THE VENDORS, "PUBLIC LOVER NO. 1"C/W "STEPPIN' STONES," M-G-M 13133 (REL. 6/1963)

 

in our marquee: composer Robert. S. Riley at work, Tennessee State Penitentiary.

Today—guess what?—we have another one-off record by another group that might not have existed in real life. It’s part of the story of Robert S. Riley, former guest of the Tennessee State Penitentiary, where he met Johnny Bragg, a wayward youth with a violent past who sought redemption in music. Bragg focused on singing and songwriting while a guest of the state, and when he discovered Riley was a composer, they formed a friendship. While Riley was never a performing member of The Prisonaires, as the five-man vocal group were known, he co-wrote their hit record “Just Walkin’ in the Rain,” best-known via its chart-topping pop version by gay white singer Johnnie Ray.

Through the sincere efforts of Sam Phillips, who released four singles on The Prisonaires (one of which I’m fortunate to own), the group was pardoned. Bragg formed a new group, The Marigolds, and they hit with Riley’s calypso-tinged “Rollin’ Stone” at Excello Records. Riley liked Nashville, and he fell in with its Black musical community. He became a vital songwriter and producer in the Music City. He collaborated with white songwriters, as seen on today’s record, and wrote in every style, including country. RCA Victor’s sibling trio The Browns recorded one of his songs in 1957.

Riley’s chief competitor in Nashville was Ted Jarrett, who wrote Webb Pierce’s chart-topping country smash “Love, Love, Love” and who is another name I look for when browsing records. These two men represent the presence of Black talent in Nashville that crossed over into white music on an even playing field where talent spoke louder than ethnicity.

Some racially diverse groups existed in Nashville; although I doubt they ever performed in public, The Vendors appear to be among their number. I hear Black and white voices in this group; as a bonus, there’s fuzz guitar—a Nashville invention and something different in 1963, when this rockin’ one-off was issued.

“Public Lover No. 1” opens with a wild burst of falsetto sexual harassment and fuzz guitar, which sneaks into the background—it might have been thought too extreme to feature at length. Riley co-wrote this song with Ronnie Wilkins, a young white cleffer who collaborated on many songs with Riley. For all I know, he may be one of the voices in this group. The low male lead is Black; the others may all be white kids. No one took notes in the moment.

Cash Box, June 1, 1963: fun-beat possibilities.

“Steppin’ Stones” has strings, and I’d wager this was the intended A side. Co-penned with Buddy Killen, a major Nashville mover and shaker who’d been writing country songs since the start of the 1950s, this soulful ballad has that 12/8 rhythm so beloved by r&b artists of the day. This song plays it straight as it documents the social ascent of a woman as she leaves all her old friends behind. What goes up must come down, our science-minded narrator reminds her; be kind to others at all times. That’s still good advice.

The lead vocalist (whom I believe is Black) delivers an inspired performance on a record that couldn’t be less like its other side. You can imagine a straight country version of this song, sung by a white performer—the lines are so blurred in this era of music that styles, voices and performances aren’t easy to nail down. It’s that fluidity I love—done without self-importance, as it would too soon become.

This was one of dozens of similar projects Robert Riley did during his time in Nashville. An anthology of his various Nashville productions and songs would be an excellent addition to the music library. I’d put together such a comp, if anyone in charge of a record label would put it out. I think there are some surprises that remain undiscovered in this man’s q.v.

Tomorrow: a sequel to a recent Saturday post no one dared to comment on: the 1962 Gordy Records single by ballsy white rock group Mike and The Modifiers, with a couple of performances that anticipate a certain foursome of Liverpudlians soon to shake America up.