MOVIE CRAFT RECORDS 566

MOVIE CRAFT 566

930 West 7th Place, Los Angeles 17, CA

ROD BURTON - Moviecraft Orchestra
ROD BURTON and GWEN REYNOLDS - Moviecraft Orchestra

Jun 56

566-A - I'd Like To Be A Baby Sitter

(Morris-Gerard) (Golden State Songs BMI)

566-B - "I'm Dolling You Up For" Somebody Else

(Morris-Gerard) (Golden State Songs BMI)

The only info we had on this disc was a black acetate. No labels, no info, just the info in the dead wax. Now, after close to 20 years, here at last is the disc! I'm not going to pretend I know too much about the song-poem legacy of some artists, but Rod Burton's name crops up occasionally on obscure labels from God-Knows-Where. If there's anybody out there that can fill in some details on him, I'd be more than willing to add it. 


As for the music, I'm just waiting for the MP3s to arrive to compare them to the acetate (Just in case they're a little different) and I'll be able to tell you more. Well, probably not MUCH more, but just enough.


A huge thanks to Toms Sims who found a copy of the disc.
Feel free to Email me! with any other info on the label or artist.

Tom Sims

Tom Sims

STARDAY RECORDS 565

LUKE GORDON and his Lonesome Drifters

May 56 (BMI clearance on 15th Jun 56)(Recorded Apr 56)

ST-565-A Big New Dance

(L Gordon) (Starrite BMI)

ST-565-B Just Doin' What's Right

(Unknown Credits) (Starrite BMI)

STARDAY RECORDS 565

(Artist based in Quincy, KY)

Another fine offering by the excellent Luke Gordon. The A side (to me) fully embraces the new music style that was frequently pushing aside country music at the time, whilst staying true to his musical roots. The band once again are excellent. Once again, Luke ventured to Ben Adelman's cool little studio on Cedar Street in Washington DC to record these tracks. I haven't heard the flip side as yet, nor have I seen the record. (MC)

Email me!

STARDAY RECORDS 564

STARDAY RECORDS 564

 (Possibly a Tennessee Artist)

TEX DIXON

May 56 (BMI clearance on 15th Jun 56)

45-564-A - Your Lovin' Lies

(Jimmie Atkins / Walter Dickey) (Starrite BMI)

45-564-B - I'm Just Feeling Sorry For Myself

(Jimmie Atkins / Walter Dickey) (Starrite BMI)

Although I pretty much know almost nothing about this artist, he was pretty prolific during the 50's and early 60's. His real name was Walter Dee Dickey and he recorded under the name Mason Dixon for Reed Records, Walter Dixon on Erwin Records and Tex Dixon on this release and also on Zone and Stompertime Records from Memphis, TN. He was a regular on the Dixie Hayride (Florence, AL). Walter was blessed with a voice that could do stone-cold country and Rock-A-Billy in a blink of an eye. Both tunes here were co-wrote by Jimmie Atkins, an artist she shared billing with on a 45rpm on Alfa Records. Both sides represented here are similar, heartbreaking hillbilly songs with steel guitar being the main instrument.

According to Martin Hawkins, (who wrote the excellent sleeve notes for the ACE CD "The Complete Meteor Recordings" (ACE CDCH2 885)),the Mason Dixon who recorded for Meteor Records ("Don't Worry 'Bout Nuthin'" / "I'll Never fall Out Of Love With You") was Merle "Red" Taylor and not the above artist. They sound pretty similar to me and if I hadn't read the CD booklet I'd have presumed they were the same guy. As an added thread of confusion, Red also appeared on the Dixie Hayride, although under his real name. (MC/ Al Turner / Terry Gordon / CD sleeve notes by Martin Hawkins.)

Label Shots courtesy of Al Turner. Artist Photo courtesy of Terry Gordon.
Email me!

STARDAY RECORDS 563

STARDAY RECORDS 563

HOYT SCOGGINS and the Saturday Nite Jamboree Boys

May 56 (BMI clearance on 15th Jun 56)

45-563-A Why Did We Fall In Love

(Scoggins) (Starrite BMI)

45-563-B Tennessee Rock

(Scoggins) (Starrite BMI)

Having not heard the A side, I make up for it with having the B side all lined up for me to swoon over. Not the usual gospel stuff, just a clear stab at breaking into this new fangled "Cat Music." He sounds a little unsure of himself while he's wailing away at this type of music but it's a winner of a song. Band provide good support (as Billboard would say). (MC)

Label Shot courtesy of Terry Gordon.
Email me!

GIBSON RECORDS 562

GIBSON RECORDS 562

(No Location)

KING STERLING

May 56 (Billboard review on 9th Jun 56. BMI Clearance on 15th Jun 56)

45-HD-562-A - Slippin' Out - Stealing In

(R L Blythe / J M Alstatt) (Starrite BMI)

45-HD-562-B - Alone, Lonesome And Blue

(R L Blythe / J M Alstatt) (Starrite BMI)

Apparently, this artist became Sterling Blythe who recorded for Sage & Sand (can anybody confirm this?) A quick trawl through Billboard magazines found a few titbits on this artist. He was signed up to the KWKH Artist Services Bureau, run by Horace Logan, (booking mgr of the Louisiana Hayride), and around Feb 57 he was listed as one of the Hayride's personnel. By March 57 he was also appearing over KRBB (El Dorado, AR) on the King's Corrall Show. By then, he'd managed to get on the Starday main series with "What Will The Answer Be" / "Not Much" (#298) which was reviewed by Billboard on the 3rd of June that year. (They described the A side as a ..."highly effective weeper."

That description pretty much described the A side of this disc as well. Sterling's got a nice voice for these kind of songs, a little like Werly Fairburn in places. Flipside is a mid-tempo hillbilly number with nice steel and lead guitar with fiddle filling up the spaces behind the vocals. (I especially like the slight miss-fingering by the guitarist on the solo - makes my many mistakes with the Bandidos seem slightly less significant. Doesn't stop the guys yelling abuse at me when I make them though :-) (MC / Neil Scott)

Label Shots courtesy of PJ Tricker.
Email me!

STARDAY RECORDS 561

STARDAY RECORDS 561

JIMMY JOHNSON

May 56 (BMI clearance on 18th May 56)

45-561-A - Woman Love

(Jack Rhodes) (Central Songs BMI)

45-561-B - All Dressed Up

(J Rhodes / D Carter / D Nalls) (Starrite BMI)

Born in 1930 in Smith County, Jimmy Johnson played guitar, fiddle and sang in Jack Rhodes Ramblers (sometimes known as the Lone Star Buddies). Whilst appearing on RD Hendon's Western Jamboree Club in Houston, he was approached and offered a recording contract by Solomon Kahal, who owned the local Freedom label. ("Salt Your Pillow Down" being recognised as a classic example of East Texas honky-tonk/hillbilly.) After a couple of sessions, Jack Rhodes got him signed up for Columbia records where he recorded some great tunes ("Eternity" & "Mama Loves Papa" being the best of the bunch.) Then the Korean war came along and Jimmy was drafted. He came back a changed man, haunted by what he experienced on that war torn peninsula. He married Billie Jo Spear's sister (Betty Lou), had three children and worked for a local oil drilling company, with all the hopes of cashing in on his Columbia recording contract fading rapidly.

Like Jerry Hanson, Jimmy was frequently found recording at Jack Rhodes's motel in Mineola, TX. For the session (recorded probably in March 56), Jimmy sang and played lead guitar, his wife on rhythm and Leon Hayes played an upright bass. Jack Rhodes mailed copy tapes to Cliffie Stone who had acetates made up for Ken Nelson, A&R supremo for Capitol Records. Whilst impatiently waiting for Ken to put the record out by somebody - hell, ANYBODY, Jack got 300 copies pressed up by Starday, who put it out on their custom series instead of on their main series (where, in my opinion, it belonged). "Woman Love" was eventually recorded by Gene Vincent, although it was "Be-Bop-A-Lula" that became the hit, which brought in some nice royalty checks for Rhodes.

Johnson recorded many demos for Jack Rhodes but quickly faded from musical history. (Some of these demos appear on the ACE CD "Gene Vincent Cut Our Songs" (ACD CDCHD 1018). He passed away on Jan 8th 1980.

"Woman Love" is a brooding shuffler with Jimmy's deep and urgent vocals grabbing most of the attention. "All Dressed Up" is the faster side (but not by much) with Leon & Betty Lou joining in on the choruses. Quite why Jimmy didn't go on to cut more records with that great voice of his is beyond me really. Still, I suppose cutting one of the most famous "Starday Customs" is something worth being remembered for. For a fuller (and better written I might add) history of this artist, go to www.pinegrovepress.com and look out for "Taking Off - Musical Journeys In The Southwest And Beyond" by Andrew Brown - an essential read for anybody remotely interested in the music from this musically fertile part of the US. (MC / PJ Tricker / Al Turner / Rob Finnis / Andrew Brown)

Email me!

Label Shots courtesy of Neil Scott.