Joe Clay (Claiborne Joseph Cheramie) passed away on the 26th Sept 2016 but he left us some of the greatest rockabilly records ever made. This one on Vik is a twin sided monster that really doesn't need any introduction by me!
A very rare record on 78rpm and was pressed in limited amounts unlike the 45 rpm which was pressed in much greater numbers and vinyl version is still pretty easy to find today.
On these tunes you'll hear Hal Harris on lead guitar and Link Davis on rhythm guitar and along with the fantastic rockin' vocals by Joe. In one word, this record is 'Perfection'
Vocals by Eddie on both sides and both are mighty fine slices of country bop! plenty of fiddle and steel guitar make the A side a wonderful listenable experience
But when you flip it over, wow, it's a real bopper, up tempo and moves along at a real pace with fantastic lead guitar and fiddle and a great slap bass solo as well, you get the lot here, this is what was happening in country music in 1952 and thankfully it was captured onto shellac by 4 star.
I don't usually buy too many country records on Four Star but I made an exception with this one and boy, I'm glad I did!
Mr Hendon with his jamboree cowboys really were hot stuff around the early 50's and these recordings on Shamrock (Houston, Texas) really do show how good they were, utter brilliance really.
'Blues Boogie' is quite simply breathtaking, brilliant boogie lead guitar with sublime Steel makes this recording from 1952 so amazing, you even get an upright bass solo! magical stuff.
Cowboy Jack and the Three J's - Clifton Records # 6101 - Year ?
Side 1A - Trust Me Darling
Side 2 A - Rover Is My Name
This was the 2nd of 3 records released by Clifton but despite research I have no real clue who Cowboy Jack was! Was he Cowboy Jack Patton ? , I'm not sure!
Both sides are really good rural country, 'Trust Me Darling' is sung with great gusto by Jack and the simple accompaniment matches Jack's delivery , I can only hear maybe 2 guitars and the vocal and this makes it simple and charming.
'Rover Is My name' is a tad slower than the A side and again a very simple arrangement makes this another slice of rural country, pure country and nothing more, excellent!
F. Eddy Pierce with String Band -Pier-Wats Records # 1300 - 1956
Side A - Hold Back Tomorrow
Side B - Your Kisses Don't Thrill Me Anymore
Here we have a RITE custom press from 1956 with both sides written by Eddy & James Watson and released as a custom pressing using their own label (Pier(ce) - Wats(on).
These are both great country tunes, not Rockabilly as you may expect from 1956, Eddy was still holding the country flame high & proud. 'Hold Back Tomorrow' is really nice little country shuffle weepie and has some lovely steel & fiddle and Eddy's voice is just great.
Flip it over and BOOM! we get some real quick moving hillbilly with fiddle, steel and all that magic stuff you would expect from a quality recording by some fine musicians.
The 45 on Pier-Wats seems to be, out and around and quite easy to track down but this 78 version seems to be a bit of a mystery and pretty rare.
Side B - Sweetheart Mountain Rose (Holden Brothers)
Mr Holden does a pretty good job on this early hillbilly number, he has the right tone in his voice (not the crooner country sound) and delivers a real cool 1946 tune. Quality steel playing and steady rhythm guitar keeps this chugging along, then the fiddle and what you get is some sweet hillbilly music.
Fairley went onto record a whole bunch of great records over at King during the late 40's including this A side again in 1947 with Piano added to the ensemble. All his King output was in a real fast hillbilly style and was mighty mighty fine!
Just before Lloyd got the Rockabilly bug where he produced monster records for Starday & Rebublic he released this truly magnificent country 2 sider for the Ekko label out of Hollywood, California.
Released in early 1956 Lloyd along with Chet Atkins and Jerry Byrd he laid down these wonderful tunes onto vinyl & shellac and as I'm sure you'll agree are not wild, not crazy rockabilly but just two superb songs, played with perfection by some of the country music industries finest musicians .
Late 1955 or early 1956 Nashville, TN – Lloyd McCollough (Lloyd Arnold [vcl], Chet Atkins [gt], Jerry Byrd [steel], Buddy Hollie [bass], Tommy Jackson [fiddle], Jimmy Self [piano])
His first record was made for the Von label from Booneville, Mississippi, in the fall of 1955. Both sides, "Oh Darling" and "Watch That Girl" were pure country. It gave Lloyd something to sell on his radio shows on KWEM. The two sides of his second record, "Until I Love Again"/"What Goes On In Your Heart" (Ekko 1023, 1956) were mid-tempo country offerings, more polished and professional than the Von sides. Not surprising, given the fact that the backing musicians included Chet Atkins and Jerry Byrd. As country music's popularity started to wane due to the explosion of rock 'n' roll, Lloyd switched to rockabilly, which was a relatively easy task for him. His third single was in this new style : "Gonna Love My Baby"/ "Cause I Love You" (Republic 7129, 1956), produced by Murray Nash. His next single, "Half My Fault", again for a different label (Starday), was even better, but it was not released until March 1958, when rockabilly had already gone out of fashion. By that time Lloyd had changed the name of his band to the Rockin' Drifters.
Harry (Jole Blon) Choates - Macy's Recordings # 124 - July 1950
Side A - Gra Mamou
Side B - Catn' Around
You know exactly what you're gonna get with Harry Choates, great fiddle, catchy cajun country rhythms and with this release you get that and more! 'Catn' Around' is the side for me, and really does move at a pace and even has a little rockin' bop mixed in as well, bloomin' splendid. The flip is a lovely cajun waltz and sounds mighty fine as well.
Pat and the boys do a mighty fine job on this rare little country platter and 'The Jelly Song' really does move along at a fine pace with some terrific guitar work by Gene Davis & sweet fiddle by Johnny Wood.
Acetate 'Audiodisc' 1 sided - Pat Cook 'Careless Darling'
Side B - Too Quick To Condemn (Too Slow to Forgive)
This was Jack & the Playboys second release on Debut Records . Their first showing was on Debut Records # 1000 where Jack and the boys backed vocalist Audie Andrews .
But here we get to seem them shine and they do a damn fine job on this record. The A side is all you would expect from the year and location, proper Country music, smooth vocals with harmony vocals to match, and top notch playing from the Oklahoma Playboys
Jack and his brother Herb were prominent figures around Los Angeles in the late 40's and early 50's , they both led their own bands and worked at all the big shindigs in California .
Jack Tucker (19 April 1918 - 26 September 1996)
He was born Morris Tucker in Haleyville near Oklahoma City and came from a musical family. Jack and his brother Hubert (aka Herb) led bands in Los Angeles, playing spots like the Hitching Post, Harmony Park Ballroom, and so on. Jack had a Saturday night television show on Channel 11. Tommy Allsup graduated from Herb Tucker’s band, and according to some, Herb led the more musically sophisticated outfit.
Stripped down rockabilly, with just a couple of acoustic guitars and an upright bass, gives this a rural feel but it still moves along at a right good pace! nice vocals by Bill and he gives it his all. Same goes for the flip, another solid slice of mid paced rockabilly with some sweet pickin' guitar and Bill's real cool vocal.
The song 'Romp Stompin' Boogie' was a song from my teenage years that I played on my CBS Rockabillies LP. Such a great tune and on 78 the tune just jumps from the grooves, Jaycee has a great voice and the whole song is a rockabilly classic, it definitely swings and stomps at the same time, never has a song such as Romp Stompin' Boogie been elevated by teenagers in the late 70's and early 80's as a real classic song.
Then you realise that it was only the B side and the A also bops along, two great songs on a really Epic record! Easy to find on 45 but pretty rare on a 1956 shellac 78 record.
Bluegrass legend Red Allen with a very early outing on Ace Records and damn fine job he did on this cool two sider.
Truck driver shifts along in a low gear with some nice wailing steel and Mandolin and Red's smooth vocal with a hint of yodel keeps the whole thing from jack knifing off the needle.
But for me it is the much punchier 'Old Rocky Trail' on the flip which pricked my up ears on the first spin! real nice steady mid tempo bounce and typical steel and mandolin interject at just the right times! Red again sounds smooth like a prairie at sunset and the whole thing bounces into life with a superb Steel & Mandolin solo! perfect really!
Lone Star Playboys - Blue Bonnet Record # 131 - March 1948
Side A - Kelly Waltz
Side B - Wasted Love.
Just picked this up on my trip around Texas and only cost me $3 and was worth every cent IMO.
The A side 'Kelly Waltz' is a decent instrumental and bobs along nice but for me the flip is the cool tune with smooth vocals from Hamlet Booker. A Texas record found in Texas and it sounds so much like Texas as well.
This super boogie record from 1952 just moves! The old alarm clock goes off at the start and it's off milking we go! and Reece and his Rainbow Valley boys get straight to it! (This was re recorded in the same year by Harry Adams on Kentucky Folk Records) .
Pretty much a typical of the year and time western boogie record but elevated by some tremendous playing and delivery from all!
Frankie Starr - Range-Land Records # 1914 - March 1955
Side A - I Love You Too Much To Leave You
Side B - I'm Paying The Price
This Range-Land Record company has no connection to the Starday Custom 78 record by Billie & Gordon Hamrick that was released a year earlier!
Frankie Starr during his career put out some sterling work like the popular 45 'Elevator Boogie' on Star- Win records! but here we have a fairly tough to find 78 release!
What you get on this platter is two mighty fine (maybe not stunning) but nevertheless! two fine Country songs! Frankie is in fine voice and his unknown band 'quite simply' keep it simple but they do it very well indeed! This record was catered to the country 'straight down the middle' working class family! pure in every form when toe tapping was the order of the day! in word 'Classy'
For a record cut in late 1950 this really is ahead of the curve! The B side is a great country chugger! full of top playing from all concerned! Yes! it's a typical country theme and tune but you can hear the start of something that would evolve into that country/rockabilly sound that would be here just a few years later! This was the first release for Alan Flatt and he would go on to record many more for Jamboree, Tennessee, Republic and Mercury labels!
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