Curtis Hobock born 7 May 1926

Curtis Hobock (May 7, 1926 – September 29, 1988 ) was an American country and rockabilly musician.

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.

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.

(Edited from Wikipedia & Rockabilly Hall of Fame.)