Art Wheeler w/ the Rhythm Heirs, El Paso

Yucca 105 features a combo billed as the Rhythm Heirs backing a male vocalist on one side and a sisterly duo on the other.

ART WHEELER w/ THE RHYTHM HEIRS- Strange World (Yucca 105 A)

The two sides of Yuccca 105 feature two different artists. The a-side is performed / written by an Art Wheeler and backed by a Rhythm Heirs who lend the tune a sorta creosote fueled calypso beat. The who's, why's, and where from's of Art Wheeler might not be known at this point, but he's certainly got a decent little McPhatter-esque swagger. El Paso cat? Military Brat? Alamogordo dude?

Odd that Yucca Records honcho Calvin Boles found the need to split this release between two different artists. Perhaps producer Ken Dunagan brought Art and the flip-side sister act to Boles. And interesting to see that Wheeler's composition carries an Aladdin publishing notation... just about everything else on Yucca is part of Fairway publishing, so seeing Wheeler tied in with a West Coast outfit is interesting. Makes me think Art might have been a military man and stationed at either White Sands, Holloman A.F.B., or Fort Bliss on a two year stint in the southwest.

I've stomped the flip by Evelyn and Virgie Galleges HERE.

The Miller Bros., Wichita Falls

JIMMY MCGRAW (v) w/ THE MILLER BROS. - Loco Choo Choo (4 Star 1699)

The Miller Brothers band stayed extremely busy working a circuit out of Wichita Falls, Texas. When promoter Sam Gibbs didn't have them out on the road working dates across the West or mult-week stands in Las Vegas the gang was holed up in their own MB Corral in Wichita Falls. Though they started up in the 1940s it wasn't until the 1950s and their association with 4 Star Records of California that things really started clicking along. For a few years the band was drawing votes as one of the top combos in the country, no doubt through the promotional efforts of Mr. Gibbs.


"Loco Choo Choo" was recorded in mid '56, near the tail end of their association with 4 Star and at the height of the popularity, an odd thing as the western swing style and big country combos were largely on their way out or being relegated to lounges in gambling towns. "Choo Choo"'s jive'd out feel comes with a hep'ish vocal from Jim McGraw. Fine backing with a swift guitar break that really coulda used a bit of a stretch... comes in just a tad short in my opinion. Pretty impressive the way the band pulls off the train sound. The lyrics may come up a bit short, but it's an okay ride and was probably a hit with the dancers that didn't mind gettin' just a bit loose.

Bobby Sikes & the Rhythm Rebels, Coleman

BOBBY SIKES & THE RHYTHM REBELS- You've Left A Broken Heart b/w Rolling Stone (Rebel 101)

Brownwood, Texas falls just outside of the geographic focus of LoneStarStomp, but I'm gonna reel it on in for this post on Bobby Sikes. The Sikes Brothers- Bobby and Rick- were from Coleman, a half-hour west of Brownwood and put together the Rhythm Rebels in the late 1950s working Abilene TV for a short stretch in the early- to mid-60s and pretty much owning the Brownwood / Coleman bar scene for the remainder of the 60s. For a band that played as much as they did and were was popular as they were, the Rhythm Rebels left behind little evidence of their existence in the form of recorded sounds. There were a couple of records on Rebel, one or two more on Nashville, and another on the Sims label. Perhaps it was the fact that the Rebels were so busy, so wild, on the road that little time was left for the studio.

According to a 2001 Texas Monthly story on Rick Sikes, Bobby died of kidney failure back in the 90s. And aside from his being a Rhythm Rebel little else is commonly known of his life as a musician, which would in all likelihood be overshadowed by his brother's part-time exploits in casing banks while touring Texas.

Whether Rebel 101 was serious or intended as a 'leg pull' it is today obvious that Bobby is a white boy with a country blues bent. Though not disjointed enough to label as "outsider" in 2010, it does veer extraordinarily close. But there's just a bit too much pride for it to be too much of a goof and a little too much talent for it to be too 'broken', a genre of the blues that got its legs with the work of Jon Spencer and the Gibson brothers some 20 years back. Weird to think that all these combos in the 90s working this style intended to be some sorta Howling Wolves filtered through a busted mono AM radio speaker. Bobby Sikes, and countless others no doubt, got there long before.

Gone To the Bend...

That time of the year again... ol' Westex is headed south to that glorious Bend in the Rio for a few days of restin, relaxin', and what not. We'll drink some, soak some, sleep some, hike some and burn down a few la Glorias and Padron '64s along the way.

This has been here before, but the 'video' below is made up of scenes from last year's adventure to Big Bend.... Witches/Bruja Canyon, Tuff Canyon, the River Road, the stretch from Presidio to Candelaria, Capote Falls, and the 'road to nowhere' all set to a West Texas classic from former Midlander Joseph Brunelle.

Jackie Johnson, Plainview

Recently enjoyed the company of J. Chronis and Gabe from the EXCELLENT Second Line Social blog for an evening of 45 spinnin' and tall tales about recording diggin'... both of 'em seemed to have enjoyed this little Panhandle oddity.

JACKIE JOHNSON & THE WHEELS - Yesterday's Misery (1123)

Plainview's Harry Bray worked really hard for that hit. If it wasn't going to be his own, then it was going to be by someone else. While he never had that hit for himself, he certainly did try with other artists on his Twixt-Teen and Satin labels. Bray's greatest obstacles seem to have been an odd 'tune' ear and poor production fidelity. Not too difficult to imagine when one considers that Bray's studios were located on the premises of the used car lot he ran. Down in a cellar.

Jackie Johnson was the odd man out on the Harry Bray roster. Aside from a couple of garagey teen recordings everything else I'm familiar with on Twixt-Tween and its followup Satin had a country feel. And except for Jackie, everyone else who recorded for the label was white. One would figure soul singers in Plainview, Texas to be a rare thing. Heck... homegrown soul singers from the Texas plains are rare regardless of the location.

Fellow West Texas collectro Robin Brown (check his site HERE... lots of information about Amarillo area artists) recalls a late 60s meeting with Twix-Tween / Satin label owner Harry Bray and Jackie Johnson and played them a song or two. Johnson, though, didn't have a release for Bray until recording Harry's own "Yesterday's Misery" on Satin. I'm not so sure that the "Wheels" on this particular release, at least in part, are not an early drum machine... the beat is sometimes a bit too strange and almost too odd to have been a person. The overall processed feel of the musical backing track could just be Bray's recording technique. According to Robin Brown the organ playing was done by Bray himself. Real drummer or machine, it's that quality that sends "Yesterday's Misery" in the direction of "outsider". Had Bray done it all by himself it might have gone there. It's soul, but it ain't Al Green nor is it "What's Going On".

The flip is a fairly non-descript country recording that is credited to Johnson, but is obviously not him. Robin Brown thinks the uncredited singer might have been a guy from out of state, but at this point it's probably one of those little things that shall continue to be lost to time.

Bray left this world and the used car business some time ago. Jackie Johnson was last seen in Plainview.

Thanks to Robin Brown for the information on Harry, Jackie, and the picture of Jackie above. 15 years back the Plainview Daily Herald did an article on an 'oldies' band Johnson was playing in, but no mention was made of his early recording effort(s).

Dudley and the Do-Rites, Carlsbad

DUDLEY AND THE DO-RITES - Want Ta Be Your Lovin' Man b/w Sunday Drive (Kavern Recordings 1000)

Carlsbad, New Mexico is today better known for its nearby systems of caverns than it is anything else. So like most folks I hear Carlsbad and think... 'Caverns'. But being a weird collectro, I also hear place names and start thinking about bands, labels, and songs. So not only do I think 'CAVERNS!!!' when I hear Carlsbad, but I thing 'Kavern Recordings'... home to those smashing New Mexiteen sensations, Dudley And The Do-Rites.

Take a stroll through the Carlsbad-based Stuck In The 60's Band website (HERE)... the town seems to have been quite the spot back in the 60s with combos like the Hustlers, The Others, the Sapiens, and the John Burke Society. Tons of bands ran around the area, but the only group I'm aware of having actually released a record were those smashing New Mexiteen sensations, Dudley And the Do-Rites.

At the very least Dudley And the Do-Rites included guitarist Glen Gettings, guitarist John Maxwell, and drummer John White. Glen's name pops up in numerous band photos on the Carlsbad site, but nary a single photo of the Do-Rites is to be found. Gettings had previously played with the Hustlers and few other Carlsbad area groups as is documented on the site. Neither of the other two members listed as being Do-Rites are found anywhere else on the Stuck website though. Neither is a name give for the swift bassist, nor the organ player.

On the vocal "Want Ta Be Your Lovin' Man", a Westex fave, Gettings and the Do-Rites turn in an incredibly bouncy and energetic vocal number that begged for an audience filled with pogo happy teens. Turn it up, close your eyes, and feel the room bounce as the kids yell along. The instrumental flip, another band original, is not exactly groundbreaking and perhaps might have been better titled "Slow Song For Dancing Really Close To A Girl". There's little other info to go with this record... it does not bear a publishing rights imprint which is odd as it was recorded in Clovis at Norman Petty's studio. Probably a 1966 release, though as late-to-the-party as we can sometimes be out this direction a 1967 release date wouldn't surprise me either and the addition of a zip-code on the address lends more weight to it being a later release.