Gene McKown

Gene McKown, 1950s

Does anyone ever attempted to tell the whole story of singer Gene McKown? The man who was responsible for such rockabilly favorites as "Rock-a-Billy Rhythm" and "Ghost Memories"? I don't think so. He is the kind of artists that, although being featured constantly on compilations, has been forgotten. Little did I know when first posting a very brief sketch about his career but now, I am happy to present a detailed look on McKown and his music career.

Eugene Edward McKown was born on July 16, 1932, in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. He was the only surviving child of Thomas Rothwell and Virginia M. McKown, his older sister Shirley died at the age of two a month before McKown's birth. He attended North Kansas City High School in Clay County and, by 1950, McKown worked as an filling station attendant but was drafted shortly thereafter, serving in the US Navy on the USS Essex from ca. 1950 or 1951 until ca. 1955. He spent much of his time with the troops in California and reached the rank of a Sergeant. 

McKown made brief trips to Missouri during this time, already playing local dates there, but continued to make his home in San Gabriel, California, a part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. He was managed by his friend Nate Ryan during those years and had a band called the Tune Twisters. Those included guitarists like Don McFarland, Agnes Coates and names like Bill Wilburn. 

Valley News
April 13, 1958

It was in California when McKown made his first record. For Fable Records, a Los Angeles based company owned by local music business man Sandy Stanton, McKown and his band recorded "I'm Still Wondering Why", a duet with band member Fiddlin' Slim, and "My Heart Belongs to You" (#F-571/2) and both sides were composed by McKown and Coates. At that time, they were still playing country music, which is clearly hearable on this record, and it was released in 1957 by Fable.

By then, however, rockabilly and rock'n'roll music had taken over and McKown switched to this style for his next record. He and the Tune Twisters recorded again two Coates-McKown compositions, "Rock-a-Billy Rhythm" and "My Dream Girl", which were released on newly founded Aggie Records in very early 1958 (#1001). The South San Gabriel, California, based label was partly owned by McKown's manager Nate Ryan and might have also involved songwriter and record label owner Les Kangas, who also owned the Kangaroo label and his own publishing arm. Aggie Records was possibly named after Agnes Coates.

During those years, McKown performed on some of California's top shows, including "Town Hall Party" and "Country America", and shared the stage with such well-known names as Wynn Stewart, Wade Ray, Tex Ritter, Freddie Hart, Joe and Rose Lee Maphis, and others. He also appeared on Aggie label-mate Dick Miller's KXLA radio show and in a lot of clubs in the area, including the Palomino in North Hollywood.

"My Dream Girl" reached the regional Cash Box charts in February, so the record sold good enough to secure McKown another release, "Little Mary" and "You and I" (#1003). Two more rockabilly boppers, the A side was another joint effort of McKown and Coates, while the flip was supplied by James Karney (who had recorded for Fable as well). Released at some point in 1958 or 1959, it was the last release on Aggie under McKown's name. However, there were two more records on Aggie that probably bore his involvement. Don McFarland, a guitarist and singer with whom McKown worked at the time, recorded two Agnes Coates written gospel numbers for Aggie entitled "Jesus Is Coming" and "He Showed My the Way" (#1005, 1959). He was accompanied by the Tune Twisters. The band also backed Joe Sterling, who waxed two more Coates gospel songs for Aggie, "I'm Gonna Talk to My Lord" and "Rain Rain Rain" (#1006, 1960).

It seems that McKown and the Tune Twisters resolved their association with Aggie in 1960. The same year, he had a job at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, Texas, playing in a band with Jimmy Dry, Pee Wee Davis, and a young Willie Nelson. While Dry went on to be Jack Green's guitarist, there is no introduction needed for Willie Nelson. McKown returned to Kansas City in the early 1960s and resumed playing local bars and taverns. He played the Frontiers Club in early 1963 with a band known as the Western Swingsters but re-established the Tune Twisters a year later. Also in 1963, he went into partnership with George Hodges, Jr. of the Pier Brass Company in Kansas City. Hodges had founded the Brass record label as an outlet for local talent. McKown not only released two singles under the Brass imprint but also carried out other functions for the label. The first of those two discs featured two great country cuts, "Oh Sorry Me" b/w "My Get Up and Go" (#205) from 1963, followed by "Ghost Memories" b/w "Incidentally" (#238) a year later. The minor-key "Ghost Memories" became one of McKown's best known songs eventually.

Kansas City Star
May 1, 1965

McKown continued to perform around Kansas City in such venues as the Starlite Club, Howard's Bar, the Silver Spur, and others. At the Starlite, McKown once performed a show with Ray Price. He also recorded for small independent labels throughout the 1960s and 1970s. During the mid- and late 1960s, he had a constant connection to Nashville, recording for Music City indies like Sims, Rich, Bilin, Castle, Rose, and Totem. He had a local hit with his song "Charlie O the Mule" on the Bilin label, produced by Bobby Sykes in Nashville. Another of his locally popular songs was "The Kansas City Royals Are on the Go" from 1977, a tribute to the successful baseball team of the same name. As a talented songwriter, McKown composed hundreds of songs and some of them ended up being recorded by Nashville artists like Autry Inman ("Six Rounds of Love and Hate"), Earl Scott, and Ken Springer (both "Tearin' My Head Up Again"). Local artists cut his tunes as well, including Jim Mansell & Sandy West ("My One for the Road"), Lee Holeman ("Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Mr. Bandleader"), and his old buddy Jimmy Dry ("No One Else").

Around 1978, rockabilly lover and musician Rockin' Ronnie Weiser reissued "Rock-a-Billy Rhythm" and "Dream Girl" on his Rollin' Rock label. "Ghost Memories" appeared on the Redita LP "Kansas City Country Rockers" around the same time and his rockabilly recordings were reissued numerous times in the following decades, securing McKown a place in the world of rockabilly music.

Gene McKown in 1993

He continued his performances in the Kansas City area well into the 1980s, then spent some time in St. Jospeh, Missouri, and stayed with his old friend Nate Ryan in Arizona between 1990 and 1992 following a depression. The following year, McKown and Ryan's family moved to Osceola, Missouri, where McKown continued working as a performer. He played the Two Mug Saloon regularly there. McKown was an active member of the local Friends of Jesus Christian Church and went into gospel music a few years later, recording hundreds of cassette tapes with his gospel songs. Music was not only a hobby for KcKown, it was a passion and occupation at the same time and he carried it out throughout his whole life.

McKown was married only for a short time in the 1950s and left behind no close relatives when he passed away on May 18, 2011, in Osceola from a heart attack. He was 78 years old. His final years had been troublesame as he suffered from a stroke in 2006, which ended his musical activities. He also had a gambling problem and in addition, he had to move out of his apartment shortly before his death as the building was demolished.

Discography

Fable 571: Gene McKown & Fiddlin' Sam - I'm Still Wondering Why / Gene McKown - My Heart Belogs to You (1957)
Aggie A-1001: Gene McKown & the Tune Twisters - My Dream Girl / Rock-a-Billy Rhythm (1958)
Aggie A-1003: Gene McKown & the Tune Twisters - Little Mary / You and I (1959)
Brass 205: Gene McKown - Oh Sorry Me / My Get Up and Go (1963)
Brass 209: Gene McKown - Ghost Memories / Incidentally (1964)
Brass 238: Gene McKown - Ghost Memories / Incidentally (1964)
Rich 106: Gene McKown - I'm Out on the Town / That Don't Make Her a Bad Girl (1965)
Sims 228: Gene McKown - Peace Corps / Keeper of Heartaches (1965)
Bilin BS-2200: Gene McKown - Charlie-O-The-Mule / Bobby Sykes - The Legend of a Mule (1965)
Peak P-103: Sandy & Gene - Stop, Look and Listen / River of Shame (ca. 1965)
Rose 101: The Little Green Men & Ray Petersen - U.F.O. / Happy as a Lark (1968)
Totem T-9: Gene McKown - U.F.O. / Happy as a Lark (1968)
Castle CR-2076/7: Gene McKown - Please Mr. Editor / Take It on the Chin (1972)
Column One: Gene McKown - The Kansas City Royals Are on the Go / Jim Martin - The Kansas City Royals Are on the Go (Instr.) (1977)
Rollin' Rock 45-042: Rockabilly Rhythm / Dreamgirl (ca. 1978)

Sources

• Find a Grave entries for Gene McKown and Thomas R. McKown

• Richard Sunderwirth: "Osceola's Candy Man Was the World's Music Man" (St. Clair County Courier), May 27, 2011

• Official census records accessed through ancestry.com

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Rockin' Country Style entry

Jimmie Skinner on Blue Grass Special

Jimmie Skinner - Doin' My Time (Blue Grass Special 45-EP-604), 1961

Jimmie Skinner was an artist of his own. Neither strictly bluegrass, neither mainstream country, Skinner developed his very own sound. Bear Family once said, if the term "alternative country" had been already invented in the 1950s, Skinner would have fitted it 100 percent. Although Skinner was not part of the Nashville establishment, he graced the world with a few classic, like "Doin' My Time". This song has been covered numerous times, including both well-known and obscure versions by Flatt & Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Jeff Johnson, Red Allen, Sherwin Linton, Bill Flagg, Jimmy Martin and others.

James "Jimmie" Skinner was born on April 27, 1909, in Blue Lick, Kentucky, near the town of Berea to William and Emma Skinner. When Skinner was a teenager, the family moved to Hamilton, Ohio, where he began performing on local radio and with his mother and grandmother on the streets. By the early 1930s, Skinner had become an accomplished musician, deeply rooted in the traditional mountain folk music of Kentucky and Ohio. With his older brother Esmer, who was born in 1906, he auditioned unsuccessfully at Gennett Records in 1931.

The brothers tried again in 1941 with the folks at Bluebird to no avail. Skinner had his first success as a songwriter in 1946, when Ernest Tubb recorded his "Let's Say Goodbye (Like We Said Hello)". Afterwards, Skinner's career really took off. He began recording for Red Barn Records in 1947, having two singles released on the small independent label, then signed a management contract with Lou Epstein and switched to Radio Artists Records, the E. T. Herzog Studio in-house label from Cincinnati. This association provided Skinner with his first success, a cover of Jimmy Work's "Tennessee Border". In those years, Skinner was often accompanied on record by his brother Esmer on fiddle or banjo and Ray Lunsford on electric mandolin, which gave many tracks a distinct bluegrass feel. It was a sparse line-up that melted with Skinner's recognizable voice into a sound of its own. 

Jimmie Skinner, 1950s

In the early 1950s, Skinner opened the Jimmie Skinner Music Center, a mail-order and retail record story in Cincinnati. The store was heavily advertised on the powerhouse WCKY radio station and Skinner also hosted a rad show out of his shop that was carried by WNOP from Newport, Kentucky. In 1950, Skinner signed with Capitol Records and switched to Decca in 1953. His most successful phase began when he began recording for Mercury in 1956, scoring such hits as "Will You Be Satisfied That Way", "Dark Hollow", and "I Found My Girl in the U.S.A.". He made another change when he joined Starday Records' roster in 1963.

In the early 1960s, Skinner produced some mail-order EPs on his Blue Grass Special label, including today's selection. These sides were recorded at the King Recording Studio in Cincinnati with Rusty York and the Kentucky Mountain Boys, including Willard Hole, Curley Tuttle, Harold Kress on fiddle, and Billy Thomas on bass.

In 1963, Skinner's manager Epstein died, which led to a downfall of his career. He resurrected it by becoming a regular on bluegrass festivals and continued to record for small labels, including Rich-R-Tone. Skinner moved to Nashville in 1974 and passed away on October 28, 1979, at the age of 70 years.

Recommended reading

• Country Music Hall of Fame

• Bear Family Records 6CD set

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Bear Family Records page

• Grit - Rural American Know-how

• SecondHandSongs

• 45cat entry / 45wporlds/78rpm entry

• Discogs

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Smokey Reason

Smokey Reason, late 1940s or early 1950s
From the collection of the Reason family via John Horton

Smokey Reason was a country music singer and songwriter from the Birmingham, Alabama, area. He had a rather short career, from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s, then dedicating his life to Christianity. Reason had a connection to Walter "Tex" Dixon, working not only in the same city and probanly knowing him therefore, but he also recorded Dixon's "Honky Tonk Swing" in 1949. 

Hiram Blair "Smokey" Reason was born on June 30, 1920, in LaGrange, Georgia, only a few miles away from the Alabama state border, to John and Mary Jane Reason. When World War II began, Reason had already married Dorothy Nell Doss, with whom he had a daughter, Sandra Elaine. However, the war interrupted family life and Reason had to serve in the US Army. 

He eventually divorced from Dorothy and after his discharge, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, for radio work. Around January 1947, Reason and his band, the Rainbow Range Riders, accompanied singer Rubert McClendon on a recording session for DeLuxe Records, which produced six tracks. Four of those were released by DeLuxe, including "Honky Tonk Swing", a song written by fellow Bimingham artist Walter "Tex" Dixon that was later recorded by both Reason and Dixon as well.

The Centreville Press
October 27, 1949

Part of the recording session were also Revin "Rebe" Gosdin and J.C. "Rabe" Perkins, two musicians that worked around Alabama as "Rebe & Rabe". Reason worked regularly with them and by 1949, all three men were broadcasting regularly over WVOK out of Birmingham. It is probable that Reason was also part of the station's Dixie Jamboree, a live stage stage show that originated from the Birmingham National Guard Armory and featured a lot of local talent.

In April 1949, Reason recorded his take on "Honky Tonk Swing", probably at WVOK, but it remained unreleased. Dixon would release his own version two years later for the local Bama record label. Reason spent some time in California and this may have been in the early and mid-1950s. He had a business association with Gene Autry, though details are unknown, and was also acquainted with such stars as Ferlin Husky and Little Jimmy Dickens. Word has it that Reason recorded with both of them, although there is no verification of this rumour.

Reason had two singles out in 1954. He recorded two of his own compositions, "A Boy and a Girl" and "Little Miss Muffet", and ordered his own custom pressed records under the S R label through 4 Star's OP series. 4 Star Records was an independent record company based in Pasadena, California, and the label re-released Reason's songs on 4 Star #X-90. Reason also recorded "Hoot Owl Melody" and "You Danced on My Heart" for two 4 Star various artists EPs.

In 1952, Reason had married Nancy Ellen Laney in Bentonville, Arkansas, and made his home in the nearby Joplin, Missouri, area. By late 1952, Smokey Reason was heard on WMBH out of Joplin and performed around town with different bands until ca. late 1954.

Though, in 1953, Reason had enough of the music business and decided to turn his life around and became a born-again Christian, dedicating his life to God. He stayed in Missouri during the 1950s but moved to Sallisaw, East Oklahoma, at some point in the 1960s. He opened a Baptist Church in in nearby Vian and founded "Camp Joy" in Oklahoma on Lake Tenkiller, a free Chrisian summer camp for underprivileged children. Reason continued his dedication throughout the years and in 1992, received the "Sacred Degree of Doctor of Divinity" from the Great Commission Theological Seminary of Bowling Green, Kentucky, for his enduring service.

Hiram Blair "Smokey" Reason passed away on December 21, 2001, at the age of 81 years in Porum, Oklahoma. He is buried at Coleman Cemetery in Porum. He left behind his wife, who passed away a year later, and their five daughters and 33 grandchildren. His daughter from his first marriage had already passed away in 1996.

Smokey Reason and his Southerners - Honky Tonk Swing (unissued)

Recommended listening

• "The Lost Child" Podcast, Episode 564: Alabama Country Acetates

Sources

• Thanks to Marshal Martin, who pointed me towards Smokey Reason and supplied valuable information. Thanks also to John Horton, who discovered Reason's acetate of "Honky Tonk Swing", donated it to the Southern Music Research Center and interviewed Reason's family.

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Southern Music Research Collection

• Rebe & Rabe entry at Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies

Sandy Sans on Throne

Sandy Sans - What Made Nashville Famous (Made a Poor Man Out of Me) (Throne 51118), 1968

G.W. Sanderford, better known in the late 1960s as “Sandy Sans”, recorded two records for the independent Throne label, which was based in Independence, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. Sanderford might have been originally from Arkansas and the song featured today, "What Made Nashville Famous (Made a Poor Man Out of Me)", featured the involvement of two more Arkansas natives, brothers Keith and Elmo Lincoln Kissee, better known as Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Linn.

The Kissee brothers hailed from Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, near the border to Missouri. By the late 1940s, they had relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where both started a career in country music. Keith Kissee performed as Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Lincoln Kissee as Elmo Linn. They would be active in the city as musicians for decades, recording, performing, and working on radio and TV.

The Throne label was started in 1968 by Bud Throne, who also produced Sandy Sans’ session. It featured Jimmy Dallas on bass and probably musicians from his band - Larry Roberts on lead guitar, Gene Dunlap on piano, and Bob Meyers on drums. Elmo Linn was the A&R men for this session and possibly had a hand in picking the song material. A newspaper article from 1968 cited Sandy Sans that he had high hopes in this record, especially in the top side “What Made Nashville Famous”. However, the single became not a hit.

Billboard November 2, 1968
DJ Ted Cramer's listeners on KCKN in Kansas City loved
Sandy Sans' "What Made Nashville Famous"

Sans had one more single out on Throne the same year, "It's All Over Now" b/w "To Heck With Love". I don't known what happened to G. W. Sanderford alias Sandy Sans after 1968. Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Linn continued their musical activities throughout the years. Elmo Linn died in 1994, Dallas passed away in 2004.

See also
• Jimmy Dallas on Westport

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Discogs

Dixie Hayride

Billboard October 14, 1956
The only mention of the Florence based Dixie Hayride

There were many country stage shows bearing the word "Dixie" in it and Alabama shows were no exception. While there were shows like the Dixie Barn Dance or the Dixie Jamboree, the name "Dixie Hayride" was applied to at least three shows in the mid-1950s!

This post concentrates on the live stage show "Dixie Hayride" out of Florence, Alabama. The cast of the show included straight forward country artists like Dexter Johnson, Kelso Hurston, and Dixie Hayriders (probably the show's house band). However, located in the northeastern corner of the state, Florence was not too far away from Memphis, and the ongoing list of Dixie Hayride entertainers include some names that might be familiar with Memphis music fans like Buddy Bain and Kay Wayne, Maggie Sue Wimberly, Junior Thompson, and an artist named Mason Dixon (which could have been Walter "Tex" Dixon but might have actually been Merle "Red" Taylor, who recorded rockabilly for Meteor Records under this name at the time). The first three of those also recorded for Meteor Records at the time. Thompson was a Florence, Alabama, native.

While the cast of the show included some well-known names, other details like venue, radio station, emcee, and duration, escapes my knowledge, unfortunately. There were two other shows of the same name in Alabama but they were not related to all accounts. The first one was a Saturday afternoon DJ show on WMGY in Montgomery and the second one was a weekday DJ show hosted by Wally Horton on WSGY out of Birmingham. 

If anyone knows more about the Dixie Hayride, please share your information with us!

Sources
• Various Billboard issues
• Various Birmingham News advertisements
• Mason Dixon Rockin' Country Style entry (possibly incorrect info)

Johnny Nace on Rimrock

Johnny Nace - Blue Notes (Rimrock 271), 1968

Johnny Nace was a Missouri based artist that enjoyed a long career in country music during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He was regionally well-known and had a few records that sold good regionally. He is also known to rockabilly audiences for his 1950s and early 1960s singles.

John Percy "Johnny" Nace was born in Knob Noster, Missouri, in 1934, and grew up on a farm outside of nearby Warrensburg. His father was a musician, as had his grandfather and great-grandfather been, so music was rooted deeply in the family. Naturally, Nace started playing guitar and got his first job at age 15, playing square dances with a fiddler. He then became part of the radio show “Hillbilly Jamboree” in Sedalia, Missouri. Nace also worked as a DJ on KOKO in Warrensburg, on KDRO in Sedalia, and later hosted the "Circle Six Ranch" on KMOS-TV.

By 1956, Nace was part of the Missouri Valley Boys that performed on KSIS in Sedalia. The group also included Joe Lender, Goodson Merriott, and F.D. Johnson, who became a recording artist in his own right. Nace, Johnson and the band recorded their first singles in 1958 for the local Marshall, Missouri, based Jan record label. From that point on, Nace continued to record for various labels throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Johnny Nace and the Midnighters, 1960s
with Nace (guitar) and Joe Greene (steel guitar)

In the early 1960s, he formed his band called “The Midnighters” and began recording for Nashville Records in 1962, a subsidiary of Starday Records. He then switched to Topic, another Nashville company, and had a regional hit in 1966 with his first release on the label, “Midnight Train to Georgia”, selling about 20,000 copies. Country Song Round-Up called him a "promising vocal talent" in 1965: "Johnny is one of country music's most promising vocal talents. He is a former star of central Missouri's very popular television show 'The Circle Six Ranch', which was originated from the studios of KMOS-TV, channel six [...]." The promising sales also got him a guest spot on Ernest Tubb's Midnight Jamboree on WSM.

In 1968 he recorded two songs that eventually wound up on Wayne Raney’s Rimrock Records from Concord, Arkansas. Nace recorded both tracks in Kansas City with the Woodchoppers, a band that he had founded earlier that year and included Nace on vocals and guitar, Doug Mastin on steel guitar, Bill McCanally on piano, Bill Acres on bass, and Chuck Addleman on drums. The two songs were “Blue Notes” and “The Kind You Find Tonight”, which were initially released on C.A.R.S. Records – a Kansas City based label. The tracks were then leased to Rimrock and issued again the same year on that label. "Blue Notes" was co-written by Delores (or Dolores) Tolbert, who recorded around the same time for Sonny Deckelman's Van-Deck label out of Harrisburg, Arkansas. She later managed the Jonesboro, Arkansas, bluegrass band "Shady Hill".

His 1969 single on Throne Records, "Sherry Ann", was a good seller as well and Billboard predicted it to reach the Hot Country Songs - which it did not, unfortunately. Nevertheless, Nace continued to perform and record throughout the next decades. By the 1970s, his band was again called the Midnighters and performed in Missouri. His sons Dave and Jimmy also became musicians, leading a rockabilly band in the 1980s that sometimes included their father. Johnny Nace passed away from a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 56 years. 

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Show Me the History - Johnson County-West Central Missouri History

• Nace Brothers website

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Tex Dixon / Mason Dixon / Walter Dixon

Mason Dixon - Queen Of My Heartaches (Reed RR 1064), 1961

Hello Memphis, Goodbye Birmingham!

The Life and Times of Walter "Tex" "Mason" Dixon

Walter Dee Dickey recorded and performed under different names during his decades-long career in country music: Tex Dixon, Mason Dixon, and Walter Dixon, all of them seemingly chosen for different music styles. An Alabama native, Dixon also had connections to both Memphis and Nashville and would record for labels in both cities.

Born Walter Dee (or D.) Dickey in 1925 to Charlie A. and Clara J. Dickey. The family lived in Bessemer, Jefferson County, a suburb of Birmingham. Raised with two brothers and two sisters, he served his country during World War II. By 1950, he had married his lifelong wife Dorothy, with whom he had two daughters.

By then, he had taken up performing country music and had chosen upon the name "Tex Dixon" for performing purposes. In 1950, he started a fifteen minute program on Saturdays that aired over WVOK out of Birmingham. This show later changed to a morning broadcast. Around the same time, he was also a cast member of the station's big Saturday night stage show, the Dixie Jamboree. Dixon was in good companion there with country artists like Jimmy Work, Shorty Sullivan, and Joe Rumore being on WVOK as well.

Dixon started his career as a recording artist in 1951 and cut his first single for Manley Pearson's local Bama record label from Birmingham. "Honky Tonk Swing" b/w "I'm Sorry for You" appeared around June that year and was credited to "Walter (Tex) Dixson and his Radio Ramblers". The disc was the last on the Bama label, which closed afterwards, and left Dixon unsuccessful. 

It seems that Dixon's broadcasts on WVOK ended in 1953. He then founded a band called the "Range Riders" and began working with Jim Atkins around February 1954. Atkins, a musician, DJ, promoter and brother of Chet Atkins, hosted the "Uncle Jim Show" on WBRC and Dixon became a part of it. A good talker and promoter, Atkins began managing Dixon and booked him for many personal appearances in the region. Around the same time, Dixon also performed on WILD's Alabama Jamboree at the Bessemer City Auditorium. Dixon and Atkins started writing songs together and sold some of them to Fairway Music in Hollywood, California, including "The Grass Looks Greener" and "Take Down That New Sign".

Birmingham Post May 4, 1950
A country show at Bessemer City Auditorium featuring Tex Dixon

It was also Atkins who was responsible for Dixon's next record. They had written and recorded "This Doggone Fiddle" and "Two Ton Mama". The former was a recitation by Atkins while the latter was sung by Dixon. Both songs appeared on Alfa 101/2, Atkins' own label but the disc did not enjoy much success. Dixon would work with Atkins on and off during the next years but also trod his own path.

In May 1956, Dixon's next record appeared in the custom series of Starday Records. This disc coupled "Your Lovin' Lies" and "I'm Just Feelin' Sorry for Myself". Again, both songs were credited to the songwriting team of Dixon and Atkins. It should be noted that the same year, Meteor Records of Memphis released a record by "Mason Dixon", which was country fiddler Merle "Red" Taylor in disguise, however. Dixon would not use the "Mason Dixon" name until the 1960s.

Dixon took a break from recording but likely continued to perform around Birmingham. He returned to the studio in 1958 and made his first trip to Memphis, linking up with record label owner Marshall Ellis. Is is possible that Jim Atkins was responsible for Dixon's Memphis connection as Atkins had brought Alabama singer Hoyt Johnson to Memphis based Marshall Ellis and his Erwin record label a year earlier. The first result from this association was "Goodbye She's Gone" (written by Mary Biggs, Hargus Robbins, and Bobby Johnson) and "Slowly Dying" (written by Al Horn), released on Erwin #211. The disc was certainly connected with producer and label executive Murray Nash from Nashville, as the song material came from his stable of songwriters and was published through his publishing arm. It is especially "Goodbye She's Gone" that is very enjoyable. By then, Dixon had linked up with Memphis country music stalwart Eddie Bond, who had recently founded his Stomper Time record label. "I Had to Let You Go" b/w "Mind Full of Memories" appeared around that time on the label (# 1158) and were two Dixon originals. It is possible that Dixon was introduced to Bond by Marshall Ellis, who was a friend of Bond's. 

While all these early recordings of Dixon were stone-hard country music, he turned to popular rock'n'roll in 1960. By then, rock'n'roll music had been on the charts for more than five years but it was not until then that he decided to put his own rock'n'roll style onto vinyl. For this purpose, he had made contacts with Homer Milan, who owned the Reed label in Birmingham. Reed #1045 featured the rocker "I Want My Baby Back" (a Dixon-Atkins collaboration) and the up-tempo pop-oriented "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place", released in the spring of 1960. It was the first record that featured his new pseudonym "Mason Dixon", a reference to the Mason Dixon Line that sets apart the old American South from the North.

Three more singles on Reed followed, sadly none of them were in the same rock'n'roll vein as his first one on the label. His other material for the label pointed more towards country music, with "Big Blue Water" (#1060, 1961) and "Queen of My Heartaches" (#1064, 1961) being the best of them. The flip side of the latter featured one of Dixon's best-known songs, "Hello Memphis", which was composed by Virgil Jones, however. The song made a perfect reference to his own way of turning to Memphis labels every now and then and leaving Birmingham - which he would do for his next record.

When his association with Reed ended, the year 1962 had come and brought new opportunities for Dixon. First, there was Marshall Ellis and his Erwin and Zone labels. Dixon released a new version of "Hello Memphis" backed by a cover of Eddie Noack's "She Can't Stand the Light of Day" on Zone (#520) from around March 1962. Another one came on Erwin #750 and featured the Leon Bowman composition "Funny How Love Can Be" plus the Jimmy Wakely cover "One Has My Name". Local Birmingham songwriter and manager Leon Bowman had also recorded rock'n'roll for Reed in 1958, for which he is best remembered nowadays. Dixon would have a few more records produced by Ellis but first, went back to Birmingham for a new step in his career. As neither country nor rock'n'roll had brought along a real hit, Dixon turned to gospel and changed names once more - this time to the more serious sounding "Walter Dixon".

The same year, preacher and country-turned-gospel singer Walter Bailes (of the Bailes Brothers fame) had come to Birmingham and he had brought his Loyal record label with him. Dixon would record a total of five records for the label during the 1960s. He made some fine gospel performances for Loyal, sometimes supported by the Dotson Brothers. One of his highlights on Loyal includes a rendition of "Where the Soul Never Dies".

In 1964, he recorded for Starday's Nashville imprint as Walter "Tex" Dixon and laid down a good one with "Ballad of John Rollin". He continued to release records through the 1960s and 1970s and Dixon turned his attention to Nashville labels during the 1970s. He recorded such Alabama labels as Crown Ltd. as well as Three Star and for Nashville based companies like Brite Star and Macho. Probably his most successful from this era - or altogether - was "Radar Blues" on Brite Star in 1973, which made #33 on the Record World charts according to a Birmingham News article. It was received well in different markets - except for Birmingham.

It seems that at some point in the late 1970s, after years and years of recording, Dixon gave up. In his later life, he lived in Vance, Alabama, a few miles southwest of the Birmingham area. Since 1978, some of his songs had been re-released by European and Canadian country and rockabilly collector labels like Redita and White Label, helping to make his name popular among younger music fans. However, this happened likely without the knowledge of Dixon. Walter "Tex" "Mason" Dixon passed away on February 11, 1986, at the age of 60 years. He is buried at Highland Memorial Gardens in Bessemer.  

See also

• Jim Atkins on Coral

• Leon Bowman on Reed

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• 45cat/78rpm entry 

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Gospel Jubilee entry

• Discogs

• Official census records access through ancestry.com

Ramon Maupin

Rocking Rufus from Memphis
The Story of Ramon Maupin

This text is based on an excerpt from American Music Magazine #152 (December 2019)

I wrote about Memphis singer and songwriter Ramon Maupin back in 2019 for American Music Magazine as part of my extensive look on Fernwood Records. However, as my focus was not set on Maupin but on the record label, I now feel his story can be extended as well. And, moreover, I want to correct a few false statements I made back then.

A native of Memphis, Ramon Maupin was a mainstay in the city’s music scene without causing a stir. He left behind three singles on Memphis labels and a couple of songs recorded by other artists. Maupin also had the honor to have the first release on Fernwood after Billy Lee Riley switched to Sun.

Maupin was a vocalist and guitarist with the Dixie Ramblers in 1956 when Wallace was searching for a singer to replace Riley. He found compensation in Maupin, who recorded his "No Chance" / "Love Gone" inn 1956 in Wallace’s tiny garage studio. Asked by Steve Kelemen, Maupin remembered his record as follows: "I remember it played on a jukebox down in Memphis for over a year and sold a few thousand copies. I remember someone saying ‘That song of yours ain’t country. It ain’t R&R. It ain’t nothing.’ It kind of hurt my feelings a little bit. Then I got to thinking about it and said well that makes it different, don’t it. So I didn’t feel bad about it later on." For "No Chance", this was definitely the case but "Love Gone" was a strictly country cut with dreamy steel guitar fills by Bud Deckelman.

Maupin, however, proved that he could rock with two more records on Fernwood (1958) and the Buford Cody/Jody Chastain owned Memphis imprint (1961). Regarding his second Fernwood single "Rocking Rufus" / "What's the Use", recording and release date information is disputed. It was reportedly recorded in November of 1957 and released by Wallace at the tail end of the year in December. There are copies which have "JAN 24 1958" stamped on the label (which was usually done at radio stations when they were receiving their copy), which supports the December 1957 release date. Though, the song wasn’t copyrighted until March 12, 1958. Both "Rockin’ Rufus" and "What’s the Use" are great examples of late 1950s Memphis rock ’n’ roll, with a solid drum beat and a shuffling and tickling piano in the back ground. The faster side, "Rockin’ Rufus", featured the help of sax man Ace Cannon, who was the inspiration for the song, as Maupin recalled: […] He [Ace Cannon] made an impression on me because he was such a good player. I said well, I’m going to write a song about this sax player and I got him to play on it." Apart from Maupin and Cannon, the line-up included Scotty Moore on guitar, Stan Kesler on bass, and unknown musicians on piano and drums.

In a letter to the local Midland, Texas, record shop owner Cecil "Pop" Holifield dated February 22, 1958, Fernwood label manager Scotty Moore explained about Maupin’s record: "Ramon Maupin’s #105 ‘What’s the Use’ has been slowly picking up speed here. I just signed a release on it to Sparton of Canada." Concrete numbers of sales for this release are not documented but obviously, the disc did not sell too much outside the Memphis area, although Moore must have put faith in it, as his comment in this letter emphasizes. The Canadian release carried the number Sparton #4-552R.

Maupin's third and last single release came in 1961 for the newly founded Memphis record label. Again, Maupin provided the debut release for this company, comprising the rocker "Hey Rena", written by Memphis artist Fuller Todd, and the slower paced "(Maybe) Tomorrow We'll Know", a Fuller Todd-Jody Chastain work. Maupin had already signed with Memphis in October 1959, after his second Fernwood single had not clicked, but the recording and release process was evolving slowly. A session was set up not until the next year, using the Fernwood studio on North Main Street, with an unknown line-up of musicians. The two songs weren't released by Cody and Chastain until early 1961, when they finally hit the market on Memphis #101. Again, the record sold only locally. As an interesting side note, Harold Jenkins alias Conway Twitty heard "Tomorrow We'll Know" and covered his for MGM Records, although his version remained unreleased, unfortunately.

Billboard February 27, 1961, C&W review

Catalog of Copyright Entries

However, Maupin continued his music career, although he made no more commercial recordings under his own name. He was a close associate of Charlie Feathers, who became some kind of a mentor to him. Maupin played rhythm guitar for about 15 years in Feathers’ background band, performing with Tommy Tucker for a time in a West Memphis club. Rumor goes that Maupin joined Feathers’ Musical Warriors for a short time in 1956 as a drummer, a claim that likely can only be cleared by Maupin himself.

Maupin was not only a good vocalist but also a talented songwriter, He had penned all of his Fernwood material by himself and some of his composition were also recorded by other artists. Already in 1958, Jimmy Pritchett recorded Maupin's "Nothing On My Mind" for Stan Kesler's Crystal label. With former Sun recording artist Sonny Wilson, Maupin wrote "Troubled Times", which was recorded by Wilson and saw release on the Plaza and Candix labels in 1961. Charlie Feathers also recorded their joint composition "Jungle Fever" for Charlie Kahn’s Kay label in December 1958 at radio WHBQ. With Roland Janes on lead guitar, Maupin remembered performing rhythm guitar on some of the takes, though he was not sure if the issued take featured his playing. "Jungle Fever" song became Maupin's most covered song with versions by the Cramps, the Wild Wax Combo, Tav Falco, the Nomads, and others. Maupin took also part in one of Feathers’ sessions held in 1968 at the Select-O-Hits studios in Memphis as a rhythm guitarist. With Feathers, Maupin also penned "Why Pretend I Can Win" and Feathers recorded Maupin's "It's Just That Song" in 1976 for Vetco.

In later years, Maupin recorded mostly privately at home with his family and kept music as a hobby. Some sources stated that Maupin passed away in the 1980s, which is not true. In the 2000s, he made his home in Starksville, Mississippi and made a short appearance in 2008 on a WFMU Charlie Feathers special broadcast. In February 2011, Maupin performed at the opening of the exhibition "Roots of Rockabilly" at the Rogers Historical Museum in Rogers, Arkansas. The exhibit dealt with Slim Wallace (who was from nearby Paragould, Arkansas) and his Fernwood record label. This is the last time we heard of Ramon Maupin.

If anyone knows about Ramon Maupin's whereabouts or has more information on him, please feel free to contact me.

See also
• The Memphis label

Sources
• Dave Travis: "Memphis Rockabillies, Hillbillies & Honky Tonkers, Volume 4" (2004), Stomper Time Records, liner notes
• Ronald "Slim" Wallace Exhibit (arkansasonline.com)
• Charlie Feathers Tribute radio show on WFMU with special guests Billy Miller, Bubba Feathers, and Ramon Maupin
• Obituary of Ramon Maupin's mother
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• 45cat entry
• Discogs
• Sonny Wilson 45cat entry

Lee Carzle on Erwin

Lee Carzle with Bobby Mizzel and the Le-Bow's - I'm askin' But I'm Not Gettin' (Erwin E-77), 1957 (or 1959)
Lee Carzle Hood was born on October 7, 1935, to Sim Andrew and Dollie L. Hood in Alabama. He grew up with five siblings. In the late 1940s, Hood served his country and spent time overseas in Saudi Arabia around 1949. Upon his return in 1950, he lived in Mississippi but eventually returned to Alabama. In November 1956, Hood married Shirley Oral Lane in Jefferson County, Alabama (which includes the state's capital Birmingham). The couple had two daughters.

Lee Carzle Hood, late 1950s

Hood was also a singer and musician. In the mid- to late 1950s, he linked up with local Birmingham musician, songwriter, and manager Leon Bowman, who in turn organized a deal with Marshall Ellis' Erwin record label from Memphis, Tennessee. As Lee Carzle, Hood recorded "I'm Askin' But I'm Not Gettin'" and "What's In Store for Me" and both Bowman originals. He was backed by local Birminham pianost Bobby Mizzell as well as the Le-Bow's, probably Bowman's own group. 

Terry Gordon of the excellent "Rockin' Country Style" discography project gives the release date as December 1957 (estimated) and it seems that most others, including Adam Komorowski in his liner notes for the Proper Records box set "Rocking Memphis", adapted this date. However, a Birmingham News article from September 13, 1959, mentions that "Lee Carzle has gone on record for Erwin [...] both sides of which were written by Leon Brown [!]." So this means the record either did not come into existence until 1959 or it indeed came out in late 1957 but did not get any recognition from the local press until two years later.

Come 1961, Hood had signed a deal with the Starday subsidiary Nashville Records and recorded two singles for the label. "Doorway to Your Heart" b/w "Two Eyes, Two Arms, Two Lips" was released that year on Nashville #5032. Again, both songs were composed by Leon Bowman. A second single followed three years later in 1964 with two songs Hood had penned with his sister Euell, "I'll Go to the Jumping Off Place with You" and "I've Never Made a Hit" (Nashville # 5193). It seems that this was his last release.

In the 1980s and in the 2000s, European rockabilly collections started featuring Carzle's "I'm Askin' But I'm Not Gettin'". Hood passed away on February 8, 2008, at the age of 72 years in Walker County, Alabama. He is buried in adjacent Marion County.

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Familysearch.org

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• 45cat entry

Don McKinnon on Sound Stage 7

Don McKinnon - Country Guitar (Sound Stage 7 45-2529), 1964

Not a household name in country music history, Don McKinnon was a songwriter in the late 1950s and 1960s, having made the majority of his work in the Nashville music scene. Besides that, he also recorded occasionally, including this gem of mid 1960s Nashville country. He is not to be confused with the west coast radio personality of the same name, who was killed in the 1960s.

Donald Ladson "Don" McKinnon was born on December 30, 1933, to Willie Ladson and Mary Grace McKinnon in Eastman, Georgia, where he grew up on a farm. McKinnon became interested in music at an early age and eventually became a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, guitar, bass, steel guitar, and harpsichord. One day, McKinnon was at a farmer's market in Atlanta, sitting on a bulk of watermelons, singing and playing his guitar. As it happened, country singer Red Sovine witnessed the young singer and advised him to try his luck in Nashville.

By 1959, McKinnon was under contract with Blanche Carter's music publishing in Augusta. At that time, he had already written about 150 songs. However, he followed Sovine's advice and went to Music City, U.S.A. in the early 1960s, where he soon became acquainted with some of the big names in country music.

McKinnon's debut single was released in 1961 on the Beltone label and he followed up with a single on the newly founded Sound Stage 7 label, a subsidiary of Monument Records. "Country Guitar" b/w "Sing Me a Sad Song, Willie" were of course McKinnon originals and produced by Hank Cochran, who worked for Pamper Music. Despite guest spots on the Grand Ole Opry and in Las Vegas, none of his singles really caught on and McKinnon enjoyed a rather quiet life - first in the Augusta, Georgia, area and since 1960 in Beech Island, South Carolina. He had another more release on the Antenna label in 1966 and two more singles out on the Soundwaves label in the 1980s. Although he was also an accomplished singer, he never found the big break as a performer, recording only sporadically, but enjoyed success as a composer.

Billboard June 1, 1963

In 1963, Hank Snow had recorded his "Town of Laredo" and Snow obviously took a liking at McKinnon, supporting him and possibly making him acquainted with Hal Smith. Smith, who worked with Pamper Music, signed him to a songwriter's contract the same year. In 1966, Johnny Cash cut his version of McKinnon's "Bottom of a Mountain", which was also recorded by Tex Williams two years later. In 1970, Carl Phillips recorded his "Such a Short Time (to Forget So Much)". Many lesser known artists cut his songs during the 1960s and 1970s as well.

In the 1980s, his career was boosted one last time, as he shot a music video with his song "Crippled Cowboy", inspired by a Vietnam veteran he had met, and he released the video under his nickname of "Tracker" (he got that name because of his hunting passion). The moderate success in turn led to several appearances on Nashville TV network. He also operated a very short-lived record label in the late 1980s, Tracker Records.

McKinnon retired from music and his day job in 1993 and spent his time with his family, with his part-time leather holsters business, hunting, and quick-draw pistol shooting, taking part in several contests. His wife Mary, who was also a songwriter, died in 2013. Don McKinnon followed her on June 15, 2016, in Aiken, South Carolina, at the age of 82 years. He is buried at First Baptist Church of Beech Island Cemetery in his adopted hometown of Beech Island.

Discography

Beltone 1013: Should I Kiss You / I See In the Paper (1961)
Sound Stage 7 2529: Country Guitar / Sing Me a Sad Song Willie (1964)
Antenna 6442: Blues / Fat, Fat, Fat (1966)
Soundwaves 4805: If I Die Tomorrow / Roses (and Other Lovely Things) (1988)
Soundwaves 4809: Bottom of a Mountain / Such a Short Time to Forget (1988)

See also
• New Star and Gaylor / Pamper Music and Its Labels

Sources
• Don Rhodes: "McKinnon was everyday man who wrote country hits" (2016), Augusta Chronicle
• Obituary
• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry
• Discogs