Jan Lessard, Odessa

JAN LESSARD - I Just Met You (Coronado 111)

Charles "Hoot" Gibson came to Odessa in the mid-60s and opened up Coronado recording studio in a strip mall across the street from Odessa College. The first record released by Hoots was Johnny "Peanuts" Wilson's "Twilight Zone" b/w "Little Miss Fortune" on the misprinted Coronodo label. While the former Teen King found no national success with the double sided rocker, Hoot and Johnny were able to move quite a few copies in the Midessa area.

The first release on the re-christened Coronado label came from Jan Lessard in 1964. Jan and Peanuts co-wrote the mid-tempo rocker "I Just Met You" which sounds like a Roy Orbison number as done by Charlie Rich. The flip, "Faithful Fool", is a more straightforward cop of Roy Orbison and not particularly memorable though it is notable for featuring the Shieks as a backing combo. The Sheiks would show up again on the second (and final?) Coronado release, a pair of excellent R&B numbers from an Eddie Williams.

Johnny & His Blue Diamonds, Lubbock

JOHNNY AND HIS BLUE DIAMONDS - Let's Go Steady b/w Mercy Mercy Mercy (Jilguero 150)

The Jilguero label had quite a run. According to Arhoolie's amazing Frontera Encyclopedia this South Plains imprint might have released well over 100 singles making it the most prolific Spanish lengua label from west Texas. Though it possibly began in Shallowater for much of it's 10+ years Jilguero- Spanish for the goldfinch bird- was based from Lubbock.

Johnny and the Blue Diamonds had three releases on Jilguero with "Let's Go Steady" b/w "Mercy Mercy Mercy" being their last. Both sides of this single from 1967/8 are reworkings of then popular songs and the performances on both sides are credited to the duo of Leroy and Mauricio. "Mercy Mercy Mercy", which got its start in '66 as a jazz instrumental, comes in almost ska-like before quickly giving way to a grittier workup of the top #5 hit for Chicago's Buckinghams. The Blue Diamonds probably heard "Let's Go Steady" riding backside to Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music" and the horns are a dead giveaway to the the group's Chicano-aucity (that a word?).

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Dig the picture above... that's a shot of Mexico's Sierra del Carmens about 30 miles off in the distance. Just below those mountains lies the small Mexican border village of Boquillas del Carmen which was immortalized in Robert Earl Keene's "Gringo's Honeymoon" and recently made news after the Secretary of the Interior announced the reopening of the local border crossing. The crossing was closed under threat of imminent invasion from Muslim terrorists 9 years back. For a huge hunk of last week this was pretty much my view while camping on the lower slopes of the Chisos Mountains. I enjoyed my time, not thinking about this blog too awful much and came back not really wanting to mess with LoneStarStomp for a bit. I do believe I may now take short break from regular posting and focus on some re-writes (Gene Morris) and stories that have been in the pre-write phase for far too long (The New Roadrunners and Knights Bridge as well.... holler at me Ted Franklin and Steve Smith!!!)

Hasta...

Bob Taylor & the Counts, El Paso

BOB TAYLOR AND THE COUNTS - Thunder b/w Taylor's Rock (Yucca 102)

Rock n' Roll instros from the 1950s don't get much wilder. Usually they're nowhere nearly as wild and often wind up feeling more like an afterthought. Or they seem to be some throwaway riding piggy back to mid-tempo rocker or a slow lip lockin' smoocher. Nothing like that here. Pick a side... any side.

If you've read the excellent Miriam Linna penned shakedown on Bobby Fuller in KICKS #6 then you will recall Jim Reese's talk of joining the brand new Counts combo right after getting turned down for a guitar job in the top dog El Paso combo the Rock Kings. Just getting off the ground the group included local tough guy Bobby Taylor on lead guitar, his brother Glenn on acoustic guitar, Willie Wilson on drums, and Jim plinking away on piano. In the beginning there was no bass player.

In 1958 the Counts headed north for Alamogordo, New Mexico and radio station KALG where they recorded "Thunder" and "Taylor's Rock" for Calvin Boles' brand new record label Yucca.

"Thunder" opens with a crashing cymbal before giving way to the a near hypnotic pummeling from the other Counts. Jim hammers out the bass line on the piano while Bobby Taylor just rips right on through on guitar and Willie Wilson pounds away on drums. And just about 3 minutes later a crashing cymbal shuts "Thunder" back down.

Rather than put a radio-ready slow number of the flip the band up'd the jump just a little bit for "Taylor's Rock". Cut from the same cloth as "Thunder" the number is again anchored by a slight chuka-chuka rhythm from Glenn Taylor on guitar and Reese's rolling piano bass line. Bob's lead guitar stings just a bit more. And Willie does a fine job with the beat.

Yucca 102 is GREAT 45 and one of the best two-siders to come from the city known as El Chuco and it no doubt gave the foursome a bit of local clout. They added a couple of vocalists (Jerry Bright and Googie Dermeyer) and a bassist to the lineup. And in the spring of 1959 they recorded a second 45 for Yucca featuring a great Bob Taylor vocal on "Don't Be Unfair". The city of El Paso also began to help the Counts set up shows to kinda corral local teens and keep them off the streets on weekend nights.

After a short while Reese, Googie, and Bright (sounds like a swell name for a law firm) left the Counts, morphing into a combo called the Embers. Billed as Jerry Bright and the Embers the group cut a pair of 45s for Yucca and included Dalton Powell on piano and Bobby Fuller on drums. With Jim on guitar it was two steps and a shake away from the greatest rock n' roll combo to come from West Texas in the 1960s. (a little Stomp HERE.)

"Thunder" would reappear as "Thunder Reef" on the first Bobby Fuller Four release on Mustang in 1965. But as the Shindigs. Dig???
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BUY BUY BUY issue 6 of KICKS. The rundown on Bobby Fuller is great. And Miriam is working on a full blown Bobby bio as well. Keep up to date with her Bobby Fuller blog.