CONTAINS
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 Stamps Quartet, Unknown Date 1964 / Stateswood Records
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 <
 
© - 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.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

STUDIO SESSION FOR STAMPS QUARTET FOR STATESWOOD RECORDS 1964

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE 1964
PRODUCER - DON BUTLER
RECORDING ENGINEER - SCOTTY MOORE

Sing Along With The Stamps Quartet

Years ago things moved a little slower and there seemed to be less demand on our time. A man would do a hard days work and then look forward a pleasant evening home with Mama and the children. In this modern day the pace has quickened and the family seems to scatter in all directions with various and sundry
tasks to perform.

Forgotten therefore, is one of pleasant forms of entertainment of times gone by. The logs burning brightly in the fireplace and all the family gathered around old upright piano or pump organ with a book of favorite hymns for a Sing-A-Long. The Stamps Quartet wish present this album as a means of taking a Journey Down Memory Lane to the Days Gone by. So settle back. relax and reminisce.

Softly strains of "Amazing Grace" , "When Then Ring Those Golden Bells'' 'and "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone" takes us back to childhood days in the little community church where we joined our voices with the elders in singing the old time hymns.

Next on our journey the familiar sound of ''Give The World A Smile'' reminding us of the nights gathered sound the radio listening of the "original" Stamps Quartet. Now, in our minds eye let's picture those wonderful Summer Sunday afternoon Singing Conventions with Dinner on the Ground and how the Church and even the yard outside would swell with the singing of "Take Your Burden To The Lord'' and ''Leave If There''. The excitement of songs like "Everybody Oughta Know'', and the closing nostalgic feeling that came singing "If We Never Meet Again''.

Lets visit the Gospel Songs and enjoy the sings and arrangements of such songs as "Hide Me Rock Of Ages'', "When I'm Alone" and exuberance of 'From Now On'', "Keep Me In Thy Fold'', While Ages Roll''.

Marvel at the piano solos and have something to talk about for a week, and look forward to until next singing day.

Sing-A-Longs have become more popular in recent months and the Stamps Quartet hopes that this album will be enjoyed by the entire family and show some of the youngsters what they've been missing - and be equally enjoyed - by young and old.

The Quartet, tho' organized many years ago, has had many personnel changes but the heritage lives on.

The smooth bass voice of Big John Hall featured on the low notes. The sincere tender baritone harmony of Mylon Lefevre. The dynamic lead voice of Roger Mc. Duff blended with the thrilling tenor tones
of Jim Hill supported by the piano artistry of "Smilin" Joe Roper compose the present Stamps Quartet.

They hope that this journey will be to you as it has to them, a period never be forgotten and that as you reminisce you feel compelled to SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS QUARTET.

- Sleeve notes by Don Butler

Tracks Only

01 - "EVERYBODY OUGHTA KNOW'' - S.E.S.A.C.- 1:22
Composer: -Harry Dixon Loes-Arranged by Joe Roper
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8419 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-A/1
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

Born Harold Loes, the American gospel song writer took the middle name Dixon in honour of A. C. Dixon, the pastor of Moody Church at the time. Harry Dixon Loes studied at Moody Bible Institute, and after extensive training in music he served a number of churches with a ministry of music. From 1939 until his retirement he was a member of the music faculty of Moody Bible Institute. He wrote the lyrics for 1,500 gospel songs, and composed 3,000 tunes.

One day in 1915, Paul Rader preached a sermon in Moody Church, in Chicago. His theme was, ''All that I want is in Jesus''. In the congregation was young Harry Dixon Loes, then a senior at Moody Bible Institute, where he would eventually teach. Inspired by Dr. Rader’s message, Harry Loes wrote the words and music for a song he called "All Things In Jesus''. It was first sung by the church's youth group.

Harry Dixon Loes was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on October 20, 1892. After serving several churches as music director and later being active for more than twelve years in evangelist work, he joined the music faculty of Moody Bible Institute, in 1939, where he remained as a popular music teacher until his death in 1965. Mr. Loes was the writer of numerous gospel songs and choruses.

One day, while listening to a sermon on the subject of Christ's atonement entitled ''Blessed Redeemer'', Mr. Loes was inspired to compose this tune. He then sent the melody with the suggested title to Mrs. Christiansen, a friend for many years, asking her to write the text. The hymn first appeared in Songs of Redemption, compiled by Marin and Jelks, in 1920, and published by the Baptist Home Mission Board, Atlanta, Georgia.

02 - "AMAZING GRACE'' - B.M.I. - 2:06
Composer: - John Newton-Arranged by Joe Roper
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8419 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-A/2
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide-surveyor in Liverpool, England, Newton came under the influence of George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley and began to study for the ministry. He was ordained in the Church of England and served in Olney (1764-1780) and St. Mary Woolnoth, London (1780-1807). His legacy to the Christian church includes his hymns as well as his collaboration with William Cowper (PHH 434) in publishing Olney Hymns (1779), to which Newton contributed 280 hymns, including ''Amazing Grace''.

03 - "HIDE ME ROCK OF AGES'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 1:43
Composer: - Brantley C. George
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8419 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-A/3
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

Brantley was born in 1886 and was a farmer and gospel song writer of the Primitive Baptist faith. His most well known is "Hide Me, Rock of Ages" (© 1946), recorded originally by The Stamps Quartet, then later by well known groups such as The Chuck Wagon Gang, The Statesmen, and the Gatlin Brothers. It has even been translated and sang in Navaho. The orginal composition was written on a brown paper bag with pencil. I have held it in my hands. Not being an educated man, he supposedly sold the rights to it for the measly sum of $25.

Though "Hide Me Rock Of Ages" is the most well known, he also wrote "I'm Going Home Some Morning", "Sailing on Life's Restless Ocean" and "Beyond The Blue." 

His parents were Levi Brantley George and Susie Mann. Levi died when Brantley was just an infant. He was raised by his paternal grandparents, William Riley George and Louisa T. Holly George. Susie remarried to Samuel Houston and had 7 other children. 

He was called "Big Daddy" by his grandchildren and great grandchildren. My daddy told me his true cause of death was simply grief, having lost his wife and one of his sons in a short period of time. He was the father of 6 children. Brantley died on December 26, 1963 in Georgia. 

04 - "WHEN I'M ALONE'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 3:02
Composer: - John Daniel Sumner
Publisher: - Gospel Quartet Music
Matrix number: - R4RM-8419 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-A/4
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

05 - "LEAVE IT THERE'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 2:00
Composer: Charles Albert Tindley-Arranged by Joe Roper
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8419 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-A/5
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

Charles Albert Tindley was born in Berlin, Maryland, July 7, 1851; son of Charles and Hester Tindley. His father was a slave, and his mother was free. Hester died when he was very young; he was taken in my his mother’s sister Caroline Miller Robbins in order to keep his freedom. It seems that he was expected to work to help the family. In his Book of Sermons (1932), he speaks of being ''hired out'' as a young boy, ''wherever father could place me''. He married Daisy Henry when he was seventeen. Together they had eight children, some of whom would later assist him with the publication of his hymns.

Tindley was largely self-taught throughout his lifetime. He learned to read mostly on his own. After he and Daisy moved to Philadelphia in 1875, he took correspondence courses toward becoming a Methodist minister. He did this while working as a sexton (building caretaker) for the East Bainbridge Street Church. Beginning in 1885, he was appointed by the local bishop to serve two or three-year terms at a series of churches, until coming full circle to become pastor at East Bainbridge in 1902. Under his leadership, the church grew rapidly. They relocated in 1904 to the East Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, then again in 1924 to the new Tindley Temple, where the membership roll blossomed to about ten thousand.

Tindley was known for being a captivating preacher, and for also taking an active role in the betterment of the people in his community. His songs were an outgrowth of his preaching ministry, often introduced during his sermons. Tindley was able to draw people of multiple races to his church ministry; likewise, his songs have been adopted and proliferated by white and black churches alike.

The songs of Charles Tindley were published cumulatively in two editions of Soul Echoes (1905, 1909) and six editions of New Songs of Paradise (1916-1941). His wife Daisy died in 1924, before the completion of the Tindley Temple. He remarried in 1927 to Jenny Cotton. Charles A. Tindley died July 26, 1933.

06 - "WHILE AGES ROLL'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 2:53
Composer: - Johnson Oatsman Jr.- Arranged by Joe Roper
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8419 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-A/6
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

Johnson Oatman, Jr., son of Johnson and Rachel Ann Oatman, was born near Medford, New Jersey on April 21, 1856. His father was an excellent singer, and it always delighted the son to sit by his side and hear him sing the songs of the church.

Outside of the usual time spent in the public schools, Mr. Oatman received his education at Herbert's Academy, Princetown, New Jersey, and the New Jersey Collegiate Institute, Bordentown, New Jersey. At the age of nineteen he joined the M.E. Church, and a few years later he was granted a license to preach the Gospel, and still later he was regularly ordained by Bishop Merrill. However, Mr. Oatman only serves as a local preacher. 

For many years he was engaged with his father in the mercantile business at Lumberton, New Jersey, under the firm name of Johnson Oatman & Son. Since the death of his father, he has for the past fifteen years been in the life insurance business, having charge of the business of one of the great companies in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, where he resides. He has written over three thousand hymns, and no gospel song book is considered as being complete unless it contains some of his hymns. 

In 1878 he married Wilhelmina Reid, of Lumberton, New Jersey, and had three children, Rachel, Miriam, and Percy. Excerpted from Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers by Jacob Henry Hall; Fleming H. Revell, Co. 1914. 

07 - "MUST JESUS BEAR THE CROSS ALONE'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 3:09
Composer: -Thomas Shepherd-Arranged by Joe Roper
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8420 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-B/1
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

Thomas Shepherd, son of William Shepherd, sometime Vicar of Tilbrook, Bedfordshire, and subsequently a Nonconformist Minister at Oundle, and at Kettering, was born in 1665. Taking Holy Orders he held for some time preferment in Huntingdonshire, and in Buckinghamshire. Seceding from the Church of England, he became, in 1694, pastor of the Castle Hill Meeting House (Independent), Nottingham, of which Dr. Doddridge was subsequently pastor. In 1700 he removed to Bocking, near Braintree, Essex, where he began his work in a barn. A chapel was erected for his congregation in 1707. He died Jan. 29, 1739. His publications consisted chiefly of Sermons, His Penitential Cries were a continuance of those by John Mason, who wrote the first six and the version of Ps. 86, and were published with Mason's Songs of Praise in 1693.

It must be noted that in D. Sedgwick's reprint of the Songs, and the Penitential Cries, in 1859, Mason's Cries are under the head of Songs, pp. 49-61, and those under Penitential Cries, are all by Shepherd. Some of these Cries are still in common use including, "My God, My God, My Light, My Love " (Longing for God) ; and "When Will Thou Come Unto Me, Lord" (Communion with God desired).

- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

08 - "GIVE THE WORLD A SMILE'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 1:26
Composer: -Otis Deaton-Arranged by Joe Roper
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8420 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-B/2
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

09 - "IF WE NEVER MEET AGAIN'' - S.E.S. A.C. - 2:32
Composer: - Albert E. Brumley
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8420 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-B/3
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

Born on October 29, 1905 near Spiro, Oklahoma and died on November 15, 1977 in Springfield, Missouri. Brumley attended the Hartford Musical Institute in Hartford, Arkansas, and sang with the Hartford Quartet. He went on to teach at singing schools in the Ozarks, and lived most of his life in Powell, Missouri. He worked for 34 years a staff writer for the Hartford and Stamps/Baxter publishing companies, then founded the Albert E. Brumley & Sons Music Company and Country Gentlemen Music, and bought the Hartford Music Company. He wrote over 800 Gospel and other songs during his life; the Country Song Writers Hall of Fame inducted him in 1970.

10 - "WHEN THEY RING THE GOLDEN BELLS'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 2:13
Composer: - Dion BeMarbelle
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8420 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-B/4
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

11 - "KEEP ME IN THY FOLD'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 2:24
Composer: - John Daniel Sumner
Publisher: - Public Domain
Matrix number: - R4RM-8420 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-B/5
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

12 - "FROM NOW ON'' - S.E.S.A.C. - 1:24
Composer: - John Daniel Sumner
Publisher: - Gospel Quartet Music
Matrix number: - R4RM-8420 - Master
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-B/6
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

13 - "SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS (COMPLETE ALBUM) (26:24)
Matrix number: - R4RM-8420 - Masters
Recorded: - Unknown Date 1964
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Stateswood Records (LP) 33rpm SW-LP-401-B/6
SING ALONG WITH THE STAMPS

Tracks Include:
01 - "Everybody Oughta Know'' (1:22)
02 - "Amazing Grace'' (2:06)
03 - "Hide Me Rock Of Ages (1:43)
04 - "When I'm Alone'' (3:02)
05 - "Leave It There'' (2:00)
06 - "While Ages Roll'' (2:53)
07 - "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone'' (3:09)
08 - "Give The World A Smile'' (1:26)
09 - "If We Never Meet Again'' (2:32)
10 - "When They Ring The Golden Bells'' (2:13)
11 - "Keep Me In The Fold'' (2:24)
12 - "From Now On'' (1:24)

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Mylon LeFevre - Baritone Vocals
Big John Hall - Bass Vocals
Jim Hill - Tenor Vocals (11)
Joe Roper - Piano
Terry Blackwood - Lead Vocals, makes his final appearance with the Stamps Quartet, substituting for Roger McDuff, making this album a collectors item.

Manufactured By - Standard Record Pressing Company, inc.
Printed By - Music City Album Co. Credits
Layout (Art Layout and Engravings) - Max Harrison
Stateswood Recording Co. A division of Skylite Co., Memphis, Tennessee

 

For Biography of The Blackwoods Brothers see: > The Sun Biographies <
The Blackwoods Brothers recordings can be heard on there playlist from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <

 

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

The Famous Stamps Quartet was organized over 40 years ago (1964), and since that time there has always been a Stamps Quartet active in the field of gospel music. The Stamps Quartet and the Stamps Quartet Music Co. became popular through the efforts of the late V. O. Stamps, and after his demise the company was carried on by his brother, Mr. Frank Stamps, who is at the present time president of the organization. A year and a half ago (1960) the entire company was purchased by the famous Blackwood Brothers, and the Stamps Quartet was moved from Dallas, Texas, to Memphis, Tennessee. There have been many personnel changes down through the years until this present time, but the familiar theme song, "Give the World A Smile'' is still ringing out.

The picture on this page is of the current Stamps Quartet, and these fellows, although having a tremendous reputation to uphold, have done a magnificent job on their own. Each has made a name for himself in the field of gospel music, and they are counted among the very best in the nation.

They travel over 25,000 miles each year, working all over the United States and Canada on average of 28 days each month.

The Stamps Quartet is comprised of five dedicated young Christian men who devote more time perhaps to church work than any other group in this field of endeavor.

Wherever or whenever you see or hear them sing, you can rest assured that they are doing everything within their power to live up to their theme song and "Give The World A Smile''.

Jim Hill, tenor singer for the Stamps, is acclaimed one of the finest in America. His ability to project sincerity and enthusiasm is unequaled. Jim studied opera but chose to sing gospel songs and formed his own group, which was very popular in the North. He joined the Stamps Quartet in 1963. A composer, he wrote the title song of the Stamps' best-selling album, "What A Day That Will Be''. He is manager for the
group.

Mylon LeFevre is the latest addition to the Stamps Quartet and is the baritone singer. He is, however, no newcomer to the gospel music field. He is from a very famous family of gospel singers and was born and reared in a surrounding of such music. He is a very capable singer and musician. He is also a writer and composer, his latest work being of this time the most requested number on most programs. The song "Without Him" has been recorded by several major groups.

''Smilin'''Joe Roper accompanies the quartet on the piano and has made quite a name for himself. Joe started playing the piano professionally for gospel groups as a teenager. He has much experience and at one time headed up his own organization. He is an able songwriter, and his compositions appear in the gospel music publications of the ' Stamps Quartet Music Company. Joe does all the arranging for the group. Many have asked why he is called ''Smilin' Joe when actuality he never smiles. He says, "I think about the bills coming due the first of each month, and this is nothing to smite about''.

Roger McDuff is the lead singer and master of ceremonies for the Stamps, He is known throughout the gospel singing world as the man with a tear in his voice. His solo work is one of the high lights of the concert when the Stamps appear in personal appearances. He is a dynamic personality, and when he speaks for the quartet from the stage, he usually has a profound message of hope and inspiration for those listening.

John Halt, bass singer for the Stamps, is known to all his friends as ''Big John'', and that's just what he is. In stature and in voice. John was at one time a weight lifter and developed his muscles to great pro-portions; much more important, though, he developed his voice at the same time. His voice, resonant and smooth, has been called "a million dollar voice". John was in the evangelistic field for several years. The son of a minister, John dedicated his life to the ministry of gospel music.

 

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

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
319 7TH 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''.

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. 
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.
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.
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.
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!).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single > Sun 390-A < mono
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
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 <
© - 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''.

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For Biographies of Artists see: > The Sun Biographies <
Most Sun recordings can be heard on the playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube < 
 
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©