(courtesy of Sean Hickey of Winslow, Arkansas)
Although Roy Hogsed's style and several of his recordings were historically significant, foreshadowing the rockabilly sounds of the mid 1950s, he remains a rather unknown figure - even among proficient collectors and scholars. Today, Hogsed is best remembered for recording "Cocaine Blues". Although his up-tempo version was not the first recording of the song, it set the pattern for following versions and helped making the song a minor country classic.
Roy Clifton Hogsed was born on December 24, 1919, in Flippin, North Arkansas, to Harles and Vida Hogsed. The couple had a total of six children and father Harles being a fiddler and banjo player, started teaching all of his kids instruments in order to establish a family band. This was in the early 1930s and young Roy was taught to play guitar by his uncle Clem. When the band was ready, it included guitars, fiddles, and mandolins, and began playing local dances. But their family act soon performed at school houses and then also traveling tent shows and fairs. Finally, they traveled around in a self-built Ford mobile home, playing wherever they could. They became known as the "Arkansas Hillbillies". Their constant life meant dropping out of school, having no formal education, although their father engaged a black woman to teach his children.
By the late 1930s, the family band started to fell apart. The eldest sister Fleeta married and young Roy dropped out of the band, too. His other siblings went back to school, while he worked as a butane truck driver. Hogsed met Willie Marie Gilliam, whom he married in 1940 in Flippin. In the following years, he worked various jobs in Texas and Oklahoma, then served a year in the US Navy during World War II but was discharged due to health issues.
Following the war, Hogsed worked for a couple of months with a band called the Dixieland Troupers at WJDX in Jackson, Mississippi. But soon, like so many Arkies and Oakies during the 1930s and 1940s, Hogsed set out and moved to California, hoping to find better living conditions. These immigrants brought their music tothe west coast as well, and when Hogsed settled in the San Diego area in 1946, he found a lively country music scene.
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| Roy Hogsed promo picture, late 1940s or early 1950s |
In San Diego, he first worked as a bus driver but soon, joined Wayne Williams' Happy Cowboys as a guitarist. This job did not last long either and Hogsed founded his own group with Casey Simmons on bass and Dutch born Jean Dewez on accordion. They became known as the Rainbow Riders or simply as the Roy Hogsed Trio. Simmons was soon replaced with Rusty Nitz and the trio worked club dates in the area. Only being a trio without a drummer, it was hard for Nitz to keep the beat strong in the loud clubs, and therefore developed a heavy slap bass, which became a trademark of the trio's sound.
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| Billboard June 7, 1947 |
Hogsed's Coast records came to the attention of Capitol Records, the west coast's only major label back then, and when Coast folded, Capitol signed Hogsed to a contract. The label re-released "Cocaine Blues" in May 1948 (#40120) and the song reached #15 on Billboard's C&W charts. Ken Nelson, Capitol's A&R chief, remembered the furor the song stirred when Hank Thompson insisted to record it some ten years later. With explicit references to drug abuse, the song was still extraordinary back then. More records followed on Capitol, though Hogsed's first releases on the label were drawn from older Coast sessions. Hogsed, Nitz, and Dewez recorded their first session for Capitol on July 20, 1949, at the Capitol studio in Hollywood.
Today's selections were recorded on June 19, 1951, at Capitol Recording Studio in Hollywood with a band consisting of Hogsed's brother Jasper on guitar or fiddle, Denny Drazkowski on accordion, Rusty Nitz on bass, and Thomas Mills on drums. Released on Capitol F1721a month later but it didn't chart. Billboard and Cash Box both reviewed the single on August 4, 1951, and while Cash Box was fond of "I Wish I Was", Billboard called "Free Samples" "mediocre" and "I Wish I Was" a rendition that "doesn't do it justice".
Although Hogsed recorded several fine and style-wise noteworthy recordings like "Snake Dance Boogie", none of them were hits and by 1954, Capitol had lost faith in Hogsed and dropped him from its roster. This brought an end to Hogsed's rather short-lived career as an recording artist.
Hogsed and his band, which featured a completely different line-up already by 1953, continued to work live dates in San Diego during the 1950s and 1960s. The fact that Hogsed made his home base in San Diego and not in Los Angeles, west coast's own country music capital, may have been a reason that Hogsed never broke through nationally. In 1962, he suffered severe injuries after hitting a light pole with his car. Curiously enough, he had been chased by a police car since he had run four red lights and drove too fast.
Nevertheless, Hogsed continued to work as a musician until around 1969 when he quit the business altogether. He took a day job afterwards, working as a welder for San Diego Gas and Electric until his untimely death. Hogsed committed suicide on March 6, 1978, at his home in Vista, California, leaving his five children and his wife Willie, who passed away a year later in Texas.
• Wikipedia entry
• Roy Hogsed on Bear Family
• Hillbilly-Music.com
• Discogs
• SecondHandSongs.com
• Entry on 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm
• Entry at Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies
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