Post Description

Bear Family Records - BCD 15273 - Jack Earls - Let's Bop






Jack Earls' early career is proof that Sam Phillips and Sun Records had a much deeper and wider talent pool than "just" Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash. and Jerry Lee Lewis to draw on. His sides, all but two unreleased, are as good as anything the label ever issued and Jack Earls' later career is proof that there is occasionally justice in the cosmos -- 25 years after Elvis Presley was put in the ground, Earls was playing Las Vegas. One of Sun Records' first wave of rockabilly artists, Earls was there when Elvis Presley was writing the book on how to meld hillbilly music with rock & roll, though his own impact on the music was more subtle. In contrast to Elvis, Earls only lasted at Sun for one single, "Slow Down," though that record did do well. By most accounts, he was also present in the studio the day that Elvis cut "Mystery Train," and ran home to get his copy of the single so that the Hillbilly Cat could learn the words. 

 Earls was born on August 23, 1932, in Woodbury, TN. One of seven children, he spent most of his childhood living on a farm in Manchester. He developed a taste for country music and a desire to make his own music, listening to the two owners of the farm play their instruments and sing. Already encouraged by his mother to sing, at 16 he also took up the guitar and by 17 he was living in Memphis. As early as 1949, he formed his first band, but pursuing music full-time had to wait behind other of life's considerations -- he was married in 1950 and by the mid-'50s already had a growing family to feed. Still, he loved country music and thought he could make a living at it and in 1954, Earls formed a group that included Johnny Black, brother of music legend Bill Black, on guitar. This was a country band that played local bars and roadhouses, doing hillbilly music, one of hundreds in the Memphis area. The band's decision to spend ten dollars to cut a demo at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Services during the summer of 1955 put Earls into Phillips' orbit -- the producer liked the song, an original by Earls called "A Fool For Lovin' You," and enjoyed Earls' singing, but told him he'd need a new band if they were to record anything. 

 Earls and Johnny Black stayed together, Black switching from guitar to upright bass, while Warren Gregory joined on lead guitar and Danny Wahlquist came in on drums. Their first recording session yielded a finished version of "Lovin' You" but also introduced a new original, called "Hey Jim," that Phillips liked even better for the A-side. Then Earls brought in yet another original song that Phillips liked even better than "Hey Jim" for his debut. "Slow Down" reportedly had the legendary producer jumping up and down with excitement when it was cut at Sun, and it became the A-side even though Phillips had already renamed Earls' band the Jimbos to capitalize on the expected popularity of "Hey Jim." "Slow Down" sold somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 copies without ever charting, getting enough exposure in and around Memphis to perform respectably as a local and regional release. It might've done better but for the fact that Earls, who held down a job at a bakery to feed his family, couldn't really tour and stuck to playing venues close to Memphis. "Slow Down" elicited interest from DJs from as far away as Texas, who played the record on their air and would happily have put Earls & the Jimbos on live, had they made the trip to the Lone Star State.





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                       Tracklisting
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   1. (00:01:54) Jack Earls - Let's Bop
   2. (00:02:15) Jack Earls - Slow Down
   3. (00:02:18) Jack Earls - My Gal Maryann
   4. (00:02:09) Jack Earls - Sign On The Dotted Line
   5. (00:02:17) Jack Earls - Crawded Hole
   6. (00:02:28) Jack Earls - They Can't Keep Me From You
   7. (00:02:52) Jack Earls - Hey Slim
   8. (00:02:29) Jack Earls - Take Me To That Place
   9. (00:02:38) Jack Earls - A Fool For Loving You
  10. (00:02:12) Jack Earls - Hey Jim
  11. (00:02:18) Jack Earls - When I Dream
  12. (00:01:54) Jack Earls - Crawded Hole
  13. (00:02:51) Jack Earls - If You Don't Mind
  14. (00:02:58) Jack Earls - They Can't Keep Me From You

Playing Time.........: 00:33:35
Total Size...........: 76,95 MB






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