I have featured the flip side of this record a few months ago and thought I'd share this side, too, as I was able to dig out some information on the artists.
Apparently, Jack Keele and the Ozark Melody Boys hailed from Missouri. Carvin Campbell "Jack" Keele was born on August 25, 1918, in Illinois. However, his father, Arthur Lucien Keele was born in Missouri and by the time Jack Keele was two years old, the family had moved back to that region. It seems that Keele spent most of his life in Missouri and by the mid 1950s had assembled a country band named "Ozark Melody Boys".
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| The Current Local, Van Buren, Missouri, April 28, 1955 |
In the mid 1960s, they got the chance to record for Style Wooten in Memphis and cut "Memories of You" / "Time After Time" for Wooten's Eugenia label (#1002). The vocalist on this record was Buddy Keele, one of Jack Keele's children. Buddy and Jack remained active in the music scene and in 1975, Buddy Keele cut another single record for the NSD (Nashville) affiliated Carvin record label, likely owned by Jack Keele. The single featured "Walking Into Your Life" b/w "Tell Me a Lie" (Carvin #101).
Buddy Keele had a career as a musician on his own in St. Louis, Missouri, playing a club six nights a week for 15 consecutive years with his own band, known as the "Buddy Keele Band" or "Buddy Keele and the Swingers". He and his wife bought their own club eventually, where Buddy Keele continued to perform. He semi retired from music in 2003, moving back to Van Buren but kept karaoke as a hobby. He fully retired from music in 2023 at the age of 80 and currently resides in Indiana following his wife's death.
His father Jack Keele died on March 21, 1983, and is buried in Poplar Bluff, Southeast Missouri. I only found access to these information as Jack Keele's grandson posted a short comment under my first post on his father's group and revealed his identity. Another insight into their careers was given by Laura Keele, Buddy's daughter.
3 comments:
Mellow the mp3 seems to change to another song at 1m 10 seconds? Pity I was enjoying the boppin' sound. Dean
I'll check that later.
Dean, I have updated the link with a new sound file!
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