Bob Pauley

Bob Pauley - The Indianapolis Plantation Playboy

Bob Pauley wrote - well, he rather played - rockabilly history when he performed lead guitar on Tommy Lam's "Speed Limit" for Indianapolis based Nabor Records. Not only the song but Pauley's guitar work is still cherished by fans around the world. "Great record, and I always loved the guitar breaks on it," says Detroit music expert Craig Maki and adds: "Bob Pauley was quite the take-off guitarist." Maki documented some rare information on Pauley in his book "Detroit Country Music". For a musician that turned out such wild licks on a late 50s rockabilly record, Pauley began his career well before rockabilly was even developing. He had spent many years on the road before finally settling in Indiana. This is the attempt to retrace Pauley's path in music.

Early Years
Harold Edward "Bob" Pauley was born on January 5, 1922, in West Virginia to Andrew and Ruth Pauley. By 1938 at age 16, Pauley had mastered the guitar and was part of  Mel Steele's Oklahoma Ramblers. This band traveled across West Virginia and adjacent states, appearing on various radio stations, including WCHS in Charleston, WJLS in Beckley, WING in Dayton, Ohio, WMMN in Fairmont, WWVA in Wheeling, and even WOPI in Bristol, Tennessee. Pauley patterned his style after Harry C. Adams, guitarist with Eldon Baker and his Brown County Revelers, a popular act on powerful station WLW. The Oklahoma Ramblers played western swing influenced country music like Clayton McMichen's Georgia Wildcats or, the idol of them all, Bob Wills.

Traveling with Casey Clark
While with the Ramblers, Pauley became acquainted with fiddler Casey Clark, who joined the group in 1938. Another young singer from West Virginia came to the group while they were working in Beckley. It was future star Little Jimmy Dickens, who joined the group at the recommendations of Clark and Pauley. "Bob Pauley was the guitar player, a big old husky guy, and Casey was a big guy, and I slept between 'em!" Dickens later remembered with a laugh.

The Oklahoma Ramblers disbanded in 1940 and both Clark and Pauley wound up in Indianapolis afterwards. Clark and Dickens performed on WIBC and its Hoosier Barn Dance by 1943. Pauley worked the same station, too, during those years, though we have no detailed documentation of Pauley's activities. By 1945, he had married Thelma E. Brooks, whose family had moved to Indiana in the 1930s. They would go on to have two sons and three daughters and made their home in Indianapolis, though Pauley worked as a musician in different places until the early 1950s.

In 1947, Pauley returned to work with Casey Clark in Saginaw, Michigan. There, Clark had assembled the first version of his Lazy Ranch Boys for the newly formed WKNX. Pauley was also working with Dickens' band, who was working on the station as well. Clark and Pauley would also work a comedy routine known as "Nat and Les". In 1948, Pauley was also part of the Lazy Ranch Boys' first recording session held at WKNX, which produced "Prisoner's Plea" b/w "Cigarettes, Whiskey, and Wild, Wild Women" for the PhonoCraft label. The latter, of course, was a cover of the Sons of the Pioneers song sung by Clark and Pauley as "Nat and Les, the Kentucky Boys".

The first edition of the Lazy Ranch Boys disbanded around September 1948, leaving Saginaw. After a short stint in Centralia, Illinois, Clark and Pauley resurfaced on WVLK in Lexington, Kentucky, where the Lazy Ranch Boys were reborn. This lasted until June 1950, when Clark and band mate "Brownie" Reynolds moved on to WRFD in Ohio and finally settled in Detroit, where they became local country stars. Pauley did not move with them and instead took a job with the Dixie Playboys on WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia. He briefly rejoined Clark in 1951 at WIMA in Lima, Ohio, but returned to Indianapolis afterwards.

Indianapolis Years
There, he formed the Plantation Playboys and played the night clubs and bars of the booming city. By then, Pauley's family already included three little children and he was probably searching for a more steady lifestyle and income.

His next recordings came not until 1958, when his brother-in-law Earl Brooks recorded his debut release. Brooks was a local country singer and had teamed up with guitarist Jerry Lee Williams and Stan Cox to try their luck in the record business, founding different record labels. From the session with Brooks, which took place probably in late summer or fall 1958, two of Brooks' own compositions were released on Nabor (one of the labels Williams, Cox, and Brooks had set up), "Open Up Your Heart" and "Restrained". These recordings featured a slight western swing feel, which is no surprise considering Pauley's background, and featured some jazzy lead guitar by him.

A little later, Pauley and the Plantation Playbos were called back into the studio to back up local rock'n'roll singer Tommy Lam on his debut. The results were "Speed Limit", which became a favorite years later among young rockabilly fans, and "A Teenage Birthday", released on Nabor in January 1959. In the wake of the recording, Lam probably also appeared with the Plantation Playboys at local night clubs and other venues.

The Plantation Playboys backed up Earl Brooks on two more Nabor country singles in the mid 1960s, though it's not known if Pauley was still part of the group as there is no mention of him on the records. He was also part of the Indianapolis Barn Dance show at one time but I could not determine any details. Pauley probably continued to perform locally but retired from music at some point and settled in Plainfield, an Indianapolis suburb where his wive's family was also living.

A few country songs written by a Bob Pauley were recorded by Nashville artists in the 1970s and 1980s, including "It's So Hard" (recorded by Jerry Naill for Americountry) as well as "Christmas Time in Heaven" and "Goldenrod" (both recorded by Jimmy Kish, the Flying Cowboy, for Pyramid), though I'm not sure if this is the same Bob Pauley.

Pauley died on July 26, 1997, at Community Hospital East in Indianapolis at the age of 75 years. He is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery in Plainfield. His wive Thelma died in 2003. 

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Different 45cat entries
• Craig Maki, Keith Cady: "Detroit Country Music - Mountaineers, Cowboys, and Rockabillies" (University of Michigan Press), 2013, pages 79-89

Earl Brooks on Nabor

Earl Brooks and his Plantation Boys - Thirteen Minutes (Nabor 129), 1965
Indiana country and rockabilly music is what some people call a "rabbit hole". If you dig deeper, you'll find more and more interesting stuff, connections you never made before, and you'll discover music never heard of. And I'm just beginning to dive into this hole. One of Indianapolis' many musicians was Earl Brooks, who played country music at the local clubs and was involved in Jerry Lee Williams' record labels during the 1950s and 1960s.

Earl Anderson Brooks was born on March 13, 1922, to Ray Anderson and Bessie Orpha (Gladson) Brooks. Brooks had three brothers and two sisters. The family were Hawkins County, Tennessee, natives and father Ray was a carpenter by trade. By 1935, the Brooks family had moved north to Indiana. They first lived in Wayne, adjacent to Indianapolis, where Brooks also attended high school. The family later settled in Plainfield, another suburb on the outskirts of the greater Indy metropolis. 

Brooks served in the US Army during World War II and following the war, took up music. By the mid 1950s, he had made the acquaintance of local guitarist Jerry Lee Williams. Joined by Stan Cox, the trio went into the record business to found three local labels: Solid Gold in 1956, Nabor in 1958, and Yolk in 1960. To which extend Brooks and Cox were actually involved remains unclear at the moment, as Williams seems to have been the main man behind these labels.

Brooks was given the debut release on the newly formed Nabor label in 1958, which appeared around September 1958 (at this early stage of the label, the actual record had no catalog number assigned). The disc featured "Open Up Your Heart" b/w "Restrained", recorded with Brooks' brother-in-law Bob Pauley's band, the Plantation Boys. Pauley was a skilled guitarist and played country and rockabilly music in the city's clubs with different musicians (including rockabilly cult hero Tommy Lam). Brooks' western swing-tinged songs were far away from the hep cat sounds of Lam and other Indiana rockers, however.

Billboard November 11, 1958, review

Brooks wouldn't record again until the mid 1960s, when he released two more records on Nabor. Compared to his previous single, "I Wish (I Didn't Love You)" b/w "Oh, What a Price I Paid (for Loving You)" (Nabor #116) featured a more polished and better produced sound with a moaning steel guitar and female vocal chorus, coming nearer to the urban Nashville trend - though it remained stone-hard country music. His third Nabor disc was comprised of the death row lament "Thirteen Minutes" and "Tonight" (Nabor #129) and both songs were handled by Starday's in-house publishing arm. Brooks was a bit of a songwriter; BMI has a total of 10 songs registered by him. He wrote or co-wrote a few songs that were recorded by other Nabor artists, including "My Future's In the Past" by Elizabeth Johnson, "If You Belonged to Me" and "Dead End", both recorded by Jack Shaw & the Kings, as well as "A Teenage Birthday", the flip side to Tommy Lam's infamous "Speed Limit".

There was a Earl Brooks who recorded with a band called the "Southern Playboys" on the Southaven, Mississippi, based Spite record label. This artist was likely a different singer.

Nabor continued to release country music well into the 1970s but no records by Brooks anymore. He probably kept on performing in Indianapolis and surrounding areas. In 1970, both his father and his mother died, Brooks unexpectedly passed away a few years later on March 2, 1976, shortly before his 54th birthday. He is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery in Plainfield, Indiana.

According to his obituary, Brooks was a "self-employed musician" at the time of his passing, suggesting that he had no day job but working full-time to earn a living. Furthermore, he was apparently a bachelor, as he had no children and was probably never married.

See also

• Jerry Lee Williams

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• BMI songview

• Official records accessed through Ancestry.com

The Poor Boy Connection

The Poor Boy Connection

Wayne Raney's First Adventure in Record Production

Wayne Raney had been an established artist by the mid 1950s but his heyday as a recording artist had been over by then. His influential work with the Delmore Brothers had come to an abrupt end when Rabon Delmore died in 1952. Raney's last hit and biggest hit, "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me" from 1949, was eight years old when he decided to try his luck and switch to the other side of the studio.

In 1957, Raney returned to WCKY in Cincinnati and continued to sell song books and harmonicas on air successfully. That same year, Raney decided to switch sides and established his own Wayne Raney Studio in nearby Oxford, Ohio, operating the Poor Boy, American, New American, and Down Home labels out of it. He also set up Oleta Publishing, which became his outlet for composition for the next decades. In late 1957, Raney recorded "We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock and Roll)" and "Don't You Think It's Time", which saw release on Poor Boy #100 the following year (although Billboard would not announce the founding of Poor Boy until February 1959) and the former became a hit in the gospel hit. "We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus" was also recorded by several other artists in the years to come and became a minor standard.

Raney's business partner was Jimmie Zack, a singer and songwriter who worked in Raney's band before the founding of the recording studio and record labels. Born James Zack Yingst in 1924 in Fair Oaks, Arkansas, Zack penned about a dozen songs, mostly with Raney or Raney's son Zyndall. Zack's "Evil Ways" b/w "I Can't Do Without You" (American #102, 1960) has been featured on a few compilations. He had another release on Starday's Nashville imprint, "Lost John's Gone" b/w "My Get Up and Go" (#5010), which was released in 1961 and probably recorded at Raney's Oxford studio or, though rather unlikely, at his Rimrock studio.

Raney and Zack operated a handful of labels out of the Oxford studio with changing adresses, however, They also began an association with Norman Walton of Richmond, Indiana, who operated Walton Records and probably served as a manager for the Raney/Zack labels.

Location of the labels' addresses:
Oxford, Ohio / Richmond, Indiana / Muncie Indiana

The Poor Boy label was started in 1958. The first release (Poor Boy #100) showed a Richmond post box address. Then, they changed it to a Muncie, Indiana, post box address. Muncie is located about 43 miles southeast of Richmond on the Indiana-Ohio state border. Poor Boy releases #105 up to #107 showed addresses in both Muncie ("Home Office") and Richmond ("General Manager Office"). The final releases on Poor Boy only had a Muncie address. The label was closed down in 1960. Its last release is probably the best known: "Sweet Marie" b/w "Servant of Love" (Poor Boy #111) by the Van Brothers, Arnold and Earl Van Winkle. Both songs were also reissued by Norman Walton on the Walton label. Other notable recordings on Poor Boy include those by Raney himself, Norman Witcher, and Connie Dycus.

American was headquartered in Muncie. It was only active in 1960 and released four discs, including Zack's "Evils Ways". They also operated a New American label out of his Raney Recording Studio in Oxford, Ohio, that same year, which issued a string of bluegrass EPs featuring the likes of Wade Mainer, Clyde Moody, the Stanley Brothers, among other well known names. The tapes possibly came into Raney's possession through his job with WCKY. The last release on New American, a six track gospel EP, was re-released on the one-off Raney label as well.

Down Home Records was another very short-lived venture and released only one disc, a gospel EP by Raney and his family. These as well as other cuts recorded by Raney were also leased to Starday Records.

The Walton label was founded by Norman Walton in 1961 and released a slew of country and gospel singles and EPs up to 1966. Even an album by Gil Richmond was recorded in 1964 on Walton. Several of the songs recorded on Walton were co-written by Norman Walton, including Winston Shelton's sides. Similar to Poor Boy, the record labels also showed different addresses. The address on Winston Shelton's EP was 2923 Boston Pike in Richmond. Possibly these addresses were printed on account of the particular artist.

Many of the releases, especially Raney's EPs on his own labels and Starday, were promoted and sold by him through his radio show over WCKY, which was a powerful station and gave Raney a wide audience (similar businesses were run by WCKY DJs Nelson King and his successor, Arlen Vaden). However, by 1961, Raney decided to pack up things and move back to Arkansas. He discontinued his mail order business, the small labels he had established previously and bought a 180 acre farm near Concord, Arkansas, not far away from his birth place. On his farm, Raney raised Black Angus cattle but his farmer life only lasted for a few months. Later that year, he built the Rimrock Recording Studio and also established a pressing plant and, in 1965, his own Rimrock record label.

Norman Walton continued to release 45s and even some LPs on the Walton label until at least 1966 but discontinued it at some point. Wayne Raney sold the Rimrock company in 1975 to Stax Records of Memphis, Tennessee, and died in 1993.

If anyone has more information on Jimmie Zack or Norman Walton, please feel free to share your memories or information in the comments or via contact form.

Discography

American
101: Charlie Moore & Bill Napier and the Dixie Partners - Story of Love / Big Daddy of the Blues (1960)
102: Jimmie Zack and the Blues Rockers - I Can't Do Without You / Evil Ways (1960)
103: Krazy Kords - Malaguena / Return to Me / That's My Desire / Ol Man River (1960)
104: Rocky Rose - Won't You Reconsider / This Is the First Time (1960)

Down Home
100: Wayne Raney & Raney Family - I'll Be Listening / Where the Soul of Man Never Dies / I Need the Prayers / In the Shadow of the Cross / The Wrath of God / We Are Going Down the Valley

New American
101: Don Reno & Red Smiley - Springtime in Heaven / Stanley Brothers - He Said If I'd Be Lifted Up / Tommy Magness - Jesus Will Save Your Soul / Harlan County Four - John Three Sixteen / Brother Claude Ely - Little David Play on Your Harp / Clyde Moody - I Feel Like Traveling On
102: Trace Family Trio - My Mothers Dying Message / Clyde Moody - Through the Pearly Gate / Wade Mainer - God's Radio Phone / Tommy Magness - When I Safely Reach That Other Shore / Mac Odell - Be on Time / King's Sacred Quartet - The World Can't Stand Long
103: Esco Hankins - Mother Left Me Her Bible / Wade Mainer - He's Passing This Way / Bailes Brothers - Ashamed to Own the Blessed Savior / Trace Family Trio - I've Got a Longing to Go / Tommy Magness - Wings of Faith / Clyde Moody - I Need the Prayers
104: Wayne Raney & Family - A Little Pine Log Cabin / Hand in Hand with Jesus / I Found It in Mothers Bible / Where No Cabins Fall / The Uncloudy Day / An Empty Mansion (see also Raney 104)

Poor Boy
100: Wayne Raney - We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock and Roll) / Don't You Think It's Time (1958)
101:
102: Norman Witcher - Somebody's Been Rocking My Boat / Wake Me Up (1958)
103: Raney Family - When Heaven Comes Down / Lilac Bouquet (1959)
104: The Gays - Don't Rush Me / You're Never There (1959)
105: Les & Helen Tussey / Golden Hill Boys - They Went Around / Married to a Friend (1959)
106: Les & Helen Tussey / Golden Hill Boys - If Jesus Was in the Hearts / We've Got to Answer (1959)
107: Danny Brockman and the Golden Hill Boys - Stick Around / Don't You Know It's True (1959)
108: Connie Dycus - Same Old Thing / Hand Full of Ashes (1959)
109: Wayne Raney - Simply Wonderful / Everybody's Going Crazy (1959)
110: Originales - Bandstand Sound / Lend Me Your Ear (1959)
111: Van Brothers - Sweet Marie / Servant of Love (1959)

Raney
104: Wayne Raney & Raney Family - A Little Pine Log Cabin / Hand in Hand with Jesus / I Found It in Mothers Bible / Where No Cabins Fall / The Uncloudy Day / An Empty Mansion (see also American 104)

Walton
Singles
001: Richmond Friendly Four - Lord / I've Been a Hard Working Pilgrim / He Will Go / He Knows the Way / Someday They'll Be No Tomorrow (1961)
002:
003: Norman Walton & Van Brothers - Take That Lock from Your Heart / Too Many Women / Sweet Marie / Servant of Love (1962)
004:
005: Gentry Brothers - My Wildwood Flower / Uncle Orie - Uncle Sam (1962)
007: Gil Richmond and Earl King - Doing Things / Let Me Talk It Over with My Heart (1964)
008: Betty Browning - Do You Remember / My Larry (1964)
009: Gil Richmond and Earl King - Stop, Slow Down / Your Faithful Fool (1964)
010: Jimmy Walls - What a Little Kiss Can Do / Stop Look and Listen (1965)
011: Flora C - Walk Away, Walk Away / A Dairy of Dreams (1966)
EP-950: Winston Shelton and the Country Gospel Singers - From Bethlehem to Calvary / Stop and Think / I'm Not a Poor Man / On the Banks of Old Jordan
1500: Jimmy Walls - Hello Out There World / Look at Me Eyes (1966)
2500: Van Brothers - Uncle Jim Riggs Will / Lonesome Tonight for Tomorrow (1965)

Albums
No.#: Gil Richmond and the Golden Hill Troupe - Hootenanny Roundup (1964)

Recommended reading

• Dead Wax blog: Krazy Kords on American

See also

• Winston Shelton on Walton

• Wayne Raney - King of the Talking Harmonica

• Wayne Raney on New American

• The Van Brothers - Servants of Indiana Rockabilly

Sources

• 45cat entries: American, Down Home, New American, Poor Boy, Walton

• Jimmie Zack Rockin' Country Style entry

• Jimmie Zack Discogs entry

• Wayne Raney Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Jerry Lee Williams

Jerry (Lee) Williams was an important figure in Indianapolis’ country and rock’n’roll music scene of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. A talented guitarist in his own right, Williams favored to stay in the background, though, and became the owner of a group of record labels that gave countless local Indy singers and bands an opportunity to release their music.

Gerald “Jerry” Lee Williams was born on April 12, 1934, in Indianapolis and by the 1950s, had become an accomplished guitarist, probably playing the local bars in town. He was friends with Stan Cox and Earl Brooks, the latter being a country musician, too, and the trio decided to start their own record company which they named “Solid Gold”. The label was headquartered on 359 Burgess Ave on the east side of Indianapolis. They started with a girl group known as the Crysler Sisters, producing some pop recordings that saw release in 1956 on Solid Gold (“You Can’t Run Away (From Your Heart)” b/w “Little Church (By the Side of the Road)”, #713).

359 Burgess Avenue - home of Solid Gold Records

Williams followed up with another girl group, this time the Cassidy Sisters, whose release pointed towards the music that would follow, although it was still far away from hard-edged rock’n’roll. “Teen-Age Flirt” b/w “Don’t Teach Me” (Solid Gold #714, 1957). It was not until the next release at the end of 1957 that Williams set the route for the label’s future releases with Bill Peaslee’s “Hypnotized” on one side and Jay Haye’s acoustic bluesy “Tellin’ Lies” on the other side (Solid Gold #715).

Williams would record mainly rock’n’roll music on Solid Gold during the next years, including one record for his own band, the Crowns, which featured the instrumentals “The Go-Tune” and “Wibcee” (Solid Gold #778) and it was the B side that became a local favorite in 1959. The Crowns had been founded in 1957 by drummer Larry Goshen and became, with the addition of Williams, "Jerry Williams and the Crowns" in 1959. By the 1960s, the band had developed into the "Sounds of the Crowns" without Williams.

Williams, Brooks, and Cox founded another two record labels: Nabor Records came into existence in 1958 at 243 Summit South Street. Nabor was mainly used for country music, Earl Brooks’ favorite style. Yolk Records, a rather short-lived venture, followed in 1960.

In between, in 1959, Williams set up a label under his sole supervision, K-W Records, which had three releases that year three more in 1960 and 1961 (under the shortened name K Records). Probably the most prominent acts on this label were rock’n’roll group Keetie and the Kats as well as Tommy Lam, a local performer and friend of Williams’. Lam also recorded the collectors’ favorite “Speed Limit” on Williams’ Nabor label in 1959.

Williams was well-connected in the Indianapolis music scene. He was friends with Jan Eden, who had turned his garage into a recording studio and it is probable that some of Williams productions were recorded there. Another friend of Williams’ was Aubrey Cagle, another local rock’n’roll and country performer, for whom Williams also played lead guitar. Surprisingly, Cagle never recorded for any of Williams’ labels, possibly because Cagle had founded his own Glee label in the late 1950s.

Though Williams put much effort in his productions and his labels, none of them could stimulate any noteworthy success outside of Indianapolis and around 1964, Solid Gold was stopping to release 45rpms and Yolk followed around the same time. KW/K had already been laid to rest in 1961. It was only Nabor Records that was kept well alive until the early 1970s, releasing mainly country music for the local market.

Although Williams would work all this time in his day job as a bearing specialist, he never gave up music. He kept up producing, performing, and record collecting. In the 1970s and 1980s, he played guitar alongside Aubrey Cagle, Lattie Moore, and Art Adams. He set up NEW Records (he took the name from the initials of his wife, Nancy Elisabeth Williams, whom he had wed in 1959), which released a few discs in the early 1970s, including one by Lattie Moore. He was friends with Moore and bought the SAGA record label, on which Moore and a few others recorded in the late 1950s.

In 1993, a disc appeared on the Silverball label comprising Tommy Lam's "Speed Limit" and a instrumental credited to Williams and the Crowns, "Outta Gas" (although it appears that the recordings was done without the involvement of Williams when they were already known as the Sound of the Crowns). The label was based in Nashville and the circumstances how this came into existence is unknown at the moment. In 1996, Williams produced the album “Branching Out” by rockabilly singer Ronnie Haig, also playing drums on that release, and two years later, he released the “Real Cool” CD with Aubrey Cagle’s 1950s and 1960s songs (the only one so far). He also produced recordings by Art Adams. Around 2006, Williams was interviewed by local music collector Tony Biggs. It was probably the first occasion someone documented Williams' efforts for Indianapolis' local music scene.

Jerry Lee Williams passed away on May 22, 2015, at the age of 81 years in Indianapolis. He is buried at Washington Park East Cemetery. His wife Nancy Elisabeth followed him in 2018.

Jerry Lee Williams Label Overview
• Solid Gold:    1956 - ca. 1964
• Nabor:           1958 - ca. 1972
• Yolk:              1960 - ca. 1965
• K / K-W:       1959 (K-W), 1960 - 1961 (K)
• NEW:            1972 - 1973

Sources
• Obituary
• Find a Grave entry
• Discogs
• Diccionario Rockabilly blog (Spanish)
• Several 45cat entries: Solid Gold, Nabor, Yolk, K-W, K, NEW, SAGA
• Several Rockin' Country Style entries: Solid Gold, Nabor, Yolk, K-W, K
• Larry Goshen (Indiana Music Makers)
• Jancee Music (info on Silverball release)

Van Brothers

Arnold and Lee Van Winkle, the Van Brothers

The Van Brothers
Servants of Indiana Rockabilly

Kentuckians Arnold and Lee Van Winkle recorded one of rockabilly's prototype songs, "Servant of Love", although this piece of backwoods rock'n'roll and guitar magic only reached moderate popularity outside the hardcore collector's scene. In the 1950s and 1960s, the brothers waxed several fine recordings and with these became part of Indiana's country and rock'n'roll music legacy.

Although there are sources out there stating the brothers hailed from Tennessee, it is more likely their home state was East Kentucky. Their ancestors lived in the Jackson/Rockcastle/Knox Counties since the mid 19th century and by the late 1910s, the family resided in Jackson County. Lee and Arnold's father "Pappy" Powell Van Winkle was married twice; his first wife died in 1915 and left him with two young sons., Andrew and Virgil. Pappy then married Chessie Leger, who also brought two sons into the marriage. They would go on to have another six children together. Arnold was born on June 10, 1937, while Lee's birth date still remains unknown.

They came from a musical family, as their father was a fiddler and their older brother Clyde also played the guitar. By the mid 1950s, they had relocated north to the Ohio-Indiana state border region and ha begun performing as the "Van Brothers". They cut their first record in 1956, featuring "Down the Trail to Home Sweet Home" b/w "My Baby's Arms" on the one-shot Singable label (#61101). Probably located in Indiana, nothing is known about this label, which released only this very record, pressed by Rite Record Productions from nearby Cincinnati.

Arnold Van Winkle, ca. 1950s

After that, Arnold went solo for one disc in 1957 and recorded for Larry Short's Ruby label out of Hamilton, Ohio. The disc comprised "An Old Rusty Dime" and "How Many Heartaches Make a Tear" (#RU-540), produced likely at Short's own studio with the Rainbow Rhythmaires, which was probably Short's band. Both sides were co-written by Short and Norman Walton. With the latter, Arnold and Lee would work together on and off for the next years. The session produced a third track, "Looks Like a Dead End to Me", which remained unreleased, however.

Although Ruby had distributors in such near cities as Indianapolis or Cincinnati, the disc was overlooked. Eventually, Arnold and Lee began performing as the "Van Brothers" in Indiana and made contacts in the late 1950s with the Poor Boy record label, a small outfit from Richmond, Indiana, operated by country music star Wayne Raney and Jimmie Zack. Poor Boy was Raney's first venture into the record producing side of the music business. However, the Van Brothers' record for the label was also its last one issued.

For this disc, they recorded "Sweet Marie", a beautiful harmony country ballad co-written by Norman Walton and the Van Brothers, and "Servant of Love", written again by Walton. Arnold and Lee cut this session with the Gentry Brothers, a country and rock'n'roll music combo from Ohio/Kentucky, with whom the Van Winkles apparently worked constantly during the early 1960s. It was Dale Gentry's exceptional talents on the electric guitar that made this song an outstanding rockabilly performance. Other members of the group included Gary Gentry on bass and Larry Gentry on drums (although no drums are audible on the Van cuts). Wayne Raney had built a small studio in Oxford, Ohio, roughly 25 miles southeast of Richmond, which could have been the place of recording.

Released on Poor Boy #111 in December 1959, it was reviewed by Billboard the following May with "Sweet Marie" as the top side. Although it was possibly a good seller locally, it didn't move anybody outside the region. Poor Boy Records was discontinued then, so Arnold and Lee switched to Norman Walton's own label, simply named Walton Records, which he founded in 1961.

Two more records by the Van Brothers followed for Walton. One appeared in June 1962, an EP that comprised the Van Winkles' Poor Boy songs as well as two new country recordings, "Take That Lock from Your Hair" and "Too Many Women" (Walton #003). No more discs appeared until 1965, when Norman Walton released the brothers' "Uncle Jim Riggs Will" and "Lonesome Tonight for Tomorrow" on Walton #2500, both composed by Arnold Van Winkle. This became the Van Brothers final release.

Cash Box June 9, 1962, religious review

It is reported that Arnold and Lee had a fall-out at some point and stopped talking with each other. For the next years, musical activities ceased. There was an EP by Arnold on the Dayton, Ohio, based Jalyn label in 1968 featuring sacred material. Arnold had married Rosella Rowland in 1966 and founded a family with her. Arnold's wife as well as his children were musically inclined, too, and by the 1980s, they had founded a family gospel group. They recorded at Delbert Barker's Central studio in Middletown, Ohio, releasing one 45rpm record and a whole album.

Arnold Van Winkle remained in the Richmond area, where he most likely still resides. His wife Rosella passed away in 2019. The whereabouts of Lee Van Winkle are unknown to me.

In the past 40 plus years, the brothers' recordings have been reissued numerous times, especially "Servant of Love". Cees Klop included several of their recordings on his "The Rocking Masters" LP (White Label #8811) in 1979. The same year, the Redwood label released "Servant of Love" on their "Rockabilly Country" LP. German Eagle Records released a full album of Van Brothers cuts in 1992 entitled "Seven-Up & Whiskey...the Servant of Love", which collects several songs of unknown origin but excludes the brothers' Singable disc and Arnold Van Winkle's solo recordings.

Discography

Singles
Singable 61101: The Van Brothers with the Moderns - Down the Trail to Home Sweet Home / My Baby's Arms (1956)

Ruby RU 540: Arnold Van Winkle / The Rainbow Rhythmaires - An Old Rusty Dime / How Many Heartaches Make a Tear (1957)

Poor Boy 45-111: Van Brothers - Sweet Marie / Servant of Love (Dec. 1959)

Walton EP 003: Norman Walton / Van Brothers - Take That Lock from Your Hair / Van Brothers - Too Many Women / Van Bros. and Walton - Sweet Marie / Norman Walton / Van Brothers - Servant of Love (June 1962)

Walton 2500: Arnold & Lee, the Van Brothers - Lonesome Tonight for Tomorrow / Uncle Jim Riggs Will (1965)

Jalyn 327: Arnold Van Winkle and the Gospel Meltones - Old Brush Arbor / I See a Bridge / Arnold Van Winkle and Doyle Crawford with Paul Fox & Kelly Caudill - Way Up on the Mountain / I'm Ready to Go Home (1968)

Central 80114: Van Winkle Family (A. Van Winkle & G.F. Tanner) - With Him I Never Shall Die / Come Morning (1980)

LPs
Central No.#: The Van Winkle Family: "Sings Country Gospel" (1980s)
Eagle 309014: The Van Brothers: "Seven-Up & Whiskey...the Servant of Love" (1992)

Note: A few recordings of the Eagle LP are from unidentified sources. These include "Seven-Up & Whiskey" (two versions), "I Wish It", and "John Henry Junior", which were likely recordings from the late 1950s or early 1960s. "What a Little Kiss Can Do" and "Stop Look and Listen" were originally released on Walton by Jimmy Walls in 1965.

Sources
• 45cat entries for Van Brothers and Arnold Van Winkle
• Rockin' Country Style entries for Van Brothers and Arnold Van Winkle 
• Find a Grave entry for Rosella Van Winkle and Clyde Van Winkle
• Rosella Van Winkle obituary
• Slipcue.com
• Indiana Music Makers
• Gospel Jubilee entry
• Discogs
• Bopping.org (Internet Archive)

Blankenship Brothers on Bluegrass

Blankenship Brothers with the Sundown Playboys - Lonesome Old Jail (Bluegrass 45-816), 1959

In the past years, I have been digging deep into Arkansas' country and rock'n'roll music history. Though, before the Natural State came to my attention and became my specialty, the state of Indiana was near the mark. Numerous live stage shows were broadcast from the state during the 1940s and 1950s, countless small independent labels existed during the 1950s and 1960s and Indianapolis alone was home to so many bands, artists, labels, and clubs. It was a thriving scene but a topic that is rather unexplored with so many interesting singers and bands. One of those artists were Dennis and Floyd, the Blankenship Brothers, whose legacy was kept alive by collectors and lovers of "hickabilly" or rockabilly hick music.

Before we dig deeper into their story, it is better to mention that there were several acts by the name of the Blankenship Brothers or Family. An old-time family band known as the Blankenship Family recorded for Victor in the early 1930s. There was another brother act, Jess and "Gonie" Blankenship were another old-time duo, performing around Beckley, West Virginia, and appearing on the city's WJLS radio in the late 1930s. There was possibly even a third act that went by that name - more about this issue later, though.

Brothers Dennis and Floyd Blankenship's family hailed originally from the Tennessee-Kentucky border region but both made their home in Indiana by the late 1950s. Dennis was the older brother, born Garland Dennis Blankenship on November 18, 1923. His place of birth is obviously disputed, as his obituary mentions Macon County, Tennessee, as his birthplace, while official records mention Allen, Kentucky. However, six years later, brother Floyd C. was born on April 9, 1929, in Lafayette, Macon County, Tennessee. Their parents Thomas Stone "Tom" and Allie Lee (Jent) Blankenship had at least seven children and looking at their birthplaces, it seems that the family moved back and forth between adjacent counties Allen, Kentucky, and Macon, Tennessee. Father Tom's family were longtime residents of Macon County, at least since the early 18th century, but it was Tom's grandfather Joel Blankenship who married Ellen Grey from Allen, Kentucky, bonding the family to both places.

Dennis Blankenship served his country during World War II and upon his return, married Berneze Thomas from Scottsville, Allen County. Floyd married around five years later. By the 1950s, both had made the move to Indianapolis, an industrial center and the booming state capitol of Indiana. The city was also home to many automobile manufacturers, once rivaling Detroit, and attracted many rural southerners that were seeking for easier work, escaping the hard farm labor, and better living conditions. Among them were the Blankenships, who brought along their bluegrass music from their home states Kentucky and Tennessee, and by the late 1950s, Dennis and Floyd had formed a band known as the Blankenship Brothers, which also included fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and bass, though the exact line-up remains blurry.

The success of both the 45rpm format and rock'n'roll, which caused an upswing in private owned, independent record labels, also came to Indiana and in the middle of the decade, several local companies had been set up, turning out country music as well as rock'n'roll. The Blankenship Brothers' development and music style reflected both: in 1959, they started making their own records and several of their recordings featured elements of rock'n'roll, although they always retained a rural bluegrass chop.

To break into the record business, the brothers decided to work with the Starday record company from Texas, which had started a custom pressing service in the 1950s. They sent off two of their recordings, "Tears I Cried for You" and "Mary", which were pressed in May 1959 with a label the brothers had aptly requested to call Bluegrass Records. Later obituaries state that "Mary" made the national top 10, which is hard to believe and most likely a misunderstanding on the obituary's author's side. I couldn't find any hint to "Mary" being successful at all.

The Blankenship Brothers Band (feat. far right Russell Spears)
Photo from the German Dee-Jay Jamboree issue (1988)

Their first record had been pure bluegrass with banjo, fiddle, and haunting vocals, harking back to the ancient sounds of their homes in Kentucky and Tennessee. For their next release, Floyd and Dennis adapted a slightly more modern style, though they were far away from the sweet teenage sounds that dominated the charts. "Lonesome Old Jail", with a great electric lead guitar, searing fiddle, and some nice harmony singing, became one of the songs collectors loved years later. Coupled with the sweet "Too Late", it was released on Bluegrass late in 1959. On this release, their backing band was dubbed "The Sundown Playboys", which at one time included Russell Spears (who later in turn recorded for Indy based labels Yolk and Nabor) and Miles Ray Miller on electric guitar, who was a close friend of the Blankenships.

Their third Bluegrass release came in the summer of 1960, comprising "The Story (The World Will Never Know)" and "You Went and Broke My Heart". Again, the band featured an electric lead guitarist but both songs were rather traditional material. This was the brothers' last release produced through Starday under the Bluegrass imprint.

In 1960, the Blankenship Brothers decided it was time for their own label and established Skyline Records and their publishing firm, the Blankenship Brothers Music Company. Shortly after their last Bluegrass release, their first Skyline record came out, featuring "Easy to Love-Hard to Forget" backed by "Don't Tell Me Your Sorry". Another disc appeared later that year with "I Got Just One Heart" and "That's Why I Am Blue", the latter being another prime example of the rockabilly hick sound.

While those first two Skyline releases were more on the straight country side, it was their third and last disc on the label that again became an underground favorite some twenty years later. "Waiting for a Train", surprisingly not a Jimmie Rodgers cover but a Blankenship original, featured some solid electric guitar work, a thumping walking bass, and rhythmic acoustic guitar played probably by one of the brothers. The other side was occupied by "Hard Up Blues", another favorite, delivered in a similar manner. The disc came out later in 1960 and was possibly the Blankenships' final release altogether.

There appears to have been another record by a group called the "Blankenship Brothers & the Pontiacs" from May 1964 featuring "Heap Big Blues" and "Travelin'' on the Harron label (probably also a Starday custom press). However, it is not clear if these guys were also Dennis and Floyd Blankenship or another act of the same name. It's not mentioned in any discography apart from the Starday custom pressings listing in Nathan D. Gibson's book "The Starday Story".

Apart from their record chronology, the Blankenship Brothers' career is hazy and only sketchy documented. What venues they played or if they appeared on local radio remains as much a mystery as the musicians they performed with. It is probably worthy to note that the brothers' songs were all original compositions. Floyd Blankenship abandoned secular music in 1967 and became a reverend, founding the True Word Baptist Church around 1970. He was also the founder and leader of a gospel group known as the Kings Servant Quartet. He kept a day job for 38 years, working for Stokley Van Camp and retiring in 1989. While Floyd stayed in Indianapolis, Dennis eventually returned to Kentucky and made his home in Scottsville. Reportedly, he also became a minister.

In 1988 (or 1999, depending which source you believe), a local Indianapolis label called Blue Sky Records (the name being apparently a syncrisis of the Blankenships' labels Bluegrass and Skyline) issued a long-play album entitled "Bluegrass & Rockabilly Kings from Indiana", containing the brothers' twelve sides recorded for their labels. Though some of the information used for this post came from the liner notes of it, the anonymous author obviously knew even less about the brothers' lives than I do. The label bears the old Blankenship address on Spruce Street, though I doubt Dennis or Floyd got any knowledge of this LP as the liner notes are so hazy. This has been the only time the Blankenships' recorded works have been gathered in one place for re-release. Since the 1980s, some of their songs have found their way onto European rockabilly compilations.

Dennis Blankenship died on February 20, 2003, at the age of 79 years at a Scottsville nursing home. His brother Floyd passed away November 9, 2011, at the age of 82 years at Community Hospital East in Indianapolis. He is buried there at Orchard Hill Cemetery. Though much overlooked back then, the Blankenship Brothers are part of Indiana's rockabilly legacy and have presented the world with some of the most unique recordings ever made in that field.

Discography

Bluegrass 45-773: Blankenship Brothers - Tears I Cried for You / Mary (May 1959)
Bluegrass 45-816: Blankenship Brothers with the Sundown Playboys - Too Late / Lonesome Old Jail (November 1959)
Bluegrass 45-870: Blankenship Brother's - The Story (The World Will Never Know) / You Went and Broke My Heart (July 1960)
Skyline 45-105: Blankenship Brothers - Easy to Love - Hard to Forget / Don't Tell Me Your Sorry (1960)
Skyline 45-106: Blankenship Brothers - I Got Just One Heart / That's Why I Am Blue (1960)
Skyline 45-107: Blankenship Brothers - Waiting for a Train / Hard Up Blues (1960)
Harron 1073: Blankenship Brothers and the Pontiacs - Heap Big Blues / Travelin' (May 1964)

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• Indiana MusicPedia entry
• Discogs
• Liner Notes from Blue Sky LP 100 on bopping.org (Internet Archive)
• Floyd Blankenship Find a Grave entry
• Dennis Blankenship Find a Grave entry
• Bluegrass Records entries and Blankenship Brothers entries at Malcolm Chapman's Starday Custom Series blog
• WJLS photostream on Flickr
• Nathan D. Gibson, Don Pierce: "The Starday Story - The House That Country Music Built" (University Press of Mississippi), 2011, page 237
• Thanks to Mike Martin

Slow Boogie Rockin' with Lloyd Harp

While "Slow Boogie Rock" is not a Rockabilly classic (yet), the original 45rpm record is hard to come by and worth 300$ if you can believe collectors. Though, the band behind this recording remained in obscurity since the record's release in 1960. Neither references in specialized books, magazines or booklets nor an internet search turns up a snippet of information. I am very thankful to Lloyd Harp's son Lloyd, Jr., who now shared some memories about his father with me. I am glad to present you details on Harp and the Hoosier Rhythm Boys for the first time.

From left to right: Lloyd Harp, Blackie's wife, "Blackie" (last name unknown)

Lloyd G. Harp was born in 1919 in Sidney, Ohio, but later moved to Indiana. Not much is known about his early life. Like so many other young singers back then, Harp's favorite Country music star was Hank Williams, Sr. Other influences on him included Chet Atkins, Little Jimmy Dickens, and Hank Snow.

By the late 1950s, Harp had organized a little band called "The Hoosier Rhythm Boys" with Harp on vocals and rhythm guitar, Les Sexton on lead guitar, and Bob Frame on bass. They played some taverns around Indianapolis and somehow managed to get the chance to record for a small local label called Yolk Records. Yolk was one of the labels owned by Jerry (Lee) Williams along with Stan Cox and Earl Brooks. Williams was a guitarist and played a lot with many local artists such as Aubrey Cagle, Tennessee Thompson, Lattie Moore, and others, around Indiana. He also ran the Nabor and Solid Gold labels. 

Likely recorded in a tiny studio in Indianapolis, "Slow Boogie Rock" was much more in the vein of mid-1950s rural Rockabilly than 1960s popular Rock'n'Roll. Coupled with "I'll Always Love You," it was released in the summer of 1960 (Yolk YR 102) but had no chance to enter the national charts due to lack of distribution and its out-of-fashion style. Billboard reviewed it in its August 29 issue but did not bother to write a review; the magazine rated Harp's single only as "one star."

Lloyd Harp and band: Lloyd Harp on far right, the others are unknown

Harp and the Hoosier Rhythm Boys kept on playing local venues around town up until the mid-1960s, when the band broke up. He settled down on the east side of Indianapolis, performed rarely after that but always found time to play his guitar once in a while, according to his son: 

Dad would pick up his big Gibson acoustic guitar and play every once and awhile... always would bring a smile to his face...

Lloyd Harp died in 1980 at the age of 61 years.

From left to right: Lloyd Harp, unknown, Lex Sexton, unknown

Special thanks to Lloyd Harp, Jr., for providing me with some details about his father's career in music.

Tennessee Thompson story

Tennessee Thompson with the Boomerangs
"Slippin & Slidin" b/w "Saturday Ball"
RCT 7033/4 (1959)

Loyal visitors of this blog will recognize this singer, which was presented on this blog some years ago. Tennessee Thompson is best known for recording a rocking rockabilly two-sider on the RCT label out of Indiana.

Edward R.C. "Tennessee" Thompson was the son of Jesse Frank Thompson and Elvie Thompson (Capps).  Not much is known about his private life, so we continue with his musical efforts. Thompson's nasal voice suggests that he was a country singer before rock'n'roll conquered the musical world but that's only a guess.

Tennessee Thompson and the Boomerangs in a Chicago recording studio, 1959. From left to right: unknown, Aubrey Cagle, Jerry Williams, Tennessee Thompson, "Boomer," unknown

In 1959, he and his band went into a studio in Chicago to record two songs: "Slippin & Slidin" and "Saturday Ball." Both were fine rockabilly pieces with a driving guitar work and slap bass. On this day, Thompson was accompanied by Aubrey Cagle (guitar), Jerry Williams (lead guitar), a guy called "Boomer" (guitar) and two unidentified musicians (bass/drums). Thompson played rhythm guitar and sang. Both songs were released in 1959 on the RCT record label out of Indianapolis, Indiana. The fact that Aubrey Cagle and Jerry Williams played on his record as well as the label's location indicates that Thompson was also from Indiana. RCT Records was probably owned by Thompson (R.C. Thompson). However, the record had not much impact on the record buying public in 1959.

Thompson possibly went out of the music business eventually and founded a family. He was married at least two times and had several children. He married in 1956 and lived together with this woman the rest of his life. Tennessee Thompson died in 1992.

Tennessee Thompson, ca. 1950s

Sources: Rockin' Country Style, Family geneology website, Special thanks to Thompson's granddaughter

Aubrey Cagle and Glee Records

Be-Bop Blues
Glee Records is a name that would not come to one's mind, if you ask about Rockabilly music. In fact, it was at first much a vehicle for founder Aubrey Cagle to release his own records. Glee first appeared in 1959, when Cagle issued his second single "Be-Bop Blues" b/w "Just for You" (Glee 100). By that time, Cagle was living in Indianapolis and the record company was headquartered on 1739 North Lesley Avenue. While this first record was pressed by an unknown pressing plant, later releases were manufactured by the RCA Victor custom pressing service. Both songs were recorded by Cagle in Nashville with his own band.

Aubrey Cagle himself was born on September 17, 1934, in Lexington, Tennessee, according to an article published in "New Kommotion" in 1978. Terry Gordon states on his site "Rockin' Country Style" that Cagle was born around 1928. Be that as it may, he grew up on the parental farm and bought his first guitar at the age of eleven from the money he had earned taking odd jobs. He set up his first band six years later at age 17 and got a spot on a radio station in Jackson, Tennessee, and later a show on WDXL in Lexington.

He moved to Indiana in 1955, hoping to find work. But it was not until 1959 that he cut his first record for Chesney Sherod's Memphis based label House of Sound. During the session, which took place in Memphis, Cagle recorded "Real Cool" and "Want to Be Wanted Blues", on which he was backed by local musicians including Chips Moman on guitar. Both songs were issued as his first single.

Later that year, Cagle founded his own record company, Glee Records, in Indianapolis, with his brother-in-law Johnnie James. The reasons for the founding are not know to me, but Cagle probably searched for an possibility to issue his records easier. Still in 1959, he held a session at Jan Eden's garage studio in Indianapolis, recording the two originally unissued songs "Bop 'n' Stroll" and "Rock-a-Billy Boy" with Don Rivers on electric guitar, Bill Williams on bass, Mike Freeman on drums and James Smith on piano. Both titles were excellent rockers with fine guitar/piano solos and a driving beat.

Rock-a-Billy Boy

When Cagle recorded his first single for Glee, "Be-Bop Blues" b/w "Just for You", he travelled to Nashville and recorded both tracks at the RCA Victor studio with the same band (and an additional steel guitarist on the flip). While "Be-Bop Blues" was a mid-tempo rockabilly song, the flip was stone hard country. The record was well promoted by the Faye Music Company (that published Cagle's songs), for a Billboard article reports that Bill Springer, president of the company, believed this would be a hit. Actually, it was not and didn't reach the national charts. Around the same time, Cagle played along with guitarrist and owner of Solid Gold Records Jerry Williams (shown on the left in the photo) in Tennessee Thompson's band. Thompson was a local Indiana based country singer who tried his hand at Rockabilly, recording "Slippin' and Slidin'" / "Saturday Ball" for the RCT label.

In 1960, Cagle issued his second single on Glee, containing "Come Along Little Girl" b/w "Blue Lonely World" (Glee 1001), which was recorded again at the RCA studio with a nearly complete different band. Freddy Vest (lead guitar), Bill Williams (bass), George Abel (piano), Buddy Crawford (steel guitar) and Morgan Shuamker (drums) were probably his band at that time.

The next year, Cagle began to perform under the stage name of "Billy Love" because he thought it was easier to remember for the DJs, so they would play his records more on the radio. Two more singles followed for Glee, one in 1961 ("Sweet Talkin'" / "Oh What a Memory") and one in 1962 ("I'll Find My Way Back to You" / "My Empty Arms"), which were also released as Billy Love.


Cagle continued to perform locally and led his record label. In 1968, his partner Johnnie James died and Cagle became the sole owner of the company. Except from one release by an Indiana based Rock'n'Roll band, Ted Newton and the Rhythm Rockers, there are no other releases known on Glee. Cagle issued "Bop 'n' Stroll" and "Rock-a-Billy Boy" in the 1970s on a 45 for the growing rockabilly collector market. He was married with his wife Sue and they had one son named Ricky. Cagle died in 2004 at the age of 70 years. In 2000, Solid Gold (maybe the same label that was owned by Jerry Williams in the 1950s and 1960s) issued a CD entitled "Real Cool" with several Cagle songs.

From Indiana45s.com
Sources: RCS, Indiana 45s, Ohio 45s, New Kommotion, various Billboard issues