Dub International / Stylo Records (Little Rock)

"The Hits Are on Dub!"

The Story of Foster Johnson's Dub International and Stylo labels

The Dub International and Style record labels were operated by local Little Rock bookseller Foster Johnson. Johnson recorded and released a slew of noteworthy rockabilly and rock'n'roll singles during the late 1950s, including the original hit version "Rama Lama Ding Dong" by the Edsels. Some of his productions achieved enduring popularity among the rockabilly fan scene. Johnson is not to be confused with another music business personality of the same name, who owned Cap City Records.

Foster David Johnson was born on February 15, 1915, to Robert Edward Lee and Lula T. Johnson. He had one brother and two sisters, all of them being several years older than him. In 1920, the Johnson family lived in Little River County, Arkansas, but Johnson eventually moved to Saline County southwest of Little Rock. There, he married Lurline Rice in 1936.

At some point, he opened a bookstore and also worked as a radio distributor. Johsnon eventually added a record shop to his repertoire as well. His shop may have been on the corner of 5024 Club Road and Kavanaugh Boulevard in the Heights district of northern Little Rock. This may also have been the location of Johnson's recording studio, which he built when he entered the recording business.

Johnson's record shop had a hard time competing with rival shops in the city. His competitor, Moses Melody Shop, furnished drug stores across the city with racks of records, which sold them for him. One of those drugs stores was right across the street from Johnson's store. Therefore, Johnson decided to found his own record label, opting for a hit and thereby opening a new profitable business for him. His first record label, Dub International, came into existence in late 1957. At that time, rock'n'roll had been on the charts for about three years and it seems that Johnson wanted to take advantage of the new music. Indeed, he was just one of countless entrepreneurs that founded independent record labels to find their own Elvis. To retain control of the original song material, he also set up J&W Music. The name of this publishing company indicates that Johnson had a partner for this venture. This might have been singer Jimmy Williams, who did not only record for Dub International but also married Johnson's daughter Sarah. Both contributed song material to the J&W catalogue as well as Foster Johnson himself, who registered a couple of songs with BMI.

The Batesville Guard reported in October 1957 that Bobby Fudge and the Rhythm Rockers had recorded two songs for the new label. However, no release of these cuts has ever appeared. The first known release on Dub International came approximately in November 1957 featuring the Martin Sisters, a local act that recorded two rockabilly songs, "Don't Run and Hide" b/w "Voodoo" (#2837). On many of Johnson's early releases, Arkansas rock'n'roll pianist Teddy Redell was featured in the background band. Redell would go on to record for Vaden Records and find worldwide acclaim in the rockabilly community for his songs decades later. Several of the Dub singles became minor rockabilly classics, including those by Jimmy Williams, Chuck Brooks, and Don Head. 

Advertisement of Don Head's Dub Int. single "Going Strong"
Cash Box March 8, 1958

Johnson seems to have been serious about his recording business, as he mailed out promo copies to radio stations as well as both Billboard and Cash Box, placed ads with those magazines, and struck a deal with Apex Records, which released and distributed Dub International and Stylo material in Canada. Those included releases by Jimmy Williams, Don Head, and Jimmy Ford. His studio was also available for custom recordings, although it is not known to which extend. The Jokers, a local group from Batesville, Arkansas, recorded "Little Mama" at Johnson's studio in the late 1950s.

In 1959, Johnson issued a song called "Rama Lama Ding Dong" by a black vocal group, the Edsels. The song did not become a hit until it received radio airplay by a New York City DJ. Johnson leased the song to Twin Records, which re-released it in April that year. "Rama Lama Ding Dong" (initially released by mistake as "Lama Rama Ding Dong" by Johnson) became the Edsels' biggest hit, reaching #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

By then, Johnson had been out of business for about a year. In 1959, he had replaced Dub International  with a new label, Stylo Records, which released singles until 1960. None of them became hits, though Jimmy Ford's two releases for the label was a strong contender and became an in-demand rockabilly collectors items as well. Stylo closed down at some point in 1960 after having one last release with Bobby Towers' "Gone, Gone, Gone Dreams" b/w "Bondage of Love" (#2108).

Johnson had been also active in local politics since at least 1952, wanting to run for congress but he was not nominated by the Democratic Party, however. In 1966, Foster ran for US Senator for the Democratic Party of Arkansas but his election campaign yielded only little attraction and he lost to veteran politician John McClellan. Johnson passed away October 8, 1997, and is buried at Pinecrest Memorial Park and Gardens in Alexander, Saline County, Arkansas.

In the 1970s, the rockabilly and rock'n'roll recordings from Johson's labels resonated with a young audience in Europe. Orignal copies were collected by music fans around the world and reissue albums began appearing. The Redia Records LP "The Sound of Rockabilly" (1973) from the Netherlands was the first two feature two cuts from Johnson's catalog, Jimmy Williams' "I Belong to You" and "You're Always Late". Next up another Dutch LP by Knockville Records, "Rock and Roll for Collectors, Vol. 2" (1975) featuring Jimmy Ford's Stylo recording of "Don't Hang Around Me Anymore", and finally, Germany's Bison Bop Records released a whole collection of Dub Int./Stylo productions on the 1980 LP "The Bop  That Never Stopped, Vol. 6". Since then, material from both labels has appeared on numerous reissue LPs and CDs. If Johnson was aware of those re-releases though a proper licensing process or if the were done without his knowledge remains unknown. 

Discography
Dub Int. 2837: Martin Sisters - Don't Run and Hide / Voodoo (1957)
Dub Int. 2838: Buddy Childress - My Lovin' Arms / Two Young True Hearts (1957)
Dub Int. 2839: Teenos - Love Only One / Alrightee (1957)
Dub Int. 2840: Don Head - Goin' Strong / Never Before (1958)
Dub Int. 2841: Kirmet Phillips - Walking Alone Tonite / I Caught You Slippin' Round (1958)
Dub Int. 2842: Jimmy Williams - You're Always Late / I Belong to You (1958)
Dub Int. 2843: The Edsels - Lama Rama Ding Dong / Bells (1958)
Dub Int. 2844: Chuck Brooks & the Sharpies - Spinning My Wheels / You Make Me Feel Mean (1958)

Stylo 2102: Jimmy Ford - You're Gonna Be Sorry / Don't Hang Around Me Anymore (1959)
Stylo 2103: 
Stylo 2104: Paul Babbitt - Shade Blue / Ooo Yah Yah (1959)
Stylo 2105: Jimmy Ford - We Belong (Together) / Be Mine Forever (1959)
Stylo 2106: Little Cameron - Kansas City Dog / She's Leaving (1959)
Stylo 2107: Johnny Roberts - My Lovin' Arms / When We're Alone (1959)
Stylo 2108: Bobby Towers - Gone, Gone, Gone, Dreams / Bondage of Love (1960)

See also

• Dub International Records Discography on Arkansas45rpm Records

• Stylo Records Discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources

• Foster Johnson Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entries for Dub International and Stylo

• BMI

• 1966 United States Senate election in Arkansas Wikipedia entry
• Unknown: "Arkansas Rockabilly" (Spade Records), liner notes, unknown year

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

Penny Records

Picayune, Mississippi, in the 1970s

Picayune, Mississippi - a 11.000 people city in Pearl River County, Mississippi, near the Mississippi/Louisiana state border. The city's legacy in music history is limited, very limited. But it has a few contributions to offer. Country comic and Picayune native Jerry Clower recorded his live LP "Live in Picayune" for MCA at a charity event of the city's Women's Club. Allegedly also a son of the city was rockabilly and country singer Vern Pullens - although others say he was born in nearby Bogalusa, Louisiana.

However, Picayune was once home to record labels and a recording studio. Yes, more than one label - including Penny Records. The name "Picayune" drives from the french word "picaillon", which itself rooted in "picaioun", which was the name of a coin from the Savoy region in Europe. So the label's name "Penny" is probably a reference to the city name's history.

The label started in the early 1970s from a house on Chateau Cove road in the northeast of the city near Highway 59. Possibly also operating from that address was Precision Recording Studio, were at least some of the label's recordings were cut. I can't tell you who the owner was but I sense a connection to Hack Kennedy's Big Howdy label, which had been originally located in the Bogalusa area but had moved to Picayune as well by the late 1960s. Some of the Penny releases bear the Big Howdy publishing stamp. Picayune country DJ B.J. Johnson also penned some of the songs released on the label and could have had a hand in it, too.

1406 Chateau Cove in Picayune, where Penny Records was located in the 1970s
Source: Google Street View

The label started around 1971 and was active at least until 1975 with thirteen known 45rpm releases. The Precision Recording Studio had its life of its own. While many of the Penny releases were recorded there, the studio served as an outlet for other local labels throughout the 1970s. The discs were mainly pressed by Atwell Record Pressing in Lafayette, Tennessee (including the Penny releases). B.J. Johnson, who appears as the songwriter on some Penny productions, also produced records at the Precision studio (e.g. Richard Banquer's LP "The Original Papa Joe's Presents Richard Banquer"), another hint to his involvement.

Discography

Label No.#	Artist Credit	A / B side	Date
103	Wayne Morse	Don’t Hide Your Heart / Pull Down the Blind’s Momma
104
105	Joe Brady	You’re the Reason I’m Leaving / You Were Only Fooling
106	Jerry Evans	Go on Home / Your Old Standby
107	Harvey Mansfield	Keep That Country Music Playing / You Destroyed My Life
108
109
110
111	Jerry Evans	Catch the Wind / I’m Walking the Dog	1972
112
113
114
115	E.J. Saucier	Mr. Warden / Little Girl	1972
126	Spectrum	Forever and Always / Made for Me	1973
126	Country Comfort feat. Bobby Boyles	Words / Got You On My Mind	1974
127	Johnnie Kirk	Wicked Women / Big Bad Stuff	1974
128	Gwen Bush	If You Got Leaving On Your Mind / I Don’t Want to Live (Without His Love)	1974
129
130	Billy Mulkey	Give Me Freedom / Let’s Fight	1975
131	Tommy Gray	Broken Heart Repairman / ?
177	Patty Mason and the Slade Gang	Constantly / Hickory Hollar’s Tramp
178	Cleat Wooley	That’s Why I’m Walking / You Can’t Stop the Rain from Falling	1971
201	Jerry Evans	Green, Green Grass of Home / Rhythm of the Rain	1975

See also
• Big Howdy Records
• Vern Pullens
• The Pearl River Valley Jamboree

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Discord entries for Penny Records and Precision Sound Studio
• Locals Only

Buffalo Johnson

Rich-R-Tone's Forgotten Star
The Story of Buffalo Johnson

Although Buffalo Johnson was probably Rich-R-Tone Records' most enduring recording artist, being associated with the label on and off for more than 20 years, little information has surfaced on this artist, unfortunately. Rich-R-Tone, best remembered today for releasing bluegrass music by such artists as the Stanley Brothers, Carl Sauceman, Wilma Lee & Stoney Coiper, and others during the 1940s, recorded a variety of roots music styles - especially in its early years. Johnson was not tied to one style; he recorded honky tonk just as good as bluegrass tinged material and country boogie numbers.

Wayne "Buffalo" Johnson was born on April 1, 1926, to Chester W. and Elizabeth (Shelton) Johnson in Madison County, North Carolina, which is located on North Carolina's border to Tennessee, not far away from both Knoxville and Johnson City. He had three sisters and one brother. Although Johnson was depended on crouches all his life, this never distracted him from pursuing a career in music.

Tennessee's east was rich of Appalachian music traditions and Johnson became a part of it, when he moved to adjacent Washington County, Tennessee, where he would live most of his life. Though Knoxville was the center of country music in East Tennessee during the 1940s, Johnson decided upon Johnson City. He started his career in country music following World War II, when he began recording for James Hobart "Jim" Stanton's Rich-R-Tone record label in Johnson City. Stanton had founded the label earlier that year and Johnson's "I'll Always Find a Way" b/w "Come Back Again" (Rich-R-Tone #401) from December 1946 became one of the label's earliest releases. He was also soon heard on local radio WETB and had added a disc jockey show on the station to his portfolio by late 1948.

Billboard October 18, 1947

Johnson continued to record for Rich-R-Tone through the 1940s and until the early 1950s, mostly solo with a band variously called the "Melody Boys" or "Buffalo Johnson and his Herd". He recorded in a variety of different styles like honky tonk ("Where Are You Now", "You Sure Look Lonesome (In That Corner)" on which one might hear shades of Ernest Tubb), bluegrass, and renditions of traditionals like "Frankie and Johnny", "John Henry" or "Nine Pound Hammer" (complete with Merle Travis styled lead guitar). In 1948, Stanton struck a deal with Mercury Records and sold a total of 72 of his master tapes to the label, including some by Johnson. This resulted in two Mercury releases in 1948 and 1949: "My Angel Sweetheart" b/w "Between the Lines" and "That's Why I'm Nobody's Darling" b/w "Come Back to Me". Though, the discs did not sell well enough to earn him a contract with Mercury and Johnson returned to recording for Rich-R-Tone.

In October 1951, Stanton paired him with another Rich-R-Tone act, the Church Brothers and their Blue Ridge Ramblers. The results from that session, including the classic "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms", were pure bluegrass and, like many of the Church Brothers' recordings, noteworthy recordings in bluegrass history.

By October 1949, Johnson had moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked the night clubs and bars, including such spots as the Swing Bar and the Casa Grande. His band at that time included Dusty Rose, Guy Pealer, and Sterling Simpson. In April 1951, Billboard reported that Johnson "got a new five-year contract with Rich-R-Tone" but this did not turn out as fruitful as it seemed. In 1952, Jim Stanton sold the Rich-R-Tone label (following a move to and brief phase in Campbellsville, Kentucky) and Johnson's contract lapsed.

However, Johnson soon became acquainted with Cincinnati independent record producer Carl Burckhardt, who owned Rite Record Productions and several budget labels that were specialized in releasing cover versions of the hits of the day - for cheaper money than the original version. Johnson recorded bluegrass for Rite's Kentucky label and mainstream country hits for Big 4 Hits.

Obviously, Johnson split his time between Cincinnati and Johnson City during the early 1950s, as Billboard reported in August 1951 that he headed a new show on WJHL in Johnson City, which was also broadcast via ABC. The show also included such local acts as the Burleston Sisters, Smokey White, Jack Lane, and Toby "Guy" Pealer. At some point, Johnson moved back to Tennessee. In the meantime, the Rich-R-Tone label had undergone some changes and it seems by the 1960s, Jim Stanton had gained control over the label again. He produced occasional releases by Johnson out of his Champ recording studio in Johnson City in the 1960s and 1970s, including "Time Don't Mean Much Anymore" (Rich-R-Tone #8002) and "Another Mile to Nashville" (Rich-R-Tone #8040).

Buffalo Johnson died on June 17, 2002, at the age of 76 years in Johnson City Medical Center. He had spent his last years in Sulphur Springs, a small place east of Johnson City, where he is also buried. There never has been a proper reissue of Johnson's recordings, although he gathered enough material for a whole CD throughout the years.

Discography

Label No.#	Artist Credit	A / B side	Date
Rich-R-Tone 401	Buffalo Johnson and his Melody Rangers	I’ll Always Find a Way / Come Back Again	12-1946
Rich-R-Tone 403	Buffalo Johnson	Alone and Blue / Rangers Rag	02-1947
Rich-R-Tone 405	Buffalo Johnson	Something Within Me / Where Are You Now	08-1947
Rich-R-Tone 408	Buffalo Johnson	I Just Dropped In to Say Goodbye / Home in San Antone	unrel.
Rich-R-Tone 409	Buffalo Johnson	The Foolish One / The Sweetest Dream	12-1947
Mercury 6123	Buffalo Johnson	My Angel Sweetheart / Between the Lines	08-1948
Mercury 6178	Buffalo Johnson	That’s Why I’m Nobody’s Darling / Come Back to Me	03-1949
Rich-R-Tone 430	Buffalo Johnson	Come Back Again / Alone and Blue	unrel.
Rich-R-Tone 434	Buffalo Johnson	The Loser Pays / I Dreamed My Daddy Came Home	unrel.
Rich-R-Tone 442	Buffalo Johnson	The Fairy Tale / Untrue Love	06-1949
Rich-R-Tone 458	Buffalo Johnson	Untrue Love / Left My Gal in the Mountains	02-1950
Rich-R-Tone 702	Buffalo Johnson	Whisper Goodbye / Goodbye Boogie	1950
Rich-R-Tone 1013	Buffalo Johnson	Let’s Live a Little / You Sure Look Lonesome	02-1952
Rich-R-Tone 1016	Buffalo Johnson	Frankie and Johnny / No Love No More	1951
Rich-R-Tone 1019	Buffalo Johnson & the Church Bros. & their Blue Ridge Ramblers	Day Dreaming / I Don’t Know What to Do	11-1951
Rich-R-Tone 1023	Buffalo Johnson and his Herd	John Henry / Nine Pound Hammer	1952
Kentucky 520	Buffalo Johnson and his Herd	Tain’t Big Enough / Tappin’ Boogie	1952
Kentucky 521	Harry Adams with Buffalo Johnson	Milk Bucket Boogie / Arkansas Traveler	1952
Big 4 Hits 12	Delbert Barker Buffalo Johnson	Dont’ Stay Away / Don’t Just Stand There Lady’s Man / Gold Rush is Over	1952
Rich-R-Tone 8002	Buffalo Johnson	Time Don’t Mean Much Anymore / Come Back Again	ca. 1967
Rich-R-Tone 8036	Buffalo Johnson	Long Chain Charly / Let the Cold Winds Blow	1970
Rich-R-Tone 8040	Buffalo Johnson	Another Mile to Nashville / These Summer Days	1970

Sources
• Entries at 45worlds/78rpm and 45cat
• Find a Grave entry
• Hillbilly-Music.com
• Rich-R-Tone discography
• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

The Poor Boy Connection

The Poor Boy Connection

Wayne Raney's First Adventure in Record Production

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discography

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recommended reading

• Dead Wax blog: Krazy Kords on American

See also

• Winston Shelton on Walton

• Wayne Raney - King of the Talking Harmonica

• Wayne Raney on New American

• The Van Brothers - Servants of Indiana Rockabilly

Sources

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

• Jimmie Zack Rockin' Country Style entry

• Jimmie Zack Discogs entry

• Wayne Raney Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry