Jack Earls (born August 23, 1932, Woodbury, Tennessee) is an
American country and rockabilly singer.
Earls was born on August 23, 1932, in Woodbury, TN. One of
seven children, he spent most of his childhood living on a farm in Manchester.
Already encouraged by his mother to sing, at 16 he also took up the guitar and
by 17 he was living in Memphis. As early as 1949, he formed his first band, but
pursuing music full-time had to wait behind other of life's considerations --
he was married in 1950 and by the mid-'50s already had a growing family to
feed. Still, he loved country music and thought he could make a living at it
and in 1954, Earls formed a group that included Johnny Black, brother of music
legend Bill Black, on guitar.
This was a country band that played local bars and
roadhouses, doing hillbilly music, one of hundreds in the Memphis area. The
band's decision to spend ten dollars to cut a demo at Sam Phillips' Memphis
Recording Services during the summer of 1955 put Earls into Phillips' orbit --
the producer liked the song, an original by Earls called "A Fool For
Lovin' You," and enjoyed Earls' singing, but told him he'd need a new band
if they were to record anything.
Earls had Black move to upright bass, and Warren Gregory
took up lead guitar; Danny Wahlquist joined on drums. Their next recording
session for Phillips resulted in the songs "Slow Down" and "Hey
Jim". "Slow Down" sold somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000
copies without ever charting, getting enough exposure in and around Memphis to
perform respectably as a local and regional release.
It might've done better but for the fact that Earls, who
held down a job at a bakery to feed his family, couldn't really tour and stuck
to playing venues close to Memphis. "Slow Down" elicited interest
from DJs from as far away as Texas, who played the record on their air and
would happily have put Earls & the Jimbos on live, had they made the trip to
the Lone Star State. Earls recorded several further songs for Sun, but none of
them were released until many years later.
Listening to those sides 40-plus years later, one's jaw
drops at the stuff that was left on the shelf. They were all originals and one
would've thought the publishing alone might amount to something serious for all
concerned -- the man was a natural musician and songwriter and deserved a lot
more recognition than he got.
By January of 1957, Earls' contract with Sun was over and so
was his recording career, despite offers from Meteor Records and King Records.
He kept performing as his time and energy allowed until 1963, when he moved to
Detroit. For the next few decades, he made his living exclusively on an
assembly line at Chrysler, raising his family and living the life of a
responsible middle-class citizen, while Elvis Presley's star rose, fell, and
rose again, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins got in and out of dire straits,
and Johnny Cash became the musical conscience of the working man.
He made a few
attempts at recording in the 1970s, resulting in singles of "Take Me to
That Place" b/w "Mississippi Man," "She Sure Can Rock
Me" b/w "Crawdad Hole," and "Flip Flop and Fly" b/w
"Rock Bop."
Finally retiring from Chrysler in 1996, after 40 years of
pursuing music in his spare time, Earls began to realize some of the glory that
might've been due him. The burgeoning interest in American rock & roll and
rockabilly music in Europe in general and England in particular drew Earls over
to Great Britain, where he was greeted like a superstar. Jack also performed in
Sweden (where he recorded a live album in 2000), the Rockabilly Rebel weekender
in Indianapolis and at Viva Las Vegas.
In the years since, Jack Earls has played concerts in
America as well played Las Vegas in tandem with Janis Martin and other
survivors from rockabilly's first generation. In 2010 he retired from
performing, due to ill health. Since then Earls has undergone extensive
treatment for colon cancer, including chemotherapy, but at this time of writing
his situation seems to be stable. (Compiled mainly
from All Music & Wikipedia)
1 comment:
For “JACK EARLS "HEY SLIM, LET'S BOP!" go here:
http://www115.zippyshare.com/v/NIX0FIl9/file.html
01. Hey Jim
02. They Can't Keep Me From You # 2
03. Hey Slim
04. Crawdad Hole # 1
05. When I Dream # 1
06. Crawdad Hole # 2
07. Slow Down
08. A Fool For Lovin' you
09. Crawdad Hole # 3
10. If You Don't Mind
11. Let's Bop
12. Sign The Dotted Line # 1
13. My Gal Mary Ann
14. Take Me To That Place # 1
15. They Can't Keep Me From You # 2
16. When I Dream # 2
17. Take Me To That Place # 2
18. Sign The Dotted Line # 2
Original post was from the now dormant “Rockin’ Gipsy” Blog in 2010.
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