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)

Roy Cagle

Roy Cagle around 1963

Roy Cagle - Natchitoches Country Soul Man

I have recently dived into the local music scenes of Louisiana much due to a Bear Family CD project I curated and researched. It is always amazing how much local music you discover when you dive a bit deeper. Accidently, while looking for something different, I stumbled across Roy Cagle, who was a local singer from Natchitoches Parish in Northwest Louisiana. Cagle recorded a few singles during the 1960s and 1970s for different labels and was adept at different styles, including country, soul, and rock'n'roll. My local Louisiana correspondent and fellow record collector Marshal Martin found out that Cagle enjoyed some popularity in the region: "My dad worked out there [Robeline] for almost 20 years. [...] I mentioned him [Roy Cagle] to my dad and he said people talked about him a good bit while he was out there. He said he lived out in Marthaville, which is about 15 minutes outside of Robeline."   

Glyn Roy Cagle, Sr., was born on December 3, 1941, in Robeline, a tiny community in Natchitoches Parish. Born to Herbert and Mary Jordan Cagle, he had a sister, Thelma, and a brother, Vernon. Cagle was musically talented and learned to play different instruments. He was taught piano by his friend Leonard Parker and it later became his main instrument.

He likely began to perform in the late 1950s, when rock'n'roll was still big but eventually changed his style towards country and soul music. It is likely, however, that he incorporated different genres into his repertoire to meet the demands of his audiences. In 1962, he had founded a band which could be seen on local TV station KALB from Alexandria, Louisiana. For some time around 1963, Cagle worked with the Parker Brothers from nearby Natchitoches. While the brothers' band disbanded at some point, he continued to work with Jesse Parker on and off during the 1960s and 1970s. Interviewed about Cagle by Marshal Martin, Parker remembered that Cagle had a big old Hammond organ and they "dragged that thing everywhere. Dragged it through the snow, climbed it upstairs. Wherever Roy went, that organ went, too."

The Natchitoches Enterprise, September 6, 1962

Throughout the years, Cagle also made a few records. Probably his first was for the Ville Platte based Hi-Lite label, featuring "Reelin' & Rockin'" b/w "I Need My Baby". I would place this into the early 1960s time frame, though there is really no hint to a date. On this disc, Cagle is in fine rock'n'roll mood with a Chuck Berry cover and an original song. At that time, Cagle was associated with Floyd Soileau's Ville Platte based Flat Town Music publishing company - Soileau owned the legendary JIN label - and Cagle co-wrote the songs "Love Me" and "Stay with Me", which were recorded by Rufus & Roscoe on the R&R label. At one point, Cagle also auditioned at Paula Records, one of Louisiana's biggest record labels, but the owner turned him down as he said Cagle's songs sounded too much like the material they already issued. After that, Cagle never tried to get on a bigger label.

Around 1971, Cagle cut two soul records with (probably) different studio bands for the Graham Cracker and Soul Train labels. "I Can't Find It", from Soul Train #RFM-411, became a worthy collectors item in soul music circles. In 1978, he and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Tim Murphy were members of the country rock band "Snuff Ridge" and the combo cut an album of country covers in Shreveport, though details escape me. Finally, Cagle had a record out on J.D. Miller's Showtime label in 1981.

Cagle kept on performing locally throughout the years. He had married Shelia Pleasant in 1971 and they had six children. He suffered from declining health in 2021 and passed away on December 21, 2021, in Shreveport at the age of 80 years. 

See also

• RFM - The Mysterious Record Company

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• Rockin' Country Style

• Discogs entry for Roy Cagle and for Flat Town Music Company

• Timmy Murphy Band
• Special thanks to Marshal Martin for researching a good bit on the spot!

Willie Gregg

Willie Gregg

Country King of the Golden Triangle

Willie Gregg came to my attention in 2013, when I purchased his Waterflow 45 featuring a superb cover of Merle Haggard's "If You Want to Be My Woman". The recording is pure country bop with a great steel guitar break. The song prompted my to look out for more Gregg records and over the years, I managed to add four more discs to my collection. Looking for the next swinging country bopper, I learned that Gregg specialized more in tearjerkers like his signature song "You Fool". For years, I chased down every hint to find information on him but in most cases, was left without any substantial details. This has now changed thanks to an extensive search in the newspaper.com archives.

Willie Clyde Gregg was born on February 20, 1940, to John D.  and Evelyn Gregg in Port Arthur, Texas. At that time, the family was living on West 18th Street. Located on the banks of Sabine Lake, Port Arthur is part of a metropolitan area that also includes the cities Groves, Beaumont, and a bit more east, Orange, also known as the "Golden Triangle". This area is the far southeastern corner of Texas next to Louisiana. Apparently, the Gregg family name is quite common in this area so it was not an easy task to track down the right family. 

As a young man, Gregg began working as a butcher, a profession would also occupy in later years. In 1961, Gregg enlisted in the US Army and was sent overseas for service in Europe. His military time included a long-time stint in Germany and it was there that he started singing and playing the guitar. Called "the best singer on the post", he quickly organized a band and played the German taverns around the post for three years. 

He returned to the US and civilian life in 1965 and it seems, right after his return, threw himself into the Southeast Texas music scene. He joined Bertis Savoy's band, the Velvetones, and performed with this outfit regularly at the Club 87 outside of Orange on Highway 87. Savoy was a disc jockey on KHGM, a musician and also emceed shows in the area. Gregg would work with Savoy for several years.

The Orange Leader, January 12, 1966

During this time, Gregg had the chance to make his first record. Billy Thompson, a western swing musician who had performed with the likes of Hank Thompson and the Miller Brothers Band, owned the Kay-Bar-Dane record label in Orange and released Gregg's "You Fool" b/w "I'll Find You" in 1966 (#044). He was backed by the Velvetones on this disc and both songs turned out as soft country ballads. The Orange Leader newspaper mentioned on December 21, 1966, that "You Fool" was "popular in the immediate area and is among the top rated recordings of country-western music in Alabama". Indeed, "You Fool" became THE song of Gregg's career, as he would record another three versions of it throughout the years. 

Gregg stayed with the Velvetones through 1967 but formed his own band around 1968, the Country Kings, and landed a spot at Bendy's Danceland (later called the High Chaparral), a club in Bridge City, halfway between Groves and Orange. The same year, he released two more singles. For Bridge-Way Records, a local Houston imprint, he recorded "Rebel" b/w "A Heart Afraid to Break", and Gregg re-cut "You Fool" along with "How Long" for J.D. Miller's Ringo label in Crowley, Louisiana. All of them were in the same vein as his debut - soft, slow country ballads but without any hints of Nashville overproductions. With Gregg's calm singing voice and slight steel guitar fills, these recordings feature a down-to-earth charm.

Gregg continued to perform in the area and had at least two more records released. In 1969, he and the Country Kings cut the Merle Haggard song "If You Want to Be My Woman" - a great country shuffle - with a ballad, "She's No Good". Both songs appeared on Tee Bruce's Waterflow label (#702). Bruce was a producer based in the same area as Gregg and was instrumental in bringing Cajun music onto Texas radio. Gregg's records were solid sellers in his home regions but did not break out of the regional scene. Though, he would soon be rewarded with another shot at the market.

Fellow Texan Tommy Hill, who had been a chief engineer and producer at Starday Records, led the Stop label in Nashville around this time and Gregg was given the chance to record one single for the company in 1971. Along with a third version of "You Fool", he also cut the Larry Kingston composition "The Girls in Milwaukee" and both were released on Stop #1532. Again, it failed to chart and his trip to the bright lights of Music City USA seems to have ended afterwards.

Gregg kept on performing throughout the 1970s in such spots as the Sparkle Paradise in Bridge City, the Cotton Cay in Orange, or the Club 88. In fact, he and his band held down a regular gig at the Cotton Cay for six consecutive years. In December 1969, Gregg had renamed his band "The Fools" in reference to his signature song. The group included Gregg on vocals and rhythm guitar, Johnny Husband on lead guitar, Bobby Tyler on bass, and Gene Edgerly on drums.

The Orange Leader, January 12, 1973

He stopped performing in 1980 and began working as a carpenter, operating his own shop on Melcer Road with the help of his father-in-law, manufacturing cabinets of all kinds. By then, he was living in Little Cypress north of Orange. However, he had returned to occasional performing two years later. In the late 1980s, Gregg led a band called the Honky Tonk Cowboys, which included himself on vocals and rhythm guitar, his old friend Bertis Savoy on lead guitar, Elton Brently on fiddle, Marvin Walston on bass, and Tommy Wolford on drums.

Willie Gregg was married (and divorced) at least three times and had a total of five children. He eventually returned to working as a butcher. Gregg lived in Buna, Texas, north of Orange, in the early 2000s and passed away on September 10, 2005, at the age of 65 years.

Discography

Kay-Bar Dane KBD-044: Willie Gregg and the Velvetones - You Fool / I'll Find You (1966)
Ringo 2001: Willie Gregg - You Fool / How Long (1968)
Bridge-Way 1003: Willie Gregg - Rebel / A Heart Afraid to Break (1968)
Waterflow 702: Willie Gregg and the Country Kings - She's No Good / If You Want to Be My Woman (1969)
Stop ST 1532: Willie Gregg - You Fool / The Girls in Milwaukee (1971)

See also

• Willie Gregg on Stop

• Willie Gregg on Bridge-Way

• Willie Gregg on Kay-Bar Dane

• Willie Gregg on Waterflow

Sources

• Discogs

• 45cat

• Various issues of the Orange Leader 1961-2005

• Official census records accessed through Ancestry.com 

Merlin Bee on Razorback

Merlin Bee - Watching Grandma Twist (Razorback 106), 1963

Merlin Bee was a longtime performer in the DeWitt/Stuttgart area in Arkansas County, Central-East Arkansas. He was born Merlin Bee Bullock on June 2, 1936, in DeWitt to Bee and Mildred Bullock as the oldest of two children. His father owned a farm, so country living and agricultural knowledge were no strangers to Bee, who later worked in that field, too. He graduated from DeWitt High School in the early 1950s and attended Arkansas Polytechnic College in Russellville, Arkansas, afterwards (now Arkansas Tech University).

Following his graduation from Arkansas Tech in 1961, he moved back to Arkansas County, where he worked as a farmer and also as a field reporter for the Arkansas County ASCS (now Farm Service Agency). Bee was a passionate musician and had already played trumpet in DeWitt's high school band. He began appearing as "Merlin Bee" and founded his first band, the Knights, in 1961. This band changed name to "The Stingers" eventually.

Bee started recording for Bobby Crafford's Razorback label in 1963 and cut a total of three singles until the next year. The first one is featured today, "Baby" b/w "Watching Grandma Twist" (#106). He later switched to Grand Prairie Records, a vanity label from DeWitt, which could have been his own venture (along with Robin Hood Bray). Bee mostly relied on cover versions of recent hits or standards, including "Baby" (Little Richard), "What Am I Living For" (Jack Scott), "You Don't Love Me" (Willie Cobbs), "Tennessee Stud" (Jimmie Driftwood) or "Tore Up (Over You)" (Hank Ballard). He did compose two songs, "Share My Dreams" and "Big Red Root On" (co-written with Butch Carter) that he recorded for Grand Prairie.

Merlin Bee and the Stingers played for 25 consecutive years, performing well into the 1980s. Bee married Mary Louise Reiger in 1982. Merlin Bee Bullock passed away at the age of 74 years on November 1, 2010, at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is buried at Lone Tree Cemetery in Stuttgart. 

Sources

• April Hanson: "Merlin Bee Bullock Bandleader's Life Ruled by Music" (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

• Find a Grave Entry

• 45cat entry

The Tragic Case of Misty Bonner alias Barbara Kelly

The Tragic Case of Misty Bonner alias Barbara Kelly

Many collectors and researchers believed for years that Misty Bonner was a pseudonym for Bobby Lee Trammell. This was due to the facts that both songs she recorded were actually written by Trammell and that she recorded those for Atlanta Records, a label that otherwise released only Trammell material. It added to the thesis that she sounded like Trammell's voice pitched high enough to sound like a female singer. But it was not. Misty Bonner was a real person and her case is one of the most tragic and intriguing I ever found.

Misty Bonner alias Barbara Kelly was born Bobbie Lee Bonner on September 10, 1946, to George Hargrove, Jr., and Beverly Bonner. She was born and grew up in the small town of Gillett, Central-East Arkansas. The family had to bear a tragic loss when Bonner's younger brother George Hargrove III died as an infant in 1952. Singing was an early interest of Bonner and she gained experiences in local church groups and her high school Glee Club. 

Around 1962, Bonner got acquainted with rockabilly singer Bobby Lee Trammell, who had written two songs, "I Can't Sit Still" and "Watch Me Do the Twist". In the spring of that year, Trammell had a hit with "Arkansas Twist" on Joe Lee' Alley Records and it is likely that he set up a session for Bonner at Lee's studio in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She recorded both songs much in the style of Trammell's own recordings: non-sense, stomping and roaring rock'n'roll. The songs were released on Wayne McGinnis' Atlanta record label as the debut single (#1500, approx. fall 1962).

McGinnis, who also hailed from Northeast Arkansas and had recently set up his own recording company Santo Records, signed Bonner to a recording contract and there were certainly plans to release her material on one of his labels. Though sessions were scheduled in Memphis, nothing came of it in the end and Bonner was left without a second release by the mid of the 1960s.

By January 1965, Bonner's family had moved to Santa Cruz, California, where she continued her singing career. Following some show dates around town she performed several times in Las Vegas and ended up singing dixieland jazz regularly in Dick O'Kane's "The Warehouse" night club on Monterey's Cannery Row. The leader of the club's house band, the Warehousemen, had discovered her during one of her performances at Big Al's Gashouse in 1966 and signed her on the spot. It was at that time that she began appearing as "Barbara Kelly". With the Warehousemen and other groups she also appeared on other events such as the Monterey Dixieland Jazz Festival. Besides her performing career, Bonner was attending Monterey Institute of International Studies.

She had been married to Martin Theodore Oberto for a very brief time in 1971 and married Michael Simeone the following year. Her siblings got some public attention as her brother Greg was known as a talented surfer in Santa Cruz and her sister Joy who also sang.

Bonner opened up her own nigh club on Cannery Row in 1974, which was open to the public for a brief time, however. She continued to perform at the Warehouse until 1977, when she moved to the Los Angeles area, and moved in with her sister Joy in Whittier. She wanted to to take her career to a higher level. However, she reportedly performed on a cruise ship as remembered by one of the Warehouse's regular attendees. She also performed on several TV shows, including frequently on KABC-TV's "Hurdy Gurdy Show" and "The Gong Show".

Her life found a tragic and way too soon end. On October 20, 1977, Bobbie Lee Bonner was murdered in the laundry room of her apartment complex. A local newspaper wrote: "Police said that on Wednesday, Miss Kelly, who had been staying at her sisters's apartment in Whittier, went to the apartment complex garage area to do the laundry. Apartment complex residents reported hearing a loud noise and went to the garage area where they found Miss Kelly lying on the garage floor. A young man was seeing fleeing the area." Tragically, her case was never solved and it is still one of those "cold cases" that gains attention from time to time.

Discography

Singles
Atlanta 1500: Misty Bonner - I Can't Sit Still / Watch Me Do the Twist (1962)

Albums
Fly-By-Nite No.#: Barbara Kelly and the Warehousemen - Exporse Yourself! To the Music of

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• City-Data (Memories of the Warehouse) 

• Barbara Kelly Cold Case Facebook page 

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Expose Yourself To the Music of Barbara Kelly and the Warehousemen (YouTube)

Gene Champlin

Gene Champlin - The Early Mornin' Rain (No label #SPS-5018)

Gene Champlin was from the Fayetteville, Arkansas, area and a local singer active in the 1970s and 1980s. According to local Fayetteville DJ Bill Banner, who wrote the liner notes to Champlin's debut album, his first record was not a serious approach at the music business but, as Banner put it, more of a "joke". The single comprised "Early Morning Rain", the popular Gordon Lightfoot song, plus a version of "Amanda", which was a hit for Don Williams in 1973 and for Waylon Jennings in 1979. This sets the time frame of Champlin's records: these were probably recorded at some point between 1973 and 1979.

Both songs were put out by Champlin on his own private label and soon, "Amanda" became a favorite on local radio station KFAY (where Bill Banner was working). The record obviously caught people in other areas as well, as my copy comes from the estate of radio KLSZ in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The good reaction resulted in Champlin's first album, "Teardrops", which was released on the Lookout label, which was probably also his own venture. Another single was released off of that album featuring the Bill Banner compositions "Walls of Sorrow" and the album title track "Teardrops".

In the 1980s, Champlin performed under the name "Hambo Latham" and recorded several singles for the BOC and History labels in addition to an album on BOC entitled "Hambo in a Plain Brown Wrapper". Unfortunately, it escapes me what happens to Champlin after the 1980s.

Sources

• Discogs entries for Hambo Latham and Gene Champlin

• 45cat entry for Hambo Latham

Dale Wasson

Dale Wasson (center) with Johnny Horton (left) and Johnny Cash (right), late 1950s
Courtesy of Dale Wasson, Jr.

The Big Long Tall Drink of Water from Miami

The Story of Dale Wasson

In the mid 1950s, radio station WMIE was one of the driving forces for country music in Miami, Florida. Influential Miami country music personalities like Uncle Harve Spivey, Happy Harold Thaxton, and Cracker Jim Brooker were mainstays on the station. Another DJ on WMIE was Dale Wasson, musician, songwriter, and record shop owner in his own right.

Maurice Dale Wasson was born on November 21, 1931, in Peoria, Illinois, to Samuel Dale and Macie Evelyn Wasson. He had a younger brother, Floyd Duane, but his parents eventually divorced. His mother married again and gave birth to Wasson's half-sister Patricia. Wasson's family moved to Miami, where he grew up.

In the early 1950s, Wasson joined the US Marines and was sent overseas to fight in the Korean War. One of his comrades was a young man from Arkansas, Gerald D. Tomlinson. Like Wasson, he liked music and played guitar. He was soon nicknamed "Tommy" by Wasson and his comrades and became Johnny Horton's guitarist after his discharge. Tomlinson and Wasson remained good friends throughout the years.

After earning two Purple Hearts, Wasson was honorably discharged in 1953 and returned to Miami. Upon his return, he started his own record shop on the corner of NW 7th Avenue and 130th Street. At the same time, he became an announcer on WMIE and started his own DJ show in 1957, which would be hosted out of his record shop. He was also active as a musician and joined Happy Harold Thaxton's band, the Dixie Millers. This outfit performed regularly at different venues in the area. Like Wasson, Thaxton was a DJ at WMIE and also had an evening TV show in the 1950s that often featured Wasson. Thaxton would introduce him as "The Big Long Tall Drink of Water".

While working as a DJ with WMIE, Wasson got to know a lot of the big stars that stopped in Miami to promote their records or while being on tour. Johnny Cash and Johnny Horton paid a visit more than once. Wasson also became acquainted with such legends as Jimmy Dean and Grady Martin. In fact, he jammed with Martin while the latter was on tour with the Cash and Horton units. "After the show my mom, dad, a young Jimmy Dean, and band members were all up in Horton's hotel room. Playing music after the shows with each other was something they always looked forward to. One of them mentioned that Grady Martin was staying upstairs. Everyone at the time wanted to play music with Grady, who was starting to become famous as a musician" recalls Wasson's son Dale jr. Apparently, the jam session developed into an hours-long issue. "Mom was eight months pregnant with my brother and was very tired, so she told my dad to go on with them and fell asleep alone in Horton's room until they came back hours later."

Wasson was also active as an emcee at drive-in movie theaters. Back then, bands would perform before and after the actual movie. Sometimes, there were extra added attractions as well. These shows were hosted by Wasson. One time, South Florida resident Grandma Ella Carver, "The World's Oldest Flame Diver", appeared on such an event. While Wasson was said to have been an accomplished songwriter, no recordings by him are known to exist.

By the early 1960s, WMIE had been sold and changed programming, aimed at the Latin-American audiences that were coming into Miami from Cuba by then. Wasson's show ended in 1961 and he sold his record shop around the same time and decided it was time to quit the music business. He moved his family to North Carolina, where he served the city of Asheville as a police officer. He eventually returned to Florida, living in Winter Park, where he continued to work in law enforcement.

Dale Wasson passed away on April 2, 2009, at the age of 77 years. He is buried at All Faiths Memorial Park in Casselberry, Florida.

See also
• Remembering Happy Harold - A Miami Country Music Pioneer
• WMIE- Florida's Favorite for Sports (...and Country & Western)

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• I would like to thank Dale Wasson's wife Elizabeth and his son Dale jr. for contributing so much information and photo material about Dale Wasson.

James Fred Williams

James Fred Williams

The Spiritual Ambassador of Southwest Arkansas

James Fred Williams is an Arkansas based gospel singer and minister that has been around on the music scene for more than six decades. He has recorded at least four different discs, including a gospel EP for United Southern Artists in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1963, and two more platters for Curtis Kirk on his Tyler, Texas, based Custom label, in the 1970s. Recently, my southwest Arkansas correspondent Mark Keith interviewed Williams via telephone so European roots music fans now can learn of this artist.

James Fred Williams was born in 1940 in Magnolia, Arkansas. He remembers that radio played a major role in shaping his music taste. He would place his ear near the radio to listen closely to gospel music. It was of course gospel music and nothing else but gospel that became Williams' sole influence. Naturally, his first public appearance was in a little country Baptist church south of Magnolia and later on, he would sing in a choir as well.

Williams could be also heard on local radio throughout the years, including on KMSL (which later evolved into KZHE), where he had a Sunday evening show. Mark Keith worked at that station, too, and recalls: "He'd come on playing "Standing by the Bedside of a Neighbor" and when the instrumental break came on, he'd come in and talk over it and welcome people. He has a beautiful speaking voice and sounded so warm and friendly."

The Hope Star, January 19, 1963

Williams' first record came in 1963 for the Hot Springs based United Southern Artists label. He remembers that it was Carl Friend, the label's A&R manager, who organized the deal. Williams recorded four songs during a session in Hot Springs that were released on an EP record by the label. Two more records came into existence when Williams came in touch with Curtis Kirk, who had a studio and record label in Tyler, Texas. Four songs were recorded in Tyler and on that particular session, he was accompanied by the Ambassadors of Sweetwater, Louisiana. Kirk released them on his Custom label and Williams distributed those two releases to radio stations in Magnolia, Sweetwater, Shreveport, and Houston, among others.

A special record came along in 1979, when Williams cut his own "Stay with Me Jesus" backed by Brother Eli Taylor on organ. It was re-released the next year on the Love label. Original copies are nowadays quite worthy and sought after.

Williams still works as a minister in the Magnolia, Arkansas, area and does church programs. Mark Keith conducted an telephone interview with him in January 2025 which was the main source for this text.

Discography

United Southern GLP 101: James Fred Williams - Hold On to God's Unchanging Hand / Stay with Me Jesus / I Need the Lord / Every Child of God (1963)
Custom 185: James Fred Williams - If You've Got Jesus / I Feel the Spirit
Custom 191: James Fred Williams - He Will Take Care of His Own / Thank You Lord
No label No.#: Dea James Fred Williams - Stay with Me Jesus / God Is Taking Care (1979)
Love 3607: Dea. James Williams - Stay with Me Jesus / God Is Taking Care (1980) 

Sources

• 45cat
• Discogs [1] and [2]

• Thanks to Mark Keith for sharing his memories and providing information on James Fred Williams and interviewing him at my urging.

Jimmy Stayton on Chattahoochee

Jimmy Stayton - Your Heart Is My Prison (Chattahoochee CH 661), 1964
About 15 years ago, when I first heard Jimmy Stayton's "Hot Hot Mama", there was virtually no information available on him. This has changed in the last years as Steve Kelemen tracked Stayton down and interviewed him for the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2013. Since then, he has been recognized as Delaware's first rockabilly musician.

James H. Stayton was born August 4, 1939, in Milford, Delaware, near the US Atlantic coast. Milford was a small town with a population around 4,000 at that time and, as Stayton put in, "most of the music in those days was either country, swing, big band or maybe some jazz. I didn't think there was much of a choice." Country music became his first love and Hank Williams his first hero. He was presented with a guitar from his grandfather and Stayton practiced until his finger bled.

In the summer of 1954, Elvis Presley started the rockabilly craze from his Memphis base and it set out all across the southern states. In Delaware, this new brand of music was still unheard, however. In late 1954, Stayton visited his sister in Virginia, where rockabilly was already starting to get popular among young music fans. On a ferry trip there, Stayton heard Presley's version "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in a jukebox and was instantly converted to rockabilly. "I went into a record shop in Norfolk , Virginia, and asked if they had 'Blue Moon of Kentucky'. The owner said that they didn't have it so I told him 'to get on it' because Elvis was going be the biggest thing ever! After that they started to carry his Sun singles," Stayton told Steve Kelemen.

In 1955, Stayton met guitarist Morton Marker at a talent contest in Dover, Delaware. Marker and his sister were contestants there, too, and apart from that, Walker backed up Stayton on the show. Both had the same taste in music and decided to start as a band with Stayton on vocals and rhythm guitar, Marker on lead guitar and with the addition of drummer Honey Voshell, the group was complete, taking the name "Rocka-Bye Band" (suggested by their manager Reece Harrington). They had no bass player but sometimes used guest musicians on their shows.

Jimmy Stayton and the Rocka-Bye Band, 1956 (from left to right):
Morton Marker (lead guitar), Jimmy Stayton (vocals/rhythm guitar), Honey Voshell (drums)

They started playing shows in places all over Delaware and soon became popular with their brand of music. Rockabilly was still unheard till then and Stayton and his band were probably the first musicians to perform this music style publicly in Delaware. One of the first venues they played was the Milford Canteen, where they used to play in front of a packed house. From there, they went on to perform shows in Frederica, Smyrna, Camden, and Dover. They also started playing shows in other east coast states such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia.

In late 1955 or early 1956, Stayton became acquainted with Sam Short, who ran a grocery store in Harrington, Delaware. Out of this store, he also operated the Blue Hen label that had released mostly country music since 1954. Rockabilly became the hottest thing in the country and Short decided to give it a try and recorded Stayton's band. A session was set up at WBOC-TV in Salisbury, Maryland, which produced "Hot Hot Mama" paired with a country flip side, "Why Do You Treat Me This Way". Released in the spring of 1956 on Blue Hen #220, the record was credited to "Jimmy Stayton with Morton & Honey" rather than the "Rocka-Bye Band" but it proved to be a good seller in their three state radius. Moreover, it was the first rockabilly record ever released in the state of Delaware - a pioneering disc in that area.

The success led to another recording session a few months later. On this occasion, Stayton had organized a recording studio in Baltimore, Maryland, and this session produced "You're Gonna Treat Me Right" and "Midnight Blues". By then, the group included Patsy Saunders on drums as Voshell had left following the release of "Hot Hot Mama", and the group became the "Country Cats". However, Saunders was not present at the second session and the line-up instead included a bassist. Stories differ how they picked them up - Morton Marker recalled they met him while playing the Sunset Park in Westgrove, Pennsylvania, and used him on several shows, while Stayton later remembered him as a studio musician.

However, both songs were prime examples of rockabilly with its sparse line-up and appeared in late 1956 in Blue Hen #224. Though they continued to perform successfully until 1958, no more recordings were made. That year, Stayton joined the US Army and was sent overseas to Germany. It meant the end of the Country Cats. Stayton got to know his future wife in Germany and upon his return, moved to California, where he attended college.

Music was still on his mind. While in California, he signed a recording contract with 20th Century Fox (Stayton later claimed that Robert Mitchum had a hand in it) and his debut on the label, "More Than You'll Ever Know" b/w "Losers Can't Win", was released in 1962. It was the first nationally distributed record for Staytion as Blue Hen had no proper distribution network (records were sold from the counter of Short's grocery store for example). However, the record did not reach the charts and shortly afterwards, Stayton returned to Delaware.

He was soon back at recording, again with Sam Short, and recorded for Short's and "Bailin' Wire" Bob Strack's Del-Ray label, which Stayton later co-owned, too. The A side was "The Hep Old Frog", a novelty comedy number that he had written back in California for a Hollywood-produced Hanna Barbera TV cartoon that never came into existence. It was paired with a Don Gibson-styled, very commercial country number, "The Only One (for Me)", on Del-Ray #212 in 1963. Another single followed on Del-Ray under the pseudonym of "Leappo the Frog" with more frog-themed novelty content.

Probably his last record came in 1964 for Ruth Conte's Chattahoochee label from Los Angeles. "Politickin's Here" was a humorous comment on politics and election campaigns, while "Your Heart Is My Prison" is another enjoyable country performance. My copy of the record has "Area Test Record" on its label written, whatever that means.

Stayton told Kelemen that he had enough of music at one point in his life and became a salesman at WKEN in Dover, an occupation he held for 15 years. He also was a DJ on that station for some time. Eventually, he formed a new band, the Country Sounds and returned to performing. He also wrote a new song, "The Ballad of Herman Brown" for Republican Herman Brown's 1968 election campaign.

In the 1990s, European rockabilly CD compilation started featuring Stayton's songs "Hot Hot Mama" and "You're Gonna Treat Me This Way". They had been forgotten for years and so had been Stayton. Collectors and researchers failed to track him down until 2013, when Steve Kelemen succeeded and conducted an interview with both Stayton and Morton Walker for the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In the wake of his rediscovery, Knock Out Records released a CD of Stayton's recordings that also includes a lot of originally unissued material. Since then, Stayton and his band have been acknowledged several times as Delaware's first rock'n'roll recording artists.

Stayton nowadays resides in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, while Morton Marker lives in Glendora, California. Honey Voshell remained active as a musician in Delaware and opened a music shop in Felton, "The Drum Pad".

Discography

Blue Hen 220: Jimmy Stayton with Morton & Honey - Hot Hot Mama / Why Do You Treat Me This Way (1956)
Blue Hen 224: Jimmy Stayton and the Country Cats - You're Gonna Treat Me Right / Midnight Blues (1956)
20th Fox 310: James H. Stayton - More Than You'll Ever Know / Losers Can't Win (1962)
Del-Ray 212: Jimmy Stayton - The Hep Old Frog / The Only One (for Me) (1963)
Del-Ray 213: Leappo (The Frog) - Christmas in Frogville / Look Before You Leap (1963)
Chattahoochee 45-6x: Politickin's Here (Nobody Needs Automation) / Your Heart Is My Prison (1964)

Recommended reading

• Dead Wax: Christmas in Frogville

• Bear Family Records (Knock Out CD)

Sources

• Blue Hen Records (Greater Harrington Historical Society)

• Rockabilly Hall of Fame interviews (Wayback Machine)

• Jimmy Stayton on the Delaware Rock and Roll Society website

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• 45cat entry

Leon Fulgham & the Dealers on Bejay

Leon Fulgham & the Dealers - Poor Boy (Bejay 82479), 1979

Leon Fulgham's band, the Dealers, was founded in the late 1970s. Fulgham was a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and came from a large family. He worked as a used car dealer and operated Fulgham Used Car Center in Fort Smith. He played music with friends for years until he put together his own band, the Dealers. He was also known as the "Singing Car Dealer".

The band consisted of Fulgham on rhythm guitar, bass, and lead vocals, Harold Van on steel guitar, Louis Lyles on vocals, lead guitar and fiddle, Ramona Lyles on bass, piano, and vocals, and Billy Wise on drums. Occasionally, Fulgham's wife Maxine appeared with the band on vocals. All of the members were said to hail from the Fort Smith area.

Leon Fulgham and the Dealers, 1979
(taken from the band's LP "First Time Around")

In 1979, Fulgham and the Dealers went into Ben Jack's recording studio in Fort Smith to cut eleven songs. They probably performed those songs frequently at their shows and included a good cover of Jimmie Martin's bluegrass tune "Free Born Man", the bluesy "Poor Boy", or "The Devil and the Cowboy". All eleven songs were issued on the Bejay LP "First Time Around" and those last two songs, which were Fulgham's own compositions, were also released on a 45rpm disc by Bejay the same year.

Although many of his siblings already passed away, it seems that Leon Fulgham is still alive. His used car dealership has been closed down, as far as I can tell.

If somebody has more information on Leon Fulgham, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail through the formula at the top right of this website.

See also
• Ben Jack on Bejay
• Bobby Whittaker on Bejay
• Red Yeager on Bejay
• David & Darlene Robinson on Bejay

Sources
• Discogs
• 45cat entry
• Jimmy Fulgham Find a Grave entry

Walter (Arkie) Bittle

Walter "Arkie" Bittle & the Flying Saucers

Arkansas Country Boys Went Rock'n'Roll in Indiana

Many Arkansans moved west in the 1930s and 1940s, many moved east to Memphis in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s but few musicians moved to the northern states during that period. Walter Bittle was one of them. He lived in Indiana in the 1950s, where he cut a rare and little known rockabilly gem, "Jitterbug Drag". Like so many fellow rockabillies, Bittle later abandoned secular music and turned to the gospel.

Walter Thomas "W.T." Bittle, also known as Arkie Bittle or Reverend Walter Bittle, was born on January 13, 1931, in Prim, Arkansas, a rural area north of Heber Springs near Greers Ferry Lake. His parents, H. Gordon and Blanche D. Bittle, also gave birth to two daughters Georgia and Wanda as well as another son in 1935, Bittle's brother Loy Emery. At that time, the family was residing in an isolated place called Woodrow down the road from Prim.

Life was hard in the 1930s for rural Arkansans and Bittle worked on the farm and in the timber industry very early on. However, music was his passion and he learned to play guitar as a child. Bittle enjoyed playing and singing with family and friends; country and gospel music were likely his main influences. At age 17, he and his brother-in-law Wayne Harlan took part in a talent contest in Heber Springs and won.

By the advent of the 1950s, Walter and Loy Bittle were working with guitarist Glynn Hipp, who was also born in Woodrow but already in 1927, and played clubs along Highway 67, today known as the Rock and Roll Highway. They performed at such venues as the Oasis and the Wagon Wheel. Bittle joined the US Marine Corps in 1952 and served his country during the Korean War. Upon his discharge around 1954, Bittle took up music again with brother Loy and Hipp. They moved north to the Marion, Indiana, area, possibly in search of better working and living conditions than what they were used to in the rural South. On the personal side, he married Esther Shook in October 1954 in Marion.

Billboard September 17, 1955

Although they had started as a country music trio, Rock'n'Roll was the thing by then and naturally, the trio began performing in that style. Later in 1955, Bittle had assembled a band known as the "Sunny Slope Boys" and this group was heard over WMRI in Marion, Indiana, and the station's "Hoosier Barn Dance". The group also played on TV and in several local clubs. A year later, the Sunny Slope Boys had morphed into the Flying Saucers, adapting a more popular name for rock'n'roll audiences. By then, Loy Bittle had dropped out of the act. The group included Arkie Bittle on vocals and rhythm guitar, Hipp on lead guitar, Ray Smith on bass, and Bobby Johns on drums.

Arkie Bittle and Glynn Hipp, mid 1950s
(taken from the front cover of Collector CLCD 4495)

In 1956, Claud J. Nash, Sr., set up his own independent record label, Claudra Records, and Bittle and his group were the first to record for it. Hipp had written a rockabilly piece called "Jitterbug Drag" and together with Nash's song "I Kissed You in a Dream", was recorded under primitive circumstances as the songs sound like being cut in a kitchen. Nash released them on Claudra #CL-200 in 1956.

A second disc appeared the following year featuring "Teen Age Blues" and "Glynns Hopp", both composed by Hipp. While the A side was a vocal number sung by Bittle, the B side showcased Hipps skills on the guitar. It seems that Hipp was the driving force of the band - he was not only a talented guitarist but also wrote most of the song material. In addition, some  band members of the Flying Saucers also played on other Claudra releases.

In 1958, Bittle dropped out of the group as he became a born again Christian. Hipp took over the band and renamed it "The Jokers", which later also included Larry Kinser on vocals and Harry Miracle on vocals and guitar. The band continued to perform well into the 1960s and had two records out - one on Claudra and another one on Cliff Ayers' Lincoln label from Fort Wayne (Ayers also owned the Emerald label that released several rock'n'roll discs).

In the meantime, Bittle had begun preaching in Indiana churches and the 1960s saw Loy Bittle becoming a converted Christian as well. Loy became a deacon at Marion General Baptist Church in Marion in 1964 until his return to Arkansas. Walter Bittle returned to Heber Springs as well, where he established Sunny Slope Church in the 1960s. Loy began his work as a deacon there in 1968. In 1973, Walter Bittle received a theological degree from the Oakland City University of Indiana. Bittle also claimed to have written the song "I Hold a Clear Title to a Mansion", although different sources suggest this gospel hymn dates back to the early 20th century. He also claimed to have a recording of his (first) version and that the song was stolen from him. Bittle tried to regain the legal rights to no avail. The song has been recorded under different titles by several gospel artists.

Dutch collector Cees Klop gathered a couple of Glynn Hipp recordings and released those on his White Label and Collector reissue albums, beginning in the early 2000s. Also "Jitterbug Drag" was released on a few European CD reissues in the 2000s, probably unbeknownst to Bittle.

Walter Bittle passed away on October 21, 2016, at the age of 85 years. His brother Loy died a few years later in 2021. Glynn Hipp stayed in Indiana, where he already passed away in 1995 at the age of 67 years.

Sources

• Find a Grave Entries for Walter Thomas Bittle and for Glynn Hipp as well as for Claude Jackson Nash, Sr. and Claud Jackson Nash, Jr.

• Rockin' Country Style Entries for Walter Arkie Bittle and for Glynn Hipp

• 45cat entry

• Claudra Records on Discogs

• Obituary

• Clear Title to a Mansion (Bluegrass Messengers)

• Robert Cochran: "Our Own Sweet Sounds - A Celebration of Popular Music in Arkansas" (University of Arkansas Press), 2005, page 53

Johnny Hughes on UBC

Johnny Hughes - Pretty Little Girl (UBC 1017), 1960

Pre-teenage Johnny Hughes cut three records for the Fort Smith, Arkansas, based UBC label in 1960 and 1961. We feature his debut release from December 1960, "Johnny Blue" b/w "Pretty Little Girl". The exact artist credit on this disc reads "(12 Year Old) Johnny Hughes", which places his birth date around 1948.

And indeed, further research substantiated this date. John Lee Hughes was born October 23, 1948, in Midwest City, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City. He was born to Floyd A. and Thyra Juanita Hughes and had a couple of siblings. The family later moved to the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Oklahoma City, where Hughes started his career as a singer. He attended several music schools to train his voice and also took up the guitar.

By 1959, Hughes began making appearances in the city and surrounding areas and his mother Juanita began acting as his manager. A year later, Hughes was popular enough that UBC Records from Fort Smith, Arkansas, became interested in the young boy and signed a recording contract with him. Hughes' recordings for UBC were teenage rock'n'roll and aimed at the flourishing teen market, although he was likely a bit too young for that target group. His debut session was likely cut in Oklahoma City, as Bobby Boyd, who also owned the Boyd label there, produced today's disc. "Johnny Blue" b/w "Pretty Little Girl" was released at the tail end of 1960 and according to former radio KOMA's Wax Museum curator Larry Neal, "Johnny Blue" became a local hit in Oklahoma City. 

Johnny Hughes in 1963

UBC had possibly high hopes to build Hughes as a kiddie star. After his debut, UBC also released "After Tonight" b/w "Junior High Doll", which was recorded in Nashville with the Jordanaires, and "Doll Baby" b/w "Grounded", both in 1961. Some of Hughes recordings were written by some of the top names in the business. For example, "Johnny Blue" was penned by Jerry Crutchfield and Gerald Nelson, and "Junior High Doll" was composed by Mae Axton (co-author of "Heartbreak Hotel") and Lew Williams (rockabilly recording artist for Imperial).

Billboard May 22, 1961, pop review

UBC had possibly high hopes to build Hughes as a kiddie star. Although "Junior High Doll" became another strong seller in Oklahoma City, Hughes' records never brought him the desired breakthrough and he was dropped from the UBC roster soon after. He teamed up with another young singer, Debbie Ray, who also hailed from Midwest City, and appeared with her on several occasions in the region. Hughes' mother organized an audition at Rainbow Studios in Hollywood, California, and a contract was signed for a session in 1963, although no records are known to have been released.

Hughes remained in the music business and led a band known as the Fender Benders from 1965 up to 1968. This group played extensively across the state of Oklahoma. He later worked as a trim carpenter but unfortunately, it escapes me what Hughes did music-wise after the 1960s. Johnny Hughes passed away May 7, 2004, at the age of 55 years in Norman, Oklahoma.

If you have more information on Johnny Hughes, please feel free to leave a comment or share your memories via e-mail with us.

Discography

UBC 1017/18: (12 Year Old) Johnny Hughes - Johnny Blue / Pretty Little Girl (December 1960)
UBC 1024: Johnny Hughes - After Tonight / Junior High Doll (May 1961)
UBC 1034: Johnny Hughes - Doll Baby / Grounded (1961)

Sources

• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry

• Johnny Hughes - Junior High Doll YouTube video (info in comment section)

Ted Creekmore

Ted Creekmore was a longtime country music performer and band leader on the Tulsa music scene. Beginning in the early 1960s, he recorded several 45s well into the 1970s on local Oklahoma labels.

Ted W. Creekmore was born on July 23, 1932, in Oklahoma to Charlie Elzo and Dovie Ann Creekmore. Both of his parents were born in Arkansas but had relocated to Oklahoma by the mid 1920s. Creekmore had a total of seven siblings - four brothers and three sisters. In 1953, he married Margaret Jenkins, with whom he raised three sons. Creekmore was musically inclined and at some point, took up music as a hobby and began appearing around Tulsa and surrounding areas.

He had assembled his own band by the early 1960s and started recording for Joe Norvell's Norjo record label in 1962, releasing "It's Your Turn to Cry" b/w "I Just Got Love Bug Bit". The latter was released on Collector Records' "Rock & Roll with Piano, Vol. 7" in 2002 and on Buffalo Bop's "Rock-a-Billy Boys" in 2003 in Europe. Creekmore had another release on the label with "Arizona Ways" / "I Don't Know How to Make You Know".

In 1964, Creekmore's band accompanied Tulsa DJ Bob LaFitte on his recordings for the local Plainview, Arkansas, Tagg record label and followed up with own recordings on the Pride and Sheridan labels in the mid to late 1960s as well as on Alvera in 1977. In addition to his recordings, Creekmore and his band played dances and TV shows all over Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas. His sons Danny and Robert both became talented drummers and son Kenny became proficient at guitar and bass. Danny worked with his father's band from 1970 until 1986, relocating to Florida eventually.

Creekmore's wife Margaret passed away in 1981. A few years later, he married his second wife Joyce and eventuelly married Treva Keener, who would accompany him for the rest of his life. Creekmore was still playing with a band in 2005, although his radius was limited to Tulsa and surrounding cities by then.

Ted Creekmore passed away on April 4, 2010, at the age of 77 years in Tulsa.


Ted Creekmore (lead singer) and John Chick on the "John Chick Show", broadcast on KTUL-TV from the Tulsa State Fair, early 1970s

See also
• Johnny Mystery on Tagg

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Creekmore Family Facebook group
• Discogs
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• 45cat cat entry

Doug & the Inn-Truders

The instrumental number "What's Up" by Doug and the Inn-Truders had grabbed my attention some 15 years ago and still does. I enjoy the song now as much as I did back then - but who were Doug and the Inn-Truders? A renewed search yielded some more information, which I tried to compress into this post.

The Inn-Truders were a Wichita, Kansas, based rock'n'roll band. We find mention of the band as early as July 1964, so the Inn-Truders were probably founded in the first half of that year. At least some of the band members were still high-school pupils. Although the exact line-up is unclear, it seems that early members were leader Douglas "Doug" Terbush on guitar, Art Martinez on guitar and Gregg Dunn on drums. 

Doug and the Inn-Truders, 1964

Already by July 1964, the band had entered STA Recording studio in Wichita to lay down two tracks: the aforementioned instrumental "What's Up" and the vocal number "Starring My Broken Heart". Both songs were released on the local Aircap label (#BM-101). At that time, their sound was guitar-based but they soon began including horns. At some point in 1964, sax player Rick Meyer joined the group and over the years, further sax and trumpet players were added to the line-up, including Roger Walls on trumpet.

The Inn-Truders became a popular band locally and played venues for years around Wichita. Rick Meyer remembers playing at the Joyland, the Seneca Lounge, and the Cotillion. They were also part of numerous "Battle of the Bands" contests that were popular back then. Neal McGaugh, a band member of another local group called the Outcasts, remembers the Wichita band scene:

"When the battles moved to the Cotillion, that's when all the big rivalry started--'65, '66.  We always ended up battling big horn bands, The Red Dogs, Doug and the Inn-Truders.  We didn't get too far against them.  We didn't have the kind of music that the judges liked."

The Inn-Truders were active at least until 1967. Their "What's Up" was featured on the 1983 White Label LP "Minnesota Rock-a-Billy-Rock, Volume 3" (although they were not from Minnesota). As of 2015, Art Martinez was still active as a musician. Doug Terbush resides in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, nowadays.

Sources

• 45cat

• Discogs

• Wichita Rock Music History Project (Facebook Page)

• Pat O'Connor: Moody's Skidrow Beanery (Rowfant Press), 1999

B.J. Johnson

B.J. the D.J.
The Story of B.J. Johnson

Many country music fans will recognize the hit song "B.J. the D.J.", made famous in 1963 by Stonewall Jackson. But few know that this songs was inspired by a real person, namely B.J. Johnson from Mississippi, a singer, DJ, and songwriter for more than twenty years.

Byron J. Johnson was born on September 3, 1928, to Bruner and Lula Magdelen Johnson in a community in Hancock County, Mississippi, known to locals as "the Kiln" (the n being silent). Named after the kiln ovens that could be found in that area during the early 19th century. From the 1860s up to the late 1920s, the Kiln was home to many timber mills, which brought the community a fast growing. But then, the Great Depression hit hard, affecting also the Johnson family. The timber industry was practically non-existent in the Kiln in the 1930s and it harmed the community so hard that at one point, the Kiln was a ghost town. Many of the residents moved to nearby cities like Picayune or, to earn a living, worked as moonshiners. If the Johnson family remained there or if they moved is not known but Johnson later made his home in Picayune for sure.

He was drafted during World War II and served his country in the US Army. By the mid 1950s, Johnson had discovered he could make a living with country music and could be heard on a local radio station. He met up with another local performer, Vern Pullens, whom Johnson connected with Houston, Texas, label owner Bennie Hess. While Pullens recorded solo for Hess' Spade label, Johnson got the chance to record two duets with Pullens as well, "What Am I to Do" and "Country Boys Dream", which were released by Hess on Spade #135 in May 1957.

Billboard January 4, 1960, C&W review

While these first two songs were penned by Pullens, it soon became obvious that Johnson was a talented songwriter, too. He connected with another Houston based producer, Pappy Daily, who had founded Starday Records in 1953 but by 1957, had left the operation and formed his own label, D Records. Johnson had a total of three released on D, the first one being "You Were Only Fooling" (written by Johnson) and "True Affection" (co-written by fellow ex-Spade artist Ray Doggett), released on D #1031. It was the latter that secured Johnson a place in rockabilly fans' hearts, although it was upbeat country music at best.

Two more singles followed on D, "Our Love Is Not Worth Living For" b/w "It's Wrong for Me to Love You" (#1058, both co-written with Vern Pullens) in the spring of 1959 and a reissue of their Spade single. The following year, Johnson began his long-lasting association with Hack Kennedy's Big Howdy record label from Bogalusa, Louisiana - located half an hour from his home base of Picayune. Throughout the years, Johnson recorded three discs for the label but also worked with Kennedy as a record producer and songwriter. 

Besides his career as a recording artist, producer, and songwriter, Johnson continued to work as a DJ and a live performer. He could be heard regularly on Bogalusa's Pearl River Valley Jamboree during the 1950s and appeared at the 1966 Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Day in Lucedale, Mississippi. He had such a busy schedule during these years that Nashville songwriter Hugh X. Lewis, a friend of Johnson's, wrote the song "B.J. the D.J." inspired by Johnson's life (although, in contrast to the song's tragic ending, Johnson was not killed in a car accident). Though, the words of the song aptly described Johnson's hectic and dangerous lifestyle, rushing from job to job without sleep. Recorded by Stonewall Jackson in 1963 for Columbia and took it to #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

One could assume this brought Johnson into the spotlight as well but this was not the case. He sometimes went by the name of B.J. the D.J. Johnson and started to record his singles in Nashville but they were still released on local Mississippi and Louisiana labels. He cut a slew of discs during the 1960s and 1970s for such labels as Big Howdy (1960/1967/1969), Carma (1961-1965), Nugget (1963-1964), JB (ca. 1965), Circle G (ca. 1967), River City (1972), Myrna (1973), Mississippi Sound (1976), and Lynn. His 1964 Nugget single "Let the Party Be Over" was one of his more successful releases. It was listed by Billboard in its October 31, 1964, issue as a chart potential/"bubbling under" contender.

Billboard April 14, 1973

Johnson's activities apparently ceased in the late 1970s. B.J. Johnson passed away on December 15, 1997, at the age of 69 years in Picayune. He is buried at West Union Memorial Cemetery in Carriere, Mississippi.

See also
• The Pearl River Valley Jamboree
• Who is Vern Pullens?
• Penny Records
• The Spade Records Story

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry
• Discogs
• B.J. the D.J. song history (Wikipedia)