The Story of Herman Hatfield & Sharlet Sexton and the Tennessee Valley Boys
While preparing one of the upcoming episodes of my regular "Arkansas' Forgotten 45s" for KASU's "Arkansas Roots" radio program, I stumbled across a record in my collection on the Rimrock label. It is a straight, traditional country recording by Herman Hatfield and the Tennessee Valley Boys. While researching his story, I noticed there isn't much out there about Hillbilly Herman, as he was sometimes billed, and this naturally caught my attention and urged me to change this grievance.
Although many of their releases had appeared on Tennessee based
labels, it seems Hatfield's homebase was Indiana. The Tennessee Valley
Boys likely got their name from Hatfield's home state Tennessee. Hatfield and his band recorded numerous 45s and at least one album for
different small labels. The group included a young female singer named Sharlet (or
Charlette) Sexton. Other members of the Tennessee Valley Boys included at one time or another Johnnie Flatford (mandolin), Jimmie Flatford (bass), Bud Wall (lead guitar) with Hatfield and Sexton on vocals. The Hatfords were relatives of Sexton (uncle and cousin respectively). The group played a six state radius throughout the years, performing in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Virginia. It seems that Hatfield first appeared on the Breeze label out of Livingston, Tennessee. Credited to "Hillbilly Herman and his Tennessee Valley Boys" on the A side and to "Charlette Sexton and the Tennessee Valley Boys" on the B side, they recorded "Today I Watched My Dream Come True" b/w "One More Broken Heart" (Breeze #366). The group had another disc out on Breeze a year later, "My Old Heartaches Are in the Past" b/w "Since Baby Put Me Down" (Breeze #401). This seems to be their most valuable and sought after record nowadays, as "Since Baby Put Me Down" has a rock'n'roll feeling to it, although Hatfield and the group were strictly country.
There was a record by Dana Sexton (Breeze #467), possibly Sharlet's daughter or sister. Assured information on this issue escape me, however. Next up, Herman and the band were on the Re-Echo label, another local Livingston record company. Hatfield and Sexton had a twin release in 1968 on the label: Re-Echo #1007 was by Hatfield, "Sweet Memories of You" b/w "He is the Master of Us All", and Re-Echo #1008 was by Sexton, "I Ain't Good For Nothin' 'Cept Pickin' and Singin'" b/w "Boys Like You" (presumably a piece of downhome, rural country music).
Another twin release came into existence in 1969, when Hatfield and Sexton appeared on Wayne Raney's Rimrock label from Concord, Arkansas. How they ended up on Rimrock is a mystery but it is possible that they recorded the tracks in Indiana and sent them off to Raney in Arkansas, hoping to secure either release or got them pressed up on their own label as Raney also operated a pressing plant. Sometimes, Raney used Rimrock as a custom outlet for recordings he thought were good enough for release on his own label. This was maybe the case here. Rimrock #307, credited to Herman Hatfield and the Tennessee Valley Boys, comprised Hatfield's own "My Heart Keeps on Loving You" and a cover of Bill Anderson's "Think I'll Go Somewhere and Cry Myself to Sleep". Rimrock #308 featured Sharlet Sexton on vocals and paired her compositions "I'll Be a Mama to You" (featuring Teresa Lou) and "You Just Don't Turn Me On".
There is another release on the Hatfield label, likely Hatfield's own company, that featured "I'll Cry Alone" and "I Guess I'll Always Love You" from an unknown year - 1960s is my best guess. Interestingly, he is accompanied by a different band on this release, the Bar Ranch Boys. So this could be his very first release. There was also a full-fledged LP release on the Promotional label, "Every Sunday Morning", featuring recordings of gospel standards. which is now a sought after collector's item.
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| Front cover of the band's LP "Every Sunday Morning". Left: Sharlet Sexton, right: Herman Hatfield, lower middle: the Tennessee Valley Boys |
Sharlet Sexton stayed with Hatfield and the Tennessee Valley Boys until 1972, when she married and decided to turn her back on the music business. She has been tracked down in 2019 by the owner of Dagnabbit Records, who regularly features her recordings on his LPs. Sexton currently resides in Anderson, Indiana.
It seems that Herman Hatfield continued to appear with his band. I know that he is deceased by now but assured details escape me. It is likely that he is the Herman Hatfield that was born December 8, 1927, in Tazewell, Tennessee, and passed away on December 3, 2002, at the age of 74 years in Beech Grove, Indiana.
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| Indianapolis Star, December 5, 2002 |
Discography
45rpm singles
• Breeze 366: Hillbilly Herman and his Tennessee Valley Boys - Today I Watched My Dream Come True / Charlette Sexton and the Tennessee Valley BoysOne More Broken Heart (1966)
• Breeze 401: Herman Hatfield & his Tennessee Valley Boys - My Old Heartaches are in the Past / Sharlet Sexton & the Tennessee Valley Boys - Since Baby Put Me Down (1967)
• Re-Echo 1007: Herman Hatfield and the Tennessee Valley Boys - Sweet Memories of You / He is the Master of Us All (1968)
• Re-Echo 1008: Sharlet Sexton and the Tennessee Valley Boys - I Ain't Good for Nothin' 'Cept Pickin' and Singin' / Boys Like You (1968)
• Rimrock 307: Herman Hatfield & the Tenn. Valley Boys - My Heart Keeps on Loving You / Think I'll Go Somewhere and Cry Myself to Sleep (1969)
• Rimrock 308: Sharlet Sexton-Teresa Lou & the Tenn. Valley Boys - I'll Be a Mama to You / Sharlet Sexton & the Tenn. Valley Boys - You Just Don't Turn Me On (1969)
• Hatfield 001/002: Hillbilly Herman and the Bar Ranch Boys - I'll Cry Alone / I Guess I'll Always Love You
• Anderson 108-228: Herman Hatield & Pat Bailey - I Cried Again / Out of Our Minds
33 1/2 rpm albums
• Promotional PLP 190: Herman & Sharlet and the Tennessee Valley Boys - Every Sunday Morning
Sources
• The Ohio Valley Sound
• Find a Grave entry for Herman Hatfield (presumably)
• "Every Sunday Morning" LP on Gripsweat.com
• Herman Hatfield on 45cat
• Herman Hatfield on Bluegrass Discography
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