CONTAINS
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1961 SESSIONS (7-9) 
July 1, 1961 to September 30, 1961
 
Studio Session for Brad Suggs, August 6, 1961 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Tony Rossini, August 6, 1961 / Sun Records
 
Studio Session for Memphis Willie B., August 12, 1961 (1) / Prestige Records
Studio Session for Memphis Willie B., August 12, 1961 (2) / Prestige Records
- The Story Told By Samuel B. Charters -
 
Studio Session for Mikki Wilcox, August 1961 / Sun Records
 
Studio Session for Don Hosea, August 29, 1961 / Sun Records
- Don Hosea - Untold Sun Stories -
 
Studio Session for Freddie North, Probably 1961 / Sun Records
- Untold Sun Stories - Freddie North -
 
Studio Session for Bobby Wood, September 15, 1961 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Harold Dorman, September 21, 1961 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Jerry Lee Lewis, September 21, 1961 / Sun Records (34)
 

For Biographies of Artists see: > The Sun Biographies <
Playlists of the Artists can be found on 706 Union Avenue Sessions of > YouTube <  

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

JULY 1961

The singles, PI 3569 ''If I Could Change You'' b/w ''I Ain't Got No Home'' by Carl Mann and PI 3570 ''My Greatest Hurt'' b/w ''Nothing Down (99 Years To Pay)'' by Jean Dee issued.

Jerry Lee Lewis plays in Florida and Tennessee.

JULY 1, 1961 SATURDAY

''Buffalo Gun'' debuts in movie theaters. The picture stars Marty Robbins, Webb Pierce and Carl Smith.

Michelle Wright is born in Chatham, Ontario. She nets a Top 10 single in 1992 with ''Take It Like A Man''.

Elvis Presley's friend Red West marries Pat Boyd in Memphis, Tennessee. Presley is to late to the wedding, and Joe Esposito has to fill in as best man.

JULY 2, 1961 SUNDAY

Ernest Hemingway commits suicide.

Acclaimed author Ernest Hemingway dies of a self-inflicted gun shot at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. He's namechecked 44 years later in the Brad Paisley hit ''Alcohol'' and again in Keith Urban's 2015 single, ''John Gougar, John Deere, John 3:16''.

JULY 4, 1961 TUESDAY

''Don't Fence Me In'' songwriter Cole Porter ends an eight-month stay at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

A semi-private feud becomes public when Carter Stanley tells a crowd in Luray, Virginia, that Flatt and Scruggs refused to play the All Day Bluegrass Festival because The Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe were there.

Seven-year-old Larry Franklin plays his first fiddle concert. He goes on to become a Nashville studio musician appearing on hits by Shania Twain, Deana Carter, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride and Gretchen Wilson, among others.

JULY 7, 1961 FRIDAY

Kitty Wells recorded ''Day Into Night'' and ''Unloved Unwanted''.

JULY 8, 1961 SATURDAY

Toby Keith is born in Clinton, Oklahoma. The former semi=pro football player emerges in 1993 with ''Should've Been A Cowboy'', becoming a brash hitmaker, label owner and entrepreneur. He also joins the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.

Ray Charles is arrested in Chicago during a heroin bust. The following year, he connects country and rhythm and blues through the landmark album ''Modern Sounds In Country And Western''.

JULY 9, 1961 SUNDAY

Bluegrass vocalist and bass player Ronnie Bowman is born in North Carolina. After a stint in The Lonesome River Band, he co-writes Brooks and Dunn's country hit ''It's Getting Better All The Time'' and Kenny Chesney's ''Never Wanted Nothing More''.

JULY 10, 1961 MONDAY

Spade Cooley's murder trial, in which he's accused of killing his wife, begins in Kern County, California. He's sentenced to prison the following month.

JULY 11, 1961 TUESDAY

While watching baseball's annual All-Star Game on television, Bill Anderson gets a phone call asking him to join the Grand Ole Opry. Anderson, of course, whispers yes. The National League, meanwhile, beats the American League, 5-4.

Elvis Presley begins filming ''Follow That Dream'' in Crystal River, Florida. During the next month of shooting, he meets an 11-year-old named Tom Petty.

Chet Atkins plays a concert in the rain in Nashville's Centennial Park without telling the audience of 10,000 that very time he touches the guitar, he gets shocked. The closest he comes to letting on is telling the audience ''I'm real brave tonight''.

JULY 12, 1961 WEDNESDAY

Ferlin Husky recorded pop star Wayne King's ''The Waltz You Saved For Me''.

JULY 13, 1961 THURSDAY

Ray Price recorded ''Soft Rain''.

JULY 15, 1961 SATURDAY

Bill Anderson joins the Grand Ole Opry at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

JULY 17, 1961 MONDAY

More than a month after she was injured in a car accident, Patsy Cline is released from the hospital.

Capitol released Buck Owens' ''Under The Influence Of Love''.

JULY 18, 1961 TUESDAY

Bill Anderson recorded the Fred Rose song ''Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain'' some 14 years before Willie Nelson turns it into a hit.

JULY 19, 1961 WEDNESDAY

Johnny Cash recorded ''Tennessee Flat-Top Box'' in Hollywood at the Columbia Studios.

Faron Young recorded ''Backtrack'' at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

JULY 22, 1961 SATURDAY

Patsy Cline comes on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in a wheelchair to assure fans she'll return to performing soon, following her June car accident.

Webb Pierce recorded ''How Do You Talk To A Baby'' and ''Walking The Streets''.

JULY 24, 1961 MONDAY

Capitol released Rose Maddox' ''Conscience, I'm Guilty''.

JULY 27, 1961 THURSDAY

Spade Cooley suffers a heart attack in his holding cell at the Kern County Jail in Bakersfield, California, after his 14-year-old daughter, Melody, testified against him in a trial for the murder of his wife. He is transferred to Kern County General.

JULY 28, 1961 FRIDAY

Columbia released Marty Robbins' ''It's Your World''.

Patsy Cline returns to the concert trail at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma, six weeks after a serious car accident. Cline uses crutches to make it on stage and sits on a stool for the entire show.

JULY 30, 1961 SUNDAY

Brenda Lee sings the national anthem at the opening of the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. Jack Smith wins the Volunteer 500.

JULY 31, 1961 MONDAY

Capitol released Hank Thompson's ''Hangover Tavern''.

AUGUST 3, 1961 THURSDAY

Mary Carlisle, the mother of Bill and Cliff Carlisle, dies.

AUGUST 4, 1961 FRIDAY

Merle Travis gives away the bride as his daughter, Pat Travis, marries Gene Eatherly.

Spade Cooley, who has already suffered two heart attacks since April, is taken to Bakersfield's Kern County General Hospital, suffering from chest pains. It causes a delay in his trial for the murder of Wife Ella Mae Cooley.

Barack Obama is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. During his presidency, he gets White House visits from Clarley Pride, Dierks Bently and Brad Paisley, whose ''Welcome To The Future'' is inspired by Obama's election.

AUGUST 5, 1961 SATURDAY

Fiddler Mark O'Connor is born in Seattle, Washington. He wins the Country Music Association's Musician of the Year award six times, appearing on more than 450 country recordings, and wins a Grammy for ''Restless''.

Jackie Phelps debuts as a guitarist with Roy Acuff's Smokey Mountain Boys during a show in Altamont, Illinois, remaining with the band for nine years.

Comedian Tim Wilson is born in Columbus, Georgia. In addition to doing stand-up, he co-writes Toby Keith's 2007 hit ''High Maintenance Woman''.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

STUDIO SESSION FOR BRAD SUGGS
FOR SUN RECORDS 1961

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: SUNDAY AUGUST 6, 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – SAM PHILLIPS
AND/OR SCOTTY MOORE OR UNKNOWN

This is Brad Suggs' final opus on Phillips International, released in November 1961. The truth is, it's a pretty damn good record! ''Elephant Walk'' stood a real chance of success in the pop marketplace nearly 40 years ago. There was a 1950s movie by this tittle starring Elizabeth Taylor, and releases bearing this title appeared on RCA in 1959 by the Kings, and in 1963 on Cortland by Donald Jenkins and the Delighters. It will require some deeper archeology to determine whether they are the same elephants.

> ELEPHANT WALK <
Composer: - Brad Suggs-Scotty Moore-Vinnie Trauth
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - P 406 - Master (2:09)
Recorded: - August 6, 1961
Released: - November 1961
First appearance: - Phillips International (S) 45rpm standard single PI 3571-A mono
ELEPHANT WALK / LIKE, CATCHIN' UP
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15806-3/19 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 6

''Scotty Moore and I put that thing together'', Brad Suggs recalls. Suggs' minimal five note guitar figure is very catchy and that lord-of-the-jungle french horn provides some real atmosphere. Larry Muhoberac contributes the organ sound and Ace Cannon comes up with a wonderful growling solo he would use again exactly a month later on Harold Dorman's ''Uncle Jonah's Place'' (Sun 370). Nothing like recycling your own best work. If you peel away a few layers here, you can hear the rudiments of the sound the Mar-Keys and Booker T. and the MGs would shortly take to the bank. Not surprisingly, Al Jackson, the stalwart drummer of that group, was the session man here on Suggs' date. He should get an award for his performance on this track and whoever miked his drums should share the award with him. In fact, this whole track sounds more like a Stax record than just about anything issued on Sun or Phillips International.

''Like, Catching Up'' is a perfect flipside. The comma that originally appeared after the word ''Like'' is quite important, because it conveys the hipster phrase associated with jazz. And make no mistake, this was a jazz tune. Sort of a one-take jazz tune at that. The unidentified shrieking chick is good at what she does, which is to scat her way thru some familiar jazz changes. ''I wish I could remember the name of that woman'', Suggs admitted recently (1998). ''I'm pretty sure her first name was Millie. What I do recall is she was very pregnant. Looks like she was due any second. I kept thinking she'd never make it through the take before we'd have to rush her off to the hospital''. If these sides had been recorded in Nashville one would have no hesitation in saying that it was Millie Kirkham (who contributed the wordless echo to on ''My Wish Came True'' and Millie was pregnant on ''Blue Christmas''. These sounds were a long way from the jungle of the flipside, but they did their job – which was to focus everyone's attention on the Elephant.

As noted, this was Brad Suggs's final single. Ten instrumental sides. Can you identify his style? After five or so singles, you knew almost everything you ever needed to know about Perkins, Cash, Presley, Jerry Lee. But, musically speaking, who was Brad Suggs?

> LIKE, CATCHIN' UP <
Composer: - Brad Suggs
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - P 407 - Master (2:03)
Recorded: - August 6, 1961
Released: - November 1961
First appearance: - Phillips International (S) 45rpm standard single PI 3571-B mono
LIKE, CATCHIN' UP / ELEPHANT WALK
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15806-3/20 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 6

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Brad Suggs – Guitar
Scotty Moore – Guitar
Larry Muhoberac – Organ & Piano
John Ace Cannon – Tenor Saxophone
Vinnie Trauth - Saxophone
Al Jackson - Drums
Unknown - High Voices

For Biography of Brad Suggs see: > The Sun Biographies <
Brad Suggs' Sun/PI recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
 
STUDIO SESSION FOR TONY ROSSINI
FOR SUN RECORDS 1961
 
SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: PROBABLY SUNDAY AUGUST 6, 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER - SAM PHILLIPS
AND/OR SCOTTY MOORE
 
Composer: - Vandyke
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hollis Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - U 451 - Master (2:08)
Recorded: - Probably August 6, 1961
Released: - August 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 366-A mono
WELL I ASK YA / DARLENA
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-3/23 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
On August 3, 1961 Eden Kane hit number 1 in England with ''Well I Ask You'', three days later, Tony Rossini arrived at Sun to cut it. ''Sam liked that song'', said Tony. ''He really liked that song. He thought it was going to break''. Eden Kane never made much of an impression in the United States (although Americans unaccountably embraced his brother, Peter Sarstedt, singing ''Where Do You Go To, My Lovely'') Tony's record didn't make many waves, either, but it could have been a big hit in 1961.
It had the right sound for the time; it wasn't the Sun Sound, but it was very much in keeping with what was selling. Tony remembers Jud Phillips arguing with Sam over the skipsy promotional budget, and this might have been one to sink a little money into. The flip side, ''Darlena'', was by onetime Memphis rockabilly, Fuller Todd, who had recorded at Hi Records and elsewhere.
 
Composer: - Fuller Todd
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - U 452 - Master (2:35)
Recorded: - Probably August 6, 1961
Released: - August 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 366-A mono
DARLENA / WELL I ASK YA
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-3/24 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
Composer: - Padgett
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - U 476 - Master (2:20)
Recorded: - Probably August 6, 1961
Released: - April 4, 1962
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 378-B mono
JUST AROUND THE CORNER / (MEET ME) AFTER SCHOOL
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/24 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
''Just Around The Corner'' is not typical Tony Rossini fare. Whereas ''(Meet Me) After School'' fairly bristles with teenage angst (note the references to the soda shop and angry teachers), ''Just Around The Corner'' is a totally adult song, with a Forties sensibility to the lyrics. It hints at the career as a lounge singer that Tony enjoyed.  ''Sam was there for the mixing on those sessions'', Tony remembers. ''Sam and Scotty would bring me in late at night sometimes to re-do parts. Even as a kid, I knew there was something special about going to Sun.
 
Sam had the most beguiling personality. It was like you were going to see the King of the Mountain. Seeing Jerry Lee Lewis, even Elvis was no big deal. Elvis used to pull my sister's ponytails, but there was something about Sam''.
 
Composer: - Davidson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Katrina Music
Matrix number: - U 475 - Master (2:22)
Recorded: - Probably August 6, 1961
Released: - April 4, 1962
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 378-A mono
JUST AROUND THE CORNER / (MEET ME) AFTER SCHOOL
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/23 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Sun Unissued
Recorded: - Probably August 6, 1961
 
VACATION TIME
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Sun Unissued
Recorded: - Probably August 6, 1961
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Tony Rossini – Vocal
Brad Suggs - Guitar
Scotty Moore - Guitar
Al Jackson - Bass
Robert McGhee - Bass
Robert Alexius - Drums
John Ace Cannon - Saxophone
Terry James - Saxophone
Larry Mohoburac - Piano
 
For Biography of Tony Rossini see: > The Sun Biographies <
Tony Rossini's Sun recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
AUGUST 1961
 
American music historian, writer, record producer, musician, and poet, Samuel Charters recorded in  Memphis, Willie Borum through the help of Will Shade. 
 
"Usually I stop by Will's whenever I'm in Memphis,  and over the years he's led me to other singers like Gus Cannon, Charlie Burse and Furry Lewis... I stopped  by in April 1961 …he mentioned that one of the blues singers he's known in the 1930s has stopped by his  place a few weeks before'', Chaters said.
 
Charters recorded Borum at a session at the Sun studios at Madison Avenue for Prestige's Bluesville label,  with one more session to follow. The albums were issued as ''Introducing Memphis Willie B'', and ''Hard  Working Man Blues''. Borum, was a mainstay of the Memphis blues and jug band circuit.
 
He took to the  guitar early in his childhood, being principally taught by his father and Memphis medicine show star Jim  Jackson. By his late teens, he was working with Jack Kelly's Jug Busters. This didn't last long, as Borum  joined up with the Memphis Jug Band. Sometime in the 1930s he learned to play harmonica, being taught by  Noah Lewis, the best harp blower in Memphis and mainstay of Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers. Willie B. began  working on and off with various traveling Delta bluesmen, performing at various functions with Rice Miller,  Willie Brown, Garfield Akers, and Robert Johnson. He finally got to make some records in 1934 for  Vocalion backing Hattie Hart and Allen Shaw, but quickly moved back into playing juke joints and gambling  houses with Son Joe, Joe Hill Louis and Will Shade until around 1943, when he became a member of the U .S. Army.
 
AUGUST 1961
 
The single, Sun 364 'It Won't Happen With Me'' b/w Cold, Cold, Heart'' by Jerry Lee Lewis issued. Billboard's review says that ''Jerry Lee Lewis handles the top side, peppy teen-slanted rocker, with his usual verve, supported by his pumping piano. He sings the fine Hank Williams tune on the flip with style. Two strong sides''.
 
Sun 365 ''I Forgot To Remember To Forget'' b/w ''Other Side'' by Shirley Sisk; Sun 366 ''Well I Ask Ya'' b/w ''Darlena'' by Tony Rossini issued.
 
Jerry Lee Lewis plays at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California, with The Shirelles, emceed by Alan Freed, he also performs that month at the Brooklyn Paramount in New York City, with disc jockey Murray ''The K'' Kaufman, and Jackie Wilson topping the bill.
 
AUGUST 7, 1961 MONDAY
 
Patsy Cline's ''I Fall To Pieces'' reaches number 1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
 
AUGUST 8, 1961 TUESDAY
 
ROCA Victor released Elvis Presley's double-sided rock hit ''Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame'' backed with ''Little Sister''  ( RCA Victor 37-7908).
 
AUGUST 11, 1961 FRIDAY
 
One month to the day after it began, location filming for Elvis Presley's movie ''Follow That Dream'' comes to an end in Crystal River, Florida.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
 
STUDIO SESSION FOR MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
FOR PRESTIGE BLUESVILLY RECORDS 1961
 
SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
PRESTIGE SESSION: AUGUST 12, 1961 (1)
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
RECORDING ENGINEER – SCOTTY MOORE
PRODUCER - KENNETH S. GOLDSTEIN
AND/OR SAMUEL B. CHARTERS
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (2:52)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-A1 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-1 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.i. - Arc Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (2:33)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-A2 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-2 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (2:38)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-A3 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-3 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:12)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-A4 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-4 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (2:59)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-A5 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-5 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:08)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-A6 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-6 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (2:51)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-B1 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-7 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:22)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-B2 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-8 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:03)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-B3 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-9 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Peter Chatman
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (2:50)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-B4 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-10 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:01)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-B5 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-11 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fort Knox Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:01)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1961
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1034-B6 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
Reissued: - 1994 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-573-2-12 stereo
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - INTRODUCING MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Memphis Willie Borum - Vocals, Guitar, Mouth Harp
 
For Biography of Memphis Willie B. see: > The Sun Biographies <
Memphis Willie B. Bluesville recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube < 
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
THE STORY TOLD BY SAMUEL B. CHARTERS - Will Shade, of the old Memphis Jug Band, still lives in  a ramshackle house behind Beale Street, and most of the older musicians in town drop around to see Will and  talk for a moment when they're down on Beale Street shopping. Usually I stop by Will's whenever I'm in  Memphis, and over the years he'd led me to other singers like Gus Cannon, Charlie Burse, and Furry Lewis.
 
He was in poor health when I stopped by in April 1961, recovering from a serious operation, but after we'd  talked for a moments he mentioned that one of the blues singers he'd known in the 1930s had stopped by his  place a few weeks before.
 
''His name's Willie B., I don't know what all his name is, but that's what we call him, Willie B.'He's one of  those real hard blues singers like you're always asking about''. He sat on his rumpled bed fumbling with the  papers jammed into hos wallet. ''I put his number down somewhere''. Finally Will's wife, Jennie Mae  Clayton, who sang with him on the old recordings, found the piece of paper with Willie B.'s number on it  folded into one of the wallet flaps. Will held it out. ''He's sing the real old hard blues for you''.
 
I called Willie B. over the weekend and asked him if he could come around to Shade's on the following  Monday night. Some people were coming over to sing and I wanted to hear some of Willie B.'s blues. It was  already noisy when O got there, the room crowded and heavy with smoke. Charlie Burse was sitting on one  of the beds trying to tune his tenor guitar with Will's harmonica, and three or four people standing around the  grimy iron stove were shouting an incoherent blues to the accompaniment of a broken ukelele that one of the  women was playing. Willie B. arrived a half hour later, a short, well built man in a light sport shirt and ripper  jacket. He tuned his guitar to the harmonica, then to the noise of shouted arguments, heavy dancing, and  shrill singing. Charlie, Will, and Willie B. began playing a fast blues. At first I just sat in an unsteady chair  listening. Willie seemed to be filling out the music with sudden runs or emphasizing the rhythm with sharp,  percussive notes on the lower strings of the guitar. There was an unmistakeable presence in his playing. After  three or four numbers Burse broke a string and Will began arguing with a man from the room next to his  about a note he was making on the harmonica. I leaned over and asked Willie B. to sing a blues. He picked  up his guitar again and began singing in a low voice. Even with the noise around him I could hear the  intensity and emotional richness of his singing. It was as Will Shade had said, the ''…. real, old hard blues''.
 
Although Willie B. was born in Memphis on November 4, 1911, and raised in the city, his roots are in the  blues tradition of the rural South. His father, from Pocahontas, Tennessee, still plays the old bottle neck style,  and Willie B. (the family name is Borum) learned some of his father's tunings, some of his songs, and much  of his feeling for the blues. He began playing the harmonica in the early 1930s, and his first teacher was the  great Memphis harmonica player Noah Lewis. Lewis was recording regularly with Sleepy John Estes, and  Willie B. still remembers some of his old numbers. After Lewis, Willie met Sonny Boy Williamson and the  two of them toured Arkansas with small blues groups working out of Memphis. From Sonny Boy he learned  some of his singing style, and there is still some of Williamson's shouted exuberance in Willie's singing. He  worked with other blues singers in Memphis, and even played with the Memphis Jug Band for some of its  engagements. Frank Stokes, who was recording regularly for Paramount and Victor, took Willie out with him  on trips down into Mississippi when Frank want to visit his family.
 
About 1937 Willie decided he'd have more chance as a musician if he learned the guitar and he has been  playing both guitar and harmonica ever since. He recorded for the first time a year or so later. He and another  guitar player named Alan Shaw traveled to New York with a Memphis singer named Hattie Hart, and  accompanied her on some recordings for the American Recording Corporation. Neither of them sang on the  session. The second World War interrupted Willie's musical career, and in January, 1942, he went into the  service. In December, 1942, he took part in the first North Africa invasion; then went into the later landings  in Sicily and Italy. As the war's end he was with a Quartermaster unit in the Italy mountains, and in 1946 he  returned to Memphis and took a job with the Buckeye Soys Bean Oil Company. Except for a three year  interval from 1950 to 1952, when he studied radio and television repair on the G.I. Bill, he has been at the  same job. He married two years ago and lives in a new home he and his brother have built on the outskirts of  Memphis, working his day job during the week, and doing repair work on the weekends.
 
Although Willie made the decision to take another job when he left the Army, he has never stopped playing  and singing the blues. Even in the Army, he spent his last year as a Colonel's driver, spending most of his  time singing for parties. Since then he has been working picnics, dances, and occasional club jobs, usually  with three or four piece blues bands, but sometimes just by himself. He hasn't been playing as much since his  marriage, but he still works on new blues, and whenever there's a family party he usually sings. Sometimes  his father will join in, playing one of his old bottleneck blues. During the afternoons that we worked together  selecting numbers for his recording session neighbors would often stop to listen to Willie's playing and  singing. They'd sit for a minute or two; then they'd turn to me and say, ''He really can sing them old blues''.
 
During a long session one afternoon Willie stopped singing for a moment and began talking about the blues.  He said, ''A blues is about something that's real it's about what a man feels when his wife leaves him that he  can't do anything about. That's why none of these young boys can really sing the blues. They don't know  about the things that go into a blues''. His blues like ''Mailman Blues, ''Country Girl Blues'' and ''Stop Cryin'  Blues'' have an emotional sincerity that reflects this attitude. One of his best numbers in his own ''Overseas  Blues'', written in the early summer of 1945. There was a rumor that troops from Italy would be sent to the  far East to finish the war against Japan. ''Overseas Blues'' is his unhappy comments on the situation. Two of  his most exciting performance were ''Brownsville Blues'' and ''Worried Man Blues''. For these blues, he  returned the guitar to his father's old tuning and used an improvised astinato rhythm on the bass strings with  much of the feeling of the older blues styles. These two blues, with their fusion of musical elements from  different periods of blues development, express the rich variety of his musical background. ''The Stuff Is  Here'', with its harmonica introduction, has some of the style of the old Memphis Jug band.
 
One of the most surprising aspects of Willie B's style is his technical virtuosity. He is a brilliant  instrumentalist on either guitar and harmonica and plays the two of them together with the same excitement.  He is able to play the harmonica with the same ''choking'' and slurring that other players need both hands for  and his guitar is a driving. Insistent counter voice to both his harmonica and his strong singing. He is an  intense, moving singer in the greatest blues tradition.
 
Even Willie B. was surprised at the sound of his performances when he listened to the first playbacks. He  shook his head, ''I was kind of nervous, you know, but that's really the blues. That's the blues just like we  were talking about''.
 
During the summer months the soya bean oil plant where Memphis Willie B. has a day job goes on to double  shift haring back the men that have been laid off over the spring, putting on some extra crews, and giving  everybody a chance to get in a little extra work. When I stopped by his house on a close, oppressive morning  in August he was sitting back in the work shop behind his house, his guitar on the couch beside him, sitting  back in a tired slump. He shook his head, ''I've been working a little extra time, you know, going in the  afternoon and working until we get everything in at night. We didn't get done until two thirty this morning.  After a while, working like that for a week or so, you begin to get a little tired''. There were some sheets of  paper scattered on the couch underneath the guitar, and a notebook left open on the work table in the center  of the room,It was a hot sticky morning, the air slack and unmoving. Willie got up to turn on a noisy fan at  one end of the room and there was a flurry of loose papers from the couch. The pages of the notebook  fluttered across the table. As we picket them up, putting them under the weight of the guitar I noticed that  they were blues. I asked Willie about them, ''They're just some blues I been working on'' he answered.
 
''How do you have time to write anything when you're working?'', I asked him.
 
He smiled. ''It's working that gives me my ideas. I walk around the plant at night, when if's quiet you know,  and I can hear men talking. Some of them is crying that their wife has left them or that she isn't doing them  right, and somebody else is saying that his girl's took up with somebody else. I hear all that and that's what I  put into my blues. I come back here and write down the things, rhymed up, of course. I make the verse and  things right when I'm still there walking around at the job''.
 
One of the qualities that immediately sets apart the singing of a major blues artist, like Memphis Willie B., is  the intensity of the emotional experience which is communicated and sustained by the verbal poetry of his  performance. Although the blues has been developed and exploded into an often than and repetitive popular  music idiom the original function of the blues, which was the expression of personal emotion, or the  description of personal experience and attitude, is still live and vital. In developing a blues there is this a  quality of ''hearing man talk'' and there is mechanical process of making the verse and developing the verse  around the central idea. The subject matter the blues is limited, usually the theme is of some aspect of love,  just as is the theme of most American popular music, and over the years there have been built up a number of  verses which fit almost any situation. For many singers the creation of a blues is limited to a hurried  selection of the standard verses to suit the mood without consideration of a personal expression, or attitude.  Since the form of the blues is rather rigid usually the standard three line rhyme with similar rhythmic stress  and length for each verse, the repertoire of conventional verses can be used almost without alteration or  development. As a result most blues are disappointed in their lack of originality or individuality Often the  singers are not entirely at fault certainly. An ambitious singer must produce an unceasing flow of new  material, and usually he is forced to begin using whatever he can find lying around to put a blues together.  Although Willie B. uses many of the conventional blues verses, as do all blues singers, he is unlike most  singers in that he uses the conventions to develop ideas which have an immediacy of emotional expression.
 
In ''Lonesome Home Blues'' he begins,
 
''It's lonesome in my home, just me, and myself alone,
Lonesome in my home, just me and myself alone
I ain't got nobody to love me, Lord, and my baby gone''.
 
It is a statement of a popular blues theme is the second verse he develops the idea with a particular example,  touchingly personal.
 
''Oh in my sleep, I could hear her call my name
In my sleep, I could hear me call my name
Lord, when I feel over beside me, I couldn't see
a doggone thing''.
 
In the third verse he turns from his own unhappiness to a general statement of his situation.
 
''A room without a woman is like a car
without a steering wheel
A room without a woman is like a car
without a steering wheel
And if you ever been mistreated, Lord,
you know just how I feel''.
 
From this general reflection, part of the store of conventional blues verses, he turns again to his own feelings,  almost as though he had stood up and walked across his empty room to stare unhappily out of the window.
 
''I wake up early every morning and my pillow
be soaking wet.
I wake up early every morning and my pillow
be soaking wet.
And I be looking for my baby and she ain't
even come home yet''.
 
With his last verse he returns to the general mood with which he began the blues, ending with a final  defeated shrug.
 
''Lonesome, Lord, I'm lonesome as I can be.
Lonesome, Lord, I'm lonesome as I can be.
Lord, I wonder why my baby, why she don't
come back to me''.
 
Using the attitudes of a blues convention with a personal emotionalism, and developing the attitudes with a  careful pattern of general statement and particular as example, Willie B. has created a blues of considerable  strength and vividness.
 
Often Willie B is able to catch with a line or phrase an almost unforgettable picture. In a few words in  ''Funny Caper Blues'' he describes the scene a man finds when he visit his unfaithful woman.
 
''Everytime I see you I catch you in your gown
Your hair all mussed up your window shade
pulled down''.
 
On the can picture an unsatisfactory relationship in a wry verse in ''Hard Working Man Blues'' he sings,
 
''Every morning before payday, you treat me
like a queen trest a king.
Every morning before payday, you treat me
like a queen treat a king.
And when I get my money in your hand you treat
me like somebody you never seen''.
 
These are the classic qualities of the blues, and in blues like these Willie B. shows his complete mastery of  idiom. There is, however, a development of the blues style into a personal almost narrative statement of some  particular event. In his first album ''Introducing Memphis Willie B.'' (Bluesville 1034) Willie sang one of  these blues, an account of his experiences in the army in Italy called ''Overseas Blues''. In his second album  ''Hardworking Man Blues'' (Bluesville 1048) he has included a blues about his induction into the army, ''Uncle Sam Blues''. It is in blues of this distinctive type that Willie B.'s singing becomes most personal,  while still remaining part of the blues idiom, and they are perhaps among his most interesting performances.  As he sings in ''Uncle Sam Blues'',
 
''Lord I got bad news, I'm gong to tell you
what it's all about.
I got bad news for you baby, I'm going to tell you
what's it's all about.
You know Uncle Sam's having trouble overseas
and he want's me to help me out''.
 
''You know the doctor Ok'd me, and I'm glad
there was nothing wrong.
You know the doctor Ok'd me, and I'm glad
there was nothing wrong.
But only thing I hate, I've got to leave you
here all alone''.
 
''I get up early in the morning
I've got to check with my local board.
I get up early in the morning
I've got to check with my local board.
It's going to be so lonesome without you
going down that lonesome road''.
 
'' Hold on Baby, I'll be back someday.
Hold on baby, I'll be back someday.
Lord don't let nobody drive my little girl astray''.
 
''You hear that train blowing,
calling little Willie I know.
''You hear that train blowing,
calling little Willie I know.
Baby you know the condition,
I'm booked out and bound to go.
So bye, bye, little girl, don't forget to write
So bye, bye, little girl, don't forget to write
Lord, I'll be thinking of you both day and night''.
 
I would be difficult to express emotion with a more tersely honest simplicity and directness, and in each of  Willie B.'s blues there is much of this same quality.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
 
STUDIO SESSION FOR MEMPHIS WILLIE B.
FOR PRESTIGE BLUESVILLY RECORDS 1961
 
SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
PRESTIGE SESSION: AUGUST 12, 1961 (2)
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
RECORDING ENGINEER – SCOTTY MOORE
PRODUCER - KENNETH S. GOLDSTEIN
AND/OR SAMUEL B. CHARTERS
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:21)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:31)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:24)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:38)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:07)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:27)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:15)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (2:17)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:12)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:37)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:34)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Composer: - Willie Borum
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Prestige Music
Matrix number: - None - LP Master (3:18)
Recorded: - August 12, 1961
Released: - 1962
First appearance: - Prestige Bluesville (LP) 33rpm BVLP 1048 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
Reissued: - May 3, 1995 Prestige Bluesville (CD) 500/200rpm OBCCD-578-2 mono
MEMPHIS WILLIE B. - HARD WORKING MAN
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Memphis Willie Borum - Vocals, Guitar, Mouth Harp
 
For Biography of Memphis Willie B. see: > The Sun Biographies <
Memphis Willie B. Bluesville recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
AUGUST 13, 1961 SUNDAY
 
The border between East and West Germany is closed and construction on the Berlin Wall begins. The German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) closes the border with West Germany and install barbed wire entanglements and fences. On August 17, 1961 first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place to create the Berlin Wall. 1961–1975 Concrete wall 87 miles long built separating East and West Germany. Nine border crossing points between East and West Berlin including Checkpoint Charlie at the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße, which was restricted to Allied personnel and foreigners. 1989 The separation of East and West Germany ends as the Berlin Wall is taken down leading to eventual German reunification on October 3, 1990. The Berlin Wall was a good example how society was effected by the Cold War which existed between the East and West following the end of World War II up to the nineties. 
 
Van Morrison forms the group, Them.
 
Dr. No, the first James Bond movie starring Sean Connery opens.
 
AUGUST 15, 1961 TUESDAY
 
Singer and songwriter Paul Jefferson is born in Woodside, California. After a brief solo career in the mid-1990s, he scores a hit as the writer of Aaron Tippin's ''That's As Close As I'll Get To Loving You''.
 
The military comedy ''Marines, Let's Go'' premieres in New York City, with Rex Allen singing the theme song.
 
AUGUST 18, 1961 FRIDAY
 
Jimmy Dean recorded the recitation ''Big Bad John'' at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
Columbia released Lester Flatt and Earl Scrugg's ''Go Home''.
 
AUGUST 20, 1961 SUNDAY
 
Sheb Wooley recorded ''That's My Pa'' in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
AUGUST 21, 1961 MONDAY
 
Patsy Cline recorded ''Crazy'' at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
Columbia released Ray Price's ''Soft Rain''.
 
AUGUST 22, 1961 TUESDAY
 
Spade Cooley is sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife in April. He's sent to Vacaville Medical Center.
 
Willie Nelson holds his first recording session for Libertry Records, yielding his first solo hit, ''Touch Me''.
 
Conway Twitty and three band member escape injury when they run their car on an Iowa highway just before the vehicle exploded. They lose $15,000 in clothing and equipment, plus a briefcase full of money from their Midwest tour.
 
AUGUST 24, 1961 THURSDAY
 
Johnny and Vivian Cash have their fourth daughter, Tara Cash, in Encino, California.
 
Patsy Cline recorded ''have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue)''. Twenty years later, her vocal part is technologically combined with the voice of the late Jim Reeves, who also recorded the song, for a posthumous duet.
 
AUGUST 25, 1961 FRIDAY
 
Billy Ray Cyrus is born in Flatwoods, Kentucky. The novelty hit ''Achy Breaky Heart'' brings him instant fame in 1992. He maintains an avid core audience even when the hits slow down and turns to acting on the TV series ''Doc'' and ''Hannah Montana''.
 
Patsy Cline recorded ''Strange'', written by Mel Tillis, and ''You're Stronger Than Me'' at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Michelle Branch covers the former song and Rebecca Lynn Howard remakes the latter one 40 years later on the tribute album ''Remembering Patsy Cline''.
 
AUGUST 26, 1961 SATURDAY
 
Guitarist Jimmy Olander is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He becomes a member of Diamond Rio, whose crisp harmonies and instrumental prowess net such melodic hits as ''Meet In The Middle'', ''One More Day'' and ''How Your Love Makes Me Feel''.
 
Ray Pillow makes his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
Merle Haggard and his first wife, the former Leona Hobbs, have a daughter, Keli Haggard. She receives credit as a co-writer on ''It's All In The Movies'', though it's merely a gift from her dad.
 
AUGUST 26, 1961 SATURDAY
 
The Mar-Keys' "Last Night" becomes the first Stax production to reach number one. Stax--and   later in the decade, the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, studio headed by Rick Hall--both offered a   rawer, more spontaneous, gospel-influenced alternative to the Motown Sound. The Mar-Keys   (whose rhythm section also recorded as Booker T. & the MGs) backed most of the label's   artists, including Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, and  Johnnie Taylor.
 
AUGUST 27, 1961 SUNDAY
 
Jeffrey Steele is born in Burbank, California. He helps found the band Boy Hawdy piling up hits as a songwriter, including Keith Urban and Eric Church's ''Raise 'Em Up'', Rascal Flatts'''What Hurts The Most'', Montgomery Gentry's ''My Town'' and Tim McGraw's ''Meanwhile Back At Mama's'' featuring Faith Hill.
 
AUGUST 28, 1961 MONDAY
 
Filming for Elvis Presley's movie ''Follow That Dream'' is completed in Los Angeles.
 
Decca released Roy Drusky's ''I Went Out Of My Wat (To Make You Happy)''.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS -©

STUDIO SESSION FOR MIKKI WILCOX
FOR SUN RECORDS 1961

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE AUGUST 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER - CECIL SCAIFE
AND/OR STAN KESLER

It's time to correct a mistake that has hounded Sun discographers over the years (1998) Contrary to earlierimpressions it now appears certain that Mickey Milan (Phillips International 3533) and Mikki Wilcox, whoperforms these session, are not the same person. Our most obvious error was to include the photo of Wilcox (that appears here) next to the listing for Milan in Sun Single Collection Volume 5. This error, which is alsoreflected in the Escott/Hawkins Sun Records Discography, was prompted in part by the fact that tapes fromthe two singers are stored together in the Sun vaults.

At some point, someone must have stuck everythingtogether after asking, ''What are the odds of having two female singers named Mikki/Mickey record forPhillips International in a short period of time? The answer, unfortunately, was ''Quite High''.

There are two telling pieces of evidence for the ''Two Mikki/Mickey Theory''. The first is, if you look closelyat the inscription on the Wilcox photo, you will see a thank you note to arranger Vinnie Trauth for hisarrangement on her first record.

The message is dated August, 1961. Indeed, Trauth provided thearrangement for this track by Mikki Wilcox which was released on September 1, 1961. If we assume that Ms.Wilcox had her wits about her, she would have remembered whether she already had a September, 1958release on the Phillips International label. If she were the same Mickey/Mikki, she might have thankedVinnie by saying something like ''Tanks for your arrangement on my record. It's s damn sight better than thefirst''.

Forgetting the intrigue surrounding the artist, both sides of this record are actually quite good. The simplestway to describe the sound might be ''LaVerne Baker meets Floyd Cramer''. An odd pairing, to be sure, butstranger things have happened at Sun.

> I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS <
Composer: - Stan Kesler
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Katrina Music
Matrix number: None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:19)
Recorded: - Unknown Date August 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-4/8 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS

> I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS <
Composer: - Stan Kesler
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Katrina Music
Matrix number: P 410 - Master (2:25)
Recorded: - Unknown Date August 1961
Released: - September 1, 1961
First appearance: - Phillips International (S) 45rpm standard single PI 3573-A mono
I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS / WILLING AND WAITING
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15806-3/23 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 6

For the first time we are also able to hear several of the previously unissued demos left by Wilcox. These reveal het to be a jazz singer who was familar with standards (she ranges from Duke Ellington to Mose Allison) and worked them in a style that would have played well in the clubs and lounges haunted by label-mate Charlie Rich. The contrast between her demo and single release styles is perhaps nowhere more dramatic than on her treatment of ''I Know What It Means''.

> AIN'T NOTHING BUT THE BLUES <
Composer: - Don George-Duke Ellington
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Warner Chappell Music-Spirit Music Group
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:53)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-5/2 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS
Reissued: - 2020 Sun Entertainment Corporation Internet Spotify-9 mono
JAZZ ON SUN - RARE TREASURES FROM THE SUN RECORDS ARCHIVES

> ALL RIGHT, OKAY YOU WIN <
Composer: - Sid Wyche-Mayme Watts
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Peer Music Publishing
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:42)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-5/16 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS
Reissued: - 2020 Sun Entertainment Corporation Internet Spotify-6 mono
JAZZ ON SUN - RARE TREASURES FROM THE SUN RECORDS ARCHIVES

> DON'T WORRY 'BOUT ME <
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:28)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - 2020
First appearance: - Sun Entertainment Corporation Internet Spotify-20 mono
JAZZ ON SUN - RARE TREASURES FROM THE SUN RECORDS ARCHIVES

HE WAS GOOD TO ME
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Sun Unissued
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961

> I CAN'T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE <
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - 2020
First appearance: - Sun Entertainment Corporation Internet Spotify-1 mono
JAZZ ON SUN - RARE TREASURES FROM THE SUN RECORDS ARCHIVES

IT MEANS SO LITTLE TO YOU
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Sun Unissued
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961

> IT'S A SIN TO TELL A LIE <
Composer: -Billy Mayhew
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Warner Chappell Music
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (1:55)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-5/12 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS

> MY BLUE HEAVEN <
Composer: - George Whiting; Walter Donaldson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:16)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-5/5 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS
Reissued: - 2020 Sun Entertainment Corporation Internet Spotify-16 mono
JAZZ ON SUN - RARE TREASURES FROM THE SUN RECORDS ARCHIVES
Reissued: 2021 Sun Entertainment Corporation Internet Spotify-25 mono
ANGELS AND DEVILS - SONGS OF GOOD AND EVIL FROM THE SUN RECORDS

> SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY <
Composer: - Bud Green-Benjamin Homer-Les Brown
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Warner Chappell Music
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:16)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-5/9 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS

> SO MANY BEAUTIFUL MEN <
Composer: - E.G. White-Kitty White
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Cherio Music
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:36)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-5/18 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS

> THIS LOVE OF MINE <
Composer: -Unknown
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (1:56)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - 2020
First appearance: - 2020 Sun Entertainment Corporation Internet Spotify-13 mono
JAZZ ON SUN - RARE TREASURES FROM THE SUN RECORDS ARCHIVES

> WHERE ARE YOU <
Composer: - Harold Adamson-Jimmy McHugh
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Clear Box Advange
Matrix number: - None - Demo - Not Originally Issued (2:34)
Recorded: - Probably August 8-10, 1961
Released: - August 2002
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 16609-5/22 mono
MEMPHIS BELLES - THE WOMEN OF SUN RECORDS

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Mikki Wilcox - Vocal and Guitar

''Willing And Waiting'', the side for which arranger Trauth had to be thanked, is a fine bluesy, melodic song which is actually enhanced by strings. The side, ''I Know What It Means'' cuts closer to the bone. Would you have been at all surprised to learn that this vocalist was black? Either side of this record might have broken through with just a little sustained promotion. Unfortunately, Sam's well documented philosophy at this point was to release them and, if lightning struck, reap the profits. Unfortunately for Ms. Wilcox, it didn't.
 
Composer: - Hager-Glasgow
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - P 411 - Master (2:34)
Recorded: - Unknown Date August 1961
Released: - September 1, 1961
First appearance: - Phillips International (S) 45rpm standard single PI 3573-B mono
WILLING AND WAITING / I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15806-3/24 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 6
 
Which gets us to the second bit of evidence. Quite simply, all you need to do is listen to the two records. It would be close to miraculous if these sides were recorded by the same person. One is, as previously noted, a rather shrill country pop singer and the others is, well, what we have here. Mikki Wilcox knew her way around the blues and is a lot closer to the contrallo of Mavis Staples than the higher range of, say, Kay Starr.
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Mikki Wilcox – Vocal
Strings & Arrangements by Vinnie Trauth
More Details Unknown
 
For Biography of Mikki Wilcox see: > The Sun Biographies <
Mikki Wilcox's Sun/PI recordings can be heard on her playlistsfrom 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
 
STUDIO SESSION FOR DON HOSEA
FOR SUN RECORDS 1961
 
PROBABLY ECHO RECORDING STUDIO
14 NORTH MANASSAS AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: TUESDAY AUGUST 29, 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER –  STAN KESLER
 
Composer: - Stacy Davidson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Katrina Music
Matrix number: - U 455 - Master (2:34)
Recorded: - August 29, 1961
Released: - October 9, 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 368-A mono
SINCE I MET YOU / U HUH UNH
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/3 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
Don Hosea had recorded some unissued material for Sun Records back in 1958, but it was his regional hit of ''John Henry'' on Roland Janes's Rita Records had re-captured Sun's attention. Hosea is obviously quite comfortable in the white soul bag, as shown by his treatment of ''Since I Met You'', complete with its gospelly 1-6 minor shuttle. It is ''Uh Huh Huh'' that usually draws all the attention, though. The original version of the tune was recorded by Willie Cobbs for Billy Riley's Mojo label. When Cobb's single started drawing attention, the masters were sold to Home Of The Blues Records, also of Memphis. As the momentum continued, Cobbs' masters found their way even further up the food chain and finally saw release on the Vee Jay label.
There is an undeniable power to Cobb's composition. It is catchy, memorable and melodic, three features not normally associated with the blues. Hosea does a fine job here on one of those tunes that can't decide if it's in a major or a minor key. For one, it's unusual to feature a sax break after just one verse. In any case, this would be Hosea's first and only outing on the Sun label and it was certainly among Sun's more interesting contributions to the Memphis music scene in 1961. As codas to this saga, Riley recorded ''Uh Huh Huh'' (properly titled ''You Don't Love Me'') for his ''Whiskeya-Go-Go'' LP on Mercury barely three years later, and Stan Kesler produced yet another version by Hi artist, Tommy Tucker (recorded as Tommy Raye) for his X-L Records.
 
Composer: - Willie Cobbs
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Katrina Music
Matrix number: - U 456 - Master (2:25)
Recorded: - August 29, 1961
Released: - October 9, 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 368-B mono
UH HUH UNH / SINCE I MET YOU
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/4 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Don Hosea - Vocal
Elbert Adair - Guitar
Billy Wood - Bass
Eugene Ben Keller - Drums
Bobby Wood - Piano
Charles Chalmers - Saxophone
 
For Biography of Don Hosea see: > The Sun Biographies <
Don Hosea's Sun recordings can be heard on his playlistsfrom 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
DON HOSEA - UNTOLD SUN STORIES – Don Hosea left his hometown, Cape Girardeau, Missouri,  in late 1956, bound for Memphis. He started at the Cotton Club in West Memphis, and  became friends with Stan Kesler. 
 
''I still had my clothes in my car when I went to the Cotton  Club'', Hosea recalls, ''and Stan was playing there with the Snearly Ranch Boys. They offered  me a job. Then Clyde went over to the Gables and I formed a band with Bobbie Wood, Chips  Moman, and Reggie Young.
 
When Elvis was off the road, Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana  would come over. I'd hang out at Sun when Elvis would come by. Warren Smith was there  then, he wanted to be Elvis so bad.
 
If Elvis wore a certain outfit, next day Warren would be  wearin' it. One time Elvis parked his Cadillac on the sidewalk outside Sun, and the next day  Warren parked on the sidewalk outside Sun. A cop gave him a ticket. Warren says, You didn't  ticket Elvis'. Cop doesn't even look up. Just says, 'You ain't Elvis'''.
 
Don Hosea started recording for Crystal Records, a label owned by bottling king Drew Canale  and run by Stan Kesler, and then went with Rita Records. After Rita folded, Hosea sang with  the Bill Black Combo on the road for a while, then turned up again at Sun. ''Stan and I was in  the studio when Willie Cobbs come in and demo'd ''You Don't Love Me'', remembered Don. ''I  had a rhythm and blues sound, and I covered it. Stan produced me at Echo studios. I think  Sam had a problem with the Union, so he said to Stan that he should set up Echo as a nonunion  studio. They'd cut over there, and if it panned out they'd run a dummy session with  the Union and release it on Sun. Sam had a stake in Echo, but no one knew it at the time.  We got a lot of airplay on that ''Uh Huh Huh'', but I never was too much into the recording  side of things – I was more into performing. Right around that time I went on the road with  Roy Orbison. I was the one who'd jump off the stage and do all the crazy stuff''.
 
In 1967, Don Hosea moved to Nashville. He wrote songs, some of which were recorded as  album tracks by George Jones, Faron Young and Charlie Pride, and then ran Young's  recording studio for a while. ''The Memphis days were the best of all'', he concludes. ''We  weren't out for money, we were out to entertain. Now it's all business. It was fun then. We'd  get in an old limo, have the best time in the world. I remember one time I woke up seven  o’clock in the morning. Someone was talking outside my hotel window. It was Smokey Joe  talking to his whiskey bottle, 'Sometime I hate you, sometimes I love you'. Stan was always  after me to record more, but I never did like the sound of my recorded voice. I was a  perfectionist a long ways from being perfect. I'd rather get on the road and entertain''.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

STUDIO SESSION FOR FREDDIE NORTH
UNKNOWN DATE AND STUDIO LOCATION

PROBABLY SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE / PROBABLY AUGUST 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – UNKNOWN

> SOMEDAY SHE'LL COME ALONG <
Composer: - Rick Hall
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Fame Music – Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: P 413 - Master (2:22)
Recorded: - Unknown Date August 1961
Released: - October 16, 1961
First appearance: - Phillips International (S) 45rpm standard single PI 3574-B mono
SOMEDAY SHE'LL COME ALONG / DON'T MAKE ME CRY
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15806-4/1 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 6

This October 16, 1961 release is quite a stylistic departure from much of the Phillips International release schedule. ''Someday She'll Come Along'' is performed in a dramatic, quasi-bolero style popularized by Roy Orbison's records of the day (''Running Scared'', ''Crying''). There is a tremendous intimacy to North's performance, reflected in both his warm style and the manner in which it is recorded. It's likely that he did a lot of listening to Brook Benton and, going back a few years, it wouldn't be surprising to learn that Roy Hamilton was a hero. North's voice and indeed, this material recall inspirational classics like ''You'll Never Walk Alone''. Indeed it wouldn't have been surprising if the opening lines of this record had been ''Oh, my love...'' as North launched into his own version of ''Unchained Melody''.

The next side reveals that there is more to North than overwrought intensity. ''Don't Make Me Cry'' reveals a tough of Jackie Wilson and when that falsetto kicks in, it's hard not to think about Jimmy Jones. In fact, the opening notes of the falsetto section are a nearly direct quote from Maurice Williams' ''Stay'' (''Oh won't tou Sta – yay''). Perhaps it is fair to say that Freddie North was simply a composite of the most effective black music style of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He could do them all and managed to roll most of them into this record.

> DON'T MAKE ME CRY <
Composer: - Ray Stevens
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Bill Lowery Music
Matrix number: - P 412 - Master (2:00)
Recorded: - Unknown Date August 1961
Released: - October 16, 1961
First appearance: - Phillips International (S) 45rpm standard single PI 3574-A mono
DON'T MAKE ME CRY / SOMEDAY SHE'LL COME ALONG
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15806-4/1 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 6

BLUE SKIES
Composer: - Irving Berlin
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Sony ATC Music Publishers
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (1:50)
Recorded: - Unknown Date August 1961
Released: May 29, 2012
First appearance: - Music Group (MP3) Internet Sample mono
SUN RECORDS - DOO WOP

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Freddie North - Vocal
More Details Unknown

For Biography of Freddie North see: > The Sun Biographies <
Freddie North's Sun/PI recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

UNTOLD SUN STORIES – FREDDIE NORTH – was a Nashville rhythm and blues singer, born as Freddie Carpenter on May 28, 1939 in Nashville, Tennessee. His father was a gospel singer, and by the time North entered Cameron High School in the mid-1950s, he had a good idea that he wanted to be a singer.

He was in a group called the Rookies, and told the 'Nashville Tennessean' in 1972 that they made a record for Federal, although the King/Federal files tell a different story.

''I got out of high school in 1957'', North reported, ''and a little while after that I made a record on my way for University Records on a deal Buddy Killen set up for me I on American Bandstand in January of 1960 but wound up not selling, so the University deal fell through''.

It was after parting company from University that North did his solitary session for Phillips (a session that could well have been purchased or leased as this was the time when Phillips was dabbling in leased Nashville productions). After Phillips, North signed with Capitol Records, all the while working as a singing waiter at Executive Club at 17th Avenue and Broadway in Nashville, and recording country and rhythm and blues demos. ''Half the recording companies in Nashville could release albums on me from the demos they've got'', North said in 1972. After Capitol deal fell through, North continued to work at local clubs, and was holding down a regular gig at the Modern Era Club in west Nashville when he joined Nashboro/Excello, first as a stockroom clerk, then as a promo man, and then as a recording artist.

''After I came to Nashboro'', North told 'The Tennessean', ''I did some more recordings. I guess I had a release out about once a year. We just never could seem to get the right combination of songs or arrangement. In 1970 I did a thing called ''Thank That Woman'' which sold a few copies''.

After the experience as a disc jockey at WLAC-Nashville and in promotion for Nashboro Records, who released gospel music. Then in 1971, he recorded ''She's All Got'', a song that had been written by Jerry Williams (''Swamp Dogg'') and Gary U.S. Bond. It reached number 10 on the Rhythm And Blues charts, and was promptly covered for the country market by Johnny Paycheck, who took it to number 2. Freddie North released an album, Friend, on Mankind Records (U.S. Number 179, U.S. Black Albums number 41). The disc yielded two hit singles, "She's All I Got" (U.S. Number 39, U.S. Black Singles number 10) and "You and Me Together Forever". Freddie North remains a one-hit wonder.

By this point, North had decided to quit the performing end of the business to concentrate on his desk job at Nashboro, but the success of ''All I Got'' persuaded him to hang in a little longer. Some of his recordings for Excello's affiliated labels have been made available on Ace, although North's current whereabouts are something of a mystery.

AUGUST 30, 1961 WEDNESDAY
 
Brenda Lee recorded the pop hits ''Break It To Me Gently'' and ''Fool Number 1'' at Nashville's Bradley Recording Studio.
 
AUGUST 31, 1961 THURSDAY
 
Songwriter and producer Wayne Kirkpatrick is born in Greenville, Mississippi. Raised in Louisiana, he authors Eric Clapton's ''Change The World'', Little Big Town's ''Boondocks'', The Wreckers' ''My, Oh My'' and Garth Brooks' ''Wrapped Up In You''.
SEPTEMBER 1961
 
The singles, PI 3572 ''Just A Little bit'' b/w ''It's Too Late'' by Charlie Rich and PI 3573 ''I Know What It Means'' b/w ''Willing And Waiting'' by Mikki Wilcox issued.
 
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was officially founded and opened its first office during September of 1961. The World Wildlife Fund was created by the world’s top conservationists as a means to organize and collaborate on conservation fundraising throughout the globe. The WWF used its influence and resources to bring public awareness to conservation issues with the goal of lessening humanity’s impact on natural wildlife habitats and preserving endangered species. Since its founding, the WWF has become the world’s largest conservation organization.
 
SEPTEMBER 1, 1961 FRIDAY
 
Sun 367 ''Save The Last Dance For Me'' b/w ''As Long As I Live'' by Jerry Lee Lewis released.
 
Claude King recorded the final version of ''The Comancheros'' in an overnight session at Nashville's Bradley Recording Studio.
 
SEPTEMBER 3, 1961 SUNDAY
 
Loretta Lynn signs with Decca Records.
 
SEPTEMBER 4, 1961 MONDAY
 
Decca released Webb Pierce's two-sided hit, ''Walking The Streets'' backed with ''How To You Talk To A Baby''.
 
SEPTEMBER 5, 1961 TUESDAY
 
Jim Reeves recorded ''(How Can I Write On Paper) What I Feel In My Heart'' and ''Losing Your Love'' during a midday session at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
SEPTEMBER 6, 1961 WEDNESDAY
 
Stonewall Jackson recorded ''A Wound Time Can't Erase'' and ''Leona''.
 
Webb Pierce recorded ''Sands Of Gold'' and the Tex Ritter-written ''Cow Town''.
 
SEPTEMBER 7, 1961 THURSDAY
 
Jimmy Elledge recorded the Willie Nelson-penned country hit ''Funny How Time Slips Away'' in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
SEPTEMBER 8, 1961 FRIDAY
 
Loretta Lynn recorded ''Success'' in the afternoon at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
''A-team'' guitarist Hank Garland goes into a coma after a car accident near Springfield, Tennessee. Noted for his work with such acts as Elvis Presley, Faron Young and The Everly Brothers, Garland never plays on another recording session.
 
Webb Pierce recorded the Mel Tillis-written ''Take Time''.
 
SEPTEMBER 10, 1961 SUNDAY
 
Lester Wilburn becomes the first of the four Wilburn Brothers to get married, taking beautiful Linda Todd as his bride.
 
SEPTEMBER 11, 1961 MONDAY
 
Decca released Ernest Tubb's ''Through That Door''.
 
Banjo player Richard Bailey is born in Memphis, Tennessee. He becomes a member of the bluegrass band The Steel Drivers, nominees for a country Grammy in 2009.
 
SEPTEMBER 13, 1961 WEDNESDAY
 
Bobbie Cryner is born in Woodland, California. The smokey-voiced singer has a recording deal in the 1990s, but has her biggest success as the songwriter of Trisha Yearwood's single ''Real Live Woman''.
 
Cissy Houston is a vocalist on a New York session for Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, later to become The Band, for producer Henry Glover. It's a major stepping stone on her way to working with Elvis Presley in The Sweet Inspirations backing group.
 
SEPTEMBER 14, 1961 THURSDAY
 
''The Porter Wagoner Show'', a syndicated TV program, debuts on 18 stations. It runs until 1981, airing on Nearly 100 stations at its peak.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

STUDIO SESSION FOR BOBBY WOOD
FOR SUN RECORDS 1961

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – STAN KESLER

> HUMAN EMOTIONS <
Composer: - Stacy Davidson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Katrina Music
Matrix number: - U 458 - Master - Commercially Unissued (2:37)
Recorded: - September 15, 1961
Released: - October 9, 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 369-A mono
HUMAN EMOTIONS / EVERYBODY'S SEARCHING
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/5 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4

Session pianist Bobby Wood recorded these sides in September 1961. ''Everybody's Searching'' is from the tradition of white gospel songs that have been crafted for the pop marketplace. The release on this particular outing borrows heavily from Stephen Foster's ''Old Folks At Home''. Sun had its share of entries in this field, ranging from Ray Smith's ''Hay Boss Man'' to Charlie Rich's ''Gonna be Waitin'''.

Like both of those tunes, this opus features plenty of 1-4-1 chord changes and a happy pointedly shrill chorus echoing the lyrics. True to form there is no mention of a deity here. It's one thing to bring the church to the juke box; it's quite another to ask God to sit in a Wurlitzer.

Music like this is usually pretty watered down for pop sensibilities, but Bobby Wood brings even less of an edge to his approach than most of the vocalists who tackle such material. He fares even worse on the flipside. There is a theory that one can guess simply from the title of a song how likeable the music will be. It isn't a perfect system but titles like ''Honky Tonk Blues'' or ''Down The Line'' bode well. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine that a Sun record called ''Human Emotions'' would come to much. The theory has never looked better.

For reasons probably unconnected with music, this single was never commercially released. It was a Stan Kesler production, and Wood believes that Stan had him under contract to another label at the time. In 1964, Wood finally scored a hit on Joy Records, and one of the follow-ups was yet another version of ''Human Emotions''. In October 1964, Wood was on tour with Gene Simmons, Murray Kellum, Travis Wammack and J. Frank Wilson when he was involved in a car wreck that cost him an eye. Wilson was badly injured and his road manager was killed. By the late 1960s, Wood had drifted into session work and can be heard on Elvis Presley's ''From Elvis In Memphis'' and ''Raised On Rock'' sessions among many others. He than made the familiar pilgrimage to Nashville and has worked on literally thousands of sessions since.

> EVERYBODY'S SEARHING <
Composer: - Stacy Davidson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Katrina Music
Matrix number: - U 457 - Master - Commercially Unissued (2:13)
Recorded: - September 15, 1961
Released: - October 9, 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single > Sun 369-B < mono
EVERYBODY'S SEARCHING / HUMAN EMOTIONS
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/6 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4 

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Bobby Wood - Vocal and Piano
Scotty Moore - Guitar
Elbert Aldair - Guitar
Billy Wood - Bass
Eugene Keller - Drums
Johnny Ace Cannon - Saxophone

Unknown Chorus

A regular Sun release of this record has yet to surface. Apparently it was withdrawn from marketing due to a contractual dispute. The side, ''Everybody's Searchin'', was released on at least two different labels. The Pen label is the most interesting, because it has been produced at the same pressing plant as Sun was using at the time, and has indeed Phillips' stamped in the vinyl trailoff. The GA Challenge promo and commercial issues are from different stampers and has slightly different playing time.

THE DAY AFTER FOREVER
Composer: - Bobby Wood-Stan Kesler
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Beckie Music
Matrix number: - None - Demo Take 1 - Unissued (2:06)
Recorded: - Probably September 15, 1961

THE DAY AFTER FOREVER
Composer: - Stan Kesler
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Beckie Music
Matrix number: - 45-860 - Take 2 Master Long Version (2:31)
Recorded: - Probably September 15, 1961
Released: - August 1962 - Promotional Copy
First appearance: Challenge Records (S) 45rpm standard single 9160-B mono
EVERYBODY'S SEARCHIN'/THE DAY AFTER FOREVER

WHO AM I
Composer: - Charles ''Rusty'' Goodman
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Beckie Music
Matrix number: - None - Unissued
Recorded: - Probably September 15, 1961

For Biography of Bobby Wood see: > The Sun Biographies <
Bobby Wood's Sun recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

SEPTEMBER 16, 1961 SATURDAY

Hank Locklin recorded ''happy Journey'' at Nashville's RCA Studio B.

SEPTEMBER 17, 1961 SUNDAY

Charlie Walker organizes a benefit concert in San Antonio for Jimmie Rosgers' ailing widow. Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Hawkshaw Hawkins, The Wilburn Brothers, Johnny Cash, Jimmy C. Newman and Bill Anderson help raise $6,000.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1961 WEDNESDAY

Karl Farr, of the Sons Of The Pioneers, dies of a heart attack on stage at the Eastern Exposition Coliseum in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Known for ''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'', the western harmony group later joins the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Tex Ritter stars in his first theatrical production in almost three decades. ''The Stovepipe Hat'', as it opens at the Music Box Theater in Los Angeles, California. The show closes three nights later.

SEPTEMBER 21, 1961 THURSDAY

Porter Wagoner recorded ''Misery Loves Company'' at RCA Studio B in Nashville during an afternoon session.

The landing gear fails on an airplane carrying Rose Maddox to Boston's Logan Airport. The plane spins into Boston Harbor, only one passenger dies.

Charlie Phillips recorded his only hit, ''I Guess I'll Never Learn''.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
 
STUDIO SESSION FOR HAROLD DORMAN
FOR SUN RECORDS 1961
 
SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – SAM PHILLIPS
AND/OR CECIL SCAIFE
 
Harold Dorman's calling card was ''Mountain Of Love'', a beat ballad that went on to see a great many revamps, most notably by Johnny Rivers, David Houston, and Charley Pride (who, like the songs's composer, hailed from the tiny town of Sledge, Mississippi). Dorman's twelve months as a Sun artist brought forth some quality sides, the strongest of which is this derivitive of Gary U.S. Bond's double-track style. Not too long after, the bright lights had faded and he was earning a living repairing typewriters.
 
Harold Dorman's second Sun release of 1961 was pretty potent and might well have reclaimed the national audience he earned with ''Mountain Of Love''. To his credit, ''Uncle Jonah's Place'' owes no musical debt whatsoever to ''Mountain''. Dorman is swimming in entirely different waters here and acquits himself in fine style. The truth is, the only debt apparent on ''Jonah's'' is to Gary 'U.S.' Bonds, whose barely intelligible multitracked hits were sweeping the charts in 1961.
 
Dorman has taken the essence of this style but applied it to a much funkier, more southern target. As on the best of Dorman's work, racial identity is blurred. There's just no way to know whether the artist, or even ''Uncle Jonah'' is black or white. The only thing clear is that he's ''southern''.
 
One of the sweetest elements of this record is the heavy pulsing bass drum, alternating single and double strokes in a style best known from Charlie Rich's ''Lonely Weekends''. Like most work in this gospel-sounding genre, there are so many flatted thirds that it is hard to be sure whether the song is in a major or minor key. So powerful is this material that it might have worked as an instrumental. But fortunately we have Dorman's vocal and its wonderful tag line ''i lost my faith in the human race / Till I finally found Jonah's place''. Now ''that's'' poetry!
 
At one minute and 45 seconds, the AM radio programmers must have loved ''Just One Step''. It left them lots of time for the Clearasil commercials before and after. On this side, Dorman does his version of Fats Domino meets Ivory Joe Hunter. It's a smooth insubstantial effort that provided little competition for airplay and sales attention.
Composer: Harold Dorman
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated - Gando Music
Matrix number: - U 459 - Master (1:45)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961
Released: - November 7, 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 370-A mono
UNCLE JONAH'S PLACE / JUST ONE STEP
Reissued: -  1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/7 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
Composer: Harold Dorman
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated - Gando Music
Matrix number: - U 460 - Master (1:45)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961
Released: - November 7, 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 370-B mono
UNCLE JONAH'S PLACE / JUST ONE STEP
Reissued: -  1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/8 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Harold Dorman – Vocal
Roland Janes - Guitar
Scotty Moore - Guitar
O.T. Shaw - Bass
Al Jackson - Drums
Bobby Wood - Piano
Martin Willis - Tenor Saxophone
Vinnie Trauth - Tenor Saxophone
 
For Biography of Harold Dorman see: > The Sun Biographies <
Harold Dorman's Sun recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
 
STUDIO SESSION FOR JERRY LEE LEWIS
FOR SUN RECORDS 1961
 
SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
319 SEVENTH AVENUE NORTH, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 1961
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER - SAM PHILLIPS  AND/OR BILLY SHERRILL
RECORDING ENGINEER - JIM LOCKHART AND/OR TOM SPARKMAN
 
''Ramblin' Rose'' has been identified in some earlier discographies as having been recorded three times, once more than the evidence to hand indicates, a misconception now shown to be the result of the post-production manipulation of tape speeds. The good news is that this makes available an extension to take 1 serving up more than twenty extra seconds of the cut to add to what has hitherto been made widely available. These recordings date from this session in September 1961 when Sam Phillips pushed out the boat in trying to find a new sound. An eight piece horn section was in attendance to help generate the big brass sound, as Sam described it in the liner notes of the second LP (Sun LP 1265), on Jerry Lee's version of ''Money''. As we can hear in the concluding moments of the complete performance, greatly extended beyond the original fade out point at 2:22, in the end it all fell apart. But the suitably truncated ''Money'' was nonetheless good enough for a single release, (Sun 371), coupled with the best of the six takes of ''Bonnie B'' held over from January 1960. (*)
 
Composer: - Fred B. Burch-Marijohn Wilkin
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Cedar Wood Music
Matrix number: - U 468 - Take 1 Master (2:54)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961
Released: - January 19, 1962
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 374-B mono
RAMBLIN' ROSE / I'VE BEEN TWISTIN'
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4-16 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
''Ramblin' Rose'', while not typical Jerry Lee fare, is a powerful, bluesy effort that holds a surprising amount of tension throughout its nearly three minutes running time. You know you're listening to something special within that first four bars of instrumental work. The performance is very sexy, without any of the overt gurgles Jerry used to insert gratuitously into his material. The track, not to be confused with the insipid Nat Cole of the same name, features powerful drumming and piano work. Not even the chorus can diminish this one. Sam Phillips' Nashville connection probably acquired the song; it was by Fred Burch (who had co-written ''Tragedy'') and Marijohn Wilkin, together they would go on to write Jimmy Dean's hits, ''PT 109'' and ''Big Bad John''. This, a finer song in every way, stiffed.
 
Composer: - Fred B. Burch-Marijohn Wilkin
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Cedar Wood Music
Matrix number: - None - Extended Stereo Master Take 1 (3:20)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - September 1989
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-7/20 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015   Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-16/20 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
 
Composer: - Fred B. Burch-Marijohn Wilkin
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Cedar Wood Music
Matrix number: - None – Take 2 (3:01)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - December 1969
First appearance: - Sun International (LP) 33rpm Sun 108-A3 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE GOLDEN CREAM OF COUNTRY
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-7/23 mono
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
October 2015   Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-16/21 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
 
Jerry's credentials as an rhythm and blues artist were deepening with every release. Here, he takes on the Motown catalogue with his version of ''Money'', written by Barrett Strong the previous year. In truth, the song was not yet considered a 'classic' when the decision was made for Jerry to record it.
 
Even the Beatles may not yet have discovered it. This Nashville session from September, 1961 is notable in one important way. Never before had Jerry worked with more horn players. The Union logs list six of them which, along with the usual rhythm session, meant that Sun was paying some serious front money for this date.
 
Sam C. Phillips was not to be cheated. What he paid for, he heard! Even the liner notes to Jerry's second album, which featured this track, touted Jerry working with ''a big brass sound'', adding ''See if you don't feel he's perfectly at home and in facts shows off the brass to great advantage''. Jerry reads the now famous lyric   against Indian wardrums and his piano manages to hold its own against the blazing horns. The trumpets really cut loose during the final twelve bars and there are times when it's difficult to know where the shrill horns stop and the shrieking chorus starts.
 
In stripped-down form this was a  1960’s live favourite (check out the powerful version from Hamburg 1964 as well as the weaker version from Fort Worth 1966). The 2010 cut is Jerry’s most recently-released recording, being a bonus track on an exclusive edition of ‘Mean Old Man’ sold at the Million Dollar Quartet stage show in New York during mid September of this year. It’s possibly the most recently recorded too, as it certainly wasn’t amongst the bulk of “raw” ‘Mean Old Man’ recordings from late 2008 and early 2009, nor is there any record of it being recorded during any of the ‘Last Man Standing’ sessions during 2002-2005. Whenever it was recorded, the playing, the inspiration and the production is better than pretty much anything on the main album (and even the vocals aren’t too bad), though the one down-side is the over-dubbed duet vocal by Levi Kreis, the guy who plays Jerry in the stage show.
Composer: - Janie Bradford-Berry Gordy Jr.
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Jobett Music
Matrix number: - U 461 - Master (2:20)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961
Released: - November 21, 1961
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 371-B mono
MONEY / BONNIE B
Reissued: - 1997 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15804-4/9 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 4
 
Composer: - Janie Bradford-Berry Gordy Jr.
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Jobett Music
Matrix number: - None - Extended Stereo Master (2:38)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - September 1989
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-7/21 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015   Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-16/22 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS 

"Money (That's What I Want)" is a song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy Jr. and Janie Bradford that became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. The song was recorded in 1959 by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. It went on to be covered by many artists, including the Beatles in 1963 and the Flying Lizards in 1979.

The song was originally recorded by Barrett Strong and released on Tamla in August 1959. Anna Records was operated by Gwen Gordy, Anna Gordy and Roquel "Billy" Davis. Gwen and Anna's brother Berry Gordy had just established his Tamla label (soon Motown would follow) and licensed the song to the Anna label in 1960, which was distributed nationwide by Chicago-based Chess Records in order to meet demand; the Tamla record was a resounding success in the Midwest. The song has Strong curtly insisting that money is what he needs, more than anything else.

In the US, the single became Motown's first hit in June 1960, making it to number 2 on the Hot Rhythm and Blues Sides chart and number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was listed as number 288 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time''. Greil Marcus has pointed out that "Money" was the only song that brought Strong's name near the top of the national music charts, "but that one time has kept him on the radio all his life''. Piano and lead vocals were supplied by Barrett. Guitar on the track was played by Eugene Grew. Virtually all of the records issued were 45's, the 10" 78 format, issued by Anna, is described as "extremely rare''.

Singer Barrett Strong claims that he co-wrote the song with Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford. His name was removed from the copyright registration three years after the song was written, restored in 1987 when the copyright was renewed, and then excised again the following year. Gordy has stated that Strong's name was only included because of a clerical error.

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded in September 1961 ''Money'' for his Sun single (Sun 371), backed with ''Bonnie B'' and released on November 21, 1961, but didn't the charts. Even the Beatles recorded "Money" in seven takes on July 18, 1963, with their usual lineup. A series of piano overdubs was later added by producer George Martin. The song was released in November 1963 as the final track on their second UK album, ''With The Beatles''. According to George Harrison, the group discovered Strong's version in Brian Epstein's NEMS record store (though not a hit in the UK, it had been issued on London Records in 1960). They had previously performed it during their audition at Decca Records on January 1, 1962, with Pete Best still on drums at the time. They also recorded it six times for BBC radio. A live version, taped at a concert date in Stockholm, Sweden in October 1963, was included on ''Anthology 1''.

In July 1979 British band the Flying Lizards released a new wave version of the song. An unexpected hit, this version peaked at number 5 in the UK chart and at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked at number 22 on the US dance charts.

The song has been covered by many artists, with several of the versions appearing in a variety of charts. For example, the Kingsmen reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 6 in the US Rhythm and Blues charts in 1964. Jennell Hawkins hit number 17 in the Rhythm and Blues charts with her recording in 1962. Junior Walker and The All Stars reached number 52 on the Hot 100 and number 35 on the Rhythm and Blues charts in 1966 and Bern Elliott and the Fenmen reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1963.

The song was a staple for British beat bands, including the Searchers, the Undertakers, Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes and the Rolling Stones. It was also covered by Freddie and the Dreamers and John Lee Hooker. The song was covered during live performances by the Doors and appears twice on their 2009 released album ''Live In New York'', which covers four sets from January 1970. It also appears on their live album Live in Vancouver 1970 and the bootleg album ''Boot Yer Butt: The Doors Bootlegs''. 

Composer: - Carl Mann
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None – Unknown Take (2:41)
Recorded: - September 21, 1961   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - January 1974
First appearance: - Sun International (LP) 33rpm NY-6-A4 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS - COLLECTORS EDITON
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-7/22 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Vocal & Piano
Wayne Moss - Guitar
Jerry Kennedy - Guitar
Bob Moore - Bass
Murray Buddy Harmon - Drums
Jerry Tuttle - Organ
Jim Hall - Saxophone
Homer Boots Randolph - Saxophone
Karl Gavin - Saxophone
John Wilkin - Horn
Donald Sheffield - Horn
Cameron Mullis - Horn
William Bill McElhiney - Horn
Unknown - Vocal Chorus
 
For Biography of Jerry Lee Lewis see: > The Sun Biographies <
Jerry Lee Lewis' Sun recordings can be heard on his playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
SEPTEMBER 22, 1961 FRIDAY
 
''Five Star Jubilee'' ends a six-month run on NBC. The country variety series, telecast from Springfield, Missoury, rotated five hosts, Rex Allen, Snooky Lanson, Tex Ritter, Carl Smith and Jimmy Wakely. 
 
Columbia released Jimmy Dean's ''Big Bad John''.
 
Hawkshaw Hawkins conducts his final recording session with Columbia Records. Shortly thereafter, he returns to the King label, with whom he'd previously amassed a half-dozen hits.
 
SEPTEMBER 23, 1961 SATERDAY
 
Mitch Miller, the host of NBC-TV's ''Sing Along With Mitch'', makes the cover of TV Guide. The former pop record executive produced several hits for Marty Robbins, including ''The Hanging Tree'' and ''A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)''.
 
SEPTEMBER 24, 1961 SUNDAY
 
Clark McEntire, Reba's father, wins the National Steer Roping Championship in Laramie, Wyoming.
 
SEPTEMBER 25, 1961 MONDAY
 
Decca released Brenda Lee's pop hit ''Fool Number 1''.
 
Jackie Gleason stars as pool legend Minnesota Fats in the movie debut of ''The Hustler''. Within six months, Gleason is also successful country songwriter, thanks to Jimmy Dean's recording of ''To A Sleeping Beauty''.
 
Ray Price recorded ''San Antonio Rose'', the first tribute album to honor Bob Wills. The band includes Willie Nelson.
 
Actress Heather Locklear is born in Westwood, California. She is married to Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora at the time the band recorded its country hit, ''Who Says You Can't Go Home''.
 
Leroy Van Dyke's ''Walk On By'' spends the first of 19 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
 
SEPTEMBER 26, 1961 TUESDAY
 
Nat ''King'' Cole and his wife, Marie, have twin daughters. Timolin and Casey Cole. Dad appeared twice in 1944 on the Billboard folk charts, destined to become the magazine's country list.
 
Buck Owens recorded ''You've For Me'' at the Capitol Tower in Los Angeles, California.
 
SEPTEMBER 29, 1961 FRIDAY
 
Don Gibson recorded ''Lonesome Number One'' during a late-morning session at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
SEPTEMBER 29 SATURDAY /OCTOBER 1961
 
Jerry Lee Lewis plays a 30-day tour with Jackie Wilson for black promoter Henry Winn. Gene Chrisman plays drums and Jay W. Brown is on bass.
 
SEPTEMBER 30, 1961 SATURDAY
 
Bob Dylan signs with Columbia Records. The folk singer and songwriter writes a number of songs which find success in country music, including ''To Make You Feel My Love'', ''It Ain't Me, Babe'' and ''You Ain't Going Nowhere''.

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© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©