schmidt. Perfect was part of Harold Doane's little recording empire in Miami and is best known for releasing Tommy Spurlin's country and rockabilly sides. Doane also released a couple of Latin Jazz recordings on Perfect.

BUT: does anyone out there have info on this release? My search came up with nothing about the artist, Rit Corso. The release date of it must be around 1956-1957 (which would be the latest release on the label). I haven't heard the songs either, so this is quite a mystery. The songwriter on both sides was Nellie Bonita Beulke (1896-1973), who was a professional composer from Idaho, it seems. The earliest effort I found was "Love's Question" from 1948. She also penned "Beat, Beat, Beat It" from 1954. "Sweetest Voice on Earth," one of the songs on the Perfect single, was also released by Larry Reed on the Nashville based Deb Records in 1960 (Deb #11760). Beulke co-wrote the song in 1955 with Ted G. Ax, with whom she also wrote "My Cuddle Up Huddle Up Lovin' Baby." Ax also penned "It's Heaven to Be Loving You" in 1955. Beulke also co-wrote "I am a Failure at Everything But Love" with Quincy S. Spann. She died in 1973 and is buried at Gamlin Lake Cemetery in Sagle, Idaho.

See also
• The ART record label
• The (short) Story of Perfect Records
• Miami's AFS label

Catalog of Copyright Entries

Billboard June 5, 1948

Jimmy Haggett on Caprock

Jimmy Haggett - All I Have Is Love (Caprock 45-107), 1958

Today, we remember country singer, bandleader, DJ, and promoter Jimmy Haggett. He passed away 21 years ago on January 30, 2000. Haggett is best remembered today for his Sun recordings 1955-1956, especially his rockabilly session that yielded such songs as "Rabbit Action," "Rhythm Called Rock'n'Roll" or "How Come You Do Me." He also recorded for Meteor, Caprock, Vaden as well as K-Ark and had his band involved in recordings by Buford Peak and Johnny Moore.

A true Missourian (although he was born on the other side of the Mississippi in Illinois and lived for several years in Arkansas), Haggett led a band through the 1950s and early to mid 1960s that was known originally as the Ozark Mountain Boys and later as the Daydreamers. They played shows all over Southeast Missouri, Northeast Arkansas and West Tennessee. In addition, Haggett was a popular DJ on different Missouri and Arkansas based radio stations and was twice named "DJ of the Year." Today, I featured Haggett's "biggest success" or: what was as near as possible to having a hit. "All I Have Is Love" did well in several local markets in 1958 but finally failed to enter the national charts.

A comprehensive biography of Haggett can be found in one of the upcoming issues of American Music Magazine as part of an extensive Vaden Records cover story.

Ed Bruce R.I.P.

Country music star Ed Bruce died January 8, 2021, at the age 81 years in Clarksville, Tennessee. Bruce was originally from Keiser, Arkansas, and got his start at Sun Records in Memphis in the 1950s, where he recorded such songs as "Rock Boppin' Baby" as Edwin Bruce.

He had a first hit with "Walker's Wood" in 1966 but was more successful as a songwriter during those years, noteworthy "The Last Train to Clarksville," which became a top hit for the Monkees. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings scored a hit with Bruce's "Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," which was a #15 hit for Bruce in 1975. He had a #1 with "You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had" in 1981. He was also active as an actor, for example starring the TV series "Bret Maverick" along with James Garner.

My first encounter with Bruce was when I heard a live version of his "If It Was Easy," but my favorite recording of him is his original "Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys." The following video shows Bruce performing it in his later years.

More from Bey Ireland

 Bey Ireland - My Bimini Baby (Panama P108), 1959

Following my recent post, in which I explained the general facts about the flip side of this disc, regarding song titles, songwriter, artists and record label - we will go deeper into the history of one of the artists, Bey Ireland namely.

The man with the strange sounding name was apparently a South Florida resident in the 1950s. He first appeared on Prom Records, which was part of Henry Lapidus' Synthetic Plastics record empire out of Newark, New Jersey. The budget label, which featured cheap versions of the actual hits of the day, was renamed "Promenade" in 1956. Ireland cut a few songs for the label in late 1955, including a cover of Georgie Shaw's hit "No Arms Can Ever Hold You." The recording was paired on Prom #1133 with "Dogface Soldier" by Maury Laws and his Orchestra on the slip side. It was also released on a Prom EP #701 at the same time. In 1956, he appeared with a version of "To You My Love" on Prom EP #714.

About three years later, Ireland began recording for Harold Doane. Doane ran the American Recording and Transcription Service (often shortened to ART) in Miami and had made himself a name with the first commerical recordings of goombay and calypso music in the early 1950s. By the mid to late 1950s, Doane also recorded local rock'n'roll as well as country acts and released the results on his three small record labels: Art, Perfect, and AFS. Ireland first cut a disc for AFS, featuring "Old Chuck Wagon" b/w "A Stocking Full of Love" (AFS #304, 1958), accompanied by the Stardusters. Likely that same year, he followed up on Art with "Snap, Crackle and Rock" b/w "Baby Sitter's Rock." Both songs were written by Ruth Hardt (see the previous post for more info on her) and Ireland's versions were rollicking rock'n'roll performances. He was again backed by the Stardusters as well as the Tommy Miles Trio. As Doane's companies had no financial means to put behind the releases, both records stood no chance on the national market. If at all, they were good local sellers.

About a year later, Ireland recorded Ruth Hardt's "My Bimini Baby" and "Popcorn and Candy Bars." They were issued on Herb Wolff's Panama label in Miami. However, success eluded Ireland again and at some point afterwards, he made the move to Nashville, epicenter of the country music industry. Or, at least, he recorded exclusively for Nashville record labels from that point on. It is likely that his extensive tour activies also began around this time.

In 1964, Ireland appeared on the RIC label with one single, followed by "You Gotta Have That Feeling" b/w "Someday I'm Gonna Go Back Home" for the Newport label in 1966, a snarky rock'n'roll and country flavoured garage outing. While Ireland had relied on other people's song material previously, he had begun recording his own compositions by then. All in all, he registered a total of 13 songs with BMI over the years. Also in 1966, he cut "All I Want for Christmas is a Go-Go Girl" for Newport, which developed some underground fame in present times due to the its lyrics and the rocking garage sound. He had another disc on Newport, one on JED and possibly his last one on the country label NSD in 1981.

Ireland toured extensively with his band across the south during the 1970s and 1980s. We last find mention of him in the Alabama Journal on December 31, 1985, as he played a dance on New Year's Eve in Montgomery. By that time, he had possibly settled in Alabama, as he was also billed as "The Alabama Flash" on the picture sleeve of his JED single. What happened to him afterwards has not been revealed yet. There are hints that he already passed away.

Discography

Prom 1133: Bey Ireland - No Arms Can Ever Hold You / Maury Laws & his Orchestra - Dogface Soldier (1955) (also on Prom EP #107 + 3 tracks by other artists)
Prom 714: Bey Ireland - To You My Love (+ 3 tracks by other artists)
AFS 304: Bey Ireland and the Stardusters - Old Chuck Wagon / The Stardusters - A Stocking Full of Love (1958)
Art 177: Bey Ireland with the Tri-Tones & the Stardusters - Snap, Crackle and Rock / Baby Sitter's Rock (1958)
Panama 108: Bey Ireland - Popcorn and Candy Bars / My Bimini Baby (1959)
RIC S 120-64: Bey Ireland - It's Love / Don't Let It Happen to You (1964)
Newport 101: Bey Ireland and the Emeralds - You Gotta Have That Feeling / Someday I'm Gonna Go Back Home (1966)
Newport 102: Bey Ireland - All I Want for Christmas Is a Go-Go Girl / Christmas Without You (1966)
Newport 103: Bey Ireland - Hello Pillow / You Better Take Me Home
JED 3-79: Alabama Rose / Lady I Care (1979)
NDS 112: Bey Ireland - Midnight Barroom All Alone Miss'n You Blues / Devil (1981)

See also 45cat and discogs for details.

A Saturday Night with the Reavis Brothers Band

A Saturday Night with the Reavis Brothers Band
Special thanks to Andy Reavis

 
If you were living in the Southwest Missouri area in the 1950s or 1960s, you probably danced to the music of the Reavis Brothers Band on Saturday nights. This country music combo, which really consisted of seven brothers, was based in Southwest Missouri and entertained audiences with their music from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. The Reavis Brothers are today largely forgotten outside the southwestern region of the state in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, which is much due to the fact that they never released any records that could give collectors a hint to their existence. Coincidentally, Andy Reavis, a son of one of the Reavis Brothers, contacted me (actually to correspond about another Ozark country artist, Red Yeager) and provided me with details on his family's journey in Ozark country music.

The Reavis Brothers hailed from the small community of Crane, Missouri, a small, rural town with a population of nearly 1.000 habitans in the 1950s. The brothers' parents, Loren Elmer "Buck" Reavis (1904-1970) and his wife Thelma (McCullah) Reavis (1909-1974) cultivated a farm and Buck worked in the construction business most of his life. "His emphasis on being independent and being your own man carried forward with each son and made them strong as a family despite no formal education," remembers Andy Reavis, the grandson of Buck and son of Ted Reavis. Times were hard and life was not easy in the rural areas of the country. The oldest of the seven brothers was Robert “Bob” Reavis, born in 1929, followed by James “Jim” Reavis in 1930, William “Bill” Reavis in 1936, Jerry Reavis in 1937,  Teddy “Ted” Reavis in 1938, Gary “Butch” Reavis in 1945 and Kenneth “Kenny” Reavis in 1946.

Likely main street in Crane, Missouri, ca. 1940s

In the 1950s, Southwest Missouri became a country music hotbed and at one point rivaled Nashville, which had established itself as the capital of country music. The importance of the area to country music was mainly due to the production of the Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri, a local TV show hosted by Red Foley and featuring such notable artists as Brenda Lee. Other television shows like the Porter Waggoner show and Slim Wilson show soon appeared as well.  Many country music stars became regulars on the Ozark Jubilee and the music and entertainment business gained ground in Southwest Missouri. However, Springfield never outstripped Nashville as the epicenter of country music. But there were other hot places in the Ozarks for country music, too. In 1959, when Springfield's popularity as a country music hotbed declined, the Mabe family band started their "Baldknobbers" act in Branson, Missouri, followed by the Presley Country Jubilee in 1967. Both shows are still in existence and started Branson as an entertainment spot.

The rising of Southwest Missouri as a country music and entertainment region influenced the Reavis Brothers to start a band. None of them had completed high school nor had they any former musical education but they discovered they were musical inclined, nevertheless. "As brothers they stuck together which brought them into the band idea. They were never afraid to try something new," explains Andy. It was around 1957 when they decided to start a band. They borrowed money to purchase instruments and learned to play by ear. Inspired by such country artists as Ray Price or Faron Young, they started out as a honky tonk dance band and soon played weddings, political events, coon hunts, on local radio and several of the pubs and watering holes around Southwest Missouri. Their stage act also featured comedy routines in the style of such duos as Lum & Abner.

The line-up of the newly born band consisted of Teddy Reavis on vocals and guitar, Jim Reavis on vocals and electric guitar, Jerry Reavis on vocals and rhythm guitar, Bob Reavis on steel guitar, Bill Reavis on vocals and bass as well as Butch Reavis on drums and Kenny Reavis on vocals. Shortly after they started the band, the Reavis Brothers landed a spot on radio KRMO, a station in Monett, Missouri, featuring live Saturday morning performances. Other local radio stations KBHM, KSWM and KWTO also featured their music. It is needless to say that their regular radio appearances boosted their popularity and led to other engagements with a loyal group of regular followers.

Monett, Missouri, home of KRMO, in the 1950s

In 1957, the band made their first recordings at KRMO. These were not professional recordings but demo tapes that are in rough shape today. The cuts, done in a traditional country style, included two songs from 1955, Elvis Presley's “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” and Jimmy Works’ “Don’t Knock, Just Come On In” (which was not actually a hit recording but Work was a popular artist), or classics like “San Antonio Rose.” They stirred up some attention by a Nashville agency. In the end, however, nothing came of it. The brothers did another recording session in the 1960s, likely in 1966. They recorded one of that year’s hit, Jim Reeves’ “Blue Side of Lonesome” and Hank Locklin’s “I Feel a Cry Coming On,” which was the flip side to his Top 50 hit “Insurance.” Both songs were originally urban Nashville sound recordings but the Reavis Brothers Band managed to bring an ancient country charm to them. The session also produced an untitled instrumental and a version of Marty Robbins’ “The Hands You’re Holding Now,” which had been covered during the 1960s by different artists.

The Reavis Brothers Band, ca. 1960s, when they were featured acts at the Hillbilly-Land USA auditorium in Eagle Rock, Missouri

Through the 1960s, the Reavis Brothers continued to perform at talent contests and radio stations as well as other occasions. They were offered to promote two big and popular brands, Mountain Dew and Hillbilly Bread but declined the offer, which probably prevented wider recognition. They were also associated with Hillbilly-Land USA in the 1960s. Hillbilly-Land USA was an auditorium located on the banks of Table Rock Lake in Eagle Rock, Missouri, near the Missouri-Arkansas state border. It hosted popular music shows on weekends for years, including shows by the Reavis Brothers band. The brothers also featured guest musicians to boost their act, including fiddler Paul Thomas from Purdy, Missouri, or female vocalist Reitha Bigelow. Both appeared several times with the band in the 1960s.

In the early 1970s, the Reavis Brothers called it a day and retired from performing in public. "After the length of time involved in entertaining I think they just tired of the commitment. Kids were getting older and everyone pursued different vocations which drew them away from music," assumes Andy Reavis. They continued to play music at private family gatherings, however. Butch and Bill Reavis continued to perform with other bands, while Jerry and Ted both sang in church. Bill died in 1997, Jim im 2000, Ted in 2003, Bob in 2017, and Butch in 2019 leaving Jerry Reavis and Kenny Reavis as the remaining surviving brothers. Musical talent has been handed down through generations of the Reavis family, as Bob's grandson Caleb Reavis became a country and gospel performer. Bill's son Dusty Reavis also went on to become a musician, though he preferred other music genres.

Although they were not as famous as such Ozark performers like Slim Wilson or Speedy Haworth, the Reavis Brothers were popular enough in Southwest Missouri to earn them a display at the Ralph Foster Museum at the College of the Ozarks in Hollister, Missouri. Thousands of people danced to the music of the Reavis Brothers on a Missouri Saturday night - an effort worth enough to remember them.