Don Guess, "Shirl-lee" c/w "Just A Little Lovin' Baby," Brunswick 9-55101 (rel. 10/1958)
Don Guess was Buddy's buddy. His family moved to Clovis, New Mexico during WWII. His was a musical family. As a kid, Don sang with his mother and sisters on a local radio station. They went to the Clovis studios of sonic visionary Norman Petty to make recordings of their work.
Guess relocated to Lubbock, Texas, and was a grade-school chum of future rock 'n' roll icon Buddy Holly. They developed their musical interests through high school. In 1949, when Holly made his first home recordings, he and Guess were part of a country and bluegrass group who performed around their neck of the woods. Holly and Guess co-wrote several songs in the high lonesome country style.
Then Elvis Presley came to Lubbock. Game-changer! Buddy, Don, Sonny Curtis and friends scrambled to learn this new exciting style. They were naturals; the fast tempos of bluegrass weren't far from the pace of rockabilly.
Guess became Holly's bassist and they developed enough of a following in West Texas to attract attention in Nashville, Tennessee. Guess was present on three recording sessions with producer Owen Bradley for Decca Records in 1955 and '56. None of this material got on the charts, and its sound might be a shock to those who know only Holly's (and The Crickets') hit singles. This was straight-up Memphian rockabilly, with slap bass, maximum reverb and twangy guitar soli (handled by Sonny Curtis). Holly-Guess credits abound on this Nashville material.
When they returned to Lubbock, discouraged by the failure of their singles in late 1956, Guess opted out of the Holly band. He may have been the envoy to Norman Petty's studios. Holly and friends began to record there in '56, at first in the Sun Records rockabilly style but as Holly's songwriting skills developed, a new sound was born, fortified in no small part by Petty's studio expertise and adventurousness. This middle-aged man had no stake in rock 'n' roll, but saw something special in Holly and got him and his new group The Crickets back on Decca, via its subsidiaries Brunswick and Coral. This caused a brief, awkward legal puzzler: was it a violation of Buddy's contract with Decca for him to record on its affiliated labels?
It was sorted out in time for "That'll Be The Day" to top the pop charts in 1957, soon followed by Holly's song disc of "Peggy Sue." "Maybe Baby," "Rave On," "Not Fade Away," "Heartbeat..." I could go on, but those recordings are part of the canon of rock 'n' roll. Holly had progressed past the Memphis template and towards a future he wouldn't live to experience.
Don Guess, on his own, also snagged a pact with Brunswick Records, where he made today's single on August 10, 1958. This was cut in Nashville, with The Anita Kerr Singers in tow and producer Owen Bradley again at the helm. Like Holly, Guess moved past simple Sun rockabilly and into popcorn territory. "Shirl-lee" is wild minor-key cha-cha rock, with the Kerr Singers' perkiness turned sinister as Guess' Texas voice drawls out a tribute to a wonderful girl.
Bradley's Barn, as the legendary Nashville studio is known, had tremendous acoustics, and its atmosphere is ideal for this voodoo hoodoo. Pianist Floyd Cramer and sax man Boots Randolph are among the Nashville cats on this session; Randolph does an impressive solo on a recording I'm surprised isn't better-known, as it ticks so many boxes.
Guess relocated to Lubbock, Texas, and was a grade-school chum of future rock 'n' roll icon Buddy Holly. They developed their musical interests through high school. In 1949, when Holly made his first home recordings, he and Guess were part of a country and bluegrass group who performed around their neck of the woods. Holly and Guess co-wrote several songs in the high lonesome country style.
Then Elvis Presley came to Lubbock. Game-changer! Buddy, Don, Sonny Curtis and friends scrambled to learn this new exciting style. They were naturals; the fast tempos of bluegrass weren't far from the pace of rockabilly.
Guess became Holly's bassist and they developed enough of a following in West Texas to attract attention in Nashville, Tennessee. Guess was present on three recording sessions with producer Owen Bradley for Decca Records in 1955 and '56. None of this material got on the charts, and its sound might be a shock to those who know only Holly's (and The Crickets') hit singles. This was straight-up Memphian rockabilly, with slap bass, maximum reverb and twangy guitar soli (handled by Sonny Curtis). Holly-Guess credits abound on this Nashville material.
When they returned to Lubbock, discouraged by the failure of their singles in late 1956, Guess opted out of the Holly band. He may have been the envoy to Norman Petty's studios. Holly and friends began to record there in '56, at first in the Sun Records rockabilly style but as Holly's songwriting skills developed, a new sound was born, fortified in no small part by Petty's studio expertise and adventurousness. This middle-aged man had no stake in rock 'n' roll, but saw something special in Holly and got him and his new group The Crickets back on Decca, via its subsidiaries Brunswick and Coral. This caused a brief, awkward legal puzzler: was it a violation of Buddy's contract with Decca for him to record on its affiliated labels?
It was sorted out in time for "That'll Be The Day" to top the pop charts in 1957, soon followed by Holly's song disc of "Peggy Sue." "Maybe Baby," "Rave On," "Not Fade Away," "Heartbeat..." I could go on, but those recordings are part of the canon of rock 'n' roll. Holly had progressed past the Memphis template and towards a future he wouldn't live to experience.
Don Guess, on his own, also snagged a pact with Brunswick Records, where he made today's single on August 10, 1958. This was cut in Nashville, with The Anita Kerr Singers in tow and producer Owen Bradley again at the helm. Like Holly, Guess moved past simple Sun rockabilly and into popcorn territory. "Shirl-lee" is wild minor-key cha-cha rock, with the Kerr Singers' perkiness turned sinister as Guess' Texas voice drawls out a tribute to a wonderful girl.
Bradley's Barn, as the legendary Nashville studio is known, had tremendous acoustics, and its atmosphere is ideal for this voodoo hoodoo. Pianist Floyd Cramer and sax man Boots Randolph are among the Nashville cats on this session; Randolph does an impressive solo on a recording I'm surprised isn't better-known, as it ticks so many boxes.
I found my battered copy of this record in someone's massive pile of "loosies" (unsleeved, unloved records) at the recent Tacoma record meet. I think I paid five cents for it. It cleaned up well.
Whomever bought this surviving copy of the November 10, 1958 Billboard put a big X over the new singles they wanted to purchase. Their good taste in rock 'n' roll is duly noted. They had no idea this would be the surviving copy of record.
"Just a Little Lovin' Baby" opens with a burst of trademark "yakety sax" from Boots Randolph, then turns into a Latin bubbler with a heavy-reverbed vocal by Guess on a fast-tempo mover that's a busy swath of sound. (Randolph was years away from making "Yakety Sax;" this session might have been the birth of a notion, if you will.)
This is more old-school rock 'n' roll than "Shirl-lee," but that's no demerit. The song was outside material, co-written by Black soul singer Tony Middleton, who's had a couple of Jukebox spins in the past. At the time, he was a member of Black vocal group The Willows. How this New York-written song made it down to Nashville is a story I'd love to know.
This is more old-school rock 'n' roll than "Shirl-lee," but that's no demerit. The song was outside material, co-written by Black soul singer Tony Middleton, who's had a couple of Jukebox spins in the past. At the time, he was a member of Black vocal group The Willows. How this New York-written song made it down to Nashville is a story I'd love to know.
Two other tracks were taped at this August session; they remained in the can. Guess ended up working as a backup musician on other artists' records in Nashville, with the occasional foray to the Southwest for unsuccessful (and rare) one-off singles.
Don Guess got into the insurance game in the early 1960s and did well there, it seems. He passed on in 1992 in El Paso, Texas. His role in the Buddy Holly story was canonized and might've been something he mentioned at cocktail parties for an interesting personal story.
Tomorrow: Chicago vocal group The Spaniels return with a solid twofer from Vee-Jay Records--also from 1958. Crazee, babee!
Don Guess got into the insurance game in the early 1960s and did well there, it seems. He passed on in 1992 in El Paso, Texas. His role in the Buddy Holly story was canonized and might've been something he mentioned at cocktail parties for an interesting personal story.
Tomorrow: Chicago vocal group The Spaniels return with a solid twofer from Vee-Jay Records--also from 1958. Crazee, babee!
Weird that he's obviously saying Sharol-lee but it's named "Shirl-Lee". This is a haunting bopper. Guess sounds like he's got some slight reverb or echo on his voice on both songs and it works to give these extra distinction. He does almost do a Holley hiccup on "Shirl-ee" but both songs feel like his and not anyone else's. It's too bad in hindsight we know Boots Randolph would do "Yakety Sax" a few years later. That sax sound is there but takes away from my enjoyment of "Just A Little Lovin' Baby." 'Interesting wax' indeed.
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