Houston Barks
Houston Barks (* 1928 in Sallisaw , Oklahoma ) is an American country musician .
Life
Childhood and youth
Houston Barks was from Oklahoma. He started playing guitar at the age of eight and, like many others from Oklahoma, moved to California ten years later at the age of 18 . There he settled in Visalia, California, where he got a job in the cotton fields.
Career
However, Barks did not like the hard work in the fields and after a few days he gave up the job in the hope of starting a career as a musician. He initially found smaller engagements in Fresno , Bakersfield , Tulare, Dinuba, Visalia and the surrounding area, with which he earned his living for the next ten years.
Since his career stagnated, he moved to Santa Paula in 1956 . After appearing in Buck & Sunny’s , a club owned by Sunny and Buck Smith, the impressed couple hired him for the house band of their establishment. Barks quickly built up a certain degree of popularity here and his audience numbers grew steadily.
The Smith couple also owned their own small label, Buck and Sunny Records, which they used to attract local talent. Barks had previously written several songs, of which he recorded She's Gone and A Stranger (Tore My Castle Down) in 1958. Released later that year on the Buck & Sunny label, the record was rated by Billboard in November 1958 . The magazine attributed hit potential to both titles (“With exposure this can easily take off.”) And added that both songs were in the style of Johnny Cash's “Boom Chica Boom” sounds (“Barks is a fine new country artist with an approach that is similar to Johnny Cash's. ").
The record was also released on Quality Records in Canada but did not hit the charts. The title She's Gone was used due to the similarity to Cash's style on the compilation The House of Cashalikes, Volume 2 by Cactus Records. Barks himself continued to appear at Buck & Sunny’s in 1959 .
Discography
| year | title | Label # |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | She's Gone / A Stranger (Tore My Castle Down) | Buck & Sunny 101 |
| She's Gone / A Stranger (Tore My Castle Down) | Quality K1817 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The Billboard Reviews - Billboard Spotlight Winners of the Week . Billboard, Nov. 10, 1958
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Barks, Houston |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sallisaw , Oklahoma |