Oramell « Scrapper » Pratt
1944-2022
63 - Some Sweet Day / Guitar Man's Struggle
64 - I'll Find A Love / Always Be True
64 - When I Saw Your Eyes / Tell Me
73 - Six Pack To Go / September In The Rain (FL-104)
Scrapper Pratt's Falcons
file include titles in bold above
Groovy Grooves 2 Jul 2026 DL 60
I have only one rule here : always offer you music that meets the highest standards of good taste and quality. No exception today with Bob Krass who was certainly from the class of Mickey Katz, Jerry Lewis and other talented Jewish singers. Must be in the blood.
.JPG) |
Ben Krass in 1961
|
Clothing tycoon turned crooner, Ben Krass was one of the owners of Krass Brothers, a store on South Street in Philadephia. Ben became a celebrity locally because of his short and bizarre commercials, like Krass in a coffin saying "If You Gotta Go, Go In A Krass Brothers Suit."
Born in 1919, Ben died in 2004 of complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was a successful businesman with the Krass Brothers' clothing store opened in 1947, but his love for music made him found his own record label South Street Records in 1960, a short lived venture in the music biz.
Other 45s followed on Krass (1960), Bond (1960-1961) , Raleigh (1961) , Camelot (1961-1962), Diamond and Apex (as Bob Willow, 1962), Foxie (Camelot recordings, 1962), Diatone (as Bob Willow, 1963) and Gamble (as Bee Kays, 1967, as The Boss Man, 1968, as B. K. Marcus, 1971).
In the mid 60's he collaborated with Curtis Mayfield and he reportedly lent money to Kenneth Gamble so Gamble could pursue his own musical dreams. He co-wrote and co-produced some sides with Gamble through Kay-Bee Productions for The Knights And Arthur.
Alex Houston
and
Elmer
Burn Your Bra, Baby
Willex Records 45-72-14
Willex Products, Inc.
Omaha, Nebraska
1972
From I've Got a Song to Write--Kent Westberry's Story: 60 Years in Country Music as a Songwriter, Singer, Record Producer, and Entertainer
I was booked on a date for a Willex party. They had all kinds of products like soap, cosmetics, and cleaners. We went over so well that Mike Peavyhouse, the head of Willex, came over and asked us to play some more shows for them. I took Dale [Dale Turner, Kent’s wife] with me on the next show and they loved us. Mike said, "How would you like to work all our shows exclusively?" He put us on a salary of five hundred dollars a week whether we worked or not. Back then that was good money. He gave us an expense acount and a new Cadillac to drive. It was great ! […]
Then Mike Peavyhouse wanted to start a record label called Willex Records, and he wanted me to do the producing. I got back to Nashville and started the ball rolling.
Alex Houston, one of the best ventriloquists in the business (his puppet's name was "Elmer") lived next door to us at the time. Years earlier, Alex had been on the Jimmy Dean Show out of Washington, DC. Dale knew him from there. I had a great idea, I thought. Why not record Alex and Elmer the puppet? We have a unique song. Mike Peavyhouse from Willex said, "Why don't you write one about burn your bra, baby?" That whas when burn your bra was the popular thing to do. When Max D. Barnes and I were on one of the Willex shows and in our motel room, we got the guitars out and wrote "Burn Your Bra, Baby." I cut it on Alex and Elmer. I had a song for the B side, it was "Camp Chuga Chuga." I also produced a Christmas LP on Alex and Elmer called "Here Comes Peter Cotton Claus." (...) It was weird. In the studio I found myself talking to Elmer the puppet more than to Alex!
*
Some time later, Benny Johnson recorded a cover of the song issued by Wow Records, operated by William Ovilee “W. O.” White from this home at 2134 Woodard, Abilene, Texas, where he also taught piano and guitar for over 30 years.
Benny Johnson
Burn Your Bra, Baby
(erroneously credited to B. Johnson himself, instead of Kent Westberry)
*
What remains to be clarified is the exact role played by Blanche Butler, Kent Westberry’s co-composer of the song. What do I know is that she had one relase on Wow : ''Boggle Man's palace" in 1970.
Women of Music Volume 24
Lovely Deborah Evans on cover
tracklist
Anita Karlsen - '57 Chevrolet.mp3
Ann Breen - Save The Last Dance For Me.mp3
Bernice Gooden - Just Wanna Be Near You.mp3
Carol & The Country Rebels -Fire Below.mp3
Darlene Gillespie - Rock-A-Billy.mp3
Deborah Evans & The Flying Lizards - Money.mp3
La Rene La Rue - Bye Bye.mp3
Norma Lyn - Whole Lot Of Shakin'.mp3
Sally Massey - Walkin After Midnight.mp3
Sharon Higgins - The Girl Who Always Does And Says She Don't.mp3
Sugar Pie DeSanto - I Want To Know.mp3
Sunny Gale - Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad.mp3
.jpg)