Tommy Baldwin on REM

Tommy Baldwin

CP-4027 ~ Since You've Been Gone

CP-4028 ~ I Know

Rem 301

The initial release on the Bob Mooney's REM [Robert E. Mooney] label.

Not much is found about Tommy Baldwin who had a gospel record the following year on the Jack Rains' Rains label, also located in Lexington, Kentucky. Guitarists Kenny Whalen & Frank McDaniel backed him on that record.


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Anna May Johnson sings

Anna May Johnson
sings

20985 - Time And Time Again
20986 - Songs Tell A Story

Rite 1913

Produced by Clay Eager

1967

Anna May Johnson had started her music career in 1940 at the age of 14, appearing as the “Sunbonnet Girl” on WMRN-AM in Marion, Ohio. At 24, she married fiddler Hank Johnson, and the two went on tour together playing barn dances and radio shows on the weekends. As their family grew, so did the band. Daughter Janet played drums; son Billy sat in on guitar. It wasn’t just a hobby. The family needed the money.

“Those were very lean times, and music kept food on the table,” remembered Billy Johnson from his home in Madison. “She always did the best she could with what she had.”

By 1977, however, her children had grown and moved away, and Anna May grew tired of the music business. She decided to relocate to Nashville, where Billy had moved. She got a job in the Opryland gift shop and abandoned her hopes for a singing career. Then one night she was at Stage Door Lounge when the performers onstage recognized her in the audience and asked her to sing. The appearance led to a regular gig, and by 1980 she was singing weekly at the Nashville Palace.

Boxcar Willie was there one night when the woman singing onstage. Anna May Johnson was more than 60 years old, but she belted out songs and worked the room with professional aplomb. After the show, Boxcar Willie drew her aside. “What you need is a gimmick,” the Singing Hobo is said to have told Anna May. “I picture you in some kind of granny outfit.”

From that day forth, Anna May was Granny Johnson.

She died died April 1, 1997 of breast cancer at the age of 72.


From [http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/vox-kronoid/Content?oid=1181241]






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Chuck Barr and the Playboys on Barclay

Chuck Barr and the Playboys
10137 ~ Espanie'l

Clyde & Chuck with the Playboys
10138 ~ My Lonely Guitar

Barclay

Orwigsburg, PA

★

Chuck Barr, 1999

"We did a lot of hoedowns back then," he said of his group Chuck Barr and the Blue Mountain Playboys. But I'd sneak a rockabilly song in there once in a while."

Locally we had Bill Haley and his Comets and "Rock Around the Clock," Barr said. "He was from Chester, so he played up there a lot. He only had the one song, though. He really couldn't sing."

Barr got deeper into rock and roll by establishing a "hop" at the Fieldhouse in Hamburg. By that time he was fronting a group called Chuck Barr and the Playboys. "We had the hop every Sunday night, he said. And we were also at the Route 83 roller rink, the Fleetwood Grande, the Kutztown Armory... we were all over the place. The Playboys also played the clubs on Penn Street including the Melody Bar and Oasis. He remembers that rock and roll wasn't always accepted by the other musicians who played the same venues. They hated us, he said. "They were more jazz fellows and we were rockabilly. They didn't like our music at all. They were musicians and we were three chords and hammer away."

Barr's own musical tastes were developing and he was more of a fan of Carl Perkins than Elvis Presley. "I just thought Perkins was the better artist," he said " Elvis didn't impress me". He and the Playboys cut a record at the home of Clay Barclay (a record-producer whiz kid at 16) as the '50s ended. I wrote a three-chord song called "Joe Botch " he said. And we recorded it at Clay Barclay's house. His father had bought him a tape recorder so that's where we went to record it. We were around the microphone and the drummer was in the closet. ...

From an (edited) article published by the Reading Eagle on August 30 ,1999.

★

Ronald G. "Chuck" Barr, 77, died Friday surrounded by his loving family at his home in Hamburg.

Born in Hamburg, he was a son of the late Joseph and Florence Barr.

At the age of 17, he joined the Marine Corps and served in a tank battalion in Korea in 1951-52.

He worked at Hamburg Plow Works and later became a painter, most recently at the Hamburg Center, until his retirement.

Music was his great joy. He began with country western music, playing with several local bands. He moved on to rock 'n' roll, with the Rockabillies and then the Playboys. Loss of hearing curtailed his music for a time, but ear surgery brought it back. His love of folk music, especially Irish, led to the formation of The Shanachians. This group was well-known in Berks and Schuylkill counties and beyond. Later, as a solo performer and song writer, he continued to sing and tell stories for a wide variety of audiences. Although weakened by lung cancer, his last gig was with the Jalappa All-Stars in Centerport on Feb. 10.

Obituary published by Republican & Herald on April 9, 2011

★

Clay Barclay is still recording today in Louisville, Kentucky :

50 years ago, Clay Barclay Jr. started recording the coolest Rock and Roll bands in the basement of his parent's house in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Throughout the 1960's he recorded a slew of Rock 'N Rollers including The Triumphs, The Ramrods, The Flowerz, The Yankee Rebels, The Starlites, and some songs by the man whom we now know as Pat Garrett. Using cutting edge Crown Electronics, and mad skills, Clay was able to capture these bands with a clean sound that still sounds great today. Now based out of Louisville, Kentucky, Clay is still recording big name acts with cutting edge equipment, although now it's all digital and high definition. Learn more at barclaysound.com.

★

Links :

• Barclay label discography (Rite pressings only)
• Chuck Barr page at Rockin' Country Style
• Reading Eagle article (1999)
• Obituary

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Ralph Studer with the Dixie Drifters

Ralph Studer with the Dixie Drifters

CP-6517 - Just Me and My Aching Heart
CP-6518 - I'm Heartbroken (Mildred O. Kish)

Stud

[Grand Rapids, OH]

Ralph Raymond Studer (1929-1995) was a farmer, factory worker and musician. Thus are the meager details gathered from a genealogy website.

Composer of the B-side, Mildred Oretta Kish (born Studer) was Ralph's sister. More details are found here.

Ms. Kish was born in Waterville in 1919 to Asher and Carrie Studer. She and her husband ran a grain mill in Grand Rapids. She died in 2006.



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Linda Talley on Raindrop

Linda Talley
Music By The Mavericks

26327 - My Heart Overruled My Mind
(Robert G. Chilton, Jr., Drone Music Pub. BMI)

26328 - Don't Ever Trust A Man

Raindrop Records

St. Charles, Missouri

1970



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J. Mercy Baby on P&P

J. Mercy Baby and the Wonders
14333 - He She's Mine

J. Mercy Baby and Lil-Lether
14334 -The Letter

P&P 101
P&P Records Co.
314 Mobile St. Hattiesburg, Miss.

Both wr. Julius Mullins
Mercy Baby Music, BMI
1965

J. Mercy Baby

15143 - I Tried It
15144 - I Messed Up

Both wr. Julius Mullins
Mercy Baby Music, BMI

P&P Records Co. 105
314 Mobile St. Hattiesburg, Miss.

1965

P&P Records Co.

This is drummer and blues singer Julius "Jimmy" Mullins. on his own label.

Five singles were released, all in 1965. Only one is not by J. Mercy Baby : #102 Helen Williams & the Zionettes.

From JC Marion :

One of the session players on Frankie Lee Sims recordings for Ace was Jimmy Mullins. With Sims and the rest of the combo he took the lead vocals and recorded under the name Mercy Baby. In Dallas in 1957 Ace # 528 was released with the tunes "Marked Deck" and "Rock And Roll Baby". A follow up recording was released on Ace # 535 in October of the year and included the songs "Silly Dilly Woman" and "Mercy's Blues".

During early November Mercy appears with Frankie Lee Sims for Al Benson's big R & B show at Chicago's Regal Theater. Others on the bill are Big Maybelle, Screamin Jay Hawkins, The Dells, Mello-Kings, Joan Shaw, Priscilla Bowman, and Titus Turner. Late in 1957 Mercy recorded for the Ric label based in New Orleans and the tunes "Don't Lie To Me" and "Pleadin" which was issued on # 955.

The next year still located in Dallas, Texas, Mercy recorded for his own label Mercy Baby Records and released two sides. The first on # 501 issued in November was "You Ran Away" and "Love's Voodoo". The second release in June of 1959 was on Mercy Baby # 502 featured "The Rock And Stomp" and "So Lonesome".

Hear a rare Jimmy Mullins recording HERE followed by Finny Mo talkin to Mercy Baby on the phone at the end of recording - and Zuzu Bollin laughing in background (from a KCLE radio show, 1976).



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George Brock and the Happy Rhythm Boys on Ark

George Brock and the Happy Rhythm Boys

CP-7415 ~ Memories Of Dad
CP-7416 ~ Help Me Be A Better Christian

Ark 213

1962

George Brock

His first?

Also recorded for REM Records (1965-1966), Jewel (1967) and Starlite.

G. Brock discography HERE

Mason Gay on Country Music

Mason Gay
Singing With Guitar

CP-4363 - The Girl I Met At The Bar
CP-4364 - I Never Have The Blues

Both wr Mason Gay, Rite Music BMI

Country Music Records # 501
Forest, Mississippi

1960

eBay donchriss auction ending April 23.




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Smokey Norman on Smokey's

Smokey Norman / Blue Ridge Buddies

11455 - Intoxicated Rat
11456 - Why Did I Cross Over?

Smokey’s Records
1201 Cloverdale Street
High Point, N.C.

1963

"Intoxicated Rat" is a cover of a song first recorded the Dixon Brothers :

According to Gus Meade's book Country Music Sources, Dorsey Dixon, one of country music's finest early songwriters, is the originator and composer, c. 1935. The song was recorded with his brother Howard as the Dixon Brothers in Charlotte, NC, February 12, 1936, and released in June 1936 on Bluebird and Montgomery Ward: BB B6327, MW M4823.

The Dixon Brothers version is on youTube

Label pic from current eBay auction (auction has a sample of both sides)
thanks : http://myworld.ebay.com/djmackgyver

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Bobby Vernon (Air 5019)

Bobby Vernon with Orchestra

CP-3977 – Hey, Little Baby!
(Alwin Krugler, Active BMI)
sample

CP-3978 - Please Don't Tell
( )
sample

Air Records 5019

Produced by Rite Records
("produced by" here meaning probably "pressed by")

1960

Label picture and audio samples : eBay http://myworld.ebay.com/chriscarnahan2

Air Records was located at 3170 SW 8th St., Miami Florida, address of the Silver Court Trailer Park which was once the winter camp for the Ringling Brothers Circus.

Producer and songwriter Jack A. Curry, owner of Air Records, had also other interests outside the "music" world, showing a big concern for the well-being of other people :

In 1953, he wrote "Vitamins cured my bothersome ailments; or, Allergy, no such".

In the mid-sixties he copyrighted two revolutionary inventions :

• The can't slip eyeglass temple, stem, clips.
• The Clip-on rear view eyeglass mirror.

Air Records links :

http://www.songpoemmusic.com/labels/air.htm

http://www.45rpmrecords.com/ST/Air.php

http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/label.php?key=28




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Pat Riley And The Rockets on Reed

Pat Riley And The Rockets

CP-1769 ~ I Need You Baby
CP-1770 ~ Little Bop A Little

Reed 1201

May 1959

★

"Little Bop A Little" saw the light again in 1997, thanks to Cees Klop (The Rockin' "Reed" Recordings, Collector CD 4440), which was not the case of "I Need You Baby".

Both songs were written by one Payne (probably Irvin Payne, a guitar and steel player who died in 2009. Irvin Payne taught many people in the Birmingham area how to play guitar for over 50 years).

The "Sensational" Pat Riley on Tin Pan Alley (two singles in 1957) is obviously a different Pat Riley. You can hear Pat "not bopping" Riley at YouTube here, here or even here...

In the sixties, there was one Pat Riley on Gold Standard and one on Bandit. but I've not heard them.

Another Pat Riley listed in Billboard on Whiz Records (1968) but it's a misprint. The artist is actually Pat BRILEY.

★

Reed Records was founded by Homer Milam in 1958. The first releases were pressed by the RCA Records custom division and the songs published by Double "M" Music, BMI. The Pat Riley record is one of the first of many pressed by Rite Records. Later records were published by Starland Music, a company owned by Gary Sizemore, blues singer Jerry McCain’s manager and sales manager of the Bel-Aire Distributing Company (formed in Birmingham in 1959).
This is perhaps the indication of a change of the label's ownership.

According to Malcom Chapman, Reed Records & Recording Service was located above Brittney’s Cafe on 1917 First Avenue N in Birmingham.

The studio was already active as early as 1956, when Birminghamian Baker Knight (and his Knighmares) recorded here “Bring My Cadillac Back" (Kit Records, leased to Decca).

According to Bobby Mizzell, Homer Milam had a heart attack and died in the early 70's. "They tore Reed to the ground and I have no idea what happened to all those records." (see Bo Berglind article).


Label pictures credit : Udo Frank

Reed Records discography (Rite pressings only) 45rpmrecords.com

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Freddy J. and the Flames on Sahara

Freddy J. and the Flames

9481 – Cimarron (S-FH-1)
9482 – Groovin’ on Telstar (S-FH-2)

Sahara Records 501

Produced by Buck Lipe
Distributed by Marlo Records
Belleville, Illinois

Instrumentals

★

"Cimarron" was penned by Johnny Bond in 1938. Johnny Bond, then member of the Bell Boys on WKY in Oklahoma City contributed the theme song to the group when he wrote "Cimarron" after noticing there was no song titled "Cimarron" although that had been the name of a popular western movie as well as a river in Oklahoma. That song has been recorded (vocal and instrumental) by scores of artists over the years (including several versions by Johnny Bond himself).

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left to right: Cliff Crofford, Johnny Bond, Rose Maphis, Billy Mize, and Joe Maphis on guitar

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Johnny Seals and the Rebelaires on Rebel

Johnny Seals and the Rebelaires

CP-6431 ~ You're The One
(A. Smith, Comodore BMI)

CP-6432 ~ My Babe
(W. Dixon, ARC BMI)

Rebel Records R 107/R 108
Memphis, Tenn.

1961


★

"You're The One" was first recorded by The Spiders (Imperial Records, 1954). The song was penned by guitarist, singer and songwriter Adolph Smith. Born in New Orleans in 1926; Smith worked with 50's vocal group The Monitors, and penned many tunes for The Spiders.

"My Babe" is the song written by Willie Dixon for Little Walter (Checker Records, 1955)

Both songs were compiled on the Rebel/Rebel Ace Records Story released by Stomper Time in 2002.

The booklet tells the story of labels owner (and singer) Shelby Smith. But there is no information at all about Johnny Seals or about the Rebelaires. No information found neither on the internet.

I am willing to believe that the Johnny Seals record is indeed on the same Rebel label that the one owned by Shelby Smith.

Doubt is allowed since on the same compilation we found Parker Cunningham's "Dry Run" from another Rebel label, out of South Pittsburg, owned by Bill Cooley, and a track by the Four Jacks probably from the Rebel label located in Little Rock, Arkansas and not related, .




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