Jimmie Skinner on Blue Grass Special

Jimmie Skinner - Doin' My Time (Blue Grass Special 45-EP-604), 1961

Jimmie Skinner was an artist of his own. Neither strictly bluegrass, neither mainstream country, Skinner developed his very own sound. Bear Family once said, if the term "alternative country" had been already invented in the 1950s, Skinner would have fitted it 100 percent. Although Skinner was not part of the Nashville establishment, he graced the world with a few classic, like "Doin' My Time". This song has been covered numerous times, including both well-known and obscure versions by Flatt & Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Jeff Johnson, Red Allen, Sherwin Linton, Bill Flagg, Jimmy Martin and others.

James "Jimmie" Skinner was born on April 27, 1909, in Blue Lick, Kentucky, near the town of Berea to William and Emma Skinner. When Skinner was a teenager, the family moved to Hamilton, Ohio, where he began performing on local radio and with his mother and grandmother on the streets. By the early 1930s, Skinner had become an accomplished musician, deeply rooted in the traditional mountain folk music of Kentucky and Ohio. With his older brother Esmer, who was born in 1906, he auditioned unsuccessfully at Gennett Records in 1931.

The brothers tried again in 1941 with the folks at Bluebird to no avail. Skinner had his first success as a songwriter in 1946, when Ernest Tubb recorded his "Let's Say Goodbye (Like We Said Hello)". Afterwards, Skinner's career really took off. He began recording for Red Barn Records in 1947, having two singles released on the small independent label, then signed a management contract with Lou Epstein and switched to Radio Artists Records, the E. T. Herzog Studio in-house label from Cincinnati. This association provided Skinner with his first success, a cover of Jimmy Work's "Tennessee Border". In those years, Skinner was often accompanied on record by his brother Esmer on fiddle or banjo and Ray Lunsford on electric mandolin, which gave many tracks a distinct bluegrass feel. It was a sparse line-up that melted with Skinner's recognizable voice into a sound of its own. 

Jimmie Skinner, 1950s

In the early 1950s, Skinner opened the Jimmie Skinner Music Center, a mail-order and retail record story in Cincinnati. The store was heavily advertised on the powerhouse WCKY radio station and Skinner also hosted a rad show out of his shop that was carried by WNOP from Newport, Kentucky. In 1950, Skinner signed with Capitol Records and switched to Decca in 1953. His most successful phase began when he began recording for Mercury in 1956, scoring such hits as "Will You Be Satisfied That Way", "Dark Hollow", and "I Found My Girl in the U.S.A.". He made another change when he joined Starday Records' roster in 1963.

In the early 1960s, Skinner produced some mail-order EPs on his Blue Grass Special label, including today's selection. These sides were recorded at the King Recording Studio in Cincinnati with Rusty York and the Kentucky Mountain Boys, including Willard Hole, Curley Tuttle, Harold Kress on fiddle, and Billy Thomas on bass.

In 1963, Skinner's manager Epstein died, which led to a downfall of his career. He resurrected it by becoming a regular on bluegrass festivals and continued to record for small labels, including Rich-R-Tone. Skinner moved to Nashville in 1974 and passed away on October 28, 1979, at the age of 70 years.

Recommended reading

• Country Music Hall of Fame

• Bear Family Records 6CD set

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Bear Family Records page

• Grit - Rural American Know-how

• SecondHandSongs

• 45cat entry / 45wporlds/78rpm entry

• Discogs

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Smokey Reason

Smokey Reason, late 1940s or early 1950s
From the collection of the Reason family via John Horton

Smokey Reason was a country music singer and songwriter from the Birmingham, Alabama, area. He had a rather short career, from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s, then dedicating his life to Christianity. Reason had a connection to Walter "Tex" Dixon, working not only in the same city and probanly knowing him therefore, but he also recorded Dixon's "Honky Tonk Swing" in 1949. 

Hiram Blair "Smokey" Reason was born on June 30, 1920, in LaGrange, Georgia, only a few miles away from the Alabama state border, to John and Mary Jane Reason. When World War II began, Reason had already married Dorothy Nell Doss, with whom he had a daughter, Sandra Elaine. However, the war interrupted family life and Reason had to serve in the US Army. 

He eventually divorced from Dorothy and after his discharge, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, for radio work. Around January 1947, Reason and his band, the Rainbow Range Riders, accompanied singer Rubert McClendon on a recording session for DeLuxe Records, which produced six tracks. Four of those were released by DeLuxe, including "Honky Tonk Swing", a song written by fellow Bimingham artist Walter "Tex" Dixon that was later recorded by both Reason and Dixon as well.

The Centreville Press
October 27, 1949

Part of the recording session were also Revin "Rebe" Gosdin and J.C. "Rabe" Perkins, two musicians that worked around Alabama as "Rebe & Rabe". Reason worked regularly with them and by 1949, all three men were broadcasting regularly over WVOK out of Birmingham. It is probable that Reason was also part of the station's Dixie Jamboree, a live stage stage show that originated from the Birmingham National Guard Armory and featured a lot of local talent.

In April 1949, Reason recorded his take on "Honky Tonk Swing", probably at WVOK, but it remained unreleased. Dixon would release his own version two years later for the local Bama record label. Reason spent some time in California and this may have been in the early and mid-1950s. He had a business association with Gene Autry, though details are unknown, and was also acquainted with such stars as Ferlin Husky and Little Jimmy Dickens. Word has it that Reason recorded with both of them, although there is no verification of this rumour.

Reason had two singles out in 1954. He recorded two of his own compositions, "A Boy and a Girl" and "Little Miss Muffet", and ordered his own custom pressed records under the S R label through 4 Star's OP series. 4 Star Records was an independent record company based in Pasadena, California, and the label re-released Reason's songs on 4 Star #X-90. Reason also recorded "Hoot Owl Melody" and "You Danced on My Heart" for two 4 Star various artists EPs.

In 1952, Reason had married Nancy Ellen Laney in Bentonville, Arkansas, and made his home in the nearby Joplin, Missouri, area. By late 1952, Smokey Reason was heard on WMBH out of Joplin and performed around town with different bands until ca. late 1954.

Though, in 1953, Reason had enough of the music business and decided to turn his life around and became a born-again Christian, dedicating his life to God. He stayed in Missouri during the 1950s but moved to Sallisaw, East Oklahoma, at some point in the 1960s. He opened a Baptist Church in in nearby Vian and founded "Camp Joy" in Oklahoma on Lake Tenkiller, a free Chrisian summer camp for underprivileged children. Reason continued his dedication throughout the years and in 1992, received the "Sacred Degree of Doctor of Divinity" from the Great Commission Theological Seminary of Bowling Green, Kentucky, for his enduring service.

Hiram Blair "Smokey" Reason passed away on December 21, 2001, at the age of 81 years in Porum, Oklahoma. He is buried at Coleman Cemetery in Porum. He left behind his wife, who passed away a year later, and their five daughters and 33 grandchildren. His daughter from his first marriage had already passed away in 1996.

Smokey Reason and his Southerners - Honky Tonk Swing (unissued)

Recommended listening

• "The Lost Child" Podcast, Episode 564: Alabama Country Acetates

Sources

• Thanks to Marshal Martin, who pointed me towards Smokey Reason and supplied valuable information. Thanks also to John Horton, who discovered Reason's acetate of "Honky Tonk Swing", donated it to the Southern Music Research Center and interviewed Reason's family.

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Southern Music Research Collection

• Rebe & Rabe entry at Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies

Sandy Sans on Throne

Sandy Sans - What Made Nashville Famous (Made a Poor Man Out of Me) (Throne 51118), 1968

G.W. Sanderford, better known in the late 1960s as “Sandy Sans”, recorded two records for the independent Throne label, which was based in Independence, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. Sanderford might have been originally from Arkansas and the song featured today, "What Made Nashville Famous (Made a Poor Man Out of Me)", featured the involvement of two more Arkansas natives, brothers Keith and Elmo Lincoln Kissee, better known as Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Linn.

The Kissee brothers hailed from Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, near the border to Missouri. By the late 1940s, they had relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where both started a career in country music. Keith Kissee performed as Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Lincoln Kissee as Elmo Linn. They would be active in the city as musicians for decades, recording, performing, and working on radio and TV.

The Throne label was started in 1968 by Bud Throne, who also produced Sandy Sans’ session. It featured Jimmy Dallas on bass and probably musicians from his band - Larry Roberts on lead guitar, Gene Dunlap on piano, and Bob Meyers on drums. Elmo Linn was the A&R men for this session and possibly had a hand in picking the song material. A newspaper article from 1968 cited Sandy Sans that he had high hopes in this record, especially in the top side “What Made Nashville Famous”. However, the single became not a hit.

Billboard November 2, 1968
DJ Ted Cramer's listeners on KCKN in Kansas City loved
Sandy Sans' "What Made Nashville Famous"

Sans had one more single out on Throne the same year, "It's All Over Now" b/w "To Heck With Love". I don't known what happened to G. W. Sanderford alias Sandy Sans after 1968. Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Linn continued their musical activities throughout the years. Elmo Linn died in 1994, Dallas passed away in 2004.

See also
• Jimmy Dallas on Westport

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Discogs

Dixie Hayride

Billboard October 14, 1956
The only mention of the Florence based Dixie Hayride

There were many country stage shows bearing the word "Dixie" in it and Alabama shows were no exception. While there were shows like the Dixie Barn Dance or the Dixie Jamboree, the name "Dixie Hayride" was applied to at least three shows in the mid-1950s!

This post concentrates on the live stage show "Dixie Hayride" out of Florence, Alabama. The cast of the show included straight forward country artists like Dexter Johnson, Kelso Hurston, and Dixie Hayriders (probably the show's house band). However, located in the northeastern corner of the state, Florence was not too far away from Memphis, and the ongoing list of Dixie Hayride entertainers include some names that might be familiar with Memphis music fans like Buddy Bain and Kay Wayne, Maggie Sue Wimberly, Junior Thompson, and an artist named Mason Dixon (which could have been Walter "Tex" Dixon but might have actually been Merle "Red" Taylor, who recorded rockabilly for Meteor Records under this name at the time). The first three of those also recorded for Meteor Records at the time. Thompson was a Florence, Alabama, native.

While the cast of the show included some well-known names, other details like venue, radio station, emcee, and duration, escapes my knowledge, unfortunately. There were two other shows of the same name in Alabama but they were not related to all accounts. The first one was a Saturday afternoon DJ show on WMGY in Montgomery and the second one was a weekday DJ show hosted by Wally Horton on WSGY out of Birmingham. 

If anyone knows more about the Dixie Hayride, please share your information with us!

Sources
• Various Billboard issues
• Various Birmingham News advertisements
• Mason Dixon Rockin' Country Style entry (possibly incorrect info)

Johnny Nace on Rimrock

Johnny Nace - Blue Notes (Rimrock 271), 1968

Johnny Nace was a Missouri based artist that enjoyed a long career in country music during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He was regionally well-known and had a few records that sold good regionally. He is also known to rockabilly audiences for his 1950s and early 1960s singles.

John Percy "Johnny" Nace was born in Knob Noster, Missouri, in 1934, and grew up on a farm outside of nearby Warrensburg. His father was a musician, as had his grandfather and great-grandfather been, so music was rooted deeply in the family. Naturally, Nace started playing guitar and got his first job at age 15, playing square dances with a fiddler. He then became part of the radio show “Hillbilly Jamboree” in Sedalia, Missouri. Nace also worked as a DJ on KOKO in Warrensburg, on KDRO in Sedalia, and later hosted the "Circle Six Ranch" on KMOS-TV.

By 1956, Nace was part of the Missouri Valley Boys that performed on KSIS in Sedalia. The group also included Joe Lender, Goodson Merriott, and F.D. Johnson, who became a recording artist in his own right. Nace, Johnson and the band recorded their first singles in 1958 for the local Marshall, Missouri, based Jan record label. From that point on, Nace continued to record for various labels throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Johnny Nace and the Midnighters, 1960s
with Nace (guitar) and Joe Greene (steel guitar)

In the early 1960s, he formed his band called “The Midnighters” and began recording for Nashville Records in 1962, a subsidiary of Starday Records. He then switched to Topic, another Nashville company, and had a regional hit in 1966 with his first release on the label, “Midnight Train to Georgia”, selling about 20,000 copies. Country Song Round-Up called him a "promising vocal talent" in 1965: "Johnny is one of country music's most promising vocal talents. He is a former star of central Missouri's very popular television show 'The Circle Six Ranch', which was originated from the studios of KMOS-TV, channel six [...]." The promising sales also got him a guest spot on Ernest Tubb's Midnight Jamboree on WSM.

In 1968 he recorded two songs that eventually wound up on Wayne Raney’s Rimrock Records from Concord, Arkansas. Nace recorded both tracks in Kansas City with the Woodchoppers, a band that he had founded earlier that year and included Nace on vocals and guitar, Doug Mastin on steel guitar, Bill McCanally on piano, Bill Acres on bass, and Chuck Addleman on drums. The two songs were “Blue Notes” and “The Kind You Find Tonight”, which were initially released on C.A.R.S. Records – a Kansas City based label. The tracks were then leased to Rimrock and issued again the same year on that label. "Blue Notes" was co-written by Delores (or Dolores) Tolbert, who recorded around the same time for Sonny Deckelman's Van-Deck label out of Harrisburg, Arkansas. She later managed the Jonesboro, Arkansas, bluegrass band "Shady Hill".

His 1969 single on Throne Records, "Sherry Ann", was a good seller as well and Billboard predicted it to reach the Hot Country Songs - which it did not, unfortunately. Nevertheless, Nace continued to perform and record throughout the next decades. By the 1970s, his band was again called the Midnighters and performed in Missouri. His sons Dave and Jimmy also became musicians, leading a rockabilly band in the 1980s that sometimes included their father. Johnny Nace passed away from a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 56 years. 

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Show Me the History - Johnson County-West Central Missouri History

• Nace Brothers website

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Tex Dixon / Mason Dixon / Walter Dixon

Mason Dixon - Queen Of My Heartaches (Reed RR 1064), 1961

Hello Memphis, Goodbye Birmingham!

The Life and Times of Walter "Tex" "Mason" Dixon

Walter Dee Dickey recorded and performed under different names during his decades-long career in country music: Tex Dixon, Mason Dixon, and Walter Dixon, all of them seemingly chosen for different music styles. An Alabama native, Dixon also had connections to both Memphis and Nashville and would record for labels in both cities.

Born Walter Dee (or D.) Dickey in 1925 to Charlie A. and Clara J. Dickey. The family lived in Bessemer, Jefferson County, a suburb of Birmingham. Raised with two brothers and two sisters, he served his country during World War II. By 1950, he had married his lifelong wife Dorothy, with whom he had two daughters.

By then, he had taken up performing country music and had chosen upon the name "Tex Dixon" for performing purposes. In 1950, he started a fifteen minute program on Saturdays that aired over WVOK out of Birmingham. This show later changed to a morning broadcast. Around the same time, he was also a cast member of the station's big Saturday night stage show, the Dixie Jamboree. Dixon was in good companion there with country artists like Jimmy Work, Shorty Sullivan, and Joe Rumore being on WVOK as well.

Dixon started his career as a recording artist in 1951 and cut his first single for Manley Pearson's local Bama record label from Birmingham. "Honky Tonk Swing" b/w "I'm Sorry for You" appeared around June that year and was credited to "Walter (Tex) Dixson and his Radio Ramblers". The disc was the last on the Bama label, which closed afterwards, and left Dixon unsuccessful. 

It seems that Dixon's broadcasts on WVOK ended in 1953. He then founded a band called the "Range Riders" and began working with Jim Atkins around February 1954. Atkins, a musician, DJ, promoter and brother of Chet Atkins, hosted the "Uncle Jim Show" on WBRC and Dixon became a part of it. A good talker and promoter, Atkins began managing Dixon and booked him for many personal appearances in the region. Around the same time, Dixon also performed on WILD's Alabama Jamboree at the Bessemer City Auditorium. Dixon and Atkins started writing songs together and sold some of them to Fairway Music in Hollywood, California, including "The Grass Looks Greener" and "Take Down That New Sign".

Birmingham Post May 4, 1950
A country show at Bessemer City Auditorium featuring Tex Dixon

It was also Atkins who was responsible for Dixon's next record. They had written and recorded "This Doggone Fiddle" and "Two Ton Mama". The former was a recitation by Atkins while the latter was sung by Dixon. Both songs appeared on Alfa 101/2, Atkins' own label but the disc did not enjoy much success. Dixon would work with Atkins on and off during the next years but also trod his own path.

In May 1956, Dixon's next record appeared in the custom series of Starday Records. This disc coupled "Your Lovin' Lies" and "I'm Just Feelin' Sorry for Myself". Again, both songs were credited to the songwriting team of Dixon and Atkins. It should be noted that the same year, Meteor Records of Memphis released a record by "Mason Dixon", which was country fiddler Merle "Red" Taylor in disguise, however. Dixon would not use the "Mason Dixon" name until the 1960s.

Dixon took a break from recording but likely continued to perform around Birmingham. He returned to the studio in 1958 and made his first trip to Memphis, linking up with record label owner Marshall Ellis. Is is possible that Jim Atkins was responsible for Dixon's Memphis connection as Atkins had brought Alabama singer Hoyt Johnson to Memphis based Marshall Ellis and his Erwin record label a year earlier. The first result from this association was "Goodbye She's Gone" (written by Mary Biggs, Hargus Robbins, and Bobby Johnson) and "Slowly Dying" (written by Al Horn), released on Erwin #211. The disc was certainly connected with producer and label executive Murray Nash from Nashville, as the song material came from his stable of songwriters and was published through his publishing arm. It is especially "Goodbye She's Gone" that is very enjoyable. By then, Dixon had linked up with Memphis country music stalwart Eddie Bond, who had recently founded his Stomper Time record label. "I Had to Let You Go" b/w "Mind Full of Memories" appeared around that time on the label (# 1158) and were two Dixon originals. It is possible that Dixon was introduced to Bond by Marshall Ellis, who was a friend of Bond's. 

While all these early recordings of Dixon were stone-hard country music, he turned to popular rock'n'roll in 1960. By then, rock'n'roll music had been on the charts for more than five years but it was not until then that he decided to put his own rock'n'roll style onto vinyl. For this purpose, he had made contacts with Homer Milan, who owned the Reed label in Birmingham. Reed #1045 featured the rocker "I Want My Baby Back" (a Dixon-Atkins collaboration) and the up-tempo pop-oriented "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place", released in the spring of 1960. It was the first record that featured his new pseudonym "Mason Dixon", a reference to the Mason Dixon Line that sets apart the old American South from the North.

Three more singles on Reed followed, sadly none of them were in the same rock'n'roll vein as his first one on the label. His other material for the label pointed more towards country music, with "Big Blue Water" (#1060, 1961) and "Queen of My Heartaches" (#1064, 1961) being the best of them. The flip side of the latter featured one of Dixon's best-known songs, "Hello Memphis", which was composed by Virgil Jones, however. The song made a perfect reference to his own way of turning to Memphis labels every now and then and leaving Birmingham - which he would do for his next record.

When his association with Reed ended, the year 1962 had come and brought new opportunities for Dixon. First, there was Marshall Ellis and his Erwin and Zone labels. Dixon released a new version of "Hello Memphis" backed by a cover of Eddie Noack's "She Can't Stand the Light of Day" on Zone (#520) from around March 1962. Another one came on Erwin #750 and featured the Leon Bowman composition "Funny How Love Can Be" plus the Jimmy Wakely cover "One Has My Name". Local Birmingham songwriter and manager Leon Bowman had also recorded rock'n'roll for Reed in 1958, for which he is best remembered nowadays. Dixon would have a few more records produced by Ellis but first, went back to Birmingham for a new step in his career. As neither country nor rock'n'roll had brought along a real hit, Dixon turned to gospel and changed names once more - this time to the more serious sounding "Walter Dixon".

The same year, preacher and country-turned-gospel singer Walter Bailes (of the Bailes Brothers fame) had come to Birmingham and he had brought his Loyal record label with him. Dixon would record a total of five records for the label during the 1960s. He made some fine gospel performances for Loyal, sometimes supported by the Dotson Brothers. One of his highlights on Loyal includes a rendition of "Where the Soul Never Dies".

In 1964, he recorded for Starday's Nashville imprint as Walter "Tex" Dixon and laid down a good one with "Ballad of John Rollin". He continued to release records through the 1960s and 1970s and Dixon turned his attention to Nashville labels during the 1970s. He recorded such Alabama labels as Crown Ltd. as well as Three Star and for Nashville based companies like Brite Star and Macho. Probably his most successful from this era - or altogether - was "Radar Blues" on Brite Star in 1973, which made #33 on the Record World charts according to a Birmingham News article. It was received well in different markets - except for Birmingham.

It seems that at some point in the late 1970s, after years and years of recording, Dixon gave up. In his later life, he lived in Vance, Alabama, a few miles southwest of the Birmingham area. Since 1978, some of his songs had been re-released by European and Canadian country and rockabilly collector labels like Redita and White Label, helping to make his name popular among younger music fans. However, this happened likely without the knowledge of Dixon. Walter "Tex" "Mason" Dixon passed away on February 11, 1986, at the age of 60 years. He is buried at Highland Memorial Gardens in Bessemer.  

See also

• Jim Atkins on Coral

• Leon Bowman on Reed

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• 45cat/78rpm entry 

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Gospel Jubilee entry

• Discogs

• Official census records access through ancestry.com

Ramon Maupin

Rocking Rufus from Memphis
The Story of Ramon Maupin

This text is based on an excerpt from American Music Magazine #152 (December 2019)

I wrote about Memphis singer and songwriter Ramon Maupin back in 2019 for American Music Magazine as part of my extensive look on Fernwood Records. However, as my focus was not set on Maupin but on the record label, I now feel his story can be extended as well. And, moreover, I want to correct a few false statements I made back then.

A native of Memphis, Ramon Maupin was a mainstay in the city’s music scene without causing a stir. He left behind three singles on Memphis labels and a couple of songs recorded by other artists. Maupin also had the honor to have the first release on Fernwood after Billy Lee Riley switched to Sun.

Maupin was a vocalist and guitarist with the Dixie Ramblers in 1956 when Wallace was searching for a singer to replace Riley. He found compensation in Maupin, who recorded his "No Chance" / "Love Gone" inn 1956 in Wallace’s tiny garage studio. Asked by Steve Kelemen, Maupin remembered his record as follows: "I remember it played on a jukebox down in Memphis for over a year and sold a few thousand copies. I remember someone saying ‘That song of yours ain’t country. It ain’t R&R. It ain’t nothing.’ It kind of hurt my feelings a little bit. Then I got to thinking about it and said well that makes it different, don’t it. So I didn’t feel bad about it later on." For "No Chance", this was definitely the case but "Love Gone" was a strictly country cut with dreamy steel guitar fills by Bud Deckelman.

Maupin, however, proved that he could rock with two more records on Fernwood (1958) and the Buford Cody/Jody Chastain owned Memphis imprint (1961). Regarding his second Fernwood single "Rocking Rufus" / "What's the Use", recording and release date information is disputed. It was reportedly recorded in November of 1957 and released by Wallace at the tail end of the year in December. There are copies which have "JAN 24 1958" stamped on the label (which was usually done at radio stations when they were receiving their copy), which supports the December 1957 release date. Though, the song wasn’t copyrighted until March 12, 1958. Both "Rockin’ Rufus" and "What’s the Use" are great examples of late 1950s Memphis rock ’n’ roll, with a solid drum beat and a shuffling and tickling piano in the back ground. The faster side, "Rockin’ Rufus", featured the help of sax man Ace Cannon, who was the inspiration for the song, as Maupin recalled: […] He [Ace Cannon] made an impression on me because he was such a good player. I said well, I’m going to write a song about this sax player and I got him to play on it." Apart from Maupin and Cannon, the line-up included Scotty Moore on guitar, Stan Kesler on bass, and unknown musicians on piano and drums.

In a letter to the local Midland, Texas, record shop owner Cecil "Pop" Holifield dated February 22, 1958, Fernwood label manager Scotty Moore explained about Maupin’s record: "Ramon Maupin’s #105 ‘What’s the Use’ has been slowly picking up speed here. I just signed a release on it to Sparton of Canada." Concrete numbers of sales for this release are not documented but obviously, the disc did not sell too much outside the Memphis area, although Moore must have put faith in it, as his comment in this letter emphasizes. The Canadian release carried the number Sparton #4-552R.

Maupin's third and last single release came in 1961 for the newly founded Memphis record label. Again, Maupin provided the debut release for this company, comprising the rocker "Hey Rena", written by Memphis artist Fuller Todd, and the slower paced "(Maybe) Tomorrow We'll Know", a Fuller Todd-Jody Chastain work. Maupin had already signed with Memphis in October 1959, after his second Fernwood single had not clicked, but the recording and release process was evolving slowly. A session was set up not until the next year, using the Fernwood studio on North Main Street, with an unknown line-up of musicians. The two songs weren't released by Cody and Chastain until early 1961, when they finally hit the market on Memphis #101. Again, the record sold only locally. As an interesting side note, Harold Jenkins alias Conway Twitty heard "Tomorrow We'll Know" and covered his for MGM Records, although his version remained unreleased, unfortunately.

Billboard February 27, 1961, C&W review

Catalog of Copyright Entries

However, Maupin continued his music career, although he made no more commercial recordings under his own name. He was a close associate of Charlie Feathers, who became some kind of a mentor to him. Maupin played rhythm guitar for about 15 years in Feathers’ background band, performing with Tommy Tucker for a time in a West Memphis club. Rumor goes that Maupin joined Feathers’ Musical Warriors for a short time in 1956 as a drummer, a claim that likely can only be cleared by Maupin himself.

Maupin was not only a good vocalist but also a talented songwriter, He had penned all of his Fernwood material by himself and some of his composition were also recorded by other artists. Already in 1958, Jimmy Pritchett recorded Maupin's "Nothing On My Mind" for Stan Kesler's Crystal label. With former Sun recording artist Sonny Wilson, Maupin wrote "Troubled Times", which was recorded by Wilson and saw release on the Plaza and Candix labels in 1961. Charlie Feathers also recorded their joint composition "Jungle Fever" for Charlie Kahn’s Kay label in December 1958 at radio WHBQ. With Roland Janes on lead guitar, Maupin remembered performing rhythm guitar on some of the takes, though he was not sure if the issued take featured his playing. "Jungle Fever" song became Maupin's most covered song with versions by the Cramps, the Wild Wax Combo, Tav Falco, the Nomads, and others. Maupin took also part in one of Feathers’ sessions held in 1968 at the Select-O-Hits studios in Memphis as a rhythm guitarist. With Feathers, Maupin also penned "Why Pretend I Can Win" and Feathers recorded Maupin's "It's Just That Song" in 1976 for Vetco.

In later years, Maupin recorded mostly privately at home with his family and kept music as a hobby. Some sources stated that Maupin passed away in the 1980s, which is not true. In the 2000s, he made his home in Starksville, Mississippi and made a short appearance in 2008 on a WFMU Charlie Feathers special broadcast. In February 2011, Maupin performed at the opening of the exhibition "Roots of Rockabilly" at the Rogers Historical Museum in Rogers, Arkansas. The exhibit dealt with Slim Wallace (who was from nearby Paragould, Arkansas) and his Fernwood record label. This is the last time we heard of Ramon Maupin.

If anyone knows about Ramon Maupin's whereabouts or has more information on him, please feel free to contact me.

See also
• The Memphis label

Sources
• Dave Travis: "Memphis Rockabillies, Hillbillies & Honky Tonkers, Volume 4" (2004), Stomper Time Records, liner notes
• Ronald "Slim" Wallace Exhibit (arkansasonline.com)
• Charlie Feathers Tribute radio show on WFMU with special guests Billy Miller, Bubba Feathers, and Ramon Maupin
• Obituary of Ramon Maupin's mother
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• 45cat entry
• Discogs
• Sonny Wilson 45cat entry

Lee Carzle on Erwin

Lee Carzle with Bobby Mizzel and the Le-Bow's - I'm askin' But I'm Not Gettin' (Erwin E-77), 1957 (or 1959)
Lee Carzle Hood was born on October 7, 1935, to Sim Andrew and Dollie L. Hood in Alabama. He grew up with five siblings. In the late 1940s, Hood served his country and spent time overseas in Saudi Arabia around 1949. Upon his return in 1950, he lived in Mississippi but eventually returned to Alabama. In November 1956, Hood married Shirley Oral Lane in Jefferson County, Alabama (which includes the state's capital Birmingham). The couple had two daughters.

Lee Carzle Hood, late 1950s

Hood was also a singer and musician. In the mid- to late 1950s, he linked up with local Birmingham musician, songwriter, and manager Leon Bowman, who in turn organized a deal with Marshall Ellis' Erwin record label from Memphis, Tennessee. As Lee Carzle, Hood recorded "I'm Askin' But I'm Not Gettin'" and "What's In Store for Me" and both Bowman originals. He was backed by local Birminham pianost Bobby Mizzell as well as the Le-Bow's, probably Bowman's own group. 

Terry Gordon of the excellent "Rockin' Country Style" discography project gives the release date as December 1957 (estimated) and it seems that most others, including Adam Komorowski in his liner notes for the Proper Records box set "Rocking Memphis", adapted this date. However, a Birmingham News article from September 13, 1959, mentions that "Lee Carzle has gone on record for Erwin [...] both sides of which were written by Leon Brown [!]." So this means the record either did not come into existence until 1959 or it indeed came out in late 1957 but did not get any recognition from the local press until two years later.

Come 1961, Hood had signed a deal with the Starday subsidiary Nashville Records and recorded two singles for the label. "Doorway to Your Heart" b/w "Two Eyes, Two Arms, Two Lips" was released that year on Nashville #5032. Again, both songs were composed by Leon Bowman. A second single followed three years later in 1964 with two songs Hood had penned with his sister Euell, "I'll Go to the Jumping Off Place with You" and "I've Never Made a Hit" (Nashville # 5193). It seems that this was his last release.

In the 1980s and in the 2000s, European rockabilly collections started featuring Carzle's "I'm Askin' But I'm Not Gettin'". Hood passed away on February 8, 2008, at the age of 72 years in Walker County, Alabama. He is buried in adjacent Marion County.

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Familysearch.org

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• 45cat entry

Don McKinnon on Sound Stage 7

Don McKinnon - Country Guitar (Sound Stage 7 45-2529), 1964

Not a household name in country music history, Don McKinnon was a songwriter in the late 1950s and 1960s, having made the majority of his work in the Nashville music scene. Besides that, he also recorded occasionally, including this gem of mid 1960s Nashville country. He is not to be confused with the west coast radio personality of the same name, who was killed in the 1960s.

Donald Ladson "Don" McKinnon was born on December 30, 1933, to Willie Ladson and Mary Grace McKinnon in Eastman, Georgia, where he grew up on a farm. McKinnon became interested in music at an early age and eventually became a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, guitar, bass, steel guitar, and harpsichord. One day, McKinnon was at a farmer's market in Atlanta, sitting on a bulk of watermelons, singing and playing his guitar. As it happened, country singer Red Sovine witnessed the young singer and advised him to try his luck in Nashville.

By 1959, McKinnon was under contract with Blanche Carter's music publishing in Augusta. At that time, he had already written about 150 songs. However, he followed Sovine's advice and went to Music City, U.S.A. in the early 1960s, where he soon became acquainted with some of the big names in country music.

McKinnon's debut single was released in 1961 on the Beltone label and he followed up with a single on the newly founded Sound Stage 7 label, a subsidiary of Monument Records. "Country Guitar" b/w "Sing Me a Sad Song, Willie" were of course McKinnon originals and produced by Hank Cochran, who worked for Pamper Music. Despite guest spots on the Grand Ole Opry and in Las Vegas, none of his singles really caught on and McKinnon enjoyed a rather quiet life - first in the Augusta, Georgia, area and since 1960 in Beech Island, South Carolina. He had another more release on the Antenna label in 1966 and two more singles out on the Soundwaves label in the 1980s. Although he was also an accomplished singer, he never found the big break as a performer, recording only sporadically, but enjoyed success as a composer.

Billboard June 1, 1963

In 1963, Hank Snow had recorded his "Town of Laredo" and Snow obviously took a liking at McKinnon, supporting him and possibly making him acquainted with Hal Smith. Smith, who worked with Pamper Music, signed him to a songwriter's contract the same year. In 1966, Johnny Cash cut his version of McKinnon's "Bottom of a Mountain", which was also recorded by Tex Williams two years later. In 1970, Carl Phillips recorded his "Such a Short Time (to Forget So Much)". Many lesser known artists cut his songs during the 1960s and 1970s as well.

In the 1980s, his career was boosted one last time, as he shot a music video with his song "Crippled Cowboy", inspired by a Vietnam veteran he had met, and he released the video under his nickname of "Tracker" (he got that name because of his hunting passion). The moderate success in turn led to several appearances on Nashville TV network. He also operated a very short-lived record label in the late 1980s, Tracker Records.

McKinnon retired from music and his day job in 1993 and spent his time with his family, with his part-time leather holsters business, hunting, and quick-draw pistol shooting, taking part in several contests. His wife Mary, who was also a songwriter, died in 2013. Don McKinnon followed her on June 15, 2016, in Aiken, South Carolina, at the age of 82 years. He is buried at First Baptist Church of Beech Island Cemetery in his adopted hometown of Beech Island.

Discography

Beltone 1013: Should I Kiss You / I See In the Paper (1961)
Sound Stage 7 2529: Country Guitar / Sing Me a Sad Song Willie (1964)
Antenna 6442: Blues / Fat, Fat, Fat (1966)
Soundwaves 4805: If I Die Tomorrow / Roses (and Other Lovely Things) (1988)
Soundwaves 4809: Bottom of a Mountain / Such a Short Time to Forget (1988)

See also
• New Star and Gaylor / Pamper Music and Its Labels

Sources
• Don Rhodes: "McKinnon was everyday man who wrote country hits" (2016), Augusta Chronicle
• Obituary
• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry
• Discogs

Leon Bowman

Black Widow Spider

The Story of Leon Bowman

The Birmingham, Alabama, music scene had close connections to its bigger counterpart in Memphis during the 1950s and early 1960s. Several country and rock'n'roll singers from Birmingham recorded for Memphis labels, including Tex Dixon, Hoyt Johnson, Sherry Crane, among others. In addition, there was a group of singers like Lendon Smith, Junior Thompson and Buddy Bain & Kay Wayne out of Florence, Alabama, that recorded for Meteor Records in Memphis in the mid-1950s.

Alabama native Leon Bowman never recorded for a Memphis label but he was responsible for getting some Birmingham talent onto labels like Stomper Time Records. Although he recorded a single under his own name, Bowman was more of a songwriter and manager.

Born Leon Fleming Bowman on June 3, 1917, to Noah Arthur and Lillie Getrude (Hardin) Bowman, he was raised likely in Calhoun County or St. Clair County, Alabama, northwest of Birmingham. Bowman grew up in a large family with nine siblings, four sisters, and nine brothers, and many of them later settled in Birmingham. As a young man, he moved to Decatur, Alabama, took up the profession of a barber and worked at Herman Hinz' barber shop on 2nd Avenue.

World War II interrupted Bowman's plans and he was drafted, serving in the US Navy. He was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, possibly developing early ties to the city during this time, and spent 18 months on sea as a ship's service man. He was discharged around November 1945 and returned to Decatur, taking up his job with Hinz again. In 1950, Bowman was appointed by Alabama Govenor "Big Jim" Folsom to serve honorably as a lieutenant colonel in the state militia. This duty lasted five years.

In the meantime, Bowman had married Norma Chatham and the couple would raise three daughters and four sons. At some point in the 1950s, Bowman moved his family to the Birmingham area, where, by 1958, he had become manager of the Arcadia Barber Shop located in the Five Points West Shopping Center. At least a year earlier, Bowman had found his way into the local music scene of Birmingham, playing guitar and writing songs. 

Leon Bowman
(bad quality copy from WLP 8873)

Alabama boy Lee Carzle Hood was probably the first to record Bowman's songs. As Lee Carzle, he recorded "I'm Askin' But I'm Not Gettin'" and "What's In Store for Me", both Bowman originals, for the Memphis based Erwin label. The deal with Erwin Records, owned by Marshall Ellis, was set up by Bowman possibly with the help of Jim Atkins, an Alabama based DJ, promoter, and singer, who had recently brought Hoyt Johnson, another local, to the attention of Marshall Ellis. Terry Gordon of the excellent "Rockin' Country Style" discography project gives the release date as December 1957 (estimated) and it seems that most others, including Adam Komorowski in his liner notes for the Proper Records box set "Rockin' Memphis", adapted the date. However, a Birmingham News article from September 13, 1959, mentions that "Lee Carzle has gone on record for Erwin [...] both sides of which were written by Leon Brown [!]." So this means the record either did not come into existence until 1959 or it did not get any recognition from the local press until 1959.

Either way, Bowman made his way into the local music scene. He became involved in Homer Milan's Birmingham based Reed record label in some way, spending time in its studio, managing some of its artists, and supplying song material. Bowman also had a release out on Reed under his own name, his sole commercial record. Released in 1958, it was an extended play disc featuring four tracks: "Searching for Love", "Rocking the Blues", "Black Widow Spider", and "Looking For My Rib". For 41 years old Bowman, these tracks were surprisingly rocking. There were also a few unreleased tapes that did not see the light of day until the 1980s.

Bowman began managing rock'n'roll singer Ronnie Moore and they made use of the Memphis connection again, securing a release of "You Have This and More" b/w "Take a Look at the Moon" on Eddie Bond's Stomper Time label in 1959. Bond, who went on to become Memphis' top country music star, was friends with Marshall Ellis. Ellis also manufactured Bruce Brakefield's "Rain Boy" b/w "In Your Heart" on Bowman's own L-Flem-Bow label.

This label only lasted for the one Brakefield release but in 1960, Bowman was back at it with a brand new label, the aptly named Teen's Choice Records. The first known release was devoted to Ronnie Moore again, "Time for School" b/w "Sweet Shop Doll" (#TC-7). The catalogue numbers suggest that there were earlier releases prior to this but none have been found so far. It was #TC-8 that secured the label its place in rockabilly history. Tiny Tim & the Tornadoes recorded "I've Gotta Find Someone", a rip-roaring guitar driven rockabilly number, backed with "My One Desire", released in 1960. Tiny Tim's real name was Tim Bowman, a cousin of Leon Bowman. A third release in 1960 featured Jerry Lee Johnson & the Roulettes. It seems Bowman's Teen Choice label went out of business afterwards.

During the early 1960s, Birmingham artists like Othell Sullivan, Walter "Tex" Dixon (alias Mason Dixon), and Lee Carzle continued to record Bowman's songs for different labels. But by the middle of the decade, his activies in music had ceased. He continued to live in Birmingham until his death on January 13, 1977, at the age of 59 years. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

The European rockabilly revival brought unknown artists like Bowman to the attention of music fans and collectors. In the 1980s, Dutch record collector Cees Klop visited Alabama and tracked down Bowman's family. Apparently, Bowman had buried unsold copies of the Tiny Tim release in his garden on Pleasant Grove Road and shortly after his widow had told Klop the story, both found themselfes digging out those records in the garden. You can see a lot of those copies being sold now on ebay, discogs, or in sales lists. Klop introduced both Leon and Tiny Bowman's recordings as well as many other associated music through his White Label LPs to young, European audiences and made them household names among rockabilly record collectors.

High resolution version of the picture shown above
(made with AI)

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Discogs

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• 45cat entry

• Official records access through ancestry.com

• Several Birmingham News articles 1944 - 1963

Bill Haley on Decca

Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie (Decca 9-29713), 1955

This record was one of my acquisitions last year and although I was very familiar with the songs on it, having them on CD and in digital format, I thought it was nice to have them on original 45rpm record. You can't go wrong with Bill Haley and the Comets. I consider him being the first real star of rock'n'roll music.

"Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie" was recorded on September 22, 1955, at Decca's recording studio at the Pythian Temple in New York City. Present that day were Haley on vocals and rhythm guitar, Franny Beecher on lead guitar, Billy Williamson on steel guitar, Rudy Pompillli on saxophone, Johnny Grande on piano, Al Rex on bass, and Cliff Leeman on drums. It was the first session for Rex and Pompilli as Comets, as they replaced bassist Marshall Lytle and sax player Joey Ambrose. Rex had performed earlier with Haley when he was still playing more  country music oriented material. Studio drummer Cliff Leeman was brought in for Dick Richards, who had left as well. Also recorded that day was the song "R-O-C-K" and, the next day with the same line-up, "The Saints of Rock'n'Roll" and "Burn That Candle".

Billboard October 22, 1955, pop review

Billboard November 12, 1955

Sound-wise, all four recordings followed the pattern of Haley's big 1954 hit "Rock Around the Clock". "Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie" had been written by Haley three years earlier for his former guitarist Danny Cedrone, who had his own version released in September 1954 with his Esquire Boys on Guyden Records. Haley's own version was coupled with "Burn That Candle" on Decca #29713 in November 1955. It became a #16 Billboard pop best sellers hit in the US and #4 hit in the UK for Haley and the Comets. 

Bill Haley and the Comets, mid 1950s

Sources

• German Wikipedia entry / English Wikipedia entry

• 45cat

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Loyal Records (Birmingham, Al.)

No, No Satan!

The Story of Loyal Records

Loyal Records was a long-lasting record label in the field of country gospel music. Operated by bluegrass and gospel singer Walter Bailes of the famous Bailes Brothers, Loyal produced estimated 700 records throughout its active years from 1960 until around 1971. Based in various locations, the label released the bulk of material out of its Birmingham, Alabama, offices.

Owner Walter Bailes was born on January 17, 1920, in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Musical talent rooted in the Bailes family as Walter and his brothers John ("Johnnie"), Kyle, and Homer all played instruments and sang. Raised in poverty, the brothers grew up with traditional old-time folk music and sacred hymns. In the late 1930s, the brothers appeared on radio stations across the state of West Virginia in various combinations, including WSAZ in Huntington but also stations in Charleston, Bluefield, and Beckley.

The Bailes Brothers live on stage of the Grand Ole Opry, mid-1940s

At the recommendation of Roy Acuff, who had witnessed them perform, Johnnie and Walter Bailes moved to Nashville in the mid-1940s, where they gained a recording contract with Columbia Records and became regulars on the WSM Grand Ole Opry. They later also recorded for King Records. The duo relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1946 and found work with KWKH. Two years later, the Bailes Brothers became cast members of the station's newly started Louisiana Hayride and developed into early stars of the show. Walter Bailes became a minister with evangelical churches in 1947 and in 1949 the duo act broke up. Homer would become a reverend, too, in Louisiana. The Bailes Brothers continued to perform solo and in various combinations but seldomly all four of them stood on stage. 

From his Shreveport home base, Walter Bailes set out to attend revivals and church meetings across the country. From 1953 until 1957, he worked with his brother Johnnie again but this time as a pure gospel act. By 1957, Bailes could be found managing Carl Butler and was working with WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a short time. 

By October 1960, Bailes had a country and gospel DJ show on KXAR in Hope, Southwest Arkansas, and around the same time, founded Loyal Records. Billboard reported that "Walter Bailes [...] has formed his own label, Loyal Records, to promote gospel songs and singers. Bailey also plans to launch his own publishing company, Wal-Fran, with headquarters for both firms at 1111 Rendall Street, Shreveport, La." Wal-Fran was likely an acronym for Walter and Frankie, his wife. From the same address, which was likely his home, he also sold "religious supplies" through newspaper ads, including bibles, sheet music, record players, and sacred records. 

Birmingham Post Herald 
October 26, 1962

Among the first acts Bailes recorded were Jimmie and Lillian Hall, the Sullivan Family (a South Alabama based group), Bill Franklin, and Rabe Perkins (another Alabama artist). The Alabama connection was already evident here, and soon, Walter would move his operations to this state. This might have been influenced by the fact that his brother Kyle was already living there.

However, before Bailes relocated to the deep south, he made a stop in another town. In 1961, he moved the label to Edwardsville, Illinois, a city located in the west of the state a few miles away from St. Louis, Missouri. However, this lasted only a short time as Bailes moved once more in early 1962, this time to Birmingham, Alabama, where Loyal Records had its headquarters until its closure in the early 1970s. 

By May 1962, he had begun working with WIXI, a local station, and the Birmingham News reported in December 1962 that Bailes had a weekday radio show known as "Gospel Request Time". He worked as the station's "religious director" eventually. It is possible that at least some of the Loyal releases were cut at this station. In addition, he taped his DJ shows for KXEN in Fort Worth, Texas, and XEG in Monterrey, Mexico, for broadcasting. It was especially the latter with its 100,000 watts that provided Bailes with a wide coverage and he probably sold a good batch of his Loyal releases through this channel.

Many of the Loyal recording artists were local bluegrass and country gospel artist. It is probable that many of the releases were custom pressings for those unknown singers and bands. This assumption is underlined by the fact that some Loyal releases from the 1969-1970 time period feature a Tylertown, Mississippi, address. Among the better known artists on the labels were Johnny Rion (from the St. Louis area), Jimmy Murphy, Walter Dixon (also known as "Tex" or "Mason" Dixon), Rabe Perkins, and the recordings of the Bailes Brothers.

Walter Bailes closed down Loyal Records around 1971 after more than 10 years of activity and several hundred singles, EPs, and LPs for local country gospel artists. For him, it might have been a business or a way to spread the Gospel (or perhaps both) but for record collectors and musicologists, he preserved unique and unfiltered documents of American music. While the Bailes Brothers' recordings have been reissued by labels like Cattle Records, Bear Family Records, and Old Homestead Records, the Loyal recordings still need to be reissued in an adequate way.

Bailes eventually moved to Tennessee, where he operated White Dove Records out of Gallatin. This label released a few records by the Bailes Brothers and a few more LPs by other bluegrass groups but never reached the extent of his Loyal operation. He also continued to play gospel meetings and a few bluegrass festivals with Kyle. Walter Bailes passed away on November 17, 2000, in Sevierville, Tennessee.

Sources
• Gospel Jubilee Discography listings: Shreveport - Edwardsville - Birmingham - Tylertown
• Discogs (also entry for White Dove)
• Walter Bailes Find a Grave entry
• West Virginia Music Hall of Fame

Bobby Reed on Modco

Bobby Reed - Pipelining Man (Modco 1000-1), unknown year
(Courtesy of Western Red from "If That Ain't Country")
Among the several Bobby Reeds in the music business, this singer was presumably active in the Fort Smith, Arkansas, area. First because he recorded for several Arkansas based record labels, some of them even from the northwestern corner of the state, and second because one of the songs he wrote and performed was called "Fort Smith Arkansas Women".

However, Reed started his career in Texas. He was also quite a songwriter, as BMI lists 32 compositions by him. He made his debut in 1961 with a band called "The Vallants" on the Texas based Rainbow label with two songs, "Honey Bee" and "This Love of Mine". Both songs were published by Pappy Daily's Glad Music. At that time, Reed was performing rock'n'roll music. He followed up with two more singles on the Texas based Van and Cyclone labels in 1964 and 1965 respectively. Van was owned by Charles and Bobby Vanmeter and located in Lake Jackson near Houston, while Cyclone was based in Bryan or Houston.

It seems that Reed moved north at some point between 1965 and 1968 to the Fort Smith, Northwestern Arkansas, area. In 1968, he began recording for Wayne Raney's Rimrock label with a single disc and even an album in 1970. In between, he recorded for John Capps' K-Ark label from Nashville. This session produced his song "Fort Smith Arkansas Women".

Our selection was recorded for the Modco label from Lincoln, Arkansas, a small town that is located between Fort Smith and the Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers region. "Pipelining Man", produced by a certain R. J. Reed, is the top side from that single and features some nice fills by lead and steel guitar as well as piano. The flip side was "Battle at the Picket Line".

I don't know what happened with Bobby Reed after 1970. My research turned up a certain Bobby D. Reed who was born in 1938 in Phoenix, Arizona, and died in 2016 in Bald Knob, Arkansas (three hours away from Fort Smith). His obituary mentions that he "would spend his time visiting the nursing homes always taking his guitar so he could sing to the residents. His favorite song was 'God is Love.'" So this guy could be the same Bobby Reed.

If anyone has more information or recollections on Bobby Reed, please feel free to share them via e-mail or leave a comment!

Sources

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• BMI

• Bobby D. Reed Find a Grave entry