CONTAINS
For audio recordings click on the available > buttons <
> Back 1953 Sun Schedule <

1962 SESSIONS (1-3)
January 1, 1962 to March 31, 1962

Studio Session for Hayden Thompson, 1962 / Arlen Records
Studio Session for Mack Self, 1962 / Hi Records
Studio Session for Bill Yates & Billy Adams, Early 1962 / HOTB Records
Studio Session for Jeb Stuart, Early 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Jeb Stuart, Unknown Date(s) / Sun Records
Studio Session for Jerry Lee Lewis, January 4, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Elmo Lewis, January 5, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Jerry Lee Lewis, January 5, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Charlie Rich, January 17, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Eddie Bond, January 29, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Eddie Bond, January 29, February 13, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Thomas Wayne, February 15, 1962 / Sun Records

- The Tragedy -

Studio Session for Harold Dorman, March 12, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for David Wilkins, March 12, 1962 (1) / Sun Records
Studio Session for David Wilkins, Unknown Date(s) (2) / Sun Records
Studio Session for Frank Ballard with Phillip Reynolds Band, March 18, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Frank Ballard with Phillip Reynolds Band, Unknown Dates 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Charlie Rich, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Charlie Rich, March 20, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Carl Mann, March 20, 1962 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Carl Mann, March 30, 1962 / Sun Records

Carl Mann Speaks -

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 - ©

1962

The cars continued to evolve as more compacts appeared and sold well in the United States. The Cold War continued to worsen when the Russians placed Ballistic Missiles on Cuban land just 90 miles away from the coast of Florida in and JFK called the bluff by threatening war unless they were removed which they were but for a short time the world was on the brink of nuclear war and self destruction. The president then set a goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade and became more involved in politics in Southeast Asia by training South Vietnamese pilots. Folk music was evolving into protest music thanks to young artists like Bob Dylan and the birth of Surfing music by the beach boys grew in popularity meanwhile in England the Beatles record the single "Love Me Do". The new hit on TV for that year was "The Beverly Hillbillies" and the first of the James Bond movies "Dr No" was an instant success, some of the other movies released included "Spartacus" and "El Cid".

The Space Needle an observation tower in Seattle, Washington is completed in time for the 1962 World's Fair. The Space Needle is 605 ft high, 138 ft wide, and weighs 9,550 tons. It was completed in less than 1 year just in time for the opening of the 1962 World's Fair. The domed top housing the top five levels including rotating SkyCity restaurant at 500 ft and an observation deck at 520 ft. The last elevator car was installed the day before the Fair opened on April 5, 1962. During the Worlds Fair the Space Needle drew over 2.3 million visitors, when nearly 20,000 people a day used its elevators. this was nearly 1/4 of all the visitors to the Worlds Fair. The Space Needle is considered an icon of Seattle and still one of the most popular places to visit and photograph over fifty years later.

1962

Motown continues to expand its power-base scoring number 1 rhythm and blues hits by both Mary Wells and the Contours and while attracting musical talent from all over Detroit that will soon result in the label becoming the biggest in the country.

Southern soul has its first major hit with the instrumental "Green Onions" by Booker T. & The MG's.

Ray Charles successfully melds country music with soul and crosses into the pop realm with the album "Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music".

The surf music craze, begun by instrumentalists in the previous few years, adds vocals when the Beach Boys score their first hit "Surfin' Safari".

Surf-rock guitarist Dick Dale debuts the new Fender Reverb amplifier.

The pacific-northwest becomes a hotbed for "garage bands" such as The Sonics, The Kingsmen and The Wailers which signals a more rebellious youthful aesthetic coming back to rock.

The Four Seasons greaser vocal harmonies explodes on the scene with three consecutive number 1 hits in the waning months of the year.

1950's legends Fats Domino, Clyde McPhatter, The Everly Brothers, LaVern Baker and Bo Diddley score their final major hits after a decade in the spotlight.

Marking drastic change from only a few years back female artists account for nearly half of all number one rhythm and blues hits in the calendar year.

1962

Various members of Booker T & the MG's moonlight from Stax Records, as session men at Sun. Out of the blue, the Phillips International imprint is involved in a flurry of album activity.

The Supremes first recordings are released.

James Brown record his famous Live At the Apollo album in New York City.

John Hesters
© 1962/1963 American International Records (LP) 33rpm AI-31007 stereo
JOHN HESTERS PLAY – UPBEAT CHRISTMAS

The album you're holding in your hands represents a new and exciting fronteir in Christmas sounds. John Hester has brought together Seven of Memphis, Tennessee's top-flight musicians and together they have arranged and produced this frolicking up-beat Christmas collection.

The material is time-honored and the new compositions are destined for standard status. Whatever your favorite may be, we hope it is included in this fabulous Yuletide collection. This album is a treat and should be included in your record library for seasonal listening pleasure.

Produced by: John Hester
Recorded by: Phillips Rececording Studio, Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1962
Engineered by: Stan Kesler
Designed by: Lester & Carpenter

Side 1: Contains
1 - Jingle Bells
2 - Here Comes Santa Claus
3 - Up At The North Pole
4 - Sleigh Ride
5 - They're Predicting An Early Snow

Side 2: Contains
1 - Santa's Super Sonic Sleigh
2 - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
3 - I Saw Mommy Kissin' Santa Claus
4 - Christmas Time Will Soon Be Here
5 - Frosty The Snow Man

IMPORTANT!
This A1 Compatible record can be played on phonographs equipped for monaural, Hi-Fi or Stereo.

This rare and uncataloged instrumental LP was recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Studio on 639 Madison Avenue Memphis, Tennessee. Indeed it plays true stereo which makes it one of the earliest known stereo releases out of the Phillips studio. Not much else is known so any additional information is encouraged and appreciated!

*- Unreleased one-sided 10" demo acetate with a vocal John Hester song, possibly recorded at his own expense at the Christmas session, ca 1962.

*- Source: John Boija ©

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

1962

The follow-ups from Jerry Lee Lewis this year included a gesture toward the Twist craze, ''I've Been Twistin''' (which was a revamped version of Junior Parker's 1953, ''Feelin' Good''.

There was also a revival of Chuck Berry's ''Sweet Little Sixteen'', which actually grazed the Hot 100. However, Jerry could never recapture the success of ''What'd I Say''.

Although his releases continued to include cover versions or revivals of rhythm and blues hits, like ''Money'', ''Save The Last Dance For Me'', ''Teenage Letter'', ''Good Golly Miss Molly''. Phillips even shipped another album, ''Jerry Lee's greatest!'', in the wake of ''What'd I Say''.

However, the emphasis upon revivals showed once again that music publishers were no longer submitting the cream of their new material to him. It was one more annoyance to gall him as chart success seemed to lag behind his success on the road.

The end of his contract with Sun, which was coming into view, held out the promise of an aggressive new approach to his recording career.

1962

In 1962, Bill Black give former Sun recording artist, Edwin Bruce, a three-record deal with Scepter-Wand Records. One of the songs, ''See The Big Man Cry'', was arranged by yet another Sun alumnus, Bill Justis. Ed moved to Nashville, trying to peddle songs, but his biggest success came when Bill Black placed one of his songs, ''Save Your Kisses'', on the flip side of Tommy Roe's ''Sheilla''.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

''In Love Again'' pays a mighty big debt to Miz Barbara George, the barely teenage singer who scored a big 1961 New Orleans hit with ''I Know''. The similarity shows up immediately in the first two words, and reappears in the horn solo. Regardless of its source, this is a very churchy record, written by Sun's in-house arranger, Vinnie Trauth (who was fooling with a musician's wife – a liaison that would soon prompt a hurried exit from both Sun and Tennessee). 

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

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

JANUARY 1, 1962 MONDAY

The Twisters appear on the New Year's edition of American Bandstand.

The US Navy SEALS are created as the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force, the special force was in existance prior dating back to World War II when the Navy "Scouts and Raiders" was formed.

JANUARY 2, 1962 TUESDAY

Joey Dee and the Starliters are at the Crescendo Club in Los Angeles for three weeks.

Ray Stevens moves from Atlanta to Nashville to work with Mercury Records, recorded ''Ahab, The Arab'' within his first six months.

Capitol released Buck Owen's ''Nobody's Fool But Yours''.

JANUARY 4, 1962 THURSDAY

More than six months after he first attempted it, Faron Young recorded Willie Nelson's ''Three Days'' at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio on Nashville's Music Row.

George Jones recorded ''She Thinks I Still Care'' at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

Ray Charles' trial for heroin possession is set to begin in Indianapolis. Charles' attorney moves to have the charges dropped. The case is bound over till January 30.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

The twist craze was, of course, at its height, Jerry Lee used the opportunity to -re-record ''Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On'' in the latest popular idiom. One can't help feeling that this might have had more chance of success than the revival of Junior Parker's shuffling blues number had Sam Phillips had the nerve to release it. Listeners may be wondering why only one take of ''Whole Lotta Twistin' Goin' On'' is to be found, given that previously published discographies have indicated that there were two distinct recordings. The notionally shorter version was the first outing for the song when it materialised on a Charly LP in 1954. The fact is that this so-called ''take 1'', which will not be found in this collection, was simply an edit of the longer, full recording, with a passage of some 27 seconds, commencing at 2:27, having been excised. This piece of engineering lends weight to the idea that consideration may well have been given to issuing the recording back in 1962, although even after the removal of some of the more risqué commentary there was still potentially sufficient innuendo remaining to provoke offence. It's an intriguing ''might have been'' which serves as a further reminder that Sam was very capable of adding a ''twist'' pf his own to the proceedings. (*) 

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - © 

John Lennon recorded the song again for his album Rock 'n' Roll. The Animals' version is available on their 1966 album Animalisms. Ten Years After released a live version of this song on their 1970 album Watt. Jesse Colin Young also covered it on his 1972 album Together. Fictional synth pop band Silicon Teens recorded a version of the song for their 1980 album Music For Parties released on Mute Records. Rock and roll phenomenon artist Jerry Lee Lewis also re-covered this song for Sun Records with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr; this version appeared on Lewis's 2006 duet album ''Last Man Standing''. The Rolling Stones covered this song on their 1978 US Tour.

Experimentally, for one take, they upped the tempo and gave Lewis himself greater licence on a more vivacious recording that was destined to remain unheard until Shelby Singleton saw fit to publish it on an LP in 1969. At the time of that unveiling, accidental or otherwise, given that this take was also presented in lieu of the authentic Sun 379 recording on a contemporaneous 45rpm single, many thought that Sam Phillips had missed a trick and that this was Lewis's best reading of the Chuck Berry song. He also had another stab at Fats Domino's ''Hello Josephine'', though with an earlier version dating from a June 1961 session having already been released on the LP ''Jerry Lee's Greatest'' it's difficult to imagine there was any serious intent to do very much with the song. It was no doubt a casual, spur of the moment, decision to record it again. (*)

''My Girl Josephine" is a song written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. Domino recorded the song on Imperial records (Imperial 5704) in 1960, and it charted number 7 on the Billboard Rhythm & Blues charts and number 14 on the Billboard pop charts.

According to Allmusic, the song has also been performed by The Bill Black Combo, Curley Bridges, Van Broussard, Snooks Eaglin, Chris Farlowe, The Flamin' Groovies, Michael Herman, The Holmes Brothers, Jerry Jaye, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sandy Nelson, Tracy Pendarvis, Queen Ida & Her Zydeco Band, Noel Redding, Warren Storm, Super Cat, and Billy Vera, among others.

> HELLO JOSEPHINE (2) < 
Composer: - Dave Bartholomew-Fats Domino
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Bartholomew Music
Matrix number: - None – Unknown Take (2:25)
Recorded: - January 5, 1962 – Not Originally Issued
Released: - December 1969
First appearance: - Sun International (LP) 33rpm Sun LP 107-B2 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS - ROCKIN' RHYTHM AND BLUES
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/2 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

> SET MY MIND AT EASY <
Composer: - Red West
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Sun Entertainment
Matrix number: - None - Take 1 (1:44)
Recorded: - January 5, 1962 – Not Originally Issued
Released: - January 1974
First appearance: - Sun International (LP) 33rpm NY-6-A5 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS - COLLECTORS EDITON
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-83 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

Jerry Lee trying something of the pop-country number ''Set My Mind At Ease'', of which three takes remain. It need be explained that the quality of the third, hitherto unreleased, has been compromised very slightly by a tape crease at around the 52 seconds mark. Not for the first time the casual insertion of the word ''honey'', here prefacing the fourth line of the song, gives an early pointer to the individual status of the take in question. (*)

> SET MY MIND AT EASY <
Composer: - Red West
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Sun Entertainment
Matrix number: - None - Take 2 (2:04)
Recorded: - January 5, 1962 – Not Originally Issued
Released: - May 1987
First appearance: - Pickwick Records (CD) 500/200rpm PWK 015-9 mono
THE COUNTRY SOUND OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - October 2015 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-16/31 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORK

Robert Gene "Red" West, born 1936 in Memphis, Tennessee to Lois and Newton Thomas West. West is an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter. He was a close high school friend of rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. He is probably best known to American film audiences for his role as Red in Road House, alongside Patrick Swayze.

An excellent athlete and former U.S. Marine, West played football for his high school and junior college (Jones County Junior College) teams and was a boxer in the Golden Gloves championships. Red West contributed to several songs written for Elvis Presley in 1961 and 1962. He received help from Elvis Presley in writing two songs in the early 1960s, which were collaborations, "You'll Be Gone" and "That's Someone You Never Forget''. "You'll Be Gone" was also co-written with Charlie Hodge, and appeared on the ''Girl Happy'' soundtrack album and as a 45 single in 1965. The single reached number 35 on the Canadian singles chart in 1965. "That's Someone You Never Forget" was the final track on the 1962 album ''Pot Luck'' and was released as a 45 B side single in 1967 and was featured on the Artist of the Century compilation.

Red West also wrote ''Set My Mind At Easy'' for Jerry Lee Lewis and co-wrote "If You Think I Don't Need You" with Joey Cooper for the motion picture ''Viva Las Vegas''. He teamed up with Joey Cooper again on "I'm A Fool", which Ricky Nelson recorded. "I'm A Fool" later became a hit for Dino, Desi and Billy, the partnership of Dean-Paul "Dino" Martin, Desi Arnaz Jr., and William "Billy" Hinsche. Red West also cowrote the song "Separate Ways" for Elvis in 1972. The song was the title of an Elvis album released on RCA's budget album line, Camden, in January 1973. The song "Separate Ways" was the B side release of the single "You Were Always On My Mind" in November 1972. The single reached number 20 on Billboard's Hot 100. It reached number 16 on the Country Music Billboard chart. Again, largely due to the success of "Always On My Mind".

When Presley was making films in the 1960s in Hollywood, Red West appeared in small roles in sixteen of the star's films. During this time, West became good friends with actor Nick Adams and his physical abilities got him hired on as a stuntman on Adams' television series, ''The Rebel''. From there, West went on to do more stunt work in film as well as developing a career as an actor in a number of motion pictures and on television. He was often on screen as a henchman in the television series ''The Wild Wild West''. West played master sergeant Andy Micklin on ''Baa Baa Black Sheep''. He guest starred twice on the CBS hit detective series ''Magnum, P.I.'' as different characters, as four different ones on ''The A-Team'', the Knight Rider pilot episode "Knight Of The Phoenix", on ''The Fall Guy'' and in ''The Once And Future King'' (The Twilight Zone). In 1989 West appeared in the action film ''Road House'' with Patrick Swayze as Red Webster, the auto parts store owner. West continued to work in motion pictures as of early February 2013. His most recent role was in the 2013 film ''Safe Haven''.

In 1976, Red West was involved in a series of heavy-handed incidents in Las Vegas with aggressive fans that got out of hand, drawing criticism by the media. More than that, West was becoming more vocal about Presley's drug problem and how he needed help. As a result, Red West, his cousin Sonny, and a third bodyguard named David Hebler was fired by Elvis Presley and subsequently helped write the book Elvis: What Happened, which was published weeks before Presley's death. The book, according to West in the book, was an attempt to help Presley, but believed by some to be an attempt to retaliate and earn an income after being fired.

> SET MY MIND AT EASY <
Composer: - Red West
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Sun Entertainment
Matrix number: - None - Take 3 (2:03)
Note: Irreparable tape crease at 0:52secs
Recorded: - January 5, 1962 – Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-14/4 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

On this session, Jerry Lee Lewis turned again to the work of his childhood idol, Jimmie Rodgers. In the early 1970s, three distinct masters of ''Waiting For A Train'' would find their way onto Sun International 45rpm discs, including two variants dating from June 5 (Take 2) and September 11, 1962 on successive pressings of the original single SI 1119, first issued in October 1970, and a third (Take 1) on a ''Golden Treasure'' re-issue, Sun GT 69, a couple of years later. The lattermost was assumed to have been previously unreleased when pressed onto a UK Charly LP in 1979 but the truth is that it had already been playable on jukeboxes in the southern States for some years. (*)

> WAITING FOR A TRAIN (1) <
Composer: - Jimmie Rodgers
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Peer International
Matrix number: - None – Take 1 (1:53)
Recorded: - January 5, 1962 – Not Originally Issued
Released: - 1973
First appearance: - Sun International (S) 45rpm Sun 69 mono **
WAITING FOR A TRAIN / I CAN'T SEEM TO SAY GOODBYE
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/4 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

** - Sun International ''Golden Treasure Series''.

> WAITING FOR A TRAIN (1) <
Composer: - Jimmie Rodgers
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Peer International
Matrix number: - None – Take 2 Master (1:42)
Recorded: - January 5, 1962 – Not Originally Issued
Released: - September 1970
First appearance: - Sun International (S) 45rpm SI-1119 mono
WAITING FOR A TRAIN / BIG LEGGED WOMAN
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/6 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Vocal & Piano
Roland Janes – Guitar
Scotty Moore – Guitar
Jay W. Brown – Bass
Al Jackson – Drums
Shirley Sisk - Organ

Jerry actually recorded ''Waiting For A Train'' at least 5 takes of this song at different sessions in 1962: In January of that year 2 takes were recorded, featuring the expected guitars, bass and drums plus Shirley Sisk on the organ. The slightly faster version was released first: mistitled ''All Around The Watertank'' it was issued on ''Olde Tyme Country Music'' in 1970, with the slower version appearing on the United Kingdom album ''Good Rockin’ Tonite'' 9 years later (the faster version was also released as single – backed by the dirty blues ''Big Legged Woman'' of all songs - and was a top 20 United States country hit). In September of 1962 he tackled the song another several times, this time without Shirley Sisk’s organ but with Boots Randolph’s saxophone! One of these takes was apparently issued on a Sun International single by mistake in the early 1970s (though this didn't seem to be common knowledge amongst fans until well into the 1980s), with the other takes released on various CDs during the 1980s. Lastly, he recorded the song again for the ''She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye'' album in 1969. Backed by a very tasteful and nobtrusive string section, once again (to my ears) a late 1960s Smash recording blows away all the earlier versions.

Note: Shirley Sisk, born Ernestine Brooks in Memphis. First recorded for Sam Phillips as a pianist and vocalist with her sisterin- law Judy Dismukes on guitar. The session was on February 8, 1952 when ''Let Me Count The Curls'' and ''Mean Old Memphis'' were recorded. Sam Phillips assigned Chess master numbers and shipped masters to Chess and to local radio stations. However, Chess did not release the titles, but Acuff-Rose picked up the publishing rights to the song ''Let Me Count The Curls''. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, Shirley Sisk was back in Memphis, working out of the Echo studios as a pianist and organist. She was featured on a Phillips International disc by the Memphis Bells and in her own right on Sun 365, recorded at the Echo studio on Manassas Avenue in 1961. She owned Permanent Records in Memphis, which did not live up to its name.

JANUARY 6, 1962 SATURDAY

Bobby Vee hosts a March of Dimes benefit show in Houston, Texas.

EARLY JANUARY 1962

The Marcels open at the Gateway theater in their hometown of Pittsburgh.

JANUARY 7, 1962 SUNDAY

Ray Price recorded ''I've Just Destroyed The World (I'm Living In)'' and ''Pride'' at the Bradley Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

JANUARY 8, 1962 MONDAY

Decca released Brenda Lee's pop hit ''Break It To Me Gently'', Webb Pierce's ''Alla My Love'', Kitty Well's ''Unloved Unwanted''.

JANUARY 9, 1962 TUESDAY

Charges against Ray Charles for heroin possession are dropped when an Indianapolis judge rules police did not have a proper search warrant. The next month, Charles recorded ''Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music''.

JANUARY 10, 1962 WEDNESDAY

Decca released Patsy Cline's ''She's Got You''.

Roy Acuff ends a one-month tour of Spain and Morocco, sponsored by the United Service Organizations.

JANUARY 11, 1962 THURSDAY

Hank Snow recorded ''You Take The Future (And I'll Take The Past)'' during an evening session at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.

Columbia released Johnny and Jonie Mosby's ''Don't Call Me From A Honky Tonk''.

JANUARY 12, 1962 FRIDAY

Brook Benton starts a week at the Regal Theater in Chicago.

Mitch Miller, who produced several Marty Robbins hits, nabs gold albums for ''Holiday Sing Along With Mitch'' and ''Party Sing Along With Mitch''. The Christmas release includes ''Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer''.

Claudia Church is born in Lenoir, North Carolina. A singer and model, she marries Rodney Crowell in 1998.

JANUARY 13, 1962 SATURDAY

Bobby Vee hosts a March of Dimes benefit performance in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Trace Adkins is born in Springhill, Louisiana. The deep-voiced singer earns the Academy of Country Music's Top New Male award, joins Grand Ole Opry and broaden his audience with a stint on ''The Celebrity Apprentice''.

JANUARY 15, 1962 MONDAY

The Shirelles sing "Baby It's You" on American Bandstand.

Decca Records released whisperin' Bill Anderson's first album, ''Bill Anderson Sings Country Heart Songs''.

MID JANUARY 1962

The Drifters are at the Nichigek Theater in Tokyo, Japan. The Ronettes are appearing at the Peppermint Lounge In Miami. Micky Baker, of Mickey and Sylvia, leaves to live in Paris where he plans to start a music school.

JANUARY 16, 1962 TUESDAY

Gene Pitney sings "Town Without Pity" on American Bandstand.

George Hamilton IV recorded ''If You Don't Know I Ain't Gonna Tell You'' at Nashville's RCA Studio B.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - © 

JANUARY 17, 1962 WEDNESDAY

Brenda Lee is in Belgium.

JANUARY 18, 1962 THURSDAY

Songwriter and radio personality Devon O'Day is born in Alexandria, Virginia. A longtime member of the morning team at WSIX-FM in Nashville, she co-writes George Strait's 1994 hit ''The Big One''.

JANUARY 19, 1962 FRIDAY

The singles, Sun 373 ''How Well I Know'' b/w ''Big Dream'' by Rayburn Anthony and Sun 374 ''I've Been Twistin''' b/w ''Ramblin' Rose'' by Jerry Lee Lewis issued.

JANUARY 21, 1962 SUNDAY

Jackie Wilson performs "My Heart Belongs To Only You" on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Burl Ives recorded ''Funny Way Of Laughin''' during the evening at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

JANUARY 22, 1962 MONDAY

Patsy Cline writes to friend Louise Seger about a 13-year-old steel guitarist rooming with her on a tour that includes Johnny Cash, George Jones and Carl Perkins, ''Looks like a blonde doll. And, what a showman''. The kid, Barbara Mandrell.

Burl Ives recorded ''Call Me Mr. In-Between'' in an afternoon session at Nashville's Bradley Recording Studio.

JANUARY 23, 1962 TUESDAY

Ray Stevens writes the pop novelty ''Ahab, The Arab'' in Nashville, Tennessee.

JANUARY 24, 1962 WEDNESDAY

Ray Steven recorded the comedic pop hit ''Ahab, The Arab'' at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

Leroy Van Dyke recorded ''If A Woman Answer (Hang Up The Phone)'' at the Bradley Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The backing vocal group, the Merry Melody Singers, includes Ray Stevens.

Joe Dowell recorded the pop hit ''Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn)'' in Nashville, with Ray Stevens playing organ.

JANUARY 26, 1962 FRIDAY

Claude King recorded ''Wolverton Mountain'' at the Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville during an evening session.

Columbia released Charlie Phillips' only hit, ''I Guess I'll Never Learn''.

JANUARY 27, 1962 SATURDAY

Chubby Checker is the headeliner at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Also on the bill are Jan and Dean, Bobby Freeman. Dick and DeeDee and the Untouchables. An estimated 15,000 attend and the show grosses $44,800.

JANUARY 28, 1962 SUNDAY

Johnny Tillotson leaves to tour the Far East. Del Shannon begins a two week tour of Japan.

A truck hits Charley Pride at a Montana smelter, damaging his ankle, which has a pin permanently embedded.

JANUARY 29, 1962 MONDAY

Peter, Paul and Mary sign to Warner Bros. It marks the first recording contract for Peter Yarrow, who will write and produce Mary MacGregor's ''Torn Between Two Lovers''.

JANUARY 30, 1962 TUESDAY

In Indianapolis all charges against Ray Charles are dropped. The judge ruled the search of Charles' hotel room violated his Constitutional rights. The action took five minutes.

JANUARY 31, 1962 WEDNESDAY

Jimmie Davis recorded ''Where The Old Red River Flows''.

LATE JANUARY 1962

Bobby Vee begins a two month European tour.

''The Quiet Look'' was the obvious plug side here as all assembled did everything they could to remind listeners and buyers about Wayne's earlier hit. From the ''wo-wo's'' to the 4-minor chords and the major seventh, it's all here. All except to a good song. With not a trace of originality going for it, this record – about a girl who sends too many non-verbal messages – sank without a trace. The flipside, ''I've Got It Made'', is just plain silly.

THOMAS WAYNE – Born on July 22, 1940 in Batesville, Mississippi, was an American singer. He is best remembered as a one-hit wonder for "Tragedy". Wayne, who was born Thomas Wayne Perkins, was the brother of Johnny Cash's guitarist, Luther Perkins. He released several singles between 1958 and 1964, primarily on the labels Fernwood, Phillips International, and Mercury.

He scored a major U.S. hit with the song "Tragedy" (credited to Thomas Wayne with the DeLons), which peaked at number 20 on the Black Singles chart and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. It sold over one million copies, earning gold disc status. The song proved to be his only hit, however. Later, Wayne worked as a sound engineer, before he died in a car accident in Memphis on August 15, 1971.

THE TRAGEDY - Speeding down the entrance ramp to Interstate 240 in Memphis, Thomas Wayne Perkins crossed four lanes of traffic, picked up speed, then shot across the median into incoming traffic, slamming into a car driven by Vance Simelton of Little Rock. Seven hours later, Thomas Wayne was dead.

Police determined his death to be an accident, although there were indications he had floored his accelerator as he came off the ramp. They couldn't prove what he was thinking when his car went our of control, only that it did go out of control, so they wrote it up as an accident. Vance Simelton was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thomas Wayne was buried on August 17, 1971, at Madison Heights Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Those who attended the funeral couldn't help but think how tragic it all was, and how ironic that his only success bore the name ''Tragedy'' (Fernwood 45-109).

For more than a decade, Thomas Wayne had struggled to re-create the success of that 1959 hit. Scotty Moore recorded countless sessions with him, released singles on his Belle Meade label, which he had begun shortly after moving to Nashville, and promoted him at every opportunity. Nothing worked. The public had decided Tomas Wayne's place in history was a one-hit wonder. In the end, the best Scotty could do for Thomas Wayne was to offer him work in Music City Recorders. Scotty understood what Wayne did not understand; hit records are a flirtation from the public, not a promise of a long-tern relationship.

Scotty wasn't surprised when he heard about Thomas Wayne's death. His behavior had grown more and more erratic over the years. ''Every once in a while he would tend to get high and flip out on me'', says Scotty, who attributed some of Wayne's problems to an ongoing and long-running dispute with his ex-wife, Charlene. In fact, he had gone to Memphis on the weekend of his death to resolve a conflict with Charlene over their daughter, Maria Elena.

Hugh Hickerson was also among those not surprised at Thomas Wayne's death. Hugh was an audio technician who often worked at Scotty's studio. After Thomas Wayne left Music City Recorders, he worked for Pro-Sound Productions, and then for a recording studio named NAR, where he was employed at the time of his death; Hugh continued to have contact with him on a professional level. They became friends, according to Hickerson, but were not what you would call ''drinking buddies''. Shortly before he died, Thomas Wayne made a startling confession to Hickerson. He confided that he had once parked his car across both lanes of the interstate one night, and turned off his lights. He did it at a blind curve that would have made it impossible for traffic coming at a high rate of speed to stop. Fortunately, the highway patrol arrived on the scene before an accident occurred. They found him sitting in the car, waiting for whatever was going to happen.

''He said he was arrested and they were going to send him for psychological evaluation, but he got an attorney who got him out of it'', he says. ''We talked about it. The impression I had was that he was doing it in order to achieve a violent end to his life''.

The last time Hickerson saw Thomas Wayne was at the NAR facility on Division Street. He went to the studio late one night to repair some equipment. He didn't see Thomas Wayne when he walked in, but since he knew his way around the studio, he went to the back room where the equipment was located. Later, when he finished working, he walked back out into the studio. Someone was at the piano, but he couldn't tell who it was. As he walked closer, he saw that it was Wayne. From the look on his face, and the weird sounds he was making, he thought he might be in trouble.

''Is anything wrong'', asked Hickerson. He walked around the piano, taken aback by what he saw. Thomas Wayne was having sex with a woman on the piano bench. Neither Wayne nor the woman was fully undressed, but they displayed no embarrassment at being interrupted.

''Excuse me'', Hickerson said, and left. He never saw Thomas Wayne alive again. ''I sensed that he was very distraught with his life'', says Hickerson. ''Thomas Wayne wanted to regain that part of his life that he had lost. He was a nice guy, but he was one of those guys that, if you were around him, you could sense that he was suffering. There was some pain he was feeling. If he had not avoided that psychological evaluation, that might have enabled him to see it through. His death was such a tragedy, not only for himself but for the other man involved in the accident''.

Two of the three people with whom Scotty Moore was most closely identified professionally, Bill Black and Thomas Wayne, were now gone, felled under tragic circumstances. At least Elvis was still going strong. Not going strong was Scotty's marriage. The harder he worked to provide for his wife Emily, the longer the hours he put in at the studio, the more they seemed to argue about him never being at home. The more neglected Emily felt, the harder Scotty worked to make her happy. The faster that circle spun, the more Scotty drank to dull the pain. Then the drinking itself became an issue.

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If ''In The Beginning'' has a dark, brooding side, there is no such feeling on the flip-side. The contrast is striking. ''Wait 'Til Saturday Night'' is strictly teen-oriented fare, although Dorman manages to give his vocal chops a workout, displaying some admirable range. The spirit of ''Hallelujah! I Love Her So'' hangs over the proceedings as the chord changes again show the strong influence gospel music had acquired over the pop marketplace in 1962. 

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