BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
SUNDAY, JUNE 12TH 2:00 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
NEXT MEETING, JULY 10TH 2:00 PM
IN MEMORY
BRC member, worker and leader, Charles Cayley passed away May 26, 2022. Charles probably did more to keep things operating at BRC than anyone else. Whether it was handling the money for the club, paying bills, helping with the BRC website, doing numerous tasks to make sure the record show will be successful or just being at the monthly meetings with his laptop for club use, Charles did it without complaints. He volunteered to do it. I can still hear him say, ‘I’ll do it’ or ‘I’ll call them’. We lost not only a hard worker for BRC but also we lost a good friend. The family is planning on having a memorial service later in June.
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
Last month our guest speaker, Jenny Hudson had quite a story to share. From working at Columbia House Music and Reader’s Digest Music to working with some of the big names in the business to producing recordings at Abbey Studios in London, Jenny’s story was very interesting. Jenny, we need a book. Hope it’s in the works. Thanks for being with us. Everyone was very impressed. And thanks also to BRC member and Jenny’s cousin, Pete Pitts for relating Jenny’s story to us and having her come and be with us.
This month we have another guest speaker who also has a remarkable story to share. Terry Woodford is a songwriter, producer, publisher, engineer, recording artist and an author. He has worked with the likes of Hank Williams, Jr, Jimmy Buffett, Alabama, Wayne Newton, The Commodores, Barbara Mandrell, Mac McAnally and many others. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from another one of Alabama’s music-business leaders.
TICKLING THE IVORIES
Being blessed to grow up during a time when music was so diverse, it was fun to watch the guitar player become of age and would later give us what we call ‘guitar rock’ and people also started doing ‘air-guitar’ moves. And the drums become an instrument that made people play drums on their car’s steering wheel and play ‘air-drums’ as well. And drums became accepted into C/W music and the Grand Ole Opry. And when you compare a picture say from the 50’s-60’s of a drum set a rock band had to what John Bonham of Led Zeppelin or Roger Taylor of Queen used you will see how the drum set has grown. The one instrument that I enjoyed as a kid was the piano. Taking for a year (1963-64) I enjoyed it but became frustrated that all I was doing were scales and playing “Mary Had A Little Lamb’ and ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. I didn’t understand it was a process and I also didn’t want to tell my teacher what I really wanted. I wanted to be the next Jerry Lee, Fats, Little Richard and or Floyd Cramer. Floyd Cramer has always been a piano player I enjoyed and thought I would take a closer look at his career. Hope you enjoy.
Born in Shereveport, LA and raised in Huttig, AR, Floyd Cramer learned to play the piano by ear. In 1951, after high school he got a job with the Louisiana Hayride. After going to Nashville to check out that scene he would go back and forth from Louisiana until he talked with Chet Atkins about becoming a session pianist. At the time there were few pianists working in the studios because the piano wasn’t a major part of the music being turned out. But finally in 1955 he moved to Nashville for good and soon would be working day and night in the studios. Playing the piano of course but at least one time, he can be heard creating a sound you are probably familiar with. On the 1961 Jimmy Dean #1 hit, “Big Bad John’, it is Floyd who is making the pickaxe sounds by hitting with a hammer an iron doorstop on a coat hanger that he put together.
Cramer’s first recording, ‘Dancin’ Diane’ was done in 1953 for the Abbott label. It was a rag-time type song that didn’t make any of the charts of the time. Abbott would release three more records by Cramer, all in the rag-time genre. It was in 1958 that he had his first RCA label release, ‘Flip Flop And Bop’. And then in 1960 he had his biggest hit, ‘Last Date’. It would reach #2 on the pop charts and #8 on the C/W charts. He career would span for over 40 years. But there is so much more to Cramer’s career than the Hayride, Nashville and ‘Last Date’.
One of the performers he played for while working for the Hayride was Elvis Presley. When Elvis headed to Hollywood in 1956 Cramer was given the chance to go with him but he decided to go to Nashville and take a job as a session musician. Along with Elvis, Cramer played piano for recordings done by Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, The Browns, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, The Everly Brothers and many more. Next time you listen to Elvis’ recording of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, keep in mind that those ‘slip-note’ piano notes are being done by Floyd Cramer. In fact while ‘Last Date’ sat at #2 it was Elvis’ ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ that was #1. Cramer was part of Elvis’ band at the session the night the song was recorded and played on it.
As a session musician in Nashville Cramer would be part of two well-known musical ‘groups’. The Million Dollar Band and the Nashville A-Team. The Million Dollar Band included Chet Atkins, Boots Randolph, Charlie McCoy, Danny Davis, Jethro Burns, Johnny Gimble and Roy Clark. These musicians made many appearances on the hit TV variety show Hee-Haw. The Nashville A-Team are the musicians who are credited with creating the Nashville sound of the 1950’s-60’s and 70’s. Along with Cramer, this group included Bob Moore, Jerry Carrigan, Hargus ‘Pig’ Robbins, Owen Bradley, Chet Atkins, Hank Garland, Velma Williams Smith, Tommy Jackson, Vassar Clements, Pete Drake, Jerry Byrd, Earl Scruggs, Boots Randolph, The Jordanaires, The Anita Kerr Singers and Birmingham’s own, Henry Strzelecki.
The ‘slip-note’ style of playing that Cramer is known for came about after hearing a demo recording of ‘Please Help Me I’m Falling’ sent in by the composer Don Robertson who played the piano on the demo. Cramer would play piano on the Hank Locklin’s version of ‘Please Help Me…’. The song would stay at #1 on the C/W chart for 14 weeks and go to #8 on the pop chart. Cramer also said that the autoharp playing of Mother Maybelle had an influence on his style as well.
Floyd Cramer has been inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame (2003), The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (2003) and The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame (2008). The Nashville A-Team was inducted into the Musicians Hall Of Fame And Museum (2007) which is located in Nashville. East Tennessee State University offers the Floyd Cramer Competitive Scholarship.
And now for the rest of the story. Even after 50 years since I had had a piano lesson I was still having an itch for the piano so I took lessons for another year, 2015-16. But this time my teacher knew from the start what I wanted to do. I wanted to understand the piano so I can play what I wanted to play (or at least try to play). So, it has been fun and I know just enough to be slightly dangerous. And when my teacher asked to perform at a recital, (I call it the “R” word) along with 20 students under the age of 15, I agreed as long as I could choose the song. She agreed and the song was Floyd Cramer’s ‘Last Date’. It’s never too late. Go get that guitar, drum set, piano, sax or whatever and just do it.
DO YOU KNOW THESE FLOYD CRAMER RECORDINGS
(1958 – #87 Pop Chart – First RCA Release)
(1961 – #4 Pop Chart)
(1963 – LP Cut From ‘Swing Along With Floyd Cramer’)
(1960 – LP cut from ‘Hello Blues’. This is from a song in the movie, ‘From Here To Eternity’)
BRC RADIO
Check out our latest shows at birminghamrecord.com. Click on ‘RADIO’ and listen to some long-lost music and even some new sounds. There is a wide variety of music now that we have 4 hosts doing shows which provides a wide-range of musical genres. Check out all our shows.
See ya,
Charlie