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

(L Gordon) (Starrite BMI)

STARDAY RECORDS 565

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. (MC)

Source: Doug Brown

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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)

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Label Shots courtesy of Neil Scott.

STARDAY RECORDS 560

STARDAY RECORDS 560

JERRY HANSON

May 56 (BMI clearance 15 Jun 56)

45-560-A - Cry

(Jack Rhodes / Jerry Hanson) (Starrite BMI)

45-560-B - I'm Doing All Right

(Jack Rhodes / Jerry Hanson) (Starrite BMI)

Unlike most of the artists who had a Starday Custom disc, I have a bushel of info on Jerry, mainly due to the excellent sleeve notes by Wayne Russell written for the Ace CD "Starday / Dixie Rockabilly Vol1" (Ace CDCHD 704). In 1954, he was appearing on the "Western Star Serenade" Hillbilly show out of Tyler, TX and somehow ended up at Jack Rhodes cozy little hotel out of Mineola, TX, where he probably cut these sides. Sometime later (or even perhaps earlier), Jerry cut a faster take which languished on the shelves until it was issued on "Gene Vincent Cut Our Songs" (ACE CDCHD 1018). (By the way, both CD's mentioned here are "Must Have In My Collection" musical quality about them!)

"Cry" is a nice song, more country than anything else and Jerry and Jack Rhodes were hoping to pitch it to a good and known country singer through Capitol Records. "I'm Doing All Right", on the other hand is a tight, moody rockabilly classic with a threadbare feel, fronted by Hanson's assured vocals. (I prefer this to the faster unissued cut which seems to lack the passion of the 45.) Although I can hear quite a few artists covering "Cry", Jerry OWNS the B side and I can't quite imagine anyone else covering the song as well as Hanson does.

Hanson later appears on Ed Manney's Bluebonnet & Manco labels (Both are good vocally, especially the Bluebonnet 45) and on Colpix (which I haven't heard yet.). And then ..... he disappears into thin air as far as I'm concerned. (MC / PJ Tricker / Al Turner / Neil Scott / Wayne Russell / Rob Finnis)

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Label Shots courtesy of Neil Scott (who almost blew a blood vessel when he finally secured a copy.)

STARDAY RECORDS 559

DON OWENS and the Circle "O" Ranch Boys

May 56 (BMI clearance on 18th May 56)

45-559-A - Somethings You Cannot Change

(Owens) (Starrite BMI)

45-559-B - Adios Novia

(Owens) (Starrite BMI)

STARDAY 559

(Artist based around Arlington, VA)

This Don Owens was a DJ who broadcasted over WARL (Arlington, VA)and he once appeared on a Jimmie Rogers Memorial Show with the likes of Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb. (Billboard also mentioned that attendance was very good despite the almost torrential rain that poured from the heavens that day) He also appeared before the Pastore Senate Subcommittee in 1958, saying that " ... The strongest condemnation of rock & roll and country music comes from people who have never spent five minutes paying attention to it." (Good for him, although, as a DJ & musical director of Arlington's only country music station, I doubt if he was defending R&R - but still ... kudos to the man for speaking his mind in public.) A further tale from this artists was mentioned in Billboard in Oct 55 which states ... "Don Owens, WARL, Arlington, VA debuted a new ballad recently on one of his shows that was composed by a local detective and his prisoner. The unusual writing team got together when Detective Alvin Fuchsman picked up 24 year old Ted Borrelli of Hoboken, NJ on a vagrancy charge. Upon discovering that the prisoner had with him some 50 odd poems that he had written, the detective put music to a few, tape recorded one of them ("Underneath The Lamp Post") which was later played by Deejay Owens.

Before this disc, he also appeared on CORAL Records (Mr Mystery Moon / 

I’m Not Ashamed - #61297) and also appeared on the Blue Ridge Label.

Don had a Regular TV show broadcasting out of WTTG (The Don Owens TV Jamboree) and was manager of Vernon Taylor, the Sun artist. 

Sadly, Don Owens was killed when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car (this was the second, or third time he had fallen asleep at the wheel.) It is said this was due to the long hours as a DJ, and his TV Show.

Musically, Don almost talks his way through the A side instead of singing. It's a nice love song I guess and the band are excellent. Flip side is more of the same really. I could hear Hank Williams singing this song better. Danny Pendleton is on steel guitar.

 (MC / John Burton)

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Label Shots courtesy of PJ Tricker.

SULLIVAN RECORDS 558

THE LEWIS FAMILY

Apr 56

558-A - Did You Do What The Lord Said To Do

(No credits) (No publication info)

558-B - Wait a little long please Jesus

(No credits) (No publication info)
SULLIVAN RECORDS 558

Greensboro, SC 

See previous Entry.

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SULLIVAN RECORDS 557

THE LEWIS FAMILY

Apr 56

557-A - Lights In The Valley

(No credits) (No publication info)

557-B - My Jesus is the one

(No credits) (No publication info)
SULLIVAN RECORDS 557
Greensboro, SC

The Lewis Family were from Lincolnton, GA originally. According to the Starday LP (All Night Singing Convention - Starday LP 252), the family consisted of Polly, Janice, Maggy (or Meggy / Miggy - depending on where you read it), Pop Lewis (String Bass), Little Roy (Banjo), Wallace (Guitar). They made at least 12 LP’s for Starday as well as Nashville records and Canaan records (Waco, TX.)

This (and the next release) were possibly their first recordings. At this time the band consisted of Talmadge (Mandolin), Esley (Bass), Wallace (Guitar), Roy (“Pop”) and Little Roy (Banjo). The sessions were held at WJAT in Swainsboro, GA and was originally intended for the Bibletone label. When that went bust before being able to release any of their recordings, they had them issued on Sullivan Records from Greenwood, SC. Hoyt (Label owner sponsored thet family on the TV station WJBF in Augusta, GA where it continued for an astonishing 38 years!

Hoyt then leased a few sides to Hollywood Records before they recorded for Starday Records proper.

Source: Dean Craige Morris / Doug Brown / Ron Lees