A platform to present my ever growing record collection and publish research results on artists, labels, and shows from the American roots music field
Updates
- Expanded the Alabama Hayloft Jamboree post with the help of newspaper clippings.
- Corrected the "Million Dollar Memphis Sound" post on some issues and added a release by David Dee.
- Added several releases to the Universal Artists discography as part of the Humming Bees post.
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.
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)
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).
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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)
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.
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
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.
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.
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)
