Gene Walton on Alley

  Gene Walton - Hello Josephine (Alley 1099), 1982
Here's a cool 1980s cover of the old Fats Domino song "Hello Josephine" by Gene Walton on the Alley record label. Domino recorded his original version of it in 1960 for Imperial (Imperial #5704) under the title of "My Girl Josephine," which reached #7 on Billboard's R&B charts and #14 on the Hot 100.

Alley Records was founded by a couple of entrepreneurs in 1962 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, including jazz musician and record producer Joe Lee. Their Variety Recording Studio was built on 213 East Monroe Street in Jonesboro, from which they also operated the label. The label's history began already in late 1961 when Bobby Lee Trammell recorded his local hit "Arkansas Twist" at Variety, even before the studio was completely furnished. Joe Lee eventually became the sole owner of it and released records well into the 1970s.

No info on Gene Walton it seems. It's a common name so it could be any Gene Walton appearing on the web. There was a Gene Walton who wrote such songs as "Love Is a Dream," "The Puppet Boogie," "Rocking Rhythm" and "These Are the Things," copyrighted in 1946. I doubt this is the same guy.

A side of this disc is "Ballad of Wayne Cryts." Farmer Wayne Cryts gained some public attraction first in 1979. The June 25, 1982, issue of the "Lakeland Ledger" included the following article about Wayne Cryts and this record:

Country song supports farmer in battle with U.S. over soybeans JONESBORO, Ark. - "There's a world of difference between law and justice, and sometimes doing wrong is right..."

Those are a few of the words from the "Ballad of Wayne Cryts," a country tune about the Puxico, Mo., farmer who got into trouble with the law for removing soybeans from a grain elevator and refusing to tell a bankruptcy judge who helped him do it.

Jonesboro musicians Joe Lee and Gene Walton wrote the song and recorded it here a few weeks ago. Walton said the American Agricultural Movement, which is backing Cryts in his court battle, plans to help distribute the ballad to radio stations around the country.

The disc was pressed by Queen City Albums in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1982, judging from the matrix number:

206003XB

• 2: the year 1982
• 06: pressed in June that year

By that time, Alley had moved from East Monroe Street to 1851 So. Church Street. It's unknown to me if the studio moved also to that adress or if it remained on East Monroe Street.

Further reading:

• Alley Records story

• Alley Records discography

Thanks to Slim D