Nashville Rarity

[Soulfulsolutions]

Up for grabs a DING DONG rarity from the Amy-Mala-Bell stable!

Any questions or offers please PM.

Hy-Tones – You don’t even know my name – Bell 627 Promo – Offers

Nashville, the country music capital of the world, wasn’t renowned for its Soul and R&B output but the signs were there. Radio station WLAC could be heard in over 40 States at night, prime time for John R. (Richburg) on air playing vast swathes of the full inventory from Ernie’s Record Mart, picked daily by Ernie’s manager Jane Tabor. Ernie’s was an incredibly successful mail order company, with tunes being sold and mailed out all over the US on the same day or night they were ordered after being heard. It was a phenomenon and the backdrop for a buzzing Nashville music scene, in which many Nashville artists including the Hy-Tones flourished in comparison to the grind for other artists across America.

It’s possible the Hy-Tones lack of recordings was due to their involvement as the backing group on Nashville’s television music show “Night Train”, which hosted big names, including soul stars such as Otis Redding, Percy Sledge and James Brown and is regarded as the forerunner of “Soul Train”. This full time and most importantly paid commitment explains how we come to see footage of the Hy-Tones backing teenager Sandra King’s – Leave it up to the boys and very few trips to the recording studios. Robert “Bob” Holmes, a prolific writer and producer in Nashville and connected to William Justis Jr. who owned Tuneville Music, are the main drivers for the Hy-Tones and King’s nearly sequential Bell label releases in 1965. Holmes spotted the Hy-Tones at a Cameron High School talent show, turning manager for Freddie Waters, Eddie Frierson and Arthur 'Skeet' Alsup and Sandra King. He is credited on many Nashville labels, notably A-Bet, Excello, Ref-O-Ree and influential for the likes of the Avon’s, Peggy Gaines, Gene Allison, Roger Hatcher, Wendell Watts and the Paramount Four to name a few.

Whilst the Hy-Tones released “You don’t even know my name” on Southern Artists, also the original release source of Jimmy Church’s “Right on time”, it was almost immediately released by Bell. This catchy melodic floater exposes the smooth experienced vocals of all 3 group members, who lead us through a somewhat dreamy story of rejected affection. It may not be for some hardened Soulie’s who like it grittier, but both label releases are bona fide rarities filling dancefloors for years. Mr. Manship quoted seeing less Bell copies than Southern Artists in his time. “Bigger & Better” on A-Bet is a wonderful support act, and evidence of studio time did eventually surface with 2 acetate tracks “Runaway Girl” and “Good News” both achieving vinyl imprint on the Kent Anniversary label.

This Bell 627 release is visually in very good condition, and whilst it has numerous light paper marks, there is nothing that can described as a scratch that impairs the audio feedback, so playback is at least excellent or better. There is a single pop on the run in but it’s over well before the intro. Molded label looks excellent minus, with the odd scrape hear and there, but the dark colour obscures a visual depreciation. See photos.

Minimum £2000, letting this run until 8pm on Tuesday 17 November unless I get an offer I can’t refuse in-between.

Content with PayPal by friends or add 4%, alternatively bank transfer.

Fully insured postage included.

Cheers, Lee

   

Edited November 11, 2020 by Soulfulsolutions