Cecil Buffalo on Sho-Boat

Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - The Big Red (Sho-Boat 102), 1964
Cecil Buffalo was obviously a big football fan, as the majority of his recorded output were football themed. He had a short music career while studying in Little Rock and was associated with J. Paul Scott, who wrote several Arkansas football related songs.

Cecil Miles Buffalo, Jr., was born on November 28, 1944, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Cecil Miles, Sr., and Melba Rose Buffalo. Buffalo had two sisters, Connie Jean and Shearon. In the early 1960s, he enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and eventually earned an Art degree.

While being a student at UA, Buffalo had a short-lived career in music, as he began recording for local Arkansas labels in 1964. The Arkansas Razorbacks football team was as popular and successful as ever at that time and the same year, Buffalo and a band known as "The Prophets" recorded "The Big Red" (about the Razorbacks' 1964 win over Texas) and "The Wild Hogs". Both songs were written and produced by J. Paul Scott, who was responsible for several Razorbacks themed songs and even a whole Razorbacks album. In fact, Buffalo and the Prophets were present at the actual game, performing another J. Paul Scott song "Jon Brittenum, Quarterbackin' Man".

By then, Buffalo was probably living in Hot Springs, Arkansas. "The Big Red" b/w "The Wild Hogs" were released on the Sho-Boat label (#102), which had ties to the city as well - although I'm not quite sure if the label was actually based in Hot Springs. He had another record out on Marshall E. Ellis' Zone label from Memphis, comprising "Crazy Eyes" and "Don't Hold Your Breath Till I Cry" (#Z-1075, 1964).

Probably the following year, Buffalo recorded one more of Scott's songs, "Razorback Number One", which was coupled with a garage instrumental by a local band called the "Five Sounds". Both recordings were released first by the GalARK label and then by Lakeside Records from Hot Springs. All three of his recordings were also featured on the LP "The Big Red Album" on Bobby Crafford's Razorback label.

It seems that Buffalo maintained music as a sideline and took a day job to earn a living. He later owned Buffalo Oil Company in Hot Springs. I found another mention of him in the 1970 Catalog of Copyrights with his composition "Scooter Joe".

Cecil Buffalo passed away on August 17, 2010, in Hot Springs. He is buried at Edgewood Memorial Park in North Little Rock.

Discography

Sho-Boat 102: Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - The Big Red / The Wild Hogs (1964)
Zone Z-1075: Cecil Buffalo - Crazy Eyes / Don't Hold Your Breath Till I Cry (1964)
GalARK 2001: Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - Razorback Number One / The Five Sounds - Clumsy Dragon (ca. 1965)
Lakeside 2001: Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - Razorback Number One / The Five Sounds - Clumsy Dragon (ca. 1965)

Sources

• Discogs

• Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Obituary

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• Orville Henry, Jim Bailey: "The Razorbacks: A Story of Arkansas Football" (University of Arkansas Press), 1996, page 222

• George Schroeder: "Hogs! A History" (Fireside), 2005, page 53

Happy Wilson

Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys at WAPI
(Birmingham, Alabama), ca. mid 1950s
featuring Ted Crabtree on steel guitar, "Prof." Huel Murphy on piano,
Marion Worth on vocals, and Wilson on rhythm guitar

Happy Wilson

The Golden River Boy from Birmingham

In the 1940s and 1950s, Happy Wilson was a mainstay on Alabama's country music scene. Heard over radio and TV, on record, and through live performances, he gained popularity in the Heart of Dixie since the late 1930s. One of his band members, Sidney Louie "Hardrock" Gunter from Birmingham, Alabama, is better remembered today than Wilson as Gunter became a favorite among rockabilly fans due to his 1950s country boogie and rockabilly recordings. Though, Wilson became widely known and connected in the Nashville scene of the 1950s and 1960s, working as a publisher and producer.

Eugene Burnett Wilson was born on June 29, 1919, in Haleyville, Winston County,  in the north of Alabama, to Acey Eugene and Ollie Wilson. Wilson had a younger brother, Asa Eugene (born in 1926), and an older brother James Huel, who died as an infant in 1917. Haleyville was a small but rising town in the 1920s and the life of the Wilson family was simple. By 1930, Wilson's parents had divorced and he was living with his mother alone.

Wilson was interested in music at an early age, especially in folk music, and was fascinated by the new possibilities that radio had to offer. He loved listening to old-time folk musicians on the radio. His father took him to a wandering music teacher that had settled in Haleyville for the summer and Wilson enjoyed some music lessons. He learned drums and guitar, eventually sticking with guitar and singing.

In the mid 1930s, at the age of 15, Wilson started appearing on local radio. He began working with several bands on different radio stations like it was common for country musicians of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared with the Happy Valley Gang over WBRC (Birmingham, Alabama), with Tex Dunn's Virginia Hillbillies over WBRC and WAPI (both Birmingham), with the Bar-X Cowhands on WSGN, with Red & Raymond and the Boys from Old Kentuck over WSB (Atlanta, Georgia), and finally with his own band, the Golden River Boys, on WALA (Mobile, Alabama). One of the earliest members of the Golden River Boys was Birmingham native Hardrock Gunter, a guitarist and singer who went on to have a solo career in the 1950s.

By the early 1940s, Wilson and his mother were living in Birmingham, Alabama. Shortly before World War II broke out, Wilson was part of a two-weeks tour with Roy "Tucson" Corrigan and the Three Musquiteers. With the advent of the war, Wilson was drafted into the US Army. During his four-year serve, he often entertained fellow soldiers and was part of shows. Though, he also took part in battles and became highly decorated with the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry's Badge, Good Conduct Ribbon, and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. He reached the rank of a Staff Sergeant.

Following his discharge, Wilson took up music again and reformed the Golden River Boys in 1946. Throughout the second half of the 1940s and the early 1950s, Wilson became a mainstay in Alabama's country music scene, appearing on his long-time radio station WAPI as well as on its sister station WAFM and even had a popular TV show on WAFM-TV. That show started in 1950 and was the first country music television show in Alabama.

In 1947, Wilson got the chance to record his music for the first time. He and the Golden River Boys recorded four songs in Birmingham late that year, which were released on the small, local Vulcan label. Through 1948, his popularity continued to grow and in early 1949, the major Decca label invited him for a recording session to Nashville on February 7 at the Castle Studio. Four more tracks were cut that day, which saw release in February and July 1949. The line-up of the Golden River Boys included at that time Ted Crabtree on steel guitar, Billy Tucker on fiddle, Sammy Pruitt on guitar, Jim O'Day on bass, and Wilson on guitar and vocals.

Billboard August 20, 1949

Around the same time, Wilson was making a name for himself as a songwriter, too - at least a bit. Little Jimmy Dickens' recorded "A-Sleepin' at the Foot of the Bed", which Wilson co-wrote with Luther Patrick and was based on his childhood experiences. The song peaked at #6 on Billboard C&W charts. In 1953, Webb Pierce recorded Wilson's "I Haven't Got the Heart" and eventually, Hank Thompson cut his "Mark of a Heel" in 1971.

Sales if Wilson's discs must have been not too promising as there was no second session for Decca but on September 19, 1950, Wilson was back in the same studio - this time for MGM. "Haunted House Boogie" and "Mister Big" were the only results that day and both were released on MGM #K10877 in January 1951. Unfortunately, this remained his only effort for the label, although Jack Rivers covered "Haunted House Boogie" for the same label.

Since August 1950, Wilson had an additional TV show for WAFM-TV with his old buddy Hardrock Gunter entitled "The Happiness Boys". Gunter had been a member of Wilson's band since its reformation in 1946 but also worked solo on and off. Gunter had already rejoined the Golden River Boys earlier in 1950 and had signed a recording contract with Manny Pearson's local Bama label in Birmingham. On his first session, he was backed by the Golden River Boys, who were hiding under the name of "The Pebbles" on that occasion. One of the songs recorded was "Birmingham Bounce" (rel. April 1950, Bama #104), which was a good seller for Gunter and prompted Decca to let Red Foley cut a cover version, which became a #1 country hit.

Billboard January 27, 1951, MGM ad for Wilson's
latest release "Haunted House Boogie"

Wilson and his first wife Odean were living in Birmingham with Wilson's mother in 1950 but divorced in January 1951. Following his divorce, Wilson toured with western actor Lash LaRue and played minor roles in his films for a short time around 1951. At that time, he made his home in Marietta, Georgia. Two years later, in May 1953, Wilson married Mary Ann Ward, who was 11 years younger than him and an amateur singer on WAPI and WAPI-TV.

By the mid 1950s, Wilson's wife was performing with him and the Golden River Boys as "Marion Worth". They could be heard over WABT in Birmingham but still performed on WAPI as well. In 1955, Wilson celebrated his 20th anniversary with WAPI and therefore, organized a two-hour long radio broadcast it the Agricultural Building at the Alabama State Fairgrounds that was attended by 3,000 people.

Around the same time, Wilson and his wife had connected with Slim Lay, a Huntsville, Alabama, DJ. They appeared with Lay's show and Wilson took a job as a DJ with Huntsville station WBHP. In 1956, Wilson, Lay, and fellow DJ Dewey Webb went into partnership to set up Dash Records. The debut release comprised Slim Lay's "Asiatic Flu" and "Trouble Along the Cable" (on which Lay was joined by Wilson) on Dash #100. More releases were planned but the the trio had to close down the label after legal action from another Dash record company from California.

In 1959, Wilson's wife released her first record. It comprised "Are You Willing, Willie" and "This Heart of Mine" (the latter written by Wilson) and was issued by Cherokee Records of Huntsville. This label seems to have been associated with Wilson as well, as all of the songs released were published through his Golden River Publishing company.

The top side of Worth's single "Are You Willing, Willie" reached #12 on Billboard's C&W charts and was the first of several moderate hits that Worth enjoyed. The disc was also taken over by the Guyden label, which released a follow-up, "That's My Kind of Love", wich went even higher and peaked at #5 in 1960. Wilson and Worth moved to Nashville to work on Worth's career. Wilson and Lay secured her a record contract with Columbia Records, where she enjoyed several more hits in the next few years. She also joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1963.

In the meantime, Wilson had built up a career in the music business as well. While he had been a popular performer in Alabama, he concentrated on music publishing, producing, and other issues of the business in Nashville. Although he worked with Central Songs since 1961, he also worked part-time as a DJ on WENO in Madison, Tennessee, as early as 1963. He left Central Songs and became director at Tree Enterprises in 1968. For some time, he even headed Capitol Records' country music department.

Wilson retired from the music business in February 1973 after 38 years of devoting his life to music. However, his retirement did not last long as he returned to working in October that same year, forming Broadland Music, Inc. with Canadian artist Gary Buck.

Happy Wilson died way too early on August 24, 1977, in Nashville through an automobile accident. He was 58 years old. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. In 1981, Wilson was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.

Discography

Vulcan 5000: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - I Know My Buddy's Sleeping There / Fancy Rythm (1946)
Vulcan 5001: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - This Heart of Mine / Joe Rumore with Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - I Butted In (1948)
Decca 46153: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - Go Down to the Graveyard / Forty Miles at Sea (1949)
Decca 46171: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - How Long / Comes a Time (1949)
MGM K10877: Happy Wilson - Haunted House Boogie / Mister Big (1951)
Dash 100: Slim Lay - Asiatic Flu / Slim Lay and Happy Wilson - Trouble Along the Cable (1956)

See also
• Alabama Hayloft Jamboree
• Cornhuskers Jamboree

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Free State of Winston (Winston County Online Database)

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Entries for Happy Wilson on 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm

• Entry for Happy Wilson and Slim Lay on 45cat 

• SecondHandSongs

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

• "Broadcasting, Telecasting (Volume 48)", 1955, page 95

• various Billboard news items

Verna May on Twin Town Productions

Verna May - Mama Call Me Home (Twin Record Productions No.#), ca. 1972
This caught my eye as the label was located in North Miami, Florida. I couldn't come up with any substantial information on Verna May, therefore we focus on the label.

Twin Record Productions was a label active in the 1960s and 1970s. A division of Bill Stith's Trip Universal from North Miami, it was also associated with Stith's "Great World of Sound" (GWS) imprint. Stith was a musician, songwriter, and producer originally from Cincinnati, who was operating several labels and companies during the 1960s and 1970s. He also released a few singles under his own name.

Arranger of this disc was William George "Bud" Reneau, who was a songwriter, producer, and record label owner. Reneau was involved with Stith's business as well as operating his own Saxony label with Paul Trefzger in Cincinnati. He wrote several hit songs and produced/arranged records for Musicor, Nugget, Jamie, among others. Doyle Marsh, who is the co-writer of Verna May's "Mama Call Me Home", often wrote songs with Reneau.

The Twin Record Productions label first came onto the scene in 1968 and had more than 100 releases. It lasted at least until 1973.

Sources
• Discogs
• Bill Stith 45cat entry
• Bud Reneau Discogs entry
• Bud Reneau SecondHandSongs

B. Bumble & the Stingers on Rendezvous

B. Bumble & the Stingers - Apple Knocker (Rendezvous R-179), 1962
I recently acquired a couple of records by B. Bumble & the Stingers. I mainly bought them because of the band's catchy name. I wasn't familiar with neither their story nor their music and for years, I had assumed them to be some kind of a mid-west rock'n'roll band. Little did I know! I was surprised when I found out B. Bumble & the Stingers was the name of an ever-changing line-up of California studio musicians.

B. Bumble & the Stingers was the brainchild of black studio musicians Rene Hall, Earl Palmer, and Plas Johnson. All of them hailed from Louisiana but had relocated to California by then and were busy studio musicians of the early 1960s. Due to their hectic studio schedule, they weren't able to tour but nevertheless opted to release recordings to earn make some money along the way. Their first studio project was a rocked up version of the Glenn Miller classic "In the Mood", which was released as by the Ernie Fields Orchestra on Rendezvous Records in 1959, hitting the #4 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 and it also charted in the R&B field. 

Billboard May 1, 1961

Encouraged by this success, Rene hall came up with the idea of B. Bumble & the Stingers, recording a rock'n'roll version of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's classical piece "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" with probably Hall and Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Ernie Freeman on piano, Plas Johnson on saxophone, Red Callender on bass, and Earl Palmer on drums with Kim Fowley producing the session. The piece was based loosely on Jack Fina's arrangement "Bumble Boogie" from 1947 (which had become a #7 hit credited to Freddy Martin & Orch.). Released early in 1961 as "Bumble Boogie" with "School Day Blues" on the flip (Rendezvous #140), the song made the #21 spot on Billboard's Hot 100. The successful principle to rock up classical pieces was set.

As it became obvious, a touring band was needed to handle gigs and promotional appearances. As none of the studio musicians were available, a teenage band from Ada, Oklahoma was engaged to go on tour. This group comprised Fred Richards, Don Orr on drums and R.C. Chambers, who acted as B. "Billy" Bumble on piano. Later incarnations also included Terry Anderson and Jimmy King on guitars.

Their follow-ups to "Bumble Boogie", again recorded with the same group of session musicians, failed to repeat the success. "Boogie Woogie" b/w "Near You" (Rendezvous #151, June 1961), barely made it to the Hot 100, reaching #89 for just one week. Subsequent releases failed to chart altogether and Rendezvous Records started to lose interest in the project.

Producer Kim Fowley had worked out a rock'n'roll arrangement on Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" from the Nutcracker Suite, which he copyrighted. Due to Rendezvous' owner Rod Pierce's lack of interest, Fowley took the piece to H.B. Barnum, a pianist who recorded it with his band on Del Rio Records as "Nut Rocker", credited to "Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks". Rod Pierce got word of that release, thought the "original" B. Bumble & the Stingers could do better, and sensed a hit. The group was called back into the studio (with Ernie Freeman being unavailable due to a hangover and spontaneously replaced by Al Hazan).

Released with "Nautilus" on the flip side in early 1962 (Rendezvous #166), the song became a #23 hit for B. Bumble & the Stingers. It became even more popular in the UK, reaching the top of the charts there on the Stateside label. In the wake of this success, Del Rio re-released the original version through Dot as "The Original Nut Rocker". The touring version of the band flew over to the UK for a tour to promote "Nut Rocker" as well as one of its follow-ups, "Apple Knocker", which went nowhere, however.

Billboard July 14, 1962, spotlight review

Of course, the difference between the studio take and live performances were recognizable due to the different line-ups. The studio musicians were professionals, playing on hundreds of recordings a year, while the live members were not (though they probably weren't bad either). It was, in most cases, Rene Hall, who taught them the arrangements of the songs. Though, a difference was there. B. Bumble & the Stingers played the Cavern Club in Liverpool on October 19, 1962, during their UK tour. Spencer Leigh cited David Boyce, an eyewitness to the group's appearance there, in his book "The Cavern Club": "I remember standing in Frank Hessy's the night B. Bumble & the Stingers were on at the Cavern as they wanted to borrow a double-bass. They were travelling around on trains and they had no equipment with them. The drummer had a snare drum and the pianist played the Cavern piano." Leigh further cited Billy Hatton, another witness: "The most disappointing band I ever saw at the Cavern was B. Bumble & the Stingers, but it wasn't all their fault. They featured a piano on 'Nut Rocker'. There was an old upright piano against the wall at the Cavern and no one had tuned it. It wasn't even miked up. The sound wasn't right and you could tell that they weren't into it. I said to the guitarist: 'Do you want someone to stand by the piano with a microphone?' and he said 'No, he's got such a strong left hand, he'll be all right.' They didn't even have a bass player. [...]" 

Billboard May 22, 1961
This was a fake bio of the band, likely made up by Rendezvous Records for better promotion

A few more recordings were made and released on Rendezvous but none of them reached the charts. The band's last disc was released in November 1962, comprising "Baby Mash" b/w "Night Time Madness" (Rendezvous #192). R.C. Chandler, the "live" B. Bumble, to continued to tour under this name for some time and a few more records appeared, produced by Rod Pierce and Kim Fowley, on such labels as Dymo, Wax, and Triad. It is likely that these recordings were made by studio musicians, although the line-up might have differed from the original studio band. Chandler stopped touring as B. Bumble at some point and eventually worked with bands like Spiro and Cornbread in the eastern Oklahoma area.

"Nut Rocker" unexpectedly had a second career in 1972, when Stateside re-released it and the song went straight to the Top 20 again. UK Ace Records released a CD with the complete output plus unreleased recordings of the band in 1995, entitled "Nut Rockers, Bumble Boogie, Apple Knocker, and all the classics". Some of the original touring equipment, donated by Chandler's family, is now in the possession of the Fort Smith Museum of History in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Recommended reading:

• Ace Records' B. Bumble & the Stingers CD on Bear Family Records
• Facebook Fanpage

Sources

• Blackcat Rockabilly

• Nostalgia Central

• 45cat entry

• Spencer Leigh: The Cavern Club: "The Rise of the Beatles and Merseybeat" (McNidder and Grace), 2015

Peak Records

The King Clothiers' Short Venture Into Music Production
Lansky Brothers' Peak Records

Among the many smaller labels in Memphis' music history, the Peak record label stands out due to its unusual ownership. Guy and Bernard Lansky, simply known as the Lansky Brothers, owned a clothing shop on Beale Street, known as "Lansky Bros. Men's Shop", which gained international fame as Elvis Presley's clothier. One of the lesser known aspects is that the brothers also went into the recording business in 1958, building a small recording studio in the back of their shop and founding the Peak label.

What became the Lansky Bros. shop started in 1946 on 126 Beale Street as Lansky Bros. Army Surplus store, selling leftover Army supplies from World War II, which had come to an end a year earlier. The Lanskys were Memphis born and Guy Lansky served his country during World War II, running an Army surplus store in Italy.

By the early 1950s, Army supply was harder to come by but, on the other hand, there was a growing market for young men's clothes, especially for the jazz and rhythm and blues scene. The brothers jumped at the chance and remodeled their store, developing it into a full-fledged clothes shop for men. The store soon gained popularity, especially among the many young, hip musicians like B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Lee Riley, Little Willie John, Little Richard, Pat Boone, and of course Elvis Presley.

In 1958, Presley had developed from being a southern "western bop" singer to a national cultural phenomenon and rock'n'roll was the thing. Every record label tried to find their own Elvis, no matter if it was a small independent company or a major record label. The Lanskys thought that, too, and - probably from the money they earned with the store - they invested in a small recording studio behind their warehouse which they named "American Recording".

Apparently, the venture was established by ten different business men from Memphis, many of them being silent partners, though. According to Billboard, iron manufacturer Abe Sauer was chairman of the board and Bernie Freiden probably took over the function of musical director. Curtis Foster also served as an executive for the label. Another of those ten businessmen was Howard R. Chambers, who did a lot of songwriting for the label. The Lanskys' exact occupation with the label remains foggy, unfortunately.

Billboard August 10, 1958: "Peak Records Sells Artist By the Piece"
Article on Peak's business strategy

In contrast to other labels, the Peak venture was set up a little bit different by the board. According to a Billboard article from August 10, 1959, the Peak label put half of the financial means behind the artists' first release, seeking for investors to put on the other half to finance the issue. This principle should continue until after the fourth release of an artists, when profits should be paid to the investors (if the discs were successful). This strategy was not fruitful likely, as no artist on Peak had more than two releases. The article mentions further that Peak had already ten discs released that way but the truth was that nothing was released at that time and that its first issue was still months away - it was, likely, not even planned. This, however, would change within three months.

The label's first recording artist was 17-years old rock'n'roller named Eddie Cash, who was a regular visitor to the brothers' store. Cash was managed by Bill Harris, who had previously worked with Harold Jenkins (alias Conway Twitty). Cash later told John Burton: "Howard Chambers was in Lansky's talking to Bill Harris, bass player and manager of Harold Jenkins. They mentioned Eddie Cash, Guy Lansky jumped in, saying: 'Is that the kid who won the contest at Treadwell High School? He buys his clothes in here. We want him to be out first release! So Chambers got in touch with Eddie and within a couple of weeks the record was written, recorded and issued."

The record that was mentioned was "Doing All Right", written by Howard Chambers, and "Land of Promises", written by Cash and his guitarist Gerald Hunsucker. Both recordings saw release in November 1958 on Peak #1001. Cash promoted the disc heavily and it reached high chart positions in several local charts, including in Memphis. It was local DJ George Klein's "Pick of the Week" the same month it was released. However, the Lansky's were inexperienced in the record business and had no proper distribution. When record stores from the east coast started demanding copies, they could not match the demand and the record died before it could develop into a national hit.

Another early production of American Recording was Dale Vaughn's "How Can You Be Mean to Me" b/w "High Steppin'" from 1958, though released not on Peak but probably recorded at the Lanskys' studio. It saw release on the Von label (unrelated to the Booneville, Mississippi, label of the same name). In 1959, American Recording launched a second, short-lived label entitled Al-Be Records, which released one disc each by Jay Rainwater and Charlie Fury and the Rebel Rockets.

Peak signed the Morgan Twins, a rock'n'roll duo from Little Rock, Arkansas, in May 1959 and released their "Sittin' at the Drive-In" around June the same year before they released another Eddie Cash single, "Come on Home" b/w "Day After Day" (Peak #1010, 1959), which went nowhere, unfortunately. Cash then left Peak, disappointed by the lack of promotion and distribution, and recorded at Fernwood (released on the Dot subsidiary Todd) as well as for Roulette.

There were a few more releases in 1960 by an artist named Paul Little and by Memphis famous wrestler Sputnik Monroe, who had a large following in the city's black community and was a customer at the Lanskys' store, but that pretty much was it. Sputnik Monroe was in good company, as several Memphis wrestlers cut a record, hoping to push their careers. The same applied to Monroe. Asked by his wife who would ever buy his record (as Monroe was so untalented he "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket" as cited in Aaron D. Horton's book "Identity in Professional Wrestling"), he replied "nobody" but he hoped to further his wrestling career with it. Soon after, he left Memphis.

There could have been a few more releases judging from the label's catalog number systems but no more have turned up so far. The Peak story ended already in 1960, only two years after it had begun.

The Lanskys Bros. shop remained a household institution in Memphis and it still is up to this day, although the original building is not used by the company any longer. The shop, now located in the Peabody Hotel building, is run by second and third generation family members and has experienced a boom recently due to the popularity of the movie "Elvis". Guy Lansky died in 2005, his brother Bernard Lansky followed in 2012.

Discography

Peak Records
1001: Eddie Cash and the Cashiers - Doing All Right / Land of Promises (Nov. 1959)
1002-1007: ?
1008: Morgan Twins - Sittin' in the Drive-In / Don't You Think It's Nice (June 1959)
1009:
1010: Eddie Cash and the Cashiers - Day After Day / Come On Home (1959)
155: Sputnik Monroe - Sputnik Hires a Band / Man That's the South
188: Paul Little - Turn Around Baby / I Want to Walk with You (Jan. 1960)

Al-Be Records
148: Jay Rainwater - Without You / The Girl I Left Behind
167: Charlie Fury and the Rebel Rockets - Reptile / Sump'n Else (March 1959)

Sources
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• 45cat entry for Peak and Al-Be
• Wikipedia entry
• John Beifuss: "From Elvis to Oscar - The Story of Lansky Brothers and its place in Memphis history" (The Commercial Appeal)
• Eddie Cash biography on BlackCat Rockabilly (Wayback Machine)
• Peak Records of Memphis
• various Billboard news items
• Robert Gordon: "It Came from Memphis" (Atria Books), 2001, pages 33-37
• Allison Graham, Sharon Monteith: "The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 18" (University of North Carolina Press), 2011, page 314
• Aaron D. Horton: "Identity in Professional Wrestling" (McFarland Inc. Publishers), 2018, pages 223-224

Sonny Meador on Meadowbrook

Sonny Meador - Sweetheart, Can't You Hear Me Crying (Meadowbrook MS-1245), unknown year

Here we have some nice bluegrass music from the state of Arkansas. I wouldn't say bluegrass from the Natural State is exceptionally rare but you don't find such a record from that area too often.

Sonny Meador was probably Elmer Lee Meador, who was born on June 24, 1912, in Bluff City, Ouachita County, Arkansas. He married Goldie Barksdale, with whom he had four children. Meador also fought during World War II in the US Navy.

By the time he began to record, he was already in his sixties, as his three 45rpm singles for the Meadowbrook label probably all came from the early 1970s. One disc contained a song entitled "I'm Going Back to Nevada County". Bluff City is part of Nevada County and located in the southwest of Arkansas, which leads me to the conclusion that Meador was strictly a local artist. Meador died May 27, 1996, at Baptist Hospital in Arkadelphia at the age of 83 years. He is buried in his hometown at Bluff City Cemetery.

There was John Merlino's Meadowbrook label from Detroit but I doubt that the label Meador recorded for is the same company. It was rather his own private venture to release his music. I further suspect that two of his records were pressed by Rimrock.

Discography

Meadowbrook 101: Sonny Meadow - Sometimes I Smile / I'm Going Back to Nevada County (1973)
Meadowbrook 1245: Sonny Meador - Too Old to Handle It But It's On My Mind / Sweetheart, Can't You Hear Me Crying
Meadowbrook 1246: Sonny Meador - It's a Mighty Lonesome Road / You Made Me What I Am Today

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry
• Obituary

Wayne Gray

Wayne Gray - Spaceman's Guitar

Wayne Gray ranks among the many talented and busy road guitarists of the 1960s and 1970s country music scene. Like so many songwriters and musicians from that era, he came out of Miami, where he made his first steps in the music business as a rock'n'roll musician.

Wayne A. Gray was born around 1944 and by the time he was 14 years old, he had mastered the guitar. It was at that time, in 1958, that Kent Westberry, about five years Gray's senior, put together a rock'n'roll band named "The Chaperones" and called Gray to work as an electric lead guitarist in that band. Other founding members of that group were Snuffy Smith on bass and Louie Stewart on drums, although the line-up changed over the years. 

A teenage Wayne Gray on stage with
Kent Westberry's Chaperones
(Florida, ca. 1958)

Westberry and the Chaperones auditioned for Harold Doane, who ran his ART recording studio and record label in Miami. Their debut release, "My Baby Don't Rock" b/w "No Place to Park", with Gray providing thumping lead guitar work, appeared in the summer of 1958. At the same time, they also worked with singer and promoter Ronald Killette, who worked under the stage name of Buck Trail. Killette also had a record label, Trail Records, and he invited the Chaperones to back him up on some rockabilly recordings he wanted to release on Trail. Those included "Honky Tonk on Second Street", "Knocked Out Joint on Mars", and "The Blues Keep Knocking". It was also with Killette that Gray first appeared as a songwriter on "Young Sweethearts" (recorded by Killette and some of his female artists).

By 1959, many of the young Miami rock'n'roll musicians opted for Nashville and Gray was no exception. Reportedly, he recorded and released the instrumental "Spaceman's Guitar" for Gold Circle Records around that time, although no copies were found so far. Shortly after his move to Nashville, Gray teamed up with Jackie Leo Fautheree, who was originally from Texas and the brother of guitarist-singer Jimmy Lee Fautheree, and they wrote "Cradle of Love". The song was recorded by Johnny Preston for Mercury and, released in February 1960, became a #7 Billboard 100 hit and even #2 in the UK. During his career, Gray would register a total of 59 songs with BMI.

In the early 1960s, fellow Miami rocker Charlie McCoy moved to Nashville but following an unsuccessful tour with singer Johnny Ferguson, McCoy was broke and moved in with Gray for a while. Gray soon found work in Nashville as a guitarist. By 1967, Gray was a member of Tex Ritter's touring band, the Boll Weevils. He also wrote some songs for Ritter - just like another member of the band: Kent Westberry. In the 1970s, Gray worked in Tommy Cash's band as a guitarist and by 1981, he worked with Buddy Lee Attractions. He also recorded solo in 1984 for the Condor label, releasing two singles.

I'm not aware of Wayne Gray's activities after 1984. If someone knows more about his later career, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via the contact form.

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Discogs
• Bill Williams: "Charlie McCoy - His Monumental 10 Years" (Billboard), 1974

Leo Castleberry

Leo Castleberry in the late 1960s
(taken from his Torche LP "Riding the Range for Jesus)

The Star of Hot Springs, Arkansas
The Story of Leo Castleberry

Leo Castleberry was Hot Spring's country music entrepreneur, like there were so many back then in the United States. Memphis had Eddie Bond, Abilene had Slim Willet, Cleveland (Tennessee) had Gene Woods, Little Rock had Tommy Trent - and Hot Springs, Arkansas, had Leo Castleberry.

Leo Alexander Castleberry was born on August 21, 1931, to George W. and Mable A. Castleberry just outside of Hot Springs in the Ouachita Mountains. Castleberry developed a passion for music at an early age but owning a guitar was a distant dream for the poor Castleberry family. A local garden seed company once announced a contest, presenting a violin to the person that sold the most seed. Castleberry took part with determination and won the violin. After some time, his parents bought him a $ 5.00 guitar as they couldn't stand his nightly violin rendition of "Home Sweet Home" anymore. At that time, Castleberry was around twelve years old.

Religion was another strong influence on Castleberry. His grandfather, J.M.S. Merriott, was a traveling preacher and preached the gospel across the hills of Arkansas and eventually, Castleberry and his brother Dale accompanied him on many of his journeys. They rounded out the sermons with singing and guitar playing. Castleberry's deep faith, which was without a doubt shaped by his grandfather, was reflected in the high number of sacred songs he eventually recorded.

He began appearing on local radio stations at the age of 15 years and already had his own show about three years later. He formed the Jessieville Hillbillies while in high school, with whom he also appeared on radio, and after graduating, he started a Sunday morning gospel program in the early 1950s on KTHS that also featured his brothers and members of his future wife's family. They developed into a touring gospel group, playing countless churches in Arkansas and adjacent states.

Castleberry married Opal Whitfield in 1952 and the couple had a total of five sons (of which Bruce unfortunately died as an infant in 1957). His sons Leo Jr., Dennis, Ronnie and Richard ("Ricky") all were musically inclined and later joined his father's music act.

During the 1950s, Castlebery's popularity in and outside of Hot Springs grew. His Sunday morning program was carried by as much as 17 radio stations across the United States. He also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry as well as the Louisiana Hayride and over the years, shared the stage with some of the big names in country music, including Jimmie Davis, George Jones, Billy Grammer, David Houston, Sonny James, Tillman Franks, Slim Whitman, Martha Carson, and several more.

In 1959, Castleberry made his recording debut, a six track sacred material EP (custom pressed by Capitol) that was released on his own Leo label. The disc was credited to the "Leo Castleberry Singers, Hot Springs, Ark." which probably included his family. He followed that release with a rock'n'roll performance, surprisingly, but he jumped on that train a bit too late, it seems. "Teenage Blues" b/w "Come Back to Me" was first released on entrepreneur John Roddie's SPA label in 1960 and then became also the initial release on Roddie's new United Southern Artists label the same year. Castleberry also went on to work as an A&R scout for Roddie and his labels.

It was around that time that Castleberry became active as a business man, establishing Castleberry Riding Stables, Inc., in 1960. He did not only work as an A&R scout but reportedly also had his own recording studio (members of the band "Beau Hannon & the Mint Juleps" remember recording there) and set up more record labels: Torche Recording Company and its subsidiary Castletone Records plus Castletone Publishing, Leo Castleberry Enterprises, and L.A.C. Productions. He released his own music as well as other artists' recordings on both labels. In 1969, he even cut a whole album entitled "Riding the Range for Jesus".

Catalog of Copyright Entries 1976

In the following decades, he continued to work in local radio and TV business (including performing on KBHS and KBLO in Hot Springs  as well as other stationss as late as the 1980s). Castleberry's son Ronnie was a cast member of Hot Springs' Music Mountain Jamboree around the 1980s and 1990s and unfortunately, his son Richard had already died in 1984. Castleberry Riding Stables closed its doors in 2011. Leo Castleberry passed away on June 9, 2016, at the age of 84 years. He is buried at Mountain Valley Cemetery in Mountain Valley near Hot Springs. His wife Opal followed him in 2017.

Discography

45rpm Singles
Leo 10-101: Leo Castleberry Singers - I've Got My One Way Ticket to the Sky / Take My Hand Precious Lord / I'll Tell It Lord Wherever I Go / Way Down Deep in My Soul / Beautiful Life / Oh! What a Friend (1959)
SPA 100-10: Leo Castleberry - Teenage Blues / Come Back to Me (1960)
United Southern Artists 5-101: Leo Castleberry - Teenage Blues / Come Back to Me (1960)
Torche 689C-8373: Leo Lion and the Eagles - I Can't Forget You / Sugar Cane Time / Under the Double Eagle / Why (1964)
Torche 689C-8452: Leo Castleberry with the Plainsmen - My Journey to the Sky / Whatever the Future Holds / ? / ? (1964)
Castletone 689C-2183: AringTones - Great God / Leo Castleberry & Opal with the AringTones - Where Will I Shelter My Sheep / My Lord's So Good to Me / AringTones - Gotta Keep on the Move (1964)
Torche 689 C-4741: Leo Castleberry - Seeing Eye Dog / Bouquet of Roses (1967)

33rpm Albums
Torche 90325: Leo Castleberry with the Plainsmen Quartet - Riding the Range for Jesus (1969)

See also
• United Southern Artists Records
• Sammy Marshall on SPA
• The SPA label
• Music Mountain Jamboree

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Obituary
• Opal Castleberry obituary
• Rockin' Country Style and Gospel Jubilee entries
• Discogs

The Five Sounds on Lakeside

The Five Sounds - Clumsy Dragon (Lakeside 2001), 1964
The Five Sounds were an instrumental surf and garage rock band from Hot Springs, Arkansas. Not much is known about this group and I had puzzle together this feature from various snippets available on the internet. Some of the information given came from original Five Sounds bassist John Bostic.

Songwriter, lead guitarist and probably leader of the band was Larry Gill, who was likely William Larry Gill (1947-2020). His obituary stated he was an "accomplished musician", so that is probably our man. Gill was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, but probably lived in Hot Springs by the early 1960s. Other members of the group included Dan McKinney and Mike Nowell on rhythm guitars, John Bostic on bass, and Lynn Morgan on drums. Their manager was Ron Oberlag.

The Five Sounds, not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name, cut at least two records. They recorded in 1965 for the Majesty label, comprising Gil's compositions "Explosion" and "Emperor Holiday". Strangely, the latter was credited to the "Commandoes with the Commandettes" and not to the band's actual name.

The Five Sounds recorded another song, "Clumsy Dragon", for the GalARK label. The other side was occupied by another group, Cecil Buffalo & the Prophets with their football tribute "Razorback Number One". Both songs were also released on the Hot Springs based Lakeside record label, which released a few singles during the mid 1960s. The Five Sounds release is probably from 1964 and the actual recording session was set up by DJ Doc Holiday at KAAY in Little Rock. The band's manager Ron Oberlag played tambourine on "Clumsy Dragon".

The fact that the Lakeside release exists on two different pressings suggests that it was - at least locally or regionally - a good seller. The Five Sounds enjoyed some regional popularity in the mid 1960s, as they opened for the Beach Boys and the Kingsmen in 1965.

"Clumsy Dragon" was reissued twice in Europe. The first time on Cees Klop's White Label LP "Early Rockin' in Arkansas" in 1989 and a second time on the Buffalo Bop Records CD "Strictly Instrumental, Volume 6" in 2001.

See also

• Lakeside Records discography

• GalARK Records discography

Sources

• 45cat entries for Lakeside Records and Cecil Buffalo

• Discogs entries for the Five Sounds, 

• William Larry Gill obtiuary

• YouTube video of Clumsy Dragon with memories by John Bostic

Snuffy Smith

Snuffy Smith

The Bass Picking Chaperone from Miami

The name of Snuffy Smith is possibly known to many people in the United States - probably best known because of the movie and comic character Private Snuffy Smith. There were also a couple of musicians known as Snuffy Smith, including a bluegrass musician for North Carolina and an artist that recorded for the Star Talent and Tempwood V labels (could be two artists as well). And there was Snuffy Smith from Miami, who began his career in music in Miami's country and rockabilly scene but, as most of his fellow Miami musicians, eventually headed to Nashville.

Snuffy Smith, 1958

Raymond Carlisle "Snuffy" Smith was born in 1936 in Miami, Florida. At some point, he took up the guitar but eventually chose the bass to be his instrument. While in high school, he became acquainted with three years younger singer and guitarist Kent Westberry, who formed a band known as "The Chaperones" with Smith on bass on guitar, Wayne Gray on lead guitar, and Louie Stewart on drums.

The quartet made a couple of recordings at Harold Doane's ART recording studio, releasing their debut "My Baby Don't Rock" b/w "No Place to Park" on ART #172 on the summer of 1958. The songs were also released on the Trail label, owned by singer and promoter Ronald Killette alias Buck Trail, with whom the Chaperones also recorded a few titles that saw release on Trail as well.

Smith eventually dropped out of the band but remained friends with Westberry. Smith then played with several other Miami outfits, including the house band of Happy Harold Thaxton's Old South Jamboree stage show. Westberry, Smith, and other Miami musicians such as Charlie McCoy, Wayne Gray, and Bill Johnson made trips to Nashville and many of them eventually settled there. Such was the case with Smith, who recorded a single with Westberry as "Kent & Snuffy" for the MGM label, "Bye Bye Buddy" b/w "Billy Blue Eyes" (#K12883. early 1960), which went nowehere, however.

Smith played the clubs around Nashville and soon made himself a name in the Nashville country music scene. Following an engagement with Brenda Lee's backing band, the Casuals, he joined Marty Robbins' group as a bass player in the early 1960s. He later toured with Little Jimmy Dickens' Country Boys across the United States and finished his musical career with a stint in Tex Ritter's Boll Weevils (which also included at one time or another Kent Westberry and Wayne Gray).

While working with Ritter, Smith decided to quit the music business and stay at home to care for his family. He earned a living working with several car dealerships and spent his later life in Hermitage, Tennessee, a district of  Nashville. Smith passed away on June 18, 2012.

Sources

• Obituary

• Kent Westberry Rockin' Country Style entry