Ruppli’s King Labels discography is a 2-volume reference set that can be hard to make sense of initially, given all the subsidiary labels and various quirks in its numbering systems, among other things.
Volume 1 features information pertaining to all the releases on the King label from 1943 to 1973, with a great many of these recordings laid down at King‘s Cincinnati studios. It can be great fun to browse chronologically in order to determine whether any recording took place on the birthdate of someone you know, such as family members and friends. At first I was disappointed to find out that no King artists were laying down any new sounds on the day of my birth — at least, in Cincinnati.
Page 470 concludes the post-Syd Nathan Starday-King era, with a listing for a Nashville session that took place on September 23, 1973 by a group called The B.K.‘s [Bob Kames + company], with only one song recorded “Choo Choo Choo” (the B-side of King 6426 — a 45 that appears never to have been issued). However, pages 471-476 list a King 16000 master series of recordings that took place in Los Angeles between the years 1961-1963 (sessions with Johnny Otis and Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, et al., including “Gangster of Love“).
But the real kicker is this announcement near the bottom of page 476:
“Note: Series discontinued and resumed later in Macon, Ga.”
Volume 1, thus, ends with four pages of King recording sessions between the years 1964-1965 that took place in Macon, Georgia at Bobby Smith Studios (and therefore serve as the “missing link” to all the later work* highlighted in last October’s celebration, “Bobby Smith’s King Productions“). So, today I decided to browse these pages with a certain date in mind, and wouldn’t you know it: The Fabulous Denos recorded two songs with Bobby Smith at the helm [“Once I Had a Love” & “Bad Girl“] on the day of my birth — April 13, 1964!
“Bad Girl” The Fabulous Denos 1964
“Bad Girl” – the featured song in this King history piece – served as the B-side of a single released in June, 1964.
Tip of the hat (again) to 45Cat contributor davie gordon for this snippet from Billboard‘s August 22, 1964 edition that shows “Bad Girl” to be a ‘R&B Regional Breakout’ for the urban centers of Atlanta and Cleveland, the city where my dad would relocate by decade’s end — foreshadowing?
Bobby Smith Productions = 1964-1965
Info from The King Labels: A Discography compiled by Michel Ruppli
<click on all song titles below for streaming audio>
Sam Anderson & the Telstars [No Date] BS500 Standing at the Edge of the Sea King 5855 BS501 Back on the Block King 5855 Wayne Cochran [No Date] BS502 Last Kiss King 5856 BS503 I Dreamed, I Gambled, I Lost King 5856 BS504 The Coo King 5874 BS505 Cindy Marie King 5874 Alice Rozier March 16, 1964 BS16133 I Love You a Bushel and a Peck unissued BS16134 My Candy Man King 5896 BS16135 George, BB and Roy King 5896 BS16136 Love Me Like I Love You unissued Eddie Kirk March 17, 1964 BS16137 Let Me Walk With You King 5895 BS16138 I Just Want to Be Loved unissued BS16139 Monkey Tonight King 5895 BS16140 Mary unissued James Duncan [and The Duncan Trio] [1964] BS16141 Here Comes Charlie King 5887 BS16142 Everybody Needs Somebody to Love King 5923 BS16143 I'll Be Gone King 5923 BS16144 My Pillow Stays Wet King 5887 Billy Soul March 19, 1964 BS16145 My Darlin' Honey Baby King 5929 BS16146 Big Balls of Fire King 5929 BS16147 She's Gone (Pt. 1) King 5904 BS16148 So Many People unissued Bobby Leeds March 22, 1964 BS16149 Nothing Too Good for You King 5928 BS16150 When I Fell King 5928 BS16151 I'm Through, I'm Gone, I'm Free King 5903 BS16152 Big Brick Wall King 5903 C.V. Williams March 19, 1964 BS16153 I've Lost the Only One unissued BS16154 My Once-a-Week Love unissued Eddie Kirk September 8, 1964 BS16155 Hog Killin' Time King 5959 BS16156 Treat Me the Way You Want Me King 5959 James Duncan October 11, 1964 BS16157 Three Little Pigs King 5966 BS16158 I Can't Fight the Time King 5966 Bobby Skelton [No Date] BS16159 It Goes Without Saying King 5897 BS16160 Just Two People in the World King 5897 The Fabulous Denos November 23, 1964 BS16161 Hard to Hold Back Tears King 5971 BS16162 I've Enjoyed Being Loved by You King 5971 King Keels April 4, 1964 BS16163 Wondering, Wondering, Wondering King 5969 BS16164 I Hear Love Bells King 5969 James Styles April 4, 1964 BS16165 Sweeter Than a Flower unissued BS16166 I'm on My Way unissued Bobby Cash April 12, 1964 BS16167 I Don't Need Your Love and Kisses King 5894 BS16168 Answer to My Dreams King 5894 Dennis Wheeler April 12, 1964 BS16169 Down in Daytona King 5898 BS16170 Rock Bottom King 5898 The Fabulous Denos April 13, 1964 BS16171 Once I Had a Love King 5908 BS16172 Bad Girl King 5908 Bennie Anderson and the Teals April 28, 1964 BS16173 Little School Girl King 5893 BS16174 Sugar Girl King 5893 Billy Soul March 19, 1964 BS16175 She's Gone (Pt. 2) King 5904 Oscar Toney Jr. (& The Kayos Band) April 19, 1964 BS16176 You're Going to Need Me King 5906 BS16177 Can It All Be Love King 5906 Wayne Cochran January 17, 1965 BS16178 Think King 5994 BS16179 You Left the Water Running King 5994 James Duncan March 12, 1965 BS16180 All Aboard unissued BS16181 My Baby Is Back unissued Alice Rozier February 24, 1965 BS16182 Lonely Girl unissued BS16183 Hold on to You unissued Oscar Toney Jr. (& The Kayos Band) February [ ], 1965 BS16184 I've Found a True Love King 6108 BS16185 Keep on Loving Me King 6108 James Duncan March 12, 1965 BS16186 Guilty King 6013 BS16187 Mr. Goodtime King 6013 Stanley K. [No Date] BS16188 unknown title unissued BS16189 unknown title unissued
Zero to 180 on his Father’s lap – Cincinnati, OH – March, 1966
*Brian Powers was, indeed, correct in his assertion (back in October, 2018) that Bobby Smith Studios had been up and running prior to 1966
For Serious King Records Fans Only: Page 481
Check out these random bits of King recording session info on the very last page of Volume 1 that fall under the catch-all title Additional King Sessions — including a live James Brown & the Famous Flames set at Baltimore’s Royal Theater in 1963.