The Elgins & The Mirrors, Big Spring

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".

Jack Tate and The Sandy Land Play Boys, ????

Andrew Brown's recent posting of the Dixie Rogers single on Caprock on his excellent Wired For Sound blog reminded me that I had been sitting on a Caprock single of my own for some time. Oddly enough it will be my first posting on this Hank Harral label from Big Spring... so let's get to stomping.


JACK TATE AND THE SANDY LAND PLAY BOYS - Casanova b/w Maybe I Won't Need You Anymore (Caprock 111)

We ain't got the best of soil out this way. From Midland out east to the Caprock's edge near Stanton there's fairly nice soil in spots. North of Andrews heading into Seminole the land lays fairly nice with good farming soil. But from Odessa west and south it's just ruff stuff, seemingly more barren and useless the further west and further south you go. Calling it "sandyland" isn't too far of a stretch. Some of the land, especially in the Monahans area and back up north towards Roswell and beyond is just dunesville. Elsewhere, like the Rancho Westex backyard, it's a mix of rock and useless sand. It gets in everything and just won't come out.

But enough about dirt.


Aside from having released this 45 on Hank Harral's Big Spring-based Caprock records I know nothing of Jack Tate nor the Sandy Land Play Boys. I would guess they might have been from Odessa, Monahans, or even Kermit based on the band moniker. "Casanova" shows some mightee fine picking from both the guitarist and the steel guitarist, who I would have loved to have heard more from. The uptempo proceedings nicely suit Jack's voice as well, though it doesn't fair quite so well on the so-so flip "Maybe I Won't Need You Anymore".
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Another big West Texan "Thanks" to Little Danny of the might fine Office Naps blog for sending this 45 along some time last year or the year before last. Good to see Danny's incredible blog up again. He's also got an excellent new site dedicated to his vision of the exotica genre, called the Exotica Project.... check it out HERE.

Southside Singers, Midland

THE SOUTHSIDE SINGERS - "I've Already Been To the Waters," "I'm Going Through," and "Walk In The Light" (from Walk In the Light, ACR RHS-7223)

Almost no fidelity whatsoever on this live sounding gospel recording from Midland, Texas. The record label itself states "In Concert", but the audience must have been small, completely off mic, or just plain ol' dead. I would guess it to be more likely that the 35+ members of the Southside Singers huddled up around a mic or two in an empty tabernacle for this recording. Despite the liner notes labeling the group as "gospel soul", without the benefit of a full band backing most of the album has a rather ho hum feel to it. The standouts include an update of the Wynans family classic "Already Been To the Water", an update of the standard "I'm Going Through", and a straight reading of the title number. Not bad, but certainly not amazing. Guitar, drums, and horns would have taken this to a whole new level.

Johnny Brown & the Plainsmen, El Paso

I've got a few stories sitting around I've been prepping off and on for some time now. And as my time goes to those, I've decided to just pull a post from the back pages of LoneStarStomp. Hopefully someone out there will be familiar with this Starday Custom out of El Paso that I originally Stomped way back in June, 2008.


JOHNNY BROWN AND THE PLAINSMEN W/ SAMMY - Shame (Big State 45-718-A)

One of the greatest labels of the 1950s was the Jack Starnes and Pappy Dailey creation Starday. As a record collector there are few greater feelings than turning up those yellow labels with the black script fonts. It's a label with killer side after killer side after killer side. Bill Mack, Sonny Fisher, Link Davis, Amos Como, Patsy Elshire, Bob Doss, Glenn Barber, George "Thumper" Jones, Fred Crawford, and on you go. Whether it swung, stomped, or bopped Starday had it covered. There's even a bit of doo wop in there. And one of Buddy Holly's tastiest bits o' guitar playing, too.

When Don Pierce made the move from California and 4 Star to Houston, Texas and Starday he brought with him the idea of a division that would offer up custom pressed records to any hopeful stars with a little bit of pocket $$$. In exchange said hopeful artist would receive a few hundred copies of a record on a yellow Starday label. For more information on this part of the Starday empire please take a look at Malcolm Chapman's excellent website on the Custom series. The proper Starday Custom label is-like the main series- full of amazing recordings. Lucky Wray (with Link on Guitar), Jimmy Johnson, Frank Evans, Arnold Parker, Truitt Forse, Lloyd McCulloch, Rocking Martin, and Hal Payne.

In some cases artists would send along a label name and the company would produce a label from one of a handful of basic designs. Such is the case of Big State label. There seem to have been a number of Big States scattered all over the place. There is a listing for a Big State release from Wichita Falls. There's the wild Roland Faulk Big State 45 from down on the Gulf Coast. There's also a couple of Big State releases by Johnny Payne out of Houston, but they are part of the 4 Star custom series.

In June of 1958- so sayeth the Chapman Custom site- Johnny Brown and the Plainsmen and vocalizer "Sammy" (Smith?") released their offering of "Shame" b/w "My Little Darling" on a Big State label with an El Paso address. We'll mention no more of "My Little Darling".

The A-side "Shame" bops along nicely. And it IS a bopper. A PRIMITIVE bopper. A primitive HILLBILLY bopper. The real deal. Not a tag thrown on some intranet auction to reel in bidders. While it may not be much of song- there's some words, but not many- it does move and chug along nicely with the steel player taking in a break after each verse/chorus. And what is that... three steel breaks? Certainly no shame there.

One other thing... this is one of just a handful of SCP's that was actually pressed up by Rite. And also just one of two Starday related 45s from El Paso that I'm aware of, the other being the 45 by the early El Paso favorites the Rock Kings.

In addition of the Starday Custom website Malcolm Chapman also runs a blog about the same subject... check it out HERE.

The Deuces Wild, Amarillo

DEUCES WILD - Come Easy Go / Hey Little One (Deuce Records DW-101)

Amarillo has long served as a sort of crossroads. Surrounded by energy, farming. and ranching concerns the city is an old outpost of Panhandle culture, business, transport and transportation, and that famed cowboy mythos. On the western edge of the city is the famed Stanley Marsh 3's infamous Cadillac Ranch. Travelers headed west on I-40 are greeted by the big n' gaudy Big Texan (being more about quality than kitsch I would be hesitant to recommend this place for actual food... stop to see it, but just don't eat it). Out north of town black suburbans loaded with well-equipped employees of Pantex sneak around protecting and updating our nation's nuclear stockpiles. The "highway that is best", Route 66, still motors through the city's north side, its glory days all but completely behind it. As the largest city in the region Amarillo draws business and attention from the panhandles of both Texas and Oklahoma as well as New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas.

In the 1960s Amarillo was a go-to point for teen-oriented combos of the area, native Texan and otherwise. I-40/HWY 66 was still bringing touring combos through the city. The local Amarillo scene was shakin' away on its own with action by the Cinders, Hysterical Society, and the Tiaras along with countless other combos. Ray Ruff's Checkmate Studio was THE recording spot, splitting between local acts like the infamous Ya'lls and and outta-staters like the good ol' Blue Things and the wacky Dinks. Even a Van Morrison-less THEM hooked up with Ruff and his Sully/Ruff stable using Amarillo as a base of operations for a short time.

As far as I know the only other local studio that provided any type of recording services for for teen beat combos was a studio run by KPUR deejay Larry Cox, which was most likely opened in late 1965 or 1966. Probably the best known release to come from Larry's studio was the Undertakers single on Studio 7 which paired a fuzzy, pounding remake of "Unchain My Heart" with "It's My Time"'s dive bombing organ. The other three Larry Cox-related discs that rock a bit are the Notations on Beverly, the Renegades on Souled Out, and the Deuces Wild on Deuce. Larry evidently believed pink would grab attention and sell records as all three labels share the same pastel hue.

Larry Cox eventually motorvate'd west himself where he went on to produce chart toppers Climax as well as Jefferson Starhip's run of 70s hits before dropping out of the music business in the early 80s. Larry tooled about California for the next couple of decades, before eventually returning to Texas. He passed away just last year (Dec., 2009)

The recordings by Notations and Deuces Wild are interesting in that both go back to the early 60s for one of their sides. On the Notations take up Dick Dale's version of the quick-picking "Miserlou" on their Beverly release... amazing to think that in 1966 bands were still pulling this sound on record. I would be willing to guess that the Notations went on to become the Deuces Wild as the Deuces single is loaded with plenty of reverb as well.

The Deuces Wild 45 was likely pressed either in late 1966 or even 1967. Its got a surf feel. But its also got a lite touch of psychedelia strung through both sides. "Hey Little One", a huge hit of for Dorsey Burnette in 1962 and a garage and soul band staple ever since, is okey dokie enough and gave the local teens who showed up at the dances a chance to grope and sway in the darker corners of the gym. The band's moody original "Come Easy Go", penned by a Freddy Johnson, mixes the reverberated sun n' surf sound with acidic vocals and fuzz.


The K-PUR handbill, Larry Cox ad, and dance picture all came from the interesting Amarillo Graffiti website. Check it out HERE. Anyone with more info on the Deuces Wild, Notations, or Renegades please drop me a line.