Travis & Bob, "Lover's Rendezvous" c/w "Oh Yeah," Sandy 1024 (rel. 9/1959)

Travis Pritchett and Bob Weaver got one Top 10 hit with 1959’s “Tell Her No.” The Mississippi-born duo waxed their first few singles for Sandy Records, an Alabama label with careless accounting procedures. The two singer-cleffers filed a suit against Sandy’s co-owners in June 1960 for not paying them royalties nor giving them documentations of sales and radio airplay. I hope the lawsuit got them paid their due; their careers as hitmakers were already over.     Travis and Bob were an early example of the school-of-Everly Brothers style. Their rough-hewn, sparse records, made in a Mobile, AL studio have a spooky quality that’s evident on today’s twin-spin—their third Sandy platter from late summer 1959.     “Lover’s Rendezvous” is an eerie bopper with a folkish air. Its melody takes a minor-keyed turn here and there—a novel sound for this early in the rock ‘n’ roll game.     Their chonkin’ acoustic guitars are backed up by drums, barely-audible bass and a lead guitarist who steps up and lays down some groovy passages here and there. The lack of polish (and the duo’s earnest vocals) make this something different and rather haunting.

A re-creation of Billboard's positive review. The surviving online copy is too degraded to read without great effort. Just one of many services Frank's Jukebox provides--with cheer!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lp4a84simk60x9i0q13zq/2113a.mp3?rlkey=plw9xvik3655aso5ipkk19aw0&st=v422zihl&dl=0

“Oh Yeah” was considered the top-side by Billboard, the only trade mag to review it. It’s somewhat like their big hit, but is a better song. The same formula’s at use here, augmented by some fancy acoustic guitar duetting that must be T and B, since that electric guitarist’s also audible.     I’m sure the bassist is playing their instrument, not standing with it in the studio, but I can’t hear it. I do like the reverb-laden thick-yet-spartan approach on both sides of this hard-to-find platter.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ehaw24vnn9boegj9dlw40/2113b.mp3?rlkey=rbosk73nlfsvtbdcr4rnsc4tv&st=8e1mndda&dl=0

Post-lawsuit, Sandy Records dumped the duo. They made three more singles for two other labels. The gig was up by the end of 1961. Their lone hit, “Tell Her No,” never became a staple of oldies radio and the shroud of obscurity deepened over the decades. I quite enjoy their lo-fi, moody sound and need to lay paws on more of their Sandy singles.

Tomorrow: Teenage country singer-songwriter Jimmy Lee Durden with one of the eeriest, most tender songs ever recorded, via a 1956 Starday Records rarity. "No Mistake" transcends all genres and is a song 2026 needs to hear.