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

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

Jerry Lee Williams

Jerry (Lee) Williams was an important figure in Indianapolis’ country and rock’n’roll music scene of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. A talented guitarist in his own right, Williams favored to stay in the background, though, and became the owner of a group of record labels that gave countless local Indy singers and bands an opportunity to release their music.

Gerald “Jerry” Lee Williams was born on April 12, 1934, in Indianapolis and by the 1950s, had become an accomplished guitarist, probably playing the local bars in town. He was friends with Stan Cox and Earl Brooks, the latter being a country musician, too, and the trio decided to start their own record company which they named “Solid Gold”. The label was headquartered on 359 Burgess Ave on the east side of Indianapolis. They started with a girl group known as the Crysler Sisters, producing some pop recordings that saw release in 1956 on Solid Gold (“You Can’t Run Away (From Your Heart)” b/w “Little Church (By the Side of the Road)”, #713).

359 Burgess Avenue - home of Solid Gold Records

Williams followed up with another girl group, this time the Cassidy Sisters, whose release pointed towards the music that would follow, although it was still far away from hard-edged rock’n’roll. “Teen-Age Flirt” b/w “Don’t Teach Me” (Solid Gold #714, 1957). It was not until the next release at the end of 1957 that Williams set the route for the label’s future releases with Bill Peaslee’s “Hypnotized” on one side and Jay Haye’s acoustic bluesy “Tellin’ Lies” on the other side (Solid Gold #715).

Williams would record mainly rock’n’roll music on Solid Gold during the next years, including one record for his own band, the Crowns, which featured the instrumentals “The Go-Tune” and “Wibcee” (Solid Gold #778) and it was the B side that became a local favorite in 1959. The Crowns had been founded in 1957 by drummer Larry Goshen and became, with the addition of Williams, "Jerry Williams and the Crowns" in 1959. By the 1960s, the band had developed into the "Sounds of the Crowns" without Williams.

Williams, Brooks, and Cox founded another two record labels: Nabor Records came into existence in 1958 at 243 Summit South Street. Nabor was mainly used for country music, Earl Brooks’ favorite style. Yolk Records, a rather short-lived venture, followed in 1960.

In between, in 1959, Williams set up a label under his sole supervision, K-W Records, which had three releases that year three more in 1960 and 1961 (under the shortened name K Records). Probably the most prominent acts on this label were rock’n’roll group Keetie and the Kats as well as Tommy Lam, a local performer and friend of Williams’. Lam also recorded the collectors’ favorite “Speed Limit” on Williams’ Nabor label in 1959.

Williams was well-connected in the Indianapolis music scene. He was friends with Jan Eden, who had turned his garage into a recording studio and it is probable that some of Williams productions were recorded there. Another friend of Williams’ was Aubrey Cagle, another local rock’n’roll and country performer, for whom Williams also played lead guitar. Surprisingly, Cagle never recorded for any of Williams’ labels, possibly because Cagle had founded his own Glee label in the late 1950s.

Though Williams put much effort in his productions and his labels, none of them could stimulate any noteworthy success outside of Indianapolis and around 1964, Solid Gold was stopping to release 45rpms and Yolk followed around the same time. KW/K had already been laid to rest in 1961. It was only Nabor Records that was kept well alive until the early 1970s, releasing mainly country music for the local market.

Although Williams would work all this time in his day job as a bearing specialist, he never gave up music. He kept up producing, performing, and record collecting. In the 1970s and 1980s, he played guitar alongside Aubrey Cagle, Lattie Moore, and Art Adams. He set up NEW Records (he took the name from the initials of his wife, Nancy Elisabeth Williams, whom he had wed in 1959), which released a few discs in the early 1970s, including one by Lattie Moore. He was friends with Moore and bought the SAGA record label, on which Moore and a few others recorded in the late 1950s.

In 1993, a disc appeared on the Silverball label comprising Tommy Lam's "Speed Limit" and a instrumental credited to Williams and the Crowns, "Outta Gas" (although it appears that the recordings was done without the involvement of Williams when they were already known as the Sound of the Crowns). The label was based in Nashville and the circumstances how this came into existence is unknown at the moment. In 1996, Williams produced the album “Branching Out” by rockabilly singer Ronnie Haig, also playing drums on that release, and two years later, he released the “Real Cool” CD with Aubrey Cagle’s 1950s and 1960s songs (the only one so far). He also produced recordings by Art Adams. Around 2006, Williams was interviewed by local music collector Tony Biggs. It was probably the first occasion someone documented Williams' efforts for Indianapolis' local music scene.

Jerry Lee Williams passed away on May 22, 2015, at the age of 81 years in Indianapolis. He is buried at Washington Park East Cemetery. His wife Nancy Elisabeth followed him in 2018.

Jerry Lee Williams Label Overview
• Solid Gold:    1956 - ca. 1964
• Nabor:           1958 - ca. 1972
• Yolk:              1960 - ca. 1965
• K / K-W:       1959 (K-W), 1960 - 1961 (K)
• NEW:            1972 - 1973

Sources
• Obituary
• Find a Grave entry
• Discogs
• Diccionario Rockabilly blog (Spanish)
• Several 45cat entries: Solid Gold, Nabor, Yolk, K-W, K, NEW, SAGA
• Several Rockin' Country Style entries: Solid Gold, Nabor, Yolk, K-W, K
• Larry Goshen (Indiana Music Makers)
• Jancee Music (info on Silverball release)

Home of the Blues Records

Home of the Blues Records
On the Street Where Blues Were Born

I recently made contacts with ancestors of Ruben Cherry and Celia Camp, owners of the Home of the Blues label, a mostly overlooked Memphis record label. Both Cherry and Camp were influential figures in the city's music scene, though they are forgotten nowadays. During its years active in the 1960s, the Home of the Blues label released recordings mostly in the rock’n’roll and rhythm and blues genres. The label was active from 1960 until 1964 and had only limited commercial success. Though it was part of the development of southern soul music and an early nest of this music's forerunners.

The Beginnings
The Home of the Blues record label was founded by Ruben Cherry, who also operated the Home of the Blues record shop. Cherry, a native Memphian born there in 1923, had opened the shop in the mid 1940s after World War II and soon, it became a music institution in the city. Cherry was known for his eccentric behavior and colorful appearance. Located on Beale Street, which is still the city’s amusement alley with countless juke joints and bars featuring live blues music, the shop was named aptly “Home of the Blues” (with its slogan “on the street where blues were born”). Soon, it developed into a music hot spot for both black and white customers as the shop offered all kinds of musical genres. Some of the now famous personalities that entered Cherry’s store frequently were local DJ Dewey Phillips, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash (who also composed his song “Home of the Blues” inspired by the shop), or members of the Johnny Burnette Trio, including guitarist Paul Burlison.

The shop enjoyed financial help by Cherry’s aunt Celia G. Camp, who operated a jukebox and pinball machine distribution company called Southern Amusement Company in Memphis. Camp, who also held several other business interests, would eventually finance the Home of the Blues record label, too.

The Home of the Blues Record Company, as it was officially called, was founded on July 15, 1960, by Cherry and Camp, both being owners of the company. While Cherry was responsible for the creative part of the business, which included spotting and signing recording artists, Camp took care of the financial issues of the company. Though sharing the name, the record shop and the record label were separate businesses operated by Cherry (and Camp). Other people involved in the label were Arthur Baldwin as vice president, Max Goldstein as vice president of sales, Ray Meaders as promotion man, and Wolf Lebovitz, who joined the label as a company secretary, dealing also with some of its partner labels. Lebovitz was married to Celia Camp’s adopted niece Dorothy.

The Artists - The Recordings
The first artist to record for Home of the Blues was R&B singer Roy Brown, who had cut numerous discs for several labels before. His “Don’t Break My Heart” b/w “A Man with the Blues” (HOTB #107) appeared already in July 1960. Although Brown had been a successful singer with several chart hits in the 1940s, his debut for the Home of the Blues label did not reach the charts. Brown had a total of four releases on the label and in Brown’s own memory, his third single, a duet with Mamie Dell called “Oh So Wonderful” from early 1961, sold well at least locally. According to Brown, around 44,000 copies were sold in Memphis but due to missing distribution, failed to sell outside of the city.

By August, another singer had been signed to the label, namely Dave Dixon, whose recordings “You Satisfy” and “You Don’t Love Me No More” (HOTB #108) were released the same month but did not sell better than its precursor.

What became probably the label’s biggest success in commercial terms was a song by the 5 Royales, another R&B act that had enjoyed successful years in the early 1950s while recording for Apollo Records. Their “Please, Please Please”, released with the flip side “I Got to Know” (HOTB #112) in October the same year, reached #114 on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” chart.

From 1960 until 1962, more artists recorded for the label and many of them were influential musicians in the blues and R&B fields. Larry Birdsong, Willie Mitchell (who made his first attempts as a producer for Cherry), and Willie Cobbs were some of them. Billy Lee Riley, who had recorded rockabilly for Sun Records in the 1950s, recorded a single for the label in 1961, as did Billy Adams, another former Sun recording artist.

By 1961, Cherry and Camp had worked out an agreement with the Vee-Jay record label to release Home of the Blues material also on the Vee-Jay label for national distribution. This deal soon transferred to  ABC-Paramount Records after the company purchased Vee-Jay. However, the output of Home of the Blues material on its partner companies remained very limited and did not add any success.

Cherry and Camp created a couple of subsidiary labels, including Rufus Records, Six-O-Six Records, 1st Records, and Zab Records. Only few singles were released on these off-shots and they remained without commercial success.

Demise
The label’s last release came nearly exactly two years after its debut in August 1962 with Jimmy “Louisiana” Dotson’s “Search No More” b/w “I Feel Alright” (HOTB #244). After a two years existence without a major chart hit, the Home of the Blues label came to an end. There could have been more recording sessions during 1963 and 1964 - and there were a few copyright registrations - but apparently the label did not release any new singles.

Around the same time, Celia G. Camp had divorced from her first husband Clarence Camp but had remarried a man by the name of Ward Hodge a year later. Hodge in turn was the manager of a female teenage singer, who recorded for the company’s 1st Records subsidiary when she was still underage. According to local Memphis part-time music historian John Shaw, the singer’s parents sued Ward and Celia Hodge, which – according to Shaw – “may have occasioned the label's closing”.

Cash Box magazine reported on November 24, 1967, that Ruben Cherry had moved his Home of the Blues record shop from Beale Street to 147 South Main Street due to urban renewal in Downtown Memphis. Three years later, in 1970, Celia Camp sold the Home of the Blues label, catalog and recording tapes to Wayne McGinnis’ Memphis Record Company. Unfortunately, the Home of the Blues master tapes were stolen from McGinnis’ office and have not turned up since. Ruben Cherry died in 1976 at the age of 52 years in Memphis. Celia Camp passed away in 1979. After their deaths, Wayne McGinnis in turn sold the company to British music enthusiast and entrepreneur Dave Travis in 1991.

In recent years, confusion has been raised to who the rightfully owner of the Home of the Blues material is. Steve LaVere, who is considered to be a rather dubious character in music business, claimed to have the rights to the label. As it turned out, Wolf Lebovitz, who was in the possession of numerous unreleased Home of the Blues tapes, assigned the rights to LaVere. Although LaVere managed to transfer the song catalog to his Delta Haze publishing firm before he died, Dave Travis had already bought the Memphis Music Company, including the Home of the Blues label, from Wayne McGinnis, emphasizing that his deal was legally set up with the person who inherited the rights to the label.

Home of the Blues sign in Memphis, 2023, marking the beginning of Beale Street.
The name "Home of the Blues" was adopted by the city of Memphis for marketing purposes.

Legacy
In contrast to other Memphis labels, the Home of the Blues label had been of little interest to reissue record companies and scholars in the past. In 1995, the Japanese P-Vine label released three CDs with Home of the Blues material. The British Stomper Time label, known for various reissue albums of Memphis music, released another two CDs containing Home of the Blues recordings. Most recently, German Bear Family Records has released two 10-track LPs with Home of the Blues material in 2021. The label is briefly mentioned at Memphis’ Stax Museum of American Soul Music as well as the Rock’n’Soul Museum, also located in the city.

While the Home of the Blues record label did not gain much national chart success, the recordings of the label bridged the gap between Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rhythm and Blues, and the development of Soul music in Memphis, Detroit and Philadelphia. However, it was probably Ruben Cherry’s record shop that had a much deeper impact on the musical education of many influential Memphis musicians, including B.B. King, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. The latter not only borrowed the Home of the Blues name as a tribute for one of his songs, but also acknowledged the shop as an influence on him during his 1992 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech.

The Congress of the United States, in a motion brought by Rep. Steve Cohen, designated the phrase “Home of the Blues” to the city of Memphis, which uses it as the city’s nickname and slogan for music tourism promotion. It is also used for Beale Street and can be seen on the gates marking the street.

Recommended reading
• Howdy at his 45 blog has also two songs by Larry Birdsong on Home of the Blues. See here and here.

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Ruben Cherry Find a Grave entry
• Tony Wilkinson: "Home of the Blues Label and Record Shop Story" (American Music Magazine #133), 2013
• Thanks to Bruce Frager, a relative of Ruben Cherry and Celia Camp, for providing additional material and for keeping the memory of Home of the Blues Records alive!

The United Southern Artists label

Of the many small and local labels that were founded during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s in Arkansas, the United Southern Artists label out of Hot Springs was one of the longer running and prolific record companies. Since 2010, I am trying to research the history of this record label but still, its whole background remains foggy, although I have interviewed several original recording artists over the years. The recorded output concentrated on rock’n’roll and country music, the latter became eventually the label’s main genre.

United Southern Artists, shortened to United Southern one year after its formation, was founded on March 13, 1961, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a city with a population of nearly 30,000 habitants, located in the beautiful landscape of the Ouachita Mountains, and known for its many heat springs. Contrary to many local labels in the US, which where one-man companies operated out of its owners’ houses or garages, United Southern Artists was founded on a much more professional base. Billboard reported the founding in its March 20 issue and mentioned that Burton Wilton LeMaster (1895-1970) was president of the company and Carl Friend, a songwriter from Memphis, served as its A&R manager. The imprint was not only intended for releasing music but also for managing and promoting its artists. In unison, a publishing firm was formed to handle the music catalogue: Ouachita Music. United Southern had its offices in Suite 312 in Hot Springs’ Thompson Building, built in 1913 and still one of the city’s most prominent landmarks (nowadays known as the “Waters Hotel”). Although the company was equipped with own offices, it housed no own recording facilities and therefore had to rely on capacities of such recording studios as Leo Castleberry’s local studio or Echo Studio in Memphis.

Thompson Building in Hot Springs, Arkansas, 1910s

Daily business was handed over to LeMaster and Friend but the actual owner of the company remained in the background: John Wilbur Roddie. He was born in 1903 in Poplarville, Mississippi, was living in Hot Springs by 1950 and earned his living as a songwriter, publisher, author, and entrepreneur. At one time, he was vice-president of the National Garment Manufacturing Company and owned the Roddie-Miller Publishing Company. The latter published several songs recorded for the Hot Springs based Caesar and SPA record labels by different artists (partially written by Roddie). Roddie might have been involved in these labels, too, though this is an assumption only.

Billboard March 20, 1961

Speaking of SPA Records, this was a label associated with United Southern Artists prior to the actual founding of United Southern. SPA was likely operated by local country singer, TV personality and recording studio owner Leo Castleberry and/or John Roddie. The actual ownership is unclear at its best. In fact, Castleberry recorded for the label and his first release on SPA was “Teenage Blues” b/w “Come Back to Me” (SPA #100-10) in 1960. There were a few more releases on the label that year and the following, including a single by Memphis music stalwart Eddie Bond, “Only One Minute More” b/w “I Walk Alone” (SPA #25-1001) issued around November 1960. When United Southern was established a couple of months later, its first release was comprised of Castleberry’s recordings “Teenage Blues” and “Come Back to Me” as United Southern Artists #5-101. Original copies of the SPA release have often either the original label name blacked out or “United Southern Artists” overwritten on it. It is my understanding that Castleberry’s release was considered to be potential enough for the debut release of the new Roddie-Friend-LeMaster imprint and therefore was re-released. The SPA label in turn became dormant and Castleberry even went on to work as an A&R scout for United Southern.

There was another early 1961 release by Tiny Collins, pressed by RCA in 1961 and carrying the record number 6-101. This is quite odd as the 6-prefix would not be introduced to the label's numerical system until 1964. For now, my only explanation is that the number was assigned erroneously. 

Billboard November 27, 1961

The year of 1961 saw several more releases on United Southern. There was country music by Eddie Bond (probably brought to the label through Bond’s disc on SPA) and Ray Mitcham, pop music by Little Rock TV host Steve Stephens, as well as surf/rock’n’roll/garage rock by such groups as Beau-Hannon and the Mint Juleps, Dave’s Travelers, the Uniques, among others. The label experienced a minor success with Texas based country singer Hank Milton’s “Gatling Gun” b/w “As You Were” (#5-105, July 1961). Billboard reported in its August 14 issue that “Carl Friend, a.&r. director for United Southern Artists, Hot Springs, reports that Hank Milton’s new release ‘Gatling Gun’ b.w ‘As You Were’ is making big noise on KCUL, Fort Worth; KWAM, Memphis, and KDXE, Little Rock.” This mention, however, remains the only evidence of success for this single. Another regional strong seller was the Pacers' (former backing band of Sun artist Sonny Burgess) "New Wildwood Flower" b/w "The Pace". Bobby Crafford recalled in Marvin Schwarz' book "We Wanna Boogie": "'The Pace' was probably one of the best records we did, but United Southern Artists was the worst company we ever dealt with." However, Crafford didn't explain what that meant in detail.

The label released at least a total of 14 45rpm singles during 1961, though release information on certain discs is vague only. Even one of those, United Southern Artists #5-104 by the Uniques, was released in Australia through the Strand record label. It seems that the label pressed several releases still in 1961 but issued them not until early 1962. One factor for this could have been the leaving of Burton LeMaster. Tom Luce replaced LeMaster as president in January 1962. I assume the last months of the previous year were troublesome for United Southern as there could have been a fall-out with LeMaster, which ended in his leaving. This would explain why so many releases were pressed in 1961 but held back until early 1962. This is, however, nothing but speculation on my side.

The first release of the new year was probably Geannie Flowers with “There Oughta Be a Law” b/w “Lock, Stock, and Barrel” (#5-114). It also brought a completely new label design. Instead of the plain blue labels with silver printing and the label name printed in italic font, releases from #5-117 onward carried a white label with red printing and the label’s name depicted in a red italic font (shortened to “United Southern”), rounded out with a confederate flag.

United Southern continued to release recordings by local artists but with a much lower frequency. The estimated eight releases during the year 1962 included country and bluegrass music by the Sunny Valley Boys (featuring husband-and-wife duo Leon Tidwell and Myra Collins) and the Crystal Mountain Boys, and rock’n’roll by two groups known as the Galaxies and the Thunderbirds. However, the biggest success for the label that year was probably by Ricky Durham, who cut “Mr. Were-Wolf”, a song composed by local Arkansas band leader Bobby Garrett, and a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Raining in My Heart” (#5-116). Although I could not find any hints concerning the success of the single, it caught the attention of the bigger independent label Jubilee Records, which picked it up and re-released it on its “Jubilee Country & Western” imprint.

Billboard January 19, 1963

For the year 1963, only five releases on United Southern are documented so far. As rock’n’roll was fading by then, Carl Friend concentrated on country music acts, still the predominant music style in rural Arkansas. Pauline Boyette, Bob Land, Lance Roberts, and Dale Fox (with support by Memphis’ famous vocal group, the Gene Lowery Singers) recorded for United Southern during this year, as well as James Fred Williams, who cut a gospel EP disc for the label. In January 1963, Billboard also reported that Dan Emory was signed to a recording contract but no release by him has been found so far. One of the year's more successful releases was Russ Elmore's "Black Gold" b/w "Sittin' at the Table" (#5-119) (although already pressed a year earlier), which reached the #36 spot on KREM's charts in Spokane, Washington, in April.

While early releases from the label, especially those issued in 1961, turn up quite often, it seems that later discs were pressed in less quantities as they are harder to find nowadays.
By that time, the SPA label had been reactivated and released a few discs during 1963 with the involvement of John Roddie. It seems the high hopes he had for the United Southern label were crashed and the ambitious start of the company had developed into a restrained sideline business. While both LeMaster and Friend had reported frequently to Billboard at the beginning and had sent promotional copies to both Billboard and Cash Box, they ceased their communication with trade papers already in 1962.

In 1964, the executives at United Southern introduced a new four-digit numerical system, beginning now with a 6- and starting again at 101. This system replaced the old catalog numbers, which had started at 5-101. The first release in this new series was split for two artists, Bob Millsap and Peggy DeCastro, performing “Daugie Daddy” and “The Ring from Her Finger” respectively (#6-101). At least three more releases followed in 1964, the last known being by the Tradewinds, “A Boy Named Jerry (and a Girl Named Sue)” b/w “The Heart of the Month Club” (#6-104).

If there were more releases on United Southern is possible but doubtful as none have surfaced so far. By that time, the label had vanished from trade papers like Cash Box or Billboard. It is likely that the label had come to an end by late summer 1964 as Billboard reported on August 8 that Carl Friend and former United Southern recording artist Lance Roberts had taken new jobs with Joey Sasso’s Music Makers Promotion Network in Nashville, Tennessee. Ouachita Music, the label’s publishing arm, was still in existence by 1968, then based on 125 Albert Pike in Hot Springs.

During its three-years-existence, United Southern had released around 40 different singles, extended play records, even an album, and managed – although unconsciously at the time – to preserve local music culture.

After the discontinuation of United Southern, the executives of the label went separate ways. LeMaster moved to Louisiana around 1964 following his departure from United Southern. He had been born on December 16, 1895, in Oakland City Junction, Indiana, but grew up in New York State, and died on January, 1970, in a Jackson, Mississippi, hospital. He had served his country during World War I in the US Navy.

Carl Friend remained in the music business well into the 1970s, heading various music publishing and production companies. In 1964, he moved to Nashville, where he worked with Joey Sasso’s Music Makers Production and founded his own promotion business, Carl Friend Enterprises. In the late 1960s, he had some minor success as a songwriter. Various artists recorded his compositions, including Hank Williams, Jr., and Billie Jo Spears, who had a #48 country hit with “He’s Got More Love in his Little Finger”, co-written by Friend, Mack Vickery, and Bruce Roberts. While he was based in Little Rock in 1971, Friend moved back to Memphis the following year and co-founded Rivermont Music Productions with Bobby Burns. The firm was said to release a 15 volume “History of the States” LP series but never followed through with it, which eventually caused Friend legal disputes. He also founded two soul-oriented labels, Bluff City and Plush, and became president of Memphis based Casino Records, which enjoyed moderate chart success with artists like Jimmy Dean or Vic Dana.

John Roddie remained in Hot Springs after United Southern folded and likely stayed in the music publishing business, at least until the late 1960s. He died on December 11, 1980, at the age of 77 years. He is buried at Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Hot Springs.

Leo Castleberry continued to play TV and personal appearances in and around Hot Springs. He also operated the Torche and Castletone labels and died June 9, 2016, at the age of 84 years.

Discography
5-101 – Leo Castleberry: Teenage Blues / Come Back to Me (1960)
5-102 – Ray Mitcham: Initiative / Long Lonely Nights (1961)
5-103 – Steve Stephens: Pizza Pete / How It Used to Be (1961)
5-104 – Uniques: Renegade / Malaguena (1961)
5-105 – Hank Milton: Gatling Gun / As You Were (1961)
5-106 – Eddie Bond: This Ole Heart of Mine / Second Chance (1961)
5-107 – Dave's Travelers: Traveler's Rock / Movin' (1961)
5-108 – Beau-Hannon: It’s All Over / Brainstorm (1961)
5-109 – Dean Purkiss: Chivato / Alone Without Love (1961)
5-109 – Lloyd Marley: Fade with the Tide / Ooh Poo Pah Doo (1961)
5-110 – Jimmy Forrest: Night Train / Bolo Blues (1961)
5-111 – Earl Grace: Christmas Is Just Around the Corner / Santa Town (1961)
5-112 – Pacers: New Wildwood Flower / The Pace (1961)
5-113 – Ray Mitcham - Stood Up Again / I Can't See (1961)
5-114 – Geannie Flowers: There Oughta Be a Law / Lock, Stock and Barrel (1962)
5-115 – Thunderbirds: T Bird Rock / End Over End (1962)
5-116 – Ricky Durham: Raining in My Heart / Mr. Were-Wolf (1962)
5-117 – Galaxies: It’s All Over Now / Be Mine (1962)
5-118 – Sunny Valley Boys - My Son Calls Another Man Daddy / Teardrops, Teardrops (Please Stop Falling) / Myra Collins - The Hard Way / Divorce Denied (1962)
5-119 – Russ Elmore - Black Gold / Sittin' at the Table (1962)
5-120 – Dot Beck: Ed Went a-Courtin' / When Is Tomorrow (1962)
5-121 – Crystal Mountain Boys: Homin' Heart / A-Hangin' on the Vine (1962)
5-122 –
5-123 –
5-124 –
5-125 – Ramblers: Riverside Twist / Lonely Senorita (1962)
5-126 –
5-127 –
5-128 –
5-129 –
5-130 – Pauline Boyette: Parade of Broken Hearts / Footloose (1963)
5-131 – Walter Archie: The Joke's on You / Blue Autumn (1963)
5-132 –
5-133 – Lance Roberts: It Was Fun While It Lasted / ? (1963)
5-134 – Bob Land: Down in the Valley / Lost Soul (1963)

EPs
GLP 101 – James Fred Williams - Hold on to God's Unchanging Hand / Stay with Me Jesus / I Need the Lord / Every Child of God (1963)

6-101 – Tiny Collins - In the Meantime / Acapulco (1961)
6-101 – Bob Millsap: Daugie Daddy / Peggy DeCastro: The Ring From Her Finger (1964)
6-102 –
6-103 – Dale Fox & the Gene Lowery Singers - It Can't Be True / Call Me Again (1964)
6-104 – The Tradewinds - A Boy Named Terry (and a Girl Named Sue) / The Heart of the Month Club (1964)

LPs
LP 101 - Betty Fowler Four – 4 to Go (1962)

See also
• United Southern Artists discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records
• SPA Records discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records
• The Thunderbirds from El Reno, Oklahoma
• Merry Christmas! Earl Grace - Christmas Is Just Around the Corner
• The Sunny Valley Boys on United Southern

• Beau-Hannon and the Mint Juleps

Sources
• 45cat entry
• SPA 45cat entry
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• Discogs entries for United Southern Artists and United Southern
• Find a Grave entry for Burton LeMaster, John Roddie, and Carl Friend
• Marvin Schwartz: "We Wanna Boogie: The Rockabilly Roots of Sonny Burgess and the Pacers (University of Arkansas Presss), 2014, page 154
• various Billboard issues
• Special thanks to those who provided additional discographical information: Johan L, Rocky Lane, DL, Ken Clee of the "Directory of American 45 RPM Records", Franck, and Bob

Zay-Dee Records

Southern Psych from the Zay-Dee label

Zay-Dee Records was the creation of DJ and radio engineer George "Gee" Whitaker, who came to Batesville, Arkansas, around 1963. Previously, he had been a rock'n'roll DJ on the powerful KSEL station in Lubbock, Texas, but his wife Doris originally hailed from Batesville, which took him north to the Natural State.

George Whitaker at KSEL, 1962
(from the back cover
of a Zay-Dee 207 reissue)

Whitaker took a job with KBTA as the station's studio and transmitter engineer. A year later, he decided to try his luck in the record business and set up Zay-Dee Records. The label's name derived from Isaiah "Zay" Dee Whooten, another DJ on KSEL. Whitaker fell in love with that name and apart from his label, also named his second child the same way. Whitaker's job at KBTA was wasn't well paid (he had to drive an ambulance part-time) but soon, a better opportunity came along when Whitaker's father bought KHOZ in Marianna, Arkansas, where he became general manager around 1966.

One of Whitaker's first productions was a record by the Marauders called "Bugg to the Road Runner" (Part 1 and 2), a live recording made at the Arkansas College. Another early single was by Jimmy Payne and the Jokers, an Arkansas rock'n'roll combo that had already recorded for the Bro-Ket label. Payne would go on to release further singles throughout the 1960s.

Zay-Dee became a favorite among record collectors decades later for psychedelic and garage rock jewels like the Paragons' "Black and Blue" or Suspension of Belief with "LSD". The latter's original master was mixed with an opera recording and sound effects by Whitaker (without informing the band) and while it became a favorite among nowadays psychedelic fans, it was dismissed by the group when the members received their copies.

By the late 1960s, Whitaker had moved back to Lubbock, where he released the final disc on Zay-Dee by Gabriel with the Seven Inch Reel. Afterwards, the label was laid to rest and Whitaker continued to work in radio (which he did at least until 2014). Some of the Zay-Dee recordings turned up on a compilation series entitled "Lost Souls", containing rare psychedelic tracks from Arkansas and compiled by Harold Ott. The track "LSD" was also used in the independent movie production "Jane Mansfield's Car".

See also:

• Zay-Dee discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records

• Jimmy Doyle Payne on Alley

Sources

• Harold Ott: "Psych of the South: the Suspension of Belief's 'LSD'" (Arkansas Times), 2014

• Harold Ott: "Psych of the South: the Paragons' 'Black and Blue'" (Arkansas Times), 2014

• 45cat entry

Eddie Bond on Tagg

Eddie Bond - In From Stepping Out (Tagg 6406), 1964

Eddie Bond was a popular figure in Memphis in the 1960s and the 1970s. A singer, record label and club owner, promoter (and probably much more, too much to sum it up here), he was also called the "King of Memphis Country". He was born in 1933 in Memphis and began his career in the early 1950s.

At some point, he founded a band called "The Stompers", which included a very young Reggie Young, later famous guitarist and studio musician for countless recordings. The Stompers were, like many Memphis bands in that field, a crossover between western swing and more traditional country music. Bond is now infamous for rejecting Elvis Presley, who had auditioned for the Stompers. Different versions of this story circulate, however, and Bond later denied things went that way.

He first recorded for the Ekko label in 1955 and in 1956, he recorded what became the foundation of his later popularity among rockabilly fans. He signed with Mercury and cut a slew of now highly acclaimed rockabilly songs, including the rockabilly anthem "Rockin' Daddy" (a cover of Sonny Fisher's Starday recording). In the following years, he released countless records, continuing for Mercury, then for D, his own Stomper Time label, Wildcat, and then Coral.

Beginning in 1960, Bond also recorded for several Arkansas based labels, including United Southern Artists and Tagg Records from Plainview, a small town in central Arkansas. The Tagg label released a couple of records during the mid 1960s and our selection, "In from Stepping Out", is from 1964. The flip side was "Every Part of Me" and both songs were likely recorded in Nashville, produced by another Arkansas born singer, Teddy Wilburn. The recordings featured well-known musician Pete Drake on steel guitar.

Both songs had been previously released on Bond's own Diplomat label a year earlier. By then, Bond had gone back to performing country music, and this is a prime example of his style. The song was later recorded by Loretta Lynn and became a hit for her in 1968. Bond's recording was re-released again on Bond's Tab label that same year following Lynn's success with the song.

Bond continued to release single and long play albums throughout the decades and became part of the rockabilly revival movement. Several records with his old and new rockabilly recordings appeared both in the United States and in Europe and he did numerous gigs in Europe. He died in 2013.

See also

• Eddie Bond discography

• That Million Dollar Memphis Sound: Eddie Bond's Millionaire and Western Lounge labels

• Tagg Records on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources

• "You've Just Stepped In (From Stepping Out on Me)" Wikipedia article