Noel Owen on M.C.M.

 

 

Noel Owen

CP-6171 - Come In My Darling

CP-6172 - Just A Wondering

both sides : wr. N.Owen, Kenny Marlow Music –BMI

MCM Records  3.377
Whitsett Lane, Nashville 11, Tenn.
1961

♦

Owen , one of 12 children , felt he was a heartbeat from stardom when Standard Coffee Co. transferred him from Courtland [Alabama] to Nashville to continue developing a route.   In his spare time , he kept up his songwriting and singing , pitching his creations to anyone who would listen , and pulling gigs wherever he could find a spot.

He finally landed a recording contract with a small company called MCM , cut a record and began spending even more time away from his young family.

Back then , marketing was pretty simple , he said You pitched your own records , and I went to about every country station around.   Every disc jockey I saw put the song on the air , and they'd tell me , 'You're on your way!'.

His wife , the former Jean Terry of Courtland , was having a hard time keeping track of her music-loving husband.  When Owen came home , the displeasure in her face was as plain as the pain in any old Hank Williams' tune.  At that late hour , she stood in the middle of the den between their two young sons , holding their hands.  Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Honey , I just can't stand this , I just can't stay here by myself anymore , she said.  Hadn't you rather be here with me and the boys than out on that old road?.

Owen asked his wife to please give him a chance , that he was closer than ever to realizing his dream , but she couldn't see it..  He brought his family back to Courtland in 1961.   After working as an agent for Mutual Savings Life Insurance Co. , in Decatur , he sold appliances for W.T. Grant.  He then joined the United States Department of Agricultural , working for 26 years as a meat inspector at Wayne Farms , retiring in 1992.

 ♦

 

Other Noel Owen records can be found on Myown, Star and  High Goal Records.