Dan Greer on S. & W.

Dan Greer

14969 ~ Swing'n Place [SW-711]
Dan Greer, Sandra Music, BMI

14970 ~ Old Beale Street  [SW-712]
Dan Greer, Sandra Music, BMI

S & W Records 207

1965

First record of this singer, writer and producer.  Probably recorded at Fernwood Studios (Ronald Wallace, owner)

From Dean Rudland, Beale Street Soul Man - The Sounds Of Memphis Sessions (Ace Records)

 

Dan Greer was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, he moved to Memphis with his mother in the early 50s and lived close to the thriving musical scene on Beale Street. The talent he mixed with – William Bell, Maurice White, Louis Williams of the Ovations, Percy and Spencer Wiggins and many others – were part of the generation that underpinned the golden era of Memphis soul.

Dan returned to Holly Springs to attend art college, where he learned the techniques that have sustained him for the past five decades as a talented designer.  When he came back to Memphis he got into the music business.  After hanging out at Stax and Fernwood, he ended up working at Goldwax, alongside new songwriting partner George Jackson. The pair had their songs recorded by all the label’s biggest stars – James Carr, the Ovations and Spencer Wiggins – as well as releasing their own 45 under the name George & Greer. Their partnership fell apart when George was poached by Rick Hall to work exclusively at Fame.

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Southern Echoes on SE& L

Southern Echoes

20887 - Lord See About Me 

(Author Dotson) Sandra Music BMI

Time 2:45

20888 - I Was Brought Up Lord 

(Loyd White) Sandra Music BMI

Time 2:50

SE& L 480

Auctioned here (auction has sound clips)

"Gospel soul" probably from Memphis, Tennessee (same group on Champ and Designer?).

From late 1967 (November or December)

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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The Del Rios on Bet..T

The Del Rios

CP-4977 ~ Heavenly Angel
CP-4978 ~ Dangerous Lover

Bet..T Records

(Memphis, Tennessee)

1961

The Del Rios, one of Memphis, TN's pioneering vocal groups, started in the '50s. Different guys came in and out, but one constant was William Bell. They performed on shows with Phineas Newborn, a Memphis jazz legend, and found regular employment in clubs. The initial Del Rios single dropped in 1956 on Meteor Records, a small label in Memphis; the single "Alone on a Rainy Night" b/w "Lizzie" increased the group's popularity locally but that's about it.

William Bell : "We would do two gigs on the weekend. We would play for the college kids at the Plantation Inn in West Memphis, right across the Mississippi river in Arkansas.owned by Betty Berger and her husband, which was like a high energy dance club, and then we had a later set at the Flamingo Room. Betty Berger was during that time a night club owner. She and her husband owned the Plantation Inn in West Memphis We recorded that single for her.”

Del Rios biography by Andrew Hamilton
Soulexpress article



Owner of Bet..T Records Bettye Berger was born in 1930.

In 1955, Bettye started to work on WHER, the worlds first all womens radio station created by Sam Phillips :

Crammed into an 18-by-35-ft. studio in a Holiday Inn in Memphis, WHER was the nation's first "all-girl" radio station—not that you couldn't tell from the decor. There were plush pastel carpets, walls painted aqua and pink and doors marked with colorful names like DOLL'S DEN and GIRL FRIDAY. "It was like walking into Disney World—and the girls were beautiful and sweet," recalls Berger more than 40 years later.

Through her connections with Sam, she meet the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. She only went on a few dates with the king. She wrote a ballad called 'Please Convince Me That You Love Me' that Elvis wanted to record at and speed it up in to a Rock n Roll style song and she refused. She laughs now by saying what a fool she was for not allowing Elvis to record it. (The song was recorded by Buddy Cunningham and issued on Phillips Int'l 3516 in November 1957.)

In 1959, she is credited (as Bettye Maddox) as the co-writer of several songs released on the West Coast American International label : "Campus Raid" (The Nighthoppers), "Headless Ghost" (the Nightmares) and "We Love The Dodgers" (Jimmie Maddin).

When she was 35, she joined a booking agency for musical artists. She was the only female agent the company had ever had. When a man did not pay her $1800 dollars for a booking, because she was a female and he thought that a woman shouldn't have that much money, she quit the firm that she was working with and created her own.

Her first client was Charlie Rich. Soon after word of her success spread, more and more artists became aware of the new, small, agency. Willie Mitchell, a trumpet player and an influential producer also joined her roster. At one point, her agency had outdone the national agency that she had previously worked for.

A entire chapter (by Laura Helper-Ferris) of "Tennessee Women: Their Lives and Times", a book edited by Sarah Wilkerson Freeman and Beverly Bond, is devoted to Bettye Berger.

Another release on the same label. The address (201 S.Cleveland, Memphis) was also the address of Bettye's Continental Artists Inc., her booking agency.




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Earl Forest on Tuff-Stuff

Earl Forest

Tuff-Stuff 105

15503 - Now It's Alright
15504 - Don't Leave Me

1965

Both sides were compiled by Stomper Time Records on the Fernwood Rhythm 'n' Blues CD.

Earl Forest - Drummer and singer who was one of the legendary "Beale Streeters", an informal group of friends that formed in the early 50's and played on each other's recordings and included R&B stars Bobby Bland, Johnny Ace, Junior Parker and Rosco Gordon, who played on several of B.B. King's famous sessions (including "Three O'Clock Blues'), and who had a top 10 R&B hit in 1953 with "Whoopin" and Hollerin''.

According to Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms : " Earl and I became fast friends, with me asking him stories about the glory days of Memphis blues and his exploits on the road. I learned that he was the first black audio engineer in our area and that he had worked for Duke and Peacock Records even before Don Robey purchased the label. Earl would say, “Son, I was recording with 3 tracks at Main and Winchester when [Sam] Phillips [of Sun Records] didn't have but two!” Earl signed many famous blues artists while acting as Engineer and A&R man for Duke and Peacock Records."

"Earl told me that a young Elvis Presley had asked to sit in with his band during a break on Beale and that he had threatened to fire any of them who would not do so. He said they didn't have any problems with Elvis, but they just wanted "to go take their break and get drunk." Blues trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller was in Earl's band at this time and Elvis attributed many of his stage moves to copying the stylings of Bowlegs. Earl had huge respect for all musicians and artists of any age and Earl really liked Elvis. "

Earl Forest recorded in Memphis and Houston for Duke, Flair and Meteor.

He died Feb. 26, 2003 of cancer in Memphis at age 76.


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Don't Leave Me


Now It's Alright



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J.T. and The Three Wise Men

J.T. & the Three Wise Men
Camel 102
19593 - I Stand Accused
19594 - You're Gonna Lose Your Lovin' Man (wr Keeton)

The Wondering Souls (of Memphis)

The Wondering Souls
FHR 100
Fast Hit Record
17019 - Living In The Last Days
17020 - The Day I Found The Lord

John and Margie Cook - Volunteer 737

John And Margie Cook
and The White River Valley Boys
Volunteer 737
1745 Lamar Avenue, Memphis, Tenn.
CP-1603 ~ The Love I Have For You
CP-1604 ~ Do I Have To Stay Alone

Starday Custom country 45 pressed in late 1958.

Photos courtesy of Malcolm Chapman and Phil Tricker.

Wayne Toombs on Pure Gold 305

Wayne Toombs
Pure Gold 305
9525 - It's My Heart That You're Breaking

9526 - Pretty Girl

Rite Account #267

According the The American Record Label Directory, Pure Gold is a Memphis based subsidary of the Fernwood label.

Partially documented on RCS with only one photo and no sound clips, this 1963 rock & roll / rocker is worth further mention.

Mr. Toombs gets warmed up with a nice rocker on the a-side and then delivers a calypso style semi-rockabilly "Pretty Girl" on the b-side.

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