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The term Hillbilly used here is designed
as a generic term to describe Country & Western Music of the nineteen
forties and fifties. Feel free to use any of the information contained herein for what ever
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individual who supplied the original. This does not apply to label scans which
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has taken the time to contribute, especially Johan for the BILLBOARD data.


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Sunday 31 March 2013

CLYDE "BAREFOOT" CHESSER (3)





Photograph courtesy of Alexander Petrauskas

Alex adds: The Blue Bonnet Barn Dance was probably Chesser's most popular show on TV. It started in 1953 in the Waco/Temple area and starred him as well as the Texas Village Boys and other local singers, such as the Diamond Twins, Jim DeCap, Wanda Gann, and others. By 1955, the show was so successful that you had to order tickets four weeks before the show aired. The show reached around 140.000 people every Saturday evening through TV. When Chesser moved to Austin in the early 1960s, the show's run ended. In Austin, he hosted the CC Jubilee on KOKE.

COWBOY SONGS (October 1955) noted that the members of The Texas Village Boys were Gaylon Christie, Oakie Davis, Eddie Spradley, Arnold Williams, and Alvin Berry, which is the line up in the undated photograph above.








Saturday 23 March 2013

CLYDE "BEARFOOT" CHESSER (2)



The second record by Clyde Chesser, that I am aware of, is CENTRAL C-102/C-103. It is quite possible, given the numerical sequence, that there is a prior release on the label at C-100/C-101, however, I have not come across an earlier release on the label as yet. CENTRAL C-102/C-103 is a monarch (delta) pressing from around November 1954. Apparently, according to "Cowboy Songs", Clyde Chesser enjoyed modest regional success with the record in July 1955.







Saturday 16 March 2013

CLYDE "BAREFOOT" CHESSER










Returning from Germany in 1953 and with his army stint finished, television hdd hit the air waves and while visiting his next door neighbors, who again were the first in the community to have the first TV set, Clyde, again fascinated with this media of the broadcast industry, decided to audition for Harry Stone, manager of KCEN TV, Temple, Texas. Harry Stone, once manager of WS¥ and Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, saw the possibilities of Clyde and his band doing a weekly country show, which proved to be a gigantic success. The "barefoot gimmick" plus Clyde's colorful style of overalls was such a novelty that he and his band became an overnight success and were in demand for personal appearances in theatres and school auditoriums everywhere. After a number of successful years, Clyde expanded his TV shows to a number of other Texas Channels, which gave him a vast audience across the great southwest with several shows per week, each on a different channel. '



Above is an extract from the liner notes of Clyde "Barefoot" Chesser's AUSTIN RECORDS LP









Tuesday 12 March 2013

RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD (Part Three)


The third and final posting in this mini series concerns RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD 300. This one is a real puzzle; in so much as that I have no idea who the artist actually is. Both sides of RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD 300 were originally issued as by OUT POST SCOTTY AND HIS RAMBLERS on the budget BROADWAY label, and may well have been released on any one of a number of other budget labels too! OUT POST SCOTTY is obviously a contrived name, as is SAGE BRUSH WILLIE, but who is it that is hiding under these nom de plumes













Thursday 7 March 2013

RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD (Part Two)



I'm not quire convinced that this one should be here, personally I don't consider it to be Hillbilly, Country, or Western Swing, although it does have a nice guitar / steel guitar. ARHOOLIE included "Are You From Dixie" on a Western Swing compilation many many years ago. To be honest I think both sides of the disc owe more to vaudeville than anything else, especially the vocal. Obviously it was a popular disc, as both sides were reissued some ten years later!





ROBINS NEST is a Monarch (Delta) pressing from 1962






Sunday 3 March 2013

RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD (Part One)


John Dolphin's RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD label was primarily known for its Rhythm & Blues releases; However, tucked away on the label was a handful of Hillbilly releases.







78RPM Scans courtesy of Ronald Keppner