The Sabers

The Fabulous Sabers

"For Your Dancing Pleasure"

The Sabers, sometimes also known as "The Fabulous Sabers", was a Northeast Arkansas based rock'n'roll band. They are predominantly known for recording with Sonny Deckelman but also had records out in their own right. The Sabers were rock'n'rollers of second generation: born in the 1940s, they grew up to hearing the music of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and locals like Sonny Burgess and Billy Lee Riley in their formative years, and didn't begin performing until the early 1960s.

The Sabers originally consisted of Kenny Trigg on vocals and saxophone, Don Trigg on lead guitar, Bob McPherson on bass, and Gary Lynn Creason on drums. Eventually, the group also included such musicians as Dub Phelps on bass, Jim Murray on drums as well as Noel Key and Dennis Morgan, although it is unclear which instrument they performed. Creason was the older brother of Sammy Creason, who also became a drummer and later found fame as a studio musician himself. The members came from the Jonesboro region - McPherson hailed from Bay but lived in Trumann most of his life and Creason was born in Jonesboro.

The Jonesboro Sun, September 21, 1970

The Sabers came to the attention of local country and rockabilly singer Sonny Deckelman, who had founded his own record label Van-Deck Records in Harrisburg in 1959. The Sabers recorded their debut release for his label the next year, coupling "Streets of Laredo", a band original, with "Walk Softly" (Van-Deck #114). There was a Memphis based group who recorded for Co & Wi and RCT in the 1960s called "Le Sabres", which was a different group altogether. However, the Sabers also recorded in Memphis in 1965 at Slim Wallace's Fernwood studio. The results, "I'll Fly High" and "Oh What'd I Do", were released on the Silver-Dollar label from Memphis.

The second half of the decade saw the Sabers working with Sonny Deckelman, backing him up on his own recordings as well as on productions by other Van-Deck artists (including Chuck Bell, Bill Urfer, and Paul Ellzey). They also appeared frequently with Bobby Lee Trammell and as a solo act at such venues as the Cotton Club (Trumann), the C&R Club (Trumann), the P&L Club (Paragould), and Benny's Club (Paragould). They also performed at fairs and other events. In 1972, the band had another record out on the Jonesboro based WHAM label, which was credited to the band's drummer at the time, Jim Murray, who had joined in 1964.

The Sabers continued to perform locally into the 1980s. Drummer Gary Creason died in 2001 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Bob McPherson in 2025 in Jonesboro. Jim Murray still resides in Jonesboro and the Trigg brothers seem to be still around, too. A couple of their recordings have been reissued, including "I'll Fly High" on the 2011 "Lost Souls, Vol. 3" compilation.

Discography

Van-Deck 114: Sabers - Streets of Laredo / Walk Softly (1960)
Silver-Dollar 1003: Sabers - I'll Fly High / Oh What'd I Do (1965)
Van-Deck 119: Paul Ellzey / Music by the Sabers - How's the World Treating You / There Stands the Glass (1968)
Van-Deck 120: Chuck Bell / Music by the Sabers - High as a Mountain / Oh What a Feeling (1968)
Van-Deck 122: Sonny Deckelman / Music by the Sabers - Lonely Weekends / I'll Be Alright (1968)
WHAM WRS-1967: Jim Murray - Longhair / Wipeout - 72 (1972)

See also
• Jim Murray on WHAM!

Sources

• 45cat entry

• Gary Creason Find a Grave Entry

• Bob McPherson Find a Grave Entry

• Discogs

• Rock'n'Roll Schallplatten Forum (German)