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!
Bob and his string band really cook up a pretty good mid tempo slice of Country with this second release on Joyce! Have A Talk With Your Heart is pretty standard Country fair! but Bob has a top voice that makes it worth the while! decent back up unknown band even though the piano player does hit a bum note on the second solo! plenty of great fiddle and sweet Steel just about elevates this record above the standard string band in the mid 50's!
Interesting note the 45 release of the same record corrects his surname as 'Rourk' and NOT Roark! as seen on the 78 version!
Lou Graham lays down two spicy tunes of borderline Rockabilly on Gotham and by jingo they both get jiggy!
Backed by Bill Haley's & his Saddlemen! both sides hit the spot! You can tell that Lou is a massive Hank Williams fan as he covers the master with a great version of 'Long Gone Daddy' and on the A side a self written tune 'Two Timin' Blues' which is right out of the Hank rule book! they both move and you can hear that music will very soon be moving from country/hillbilly to this new thang called rockabilly!
Shorty Sullivan - Von Records # 1004 - Booneville, Mississippi - Nov 1955.
Side A - Tell Me, Tell Me.
Side B - Gotta Have Your Love Tonight.
This is a diamond of a record! it literally sparkles from start to stop! the A side hits all the right notes with a competent country tune but it's when you flip flop the monster over! well you better hold on to your hat! it's a real mover! its a damn fine tune where all musicians taking part in the recording really know what they're doing! It's really is Von-Tastic!!!
This TNT record is not so much a rare one but is definitely one needed for all hillbilly/Country 78 record collectors! It has avoided me over the years! after being outbid! forgetting to bid! but finally one appeared for sale in the UK and here it is!
A true twin spin if ever there was one! Warmed Over Love is just magic with those sweet Jacoby Bros at full voice & harmonising so well ! Fiddle led with some tasty mandolin! but it's the vocal delivery that steals the show!
Cannonball! again moves at a pace and is just magical as it switches gear with little effort! Train whistle intro and down the tracks the song shoots along! Again the fiddle drives the thing! as the brothers hit each sweet note with perfection!
Frank Deaton and The Mad Lads - Bally Records # 1042 - 1957
Side A - My Love For You
Side B - Just A Little Bit More.
The A side is a pretty cool tune! Frank shows us some laid back hiccup vocal on a really nice rock-a-ballad, some snazzy lead guitar from one of The Mad Lads! overall not a bad little tune! BUT! flip it over and you get some Red HOT bass slappin' rockabilly! pure excellence! Frank again shows off even more 'over the top' hiccupy vocal style and really lays it on before you'll hear even more blistering lead guitar that really moves through the grooves!
A late 78 pressing of this classic and is pretty hard to find rockabilly scorcher!
Skeeter Bonn - Amijo Records # 933 - Chicago, 1954
Side 1 - Honey Baby
Side 2 - I've Been Down That Road Before.
This promo 78 record + press pack was sent out to Radio stations and DJ's to promote Skeeter Bonn and his music! The A side 'Honey Baby' has a yodel style and is a pretty decent slow/mid paced track! Piano and Fiddle are prominent throughout! I prefer the flip 'I've Been Down That Road Before' which really moves along nicely! Nice chugging lead guitar, sweet fiddle and of course Skeeter and his high octave vocal!
After the minor local success of 'High Geared Daddy' on Tommy's own TRC (North Carolina) label earlier in the year! Colonial stepped up to release the same two tracks on their Hollywood label towards the end of 1949!
High Geared Daddy has all the ingredients to be considered borderline Rockabilly! not quite! but you can hear the subtle movement in that direction! A true hillbilly record that really moves! The acoustic guitar sweeps around and really rocks! a top top rare 78 record!
The flip side has some great duet vocals Tiny & Cliff with some terrific steel and superb acoustic guitar and mandolin! which makes this tune! way above the standard weepie majority of B sides around this time! this track bops along real fine!
Recorded February 13, 1947 at WSM studios in Nashville, TN.
Classic Hank! on a classic label! this is as pure a country record that you will ever ever hear! Honky Tonkin' even as early as 1947! Hank started to push the country envelope with a chugging beat! sweet fiddle & lush steel heavily layered on top! you get the very early beginnings of Rockabilly (still a way off! but it's starting to raise it's head) . It was very soon after this release that M.G.M came knocking and whisked him away to make his fame and fortune! and he never looked back! until it all came to a sudden end!
Side A - Guest Star In Heaven (A Tribute To Hank Williams)
Side B - I Know I'm Falling In Love.
Earney & The Big 'D' Boys strike up a hearty rhythm and top notch record with the really good 'Guest Star In Heaven & 'I Know I'm Falling In Love' both are just lovely country sides and basically do what they are supposed to do! they get your toes tappin' and your ears caressed!
Picked up on e-bay for a cheap price! But as with most acetates the sound on both side is a bit eggs & bacon! but still sounds pretty good and for historical reasons it needs to be heard!
The A side is a lovely country song about a cheating wife and how he'll be long gone in the morning! Chuck's vocal is superb and with unknown fiddle & Electric guitar (I would imagine Chuck plays the Rhythm Guitar) this is just a really good country tune! played with elegance and has all the makings of really good record! The flip 'Slowly' has a lot more noise and is your typical country slow tune! good but not as good as 'I'm Long Gone'
Lynn Pratt was born on April 9th 1926 in Sugar Tree, Tennessee and died on January 19, 2002, in Lexington at the age of 75. He is buried at the Henderson County Memorial Gardens in Lexington.
In early 1956 after recording at Sun Studios (to no reward) Pratt started up his own label simply called 'Hornet Records' in Lexington, Tennessee. 1st issue on his new label was 'Tom Cat Boogie/At Night Time - The A side is the mover for sure and all band members are going for it ! Recorded in Nashville WSIX Radio studios it really is a tip top Tom Cat tune! fine Rockabilly guitar laced with Piano & Steel(this session probably did not include drummer Henry Hays)
The Flip is a really nice country slow song played with care and has some nice piano with Pratt singing this broken hearted melody with gusto! Nice guitar to start interspersed steel guitar and an unknown fiddle player!
Lynn Pratt & The Tomcats - Hornet Records # 1001 - 195?
A Side - Troubles (Pratt)
B Side - I Don't Need (Pratt)
This 2nd Hornet release by Lynn Pratt (seen now with his named band 'The Tomcats) and they give us 'Troubles'! now! not as good as Tom Cat Boogie! but non the less it's a cracking mid tempo slice of country bop! I would imagine the band from the 1st release would remain but as we are unclear on a actual recording date and year this is just a guess (but it does have a similar feel to # 1000). Two cracking country numbers by Lynn and the boys , plenty of steel and piano and it is basically a verry very good country record! the A side swings with some great guitar pickin' and the B side weeps! just as all good 78 records should! shouldn't they?
A - Side - I'm Sorry I Got In The Way (Vocal by Dale Noe) # F-1016
B - Side - Houn' Dog Boogie # FF-1016
As was the norm around the late 40's & early 50's Sheldon Gibbs was a bar owner, radio personality, restaurant manager and leader of a band! and as would have it Sheldon was a very popular band leader and was the first guy to discover Marty Robins!
The A side is just a real nice country tune with all the usual trimmings but it's when you flip the thing over you get! well you get very close to a Rockabilly tune! Slim Forbes on Fiddle, Bud Croy and Dale Noe on Guitars and they really cook up a storm on this pretty hard to find slice of shellac! the beginnings of Rock 'N' Roll and Rockabilly is nearly here and the Houn' Dog Boogie has a bark! a pretty loud bark!
Side A - We Can Never Love Again (Vocal by Tiny & Cliff)
Side B - High Geared Daddy
I have another Tommy Little 78 record on the 'Ollit' label 'Mean, Mean Woman' which is also a damn fine record! 'High Geared Daddy' was released on his own label in Durham, North Carolina & was also released the same year on the Colonial Records label after they heard this TRC version above!
Classic Country bluegrass, fast moving, banjo pickin' tune about how his woman goes down through his gears! to keep him from moving to fast! typical record of it's time, a little racy! as we know what he's eluding to but is never said! quality in all the ways you want!
At times you can hear the Rockabilly trying to get through but was just a few years to early! just replace the banjo with a hot pickin' guitar and Tommy might have got there first!
Dave "Diddlie" Day with Tony Ray Combo - Fee Bee Records # 212
April 1957.
Side A - Blue Moon Baby
Side B - Suzanne My Love
A tough one to find on 78 and just has tough on the Fee Bee 45! a very late 78 rpm press for 1957!
This as anyone knows is a tale of two sides! 'Suzanne My Love' is the kind of record that will never be played, remembered or for that fact even liked! turgid slow love song with no heart or for that matter love!
But then as we know you flip to the A side and you get monster rockabilly minor chord wonderment! 'Blue Moon Baby' ! a truly marvellous tune with shuddering guitar and rhythmic moody shuffle! a true! great record!
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