To Loudermilk bio & link page
Back to part 1, 1956-1960 The Colonial, Columbia, Universal-Cedarwood years
Back to part 2, 1960-1963 RCA, Hickory, Nashville, teen, hillbilly and novelty
This is part 3, 1963-1969 RCA, Hickory, Nashville, bizarre and open minded singer-songwriter songs
To part 4, 1970 & later MIM, Europe, years of retirement
To part 5, Loudermilk singing traditionals and covering other songwriters
To part 6, unknown songs/covers - info wanted!
To a few sound samples of unreleased songs.
Ernest had the original version of the song... (sleeve of rare Dutch release)
and Tillotson charted world-wide (picture sleeve US release)
Original a C&W #1 hit by country singer Ernest Ashworth (Ernie Ashworth after 1966). On the
pop charts his record got as high as #101 bubbling under (Billboard).
This very catchy song would become a world wide hit in many covers and languages.
In the US two versions were recorded for the pop market: by Debbie Stuart for Philips and Johnny Tillotson for MGM.
Debbie's black, soulful rendition sounds a little better than the smoothly orchestrated product Tillotson recorded.
Debbie's version was picked up in Sydney, Australia where it became a #25 hit in september 1963.
It was to be her 'one hit wonder record'. In the US it didn't get any attention.
Finally, winter 1963, the Tillotson version was discovered by US radio and it became a #7 US pop hit in 1964,
and from there on hit all over the world.
Lyrics:
Ev'ry day our love's a battle royal
Dear, it seems that fighting is all we do
But if I let you know how much I love you
You'll do things to me you shouldn't do
So talk back trembling lips
Shaky legs, don't just stand there
Don't let her know she's getting through to you
Talk back trembling lips
Burning eyes, don't start crying
Heart, don't let her know that you're breaking in two
Everytime you up and hurt my feelings
I pretend it couldn't matter less
I'm just hiding all of my emotions
Behind my broken heart, I guess
(source: Standard Songs Pop/ Country/ Blues/ Folk/ Instumentals/ Novelty, Acuff-Rose Publications Inc. 1956-1973)
British EP on Decca with cover by the Wilburn Brothers (1964), and US EP release by Kitty Wells (1963/64).
Teddy and Doyle Whitburn had a lot of succes in country music of the 1940s through the 1970s.
Australian sheet music of the early Adrian Ussher cover (1963). Ussher was a country-rocker from Melbourne.
← Tillotson's sheet music
Danish' covers, Kom så, gamle dreng: by Johnny Reimar (1964) and a group Happiness (1974)
Another Danish cover: Bjørn & Okay, now as "Hjemme Hos Dig Igen"
German release, Deutsche Schlager-Festspiele 1964, Paul Kuhn, Abends muß ich tanzen,
right: Dutch release Speel met mij geen spel
Ernest Ashworth (May 1963, Hickory 1214)
Little Roy Wiggins (cd Ernie Ashworth And Friends, version by Ashworth's steel guitarist)
Jim Jefferies (1963, Cardinal 7, so-called Called Version by Texas DJ; B-side instrumental version by The Westernaires)
Johnny Singer (1963, Country & Western Hits 216, Nashville budget label cover)
Mel Stover (1963, Seeburg 7019, budget C&W label)
(Anonymous budget singer) (1963, LP Country Music U.S.A., budget album on Modern Sound MS 559;
this artist -may be identical to 'Johnny Singer' or 'Mel Stover', see songs above- does indeed sing some lines
with trembling lips!)
Dusty King & His Country Cats (1963, LP Top 16 C&W Hits, Canada budget cover)
Frank Taylor (1963, Brack 106)
Debbie Stuart (Aug. 1963, Philips 40126)
Adrian Ussher (1963, W&G 5-1693, Australia)
Kevin Shegog (1963, W&G 45rpm, Australian C&W)
Johnny Tillotson (Nov. 1963, MGM 13181)
Hal Lone Pine (1963, LP Coast of Maine, Canadian country by Maine artist Harold Breau)
Don Baker (1963, Discofoon 2524, Dutch budget label cover)
Shirley Field (1963, LP Two Sides of Shirley Field, Canadian yodeling lady)
Helle Wilke (1963, Triola TD 218, Danish version "Gemt er ikke glemt")
Kitty Wells (1963, EP Decca 2777, 1964 LP Especially For You)
Tim Reynolds (1963/1964, budget cover, released on various labels Twin Hits 043 (Australia), Lion Tops 106
(Lion Tops was a Dutch margarine brand that had stamps that could be collected to order their vinyl 45's), Cash 1701 (Belgium))
Beto Cañedo (1963/64, Peerless 8077, Mexican version: "No Te Partas En Dos")
Ben Colder (Jan. 1964, MGM 13197, persiflage: "Talk Back Blubberin' Lips")
Fouryo's (Jan. 1964, Decca AT 10041, Dutch version "Speel met mij geen spel")
Goldie Hill (1964, LP Country Hitparade)
Norma Jean (1964, LP Porter Wagoner In Person, live)
Johnny Reimar (1964, Philips 355.297.2F, Danish version: "Kom så gamle dreng")
Paul Kuhn (Apr. 1964, Columbia 22684, German version: "Abends Muß Ich Tanzen")
Ernie Englund (1964, EP Ernie's Choice from Cash Box Top 100, Swedish release, trumpet's version by American born Swedish artist)
Hank Smith (LP Ten Golden Years of Country)
Cheryl Ann (LP Big Country, budget vinyl release)
Bobby Denver (LP Bobby Denver Sings Country And Western No.1 Hits of the 60's, Canadian budget covers)
Roger Miron (1964, Rusticana 240, French-Canadian version: "Dis-moi quelque chose")
Bruce Clark & The Rockers (ca. 1964, LP Rockin' Like Wow! Dad, Australia)
Wilburn Brothers (1964, LP Never Alone)
Roy Drusky (1964, LP Pick of the Country)
Sonny Lawrence (1964, Anson 12070, obscure singer, real name Larry Chiariello on obscure US label)
Liberty Street (Freedom Rec 10178, a local Ohio 45)
Johnny Tillotson (1965, Version in Italian "Non Sto Mai Con Te")
Bill Black's Combo (1965, EP Mr Beat, instrumental by the heirs of Elvis' bass payer's backing band)
Tommy Adderley (1965, LP Tommy, New Zealand)
The Kentucky Colonels & Ernest Ashworth (1965, in the movie The Farmer's Other Daughter)
George Jones (1966, LP Love Bug)
Buddy Williams (1966, LP Family Album, OZ country)
Bob Homan (±1967/68, LP Beamin' All Over)
Roger Bourque (1969, LP Newfie Girl, Canadian country singer)
Roy Acuff Jr & Sue Thompson (Jan. 1970, Hickory 1558)
Al 'Porky' Witherow & the Country Mystery (1971, LP Almost Live at the Club Itaca, Buffalo, New York)
Willie Lamothe (1971, French lyrics "Donne-moi ma chance", Canada)
Simone Aube (1971, LP Simone Aube, another "Donne-moi ma chance", Canada)
Flamingo Kvintetten (1973, "Hemma Hos Mig Igen", Swedish version)
Hamilton recorded the song in August 1963. By the time the record was planned
for release, due to the Kennedy tragedy in Dallas an alternative version was recorded, entitled "Texarkana, Pecos or Houston".
But when the song finally was released in July 1964, the Dallas-version came on the market.
Lyrics
Danish cover Jeg har en pige i Texas (I got a gal in Texas), by an old time harmony group, the Blue Boys,
who sold thousands of records in the 1950s, and Swedish Dansband "Det raraste här på Jorden" (The weirdest here on earth) by the Bloojacks
George Hamilton IV (Jul. 1964, RCA 8392, #9 C&W-hit)
Blue Boys (1964±, Metronome 1611, Danish version "Jeg har en pige i Texas")
Streaplers (1969, LP Om igen!, Swedish version "Var finns der där romantiken?")
Bloojacks (1970, Platina 188, another Swedish version: "Det raraste här på Jorden")
George Hamilton IV (1995, Bear cd-box, prev. unreleased alternative version
Texarkana, Pecos or Houston)
Bugges Firo (2000, cd På Dansefot, Norwegian version "Romantikken")
Find Out
Porter Wagoner (Oct. 1963, RCA 8257, and live-version on his 1964 LP In Person)
Chase Webster (Mar. 1965, Hickory 1303)
Sue Thompson (1974, Hickory 318)
Barbara Ray (1974, LP A Little Bit Country, Scottish born South African 'Queen of Country')
Life Can Have Meaning
← Canadian sheet music edition.
Bobby Lord, a singer songwriter and most of all known as the host of TV shows. In the mid 1960s
The Bobby Lord Show was aired all over the world.
Lyrics
→ Album by Arthur D, an obscure American country singer; the album was on John Capps'
K-Ark vanity label (most artists payed to get the release) and Arthur also had Life Can Have Meaning
as a 45 single release.
In France a cover was "La vie vaut la peine", text by Monique Aldebert. Artist?
Bobby Lord (Nov. 1963, Hickory 1232)
Chase Webster (Nov. 1964, Hickory 1283)
Adrian Ussher (1964, W&G-1980, good, slow version from Australia)
Arthur D. (1970±, K-Ark 1002)
Geezinslaws (1979, LP If You Think I'm Crazy Now)
December 1963: tours Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria...
In the footsteps of other RCA artists, like Jim Reeves, Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins, John D. toured South Africa.
John D. played on a 3 weeks tour together with (headliner) Duane Eddy.
In the Audience of the Civic Theatre, Johannesburg, was a young Steve Lonsdale, then singer with the Playboys, a band
originally formed by Mickie Most. Steve remembers: "JD performed solo, just him, guitar, and a chair centre stage. From what I
remember he was very funny and did tell stories surrounding his songs.". Lonsdale later was singer of the very successful
South African group The Staccatos who recorded in 1966 three JDL-covers. "I must have sung Blue Train with the Playboys
and subsequently thereafter introduced the songs of JDL into the Staccato's live repertoire and recordings when I joined them.
Myself and the Staccatos covered under contract to Gallo Africa - Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye, Thou Shalt Not Steal and
Everybody Knows. I also remember performing Blue Train and You Reap Just What You Sow, but only live.
Simultaneously with the tour, a special South African LP was released,
"Presenting John D. Loudermilk". For the album, John had recorded in Nashville a couple of new songs in October 1963.
Some additional songs from his 1961 and 1962 US albums completed the LP.
Amongst the new songs were The Little Grave and No Playing in the Snow, 2 songs proper for Christmas time,
Nothing To Gain, The Wife, Run On Home Baby Brother and That Ain't All. All these songs were first released in South Africa and
would get its US releases much later.
What makes this South African album special, is that it contains a unique song, "La La Mop Away", that was never again released
elsewhere. It is also lacking in the cd-compilations that Bear Family made of John D.'s recordings.
Track listing of the album: 1-Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye, 2-Everybody Knows, 3-Run On Home Baby Brother,
4-La La Mop Away, 5-You Reap What You Sow, 6-Oh How Sad, 7-Nothing to Gain 8-No Playing in the Snow Today,
9-That Ain't All, 10-The Wife, 11-The Little Grave, 12-Calling Dr. Casey.
La La Mop Away
(Another Guy's Girl)
The sheet music spells the title "Mopoway", but on the album release it's "Mop Away"
A rare song, only released on the South African Loudermilk LP
John D. Loudermilk (Nov, 1963, LP Presenting John D. Loudermilk)
John D Loudermilk (Nov. 1963, LP Presenting John D. Loudermilk)
George Hamilton IV (Nov. 1964, RCA 8462)
Sophie Pascal (1965, Palette 40230, Belgium-French cover "La Petite Grive")
Country Gentlemen (1974, LP Remembrances & Forecasts)
Charlie Waller (2002, cd 45 Years of Memories, Country Gentleman recording it again, good version)
Terry
Record produced by Norro (=Norris Wilson).
Magnasound was a subsidiary of Monument record comp.
Billboard magazine gave it a 'pop spotlight' winner of week November 30, 1963, describing it as "a great swinger from
the pen of John D. Loudermilk; side has swing, great vocalizing with reverb voices, and a fine teen beat". Still it did not hit any chart
Bobby Wattrell (Nov. 1963, Magnasound 701)
I Know My Place
The last 'brain-washed' verse of the original song (lyrics)
has been replaced on the Browns' recording by some less inspiring lines.
On an instrumental album by Brazilian group Os Incríveis the song is also mentioned according to some sources,
composed by Loudermilke. But the track turns out to be a cover of I Know A Place,
the Tony Hatch-song for Petula Clark
The Browns feat. Jim Edward Brown (Apr. 1964, RCA 8348)
Jana Louise (1964, Dot 16618, label spells "Janna Louise)
Skeeter Davis (1966, LP Singin' in the summerrain)
Going Down Town
(To See My John)
Jana Louise
(born Janice Louise Hansen) was a 19 year old step dance queen, launched as America's Sweetheart.
She recorded a complete album with songs JDL wrote for her. Three 45 releases flopped.
Besides her releases on DOT, she did not record any more. She taught Irish dancing for a number of years,
and only sings at family functions and charity events. She has three kids and her husband is a retired pilot.
Jana Louise (Oct. 1964, LP A Dixie Cup Of Sand, 1965 Dot 16718)
The Cryin' Kind
Jana Louise (Oct. 1964, LP A Dixie Cup Of Sand)
The Heart I Have To Live With
Jana Louise (Oct. 1964, LP A Dixie Cup Of Sand, 1965 Dot 16718)
Up To My Knees In Happiness
(up to my heart in love)
Jan(n)a Louise (1964, Dot 16618, label spells "Janna Louise)
You're Jealous
Jana Louise (Oct. 1964, LP A Dixie Cup Of Sand)
They'll Love You
Dorinda Duncan was a former member of the folk group Briarwood Singers
Jana Louise (Oct. 1964, LP A Dixie Cup Of Sand)
Dorinda Duncan (1965, Ascot 2174)
The Magic Circle
Good ballad. Covered by Marie Jordan, Italian born Maria Rispoli (1920-2013)
who sang in Chicago clubs in the 1940s-50s
Jana Louise (Oct. 1964, LP A Dixie Cup Of Sand)
Marie Jordan (1965, AIA 670A-1582, obscure US label American International Artists)
He Reminds Me Of Me
This 1964 written song was first (?) released in 1966.
lyrics Sue did "She Reminds Me Of Me"
Sue Thompson (Jun. 1966, LP Sue Thompson with Strings Attached)
Mark Dinning (Aug. 1966, Hickory 1404)
Cyro Aguiar (1967, LP Inspiração as "Fany" in Portugese)
I Count My Sheep
Dublin born Carmel Quinn, best known for her Irish songs,
unsuccessfully tried an album for the C&W market in 1964.
One side was filled with JDL songs, the other side Country standards
Carmel Quinn (Oct. 1964, LP Wonderful World of my Dreams)
Lullaby Of Love
Carmel Quinn (Oct. 1964, LP Wonderful World of my Dreams)
Wonderful World of my Dreams
Carmel Quinn (Sep. 1964, Dot 16667)
Sean Dunphy & Hoedowners (1966, PYE 17056, a #5 hit in Ireland, singer with a voice like Jim Reeves)
George Hamilton IV (1968, RCA 9637)
Dermot Hegarty & the Plainsmen (1970, LP Sings 21 Years and Others, Ireland)
Everything's Alright
Newbeats Dutch single release
Lyrics, catchy song with a good beat, hit in Europe.
Left: Swiss group, recording in German: Alles ist Allright;
Right: Isabella Bond, a Scottish girl, live from Hamburg's Top Ten Club, released as LP and SP.
Both German releases seem have number Decca 19668, according to sources on the Internet...
The Newbeats (Oct. 1964, Hickory 1282, #18 Billboard Hot 100)
The Roamers (1964, Hit Records 158, Nashville budget cover with Bobby Russell trying hard to copy Larry Henley's high pitched lead)
Pete Lancaster & Upsetters (1965, German cover: "Alles Ist Allright"),
Piet Lancaster (1965, Columbia 22897, "Alles Ist Allright", without a doubt same as Pete Lancaster)
Isabella Bond Top Ten Allstars (Mar 1965, Decca 19668, sung in English, live from Hamburg's Top Ten Club)
The 16 Strings (1965/66, Decca 19688 (Germany), Swiss version, "Alles Ist Allright")
I'd Be A-Lyin'
Henley solo in a very Newbeats way
Larry Henley (Nov. 1965, Hickory 1354)
Losin' You Is Something New
Music strongly reminds of country standard "Gotta Travel On"
Lyrics Paper Tiger Pic.cover of Sue Thompson's Dutch release and the German release (which features Sue singing in German, "Blonder Tiger")
Four European covers: the German "Blonder Tiger"by Mona Baptiste and Ingela Brander,
the French "Le Tigre"by Tiny Yong and French/Belgium "C'est Dommage" by Muriël
Great video of Tiny Yong's "Le Tigre", dancing with Henri Salvador and Sacha Distel as 'Tiger'
Sue Thompson (Nov. 1964, Hickory 1284, peaked #23 Billboard Hot 100)
Sue Thompson (May 1965, CBS 1858D, German 45rpm: Sue singing "Blonder Tiger")
Ingela Brander (1965, Philips 345833PF, "Blonder Tiger" by Swedish born blonde actress)
Mona Baptiste (1965, Jupiter 45 rpm, another German "Blonder Tiger")
Obscure country singer
Jeanie Greene,
another girl than the relatively well known soul singer who recorded for Atco and Electra. Who can tell more about country Jeanie?
Jeanie Greene (1964/65, Beck Records 45-106)
Cloudy and Cool
Instrumental
Jazz bop saxophone player Frank Strozier recorded in a 1960 session a song Cloudy and Cool, which is not the
Loudermilk song
Chet Atkins (1965, RCA 8492)
Jerry Krahn (2007, cd Tell Me I'm Crazy, entitled "Partly Cloudy and Cool")
Give Me A Sweetheart
Everly Brothers (Mar. 1965, WB 5611, on the B side of their hit cover of That'll Be The Day)
Sandy Mason (Mar. 1967, Hickory 1442)
Gene & Debbe (1968, LP Hear & Now, by swampy duo Gene Thomas & Debbe Neville)
Fan Club
Lyrics mention
"Colonel Glenn and Roy Orbison have a fan club too"
Sue Thompson (1965, LP Paper Tiger)
Paper Back Books
A song about the evil influence of Mickey Spillaine on honest loving wives...
see lyrics Gene Kennedy (born 1933, Florence SC) recorded in 1960-62 for Old Town records out of New York as Gene Kennedy & The Dons
(see picture, Gene on the right). Later he moved to Nashville. Gene Kennedy now still is active running his own label
which is Door Knob Records.
In fact the oldest Independent Record company in Nashville now. Gene and his wife Karen had a duet titled
"A Thing or Two on my Mind" which went to #49 in the country charts in Billboard in 1976.
Gene Kennedy (Sep. 1965, Hickory 1336)
Countin' The Hours, Countin' The Days
Music based on a cajun standard which also inspired
Route 90 (Clarence Garlow), The Promised Land (Chuck Berry) etc
On the Bare release the 3d verse of the original lyrics
is aborted and the song is being faded out prematurely...
Bobby Bare (1965, LP Constant Sorrow)
Curt Haagers (1975, LP Ta mej me', Swedish version "Ta mej me' (Hem till dej)")
Von belts (1976, LP Ölandsbron, another Swedish "Ta mej me")
I Love You, Lucy
A local break out in Clovis, New Mexico, KCLV top 10, June 1965.
Don Argo, real name Thomas Lee Ashby, recorded as 'Randy Lee' for Everest in 1960-61 and Philips in 1962-63, and 3 singles for Hickory in 1965-66 as 'Don Argo'
Don Argo (Jun. 1965, Hickory 1318)
It Only Hurts When I'm Laughing
Maria Dallas was a New Zealand country singer recording in Nashville
Bobby Lord (Apr. 1966, Hickory 1389)
Maria Dallas (1967, LP Tumblin' Down)
Wait
Three 1965 recordings, released on the 1979 Bear 4-LP set
"A Milestone in R&R Music" (I would not consider Kris Jensen Rock & Roll, and surely not a Milestone...).
All three songs in the same idiom as Kris' hit Torture: jealousy, heart break and teenage misery
Kris Jensen (1979, A Milestone in Rock 'n Roll Music)
Revenge
Kris Jensen (1979, A Milestone in Rock 'n Roll Music)
Spying
Kris Jensen (1979, A Milestone in Rock 'n Roll Music)
Just Kiss Me
Billboard reviewed it a Top 60 Spotlight: "Great monkey dance beat backs
a strong vocal on good John D. Loudermilk material; heavy discoteque appeal for juke boxes; hot chart item!".
But besides being K-Big Record of the Week on WKBW Buffalo NY and WHB Pick of the Week in Kansas, Missouri,
the record did not chart
Sue Thompson (Oct. 1965, Hickory 1340)
Dani (1966, French version "C'est toi", EP Garçon Manqué)
Skeeter Davis first recorded it. She remembers:
"This was a hit for me that really was recorded in record-breaking time. Chet produced the session,
and we had only three songs with arrangements thinking that's all we'd get done in session time.
When the time was just about up almost everybody left. There was about fifteen minutes left and Chet said,
I've got a song for you that John Loudermilk wrote, let's record that.
I told him I couldn't learn it in five minutes. He assured me that I could.
When he came back from getting the song from his desk, we had only four or five musicians.
He got his guitar, started picking, and we recorded Sunglasses in just a few minutes. He was right- it was a hit,
and I received all kinds of sunglasses as gifts- big ones, little ones and even sunglasses with transistor radios in them."
In South Africa, singer Hilary made it the best selling song over 1968.
Comedian Al Debbo (1924-2011) turned it into a popular parody in Afrikaans,
lirieke Sonbrilletjies (click image to play clip of Al Debbo performing Sonbrilletjies, at age 79)
Left, Al Debbo's rare Rhodesian release, (middle) Portugese hit cover by Natércia Barreto, and (right)
later version by Manuela Bravo
Skeeter Davis (Jul. 1965, RCA 8642, #30 C&W-hit Billboard in Oct. 1965)
Sheila (1965, EP Tous Les Deux, French version "Dans La Glace")
Michèle Richard (1965, TransCanada 3140, another version in French "Verres Fumés", #28 charts Canada)
Johnny Lion (1966, LP Zeg maar John tegen Lion, Dutch cover "Per Express")
Sandy Posey (1967, MGM 4480)
Hilary (1968, Philips 40563 (US))
The D-Fenders (LP The D-Fenders Vol. 1, South Africa)
Al Debbo & Nico Carstens(Oct. 1968, Columbia 414, #7 hit in South Africa, #10 hit in Rhodesia,
a parody in Afrikaans: Sonbrilletjies)
Bobby Gonzales (Mayon 031, 45 single in Filipino language)
Natércia Barreto (1968, Parlophone 4040, titled: "Óculos De Sol", Portuguese hit version)
Caroline du Preez (1970, LP Nobody's Child, South Africa)
Cliff Jones (1970, LP Cliff 'Honky Tonk' Jones, South Africa, piano medley with Under My Beach Umbrella)
Eva Vivar (1972, Alpha 328, Philippines)
Tracy Ullman (1984, Stiff 205, hit single)
Leif Bloms (1984, LP Som en Saga, Swedish cover "Mörka Glas")
Cora Marie & Al Debbo (1986, LP Goue Treffers Herleef, another Afrikaans version "Sonbrilletjies", duet Cora and Debbo)
Stef Meeder (1989, 30 Superhits, in a medley, credited J. Oudermilk)
Cora Marie (1991, again "Sonbrilletjies", now Cora solo, sung for children)
Manuela Bravo (1989, Discosette 626, "Óculos De Sol", Portugal)
Saranti Reeders (cd Loskruit, another "Sonbrilletjies" by theater cabaret artist)
Sindy Claassens (2004, cd Hou My Dop, again Afrikaans "Sonbrilletjies")
Manuel Escórcio (2005, cd Tydloos, despite the singers' Spanish name, another Afrikaans "Sonbrilletjies")
DJ Ossewa (2013, cd Briljantjie, "Sonbrilletjies" part of a hit disco mix "Briljantjie")
Peter Vesth and Friends (2014, cd Summerdays and Winternights)
Claudia Church (2017, cd A Tribute to John D Loudermilk)
Karen Zoid (2019, digital album Op Die Oomblik, Sonnebrilletjies)
You're Ruinin' My Life
Intro of the song reminds of Lee Dorsey's classic "Working In A Coal Mine". Recorded with The Jordanaires, young Hank then age 14.
→Popular Spanish group The Brisks released in 1966 an EP with the song Me Vas A Arruinar, a cover of You're Ruinin' My Life
Hank Williams Jr. (1965, MGM 13392)
The Brisks (1966, EP Better 51.625, Spain as "Me Vas A Arruinar")
John D. Quietercustard - a parody of an American protest singer...
In 1965 UK comedian singer Benny Hill recorded a folk music parody: "What a World". His character was a hint of Dylan and
was presented as the American folk singer John D. QuieterCustard, the name being an obvious hint to the name LouderMilk.
Though it had little to do with the music JDL was making at the time. But Benny's song seems to have been a herald to John's music of 1968,
when he wrote his 'protest' songs like The Jones' and Ain't It Going To Hell On A Sled,
John D Loudermilk (1966, LP Sings a Bizarre Collection)
Emmylou Harris, Mary Ann Kennedy and Pam Rose (2017, cd A Tribute to John D Loudermilk)
You're The Guilty One
Great song! The Yancy Bond
cover was produced by Huey P Meaux aka The Crazy Cajun, and got that stomping Chicano organ beat.
Lyrics
John D Loudermilk (1966, RCA 8973)
Yancy Bond (1967, MGM 13765)
Brown Girl
Sad love story,
"a true story that happened back in the '40s in my hometown of Durham, NC. Both parties
involved eventually went mad due to the social pressure of both sides. I haven't seen the man
in years, but occasionally one will spot the figure of Bessie May Brown, shopping bag on her arm,
stooping over to pick up a chewing gum wrapper or an old cigarette pack", JDL wrote about the song
on the liner notes of his album. The Jordanaires are doing the background vocals.
Lyrics
John D Loudermilk (1969, RCA 0121)
Givin' You All My Love
A cover of this song may have been released around 1966
(but who sang it...?), before the unreleased original by JDL emerged on the Bear Family cd.
Lyrics
John D Loudermilk (Bear-cd It's My Time, prev. unreleased)
To Hell With Love
Sheet music for London's Adam Faith, who released it in the evening of his musical career
John D Loudermilk (1966, LP Sings a Bizarre Collection)
Honeymoons Must Be Spent Alone
The label mistitles the song "Honeymoons SHOULD be spent alone"
see label shot
Jerry Channing (Oct. 1965, MGM 13394)
Also sung by Jerry in Japanese and sold well in Japan!
Who was this Jerry Channing, who wrote and recorded a few sides for MGM? I had no idea and could find anything about him.
So I asked for more information about this singer/ songwriter here on the site.
It was a great surprise that Jerry himself mailed me to answer! It turned out he even recorded a Japanese version of
the Loudermilk song. How they got that to happen?
Jerry Veneskey (real name), wrote me:
"I was a singer and guitar player in a rock band in high school and continued after I graduated.
Sometime thereafter, while playing at one of the clubs we worked, I was approached by Henry George
who worked for the Musician's Union in Cleveland, Ohio. He had some connections with people at MGM
and got them interested in my music. MGM liked some of the songs I wrote and offered me a contract.
Henry basically handled all of the negotiations. I was young then and not interested in the business end of things,
all I wanted to do was sing and write songs. Long story - short, I wind up in Nashville at the Columbia studios
to record Little Girl In The Magazine. One of the stipulations in my doing the session was
that I had to record Honeymoons for the "B" side of the record. They gave me a demo of John D. Loudermilk singing the song
and I had to learn the song the day of the session, which I did.
The session players included Floyd Cramer on piano and Grady Martin on guitar.
These people were very professional and we did each song in probably one or two takes. The producer was Jim Vienneau."
"Nipponese Publishing somehow got a hold of a copy of Little Girl In The Magazine and took an interest in the song.
Fast forward to New York at the Columbia studios there. I'm singing my song and Honeymoons in Japanese.
I am a Martial Artist" and I was already familiar with the Japanese language.
With the help of a language coach, the session, again was completed in a short period of time.
The record was released in Japan and I was told it was doing very well there, I used to get royalty checks a couple of times a year.
The English version did fairly well in Cleveland and on the west coast and I got some nice write-ups in both locations.
There was some talk about going to Japan (which I would have loved) but that never happened.
I had a two year contract with MGM, which ran out. By that time the English sound was in and a lot of American acts were suffering.
I recorded five songs under my contract: Little Girl, Honeymoons, Lonely Just Like Me,
When You Loved Me and Lonely Crowd. I wrote Little Girl with my friend (even to this day), Bob Turek.
The other songs were mine, with exception of "Honeymoons" of course.
What am I doing now? My profession - Private Investigator. My spare time: Martial Arts instructor and a
Classical Rock band called Sub-rosa."
Thank you Jerry for the MGM promotion photograph and the information!
From Nashville With Love
Instrumental. Chet's version reached as
high as #132 Bubbling Under Billboard's Hot 100
Chet Atkins (Mar. 1966, RCA 8781)
Sounds Orchestral feat. Johnny Pearson (Apr. 1966, Piccadilly 7N-35313, piano version)
I Wish It Were Me
Acuff Jr obviously didn't inherit the talent of Sr.
Loudermilk gave a few good songs to Roy Jr, but his mediocre covers failed to make hits out of it
Lyrics
Roy Acuff Jr (Jun. 1966, Hickory 1398)
Sam the Sham & Pharaos (1966, LP The Best of Sam the Sham & Pharaos)
Homer Henderson (1994, cd Turban Renewal, tribute to Sam the Sham)
Stalling For Time
From the first Allman session, produced by JDL.
Released after Duane died.
Lyrics
Song originally written and recorded in 1966, but not released;
music and lyrics one year later completely re-written
and re-recorded and a hit was born.
Sandy Posey (Apr. 1967, MGM 13702, Billboard #31 hit)
Judy Page (1967, Continental 9223, South Africa, charted 1 week #19 on the Springbok Top 20)
Sue Thompson (Feb. 1972, Hickory 1622, London 10363 UK)
Arlene Harden (Mar. 1972, Columbia 45577)
He Can Be Your Baby
read about Bobbi Staff below
Bobbi Staff (1966, RCA 9024)
Bobbi Staff
was born in NC as Barbara Grindstaff. She debuted age 10 in talent shows, travelled around the world singing,
performed for queen and president (LBJ), and recorded 6 sides for RCA, of which Chicken Feed was a minor C&W-hit.
The JDL-composition He Can Be Your Baby, Lyrics, a good song,
was the follow up, but did not chart.
Rare clip of Bobbi singing "Honey Comb" in a Brenda Lee/ Wanda Jackson way, 1963 on Dutch national T.V.
(← Click image to play the clip)
Clip of John D performing Break My Mind, in 2007, Ford Theater, Nashville TN
in the Series Poets And Prophets organised by the Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum:
(← Click image to play the clip)
The song was never released on any of John D's own albums.
Lyrics:
Baby, oh, baby
Tell the man at the ticket stand
That you've changed your mind
Let me run on out and tell the cab
To keep his meter flying
'Cause if you say goodbye to me, babe
You're gonna break my mind
Break my mind, break my mind
No, I just can't stand to hear them big jet engines whine
Break my mind, break my mind
If you leave you're gonna leave a babalin' fool behind
Baby, oh, baby
Let me take your suitcase
Off the scales in time
Tell the man that you've suddenly developed
A thing about flyin'
'Cause if you say goodbye to me, babe
You know you're gonna break my mind
John D. tells about the song: I wrote that song one day when I was foolin' with a rubber band, and it broke.
I said, a heart breaks like a rubber band, if you stretch it too far. And I said, could mine break too...?
Original recording was by George Hamilton IV, who made the song a C&W smash hit in 1967. It peaked #4 on the
charts. In October 1967 Bobby Wood and Debbie Lori Kaye rush-released their versions for the pop market. Debbie's
cover for Columbia did not sell and Bobby Wood's version for MGM peaked Cashbox #96 and Billboard bubbling under #110.
Wood's version hit the Top Ten in the Philippines at #8 in June 1968.
Roy Orbison picture sleeve Dutch release, and Sammy Davis French release
Pat Boone used the song (and 2 more Loudermilk songs) for his LP Departure,
which was a try to give the smooth clean-cut singer a new image of a pop artist. The album was sponsored
with the help of Ry Cooder, Judy Henske, Phil Ochs, Jack Nitzsche and Larry Knechtel, but failed to sell.
The name Pat Boone was too much branded as corny and outmoded and the album was ignored by the progressive music scene.
That is, except for Germany...
45 picture sleeve release by the Inspirations (Denmark, 1969).
45 release by Conny van Bergen (1972) translated in Dutch by Pierre 'Smurfing Father Abraham' Kartner
as "Johnny, je breekt m'n hart".
In a 2013 Viva NashVegas
radioshow, George Hamilton IV and JDL tell how they discovered the Alman Brothers and that Break My Mind was originally written
for them, but when the Almans moved to California, George Hamilton IV took the song. The video ends with a George IV and V playing the song
An obscure record, group called Country Soul on the WRLS-label. This garage band recorded a medley of Break My Mind along with
Woolly Bully. The record sold for $20 on eBay in 2013. I don't know anything about the group, the label or the year of recording.
If anyone can tell me, please do! The song is to be heard on an online show of my favourite WFMU
(hear)
Miluše Voborníková from Czechoslovakia. Her 1972 release "Mně Se Zdá"
was in fact a duet with Petr Spálený
Duet from Sweden, 1969: Nina Lizell & Lenne Broberg, as "Vi Far Bort"
Lee Johnson & the Blue Echoes, a 1970 local release, the picture sleeve claims this unknown guy to be a C&W Singing Star.
Lee Johnson (1939-2012) was from Campbell County, TN. His band The Blue Echoes (Bobby and Cleo Gilstrap, Barry Behrle) performed in Las Vegas, California, Washington, Oregon and Alaska.
George Hamilton IV (Jun. 1967, RCA 9239, C&W #4 hit)
Debbie Lori Kaye (Sep. 1967, Columbia 44311)
Bobby Wood (Oct. 1967, MGM 13797, Cashbox #96, Billboard bubbling under #110)
Box Tops (1967, LP Letter/Neon Rainbow 1967)
Jan Howard (1967, LP This Is Jan Howard Country)
The Piano, Orchestra & Voices of Larry Butler (Feb. 1968, Imperial 66277)
Sammy Davis Jr. (Jul. 1968, Reprise 0757)
The Four Blazers (Oct. 1968, Buddy 140, not the doowop group)
Glen Campbell (1968, LP Hey Little One)
Dick Nolan (1968, LP I Want To Live, Canada country artist)
Jerry Lee Lewis (1968, LP Another Place Another Time)
Benny Barnes (45 rpm by Texan honky tonk singer)
Tommy Collins (1968, LP On Tour)
Sixteenth Avenue Singing Society (1968, TRX 5008)
Jean Shepard (1968, Scorpion 157)
Norma King (1968, O'Bee 4722, release on Dottie O'Brien's label)
John Drummond (1968, Page One 084)
Country Soul (WRLS 1001, in a medley with Woolly Bully, obscure US garage)
Johnny Darrell (1968, LP Son Of Hickory Holler's Tramp)
Kenny Gordon (1968, LP Bobby Charles Invades The Wells-Fargo Lounge, guitar Danny Gatton)
Melba Montgomery (live, TV-show)
Ann Margret & Lee Hazlewood (1969, LP The Cowboy and The Lady)
Buddy Knox (1969, LP Gypsy Man)
Hank Snow (1969, LP Hits Covered By Snow)
The Jordanaires (1969, LP Monster Makers)
Linda Ronstadt (1969, LP Hand Sown Home Grown)
Pat Boone (1969, Tetragrammaton 1516, with Ry Cooder on guitar)
The Carter Family (1969, Columbia 44982)
Margie Bowes (1969, LP Today's Country Sound)
Tommy Lee (1969, LP Tommy Lee Sings The Country Greats)
Mac Curtis (1969, Epic 26419)
Duane Eddy (1969, CBS 3962 UK, rare 45 where the master guitarist is also singing)
Pawnee Drive (May 1969, Forward 103, a local #19 KQWB-hit in Fargo, NC)
Iain Campbell (former Ian Campbell Folk Group) (1969, MajorMinor 639, UK,
also released as "Quebraste Mi Pensamiento" in Argentina, but Ian sings it in English)
Gary Buck (1969, LP Tomorrow Today, Canada)
John Wakely (1969, LP Please Don't Hurt Me Anymore, album by Jimmy Wakely's son)
Roy Drusky (1969, LP My Grass Is Green)
Deep Water Reunion (1969, Jerral S80-1186)
Roy Orbison (1969, London FLX-3240 (NL), EP London 7594 (OZ))
Inspirations (1969, Triola TD-383, Denmark)
Jack Dailey, The Westerners (1969, JayDee 7126, US disk jockey working in Norway managing his own label)
Wreckless Eric (1980, LP Big Smash, UK punk version)
American Express (1981, Wizard WIZ-1005, Irish band)
Bohannon (1981, LP Alive)
Joe Sun (1981, LP Storms Of Life)
Warren Storm (±1982, LP Heart 'n' Soul)
Terri Ann Melton (1982, AV 911, A.V. Mittelstedt's label, Texas country singer)
Month of May (Melon 004, might be British 45 rpm 1980s)
Richard Thompson (cd Nocturnal Emissions, live broadcasts and demos 1980-82)
Oak Ridge Brothers (1983, MCA 52488)
Jiri Brabeg & George Hamilton IV (1983, LP George Hamilton IV & Jiri Brabeg & Country Beat)
Teddy Nelson (1989, cd Millions of Miles, Norwegian C&W)
Majella (1990, cd Requests, Ireland singer-wife of Daniel I'Donnell)
Taxmeni (1993, cd Vrata Vyskocil, Yvonne Prenosilova, another Czech version "Zůstávám")
Poacher (cd Poacher, UK band)
Harry Gooch and the Americana Trio + 1 (Americana Records 1002, Memphis TN label 7 inch, may be 1980s?)
Crystal Gayle (1993, cd Best Always)
Barbados (1995, cd Barbados, another Swedish cover "Håll Min Hand")
Jayhawks (1995, cd Bad Time)
Kenji Nagatomi (cd Country Dream Duets, dentist-singing cowboy from Kyoto, duet with George Hamilton IV)
Iris DeMent (1996, unreleased live GAMH)
Petr Spálený (1998, cd Nová nahrávka, once more recorded by popular Czech country artist)
Brit Lyng (2002, cd Western Boots, Norway)
18 Wheelers (2004, cd Songs From The Road, live album)
Freak Mountain Ramblers (2008, cd Flxible)
Nathan Carter (2010, cd The Way That You Love Me, Ireland)
Tina Elton (2012, cd In the middle of the night)
Rusty Smith (2013, cd Rusty Smith & Friends, feat. Zeke Hutchison)
Bobby Braddock (2017, cd A Tribute to John D Loudermilk)
The Frayed and Frazzled Loose Ends Of Our Love
Bobby Wood (1967, Unissued recording N50259 in MGM-vaults)
The Punk
Weird lyrics 'bout an old World War 2/ Korea veteran,
gettin' a drafted long haired punk drunk in Vietnam....
Wonder who ever recorded this one, love to hear it!
probably unreleased
There's Gotta Be More To Life
(than loving a man)
Good up-tempo, steel guitar flavoured song,
a Lament of a red-dishwater-handed Housewife, see
lyrics
Goldie Hill Smith (Nov. 1967, Epic 10245)
In June 1967 the LP Suburban Attitudes in Country Verse was released.
While Loudermilk's first three LP's were more a collection of songs put together on an album,
this is an album release on it's own. May be Loudermilk's best album.
It won a 1967 Grammy Award. Not for the music, but for "the best album notes". It was the only Grammy Loudermilk ever won.
The album was also nominated for 1967 "Best Album Cover, Photography", but this Grammy went to Dylans Greatest Hits album.
John D Loudermilk (1967, Suburban attitudes in country verse)
Lou Rawls (1967, LP Too Much!)
Paul & Linda (1969, Page One 140, Paul McNeil and Linda Pettifer;
Linda later married to and recorded with Richard Thompson; label spells Laudermilk as composer)
Bahama Mama
Lyrics Song originally written on a bar mat of the British Colonial hotel, Nassau, Bahamas.
Original version by Loudermilk hit #51 in the Country Charts (Jul. 1967); one year later George Hamilton IV reached just
one spot higher (peaked #50 in June 1968), while the Everly Brothers pop cover reached #112 bubbling under Billboard's Hot 100
(May 1968); the Everlys peaked at #39 in UK's Record Retailer charts.
Everly Brothers' version, sleeve of the German single release, Jody Miller's European release
John D Loudermilk (May 1967, RCA 9189)
George Hamilton IV (Apr. 1968, RCA 9519)
Everly Brothers (Apr. 1968, WB 7192)
Jody Miller (May, 1968, Capitol 2187)
The Shacklefords (1968, LHI 1211, Lee Hazlewood's group on Lee's label)
The Gloomys (1968, LP Daybreak, obscure German rock band from Berlin)
Frank Ifield (Nov. 1969, Hickory 1550, Decca 12966 UK)
Dolly Parton (1969, LP Good Old Days)
Country Fever (1970, LP Listen To The Country Fever, UK group with Albert Lee on gtr and John Derek vocals)
Lynn Anderson (1970, LP No Love At All)
Fesáci (1975, LP Ostrov Fesáku, in Czech as "Podzimní Zpráva")
Mary McCaslin (1975, LP Prairie in the Sky)
Jimmie Rodgers (1978, 2LP Today-Yesterday)
Johnny Young (1982, LP Next Stop on the Line, UK)
Herb Pedersen (2017, cd A Tribute to John D Loudermilk)
John D Loudermilk (1968, LP Country Love Songs Plain And Simply Sung)
Rubbin' it in
not the Chely Wright song
probably unreleased
Those Thoughts Keep Poppin' Up In My Mind
probably unreleased
Little World Girl
Hamiltons version, a #18 C&W hit in Feb/Mar. 1968, contains a strange, instrumental sitar break, probably unique in country
music. Lyrics JDL told about the song: "We (with Acuff Rose's Bob McCluskey) rode up to L.A. and San Francisco last year.
I wanted to check out the hippy scene. This song was actually written about a little hippy girl that Bob and I saw in the park there.
She was sitting down on the ground in this park and there was smoke all up in the trees from the pot these kids were smoking.
This little girl was sitting there reading the New Testament. I was talking with this part-time hippy, the kind that keeps
his clothes rolled up in the trunk. He tells his wife he's going to work, and goes and changes into his hippy clothes at a
filling station. He was the only cat I could talk to - the rest of them were too far out. I said to him, 'What about the little girl?'
She was about 13 or 14, just a child. He said, 'She ain't been asleep or nothing since yesterday. She's just been sitting there reading the Bible'."
(from: Country Song Roundup, May 1968)
George Hamilton IV (Dec. 1967, RCA 9385)
Neal Ford & Fanatics (Mar. 1968, Hickory 1500)
Be Careful with That Little Drink Before Dinner
more a little sermon than a song
George Hamilton IV (1968, LP The Gentle Country Sound of GHIV)
Little Tony recorded the song on an Italian EP, soundtrack of the comedy Donne, Botte e Bersaglieri.
The sleeve spells song title "I Wanna Leave": Tony sings it that way, it isn't a printing error
The melody of the song is based on an old song. It goes back to the Happy Home Waltz, at least as old as 1850.
Fifty years later it was known as Birmingham Jail (or Down In The Valley), and recorded first in 1927 by Darby & Tarlton on
Columbia. Recorded by artists like the Weavers, Andrew Sisters, Slim Whitman and many, many more.
Loudermilk wrote new lyrics, see below. On his own 1971 version, he adds a few lines of the old source
Down in the valley, Hear the wind blow.
I Wanna Live was a hit in the USA, Canada, Ireland, France, Sweden, and the rest of the world.
Loudermilk recalls a trip to Dublin: "I was surprised to hear a
park full of Irish Protestants and Catholics singing I Wanna Live during a peace demonstration.
You never know where a country song may end up being heard"!
Lyrics:
Flowers have blooms, the ocean has waves
The sky has clouds, people have babes
I wanna live till I get old
I wanna watch all of this grow
I wanna live, live and let live
I want all the love this life has to give
I wanna smile and be friendly with you
I wanna live and let you live some, too
Rover is big, Tabby is small
Betty is short, Jimmy is tall
They wanna live, live and let live
They want all the love this life has to give
They wanna smile and be friendly with you
They wanna live and let you live some, too
The song has been recorded in five versions with different French lyrics.
First versions were "Je veux vivre" by Canadian pop group César & Romains,
"Vivre avec toi" by Catherine Blanche (both 1968) and "Vivons Ensemble"by Pascal Normand (Quebec, 1972).
In 1973 Canadian singer Richard Huet first heard the song on the radio in a taxi cab, in Roy Orbison's version
and he instantly fell in love with the song. The same day, he wrote his French lyrics "Tu peux partir", a hit in Quebec.
In France the song became a big seller for Michel Chevalier ("Je veux t'aimer", a text of Georges Aber).
Two covers from Denmark, 1968: Anette sings "Giv mig et liv" and Daimi sings "Leve mit liv"; both texts by Peter Spar
South Africa's #3 hit in 1973, Tommy Oliver's version of I Wanna Live, here in a 1982 sleeve.
The cover is shamelessly credited as Tommy Oliver's own composition, though lyrics are different, the music is taken
from Loudermilk's song
This powerful song should have deserved a decent hit cover. Only hit top 10 in Australia, in 1972 in Don Fardon's version
Lyrics
Roy Acuff Jr (Jun. 1968, Hickory 1505)
Chaparral Brothers (Nov. 1968, Capitol 2323)
Don Fardon (Jul. 1971, Young Blood 1027)
The Odd Folks of Okracoke
Instrumental.
Okracoke is a small harbour town in North Carolina
label shot
John D Loudermilk (1968, RCA 9592, RCA 1761 UK)
Chet Atkins (1969, RCA 10346)
The Atkins Strings Co. (1975, LP The Night Atlanta Burned)
Laif Møller Lauridsen (1996, cd I naturen, Danish classical guitar album)
Jim Coleman (2001, cd The Guitar That Made America Great, a Chet Atkins tribute)
Doc Booger (2016, digital album Picks The Drive In)
You Know He Hasn't
Originally written and copyrighted as
"Hell No, He Hasn't", but for smooth crooner Frankie Randall it was weakened to
"You Know He Hasn't"
Frankie Randall (1969, Capitol 2410)
Baby, Goodbye
May be these 2 songs were unreleased songs of the sessions for the "Open Mind" LP
probably unreleased so far
Nobody Says I Love You
In March 1969 the LP The Open Mind Of John D Loudermilk was released. A very intense, personal album
with great songs, album in a beautiful psych cover. In the liner notes John Loudermilk wrote:
"This is an album I've always wanted to make for years but have been holding off waiting
for the right time. Included in this collection are songs that may be offensive to some, but the majority of people feel this
album has been needed for quite a while.
Some of these selections have been recorded for as long as three years but "kept in the can," as recording people put it.
My close friends know, I have dedicated my life to reaching into the contemporary thinking of the man on the street, pulling
out passing moods and opinions and preserving them within the framework of the home-made musical composition. I've
tried to use instruments that reflect today.
The only place I may have failed is in my vocal performances, but, as has happened with songs in albums past, younger and
more serious singers will pick them up and have hit after hit with them."
This last remark would not come true. Hardly any of the songs was picked up for a cover by another artist
and sure none became a hit. Still, the album is a very fine collection of good songs.
John D Loudermilk (1969, LP The Open Mind of John D Loudermilk)
Nassau Town
Song "written in Room 209 of the British Colonial Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas".
Loudermilk does all instruments and voices, overdubbed on the recording.
Lyrics
John D Loudermilk (1969, LP The Open Mind of John D Loudermilk)
The Jones'
A protest song, criticizing tv and journalism, see lyrics
Neal Ford & Fanatics (Jun. 1968, Hickory 1506), a Don Gant, hippie sound production
John D Loudermilk (1969, The Open Mind of John D Loudermilk)
John D Loudermilk (1971, LP Elloree, the alternative WB-recording)
To Ann
Instrumental, dedicated to Ann Askew, young art student doing secretary
work for JDL. Ann died in an automobile accident, june 1968.
John D Loudermilk (1969, LP The Open Mind of John D Loudermilk)
The Atkins Strings Co. (1975, LP The Night Atlanta Burned)
Ain't It Going To Hell On A Sled?
With Norris Wilson and Pete Sayers doing an intermezzo which later
seems to have been an inspiration to Ray Stevens on his hit 'The Streak'.
Lyrics mocking on drugs, Vietnam war, modern church.
"I did a lot of research before writing this particular song", JDL jokes on the liner notes of the album
John D Loudermilk (1969, LP The Open Mind of John D Loudermilk)
Poor Little Pretty Girl
Dedicated to "those poor female creatures who are prettier than they are intelligent",
see lyrics
John D Loudermilk (1969, LP The Open Mind of John D Loudermilk)
Boy, what a shock to hear from someone inquiring about "The Knock",
that was the first record I ever recorded as an individual artist.
I cut it in 1973 in San Antonio, Texas on Teardrop Records out of Houston, Texas
and got minimal airplay but it was a boost to my bookings back then.
I loved the song for it simplicity and loved the session because of the steel player (Tiny Williams)
who was a 400 pound genius. was what Sandy mailed me.
Nowadays she is an active gospel-performer.
A good country ballad. The song was first recorded in 1968 for MGM by country singer Barbara Herald, but not released.
First release is -as far as I know- that of 1976 of Sandy Samples for the local San Antone label Teardrop Records.
Barbara Herald (1968, MGM unissued N50578)
Sandy Samples (1976, Teardrop 3338)
All The Crying In The World
Sentimental song with an overkill of orchestration
Jody Miller (Jan. 1969, Capitol 2398)
Jeris Ross (Feb. 1976, Abc-Dot 17615)
Fine Wine
(must be sipped slowly)
Gary Lemel started off playing Jazz, and ended up as a big shot
in soundtrack music industry (president of Warner Bros). This one odd single for Capitol was an inbetween 45.
Gary Lemel (1969, Capitol P-2430)
Take A Little Time
Eddy Arnold (1969, LP Songs Of The Young World)
Sue Thompson (Dec. 1970, Hickory 1587)
Back to Loudermilk bio & link page
Back to part 1, 1956-1960 The Colonial, Columbia, Universal-Cedarwood years
Back to part 2, 1960-1963 RCA, Hickory, Nashville, teen, hillbilly and rockabilly
This was part 3, 1963-1969 RCA, Hickory, Nashville, bizarre and open minded
To part 4, 1970 & later MIM, Europe, years of retirement
To part 5, Loudermilk singing traditionals and covering other songwriters
To part 6, unknown songs/covers - info wanted!
Gus Backus is ex Del Vikings and made fame in Germany and Australia and even
scored a #3-hit with Short on Love in Japan (May 1964).
Australian sheet music of the early Adrian Ussher cover (1963). Ussher was a country-rocker from Melbourne.
← Canadian sheet music edition.
Dublin born Carmel Quinn, best known for her Irish songs,
unsuccessfully tried an album for the C&W market in 1964.
One side was filled with JDL songs, the other side Country standards
Dutch release.
Tracy Ullman's 1984 hit version.
Intro of the song reminds of Lee Dorsey's classic "Working In A Coal Mine".
Sheet music for London's Adam Faith, who released it in the evening of his musical career
Acuff Jr obviously didn't inherit the talent of Sr.
Robert Mitchum's release hit #55 on the Hot Country Singles in December 1967
Song originally written and recorded in 1966, but not released;
music and 
Pat Boone used the song (and 2 more Loudermilk songs) for his LP Departure,
which was a try to give the smooth clean-cut singer a new image of a pop artist. The album was sponsored
with the help of Ry Cooder, Judy Henske, Phil Ochs, Jack Nitzsche and Larry Knechtel, but failed to sell.
The name Pat Boone was too much branded as corny and outmoded and the album was ignored by the progressive music scene.
That is, except for Germany...
Two covers from Denmark, 1968: Anette sings "Giv mig et liv" and Daimi sings "Leve mit liv"; both texts by Peter Spar
In March 1969 the LP The Open Mind Of John D Loudermilk was released. A very intense, personal album
with great songs, album in a beautiful psych cover. In the liner notes John Loudermilk wrote: