Roy Acuff Jr., "(Somebody's Warping Your Mind) I Wish It Were Me" c/w "Turn That Frown Upside Down," Hickory 45-1398 (rel. 7/1966)
Children of famous performers may find their parents' fame a prison. The more iconic their mother or father, the harder it is for them to be regarded as legit. Should they pursue a career in the same field, they're always measured by the legacy of dear ol' Mom or Dad. In some rare cases, the talented offspring buck the odds and emerge as a worthy performer without strings attached.
Roy Acuff had been christened 'The King of Country Music' and his homely, powerful voice and the rootsy twang of his Crazy Tennesseeans created some of the best recordings of a fallow period for country, as pop influences polluted the music between the end of the Depression and the start of World War II. Acuff weathered the changes in country; he was its Louis Armstrong, beloved by all fans and able to keep doing what he did to delighted audiences.
His son Junior didn't see much of his father throughout his childhood. Born in 1943, after he graduated high school he went to work in the mailroom of the almighty song publishing empire founded by his dad and Fred Rose. There, the handsome, athletic lad sorted envelopes and pushed a mail cart from desk to desk.
Don Gant, songwriter and producer for Acuff-Rose, overheard the young Acuff sing to himself while fussing with papers in the mailroom. As a late 1965 Billboard article, which you can read HERE, notes, Gant was so struck by what he heard that he approached Roy Jr. and wanted to sign him to Hickory Records, Acuff-Rose's in-house label. The article's headline reveals a brutal irony that I won't spoil.
Gant got Junior into a Nashville studio in September 1965 and recorded four tracks, among them the B-side of today's single. Its A-side, penned by John D. Loudermilk, was taped in February 1966. Junior's debut single, as the article mentions, was a cover version of Dad's "The Wabash Cannonball," which was a poor choice to launch the young man as an artist in his own right.
A second single, "You Won't Ever See Me Here Again," was a stronger release, but single #3 was where the magic happened. "(Somebody's Warping Your Mind) I Wish It Were Me" is recognizable as John D. Loudermilk's work right away. Its narrator showers his beloved with expensive and fancy things; they prefer more down-to-earth equivalents. Narrator feels his sweetheart is under some other influence and he feels outside the picture.
With tasty acoustic guitar licks, Charlie McCoy's harmonica and a host of Nashville cats in tow, it's a mix of country and rock that suggests a Music City equivalent to The Lovin' Spoonful; it's not a stretch to imagine John Sebastian's voice on this track. Still too country for the pop charts, it failed to make the charts. Billboard put it in a laundry list of records that might reach the Hot 100 in a July 1966 issue; no magazine bothered to review it. There was so much going on in 1966; newcomers had a hard time finding a patch of terra firma.
"Turn That Frown Upside Down" is a rough slice of country garage that suggests the feel of UK band The Animals. Co-penned by Mickey Newbury and Fred Young, its minor key melody inspires a raspier, more forceful performance from Roy Jr.
From his first session, this track has a grungier sound than the A-side. McCoy's harmonica is an ideal complement to Acuff's stern, expressive performance. This side might have made some pop impact; it's become a cult fave of garage collectors for obvious reasons. It went unheard in '66; Hickory was considered a country label and few performers broke through the genre barrier to the pop charts. (The Newbeats were one Hickory act that succeeded; I find their records annoying, but the public liked them.)
Roy Acuff Jr.'s fourth single, "Victim of Circumstances," is his most sought-after 45. Its full embrace of the garage sound and the gritty imagery of the song make it a masterpiece of its kind. It's on my "hope I find this one someday" list. I do knock many records off that mental tally, so there's hope!
Junior persevered as a recording artist into 1971, took a hiatus and returned in 1975 for a few more singles. Hickory issued a self-titled LP in 1970 which included the A-side of today's single. He had a country hit with "California Lady" in 1974. Reclusive by nature, Roy didn't enjoy life as performer, and as his songwriting skills developed, he found a more comfortable place as producer and composer.
In his later years, he was a book collector, artist and author. He passed on while in hospice care in November 2015. His career might make for an interesting CD compilation; I hope someone does this.
Tomorrow: the debut single of Landy McNeil, who never became a major soul star but made some excellent singles. A Kapp Records release of 1964 with a gripping minor-keyed A-side.
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