The Shift (vocal Arlo Dee)

The Charms original five members consisted of Al Finney on Guitar, Maury Finney on Saxophone, Louise Finney on Piano, Renaud on drums and Arlo "Dee" Dinusson on bass guitar.

In 1961, the group was signed to a record deal by Jerry Diamond, a Hallock businessman, who distributed records regionally under the name "Jay Dee Records." Diamond took the group to Minneapolis to the Kay Bank Recording Company to record four records that would be released on the Jay Dee label.

Performing is where The Charms became a household name. The group played for crowds all around northwest Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, including places like the Crystal Ballroom1 in Fargo, N.D., the Maple Lake Pavilion and the Battle Lake Pavilion. On one occasion, The Charms opened for the Everly Brothers in front of a capacity crowd at the Maple Lake Pavilion.

More about the Charms HERE

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You Better Behave, Baby

Billboard, June 26, 1954

BOB JONES
You Better Behave, Baby…………….72
STARDAY 148 –The singer gives his wife fair warning
that he won’t put up indefinitely with her foibles.
A good waxing. Jones is a good singer. (Starrite, BMI)

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Hound Dog Boogie by the Hound Dogs on the Hound Dog label

The Hound Dogs : « Hound Dog Boogie »


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On the Hound Dog label. Listed in the Rockin' Country Style discography. Remains stubbornly mysterious : no label picture, no location. Was compiled in 1986 on the White Label LP 8903 "Rock And Roll Medicine".

The only tiny bit of information is found at the back cover : "A very primitive and early Michigan rocker"

Nikko Records

Nikko
929 Cramer Avenue
Lexington, KY

#610
Bruce Marvello/The Red Coats
Teen-Age Broken Heart
You've Got To Love Me Too


# 611
Bonnie And The Little Boys Blue
You Better Run
Bells

Two rare records from 1960 pressed by King Records of Cincinnati.

Wicked

The Combonaires were formed in 1957 by Joe Wojtysiak on accordion and included Sal Danna on drums, Ray Kmoch on bass, John Moscato on guitar, and Tim Nadrowski on Tenor Sax and Clarinet, and a short time later, Charlie Prietz joined the group on alto sax. Sal and Ray attended Patterson Park High School , Tim Nadrowski attended St. Joseph High School and, Joe and John attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

The early focus was playing for various East Baltimore and Dundalk Catholic Youth organizations including Holy Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Michael, St. Rita and St. Patrick to name a few. Teen Centers included Hamilton Recreation Center and Glen Burnie Armory. The band also played for weddings, sororities, fraternities, and various other affairs.

A local disc jockey, Jack Gale heard the band and had the Combonaires record two records of their own (“Wicked” and “Hey Mrs. Jones”) and (“Topaz” with the flip side being an instrumental version of “In the Still of the Night”). The band was also the backup band for several singers and groups. During this period the band played at the USO club and entertained children at the Kernan Children’s Hospital with the nationally known female recording artists the “Pony Tails”. [source : BaltimoreJam.org]

Wicked

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The Four Chaps - Roll Over Beethoven

The Four Chaps
Roll Over Beethoven

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Donna Hightower (RPM 481)

Donna Hightower

Billboard, December 1, 1956

RPM 481

He’s My Baby
* The thrush describes her rock and roll lover, and finally gets completely carried away in a frenzy of enthusiasm. A Lively, emotionnaly convincing demonstration.

I Ain’t Gonna Tell
* Another fine performance by Miss Hightower. This is a rhythm-ballad whose beat is vigorous and full of cute twists. The singer’s fans can chalk up two good ones here.

"Little" Donna Hightower had a dynamic, big voice and made some fine shouting records for Decca and RPM in the 1950's. She toured the "chitlin circuit" with Louis Jordan and B.B. King at that time. She not only had range and power, but was equally compelling doing sentimental, soft ballads. She was backed by the orchestras of Horace Henderson and Maxwell Davis on the Decca and RPM material, respectively... Read more

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Navajo

Navajo Man

Anne and Bill Calhoun
Navajo
[Released on John Stephenson's Cowtown label in 1960]
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Sharlet Sexton - Since Baby Put Me Down

Sharlet Sexton - Since Baby Put Me Down

Breeze label
Livingston, Tennessee
Late sixties?
(flip : my old heartaches are in the past -Herman Hatfield & his tennessee valley boys)

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The label was possibly owned by Gene McDonald as was the Re-Echo label at the same location.

BREEZE label partial discography :

274 Delmer Sexton, Bobby Jewell & Roane County Boys -1964

366 Hillbilly Herman and his tennessee valley boys /flip by Charlotte Sexton

381 Jim Sebastian & Rainbow Rhythm Ramblers -1966

511 the Pipe Dream

518 John Maxwell & His Craftsmen Playing Mountain Dulcimer & Guitars

521 Dickie Charry & Susan Scott

522 Lonnie Holt (70)

527 The Cross Country Pipeline

Hello

Thomas "Little Jr." Cannaday
& his Midnite Flyers

Hello



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Honky Tonk Caboose

Sammy Price
Born: October 06, 1908, Honey Grove, TX
Died: April 14, 1992, New York, NY

Sam Price - Honky Tonk Caboose [Savoy 1568]

Sam Price (p) Mickey Baker, Al Casey (g) Al Lucas (b) Panama Francis (d)
Recorded in New-York City, March 24, 1959

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My Mummy

Bertram Int'l #215, 1959
(Hawaii label)

According to Carter Lupton(1),

« Music and song with mummy themes date at least to the 1904 musical farce, The Maid and the Mummy. After World War I, such songs as ‘Mummy Mine’ (1918), ‘At the Mummies’ Ball » (1921) and ‘I’m a Mummy’ (1930s) appeared. Poet Rod McKuen, in his early days, collaborated to produce the late 1950s album ‘Songs Our Mummy Taught Us’, featuring the hit single ‘The Mummy’ and ‘Son of the Mummy’. Other gimmick songs were ‘My Mummy’ (1959) by Mel Cavin, ‘Mummy Walk’ by the Contrails (1966), ‘Me and My Mummy’ (1962) by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett of Monster Mash fame, and ‘Rockin’ Teenage Mummies’ by Ray Stevens (1965). In 1993, Australian Colin Buchanan produced the CD album ‘I Want My Mummy’ with
several mummy songs. "

(1) "Mummymania for the Masses", Chapter 2 of the book Consuming Ancient Egypt, edited by Sally MacDonald and Michael Rice.

Mel Cavin and the Kokonuts - My Mummy

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Raid On Cedar Street

Sur-Speed 195
Nashville, 1965

Big C - Raid On Cedar Street (1965)

A cover of a song penned and recorded in 1949 by Tom "Shy Guy Douglas" for Delta Records (test pressing only) and leased to MGM the following year.

Tom Douglas - Raid On Cedar Street
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Chinese Rock'n'Roll

Bobby Gregory

Billboard May 29, 1971 :

Nashville – Funeral services were held here May 12 (1971) for R.C. (Bobby) Gregory, composer of more than 1,600 published songs.

Gregory, 71, died following a long bout with cancer. Among his more notable songs were « Old Rattler », « Little Darlin », « Am I Dreaming » and « Sunny Side of the Mountain ».

Gregory made some 26 movies, and appeared on the Roy Rogers network TV show. He was also credited as having been the first accordxion player ever to appear on radio, in 1927.

A native of Staunton, Va., he also performed for years with stage shows, rodeo and the vaudeville circuits. Among his partners along the way were Roy Rogers, Hank Snow, Smiley Burnette and the Lone Ranger. In the 1950’s, Gregory opened an art gallery in New York City. He and his widows later moved it to Nashville.

Chinese Rock'n'Roll

Hillbilly-Music dawt com has a partial list of his recordings. (on Hillbilly and Gregorian, his own labels, and on MGM, Maestro and Apollo).

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Barbecue Rock

Movie picture "Tomboy and the Champ" sort of soap opera/country musical directed by Francis D. Lyon was premiered in Texas on 1 April 1961, exactly 50 years ago.

The plot :

Candy wants to be an animal husband.
Family gives her Champy, a prize steer.
Champy gets lost.
Candy gets polio.
Champy is found.
Candy gets well.
Champy loses big contest, gets bought by beef company.
Candy goes into a coma.
Champy is rescued.
Candy recovers.

Jerry Naill

Of greater interest is the single by young Jerry Naill which was specially released at that occasion, pairing "Barbecue Rock" and "Love Valley". Jerry Naill played his own part in the movie, as well as Rex Allen and Casey Tibbs. I assume that Jerry Naill, despite his young age, was already a seasoned performer and that he sings the song in the movie? No further info found, I'm sorry to say.

"Barbecue Rock" , involving two great american traditions: barbecue and rock and roll, was penned by the owner of the legendary Hitt Records, Elsie WILKS. Label out of Baytown, Texas.

Anyway, I have only the first 45 seconds of the song . That's enough for regretting not to have the full song,

"Barbecue Rock"


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Hector & His Mediators

Born in 1946 in Bossier City, Louisiana, Hector (aka Jean-Pierre Kalfon) recruited Marc Schleck (lead guitar), Serge Mosiniak (bass), Gilbert Krantz (rhythm guitar) and William Roudil (drums) fellow students from the same local high school. The Mediators were born. The year was 1963.

A new organization, the CODOFIL (Counseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane) wanted a French language promotional tool in the Louisiana music scene and, secretly, funded the first recordings of HECTOR ET SES MEDIATORS which were done in New Orleans at the famed Cosimo Matassa studios.

One of the songs scheduled for the session was a cover in french of the Eddie Cochran hit "Something Else" retitled "Elle est Terrible" and translated by André Malraux :

Ecoute un peu, bang! bang!
Cette langue-là, bang! bang!
C'est la plus belle de tout l'quartier...

But Hector, an admirer of Screamin' Jay Hawkins and of Screamin' Lord Sutch, choose instead to sing in english, putting himself toward the apostate Cajuns.

As finely observed by John Broven in his book "South To Louisiana - The Music of the Cajun Bayous'" :

Although most swamp poppers clearly are proud of their heritage, some musical purists argue otherwise : advocating a twisted form of cultural elitism, this small, ill-defined, but well-entrenched faction regards swamp pop artists as apostates – Cajuns and black Creoles who turned their backs on their heritage in exchange for a greater chance at national fame and commercial success – and so deny swamp pop music and artists the benefit of the preservation and promotional efforts afforded to the traditional Cajun and black Creole music.

Apostate without national fame, without commercial success, Hector was however the following year in France. Billed "Le Chopin du Twist", he was the winner of the Grand Prix de l'O.R.T.F. -Office de Radio et de Télévision Française- in Paris. Nothing much happened.

In 1965, Hector was contacted by the french S.D.E.C.E. (Service d'Espionnage et de Contre-Espionnage) for a secret mission in Israël. He worked in Jaffa, at the Maxim Bar, probably for a very short time, as his contract was abruptly terminated. The reasons are detailed in the following document, that I got myself in some ways :



Trivia : Mike Jones, member of the british group FOREIGNER, was for a short time member of the MEDIATORS. Who knew that?

Somethin' Else


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Very obscure record. Not even mentioned in the OUDISPO (Ouvroir de Discographie Potentielle) discography