Curtis Edgar Hobock, Jr. was born in Hatchie, Tennessee, a
small community outside Mercer, in Haywood county about 35 miles south of
Humboldt. His parents Curtis Edgar Sr. and Anna Lee-Moore were of German and
Dutch origin and had five other sons and six daughters. Curtis worked
on the farm from an early age but had no musical education. His favourite singer
while growing up was Roy Rogers the singing cowboy.
In late 1942 or early 1943 Curtis decided to enlist in the
US Navy and had to get his dad's permission, as he was underage at the time.
While growing up and still very young Curtis was only able to attend one year
of school and it wasn't until he was in the Navy that he learned how to read
and write. It was also in the Navy he learned to love music and learned how to
play the guitar and the steel-guitar. While in the Navy he made two records,
which are still around today but are beyond recovery. He served as a steward,
being a cook and a barber, and later transferred to the See Bee's where he saw
action in the South Pacific.
At the end of the war, while waiting to be discharged at the
Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, he met Geneva Sue Johnson of Hayward,
California and married her on November 25, 1945. After being discharged Curtis
moved back to Alamo, Tennessee with his new bride and took odd jobs, mostly
farming. He began working at Lancaster Service, a Lion service station, as a
gas attendant. In May 1948 he moved his family to Malesus, Tennessee to be
closer to his job.
He then moved closer to town in June 1952 to an area called
Bonwood outside of Bemis, Tennessee. Over the next four years Curtis worked
several jobs, switching several times between Cliff Miller Lumber/Madison Mill
Works, driving a route truck for Dolly Madison Bakery, and working with his
brother-in-law David Jackson driving long haul truck routes. In 1956 he went to
work for the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) for a short period of time and
then to Central Woodworks as a millwright.
In 1956 and 1957 he started to be musically active. He
played to a band from Jackson, the Stardusters, who were looking for a singer.
Shortly thereafter, Hobock became a member of the band, which he also managed. They
played in numerous clubs, and toured with a repertoire consisting of country
and rockabilly. Hobock's personal idol these days was Jim Reeves.
He played with many artist and bands of the era, some
obscure and some famous including Carl Mann, Don Durant, Sam the Sham, Ace
Cannon, The Chandlers, The Van Dels, The Dukes, and many others too numerous to
list. He was on the "Talent Party" on WHBQ Memphis, Tennessee with
Durell Durham, George Klein, and Wink Martindale. During this time Curtis
traveled to many radio stations hand delivering his songs and giving away his
records hoping for that big break that never came.
Hobock's first session for the local label Lu Records was
not published. In June 1959, the first Hobock and Stardusters record on Lu was
released, The Whole Towns Talking / Do You Think. A month later, another single
on Lu followed with Tom Dooley Rock & Roll / China Rock, misspelling his name as Hobeck .
After these first recordings for Lu, the line-up of the star
pattern changed constantly, only guitarist Tommy Jones and Hobock himself
remained as singer, guitarist and pianist. At the same time, Hobock and his
band were often heard in Dixieland Jamboree.
In 1959 Curtis started his sessions with Sun Records and Sam Phillips but relations with Sun and Sam where broken off sometime in 1960.
In 1959 Curtis started his sessions with Sun Records and Sam Phillips but relations with Sun and Sam where broken off sometime in 1960.
After extensive tours to Las Vegas, Hobock met producer
Murray Nash around 1963. Nash signed Hobock record deals with Cee & Cee
Records and MusiCenter Records, which released two Hobock singles each. None of
his singles made it to the charts. This finally prompted Hobock in August 1966
to give up the music and move with his family to Fresno , California . He took
many short-lived jobs and part time jobs away from the music industry until
1967 when he went to work as the Maintenance Supervisor for "Duncan
Ceramics". He worked there until his retirement in 1977. After his
retirement he built a miniature of Hatchie, Tennessee where he grew up.
Hobock continued to play in the private circle, but no longer performed. He died September 29, 1988. At that point, some of his songs had been re-released several times, but Hobock had no knowledge of them.
Hobock continued to play in the private circle, but no longer performed. He died September 29, 1988. At that point, some of his songs had been re-released several times, but Hobock had no knowledge of them.
(Edited from Wikipedia & Rockabilly Hall of Fame.)
5 comments:
For “Curtis Hobock – Hey Everybody (Anthology 1958-65)” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/11646446/Curtis_Hobock_-_Hey_Everybody.rar.html
1 Hey Everybody!
2 Talking About Rock'n'Roll
3 The King Is Back
4 Tom Dooley Rock'n'Roll
5 Apron Strings
6 My Bonnie
7 Crazy Twist
8 With My Best Friend
9 For All I'm Worth
10 Trip Into Love
11 I Want To Know
12 Have Mercy
13 I Wanna Shake It
14 Lonely Weekends
15 China Rock
16 Driftwood
17 The Whole Town's Talking
18 Do You Think
19 Tennessee Mail
20 Divorce Me COD
21 From The Bottom Of My Heart
22 A Fallen Star
23 Broken Heart City
24 What A Dream
25 I Found A Way
26 Tribute To Jim Reeves
27 Hobeck's Guitar Boogie
28 Wipe Out
A big thank you to 45to80@ loadsamusics archive for this Star-Club CD (Sweden, 2003)
Thanks for this one.
Bob - I just found this one after a search on your blog. Could you pls reup the links.
Thanks
ausman
Hi ausman, Here's Curtis
https://www.upload.ee/files/14755765/Curtis_Hobock_-_Hey_Everybody.rar.html
Many thanks Bob. Season's best wishes!
ausman
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