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King Records Trivia: Maxi-Tweets

Fun Facts & Trivia — 

Top Tweets from King Records Month 2018

As with the previous piece (“King’s Jazz Legacy“), it seems pointless to keep all this rich history from last year’s King 75th Birthday Celebration (a wide-ranging musical extravaganza organized by Brian Powers of Cincinnati Public Libraries) tucked away in a file attachment.  One year later, it has become obvious that this “once-tweeted” information would serve humanity to a much greater degree if likewise liberated and laid out clearly, without concern for limits on text or number of illustrations.  These original tweets have been richly supplemented — hence the term, “maxi-tweets” for this updated version. [Note: this research was further enhanced and expanded in late 2024]

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Modernist Pavilion –

Cincinnati’s Bellevue Park overlooking downtown

Designed by Carl Freund –

Influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright

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streaming audio:

Click on song titles highlighted in bold blue ink

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King History Tweet #1

Roots of “Claw Picking“

Mose Rager — who, along with Ike Everly (father of Everly Brothers, Phil and Don), taught Merle Travis the “claw picking” technique — believe it or not, once played on a Fairley Holden recording session for King.  According to Dave Sax‘s liner notes for Ace UK’s King Hillbilly Bop ‘n’ Boogie: King/Federal’s Roots Of Rockabilly —

Fairley’s new version [of “Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Of Me“] for King (his third) sold well enough to warrant three more sessions during the year, including 12 songs cut in December [1947] before the [1948 recording] ban.  He was backed by Moon Mullican (with whom he also toured in Detroit) at his first two sessions, while Mose Rager and another guitarist are heard at the December date.  This and a session with Curly Fox & Texas Ruby, also for King, give us the only example of Rager’s work on record [emphasis mine].

Check out the instrumental intro from “Sweet Mama, Put Him in Low,” a song from Holden’s last session for King — those guitar lines must belong to Rager, right?  That same recording session also includes “You’ve Been a Bad Bad Little Girl“; “Oh, That Naggin’ Wife of Mine“; “It’ll Make a Change in Business” (guitar solo at 1:11); “Put Some Meat on Them Bones“; “Don’t Monkey Around With My Widder When I’m Gone“; and “Long Long Dresses,” with the guitar work on these tracks bearing that classic “Travis-style” picking technique which came directly from Rager and Ike Everly, as acknowledged in Travis’ bio for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  A tip of the hat, by the way, to PragueFrank for pointing out that Holden’s first session for King took place in February, 1947 at E.T. Herzog Recording Studio in Cincinnati.

With regard to Curly Fox and Texas Ruby, since the duo did a total of two recording sessions for King (as indicated in Michel Ruppli‘s recording session notes), it is unclear as to which of the seventeen tracks feature Rager’s playing, since he only played on “a” recording session, as Sax states above.  However, if I were to be so bold, I suspect that Rager’s guitar work can be heard on the second King recording session that yielded “You Don’t Love Me (But I’ll Always Care)” and four other songs.  If I’m correct, that means Rager can also be heard (at least, theoretically) on “Those Dreams Are Gone” (solo guitar at the 0:50 mark); “On the Banks of the Lonely River“; “Falling Leaf“; and “You’ll Remember and Be Blue.”

Check out the “Travis-style” guitar break

1:48 mark

“You’ll Remember And Be Blue,” incidentally, was only ever issued by King on Nashville Bandstand Vol. 2 (below), the same album that includes (as previously noted) Merle Travis’s lone King recording as a solo artist, “What Will I Do,” an “orphaned” track from King’s early days.  This same LP also includes Moon Mullican‘s “Too Many Irons in the Fire,” a song co-written by Mullican with (King A&R producer) Henry Glover, Erwin King, and “Lois Mann” [publishing pen name for Syd Nathan].

Volume 1 sold at auction for $26 in 2012

“Jay & Cee“

Henry Glover’s publishing firm

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King History Tweet #2

The Delmore Brothers: King’s 1st Signing

If you discount the first two King releases (King 500 and King 501) — four songs that were recorded north of Cincinnati in a small Dayton studio and issued under assumed names, since the two artists involved, Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones were already under contract to WLW — then The Delmore Brothers were the first “proper” artists to be signed to King. In his memoir, Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity, Alton Delmore points out that, prior to helping King Records (pro bono) establish its footing in the music industry, the Delmore Brothers had been a national recording act “known coast to coast,” and it was thanks to their reputation as Decca and RCA/Bluebird artists that “Sydney Nathan got his start from our name.”

1958 King LP:

Sold for $300 in 2012

Says one Discogs contributor: The late 1940s/early 1950s “hillbilly boogie” phenomenon found its highest expression in these guys’ work. Giving their old-fashioned “brother act” sound a major goose, the Delmore Brothers put hillbilly boogie on the map with a series of upbeat, blues-flavored tunes that were simultaneously peppy and mournful. “Freight Train Boogie,” “Brown’s Ferry Blues,” and their mopey masterpiece, “Blues Stay Away From Me,” all became classics in the country canon.

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King’s first “proper” session, therefore, took place (again) in Dayton, Ohio circa January of 1944 (per PragueFrank), although actually, it was a series of three recording dates that spanned 1944-1945 — thank goodness 78 RPM is on hand to help break down the complicated recording (and publishing) history behind King 503 – “Prisoner’s Farewell” b/w “Sweet Sweet Thing“:

  • First recorded January, 1944 in Dayton, OH (1st version).
  • Re-recorded later in 1944 – also in Dayton, OH (2nd version).
  • Re-recorded again early 1945 at King’s Cincinnati headquarters [pre-King Studios] (3rd version).
  • All versions used the same matrix numbers (1772 “Prisoner’s Farewell” & 1774 “Sweet Sweet Thing”).
  • 2nd and 3rd version have “Sweet Sweet Thing” as A-side and “Jim Scott” as composer (like “Jean Ruhe” – a pseudonym for Alton Delmore, who was “under contract to Sylvester Cross, owner of the American Music publishing company,” so says The Delmore Brothers’ Complete Sessionography).

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King 503

2nd version (Dec. 1944)

Billboard 1944 Musical Year Book

Sept. 23, 1944

Excerpt of Ad = King’s First 6 Single Releases

rendering of the “new” King Records plant

According to 78 RPM, King 503 was released on December 1, 1944 along with four other simultaneous King releases:

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King 502 – Grandpa Jones
A: “It’s Raining Here This Morning“
B: “I’ll Be Around If You Need Me“

According to one 78 RPM contributor, “The original of this is also rare and again quite primitive. The remake is the ultimate version with Travis [on electric guitar] more to the fore and Grandpa’s vocals more distinctive on both sides. So with Travis clearly heard and the sparse sound with only Grandpa’s guitar as back-up, this could well be called the first rockabilly record.”

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King 504 – Carlisle Brothers
A: “I Paid With A Broken Heart“
B: “Maggie Get The Hammer“

According to 78 RPM: Originally recorded summer of 1944;
Re-recorded August 1945.

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King 505 – Cowboy Copas
A: “Filipino Baby“
B: “I Don’t Blame You“

According to 78 RPM: First recorded 1944;
Re-recorded July 1945 at E.T. Herzog Studio.

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King 506 – Bill And Evalina
A: “Won’t You Take Me Back Into Your Heart“
B: “Good-bye Booze“

According to 78 RPM: Recorded early summer 1944 in Dayton, OH;
“Jim Scott” presumably a pseudonym for Alton Delmore.

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King History Tweet #3

Roy Lanham on King

Southwest Shuffle, Rich Kienzle‘s history of honky tonk, western swing, and country jazz pioneers, has a chapter about guitar great Roy Lanham (“Neither Fish Nor Fowl”), whose title pinpoints the musician’s unfortunate predicament, in that he was considered “too country for jazz” and “too jazz for country”!  Lanham (celebrated here in 2015) can be heard on Hank Penny‘s very first recording session for King in 1944 that took place (it’s been said) in a room above the Wurlitzer Music Center in Cincinnati located at 1509 Broadway. That first session yielded four songs: “Last Night“; “Tear Stains on Your Letter“; “Talkin’ ‘Bout You“; and “Hope You’re Satisfied” (with Louis Innis on second guitar and Lowell “Zed“ Tennis on fiddle).

King 507

Released December 1, 1944

Lanham’s most famous session work for King in the label’s early years can be heard on such Delmore Brothers sides as “Goin’ Back to the Blue Ridge Mountains“; “Boogie Woogie Baby“; “Freight Train Boogie“; and “Shame on Me” — songs recorded at E.T. Herzog’s Studio in October, 1946 with Henry D. “Homer” Haynes (guitar) and Kenneth C. “Jethro” Burns (mandolin), who performed under the stage name, Homer and Jethro (and nicknamed “The Thinking Man’s Hillbillies”). 

Billboard

Nov. 9, 1946

One year later, Lanham would join forces with Merle Travis at Cincinnati’s King Studios (according to PragueFrank) on October 7, 1947 to record eight songs, including “You Can’t Do Wrong and Get By“; “Long Journey Home“; “Dis Train“; “The Frozen Girl“; “Red River Valley“; and “Give Me Your Hand.“

King EP

1954

October 14, 1949 would find Lanham recording his swansong with the Delmore Brothers “Trouble Ain’t Nothing But the Blues,” a song co-written by the Delmore Brothers with Henry “Bernard” Glover, along with one other track, “Fast Train Through Arkansas,” that remains in the King vault (although label mate Wayne Raney would record a version that King found suitable for release in April of 1950).

Did You Know?

According to PragueFrank, Henry Glover played piano on at least two Delmore Brothers sessions (March 1, 1951 & October 22, 1951), as well as on three recording dates for Wayne Raney (March 1, 1951; October 22, 1951 & June 23, 1953) and at least one date for the York Brothers (March 7, 1951 – and “possibly” three others). PragueFrank also credits Glover with string bass on at least one Delmore Brothers session (May 9, 1949 – “Blues Stay Away From Me”), although Charles K. Wolfe disputes that assertion in his “editor’s postscript” that closes Alton Delmore’s memoir, Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity:

Like many popular standards, “Blues Stay Away From Me” was written in a rather casual and off-hand manner. At a session on May 6, 1949, at King’s Cincinnati studio, Syd Nathan approached Alton and asked him if had heard the new dance tune, “The Hucklebuck.” Alton of course had, since the tune, in various jazz and blues guises, was sweeping the country. “Alton,” said Syd, “I want you to write me a hillbilly Hucklebuck. I want a beat, but I want it to be hillbilly.” Alton soon formulated the outline of the song, and Rabon helped him work out some suitable words.

But the song didn’t have quite the beat it needed, and Alton turned for advice to Henry Glover. Glover, a black pianist and arranger, served as sort of a house musician and producer for King’s rhythm & blues series. According to Lionel Delmore, Glover would frequently help out in Delmore sessions, playing on some sides and helping to write parts on others. It was Glover who finally helped Alton work out the famous background riff that opens “Blues Stay Away From Me.” (The completed song carried four composer credits: Alton, Rabon, Glover, and [Wayne] Raney.) Glover apparently did not actually play on the record; Wayne Raney and Lonnie Glosson played twin harmonicas to the Delmores’ singing.

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King 803

Recorded May 9, 1949

Henry Glover on bass fiddle?

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King History Tweet #4

Western Swing on King

Noted western swing bandleader Spade Cooley cut sessions for King Records “under vocalist Red Egner‘s name,” according to Kevin Coffey‘s liner notes in Westside CD compilation, Shuffle Town – Western Swing on King. Michel Ruppli‘s King recording session notes are, sadly, bereft of any musician credits, although they do indicate that a total of eight sides were waxed in October of 1946 that King released as four 78s, [along with two unreleased tracks, “You Didn’t Want Me (When You Had Me)” and “South of Old San Antone“]:

  • “You Never Miss the Water Till the Well Runs Dry“
  • “Turn My Picture Upside Down“
  • “I Can’t Forgive Myself (For Not Forgiving You)”
  • “Brown Eyed Baby“
  • “Baby I’m So Doggon’ Tired“
  • “You Didn’t Want Me (When You Had Me)”
  • “Hide Your Face“
  • “Swing Billy A-La-Mode“

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“Swing Billy A-La-Mode” – on 1962 Audio Lab LP

Spade Cooley’s group: .‘The California Cutups‘

PragueFrank’s session notes make no mention of the October, 1946 recording date for King, but instead spell out the musician credits for a Spade Cooley session that had taken place four months earlier (June 6, 1946) in Los Angeles.

Q = How many of the musicians from the June 6th session do you suspect, played on the Red Egner recordings for King — sides that presumably were recorded in Los Angeles during Syd Nathan’s extensive West Coast romp of 1946?

Noel Boggs – Steel guitar
Smokey Rogers – Guitar
John Weis – Guitar
Muddy Berry – Drums
[unnamed musician] – Bass
[unnamed musician] – Piano
Andrew “Cactus” Soldi – Fiddle
Larry “Pedro” De Paul – Accordion
George Bamby – Accordion
Paul Featherstone – Harp

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Sure sounds like Noel Boggs, right?

streaming audio

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King History Tweet #5
Western Swing + Steel Guitar
Noel Boggs

(Pre-pedal) steel guitar legend Noel Boggs also played on King/DeLuxe sessions for two western swing notables – Hank Penny and Jimmie Widener:

Boggs played a 1945 recording session at radio station KXLA in Los Angeles (with Hank Penny on rhythm guitar, Merle Travis on electric guitar, Harold Hensley on fiddle, Frank Buckley & Stan Ellison on accordion, and Allen Reinhart on bass) that yielded twelve songs:

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Billboard

May 4, 1946

Noel Boggs played four sessions for Jimmie Widener — September 18, 19, 21 & 23, 1946 at Hollywood’s Universal Recorders — that yielded sixteen songs, including eight tracks deemed suitable for release:

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PragueFrank informs us, thankfully, which personnel provided musical support for Widener:

Jimmie Widener – Vocal & guitar
Noel Boggs – Steel guitar
Jimmy Wyble* – Electric guitar
Jimmy Pruett – piano
Harold Hensley – fiddle
Woody Applewhite – fiddle
Buddy Ray – fiddle
Truman Quigley – trumpet

*Wyble later starred with jazz greats, Benny Goodman & Red Norvo

Of the eight recordings that were determined to be insufficiently commercial, one unissued track, “Shuffle Town,” would be selected – in the year 2000 – as the title track of a CD anthology, Shuffle Town – Western Swing on King 1946-1950, that also rounded up the other seven unissued tracks from those King sessions:

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King History Tweet #6
More King Steel Guitar Trivia:
Earl “Joaquin” Murphey

Jimmie Widener’s “What A Line!” — produced and co-written by Merle Travis for release by King Records in 1946 — features stellar steel guitar by Earl ‘Joaquin’ Murphey, best known for his blazing work with Spade Cooley.  Ruppli’s session notes are very skeletal with regard to recording dates and musical personnel during King’s early years, but fortunately, Dave Sax comes to the rescue with his liner notes for the Ace UK anthology, King Hillbilly Bop ‘n’ Boogie:

Jimmie Widener was born in Oklahoma in 1924, and his career included stints with the Spade Cooley, Bob Wills and Tex Williams bands – and also the 24 sides he recorded for King.  “What a Line!” was from his first session held at Universal Recorders, Hollywood on 25 March 1946 during the sessions that Merle Travis produced.  The song enjoyed a new lease of life in near rockabilly format when recorded by Carl Story for Columbia in 1955.  The all-star personnel featured Jimmie Widener (guitar), Shelby ‘Tex‘ Atchison (fiddle), Harold Hensley (fiddle), Joaquin Murphey (steel guitar), Charlie Morgan (guitar), George Bamby (accordion), Vic Davis (piano), and Shug Fisher (bass). 

Kevin Coffey‘s liner notes for Shuffle Town point out that “Widener had recently been playing tenor banjo with [Bob Wills backing band] The Texas Playboys and had sung ‘How Can It Be Wrong‘ with Wills at a recording session less than two weeks before these September 18-23 [1946] King [Hollywood] sessions began.”

With regard to those September, 1946 sessions at Universal Recorders —

Syd and his King Records hit Hollywood with all the force of an earthquake,” journalist C. Phil Henderson enthused soon after in his Tophand magazine – and over the next month, at Hollywood’s Universal Recorders, Nathan waxed a hundred-plus sides on Widener, Penny, Red Egner, Tex Atchison and others.

Three other songs were recorded at the October, 1946 session that produced “What A Line!” — thus, Joaquin Murphey’s scintillating steel guitar can also be heard on “There’s A New Day Tomorrow“; “I Can Tell Just As Plain“; and “I’m All Through Trusting You.”

VIDEO LINKS!

Lega Juan (a.k.a. “The Boppin’ Guitar“) shows you how to play Joaquin Murphey’s solos note-for-note on —

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Joaquin Murphey with Bigsby’s 1st lap steel guitar
Still image from 1945 film footage of Spade Cooley

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King History Tweet #7
(Still) More King Steel Guitar Trivia:
Billy Bowman

Paul Howard and His Arkansas Cotton Pickers recorded their first session for King in Cincinnati on January, 26, 1949 with Bob Wills alumnus, Billy Bowman, on steel guitar, who was joined by Red Perkins on vocals, Jabbo Arrington on guitar, two fiddlers in Red Harper and “Julliard-trained” Roddy Bristol, and pianist Harold Horner.  According to Kevin Coffey, this session also marked the recording debut of A-team Nashville session bassist, Bob Moore (father of R. Stevie Moore – “Godfather of Home Recording“). Four songs were recorded at this January, 1949 session for King:

  • “Texas Boogie”
  • “Torn Between True Love and Desire“
  • “Hora Sta Cotton Picker“
  • “Twelve O’Clock Waltz“

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Audio above not pristine

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King History Tweet #8
King Gospel

Queen, King’s short-lived subsidiary label (1945-1947) that was established solely for African-American artists, featured mostly rhythm and blues and boogie but also included a fair amount of gospel music, primarily Wings Over Jordan, a choir led by Glynn T. Settle and conducted by Frank C. Everett. 

Queen Records ad

Billboard Encyclopedia of Music (1946-1947)

page 273

Wings Over Jordan recorded a pair of V-Discs in 1945, one year prior to the group signing with King, for whom they recorded twelve sides at a June, 1946 session — recordings issued that same year as single releases. In 1946, Queen also released three 10-inch discs specially packaged in an “album” that featured six of the twelve sides recorded at a June, 1946 session:

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1946 triple-disc “album” on Queen

Songs also distributed in the UK on Parlophone

“My Lord’s Gonna Move This Wicked Race“

Wings Over Jordan’s final Queen single

Nov. 1946

Nearly seven years would pass before the Wings Over Jordan Choir would recorded twelve more sides for King at their Cincinnati recording facility on April 23, 1953:

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12 songs released 1953 as 3 King EPs

12 songs released 1956 as King LP 519

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King History Tweet #9

(Pre-) Big Maybelle on King

Mabel Smith — five years before she would be renamed Big Maybelle by Okeh producer, Fred Mendelsohn — made her recording debut for King, with backing support from Hot Lips Page And His Orchestra on three recording dates in late 1947: 

(a) November, 1947 session that yielded four songs, including “Indian Giver“; “Little Miss Muffet“‘; and “Bad Dream Blues“

“Featuring Lonnie Johnson on guitar”

(b) December, 1947 session at King Studios that yielded “Too Tight Mama” — musician credits below, courtesy of Michel Ruppli’s King session notes:

Mabel Smith – Vocals
Oran Thaddeus “Hot Lips” Page – Trumpet
Joe Britton – Trombone
Vincent Bair-Bey – Alto sax
Hal Singer – Tenor sax
Tom Archia – Tenor sax
Joe Knight – Piano
Carl “Flat Top” Wilson – Bass
Clarence “Bobby” Donaldson – Drums

(c) December, 1947 session at King Studios that yielded “Sad and Disappointed Jill” and “Don’t Try to Fool Me” — musician credits below, courtesy of Michel Ruppli’s King session notes:

Mabel Smith – Vocals
Oran Thaddeus “Hot Lips” Page – Trumpet
Joe Britton – Trombone
Vincent Bair-Bey – Alto sax
Hal Singer – Tenor sax
Tom Archia – Tenor sax
Joe Knight – Piano
Carl “Flat Top” Wilson – Bass
Clarence “Bobby” Donaldson – Drums

This French disc from 2004 compiles all of Big Maybelle’s King 78 sides, plus two unissued tracks:  “Foolin’ Blues” and “Dirty Deal Blues.” This same CD anthology also asserts that Lonnie Johnson played on all eight Mabel Smith sides for King — which makes sense, since Lonnie Johnson recorded “Jelly Roll Baker” accompanied by the Hot Lips Page Band at [one can easily infer given these two sessions sitting side-by-side in Ruppli’s recording notes] Mabel Smith’s final King session in December, 1947.

Released Aug. 1950

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Did You Know?

Mabel Smith was the vocalist for the all-female jazz big band, International Sweethearts of Rhythm, early in her career from 1936 to 1944, according to Discogs.

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King History Tweet #10

King artists “Zebb” Turner and “Cow Boy” Copas enjoyed a split EP release in Denmark on the Vogue label that includes Turner’s 1951 breakout hit “Chew Tobacco Rag” sitting alongside Copas’s 1947 version of “Tennessee Waltz.” Copas, in fact, had tried to buy “Tennessee Waltz” on a song-scouting expedition for Syd Nathan, in a classic capitalist tale that music historian Darren Blase (of Shake It Records) recounted for his excellent piece, “The Lonesome Ballad of Cowboy Copas,” published in the August 1, 2013 edition of Cincinnati Magazine. [Note: Title of the EP, Rendezvous Dansant, translates into English from the Danish (per Google) as “Rendezvous Dancer” — thus, this 6-song set is billed as a “dance” mix.]

That’s Zeb with two B’s –

1960 EP – Denmark

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King History Tweet #11

Tommy Scott’s Hillbilly Bop on Federal:
The “Pre-Nashville” A Team @ King Studios

Federal — the King subsidiary established to allow Ralph Bass a vehicle for sourcing talent and producing material that encompassed “rhythm, blues, and spiritual” sounds — nevertheless had a Hillbilly Series division within the label, at least initially.  According to Dave Sax‘s liner notes in Ace UK’s King Hillbilly Bop ‘n’ Boogie, “only two hillbilly artists actually recorded new sessions specifically earmarked for Federal.”  One of those artists, Tommy Scott, recorded the hobo train classic “Rockin’ and Rollin’” at Cincinnati’s King Studios on January 4, 1951 with a backing band that included Hank Williams‘ one-time steel guitarist Jerry Byrd (profiled in Zero to 180’s tribute to Cincinnati’s Herzog Studios) and (future Nashville session fiddler emeritus) Tommy Jackson — who both backed Williams on “Lovesick Blues” (recorded at Herzog Studios in August of 1949), along with Louis Innis and Zeke Turner.

Scott, who signed his King/Lois contract on December 15, 1950, talks about his time at King as a Federal artist in his telephone directory-sized memoir, Snake Oil, Superstars And Me, “Doc” Tommy Scott:

On the second session June 4, 1951, we did four sides. Gaines Blevins this time moved to the guitar, and I think Jerry Byrd and Tommy Jackson joined us again. I don’t remember the other musicians on these two 1951 sessions. Mr. Nathan often used musicians from Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys.

Mr. Nathan wasn’t feeling well, so he included partner Henry Glover on the session. After Mr. Nathan got us started, he went home, and Henry and I started working together. This is where Mr. Nathan and I had our first disagreement. Henry was the A & R man, artist and repertoire, for King and in this particular instance, he did some additions to the four songs that I was recording:

Henry insisted that his contributions to the songs entitled him to 33 percent of each song. Needless to say, when I left there I was hot over the matter and declined to allow such a thing; I thought that was part of his job.

Mr. Nathan wrote me a few days later saying, “I think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill,” and he impressed upon me the importance of having Henry in my camp and letting him share in the royalties.

“Henry Glover’s job is not to rewrite everybody’s material to make it commercial, Tommy,” he wrote. “…his writing ability is a separate item, and we keep it separate.“

Mr. Nathan said that the songs could not have been recorded in the state that I brought them. I still differ with him on that, but I gave in allowing Henry’s name to ever be tied to mine in these songs. I still do not think he made that much of a difference, but I gave in to appease Mr. Nathan and keep goodwill with the company.

Recorded January 4, 1951 at Cincinnati’s King Studios:

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“Santa Claus Shuffle” b/w “It’s You“

Cash Box singles review

Nov. 24, 1951

Tommy Scott throws another tune into the Xmas derby and comes up with a jumpy ditty. The lyrics and melody help make this a strong number for the machines for the coming holiday. The lower end is a pleasant tune with a bounce and again Tommy makes it sound good. We think it’s the top level.

Both sides by Tommy Scott & Henry Glover

Tommy Scott recorded two more sessions for King in 1952 before he decided it was time to move on:

January 2, 1952 session at King Studios that yielded four songs recorded by Scott, who was accompanied by (as he recalls in his memoir) the following musicians —

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Tommy Scott – Vocals & rhythm guitar
Jerry Byrd – Steel guitar
Zeb Turner – Lead guitar
Louis Innis – Guitar
Tommy Jackson – Fiddle
Mattie O’Neil – Banjo
Slim Newman – Bass

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June 20, 1952 session at King Studios that yielded four songs recorded by “Ramblin'” Tommy Scott, who was accompanied by (as he recalls in his memoir) the following musicians —

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Tommy Scott – Vocals & rhythm guitar
Bobby Koefer – Steel guitar
Zeb Turner – Lead guitar
Louis Innis – Guitar
Redd Stewart – Fiddle
James Boyd – Fiddle
Mattie O’Neil – Banjo
Slim Newman – Bass

At the end of 1952, Syd Nathan would grant Tommy Scott’s request to release him from his King contract. And yet, surprisingly perhaps, nine years later Scott would return to King for one last single release — “Where Did You Stay Last Night” b/w “I’m Lonesome Over You” — that was recorded with Harry Head (“a young singer I was pushing”) and released in June, 1961.

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King History Tweet #12
Train Songs on King

You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy a good train song, and one of the best collections I’ve heard is an anthology of mostly obscure 45s called Choo Choo Bop (issued by German label, Buffalo Bop). The tenth track – Larry Harvey‘s “Rolling Home” – is one of my faves, and happens to be a King classic from 1957 that will have you singing the refrain in no time.  The person who posted this YouTube clip notes that “Rolling Home” is actually an update of “Fast Moving Night Train” (written by Rudy Toombs, sung by Grandpa Jones) that unfortunately is not available on YouTube.

“Rolling Home“

Larry Harvey (1957)

According to Discogs:

Larry Harvey was a Canadian country singer originally from Newfoundland.  Moved to Toronto where he saw some success and then later to Nashville.  He was one of the inaugural members of the Country Music Association in 1956.  After a dispute with his record company King Records over Newfoundland distribution he left his contract.  He was unable to keep food on his family’s table, so he returned to Ontario and worked in a factory, then later started a small business.  Subject of the 2008 documentary “Paper Promises” by his son Shane Harvey.

Here are four other King train songs worth investigating:

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String band and rhythm section set up a strong beat and keep it driving right thru as the Jones gal hands the tune a growling chant.

King “bio disc“

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Clever story novelty about an engineer with a slow freight train receives a lively performance by Newman.  Tune is melodic with a boogie beat.  Could grab loot.  A good kiddie disc, too.

Boudleaux Bryant

Future Everly Brothers hitmaker –
and early member of Hank Penny’s band

[Bob Newman, it must be said, also recorded Henry Glover’s truck-driving classic “Hauling Freight” –
celebrated in Zero to 180’s piece from 2016.]

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  • “Freight Train Boogie” — the great Delmore Brothers hit from 1946 would be given a new lease on life when recorded in a dual-guitar arrangement by Reno & Smiley And The Tennessee Cutups and released as a King single in 1960. Billboard‘s February 8, 1960 edition expressed solid support in its review: “Pleasant blend work by pair on solid country item with standout guitar solo work.”

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Feb. 1960

Reissued in 1964

  • “East Bound Freight Train” — Grandpa Jones‘ original composition from 1946 that may or may not have been a big seller for King would be given a new lease on life when recorded in a dual-guitar arrangement by Reno & Smiley And The Tennessee Cutups and released as a King single in 1960.  Billboard‘s July 11, 1960 edition characterized Reno & Smiley’s recording as “traditional country in performance,” and noted that its chanting has “the hills sound.”

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1961 King EP

PragueFrank states that Grandpa Jones (supported by Billy Strickland on steel guitar) recorded “East Bound Freight Train” circa December 1944 at “King Recording Studio,” which is not possible, however, as the “new” studio had not yet been constructed — although it is important to note that recording did sometimes take place in the administrative offices at King’s Brewster Avenue home base prior to the construction of King Studios.

Aug. 1946

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  • Zero to 180 justifiably received flak for not originally including Tiny Bradshaw‘s “Train Kept A-Rollin’” — the roots rock rhythm ‘n’ blues classic that was first reinvigorated by rockabilly great, the Johnny Burnette Trio, and then again by Jeff Beck‘s Yardbirds, as well as Jimmy Page‘s New Yardbirds, before being appropriated one last time during the classic rock era by Aerosmith. Worth pointing out that “Train Kept A-Rollin’” ended up being the very first song played at the inaugural jam session by all four (future) members of Led Zeppelin (at which point, “the whole room just exploded” = see fuller story near the bottom).

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Tiny Bradshaw

King EP

1953

Johnny Burnette Trio

EP – France

1957

The Yardbirds

45 – Germany

1965

Led Zeppelin

Bootleg LP of Jan. 1969 show

Includes “Train Kept A-Rollin'”

Aerosmith

45 – Canada

1974

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King History Tweet #13
King Gospel II

Billboard‘s May 3, 1952 edition reports that a Shenandoah, Iowa disk jockey had held a contest, asking listeners to guess the names of the individual members of The Harlan County Four, King recording artists and a “folk supergroup” of sorts who had recently (February, 1952) released their own version of “The Atomic Telephone“: .a gospel song written primarily by Henry Glover and Eddie Smith and first voiced by The Spirit of Memphis Quartet, whose August 14, 1951 recording at King Studios had been released (April, 1952) by King.  It is entirely possible that The Harlan County Four’s sole session at King Studios had been supervised by Henry Glover, who co-wrote one other song at that October 29, 1951 recording date (that likewise had been recorded earlier by The Spirit of Memphis Quartet): .“Ten Commandments.” Raise your hand if you know the secret identities behind the Harlan County Four — answer is in this Zero to 180 piece.

Co-written by Eddie Smith –
artist, arranger, and later, chief engineer

Eddie Smith celebrated in 2022’s “King Records: Trunkful of Trivia” piece

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King History Tweet #14

Boogie & Piedmont Blues on King

Famed folk and blues duo Sonny Terry (harmonica) and Brownie McGhee (guitar) recorded a single session for King in support of singer and Piedmont country blues guitarist, Ralph Willis, with Gary Mapp ably serving on string bass.  Four sides were recorded by the four musicians January 14, 1953 in New York City, almost certainly under Henry Glover‘s supervision, including “Gonna Hop On Down the Line“; “Do Right” and “Door Bell Blues.”

“Jay & Cee”

All four sides on “shared” album with Paul Howard*

*Actually, these tracks are by Country Paul (born Edward Paul Harris in North Carolina), blues singer and guitarist, whose 1951-1952 sessions for King were produced by Henry Glover in New York City – not the western swing bandleader, Paul Howard, who was a favorite guest of the Grand Ole Opry (and featured in Tweet #7 above).

1970 King LP

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King History Tweet #15

Continental Pop on King

Petula Clark on King Records?  It’s true!  Clark’s 1954 UK hit “The Little Shoemaker” was issued that same year in the US (on King) and Canada (on Quality) — ten years before Clark would win the 1964 Grammy for Best Rock ‘n’ Roll Recording (over The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”).  Billboard‘s singles review from their July 17, 1954 edition:

“King 1371 – If this side had come out some weeks ago it could easily have pulled a good part of the action on the tune.  Petula Clark warbles the opus with a smile in her voice and she’s backed wonderfully by the large ork.  Disk, an English import, could still garner loot if exploited.”

“Pet” Clark on King

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King History Tweet #16

Rudy Ray Moore’s Earliest Recordings

Rudy (pre-Dolemite) Moore earliest recordings appear to be the eight sides he recorded over two sessions for Federal Records in the mid-1950s:

First recording session for Federal – December, 1955 – that yielded four songs: 

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Cash Box‘s singles review from their January 28, 1956 edition of “I’m Mad With You” b/w “My Little Angel“:

“I’m Mad With You” (2:44) [Armo BMI – Rudy Moore] Rudy Moore is mad, and his anger lends zest to his vocal of the middle beat jump blues. Item moves and should satisfy the jump market.

“My Little Angel” (2:43) [Armo BMI – Moore, Nightingale] Moore sings a slow, down home blues. His handling of the moving, tender subject is good and bears watching.

“Armo“
Ralph Bass‘ publishing company

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Bonus Image

Eddie Murphy as “Dolemite” holding a doctored “Rudy Ray Moore” Federal 45!

“The Buggy Ride“

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Moore’s second and final Federal recording session – June 1, 1956 – netted four more tracks: 

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Cash Box‘s singles review from their July 28, 1956 edition of “Step It Up And Go” b/w “Let Me Come Home“:

“Step It Up And Go” (2:23) [Armo BMI – Rudy Moore] Rudy Moore does a rocking and raucous reading of a middle beat jump with a handclap assist. Driving instrumentation and Moore’s treatment make it a soul satisfying rocker for the kids.

“Let Me Come Home” (2:45) [Armo BMI – Rudy Moore] Moore turns on the tears, wailing a slow beat weeper in which he begs to be permitted to return. He’s lonesome and needs her. Moore has a great style, milking a tune and getting the most out of it. Low down stuff for a mood crowd.

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King History Tweet #17

Chet Atkins on a King Rockabilly

Mr. Nashville Sound himself, Chet Atkins, played bass on Fuller Todd’s “Proud Lady” — according to Rob Finnis‘ liner notes for Ace UK’s King Rockabilly — when session bassist (and fellow “architect of the Nashville Sound“), Bob Moore, had not yet arrived at RCA Nashville, where the song (co-written by Louis Innis) was recorded on March 25, 1957.

“Proud Lady – Heart Stealer“

streaming audio unavailable

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King History Tweet #18

Dave ‘Baby‘ Cortez –
King Session Player

Keyboardist Dave ‘Baby‘ Cortez — who would later have instrumental hits with “The Happy Organ” (1959) and “Rinky Dink” (1962) — played on a pair of recording sessions for two different King artists:

  • Bubber Johnson session recorded October 16, 1957 in New York City (presumably under Henry Glover‘s supervision) with a support band that featured legendary saxophonist, King Curtis, as well as Gene Redd on vibraphone, Joe Benjamin on bass, and noted harpist, Ruth Berman. Four songs waxed, including “Muddy Water“; “Let’s Stay After School“; and “The Whisperers.”

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Co-written by Henry Glover

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“Jay & Cee”

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King History Tweet #19

Trini Lopez – King Rockabilly

If you disregard the August, 1958 45 release on tiny indie, Volk Records, Trini Lopez‘s earliest recordings appear to be a dozen or so 45 releases that were issued by King beginning in 1959 and (with the runaway success of 1963 live debut album, Trini Lopez At PJ’s [Reprise Records], thanks to its worldwide #1 hit, “If I Had A Hammer“) continued unabated into 1966. While none of these 45s appear to have charted, sadly, check out this classic slice of rockabilly bop, “Yes You Do,” Lopez’s debut single for King that was recorded December, 1958 in Dallas.

Australia

“A King recording from U.S.A.”

1964

Trini Lopez’s next three recording sessions would all take place at Cincinnati’s King Studios:

(a) February 26, 1959 session that yielded four songs, including “Love Me Tonight” — originally written by Henry Glover and Lucky Millinder and recorded by Bull Moose Jackson And His Buffalo Bearcats. Lopez’s version would be paired with “Jeanie Marie” for single distribution worldwide, and the two songs turn turns serving as A-side.

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45 picture sleeve

Netherlands

Dec. 1963

45 picture sleeve

Sweden

1963

(b) September 25, 1959 session (with unnamed musicians on bass, drums, guitar, and celeste) that yielded six songs:

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Q: .Is that Philip Paul on drums?

Co-written with Gene Redd —
Issued 1959 and again 1963

(c) October 1, 1959 session (with Fred Jordan on guitar, Edwyn Conley on bass, and Philip Paul on drums) that yielded six songs:

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1963 would see King bundle up these sixteen sides and package them into two long-playing albums —

(1) Teenage Love Songs, as it was titled in the US, UK, Venezuela, and New Zealand vs. Jeanie Marie in Australia vs. “Live” In Hollywood in the Netherlands vs. Surf And Co in France.

France

April, 1964

(2) More Of Trini Lopez, as it was titled in the US, UK, and Canada vs. The Teenage Idol in Latin America.

Brazil

1966

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King History Tweet #20

King’s Chicago R&B Instrumentals

Cliff Davis & The Turbo Jets produced a total of eight sides for Federal, beginning with four tracks that were recorded 1958 in Chicago:

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Bootleg 45 for the “Belgian ‘popcorn’ scene“

Caution: One of the tracks from this 1958 session – “In Reverse” – would be renamed “Wild Surfin’” six years later and attributed to (the fictitious) “The Wild Kats” in order to make the quota for King’s 1964 “surf-ploitation” album, Look Who’s Surfin’ Now.

The Turbo Jets — Cliff Davis (tenor sax), McKinley Easton (baritone sax), Claude Jones (piano), Reggie Boyd (guitar), Walter Cole (bass), and Gil Gay (drums) recorded four more tracks May 22, 1959 in Chicago:

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Germany

October, 1962

Cliff Davis would record one single for Okeh in 1963 as a solo artist after leaving King.

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King History Tweet #21

“Cat” Music on King

Bruce Channel (whose harmonica player, Delbert McClinton, gave John Lennon a few tips on the instrument back in 1962 when The Beatles were an opening act for Channel) recorded exactly four songs for King in a single 1959 Forth Worth, Texas recording session that yielded two 45 releases. Of the four sides reviewed by Billboard, “Boy! This Stuff Kills Me” would get the most enthusiastic ink:

“Cat digs music, as he intros drums, twangy guitars and honking tenor.  He shouts the tale over a driving ork and combo assist.”

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Released March, 1960

That combo assist, by the way, would be Marvin Montgomery and His Orchestra. Songwriter, arranger, producer, and bandleader, Marvin “Smokey” Montgomery would probably enjoy his greatest renown as banjo player for The Light Crust Doughboys.

Marvin Montgomery –
Banjoist on 1959 Audio Lab LP

“Boy! This Stuff Kills Me” –

also available on Ace UK’s, King Rock ‘n’ Roll

Bruce Channel –
Alfred Hitchcock cameo in Zero to 180’s piece from 2015

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King History Tweet #22

Geopolitical Commentary on King

One recording that remains unheard in the King vault is Buck Floyd‘s “The U-2 Flight” – recorded in Cincinnati on October 17, 1960 undoubtedly in response to the major international incident that had taken place five months earlier on May 1st.  Floyd’s lone 45 release Buck Floyd’s single – recorded with Kenny Sowder & the Grand River Boys was issued December, 1960 by King and reviewed in Billboard‘s January 9, 1961 issue (B-side:  “Heartfelt vocalizing by Floyd on moving weeper”) and rated “three stars” (i.e., “good sales potential”).

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“I’m Gonna Show You All Someday” b/w
“No Love for Me“

Co-written by Buck Floyd & Kenny Sowder

The attached photo shows Ernest Burgess “Buck” Floyd of Carrollton, Kentucky (in Carroll County), born April 1, 1933.  Could this Korean War veteran be the same Buck Floyd, who had once recorded at King Studios?  

Obituary for Ernest Burgess ‘Buck’ Floyd

‘Buck‘ Floyd –
King Recording Artist?

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King History Tweet #23
King Gospel III

If you need sanctified sounds for your Sunday morning, consider giving this 1960 King album by the Bible Way Church of God – Let the Church Roll On – a spin.  Billboard‘s review from the December 26, 1960 edition:

These spirituals have been recorded during church service by the Bible Way Church of God Choir in Cincinnati.  Performances are impassioned and capture the true gospel spirit.

Per Discogs: This album was recorded live at the Bible Way Church of God, during an actual service, by John Roswick and Carl Averbeck, King Records engineers.

For reasons that are not exactly clear, Michel Ruppli – via his King session notes – links King LP 898 — Songs of Zion by The Church Of God And Saints Of Christ Singers — with The Bible Way Church Of God Choir, even though the latter group is nowhere to be found by name on the cover or record label. This 76-voice choir, according to Ruppli, was recorded live October 3, 1963 in Columbus, Ohio.

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King History Tweet #24

More Continental Pop on King

Besides Petula Clark, King served as US distributor for other recordings leased from (British transnational conglomerate) EMI, such as Tony Osbourne‘s 1961’s “spy” guitar number with a “popcorn” beat – “The Swinging Gypsies” – selected as a ‘Special Merit Single’ by Billboard, whose October 23, 1961 review neglected to mention the prescient guitar sounds that anticipate (seemingly) the first James Bond film, Dr. No, released the following year:

A listenable instrumental featuring a hoked up piano sound against a big ork backing.  The side is set in a breezy rock tempo.  Could win spins.

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Classic early 60s UK guitar instrumental

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King would also lease two more recordings from EMI – “Black Stockings” and “Get Lost Jack Frost” by The John Barry Seven – both crisp guitar instrumentals that were issued May, 1961 by King (sadly, no visual evidence of this King 45 exists on the web). Just one month earlier, in Cash Box‘s April 22, 1961 edition, Syd Nathan and Hal Neely, King’s two top executives, had been photographed with EMI’s managing director, (Sir) Len Wood. Years later, Seymour Stein would disclose what had been discussed behind closed doors in Billboard‘s March 15, 1980 issue —

At one meeting, [Len Wood] and Syd Nathan, King’s fiery founder, were heatedly debating King’s attempt to secure an option on all EMI repertoire if it was passed on by Capitol.  Nathan did not succeed, but it was not until several years later that I realized how important this option could have been.

As noted in Zero to 180’s tribute to the one-time King intern, had Syd Nathan’s negotiations with EMI’s Len Wood gone the other way, the first four Beatle singles could have all been released on King rather than Tollie (“Love Me Do“), Vee Jay (“Please Please Me” & “From Me to You“), and Swan (“She Loves You“).

“Midnight Cowboy” composer:
Connected to King

Closest thing to a Beatles release on King:

The Beehives

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King History Tweet #25

Musical Fight!

Reno & Smiley recorded a sarcastic slice of rockabilly (or is it mockabilly?) in King’s Cincinnati studios on April 24, 1961 — “Just Doing Rock and Roll” — under the fake name Chick and His Hot Rods.  Billboard‘s September 11, 1961 edition rated this single release three stars (i.e., “moderate sales potential”). Cash Box‘s singles reviewer informs us that the song “historically follows the rise of rock and roll,” which I guess is true, but seems to miss the larger point.

Rock ‘n’ roll gets punk’d

(“musical fights” on Zero to 180)

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The flip side of the Chick And His Hot Rods 45 – “Jimmy Caught The Dickens (Pushing Ernest In The Tub)” – can be found on King LP 776, Country Singing & Instrumentals, along with seventeen other songs — although not “Just Doing Rock And Roll” (which makes sense, given the scope of the album title).

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King History Tweet #26

Honky Tonk on King

Ray Bell was part of an elite group of artists who helped revive King’s Queen subsidiary label (see Tweet #8 above) between the years 1961 to 1962.  One 45Cat contributor posted this concise appraisal of Bell’s lone Queen 45 release – “Blues Tavern” b/w “Loveless Island” – issued October, 1961:

“Nice country honky tonk sound with fiddle from ’61.“

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“Hey! Castro” by Charlie Stewart And The Gemtones, the third release (judging by the catalog number: 24003) issued by the rejuvenated Queen, is notable as another piece of “geopolitical commentary” from the King family of labels (see Tweet #22 above) — this one, however, having seen the light of day. Stewart’s single was released September, 1961 in the months following the CIA’s failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba.

Originally issued August, 1961 on Nabor

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King History Tweet #27

More Honky Tonk on King

In 1961, Audio Lab gathered up Rocky Bill Ford‘s sudsy lament of a most tuneful sort — “Beer Drinking Blues” (originally released 1950 on Gilt-Edge, a label distributed by King) — along with eleven other songs for an LP, Rocky Bill Ford: A New Singing Star, that you would be hard pressed to find today. 

Rare album on Audio Lab –
King’s “budget” subsidiary label

Discogs contributor Nightwatchman provides this biographical blurb:

Little is known of William “Bill” Anderson Ford (1937 – 1998) whose prime income came from his work as a barber in Houston. In early 1950, he met Peck Touchton and his band at a place called Betros Dine and Dance on Studewood Street, Houston, and asked to sit in, saying he was looking for a band to back him on some songs he had written.

James Bell remembered: “He lived in Channelview on the east side of Houston. He was about five or six years older than I was. On his left hand, he’d injured his index finger. He couldn’t use it at all. He played guitar with three fingers, open chords all the time. He was easy going; ambitious, but not too ambitious. He knew that nobody could make a living playing music. None of us quit our day jobs.”

This fantastic album, one of the rarest on King Records offshoot, Audio Lab, collects the 78s Ford recorded for the Gilt-Edge and 4 Star labels in 1951 – 1954. The recording sessions took place in the ACA Studio and other, unknown locations in Houston, Texas. The backing group (or groups) were The Sunset Ramblers and Rocky Road Ramblers [also Sunset Wranglers – see below]. The musicians’ names are unknown but may include members of Peck Touchton and his band mentioned above.

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In 1969, “Beer Drinking Blues” would get a nice makeover in 1969 by Eddie Noack, thanks to some driving piano and soulful dobro lines in Noack’s updated arrangement.

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King History Tweet #28

Doo Wop-Influenced R&B on King

Columbus, Ohio’s King Pharoah & the Egyptians (who would dress the part in live performance) recorded a single session for Federal Records in March, 1961 that yielded the 45 “Shimmy Sham” b/w “By the Candle Lite.” Billboard‘s Apr 17, 1961 edition rated the 45 as having “moderate sales potential” and included this review:

[A-side]  This is about the women in the tropic land who look so grand.  It’s a slow persistent rocker by the boys in solid bluesy r&b fashion.  Good sound & catchy beat.
[B-side]  “A slow, slow rockaballad done for fair results by the boys.”

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Written by Sonny Thompson

Marv Goldberg‘s R&B Notebooks reports that the vocal group, originally formed around Morris Wade (lead tenor) and Bobby Taylor (high tenor), though the membership would be in flux over the years, were initially named The 4 Pharaohs when they began in 1957. Live performances took The 4 Pharaohs to Hamilton, Ohio, where entrepreneur Eve “Esta” Dodds was so impressed with the group she arranged to have them record a single at Cincinnati’s King Studios. “Give Me Your Love” b/w “China Girl” – released on Esta Records in 1958 (with the group billed as “The Columbus Pharaohs”) – was a King Custom Pressing via King’s Royal Plastics pressing plant.

The 4 Pharaohs‘ next release that same year – “The Move Around” b/w “Pray With Me” – was to be launched on a new record label named for their manager, Howard Ransom, except a mishap at Royal Plastics that resulted in misspellings of both the group’s and label’s name must have served to deflate the momentousness of the occasion.

The 4 “Pharoahs” on “Ranson” Records

King custom mis-press

According to Marv Goldberg, The 4 Pharaohs did, in fact, record as a group for their next Ransom 45 release (1959’s “It Was A Nite Like This” b/w “Is It Too Late“), although the label would bill the artist, confusingly, as Morris Wade “with music by The Manhattans.” The Manhattans, it turns out, were the backup band for Sonny Til (of Orioles fame), and according to Goldberg, Wade asked for the group to record on the session, specifically “because he loved the sound of Johnny Stiles‘ electric violin.”

“Is It To Late“

Another King custom typo

By the time the group reached an agreement with Federal Records, the vocal trio – Morris Wade, Ronald Wilson, and Robert Lowery – had been augmented by guitarist, Harold Smith, who was then nicknamed “King Pharaoh,” according to Marv Goldberg, with the vocalists likewise renamed, The Egyptians. By 1963 would relocate to the West Coast and reunite with their former manager, Howard Ransom, co-owner of Nanc Records, for whom they recorded a single, “I Need Your Love” b/w “Give Me Your Love,” as The Egyptian Kings. Looking back retrospectively, Goldberg notes in 2008 that despite the lack of a hit record, Morris Wade – impressively – “has managed to continuously work as a single for the last 50 years.”

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King History Tweet #29
Truck Driving Songs

Compare and contrast (1) Coleman Wilson’s original acoustic version of the truck driving lament, “Radar Blues,” released in August of 1960 with (2) Swanee Caldwell’s full-band version that was recorded at Cincinnati’s King Studios on July 15, 1963 and released the following month.

Trucker classics

“Radar Blues” got radio airplay on WOCH (Mt. Vernon, Indiana), WCMS (Norfolk), and also Wayne Raney‘s show on WCKY (Cincinnati), while Wilson’s next A-side for King – “Passing Zone Blues” – peaked at #23 on Billboard‘s Country chart for the week ending August 23, 1961.  The following year, Coleman Wilson would record his final single for King – “A Green Truck Driver’s First Experience With Radar” b/w “Hot Rod Baby” – released in February of 1962.

Coleman Wilson –
Two tracks included on 1963 King LP

Amusing to scan all the 45 releases of Dave Dudley – one of the “kings” of truck driving music – and notice that King would reach into their back catalog and reissue in August of 1963 one of Dudley’s King rockabilly 45s in the wake of “Six Days on the Road” – the runaway hit released in April of that year.

1956 A-side
Reissued Aug. 1963

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King History Tweet #30
Obscure Instrumental Awaits Rediscovery

“Double Whammy” by The Whammies – a driving sax and organ instrumental guaranteed to fill the dance floor – is actually the B-side of the group’s one and only 45.  The sole YouTube audio clip for “Double Whammy” has only 545 “views” as of October 16, 2018 [in January of 2025, that total has nudged up to 794 plays] — be the first on your block to hear this winner of a track!

Issued on Bethlehem – King’s jazz subsidiary

The A-side “Walk Walk” was written by one of the West Coast’s in-demand session guitarists, René Hall (of “Twitchy” fame), whose first recording date as a session musician (for Wynonie Harris) goes all the way back to December 17, 1947 (“Your Money Don’t Mean a Thing“), with tenor saxophone played by Dexter Gordon.  On a number of hits recorded in Los Angeles, you can hear Hall’s guitar work (including electric baritone on “La Bamba“), as well as arrangements, for example, “A Change Is Going to Come” by Sam Cooke.

Both sides “leased” by King

c. June, 1962

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King History Tweet #31

Latin-Flavored Instrumental

Sonny Thompson, who co-wrote “Had You Told It Like It Was (It Wouldn’t Be Like It Is)” for Albert King, laid down some “popcorn jazz” on a pair of tracks – “Loco Limbo” and “Just a Little Bit of Soul” – that were recorded August 14, 1962 at Cincinnati King Studios and release as a single on Bethlehem.   

LINK: Latin Musical Influences at King Records

Thompson is part of an ‘elite’ group who had a special publishing arrangement with Syd Nathan.  45Cat contributor “mickey rat” explains:

For years I’ve wondered who was involved in Boblo Music.  I’ve always had it listed with that clutch of half a dozen imprints that Syd Nathan of King Records shared with his favourite producers (e.g. Men-Lo = Fred Mendelsohn & Syd Nathan and Son-Lo = Sonny Thompson & Syd Nathan, where the “Lo” bit was short for Nathan’s flagship publishing imprint Lois Music).

Sax instrumentals on Zero to 180

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King History Tweet #32

Blues on King

Blues guitar legend Albert King did, in fact, set foot inside Cincinnati’s King Studios to record two songs at a April 17, 1963 session:  “This Funny Feeling” and “Had You Told It Like It Was (It Wouldn’t Be Like It Is).”  Sadly, as it says on the 45 label, the former is a “vocal” number sung by King that features a sax solo [!], while the latter track, alas, is another vocal tune sans guitar. Both songs are included on 1963 King LP, The Big Blues.

King “Popcorn R&B“

Fortunately, King’s Big Blues LP does feature Albert King’s distinctive guitar playing on the majority of the album’s tracks:

Recordings leased by King from Bobbin

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On “This Morning,” King and company do a playful take on 1961’s “popcorn R&B” instrumental smash, “Last Night,” by The Mar-Keys — #3 Pop/#2 R&B hit for Stax, the label where Albert King would enjoy some commercial success following his short stint with King.

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King History Tweet #33
King Kiddie Pop!

Give “The Bunny Hop” by The Delteens a spin at your next preschool party or Kindergarten playdate.  Designated as the single’s B-side, “The Bunny Hop” merited three stars in Billboard‘s March 30, 1963 edition, while the Delteens take on that kiddie standard “The Hokey-Pokey” (i.e., the A-side) earned the group an additional star!

Additional biographical details about this teen trio, thankfully, can be gleaned from the DJ/Promo 45:

This Independence, Kentucky vocal group — Pam Piper (17), Judy Stone (18), and Brenda Stone (16), who were all students from Simon Kenton High School — were originally discovered by WLW-TV host (and one-time King recording artist), Bob Braun.

45Cat contributor, rhythmdog, adds this observation:

King and Federal had long since discontinued their “bio dj” promotionals. However, this appears to be a genuine resurrection of them, perhaps because the artists were so unknown.

Quibble Alert! According to the 45 label above, “The Hokey-Pokey” was recorded March 9, 1963 at King Studios, whereas Michel Ruppli’s King studio notes assert that the session had taken place March 12th (with “The Bunny Hop” said to have been recorded the following day).

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King History Tweet #34

Country Meets the Blues via Henry Glover

Country/rockabilly singer, Billy ‘Crash’ Craddock, had recorded for almighty Columbia Records, prior to a short tenure with King Records that yielded three 45 releases – all in the year 1964 – from a single recording session at Cincinnati’s King Studios that took place June 15, 1964 and yielded twelve songs, including a track written by Henry Glover, “My Baby’s Got Flat Feet” — which is especially notable, since Glover had left King five years earlier.  Two of Craddock’s three A-sides for King, intriguingly, would be penned by Henry Glover.

King rounded up the other six tracks from that June 15, 1964 session for Craddock’s lone King LP, including “Talk to Me Talk to Me” (originally recorded by Little Willie John), as well as the album’s title track, “I’m Tore Up” (originally a 1956 Federal single written by Ike Turner and Ralph Bass).

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King History Tweet #35:
The Cincinnati-Kingston Connection

Prince Buster‘s salute to “The Cincinnati Kid” (a.k.a., James Brown) had originally been recorded in 1965’s prevailing ska style but then refashioned two years later as a rocksteady funk rave-up for 1967 LP, Prince Buster On Tour. That same year, King Records (not uncoincidentally, as it turns out) had licensed a song from Prince Buster himself [“Ten Commandments (From Woman to Man)”] for release in the United States, with a Byron Lee track [“Papa Jack“] on the flip side. 

“Buster and East Productions“

However, this one-off release obscures a much deeper narrative taking place behind the scenes, as Lloyd Bradley reveals in Bass Culture:  When Reggae Was King, his indispensible history of Jamaican popular music:

In America, almost perversely, the best chance ska had to succeed was scuppered by the Jamaican government.  In the mid-1960s, probably around the same time that “Ten Commandments” was an American hit, King Records, a label that had been very successful with R&B and soul, wanted the American rights to Buster’s whole catalogue.  Syd Nathan, the company’s no-nonsense owner, was making moves to acquire it on the recommendation of soul legend James Brown, far and away King’s star act, who been turned on to Buster during a visit to Jamaica.  As King had good relations with both black and mainstream radio stations, they were the most likely candidates to make it happen, and there’s a good chance that the sheer effervescence of Buster’s music would have opened door.  However, King and United Artists (who were handling things for the Jamaican Social Development Commission) couldn’t agree on the publishing.  Buster, by then an outspoken minister for Islam and a perpetual thorn in the authorities’ side, remains convinced this was no accident.

March, 1967

Record World‘s Feb. 18, 1967 issue lists the Philips “import” 45 of “Ten Commandments” — a “Regional Breakout” hit in New York City, Nashville, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Detroit, Baltimore, and Cleveland (et al.), according to Philips’ full-page promotional ad in Billboard‘s Jan. 28, 1967 edition — at the #50 position on their 100 Top Pops chart, up four spots from the previous week. 

Musical Fight!

Record World‘s Feb. 18, 1967 issue also includes a news item on page three – “Royal Ruckus” – about the brewing donnybrook over “the two versions of ‘The Ten Commandments From Woman to Man‘ on RCA Victor and King [Records].”

Some sort of set-to seemed to be forming at the end of last week in regards to the two versions of ‘The Ten Commandments From Woman To Man‘ on RCA Victor and King. 

Both are by songstresses [sic] calling themselves Princess Buster, and although the official comment from RCA was “no comment,” it was rumored around that RCA was going to try to enjoin the King version.

Actually the RCA tune, according to the label copy, is sung by Prince and Princess Buster.  The King version is by Princess Buster and her Jamaicans.  

Both disks are answer records to the Philips disk of “The Ten Commandments” by Prince Buster — the same Prince on RCA’s slice, according to an RCA source.

Curiously, that same edition of Record World even reviewed both competing Prince Buster single releases:

Audio note: For those who presume the King and RCA mixes to be one and the same, 45Cat shatters that illusion with the assertion that the King 45 contains a “different vocal to the track released on RCA Victor 47-9114.”  Listen for yourself via streaming audio links below:

LINK to the King single mix

LINK to the RCA Victor single mix

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King History Tweet #36

Late 60s Soul

Keyboardist/arranger/studio musician, Richard Tee, arranged one recording session in New York City on April Fool’s Day, 1969, for soul vocal group, The *Manhattans, who ended up releasing two albums on (revived) King subsidiary, DeLuxe, before joining forces with “Big Red” – Columbia Records.

With These Hands (1970)

Arranged by Chico O’Farrill – Produced by Buddy Scott
Engineered by Eddie Smith & Dave Harrison

A Million To One (1972)

The four songs recorded at the April 1, 1969 session would be released on two DeLuxe 45s:

“The Picture Becomes Quite Clear” b/w “Oh Lord, I Wish I Could Sleep“

“Gonna Take a Lot to Bring Me Back” b/w “Give Him Up.”

*Not to be confused with The Manhattans from Tweet #28

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King History Tweet #37:
Final Recording Session for Bethlehem?

Remember The Saloonatics from the Zero to 180 piece that questioned whether this was one of the last original sessions at Cincinnati’s King Studios for the Bethlehem subsidiary label?  Azie Mortimer‘s 1971 album, Feeling of Jazz, was actually one of the last 1969 recording sessions for Bethlehem listed in Ruppli’s King Records sessionography, with musician credits that include such notable jazz musicians as Jerome Richardson, Milt Hinton, Snooky Young, Jimmy Cleveland, Quentin Jackson, Phil Woods, Les Spann, Willie Rodriguez, and Mercer Ellington (arranger & conductor).  In 2014, the album was issued on CD (in Japan) for the first time.  Mortimer’s earlier singles are available on YouTube, but no streaming audio yet from this Bethlehem LP.

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King History Tweet #38:
Last of the Licensing?

King licensed two long-playing recordings from EMI in 1972.  These two albums, King LPs 1140 and 1141, belong to the same artist:  Manuel (“pseudonym for Geoff Love‘s easy listening Latin themed recordings”) And His Music of the Mountains.  The first album, Manuel and the Music of the Movies, includes such classic cinema themes as “Midnight Cowboy” and “Windmills of Your Mind,” while the other King LP, Cascade, closes with Manuel’s take on “La Bamba.”

Hard to believe this is a King release –

Logo in upper left corner

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King History Tweet #39

Boogaloo & Latin Sounds on King

1973’s On Broadway album by The Coasters kicks off with the original “pre-Monkees” version of “D.W. Washburn” that was recorded “a few months before” the mop tops’ 1968 single though not released until after, so says Both Sides Now Publications [The Coasters’ version was recorded on Halloween 1967, according to this Wikipedia page]. 

1973 LP cover:
Part of the “new social awareness”

On Broadway also includes hotly reworked versions of “Love Potion Number 9” and “Cool Jerk” in a boogaloo vein, plus newer compositions, such as “Soul Pad“; “Talkin’ About a Woman“; and “Everybody’s Woman.”  Half the songs on the album are written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who were co-owners of Starday-King at that time (but not for much longer, sadly).

“A Lieber-Stoller Production”

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King History Tweet #40:
Final King & Federal 45s

With respect to the question of what was the final King 45, I thought it might be great sad fun to simply list all the King single releases from 1973 in order by catalog number. 

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Note: Some catalog numbers are missing in the sequence below

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K I N G ‘ s * F I N A L * 4 5 s
A Countdown

Allison

“Never Let A Love Grow Cold” b/w “Born to Be a Lover“

[45-6406]

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The Patterson Twins

“If I Ever Got You Back” b/w “I Got Some Problems“

[45-6407]

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Earl Gaines

“My Pillow Stays Wet” b/w “Don’t Deceive Me“

[45-6408]

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Willy Wiley

“Push and Shove” b/w “Just Be Glad“

[45-6409]

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Rufus Watkins & The Soul Seekers

“Wake Me Shake Me (Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long) Pts. 1 & 2“

[45-6410]

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Sylvester Boyd

“I Don’t Want Nobody (Telling Me Nothing)” b/w “Can’t Go On Livin’“

[45-6412]

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Eddie James

“Been Down So Long” b/w “Livin’ Without You“

[45-6413]

Written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

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Fireside Singers

“Live By His Word” b/w “Run On“

[45-6417]

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Kastle

“Gettin’ Down (With Hoss)” b/w “Why Don’t You“

[45-6418]

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Charles Brown

“For The Good Times” b/w “Lonesome & Driftin’“

[45-6420]

Produced by Hal Neely & Sonny Thompson

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Our Brother’s Keeper

“The Harlem Clown” b/w “Gonna Keep You Warm“

[45-6421]

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The Patterson Twins

“Back in Love Again” b/w “Come to Me“

[45-6422]

B-side of final King 45 –

Oct. 1973

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In a similar vein, I thought we might take masochistic pleasure in listing all the Federal 7-inch releases from 1971-1973 in order by catalog number to determine the final release, prior to Starday-King’s sale to Moe Lytle and Gusto Records in 1973 (Gusto, it has been said, “is believed to maintain one of the largest independently owned collection of record masters”). 

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Note: Some catalog numbers are missing in the sequence below

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F E D E R A L ‘ s * F I N A L * 4 5 s
A Countdown

Mickey Murray

“People Are Together” b/w “Fat Gal“

[45-12560]

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James Duncan

“Please Johnny Don’t You Take My Life” b/w “Stand Up And Get Funky“

[45-12561]

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Clarence Murray

“Please Accept My Love” b/w “Book of Love“

[45-12562]

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Bobby Leeds

“No Sign of Love” b/w “Yesterday’s Rain“

[45-12563]

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Gloria Walker

“Papa’s Got the Wagon” b/w “Precious Love“

[45-12566]



Thomas Bailey

“Wish I Was Back” b/w “Percy’s Place“

[45-12567]

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The Stratoliners

“What Do You Want With My Love” b/w “Your Love“

[45-12568]

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Gloria Walker

“Love Is In the Air” b/w “Them Changes“

[45-12569]

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Gloria Walker

“When My Baby Cries” b/w “Gift of Love“

[45-12570]

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Mickey Murray

“I Can’t Tell You” b/w “Ain’t Nothing We Can Do About It“

[45-12571]

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James K-Nine

“Counting Tear Drops” b/w “Live It Up“

[45-12572]

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Final Federal 45 (we think):

Toby King

“Mr. Tuff Stuff” b/w “For the Good Times“

[45-12573]

1973 Clavinet funk

BONUS LINK:

Zero to 180 piece that attempts to identify the last DeLuxe 45.

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King Records:

Artist Profile in Miniature
Roy Gaines

Texas blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter Roy Gaines – a contemporary of Johnny Copeland with whom he was acquainted – had backed his hero T-Bone Walker by the time he was 14.  After moving to Los Angeles, Gaines served as a backing musician on recordings for Bobby Bland, Junior Parker and Big Mama Thornton in 1955.  In the 1960s, he played guitar on sessions for the Everly Brothers, the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Darin, and Gladys Knight.  Gaines would finally release his first solo album in 1982, Gainelining.  Three years later, Gaines played one of the jook joint musicians in the film, The Color Purple (link to musician credits on the soundtrack album), 2009’s big band album Tuxedo Blues would include “Miss Celie’s Blues” which Gaines had performed in The Color Purple.

“Mr. Guitar” (as he was billed in 1956) would release two 45s for King subsidiary label, DeLuxe the following year – “Annabelle” b/w “Night Beat” + “Isabella” b/w “Gainesville” – the latter tune being one of his signature guitar statements.  Gaines signed with RCA in 1958, and later in the 1960s would release singles for MCA subsidiary UNI and (pre-Arista) Bell Records, on which he recorded underappreciated “northern soul crossover” original, “Make It Easy.”

Quite a few Roy Gaines 45s have sold for 3 figures at auction

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King Records:

Cincinnati Celebrities

  • Bob Braun = The long-time Cincinnati television and radio personality was, indeed, a King recording artist.  Braun’s first 45 for King – “Loaded with Love” b/w “My Baby Dearest Darling” – was a duet with another Cincinnati TV star, Dottie Mack , that was recorded on Sept. 28, 1954 at King Studios.  Bob’s next (and final) King 45 – “All My Love” b/w “Broken Hearted” – was actually leased in 1959 from another label.  Braun later recorded for Cincinnati’s Fraternity label. as well as Decca, United Artists, and Kentucky indie, Boone.  More intriguing, though, is the “rock ‘n’ roll” single that Braun issued early in his career, in contrast to his clean-cut image.  Music scholars are still debating whether “Rock and Roll Country Girl” was recorded in 1954, the same year Elvis cut his legendary sessions at Sun.  A cataloger’s note on Discogs says, “release date from internet sources [45Cat] and is unconfirmed.” 

Bob Braun’s 1st King single –

Written by Lucky Millinder & Henry Glover –
First recorded by Hawkshaw Hawkins

Picture sleeve for Braun’s 1973 Christmas single (on QCA) shows that Braun also recorded at Rusty York‘s Jewel Recording Studios in Mt. Healthy.

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  • Waite Hoyt = After playing baseball with Babe Ruth for the Yankees in the 1920s, Hoyt transitioned successfully in the 1940s to a career in broadcasting, as the Cincinnati Reds’ play-by-play voice for 24 years and Burger Beer pitchman. Hoyt gained fame for entertaining radio audiences during rain delays, sharing anecdotes and telling vivid stories from his days on the field.  In 1963, King put together an album of these stories called The Best of Waite Hoyt in the Rain.

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1963 LP on King-distributed Personality Records

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  • Bob Shreve = The song-and-dance man and whimsical late-night television personality — with backing support from The Dee Felice Trio (celebrated in the previous piece) — would go into Cincinnati’s King Studios on four occasions between February and March of 1970 to record enough material for his lone King LP, Good Ole’ Bob Doing His Thing.  A fair number of recordings remain “in the can,” according to Ruppli, such as “When I Take My Sugar To Tea“; “Just One of Those Songs“; “Do You Ever Think of Me” and “Raindrops” plus eight more songs whose titles are “unknown.”

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1970 King LP

“A James Brown Production”

Alan Leeds, James Brown’s young tour manager in the early 1970s, relates an anecdote in his memoir, There Was A Time: James Brown, The Chitlin’ Circuit, and Me that illustrates the warm relationship between Brown and Shreve:

Like Atlanta, Cincinnati was one of JB’s nocturnal haunts—understandable, what with the office and record company there. But it was a weekend, and James really went to Cincinnati because he had a favorite late-night barbecue joint, and there were all-night movies on local television—remember, this was before cable or hotel pay-per-views. The fact that Cincinnati TV’s late-night host, a middle-aged bartender named Bob Shreve, was a Brown admirer and had a polka album on King Records added to the attraction.

After stopping to pick up barbecue, we got to the hotel about 3 am, I was beat—I turned on the TV and jumped in the bed. The first thing I heard him say was, “We’d like to say hello to that great soul singer, my good buddy James Brown, who’s with us tonight for all-night movies.”

Then the phone rang. .Guess who?

“Hey, Mr. Leeds. Did you hear him talkin’ about us on TV? Ha, ha, ha. Sure is nice…nice to be where you feel at home.”

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Starday-King:

Vintage Advertising

Starday-King ad
Billboard‘s Apr. 25, 1970 edition

In the groove –

Extreme close-up of artist roster

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Rare King –

Top Dollar Discs At Auction

Among the pricier items that came up in my search for rare King vinyl via Popsike:

The winner goes to a 45 that is considered to be “the Holy Grail of soul records and with good reason,” as this copy sold in 2016 is said to be “the second copy known to exist and by the far the finest example” of Junior McCants‘ second and final 7-inch (promo) release — “Try Me For Your New Love” 

Total price paid:  $17,100!

“Try Me For Your New Love“

Junior McCants [1967]

Close behind in second place is … the same 45!  With a starting bid at $10, twenty-five bids later the final bid would reach $15,099 in 2008 for the Junior McCants 45 above.

Third–highest price paid for rare King vinyl is this “deep groove” copy of Roland Kirk’s debut album, Triple Threat (recently celebrated) in “near mint” condition — sold in 2015. 

Total price:  $6886

In similar fashion, fourth-highest is a repeat winner — in this case, Roland Kirk’s debut album, sold in 2007 for $2878 [while others would sell for $2130 in 2005; for $1750 in 2009; and $1260 in 2015].

Other King-related vinyl that has sold in the four-figure range:

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Co-written by Henry Glover

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  • This “ultra rare” Lonnie Johnson LP – packed with 12 songs per side and released by King in 1966 – sold in 2015 for $1250.

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King vinyl that has sold in the three-figure range:

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  • Someone coughed up $811 in 2009 for a John Lee Hooker/Sticks McGhee split LP Highway of Blues on King’s “budget” subsidiary label, Audio Lab.

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  • With a total of 8 bids submitted, this “very rare” 1954 Roy Brown EP eventually fetched $691 in 2011.

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King Records Intersects With Classic Rock:

Led Zeppelin & Aerosmith

The members of Led Zeppelin (i.e., The New Yardbirds) played “Train Kept a-Rollin’” as the opening number at their first ever rehearsal, and everyone remembers the experience as an electrifying moment.  Prior to that first rehearsal, Jimmy Page had played a recording of Lonnie Mack‘s “Lonnie on the Move” (recorded at King Studios) for drummer John Bonham as a demonstration of what he was looking for in his “new” band, according to Led Zeppelin biographer, Mick Wall. As Page informed Bonham: .“It’s like ‘Turn On Your Lovelight‘ [by Bobby Bland] as an instrumental, and it’s got this drumming that’s really super hooligan [and] I said, ‘This is the kind of angle I’m coming in at”.

Australia (1964)

“A Fraternity Recording from U.S.A.”

Aerosmith, a band who was steeped in British hard rock and rivalled Led Zeppelin as one of the leading live rock bands of the 70s, also had a special relationship with “Train Kept a-Rollin’” I just learned from Aerosmith’s autobiography written with Zep biographer Stephen Davis. According to Jack Douglas, who produced their second album, Get Your Wings:

One of the last things we worked on was ‘Train Kept a-Rollin’.” Tiny Bradshaw wrote and recorded it in the forties, [Johnny Burnette’s] Rock and Roll Trio had a hit with it in the fifties, and The Yardbirds owned it in the sixties. Now Aerosmith had taken it over and wanted to show how it should be done in the seventies. It was their signature song. They wanted to record it live in front of an audience because it was their big showstopper, but that was really impractical at the time.

Denmark

(1960)

So I took the track we cut in the studio and some really big speakers, Joey [Kramer}’s PA that he used for his drums, and I blasted it into the famous stairwell at [NYC’s] Record Plant. We were on the tenth floor, and I put microphones on the eighth, sixth, and second floors so we’d get various delays and make it sound live. A couple years earlier, I had worked with George Harrison on the film mix of The Concert for Bangla Desh, and I had all this applause from Madison Square Garden on wild tracks. I just slowly moved this out to the stairwell and brought in the crowd. Sounds pretty live. Most people were fooled.

Crowd sounds sampled by Aerosmith

Aerosmith, you might recall, also included a memorable King cover on their follow up album Toys in the Attic – side one closing track, “Big Ten Inch Record,” originally recorded in 1952 by Moose Jackson and written by Fred Weismantel. Says Joe Perry:

“Zunk Buker, our family dealer, heard Dr. Demento‘s famous radio show on KLOS one night and sent us a tape with Bullmoose Jackson doing ‘Big Ten Inch Record’ from 1953. We go, ‘Wow, what a great [flippety] song.’ It was an R&B big band thing that we just reduced and did the old ‘white boys from suburbia do their version.’ It was the first time I remember working with a big horn section — [Michael and Randy] Brecker, Stan Bronstein with his bass saxophone.”

Note: .The LP credits do not name these musicians.

1991 promotional sampler

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King Records History Meets … George Michael?!

I recently pulled up what I thought was the promo video for “Waiting For That Day” but was actually a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of George Michael‘s 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice – Volume 1.  King Records history fans, can you figure out which James Brown drum sample was used as the rhythm track for that song? Go ahead and hazard a guess (hint: Clyde Stubblefield) — you’re probably right!  Answer can be found in this video clip:

George Michael in the Studio –

With master tape of “Waiting For That Day” (1990)

Clyde Austin Stubblefield

(April 18, 1943 – February 18, 2017)

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Last Word

Otis Williams And The Charms

Final paragraph in Dave Marsh‘s state-of-the-music essay in Rolling Stone‘s 1979 year-end issue:

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