Hulon Green on Universal Artists

Hulon Green - Lacking in the Principles of Love (Universal Artists L-202)

Here we have a classic country song by a local Texarkana artist, Hulon Green. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to tell about the artist, as my research did not turn up very much. Let’s have a look on the record label.

Today’s song “Lacking in the Principles of Love” was recorded and released by Green on the Universal Artists record label that was based in Texarkana, on the Arkansas side of the city. It was active between 1967 and at least 1976, releasing records by several local artists. Among the genres were rock’n’roll, country music, and gospel. Green's release lacks of release info or any hint to it, unfortunately.

Hulon Green released at least two records: the one we’re featuring today and another one on the Ar-Tex label, another local imprint. Noteworthy, Green was the composer of all four known songs he cut, so it seems he had a talent for songwriting. During my research, I found a man named Hulon Calvin Green, born in 1925 in the Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas border region. He died in 1993 in the Texas part of Texarkana. This might be the same person but I couldn’t find any proof so far.

DiscographyUniversal Artists L-202: Hulon Green - Too Much Trouble (with Too Many Women) / Lacking In the Principles of Love
Ar-Tex LRS-765-3259: Hulon Green - Pages of Time / He's a Professional

See also
• The Humming Bees from Texarkana
• Universal Artists discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Find a Grave entry

Bob Flower on Rose

Bob Flower and his Star Dusters - Draw Three (Rose R110), ca. 1968

Country music singer Bob Flower had a couple of records out in the 1960s but my research has only turned up vague information on him. So I do what I usually do in those cases: hoping that someone passes by that knows more than I do and leaves a comment or an email!

Robert John "Bob" Flower was probably born on March 8, 1927, and hailed possibly from Arkansas, as a digital compilation entitled "Arkansas Country Boy" by Stomper Time and Smith & Co., suggests. However, comments on YouTube videos indicate that he lived in the Cuba, New York, area by the 1960s and worked as chief of the local police department while he also enjoyed his career as a singer. A search on ancestry.com revealed that he already lived in Caneadea, Allegany County, New York, by 1950. Flower had previously served in the US Army during Word War II and left in the rank of a corporal.

Promo sheet for Flower's Rose release

Flower was first associated with Nashville music personality Murray Nash and his Do-Ra-Me label, releasing a total of four singles and one album on the label between 1963 and 1965. Initially, his songs were published by Cotton Town Music, a company from West Memphis, Arkansas, and operated by radio and TV host Gene Williams. Among the songs Flower recorded was "It Was Sweet While It Lasted", written by Arkansas DJ and sales manager of Williams' Cotton Town Jubilee label Chuck Comer. The song was recorded around the same time by Cotton Town Jubilee recording artist Sonny Williams.

Probably his final release on Do-Ra-Me was a full-length and self-titled album that featured mostly cover versions of country standards. On all of his releases, he was backed by his band, the Star Dusters, which consisted of Jimmy Clemons on lead guitar, Jerry Steadman on rhythm guitar, Kenny Lee on steel guitar, and Ivan Wilson on bass with female singer Dody Lynn providing some of the vocals as well.

In the late 1960s, Flower had another release on another Nashville label, Rose Records. This imprint was possibly owned by Ray Petersen, who produced all of the releases. Flower recorded "Draw Three" b/w "Rainbows" and both titles were written or co-written by Roy Lowe, who had previously produced Flower's album on Do-Ra-Me.

Bob Flower died on September 11, 1992. 

If anyone out there has more information on Bob Flower, please feel free to share it!

See also
• The Do-Ra-Me label

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry
• Discogs
• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry
• Bob Flower & the Star Dusters - Draw Three (YouTube video; see comments)
• Ancestry.com

Jimmie Skinner on Blue Grass Special

Jimmie Skinner - Doin' My Time (Blue Grass Special 45-EP-604), 1961

Jimmie Skinner was an artist of his own. Neither strictly bluegrass, neither mainstream country, Skinner developed his very own sound. Bear Family once said, if the term "alternative country" had been already invented in the 1950s, Skinner would have fitted it 100 percent. Although Skinner was not part of the Nashville establishment, he graced the world with a few classic, like "Doin' My Time". This song has been covered numerous times, including both well-known and obscure versions by Flatt & Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Jeff Johnson, Red Allen, Sherwin Linton, Bill Flagg, Jimmy Martin and others.

James "Jimmie" Skinner was born on April 27, 1909, in Blue Lick, Kentucky, near the town of Berea to William and Emma Skinner. When Skinner was a teenager, the family moved to Hamilton, Ohio, where he began performing on local radio and with his mother and grandmother on the streets. By the early 1930s, Skinner had become an accomplished musician, deeply rooted in the traditional mountain folk music of Kentucky and Ohio. With his older brother Esmer, who was born in 1906, he auditioned unsuccessfully at Gennett Records in 1931.

The brothers tried again in 1941 with the folks at Bluebird to no avail. Skinner had his first success as a songwriter in 1946, when Ernest Tubb recorded his "Let's Say Goodbye (Like We Said Hello)". Afterwards, Skinner's career really took off. He began recording for Red Barn Records in 1947, having two singles released on the small independent label, then signed a management contract with Lou Epstein and switched to Radio Artists Records, the E. T. Herzog Studio in-house label from Cincinnati. This association provided Skinner with his first success, a cover of Jimmy Work's "Tennessee Border". In those years, Skinner was often accompanied on record by his brother Esmer on fiddle or banjo and Ray Lunsford on electric mandolin, which gave many tracks a distinct bluegrass feel. It was a sparse line-up that melted with Skinner's recognizable voice into a sound of its own. 

Jimmie Skinner, 1950s

In the early 1950s, Skinner opened the Jimmie Skinner Music Center, a mail-order and retail record story in Cincinnati. The store was heavily advertised on the powerhouse WCKY radio station and Skinner also hosted a rad show out of his shop that was carried by WNOP from Newport, Kentucky. In 1950, Skinner signed with Capitol Records and switched to Decca in 1953. His most successful phase began when he began recording for Mercury in 1956, scoring such hits as "Will You Be Satisfied That Way", "Dark Hollow", and "I Found My Girl in the U.S.A.". He made another change when he joined Starday Records' roster in 1963.

In the early 1960s, Skinner produced some mail-order EPs on his Blue Grass Special label, including today's selection. These sides were recorded at the King Recording Studio in Cincinnati with Rusty York and the Kentucky Mountain Boys, including Willard Hole, Curley Tuttle, Harold Kress on fiddle, and Billy Thomas on bass.

In 1963, Skinner's manager Epstein died, which led to a downfall of his career. He resurrected it by becoming a regular on bluegrass festivals and continued to record for small labels, including Rich-R-Tone. Skinner moved to Nashville in 1974 and passed away on October 28, 1979, at the age of 70 years.

Recommended reading

• Country Music Hall of Fame

• Bear Family Records 6CD set

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Bear Family Records page

• Grit - Rural American Know-how

• SecondHandSongs

• 45cat entry / 45wporlds/78rpm entry

• Discogs

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Sandy Sans on Throne

Sandy Sans - What Made Nashville Famous (Made a Poor Man Out of Me) (Throne 51118), 1968

G.W. Sanderford, better known in the late 1960s as “Sandy Sans”, recorded two records for the independent Throne label, which was based in Independence, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. Sanderford might have been originally from Arkansas and the song featured today, "What Made Nashville Famous (Made a Poor Man Out of Me)", featured the involvement of two more Arkansas natives, brothers Keith and Elmo Lincoln Kissee, better known as Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Linn.

The Kissee brothers hailed from Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, near the border to Missouri. By the late 1940s, they had relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where both started a career in country music. Keith Kissee performed as Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Lincoln Kissee as Elmo Linn. They would be active in the city as musicians for decades, recording, performing, and working on radio and TV.

The Throne label was started in 1968 by Bud Throne, who also produced Sandy Sans’ session. It featured Jimmy Dallas on bass and probably musicians from his band - Larry Roberts on lead guitar, Gene Dunlap on piano, and Bob Meyers on drums. Elmo Linn was the A&R men for this session and possibly had a hand in picking the song material. A newspaper article from 1968 cited Sandy Sans that he had high hopes in this record, especially in the top side “What Made Nashville Famous”. However, the single became not a hit.

Billboard November 2, 1968
DJ Ted Cramer's listeners on KCKN in Kansas City loved
Sandy Sans' "What Made Nashville Famous"

Sans had one more single out on Throne the same year, "It's All Over Now" b/w "To Heck With Love". I don't known what happened to G. W. Sanderford alias Sandy Sans after 1968. Jimmy Dallas and Elmo Linn continued their musical activities throughout the years. Elmo Linn died in 1994, Dallas passed away in 2004.

See also
• Jimmy Dallas on Westport

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Discogs

Johnny Nace on Rimrock

Johnny Nace - Blue Notes (Rimrock 271), 1968

Johnny Nace was a Missouri based artist that enjoyed a long career in country music during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He was regionally well-known and had a few records that sold good regionally. He is also known to rockabilly audiences for his 1950s and early 1960s singles.

John Percy "Johnny" Nace was born in Knob Noster, Missouri, in 1934, and grew up on a farm outside of nearby Warrensburg. His father was a musician, as had his grandfather and great-grandfather been, so music was rooted deeply in the family. Naturally, Nace started playing guitar and got his first job at age 15, playing square dances with a fiddler. He then became part of the radio show “Hillbilly Jamboree” in Sedalia, Missouri. Nace also worked as a DJ on KOKO in Warrensburg, on KDRO in Sedalia, and later hosted the "Circle Six Ranch" on KMOS-TV.

By 1956, Nace was part of the Missouri Valley Boys that performed on KSIS in Sedalia. The group also included Joe Lender, Goodson Merriott, and F.D. Johnson, who became a recording artist in his own right. Nace, Johnson and the band recorded their first singles in 1958 for the local Marshall, Missouri, based Jan record label. From that point on, Nace continued to record for various labels throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Johnny Nace and the Midnighters, 1960s
with Nace (guitar) and Joe Greene (steel guitar)

In the early 1960s, he formed his band called “The Midnighters” and began recording for Nashville Records in 1962, a subsidiary of Starday Records. He then switched to Topic, another Nashville company, and had a regional hit in 1966 with his first release on the label, “Midnight Train to Georgia”, selling about 20,000 copies. Country Song Round-Up called him a "promising vocal talent" in 1965: "Johnny is one of country music's most promising vocal talents. He is a former star of central Missouri's very popular television show 'The Circle Six Ranch', which was originated from the studios of KMOS-TV, channel six [...]." The promising sales also got him a guest spot on Ernest Tubb's Midnight Jamboree on WSM.

In 1968 he recorded two songs that eventually wound up on Wayne Raney’s Rimrock Records from Concord, Arkansas. Nace recorded both tracks in Kansas City with the Woodchoppers, a band that he had founded earlier that year and included Nace on vocals and guitar, Doug Mastin on steel guitar, Bill McCanally on piano, Bill Acres on bass, and Chuck Addleman on drums. The two songs were “Blue Notes” and “The Kind You Find Tonight”, which were initially released on C.A.R.S. Records – a Kansas City based label. The tracks were then leased to Rimrock and issued again the same year on that label. "Blue Notes" was co-written by Delores (or Dolores) Tolbert, who recorded around the same time for Sonny Deckelman's Van-Deck label out of Harrisburg, Arkansas. She later managed the Jonesboro, Arkansas, bluegrass band "Shady Hill".

His 1969 single on Throne Records, "Sherry Ann", was a good seller as well and Billboard predicted it to reach the Hot Country Songs - which it did not, unfortunately. Nevertheless, Nace continued to perform and record throughout the next decades. By the 1970s, his band was again called the Midnighters and performed in Missouri. His sons Dave and Jimmy also became musicians, leading a rockabilly band in the 1980s that sometimes included their father. Johnny Nace passed away from a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 56 years. 

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• Show Me the History - Johnson County-West Central Missouri History

• Nace Brothers website

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Don McKinnon on Sound Stage 7

Don McKinnon - Country Guitar (Sound Stage 7 45-2529), 1964

Not a household name in country music history, Don McKinnon was a songwriter in the late 1950s and 1960s, having made the majority of his work in the Nashville music scene. Besides that, he also recorded occasionally, including this gem of mid 1960s Nashville country. He is not to be confused with the west coast radio personality of the same name, who was killed in the 1960s.

Donald Ladson "Don" McKinnon was born on December 30, 1933, to Willie Ladson and Mary Grace McKinnon in Eastman, Georgia, where he grew up on a farm. McKinnon became interested in music at an early age and eventually became a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, guitar, bass, steel guitar, and harpsichord. One day, McKinnon was at a farmer's market in Atlanta, sitting on a bulk of watermelons, singing and playing his guitar. As it happened, country singer Red Sovine witnessed the young singer and advised him to try his luck in Nashville.

By 1959, McKinnon was under contract with Blanche Carter's music publishing in Augusta. At that time, he had already written about 150 songs. However, he followed Sovine's advice and went to Music City, U.S.A. in the early 1960s, where he soon became acquainted with some of the big names in country music.

McKinnon's debut single was released in 1961 on the Beltone label and he followed up with a single on the newly founded Sound Stage 7 label, a subsidiary of Monument Records. "Country Guitar" b/w "Sing Me a Sad Song, Willie" were of course McKinnon originals and produced by Hank Cochran, who worked for Pamper Music. Despite guest spots on the Grand Ole Opry and in Las Vegas, none of his singles really caught on and McKinnon enjoyed a rather quiet life - first in the Augusta, Georgia, area and since 1960 in Beech Island, South Carolina. He had another more release on the Antenna label in 1966 and two more singles out on the Soundwaves label in the 1980s. Although he was also an accomplished singer, he never found the big break as a performer, recording only sporadically, but enjoyed success as a composer.

Billboard June 1, 1963

In 1963, Hank Snow had recorded his "Town of Laredo" and Snow obviously took a liking at McKinnon, supporting him and possibly making him acquainted with Hal Smith. Smith, who worked with Pamper Music, signed him to a songwriter's contract the same year. In 1966, Johnny Cash cut his version of McKinnon's "Bottom of a Mountain", which was also recorded by Tex Williams two years later. In 1970, Carl Phillips recorded his "Such a Short Time (to Forget So Much)". Many lesser known artists cut his songs during the 1960s and 1970s as well.

In the 1980s, his career was boosted one last time, as he shot a music video with his song "Crippled Cowboy", inspired by a Vietnam veteran he had met, and he released the video under his nickname of "Tracker" (he got that name because of his hunting passion). The moderate success in turn led to several appearances on Nashville TV network. He also operated a very short-lived record label in the late 1980s, Tracker Records.

McKinnon retired from music and his day job in 1993 and spent his time with his family, with his part-time leather holsters business, hunting, and quick-draw pistol shooting, taking part in several contests. His wife Mary, who was also a songwriter, died in 2013. Don McKinnon followed her on June 15, 2016, in Aiken, South Carolina, at the age of 82 years. He is buried at First Baptist Church of Beech Island Cemetery in his adopted hometown of Beech Island.

Discography

Beltone 1013: Should I Kiss You / I See In the Paper (1961)
Sound Stage 7 2529: Country Guitar / Sing Me a Sad Song Willie (1964)
Antenna 6442: Blues / Fat, Fat, Fat (1966)
Soundwaves 4805: If I Die Tomorrow / Roses (and Other Lovely Things) (1988)
Soundwaves 4809: Bottom of a Mountain / Such a Short Time to Forget (1988)

See also
• New Star and Gaylor / Pamper Music and Its Labels

Sources
• Don Rhodes: "McKinnon was everyday man who wrote country hits" (2016), Augusta Chronicle
• Obituary
• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry
• Discogs

Bill Haley on Decca

Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie (Decca 9-29713), 1955

This record was one of my acquisitions last year and although I was very familiar with the songs on it, having them on CD and in digital format, I thought it was nice to have them on original 45rpm record. You can't go wrong with Bill Haley and the Comets. I consider him being the first real star of rock'n'roll music.

"Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie" was recorded on September 22, 1955, at Decca's recording studio at the Pythian Temple in New York City. Present that day were Haley on vocals and rhythm guitar, Franny Beecher on lead guitar, Billy Williamson on steel guitar, Rudy Pompillli on saxophone, Johnny Grande on piano, Al Rex on bass, and Cliff Leeman on drums. It was the first session for Rex and Pompilli as Comets, as they replaced bassist Marshall Lytle and sax player Joey Ambrose. Rex had performed earlier with Haley when he was still playing more  country music oriented material. Studio drummer Cliff Leeman was brought in for Dick Richards, who had left as well. Also recorded that day was the song "R-O-C-K" and, the next day with the same line-up, "The Saints of Rock'n'Roll" and "Burn That Candle".

Billboard October 22, 1955, pop review

Billboard November 12, 1955

Sound-wise, all four recordings followed the pattern of Haley's big 1954 hit "Rock Around the Clock". "Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie" had been written by Haley three years earlier for his former guitarist Danny Cedrone, who had his own version released in September 1954 with his Esquire Boys on Guyden Records. Haley's own version was coupled with "Burn That Candle" on Decca #29713 in November 1955. It became a #16 Billboard pop best sellers hit in the US and #4 hit in the UK for Haley and the Comets. 

Bill Haley and the Comets, mid 1950s

Sources

• German Wikipedia entry / English Wikipedia entry

• 45cat

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Ernest & Donald Thibodeaux on Lanor

Ernest & Donald Thibodeaux - Robert Special (Lanor 1000), 1982

I found this record in New Orleans in 2023 and got me some real fine, original cajun music. Ernest Thibodeaux performed with one of cajun music's stars, Nathan Abshire, and had a career in music on his own for more than half a century.

Ernest Joseph Thibodeaux was born on October 9, 1925, in the small community of Mermantau near Jennings, Louisiana. Music was a part of his life early on, as his father Clobule played cajun music, too. Thibodeaux started playing at the age of 10 years and taught himself to play guitar, fiddle, bass, and drums. At the age of 13, he met fiddler Will Kegley and the Lake Charles Playboys and began performing with them.

Following World War II, Kegley and Thibodeaux regularly played the local Pine Grove Club dance hall in Evangeline. In 1948, Kegley's sister Oziet joined on drums, making it a trio. Dance hall owner Telasfore Esthay suggested including an accordion. Thibodeaux found  an accordionist in Nathan Abshire, who joined as well. The Pine Grove Boys were born. The next year, Jim Baker and Atlis Frujia on steel guitar made the band complete. Thanks to the owner of the Avalon Club, Quincy Davis, the band was signed to a recording contract with George Khoury and Virgil Bozeman and their various labels that same year. However, in May 1949 Abshire and Thibodeaux held a session at a Lake Charles radio station backed by Earl DeMary's band. This session produced the first version of "Pine Grove Blues", which became a regional hit.

Thibodeaux recorded with Abshire and various line-ups until 1955. Credited not only to the Pine Grove Boys but to various band names, the results were released on Khoury and Bozeman's various labels: Oklahoma Tornado (OT), Lyric, Khoury's, and Bob Tanner's Hot Rod label. Many of those discs were good sellers regionally but the band did not saw much money from it. Thibodeaux remained with the Pine Grove Boys until the late 1950s, then left the group but continued performing locally.

He regularly played Fred's Lounge in Mamou in the decades to come. Today's selection came into existence not until 1982, recorded for the Jennings based Lanor label's custom series. It featured Ernest Thibodeaux plus Donald Thibodeaux on accordion and Robert Thibodeaux on vocals. As far as I can tell, all three men were not (or not directly) related. Both "Robert Special" and "Hilda's Waltz" are fine examples of traditional cajun music. Ernest and Donald Thibodeaux, the latter also played at Fred's Lounge, eventually recorded the album "Fred's Hot Step" for Arhoolie with Ernest on drums.

In 1996, Ernest Thibodeaux was inducted in Fred's Lounge Wall of Fame and became a member of the French Cajun Music Association Hall of Fame in 1999. He passed away on August 18, 2006, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, at the age of 80 years.

Recommended reading

• Ann Savoy Collection (Interview with Ernest Thibodeaux)

Sources

Ernest Thibodeaux

• This Week in Cajun Music Facebook post

• Find a Grave entry

• Nathan Abshire Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

• 45cat entry and Nathan Abshire 45worlds/78rpm entry

• Discogs

Donald Thibodeaux

• Downhome Music: Fred's Hot step by Donald Thibodeaux and Cajun Fever

Hank Williams on MGM

Hank Williams with his Drifting Cowboys - I Won't Be Home No More (MGM K11533), 1953

I'm always fond of some Hank Williams! I can really feel why so many people loved his music and why he was an inspiration for so many singers and musicians. His music and his voice have something you can't find anywhere else. Here is one of my favorite Hank songs, "I Won't Be Home No More". I won't go into detail here on his career - there has been written so much about him - but let me give you a bit of background info on this particular recording.

"I Won't Be Home No More" was recorded on July 11, 1952 at the Castle Studio, located in the Tulane Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Apart from Williams on vocals and rhythm guitar, the line-up included Jack Shook on acoustic guitar, Chet Atkins on electric lead guitar, Don Helms on steel guitar, Jerry Rivers on fiddle, and Ernie Newton on bass. Also recorded that day were "Be Careful of Stones That You Throw", "Why Don't You Make Up Your Mind", and the mega hit "You Win Again".

Billboard July 11, 1953, C&W review

Coupled with "My Love for You (Has Turned to Hate)", a song originally recorded by Williams already in 1947 for Sterling, "I Won't Be Home No More" was released in July 1953 (MGM #11533) on both 45rpm and 78rpm format. By then, Williams had been dead for seven months but MGM still turned out recordings of him frequently and many of those posthumous released songs became hits and standards. "I Won't Be Home No More" was no exception, reaching #4 on Billboard's best selling country singles.

Similar to "You Win Again", the song is believed to cover the relationship and break-up with Williams' wife Audrey. In fact, both were legally divorced the day before Williams recorded it.

Sources
• 45cat entry
• 45worlds/78rpm entry
• Wikipedia entry
• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

Rudy Gaddis on Custom

Rudy Gaddis - Wild Train (Custom 121), 1965

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Billboard May 15, 1982

Discography

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

Albums
Custom 115: Garden of Roses (1963)

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

L. J. Foret on Ciro

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources

• 45cat entry

• Westbank Musicians Hall of Fame (Facebook page)

• Wikipedia entry

• Find a Grave entry

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

Al Horn on BTR

Al Horn - Come On In Mr. Blues (BTR 1005), 1965

I couldn't find much on Al Horn, who had several releases out in the 1960s. I am familiar with his name since years and first found mention of him when compiling a Do-Ra-Me label discography.

Horn was a Tulsa based artist but had his debut single out on Murray Nash's Do-Ra-Me label from Nashville, Tennessee. "It's Much Too Soon" b/w "Where Does Love Go" was released in 1962 and the latter was part of a six track EP put out by Do-Ra-Me for the annual Country Music Festival in Nashville. The record seems to have received some good airplay and Nash decided to release a follow up on Horn the next year, "Slowly Dying" b/w "Crazy Moon".

Billboard March 30, 1963

Between 1965 and 1967, Horn released four singles on the Tulsa based BTR label. Today's pick was his first for the imprint, comprising "Relief Is Just a Swallow Away" b/w "Come on In Mr. Blues" (#1005). Horn remained connected to Music City USA, though, as several of the recorded songs he recorded for BTR were written by Nashville songwriter Larry Kingston.

There was a series of square dance records on the Penrose, Colorado, based Prairie label by a certain Al Horn but I don't know whether this was the same artist or not.

Discography

Do-Ra-Me 1424: It's Much Too Soon / Where Does Love Go (1962)
Do-Ra-Me 1435: Slowly Dying / Crazy Moon (1963)
BTR 1005: Relief Is Just a Swallow Away / Come On In Mr. Blues (1965)
BTR 1010: Please Play the Other Side / Unemployment Compensation (1965)
BTR 67-1001: I Think I'll Build a Nest / Since Never (1967) 
BTR 67-1003: Copy Cat / Hello, Mr. Heartache (1967)

See also

• The Do-Ra-Me label

Sources

• 45cat entry

• Discogs

• Al Horn (Square Dance Caller)

Harry Blanton on Sherwood

Harry Blanton - Footsteps (Sherwood 42704), 1974

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

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

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

Recommended videos

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

Sources

• 45cat entry

Buddy Durham on Emperor

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

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

Buddy Durham

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

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

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

Billboard July 18, 1960

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

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

Recommended reading

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• Gospel Jubilee entry

• SecondHandSongs

• British Archive of Country Music

Sources

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

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

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

• 45cat entry

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Find a Grave entry

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies

Doyal Ruff on Melody

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources

• Obituary

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

Merlin Bee on Razorback

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

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

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

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

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

Sources

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

• Find a Grave Entry

• 45cat entry

Carolyn Dixon on Billups

Carolyn Dixon - This Man of Mine (Billups 104), 1964

The Billups record label was based in Dallas, Texas, and possibly featured the involvement of Irvin Russ, who did not only write this particular song but also other songs for the label and even recorded for Billups, too. He also co-wrote songs with James Massey, who also released two singles on the label. Both Massey and Russ also collaborated with local songwirter J.R. Cheatham for songs on his Cheatham record label. Cheatham composed the flip side of this record, "King of the Highway".

Cheatham and Russ produced records in Dallas independently in the 1960s, which they either released on their own or leased the masters to other labels according to Billboard. Billups Record was located on Circlewood Drive on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas, and active from 1962 until around 1965.

There was a Carolyn Dixon who had two released on Little Rock, Arkansas based labels, Luck and Tommy Trent's T Bar T label. If she is the same singer who recorded for Billups is a question still to answer.

Sources

• 45cat entry

• SecondHandSongs

Gene Mooney on Merit

Gene Mooney - A Place Where Broken Hearts Can Go (Merit No.#), 1977

We have already featured a detailed post on Mooney, so this won't be as detailed but I'll give you some detailed information on this disc nevertheless. Mooney was a Tulsa based country and western swing band leader who recorded a couple of local 45s during the years. This is my second Gene Mooney single (the other one being his Rocket 45).

Mooney was a longtime performer in Tulsa, from the 1950s until the 1970s - at least that is what my research brought up. He sometimes even performed at legendary Cain's Ballroom but left after there were some discrepancies. Judging from the Southern Plastic matrix numbers, this single was pressed (and likely released) around 1977. All three Merit releases are by Mooney and feature songs from his "Gene Mooney Music" publishing firm, so I suppose it was also his own record label.

See also
• Gene Mooney on Rocket

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Discogs

Gene Champlin - Amanda

Gene Champlin - Amanda (No label #SPS-5018)

One of the visitors asked for Gene Champlin's version of "Amanda" due to my recent post on him. The original post contained his cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain".

Madison County Record July 14, 1977

Written by Nashville songwriter Bob McDill, "Amanda" was first recorded by country singer Don Williams, whose version was released in April 1973 on the JMI label (for which McDill also recorded). It peaked at #33 on Billboard's Country singles chart as the flip side of Williams' hit "Come Early Morning". Waylon Jennings recorded "Amanda" the following year and it appeared on his album "Ramblin' Man" but was not released at the time as a single.

It was not until 1979 that "Amanda", now edited with overdubs, that Jennings' version reappeared on a greatest hits album and saw release on single as well. It became a smash #1 country hit for him that year in the US and in Canada. It also crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100 at #54.

There were a few cover version by no-name artists, too, but the song was been recorded by surprisingly few artists. One of those was Gene Champlin.

Don Williams singing "Amanda" in 1979 on TV

See also

• Gene Champlin

Sources

• Wikipedia entry

• 45cat entries for Don Williams version and Waylon Jennings version