Rudy Gaddis on Custom

Rudy Gaddis - Wild Train (Custom 121), 1965

Rudy Gaddis' influence and fame was limited to the East Texas regions around Tyler but his name will always be linked with one song, "Uranium Fever", which he composed and recorded in the mid 1950s. The song, which bears more than just a little similarity to Hank Williams' "Kaw-Liga", was an expression of atomic war's impact on the US society and became a much cited example of it eventually.

Rudolph Joe "Rudy" Gaddis was born on September 3, 1926, in Ben Wheeler, Van Zandt County, Texas, to Joe Marlin and Mattie Henry Gaddis. Though born in Van Zandt County, he spent much of his life in adjacent Smith County. Gaddis served his country during World War II in the US Navy. He married Ella Jane Smith in 1951, with whom he had three children. The marriage was eventually divorced.

By the mid 1950s, Gaddis had taken up music and was performing in the honky tonks of Tyler, Smith County, with his band, the Lone Star Rangers. He had developed a vocal style similar to Hank Snow and released his debut single "Girl from Mars" b/w "Garden of Roses" for the Liberty label in 1954.

He got the chance to record for Beaumont, Texas, based Starday Records in 1955. A session was arranged for him in October that year, which produced "Uranium Fever" and "My Tears Are a Measure" (Starday #217). The recording place is sometimes given as Gold Star Studio in Houston, Texas, but more often as a radio station in Shreveport, Louisiana. Although "Uranium Fever" later gained some popularity in the record collectors scene - especially among those who explored the cultural phenomenons of the cold war and atomic era - it was no hit for Gaddis back then.

Rudy Gaddis in the early 1960s
(taken from the back of his Custom LP)

Around that time, Gaddis was managed by Texas DJ Art Roberts. He continued to release 45s on small, local labels in the 1950s and early 1960s, including Kathy, Faith, and Flash. In 1963, he began his work with record producer and label owner Curtis Kirk, who ran the Custom Sound Studio in Tyler and his own label, Custom Records. This resulted in one album and several singles on the label. Today's featured single, "Small Boy and his Dog" b/w "Wild Train", also resulted from Gaddis' association with Kirk and was released on Custom #121.

Gaddis continued to record without much success. Throughout the years, Gaddis was also heard on local radio and television. His "Rudy Gaddis Lone Star Rangers Show" was the first TV show to air on KLTV. His last record, "Bass Fishermen", appeared on the G.M. label in 1983. Some of Gaddis' songs have also been recorded by other artists, including Joe Paul Nichols, the Redmon Brothers, Presten Bodin, Shirl, Lexie Johnson, among others.

Gaddis ceased musical activities in the 1980s. His second wife Paulette died in 2006, Rudy Gaddis followed her a few months later on November 11, 2006, at the age of 80 years. He is buried at Overton City Cemetery in Overton, Texas.

Billboard May 15, 1982

Discography

Singles
Liberty 103: Girl from Mars / Garden of Roses (1954)
Starday 217: My Tears Are a Measure / Uranium Fever (1955)
Kathy 2614: Stranger with a Colt 45 / A Young Boy and a Teenage Girl
Faith 3618: Lost in the Mountains / He Is Watching, Watching, Watching (1962)
Flash 100-9: Winona Hoedown / Old Ely
Custom 105: Hard Luck-Double Trouble / Don't Take the Rap (1963)
Alta 103: Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette / Old Ely, the Big Texas Steer (1964)
Custom 121: Small Boy and his Dog / Wild Train (1965)
Custom 126: Everybody Wants Somethin' / I've Been There Once (1966)
Love 781: Sandy Land Farm / How Much Is a Memory Worth
Love 783: Countryville / My Love
Country America: A Boy Named Texas / Big Sandy Opry (1980)
G.M. 183: Big Bass Fishermen (Stereo) / Big Bass Fisherman (Mono) (1983)

Albums
Custom 115: Garden of Roses (1963)

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Entries at 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm
• Discogs
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• Gospel Jubilee entry
• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry
• Atomic Platters (Wayback Machine)
• Tim Smolko, Joanna Smolko: "Atomic Tunes: The Cold War in American and British Popular Music" (Indiana University Press), 2021

Leon Starr

Leon Starr - Back in the USA (Stomper Time unissued)
Memphis pianist Leon Starr recorded steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s, though he managed to leave behind no trace. My attempt to gain some more knowledge about his live through Findagrave.com and Ancestry.com was unsuccessful. However, it is Dave Travis who has some information for us in his booklet to his Stomper Time Records CD reissue.

Leon Starr

Leon Starr became a member of Eddie Bond's Stompers in 1958 or 1959. At the same time, Bond established his own Stomper Time record label (after his two-year term with Mercury and a short stint with Pappy Daily's D label). Starr was the pianist of the band but also a versatile singer. Bond gave him the chance to cut a few covers of rock'n'roll songs: "Back in the USA", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", "My Baby Left Me", and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". No info concerning the recording date, location, and line-up has survived, although it seems probable that Starr is playing piano on those tracks with backing by the Stompers. Although fine recordings, Bond did not release them at the time.

Starr left the Stompers around 1962 or 1963 but remained associated with Bond. He held down a steady gig at Bond's Western Lounge in Memphis and recorded for his Millionaire label in 1966. By then, Starr played country music. He continued to release solo singles in the years to come for small Memphis labels: a country single for Style Wooten's Allandale Records (1968), a fuzz garage guitar gem with the Fire Birds on Clyde Leoppard's VU Records (1968), country duets on John Cook's Blake Records with a female performer named "Little Sis" (1974), and more country music on the Bachelor and III label.

There are also two tracks by Starr that found its way onto a 2015 Stomper Time CD, "Memphis Country Favorites and Rarities, Vol. 4". The tracks are "Last Date" (an instrumental probably featuring Starr's piano playing) and a cover of Faron Young's 1950s hit "Alone with You". However, I have no release and label information on these tracks. What happened to Starr afterwards is a mystery. If someone can point me towards more information, please feel free to contact me.

Discography

Millionaire MM-120
Leon Starr
Honey Child (B. Huskey; J. Surber) / Have I Wasted My Time (A. Kyle; R. Needham)
1966

Allandale 3684

Leon Starr

Just Like That (Joe B. Cartwright) / That Kind of Living (Joe B. Cartwright)

W4KM-0883 / W4KM-0884 (RCA)

1968

"Producers: Style Wooten & Sam Neil"

VU 45-101

Leon Starr and the Fire Birds / The Fire Birds

Little Live Wire (Arthur Kyle) / Endless Dream (A. Kyle; H. Hunton)
1968

Blake 2-276

Leon Starr & Little Sis / Little Sis

Common Law Wife (A. Chipman) / The Lord Knows You're Drinking (A. Chipman)
1974

Blake 2-276
Little Sis / Leon Starr
Red Rover (N. Cooper) / The Town of Love (D. Cooper, Jr.)
1974

Bachelor and III 1101

Leon Starr

My Name's Trouble (Don Miller) / I Can't See My Way (to Go On Living) (Don Miller)
"Produced by Nonconnah"

Recommended reading
• Some Local Loser

See also
• That Million Dollar Memphis Sound

Sources
• Discogs
• 45cat entry
• Dave Travis: "Memphis Rockabillies, Hillbillies & Honky Tonkers: The Stomper Time Records Story" (2001), liner notes, Stomper Time Records

L. J. Foret on Ciro

L. J. Foret and the Country Boys - Fille de Houma (Ciro 1005), 1965

Here's one of the finds I brought back home when I visited Louisiana in 2023. I think I found this disc in a record shop on Magazine Street in New Orleans.  L. J. Foret was a cajun musician from Houma, Louisiana, area, where the Ciro label was also located. Houma is located southwest of New Orleans, about an hour away.

Lawrence Joseph "L. J." Foret was born on June 30, 1930, in Houma, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Foret was born in a time when it was common to speak French instead of English and many of his songs later reflected that. He started his career in music at the age of 14 years in 1944, when he joined his father's band, the Town Serenaders, a group that played the dance halls of the region. Foret learned to play guitar, fiddle, drums, and sang. By 1949, he had his own radio show on KCIL but had to interrupt his career when Uncle Sam came calling in 1952 and Foret had to serve in the Korean War. That same year, he had married Beverly Babin, with whom he had two sons. During his military service, he hosted a radio show for fellow soldiers and entertained the troops with personal appearances as well.

Upon his discharge, he formed his own band, "L. J. Foret and the Country Boys", and returned to hosting his Sunday morning show on KCIL. He didn't record commercially until the 1960s. His debut single appeared in 1965 on the Arelro label, comprising "Someone Who Didn't Care" b/w "Don't Scatter the Pieces of My Heart" (#450). The same year, he started recording for the local Ciro label and we feature his label debut on Ciro #1005, "Fille de Houma (Girl from Houma)" b/w "Pas Christmas Poor les Pauvre (No Christmas for the Poor)" (note that it is correctly spelled "Pas Christmas Pour les Pauvre"). Although both songs were sung in French by Foret, the musical arrangement is rather country than cajun. The songwriter on both sides was probably Donald Babin, Foret's wife's brother.

Foret releases a few more singles on Ciro during 1965 and switched to other local labels throughout the years, including Houma, Ajae's, Starbarn, and La Louisianne. He recorded his only full-fledged album on La Louisianne in the 1970s. In 1972, he started his own local TV show on KHMA, which lasted for two years. In 1970, his son Ronnie joined his band, followed in 1975 by Foret's younger son Bobby. During his career, Foret opened for such country stars as Loretta Lynn, Mel Tillis, Minnie Pearl, Jack Greene, Jimmy C. Newman, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ernest Tubb, Stonewall Jackson, and Conway Twitty.

A stroke in 1983 limited his possibilities to perform but Foret didn't give up music, playing occasionally with family and friends around Houma. He was inducted into the Cajun Hall of Fame in 2000 and passed away on September 12, 2002, due to cancer. He was posthumously inducted into the Westbank Musicians Hall of Fame in 203.

Sources

• 45cat entry

• Westbank Musicians Hall of Fame (Facebook page)

• Wikipedia entry

• Find a Grave entry

• "LocalCajun musician L.J. Foret succumbs to cancer" (Houma Today)

Elaine Gay

Miss Miami Juke Box
The Story of Elaine Gay (Rouse)

Elaine Gay made a couple of noteworthy recordings during the mid 1950s for Syd Nathan's DeLuxe label, a subsidiary of his King Records imprint. A blend of country music, pop, and rhythm and blues, Gay was a talented singer and astonishingly versatile considering the fact that she was an offspring of the famous Rouse family.

She was born Elaine Eloise Rouse in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina, on August 10, 1935. The daughter of Jack Rouse, she was born into a musical inclined family. Jack's brothers were Earl, Gordon, and the most famous of them all, Ervin Rouse. Together, they performed as the Rouse Brothers and made various recordings in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, including the famous and influential "Orange Blossom Special".

By the end of the 1930s, some of the Rouse Brothers had moved to Miami, Florida, including Elaine's family. She attended high school, where she took part in plays and operettas. Around 1952, when she was sixteen years old, she made her first public appearance at the Village Inn in Washington, D.C. It was her father Jack who encouraged her to start a career in music. By 1954, she appeared regularly on local WITV in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Billboard January 22, 1955

Miami music entrepreneur and head of DeLuxe's Miami office Henry Stone had already called her uncles into a recording studio in the early 1950s and he discovered that young a Elaine was a talent in her own right. A recording session for her was set up on February 20, 1954, in Miami, and four songs where recorded with accompaniment by Jerry Vaughn's orchestra. From this session, the two originals "Love" and "Deep Secret" were chosen for her debut single on DeLuxe #2021 the same year. Henry Stone, who had become her manager by then, made a deal with the AMOA (Amusement Machine Operators' Association) of Miami, containing a sponsorship of the association and promotion in Dade Country's jukeboxes. For that purpose, Elaine Gay was dubbed "Miss Miami Juke Box".

A second disc was released directly afterwards. The top side was a duet with her father Jack, a cover of the Wanda Jackson-Billy Gray hit "You Can't Have My Love", and the flip was a song co-written with sometimes-Miami-performer Buddy Starcher and country songwriter Mary Jean Shurtz entitled "Am I the One to Blame". Her recordings were not classic country style; her debut single was pure pop, while her second outing were

Two more records followed on DeLuxe - one in late 1954 or early 1955 featuring Elaine's cover of "Rock Love" (a hit for the Fontaine Sisters and written by King executive Henry Glover) and her last for the label, again featuring covers ("Blueberry Hill" and "Polly Wolly Doodle O-Day"). It was a usual strategy of King/DeLuxe label head Syd Nathan to let his country artists cover his R&B hits and vice-versa. This way, Nathan was guaranteed to keep money in-house.

Sheet music for "Rock Love" as recorded by Elaine Gay,
1954 or 1955

Charts success eluded her singles and no more sessions followed. Some of her discs were released in the UK on Parlophone, though DeLuxe dropped her from its roster.

Afterwards, her trail grows cold. If anyone has more information about Elaine Gay, please feel free to leave a comment or sent an e-mail!

Discography

DeLuxe 2021: Love / Deep Secret (1954)
Parlophone MSP 6140: Love / Instantly (1954)
DeLuxe 2022: Elaine Gay and Jack - You Can't Have My Love / Elaine Gay - Am I the One to Blame (1954)
DeLuxe 2027: My Dearest Darling / A Little Bit of Love
DeLuxe 2029: Ebony Eyes / Rock Love (1955)
DeLuxe 2037: Blueberry Hill / Polly Wolly Doodle O-Day (1955)

See also
• The Story of "You Can't Have My Love"

Sources
• Discogs
• 45cat entry
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• King Records Discography

Tex & Cliff Grimsley

The Louisiana Show Men

The Story of Tex and Cliff Grimsley

Tex Grimsley and his brother Cliff had many occupations: entertainer, fiddle maker, songwriter, recording artist. During their career, they participated in many historical music events but their legacy is buried under bright stars of their more famous companions like Webb Pierce.

Ennis Marcel "Tex" Grimsley was born on January 17, 1921, in the small town of Logansport, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, on the western border of the state. He was the older brothers - Willie Clifton "Dizzy Fingers" Grimsley followed on October 18, 1922. The brothers came from a musically talented family; her mother had a total of 10 siblings, all but one played an instrument. Tex learned to play the fiddle from his uncle Butch Spraggins at the age of seven years and began building fiddles at the age of 14. Cliff also learned different instruments but eventually settled with the steel guitar.

Tex Grimsley, prob. early 1940s
during his military service

Tex and Cliff Grimsley became members of Jimmie Davis' election campaign band around 1943-1944, when he was running for the position of Louisiana governor. In 1946-1947, Tex Grimsley was part of Jim Hall's Radio Rangers that played in Richmond, Virginia. This band played more jazz-leaning arrangements and Grimsley "cut my teeth on that stuff", as he later remembered in a newspaper article. He returned to Louisiana, and in 1947, Grimsley made his recording debut, having one release on Deb Dyer's Red Barn label out of Chicago, "Sorry for You" b/w "It's All Coming Back to You".

Around the same time, the Grimsley brothers had begun working around Shreveport (about an hour north of their birthplace) and had a band known as the "Uncle Tex and his Texas Showboys". They appeared on radio KWKH and were one of the first acts to appear on the first broadcast of the station's Louisiana Hayride in April 1948. During these years, the brothers played at the Hayride with such artists as the Bailes Brothers, Johnnie & Jack and Kitty Wells, the Mercer Brothers, and Hank Williams.

Another early star of the Louisiana Hayride was Webb Pierce, who made himself a name in the Shreveport scene as well. Pierce set up Pacemaker Records in 1950, a small label that released discs by local artists. At that time, the Texas Showmen included Tex on fiddle, Sunny Harville on fiddle, Cliff on vocals, steel and standard guitar, and Don Davis on bass. The band recorded two records for Pacemaker, including their original version of Tex and Cliff's composition "Walking the Dog".Vocals duties were taken over by Cliff on this song and its flip side, "Teardrops". In 1951, both songs were also leased to Ivin Ballen' Gotham label from Philadelphia.

Webb Pierce signed with Decca Records in 1951 and found initial success with the label. In 1953, he covered "Walking the Dog" and his version was released as the flip side of his #1 hit "There Stands the Glass". The Pierce version of "Walking the Dog" reached #3 on Billboard's C&W as well and secured Tex and Cliff Grimsley with a good batch of royalties. The song became a minor standard in country music, being covered by at least 18 different artists over the years. They also co-wrote "The Glass That Stands Beside You" with Pierce, a reference to Pierce's earlier hit. The song was recorded by Jean Shepard for Capitol Records in 1954.

Pierce invited Cliff (and possibly also Tex) to join his band and embark on a tour across the world but the Grimsleys declined. They rather stayed in Louisiana and never regretted it. Music was only a part-time adventure for both. Tex worked as a safety and claims officer, building and repairing fiddles in addition. However, both kept on performing throughout the decades and although they did not make any recordings under their own name beyond 1951, they recorded occasionally with other artists. 

Tex and Cliff Grimsley settled in Bossier City, where both continued to perform locally. Tex also continued to build and repair fiddles. He married in 1979, teaching his wife Mary how to play the fiddle and she became a talent in her own right.

Shreveport Journal November 4, 1975

Tex and his then-current band, the Red River Boys, were often featured on the Keithville Jamboree, a local stage show out of Keithville south of Shreveport. Tex became Louisiana State Fiddling Champion in 1977, 1980, and 1982, and was also inducted into the Hall of Master Folk Artists at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, in the 1980s. He kept on performing with his wife Mary well into the 1990s. Tex had taught her how to play the instrument.

Tex Grimsley around 1975

In recent years, two acetates by Tex Grimsley have turned up in online auctions, featuring the songs "Don't Forget Your Mother", "He Set the World Free", "Every Body's Blues", and "Sweetheart Divine". In 2025, my good friend Marshal Martin unearthed another acetate by Grimsley featuring early 1950s live performances.

Tex Grimsley died in 2002 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His brother Cliff died 20 years later on December 3, 2022, at the age of 100 years.

Sources
• Find a Grave entry for Tex Grimsley and for Cliff Grimsley
• SecondHandSongs
• Hillbilly-Music.com entry
• The Intelligencer obituary
• 45cat.com/78rpm entry

Ronald Rip Cannaday

Rip Cannaday, mid-1970s

God and Country
The Story of Rip Cannaday

The South has produced a sheer unbelievable amount of musicians and entertainers. When record pressing became affordable in the mid-1950s, a vast number of these singers was recorded and preserved for future generations. One of them was Rip Cannaday, a country and gospel singer from Louisiana, who has entertained audiences for more than 60 years. 

On the Banks of Castor Creek
Ronald G. "Rip" Cannaday was born on January 17, 1937, on the banks of Castor Creek in Winn Parish, Louisiana, but grew up in Tullos outside of Jena, Louisiana. Like many people from this region, Cannaday comes from an oil field worker family. His father worked on the oil fields and in fact, Cannaday grew up in an oil camp. While his father went to work, his mother stayed home to take care of the children. Their home was a little shack, which initially had no electricity or running water. 

Music was a welcomed entertainment in a hard life and Cannaday grew up hearing country music from stations WSM out of Nashville and KWKH out of Shreveport. The barn dances and hoedowns were another source of music for the family. Cannaday's favorite singer became Jimmie Rodgers: "There was a man that lived on the other side of Castor Creek. I would wade through Castor Creek and go to his house. He had all of Jimmie Rodgers' 78s, I would lay on the floor and listen to him all day," Cannaday remembered in 2025 to Marshal Martin, who traced him down for several interviews. At age ten, he got himself a guitar and a songbook to learn.

The Country Boys
The Cannaday family moved to Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, when Cannaday was 14 years old and in school, he was extremely good in sports. But music was still on his mind, and with school friends Bud Brady and Marvin Tyler, he formed a band entitled "The Country Boys." Cannaday sang and played acoustic guitar while Brady played lap steel guitar and Tyler was on washtub bass. It was the mid-1950s and the boys took every possibility to play churches, auditoriums, and private gatherings. Their repertoire included country hits of the day, some of Elvis Presley's early rockabilly songs, as well as gospel hymns like "The Old Country Church" and "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea." 

Rip Cannaday in 1956

Black Land Soil
After graduating from high school, the Country Boys disbanded, and Cannaday married his high school sweetheart. He began working on the oil fields like his father. One time, his job took him to Yazoo City, Mississippi. However, his boss got so drunk there, Cannaday quit on the spot and hitch-hiked back to Louisiana. On his way back home, he wrote a song called "Black Land Soil", which he would record about ten years later. He became a regular cast member of Don Wiley's Catahoula Country Music Show in 1962 and had his own monthly morning show on KTCO in Columbia, Louisiana, which lasted for eight years. Cannaday was also heard regularly on KCKW in Jena, with his old friend Bud Brady hosting the show. 

Already in the mid-1960s, Cannaday had written many songs and together with fellow singer Ray Prince, went down to Lake Charles to audition for Eddie Shuler, owner of Goldband Records. Nothing came of it, although Shuler reportedly took some of Cannaday's compositions.

With the Catahoula Playboys, the house band for the Catahoula Country Music Show, Cannaday made his recording debut. The session took place at a radio station in Winnsboro and produced "Black Land Soil" and "I'm Just Laughing to Keep from Crying" for L.D. Knox's Delta label. The record became popular in the region and on local radio; Cannaday sold copies every week at the Catahoula Coutry Music Show as well. After the Delta single, Cannaday shifted from country to gospel music and began performing the church circuit in North Louisiana, South Arkansas, and West Mississippi.

God and Country
In the early 1970s, a gospel quartet came to Harrisonburg to perform at the local church. One of the members was Carlton Brown, who operated Herald Records in Brookhaven, Mississippi (not to be confused with the company of the same name from New Jersey). Brown offered Cannaday the chance to record a full-fledged album, which he did one day in 1976. Ten songs were laid down in Brown's recording studio that day, which saw release on the LP "God and Country": Again, the album proved to be popular and Cannaday would even produce 8-track tapes of it to meet the demand.

The Catahoula News Booster September 18, 1975

When the Catahoula Country Music Show ended its run, Cannaday focused solely on the church circuit and became a popular performer. He worked again with Carlton Brown in 1987, recording a bluegrass-tinged album with such musicians as Emmet Sullivan on banjo, Steve Myers on bass, and Joe Cook on mandolin, fiddle, and guitar. He kept on performing but would not record again until 2010, when he made his third album for Lighthouse Records. The label was owned by Gary Cater, a Vietnam veteran from Saint Joseph, Northeast Louisiana, who also played rhythm guitar on the album. It was followed by two more CDs in 2015 and 2019. Cannaday remained an active entertainer until 2020, then the Covid pandemic hit and he called it a day. 

Rediscovery
Rip Cannaday resides in Jonesville nowadays. He has been interviewed several times by Marshal Martin in 2024 and 2025 and has donated several recordings and pictures to the Southern Music Research Center. "In September 2024 I was in Jena for the first time. I went to a flea market and one of the vendors had a bunch of records in the middle of the stack. I pulled out 'God and Country' by Ronald 'Rip' Cannaday," Marshal recalls how he learned of him. "I said to myself 'This looks interesting' so I paid $0.50 and went on my way. I brought it home and looked at it closely and realized that all the songs are originals. Some of the songs are pretty good and I wanted to learn more. So to Google I went. The first thing that popped up was a newspaper article by him written in February 2024 so that gave me hope that he was still alive. About a month later, I called the Jena Times and they gave me his contact information. So later that evening, I called him and the rest is history. Without Rip, we wouldn’t know about the Catahoula Country Music Show or we wouldn’t know how rich Catahoula Parish is in music history."

Discography

Singles
Delta 0008: Ronald "Rip" Cannaday - Black Land Soil / I'm Just Laughing to Keep from Crying (1966)

Albums
Herald HLP-7651: Ronald (Rip) Cannaday - God and Country (1976)
Cap [unknown #]: Rip Cannaday - These Memories (1986)
Lighthouse [unknown #]: Rip Cannaday - Fond Memories and the Old Washtub (2010)
Unknown label: Rip Cannaday - In My Time (2015)
Unknown label: Rip Cannaday -  Rip Cannaday Sings True Stories (2019)

See also
• The Catahoula Country Music Show
• Ray Prince: Forgotten Louisiana Songster

Sources
• Craig Franklin: "Rip Cannaday Featured in SMRC" (The Jena Times), 2025
• Southern Music Research Center
• Discogs
• https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg9iqPpwtCHiDOMLCYrkv-kc4jzJFtDUq

Harry Blanton on Sherwood

Harry Blanton - Footsteps (Sherwood 42704), 1974

The city of Sherwood was home to a few small record labels in the 1970s, including the Sherwood record label. One of artists on that label was Harry Blanton, a local singer from Gurdon, Arkansas.

The song were featuring today, “Footsteps”, is probably one of Blanton’s earliest recordings, done in 1974 at the Browns Recording Studio in Sherwood. This studio was operated probably by Bonnie and Maxine Brown (of The Browns country group fame), who produced both sides of Blanton’s Sherwood single. Both songs were written by Dan Emory, a fellow Sherwood label artist.

Afterwards, Blanton had his own band, aptly named the Footsteps, toured with Don Gibson and reached out for Nashville. There, he recorded a few singles for the Starcrest and Firecracker labels but never enjoyed any national chart success. Blanton was still active as late as 2023, performing on the Pam Setser Show in Mountain View, Arkansas.

Recommended videos

• Video of the Pam Setser Show (Mountain View, Arkansas)

Sources

• 45cat entry

Devon & Nancy / Luke Jones

Devon & Nancy - Set You Free (Velvet Ear 45-41072), 1972
The duo of Devon & Nancy was a local act from Marthaville, a tiny community in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. We know a bit about Devon Elburn Jones. He came from a musical family, his brother Luke was a musician, too, and Luke made at least two records under his own name. They also had a sister named Nancy and it could possibly be her singing on this primitive but charming country performance. This Velvet Ear release was made in 1972 and was probably a vanity pressing made through Houston Recorders. It seems to have been their only release. 

Devon's brother Luther Lenwood "Luke" Jones was born February 11, 1945, and spent his service with the US Army in Germany. Coming from a musically inclined family, Luke and Devon played in the family band that performed locally in clubs and lounges. Luke Jones had at least two records out during his lifetime. One of them was on the Lou Anna label in 1979, recorded at Precision studio in Picayune, Mississippi. The disc coupled "This Feeling Deep Inside Is Killing Me", written by nearby Catahoula Parish singer Ray Prince, and a Johnny Cash cover, "Folsom Prison Blues". The other one was on Roseland Records, a small imprint from Bridge City, a New Orleans suburb. Luke Jones eventually moved to Northport, Alabama. He passed away from cancer on January 25, 2024, in Natchitoches.

Devon Jones nowadays resides in Keithville, south of Shreveport.

Discography

Velvet Ear 45-41072: Devon & Nancy - Set You Free / He'll Walk Right Out on You (1972)
Lou Anna 101: Luke Jones & the Drifters - This Feeling Deep Inside Is Killing Me / Folsom Prison Blues (1979)
Roseland 1001: Luke Jones & the Roseland Drifters - The Best I Have / House of Blue Lovers (1982)

Sources
• Luke Jones 45cat entry
• Luke Jones Find a Grave obituary
• Official records accessed through Ancestry.com
• White Pages

Jimmy Stewart on Step Rock

Jimmy Stewart & the Southern Country - Whose Heart Are You Breaking Now (Step Rock SRS 101), 1972

This is some slow, typical 1970s local country music. The Step Rock label was based in Sherwood, a little north of Little Rock but I couldn’t find any other releases but this label. The actual record label mentions that the songs were recorded at Rogers-Brown Studios, which was probably Brown's Recording Studio, operated by Maxine and Bonnie Brown of The Browns fame.

Jimmy Stewart is a common name and there were many recording artists of that name. One of the songs was written by Jackie Stewart and I first thought this might have been Jimmy’s wife. However, after a little online research, I did find a guy named James Alvin Stewart, whose brother was named Jackie Stewart. In addition, James Alvin was born in 1942 in Lonoke, Arkansas, and passed away in 2023 in Cabot, Arkansas, and both towns are less than 20 minutes away from Sherwood, the label’s location. So that might be our man but still, I’m not sure.

Today’s selection is “Whose Heart Are You Breaking Now”, which was written by a man named Huey P. Long (probably not Louisiana governor Huey Pierce Long, who was killed in 1935).

See also

• Step Rock discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources

• James Alvin Stewart obituary

• Find a Grave entry

Buddy Durham on Emperor

Buddy Durham - Precious Memories (Emperor 430-EM-H-5-60 Hymn Album 5), 1960

Fiddler Buddy Durham is probably best known today for his work with country and rockabilly artist Hardrock Gunter. But Durham had a career of his own, though he is not as good remembered as his fellow WWVA  Jamboree cast member. Durham was not only a musician but owned his own record label, through which he released numerous EPs and 45s.

Buddy Durham

James B. "Buddy" Durham was born in June 22, 1920. His birthplace is disputed. While Drew Beisswenger states that Durham was born in Dallas, Texas, in his book "North American Fiddle Music", author Ivan M. Tribe called him a "Mississippi-born" in his "The Jamboree in Wheeling" book. However, Durham took up music professionally at a very early stage. When he was eight years old, he joined the Durham family band that appeared across the United States on such stations as WLS in Chicago, WSM in Nashville, or WBZ in Boston. His sister Juanita would have a career on her own as well.

He was working in Texas radio but also could be heard on stations in other states, appearing on such shows as the Renfro Valley Barn Dance. In 1954, he came to Wheeling, West Virginia, and became a cast member of WWVA's Jamboree for the next ten years. His wife Marion appeared with him as well until 1959, when she became pregnant.

In 1954, Durham and Hardrock Gunter, who was working the WWVA Jamboree as well during that time, recorded "Fiddle Bop", which was first released on Cross Country and then on Sun Records in Memphis. In 1955, Durham set up Emperor Records, a label that mainly served as an outlet to release his own recordings. Over the next years, he issued countless, short fiddle renditions of traditional tunes, own compositions, gospel songs, or popular standards on single and extended play 45s. In between, he recorded for Cross Country and Ridgecrest as well.

Billboard July 18, 1960

Apart from his own works, he also recorded local talent such as the Wright Brothers, Lucky Rogers, Rudy Thacker, the Cook Brothers, Curly O'Brien, Ken Lighter, and others. Hardrock Gunter released his rockabilly novelty "Whoo! I Mean Whee!"on Emperor and he collaborated with Durham again on "Hillbilly Twist", which was released in the US first on Emperor, then on Starday and on Sparton in Canada. Durham would use the WWVA studio for recording probably all of the Emperor cuts.

Durham left the WWVA Jamboree in 1964 the same year, recorded a square dance album for Columbia. Durham passed away on March 14, 2005, at the age of 84 years. He is buried at Hendersonville Memorial Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee, near Nashville. The British Archive of Country Music released a 20-track CD in 2012 with the best of Durham's recordings.

Recommended reading

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Gospel Jubilee entry

• SecondHandSongs

• British Archive of Country Music

Sources

• Tony Russell: "Country Music Originals - The Legends and the Lost (Oxford University Press), 2010, p. 3

•  Drew Beisswenger: "North American Fiddle Music: A Research and Information Guide" (Routledge)

• Ivan M. Tribe, Jacob L. Bapst: "The Jamboree in Wheeling" (Arcadia Publishing), 2020, p. 43

• 45cat entry

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Find a Grave entry

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies

Ray Prince

Ray Prince
Forgotten Louisiana Songster

Ray Prince was a local Louisiana singer, guitarist, and songwriter, who entertained audiences from the 1960s until his death in the early 2020s. In the 1960s, he was associated with legendary producer Eddie Shuler and although he submitted a few of his song works, he never recorded commercially.

Thomas Ray Prince was born on March 6, 1928, to Joseph Wilson Prince, Sr., and Josie Dees Prince in the small hamlet of Trout, LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. His mother was born in 1903 in Alabama and was said to have been a distant relative of another Alabama native: Hank Williams. Prince had an older sibling, which sadly died as an infant in 1924, a sister Rita and a younger brother Joseph Wilson Jr., who became a reverend eventually.

Prince was drafted during Word War II. Along the way, Prince took up music and learned to play guitar. By the early 1960s, he had established himself as a local singer and became a steady performer on Don Wiley's Catahoula Country Music Show in Catahoula Parish. Prince also played the local churches during the 1960s and 1970s.

Catahoula News, December 19, 1963

Prince was a talented and very busy songwriter, sometimes working with his mother. It is said he wrote several hundreds songs during the decades, though the majority of them have never been registered or properly documented. Story goes that Prince and his mother Josie were the original composers of "Wings of a Dove", a smash country and pop hit for Ferlin Husky in 1960. "Ray told me that story several times. He said that he and his mother wrote the song and sent it to a Nashville publishing company from an ad that was in a country music magazine. I absolutely believe him, I never knew of Ray to lie about anything. Back in the day Nashville publishing companies were known for stealing songs," Rodney Hutchison, a local Catahoula Parish resident, recalls. This story have been brought up by different people who knew Prince. The songwriting credit on Husky's record release went to Bob Ferguson, who claimed to write it in 1958.

Prince regularly worked with another local singer, Rip Cannaday. Both men contacted producer Eddie Shuler, owner of Goldband Records in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the mid 1960s to pitch their songs to him and maybe even to land a recording contract of their own. However, nothing happened. Shuler took four of Prince's songs and registered them with BMI (adding his name as a co-writer), though no recordings by him or other artists surfaced. Those songs included "Diddly Daddily Doo", "I'm Putting Her Picture Away", "Not Much Love Anymore", and "Sands or Arabia". However, one of his songs was recorded - by Luke Jones, a local Natchitoches Parish country singer.

While Cannaday recorded several albums throughout the decades, Prince never recorded commercially. However, Cannaday taped many home recordings of him and Prince singing songs together, sometimes even with Prince's mother Josie. Some of these tapes were recently submitted to the Southern Music Research Center through the efforts of Marshal Martin.

Prince was married to Esther Bradford, meeting her late in his life. Esther also sang, and she can be heard on some of Prince's home recordings as well. Prince spent all his life around Harrisonburg, Louisiana, and continued to play churches and at nursing homes even as an elderly man. Ray Prince passed away on January 4, 2021, at the age of 92 years in Pollock, Louisiana. He is buried at Belah Cemetery in Trout, La Salle Parish. Many people in both Catahoula and LaSalle Parishes still remember Prince very fondly.

See also

• Catahoula Country Music Show

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• BMI search

• Offical records accessed through Ancestry.com

Doyal Ruff on Melody

Doyal Ruff and Nancy Eason - Jackson (Melody M 45-101)

Here we have a cover of the Johnny Cash-June Carter hit "Jackson", which was originally released in February 1967 on Columbia and peaked at #2 in Billboard's Hot Country Songs. Doyal Ruff was a local Georgia singer and musician, who entertained audiences for decades.

Born on June 24, 1935, in Dallas, Georgia, Ruff started his career with singing bluegrass music on an East Point, Georgia, radio station with Grover Hilliard (1931-2024). It was the start of a rather professional career in music but family obligations forced him to limit his music activities. He eventually became a locksmith at the State of Georgia Capital in Atlanta. He and his wife Mary Jo raised two children, a daughter and a son.

Though maintaining a daytime job, he continued to play music in North Georgia for the next four decades. He founded a group, the Melody Boys, which performed bluegrass and country music. With Nancy Eason, Ruff cut this disc probably in the late 1960s or early 1970s and it seems that it his own private label. I cannot tell at which pressing plant it was manufactured and I don't have an exact release date either.

Around 1994, Ruff changed the name of his group to the Melody Makers and switched to gospel music. Musicians included his son Donnie on bass, Ruff's co-worker Dallas "Lightin'" Day on lead guitar, and Walhalla, South Carolina, native Charles Wesley "Sonny" Lusk on vocals. The band continued to perform around Dallas and Cartersville at least until 2011.

Doyal Ruff passed away on September 10, 2018, in Cartersville, Georgia, at the age of 83 years.

Doyal Ruff and the Melody Makers perform in Dallas, Georgia, in January 2011

Sources

• Obituary

• Internet Archive (incl. download for "Swing Low")

Bill Johnson alias Sky Johnson

Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson's "A Wound Time Can't Erase" was not only one of the most successful songs sung by Stonewall Jackson, it was also one of his most beautiful hit tunes. Johnson, as the composer of the song, remained in the shadow of Jackson's success. Before he made his way to  Nashville, Johnson was an active performer in the Miami music scene.

Born William Donald Johnson, he was a steel guitarist, singer, and songwriter. By 1954, he had begun performing locally around Miami. He was part of Tommy Spurlin & the Southern Boys until around 1956, leaving when the band decided to take their style more towards rock'n'roll. He was also part of Happy Harold Thaxton's local live stage show "Old South Jamboree" as the house band's steel guitarist.

December 12, 1959
Source: Volker Houghton

Johnson made a lot of connections during these years. Kent Westberry, Snuffy Smith, Wayne Gray, Charlie McCoy, Bill Phillips, and many more were working in the area and some of them eventually found enduring success in Nashville. He started writing songs with guitarist Wayne Gray, who in turn performed with Kent Westberry's Chaperones locally, including "Cute Chick" and "Initials in the Tree". Johnson made his way to Nashville already in 1957. There, he recorded as "Sky Johnson" for the small Cactus label his own composition "A Wound Time Can't Erase" and the George Dumas song "If My Love Had Wings". Dumas was a half-brother of the aforementioned Tommy Spurlin and played bass with the Southern Boys.

Released on Cactus #1501 around summer 1957, it was soon picked up by the bigger independent label Dot (#15620) and also saw release in New Zealand on London and in Canada on Quality. Though, the single did not make the charts. It was not until 1961 when Stonewall Jackson covered the tune that it got recognition. His version was released late that year on Columbia and it entered the charts the following January, peaking eventually at #3.

Jackson would record another song of Johnson's, "How Many Lies Can I Tell", in 1969. Marty Robbins had another hit with Johnson's "The Best Part of the Living" in 1971, which reached #6 on both the American and Canadian country charts. Johnson has a total of 26 songs registered with BMI, although only "A Wound Time Can't Erase" and "The Best Part of the Living" became hits.

Sources

• 45cat entry (Sky Johnson)

• BMI search

• Kent Westberry: "I've Got a Song to Write" (Dorrance Publishing Co.), 2020, page 5

Jimmy Ganzberg on Jet

Jimmy Ganzberg with the Sound of the Crowns - Rebel Yell (Jet No.#), 1958
Among the numerous Indianapolis rock'n'roll artists, Jimmy Ganzberg is one of the lesser known nowadays. He recorded a couple of 45s for a local label, Jet Records, and is still active musically to present day.

Born James Leroy Ganzberg around 1940 in Indianapolis, he attended Arsenal Tech High School and afterwards studied music at Indiana University. He became a proficient piano player during his early years and, in the late 1950s, achieved popularity in Indianapolis for his wild, Jerry Lee Lewis styled playing and showmanship. He regularly appeared on local TV show "Teen Twirl".

It seems that Ganzberg had no own band but relied on other local outfits. He first recorded in 1959 for Charles E. Howard's Jet label, a local Indy company that had only small distribution. "Hang-Out" b/w "White Saddle Shoes" were recorded with local black saxophonists Jimmy Coe and Pooksie Johnson, Ganzberg's usual guitarist Jerry Lee Williams (who also dabbled in record production) plus additional unidentified musicians. His second Jet single, also released in 1959, came from the same session and comprised "Jo-Ellen" and "Ring and Wedding Veil".

At third single was released in 1960 featuring "Twilight and Tears" and "Rebel Yell", which were recorded on a different occasion with the Sound of the Crowns featuring Larry Goshen on drums. The band had been formerly known as the Crowns and played for some time with Jerry Lee Williams as well. None of Ganzberg's singles broke out of the regional market and he ceased from recording in the following years.

Ganzberg eventually moved to Alabama and is a member of the Alabama Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He toured the country with the Alabama Blues Brothers Band as a keyboarder since 1998. A few of his recordings have been reissued due to the rock'n'roll revival, for example on the 1980 Wendi LP "Dig That Rock & Roll from Indiana" from Australia and the 1997 Buffalo Bop CD "Strictly Instrumental, Vol. 3" from Germany.

Sources
• Jimmy Coe Discography
• Rock'n'Roll Schallplatten Forum (German)
• Indiana Music Makers
• Discogs
• 45cat entry

Shady Hill on Alley

Shady Hill - Old Porch Swing (Alley 2001), 1982

Shady Hill was a local bluegrass band from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I was fortunate enough to make contacts with one of the original members, Norma Meredith. She is still living in Jonesboro and was so kind to present me with a copy of the band's Alley record "Old Porch Swing" b/w "Ida's Shoe".

The band was formed in 1981 and included Ricky Lane on guitar and vocals, Norma's husband Tommy Meredith on banjo, Bill Shoe on fiddle, Carrol Lane on mandolin and vocals and Norma on bass and vocals. Norma told me that she and Carrol actually did not play bass or mandolin but it was Ricky Lane that taught them the instruments. Norma had played piano before so musical talent was there and she soon became a solid bass player and the band got a "pretty decent sound".

Their first public appearance was at a local senior citizen center and Norma remembers that they had rehearsed only four songs - they played them several times for the crowd, which enjoyed it nevertheless. In the years to come, Shady Hill played countless shows and festivals in the northeastern corner of Arkansas. They even had a tour bus that they converted into living quarters by themselves.

In 1982, the band recorded a 45rpm single for Joe Lee's Alley record label in Jonesboro. At that time, the band was managed by Dolores Tolbert, a local songwriter who had recorded for Sonny Deckelman's Van-Deck label in the 1960s. Tolbert was the one who organized the recording session at Joe Lee's Variety Recording Studio. The band cut "Old Porch Swing", written by Tolbert, and "Ida's Shoe", a fiddle number written by Bill Shoe. As far as I can tell, this remained their only 45.

During the 1980s, Shady Hill held a couple of sessions at Raney Recording Studio in Drasco and issued the results on cassette tapes. The band disbanded in 1989. Unfortunately, Carrol Lane and Norma are the only surviving members of the band.

Sources
• Thanks to Norma Meredith for providing information on her band and the record.

Elsa (Al) Robinson

Al Robinson, late 1940s

Elsa "Al" Robinson - The Friendly Hill Billy

My good friend Marshal pointed me towards another local Louisiana musician and sooner than later, I found myself researching the story of Elsa "Al" Robinson, the "friendly hill billy". He seems to have been one of those persons that were larger than life. Among his many occupations, he was an insurance salesman, a songwriter, singer, radio announcer, politician, and probably more. He worked on local radio in both Arkansas and Louisiana, although the latter became his adopted home. He is not to be confused with several showmen of the same name: he is neither blues singer Alvin "Al" Robinson from New Orleans, nor Jamaican reggae artist Al Robinson nor ventriloquist Al Robinson.

From the research I did, it seems to me that Robinson was not only quite a "talker" but also a very conservative man. Therefore, I'd like to point out that much information used here came from the liner notes of his sole album, which he wrote himself, or from newspaper advertisements or published political statements that also used his own words.

Born Elsa Boyd Robinson on November 30, 1910, in West Tennessee, he grew up on a farm learning about and working in live stock and farming at daytime and practicing on his guitar at night. In the late 1920s, he was intrigued by the music of America's blue yodeler, Jimmie Rodgers, who became his main influence. By his own account, he graduated from high school (although census documents indicate he left elementary school after completing the 7th grade) around the same time.

He moved to Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, in 1931, and began broadcasting on KALB in Alexandria four years later. On those early shows, he appeared solo with his guitar but was not paid for his appearances. For some time, Robinson worked on a drag line on the banks of the Red River, where wrote many a song along the way. By 1940, he lived in a rented house in Alexandria with his first wife Jessie Edna and worked as an insurance salesman.

World War II interrupted his career. Robinson intended to join the US Navy in February 1942 but was rejected. A year later, he began serving in the US Army for a short time but was honorably discharged due to disability in September 1943. Robinson then became involved in local politics, running unsuccessfully for the Rapides Parish house of representatives. This setback ended his political ambitions or some years but he kept on supporting other local politicians if he considered them worth it. He continued his profession as an entertainer as well.

In 1944, it was reported that he performed on KTHS in Hot Springs, Arkansas, followed by a stint on KLCN in Blytheville, Arkansas. According to Robinson, he worked with such artists as Wayne Raney, Ray Duke, the Wilburn Brothers and Eddy Arnold while at KLCN. In 1945, Robinson returned to Louisiana and began singing over KALB in Alexandria from 1945 until 1946. At the same time, he revamped his act by founding a band, the Red River Ramblers. Robinson was then heard on KWKH in Shreveport from 1946 until 1948, again on KALB around 1950 and early 1951, and later that year, appeared on KVOB. Along the way, he also spent time on WNOE and WWL in New Orleans, WFAA in Dallas, and on WREC in Memphis. In those early years, he often appeared as "Elsa Robinson, the friendly hill billy" whereas he would later change his stage name to Elsa (Al) Robinson and finally to "Uncle Al" Robinson. He began a longtime association with KSYL in 1952, which would last until 1960 when the station's manager shortened Robinson's airtime, who in turn left the station. 

By 1950, he had married his second wife Clara and was living with her and their three sons in Tangipahoa Parish. Apart from entertaining, Robinson remained active in politics throughout the years and in 1952, he ran for Congress. His political agenda was ultra-conservative, to say the least, and he supported racial segregation as much as he wanted to stop immigration and supported outlawing communism. He entered the race of the House of Representatives again in 1955 and for the Congress in 1958 but apparently success eluded him.

Billboard April 24, 1962

Instead, he concentrated on his music and radio work. By April 1962, he was manager of KWCL in Oak Grove, Louisiana, a small country station in the tri-state area of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. A year later, he had a show on KVOP in Bastrop, Louisiana, in the same region. In 1966, he purchased a small, "flat broke" station in Centreville, Mississippi, and "made it pay off within a short time" (as Robinson put it in his own words). However, "two years later the Civil Rights people, in rioting from Baton Rouge to Memphis, over the route I was on, I was wiped out, my station was completely destroyed. A thorough job was done, they wrecked all equipment and had it on fire when I reached there to open up in the early morning [...]."

After this incident, Robinson mostly concentrated on writing and performing music. In the 1970s, he released what seems to be his only commercial record, an album entitled "Funny Facts and Songs" on the Slidell, Louisiana, based independent One-Way Records. It seems it sold in good quantities around Alexandria as Marshal Martin found five copies of it in just one year.

Elsa "Al" Robinson passed away on September 3, 1993.

Sources

• Official cencus records accessed through Ancestry.com

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Several newspapter items from the Alexandria News Talk
• Al Robinson: "Funny Facts and Songs" (One-Way Records), liner notes

Jerry Hopper on Royle

Jerry Hopper - St. Louis Airport (Royle No.#), 1985-1986

Jerry Hopper was a local Arkansas country singer that tried to break through into the national music business in the 1980s. I got this record from fellow collector Sean Hickey and it is a bit out of my timeline but the Arkansas location got me hooked.

Hopper hails from Flippin, Arkansas, near Mountain Home. He grew up listening to country music and some rock'n'roll, too, and learned to play guitar at an early age and eventually also mastered other instruments like piano. He began playing with his dad and later also set out as a solo performer.

He started recording in the early 1980s, having his first record out in 1981 on the Ranger label from Flippin. In the early 1980s, Nashville songwriter Ron Peterson came to Flippin to pick up a boat. The owner called Hopper and connected him with Peterson, who in turn took him to Nashville. In 1983, Hopper released his first album entitled "My Kind of Country" and continued to record throughout the 1980s on small labels, which were likely his own.

We feature Hopper's recording of "St. Louis Airport", a song written by John Dillon (probably of Ozark Daredevils fame), Monroe Davenport, and Santiago Torres. I suspect the recording was made in Nashville but it was released on the Royle label from Flippin, thus probably Hopper's own label. It was released in 1985 or 1986.

In 1986, Hopper opened his own private night club, "Hopper's" (which continued as a restaurant into the next century), and in the mid 1990s, had his own public night club where he performed regularly. He was also active as a boxing promoter and organized fights in his club. Hopper today resides in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and still performs as far as I can tell.

Sources
• Flippin Online / The Mountain Echo
• Facebook profile
• Discogs
• 45cat entry

Lois Powell

Miss Lois Powell - Woo-Ee-Baby (Jaggars unreleased demo)
There was an astonishing amount of local Arkansas musicians in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of them made records - some of them very professional, some of them a bit more amateurish and some of them even crude. However, the majority of them are unpolished documents of local music history and a glimpse into a different, past world. Miss Lois Powell was one of those performers that never were known beyond the state borders. She recorded a couple of 45rpm singles and some of them even became known in rock'n'roll collector circles.

Virtually nothing was known about Powell until 2013, when the late Gary Corry posted both sides of her Velvet disc on his blog. A regular visitor to the blog, Bruce, immediately began research and tracked down Powell's brother Charles, who played lead guitar in their band. A telephone interview yielded some highly interesting information and background on Powell, her band, and her records.

Ima Lois Powell as well as her brothers Nicki and Charles (born around 1943) were playing in a band by the late 1950s. They hailed from Searcy, Arkansas. Nicki Powell had already performed in a band with Tex Denton and black drummer James "Cootie" Brown during the mid 1950s, playing mostly the black areas of Searcy. Charles Powell had unsuccessfully tried his hand at the drums and instead learned to play guitar. By the late 1950s, they all joined forces with Lois Powell on vocals, Charles Powell on vocals and guitar, Nicki Powell on guitar, and James Brown on drums.

Lois Powell was the leader of the group and they performed countless dance halls and clubs in the area, from Searcy to Jacksonville and back. They were regulars at the Tin Top in Jacksonville, a city in the North Little Rock area. In the early 1960s, Lois decided it was time to make a record and phoned a recording studio in Little Rock. A session was set up and they cut "I Can't Think of Nothing Baby" and "The Long Wait", which were released on the Twik label, according to Charles.  A couple of hundred copies were pressed to hand out to jukebox operators, radio stations and to sell to the audiences at the appearances. Though, no copy has been found so far. According to Charles, the disc got a lot airplay locally but never went beyond the region's boundaries. 

A little later, a man by the name of Lee Harold took over the management of Powell and the band. He suggested to re-record both songs and another session was arranged at J.R. Cheatham's studio in Dallas, Texas. On this occasion, Powell was accompanied by Charles on lead guitar, Brown on drums, and Willie Ghent on piano, an elderly woman who lived in the Powells' neighborhood.  These versions were in turn released in 1964 on the Velvet label, which was likely their own imprint (judging from the fact that it was based in Searcy and pressed by Rite Record Productions from Cincinnati, which did a lot of custom pressing).

Powell continued to work with Cheatham, who worked as a songwriter and singer around Dallas. He also owned the Cheatham label and Powell recorded a few more songs with his studio musicians, including two duets with Cheatham - "Wild Wild Stallion" and "Shiftin' Heart" (Cheatum #C-116, 1964). Two solo performances by Powell appeared two years later in 1966, "Good Bye Daddy" and "Honkey Tonk Town" (#C-125). Some more tracks were recorded, including "Skid Row Woman", "Fishin' in the Spring", "One of the Gunman", and "Juke Box Blues" but none of them were apparently released. 

What happened to Lois Powell and her band afterwards escapes my knowledge unfortunately. At the time of the interview, Charles Powell was a retired welder, picked his guitar occasionally, and enjoyed life with his family. By 2022, his sister Lois was living in a nursing home. I could not find any hints to the whereabouts of the other members.

In 2008, Dutch record collector Cees Klop issued a primitive demo tape of Powell's, singing "Woo-Ee-Baby", on his Collector Records CD "41 Years Collector Records). The demo, featuring only Powell's voice and a rhythm guitar, was recorded at Jaggars Recording Studio in Little Rock at some point during the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Discography

Twik no.?: The Long Wait / I Can't Think of Nothing Baby
Velvet No.#: The Long Wait / I Can't Think of Nothing Baby (1964)
Cheatham C-116: Wild Wild Stallion / Shiftin' Heart (1964)
Cheatham C-125: Good Bye Daddy / Honkey Tonk Town (1966)

See also

• Velvet Records Discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources

• Discogs

• 45cat entry

• That's All Rite Mama

• France's Favorite 45s incl. Bruce's interview with Charles Powell

• France's Favorite 45s (the other side)