Bill Johnson alias Sky Johnson

Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson's "A Wound Time Can't Erase" was not only one of the most successful songs sung by Stonewall Jackson, it was also one of his most beautiful hit tunes. Johnson, as the composer of the song, remained in the shadow of Jackson's success. Before he made his way to  Nashville, Johnson was an active performer in the Miami music scene.

Born William Donald Johnson, he was a steel guitarist, singer, and songwriter. By 1954, he had begun performing locally around Miami. He was part of Tommy Spurlin & the Southern Boys until around 1956, leaving when the band decided to take their style more towards rock'n'roll. He was also part of Happy Harold Thaxton's local live stage show "Old South Jamboree" as the house band's steel guitarist.

December 12, 1959
Source: Volker Houghton

Johnson made a lot of connections during these years. Kent Westberry, Snuffy Smith, Wayne Gray, Charlie McCoy, Bill Phillips, and many more were working in the area and some of them eventually found enduring success in Nashville. He started writing songs with guitarist Wayne Gray, who in turn performed with Kent Westberry's Chaperones locally, including "Cute Chick" and "Initials in the Tree". Johnson made his way to Nashville already in 1957. There, he recorded as "Sky Johnson" for the small Cactus label his own composition "A Wound Time Can't Erase" and the George Dumas song "If My Love Had Wings". Dumas was a half-brother of the aforementioned Tommy Spurlin and played bass with the Southern Boys.

Released on Cactus #1501 around summer 1957, it was soon picked up by the bigger independent label Dot (#15620) and also saw release in New Zealand on London and in Canada on Quality. Though, the single did not make the charts. It was not until 1961 when Stonewall Jackson covered the tune that it got recognition. His version was released late that year on Columbia and it entered the charts the following January, peaking eventually at #3.

Jackson would record another song of Johnson's, "How Many Lies Can I Tell", in 1969. Marty Robbins had another hit with Johnson's "The Best Part of the Living" in 1971, which reached #6 on both the American and Canadian country charts. Johnson has a total of 26 songs registered with BMI, although only "A Wound Time Can't Erase" and "The Best Part of the Living" became hits.

Sources

• 45cat entry (Sky Johnson)

• BMI search

• Kent Westberry: "I've Got a Song to Write" (Dorrance Publishing Co.), 2020, page 5

Jimmy Ganzberg on Jet

Jimmy Ganzberg with the Sound of the Crowns - Rebel Yell (Jet No.#), 1958
Among the numerous Indianapolis rock'n'roll artists, Jimmy Ganzberg is one of the lesser known nowadays. He recorded a couple of 45s for a local label, Jet Records, and is still active musically to present day.

Born James Leroy Ganzberg around 1940 in Indianapolis, he attended Arsenal Tech High School and afterwards studied music at Indiana University. He became a proficient piano player during his early years and, in the late 1950s, achieved popularity in Indianapolis for his wild, Jerry Lee Lewis styled playing and showmanship. He regularly appeared on local TV show "Teen Twirl".

It seems that Ganzberg had no own band but relied on other local outfits. He first recorded in 1959 for Charles E. Howard's Jet label, a local Indy company that had only small distribution. "Hang-Out" b/w "White Saddle Shoes" were recorded with local black saxophonists Jimmy Coe and Pooksie Johnson, Ganzberg's usual guitarist Jerry Lee Williams (who also dabbled in record production) plus additional unidentified musicians. His second Jet single, also released in 1959, came from the same session and comprised "Jo-Ellen" and "Ring and Wedding Veil".

At third single was released in 1960 featuring "Twilight and Tears" and "Rebel Yell", which were recorded on a different occasion with the Sound of the Crowns featuring Larry Goshen on drums. The band had been formerly known as the Crowns and played for some time with Jerry Lee Williams as well. None of Ganzberg's singles broke out of the regional market and he ceased from recording in the following years.

Ganzberg eventually moved to Alabama and is a member of the Alabama Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He toured the country with the Alabama Blues Brothers Band as a keyboarder since 1998. A few of his recordings have been reissued due to the rock'n'roll revival, for example on the 1980 Wendi LP "Dig That Rock & Roll from Indiana" from Australia and the 1997 Buffalo Bop CD "Strictly Instrumental, Vol. 3" from Germany.

Sources
• Jimmy Coe Discography
• Rock'n'Roll Schallplatten Forum (German)
• Indiana Music Makers
• Discogs
• 45cat entry

Delmore Brothers in Memphis

Good Times in Memphis
The Delmore Brothers in Bluff City

The 1940s and early 1950s saw a lot of country music talent passing through the city of Memphis. Although it became well-known as the "home of the blues" and the "birthplace of rock'n'roll", country music had been always present in the city. Since the late 1920s, it had been a center for the major label's field recordings for blues, jazz, gospel, and old-time folk music as well. 

I have featured several Memphis country artists before, including Doc McQueen, Shelby Follin, Clyde Leoppard's Snearly Ranch Boys, Joe Manuel, among others, but the Delmore Brothers were probably the most popular and successful (commercial-wise) among those performers. Alton and Rabon Delmore were heard over Memphis radio on and off during the 1940s, spreading their blues and boogie-branded kind of country music across the Mid-South.

From the Hills of Alabama...
The Delmores hailed from northern Alabama, from Elkmont, to be precise, where Alton was born on December 25, 1906, and Rabon on December 3, 1916. The brothers grew up listening to folk and gospel music (her mother composed shaped-note gospel songs) and started singing as a duo at local fiddlers contests. The new medium of radio seemed to be perfect for their soft voices and their rising popularity led to a first record release on Columbia in 1931 ("Got the Kansas City Blues" b/w "Alabama Lullaby", #15724-D).

...to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville
This first record went nowhere, much due to the economic depression and the Columbia label's demise, but they landed a job on WSM's Grand Ole Opry in 1933. Although the Opry was just one of several barn dance shows back then, WSM's strong signal beamed their voices into the listeners' homes within a wide radius. They started recording for RCA Victor's Bluebird label the same year and stayed with the label into the early 1940s. Many of their sides were also released on the warehouse chain Montgomery Ward's in-house label, therefore enjoying even wider distribution, and some saw distribution in Canada, Australia, South Africa, and even India.

The Delmores had a bluesy style and concentrated on their own material instead of covers or standards. Their popularity grew and by 1936, the Delmore Brothers were the most popular Opry act. They began a shorter stint with Decca in 1940 which ended due to World War II. Following a disagreement with the management, they left the Opry and, like it was common for many country entertainers back then, roamed the country in search of radio station work. They came to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1943, where they began broadcasting on powerhouse WLW and signed with Syd Nathan's independent King record label - their first record was released in late 1944.

Memphis Down in Dixie
Rabon left the act for a short time, working a defense job, and Alton continued to perform solo on WLW. Near the end of World War II, the station refused to hire Rabon again (probably due to his alcohol abuse) and the brothers left Cincinnati. After a short stop in Indianapolis, they ended up in Memphis. There, they began appearing on WMC, one of the city's oldest radio stations that carried a lot of other country performers as well, including Slim Rhodes' Mountaineers and Gene Steele. 

The Delmores at WMC in Memphis

The Delmores' act at that time also included harmonica player Wayne Raney, who hailed from Wolf Bayou, Arkansas, and was living in Memphis by then. Raney had worked in Covington, Kentucky, south of Cincinnati across the Ohio River but somehow, the threesome had never met. In Memphis, Raney decided to approach them and went over to the Delmores' house in West Memphis. After a good jam on the front porch, he was in. As a trio, they also worked personal appearances around Memphis and across the Mississippi in West Memphis and surrounding Arkansas areas. Their blues drenched sound fitted perfectly to Memphis and was completed by Raney's harmonica. Sometimes, they were augmented by another harmonica wizard, Lonnie Glosson. The Delmores began experimenting with boogie elements, too, a trend in country music that just had started, and in May 1946, "Hillbilly Boogie" (King #527) was released. It was the beginning of a series of country boogie songs that foreshadowed the development of rockabilly. However by late 1946, the brothers left Memphis for the first time because they had "burned the area out" and started another trip of radio station hopping. 

By November 1947, they were back in Memphis at WMC but left again only to return for some time in 1948. In 1949, they were working in Fort Smith, Arkansas, when their "Blues Stay Away from Me" climbed the Billboard country & western charts and eventually hit the #1 spot. They were back in Memphis in the early 1950s, rubbing shoulders with another, younger brother act - Ira and Charlie Loudermilk, better known as the Louvin Brothers, who had come to Memphis as part of Eddie Hill's band in 1946 or 1947.

According to Charlie Louvin, as cited by Charles K. Wolfe in his book "In Close Harmony", the Delmores were performing on smaller stations in Blytheville, Arkansas (probably KLCN), and some in West Memphis, during this time (though they would live in Memphis). "Alton and Rabon had the identical, the same setup as Ira and I. One teetotaller and one who couldn't stay sober" Louvin recalled. One time the Louvins and the Delmores were playing a ballpark stage with Raney and Glosson: "At the time, Arkansas was dry, and Rabon, he absolutely had to have a drink, so Ira said he'd ride with him. They went all the way back to Memphis, ten or twelve miles, to get some booze. Even with Ira drinkin' a little bit, Rabon scared him to death coming back through West Memphis at a very high rate of speed."

Billboard June 1, 1946

Billboard November 22, 1947

Leaving Memphis
The Delmores left Memphis for good around 1951 and hopped from station to station, ending their career in Houston, Texas. There, Alton decided to go full-time into songwriting while Rabon had been unreliable either way due to his alcoholism. In addition, he was diagnosed with cancer and an operation in 1952 could not bring any improvement of his health. He passed away the same year a day after his 36th birthday on December 4.

Ira and Charlie Louvin were heavily inspired by the Delmores sound and they would even record a Delmore Brothers tribute album some years later. During their Memphis days, the Delmores also inspired other future stars. Elvis Presley was probably used to listen them and lots of other, future rockers and country singers would. Alton fell into oblivion after his brother's death and went out of the music business, bitter and disillusioned. He moved back to Alabama and gave it one last shot in 1959, recording his sole solo record, "Good Times in Memphis" b/w "Thunder Across the Border" for Ernie Tucker's Linco label across the border in Fayetteville, Tennessee. He passed away on June 8, 1964.

See also
• Good Times in Fayetteville - Ernest Tucker and the Preservation of Rock'n'Roll
• Wayne Raney - King of the Talking Harmonica

Sources
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• Hillbilly-Music.com entry
• Alton Delmore 45cat entry
• Jeffrey J. Lange: "Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly" (University of Georgia Press), 2004, page 236
• Charles K. Wolfe: "In Close Harmony - The Story of the Louvin Brothers" (University Press of Mississippi), 1996, p. 100-102
• Charles K. Wolfe: "Classic Country - Legends of Country Music" (Routledge), 2001, p. 115
• Alton Delmore: Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity" (Country Music Foundation Press), 1977

Shady Hill on Alley

Shady Hill - Old Porch Swing (Alley 2001), 1982

Shady Hill was a local bluegrass band from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I was fortunate enough to make contacts with one of the original members, Norma Meredith. She is still living in Jonesboro and was so kind to present me with a copy of the band's Alley record "Old Porch Swing" b/w "Ida's Shoe".

The band was formed in 1981 and included Ricky Lane on guitar and vocals, Norma's husband Tommy Meredith on banjo, Bill Shoe on fiddle, Carrol Lane on mandolin and vocals and Norma on bass and vocals. Norma told me that she and Carrol actually did not play bass or mandolin but it was Ricky Lane that taught them the instruments. Norma had played piano before so musical talent was there and she soon became a solid bass player and the band got a "pretty decent sound".

Their first public appearance was at a local senior citizen center and Norma remembers that they had rehearsed only four songs - they played them several times for the crowd, which enjoyed it nevertheless. In the years to come, Shady Hill played countless shows and festivals in the northeastern corner of Arkansas. They even had a tour bus that they converted into living quarters by themselves.

In 1982, the band recorded a 45rpm single for Joe Lee's Alley record label in Jonesboro. At that time, the band was managed by Dolores Tolbert, a local songwriter who had recorded for Sonny Deckelman's Van-Deck label in the 1960s. Tolbert was the one who organized the recording session at Joe Lee's Variety Recording Studio. The band cut "Old Porch Swing", written by Tolbert, and "Ida's Shoe", a fiddle number written by Bill Shoe. As far as I can tell, this remained their only 45.

During the 1980s, Shady Hill held a couple of sessions at Raney Recording Studio in Drasco and issued the results on cassette tapes. The band disbanded in 1989. Unfortunately, Carrol Lane and Norma are the only surviving members of the band.

Sources
• Thanks to Norma Meredith for providing information on her band and the record.

Elsa (Al) Robinson

Al Robinson, late 1940s

Elsa "Al" Robinson - The Friendly Hill Billy

My good friend Marshal pointed me towards another local Louisiana musician and sooner than later, I found myself researching the story of Elsa "Al" Robinson, the "friendly hill billy". He seems to have been one of those persons that were larger than life. Among his many occupations, he was an insurance salesman, a songwriter, singer, radio announcer, politician, and probably more. He worked on local radio in both Arkansas and Louisiana, although the latter became his adopted home. He is not to be confused with several showmen of the same name: he is neither blues singer Alvin "Al" Robinson from New Orleans, nor Jamaican reggae artist Al Robinson nor ventriloquist Al Robinson.

From the research I did, it seems to me that Robinson was not only quite a "talker" but also a very conservative man. Therefore, I'd like to point out that much information used here came from the liner notes of his sole album, which he wrote himself, or from newspaper advertisements or published political statements that also used his own words.

Born Elsa Boyd Robinson on November 30, 1910, in West Tennessee, he grew up on a farm learning about and working in live stock and farming at daytime and practicing on his guitar at night. In the late 1920s, he was intrigued by the music of America's blue yodeler, Jimmie Rodgers, who became his main influence. By his own account, he graduated from high school (although census documents indicate he left elementary school after completing the 7th grade) around the same time.

He moved to Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, in 1931, and began broadcasting on KALB in Alexandria four years later. On those early shows, he appeared solo with his guitar but was not paid for his appearances. For some time, Robinson worked on a drag line on the banks of the Red River, where wrote many a song along the way. By 1940, he lived in a rented house in Alexandria with his first wife Jessie Edna and worked as an insurance salesman.

World War II interrupted his career. Robinson intended to join the US Navy in February 1942 but was rejected. A year later, he began serving in the US Army for a short time but was honorably discharged due to disability in September 1943. Robinson then became involved in local politics, running unsuccessfully for the Rapides Parish house of representatives. This setback ended his political ambitions or some years but he kept on supporting other local politicians if he considered them worth it. He continued his profession as an entertainer as well.

In 1944, it was reported that he performed on KTHS in Hot Springs, Arkansas, followed by a stint on KLCN in Blytheville, Arkansas. According to Robinson, he worked with such artists as Wayne Raney, Ray Duke, the Wilburn Brothers and Eddy Arnold while at KLCN. In 1945, Robinson returned to Louisiana and began singing over KALB in Alexandria from 1945 until 1946. At the same time, he revamped his act by founding a band, the Red River Ramblers. Robinson was then heard on KWKH in Shreveport from 1946 until 1948, again on KALB around 1950 and early 1951, and later that year, appeared on KVOB. Along the way, he also spent time on WNOE and WWL in New Orleans, WFAA in Dallas, and on WREC in Memphis. In those early years, he often appeared as "Elsa Robinson, the friendly hill billy" whereas he would later change his stage name to Elsa (Al) Robinson and finally to "Uncle Al" Robinson. He began a longtime association with KSYL in 1952, which would last until 1960 when the station's manager shortened Robinson's airtime, who in turn left the station. 

By 1950, he had married his second wife Clara and was living with her and their three sons in Tangipahoa Parish. Apart from entertaining, Robinson remained active in politics throughout the years and in 1952, he ran for Congress. His political agenda was ultra-conservative, to say the least, and he supported racial segregation as much as he wanted to stop immigration and supported outlawing communism. He entered the race of the House of Representatives again in 1955 and for the Congress in 1958 but apparently success eluded him.

Billboard April 24, 1962

Instead, he concentrated on his music and radio work. By April 1962, he was manager of KWCL in Oak Grove, Louisiana, a small country station in the tri-state area of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. A year later, he had a show on KVOP in Bastrop, Louisiana, in the same region. In 1966, he purchased a small, "flat broke" station in Centreville, Mississippi, and "made it pay off within a short time" (as Robinson put it in his own words). However, "two years later the Civil Rights people, in rioting from Baton Rouge to Memphis, over the route I was on, I was wiped out, my station was completely destroyed. A thorough job was done, they wrecked all equipment and had it on fire when I reached there to open up in the early morning [...]."

After this incident, Robinson mostly concentrated on writing and performing music. In the 1970s, he released what seems to be his only commercial record, an album entitled "Funny Facts and Songs" on the Slidell, Louisiana, based independent One-Way Records. It seems it sold in good quantities around Alexandria as Marshal Martin found five copies of it in just one year.

Elsa "Al" Robinson passed away on September 3, 1993.

Sources

• Official cencus records accessed through Ancestry.com

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Several newspapter items from the Alexandria News Talk
• Al Robinson: "Funny Facts and Songs" (One-Way Records), liner notes

Jerry Hopper on Royle

Jerry Hopper - St. Louis Airport (Royle No.#), 1985-1986

Jerry Hopper was a local Arkansas country singer that tried to break through into the national music business in the 1980s. I got this record from fellow collector Sean Hickey and it is a bit out of my timeline but the Arkansas location got me hooked.

Hopper hails from Flippin, Arkansas, near Mountain Home. He grew up listening to country music and some rock'n'roll, too, and learned to play guitar at an early age and eventually also mastered other instruments like piano. He began playing with his dad and later also set out as a solo performer.

He started recording in the early 1980s, having his first record out in 1981 on the Ranger label from Flippin. In the early 1980s, Nashville songwriter Ron Peterson came to Flippin to pick up a boat. The owner called Hopper and connected him with Peterson, who in turn took him to Nashville. In 1983, Hopper released his first album entitled "My Kind of Country" and continued to record throughout the 1980s on small labels, which were likely his own.

We feature Hopper's recording of "St. Louis Airport", a song written by John Dillon (probably of Ozark Daredevils fame), Monroe Davenport, and Santiago Torres. I suspect the recording was made in Nashville but it was released on the Royle label from Flippin, thus probably Hopper's own label. It was released in 1985 or 1986.

In 1986, Hopper opened his own private night club, "Hopper's" (which continued as a restaurant into the next century), and in the mid 1990s, had his own public night club where he performed regularly. He was also active as a boxing promoter and organized fights in his club. Hopper today resides in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and still performs as far as I can tell.

Sources
• Flippin Online / The Mountain Echo
• Facebook profile
• Discogs
• 45cat entry

Lois Powell

Miss Lois Powell - Woo-Ee-Baby (Jaggars unreleased demo)
There was an astonishing amount of local Arkansas musicians in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of them made records - some of them very professional, some of them a bit more amateurish and some of them even crude. However, the majority of them are unpolished documents of local music history and a glimpse into a different, past world. Miss Lois Powell was one of those performers that never were known beyond the state borders. She recorded a couple of 45rpm singles and some of them even became known in rock'n'roll collector circles.

Virtually nothing was known about Powell until 2013, when the late Gary Corry posted both sides of her Velvet disc on his blog. A regular visitor to the blog, Bruce, immediately began research and tracked down Powell's brother Charles, who played lead guitar in their band. A telephone interview yielded some highly interesting information and background on Powell, her band, and her records.

Ima Lois Powell as well as her brothers Nicki and Charles (born around 1943) were playing in a band by the late 1950s. They hailed from Searcy, Arkansas. Nicki Powell had already performed in a band with Tex Denton and black drummer James "Cootie" Brown during the mid 1950s, playing mostly the black areas of Searcy. Charles Powell had unsuccessfully tried his hand at the drums and instead learned to play guitar. By the late 1950s, they all joined forces with Lois Powell on vocals, Charles Powell on vocals and guitar, Nicki Powell on guitar, and James Brown on drums.

Lois Powell was the leader of the group and they performed countless dance halls and clubs in the area, from Searcy to Jacksonville and back. They were regulars at the Tin Top in Jacksonville, a city in the North Little Rock area. In the early 1960s, Lois decided it was time to make a record and phoned a recording studio in Little Rock. A session was set up and they cut "I Can't Think of Nothing Baby" and "The Long Wait", which were released on the Twik label, according to Charles.  A couple of hundred copies were pressed to hand out to jukebox operators, radio stations and to sell to the audiences at the appearances. Though, no copy has been found so far. According to Charles, the disc got a lot airplay locally but never went beyond the region's boundaries. 

A little later, a man by the name of Lee Harold took over the management of Powell and the band. He suggested to re-record both songs and another session was arranged at J.R. Cheatham's studio in Dallas, Texas. On this occasion, Powell was accompanied by Charles on lead guitar, Brown on drums, and Willie Ghent on piano, an elderly woman who lived in the Powells' neighborhood.  These versions were in turn released in 1964 on the Velvet label, which was likely their own imprint (judging from the fact that it was based in Searcy and pressed by Rite Record Productions from Cincinnati, which did a lot of custom pressing).

Powell continued to work with Cheatham, who worked as a songwriter and singer around Dallas. He also owned the Cheatham label and Powell recorded a few more songs with his studio musicians, including two duets with Cheatham - "Wild Wild Stallion" and "Shiftin' Heart" (Cheatum #C-116, 1964). Two solo performances by Powell appeared two years later in 1966, "Good Bye Daddy" and "Honkey Tonk Town" (#C-125). Some more tracks were recorded, including "Skid Row Woman", "Fishin' in the Spring", "One of the Gunman", and "Juke Box Blues" but none of them were apparently released. 

What happened to Lois Powell and her band afterwards escapes my knowledge unfortunately. At the time of the interview, Charles Powell was a retired welder, picked his guitar occasionally, and enjoyed life with his family. By 2022, his sister Lois was living in a nursing home. I could not find any hints to the whereabouts of the other members.

In 2008, Dutch record collector Cees Klop issued a primitive demo tape of Powell's, singing "Woo-Ee-Baby", on his Collector Records CD "41 Years Collector Records). The demo, featuring only Powell's voice and a rhythm guitar, was recorded at Jaggars Recording Studio in Little Rock at some point during the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Discography

Twik no.?: The Long Wait / I Can't Think of Nothing Baby
Velvet No.#: The Long Wait / I Can't Think of Nothing Baby (1964)
Cheatham C-116: Wild Wild Stallion / Shiftin' Heart (1964)
Cheatham C-125: Good Bye Daddy / Honkey Tonk Town (1966)

See also

• Velvet Records Discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources

• Discogs

• 45cat entry

• That's All Rite Mama

• France's Favorite 45s incl. Bruce's interview with Charles Powell

• France's Favorite 45s (the other side)

Roy Cagle

Roy Cagle around 1963

Roy Cagle - Natchitoches Country Soul Man

I have recently dived into the local music scenes of Louisiana much due to a Bear Family CD project I curated and researched. It is always amazing how much local music you discover when you dive a bit deeper. Accidently, while looking for something different, I stumbled across Roy Cagle, who was a local singer from Natchitoches Parish in Northwest Louisiana. Cagle recorded a few singles during the 1960s and 1970s for different labels and was adept at different styles, including country, soul, and rock'n'roll. My local Louisiana correspondent and fellow record collector Marshal Martin found out that Cagle enjoyed some popularity in the region: "My dad worked out there [Robeline] for almost 20 years. [...] I mentioned him [Roy Cagle] to my dad and he said people talked about him a good bit while he was out there. He said he lived out in Marthaville, which is about 15 minutes outside of Robeline."   

Glyn Roy Cagle, Sr., was born on December 3, 1941, in Robeline, a tiny community in Natchitoches Parish. Born to Herbert and Mary Jordan Cagle, he had a sister, Thelma, and a brother, Vernon. Cagle was musically talented and learned to play different instruments. He was taught piano by his friend Leonard Parker and it later became his main instrument.

He likely began to perform in the late 1950s, when rock'n'roll was still big but eventually changed his style towards country and soul music. It is likely, however, that he incorporated different genres into his repertoire to meet the demands of his audiences. In 1962, he had founded a band which could be seen on local TV station KALB from Alexandria, Louisiana. For some time around 1963, Cagle worked with the Parker Brothers from nearby Natchitoches. While the brothers' band disbanded at some point, he continued to work with Jesse Parker on and off during the 1960s and 1970s. Interviewed about Cagle by Marshal Martin, Parker remembered that Cagle had a big old Hammond organ and they "dragged that thing everywhere. Dragged it through the snow, climbed it upstairs. Wherever Roy went, that organ went, too."

The Natchitoches Enterprise, September 6, 1962

Throughout the years, Cagle also made a few records. Probably his first was for the Ville Platte based Hi-Lite label, featuring "Reelin' & Rockin'" b/w "I Need My Baby". I would place this into the early 1960s time frame, though there is really no hint to a date. On this disc, Cagle is in fine rock'n'roll mood with a Chuck Berry cover and an original song. At that time, Cagle was associated with Floyd Soileau's Ville Platte based Flat Town Music publishing company - Soileau owned the legendary JIN label - and Cagle co-wrote the songs "Love Me" and "Stay with Me", which were recorded by Rufus & Roscoe on the R&R label. At one point, Cagle also auditioned at Paula Records, one of Louisiana's biggest record labels, but the owner turned him down as he said Cagle's songs sounded too much like the material they already issued. After that, Cagle never tried to get on a bigger label.

Around 1971, Cagle cut two soul records with (probably) different studio bands for the Graham Cracker and Soul Train labels. "I Can't Find It", from Soul Train #RFM-411, became a worthy collectors item in soul music circles. In 1978, he and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Tim Murphy were members of the country rock band "Snuff Ridge" and the combo cut an album of country covers in Shreveport, though details escape me. Finally, Cagle had a record out on J.D. Miller's Showtime label in 1981.

Cagle kept on performing locally throughout the years. He had married Shelia Pleasant in 1971 and they had six children. He suffered from declining health in 2021 and passed away on December 21, 2021, in Shreveport at the age of 80 years. 

See also

• RFM - The Mysterious Record Company

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• Rockin' Country Style

• Discogs entry for Roy Cagle and for Flat Town Music Company

• Timmy Murphy Band
• Special thanks to Marshal Martin for researching a good bit on the spot!

Ouachita Valley Barn Dance Jamboree

Over the years, there has been some interest in some of the better known and bigger barn dance shows, especially those from the 1930s-1950s period. The lesser known ones have mostly fallen into obscurity and those shows that were founded at an even later date are totally forgotten. I dug up such a show while researching something completely different - the Ouachita Valley Barn Dance from Arkansas.

The Ouachita Valley Barn Dance Jamboree began its life in June 1975 in Reader, Arkansas. The show was staged at the Reader Railroad Park, a tourist-only railroad line in Nevada and Ouachita Counties. The premiere show featured country star Red Sovine and a subsequent show on July 1975 was headlined by Claude King.

Unfortunately, it is not known to me how long the show ran or if it was broadcast on radio. If anyone knows more about the Ouachita Valley Barn Dance Jamboree, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

Sources

• "Reader Railroad adds night train for July 4-5" (Hope Star, July 2, 1975)

• Benton Courier, June 4, 1975

Willie Gregg

Willie Gregg

Country King of the Golden Triangle

Willie Gregg came to my attention in 2013, when I purchased his Waterflow 45 featuring a superb cover of Merle Haggard's "If You Want to Be My Woman". The recording is pure country bop with a great steel guitar break. The song prompted my to look out for more Gregg records and over the years, I managed to add four more discs to my collection. Looking for the next swinging country bopper, I learned that Gregg specialized more in tearjerkers like his signature song "You Fool". For years, I chased down every hint to find information on him but in most cases, was left without any substantial details. This has now changed thanks to an extensive search in the newspaper.com archives.

Willie Clyde Gregg was born on February 20, 1940, to John D.  and Evelyn Gregg in Port Arthur, Texas. At that time, the family was living on West 18th Street. Located on the banks of Sabine Lake, Port Arthur is part of a metropolitan area that also includes the cities Groves, Beaumont, and a bit more east, Orange, also known as the "Golden Triangle". This area is the far southeastern corner of Texas next to Louisiana. Apparently, the Gregg family name is quite common in this area so it was not an easy task to track down the right family. 

As a young man, Gregg began working as a butcher, a profession would also occupy in later years. In 1961, Gregg enlisted in the US Army and was sent overseas for service in Europe. His military time included a long-time stint in Germany and it was there that he started singing and playing the guitar. Called "the best singer on the post", he quickly organized a band and played the German taverns around the post for three years. 

He returned to the US and civilian life in 1965 and it seems, right after his return, threw himself into the Southeast Texas music scene. He joined Bertis Savoy's band, the Velvetones, and performed with this outfit regularly at the Club 87 outside of Orange on Highway 87. Savoy was a disc jockey on KHGM, a musician and also emceed shows in the area. Gregg would work with Savoy for several years.

The Orange Leader, January 12, 1966

During this time, Gregg had the chance to make his first record. Billy Thompson, a western swing musician who had performed with the likes of Hank Thompson and the Miller Brothers Band, owned the Kay-Bar-Dane record label in Orange and released Gregg's "You Fool" b/w "I'll Find You" in 1966 (#044). He was backed by the Velvetones on this disc and both songs turned out as soft country ballads. The Orange Leader newspaper mentioned on December 21, 1966, that "You Fool" was "popular in the immediate area and is among the top rated recordings of country-western music in Alabama". Indeed, "You Fool" became THE song of Gregg's career, as he would record another three versions of it throughout the years. 

Gregg stayed with the Velvetones through 1967 but formed his own band around 1968, the Country Kings, and landed a spot at Bendy's Danceland (later called the High Chaparral), a club in Bridge City, halfway between Groves and Orange. The same year, he released two more singles. For Bridge-Way Records, a local Houston imprint, he recorded "Rebel" b/w "A Heart Afraid to Break", and Gregg re-cut "You Fool" along with "How Long" for J.D. Miller's Ringo label in Crowley, Louisiana. All of them were in the same vein as his debut - soft, slow country ballads but without any hints of Nashville overproductions. With Gregg's calm singing voice and slight steel guitar fills, these recordings feature a down-to-earth charm.

Gregg continued to perform in the area and had at least two more records released. In 1969, he and the Country Kings cut the Merle Haggard song "If You Want to Be My Woman" - a great country shuffle - with a ballad, "She's No Good". Both songs appeared on Tee Bruce's Waterflow label (#702). Bruce was a producer based in the same area as Gregg and was instrumental in bringing Cajun music onto Texas radio. Gregg's records were solid sellers in his home regions but did not break out of the regional scene. Though, he would soon be rewarded with another shot at the market.

Fellow Texan Tommy Hill, who had been a chief engineer and producer at Starday Records, led the Stop label in Nashville around this time and Gregg was given the chance to record one single for the company in 1971. Along with a third version of "You Fool", he also cut the Larry Kingston composition "The Girls in Milwaukee" and both were released on Stop #1532. Again, it failed to chart and his trip to the bright lights of Music City USA seems to have ended afterwards.

Gregg kept on performing throughout the 1970s in such spots as the Sparkle Paradise in Bridge City, the Cotton Cay in Orange, or the Club 88. In fact, he and his band held down a regular gig at the Cotton Cay for six consecutive years. In December 1969, Gregg had renamed his band "The Fools" in reference to his signature song. The group included Gregg on vocals and rhythm guitar, Johnny Husband on lead guitar, Bobby Tyler on bass, and Gene Edgerly on drums.

The Orange Leader, January 12, 1973

He stopped performing in 1980 and began working as a carpenter, operating his own shop on Melcer Road with the help of his father-in-law, manufacturing cabinets of all kinds. By then, he was living in Little Cypress north of Orange. However, he had returned to occasional performing two years later. In the late 1980s, Gregg led a band called the Honky Tonk Cowboys, which included himself on vocals and rhythm guitar, his old friend Bertis Savoy on lead guitar, Elton Brently on fiddle, Marvin Walston on bass, and Tommy Wolford on drums.

Willie Gregg was married (and divorced) at least three times and had a total of five children. He eventually returned to working as a butcher. Gregg lived in Buna, Texas, north of Orange, in the early 2000s and passed away on September 10, 2005, at the age of 65 years.

Discography

Kay-Bar Dane KBD-044: Willie Gregg and the Velvetones - You Fool / I'll Find You (1966)
Ringo 2001: Willie Gregg - You Fool / How Long (1968)
Bridge-Way 1003: Willie Gregg - Rebel / A Heart Afraid to Break (1968)
Waterflow 702: Willie Gregg and the Country Kings - She's No Good / If You Want to Be My Woman (1969)
Stop ST 1532: Willie Gregg - You Fool / The Girls in Milwaukee (1971)

See also

• Willie Gregg on Stop

• Willie Gregg on Bridge-Way

• Willie Gregg on Kay-Bar Dane

• Willie Gregg on Waterflow

Sources

• Discogs

• 45cat

• Various issues of the Orange Leader 1961-2005

• Official census records accessed through Ancestry.com