Rockabilly

Session Nine

In our last exxxciting episode in the Rockabilly 101 story of Mac Curtis and the brothers Galbreaith: everything was ready to turn up roses. Right! Wrong.

Shortly after completing the first recordings April 1, 1956 the first single If I Had Me A Woman b/w Just So You Call Me was issued. The other two songs from that session would be the follow up single Half Hearted Love and Grandaddys Rockin. All but Grandaddy were written by Jim Shell and Joe Price. Couple of hillbilly boys plying their trade in Dallas.

Grandaddy came from a brother and sister duo Bob and Clare Blake. They were from Missouri and knew our Manager, Little Bill Thompson, who was from there also. The Blakes had brought the song down to Texas and were invited to stay at the Galbreaith family home for a few days. We were able to get familiar with the tune before the record session.

The first single came out and was beginning to get airplay around the local area. However…unknown to me or Little Bill…the wheels were about to come off the hot rod

In May, Jim and Ken summoned Bill to come to a meeting in Weatherford on the steps of the High School. I was blindsided when Jimmie informed Bill that he was no longer needed as our manager. I was against the move, but, I was out-voted

I didn’t see the brothers for a few days and went to visit my aunt and uncle in Fort Worth. Jim and Ken eventually called and came to pick me up to ride to a show in Waco, Texas we had booked sometime earlier.

It was a fun show and it was on live television. It was called the Bluebonnet Barn Dance (named for the sponsor Bluebonnet Flour). The host was a guy named Clyde Cheshire. He had a good band which featured Dale McBride alternating between hillbilly and hep cat vocals. The single neck steel guitarist, Gaylon “Korn Kobb” Christie was the funny guy and was a deejay on KTEM, one of the area radio stations.

Dale, Gaylon and I hit it off really well. It would serve me as one of those "lucky breaks”. I was about to need it sooner than I was aware of.

In fact, The show ended; I collected the fee and went to the car. We drove away as Jimmie began to explain that he and Ken were going to spend the night with one of their aunts in a nearby town…which was in the opposite direction from where the car was headed. It was a short ride with a long silence.

The car stopped in front of the Trailways Bus Station in Waco. I said my good byes and they did as well, adding they would see me when they got back to Weatherford. I boarded the bus for a longer ride and longer silence.

WELLLL What happened next?

Don’t miss our next exxxciting episode in the Rockabilly 101 story of Mac Curtis and the brothers Galbreaith!
Many thanks to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame



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