I presented a superb version of Merle Haggard's "If You Want to Be My Woman" by Gregg here. Today's disc is more of a teen record with a slight country feel, which is more promiment on the flip "A Heart Afraid to Break." As it turns out, I'm still not able to come up with some assured information on him. My assumption is that he was a local artist, active in the Orange-Port Arthur area in Texas. I have evidence he recorded in the 1960s for four different labels at least, three of them of Texan origin. Here a short overview:
Kay-Bar Dane KBD-044: Willie Gregg and the Velvetones - You Fool / I'll Find You (1966/67)
Ringo 2001: Willie Gregg - You Fool / How Long (poss. ca. 1968)
Bridge-Way 1003: Willie Gregg - Rebel / A Heart Afraid to Break (1968)
Waterflow 702: Willie Gregg and the Country Kings - She's No Good / If You Want to Be My Woman (1969)
The Kay-Bar Dane label was based in Orange, Texas, near the Texas-Louisiana state border. Waterflow was run by Tee Bruce in Port Arthur, which is located less than 20 miles southwest of Orange. I have no info on the Bridge-Way label except for the fact it was pressed by Houston Recorders, just as the Waterflow and Kay-Bar Dane discs were.
There is a fourth single on the Crowley, Lousiana, based Ringo label, which features a slightly different take of "You Fool." Crowley is located about 111 miles east of Gregg's usual stomping ground Port Arthur, so I have no explanation how he ended up in Crowley.
BMI lists Willie Gregg with seven different compositions, two of them as Willie Clyde Gregg. The majority of these songs were published by Tabitha Publ. of Livingston, Texas. There was a Willie Gregg from Groves, Texas, who was born on February 20, 1940, and died on September 10, 2005. Groves is located in the Port Arthur/Nederland/Port Neches area. Probably our man?
1 comment:
Sounds a little like a girl-group song, doesn't it? Only sung by a man and with a country tinge. Thank you, nice single.
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