LIN WHEELER, "TOO SMALL" C/W "SAVE A LITTLE LOVIN'" (ROULETTE R-4096, REL. 1/1958)

Lin Wheeler was a popular country performer in Georgia, where she was a favorite on the regional radio show “Peach State Jamboree” out of Swainsboro, a small town in Emanuel County. Apparently, this local-hero status was enough to get this young woman—whom I’d guess was a pre-teen—to Nashville, where she made her lone single in late 1957.

She sounds like a ringer for Little Brenda Lee, who was Decca Records’ prepubescent hit-maker that year and would remain a mainstay of the label for over a decade. This pair of songs sounds almost exactly like Brenda’s Owen Bradley-produced Decca releases of the day.

At this time, soundalike performers held novelty value with the record-buying public. They overlooked the exploitation angle of this mimicry, as uncritical TV audiences might laud the piss-poor impressions of Rich Little in the 1970s. In some cases, a singer might build a career based on an uncanny ability to channel another’s style—e.g. Ral Donner, whose startling imitation of Elvis got him three Top 20 hits in 1961-62.

Luck did not grace young Wheeler; her two Brenda Lee-esque tracks are it for her. Back to Swainsboro she went, where the smog of time swallowed her up.

“Too Small” likely has the same Nashville cats playing as were on Lee’s contemporary records. This plea for tolerance—she’s “missin’ the fun when the rockin’ is done” due to being too small AND too young. With guitarist Hank Garland, drummer Buddy Harman and pianist Floyd Cramer behind her, plus The Anita Kerr Singers, this is pure Nashville Sound pop-rock from a fruitful year for that genre. It’s endearing; Lin gives it her all and the hope in her voice is evident.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

“Save a Little Lovin’,” penned by Johnny Hicks, is a solid pop-country bopper that engages this musical moppet further. Another killer Hank Garland guitar solo ups the ante. I’m a big fan of he and drummer Harman—their superb chops and strong understanding of what worked best for any song is remarkable.

This is a credible recording, and had it come out on a Nashville-based label, it might have gone somewhere. It was leased, alongside other Nashville records by “Peach State Jamboree” performers including Johnny Elgin, to Roulette, the mobbiest li’l label in New York City. Since label don Morris Levy couldn’t get the copyrights to any of the songs (all were registered with Nashville’s Cedarwood Music), he released them with a spiteful lack of publicity; they all died, although Elgin’s release did get reviewed.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

Among the mass of missing information on Lin Wheeler is what happened to her after her one fling with mainstream fame. Did she continue performing and get motherly advice from Decca country star Kitty Wells? Did she quit music as puberty hit and go on to other things? We’ll never know. No photographs can be found; no news items, aside from a few mentions of her in Cash Box—all related to her radio performances.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tomorrow: Georgia theme continued with the final single of MOR r&b singer Bubber Johnson. A rockin’ ode to Atlanta coupled with an eerie inspirational ballad. King Records exotica from 1959.