CONTAINS
For audio recordings click on the available > buttons <
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1963 SESSIONS (7-12)
July 1, 1963 to December 31, 1963
 
Studio Session for The Four Upsetters, July 12, 1963 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Narvel Felts, Mid 1963 / Renay Records
Studio Session for Jerry Lee Lewis, August 27, 1963 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Jerry Lee Lewis, August 28, 1963 / Sun Records
Studio Session for Jerry Lee Lewis, September 22, 1963 / Smash Records
Studio Session for Billy Adams, December 28, 1963 / Sun Records

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

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

JULY 1, 1963 MONDAY

Elvis Presley leaves Memphis for Los Angeles, where he is scheduled to film ''Viva Las Vegas'' with Ann-Margret.

Claude King recorded ''Hey Lucille'' at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio during a morning session.

Bill Anderson recorded ''8 X 10''.

The Beatles recorded ''She Loves You'' at Abbey Road in London. The ''yeah, yeah, yeah'' chorus is mimicked more than 30 years later in the Joe Diffie country hit ''Bigger Than The Beatles''.

JULY 2, 1963 TUESDAY

Johnny Wright and The Tennessee Mountain Boys recorded the original version of ''Walkin', Talkin', Cryin', Barely Beatin' Broken Heart'', a 1990 hit for Highway 101.

JULY 4, 1963 THURSDAY

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys are the first country act to perform at Fort Worth's Panther Hall. The venue later becomes the recording site for live albums by Jerry Lee Lewis and Charley Pride.

JULY 7, 1963 SUNDAY

Elvis Presley recorded ''Viva Las Vegas'', with Glen Campbell on guitar, at the MGM Sound Studios in Culver City, California. "Viva Las Vegas" is written by Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman and recorded for Elvis Presley's ''Viva Las Vegas'' film vehicle, which along with the song was set for general release the year after. Although Presley never sang the song live, it has since become widely known and often performed by others. The RIAA, on their part, credits the song as having sold 500,000 copies in the United States alone, as per their Gold Award certification, issued on March 27, 1992.

Released as the b-side of the ''What'd I Say'' single from the same film, "Viva Las Vegas" charted separately from its A-side, a modest hit reaching number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The Elvis version of "What'd I Say" peaked at number 21, the two sides having equivalent appeal in the marketplace. "Viva Las Vegas" reached number 12 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart, improving to #15 after a reissue in 2007.

In the years since its first release, the song has become one of Presley's most recognized numbers. In the 1990s and 2000s, the song appeared in countless movies and TV sitcoms, either as a reference to the city of Las Vegas, or simply as an expression of joy or bewilderment in related comedic situations.

In 2002, the city of Las Vegas requested Elvis Presley Enterprises, the company that handles a portion of Elvis's legacy and all Elvis-related music rights, to allow it to be the official song of the city. Negotiations stalled over the price requested by EPE, notwithstanding that EPE had not controlled the copyright to the song since 1993, at which time it became the property of the families of the songwriters Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Since EPE no longer owns the copyright to the song, it essentially means that EPE does not have the authority or right to negotiate the use of the song "Viva Las Vegas" within the United States, its territories and possessions, although EPE may be able to negotiate the use of the actual Elvis recording of the song.

JULY 9, 1963 TUESDAY

Ernest Tubb makes his first attempt at recording ''Thanks A Lot'' in an evening session at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

Waylon Jennings signs a recording contract with A&M Records. Herb Alpert produces the first single under the deal, ''Love Denied'' backed with a remake of the Buddy Holly song ''Rave On''.

Vocalist Mary Ford files for divorce from guitarist Les Paul in Los Angeles, charging her husband with cruelty.

JULY 10, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Ernest Tubb recorded ''Thanks A Lot'' at the Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

JULY 11, 1963 THURSDAY

Buck Owens recorded ''Love's Gonna Live Here'' at Capitol's recording studio in the Hollywood tower.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
STUDIO SESSION FOR THE FOUR UPSETTERS
FOR SUN RECORDS 1963

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION 1: JULY 12, 1963 FRIDAY
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER - SAM PHILLIPS
AND/OR SCOTTY MOORE

Composer: - Bill Doggett-Shep Shephart-Clifford Scott-Bill Butler
Publisher: B.M.I. - Billace Music
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (3:37)
Recorded: - July 12, 1963
Released: - 2006
First appearance: - Charly Records (MP3) Internet Sample-14 mono
THE FOUR UPSETTERS - SELECTED HITS

''Honky Tonk'' is an instrumental written by Billy Butler, Bill Doggett, Clifford Scott and Shep Shepherd. In 1956, Doggett released it on a two-part single. On the Billboard pop charts, it peaked at number two for three weeks. It was a number one rhythm and blues single, spending thirteen non-consecutive weeks at the number one spot. In fact, "Honky Tonk" was the biggest rhythm and blues single of 1956. ''Honky Tonk'' became a signature piece and an rhythm and blues standard recorded by many other performers. In 1972, James Brown recorded ''Honky Honk'' with his band The J.B's, who were credited as ''The James Brown Soul Train''. The song was released as a two-part single which reached number 7 on the rhythm and blues chart and number 44 on the pop chart.

Composer: - Ray Charles
Publisher: B.M.I. - Progressive Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (4:01)
Recorded: - July 12, 1963
Released: - 2006
First appearance: - Charly Records (MP3) Internet Sample-13 mono
THE FOUR UPSETTERS - SELECTED HITS

''I Got A Women'' (originally titled ''I've Got A Women'') is a song co-written and recorded by American rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles and released as a single in December 1954 on the Atlantic label as Atlantic 45-1050 backed with ''Come Back Baby''. Both sides later appeared on his 1957 album Ray Charles (subsequently reissued as ''Hallelujah I Lover Her So''.

The song builds on ''It Must Be Jesus'' by the Southern Tones, which Ray Charles was listening to on the radio while on the road with his band in the summer of 1954. He and a member of his band, trumpeter Renald Richard, penned a song that was built along a gospel-frenetic pace with secular lyrics and a jazz-inspired rhythm and blues background. The song would be one of the prototypes for what later became termed as ''soul music'' after Ray Charles released ''What'd I Say'' nearly five years later.

The song was recorded late 1954 in the Atlanta studios of Georgia Tech radio station WGTS. It was a hit, Charles' first climbing quickly to number 1 on the rhythm and blues charts in January 1955. Charles told Pop Chronicles that he performed this song for about a year before he recorded it on November 18, 1954. The song would lead to more hits for Charles during this period when he was on Atlantic. It was later ranked to number 239 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of Charles' five songs on the list. A re-recorded version by Ray Charles, entitled ''I Gotta Woman'' (ABC-Paramount 10649) reached number 79 on the Billboard pop chart in 1965.

Other versions that have made the pop or rhythm and blues charts in the United States are those by Elvis Presley (for his debut album ''Elvis Presley'' (March 23, 1956 LPM-1954). The album spent ten weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in 1956, the first rock and roll album ever to make it to the top of the charts; by  Jimmy McGriff (number 20 pop chart); Freddie Scott (number 48 pop chart); and Ricky Nelson (number 49 pop chart in 1963). The song has also been covered by numerous other artists.

Composer: - Ben Tucker-Bob Dorough
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Melotone Music
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:35)
Recorded: - July 12, 1963
Released: - 2006
First appearance: - Charly Records (MP3) Internet Sample-12 mono
THE FOUR UPSETTERS - SELECTED HITS

''Come' Home Baby'' (''I'm Comin' Home'') is a song originally as an instrumental by Ben Tucker and first recorded by the Dave Bailey Quintet on October 6, 1961. The original musicians were Frank Haynes (tenor saxophone), Bill Hardman (trumpet), Billy Gardner (piano), Ben Tucker (bass), and Dave Bailey (drums). The tune was then recorded six weeks later by Herbie Mann, live at the Village Gate, with Tucker again on bass. Mann's recording, produced by Nesuhi Ertegun and released by Atlantic Records in 1962, became popular and drew wider attention to the tune.
 

Tucker persuaded his friend, lyricist Bob Dorough (later of Schoolhouse Rock! fame), to write a lyric for the tune, and producer Nesuhi Ertegun persuaded singer Mel Tormé, who had recently joined the Atlantic label, to record it. Tormé was initially reluctant to record the song, and later wrote that: "It was a minor-key blues tune with trite repetitious lyrics and an 'answer' pattern to be sung by the Cookies, a girl trio that had once worked for Ray Charles. The recording took place in New York City on 13 September 1962.

Despite Tormé's reservations, his version of the song, with an arrangement by Claus Ogerman, rose to no.36 on the Billboard pop chart in November 1962, becoming his biggest hit since the early 1950s; it reached number 13 on the UK singles chart. It was also the title track of his album ''Comin' Home Baby!'' with added explamation mark. Tormé's recording was nominated as Best Male Solo Vocal Performance and Best Rhythm and Blues Performance at the1963 Grammy Awards.

The song has been covered numerous times including versions by Quincy Jones, Danny Gatton, Hank Jones, David Sanborn, The Kingsmen and Sergio Mendes, and was musical quoted by The Spencer Davis Group on their 1967 single ''I'm A Man''.

''Comin' Home Baby'' was recorded by Canadian crooner Michael Buble, and released as the fifthe single from his third studio album, ''Call Me Irresponsible''. The single was released on April 25, 2008, exclusively in Germany. It features vocals from the Grammy Award-winning vocal harmony group Boyz II. No video was filmed for the song, and there was little to no promotion, causing the release to not appear in any major charts worldwide, with the exception of Germany, where the song peaked at number 17.

Composer: - Juventino Rosas
Publisher: B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:55)
Recorded: - July 12, 1963
Released: - 2006
First appearance: - Charly Records (MP3) Internet Sample-4 mono
THE FOUR UPSETTERS - SELECTED HITS

The waltz ''Sobre las Olas'' (or ''Over The Waves'') is the best-known work of Mexican composer Juventino Rosas (1868-1894). It remains one of the most famous Latin American pieces worldwide, according to the Latin American article in The Oxford Companion to Music. It was first published by Rosas in 19888. It remains popular as a classic waltz, and has also found its way into New Orleans Jazz and Tejano music. The song remains popular with country and old-time fiddlers in the United States.

'PLEASE, PLEASE*
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Sun Unissued
Recorded: - July 12, 1963

PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND ME
Composer: - Unknown
Publisher: Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Sun Unissued
Recorded: - July 12, 1963

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
The Four Upsetters consisting of
Luke Wright – Saxophone
William Ray Felts - Keyboards & Organ
John Guthrie – Drums
George ''Buddy'' Webb - Guitar
 
For Biographies of The Four Upsetters see: > The Sun Biographies <
The Four Uosetters' Sun recordings can be heard on their playlist from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
JULY 15, 1963 MONDAY

The singles, Sun 386 ''Surfin' Calliope'' b/w ''Wabash Cannonball'' by The Four Upsetters and Sun 387 ''Nobody'' b/w ''Moved To Kansas City'' by Tony Rossini issued.

Sun 388 ''Ain't Gonna Let You (Break My Heart)'' b/w ''Tell Me My Love'' by The Teenangels only issued as promo.

Elvis Presley begins location shooting for ''Viva Las Vegas'' in Las Vegas, Nevada.

JULY 16, 1963 MONDAY

Columbia released Claude King's ''Hey Lucille''.

JULY 19, 1963 FRIDAY

Songwriter and producer Brett Beavers is born in Waco, Texas. In addition to producing Dierks Bentley, he authors ''Feel That Fire'', ''Home'', Toby Keiths' ''Red Solo Cup'', Canaan Smith's ''Love You Like That'' and Tim McGraws' ''Felt Good On My Lips''.

JULY 22, 1963 MONDAY

Emily Saliers is born in New Haven, Connecticut. She joins Amy Ray to form the folk duo Indigo Girls, enlisted to sing background vocals on Mary Chapin Carpenter's 1993 country hit, ''The Hard Way''.

JULY 23, 1963 TUESDAY

Neil Young holds his first recording session, as a member of The Squires, at radio station CKRC in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He goes on to write Waylon Jennings' ''Are You Ready For The Country'' and Linda Ronstadt's ''Love Is A Rose''.

Columbia Records released Marty Robbins' ''Not So Long Ago''.

JULY 24, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Ray Charles recorded ''Busted'', at the time a country hit for Johnny Cash, at the Capitol Studios in New York City.

JULY 26, 1963 FRIDAY

Location filming in Nevada concludes for Elvis Presley's movie, ''Viva Las Vegas''.

JULY 27, 1963 SATURDAY

''Ring Of Fire'' burns the name of Johnny Cash into the number 1 position on the Billboard country singles chart.

JULY 29, 1963 MONDAY

Decca released The Wilburn Brothers' ''Tell Her So''.

JULY 30, 1963 TUESDAY

Hank Snow recorded ''Ninety Miles An Hour (Down A Dead End Street)'' and ''Breakfast With The Blues'' at Nashville's RCA Studio B.

Mandolin player Danny Roberts is born in Leitchfield, Kentucky. After an 18-year hitch with the band The New Tradition, he becomes an early member of the 21st-century bluegrass band The Grascals.

JULY 31, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Chad Brock is born in Ocala, Florida. He has fewer than 20 matches as a professional wrestler before embarking on a singing career in the 1990s. His most successful singles comes with an autobiographical love song, ''Yes!''.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

Session Published for Historical Reasons

STUDIO SESSION FOR NARVEL FELTS
FOR RENAY RECORDS 1963

SONIC RECORDING STUDIO
1692 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
STUDIO SESSION: UNKNOWN DATE MID 1963
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER - ROLAND JANES

''Get On The Right Track, Baby'', What You're Doing To Me'', ''Sad And Blue'', ''Love Is Gone'' and ''Return'' all represent demos of Felts-penned tunes, or in the case of the Titus Turner song ''Right Track'', a number that went down well on club dates and was up for consideration as a single.

GET ON THE RIGHT TRACK, BABY
Composer: - Titus Turner
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (1:52)
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963
Released: - 1990
First appearance: Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-22 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS

WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO ME*
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (1:52)
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963
Released: - 1990
First appearance: Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-4 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS

SAD AND BLUE*
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (3:27)
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963
Released: - 1990
First appearance: Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-5 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS

LOVE IS GONE*
Composer: - Narvel Felts-J.W. Grubbs
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:51)
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963
Released: - 1990
First appearance: Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-9 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS

RETURN*
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963
Released: - 1990
First appearance: Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15515-7 mono
NARVEL FELTS - MEMPHIS DAYS

LITTLE SNOWFLAKE
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Unissued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963

THESE LONELY NIGHTS
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Unissued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963

LOVE IS A LONELY ROAD
Composer: - Narvel Felts
Publisher: - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Unissued
Recorded: - Unknown Date Mid 1963

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Narvel Felts - Vocal & Guitar
J.W. Grubbs – Bass
Jimmy Anthony - Drums
*- Luther Crabb - Piano
 
For Biography of Narvel Felts see: > The Sun Biographies <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
(Above) Sam Phillips Recording Studio invoice copy signed by Scotty Moore (1963). While Elvis Presley was in Hollywood making movies, his original guitarist, Scotty Moore, had returned to his roots. He resumed the role he played at the original Sun Studio, as engineer and session player, at Sam Phillip's new studio at 639 Madison Avenue. Here's the yellow carbon copy of an August 1, 1963 invoice for six master recording stylus needles, for a total of $60.
 
AUGUST 1963
Few rock and roller combine Carl Perkins musicality, his easy with or the controlled   vehemence which made ''Blue Suede Shoes'', ''Gone, Gone, Gone'' and ''Dixie Fried'' among   the most memorable of all rockabilly records. Those elemental Sun anthems led to a major   label contract with Columbia where some of his singles had almost as much to commend   then. By the early 1960s, Carl Perkins was as close to the artistic and economic bottom as   any terminally unfashionable performer could get. Totally unaware of having achieved any  lasting critical respect, he played airport lounche rock in Las Vegas and wondered whether   the 40,000 citizens of Jackson, Tennessee could support another grocery store.
AUGUST 1963
 
Carl Perkins signed a two-year contract with Decca Records and recorded four titles in  Nashville where MOR-country had co-opted rockabilly beyond recognition. The session got  off to a sluggish start with two of the least exciting songs in the Perkins canon. ''After  Sundown'' and ''For A Little While'' work as dolorous country weepers but they lack the  strong melody which makes country sentiment bearable and shows all the signs of  composition-al fatigue. ''I had very little input at all'' Carl told Bill Millar. ''It was Owen Bradley's arrangements. He would have players there than he wanted and they worked up  the arrangements. Well... to tell you the truth, it wasn't a happy period. I was getting  frustrated because I couldn't get a hit record and I was drinking way too much. I went  through a period where I was contemplating just getting out of the business and I got into  alcohol way too heavy. I liked a few of the things I cut on Decca and I loved Mr. Bradley who  was producing but. .. I was letting alcohol write my songs''.
New record deal is announced for Jerry Lee Lewis.

AUGUST 2/14, 1963

Jerry Lee Lewis plays for two weeks at the Thunderbird Lounge in Las Vegas, Nevada.

AUGUST 2, 1963 FRIDAY

Author Oliver La Farge dies at Bataan Memorial Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Son Peter La Farge earns a country hit as a songwriter the following year when Johnny Cash recorded ''The Ballad Of Ira Hates''.

AUGUST 3, 1963 SATURDAY

Ed Roland is born in Stockbridge, California. He's the chief songwriter in Collective Soul, a rock band that earns a mid-1990s hit with ''Shine'', a song that earns Dolly Parton a Grammy in 2002.

AUGUST 4, 1963 SUNDAY

Connie Smith wins a talent contest in Columbus, Ohio, and gains the attention of guest Bill Anderson, who helps her get her first recording contract.

Songwriter Craig Wiseman is born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. His long list of credits includes Kenny Chesney's ''Summertime'', Blake Shelton's ''Boys Round Here'', Chris Young's ''Voices'' and Ti, McGraw's ''Live Like You Were Dying''.

AUGUST 5, 1963 MONDAY

Decca released the Patsy Cline single ''Faded Love'', Bill Anderson's ''8 X 10'', and the album ''The Kitty Wells Story''.

AUGUST 6, 1963 TUESDAY

The Associated Press reports that Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret, his co-star in the movie ''Viva Las Vegas'', are having a love affair.

''Don't Fence Me In'' songwriter Cole Porter is released following a four-month stay at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York, where he was treated for second-and third-degree burns incurred by smoking in bed.

Columbia released Stonewall Jackson's ''Wild Wild Wild''.
AUGUST 8, 1963 THURSDAY

A train and route to London is held up by thieves who steal over $7 million.

AUGUST 9, 1963 FRIDAY

Sandra Jean Betts files a paternity suit in Los Angeles against Ray Charles, seeking $1,100 monthly in child support. Charles' album ''Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music'' had given the rhythm and blues singer a link to the country genre.

Liberty Records released the Jan and Dean pop single ''Honolulu Lulu'' with Glen Campbell playing guitar.

Stuart Gorrell, a public relations director for Chase credited as a co-writer of ''Georgia On My Mind'', destined to become a country hit 15 years later for Willie Nelson.

Soul singer Cissy Houston has a daughter, Whitney, in Newark, New Jersey. As a member of The Sweet Inspirations, mother becomes a supporting singer for Elvis Presley during 1969 and the early 1970s. The younger Houston becomes a big-voiced pop and rhythm and blues singer.

AUGUST 10, 1963 SATURDAY

The Browns, including future solo star Jim Ed Brown, join the Grand Ole Opry at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

AUGUST 13, 1963 TUESDAY

Elvis Presley's movie ''Girls! Girls! Girls!'' and Elvis' Christmas Album'' are certified gold.

Columbia released Johnny and Jonie Mosby's ''Trouble In My Arms''.

AUGUST 15, 1963 THURSDAY

Billy Edd Wheeler recorded his original of ''Blistered'', destined to become a 1969 hit for Johnny Cash''.

AUGUST 18, 1963 SUNDAY

The Louvin Brothers make their last appearance as a duo, in Watseka, Illinois.

AUGUST 19, 1863 MONDAY

Capitol Records released Buck Owens' ''Love's Gonna Live here''.

Decca released Ernest Tubb's ''Thanks A Lot''.

AUGUST 22, 1963 THURSDAY

Mila Mason is born in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. She scores a moderate hit with her debut single, ''That's Enough Of That'' in 1996.

Ricky Lynn Gregg is born in Henderson, Texas. He earns a minor hit in 1993 with his country dance record ''If I Had A Cheatin' Heart''.

Gene Autry sits to the immediate right of president John F. Kennedy during a formal lunch at the White House.

AUGUST 23, 1963 FRIDAY

Carl Butler and Pearl recorded ''Too Late To Try Again''.

Banjo player Milton Estes dies. A former member of Pee Wee King's Golden West Cowboys, he also wrote Jimmy Martin's ''20/20 Vision''.

AUGUST 24, 1963 SATURDAY

Bobby bare recorded ''500 Miles Away From Home'' in a morning session at Nashville's RCA Studio B.

AUGUST 25, 1963 SUNDAY

Beatle Paul McCartney is fined 31 pounds for speeding and has his drivers license suspended for one year. He goes on to have songwriting credits on the country hits ''I Don't Want To Spoil The Party'' and ''I Feel Fine''.
AUGUST 25-31, 1963

Jerry Lee Lewis performs at the Vapours Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for seven nights.

AUGUST 26, 1963 MONDAY

Minnie Pear's mother dies.

Webb Pierce's recorded ''If The Back Door Could Talk'' and ''Those Wonderful Years''.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

STUDIO SESSION FOR JERRY LEE LEWIS
FOR SUN RECORDS 1963

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: TUESDAY AUGUST 27, 1963
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – SAM PHILLIPS
 
In August 1963 Jerry Lee Lewis returned to 639 Madison Avenue for the last time as an artist contracted to the Sun Record Company. The products of the first of two days in the studio included a contrasting pair of readings of Hoagy Carmichael's ''Hong Kong Blues'' and a duo of pop-country songs, ''Love On Broadway'' and ''Your Lovin' Ways'', both of which would emerge on Sun International records. (*)
 
Composer: - Alton Harkins-Robert Chilton
Publisher: - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - None - Count-In - Take 8 (2:3()
Recorded: - August 27, 1963
Released: - December 1971
First appearance: - Sun International (LP) 33rpm Sun 128-A3 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS - ORIGINAL GOLDEN HITS VOLUME 3
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/19 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-1723 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
Composer: - Traditional – Jerry Lee Lewis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None – Count-In - False Start - Count-In - Take 11 (2:40)
Recorded: - August 27, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 1975
First appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm CR 300 007-B6 mono
RARE JERRY LEE LEWIS – VOLUME 1
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/20 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

A fair amount of attention was also devoted to a rock number ''Just Who Is The Blame''. Three takes of this song remain, one of which is easily distinguishable courtesy of its fast pace. Jerry Lee's right hand imprints trademarks on the other two; in Take 1 it's the old stand-by, a glissando at 0:23, while he's rather busier in Take 3 with little fills at 0:12 and 0:25. If that fails to convince, simply await hearing his ''telling you right now'' comment immediately prior to the piano break in the first recording. (*)
Composer: - Traditional – Jerry Lee Lewis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None – Count-In - Take 12 (2:37)
Recorded: - August 27, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - January 1974
First appearance: - Sun International (LP) 33rpm NY-6-A3 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS - COLLECTORS EDITION
Reissued: -   October 2015  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/3 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS 
 
Composer: - Traditional – Jerry Lee Lewis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None – Unknown Take (3:43)
Recorded: - August 27, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released:  - September 1989
First appearance: Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/21 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015   Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/4 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

Composer: - Hoagy Carmichael
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Chappell Music
Matrix number: - None – Count-In - Take 2 (2:19)
Recorded: - August 27, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - November 1974
First appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm CR 300002-B2 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AND HIS PUMPING PIANO
Reissued: - October 2015   Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/5 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
 
Jerry Lee Lewis' "Hong Kong Blues" is a popular song composed by American songwriter Hoagy Carmichael in 1939. It was featured in the 1943 film ''To Have And Have Not'', an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel by the same name. Former Beatle George Harrison covered the tune on his 1981 album, Somewhere in England. Also, the Quebecer Dédé Fortin presented his cover of Hong Kong Blues with Les Colocs on their album Atrocetomique. 
 
Composer: - Hoagy Carmichael
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Chappell Music
Matrix number: - None – Count-In - False Start - Count-In - Take 4 (2:51)
Recorded: - August 27, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - September 1989
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8-22 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015   Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15-6/7 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
 
Composer: - Ronnie Self-Dub Allbritten
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Champion Music Corporation
Matrix number: - None - Unknown Take (2:31)
Recorded: - August 27, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - August 1971
First appearance: - Sun International (S) 45rpm (promo) SI-1125 mono
LOVE ON BROADWAY (MONO) / LOVE ON BROADWAY (STEREO)
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/23 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
 
Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Vocal & Piano
Scotty Moore – Guitar
Roland Janes - Guitar
George Webb or Herman ''Hawk'' Hawkins – Bass
Morris ''Tarap'' Tarrant – Drums
William Ray Felts – Organ
Luke Wright - Saxophone on ''Just Who Is To Blame''
 
Unknown Vocal Chorus
 
For Biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis see: > The Sun Biographies <
Jerry Lee Lewis' Sun recordings can be heard on this playlist from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
AUGUST 27, 1963 TUESDAY
Jim Denny dies of cancer in Nashville. While serving as house manger for the Grand Ole Opry, he became an influential talent booker, and joined Webb Pierce in forming Cedarwood Publishing, one of Nashville's first music publishing ventures.

George Hamilton IV recorded ''Fort Worth, Dallas Of Houston'' at Nashville's RCA Studio B.
AUGUST 28, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Jerry Lee Lewis went into the Sun studio on Madison Avenue for the last time as a   contracted artist. Arranger Vinnie Trauth had contracted a string section and vocal group and   Phillips had arranged for Roland Janes to leave his post behind the controls at his own studio   and join the other musicians. Jerry recorded four songs, ''Carry Me Back To Old Virginia'',   ''Invitation To Your Party'', ''I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye'' and ''One Minute Past Eternity''.   The full significance of that final session would not become apparent for another six years.

The sessions of Jerry Lee Lewis between late 1956 and 1958 are still clouded in  considerable mystery, especially with regard to the recording dates. The session dates and   backing musicians logged with the American Federation of Musicians before 1958 were   largely a work of fiction, designed to clear recordings for release. The session could have   been held days, weeks or months beforehand.

Many session tapes of Jerry Lee Lewis for the period 1960-1963 are still missing and even   entire sessions are still missing. However, it is not upon his final Sun session that Jerry Lee Lewis will be judged. His earlier  sides, especially those made between 1956 and 1960, stand as on of the most impressive  bodies of recordings to emerge from that turbulent era, perhaps the most impressive.
The simple truth is that Lewis would never made those recordings for a major label. Phillips  was prepared to keep the tape running while Lewis plundered his subconscious for barely  remembered songs; ''Whole Lotta Shakin'' was recorded in that way. Other studios would  schedule a standard three session and have four songs ready to record. ''Jerry is an informal  person'', asserted Sam Phillips, ''and the conditions had to be right. You had to have a good  song, of course, but atmosphere is nearly everything else. Jerry had to know that the people  around him, the people responsible for the session understood him. He had such  spontaneity. With great artists, almost 50% of something good they might do happens  because of an almost instant reaction to what is taking place around them''.

Lewis's early recordings at Sun also exemplified the virtue of keeping it simple. No-one else  would have dared risk recording Lewis with such a spartan backing. However, any more  instruments would have been superfluous.

Lewis was also a born entertainer. He was playing his trade in the studio with an audience of  three or four but the enthusiasm communicated itself vividly on record. ''Even when be  were going over material'', recalled Cecil Scaife, ''Jerry would play to you as if you were an  audience of 10,000 people. He would sit there and entertain you''.

Roland Janes echoes those thoughts: ''People are always trying to compare musicians but I  can't find anyone to compare with Jerry. What you hear him doing on records is only a small  percentage of what he's capable of doing. I don't think even he knows how great he is. He  can take a solo with either hand and sing a song five different ways, everyone of them great.  I remember when he worked the package show as, Jerry would sit backstage after the show  at the piano and all the big stars would gather around him and watch. Chuck Berry, Buddy  Holly, the Everly Brothers and so on. Jerry would be leading the chorus and everyone would  be having a ball''.
 
AUGUST 1963
At this point, there is simply very little to be said about Jerry Lee Lewis that has not been said, and his   imminent autobiography might fill in what little we don't know. To much will always be certain: if he's selfproclaimed  Last Man Standing, it's hard to see beyond today's drained, empty countenance to the alarming,  feral energy of Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun. This much is also certain: in the fifty years since he quit Sun, he  hasn't recorded anything that half-way eclipsed what he left behind there. These morsels were plucked  almost at random from the remarkable prolificacy of Jerry Lee Lewis at Sun. As was the case with Jimmy  Wages, Jack Clement was behind the board when Lewis arrived. Clement responded to Lewis, seeing that his  bravado enabled him to get away with things that others couldn't. ''He was unique as a piano player'', said  Clement. ''He doesn't care if he hits a bad note. It doesn't bother him a bit. He thinks that everything he plays  is great and because of that, it is''. In the years since his first record was released Jerry Lee Lewis has  imprinted himself across the broad sweep of American music. His records never leave unanswered  questions. From the first trill to the last imperious note, a Jerry Lee Lewis record can only be a Jerry Lee  Lewis record.
AUGUST 28, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded ''Invitation To Your Party'', ''One Minute Past Eternity'' and ''I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye'' for Sun Records. All three become hits more than six years later after he revives his career with Mercury.

Martin Luther King, representing SCLC, was among the leaders of the so-called "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, it was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history.
 
Martin Luther King delivers his ''I Have A Dream'' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington D.C.. On hand are ''It Ain't Me, Babe'' songwriter Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary.  For Sam Phillips the oratory and the music (not to mention the dream of social justice) could not help but remind him of his own inspiration as a boy on the sidewalk outside of Armstead Methodist Chapel in Florence, Alabama. As he would later write in his rough draft for a tribute album following Martin Luther King's death: ''Dr. King certainly knew of music's power and used it to its highest accord. In the great spirituals of the church the touching sounds... flowing from the windows of the black church. Come Now, Let us open the windows again and hear the music!''.
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

STUDIO SESSION FOR JERRY LEE LEWIS
FOR SUN RECORDS 1963

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 28, 1963
SESSION HOURS: 7:00PM-10:00PM
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – SAM PHILLIP
 
At the time, few could have predicted that Jerry Lee Lewis' final session for Sun on August 28, would turn out to be the single most productive day's work in terms of chart success, garnering three top ten country hits. The recordings concerned were, of course, to lay dormant for six years until the time came to capitalise on Jerry Lee's comeback as a major country star. In the late 1960s on Smash Records. It's tempting to speculate that ''Invitation To Your Party'', ''One Minute Past Eternity'' and ''I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye'' had been released and promoted by Sam Phillips in 1963, Jerry Lee might have been spared his locust years. The reality is that his first single on Smash, ''Pen And Paper'', released in October that year, which bore more than a passing resemblance to these August 28 recordings, failed to stir up any interest and there 's no reason to suppose that in the circumstances of the day of this Sun material would have fared ant better. Perhaps it was simple ahead of its time. It all nonetheless amounted to a veritable treasure-trove that Shelby Singleton was not shy of exploiting in the wake of Jerry Lee's breakthrough in 1968 with the much more penetrating hard country sound of ''Another Place, Another Time'' and ''What's Made Milwaukee Famous''. What is most surprising is that until the release of this set, so much of the treasure remained buried; finally Bear Family has unearthed the remaining gems. (*)
Composer: - Bill Taylor-Stan Kesler
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated - Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Chatter - Count-In - Take 12 (2:15)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/9 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

The most subtle of variations need to be spotlighted to disentangle the two recordings of ''One Minute Past Eternity'' which commence with the well known ''violin'' introductions. Concentrate on Jerry Lee's delivery of the third line of the first verse and monitor the slight hesitancy preceding the works ''when will I want to be free'' in the take which concludes the sequence. This recording was originally released on a Sun International 45rpm in 1969, at the same time as the more familiar recording that debuted on LP 108 ''The Golden Cream Of The Country''. There's also an easily overlooked quirk in Lewis's playing towards the conclusion of each of the two. (*)

Composer: - Bill Taylor-Stan Kesler
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated - Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Unknown Take (2:01)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963  - Not Originally Issued
Released:  - December 1969
First appearance: - Sun International (LP) 33rpm Sun-108 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE GOLDEN CREAM OF THE COUNTRY
Reissued: -  September 1989  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/24 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

The third, previously unreleased, take of ''One Minute Past Eternity'' meeds no detailed explanation, featuring as it does the introduction performed by one of the backing singers. Lest it be imagined that this was an alteration wrought by editing and overdubbing, listen also to differences in Jerry Lee's own vocal, when compared to the other two recordings, and some noticeably more muscular keyboard work. The only real mystery is why there has been an interval of some 45 years between the coincidental releases of the two very similar violin intro takes and this isolated example of a rather different style, especially as it has lain undisturbed for decades in a clearly labelled tape box making it plain that both the ''violin'' and ''vocal'' introduction could be found therein. (*)
Composer: - Bill Taylor-Stan Kesler
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated - Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Unknown Take - Master (2:02)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963
Released: - March 1970
First appearance: - Sun International (S) 45rpm SI-1107 stereo
ONE MINUTE PAST ETERNITY / FRANKIE & JOHNNIE
Reissued: -  October 2015  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/11 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

"One Minute Past Eternity" is the title of a song written by William E. Taylor and Stanley Kesler, and performed by Jerry Lee Lewis. It was released in December 1969 as the second and final single from the album, ''The Golden Cream of the Country'' (Sun International Sun-108). The song peaked at number 2 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.
 
 
Few words need to be devoted to the fourteen minutes or so of tape featuring eight and/or nine intermittently successful attempts to record ''Invitation To Your Party'', which presents the ultimate ''fly-on-the-wall'' experience of Lewis at work. This sequence affords a fascinating insight into the studio environment and the interplay between technicians and the musician and singers, all of whom seem to be taking delight in exercise. The informality of the recording contrasts with the very deliberate consummation of the vocal overdub on ''Baby Baby Bye Bye'' in January 1960, albeit it makes apparent the perils associated with recording everything in real time. (*)
"Invitation to Your Party" is written by Bill Taylor, and is a single for Jerry Lee Lewis for Sun International. Released in July 1969, it was the first single (Sun SI-1101) taken from his album ''The Golden Cream of the Country'' (Sun International Sun 108). The song peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. Note: In a later era, Bill Taylor was in the mid-1950s a member of the Clyde Leoppard's Snearly Ranch Boys, went on to become part of Jerry Lee Lewis's touring group and he wrote a fair number of filler songs on some of Jerry Lee's later albums, as well as some hits like ''There Must Be More To Love Than This'' and ''Invitaion To Your Party''. Taylor went to Texas from Memphis, working with R.D. Hendon and Jimmy Heap, before returning to work with Jerry Lee Lewis. Smokey Joe Baugh and Buddy Holobaugh also went to Texas, but lapsed into obscurity. Clyde Leoppard was last seen serving 99 cents lunches at a greasy spoon behind the Greyhound terminal in Memphis before his little operation fell a victim to urban renewal and he retired to Mississippi. Composer and steel guitar player Stan Kesler went on to run his own studio and record labels after working for Sam Phillips as resident engineer and producer at the Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, and for a time he took his studio career to Nashville, where he too worked with Jerry Lee Lewis. As a producer, his hits included Sam the Sham's ''Woolly Bully''.
 
Composer: - Bill Taylor
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated – Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Count-In - False Start Take 1
Chatter - Count-In - Take 2 Master (2:35)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963
Released: - July 1969
First appearance: - Sun International (S) 45rpm SI-1101-A stereo
INVITATION TO YOUR PARTY / I COULD NEVER BE ASHAMED OF YOU
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8-25 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15-12/13 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
Composer: - Bill Taylor
Publisher: - B.M.I. -  Knox Music Incorporated – Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Count-In - 4x False Start -Take 3 - Take 4 (2:20)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15-14/15 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

Composer: - Bill Taylor
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated – Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Count-In - 2x False Starts, Count-In - Incomplete Take 5 (1:32)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15-16 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

Composer: - William Bill Taylor
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated – Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Take 6 (1:56)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/17 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

Composer: - Bill Taylor
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated – Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Count-In - Take 7 (2:11)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/18 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

Composer: - Bill Taylor
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated – Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Count-In - Incomplete Take 8 - Chatter (1:10)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/19 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

Composer: - Bill Taylor
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated – Gold Dust Music
Matrix number: - None - Take 9 Master (1:53)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released:  - July 1969
First appearance: - Sun International (S) 45rpm standard single Sun SI-1101 mono
INVITATION TO YOUR PARTY / I COULD NEVER BE ASHAMED OF YOU
Reissued: -  September 1989  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/26 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

Composer: - Don Robertson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - None - Count-In 1 - False Start - Take 1 - Chatter (3:07)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/21 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
 
Composer: - Don Robertson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - None - Take 2 (2:35)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - April 1989
First appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm Sun Box 109-2/7 mono
SUN RECORDS INTO THE 60S - FEEL SO GOOD
Reissued: - September 1989 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/27 stereo
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963

Jerry Lee often stated his dislike for the practice of overdubbing and the merits of the ''live'' modus operandi are exemplified in an unreleased alternate of ''I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye''. The songs, be it in the version known to fans for more that four decades or in this equally accomplished new guise, provides a fitting and soulful conclusion to the first phase of Lewis's long recording career, being as it was a product of his final day's work at Sun. It has been suggested by some commentators that much of the content of ''I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye'' should serve as a metaphor for the failure of his relationship with Sam Phillips, yet the mood captured in the studio during the extended session on August 28, 1963, now disclosed comprehensively for the first time, refutes that notion. On thing is for sure; in being true to the words of the song's title, Lewis was back in Phillips' own studio in Nashville less than a month later, re-recording his landmark hits from 1957 and 1958 for his new paymasters, Smash Records. (*)

Composer: - James Bland
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hal Leonard Corporation
Matrix number: - None - Count-In - Take 1 (2:24)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/23 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

It is also now possible to be entertained by the full account of Jerry Lee and others working together on ''Carry Me Back To Old Virginia'' as they vary the tempo through five takes. Each successive performance embodies at least one discrete signature; amongst them the third take involves a change of pace frowned upon by Sam Phillips, while the next stands out by virtue not only of the false starts but some further muddling of the lyrics ahead of the piano break. The pick of these was issued as a single, Sun 396, in 1965; an unconvincing venture aimed at deriving some income from these sessions some two years after Jerry Lee's departure from the fold. (*)

Composer: - James Bland
Publisher: - Hal Leonard Corporation
Matrix number: - None - False Start - Count-In Take 2 (2:27)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - September 1989
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/28 mono
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15/24 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS

Note: "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" is a song which was written by James A. Bland (1854-1911), an African American minstrel who wrote over 700 folk songs. It is was an adaption by Bland of the traditional "Carry Me Back To Ole Virginny" popular since the 1840's and frequently sung by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Bland's version, the most well known, was adapted in 1878 when many of the newly freed slaves were struggling to find work. The song has become controversial in modern times.

A third reworded version was Virginia's state song from 1940 until 1997, using the word "Virginia" instead of "Virginny''. In 1997, it was retired on the grounds that the lyrics were considered offensive to African Americans. On January 28, 1997, the Virginia Senate voted to designate "Carry Me Back To Old Virginia" as state song emeritus and a study committee initiated a contest for writing a new state song. The Virginia General Assembly suspended the contest on January 5, 2000 and recently reinstated it. There are currently eight candidates.

In January 2006, a state Senate panel voted to designate "Shenandoah" as the "interim official state song''. On March 1, 2006, the House Rules Committee of the General Assembly voted down bill SB682, which would have made "Shenandoah" the official state song.

James Bland himself was an educated black man born in Queens, New York, and educated at Howard University. His adaption of "Carry Me Back," however, is written from the perspective of a nostalgic former slave. Defenders of the song argue that "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" articulates and perhaps satirizes the feelings of betrayal and abandonment white Southerners felt after Emancipation. Like minstrel music of the same era, the song was written in dialect, from a black point of view, and expressed the feelings some whites wished blacks to feel; in this case, nostalgia for days of slavery. Others argue the song was written to express difficulties and discrimination facing free blacks in the North which perhaps were bitter enough to make slavery an ironically appealing contrast. These defenders argue that minstrel's songs were never written to be taken literally but were sly and humorous. The slightly less explicit "Old Folks At Home," still the state song of Florida with important modifications, carries a similar message.
Composer: - James Bland
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hal Leonard Corporation
Matrix number: - None – Chatter - Count-In - Fast Take 3 (2:55)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - October 2015
First appearance: -  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15-25/26 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS 
Composer: - James Bland
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hal Leonard Corporation
Matrix number: - None – Chatter - 2 False Starts – Count-In Take 4 (3:46)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released: - September 1989
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/29 mono
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: - October 2015  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-15-27/28 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
 
 
 
Composer: - James Bland
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hal Leonard Corporation
Matrix number: - None -Count-In Take 5 - Chatter - False Start - Take 6
Extended Master - Take 7 (4:15)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963   - Not Originally Issued
Released:  - September 1989
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15420-8/30 mono
CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE DEFINITIVE SUN RECORDINGS 1956 – 1963
Reissued: -  October 2015  Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17254-5-29/30 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
Composer: - James Bland
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hal Leonard Corporation
Matrix number: - U 354 - Count-In - Take 7 Master (2:44)
Recorded: - August 28, 1963
Released: - March 15, 1965
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 396-A mono
CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINIA / I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15805-2/3 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 5

''Carry Me Back To Old Virginia'' the single (Sun 396) is another story, however. This was the only track originally issued from Jerry Lee's final Sun session. Jerry himself was already long gone and recording for Smash Records by the time Sun 396 hit the streets in March, 1965. ''Carry Me Back'' was literally the last thing Jerry Lee recorded for Sun Records, and it's a finely crafted piece of work featuring both Roland Janes and Scotty Moore on guitar. Immediately before this final take, Sam Phillips was captured on tape saying, ''We're broke and we're out of tape so this'll have to be the last one''. Undaunted as usual, Jerry Lee replies ''Ah ha, then let's get her!'' and proceeds to do just that. The track begins with Jerry's count off and a surprising 12 bar instrumental lead-in. Sam had been trying, with varying degrees of success, to slow the tempo over the last several takes and finally has his way here. The backbeat is still relatively heavy on this mid-tempo offering, and the guitar plays a strong counter rhythm. The restrained chorus gives the proceedings a very churchy feel. In fact, this is a very southern sounding record, capped by Jerry's exclamations at the close. ''I'm bringing it on in'' are the final words he spoke (or sang) into a Sun microphone. By any account, Jerry rode off into the Sun-set just about as impressively and confidently as he came in.

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Vocal & Piano
Scotty Moore – Acoustic Guitar
Roland Janes - Lead Guitar
W.R. Felts - Organ
Herman ''Hawk'' Hawkins – Bass
Morris ''Trap'' Tarrant – Drums

String Arranged by Vinnie Trauth
Strings consisting of
Anne Oldham, Noel Gilbert,
Joan Gilbert, Milton Friedsland 
 
Chorus led by Hurshell Wayne Wiginton

TWO UNIDENTIFIED SNIPPETS OF UNKNOWN LOST TRACKS (0:10)
Released: - November 1988 (2nd snipped)
First appearance: - Zu-Zazz Records (LP) 33rpm Z-2004-B2 mono
JERRY LEE LEWIS - DON'T DROP IT!
Reissued: - October 2015 BCD 17254-18-31 mono (1st snipped)
JERRY LEE LEWIS AT SUN RECORDS THE COLLECTED WORKS
 
For Biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis see: > The Sun Biographies <
Jerry Lee Lewis' Sun recordings can be heard on this playlist from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
AUGUST 30, 1963 FRIDAY
Jerry Lee Lewis and Myra Gale's daughter, Phoebe Allen Lewis is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jeff Cook takes an on-air shift at Fort Payne's WFPA Radio.

AUGUST 31, 1963 SATURDAY

Johnny Cash recorded a Spanish-language version of his hit ''Ring Of Fire'' with the title ''Anillo De Fuego'' at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1963 SUNDAY
Engineer and producer Marty Williams is born in Cincinnati. Ohio. After engineering albums for such artists as Faith Hill, Vince Gill and Jo Messina, he produces the first hits for Rascal Flatts and Josh Gracin.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1963 MONDAY

The Beach Boys recorded ''Be True To Your School'' at Western Recorders in Hollywood. Playing guitar on the session are piano player Leon Russell, drummer Hal Blaine and future Country Music Hall of Famer Glen Campbell.

SEPTEMBER 3, 1963 TUESDAY

Eddy Arnold recorded ''I Thank My Lucky Stars'' and ''Jealous Hearted Me'' at Nashville's RCA Studio B.

Billy Walker recorded ''Circumstances'' in an afternoon session at the Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

Warner Bros. Records and the Frank Sinatra-owned Reprise merge. The combined firms eventually open a country division, working with Donna Fargo, Faith Hill, Dwight Yoakam, Blake Shelton, Randy Travis and Emmylou Harris, among others.

Decca released a pair of Webb Pierce hits, ''Those Wonderful Years'' and the flipe-side ''If The Back Door Could Talk''.

SEPTEMBER 5, 1963 THURSDAY

Songwriter Dallas Frazier moves to Nashville from Los Angeles. He writes Jack Greene's ''There Goes My Everything'', The Oak Ridge Boys' ''Elvira'', George Jones' ''If My Heart Had Windows'' and Gene Watson's ''Fourteen Carat Mind'', among others.
SEPTEMBER 6, 1963 FRIDAY

Jerry Lee Lewis Sun Records contract was due to expire on this day. In April Lewis allied   himself with a Memphis businessman, Frank Casone; determined to sign Lewis with another   company, Casone wanted to translate Jerry's success on the road into record sales,   something that Sun, with their diminishing commitment to the business, seemed unable to   do.
As Jerry's termination date drew near, Casone opened negotiations with Mercury, Liberty,   Columbia, and RCA. Phillips, sensing the inevitable, recorded sessions with Jerry Lee's sister,   Linda Gail, and even his father in an attempt to keep Jerry within the fold. He even planned   a third album, which, like Linda Gail's single, was not released after the news broke that   Jerry ultimately signed a new contract with Smash, a subsidiary of Mercury Records.
 
It is not for his final Sun session that Jerry Lee Lewis will be judged, however.  His earlier sides, especially those made between 1956 and 1960, stand as one of the most  impressive bodies of recordings to emerge from that turbulent era, maybe the most  impressive.  The simple truth is that Lewis could never have made those recordings for a major label.  Phillips' willingness to keep the tape running while Lewis plundered his memory was crucial  to Jerry's development as an artist and performer. ''Whole Lotta Shakin''' was the product of  one of those rambling sessions, as were dozens of other half-remembered and reconstructed  tunes from his vast repertoire. 
Other studios would schedule a standard three-hour session  and have four songs ready to record, but Phillips knew his artist: ''Jerry is an informal  person'', he has said, ''and the conditions had to be right. You had to have a good song, of  course, but atmosphere is nearly everything else. Jerry had to know that the people around  him, the people responsible for the session, understood him. He had such spontaneity. With  great artists, almost 50 percent of something good they might do happens because of an  almost instant reaction to what is taking place around them''.

Lewis's early recordings at Sun also exemplified the virtue of simplicity. No one else would  have dared risk recording Lewis with such a spartan backing, but from the records it's clear  that any additional instruments would have been superfluous. As Hank Davis has written,  Phillips' technique in recording Lewis was crucial: ''The fullness is produced by essentially  two instruments piano and drums. Part of the magic of the opening two bars of ''Whole Lotta  Shakin'' is the reverb on Jerry Lee's piano. . . . The driving, pounding sound of that record  came from miking the piano just right and feeding the sound back upon itself at just the  right rate to fatten it up. By the time the drums join in and Jerry Lee begins to sing, the  record is throbbing with its own hypnotic life'''.

Lewis was also a born entertainer. He was plying his trade in the studio to an audience of  three or four, but the enthusiasm communicated itself vividly on record. ''Even when we  were going over material'', recalls Cecil Scaife, ''Jerry would play to you as if you were an  audience of ten thousand people. He would sit there and entertain you''. Roland Janes  echoes those thoughts: ''People are always trying to compare musicians, but I can't find  anyone to compare with Jerry. What you hear him doing on records is only a small  percentage of what he's capable of doing. I don't think even he knows how great he is. He  can take a solo with either hand, and sing a song five different ways, every one of them  great. I remember when we worked the package shows, Jerry b would sit backstage after  the show at the piano and all the big stars would gather around him and watch. Chuck Berry,  Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, and so on. Jerry would be leading the chorus and everyone  would be having a ball''.

SEPTEMBER 6, 1963 FRIDAY

Mark Chesnutt is born in Beaumont, Texas. With honky tonk forming the center point for his music, he emerges with ''Too Cold At Home'' in 1990 and becomes one of the steadiest hitmakers of the decade.

Singer/songwriter Mark Luna is born. He writes Lee Roy Parnell's ''When A Woman Love A Man'', and provides background vocals on Lari White's ''That's My Baby'' and Chad Brock's ''Yes!''.

Ray Charles pays $52,000 for property on Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles, where he makes his home and establishes an office and recording studio. In 1962, he made country mainstream with ''Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music''.

SEPTEMBER 8, 1963 SUNDAY

Songwriter Gary Baker is born in Niagara Falls, New York. His successes include John Michael Montgomery's ''I Swear'', Reba McEntire's ''One Honest Heart'', Lonestar's ''I;m Already There'' and Alabama's ''Once Upon A Lifetime''.

SEPTEMBER 9, 1963 MONDAY

''The Bobby Lord Show'' debuts on WSM-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. Within two years, the music program is syndicated.

SEPTEMBER 10, 1963 TUESDAY

Marty Robbins recorded ''Begging To You'' during an evening session at Nashville's RCA Studio B.

SEPTEMBER 11, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Elvis Presley finished filming ''Viva Las Vegas'' with Ann-Margret.

Jimmy C. Newman recorded the Tom T. Hall-penned ''D.J. For A Day''.

SEPTEMBER 12, 1963 THURSDAY

The National Life and Casualty Insurance Company purchases Nashville's Ryman Auditorium from the city of Nashville for $200,000 and officially recognizes it as the Grand Ole Opry House.

The Louvin Brothers, already officially split, recorded together for the last time. Their final collaboration, ''What Would You Take In Exchange For My Soul''.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1963 SATURDAY

Hoping to end a boycott by major folk artists, ABC invites ''Gotta Travel On'' songwriter Pete Seeger to appear on ''Hootenanny''. When the network demands he sign an oath of loyalty to the U.S., he declines and the boycott continues.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1963 SUNDAY

Brenda Lee checks in to Nashville's Saint Thomas Hospital with a stomach ailment.

SEPTEMBER 16, 1963 MONDAY

Pop singer and songwriter Richard Marx is born in Chicago. He makes waves in country music by producing Emerson Drive and co-writing the Keith Urban's ''Better Life'', ''Everybody'' and ''Long Hot Summer''.

Capitol released The Beatles' pop single ''She Loves You''. The song's trademark ''yeah, yeah, yeah'' is borrowed three decades later for Joe Diffie country hit ''Bigger Than The Beatles''.

SEPTEMBER 17, 1963 TUESDAY

The Stanley Brothers recorded ''Don't Cheat In Our Hometown'' in Cincinnati, Ohio. The song is remade two decades later by Stanley admirer Ricky Skaggs.

The western series ''Laramie'' ends a four-year run on NBC. ''Georgia On My Mind'' songwriter Hoagy Carmichael acted during the first season.

SEPTEMBER 18, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Johnny Cash recorded ''Bad News'' at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio.

The Gene Autry Hotel Company acquires the 500-room Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood.

SEPTEMBER 19, 1963 THURSDAY

Jeff Bates is born in Bunker Hill, Mississippi. With a voice reminiscent of Conway Twitty, he nabs a Top 10 hit in 2003 with ''The Love Song''.

Four years after a similar program disappeared from the CBS daytime lineup, ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' debuts on ABC-TV during prime-time.

SEPTEMBER 21, 1963 SATURDAY

The CBS western ''Have Gun, Will Travel'' makes its final prime-time appearance. Johnny Western performs the theme song, ''The Ballad Of Paladin''.

SEPTEMBER 22, 1963 SUNDAY

Jerry Lee Lewis holds his first recording session for Smash Records at the Phillips Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

''The Real McCoys'' airs for the final time on CBS, ending a six-year run for the hayseed series. The previous year, the sitcom's star, Walter Brennan, earned a country hit with the recitation ''Old Rivers''.

''To All The Girls I've Loved Before'' singer Julio Iglesias suffers a compressed spine in a near-fatal car crash in Madrid, Spain. He learns to play guitar during his recovery.

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

Session Published for Historical Reasons

STUDIO SESSION FOR JERRY LEE LEWIS
FOR SMASH RECORDS 1963

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
319 SEVENTH AVENUE NORTH, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: SEPTEMBER 22, 1963
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER - SHELBY SINGLETON / JERRY KENNEDY (SOME TRACKS)
RECORDING ENGINEER - BILLY SHERILL
ASSISTED ENGINEER - JOHN HESTER AND RAY BUTTS

The two-day September 23, 24, 1963 Golden Hits sessions produced lots of mostly excellent additional material that was gradually released over the next 4 years. These, together with the session below, would've made a great 1964 studio album, but instead they were issued as follows: ''Hit The Road Jack'', ''Pen And Paper'' were released as Jerry's debut Smash single (S-1857) in late 1963; ''The Hole He Said He'd Dig For Me'' was released as the B-side of ''She Was My Baby (He Was My Friend)'' (S-1906) in 1964; ''You Went Back On Your Word'' was released as the B-side of the live recorded ''High Heel Sneakers'' 1964 single (S-1930), and with ''Johnny B. Goode'', on ''The Return Of Rock'' (SRS 67063); ''Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee'', ''Hallelujah I Love Her So'' and ''Just Because'' were released on ''Memphis Beat''; ''Wedding Bells'' and ''He Took It Like A Man'' were released on ''Soul My Way''. In addition, a slower and superior alternate version of ''Hit The Road Jack'' was first released in 1964 on the stereo (though not the mono) version of the various artists ''All Time Smash Hits'' album, and an alternate version of ''The Hole He Said He'd Dig For Me'' was released on the 1969 European-only compilation ''I'm On Fire''.

Liner notes by David M. McKee

WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON
Composer: - Dave "Curlee" Williams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Cherio Music-Valley Publishers
Matrix number: - YW1-30093 - Master (2:38)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single Smash S-1412-A mono
WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON / BREATHLESS
Reissued: - 1964 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/1 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

CRAZY ARMS
Composer: - Charles Seals-Ralph E. Mooney
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30094 - Master (2:28)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-B/2 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1987 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 826 251-2 stereo
THE GOLDEN ROCK HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

CRAZY ARMS
Composer: - Charles Seals-Ralph E. Mooney
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30094 - Alternate Take 2 (2:25)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963 - Not Originally Issued
Released: - Smash Unissued

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE
Composer: - Jack Hammer-Otis Blackwell
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hill and Range Songs Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30095 - Master (1:46)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single S 1413-A mono
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE / HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
Reissued: - 1964 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/3 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
Composer: - Jerry Lee Lewis-Ron Hargrave
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Penron Music Publishing
Matrix number: - YW1-30096 - Master (2:20)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single S 1413-B mono
HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL / GREAT BALLS OF FIRE
Reissued: - 1964 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-B/9 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

I'LL MAKE IT ALL UP TO YOU
Composer: - Charly Rich
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30097 - LP Master (2:44)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/4 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1987 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 826 251-2 stereo
THE GOLDEN ROCK HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

BREAKL UP
Composer: - Charlie Rich
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30098 - LP Master (2:23)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-B/5 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1989 Phillips (LP) 33rpm 832 918-2-B/5 stereo
STARDATE WITH JERRY LEE LEWIS

DOWN THE LINE
Composer: - Roy Orbison
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30099 - LP Master (1:52)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/5 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1989 Phillips (LP) 33rpm 832 918-2-A/5 stereo
STARDATE WITH JERRY LEE LEWIS

HIT THE ROAD JACK
Composer: - Percy Mayfield
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Tangerine Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30100 - LP Master (1:55)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - October 1963
First appearance: Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single S-1857-B mono
HIT THE ROAD JACK / PEN AND PAPER

END OF THE ROAD''
Composer: - Jerry Lee Lewis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30101 - LP Master (1:51) 
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/6 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1987 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 826 251-2-A/5 stereo
THE GOLDEN ROCK HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

YOUR CHEATIN' HEART
Composer: - Hank Williams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Acuff Rose Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30102 - LP Master (2:31)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/6 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1987 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 826 251-2-B/6 stereo
THE GOLDEN ROCK HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

WEDDING BELLS
Composer: - Jerry Lee Lewis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Warner Chappel Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30103 - LP Master (2:30)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1967
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67097-A/5 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - SOUL MY WAY

JUST BECAUSE
Composer: - Bob Shelton-Joe Shelton-Sit Robin
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Southern Music Publishing
Matrix number: - YW1-30104 - LP Master (1:57)
Recorded: - September 22, 1963
Released: - 1966
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67079-A/6 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS MEMPHIS BEAT

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Vocal & Piano
More Details Unknown

For Biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis see: > The Sun Biographies <
Jerry Lee Lewis' Sun/Smash recordings can be heard on his playlist from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

This album was released in two versions: complete 12-track version and 10-track one ''Down The Line'' and ''Break-Up'' omitted, sometimes both versions have same catalog number (SRS 67040).

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

Session Published for Historical Reasons

STUDIO SESSION FOR JERRY LEE LEWIS
FOR SMASH RECORDS 1963

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
319 SEVENTH AVENUE NORTH, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: SEPTEMBER 24, 1963
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER - SHELBY SINGLETON / JERRY KENNEDY (SOME TRACKS)
RECORDING ENGINEER - BILLY SHERILL
ASSISTED ENGINEER - JOHN HESTER AND RAY BUTTS

BREATHLESS
Composer: - Otis Blackwell
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30105 - Master (2:38)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single S-1412-A mono
BREATHLESS / WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON
Reissued: - 1964 Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/6 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS

HE TOOK IT LIKE A MAN
Composer: - Jerry Lee Lewis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30106 - LP Master (1:50)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1967
First appearance: - Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67097-A/6 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - SOUL MY WAY
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-B/6 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

DRINKIN' WINE SPO-DEE-O-DEE
Composer: - Sticks McGhee-J. Mayo Williams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Leeds Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30107 - LP Master (2:14)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1966
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67079-A/3 stereo
MEMPHIS BEAT
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-B/7 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

JOHNNY B. GOODE
Composer: - Chuck Berry
Publishing: - B.M.I. - Arc Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30108 - LP Master (2:08)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1965
First appearance: - Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67063-B/5 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE RETURN OF ROCK
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-B/8 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

HALLELUJAH, I LOVE HER SO
Composer: - Ray Charles
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Warner Chappell Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30109 - LP Master (2:30)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1966
First appearance: Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67079-A/4 stereo
MEMPHIS BEAT
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-B/9 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

YOU WENT BACK ON YOUR WORD
Composer: - Brook Benton-Bobby Stevenson
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Raleigh Music-Progressive Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30110 - Master (2:01)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - October 1964
First appearance: - Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single S-1930-A mono
YOU WENT BACK ON YOUR WORD / HIGH HEEL SNEAKERS
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-C/1 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

PEN AND PAPER
Composer: - Eddy Kilroy-Dianne Kilroy
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Raleigh Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30111 - Master (2:25)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - October 1963
First appearance: Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single S-1857-A mono
PEN AND PAPER / HIT THE ROAD JACK
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-C/2 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

THE HOLE HE SAID HE'D DIG FOR ME
Composer: - Z.Zillon-M. Turner
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Marvic Music-Maricana Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30112 - 2 Takes Master (2:40)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - June 1964
First appearance: Smash Records (S) 45rpm standard single S-1906-B mono
THE HOLE HE SAID HE'D DIG FOR ME / SHE WAS MY BABY (HE WAS MY FRIEND)
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-C/3 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

YOU WIN AGAIN
Composer: - Hank Williams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Acuff Rose Music
Matrix number: - YW1-30113 - LP Master (3:00)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-B/3 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-C/3 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

FOOLS LIKE ME
Composer: - Jack Clement-Murphy Maddux
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30114 - LP Master (2:39)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-A/2 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67040-B/3 stereo
THE GOLDEN HITS OF JERRY LEE LEWIS
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-C/3 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

HIT THE ROAD, JACK
Composer: - Percy Mayfield
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Hi-Lo Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - YW1-30115 - 2 Takes LP Master (2:18)
Recorded: - September 24, 1963
Released: - 1964
First appearance: - Smash Records (LP) 33rpm SRS 67052-B/5 stereo
VARIOUS ARTISTS - ALL-TIME SMASH HITS
Reissued: - 1986 Bear Family Records (LP) 33rpm BFX 15210-C/6 stereo
JERRY LEE LEWIS - THE KILLER 1963-1968

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Vocal & Piano
More Details Unknown

For Biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis see: > The Sun Biographies <
Jerry Lee Lewis' Sun/Smash recordings can be heard on his playlist from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <

© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©

SEPTEMBER 24, 1963 TUESDAY

The CNS sitcom ''Petticoat Junction'' makes its prime-time debut, with a theme song co-written and sung by Curt Massey, formerly of Louise Massey and The Westerners''.

Columbia Records released Johnny Cash's ''The Matador''.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1963 WEDNESDAY

The Jim Reeves movie ''Kimberley Jim'' has its world premiere in South Africa. This South African musical comedy film directed by Emil Nofal and starring Jim Reeves, Madeleine Usher and Clive Parnell. Its plot follows an American singer who takes part in the Kiberley diamond rush in 1880s South Africa.

Keyboard player Billy Welch is born in Greenwich, Connecticut. After playing in the road band of Trace Adkins, Julie Reeves and Mindy McCready, he joins the band Rushlow, which gains a hit with its 2003 debut single ''I Can't Be Your Friend''.

SEPTEMBER 27, 1963 FRIDAY

The National Life and Accident Insurance Company pays $200,000 to buy the Ryman Auditorium from the city of Nashville, and renames it the Grand Ole Opry House.

SEPTEMBER 28, 1963 SATURDAY

The Dillards appear on the ABC folk music show ''Hootenanny''.

SEPTEMBER 29, 1963 SUNDAY

The Everly Brothers begin a headlining tour of England with Bo Diddley, The Rolling Stones and Little Richard opening. Their first venue, London's New Victoria Theater.

SEPTEMBER 30, 1963

Sandra Jean Betts delivers a baby girl, Sheila, in Los Angeles. The child is already the subject of a paternity suit against Ray Charles, who had made history the previous year with ''Modern Sounds In Country And Western Musis''.

Eddie Montgomery is born in Lancaster, Kentucky. He joins Troy Gentry to form the Southern rock-tinged Montgomery Gentry, winning Vocal Duo of the Year honors from the Country Music Association in 2000. The duo joins the Grand Ole Opry in 2009.

OCTOBER 1963

With Elvis Presley all but invisible as a recording artist, Scotty Moore settled into a new career as a studio manager   and technician. The technology of recording had always fascinated him. He wasn't getting rich working for   Sam Phillips, but it provided him with a steady income. By October 1963 he had obtained a new guitar under   his endorsement deal with Gibson: a Gibson Super 400 (Sunburst model). He traded his old guitar, the blond   Gibson S 400, to record producer Chips Moman for a set of vibes, a small classical guitar, and eighty dollars   in cash. Scotty had been asking Sam for money to buy a set of vibes for the studio, but Sam said he didn't   have the money. Scotty sacrificed his guitar.

Memphis was exploding with hit records. Carla Thomas had cracked the Top 20 in 1961 with ''Gee Whiz'',   recorded across town at the Satellite, the studio owned by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. They followed up   that hit later in the year with ''Last Night'', an instrumental by a young group of studio musicians who   recorded under the name of the Mar-Keys. ''Last Night'' peaked at number 2. The following year, with the   name of the studio changed to Stax, they scored with another monster instrumental, ''Green Onions'',   recorded by Booker T. & the MGs.

Scotty told Sam that he really wanted to try his hand at doing instrumentals. Sam didn't say no; he didn't say   yes. He kept putting Scotty off, promising to give it some thought. Scotty couldn't figure it out. The   Memphis studio was often booked, but the studio in Nashville was generating more business. Scotty felt   extremely frustrated. Memphis studios were gained a reputation for churning out hit instrumentals: the Bill   Black Combo; Booker T. & MGs; the Mar-Keys. Why wouldn't Sam let him see what he could do? Maybe   he could record a hit; maybe he couldn't. All he wanted was the chance to be competitive.

That fall, almost in desperation, Scotty asked Stan Kesler, who worked at the studio as an engineer, and   several musicians, to come in on a Sunday morning when the studio was not booked. They had recorded   three of four instrumental demos, when Sam Phillips showed up unexpectedly at the studio, interrupting the   session. ''I don't remember if he got angry, but it ended up I paid the studio myself, even though I was   working there'', says Scotty.
OCTOBER 1963

Sun Records also tried a number of experiments with two local white performers, Billy  Adams and Bill Yates, whose records probably sold well in Memphis but who, as Phillips  knew, were never national contenders. Adams was a drummer who had played with Carl  Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, among others, before taking up residency at Hernando's  Hideaway in Memphis.

He recorded prolifically at Sun, usually in the company of the more  riveting pianist Bill Yates. Together and separately, they saw seven singles issued on Sun  between 1964 and 1966. Yet their sound too harked back to the past, at a time when the  Memphis music industry was changing its tune.
 
OCTOBER 1, 1963 TUESDAY

Elvis Presley recorded the instrumental tracks to the movie ''Kissin' Cousins'' during the early morning at RCA Studio B in Nashville. The vocals overdubs were done at MGM Sound Studios in Hollywood, California on October 10, 1963. The soundtrack album ''Kissin' Cousins'' is the twentieth album by Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2894, in April 1964. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard Top LPs chart. The album was certified Gold on March 27, 1992 by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Chet Atkins recorded ''Freight Train'' for the album ''Guitar Country''. The project earns a Grammy nomination.

OCTOBER 3, 1963 THURSDAY

The Everly Brothers perform in London, England, with Bo Diddley and The Rolling Stones. In the audience, the Beatle Ringo Star.

Roy Drusky recorded ''Peel Me A Nanner'' at Nashville's Bradley Recording Studio in his first session for Mercury Records.

OCTOBER 5, 1963 SATURDAY

Johnny Cash guests on ABC-TV's ''Hootenanny''.

OCTOBER 7, 1963 MONDAY

Decca Records released Loretta Lynn's ''Before I'm Over You''.

300 Dallas County blacks line up to register to vote in Selma, Dallas County, Alabama After waiting all day in the hot sun, only a handful of the hundreds in the line were allowed to fill out the voter application, and most of the applications were denied.

OCTOBER 8, 1963 TUESDAY

Columbia released Marty Robbins's ''Begging To You''.

Billy Edd Wheeler recorded his original version of ''Jackson'' three years before Johnny Cash and June Carter recorded their award-winning performance.

OCTOBER 9, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Eddy Arnold recorded ''Molly'' at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.

OCTOBER 10, 1963 THURSDAY

Margie Singleton recorded ''Old Records'' and joins Faron Young to cut ''Keeping Up With The Joneses'' at Bradley Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

OCTOBER 11, 1963 FRIDAY

Dave Dudley recorded ''Last Day In The Mines'' at the Bradley Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
OCTOBER 12, 1963 SATURDAY

"Cry Baby'', by Garnett Mimms and the Enchanters (United Artists #629) begins the first of   two weeks at number one. "Cry Baby" was among the earliest--and certainly the most   success- commercially-of the gospel-styled songs to have an accompaniment that was not   slightly adapted from some other genre of music. Unlike most records, with their slow,   gentle, lilting arrangements, "Cry Baby" offered an uncompromising expression of ecstasy. On   other "gospel revivalist" records, the strong rhythms meant that the impact was absorbed   physically by the listener and not on a purely emotional level as was the case with the   Mimms track. In short, the song possessed all the prime ingredients characterizing the classic   soul genre.
Eddy Arnold guests on ABC-TV's ''Hootenanny''.

OCTOBER 14, 1963 MONDAY

Elvis Presley plays two different characters as ''Kissin' Cousins'' begins location filming at Big Bear, California.

Bill Anderson recorded ''Cincinnati, Ohio'', a song Connie Smith will turn into a country hit four years later.

OCTOBER 15, 1963 TUESDAY

Frank B. Walker, the first president of MGM Records, dies of a heart attack at his Queens, New York, home. The label was the recording home for Hank Williams, and will go on to represent Marie Osmond, Hank Williams Jr. and Mel Tillis.

Columbia released Carl Butler and Pearl's ''Too Late To Try Again''.

OCTOBER 17, 1963 THURSDAY

Elvis Presley receives a card designating him an honorary second-degree black belt in karate.

Bobby Goldsboro recorded his first hit, the pop single ''See The Funny Little Clown'', at Bell Sound in New York.

OCTOBER 18, 1963 FRIDAY

Chuck Berry leaves the Federal Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri, after serving one year of a three-year sentence for violating the Mann Acct. During his stay, he wrote ''(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie'', a future country hit for Emmylou Harris.

Harty Taylor, one-half of the duo Karl and Harty, dies. The duo came to prominence via Chicago radio station WLS' weekly variety show, ''The National Barn Dance''.

OCTOBER 19, 1963 SATURDAY

Buck Owens attains the number 1 spot on the Billboard country singles chart with ''Love's Gonna Live Here''.

OCTOBER 21, 1963 MONDAY

Lefty Frizzell recorded ''Saginaw, Michigan'' at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studios after actor George Hamilton leaves the control room. Hamilton had come to watch the session, but his presence intimidated Frizzell.

Capitol Records released The Beach Boy's pop hit ''Be True To Your School'', with Glen Campbell in the band on acoustic guitar.

OCTOBER 22, 1963 TUESDAY

Kenny Rogers marries for the third time, to Margo Anderson, in Houston.

Thieves in St. Louis steal a saddle embedded with 65 silver dollars from Webb Pierce's car while the singer appears on an all-night radio show. Police later find the saddle-minus the silver dollars.

David Allan Coe begins serving a four-year prison sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary, for car theft, possession of obscene he killed a fellow inmate during his incarceration.

Columbia released Stonewall Jackson's ''B.J. The D.J.''.

OCTOBER 25, 1963 FRIDAY

Brenda Lee recorded the pop hit ''As Usual'' at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio.

Rick and Kris Nelson have a daughter, Tracy Nelson.

OCTOBER 26, 1963 SATURDAY

''It Ain't Me, Babe'' songwriter Bob Dylan performs at New York's Carnegie Hall.

OCTOBER 28, 1963 MONDAY

Decca released Jimmy C. Newman's ''D.J. For A Day''.

Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasters buys KTLA-TV in Los Angeles from Paramount Pictures for $12 million, the highest price ever paid at the time for a television station.

The Dillards and Andy Griffith play a version of ''Dueling Banjos'' during the CBS telecast of ''The Andy Griffith Show''.

OCTOBER 30, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Rick Nelson sings a pair of songs during the latest installment of ABC's ''The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet'', ''The Very Thought Of You'' and ''For You''.

Les Paul countersues Mary Ford for divorce in Hackensack, New Jersey, charging that she left him for western star Foy Willing.
NOVEMBER 1963
Billy Sherrill leaves Sam Phillips and moves to Epic, Ray Butts takes over at Phillips, Nashville.

NOVEMBER 1, 1963 FRIDAY

Singer/songwriter Kenny Alphin is born at the Culpeper County Hospital in Culpeper, Virginia. As Big Kenny, he co-founds Big and Rich, a boundary-pushing duo that earns hits with ''Lost In This Moment'', ''Comin' To Your City'' and ''Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)''.

NOVEMBER 2, 1963 SATURDAY

''Country Music On Broadway'' premieres at the Tennessee Theater in downtown Nashville. The movie features Buck Owens, George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Ferlin Husky, Hank Williams JR., Hank Snow, Skeeter Davis, Bill Anderson and Stonewall Jackson, among others.

Hoyt Axton and Anita Carter appear on ABC's ''Hootenanny''.

NOVEMBER 3, 1963 SUNDAY

The Stoneman Family appears on the cover of the Washington Post magazine.

The Everly Brothers have debris thrown at them at London's Hammersmith Odeon by a restless crowd, which screams to hear more of the opening act, The Rolling Stones.

NOVEMBER 4, 1963 MONDAY

The Beatles are among 19 acts playing for Queen Elizabeth at a Royal Command Performance in London, England. Group members John Lennon and Paul McCartney go on to co-write several country hits.

NOVEMBER 5, 1963 TUESDAY

Sun 381 ''Midnight Soiree'' b/w ''Crazy Arms'' by The Four Upsetters issued.

Location shooting for the Elvis Presley movie ''Kissin' Cousins'' comes to a conclusion in Big Bear, California.

NOVEMBER 6, 1963 WEDNESDAY

''Folk Songs Sing Along With Mitch'' goes gold for Mitch Miller, who produced several Marty Robbins hits. Among the album's songs, ''Goodnight Irene''.

NOVEMBER 7, 1963 THURSDAY

Robin Lee is born in Nashville, Tennessee. She begins charting in 1983 with the independent Evergreen label, scoring a hit in 1990 on the newly-formed Atlantic country division with a remake of Alannah Myles' pop hit ''Black Velvet''.

NOVEMBER 8, 1964 FRIDAY

Elvis Presley finished shooting ''Kissin' Cousins'', the same day that a UPI story quotes Ann-Margret saying she's his girlfriend.

Liberty Records released Jan and Dean's pop hit ''Drag City'', featuring guitarist Glen Campbell in the backing band.

NOVEMBER 11, 1963 MONDAY

Capitol released the album ''Buck Owens Sings Tommy Collins''.

NOVEMBER 12, 1963 TUESDAY

Johnny Cash recorded ''Understand Your Man'' at the Columbia Recording Studios on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee.

NOVEMBER 13, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Record producer Frank Liddell is born. Married to Lee Ann Womack, he oversees sessions for Miranda Lambert, David Nail and Pistol Annies, among others.

NOVEMBER 14, 1963 THURSDAY

James Garner has the leading role as the movie ''The Wheeler Dealers'' appears in theaters. It includes a minor role for songwriter Hoagy Carmichael.

NOVEMBER 15, 1963 FRIDAY

Guitarist Brad Davis is born. He appears on the Grammy winning 1998 track ''Same Old Train'', produced by his boss, Marty Stuart.

NOVEMBER 16, 1963 SATURDAY

Singer and guitarist Keith Burns is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He becomes one-third of Trick Pony, who emerge as one of the 21st century's first party bands behind such hits as ''Pour Me'' and ''Just What I Do''.

Bobby Bare performs ''500 Miles Away From Home'' on Dick Clark's ABC show ''America Bandstand''.

NOVEMBER 18, 1963 MONDAY

United Artists released Bobby Goldsboro's first hit single, the pop recording ''See The Funny Little Clown''.

NOVEMBER 19, 1963 TUESDAY

Patti Page guests on an installment of the NBC series ''The Bell Telephone Hour''.

NOVEMBER 20, 1963 WEDNESDAY

''The Incredible Journey'', a Disney movie about three lost family pets, debuts in theaters, with Rex Allen narrating.

NOVEMBER 21, 1963 THURSDAY

When president John F. Kennedy visits San Antonio, Texas, eight-year-old Steve Earle is taken out of school to watch the motorcade pass by. The following day, JFK is killed in Dallas, Texas.

NOVEMBER 22, 1963 FRIDAY

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time (18:30 UTC) on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while traveling with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, in a presidential motorcade. A ten-month investigation from November 1963 to September 1964 by the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy, and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. Kennedy's death marked the fourth and latest successful assassination of an American President. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became President upon Kennedy's death, taking the constitutionally prescribed oath of office on board Air Force One at Dallas' Love Field airport before departing for Washington, D.C.

George Jones' father is committed to the alcoholic ward of mental hospital.

Fiddler Byron Berline attends a Dillards concert at Oklahoma City's Booteye Club, where he introduces himself to the band. It's a critical step in his rise to prominence in bluegrass and session work for Emmylou Harris and The Rolling Stones.

NOVEMBER 23, 1963 SATURDAY

Willie Nelson signs the papers to buy a 200-acre farm in Ridgetop, Tennessee.

NOVEMBER 24, 1964 SUNDAY
 
Jack Ruby murders John F. Kennedy's suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald During the transportation of Oswald from Dallas Police Headquarters to the Dallas County Jail live on television.

NOVEMBER 26, 1963 TUESDAY

Columbia released Lefty Frizzell's ''Saginaw, Michigan''.

Bill Anderson recorded ''Easy Come, Easy Go'', ''Five Little Fingers'' and ''Me''.

NOVEMBER 27, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Paramount Pictures released Elvis Presley's ''Fun In Acapulco''.

NOVEMBER 29, 1963 FRIDAY

The pop hit ''Sugar Shack'' goes gold for Jim Gilmer and The Fireballs. Gilmer goes on to become a Nashville music publisher and to manage Brad Paisley.
DECEMBER 1, 1963 SUNDAY
Ole Miss wins the SEC championship with a 10-10 tie against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville. The Rebels' quarterback, Jim Weatherly, goes on to write ''You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me''.

DECEMBER 4, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Jan and Dean recorded ''Dead Man's Curve'' in Los Angeles, with guitarist Glen Campbell among the studio musicians.

DECEMBER 5, 1963 THURSDAY

Ty England is born in Oklahoma City. A guitarist with Garth Brooks during the superstar's peak years. England leaves the band in 1994 to pursue a solo career, scoring the following year with ''Should Asked Her faster''.

Ferlin Husky recorded ''Timber I'm falling''.

DECEMBER 7, 1963 SATURDAY

Writer Michael O'Donoghue marries Janice Bickel, a union that lasts just six-months. Two decades later, he finds success as the songwriter behind Dolly Parton's country hit ''Single Women''.

DECEMBER 9, 1963 MONDAY

Decca Records released Brenda Lee's pop hit ''As Usual''.

DECEMBER 10, 1963 TUESDAY

Donny Osmond makes his national television debut singing Jimmie Davis' ''You Are My Sunshine'' as a member of the Osmonds on ''The Andy Williams Show''. Also appearing on the NBC telecast, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

DECEMBER 11, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Hank Williams Jr. has his first recording session, at age 14, in Nashville, Tennessee. The session features some of his father's songs, ''You Win Again'', ''Your Cheatin' Heart'', ''Cold, Cold Heart'' and ''I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry''.

DECEMBER 12, 1963 THURSDAY

Bobby bare recorded ''Miller's Cave'' during the afternoon at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.

Gospel singer Sherrill Nielsen marries Brenda Hall in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During the next decade, he becomes a backup singer for Elvis Presley.

DECEMBER 13, 1963 FRIDAY

Songwriter Stan Jones dies in Los Angeles, California. He wrote ''(Ghost) Riders In The Sky'', which became a hit for Vaughn Monroe and for Johnny Cash, as well as the theme song to a Gene Autry western movie.

Hank Williams JR. recorded his first hit, a cover of his father's ''Long Gone Lonesome Blues'', in Nashville, Tennessee.

DECEMBER 14, 1963 SATURDAY

Eddy Arnold perform ''Cool Water'' and ''Red River Valley'' on ABC's ''Hootenanny''. Also appearing is ''But You Know I Love You'' songwriter Mike Settle.

Former country hitmaker Bing Crosby shares the cover of TV Guide with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

DECEMBER 16, 1963 MONDAY

Jeff Carson is born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Compared vocally to Garth Brooks, he earns a hit in 1995 with ''Not On Your Love'' and follows it with ''The Car'', which claims the Academy of Country Music Video of the Year award.

Decca Records released the first Loretta Lynn album, ''Loretta Lynn Sings''.

DECEMBER 17, 1963 TUESDAY

Jim Reeves and Dottie West recorded ''Love Os No Excuse'' in the afternoon at Nashville's RCA Studio B.

Roy Acuff begins a four-week stand in The Mint in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Marty Robbins recorded ''Girl From Spanish Town''.

DECEMBER 18, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Actor Brad Pitt is born in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Shania Twan humorously references him in her hit ''That Don't Impress Me Much''.

Ray Price recorded the Mel Tillis-penned ''Burning Memories'' during the evening at Nashville's Columbia Studios.

DECEMBER 19, 1963 THURSDAY

Future Nitty Gritty Dirt Band musician John McEwen receives a Ludwig banjo for his 18th birthday.

DECEMBER 20, 1963 FRIDAY

South Bend plant produced its last Studebaker car in the United States.

DECEMBER 21, 1963 SATURDAY

Jimmie Rodgers appears on ABC's Saturday night folk music show ''Hootenanny''.

DECEMBER 25, 1963 WEDNESDAY

Red Foley's wife, Sally, falls and breaks her leg at home.

Patty Loveless and her eight brothers and sisters receive a puppy from their father. The singer later calls it her favorite Christmas gift.

DECEMBER 26, 1963 THURSDAY

Tex Ritter appears on ABC-TV's ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' with Patty Duke.
 
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
 
The first time Adams appeared at Sun was on May 10, 1963 when his band backed Bill Yates on a demo   session, running through his nightly repertoire, and nothing was issued from the session. Some of these   previously unissued songs are included in the Bill Yates – Blues Like Midnight (BCD 17277).

The first formal Adams session resulting in a Sun record was filed with the AFM (musicians union) on   January 6, 1964 quoting a session date of December 28, 1963, but the session must have taken place earlier   because the disc, Sun 389, ''Betty And Dupree'' backed by ''Got My Mojo Workin''', was mentioned in  Billboard on the supposed day of the session. At the time the session was filed, Adams was still living on   Philadelphia Street in south east Memphis, three miles from Hernando's Hide-A-Way. The theme of the   session was local interpretations of rhythm and blues standards, but this time someone had the idea of   backing Adams' voice with a second vocalist, Jesse Carter. It gave songs like ''Betty And Dupree'' a different   sound, something Sam Phillips was always keen to find. He apparently saw the disc as a potential hit and   took small blocks ads in Billboard most weeks during January to May 1964. It received a four star rating in   the Pop section of reviews three days after Christmas 1963.
STUDIO SESSION FOR BILLY ADAMS
FOR SUN RECORDS 1963

SAM PHILLIPS RECORDING STUDIO
639 MADISON AVENUE, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUN SESSION: POSSIBLY DECEMBER 28, 1963
SESSION HOURS: UNKNOWN
PRODUCER AND RECORDING ENGINEER – UNKNOWN

Drummer and vocalist Billy Adams began his Sun career with this record released in January 1964. There   has always been a market for white guys singing black material in a style cloned from black guys. Unlike Pat   Boone, who rendered black music safe and gender-free for white teens, guys like Adams did little to strip   away the exotic menace of black music. Nor did they bring anything new or particularly innovative to the   party.

Composer: - Chuck Willis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Rush Music
Matrix number: - U 499 - Master (2:37)
Recorded: - December 28, 1963
Released: - January 1, 1964
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 389-A mono
BETTY AND DUPREE / GOT MY MOJO WORKIN'
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15805-1/17 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 5

Although ''Betty And Dupree'' had been an rhythm and blues and pop hit early in 1958 for Chuck Willis on   Atlantic, Adams' version was an excellent one which made the most of the memorable lyric and catchy tune.   Reviving the song was a good idea, but it may not have been an original idea. In 1963 Memphis musician   and producer, Stan Kesler, recorded a band led by Domingo Samudio that had recently come to Memphis   and was re-forming its line-up. The band was booked into Hernando's Hide-A-Way and was short of a   drummer so Billy Adams sat in the group. As Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs, the group's recording debut   on Kesler's Tupelo label was ''Betty And Dupree''. Sam may have heard an earlier revival of the song on Jin   Records by Shelton Dunaway with Cookie and the Cupcakes cut in 1960. Billy Adams' version follows the  lyric and melody used by Chuck Willis and the others, building on the memorable, plaintive line describing   how ''Betty told Dupree. I wasn't a diamond ring/Dupree told Betty, I'll get you anything''. For Willis and   Adams, it's a love song. But the song was originally a story balled about robbery, murder and hanging called   ''Dupree Blues'' recorded by blues singers Bill Tomlin, Willie walker and George White between 1930 and   1935. It subsequently became a swing-favourite recorded as ''Betty And Dupree'' by the white female jazz   singer, Teddy Grace, and by the Woody Herman band. Frank Dupree was a white man who shot a store   detective in Atlanta in 1921 after looking at a ring for his girl, Betty Andrews. The song was a favourite with   the Memphis-area singers for some time because the fugitive Dupree hod out in Memphis early newspaper   accounts, though in fact he went to Chattanooga.

BETTY AND DUPREE
Composer: - Chuck Willis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Rush Music
Matrix number: - None – Sun Unissued
Recorded: - December 28, 1963
 
Adams flipside was a rather derivative version of the blues theme popularized by Muddy Waters, ''Got My   Mojo Workin''', obviously a night club standard for the band. There may even be an unreleased version by   Barbra Streisand for all we know. Adams' approach is rife with the abundant cliches of rhythm and blues,   including seemingly meaningless references to the might hour. But the flipside is another story. Harmonizing   with bass player Jesse Carter, Adams offers a surprisingly fresh version of ''Betty Of Dupree'' that manages to   be both engaging and surprisingly pretty. Indeed, Russ Carlton's sax break is quite melodic. Five years   earlier, Chuck Willis had taken the same idea to the bank with a massive crossover record that managed to   appeal to black rhythm and blues buyers as well as strolling white teenagers. If anything, Adams' version has   slightly more bite than the Willis classic from five years earlier.
Composer: - Preston "Red" Foster-Billy Adams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - U 500 - Master (2:24)
Recorded: - December 28, 1963
Released: - January 1, 1964
First appearance: - Sun Records (S) 45rpm standard single Sun 389-B mono
GOT MY MOJO WORKIN' / BETTY AND DUPREE
Reissued: - 1998 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 15805-1/18 mono
THE SUN SINGLES COLLECTION - VOLUME 5

GOT MY MOJO WORKIN'
Composer: - Preston "Red" Foster-Billy Adams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Knox Music Incorporated
Matrix number: - None – Sun Unissued
Recorded: - December 28, 1963

Also from this marathon session included eight original unissued songs. These include a version of Slim   Harpo's popular ''Raining In My Heart'' and three similarly mid-paced songs. ''I'm Like Poison Ivy'' and   ''Same Thing'', both based on blues lyrics, and ''Love Me, Love Me, Cherry'', the latter another Chuck Willis   song with a prominent second vocal by Jesse Carter. Adams also made a version of the instrumental ''Big M'',   previously recorded for Home Of The Blues, and three ballads, ''Til' Your Memory Goes Away'', ''Just Look   Over Your Shoulder'', and ''Just Plain Hurt'', a song also recorded by Johnny Preston. Adam's voice was   better suited to faster material. He made a good attempt at investing these ballads with the reflective,   emotional readings they demanded but Sam Phillips was never going to pick one as a single release.

Composer: - Billy Adams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:13)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - April 1989
First appearance: - Charly Records (LP) 33rpm Sun Box 109-11/3 mono
SUN RECORDS INTO THE 60S - FEEL SO GOOD
Reissued: -  June 14, 2013 Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-18 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Composer: - James Isaac Moore-Jerry West
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:12)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-19 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

BIG M (1)
Composer: - Billy Adams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None – Sun Unissued
Recorded: December 28, 1963

Composer: - Billy Adams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:45)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-29 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Composer: - Jerry Crutchfield-Vic McAlpin
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Marty Music-Tree Music Publishing
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:38)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-23 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Composer: - Billy Adams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:24)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-24 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Composer: - Willie Dixon
Publisher: - B.M.I. - BMG Music
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:32)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-22 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Composer: - Billy Adams
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Copyright Control
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:30)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-21 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Composer: - Chuck Willis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Rush Music
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:34)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-20 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Composer: - Chuck Willis
Publisher: - B.M.I. - Rush Music
Matrix number: - None - Not Originally Issued (2:34)
Recorded: December 28, 1963
Released: - June 14, 2013
First appearance: - Bear Family Records (CD) 500/200rpm BCD 17116-28 mono
BILLY ADAMS - THE SUN YEARS PLUS

Name (Or. No. Of Instruments)
Billy Adams - Vocal & Drums
Lee Adkins - Guitar
Jesse Carter - Bass & Hamony Vocal
Bill Yates - Piano and Organ
Russ Carlton - Saxophone
 
For Biographies of Artists see: > The Sun Biographies <
Sun recordings can be heard on the playlists from 706 Union Avenue Sessions on > YouTube <
© - 706 UNION AVENUE SESSIONS - ©
BILLY ADAMS - Billy Wayne Adams was born on June 9, 1937 near Corinth, Mississippi where his family   farmed and where Billy would probably have farmed too if an interest in music hadn't taken him away from   ploughing with mules and fishing in the lakes. His father was Robert Chester Adams (1909-1982) and his   mother Anna Leona Essary Adams (1909-1988).  Billy had taken an early interest in music but he was around 16 years old when he started to study music   seriously and to play the mandolin in little country groups.
 
He later told Jane Sanderson from the Memphis   Press-scimitar that he picked up Music just by playing, adding, ''Oh, I had a few lessons from time to time,   but they didn't amount to much''. Nevertheless, the amounted to enough for Billy's music to offend his father   who wanted help on the farm, and in 1953 Adams left home to settle in Memphis with relatives.
Memphis   guitarist Roland Smith said, ''I first knew Billy Adams when we were both at South High School in Memphis and he lived  near me in the Whitehaven neighborhood. He was a tail... guy, real likable. He was a little older and he  played drums in the High School band''. Before long, Adams was out of school and worked for $37.50 in an   auto parts store. The 1956 City Directory lists him as a mechanic at Pure's Automotive at 383 Monroe   Avenue, and living at 1041 Philadelphia Street just north of Whitehaven. He had been playing with hillbilly   musicians whenever he could, featuring on mandolin in a band called the Rhythm Playboys. ''I played that   kind of music until 1955 and then started playing drums when rock and roll came out'', he told Sanderson.
Memphis guitarist en producer Roland Janes remembered Adams from that time: ''Billy was a long, lanky   guy. When I first met him he was playing mandolin and singing and he started doing an Elvis Presley-type   act. Then he started playing the drums. I used to see him at Doc McQueen's house. That was J.P. McQueen   who worked as a banker, but he wanted to be a songwriter and a musician and he had a tape recorder in his   house where musicians would all go to jam and try out things''. McQueen had a swing band at Charles   Foren's Hide-A-Way Club in Memphis and also tried forming a small rock and roll group at that point. Billy   Adams got himself involved in all these ventures and then started gigging with other groups. For a time he   played with Charlie Feathers, and between 1958 and 1960 Adams worked off and on as a touring road  drummer with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Patsy Cline. In particular, he worked in Las   Vegas with Carl Perkins, an experience that would stand him in good stead when he developed his own   showband in Memphis clubs.

In 1960 Adams married a ''striking brunette'' named Jessie, and came off the road to form his own band to   take the residency at Hernando's Hide-A-Way. Hernando's was located at 3210 Old Hernando Road in South   Memphis, a nightclub of some note for many years where the band gave exposure to numerous up-andcoming   Memphis musicians. It was at this time that pianist and singer Bill Yates started to play at   Hernando's, and Yates became an important part of Adams's group. Yates was born in Georgia but his father   was a traveling preacher and the family had spent some time in Mississippi in the 1940s, between Tupelo and   Corinth, so Adams and Yates may have known each other from that time. The other regular members of the   Adams band were bass player Jesse Carter, guitarist Lee Adkins, sax player Russ Carlton, and multiinstrumentalist   Gene Parker.

Jesse Carter remembered that the Adams band was formed at a time of burgeoning musical opportunities in   Memphis. ''Back then there was a night club on every corner in Memphis. It's dead as a hammer now (2008),   because the nightclub business went down with the drink driving laws and all, but back then if our club   closed at 1 a.m. We could go somewhere else and play til four. That was our routine''. Carter married Mary in   1961 and they had a daughter, Tamera, when he decided to get out of the touring life. ''I quit the road first in   1964 and then in May 1970 I quit going to clubs. I wasn't getting any family life, so I took a job at a   machinery company''. He later ran a recording studio in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

The Billy Adams band used Gene Parker as a saxophonist on stage, but mainly as a drummer on recording   sessions. This was because Adams already had an established sax player in his band, Russ Carlton, a man   who not only had a great reputation among his peers but who was also reliable. Carlton is known for his later   work with Jerry Lee Lewis, on stage and on sessions such as the Southern Roots album, but he had been part   of the Memphis club scene for years, playing jazz and rocking blues. He ran a band in the 1970s that was  booked into the Holiday Inn chain and worked a lot in Kentucky, but he died soon after that.

So, by 1961, Billy Adams had learned his trade, toured with recording stars, and become leader of a band   whose musicians were highly-regarded and becoming regulars at the recording studios around town. The   next step for Adams was surely to get a recording contract for himself. The established label in Memphis was   Sun, followed by the emerging operations at Hi, Stax, and Fernwood. Other smaller fly-by-night labels came   and went but one that looked promising had just been opened by Ruben Cherry, and named Home Of The   Blues after Cherry's local record store.

In 1960, Scotty Moore was hired by Sam Phillips to be Production Manager for Sun Records at the Phillips   studio on Madison Avenue. He took with him the link to HOTB that he had only just set up at Fernwood, and   Cherry's Billy Adams and Bill Yates tapes were mastered for release at Phillips studio at 639 Madison   Avenue. They were not recorded at Sun, though. Jesse Carter remembered: ''Adams sang and played drums   on a session at Hi Records studio. The first record he made, ''Lookin' For My Baby'', was one song we   recorded there, and we made some instrumentals there too''. The Hi studio was named Royal Recording and   was a converted movie theater at 1320 South Lauderdale in south Memphis.

At some point in the early 1960s Billy Adams and Bill Yates came onto Sam Phillips radar, possibly through   their shows at clubs around town or when Phillips' new studio at 639 Madison Avenue was being used master   the HOTB sides. Phillips said, ''I built the new studio because I just felt that recording technology was   improving and that we needed to move along and keep pace technically. This did not mean that I had   abandoned the sound that had been so successful... You see... good rock and roll and that's all we were trying   to achieve, doesn't need fifteen pieces all of the time. Billy Adams was one of the artists I produced for Sun   later on. He was really a novelty type of act who worked at the old Hide-A-Way Club. He liked to sing   rhythm and blues things, and he was not an original, but he had some talent as a drummer and they were a   really value band''.

There were at least five sessions at Sun for the Adam/Yates band. Bass player Jesse Carter described them:   ''Sam Phillips produced and engineered the sessions himself. He'd come into Taylor's restaurant next door   and talk with us like we were old friends, then we'd do the session. He really made you feel part of things.   He did not have a lot of input to what was recorded – he let us come in with our songs – but he was always in   on how the recording would be developed. He would let you start it your way, and then he'd let you know  real quick if something was lacking. Ultimately, some originals and some favourites. All the songs we   recorded was mainly Adams' Hide-A-Way band, plus Al Jackson Jr. who played drums on some sessions,   when we needed somebody. Billy Adams sometimes just sang on his records and didn't always play drums''.

All through the time he was recording at Sun, Billy Adams maintained his band residency at Charles Foren's   Hernando's Hide-A-Way club. When Foren sold out to Gordon Wade in 1965, Adams continued working for   the new man until sometimes in 1969 when he moved to the new Vapors Supper Club on Brooks Road in   south Memphis, set up by Foren. Adams told the local paper about the Vapors: ''I did the tea dance and nighttime   shows for two years, working 47 hours a week which is more than an average factory worker''. He also   started widening his career by dabbling in booking his band and other musicians into clubs and arranging   recording sessions. He had taken a role with the Local office of the American Federation of Musicians, coordinating   bookings, and this led him to working on his own account with clubs around the mid-South.  Adams told the Memphis Press-Scimitar that he opened the Memphis Artists Attraction booking agency in   1970, and operated it out of his home. He figured he worked 90 hours a week, booking Gene Simmons,   Narvel Felts, Rufus Thomas and others. He added a line of work for the AmCon division of Holiday Inn, coordinating   the booking artists into their lounges. He told the Press-Scimitar that he booked 22 different bands   and for Holiday Inn you have to have all types of music, not just rock or rock-pop. Just recently when  Governor George Wallace made a political appearance in Indiana I did the whole works, and for Wallace fans   you have to have all types of music to''. Adams also booked out a Tupelo band named the Electric Toilet but   they don't sound like a Wallace kind of band.

By now, Adams was father to four children, a daughter Kim and triplets, born in 1970, (Billy Jr., Tammy and   Terri) and he kept his own band going to augment his income as a booking agent. On October 17, 1970   Billboard reported on the annual dinner-dance of the Memphis AFM, ''where entertainment was organized by   Billy Adams who plays at the Vapors and has his own booking agency'' and his hectic movement after that   can be traced through ads in the local press, The Delta Democrat-Times of September 8, 1971 reported on a   benefit show in Greenville: ''among the performers are the Billy Adams Combo from the Vapors Supper Club   in Memphis and the band from the El Capitan Club – all have agreed to contribute their talents toward   raising emergency funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis''. The Key TV Guide for   April 1973 captured the local club scene, carrying ads for the Admiral Benbow Lounge – ''Billy Adams' Shoe   and Danceband plays nightly except Sunday... Bill Yates, pianist, plays at cocktail time Mon-Fri'' – and for   the Downtowner Motor Inn on Union Avenue – ''The Billy Yates Trio appears from 8 to 1 six nights a week''.   In 1973 Adams and Yates were competing with other entertainment, dining and dancing options that included   Linda Ann, a ''vivacious blonde'' playing at the Casino Lounge, Eddie Bond and his TV Stompers at the E.B.   Ranch, Charlie Freeman at the Admiral Benbow Club Lounge, Jesse Lopez (brother of Trini Lopez) at the   Rivermont Holiday Inn, and Larry Garrett and Lee Adkins at the Vapors. In 1974, Billy Adams and the   Memphis Show and Danceband played nightly 8:30 to 1:30 at the Poplar Music Cantina in the Holiday Inn   while Lee Adkins, Bill Strom and Larry Garrett were headlining at the Vapors daily. Larry Garrett   remembers: ''I worked with Billy Adams in the early 1970s, in a band with Lee Adkins and Russ Carlton; we   played six nights a week for three years or so. After that I played spot gigs with Billy when he put on special   shows. Billy was the greatest shuffle drummer I ever played with''.

Memphis-based pianist Jerry ''Smoochy'' Smith said he: ''knew Billy Adams and Bill Yates well because I   played on several shows with them in the late 1960s. Billy Adams was a fun guy. He went from recording   into the booking agency business and he booked me on several shows. Adam was left handed. I was going to   record in a studio where he was working and my drummer had to change the drums around. I also worked on   some shows with Bill Yates. He always said I played better than he did and I always said 'well you sing   better than I do''. Drummer Danny Ivy played with Adams when he moved to Memphis after working with   Gene Parker in Mississippi: ''At the Vapors in 1970, Billy Adams was playing drums. He had Lee Adkins   playing guitar, Bill Strom or Lou Roberts playing keyboard, Don Culver on bass, Ted Garretson on trumpet,   and Russ Carlton and Ed Logan on sax. Before we moved to Memphis, I would go up and set in for Billy   Adams at the afternoon tea dance. That's when I first met Billy. I used to hear him sing ''Betty And Dupree''.   Another drummer, Tom Lonardo told me, 'Billy Adams and I crossed paths just once. He used my drums on a   gig where his band plated before mine. When I got to the set to play, there was a plate with some chicken   bones and sauce and a drink he had left on the floor tom. He never hit it. He just used it as a table''.

Down in Greenwood, Mississippi, former Sun singer and club owner Mack Allen Smith said: ''I booked Billy   Adams and his band during the years 1971 to 1976 at my Town and County Night Club. We even did a few   battles of the bands, one band playing and then the other one trying to outdo them. Billy has been described   by many as master of the shuffle beat. When I booked Billy Adams they were doing rockabilly like Carl   Perkins, some blues, and country stuff that was popular at the time''.

Musician and producer Kenneth Herman remembered: ''I used to talk to Billy and all the other musicians on   the CB radio in those days. After we all got out from the night clubs we'd be talking and finding out who was   where and what was happening late at night. It was the mobile phone of the day. You always knew Billy   because he had a small lisp, but it didn't affect him singing, a bit like Mel Tillis''. Ronald Smith also   remembered the early morning jam sessions, meet-ups and talk sessions. He described the effect his hectic   and pressurized lifestyle had on Adams.: ''A lot of times, my connection with Billy was late at night, after a   gig, when the musicians would meet up. That was when he filled gigs for his booking agency. He would   book my band. The problem there was that he got into some ditch weed, and he would drink and take pills   and often lost track of what he was doing, burning the candle at both ends, booking a band somewhere and   forgetting what he'd done so that two bands would show up. He just floated through all that time – so you   either had to ignore it, or kill him, you know. One time, he booked my band way up in Arkansas somewhere,   and when we got there another band was already there. We didn't get our money. I was mad so I called him,   and his wife said he was in the hospital. So I called him in hospital and he said he'd give me a contract for  another job, well paying. I said 'I'm coming down to get my money now', but he said he was in quarantine.   And he was: when I got there, I had to put on mask and gloves and everything and he really was sick, and I   felt bad. But I got a contract for a big New Year's Eve job. It wasn't the first problem. He sent me to play with   singer Barbara Pittman one time and didn't pay us. A lot of times he just forgot what he'd done. He had a   kickback deal going with a guy at Millington service base where Adams had the contract to supply the   officers' club and the other clubs on base. They'd agree a price and pay the bands less and keep the   differences, that sort of deal''.

One way of another Adams was making money, and he had some baubles to prove it. Kenneth Herman is   adamant that: ''Adams had the twin car of the one that President Kennedy was shot in. There were only two   made and Frank Sinatra had the other one and somehow Billy Adams bought it. It was bullet proof and all   that. He used to drive around town in it''.

By now, Billy Adams was also dabbling in the recording business. In 1970 he worked with Tom Phillips at   Select-O-Sound studio to produce discs by Jeannie Williams and Bill Stroum, and in 1971 he set up Coleman   Records with A.B. Coleman, who ran a successful chain of barbeque outlets. Adams published their songs   through a company he named Little Terri Music. He arranged and recorded songs for saxophonist Joe Arnold   including the minor hit ''Brand New Key'', and singer Tiny Bond in 1972. He also recorded Jamie Isonhood   from Benton, Mississippi, coupling a version of ''Lonely Weekend'' with a tune called ''Man, Woman And A   Bottle''. He worked with a group, the Castells, one of whom recalled: ''Billy Adams was our agent in   1969/1970 and wanted us to record ''Miss Froggie'', originally done in 1957. We went to Block 6 studio with   Billy Wayne Herbert engineering, and proceeded to rock and roll. This session got to cooking so good and   you oughta seen Billy Adams out in that studio having a ball, jumping up and down hollering 'get it son, get   it son'. Adams was a lotta fun and great guy''.

In the mid-1970 Billy Adams started to suffer some health problems and he retired from playing and booking   artists in 1981. Then, on December 3, 1984, Billy Adams died of a heart attack, aged just 47.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal carried an obituary the next day: ''Billy W. Adams of 4562 Hodge, retired   owner of Memphis Artists Attractions booking agency and former recording artist with Sun Records, died at   4 a.m. Yesterday at Methodist Hospital after a lengthy illness. He ran the Billy Adams Show and Dance Band   and had toured with such artists as Johnny cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Carl Perkins and numerous   others during a 30 year career as an entertainer. His booking agency worked with many artists in the mid   south including Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenny Price, Narvel Felts, Rufus Thomas, Gene Simmons, Ace Cannon,   Brenda Lee, Fats Domino, The Platters and Boots Randolph. Adams was a member of LaBelle Place Baptist   church and was an honorary Shelby County deputy sheriff''. Adams was survived at the time by his mother   and two sisters as well as his four children and two stepchildren. Adams' son, Billy T., died young, in 1988,   and was buried alongside his father.

Jesse Carter spoke for many others when he said: ''Billy Adams was a great guy. He died too early of a heart   attack. He was a good singer – he had a stutter but that went when he sang – and a great drummer''. Pianist   and singer T.O. Earnheart played with Adams in the 1970s and said, ''Billy had a heart of gold. In fact he   gave me my start in Memphis as a musician. Billy was recognised throughout the country as the best   drummer in the business playing a shuffle beat. I have seen hundreds of drummers try to imitate his licks on   the drums, and were never able to duplicate the sound''.
JESSE CARTER - Jesse Carter was born in 1937 in Blue Springs, Mississippi and started playing bass in a  band with Jimmy Wages around the Tupelo area. He worked the same area with Gene and Carl Simmons too  and can be heard on several Sun singles including Gene Simmons' ''Drinkin' Wine'' and the Miller Sisters'  ''Finder Keepers''. Carter joined Carl Simmons and pianist Jimmy Wilson on a tour in Canada before he  became a full-time session man at studios across Memphis. He said, ''I moved to Memphis in 19598, because  of a woman. I first knew Billy Adams in the later part of the 1950s when he was playing in clubs in  Memphis''
 
''Then I was on the road with the Ace Cannon Combo – I played on ''Tuff'' and all his hits – until  1963 when I met Adams again. He and Bill Yates joined Cannon on the road sometimes. I played a lot with  Reggie Young and Gene Chrisman and Bobby Wood''.
 
''But I was married with three kids, so I left the road in  1963 and went to play off the road at Hernando's Hide-A-Way. Billy Adams was already there so I joined  back up with him sometime in 1964. We played a little of it all, rock and roll, rhythm and blues and country.  He had Lee Adkins playing guitar for him when I joined up, and Bill Yates on piano. Russ Carlton was the  sax player. Gene Parker was often the drummer in the band and on the recordings, but he could play anything  and he was mainly a saxophonist. He was a great musician: he could take anybody's instrument and play it  and make them look sick, man. He played fiddle and guitar; he was a great shuffle drummer, he could do it  faster than anyone. He mainly worked with Billy Adams but he would sit in with anybody, and he played sax  on many Stax sessions before Andrew Love''.
RICHARD LEE ADKINS - Lead guitarist Richard Lee Adkins was another of the lesser-known stalwarts of   the Memphis scene. Lee Adkins was born on March 4, 1929 in Parma, Mobile, Richard Lee Adkins moved to  Memphis with his family as a youngster and attended Humes High School, the alma mater of Elvis Presley.  In addition to his work as a studio musician in the 1950s and 1960s, Lee Adkins was well known on the  Memphis nightclub circuit. He worked at Hernando's Hideaway to begin with the bands of Bill Yates and  Billy Adams. Then he went to the Vapors Supper Club and he worked there for five or six years.

Atkins did a  lot of studio work in and around Memphis for Stax and Sun Records and he worked with groups like the  Memphis Horns. Atkins worked with Charlie Rich, with Jerry Lee Lewis and a lot of the name artists that  came through and did many concerts.
Lee Atkins had several recordings of his own, including the original   release of ''Together Again'', which was later recorded by Ray Charles. "Everybody knows Lee he played  sessions for all the little independent studios that cropped up in the 1950s'', said singer Barbara Pittman.  Richard Lee Adkins, a retired guitar player who was among the original studio musicians at Sun and Stax  Records, died on October 7 of heart failure at his home in Selmer, Tennessee. He was 67.

GENE PARKER - Multi-instrumentalist Gene Parker is best known for his work with the Mar-Keys and the   Bill Black Combo but he recorded with many others including Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, and Gene   Simmons – it was Parker's catchphrase go on, shoes that Reggie Young adapted as a song for Simmons,  Parker came from the Clarksdale area in Mississippi, the son of bass player Brad Parker who ran the band at   the Saturday Barn Dance in the city auditorium for many years. Brad's other son, Sonny Parker, played   guitar, Gene played fiddle, and the steel guitar player was John Hughey. Memphis musician Danny Ivy  recalls seeing the Parker band in the early 1950s. ''At that time, Gene would have been in his early teens. He   was an outstanding fiddle player and, as best I can remember, he also played guitar and piano. Gene was a   left handed and played guitar upside down. He was a great blues guitar picker, and he later became the best   sax player man I have ever heard, and I have worked with some good ones''. Through the 1960s Parker   played sax regularly with Billy Adams band. According to Danny Ivy: At some point Gene moved to   Memphis and started doing studio work and playing in clubs. He told me he had been recording with any   number of artists who came through Stax Records and any number of studios and a large part of that time   was spent at a club called Hernando's Hide-A-Way, which is where he got hooked up with Billy Adams and  Bill Yates. He even lived upstairs at the Hide-A-Way for a period of time. He laughingly told us that he used   to wake up and have his saxophone for breakfast downstairs. The sad part of the story is that Gene became   heavily addicted to alcohol during those years and almost lost his mind. I think he spent some time in a   facility to try and overcome his problems, but eventually had to move back home with his dad on the farm to   try and get away from that life. During the time that he played with our groups we had to be very cautious   that he didn't get his hands on any alcohol. Not too many years after that he sank deep into depression before   he passed away''. In the late 1960s Parker formed the Gene Parker Quintet with Danny Ivy and Larry Garret   and by 1970 he was back in Clarksdale, Mississippi and playing Delta State College gigs with students Jerry   Dorrough and Tommy Free. Ivy and Garrett joined Billy Adams working at the Vapors club in Memphis.   Mississippi singer Mack Allen Smith said, ;;I booked the Gene Parker's Quintet at my club in Greenwood.  Gene was a great sax player''.

DECEMBER 29, 1963 SUNDAY

Hank Williams Jr. makes his first appearance on the CBS-TV series ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' from New York, singing ''Jambalaya (On The Bayou)'', ''Your Cheatin' Heart'', ''Long Gone Lonesome Blues'' and ''Cold, Cold Heart''.

The Weavers deliver a farewell concert at Chicago's Orchestra Hall. The folk group's member, Fred Hellerman, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger and Ronnie Gilbert, wrote country hits ''Kisses Sweeter Than Wine'', ''Gotta Travel On'' and ''I'm Just A Country Boy''.

DECEMBER 30, 1963 MONDAY

Decca released Bill Anderson's double-sided hit, ''Five Little Fingers'' backed with ''Easy Come, Easy Go''.

DECEMBER 31, 1963 TUESDAY

Heather See is born in Tucson, Arizona. She will become Heather McCartney several years later after her mother, Linda Eastman See, marries ''I Feel Fine'' songwriter Paul McCartney.

FALL 1963

Knox Phillips entered college, choosing Southwestern in Memphis (now Rhodes College).

LATE 1963

Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds record John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" among other blues   standards in Surrey, England. The blues begins to catch on in England and Europe.

1963-1964

In 1959, Curtis Hobock recorded at Sun, and a  round 1963-1964, Curtis Hobock fell into the orbit of Nashville dealmaker Murray Nash, who produced   four records by Hobock, two on Cee And Cee and two more on Musicenter, including a cover version of   ''Lonely Weekends''. Throughout, Hobock worked as a millwright and played as many as six nights a week at   clubs around west Tennessee, southern Kentucky, and northern Mississippi. On weekends during the   summer, he'd load up the family head to the Tennessee River for camping, boating and water skiing. At night   he would leave the family at the river and head back town for a gig, returning before dawn the next day.

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