Frank (Andy) Starr & The Rock-Away Boys.
Lin Records # 1013 - 1955
Tell Me Why / From The Want Of Your Love .
Born Franklin Delano Gulledge, 21 October 1932, Mill Creek, Arkansas Died 12 September 2003, Fayetteville, Arkansas
The station manager persuaded Frank to audition for Joe Leonard, who owned the Gainsville based Lin label and KGAF radio. Leonard was impressed by the uptempo hillbilly stuff on offer and a session was arranged for early '55 at the Cliff Herring Studio in Fort Worth, Texas.
Dallas songwriters Mietzl Miller and Bill Baker were commissioned to write a couple of songs, the first The Dirty Bird Song is a catchy uptempo item, not a million miles from Marvin Rainwater. The second number, Dig Them Squeaky Shoes is a plodding country rocker, with some nice guitar work from Frank. The resultant single (Lin 1009) failed to click on the charts but was a more than decent debut. Tell Me Why is probably the best song from the session, a real chugger, Franks vocals still very rural at his stage and the band on top form. It was written by bass player Marvin Pace, a local car salesman whose band, including fifteen year old piano playing son Johnny Pace, backed Frank billed as the Rock-Away Boys. For The Want Of Your Love is a country weeper with backing vocals from the pen of W.D.Patty who supplied songs to other Joe Leonard artists, most notably the excellent Buck Griffin but when released as Lin 1013 both sides sank without trace. ( Taken from RAB Hall of Fame)
