CONTAINS
For music (standard singles) and playlists on YouTube click on the available > buttons <
> Back 1960-1969 Sun Schedule <
For music (standard singles) and playlists on YouTube click on the available > buttons <
> Back 1960-1969 Sun Schedule <
1964 SESSIONS 1-6
January 1, 1964 to June 30, 1964
Studio Session for Mack Self, Date 1964 / Demo
Studio Session for Narvel Felts, January 1964 / Ara Records
Studio Session for Narvel Felts, Spring 1964 / Ara Records
Studio Session for The New Beale Street Sheiks,
January 1965 / Southtown Records
Studio Session for Scotty Moore, Unknown Date February/March 1964 / Epic Records
Studio Session for Bill Yates & Billy Adams, April 6, 1964 / Sun Records
For Biographies of Artists see: > The Sun Biographies <
Most Sun tracks can be heard on the playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
Most Sun tracks can be heard on the playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
1964
As the war in Vietnam and US Congress Authorizes war against N Vietnam more American servicemen were dying, and after three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi the president signed
the Civil Rights act of 1964 but this did not stop the violence as it continued to increase in many American Cities. Lyndon Johnson was also returned to power after a landslide victory. This was also the year The Beatles took the world and America by storm
and Beatlemania went into overdrive as they released a series of number one hits including "I Want To Hold Your hand" , "All My Loving" . Other British groups also found success including The Rolling Stones and The Animals and together with the American Talent
of The Supremes and Bob Dylan many say this was one of the greatest years for music in the last century. Also one young loud talented boxer by the name of Cassius Clay won the Boxing World heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston.
1964
The Dixie Cups released ''Chapel Of Love'', arranged and produced
by the ''Creole Beethoven'', Wardell Quezergue. Al Hirt's ''Java'', adapted from an Allen Toussaint composition, goes to number 5 on the Billboard pop chart. Also, The Beatles play City Park Stadium in New Orleans. Clarence ''Frogman'' Henry opens.
Rock and roll has its first
major shakeup in nearly a decade when in late January "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles tops the Billboard Pop charts.
In February The Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show receives record ratings as
Beatlemania explodes worldwide.
Four of the six number 1 records between February and June are by the Beatles, a feat surpassed only by Elvis
Presley in 1956.
Bands
from England flood American shores with the Merseybeat sound overtaking the airwaves through June, resulting in the term "The British Invasion". By summer however
American acts regain their footing with the two resident hit-makers The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons topping
the charts in July.
The
Beatles first film, "A Hard Day's Night" opens to rave reviews as the Beatles abandon their pop-band image for more complex songs on the soundtrack.
The next wave of the British Invasion featuring
groups based in blues and rhythm and blues such as the Rolling Stones, Kinks and Animals follows by mid-summer and their raunchier style quickly makes the more restrained pop-sounding Merseybeat bands obsolete.
The second musical explosion of the year happens when Motown strikes back with its biggest hits
to date by the Temptations, Four Tops and its newest group The Supremes who score three number 1's in the final five months of the year.
The Rhythm And Blues Charts are discontinued for 1964 as Billboard
magazine feels they've become indistinguishable from the Pop Charts. In just over a year they'll resume publication of The Rhythm And Blues Charts when the style of music becomes more popular than ever.
Feminist stances are taken in Dionne Warwick's "Don't Make Me Over" and Lesley Gore's "You Don't
Own Me", marking the first time in mainstream rock that hit records espouse those emerging viewpoints.
Whilst Sun remains quiet in the homeland, the big names - Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins,
and Roy Orbison - carry the touring torch across the UK.
1964
Carl Mann was drafted. He was transferred to Germany where he formed a band on base. They played at NCO and officers clubs, and after his return he tried to pick-up the pieces.
He went to Nashville and signed with Monument Records, then the hotest label in town, but Fred Foster's magic didn't rub off on him. According to Carl Mann, ''By the time I went to Monument, I was hitting the booze pretty bad''. He more-or-less quit the business
until 1974 when he signed with ABC.
JANUARY 1964
Producer and engineer, Ray Butts resigns and Scotty Moore takes over at Phillips Nashville. Stan Kesler takes over as studio manager of Phillips in Memphis. Kesler records
all the Sam the Sham hits fir his XL Records and MGM at Phillips' studio.
JANUARY 1, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Tom T. Hall moves to Nashville, Tennessee.
Bill Anderson meets Connie Smith for the second time when he performs in Canton, Ohio, and encourages her to move to Nashville.
Eleven years after Hank Williams' death, Audrey Williams starts a promotional concert
tour for Hank Williams JR's first record, ''Long Gone Lonesome Blues'', in Canton, Ohio, the city in which Hank senior was scheduled to play the day he died.
Ole Miss quarterback Jim Weatherly, a future country songwriter, is intercepted on the final play of the Sugar Bowl at Tulane Stadium
in New Orleans as the Alabama Crimson Tide defeats the Rebels, 12-7.
JANUARY 2, 1964 THURSDAY
Jimmy Stoneman, of The Stoneman Family, marries Mary Ulrich at the county courthouse in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
JANUARY 3, 1964 FRIDAY
Kitty Wells recorded ''Password'' in Nashville, Tennessee.
Seventeen-year-old Naomi Judd marries Mike Ciminella in Pearsburg, Virginia.
JANUARY 7, 1964 TUESDAY
Columbia Records released Lester Flatt and
Earl Scruggs' ''You Are My Flower''.
Rose Maddox recorded ''Silver Threads And Golden Needles'' at the Capitol Recording Studios in Los Angeles with Glen Campbell on guitar. The song doesn't become a hit for her, but 10 years later it does become a country hit for Linda Ronstadt.
JANUARY 9, 1964 THURSDAY
Chet Atkins and Molly Bee
guest on the ABC-TV series ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
JANUARY 10, 1964 FRIDAY
Roger Miller holds his first recording session for Smash Records at the Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, inaugurating the peak period of his career.
JANUARY 11, 1964 SATURDAY
Roger Miller recorded ''Dang Me'' and ''Chug-A-Lug'' in Nashville at the Bradley Film
and Recording Studio.
Johnny
Cash sings ''Busted'' and ''Five Feet High And Rising'' on ABC's ''Hootenanny''. He also joins the rest of the cast, including Bob Gibson and The Coventry Singers in the finale, Bob Dylan's ''Blowin' In The Wind''.
JANUARY 12, 1964 SUNDAY
The Stoneman Family moves from Maryland to Beaumont, Texas.
JANUARY 13, 1964 MONDAY
Columbia Records released
Johnny Cash's ''Understand Your Man''.
JANUARY 14, 1964 TUESDAY
Chuck Berry recorded the original version of ''You Never Can Tell''. Thirteen years later, Emmylou Harris remake the song as a country hit.
JANUARY 15, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Sonny James recorded ''Baltimore'' and Roy Orbison begins his first tour of Australia, playing Festival Hall in Brisbane along with The
Beach Boys, Paul and Paula and The Surfaris.
JANUARY 16, 1964 THURSDAY
Jimmy Tillotson makes a guest appearance on ABC's ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
JANUARY 17, 1964 FRIDAY
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs recorded ''Petticoat Junction''.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
Session Published for
Historical Reasons
STUDIO SESSION FOR MACK SELF
UNKNOWN STUDIO LOCATION
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE 1964
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – UNKNOWN
01 – ''4 UNKNOWN TITLES''
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Mack Self – Vocal & Guitar
More Details Unknown
For Biography of Mack Self see: > The Sun Biographies <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
The third single that Roland Janes released by Narvel Felts saw the singer moved to yet another label,
ARA, that Roland co-owned with Wayne Todd. Detail hounds may care to note that ARA is an acronym for Amusement Retailers of America, a company that Todd worked for, and to whom he and Roland hoped to sell the label. ''Four Seasons Of Life''/''All
That Heaven Sent'' was issued in 1964. Felts and Janes always had an inordinate amount of faith in ''Four Seasons Of Life'', a faith that has never been repaid with a chart placing. Roland
persuaded Hayden Thompson to cut the song, and Jim Ed Brown also recorded a version. Narvel himself returned to it in 1968, 1970 and 1989.
Session Published for Historical Reasons
STUDIO SESSION FOR NARVEL FELTS
FOR ARA RECORDS 1964
SONIC RECORDING STUDIO
1692 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
PROBABLY 3 STUDIO SESSIONS: UNKNOWN DATE JANUARY 1964
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER - ROLAND JANES
01 - ''FOUR SEASONS OF LIFE'' - B.M.I. - 2:57
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - Hall-Clement Publishers
Matrix number: - 399
Recorded: - Unknown Date January 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: ARA Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA
203-A mono
FOUR SEASONS OF LIFE / ALL THAT HEAVEN SENT
Reissued: - 1990 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-11 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
02 - ''ALL THAT HEAVEN SENT'' - B.M.I. - 2:08
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: -
Rolando Music
Matrix number: - 400
Recorded:
- Unknown Date January 1964
Released: - 1964
First
appearance: ARA Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA 203-B mono
ALL THAT HEAVEN SENT / FOUR SEASONS OF LIFE
Reissued: - 1990 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-17 mono
NARVEL
FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
Sessions held in the early
months (probably January) of 1964 featured the ever-present J.W. Grubbs with new drummer Jimmy Anthony, replacing Matt Lucas who had struck out on his ill-starred solo career in the wake of his revival of ''I'm Moving On'' (a production that Roland
Janes had leased to Smash Records). The songs that Narvel Felts' new band recorded include ''Welcome Home, Mr Blues'' and the slow arrangement of ''You Were Mine'', a song that appeared at a brisker place on ARA.
03 - ''WELCOME HOME, MR BLUES'' - B.M.I. - 2:23
Composer:
- Charles R. Phipps
Publisher: - Rolando Music - Jack Music
Matrix number: - 001
Recorded: - Unknown Date January 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: ARA Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA 213-A mono
WELCOME HOME, MR BLUES / YOUR TRUE LOVE
Reissued:
- 1990 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-8 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
04 - ''YOU WERE MINE'' - B.M.I. - 2:28
Composer: - Paul Giacalone
Publisher: - Dark and Good Songs
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued – Slow Version
Recorded:
- Unknown Date January 1964
Released: - 1990
First
appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-21 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
05 - ''YOU WERE MINE'' - B.M.I.
Composer: - Paul Giacalone
Publisher: - Dark and Good Songs
Matrix number: - 1463 - Fast Version
Recorded: - Unknown
Date January 1964
Released: - 1965
First
appearance: - ARA Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA 207-A mono
YOU WERE MINE / YOU DIDN'T TELL ME (I DIDN'T KNOW)
06 - ''ONE BOY AND ONE GIRL'' - B.M.I.
Composer: - Walter Lloyd
Publisher: - Rolando Music
Matrix number: - 4610
Recorded: - Unknown
Date January 1964
Released: - 1965
First
appearance: - ARA Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA 211-B mono
ONE BOY AND ONE GIRL / NIGHT CREATURE
07 - ''GYPSY'' - B.M.I.
Composer: - Charles R. Phipps
Publisher: - Rolando Music
Matrix number: - None - Unissued/Lost
Recorded: - Unknown
Date January 1964
08
- ''YOU DIDN'T TELL ME (I DIDN'T KNOW)'' - B.M.I.
Composer: - McPhail-Crabb
Publisher: - Rolando Music
Matrix number: - 1464
Recorded: - Unknown Date January 1964
Released: - 1965
First appearance: - ARA Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA 207-B mono
YOU
DIDN'T TELL ME (I DIDN'T KNOW) / YOU WERE MINE
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Narvel Felts - Vocal & Guitar
J.W. Grubbs - Bass
Preniss McPhail - Bass
Jimmy Anthony - Drums
Luther Crabb - Piano & Organ
Warren Baldwin - Guitar
Ken Williams - Maracas
Danny Taylor - Drums, Tom Tom Rolls, Cymbal Crashes
Sandy Posey - Vocal Chorus
For Biography of Narvel Felts see: > The Sun Biographies <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
In 1964 and early 1965, still looking for a winning combination, Roland Janes paired Felts with his star picker, Travis Wammack, and the
Sonic rhythm section comprising Danny Taylor on drums, and Prentiss McPhail on bass. ''Night Creature'', reflecting Roland's love of novelty material, was released on ARA in early 1965, and was followed by another rockabilly revival, this time Carl
Perkins' ''Your True Love''.
Session Published for Historical Reasons
STUDIO SESSION FOR NARVEL FELTS
FOR ARA RECORDS 1964
SONIC RECORDING STUDIO
1692 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
PROBABLY
3 STUDIO SESSIONS: UNKNOWN DATE SPRING 1964
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER
AND RECORDING ENGINEER - ROLAND JANES
01 - ''YOUR TRUE LOVE''
- B.M.I. - 2:04
Composer: - Carl Perkins
Publisher: - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - 002
Recorded: - Unknown Date Spring 1964
Released: - 1965
First appearance: Ara Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA 213-B mono
YOUR TRUE LOVE / WECOME HOME, MR BLUES
Reissued: - 1990 Bear Family Records
(CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-2 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
02 - ''FOGGY RIVER'' - B.M.I.
Composer: - Fred Rose
Publisher: - Acuff Rose Music
Matrix number: - None - Unissued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Spring 1964
03 - ''MR. PAWNSHOP BROKER'' - B.M.I. - 2:20
Composer: - Charles R. Phipps
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Spring 1964
Released: - 1990
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-15 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
04 - ''ONE MAN AT A TABLE'' - B.M.I. - 2:30
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Spring 1964
Released: - 1990
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-26 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
05 - ''SHE'S IN YOUR HEART TO STAY'' - B.M.I. - 1:59
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Spring 1964
Released: - 1990
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-6 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
06 - ''TEAR DOWN THE WALL'' - B.M.I. - 2:12
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Spring 1964
Released: - 1990
First
appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-10 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
07 – ''NIGHT CREATURE*'' - B.M.I. - 2:13
Composer: - Charles R. Phipps-Alvis Browning
Publisher: - Rolando Music
Matrix number: - 4609
Recorded: - Unknown Date Spring 1964
Released:
- 1965
First appearance: - ARA Records (S) 45rpm standard single ARA 211-A mono
NIGHT CREATURE / ONE BOY AND ONE GIRL
Reissued: - 1990 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-1 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Narvel Felts - Vocal & Guitar
J.W.
Grubbs - Bass
Prentiss McPhail - Bass
Jimmy M. Van Eaton - Drums
Luther Crabb - Piano & Organ
*- Travis Wammack - Guitar
Danny Thomas - Drums
Tommy Bennett - Piano
For Biography of Narvel Felts see: > The Sun Biographies <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
(Above) The New Beale Street Sheiks, the jug band Jim Dickinson formed to play on his first record for Bill Justis' label out of Nashville. From left to right, Sid Selvidge, Jim Dickinson, Bill Newport, Jim Vinson (sitting), and Jimmy
Crosthwait.
This picture
was taken in front of the Campus Grill, the greasy spoon hangout across from then "Memphis State"University (now University of Memphis) where the left of the dial musicians who were taking classes at the University hung out.
JANUARY 1964
Not long after two years in the drama program at Baylor College in Texas, Jim Dickinson returned in the summer of 1962 home to Memphis, opened his mail
and found a contract. He thought it seemed a little after the facts, so he phoned Bill Justis in Nashville. He said, ''Don't you want to make a record''? and I said
''Didn't we just make a record''? And he said, ''No. You. Don't you want to make a record''? I said, yeah, sure and
he says sign the contract and sent it back''.
Bill Justis had Sun beams dancing in his head. The lack of polish in
Dickinson's voice fit perfectly his notion of rock and roll. Hitsville. Promptly, he sent Dickinson a tape of a Sel Silverstein song, ''The Unicorn'', and booked time at the Sam Phillips Recording studio at Madison Avenue in Memphis. ''The Unicorn'' was a Nashville song, as opposed to a folk song by the folks. Dickinson presumed that the
folks might be ready for the folks and pretended he didn't receive Justis' tape. He reached back to his Whiskey Chute encounter, to the abandon
of the players whose instruments were portable enough to run from the cobs. ''Come on down to my house, honey'', the singer had encouraged, ''there ain't nobody home but me''. He formed a jug band,
the New Beale Street Sheiks. Jimmy Crosthwait, a drummer, was dispatched to buy a washboard. They had a guitar-playing friend smart
enough to figure out the tub bass. Dickinson pulled the harmonica from his neck and replaced it with a kazoo. ''We got one gig the night before the recording session and people loved it'',
Dickinson recalls. ''So we went to Sam Phillips the next day. Crosthwait had real long hair, and it was pre- Beatles. He had a rag around his neck and
we all looked wretched and they didn't want to let us in. Bill Black and Scotty Moore were there. Scotty Moore never did trust me. But Bill Black thought it was funny. He said,
''No, that's Dickinson, that's his thing, let 'em in''.
''My whole deal was just not to cut ''The Unicorn''. Bill started calling people, telling them to come down. I would
see him at the window, talking on the phone and pointed at us. He really thought it was funny, Crosthwait was playing the washboard for the second day in his life. We may have
had two microphones on the session, but I think it was one. We cut four songs as a demo. When we were done, Scotty Moore wouldn't even let me have the tape. He said, ''I'm going to Nashville tomorrow and I'm going to take this to Justis''.
''I didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks so I finally called Justis and I said, ''What'd you think of the
tape'? and he says 'The tape! The tape is great! But what's making that noise on there'? I says, ''It's a zinc tub bass, it's just
a tub and a rope'. He shouts, 'It's a rope! A rope! I went all over Nashville trying to e.q. (sonically adjust) a rope''!
''Then he says, ''The record will be out Thursday''. I said, ''But that's the demo, Bill'',
and he says, ''No, no man, you could never do it that bad again''. We were talking on the same level and I paused I wanted him to hear me. ''Bill. I said, you have no concept of how bad I could do it''.
''You'll Do It All The Time'' backed with ''Down And Out'' by the New Beale Street Sheiks, was released on Thursday,
February 6, 1964. Billboard calling it ''a contagious, hard-driving, pulsating, folk-blueser..., appealing, nostalgic''. The powerful John R. on WLAC, whose rhythm and blues radio
show had influenced all these musicians when they were kids, played it. Chet Atkins called Justis, tried to buy the record. Then three days later, on Sunday February 9, 1964, the Beatles appeared for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show''. And the American record industry ground
to a halt.
JANUARY
23, 1964 THURSDAY
Johnny
Cash and Molly Bee are featured on ABC's ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
JANUARY 24, 1964 FRIDAY
Rhonda Forlaw is born in Gainesville, Florida. An Arista publicity executive, she joins the backing chorus on Brooks and Dunn's ''Rock My World (Little Country Girl)''. She is married to Tracy Adkins from 1997-2015.
JANUARY 25, 1964 SATURDAY
Bill Monroe performs ''Uncle
Pen'' and ''Mule Skinner Blues'' on ABC's ''Hootenanny'', which also features Doc Watson, Homer and Jethro and The Geezinslaw Brothers.
JANUARY 26, 1964 SUNDAY
Eddy Arnold performs from New York on CBS-TV's ''The Ed Sullivan Show''.
JANUARY 27, 1964 MONDAY
Jean Shepard recorded ''Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar)'' in the afternoon hours at
Nashville's Columbia Recording Studios.
JANUARY 28, 1964 TUESDAY
Buck Owens recorded ''My Heart Skips A Beat'' and ''Together Again'' in Hollywood, California.
Columbia released Marty Robbins' ''Girl From Spanish Town''.
JANUARY 29, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Students for a Democratic Society organize the first teach-in on the Vietnam war attracting 2,500 at the University of Michigan.
JANUARY 30, 1964 WEDNESDAY
''The Jimmy Dean Show'' welcomes musical guests
Ferlin Husky and Patti Page, plus comedian Norm Crosby.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
STUDIO SESSION FOR THE NEW BEALE STREET SHEIKS &
CATMANDO QUINTET FOR SOUTHTOWN RECORDS 1964
SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SOUTHTOWN SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE JANUARY 1964
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER – BILL JUSTIS
RECORDING ENGINEER – ROWSEY
AND/OR SCOTTY MOORE
According to Jim Dickenson, "I called Jimmy Crosthwait and asked him if he had ever thought about playing the
washboard. We went to a hardware store down by Memphis State and got a Zinc King washboard and half a dozen sewing thimbles to use as picks. We drafted our friend George Gillis who had played bass
on my Home Of The Blues session to play wash tub and the New Beale Street Sheiks were born. We rehearsed once, played a gig Friday night
at The Pastimes Peanut Bar, and showed up at Sam Phillip’s Studio Saturday morning for the session. Nobody was there except Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and Rowsey, the repair man.
Justis had failed to nail down the booking for the session, and Scotty wasn’t buying it. We looked pretty bad. Crosthwait had hair trailing
down his back and Gillis and I were hung over. I told Scotty to call Justis in Nashville, which he did. After he got off the phone, Scotty okayed the session and it fell to Rowsey to
engineer. I found out later it was his first and only session. We set up around a couple of RCA 77s and laid down four songs as fast as we could.
While we were cutting, Bill Black was calling people on the phone and having them come over and laugh at us from the control room. When we finished Bill Black was shaking his
head. ''Dickinson, this is the wildest thing you’ve ever done'', he chuckled.
01 - ''YOU'LL DO IT ALL THE TIME*'' – B.M.I. - 2:20
Composer: Jim Dickenson
Publisher: - Tuneville Music
Matrix number: - SO-900
Recorded: - January 1964
Released: - February 6, 1964
First
appearance: - Southtown Records (S) 45rpm Southtown 45-22000 mono
YOU'LL DO IT ALL THE TIME / NOBODY'S WANTS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT
Reissued: - 2013 Mississippi Records (Cassette) MRC-041-1 mono
JIM DICKENSON – THE
EARLY YEARS 1963-1984
02 - ''NOBODY WANTS YOU WHEN YOU'RE
DOWN AND OUT*'' – B.M.I. - 3:15
Composer: - Jimmy Cox-Adapted and Arranged by Jim Dickinson
Publisher: - Tuneville Music
Matrix number: - SO-901
Recorded: - January 1964
Released: - February 6, 1964
First
appearance: - Southtown Records (S) 45rpm Southtown 45-22000 mono
NOBODY'S WANTS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT / YOU'LL DO IT ALL THE TIME
Reissued: - 2013 Mississippi Records (Cassette) MRC-041-2 mono
JIM DICKENSON – THE
EARLY YEARS 1963-1984
Start off with "Monkey Man'', which
starts off with a call-and-response of whoah-whoah-whoah-whoahwhoah's before we get down to business. No, wait, I take that back. This song starts cookin' right as the
stylus hits the groove, as we get a backing of ultra-out-of-control farfisa organ and super-speed drums. Not to forget some mean guitar work, too. And Dickinson's shrieking,
way-out-there vocalizing. There! The cake is iced and complete and ready to indulge in.
03 – ''MONKEY MAN''** – B.M.I. - 2:25
Composer: Jim Dickinson
Publisher: - Tuneville Music
Matrix number: 80-913
Recorded: - January 1964
Released: - 1965
First
appearance: - Southtown Records (S) 45rpm Southtown 22006 mono
MONKEY MAN / SHAKE ÉM ON DOWN
Reissued: - 2013 Mississippi Records (Cassette) MRC-041-3 mono
JIM DICKENSON – THE EARLY YEARS 1963-1984
While "Monkey Man" has more of a garage feel, "Shake 'Em On Down" goes for the rockabilly side of town.
On this one, Jimmy's got his straight razor and his .44 gun and he'll cut you if you stay and shoot you if you run. "Gonna shake 'em on down, gonna
shake 'em on down, gonna shake 'em on down." Another great guitar solo and lots of attitude make up the recipe for this double-barrelled atomic cocktail.
04 – ''SHAKE 'EM ON DOWN''** – B.M.I. - 2:58
Composer: Jim Dickinson
Publisher: - Tuneville Music
Matrix number: 80-914
Recorded: - January 1964
Released:
- 1965
First appearance: - Southtown Records (S) 45rpm Southtown 22006 mono
SHAKE ÉM ON DOWN / MONKEY MAN
Reissued: - 2013 Mississippi Records (Cassette) MRC-041-4 mono
JIM DICKENSON – THE EARLY YEARS 1963-1984
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
* - James Luther ''Jim'' Dickenson – Vocal and Kazoo
Jimmy Crosthwait – Washboard
George Gillis – Tiny Tub Bass
Sid Selvidge - Guitar
Bill Newport - Bass
Jim Vinson - Tub Bass
** - The Catmando
Quartet consisting of
James Luther ''Jim'' Dickenson - Vocal & Guitar
Don
Nix
Jerry Johnson
Charlie Freeman
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
(Above) The New Beale Street Sheiks. From left to right: Bill Newport (banjo), Jim Dickinson (guitar), Jim Vinson (sitting with tub bass), Sid Selvidge
(guitar), Jimmy Crosthwait (front with washboard).
EARLY 1964
The tension from the studio carried over into his marriage. Scotty and his wife, Bobbie did what couples often do in those circumstances; they bought a house, moving to Raleigh, a relatively new suburb in northeast Memphis, hoping a change in scenery would help. Scotty was miserable.
He and Bobbie were fighting. Sam hadn't shown any interest in Scotty recording sessions for his album and movie sound tracks, but that
was not very satisfying financially or creatively. By that point, Scotty's only direct income from Elvis was a yearly bonus of $500.
To escape the frustration he was experiencing with Bobbie and Sam, Scotty spent more time in the Nashville
studio, where he met Billy Sherrill. The Alabaman was already working at the studio when Sam bought it; when it changed ownership he stayed on, working for
Sam as an engineer.
As a result, he and Scotty became close
friends. They had a lot in common. Billy was six years younger, but they shared the same Southern heritage and they liked the same type of music. Billy hadn't worked for Sam long when he attracted
the attention of executive at Epic Records in Nashville, who hired his as a producer. One of his first artists was newcomer Tammy Wynette.
After leaving Memphis in 1956, she had moved to Birmingham, where she first got her foot in the door of the music industry as a songwriter.
FEBRUARY 1964
Sam Phillips sells his Nashville studio to Fred Foster, president of Monument Records, who install Bill Porter to run it.
FEBRUARY 1, 1964 SATURDAY
ABC's ''Hootenanny'' welcomes Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs for a return engagement.
FEBRUARY 3, 1964 MONDAY
Singer and songwriter Matraca Berg is born in Nashville, Tennessee. She writes Deana Carter's ''Strawberry Wine'', Reba McEntire's ''The Last One To Know'', Martina McBride's ''Wild Angels'' and Kenney Chesney's
''You And Tequila'', among others.
FEBRUARY 5, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Porter Wagoner recorded ''Sorrow On The Rocks''.
Burl Ives recorded ''A Holly Jolly Christmas'' at the Columbia Recording Studio
in Nashville, Tennessee. The song will be features in December on the NBC-TV special ''Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer''.
FEBRUARY 7, 1964 FRIDAY
Meet The Beatles! The Fab Four arrives in New York for the first time. Johnny Rodrigues will score a country hit with their song ''Something'', Sweetheart of the Rodeo will cover ''I Feel Fine''.
Hank Snow recorded ''The Wishing Well (Down In The Well)''.
Liberty Records released Jan and Dean's pop hit ''Dead Man's Curve'', featuring guitar work by Glen Campbell.
FEBRUARY 8, 1963 SATURDAY
Jimmie F. Rogers performs ''Wayfaring Stranger'' on an episode of ABC's ''Hootenanny'' which also features Bob Gibson and
Hoyt Axton.
FEBRUARY 9, 1964 SUNDAY
The Beatles appear on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' for the first time. The event inspires
Clint Black guitarist Hayden Nicholas to become a musician.
FEBRUARY
10, 1964 MONDAY
Elvis Presley sends a congratulatory telegram
to The Beatles in New York, one day after their American TV debut on ''The Ed Sullivan Dhow''.
Marty Robbins recorded ''The Cowboy In The Continental Suit'' at the Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ray Pillow has his first recording session, for Capitol Records.
FEBRUARY 10, 1963 SUNDAY
In the meantime Sam Phillips sold the Nashville studio to Fred Foster at Monument. The first, and by far the more significant, was that Billy Sherrill left the company. Billy's chance came at the the end of 1963, when Columbia's new Epic office had
an opening for an all-around producer, a producer who, in other words, would work with any artist not already by another, more established artist and repertoire man, at a salary of $8,000 a year. Finally Sam Phillips and Fred Foster made the deal, for $175,000
for the studio and all of its physical assets, which were specified, and for its ''goodwill'', which was not. Sam agreed not to enter into the recording studio business in Nashville for at least five years, and it was clearly understood that the owner of the
building, Cumberland Lodge, had the right to terminate the rental agreement according to the terms pf its lease with Sam Phillips Recording Studio of Nashville. Which they did just two years later when they sold the building to National Life and Accident Insurance,
the owner of WSM and the Grand Ole Opry, which intended to expand its home offices to include both the Lodge and the Clarkson Hotel next door.
It was just after selling the studio that Sam Phillips finally reached an agreement with Philips of Holland. He fought them to the very end but more for the sake of principle at this point than for any great practical purpose.
Sam would not agree to drop the use of his name on any competing products, he wrote to his lawyer on March 6, but as he pointed out, he had no intention of putting out any competing products other than phonograph records, and as things looked right now, he
would be out of the recording business before long.
FEBRUARY 11, 1964 TUESDAY
The Beatles give their first U.S. performance at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. Three of
the four members will receive credits as songwriters on future country hits.
Columbia Records released Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs' ''Petticoat Junction''.
Charlie Louvin recorded his first solo hit, the Bill Anderson-written ''I Don't Love You Anymore''.
FEBRUARY 12, 1964 WEDNESDAY
The Beatles perform at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall. Three of the English band's members, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, will appear in future decades as songwriters on many country hits.
FEBRUARY 13, 1964 THURSDAY
George Jones is a musical guest on ABC's ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
FEBRUARY 15, 1964 SATURDAY
Michael Reynolds is born in Natural Bridge, Virginia. He becomes the lead singer of Pinmonkey, an alternative country band that earns a 2003 nomination
from the Academy Country Music for Top New Vocal Duo or Group.
FEBRUARY
17, 1964 MONDAY
Decca Records released the album ''Bill
Anderson Sings''.
FEBRUARY 20, 1964 THURSDAY
Chuck Berry recorded ''Promised Land'', with Willie Dixon sitting in at the Chess
Recording Studio in Chicago. The song is destined to climb the country charts after a re-recording by Elvis Presley.
Singer and songwriter Don Gibson appears on the ABC variety series ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' with comedian George Kirby and Lassie.
FEBRUARY 21, 1964 FRIDAY
Carl Smith recorded ''Take My Ring Off Your Finger''.
FEBRUARY 24, 1964 MONDAY
Capitol Records released Buck Owens ''My Heart Skips A Beat'' and ''Together Again''.
Singer and songwriter Chris Austin is born in Boone, North Carolina. Ricky Skaggs earns a hit with Austin's ''Same Ol' Love'', though it comes after the songwriter's death in a plane crash involving the members
of Reba McEntire's band.
FEBRUARY 25, 1964 THUSDAY
Twenty-two-year-old boxer Cassius Clay (who would later change
his name to Muhammad Ali) upsets Sonny Liston to earn the world heavyweight championship.
Ray Price recorded ''Please Talk To My Heart'' at the Columbia Studios in Nashville and makes his first attempt at a future hit, ''Take Me As I Am (Or Let Me Go)''. ''Please Talk to My Heart" is original recorded by American country
music artist Johnny ''Country'' Mathis. It was released in 1963, and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Ray Price's version peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It
also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. Freddy Fender also released a cover of the song in 1980. Fender's version peaked at number 82 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles
chart.
Lyricist Johnny Burke dies in New York. Known for
such standards as ''Pennies From Heaven'' and ''Swing On A Star'', he also co-wrote Erroll Garner's ''Misty'', which becomes a country hit for Ray Stevens in 1975.
FEBRUARY 26, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Loretta Lynn recorded ''Wine Women And Song'' at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio.
FEBRUARY 27, 1964 THURSDAY
Dottie West recorded ''Here Come My Baby''. "Here Comes My Baby" was the first song to be written by Dottie West. In 1964, Dottie West was trying to make it big in Nashville. She
released a single the previous year called "Let Me Off At The Corner", which made the Top 40. She also recorded another with Jim Reeves called "Love Is No Excuse", which became a hit after his death in 1964. She had just received a recording contract
with RCA Records and decided that she would write her own song and see how it does as a single. The song was written in one day, according to West, who wrote along with her husband Bill West, and she then recorded it in Nashville.
Nobody expected the success the song would bring in 1964. The song made it to
number 10 on the Billboard country charts that year, making the song a national hit for West. That year, West won a BMI award for writing "Here Comes My Baby". The next year, West made history when the song won her a Grammy for Best Female Country
Vocal Performance. West not only became the first person to win this type of Grammy award, but also became the first female country music singer to ever win a Grammy award. (The National Academy of Recording
Arts and Sciences introduced the country categories to the Grammy Awards that year.) Because of the success of the song, West got a spot on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and the song became one of West's signature songs of her career. It has been made
a standard to record in country music.
Since its original release, "Here Comes My Baby" has been recorded by over 100 artists, including Lynn Anderson from the album "Songs That Made Country Girls Famous" (1970),Dean Martin and Faron Young.
Eddy Arnold and Molly Bee are featured guests during the ABC variety series
''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
FEBRUARY 29, 1964 SATURDAY
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans appear on the ABC variety show ''The
Hollywood Palace'' with Kate Smith and The Sons Of The Pioneers.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
Session Published for Historical Reasons
STUDIO SESSION FOR SCOTTY MOORE
FOR
EPIC RECORDS 1964
COLUMBIA
RECORDING STUDIO
804 16TH AVENUE SOUTH, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
EPIC SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE(S) FEBRUARY/MARCH 1964
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER - BILLY SHERRILL
During one of Scotty's trips to Nashville, Billy asked him why he hadn't done an album of instrumentals. Why
indeed? When Billy Sherrill suggested they do an album together for Epic Records, Scotty jumped at the chance. ''I'd like to take the credit for having the idea'', says Billy.
''I think Scotty was too shy back then to want to be the star of his own album. I had always admired Scotty's style. I think he had the most unique
style of any guitar player in the world. He did it before anyone else did it, those rock and roll licks. I wanted to capitalize
on the fact that he was the man who played the guitar that changed the world''.
Billy Sherrill assembled an all-star cast for the session, which too place in late February or early March 1964. In addition to
Scotty on lead guitar, he had D.J. Fontana and Buddy Harmon on drums; Boots Randolph on saxophone; Bill Purcell on piano; Jerry Kennedy on second guitar; Bob Moore on bass; and
of course, the Jordanaires.
''We gathered in a studio, and it was like, 'Well, what are we we going to do''?, says Billy. ''Someone said ''Don't Be Cruel'', so we got Elvis' record out and listened to it and everyone did what they did on the record, except Scotty who would do what the voice did''.
01 - ''HOUND DOG'' - B.M.I. - 2:10
Composer: - Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller
Publisher: - Elvis
Presley Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - XEM 77306
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released:
- 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
The album starts off with DJ Fontana's trademark machine-gun drumming and the band join in for a great rockin' version of ''Hound Dog''. The song features all the trademarks of the King's 1956 version, guitar, drums and hand-clapping
and is a strong opener, leaving the listener in no doubt that they purchased wisely.
02 - ''LOVING YOU'' - B.M.I. - 2:31
Composer: - Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller
Publisher: - Elvis Presley Music Incorporated
Matrix
number: - XEM 77306
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: -
Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Loving You'' sounds like a Duane Eddy
RCA record, it's a neat version helped in no small part by the Jordanaires who fill in the gaps smoothly.
03 - ''MONEY HONEY'' - B.M.I. - 2:09
Composer: - Jesse Stone
Publisher: - Walden B. Music Corporation
Matrix number:
- XEM 77306
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP)
33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Money Honey'' is a bouncy rendition which really works well with Scotty duplicating his original breaks to perfection.
The fun and spirit of 1956 is captured.
04 - ''MY BABY LEFT ME'' - B.M.I. - 2:18
Composer: - Arthur Crudup
Publisher: - Unichappell Music - Crudup Music Corporation
Matrix number: - XEM 77306
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued:
- 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
There's great teamwork between Scotty and DJ on the early parts of ''My Baby Left Me'' and it really
is their song until The Jordanaires join in and spoil the whole feel. A nice Boots Randolph sax break redeems it somewhat.
05 - ''HEARTBREAK HOTEL'' - B.M.I. - 2:42
Composer: -
Mea Boren Axton-Tommy Durden-Elvis Presley
Publisher: - Hill and Range Songs Incorporated
Matrix number: - XEM 77306
Recorded:
- Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE
GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Heartbreak
Hotel'' was never my favourite Elvis song but the version here is nice and jazzy. All the instruments are given plenty of air to breathe and Bill Pursell is particularly effective on piano throughout. Boots is on fine form as is Scotty (nothing new there!).
06 - ''THAT'S ALL RIGHT'' - B.M.I. - 2:20
Composer: - Arthur Crudup
Publisher:
- Arthur Crudup Music
Matrix number: - XEM 77306
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''That's All Right'' is a fine rock and roll instrumental. It seems strange to hear it with a sax, but there's a great understanding between Scotty and the Jordanaires.
07 - ''MILK COW BLUES'' - A.S.C.A.P. - 2:25
Composer: - James "Kokomo" Arnold
Publisher: - Leeds Music Incorporated Limited
Matrix number: - XEM 77307
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT
CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Side two starts with my favourite of the album, ''Milk Cow Blues''. It a real blast from start to finish with DJ driving the thing along and some fine interplay between the guitars of Scotty and Jerry Kennedy. Instrumentals
were big business in the early 1960s and with a bit of push from Epic this could easily have hit the Hot 100.
08 - ''DON'T'' – B.M.I. - 2:45
Composer: - Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller
Publisher: - Jerry Leiber Music-Mike Stoller Music
Matrix
number: - XEM 77307
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Don't'' again could be Duane. The guitar
is nice and twangy and Boots contributes a couple of beautiful short solos.
09 - ''MYSTERY TRAIN'' - B.M.I. - 2:00
Composer: - Herman "Little Junior" Parker Jr.-Sam Phillips
Publisher: - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix
number: - XEM 77307
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Mystery Train'', not surprisingly, is another rockin' tribute to the Sun years. The picking is unmistakably Scotty with some fabulous solos which nearly burn the wax on the turntable.
10 - ''DON'T BE CRUEL'' - B.M.I. - 2:05
Composer: - Otis Blackwell-Elvis Presley
Publisher: - Travis Music Co.
Matrix number: - XEM 77307
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released:
- 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Don't
Be Cruel'' doesn't quite work as well as the others. It's nice and bouncy but the problem is probably that the original had such perfect vocals.
11 - ''LOVE ME TENDER'' - B.M.I. - 2:47
Composer: - Vera Matson-Elvis Presley
Publisher: - Hill and Range Songs Incorporated
Matrix number: - XEM 77307
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released:
- 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Love Me Tender'' is obviously slow and a bit lifeless but it features more classy sax playing from Boots Randolph.
12 - ''MEAN WOMAN BLUES'' - A.S.C.A.P. - 2:15
Composer: - Claude DeMetruis
Publisher: - Gladys Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - XEM 77307
Recorded: - Unknown Date February/March 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearances: - Epic Records (LP) 33rpm Epic 33SX1680 mono
THE
GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Reissued: - 1999 Epic Records (CD) 500/200rpm Epic 357145 mono
THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
''Mean Woman
Blues'' is great. Jerry Kennedy keeps the track driving along nicely and there's a good short piano break. Scotty takes an absolute crackerjack solo and it's a great way to round off the album and show us all why his was ''The Guitar That Changed The World!''.
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Scotty
Moore - Lead Guitar
Jerry Kennedy - Guitar
Bob
Moore - Bass
D.J. Fontana - Drums
Buddy
Harmon - Drums
Boots Randolph - Saxophone
Bill
Purchell - Piano
Vocal
Chorus The Jordanaires consisting of
Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews,
Hoyt Hawkins and Raymond Walker
Billy Sherrill wanted to title the album ''The Guitar That Changed The World'' and Scotty reluctantly went along with that, althought privately he feared
people would think he was boasting. Billy wanted to pay tribute to the man who had started it all. ''I admire Scotty and I admire his contribution to music'', says Billy.
''He's in a class by himself. He is the rock and roll player of the century. All those guys that came along, Jimi Hendrix,
Eric Clapton, they can play faster, sharper, more compelling licks, but Scotty did it first. I'm sure there are better guitar players than Scotty that are around today. But they
fed on his creativity. I don't know where he got his from, God, I guess''.
''The Guitar That Changed The World'' was one of Billy Sherrill's first profects as a producer, but he went on
to become one of the most successful producers and songwriters in country music history. He had hits with Tammy Wynette,
George Jones, Charlie Rich, Johnny Paycheck, Patti Page, and dozens of others. Today, when he looks back at the album he did with Scotty, he wishes more had been done to promote
it. ''The record company at the time didn't see the potential of the album and didn't work on it all that much'', he says. '' I think Scotty Moore made history. I was glad to be a part of that history''.
Scotty Moore was ecstatic over the album. For the first time in his career, he had a project that was his very own.
For the first time, he had an album that would pay him royalties. When he got back to Memphis, he told Sam Phillips about the project. He thought Sam would be happy he had a deal
with a major record label. Sam didn't say much when he told him; he sort of nodded and mumbled.
A few days later, Scotty received a hand-delivered letter from Sam Phillips dated March 17, 1964.
''As you know I am real concerned about the events of the past week-end, and feel I must tell you that I feel a real trust has been handled with Impropriety'', Sam said in the letter. ''I think under the circumstance
(sic) all purposes, both for you and me, would be best served if you began to seek a new association''. Sam was firing him because he recorded an album! Scotty couldn't believe it. Sam letter continued: ''I
do not want you to feel that I do not appreciate your real and genuine dedication and concern for the companies you are associated with, but my faith has been severely taken to task, therefore, your continued
affiliation with us will not be what I feel is a comfortable relationship. I do not, however, hold any malice in the matter and shall, and do, hold you in high regard. Also, your presence is welcome at all
times and certainly until you make another connection that is satisfactory to you and your family. Further, please do not feel out of pride you have to leave immediately. This is not the case. As a matter of
fact, you will be needed to help us avoid another 'immediate' departure. I shall be happy to recommend you, both as a person and as an employee, to whomever you approach for employment''.
For Biography of Scotty Moore see: > The Sun Biographies <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
Robert Johnson, music journalist for the Memphis Press-Scimitar was certainly in the right place at the right time. He was there when Elvis started breaking into the big-time, he reported
the signing to RCA, he was at the Million Dollar Quartet session on 4 December 1956 and also reported the episode when Scotty and Bill Black resigned. He also wrote the first official biography of Elvis in 1956. When the album was reissued in 1983 in England,
the liner notes were by Johnson (Are these the original liner notes?). The notes are worth repeating here for anyone who shamefully doesn't have the album.
"Scotty was part of the most amazing musical adventure of modern times, the rise from rags to riches, and international fame, of Elvis Presley. His was the other guitar - the lead guitar! This album grew out of the fantastic experience of being at the side of the man who has sold more millions of records than any other singer in history. Scotty Moore's guitar has been heard on more million-record sellers than any other guitar, and he has been on all but a few of Elvis' major hits.
Scotty has been wondering, for some time, what the response might be to an up-dated instrumental interpretation of the music associated with Elvis. He wanted the same basic arrangements, but he wanted a bigger instrumental sound. It is now ten years since That's All Right, for instance, and Scotty wanted to update the rhythm pattern to meet the changes involved in a decade.
Scotty was the lead guitar on the original versions of all but one of the twelve numbers on this album. The exception is Love Me Tender, and the movie people used studio men for this. All of the musicians in this album, with one exception, have worked with Elvis in his later recording sessions. Drummer D.J. Fontana was along with Scotty on most of the originals. Most are featured stars in their own right - Bob Moore on bass; Boots Randolph, sax; Jerry Kennedy, guitar; Buddy Harman for the second drums; Bill Pursell, piano. The Jordanaires have, of course, been closely associated with most of Elvis' records.
The same idea Scotty had been nursing had also been in the mind of Billy Sherrill, A and R man in Nashville, who produced the album. This is the way it began - in 1954. I wrote the story about Elvis, Scotty and Bill Black, ran the pictures of them, and wrote thousands of words about them in later years. It is generally known how Elvis walked in and made a little record as a birthday present for his mother at Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis. Later, Phillips remembered Elvis and called him to sing everything he knew. Something was there, and Phillips sent Elvis to Scotty and said; "Work with this boy".
Then happened one of those strange coincidences which often make history. Scotty lived a few doors from Bill Black, bass player. They worked with Elvis, hour after hour, then Elvis started singing a song which popped into his mind, That's All Right, and all at once it was there - the drive, the excitement, the something. When they heard the playback, they couldn't believe it. All three had been exposed since childhood to a strange blend of music, from Negro field shouts to rhythmic church music, from blues to country and sophisticated jazz. Somehow they all seemed to run together.
They had a hit, but they were broke. They got together some money for petrol and hit the road in Scotty's old car, and when the car broke down, Elvis got a second-hand Lincoln, which Bill wrecked. They made a Grand Ole Opry appearance, then they went to the Louisiana Hayride, and suddenly it began to happen. DJ joined them. Once they drove home from Texas with 100 dollars each, and kept feeling it to make sure it was there. The fabulous Col. Tom Parker took them over. The crowds became bigger, the screams louder, and now you could feel the excitement. It broke wide open with Heartbreak Hotel, and Hound Dog set off a stampede. They were on TV with Milton Berle, and Ed Sullivan, for that fantastic 50,000 dollars an appearance, just a year after they had holes in their pockets.
Then came Las Vegas the first time - I was there, and saw that some of the older crowd were interested in spite of themselves. It was too big to be stopped. The rest is history.
Scotty was in four movies. Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, King Creole and G.I. Blues and worked on the soundtracks of all. When Elvis' movie work took him off the road, Scotty stayed close to records, and came up with his own million seller, ''Tragedy''. Bill Black's Combo also made it's name. Whenever Elvis goes to Nashville for recording sessions, or makes charity appearances, Scotty is right there at his side - the other guitar, the lead guitar - THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD!"
Shaun Mather, February 1999.
MARCH 1, 1964 SUNDAY
The Beatles recorded ''I'm Happy Just To Dance With You'' at London's Abbey Road Studios. Anne Murray later turns the song into a minor country hit.
Jennifer McCarter is born in Sevierville, Tennessee. As a member of the family trio The McCarters, she participates in three Top 10 hits during the late-1980s, ''Timeless And True Love'', ''The Gifts'' and ''Up And Gone''.
MARCH 2, 1964 MONDAY
During the first day of shooting for the movie ''A Hard Day's Night'' in London, England, The Beatles' George Harrison meets Patti Boyd, destined to become his wife. During their marriage he writes ''Something'' a country hit for Johnny Rodriguez.
MARCH 4, 1964 WEDNEDAY
Charley Pride signs his first management contract, with Jack D. Johnson.
MARCH 5, 1964 THURSDAY
Johnny Cash recorded ''The Ballad Of Ira Hayes'', based on the tragic life of a World War II hero, at the Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
Warner Mack recorded the Jim Glaser-penned ''Sittin' In An All Nite Cafe''.
Hank Williams Jr. and saxophone player Boots Randolph appear on ABC-TV's ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
MARCH 6, 1964 FRIDAY
Skip Ewing is born in Redlands, California. After several hits as a recording artist in the late-1980s, he scores his biggest success as a songwriter. Among his titles, Collin Raye's ''Love Me'', Diamond Rio's ''I Believe'', Kenny Chesney's ''Me And You'' and Randy Travis' ''If I Didn't Have You''.
MGM released the Elvis Presley movie ''Kissin' Cousins'', with Elvis Presley playing two different characters.
Elvis Presley begins work on the movie ''Roustabout'' in Los Angeles, California.
MARCH 7, 1964 SATURDAY
Jim and Jesse and Ernie Ashworth join the Grand Ole Opry at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
ABC's ''Hootenanny'' takes on a country flavor with appearances by Eddy Arnold, The Carter Family, Hoyt Axton and Sheb Wooley, who perform ''That's My Pa''.
Lefty Frizzell begins a four-week stay atop the Billboard country chart ''Saginaw, Michigan'', written by Bill Anderson.
MARCH 8, 1964 SUNDAY
Wynn and Delores Stewart have a daughter, Wren Dee Stewart, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MARCH 9, 1964 MONDAY
The Statler Brothers show up at a Johnny Cash show in Canton, Ohio, and open the concert when the Man in Black is late. Cash subsequently adds them to his touring cast for the next eight years.
Skeeter Davis recorded ''Gonna Get Along Without You Now''.
MARCH 10, 1964 TUESDAY
Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn recorded ''Mr. And Mrs. Used To Be'' at the Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
Carl Butler and Pearl recorded ''I'm Hanging Up The Phone''.
MARCH 11, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Elvis Presley is injured while filming a fight scene for ''Roustabout'' in Los Angeles. He requires stitches in his forehead.
Songwriter Jerry Abbott and his wife, Carolyn, have a son Vincent Abbott, in Dallas, Texas. Dad goes on to write the Buck Owens and Emmylou Harris hit ''Play Together Again Again''. As Vinnie Paul, son goes on to play in the metal band Pantera.
Capitol released Charlie Louvin's first solo hit, ''I Don't Love You Anymore''.
MARCH 12, 1964 THURSDAY
Roy Drusky recorded ''Pick Of The Week'' at Nashville's Columbia Studio.
MARCH 14, 1964 SATURDAY
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs are featured on ABC's ''Hootenanny''.
MARCH 15, 164 SUNDAY
''Lonely Teardrops'' songwriter Berry Gordy Jr. has a son, Kennedy William Gordy, in Detroit. The boy earns a pop hit in 1984 under the stage name Rockwell with ''Somebody's Watching Me''.
Having first met while filming the movie Cleopatra in 1961, actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor make their much publicized relationship official when they are married in Montreal. The two had both been married when they first started their relationship, a scandalizing event that garnered attention from the Vatican, which condemned them. The Burton-Taylor affair and marriage had the public fascinated and marked the beginning of the public’s enthrallment with celebrity relationships. The pair were married until their divorce in June of 1974. They remarried each other in 1975 but divorced for a second time in less than a year.
MARCH 16, 1964 MONDAY
Rock and roll disc jockey Alan Freed is charged in New York with evading more than $37,000 in income tax. He earned co-writing credit on the 1950s pop hit ''Sincerely'', eventually remade for the country charts by The Forester Sisters.
SPRING 1964
When Sam Phillips give him his walking papers, Scotty Moore started looking around for new opportunities. Stax Records was the hottest enterprise in
Memphis, but it was pretty much a closed shop. Same thing with Hi Records, where Willie Mitchell had been put in charge of production.
Scotty had worked on some minor projects with Willie, but Hi Records was Bill's gig and studio really didn't need a veteran guitarist/producer. Chips Moman was in the
process of putting together his American Recording Studio, but it would be another year before he has it in full operation.
Scotty looked toward Nashville. He was motivated to begin a new life in a new city for
more reasons than one. He and his wife, Bobbie, had not been getting along. Not many marriages could have survived what they had experienced.
The long separations, the road trips, all the glittery trappings
of Scotty being ''the man behind'' America's reigning sex symbol dogged the relationship, but they probably weren't the most difficult to overcome. More damaging were the constant stream of work-related betrayals Scotty had experienced during their marriage. At age thirty-two, Scotty
needed to try something different, and he needed to do it in new surroundings. He told Bobbie he was moving to Nashville.
Before leaving Memphis, Scotty Moore sent Colonel Tom Parker an acetate of his LP ''The
Guitar That Changed The World', along with a letter requesting an endorsement. ''Recently I contracted with Epic Records,
a division of Columbia to record instrumentally an album of Elvis' older hits;;, Scotty wrote. ''With the understanding that if it met with any success the project would continue
by volumes two, three, etc. I am enclosing herein, a copy of the first album and would deem it an honor if you would write the liner notes for Volume One. Of course, my first thought was liner notes by ''Elvis and The Colonel'', but realized label policy knew this would probably
be impossible. We have endeavored to present these selections with good taste and with a memorable flavor. Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated. Here's hoping
they will be pleasing to your ear''.
Less than a week later, Scotty received a response from Tom Diskin, Parker's assistant. In a letter dated April 8
on Paramount Pictures letterhead, Diskin wrote: ''Our hands are pretty well tied on what we can do on other labels, not only in the way of liner notes but there are restrictions
that do not permit the use of Elvis' name in conjunction with another commercial record. We receive a great number of requests from the boys in the
business and have to go along with the restrictions placed on us because of our association with RCA Victor. For that reason we
have never done anything along the lines requested. We want to wish you good luck and hope that this LP is a big success, but mostly big royalties for you. ''Kissin Cousins'' is
doing extremely well. We are still on the ''Roustabout'' picture. We are returning this acetate as we felt you may have use for it, and will be looking forward to the release of your album and I personally am going to buy one. You have to admit that is the best kind of endorsement''.
It was yet another slap in
the face. Scotty wasn't surprised, of course. He wasn't even offended. Actually, he never expected a response from Parker. Says Scotty: ''If I had offered him $5,000 to write the
liner notes, he might have done it. He never did anyone a favor that I knew of where he wasn't paid back tenfold somewhere
down the line''. Buoyed by a contract for his first solo album, and dreams of royalties, Scotty struck out for Nashville.
When Scotty moved to Nashville in 1964, country music was in a state of flux, perpetuated
to no small degree by the revolution in American music brought about the music recorded a decade earlier by Elvis, Scotty, and Bill in Memphis. Country music didn't have a carved-in-stone direction in 1964. The biggest selling singles on the country charts were Roger Miller's
''Dang Me'' and Dottie West's ''Here Comes My Baby''. The hottest selling single on any chart was Roy Orbison's ''Oh, Pretty Woman''.
Former Memphis artist such as Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee
Lewis, and Charlie Rich were finding new success in Nashville, even as Elvis continued to record his albums and some of his soundtracks in the city, but country music's new wave, as represented by Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings, and other, was already in place,
making Nashville both a pivotal and an exciting place to set up shop.
Before Scotty Moore left Memphis, Mort Thomasson, a recording engineer with Columbia Records, had talked to him about working for
the record label as an engineer. He probably would have taken that job if he had not met studio owner Bill Conner. They discovered they shared a common goal. Conner wanted a bigger
studio; Scotty wanted a studio, period. They found a studio that had gone on the market after its owners had filed
for bankrupty. It was in a good condition, on Nineteenth Avenue, just off Music Row, so they pooled their resources and bought it. It had done business under the name Roi Studios.
They renamed it Music City Recorders.
As Scotty Moore's Spirits soared over the purchase of the studio, they sank over the dismal showing his album, ''The Guitar That Changed The World'' made on the charts and in record stores. It became clear to Scotty that the album was going to spawn in neither hits
nor royalties. Epic never pushed the album, reflecting a long-standing industry aversion to instrumentals. That was one way Memphis and Nashville
were different. Memphis built an entire industry on instrumentals. Nashville avoided instrumentals whenever possible. That was one
area where Scotty thought Nashville could learn a thing or two from its neighbor to the west. ''The Guitar That Changed The World'' never charted, dashing Scotty's hopes of receiving
royalties for the music he helped create. The album didn't sell enough copies to pay production costs, and by 1996 $2,500 was still owed on the account.
Scotty brushed off that disappointment, as he had done so many others, and went about the business of building a new life. He and Bobbie weren't talking
about divorce. Beyond getting a little breathing room, neither of them knew what they wanted from the other. All they knew for certain was that they didn't want to
rush into anything. However, a little more than a year after Scotty began his new life, tragedy struck his old friend
Bill Black.
MARCH 17, 1964 TUESDAY
Sun Records owner Sam Phillips fires Nashville studio manager Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley's former guitarist, after Moore recorded his own instrumental album, ''The
Guitar That Changed The World'' with Billy Sherrill for Epic Records in Sam's Nashville studio.
MARCH 18, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Keyboard player Scott Saunders is born in Fort Worth, Texas. He joins the Waco band Sons Of The Desert, whose 1997 debut album earns with ''Whatever Comes First'' and ''Leaving October''.
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
appear in an episode of ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' for the second time. The duo already sings the theme song to the weekly CBS-TV series.
MARCH 19, 1964 THURSDAY
Webb Pierce recorded ''Memory Number 1''.
The lineup for ABC's ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' includes Homer and Jethro, Johnny Tillotson, Molly Bee and Norm Crosby.
MARCH 21, 1964 SATURDAY
Jan and Dean recorded ''The
Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)'' in Los Angeles, with Glen Campbell playing guitar on the session.
Johnny Cash delivers ''Understand Your Man'' on an episode of ABC's ''Hootenanny'', which also features ''But You Know I Love You'' songwriter Mike Settle.
MARCH 26, 1964 THURSDAY
Hank Snow and pop singer Jack Jones appear on ''The Jimmy Dean Show''
on ABC.
MARCH 28, 1964
SATURDAY
Persuaded
by Bill Anderson, Connie Smith visits Nashville for the first time to appear on ''The Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree.
Lawrence Welk, a former musical collaborator of Red Foley, is featured on the cover of TV Guide.
Patti Page appears on ABC's ''The Hollywood Palace''. The installment is hosted by George Burns,
who joins The Lennon Sisters to perform ''Ain't Misbehavin'''.
MARCH 30, 1964 MONDAY
The Dillards, in their role as the fictitious band The Darlings, play ''Bile Them Cabbage Down'' during the CBS sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show''.
APRIL 1, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Brenda Lee has her first baby, Julia Leana Shacklett, via Cesarean section, at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hank Williams JR. performs during a Democratic fundraising dinner at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Nashville, Tennessee.
APRIL 2, 1964 THURSDAY
Jim Reeves joins pop singer Eydie Gorme and comedian Don Adams as guests on the ABC weekly variety program ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
APRIL 3, 1964 FRIDAY
The Statler Brothers hold their first recording session, cutting ''The Wreck Of The Old 97'' in Nashville, Tennessee.
APRIL 4, 1964 SATURDAY
Johnny Cash's ''Understand Your Man'' hits number 1 on the Billboard country single chart.
APRIL 5, 1964 SUNDAY
Duane Eddy and Jessi Colter have a daughter, Jennifer.
Columbia Records released Ray Price's ''The Other Woman''.
APRIL 6, 1964 MONDAY
Decca Records released Loretta Lynn's ''Wine Women And Song''.
Charlie Louvin donates a pint of blood to the American Red Cross, making him a member of the One Gallon Club.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
The next Sun session for Bill Yates and Bill Adams took place on April 6, 1964 and this time Bill Yates was booked
as the leader with Adams being paid union scale as a musician, though in fact he sang as well. Gene Parker was paid as the drummer. By this time, Scotty Moore had been put in charge of Sam Phillips
Nashville studio as well as Madison Avenue. Stan Kesler was brought in to help with the Memphis productions for two years until Knox Phillips took
over. Kesler remembers engineering the Adams sessions but feels they were always directed by Sam Phillips.
STUDIO SESSION FOR BILL YATES & BILLY ADAMS
FOR SUN RECORDS
1964
SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: APRIL 6, 1964 THURSDAY
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – SAM PHILLIPS
This April session produced Adams second Sun single, issued in May 1964, ''Trouble
In Mind'' and ''Lockin' For Mary Ann'', Sun 391. Continuing the style set by his first Sun disc, ''Trouble In Mind'' again featured Jesse
Carter who was this time credited on the label for the vocal duet. It also continued the blues revival theme, the song having been written by jazz pianist Richard Jones and becoming a hit in the
1920s for Chippie Hill. It had become a true blues classic down the years and had been on the rhythm and blues charts with Nina Simone
a couple of years before Billy Adams recorded it. ''Lookin' For Mary Ann'', was the Adams and Carter song previously recorded for Home Of The Blues and now set to a strengthened rhythm inspirit
by the current Tommy Tucker hit, ''Hi-Heel Sneakers''. Adams made a number of other unissued, sides at this session including the blues ''Reconsider
Baby'' and six more versions of ''Love Me, Love Me, Cherry'' which may have been viewed as a potential single at one point. The session also produced Bill Yates' first release on
Sun, a nod to Rufus Thomas with ''Don't Step On My Dog'' and another Carter song, ''Stop Wait And Listen''.
01 - ''DON'T STEP ON MY DOG*'' - B.M.I. - 2:13
Composer: - Bill Yates
Publisher: - Knox Music Incorporated – Hara Music
Matrix number: -
U 501 - Master
Recorded: - April 6, 1964
Released: - May 1, 1964
DON'T STEP ON MY DOG / STOP, WAIT AND LISTEN
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15805-1-19 mono
THE
SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 5
02 - ''STOP, WAIT AND LISTEN*'''
- B.M.I. - 2:45
Composer: - Bill Yates-Jesse Carter
Publisher: - Hi-Lo
Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - U 502 - Master
Recorded: - April 6, 1964
Released: - May 1, 1964
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single > Sun 390-B < mono
STOP, WAIT AND LISTEN / DON'T STEP ON MY DOG
Reissued:
- 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15805-1-20 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 5
No one would have raised an eyebrow if ''Stop, Wait And Listen'', a fine piece of swamp pop, had been
recorded in Louisiana rather than Memphis. But here it is on the Sun label, rather than Goldband or Excello. Yates does a commendable job here of singing in
that southern style that defies racial identity. Phillips himself enthused over Yates. ''Bill had an awful lot of soul in his voice'', he told Martin Hawkins. ''He was
probably as versatile, without being a copyist, as any artist I worked with. He had a lot of merit, and it's a real shame that we were not able to get a hit for him.
He made you want to listen when he opened his mouth to sing, and he played the piano like it should be played''.
03(1) - ''TROUBLE IN MIND**'' - 1 - B.M.I. - 2:30
Composer: - Richard M. Jones
Publisher: - Leeds Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - U 503
- Master
Duet Billy Adams & Jesse Carter
Recorded: - April 6, 1964
Released: - May 1, 1964
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single > Sun 391-A < mono
TROUBLE IN MIND / LOOKIN' FOR MY MARY ANN
Reissued:
- 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15805-1-22 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 5
If you liked the formula on Adams' previous record, you're gonna love this one too. ''Trouble In Mind'' is a
virtual clone of Miz Betty: a strong harmonica vocal with Jesse Carter on a piece of traditional black/folk material. The whole thing is packaged
in a format that makes you want to blow the cobwebs off your ''How To Do The Stroll'' handbook. And on top of that, we have Russ Carlton's wailing sax adding a tough of
melodic soul and some stinging guitar work by Lee Adkins.
03(2) - ''TROUBLE IN MIND**'' - 2 - B.M.I. - 2:37
Composer: - Richard M. Jones
Publisher: - Leeds Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - April 6, 1964
Released: - May 1, 1964
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-26 mono
BILLY ADAMS –
THE SUN YEARS PLUS
The flipside finds the boys in their
''Hi-Heel Sneakers'' groove with another fine sax solo courtesy of Russ Carlton. If Tommy Tucker could have had just a penny for every bar band that took this riff to the bank six
nights a week he might have retired in prosperity instead of dying in obscurity. There's even a sly vocal reference to Tucker's opus during the fade.
04 - ''LOOKIN' FOR MY MARY ANN**'' - B.M.I. - 2:35
Composer: - Billy Adams-Jesse Carter
Publisher: - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - U 504 - Master
Recorded:
- April 6, 1964
Released: - May 1, 1964
First appearance: - Sun Records
(S) 45rpm standard single > Sun 391-B < mono
LOOKIN' FOR MY MARY ANN / TROUBLE IN MIND
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family
Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15805-1-21 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 5
05 - ''RECONSIDER BABY'' - B.M.I.
Composer: - Lowell
Fulson
Publisher: - Arc Music – Tristan Music
Matrix number:
- None – Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - April 6, 1964
Released:
- April 1989
First appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm Sunbox 109-6-6 mono
SUN RECORDS INTO THE 1960S - CADILLAC MAN
06(1)
- ''BIG M'' - 1 - B.M.I.
Composer: - Billy Adams
Publisher: - Copyright
Control
Matrix number: - None - Sun Unissued
Recorded: April 6, 1964
06(2) - ''BIG M'' - 2 - B.M.I.
Composer: - Billy Adams
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Sun Unissued
Recorded: April 6, 1964
Released:
First appara
07 - ''SWEETIE PIE*'' - B.M.I.- 2"22
Composer: - Bill Yates
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Instrumental - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: April 6, 1964
First appearance - 2006 Charly
Records Internet X5 Music Group-2 mono
BILLY ADAMS - RAINING IN MY HEART
BILLY ADAMS - RAINING IN MY HEART
08 - ''LOVE ME, LOVE ME, CHERRY**'' - 1-6 - B.M.I.
Composer: - Chuck Willis-Gaines
Publisher: - Rush Music
Matrix number: - None - Sun Unissued
Recorded: April 6, 1964
Name (Or.
No. Of Instruments)
Bill Yates - Vocal* & Piano*
Billy Adams -
Vocal** & Drums
Lee Adkins - Guitar
Jesse Carter - Bass &
Vocal on ''Trouble In Mind''
Gene Parker - Drums
Russ Carlton - Saxophone
For Biographies of Bill Yates and Billy Adams see: > The Sun Biographies <
Bill Yates and Billy Adams' Sun recordings can be heard on their playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
Bill Yates and Billy Adams' Sun recordings can be heard on their playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
APRIL 9, 1964 THURSDAY
The Los Angeles Angels, owned by cowboy star Gene Autry, file papers with the city of Anaheim indicating their intent to move the baseball team to Orange County.
ABC's ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' welcomes special guests Hank Thompson, Roy Clark and Molly Bee.
APRIL 10, 1964 FRIDAY
NBC present a special, ''The Tennessee Ernie Ford Hour'', with co-stars Jack Benny, Andy Williams and Annette Funicello.
APRIL 11, 1964 SATURDAY
Steve Azar is born in Greenville, Mississippi. He first gains attention with an independent album in 1996, although he waits another six years to score his first hit, ''I Don't Have To Be Me ('Til Monday)''.
APRIL 12, 1964 SUNDAY
Deryl Dodd is born in Comanche, Texas. Signed to Sony Nashville as an artist in the 1990s, he contributes backing vocals to a trio of Tracy Lawrence hits and ultimately becomes a force on the Texas red-dirt scene.
Amy Ray is born in Decatur, Georgia. She becomes one-half of the modern folk duo Indigo Girls, who provide background vocals on Mary Chapin Carpenter's 1993 country hit ''The Hard Way''.
APRIL 13, 1964 MONDAY
Actress Page Hannah is born in Chicago. In 1992, she marries pop producer and songwriter Lou Adler, whose ''Poor Side Of Town'' was a pop hit for Johnny Rivers when she was two, and again for Joe Stampley in 1983.
Capitol released Jean Shapard's ''Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar)''.
APRIL 14, 1964 TUESDAY
Fiddler Stuart Duncan is born in Quantico, Virginia. He joins The Nashville Bluegrass Band, and plays on numerous country hits, including Faith Hill's ''Breathe'', The Band Perry's ''If I Die Young'' and ''Shania Twain's ''Man I Feel Like A Woman''.
Columbia Records released Carl Butler and Pearl's ''I'm Hanging Up The Phone'', and Carl Smith's ''Take My Ring Off Your Finger''.
APRIL 16, 1964 THURSDAY
Dean Martin recorded the pop single ''Everybody Loves Somebody'' in Los Angeles, with future country label executive Jimmy Bowen producing. Sitting in on acoustic guitar is Glen Campbell.
Carl Smith and pop singer Vikki Carr makes guest appearances on ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' on ABC-TV.
APRIL 17, 1964 FRIDAY
25,000 protesters including Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Phil Ochs attend March Against the Vietnam War in Washington DC organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
APRIL 18, 1964 SATURDAY
Homer and Jethro perform ''(How Much) That Hound Dog In The Window'' and ''Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes'' during ABC's ''Hootenanny''.
APRIL 20, 1964 MONDAY
Shooting is completed on the Elvis Presley movie ''Roustabout''.
Decca Records released Webb Pierce's ''Memory Number 1''.
APRIL 23, 1964 THURSDAY
Buck Owens and Molly Bee on the ABC variety series ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
APRIL 26, 1964 SUNDAY
Roy Orbison's 28th birthday party draws The Beatles among its guests.
APRIL 27, 1964 MONDAY
''In His Own Write'', a book authored by The Beatles' John Lennon is published. Lennon receives songwriting credits on the future country hits ''I Feel Fine'' and ''I Don't Want To Spoil The Party''.
APRIL 30, 1964 THURSDAY
Elvis Presley gets a new hair stylist, Larry Geller, who becomes something of a spiritual adviser to The King.
Dottie West is the marshal of the firefighters' parade at the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Virginia. Also appearing at the festival, Ray Price, The Carter Family, Mac Wiseman and president Lyndon B. Johnson.
Skeeter Davis and pop singer Julius LaRosa make guest appearances on ABC-TV's ''The Jimmy Dean Show''.
MAY 1, 1964 FRIDAY
The singles, Sun 389 ''Betty And Dupree'' b/w ''Got My Mojo Workin'' by Billy Adams; Sun 390 ''Don't Step On My Dog'' b/w ''Stop,
Wait And Listen'' by Billy Yates and His T-Birds; Sun 391 ''Trouble In Mind'' b/w ''Lookin' For Mary Ann'' by Billy Adams and Jesse Carter; Sun 391 ''Wide Open Road'' b/w
''Belshazar'' by Johnny Cash all issued.
In May 1964, eight years since his last release, Smokey Joe Baugh must have been extremely surprise to witness Sun Records re-label and reissue his big 1955 hit,
''The Signifying Monkey'' b/w ''Listen To Me Baby'' (Sun 393). There have been various theories as to why this cute, but outdated obscurity from Sun's glorious past should make another appearance, but
there are two likely factors. Ska music was big business in 1964, following the success of Millie's ''My Boy Lollipop'' and ''Listen To Me baby'' had that groove but, perhaps more tellingly, a new version of ''Signifyin' Monkey'' had been released by local
hero San The Sham and was selling well on Stan Kesler's XL Records, generously giving an added writer credit to Smokey Joe.
Unluckily for Joe, unlike its first go round, Sun 393 didn't sell at all and he left Memphis for Texas in the late 1960s leaving behinds debts with everyone whom he
had ever come into contact with. He settled in Waco and formed a country band with his loyal friend, Buddy Holobaugh, called the Midnite Cowboys, a name based on the best-selling novel by James Leo Herlihy and the resulting Hollywood movie.
Hair stylist Larry Geller appears on
the Paramount lot in Hollywood with promised spiritual reading material for his new client, Elvis Presley. Among the titles, ''The Impersonal Life'', ''Autobiography Of A Yogi'' and ''The Initiation Of The World''.
MAY 2, 1964 SATURDAY
First American student led the Anty War Vietnam protests held in New
York City, San Francisco, Seattle and Madison.
MAY 3, 1964 SUNDAY
Patsy Soneman's husband, Don Dixon, is killed in an automobile accident.
MAY 5, 1964 TUESDAY
Stonewall Jackson recorded ''I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water''.
May anti-Vietnam War demonstration in London outside the U.S. embassy.
Several hundred UC Berkeley students march on the Berkeley Draft Board and present the staff with a black
coffin. Forty students burn their draft cards.
MAY 7, 1964 THURSDAY
The Stoneman Family performs on ''The Steve Allen Show'' on NBC-TV.
MAY 9, 1964 SATURDAY
Chuck Berry kicks off his first tour of the United Kingdom, with Carl Perkins, The Animals and The Nashville Teens in tow. In the audience, The Rolling Stones.
MAY 11, 1964 MONDAY
Hank Williams Jr. begins three days of recording with MGM labelmate
Connie Francis at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio. The first song they recorded is ''Wolverton Mountain'', written by Bocephus' future manager, Merle Kilgore.
MAY 12, 1964 TUESDAY
Bobby Bare wins Best Country and Western Recording for ''Detroit City'' in the sixth annual Grammy Awards.
Twelve young men in New York publicly burn
their draft cards to protest the Vietnam war.
MAY 13, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Songwriter Neal Coty is born in Maryland. He pens Mark Chesnutt's
''She Was''.
MAY 16,
1964 SATURDAY
Buck
Owens, Ernest Tubb and Bill Monroe draws fans to all-country concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York. Also featured, Webb Pierce, Bill Anderson, Stonewall Jackson, Skeeter Davis, Carl Smith, Hank Snow, Ray Price, Porter Wagoner and Leon McAuliffe.
Buck Owens earns a number
1 single with ''My Heart Skips A Beat''.
MAY 18, 1964 MONDAY
Jim Reeves recorded ''I Guess I'm Crazy'', ''Angels Don't Lie'', ''I Won't Come In While He's There'' and ''This Is It'' during an evening session at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.
Easter and Whitsun outbreak of Mods and Rockers and fights and disturbances on British Seaside Resorts.
MAY 19, 1964 TUESDAY
Billy Walker recorded ''Cross The Brazos At Waco'' in an afternoon at the Columbia Studios
in Nashville, Tennessee.
Columbia
released Marty Robbins' ''The Cowboy In The Continental Suit''.
Songwriter Horatio Nichols dies in London, England. The best known of his 600 compositions is ''Among My Souvenirs;; remade a dozen years later as a country hit by Marty Robbins.
MAY 21-23, 1964
Vietnam Day Committee organizes the largest Vietnam teach-in to date at Universaty of
California, Berkeley.
MAY
23, 1964 SATURDAY
Six
months after releasing ''Saginaw, Michigan'', Lefty Frizzell plays Saginaw, where the mayor surprises him on stage with a silver hammer. Fearful of a stranger with a potential weapon, Frizzell gets him in a headlock and wrestles him to the ground.
MAY 24, 1964 SUNDAY
Kenny Rogers' son, Kenneth Rogers II, is born.
MAY 25, 1964 MONDAY
Wanda Jackson recorded the
Carl Belew-written ''Lonely Street''. The song is destined to become a country hit for Rex Allen Jr. in 1977.
MAY 26, 1964 TUESDAY
Hank Williams JR. receives an expensive 15th birthday present from his mother, Audrey, a convertible with silver dollars embedded in the dashboard.
MAY 28, 1964 THURSDAY
Bobby Bare recorded ''Four Strong Winds''
in the evening at Nashville's RCA Studio B.
MAY 30, 1964 SATURDAY
Wynonna Judd is born at King's Daughters Hospital in Ashland, Kentucky, the same day her mother, Naomi Judd, graduates from high school. After performing with Naomi in a record-setting duo, The Judds, Wynonna embarks on a soul-tinged solo
career.
The western movie ''A Distant Trumpet'' debuts in theaters. The film features an acting role for Bobby Bare, alongside Troy Donahue, Suzanne Pleshette and Claude King.
JUNE 1, 1964 MONDAY
Carl Perkins is invited to Abbey Road in London to observe one of The Beatles' recording session. They recorded his song ''Matchbox''.
Dolly Parton moves to Nashville a day after her high school graduation and meets her future husband, Carl Dean, at a laundromat.
Songwriter Shelly Lee Alley dies in Houston, Texas. He wrote the Jimmie Rodgers singles ''Gambling Bar Room Blues''
and ''Travelin' Blues''.
The Rolling Stones arrive in America for the first time.
After an on-air interview, WINS disc jockey Murray The K encourages them to remake a song called ''It's All Over Now'', John Anderson remakes it, too, as a country hit.
Capitol Records released ''The Best Of Buck Owens''.
JUNE 2, 1964 TUESDAY
Columbia
released Johnny Cash's two-sided single ''The Ballad Of Ira Hayes'' backed with ''Bad News''.
Pop
label executive and songwriter Lou Adler marries actress Shelly Fabares. They remain married for nine years, though separated for much of it. During the early part of the relationship, he writes Joe Stampley's 1983 country hit ''Poor Side Of Town''.
JUNE 3, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Beatles drummer Ringo Star collapses, suffering from exhaustion and severe tonsillitis. Some 25 years later, he's destined to recorded with Buck
Owens and end up a country Grammy nominee.
JUNE 6, 1964 SATURDAY
The Rolling Stones perform in San Antonio, Texas, where they appear on a bill that also includes George
Jones. The Possum's guitarist gets into a fight with Mick Jagger, putting him in a headlock until Jones orders his bandmate to let go.
When president Lyndon B. Johnson addresses a garment workers union in Los Angeles, he's greeted with a female chorus performing the Ernest Tubb hit and LBJ signature song ''The Yellow Rose Of Texas''.
Buck Owens' ''Together Again'' takes him to number 1 again on the Billboard country
chart.
JUNE 8, 1964 MONDAY
Alton Delmore, of The Delmore Brothers, dies in Hunstville, Alabama. The Delmores' blues-tinged country netted such classics as ''Hillbilly
Boogie'' and ''Blues Stay Away From Me'' on their way to a 2001 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Liberty Records released Jan and Dean's pop hit ''The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)'', with Glen Campbell in the background on acoustic guitar.
Elvis Presley recorded ''Puppet On A String'' at the MGM Sound Studios in Culver City, California.
Decca Records released Bill
Anderson's ''Me'', the shortest title ever on a country hit.
JUNE 9, 1964 TUESDAY
Bob Dylan recorded ''It Ain't Me, Babe'' at the Columbia Studios in New York. Johnny Cash successfully turns it into a country hit within months.
Basketball player and jazz musician Wayman Tisdale is born in Fort Worth, Texas. He befriends
Toby Keith, who authors ''Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song)'' after Tisdale's 2009 death.
JUNE 10, 1964 WEDNESDAY
The Rolling Stones recorded ''It's All Over Now'' at Chicago's Chess Recording Studio, after blues legend Muddy Waters helps them unload their equipment from the truck. The song eventually
becomes a country hit in a remake by John Anderson.
Buck Owens recorded ''Hello Trouble'' and Hank Cochran's ''A-11'' at the Capitol Studio in Los Angeles. The former song becomes a hit for The Desert Rose Band in 1989, the latter is referenced in Owens' Emmylou Harris duet ''Play
Together Again Again''.
JUNE
11, 1964 THURSDAY
Ringo
Starr is released from London's University College Hospital, where he's been treated for tonsillitis. Twenty-five years later, he joins Buck Owens to vocalize a new version of ''Act Naturally'', nominated for a country Gramme award.
JUNE
12, 1964 FRIDAY
Nelson
Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment by the South African government.
Broadway composer Cole Porter, a co-writer of the country hit, ''Don't Fence Me In'', checks into Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York with a fractured hip and a bladder infection. He remains for 10 days.
JUNE 14, 1964 SUNDAY
Decca records released Ernest
Tubb's album ''Thanks A Lot''.
JUNE
15, 1964 MONDAY
Pop
artists Peter and Gordon land in America as the British duo embarks on its first US tour. Member Peter Asher is destined to produce Linda Ronstadt's country hits the following decade.
JUNE 17, 1964 WEDNESDAY
MGM released Elvis Presley's ''Viva Las Vegas'', pairing Elvis with Ann-Margret.
Actor Clint Eastwood and dancer Roxanne Tunis
have a daughter, Kimber Tunis, in Los Angeles, California. Eastwood goes on to sing with Merle Haggard on the 1980 country hit ''Bar Room Buddies''.
George Hamilton IV recorded ''Truck Driving Man'' at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.
JUNE 18, 1964 THURSDAY
Claude King recorded the Tommy Collins-written ''Sam Hill'' in the
afternoon at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studios.
JUNE 21, 1964 SUNDAY
Guitarist Porter Howell is born in Longview, Texas. He helps found Little Texas, a thick-harmonied vocal group that becomes a major act during the mid-1990s behind the hits ''God Blessed Texas'', ''What Might Have Been'' and ''Kick
A Little''.
JUNE 22,
1964 MONDAY
Shooting
begins for Elvis Presley picture ''Girl Happy'' in Los Angeles, California.
''Don't Fence Me In'' songwriter Cole Porter leaves New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital following 10 days of treatment for a hip fracture and a bladder infection.
JUNE 24, 1964 WEDNESDAY
Connie Smith signs with RCA Records.
JUNE 30, 1964 TUESDAY
Johnny Cash recorded four songs written by Peter LaFarge and one by
Johnny Horton to complete his Native American-themed album ''Bitter Tears''. The project will receive a Grammy nomination.
Columbia Records released Stonewall Jackson's ''Don't Be Angry'' and Claude Kings' ''Sam Hill''.
For Biographies of Artists see: > The Sun Biographies <
Most Sun recordings can be heard on the playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
Most Sun recordings can be heard on the playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
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