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)

Cecil Buffalo on Sho-Boat

Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - The Big Red (Sho-Boat 102), 1964
Cecil Buffalo was obviously a big football fan, as the majority of his recorded output were football themed. He had a short music career while studying in Little Rock and was associated with J. Paul Scott, who wrote several Arkansas football related songs.

Cecil Miles Buffalo, Jr., was born on November 28, 1944, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Cecil Miles, Sr., and Melba Rose Buffalo. Buffalo had two sisters, Connie Jean and Shearon. In the early 1960s, he enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and eventually earned an Art degree.

While being a student at UA, Buffalo had a short-lived career in music, as he began recording for local Arkansas labels in 1964. The Arkansas Razorbacks football team was as popular and successful as ever at that time and the same year, Buffalo and a band known as "The Prophets" recorded "The Big Red" (about the Razorbacks' 1964 win over Texas) and "The Wild Hogs". Both songs were written and produced by J. Paul Scott, who was responsible for several Razorbacks themed songs and even a whole Razorbacks album. In fact, Buffalo and the Prophets were present at the actual game, performing another J. Paul Scott song "Jon Brittenum, Quarterbackin' Man".

By then, Buffalo was probably living in Hot Springs, Arkansas. "The Big Red" b/w "The Wild Hogs" were released on the Sho-Boat label (#102), which had ties to the city as well - although I'm not quite sure if the label was actually based in Hot Springs. He had another record out on Marshall E. Ellis' Zone label from Memphis, comprising "Crazy Eyes" and "Don't Hold Your Breath Till I Cry" (#Z-1075, 1964).

Probably the following year, Buffalo recorded one more of Scott's songs, "Razorback Number One", which was coupled with a garage instrumental by a local band called the "Five Sounds". Both recordings were released first by the GalARK label and then by Lakeside Records from Hot Springs. All three of his recordings were also featured on the LP "The Big Red Album" on Bobby Crafford's Razorback label.

It seems that Buffalo maintained music as a sideline and took a day job to earn a living. He later owned Buffalo Oil Company in Hot Springs. I found another mention of him in the 1970 Catalog of Copyrights with his composition "Scooter Joe".

Cecil Buffalo passed away on August 17, 2010, in Hot Springs. He is buried at Edgewood Memorial Park in North Little Rock.

Discography

Sho-Boat 102: Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - The Big Red / The Wild Hogs (1964)
Zone Z-1075: Cecil Buffalo - Crazy Eyes / Don't Hold Your Breath Till I Cry (1964)
GalARK 2001: Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - Razorback Number One / The Five Sounds - Clumsy Dragon (ca. 1965)
Lakeside 2001: Cecil Buffalo and the Prophets - Razorback Number One / The Five Sounds - Clumsy Dragon (ca. 1965)
Buffalo BR 809: Cecil Buffalo, Jr. - Rootin' the Razorbacks On / Razorbacks, Razorbacks

Sources

• Discogs

• Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Obituary

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• Orville Henry, Jim Bailey: "The Razorbacks: A Story of Arkansas Football" (University of Arkansas Press), 1996, page 222

• George Schroeder: "Hogs! A History" (Fireside), 2005, page 53

Happy Wilson

Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys at WAPI
(Birmingham, Alabama), ca. mid 1950s
featuring Ted Crabtree on steel guitar, "Prof." Huel Murphy on piano,
Marion Worth on vocals, and Wilson on rhythm guitar

Happy Wilson

The Golden River Boy from Birmingham

In the 1940s and 1950s, Happy Wilson was a mainstay on Alabama's country music scene. Heard over radio and TV, on record, and through live performances, he gained popularity in the Heart of Dixie since the late 1930s. One of his band members, Sidney Louie "Hardrock" Gunter from Birmingham, Alabama, is better remembered today than Wilson as Gunter became a favorite among rockabilly fans due to his 1950s country boogie and rockabilly recordings. Though, Wilson became widely known and connected in the Nashville scene of the 1950s and 1960s, working as a publisher and producer.

Eugene Burnett Wilson was born on June 29, 1919, in Haleyville, Winston County,  in the north of Alabama, to Acey Eugene and Ollie Wilson. Wilson had a younger brother, Asa Eugene (born in 1926), and an older brother James Huel, who died as an infant in 1917. Haleyville was a small but rising town in the 1920s and the life of the Wilson family was simple. By 1930, Wilson's parents had divorced and he was living with his mother alone.

Wilson was interested in music at an early age, especially in folk music, and was fascinated by the new possibilities that radio had to offer. He loved listening to old-time folk musicians on the radio. His father took him to a wandering music teacher that had settled in Haleyville for the summer and Wilson enjoyed some music lessons. He learned drums and guitar, eventually sticking with guitar and singing.

In the mid 1930s, at the age of 15, Wilson started appearing on local radio. He began working with several bands on different radio stations like it was common for country musicians of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared with the Happy Valley Gang over WBRC (Birmingham, Alabama), with Tex Dunn's Virginia Hillbillies over WBRC and WAPI (both Birmingham), with the Bar-X Cowhands on WSGN, with Red & Raymond and the Boys from Old Kentuck over WSB (Atlanta, Georgia), and finally with his own band, the Golden River Boys, on WALA (Mobile, Alabama). One of the earliest members of the Golden River Boys was Birmingham native Hardrock Gunter, a guitarist and singer who went on to have a solo career in the 1950s.

By the early 1940s, Wilson and his mother were living in Birmingham, Alabama. Shortly before World War II broke out, Wilson was part of a two-weeks tour with Roy "Tucson" Corrigan and the Three Musquiteers. With the advent of the war, Wilson was drafted into the US Army. During his four-year serve, he often entertained fellow soldiers and was part of shows. Though, he also took part in battles and became highly decorated with the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry's Badge, Good Conduct Ribbon, and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. He reached the rank of a Staff Sergeant.

Following his discharge, Wilson took up music again and reformed the Golden River Boys in 1946. Throughout the second half of the 1940s and the early 1950s, Wilson became a mainstay in Alabama's country music scene, appearing on his long-time radio station WAPI as well as on its sister station WAFM and even had a popular TV show on WAFM-TV. That show started in 1950 and was the first country music television show in Alabama.

In 1947, Wilson got the chance to record his music for the first time. He and the Golden River Boys recorded four songs in Birmingham late that year, which were released on the small, local Vulcan label. Through 1948, his popularity continued to grow and in early 1949, the major Decca label invited him for a recording session to Nashville on February 7 at the Castle Studio. Four more tracks were cut that day, which saw release in February and July 1949. The line-up of the Golden River Boys included at that time Ted Crabtree on steel guitar, Billy Tucker on fiddle, Sammy Pruitt on guitar, Jim O'Day on bass, and Wilson on guitar and vocals.

Billboard August 20, 1949

Around the same time, Wilson was making a name for himself as a songwriter, too - at least a bit. Little Jimmy Dickens' recorded "A-Sleepin' at the Foot of the Bed", which Wilson co-wrote with Luther Patrick and was based on his childhood experiences. The song peaked at #6 on Billboard C&W charts. In 1953, Webb Pierce recorded Wilson's "I Haven't Got the Heart" and eventually, Hank Thompson cut his "Mark of a Heel" in 1971.

Sales if Wilson's discs must have been not too promising as there was no second session for Decca but on September 19, 1950, Wilson was back in the same studio - this time for MGM. "Haunted House Boogie" and "Mister Big" were the only results that day and both were released on MGM #K10877 in January 1951. Unfortunately, this remained his only effort for the label, although Jack Rivers covered "Haunted House Boogie" for the same label.

Since August 1950, Wilson had an additional TV show for WAFM-TV with his old buddy Hardrock Gunter entitled "The Happiness Boys". Gunter had been a member of Wilson's band since its reformation in 1946 but also worked solo on and off. Gunter had already rejoined the Golden River Boys earlier in 1950 and had signed a recording contract with Manny Pearson's local Bama label in Birmingham. On his first session, he was backed by the Golden River Boys, who were hiding under the name of "The Pebbles" on that occasion. One of the songs recorded was "Birmingham Bounce" (rel. April 1950, Bama #104), which was a good seller for Gunter and prompted Decca to let Red Foley cut a cover version, which became a #1 country hit.

Billboard January 27, 1951, MGM ad for Wilson's
latest release "Haunted House Boogie"

Wilson and his first wife Odean were living in Birmingham with Wilson's mother in 1950 but divorced in January 1951. Following his divorce, Wilson toured with western actor Lash LaRue and played minor roles in his films for a short time around 1951. At that time, he made his home in Marietta, Georgia. Two years later, in May 1953, Wilson married Mary Ann Ward, who was 11 years younger than him and an amateur singer on WAPI and WAPI-TV.

By the mid 1950s, Wilson's wife was performing with him and the Golden River Boys as "Marion Worth". They could be heard over WABT in Birmingham but still performed on WAPI as well. In 1955, Wilson celebrated his 20th anniversary with WAPI and therefore, organized a two-hour long radio broadcast it the Agricultural Building at the Alabama State Fairgrounds that was attended by 3,000 people.

Around the same time, Wilson and his wife had connected with Slim Lay, a Huntsville, Alabama, DJ. They appeared with Lay's show and Wilson took a job as a DJ with Huntsville station WBHP. In 1956, Wilson, Lay, and fellow DJ Dewey Webb went into partnership to set up Dash Records. The debut release comprised Slim Lay's "Asiatic Flu" and "Trouble Along the Cable" (on which Lay was joined by Wilson) on Dash #100. More releases were planned but the the trio had to close down the label after legal action from another Dash record company from California.

In 1959, Wilson's wife released her first record. It comprised "Are You Willing, Willie" and "This Heart of Mine" (the latter written by Wilson) and was issued by Cherokee Records of Huntsville. This label seems to have been associated with Wilson as well, as all of the songs released were published through his Golden River Publishing company.

The top side of Worth's single "Are You Willing, Willie" reached #12 on Billboard's C&W charts and was the first of several moderate hits that Worth enjoyed. The disc was also taken over by the Guyden label, which released a follow-up, "That's My Kind of Love", wich went even higher and peaked at #5 in 1960. Wilson and Worth moved to Nashville to work on Worth's career. Wilson and Lay secured her a record contract with Columbia Records, where she enjoyed several more hits in the next few years. She also joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1963.

In the meantime, Wilson had built up a career in the music business as well. While he had been a popular performer in Alabama, he concentrated on music publishing, producing, and other issues of the business in Nashville. Although he worked with Central Songs since 1961, he also worked part-time as a DJ on WENO in Madison, Tennessee, as early as 1963. He left Central Songs and became director at Tree Enterprises in 1968. For some time, he even headed Capitol Records' country music department.

Wilson retired from the music business in February 1973 after 38 years of devoting his life to music. However, his retirement did not last long as he returned to working in October that same year, forming Broadland Music, Inc. with Canadian artist Gary Buck.

Happy Wilson died way too early on August 24, 1977, in Nashville through an automobile accident. He was 58 years old. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. In 1981, Wilson was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.

Discography

Vulcan 5000: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - I Know My Buddy's Sleeping There / Fancy Rythm (1946)
Vulcan 5001: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - This Heart of Mine / Joe Rumore with Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - I Butted In (1948)
Decca 46153: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - Go Down to the Graveyard / Forty Miles at Sea (1949)
Decca 46171: Happy Wilson and his Golden River Boys - How Long / Comes a Time (1949)
MGM K10877: Happy Wilson - Haunted House Boogie / Mister Big (1951)
Dash 100: Slim Lay - Asiatic Flu / Slim Lay and Happy Wilson - Trouble Along the Cable (1956)

See also
• Alabama Hayloft Jamboree
• Cornhuskers Jamboree

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Free State of Winston (Winston County Online Database)

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Entries for Happy Wilson on 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm

• Entry for Happy Wilson and Slim Lay on 45cat 

• SecondHandSongs

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

• "Broadcasting, Telecasting (Volume 48)", 1955, page 95

• various Billboard news items

B. Bumble & the Stingers on Rendezvous

B. Bumble & the Stingers - Apple Knocker (Rendezvous R-179), 1962
I recently acquired a couple of records by B. Bumble & the Stingers. I mainly bought them because of the band's catchy name. I wasn't familiar with neither their story nor their music and for years, I had assumed them to be some kind of a mid-west rock'n'roll band. Little did I know! I was surprised when I found out B. Bumble & the Stingers was the name of an ever-changing line-up of California studio musicians.

B. Bumble & the Stingers was the brainchild of black studio musicians Rene Hall, Earl Palmer, and Plas Johnson. All of them hailed from Louisiana but had relocated to California by then and were busy studio musicians of the early 1960s. Due to their hectic studio schedule, they weren't able to tour but nevertheless opted to release recordings to earn make some money along the way. Their first studio project was a rocked up version of the Glenn Miller classic "In the Mood", which was released as by the Ernie Fields Orchestra on Rendezvous Records in 1959, hitting the #4 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 and it also charted in the R&B field. 

Billboard May 1, 1961

Encouraged by this success, Rene hall came up with the idea of B. Bumble & the Stingers, recording a rock'n'roll version of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's classical piece "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" with probably Hall and Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Ernie Freeman on piano, Plas Johnson on saxophone, Red Callender on bass, and Earl Palmer on drums with Kim Fowley producing the session. The piece was based loosely on Jack Fina's arrangement "Bumble Boogie" from 1947 (which had become a #7 hit credited to Freddy Martin & Orch.). Released early in 1961 as "Bumble Boogie" with "School Day Blues" on the flip (Rendezvous #140), the song made the #21 spot on Billboard's Hot 100. The successful principle to rock up classical pieces was set.

As it became obvious, a touring band was needed to handle gigs and promotional appearances. As none of the studio musicians were available, a teenage band from Ada, Oklahoma was engaged to go on tour. This group comprised Fred Richards, Don Orr on drums and R.C. Gamble, who acted as B. "Billy" Bumble on piano. Later incarnations also included Terry Anderson and Jimmy King on guitars.

Their follow-ups to "Bumble Boogie", again recorded with the same group of session musicians, failed to repeat the success. "Boogie Woogie" b/w "Near You" (Rendezvous #151, June 1961), barely made it to the Hot 100, reaching #89 for just one week. Subsequent releases failed to chart altogether and Rendezvous Records started to lose interest in the project.

Producer Kim Fowley had worked out a rock'n'roll arrangement on Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" from the Nutcracker Suite, which he copyrighted. Due to Rendezvous' owner Rod Pierce's lack of interest, Fowley took the piece to H.B. Barnum, a pianist who recorded it with his band on Del Rio Records as "Nut Rocker", credited to "Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks". Rod Pierce got word of that release, thought the "original" B. Bumble & the Stingers could do better, and sensed a hit. The group was called back into the studio (with Ernie Freeman being unavailable due to a hangover and spontaneously replaced by Al Hazan).

Released with "Nautilus" on the flip side in early 1962 (Rendezvous #166), the song became a #23 hit for B. Bumble & the Stingers. It became even more popular in the UK, reaching the top of the charts there on the Stateside label. In the wake of this success, Del Rio re-released the original version through Dot as "The Original Nut Rocker". The touring version of the band flew over to the UK for a tour to promote "Nut Rocker" as well as one of its follow-ups, "Apple Knocker", which went nowhere, however.

Billboard July 14, 1962, spotlight review

Of course, the difference between the studio take and live performances were recognizable due to the different line-ups. The studio musicians were professionals, playing on hundreds of recordings a year, while the live members were not (though they probably weren't bad either). It was, in most cases, Rene Hall, who taught them the arrangements of the songs. Though, a difference was there. B. Bumble & the Stingers played the Cavern Club in Liverpool on October 19, 1962, during their UK tour. Spencer Leigh cited David Boyce, an eyewitness to the group's appearance there, in his book "The Cavern Club": "I remember standing in Frank Hessy's the night B. Bumble & the Stingers were on at the Cavern as they wanted to borrow a double-bass. They were travelling around on trains and they had no equipment with them. The drummer had a snare drum and the pianist played the Cavern piano." Leigh further cited Billy Hatton, another witness: "The most disappointing band I ever saw at the Cavern was B. Bumble & the Stingers, but it wasn't all their fault. They featured a piano on 'Nut Rocker'. There was an old upright piano against the wall at the Cavern and no one had tuned it. It wasn't even miked up. The sound wasn't right and you could tell that they weren't into it. I said to the guitarist: 'Do you want someone to stand by the piano with a microphone?' and he said 'No, he's got such a strong left hand, he'll be all right.' They didn't even have a bass player. [...]" 

Billboard May 22, 1961
This was a fake bio of the band, likely made up by Rendezvous Records for better promotion

A few more recordings were made and released on Rendezvous but none of them reached the charts. The band's last disc was released in November 1962, comprising "Baby Mash" b/w "Night Time Madness" (Rendezvous #192). R.C. Gamble, the "live" B. Bumble, to continued to tour under this name for some time and a few more records appeared, produced by Rod Pierce and Kim Fowley, on such labels as Dymo, Wax, and Triad. It is likely that these recordings were made by studio musicians, although the line-up might have differed from the original studio band. Gamble stopped touring as B. Bumble at some point and eventually worked with bands like Spiro and Cornbread in the eastern Oklahoma area.

"Nut Rocker" unexpectedly had a second career in 1972, when Stateside re-released it and the song went straight to the Top 20 again. UK Ace Records released a CD with the complete output plus unreleased recordings of the band in 1995, entitled "Nut Rockers, Bumble Boogie, Apple Knocker, and all the classics". Some of the original touring equipment, donated by Gamble's family, is now in the possession of the Fort Smith Museum of History in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Recommended reading:

• Ace Records' B. Bumble & the Stingers CD on Bear Family Records
• Facebook Fanpage

Sources

• Blackcat Rockabilly

• Nostalgia Central

• 45cat entry

• Spencer Leigh: The Cavern Club: "The Rise of the Beatles and Merseybeat" (McNidder and Grace), 2015

Sonny Meador on Meadowbrook

Sonny Meador - Sweetheart, Can't You Hear Me Crying (Meadowbrook MS-1245), unknown year

Here we have some nice bluegrass music from the state of Arkansas. I wouldn't say bluegrass from the Natural State is exceptionally rare but you don't find such a record from that area too often.

Sonny Meador was probably Elmer Lee Meador, who was born on June 24, 1912, in Bluff City, Ouachita County, Arkansas. He married Goldie Barksdale, with whom he had four children. Meador also fought during World War II in the US Navy.

By the time he began to record, he was already in his sixties, as his three 45rpm singles for the Meadowbrook label probably all came from the early 1970s. One disc contained a song entitled "I'm Going Back to Nevada County". Bluff City is part of Nevada County and located in the southwest of Arkansas, which leads me to the conclusion that Meador was strictly a local artist. Meador died May 27, 1996, at Baptist Hospital in Arkadelphia at the age of 83 years. He is buried in his hometown at Bluff City Cemetery.

There was John Merlino's Meadowbrook label from Detroit but I doubt that the label Meador recorded for is the same company. It was rather his own private venture to release his music. I further suspect that two of his records were pressed by Rimrock.

Discography

Meadowbrook 101: Sonny Meadow - Sometimes I Smile / I'm Going Back to Nevada County (1973)
Meadowbrook 1245: Sonny Meador - Too Old to Handle It But It's On My Mind / Sweetheart, Can't You Hear Me Crying
Meadowbrook 1246: Sonny Meador - It's a Mighty Lonesome Road / You Made Me What I Am Today

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry
• Obituary

Wayne Gray

Wayne Gray - Spaceman's Guitar

Wayne Gray ranks among the many talented and busy road guitarists of the 1960s and 1970s country music scene. Like so many songwriters and musicians from that era, he came out of Miami, where he made his first steps in the music business as a rock'n'roll musician.

Wayne A. Gray was born around 1944 and by the time he was 14 years old, he had mastered the guitar. It was at that time, in 1958, that Kent Westberry, about five years Gray's senior, put together a rock'n'roll band named "The Chaperones" and called Gray to work as an electric lead guitarist in that band. Other founding members of that group were Snuffy Smith on bass and Louie Stewart on drums, although the line-up changed over the years. 

A teenage Wayne Gray on stage with
Kent Westberry's Chaperones
(Florida, ca. 1958)

Westberry and the Chaperones auditioned for Harold Doane, who ran his ART recording studio and record label in Miami. Their debut release, "My Baby Don't Rock" b/w "No Place to Park", with Gray providing thumping lead guitar work, appeared in the summer of 1958. At the same time, they also worked with singer and promoter Ronald Killette, who worked under the stage name of Buck Trail. Killette also had a record label, Trail Records, and he invited the Chaperones to back him up on some rockabilly recordings he wanted to release on Trail. Those included "Honky Tonk on Second Street", "Knocked Out Joint on Mars", and "The Blues Keep Knocking". It was also with Killette that Gray first appeared as a songwriter on "Young Sweethearts" (recorded by Killette and some of his female artists).

By 1959, many of the young Miami rock'n'roll musicians opted for Nashville and Gray was no exception. Reportedly, he recorded and released the instrumental "Spaceman's Guitar" for Gold Circle Records around that time, although no copies were found so far. Shortly after his move to Nashville, Gray teamed up with Jackie Leo Fautheree, who was originally from Texas and the brother of guitarist-singer Jimmy Lee Fautheree, and they wrote "Cradle of Love". The song was recorded by Johnny Preston for Mercury and, released in February 1960, became a #7 Billboard 100 hit and even #2 in the UK. During his career, Gray would register a total of 59 songs with BMI.

In the early 1960s, fellow Miami rocker Charlie McCoy moved to Nashville but following an unsuccessful tour with singer Johnny Ferguson, McCoy was broke and moved in with Gray for a while. Gray soon found work in Nashville as a guitarist. By 1967, Gray was a member of Tex Ritter's touring band, the Boll Weevils. He also wrote some songs for Ritter - just like another member of the band: Kent Westberry. In the 1970s, Gray worked in Tommy Cash's band as a guitarist and by 1981, he worked with Buddy Lee Attractions. He also recorded solo in 1984 for the Condor label, releasing two singles.

I'm not aware of Wayne Gray's activities after 1984. If someone knows more about his later career, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via the contact form.

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Discogs
• Bill Williams: "Charlie McCoy - His Monumental 10 Years" (Billboard), 1974

Leo Castleberry

Leo Castleberry in the late 1960s
(taken from his Torche LP "Riding the Range for Jesus)

The Star of Hot Springs, Arkansas
The Story of Leo Castleberry

Leo Castleberry was Hot Spring's country music entrepreneur, like there were so many back then in the United States. Memphis had Eddie Bond, Abilene had Slim Willet, Cleveland (Tennessee) had Gene Woods, Little Rock had Tommy Trent - and Hot Springs, Arkansas, had Leo Castleberry.

Leo Alexander Castleberry was born on August 21, 1931, to George W. and Mable A. Castleberry just outside of Hot Springs in the Ouachita Mountains. Castleberry developed a passion for music at an early age but owning a guitar was a distant dream for the poor Castleberry family. A local garden seed company once announced a contest, presenting a violin to the person that sold the most seed. Castleberry took part with determination and won the violin. After some time, his parents bought him a $ 5.00 guitar as they couldn't stand his nightly violin rendition of "Home Sweet Home" anymore. At that time, Castleberry was around twelve years old.

Religion was another strong influence on Castleberry. His grandfather, J.M.S. Merriott, was a traveling preacher and preached the gospel across the hills of Arkansas and eventually, Castleberry and his brother Dale accompanied him on many of his journeys. They rounded out the sermons with singing and guitar playing. Castleberry's deep faith, which was without a doubt shaped by his grandfather, was reflected in the high number of sacred songs he eventually recorded.

He began appearing on local radio stations at the age of 15 years and already had his own show about three years later. He formed the Jessieville Hillbillies while in high school, with whom he also appeared on radio, and after graduating, he started a Sunday morning gospel program in the early 1950s on KTHS that also featured his brothers and members of his future wife's family. They developed into a touring gospel group, playing countless churches in Arkansas and adjacent states.

Castleberry married Opal Whitfield in 1952 and the couple had a total of five sons (of which Bruce unfortunately died as an infant in 1957). His sons Leo Jr., Dennis, Ronnie and Richard ("Ricky") all were musically inclined and later joined his father's music act.

During the 1950s, Castlebery's popularity in and outside of Hot Springs grew. His Sunday morning program was carried by as much as 17 radio stations across the United States. He also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry as well as the Louisiana Hayride and over the years, shared the stage with some of the big names in country music, including Jimmie Davis, George Jones, Billy Grammer, David Houston, Sonny James, Tillman Franks, Slim Whitman, Martha Carson, and several more.

In 1959, Castleberry made his recording debut, a six track sacred material EP (custom pressed by Capitol) that was released on his own Leo label. The disc was credited to the "Leo Castleberry Singers, Hot Springs, Ark." which probably included his family. He followed that release with a rock'n'roll performance, surprisingly, but he jumped on that train a bit too late, it seems. "Teenage Blues" b/w "Come Back to Me" was first released on entrepreneur John Roddie's SPA label in 1960 and then became also the initial release on Roddie's new United Southern Artists label the same year. Castleberry also went on to work as an A&R scout for Roddie and his labels.

It was around that time that Castleberry became active as a business man, establishing Castleberry Riding Stables, Inc., in 1960. He did not only work as an A&R scout but reportedly also had his own recording studio (members of the band "Beau Hannon & the Mint Juleps" remember recording there) and set up more record labels: Torche Recording Company and its subsidiary Castletone Records plus Castletone Publishing, Leo Castleberry Enterprises, and L.A.C. Productions. He released his own music as well as other artists' recordings on both labels. In 1969, he even cut a whole album entitled "Riding the Range for Jesus".

Catalog of Copyright Entries 1976

In the following decades, he continued to work in local radio and TV business (including performing on KBHS and KBLO in Hot Springs  as well as other stationss as late as the 1980s). Castleberry's son Ronnie was a cast member of Hot Springs' Music Mountain Jamboree around the 1980s and 1990s and unfortunately, his son Richard had already died in 1984. Castleberry Riding Stables closed its doors in 2011. Leo Castleberry passed away on June 9, 2016, at the age of 84 years. He is buried at Mountain Valley Cemetery in Mountain Valley near Hot Springs. His wife Opal followed him in 2017.

Discography

45rpm Singles
Leo 10-101: Leo Castleberry Singers - I've Got My One Way Ticket to the Sky / Take My Hand Precious Lord / I'll Tell It Lord Wherever I Go / Way Down Deep in My Soul / Beautiful Life / Oh! What a Friend (1959)
SPA 100-10: Leo Castleberry - Teenage Blues / Come Back to Me (1960)
United Southern Artists 5-101: Leo Castleberry - Teenage Blues / Come Back to Me (1960)
Torche 689C-8373: Leo Lion and the Eagles - I Can't Forget You / Sugar Cane Time / Under the Double Eagle / Why (1964)
Torche 689C-8452: Leo Castleberry with the Plainsmen - My Journey to the Sky / Whatever the Future Holds / ? / ? (1964)
Castletone 689C-2183: AringTones - Great God / Leo Castleberry & Opal with the AringTones - Where Will I Shelter My Sheep / My Lord's So Good to Me / AringTones - Gotta Keep on the Move (1964)
Torche 689 C-4741: Leo Castleberry - Seeing Eye Dog / Bouquet of Roses (1967)

33rpm Albums
Torche 90325: Leo Castleberry with the Plainsmen Quartet - Riding the Range for Jesus (1969)

See also
• United Southern Artists Records
• Sammy Marshall on SPA
• The SPA label
• Music Mountain Jamboree

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Obituary
• Opal Castleberry obituary
• Rockin' Country Style and Gospel Jubilee entries
• Discogs

The Five Sounds on Lakeside

The Five Sounds - Clumsy Dragon (Lakeside 2001), 1964
The Five Sounds were an instrumental surf and garage rock band from Hot Springs, Arkansas. Not much is known about this group and I had puzzle together this feature from various snippets available on the internet. Some of the information given came from original Five Sounds bassist John Bostic.

Songwriter, lead guitarist and probably leader of the band was Larry Gill, who was likely William Larry Gill (1947-2020). His obituary stated he was an "accomplished musician", so that is probably our man. Gill was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, but probably lived in Hot Springs by the early 1960s. Other members of the group included Dan McKinney and Mike Nowell on rhythm guitars, John Bostic on bass, and Lynn Morgan on drums. Their manager was Ron Oberlag.

The Five Sounds, not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name, cut at least two records. They recorded in 1965 for the Majesty label, comprising Gil's compositions "Explosion" and "Emperor Holiday". Strangely, the latter was credited to the "Commandoes with the Commandettes" and not to the band's actual name.

The Five Sounds recorded another song, "Clumsy Dragon", for the GalARK label. The other side was occupied by another group, Cecil Buffalo & the Prophets with their football tribute "Razorback Number One". Both songs were also released on the Hot Springs based Lakeside record label, which released a few singles during the mid 1960s. The Five Sounds release is probably from 1964 and the actual recording session was set up by DJ Doc Holiday at KAAY in Little Rock. The band's manager Ron Oberlag played tambourine on "Clumsy Dragon".

The fact that the Lakeside release exists on two different pressings suggests that it was - at least locally or regionally - a good seller. The Five Sounds enjoyed some regional popularity in the mid 1960s, as they opened for the Beach Boys and the Kingsmen in 1965.

"Clumsy Dragon" was reissued twice in Europe. The first time on Cees Klop's White Label LP "Early Rockin' in Arkansas" in 1989 and a second time on the Buffalo Bop Records CD "Strictly Instrumental, Volume 6" in 2001.

See also

• Lakeside Records discography

• GalARK Records discography

Sources

• 45cat entries for Lakeside Records and Cecil Buffalo

• Discogs entries for the Five Sounds, 

• William Larry Gill obtiuary

• YouTube video of Clumsy Dragon with memories by John Bostic

Snuffy Smith

Snuffy Smith

The Bass Picking Chaperone from Miami

The name of Snuffy Smith is possibly known to many people in the United States - probably best known because of the movie and comic character Private Snuffy Smith. There were also a couple of musicians known as Snuffy Smith, including a bluegrass musician for North Carolina and an artist that recorded for the Star Talent and Tempwood V labels (could be two artists as well). And there was Snuffy Smith from Miami, who began his career in music in Miami's country and rockabilly scene but, as most of his fellow Miami musicians, eventually headed to Nashville.

Snuffy Smith, 1958

Raymond Carlisle "Snuffy" Smith was born in 1936 in Miami, Florida. At some point, he took up the guitar but eventually chose the bass to be his instrument. While in high school, he became acquainted with three years younger singer and guitarist Kent Westberry, who formed a band known as "The Chaperones" with Smith on bass on guitar, Wayne Gray on lead guitar, and Louie Stewart on drums.

The quartet made a couple of recordings at Harold Doane's ART recording studio, releasing their debut "My Baby Don't Rock" b/w "No Place to Park" on ART #172 on the summer of 1958. The songs were also released on the Trail label, owned by singer and promoter Ronald Killette alias Buck Trail, with whom the Chaperones also recorded a few titles that saw release on Trail as well.

Smith eventually dropped out of the band but remained friends with Westberry. Smith then played with several other Miami outfits, including the house band of Happy Harold Thaxton's Old South Jamboree stage show. Westberry, Smith, and other Miami musicians such as Charlie McCoy, Wayne Gray, and Bill Johnson made trips to Nashville and many of them eventually settled there. Such was the case with Smith, who recorded a single with Westberry as "Kent & Snuffy" for the MGM label, "Bye Bye Buddy" b/w "Billy Blue Eyes" (#K12883. early 1960), which went nowehere, however.

Smith played the clubs around Nashville and soon made himself a name in the Nashville country music scene. Following an engagement with Brenda Lee's backing band, the Casuals, he joined Marty Robbins' group as a bass player in the early 1960s. He later toured with Little Jimmy Dickens' Country Boys across the United States and finished his musical career with a stint in Tex Ritter's Boll Weevils (which also included at one time or another Kent Westberry and Wayne Gray).

While working with Ritter, Smith decided to quit the music business and stay at home to care for his family. He earned a living working with several car dealerships and spent his later life in Hermitage, Tennessee, a district of  Nashville. Smith passed away on June 18, 2012.

Sources

• Obituary

• Kent Westberry Rockin' Country Style entry

Jimmy Hartley

The Orange State Playboy

The Story of Jimmy Hartley

Miami offered an astonishingly high number of local country music singers during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. One of them was Jimmy Hartley, who managed to break into the circle of Miami's top country musicians of the 1950s.

James "Jimmy" Hartley was active in Miami as a musician as early as the early 1950s. Unfortunately, I was not able to come up with substantial information about his earlier life. In 1954, Hartley held two sessions in Miami for the DeLuxe label. DeLuxe belonged to Syd Nathan's King Records company in Cincinnati but had an office in Miami, which was headed by Henry Stone. During 1953 and 1954, Stone spotted several local Miami country singers and set up sessions for them. Hartley's first session took place on July 16 and produced a cover of Terry Fell's "Don't Drop It" and "Cold Moods", which appeared the following month on DeLuxe #2023.

A second session followed on August 10 and "Cinnamon Sinner" b/w "Jennie from Jamaica" (DeLuxe #2026, September 1954) was the result. None of the two discs seem to have sold in attractive quantities so Hartley was not called back into the studio.

Billboard November 23, 1956

In the mid 1950s, Hartley appeared regularly on stage, radio, and TV shows around Miami. He was a cast member of the Gold Coast Jamboree in 1956 and late that same year, local C&W DJ Cracker Jim Brooker started a new Saturday evening TV show on KITV entitled "Big Orange Jubilee" with Hartley being a featured performer on the show. He was also the leader of the house band, aptly named the Orange State Playboys. Both the show's and the band's name were references to the countless orange plantations in Florida. By 1958, there was a live show and dance called the Orange State Jamboree in Miami, also featuring Hartley and the Orange State Playboys.

Even after the show came to an end, Hartley kept the band name. I did not find any mention of him in the late 1950s and early to mid 1960s. In 1968, he had another record released on the Orange label, which was likely his own imprint. The disc featured "Telling It Straight in '68" part 1 and 2, a political comment about Lyndon B. Johnson, presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, the Vietnam War, and finally supporting ultra-conservative Alabama governor George Wallace.

What happened to Jimmy Hartley is not known to me. If anyone has more info on him, feel free to leave a comment or contact me via e-mail.

Discography

DeLuxe 2023: Don't Drop It / Cold Moods (1954)
DeLuxe 2026: Cinnamon Sinner / Jennie from Jamaica (1954)
Orange W-1968: Telling It Straight in '68, Part 1 / Telling It Straight in '68, Part 2 (1968)

Sources

• 45cat entry and 45worlds/78rpm entry

• A King Records Discography

Tex Dean

Tex Dean, the Carefree Cowboy

A Rodeo Rider in Miami

Tex Dean was a rodeo performer and country music artist that roamed the United States extensively. He made appearances on many radio stations and for some time, was a featured performer on Miami radio. He even managed rock'n'roll singer Wally Deane for some time.

Tex Dean was born in either Bivins or Midland, Texas, depending on which source you believe, and left the parental farm at age 13 to join a wild west rodeo show. Eventually, he led his own traveling show but sold the venture and became a professional trick and rodeo rider. Besides all this wild west entertainment, Dean was also musically inclined and would play guitar or sing a song once in a while.

Escanaba Press August 9, 1948
(Escanaba, Michigan)

Dean closed down his rodeo show around 1947, gave up riding and and went into the music business. He started his own music traveling show and his own band, the Carefree Cowboys, which included also "Texas Cowgirl" Ginger Rody (stage name for Dean's wife Ruth), Cousin "Take-It-Away-Leon" (who might have been Leon McAuliffe), and others. Dean and the Carefree Cowboys appeared on many stations throughout the years. He made stops at WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia, KRLK in Little Rock, Arkansas, and by 1953 at KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana. In between, he could be heard on WWPB in Miami as well as WKAT in Miami Beach. He was on the latter station as early as March 1948 and Dean would return to the Miami area frequently throughout the 1950s.

In 1953, Dean began recording for Lillian McMurry's Trumpet record label from Jackson, Mississippi. Dean and his band recorded a session at ACA Studio in Houston, Texas, on February 23, 1953, which produced four tracks. "Dreamy Georgiana Moon" b/w "Naponee" was his debut release on Trumpet #202 in August that year but seems to have gone nowhere sales-wise. The two remaining tracks, "Moonshine in the North Carolina Hills" and "S.P. Blues" were paired for Trumpet #203 but in the end remained unissued. The band on these cuts included Dean on vocals and guitar, his wife Ruth on guitar, Herb Remington on steel guitar, Tommy Curter on fiddle, and George Clark on bass.

Probably in early 1955, Dean and his wife Ruth became acquainted with a young singer from Washington, DC, named Wallace Van Riper "Wally" Deane (the similar surname was a coincide). They discovered him when he was playing the Shoremeade Hotel in Miami and took a liking at him. Wally Deane was an aspiring rock'n'roll singer, trying to break into the music business, and Dean began managing him, probably hoping to get a bit of the cake as well.

Billboard June 20, 1953

A few months afterwards, Dean contacted Lilian McMurry, who liked what she heard and saw Wally Deane as a potential answer to Elvis Presley. Sessions for both artists followed in spring of 1955 at McMurry's Diamond Studio in Jackson, Mississippi, and a second single appeared under Tex Dean's name for Trumpet's follow-up label Globe, "I'm Sleepy (Show Me the Way to Go Home No.2)" b/w "Jealous Teardrops" on Globe #235 (a third song, "I'm Glad for Your Sake", remained in the vaults). Wally Deane would play music sticks on this record as well. Other group members included Ruth Dean on vocals, Billy Dear on guitar, Red Thomas on fiddle, David Campbell on piano, Johnny Porter on bass, and Johnny Laughlin on drums. Wally Deane in turn cut "Wabash Cannonball" and "I'm Losing You", which remained unissued, but a second session produced a rock'n'roll release out on Globe under his own name, "Cool, Cool Daddy" b/w "It Ain't Fair, Baby" (the B side being a duet with Ginger Rody, #238).

Apparently, none of the discs sold especially well and their stint with Trumpet/Globe ended. Dean's association with Wally Deane broke up and Wally went on to record in Miami for the Arctic label in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well as recording some unreleased demos. Tex Dean also made some more records with a vocalist named Buddy Main, recording at Harold Doane's ART studio but the songs "Is It Wrong?" and "It's Those Memories of You" disappeared in Doane's vaults.

Tex and his wife went to Virginia, where they continued to perform but dropped out of sight at some point. I found no info when or where Tex Dean passed away.

Discography

Trumpet 202: Tex Dean & the Carefree Cowboys - Dreamy Georgiana Moon / Naponee (1953)
Trumpet 203: Tex Dean & the Carefree Cowboys - Moonshine in the North Carolina Hills / S.P. Blues (unrel.)
Globe 235: Tex Dean & his Texans - I'm Sleepy (Show Me the Way to Go Home No.2) / Jealous Teardrops (1956)
ART No.#: Buddy Main with Tex Dean & his Band - Is It Wrong? / It's Those Memories of You (acetate, unrel.)

Sources

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• 45cat entry and 45worlds/78rpm entry

• Wally Deane website

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Jimmy Wakely on Decca

Jimmy Wakely - Mississippi Dreamboat (Decca 9-29756), 1955
Jimmy Wakely was a second generation singing cowboy, following the success of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and the Sons of the Pioneers. He made his way to Hollywood in the early 1940s and recorded steadily through that and the following decade. Although he became known as one of the silver screen cowboys and a country music star, his biggest charts successes became pop crossovers like "Slipping Around" (with Margaret Whitting) and the Christmas classic "Silver Bells".

James Clarence "Jimmy" Wakeley was born on February 16, 1914, in the small community of Mineola, western Arkansas. The family moved to Oklahoma at some point and as a teenager, Wakely started playing piano and singing in gospel groups. Following his move to Oklahoma City, he, Johnny Bond, and Scotty Harrell formed the Bell Boys in 1937 (named after their sponsor Bell Clothing) and appeared locally and on radio stations WKY (Oklahoma City) and KVOO (Tulsa).

Jimmy Waley, ca. 1940s

It was Gene Autry who discovered Wakely and the Bell Boys during a tour through Oklahoma and invited the group to join his new radio show, "Melody Ranch". They moved to California and besides his engagement with Autry's show, also signed a recording contract with Decca and started releasing discs in 1940. He and the band, which had changed its name to "Jimmy Wakely Trio" in the meantime, also began playing supporting roles in B western movies in the early 1940s.

In 1944, Wakely signed with Monogram Pictures and starred in a total of 28 westerns between 1944 and 1949. His contract with Decca lasted until 1947, followed by a short stint with Sterling and he then signed with Capitol, where he enjoyed his biggest commercial successes. His hits included "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)", "Slipping Around", and "Silver Bells". He got more national exposure through the CBS radio feature "Hollywood Barn Dance", which soon developed into the "Jimmy Wakely Show" and lasted from 1952 until 1958.

Today's selection "Mississippi Dreamboat" was recorded on November 9, 1955, at Decca's recording studio in Hollywood. It was a popcorn rock'n'roll exotica piece and, coupled with the Glorida Wood duet "Are You Satisfied?" from the same session, was rushed out on Decca #9-29756 in early December. Though Wakely adapted his sound to modern trends, this single failed to hit the charts.

Like many of his fellow cowboy actors, Wakely's popularity began to wane in the 1950s. He returned to recording for Coral/Decca in 1954 and founded his own label, Shasta Records, for which he recorded numerous singles, beginning in 1958. He also had his own recording studio on his ranch. He kept on performing as well as recording throughout the decades and in later years, appeared at western film conventions. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Western Music Association Hall of Fame in 1991.

Jimmy Wakely died on September 23, 1981, in Mission Hills, California. He was 68 years old.

Sources

• 45cat entry, 45worlds/78rpm entry

• Encyclopedia of Arkansas

• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Sammy Marshall on SPA

Sammy Marshall - Kiss Me Good-Bye Tomorrow (SPA 25-1008), 1963

I became highly desperate when looking at Sammy Marshall's 45cat entry. 71 records and many of them seem to be from different artists of the same name. He was possibly the same artist who had a joint release with Les "Carrot Top" Anderson on the Springfield, Arkansas, based Patmar label. Maybe he was also the same who recorded for Allstar, K-Ark, Pleasant Valley or Belle Meade? I did not know until fellow blogger Bob pointed me towards his research. According to Bob, Sammy Marshall's real name was 1940 in Franklin, Kentucky, as Mark Stewart Simpson. He recorded for Hi and Judd as Mark Taylor, for the Globe Studio in Nashville as Sonny Marcell or Sammy Marshall, and as Ben Tate and Marc Stewart for other labels.

Since I cannot tell you anything substantial about the artist, we continue with the record label. Between 1960 and at least 1964, the label released several discs of various musical genres. There was rockabilly, country music, instrumental rock'n'roll, and pop music. And there was Sammy Marshall with "Kiss Me Good-Bye, Tomorrow", which I would call popular music, too. Marshall shared the disc with John Greer's take on the John Roddie song "(Oh, Ho, Ho, Ho) Heartaches".

If anyone has more information on Sammy Marshall or SPA Records, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via e-mail.

See also
• The United Southern Artists label

Sources
• 45cat entries for Sammy Marshall and SPA Records
• SPA Records Rockin' Country Style entry

Cracker Jim Brooker

Cracker Jim Brooker - A Miami County Music Veteran

"Cracker Jim" Brooker was one of the most influential DJs in Miami country music. But his efforts were not limited only to South Florida, he was also one of the founders of the Country Music Association (CMA), one of the driving forces of country music business and industry to this day. Brooker was a stalwart in Miami from the  1940s until the 1960s, promoting country music in the area like no one else probably did. He brought many Grand Ole Opry acts to Miami, including Hank Snow, Webb Pierce, and Johnny Cash. He was also an avid salesman, selling goods of every kind on his radio shows.

Information on Brooker is scarce though he played an influential role in the history of country music. I reconstructed his full name James Earl Brooker from official census records that can be accessed at ancestry.com. Though, I cannot really determine which of the many men named James E. Brooker he is. Born probably around 1911 in Georgia, Brooker was living in Daytona Beach, Florida, with his wife Mabel by 1935 and worked as a salesman. 

Brooker came to Miami in 1943 but World War II interrupted his life. However, he had started his career as a disc jockey on WBAY by 1947. By December 1950, he had switched to WMIE, Miami's primary country music outlet at that time. He not only had his own DJ show, which broadcast live from a booth at Shell's City, but also put on live stage shows with local talent and even bigger shows featuring top Nashville stars at the Dade County and Dinner Key Auditoriums. He also dabbled in TV, hosting on Saturday afternoons "Cactus Jim's Talent Ranch" on WTVJ (which, at one time, featured a young Kent Westberry) and the Big Orange Jubilee for some time. Although Brooker had found his profession in the radio and TV business that did not mean he gave up being a salesman. He continued to sell all kinds of goods via his radio shows.

Cracker Jim Brooker, ca. 1954

Contrary to many other Miami country DJs like Happy Harold, Uncle Harve, Uncle Martin Wales, Dale Wasson, or Buddy Starcher, Brooker was not a musician. Though, he was so popular in Dade County that Nashville and other parts of the country got notice of him. He was a featured act on the first Hank Williams memorial day held in Alabama in 1954. In addition, he attended Country Music DJ Conventions there as early as 1954 (they had not begun until 1952) and connected with the scene there, becoming acquainted with many of the influential people. Brooker was a member of the Country Music DJ Association and also its president at one time. The association held its annual meeting in the winter of 1957 in Miami at the Gay's Everglades Hotel but was slowly dying, however, and it was decided to form a new organization that was not only for DJs but for every aspect of the business. The Country Music Association came into existence in September 1958 and Brooker served on the first board of directors.

Though Brooker left the board eventually, he retained close connections to the CMA throughout the years. He continued to spin records on WMIE but added another show five days a week on WEDR in the summer of 1963. A year later, when WMIE was sold and changed programming, he switched to WIII and WQAM. He continued to promote country music concerts in the Miami-Dade area, including those by Johnny Cash, whom he knew since the 1950s and who came frequently to South Florida.

It was Brooker who connected Cash with Ervin T. Rouse, composer of "Orange Blossom Special". Cash would record it and made it a part of his routine live set. Cash remembered in an interview for "Life Magazine" in 1994: "I recorded 'Orange Blossom Special' in the mid '60s, and in those days everybody that recorded it claimed the 'arrangement' because no one knew who wrote it. But Mother Maybelle Carter was at the session, and I asked her, 'Do you know who really wrote 'Orange Blossom Special?' She said, 'Sure I do. Ervin Rouse and his brother Gordon.' And I said, 'Where are they?' She said, 'Last time I heard, they were in Florida.' It was the only clue I had. I called a disc jockey down there named Cracker Jim Brooker, and I asked Cracker Jim, 'Did you ever hear of Ervin Rouse?' And he said, 'Aw, I know Ervin. He lives with the Seminoles out in the swamp, and he makes swamp buggies for a living.' I said, 'You got any idea how I could talk to him?' And he said, 'Sure. I'll announce it on the air: 'Ervin, call me and I'll give you Johnny Cash's number.' It wasn't an hour till Ervin Rouse called me from some little settlement in the swamps. I said, 'Ervin, I happen to be coming to Miami on tour. Would you come to my show and do 'Orange Blossom Special' with me?' He and Gordon came in the clothes they worked in. I brought Ervin up to play the fiddle, and he absolutely killed them. At the end of the song, they were applauding and he literally got down on his knees. He was such a sweet, humble man. Gordon's still living. I still see him every time I'm down there."

"Another Cracker Jim Promotion" - Brooker promoted country music events
at the Dade County and Dinner Key Auditoriums with great success

By the mid 1960s, Brooker dropped out of the picture. If anyone has more information about Brooker or memories concerning his shows, please feel free to contact me.

Sources
• The Montgomery Advertiser (September 30, 1954)
• Country Music Association: CMA Honors Its 60th Anniversary (see also Randy Noles' book "Orange Blossom Boys")
• Entries by Don Boyd on PBase.com: [1], [2]
• Bluegrass Messengers: Orange Blossom Special - Version 2, Johnny Cash
• Ancentry.com
• Kent Westberry: "I've Got a Song to Write" (Dorrance Publishing Co), 2020, page 6