Charlie Feathers

It has been a long time (almost a year!) since my last post... I'm sure most people who have ever checked this blog have given up on me by now...

Well, here's a record I picked up recently. It's Charlie Feathers on the King Records label out of Cincinnati, Ohio. This was a pretty big label in the 50's and 60's with many subsidiaries. They have released some truly great and rare rockabilly, blues and soul records.

Here's a brief history of Charlie Feathers:
Charles Arthur Feathers was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and recorded a string of popular singles like "Peepin' Eyes," "Defrost Your Heart," "Tongue-Tied Jill," and "Bottle to the Baby" on Sun Records, Meteor and King Records in the 1950s.

Feathers was known for being a master of shifting emotional and sonic dynamics in his songs. His theatrical, hiccup-styled, energetic, rockabilly vocal style inspired a later generation of rock vocalists, including Lux Interior of The Cramps.

He studied and recorded several songs with Junior Kimbrough, whom he called "the beginning and end of all music." His childhood influences were reflected in his later music of the 1970s and 1980s, which had an easy-paced, sometimes sinister, country-blues tempo, as opposed to the frenetic fast-paced style favored by some of his rockabilly colleagues of the 1950s.

He started out as a session musician at Sun Studios, playing any side instrument he could in the hopes of someday making his own music there. He eventually played on a small label started by Sam Phillips called Flip records which got him enough attention to record a couple singles for Sun Records and Holiday Inn Records. By all accounts the singer was not held in much regard by Phillips, but Feathers often made the audacious claim that he had arranged "That's All Right" and "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" for Elvis Presley and recorded "Good Rockin' Tonight" months before Presley. He also claimed that his "We're Getting Closer (To Being Apart)" had been intended to be Elvis' sixth single for Sun. He did, however, compose one of Elvis' Sun recordings, "I Forgot To Remember To Forget".

He then moved on to Meteor Records and then King Records where he recorded his best-known work. When his King contract ran out he still continued to perform, although Feathers - perhaps typically - thought there was a conspiracy to keep his music from gaining the popularity it deserved.

In the mid-1980s, he performed at times at new music nightclubs like the Antenna Club in Memphis, Tennessee, sharing the bill with rock-and-roll bands like Tav Falco's Panther Burns, who, as devoted fans of Feathers, had introduced him to their label's president.

He released his New Jungle Fever album in 1987 and Honkey Tonk Man in 1988, featuring the lead guitar work of his son, Bubba Feathers. These later albums of original songs penned by Feathers were released on the French label New Rose Records, whose other 1980s releases included albums by cult music heroes like Johnny Thunders, Alex Chilton, Roky Erickson, The Cramps, The Gun Club, and others.

Colonel Robert Morris was one of Charlie's drummers in the 1970s.

Feathers' song, "That Certain Female" was featured on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill Vol. 1. His "Can't Hardly Stand It" was featured on the follow-up Kill Bill Vol. 2 soundtrack.

He died on August 29, 1998 of complications from a stroke-induced coma.

Feathers was known in his later years for making audacious and unverifiable claims regarding his influence on the evolution of rockabilly. In spite of this, the remarkable quality of his recordings suggests that his assertions should be taken with at least some seriousness.

60's Garage Punk!

Here are a couple records from the 60's that flat out rock!

First up is The Sonics from Tacoma, Washington. The Sonics were a pretty big deal in the Pacific Northwest in the 60's. Their release of "The Witch" on Etiquette Records became one of the biggest selling singles in the history of the Pacific Northwest. This song is "Like No Other Man" released on Jerden Records around 1966.

The next single is by The Swamp Rats on the Co & Ce label. The Swamp Rats are from McKeesport, PA, a small town near Pittburgh. They were only around for a year and a half, but they released a good amount of decent records. Unfortunately, they were mostly cover songs and they didn't get very good distribution, so they never really gained any popularity. This record, "It's Not Easy" was released in 1967.

The final single today is by The Underdogs on Hideout Records. The Underdogs are from Grosse Pointe, MI and were one of many, including Bob Seger and The Last Heard and Ted Nugent and The Lourds, to play the Hideout Club in Harper Woods, MI. The owners of the club decided to go into the record business, so they released this single as the first record on their new label in 1965. The song, "Judy Be Mine" was later recorded by The Romantics in the 70's.

Craigslist score!

Every once in a while you come across something that seems like it's too good to be true and then it turns out to be as great as you hoped... It really doesn't happen to me very often, so when I saw an ad on Craigslist for some 78's like Jimmie Rodgers and Gene Autry, I assumed they would be the only good ones in the bunch and most likely beat to crap. The ad said something like "39 78 rpm records with artists like Jimmie Rodgers and Gene Autry". I called right away and set up a meeting with the lady who was selling them. We met and I looked through the first 10 records and decided to buy them. Everything for the most part looked to be in good shape and there were lots of original company sleeves, so that was cool. When I got them home and started looking through them, I got really excited! They were all pre-1940 records and they were mostly country/ hillbilly. Very exciting! The one posted here, Frank Blevins and his Tar Heel Rattlers is one of the gems. The other really great one was The South Street Trio doing "Mean Old Bed Bug Blues" on the Victor label. All in all, I ended up with about 20 records that are worth keeping, so not bad for $30!

Eddie Bond

Eddie Bond
Originally uploaded by loshuevos15

Here is Eddie Bond on Mercury Records singing a great uptempo rockabilly tune called "Boppin' Bonnie". This is a great song with great guitar playing and a cool walking bass line in the breaks. One of my favorites for sure. Eddie Bond is a rockabilly and country singer who grew up in Memphis and was a contemporary of greats like Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins. Eddie and his band, The Stompers, auditioned for both Sun Records and Meteor Records with no success. They were able to secure a recording contract for the much smaller Ekko records and they released two decent country flavored records. After these two releases, they were picked up by a major label, Mercury Records. Here Eddie Bond and the Stompers really came into their own releasing such great rockers as "Rockin' Daddy" and "Slip, Slip, Slippin' In". This record is one I've had for a while that I found at a record show in Oakland, CA back in 2002. I hope you enjoy it!

Barbara Lynn

Barbara Lynn is a bad-ass... I have been a fan of her recordings for a long time, but I had no idea how cool she really is. I found some of her 45's on our recent trip up to Omaha, which I'm really excited about, but as I was getting ready to post this entry I found a live video of her from 1966. It's amazing! The song is great and so is the performance. I had no idea that she was a guitar player as well as a singer. It's unusual to see a 60's soul singer playing an instrument, so I think it's especially cool. So, here are two recordings by Barbara Lynn on the Jamie label. I think these are both from 1962 or 1963 and like I said, the live video is from 1966.

Ronnie Self

Ronnie Self
Originally uploaded by loshuevos15

Here's a couple of good rockabilly records from Ronnie Self. The first one is "Pretty Bad Blues" that was released on ABC Paramount. ABC Paramount is a major label that released all kinds of good rockin' songs in the 50's. They even had some good blues and soul into the 60's. This record, even though it was released on major label, is still pretty rare to find. I think I traded one of my friends for this copy. The second song is "Bop-A-Lena" on Columbia Records. This was one of my first "holy crap I can't believe I found this in a thrift store" records. Later I found out that this song was pretty popular and sold pretty well, so it really didn't turn out to be the find that I thought it was. Oh well, you really can't beat that feeling even if it turns out to be unwarranted. Ronnie Self had a few more releases on Columbia which unfortunately all failed to chart. He saw his greatest success as a composer of Brenda Lee's "Sweet Nothings".

Sid King and the Five Strings

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a week since my last post... Here is a record that I've been playing a lot recently. It's Sid King and the Five Strings playing "When My Baby Left Me" on Columbia Records. I'm glad this was released on Columbia, otherwise if it was released on a smaller label with less distribution it would be ridiculously expensive. It's just got that classic sound. I was fortunate enough to see Sid King and his brother Billy perform in San Francisco in 2003. They still put on a great show.

Johnny Burnette Trio - Lonesome Train

burnette trio
Originally uploaded by loshuevos15

Wow! What a great rockabilly record! This really is the epitome of what the rockabilly sound is all about. Slap bass, great guitar lines, hiccup-y vocals.... I don't know what else to say! Enjoy!!

Curley Money on Rambler - Stop Your Knockin'

Curley Money
Originally uploaded by loshuevos15

Here's a really good 45 I found recently... it's Curley Money on his own Rambler label out of Columbus, Georgia. I don't know much about this record and it doesn't seem that much has been written about it. It's been on a couple compilations, but I can't find it in any of my books. It's a great rockabilly song, so hopefully with this posting a few more people will have some exposure to it.
***Update: Since I recorded this and put it on youtube, I have been lucky enough to get an email from the son of Curley Money who is a good musician in his own right. His name is Dannie Money. Check out his youtube page here: http://www.youtube.com/user/bigmoney1950

How about one more from Memphis?

Here's another record that came out of Memphis in the 50's... It's Ramon Maupin on the Fernwood Records label singing "No Chance". I really like this song! I always find myself throwing this on the turntable when I only have time to spin a few records. It's usually at the top of my list... Something about it just gets me.