Just-Us-Four, Big Spring

This will make for the third go 'round on Just Us Four. The first time up a few years back I was just fishing for information. A trawl through the interwebs produced a Myspace page for Curtis R. Compton who had written both songs on the EMCO 45, which led to a sorta re-write. A few weeks back I received a great email from former Big Springer and Just Us Four fan Eddie C. and then a week later an email from Curtis R. Compton himself. Third time's the charm, and for the first time... the Just Us Four story.


JUST US FOUR - Take A Walk / Magic In Your Eyes (E-M-C-O 1005/1006

Brothers Greg and Curtis Rand Compton were Air Force kids, which is what brought them back to West Texas in the early 1960s. The Comptons brought with them the Dimensions combo name. Though the Delaware based group never released any material, they did make a trip into Baltimore, Maryland for one recording session.

Not too long after moving back to Abilene Randy(bass) and Greg (lead guitar) added drummer Bobby Orr and Kenneth Hains on rhythm guitar. Randy also met and became friends with Bobby Clark who began to act as the Dimensions manager. The Abilene days for the Compton brothers were short-lived, however, as they moved west to Big Spring in the summer of 1962. Soon thereafter the Dimensions were no more.

"When Greg and I moved to Big Spring, we found Danny Lane (drums) and Kyle McAlister (rhythm guitar) .... We couldn't think of a cool name for the band, so we called it 'Just Us Four'," said Randy. It was in 1963 that Randy wrote both 'Take A Walk' and 'Magic In Your Eyes'. "The band was a hit so we decided to make the record in '64 to boost our shows and actually recorded in the summer of '65. I was 18. Greg, Danny, and Kyle were 17 years old."

It was Randy himself who contacted Odessa's Tommy Allsup, who had just opened his Tommy Allsup Recording Studio on the north side of town. At the time the Westex Publishing Company was up and running and Tommy was also involved with the E-M-C-O (Ector Music Company?) label. The handful of releases I've seen on the label are all country, making the Just Us Four the oddball of the bunch. Like AOK a short time later, E-M-C-O seemed to have worked primarily as a custom press operation. Artists who recorded with Tommy were offered a label if they didn't have one (E-M-C-O, Westex, AOK) and/or publishing if that didn't have that (Westex). The recording session itself took place in the summer of 1965 with Bobby Clark, who had pulled out of Abilene with the Comptons when they headed west, being given a production credit as a 'thank you' for his work as band agent.

The E-M-C-O single, released in late '65 or early '66, was a calling card which helped the busy band acquire more dates. Local to Big Spring the band played school affairs, Webb Air Force Base, and Crosden Country Club. The band ranged as far south as teen hangouts near Lake Travis and Lake LBJ and as far north as Red River's Black Mountain Playhouse in the mountains of northern New Mexico. West Texas stops included Colorado City and Sweetwater to the east, south to San Angelo, and Midland and Odessa out to the west. The band stayed busy, working every weekend.

Not too long after the release of "Take A Walk" the band changed:
"Kyle left shortly after the record was out in '66. Jay Boy (Adams, of Colorado City) replaced him right away. He was kind of in the wings as Jay Boy and I became good friends and we practiced a lot together. Don Densmore (keyboards) was an acquaintance of Jay Boy and I contacted him in Sweetwater where his dad was a dentist. He came on board shortly after Jay Boy in '66. That was the rub... we were the Just Us Four, but there were 5 of us. (We) had to much of a rep to change the name at that point."

Jay Boy Adams, teen guitarist extraordinaire, came from Colorado City just a few miles east of Big Spring. Like the Comptons, Jay Boy too came from a home where his musical endeavors were actively supported. Heck... the parental units presented the kid with a Fender Jaguar. After witnessing the spectacle of Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds on t.v. Jay Boy bought a blue '55 telecaster from Hoyle Nix's fiddler Don Tolle at a music store in Big Spring. He also picked up a violin bow from Anderson Music in Big Spring to complete the Beck effect. Jay Boy admitted to receiving more than a few free lessons from Tolle who went so far as to get Adams and Don Densmore an "endorsement deal" of sorts, which allowed for the half-price purchase of guitars, amps, and a harpsichord from the Baldwin dealership he was employed at. Tolle also seemed to have been okay with the changing sound of the young 60s.

An event near the close of 1967 brought the hardworking combo to a close. "I was going to Howard College and was involved in a very serious accident," says Randy. "A drunk driver in Big Spring ran a stop sign and nailed me on my motorcyle. I was out of commission for about 6 months and the band just fizzed out. Greg went on to play for different bands in New Mexico, Danny went to California to do session work and eventually wound up in Nashville. Jay Boy went to Tech In Lubbock and got into country music and now does Americana in south Texas while running a tour bus company for bands on the road. Kyle had moved to Austin to go to UT. Don Densmore moved to the Dallas area."

"I toured with the Bedlam Band out of Fort Worth, and kept playing as a drummer doing session work on recordings for several other bands until my move to Canada where I now write and produce music. There was never another Just Us Four. "

"Jay boy actually did some country recording at the same studio we used to do 'Magic In Your Eyes' and 'Take A Walk.' By then he and my youngest brother Gary were working together." (Jay Boy would also spend a short stretch at the tail end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s working steadily at the Chateau Club in Midland and recording for club owner D.M. Williamson's Chateau Permian record label.) "Gary now has the band Shark Attack and has played the Hard Rock in Dallas. Greg died when he was 39 years old, and Danny died very young as well. Myself and Kyle McAlister and Jay Boy are the only survivors of the original band."

I remember the surprise of the moment when I found the E-M-C-O 45. Here was this local country label with a release I wasn't aware of from a band I had never heard of. And it was was obviously not country. Neither was it the 'garage' sound of '66 which would have been expected. Rather the two sides of the 45 played out in a post-frat, pre-Invasion style... pure teen beat, in my opinion. Who were these guys and where were they from? A mistaken identification as Coleman's Wry Catchers on an AOK compilation years ago added to the mystery. The '63-era photo of the group on Randy's Myspace page certainly gave the band an edge as well. Thanks, Randy, for finally clearing up the Just Us Four story. Your patience with the little questions is greatly appreciated. All photos, except the label scan and Jay Adams photo belong to Randy...thanks for the use.

Curtis 'Randy' Compton's current and past musical works can be heard via his Myspace page HERE. Thanks again Randy.

Also a big thanks to Jay Boy Adams for trading a few emails back and forth and for granting me permission to use the "Jeff Beck" photo above. Check Jay's website at http://www.jayboyadams.com/... a lot to read and see regarding the eary to mid-70s Texas music scene, as well as information about Jay's current music. Jay Boy is on Myspace as well and can be found HERE.

Mondie and the Mystic Ones, Pecos

MONDIE AND THE MYSTIC ONES - Yo No Se Matar b/w Sabor A Mi (Mystic 1001)

Mondie & the Mystic Ones... gotta be be one of the GREATEST band monikers to ever come out of the Lone Star state, right? The name makes the mind run and visualize, si o no?, invoking images of gold lame suit jackets, turbans, and dark wayfarer shades. These guys just had to be cool.

According to a brief contact I had a few years back with guitarist Marcos Mendoza this group of youngsters from Pecos, Texas included Mondie Esparza on vocals, Felix Salcido on drums (this dude had some finesse), David Vasquez on guitar, and a bass player that he simply referred to as Domingues. He made no mention of the excellent organ player. Marcos also alluded to the group that recorded this 45 actually being called Chicano Electric.

I'm not sure of the date of release for "Sabor A Mi", but the group made little effort to recreate the Trios los Panchos hit which had come before. Neither does it completely resemble the El Chicano remake. It's firmly Tejano here, but carries the feel of a band that had some soul a la contemporaries Sunny & the Sunliners or Little Joe & the Latinaires. It's got the same kinda soul that the late Dimas Garza pulled on his amazing "No Llores". Firme rola, as they say.

There was an additional release on the Lee label out of Abilene, but it packs none of the mystic vibe heard on "Sabor A Mi".

LYNX, Andews

LYNX - Look At Me b/w Follow the Rain (Hare 711)

Lynx, or at least their label, came out of the oil boom town of Andrews, Texas in the late 60s, releasing 4 records on John Rowe's Hare label. In an era where bands were moving from the single format to long players it's odd that neither Lynx nor John Rowe saw fit to giving the band a full release, especially as this was a combo that might have been well suited for that format. America was getting ready to rawk and Lynx could have probably handled their own. An album full of phased out rawkers like the a-side here might not have been such a bad thing.

Though not reviewed, "Look At Me" did receive trade ad space in an April '71 issue of Billboard. And along with "Just A Friend" from their first release, "Look At Me" was issued nationally on Eric. But aside from the records, a picture sleeve, and a few John Rowe / Lynx mentions in Billboard (minor hit in Kansas with their first 45) there seems to have been little else left behind.


Make sure and drop by Martin Theophilus's Phantom Productions website. He was kind enough to grant me permission to use the photo above. He was there when the Believers and Agents were shaking 'em down in Alpine back in the mid-60s and his site is LOADED with great vintage snapshots of the Big Bend area, Odessa motorcycle races, Hell Paso, and Nuevo Mexico. Hit 'em up HERE.

Preston Springer Band, Lenorah

I would like to welcome back former Midessa resident Lisa Wheeler, currently of Austin, Tx. At the moment she publishes the excellent Pueblo City Limits blog but took a break from listening to and writing about Colorado records to write about the late Preston Springer of Lenorah. Preston's Flatbroke was one of my first lp purchases 3 years back when I decided it necessary to gobble any/all local records. Things haven't been the same since. And a WARNING-- the first track, "She's Good Looking", does contain the use of the word b**** in the chorus throughout so listen with care.


PRESTON SPRINGER - Flatbroke (NoMountain 038, 1985)

In Lenorah, Texas (pop 70) Preston Springer stood out like the Seattle Space Needle on Martin County’s flat rural landscape.

With his rock-God good looks he spent the better part of his West Texas upbringing trying to find a Jimmy Page audience in a Jimmie Rodgers zip code.

“From the first time he heard Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" on the jukebox in his family's grocery store, his first love was always rock and roll,” said his wife, Susie Springer. Preston Springer’s love of music was a family affair. His mother’s cousins were Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley. Ruth would channel her genetics by playing the piano at family get-togethers, while Preston's dad, Denver, and uncle, J.T., would be there as well – playing their guitars.

“When Preston was 8 years old, his Uncle J.T. encouraged him and his older brother, Allen, to enter a talent show at Lenorah’s Grady Elementary School,” said his wife, Susie. “J.T. played the guitar for them while they sang, "Battle of New Orleans." Preston won a blue ribbon for first place. Then one day, Uncle JT came over to the house and told Preston and Allen they should learn how to play the guitar. So when Preston was 10 years old, his parents took him to Sears in Midland, where he bought his first guitar – it was a Silvertone acoustic that cost him $19.95, tax included.”

After Springer graduated from Stanton High School, in 1973, he attended Midland College – spending his summers working at the Perkins Music Store in Lubbock, along with his cousin, Preston Perkins, who was a drummer.

“He also worked at Lenorah Grocery, which his parents owned. (WESTEX Note: Many a Lenorah native remembers walking into the store in the 80s and hearing Preston and the band practicing.) He was a brick mason by trade and at one time had a full time job as a mason. He also worked on his dad's farm driving the tractor and plowing.”

The sibling duo of Allen and Preston played all over West Texas, hitting almost every bar, nightclub, dance, and party in the region. “Their first band was called Family Portrait, and featured Allen, Preston and J.T.”

In 1982, Springer played around the region in The Sharks, a three-member rock band. The gigs afforded him the opportunity to sing his own songs, amongst the cover song set lists.

Three years later he recorded an album of his own compositions, Flatbroke. The album would again pair him up with his brother Allen, who played bass and produced the LP. Crane-born and former Sharks and Lust drummer Keith Guinn rounded out the trio.

“The recording lasted about six weeks at No Mountain Studios in Midland and then went to Ardent Studios in Memphis to do the final mix,” Susie Springer said.

The cover of the album depicted his family’s grocery store. “They were trying to come up with the design for the cover and wanted to portray their childhood and the fact that it was not an elaborate lifestyle. They wanted to reflect the fact that they didn't have a whole lot of material possessions and wanted people to see that they were not high-society, but were hard-working guys who worked for a living and were trying to do their best in life.”

Maybe to appeal to a broader audience, Preston also decided to shed his rock star looks.

A total of 125 copies of the album were pressed.

“They went to radio stations in Texas and Oklahoma and asked the disc jockeys to play the songs. Some of them did, but not all. They also went to music stores and tried to get them to take the records on consignment. They did manage to get some exposure but not a great deal.”

They also sent the LP to record companies in Chicago, California, and New York. “They never heard back from anyone. The bottom line was they didn't have enough money to promote it any further than what they did.”

Realizing he had done all he could do in West Texas, he moved to Austin in the late 1980s. He almost immediately found work—playing in country bands.

In 1987, Springer would go on to play with Kris Kristofferson, as the opening act on his tour. “He left the Kristofferson tour in July 1987, and went home to be present for the birth of his daughter. Preston made the decision to put his music career on hold for the next 10-11 years, so he could raise his baby girl.”

During this time Springer and his wife Susie opened their own music store in Granbury. Tragedy would strike as his 21-year old son, and both Preston’s father and mother would die in a three-year time period. “Preston was completely torn up emotionally; he was devastated, and grieved for a very long time.”

They operated the store until 2003, when they decided to give his musical career one more shot. They traveled to Louisiana in 2005, where Preston managed a U-Haul facility and performed part-time.

Then Hurricane Katrina hit.

“We stayed in Shreveport for a few months, helping hurricane victims as much as possible. Then we traveled to Nashville, hoping to find better circumstances. Preston did the same thing other musicians did in Nashville - he played in bars and on street corners for tips. I think that Preston gave up on his dreams of a career in music in Nashville. I believe he became somewhat discouraged at that time.”

After leaving Nashville in 2005, Preston and Susie would move to San Angelo, to be closer to Preston's only daughter. “She gave birth to a baby girl, Preston's first grandchild, in January 2007,” Susie Springer said. “He held his new granddaughter on the day she was born.”

Ten days later, on February 4, Preston Springer died in his sleep of apparent heart failure.

He was 51 years old.

During the Flatbroke sessions, Springer recorded a number of songs, which have remained unreleased. Susie hopes to find a record company interested in producing the material.
_______________________

Thanks so much to Susie Springer for sharing the incredible photo of Preston as well as her time and memories. It is all muchly appreciated. And thanks again to Lisa for the story. Check her incredibly thorough South Colorado music blog Pueblo City Limits HERE.

Slim Willet, Abilene

TELLI W. MILLS - Sneaky Pete (Winston 1021)

Dean Beard and Slim Willet's song-writing association began in early '57 when Slim inked the Coleman native to his Edmoral label, but the two no doubt met when both were associated with Bill Fox's KRBC radio station in Abilene a couple of years prior. As Slim opened up the Winston label in 1957 he and Beard became heavily involved in 'co-writing' songs. I'm not sure how much involvement ol' Slim actually had with some of the Telli W. Mils releases on Winston other than vocal stabs here and there, most notably on "Ain't Going Home", but his name is certainly there.

According to Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies (Willet listing HERE) the session for "Sneaky Pete" and it's flip "Benguela" featured what was essentially Dean Beard and his Crew Cats with Dean on piano, James Steward on guitar, Jimmy Seals on sax, Dash Croft on drums, and Hop Ealim on bass. It would be released in March of 1958. Minus Hop and James, this would be the group that would head out to California in the next year to join Dave Burgess's reformed Champs. Seals and Croft would stay on and Jimmy would even release a few solo sides for the Challenge label ("Grounded" was stomped HERE). Dean himself would record a few sides as well, including the great unreleased rocker "My Roberta", before being fired for reportedly putting his hand a bit too far into the kitty. Slim managed to get Carlton to pick up both sides and they were reissued as by the Jimmy Seals Orchestra.

HERE'S a slim little site on Willet with involvement from Joe Specht of McMurry University in Abilene. Great photo of Slim setting down as dee jay from around the time of this recording.


Thanks to reader Howard DeShazo who was around when guys like Slim Willet and Ben Hall were recording West Texans. Howard even did a bit of recording and producing himself- including Dean Beard himself- when he wasn't out hot roddin' or drag racing his motorcycle. Visit Howard's website HERE. Lots of great photos and stories. Thanks, Howard!

Swingin' Strings, Stanton

Been a fair stretch since I've thrown up either an instrumental or an lp... this oughtta take care of both.

SWINGIN' STRINGS - Recollections (Milestone 1)

I think it was ol' Andy Brown who might have coined the term "local charm". I took that to be a way to pay at least some respect to albums such as this one by the Swingin' Strings. Though it might not compare to bigger or even more adventurous artists, within the realm of regional or even more local recordings it certainly isn't horrible.



Recorded for the Stanton, Texas Milestone label in 1980 Recollections is 16 tracks of safe, paint-by-numbers standards. Nothing really stands out and even on potentially uncomfortable moments - like the drum machine that pops up on a track or two- everything is very much okay. The Swingin' Strings trio audience was probably limited to local civic functions / luncheons and senior center afternoons. That's certainly a far cry from the honky tonks and dance halls where lead guitarist Jack Price cut his chops while briefly backing Big Spring's Hoyle Nix. Jack hits a few snazz'd up licks here and there, but never really stretches out. There's a few moments on the old warhorse "Navajo Trail" where it sounds like he just MIGHT let loose, but he holds back. The Goodman standard "Slipped Disc" gives Price's fingers a workout, but it is perhaps a song better left to a bigger combo. Though certainly not horrible, neither will it necessarily pull one's attention from the pages of a Sunday afternoon book. I'm not sure of the pedigree of Jess Miles (rhythm accompaniment) nor Billie Miles (bass) but this is, as much as it can be, Jack's show.