Patsy Elshire (Blane), Odessa

West Texas was not only home for a lot of talent, but also played host to a lot of talent that was just passing through. LoneStarStomp will be hitting on a number of these connections now and again, starting right here...

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You might not know who she is, but Patsy Elshire really shoulda been big.

But today when folks are analyzing the big names in country like 'the Cline' and Wanda Jackson and Loretta I don't figger on Elshire gittin' much mention. Even among the lesser knowns like Charline Arthur & Janis Martin she probably doesn't normally warrant attention on too grand of a scale. But she should. Someone with four releases on the famed Starday and a follow-up on Capitol needs to be known.

The early days of Starday were about $hoe$tring$ and the Starnes living room. All sorts of performers floated in and out, dashing off a few sides in hopes of a break. Though the fidelity of the records made in that living room - and some at the Starnes' nightclub- might leave something to be desired, a lot of these early Starday releases overflow with energy. Patsy's "You Can't Play In My Play House" has energy to spare.

Starday released four Elshire recordings in 1953. According to an interview with Andrew Brown, her first recording "Two Can Play The Game" b/w "Someday I Know He Will" was recorded at Floyd Tillman's Houston studio. But the next release "You Can't Play In My Play House" was recorded in the ol' living room. Production values aside, this thing kicks.

Starday publicity touts Patsy's 16 years of age. But "Play House" isn't the sound of some 16 year old. Not with that growl. This is a woman who's seen and put up with a lot and is DONE. Blackie Crawford's Western Cherokees back Patsy in fine fashion. (One of those Western Cherokees was steel man Bobby Black who can be heard on more than a few of the early Starday sides. Watch my other blawg, Diggin' It!!!, for a couple of fine instrumentals from Bobby and Larry Black's mighty fine combo the Five Whispers.)

There would be 2 additional Starday releases the next year, one being a split with the other early Starday femme Mary Jo Chelette.

At some point in 1954 Patsy came under contact with Capitol Records and was supposed to have moved out west to work with the Hometown Jamboree crowd. What came of the Hometown Jamboree work is not known- I don't think- but there was one single Capitol release as by Patsy Ruth Elshire.

Capitol 2940 paired two poppy, rockin' numbers- "Watch Dog" and "Sugar Lump". "Watch Dog" has a growlin' vocal with nice steel and guitar interplay. Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant? Merrill Moore on piano? Mayhaps not with the Billy Leibert production. But the guit/steel break on "Sugar Lump" sure does ring of the West/Bryant duo. The fact that Leibert was used rather than one of their country producers makes me think that Capitol's plans for Patsy were to possibly mold her into something along the lines of a mid-50s Ellae Mae Morse. Though they were doing the same thing with Ellae Mae Morse at the time. But for 1954 "Watch Dog" and "Sugar Lump" are a fairly smart mix of rock n' roll with some hillbilly flair.

Listen to the close of "Sugar Lump"... that little squeal is... uh... something else.

Patsy seems to have disappeared for the next few years before popping here in Odessa in the early 60s with a recording on the Jess Smith's Bo-Kay label. Though primarily a country label Bo-Kay is noted for the release of two outstanding rockabilly 45s by Elroy Dietzel- "Teenage Ball" & "Rock-N-Bones". "Feeling", penned by "Satisfied Mind" inker Joe 'Red' Hayes, is notable for sounding so Cline-ish. All the stranger that Bo-Kay 112 was released in the first half of 1963. I do not know if it was released before or after that fateful March day.

Patsy Ruth Elshire never had a hit- despite what a hopeful local dj penned on her Bo-Kay 45. It's a shame really as she had a great voice and looks to spare. She might not have been a Cline, but she was every bit as good as many of her other contemporaries. A few more releases and publicity and mayhaps she would be mentioned right along side names like Charline Arthur and Wanda Jackson.