Jim Murray - Carolyn (Wham! WRS 1958), ca. 1962/1963
When I first posted this disc, I found it impossible to research anything substantial about Jim Murray or his band, Caravan. Marty Scarbrough and I featured this recording on one of our "Arkansas' Forgotten 45s" segments on Marty's "Arkansas Roots" KASU program in January 2024. Fortunately, Mike Doyle and Dennis Rogers, two local music experts who also work with KASU, heard it and were able to give us a little more information about Jim Murray.
This record came with a picture sleeve, showing Murray behind his drum set. The sleeve also tells us the other members of Caravan, which included Rick Murray (also the producer of this record and Jim's brother) on saxophone, Bill Gage on lead guitar, Jim Wagner on piano, and Sonny Kelly on bass guitar. The flip side to "Carolyn" was "Putter Sparken," an "Instra-mental" number (as spelled on the label).
Murray had another record on Wham, which was a Jonesboro, Arkansas, label. It featured "Ufo" and "Let There Be Drums," two more instrumentals of which one certainly starrs Jim Murray's abilities on the drums (I can say this without ever hearing it!). Wham had at least another release by an act called "Sunrise."
"Carolyn," of course, was from the pen of Arkansas wild man Bobby Lee Trammell, who recorded it in 1962 for another Jonesboro label, Atlanta Records. It was slower than Murray's version, though it has not the nasal vocals on it like Murray's. Trammell's original recording (which I suppose it to be) was released with the more energetic "Sally Twist" on Atlanta #1501, likely in the fall of 1962. Thus, Murray's version must have been from 1962 or 1963, I suspect.
By 1964, Murray was performing with the Sabers, another Arkansas rock'n'roll group that had a release on Slim Wallace's Silver-Dollar label in 1964. They also backed Sonny Deckelman on several of his releases. Murray played with different groups throughout the years and eventually became a successful ad salesman at radio stations KBTM and KNEA. He also sold cable ads.
Rick Murray passed away around 2023 and Jim Murray is still residing in Jonesboro.
You can see the picture sleeve in good quality on 45cat.com.
Read more:
6 comments:
if thats a rite number 186403? it would make it 1967
Rite pressings from 1967 would have been a five digit matrix number but this one has a six digit number. The dead wax has etched the following: 965-WRS-1958-A/B. First suspected it to be a King custom pressing but that doesn't fit either.
woops your rite my mistake
Jim Murray was with The Sabers who had a 45 on the Silver-Dollar label produced by Bob Tucker
Post a Comment