Here's a couple o' more oldies but goodies. I first posted up this pair of possibly related, possibly West Texan doo wop doo wop 45s a little over two years back. Let's dust 'em off, and see if anything new can be added.
I first met the Elgins 6 years ago in stack of records that I had pulled out of a barn at a central Odessa estate sale. Without a doubt it was one of the most interesting stacks of records I've EVER seen at an estate sale-- Tutor Boatman on Gaylo, Bill Taylor's "Little Jewel" on Fame, "By the Mission Walls" from Fred Crawford on Starday, the Mystics on Coin, an autographed copy of Peanuts Wilson on Coronado, a weird little disk by Jimmy Heap with an Asian feel but bearing publishing by Slim Willet of Abilene. And the Elgins on Joed. Joed was a Big Spring label. But the Elgins didn't sound like anything else local. The disc very quickly found its way into another Texas collecton. I kinda regretted it later, but did get some cool rekkids for my Texas collection.
The next spring I was running through a small collection of 45s at a garage sale, but at $4 a throw I wasn't tempted by anything. Except a VG++ copy of the Elgins bearing autographs by the entire combo. A pile of money later I was missing the Elgins again. But hey... two copies in less than a year. Can't really be all that rare a record... Right?
A post on Ray Rush a few years ago drew a response from a Houston area collector who had come across an interesting stash containing multiple unplayed copies of the Elgins on Joed, as well as Ray Rush and the mega-obscure Mirrors on Gina. Within two weeks all of the records had disappeared into collections and I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to once again procure a copy of the Elgins, mint up on Ray Rush, and add the unknown Mirrors as well.
Little is known about the Elgins. Both Ted Groebl and Ray Rush recalled the group as being residents of Big Spring and Webb Air Force Base courtesy of Uncle Sam. Joed 716 was wax'ed in 1962 at Ben Hall's High Fidelity House studio in Big Spring. Whether they were a vocal group only or a complete unit (guitar, horns, drums, etc.) is not known but there were at least five members based on the garage sale record I found some years back. I would also assume that the group leader was Woody, the only member who signed just with a first name or nickname.
"The Huddle" is a bit of throwaway... every group in the 60s needed a 'dance' number to follow the mashed potato, the twist, the stanky leg, the UT, or whatever else was popular locally. The Elgins' Huddle seems to be a mish-mash of all the hot steppers of the day. "Once Upon A Time" is the gem. A bit ragged to be sure. And though from dusty west Texas the song sounds very east coast. Very Philly. And very nineteen-fifty somethin'. It also bears more than just a passing resemblance to "Once Upon A Time" by Rochelle & the Candles from 1960.
As an aside... these Elgins have NOTHING to do with the combo who backed Marv Johnson on his waxing of a completely different song titled "Once Upon A Time". Them cats later became... the Elgins on VIP.
As for the Joed label itself it was the most successful of a handful of labels run by the late Ted Groebl of Midland. Despite mentions elsewhere (such as the AOK discography) Joed never did actually move to Houston or Philadelphia though there were connections to both cities.
A year after the Elgins release on Joed the Mirrors appeared on Ted's Gina label.
Gina is an interesting label. As best as I can tell all of the artists- save possibly the Companions- were from Texas. Ray Rush- part of Zenith Productions with Ted- had at least two releases. Another release came from Dean Beard who also recorded for Joed as well as another by guitarist Jack Smith of Odessa. Little Herman (of Houston?) also had his first release on the label before being picked up for national distribution through Arlen.
It's interesting to see that the writing credit for "Time" belongs to Wood. Just like the writing credit for "Once Upon A Time" by the Elgins. Could that be Woody of the Elgins? Is this just an updated Elgins? David Box's sister recalled her brother mentioning the group as being from Webb AFB, so quite likely that at least some of the members were also Elgins.
"Time" is a haunting slow doo wop number that once again sounds much earlier than the actual release date of 1963. And the combo REALLY cooks with a latin-fueled remake of "Three Coins". Like seriously cooks, kids. Muchly dug around here for some time. MUCHLY dug.
The Mirrors would also be credited on a 1963 Joed release by David Box... "Sweet Sweet Day" and "If You Can't Say Something Nice".
I first met the Elgins 6 years ago in stack of records that I had pulled out of a barn at a central Odessa estate sale. Without a doubt it was one of the most interesting stacks of records I've EVER seen at an estate sale-- Tutor Boatman on Gaylo, Bill Taylor's "Little Jewel" on Fame, "By the Mission Walls" from Fred Crawford on Starday, the Mystics on Coin, an autographed copy of Peanuts Wilson on Coronado, a weird little disk by Jimmy Heap with an Asian feel but bearing publishing by Slim Willet of Abilene. And the Elgins on Joed. Joed was a Big Spring label. But the Elgins didn't sound like anything else local. The disc very quickly found its way into another Texas collecton. I kinda regretted it later, but did get some cool rekkids for my Texas collection.
The next spring I was running through a small collection of 45s at a garage sale, but at $4 a throw I wasn't tempted by anything. Except a VG++ copy of the Elgins bearing autographs by the entire combo. A pile of money later I was missing the Elgins again. But hey... two copies in less than a year. Can't really be all that rare a record... Right?
A post on Ray Rush a few years ago drew a response from a Houston area collector who had come across an interesting stash containing multiple unplayed copies of the Elgins on Joed, as well as Ray Rush and the mega-obscure Mirrors on Gina. Within two weeks all of the records had disappeared into collections and I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to once again procure a copy of the Elgins, mint up on Ray Rush, and add the unknown Mirrors as well.
Little is known about the Elgins. Both Ted Groebl and Ray Rush recalled the group as being residents of Big Spring and Webb Air Force Base courtesy of Uncle Sam. Joed 716 was wax'ed in 1962 at Ben Hall's High Fidelity House studio in Big Spring. Whether they were a vocal group only or a complete unit (guitar, horns, drums, etc.) is not known but there were at least five members based on the garage sale record I found some years back. I would also assume that the group leader was Woody, the only member who signed just with a first name or nickname.
"The Huddle" is a bit of throwaway... every group in the 60s needed a 'dance' number to follow the mashed potato, the twist, the stanky leg, the UT, or whatever else was popular locally. The Elgins' Huddle seems to be a mish-mash of all the hot steppers of the day. "Once Upon A Time" is the gem. A bit ragged to be sure. And though from dusty west Texas the song sounds very east coast. Very Philly. And very nineteen-fifty somethin'. It also bears more than just a passing resemblance to "Once Upon A Time" by Rochelle & the Candles from 1960.
As an aside... these Elgins have NOTHING to do with the combo who backed Marv Johnson on his waxing of a completely different song titled "Once Upon A Time". Them cats later became... the Elgins on VIP.
As for the Joed label itself it was the most successful of a handful of labels run by the late Ted Groebl of Midland. Despite mentions elsewhere (such as the AOK discography) Joed never did actually move to Houston or Philadelphia though there were connections to both cities.
A year after the Elgins release on Joed the Mirrors appeared on Ted's Gina label.
Gina is an interesting label. As best as I can tell all of the artists- save possibly the Companions- were from Texas. Ray Rush- part of Zenith Productions with Ted- had at least two releases. Another release came from Dean Beard who also recorded for Joed as well as another by guitarist Jack Smith of Odessa. Little Herman (of Houston?) also had his first release on the label before being picked up for national distribution through Arlen.
It's interesting to see that the writing credit for "Time" belongs to Wood. Just like the writing credit for "Once Upon A Time" by the Elgins. Could that be Woody of the Elgins? Is this just an updated Elgins? David Box's sister recalled her brother mentioning the group as being from Webb AFB, so quite likely that at least some of the members were also Elgins.
"Time" is a haunting slow doo wop number that once again sounds much earlier than the actual release date of 1963. And the combo REALLY cooks with a latin-fueled remake of "Three Coins". Like seriously cooks, kids. Muchly dug around here for some time. MUCHLY dug.
The Mirrors would also be credited on a 1963 Joed release by David Box... "Sweet Sweet Day" and "If You Can't Say Something Nice".
1 comments:
Awesome post, Tex, and lots of great info. here to digest.
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