J. C. Raynor, "Just One You For Me" c/w "Tell Her One More Time For Me," Decca 31726 (rel. 12/1964)

 

J. C. Raynor’s records have been described as rockabilly and garage. They’re swamp pop—that sound of the Louisiana/Texas delta—but as played by a younger performer who’d heard rock ‘n’ roll and blended it into the classic bayou sound. He was a teenager when he made today’s record, first issued by the small Nashville label Gold Standard and picked up, at the end of 1964, by US Decca Records, where it went nowhere. Decca had a solid handle on country music, but, like the other majors, was clueless about youth music. They shared the majors’ proclivity towards not promoting their new artists and, later, reaping the benefits of tax write-offs.

Though the house was rigged, young performers kept a stream of new material for these big record companies. One out of 1,000 was a success, but those 999 flops amounted to significant losses, all reported every April 15^th and a profit-making part of the corporate music structure. It worked; otherwise the labels wouldn’t have kept doing it. It was cruel to the thousands of unknown, eager performers and groups who worked so hard to get to this point—only to find an abyss at their feet they couldn’t avoid.

Being able to advertise as a Decca Records artist was good for their live shows; many performers felt this was a step up on the ladder of success. But it wasn’t, save for rare cases when someone who cared about the music and could do something about their interest intersected with a worthy group or singer.

J. C. Raynor seemed to prefer smaller labels and live gigs. The latter could keep a performer’s bills paid, if they didn’t mind the sacrifice of so much time spent away from home and those they loved. That this one single was plucked from obscurity by a big company—then thrown back into the abyss—might have caused a shrug of the shoulders by Raynor and his band.

These two recorded-in-Nashville items pair an original by Raynor and a song by Hoyt Johnson, a talented songwriter who struggled with addiction issues but wrote some fine country, rockabilly and pop numbers. “Just One You for Me” is an excellent rocker. It’s an equivalency song—a staple of country and early rock songwriting. If A is X, and B is Y, then C is Z (you for me). Got it?

A tight band with solid staccato guitar surrounds Raynor’s high, tense vocal. There is a touch of garage-band sound to this combo. This sound might be in reaction to the influx of British groups in 1964; it also might’ve been Raynor’s go-to sound, Beatles or no Beatles. Raynor’s voice has that bayou twang and is distinctive for that. This side might have gotten on the charts, had Decca raised one finger in its favor. Cash Box condemned it to their “B Reviews” page, which meant (a) their staff wasn’t impressed or (b) their staff wasn’t bribed.

“Tell Her One More Time for Me” was the official A-side. Its undiluted swamp-pop sound, with its scalar melody, 12/8 rhythm and sparse sound, would have sold to American teens, were it sung by a British invader, but they weren’t into the real deal. This Raynor original had genuine country crossover—but it was too stark to compete with the Nashville Sound approach to that music. That style was in decline in 1964, but still held sway. Thus, this solid (if predictable) side was in musical limbo. Like Dixieland and punk rock, swamp-pop is a closed loop of a style. There’s no wiggle room for musical innovation.

Such songs sounded great in a honky-tonk, thundering from a jukebox, or performed live on the outdoor stage of a country fair. They evoke rickety carnival rides, fried foods bought from booths, the smell of hay and horses and the merciless heat of the sun over a vast field of blacktop. They’re part of the Southern heritage, and worth hearing for the images they evoke. But a hit record this was not at the start of 1965.

Raynor didn’t record for a mainstream label again until the 1970s, when, as J. C. Rainer, he did a single for Musicor; it went nowhere. He may still be with us; no information turned up on an Internet search.

Tomorrow: Sammy Jackson, TV star of long ago, delivers a pair of teen rockers with guitarist George Barnes, via a 1959 Orbit Records platter.