Today's selection is a nice little gospel recording by Winston Shelton and the Country Gospel singers. "On the Banks of Old Jordan" is the better song on this side in my opinon. "I'm Not a Poor Man" skips at one point, unfortunately, and since it is the weaker number, I didn't include it here. No info on Shelton survived other than he recorded this EP, a single on Starday's Dixie custom imprint in 1960 ("When Sunday Comes Again" / "Mom Knows What's Best", Dixie #45-892), another 45 on Faith as well as an EP for the Richmond, Indiana, based Gospel label.
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| Billboard review of Shelton's Dixie single on January 30, 1961. |
The story of Walton Records, on the other side, has been researched a little better. The label was founded by Norman Walton in 1961 and was first located on 2311 Glen Court in Richmond, Indiana. Somehow connected with the Walton label were the Poor Boy and American labels. Both were run by Wayne Raney and Jimmie Zack.
The Poor Boy label was started in 1958 by Wayne Raney and Jimmie Zack. The first release (Poor Boy #100) showed a Richmond post box address. Then, they changed it to a Muncie, Indiana, post box address. Muncie is located about 43 miles southeast of Richmond on the Indiana-Ohio state border. Poor Boy releases #105 up to #107 showed addresses in both Muncie ("Home Office") and Richmond ("General Manager Office"). The final releases on Poor Boy only had a Muncie address. The label was closed down in 1960. Its last release is probably the best known: "Sweet Marie" b/w "Servant of Love" (Poor Boy #111) by the Van Brothers, Arnold and Earl Van Winkle. Both songs were also reissued by Norman Walton on the Walton label.
American was run by Jimmie Zack out of Muncie. It was only active in 1960. Wayne Raney also operated a New American label out of his Raney Recording Studio in Oxford, Ohio, that same year but it is not known to me whether the labels were related or not.
The Walton label, respectively, was founded by Norman Walton in 1961 and released a slew of country and gospel singles and EPs up to 1966. Even an album by Gil Richmond was recorded in 1964 on Walton. Several of the songs recorded on Walton were co-written by Norman Walton, including Winston Shelton's sides. Similar to Poor Boy, the record labels also showed different adresses. The adress on Winston Shelton's EP was 2923 Boston Pike in Richmond. Possibly these adresses were printed on account of the particular artist.
A complete Walton discography can be found at 45rpm records.com.
Winston Shelton Discography
Dixie 45-892: Winston Shelton - When Sunday Comes Again / Mom Knows What's Best (1960)
Walton 950: Winston Shelton and the Country Gospel Singers - From Bethlehem to Calvary / Stop and Think / I'm Not a Poor Man / On the Banks of Old Jordan (1961)
Faith 1033: Winston Shelton, Red Berry, the Country Gospel Singers - The Darkest Spot Up the Mortal Soul / What Must I Do to Be Saved (1963)
Gospel No.#: Winston Shelton - Seek Ye First the Kingdom / Praise God for the Victory / ? / ? (1966)
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