Jack Earls
Jack Earls (born August 23, 1932 in Woodbury , Tennessee ) is an American country and rockabilly singer who is best known for his title Slow Down .
Life
Childhood and youth
Earls spent most of his childhood on his parents' farm. He had a total of six siblings. From an early age he was enthusiastic about country music and was influenced by his neighbors, who both played an instrument. At the age of 16 he learned to play the guitar and a year later he moved to Memphis , Tennessee , the later birthplace of rockabilly. At the beginning of 1949 he founded his first band, with which he appeared occasionally.
Career
But his career had to wait first, Earls had already married in 1950 and was now starting a family. With his new band, which he founded in 1954, he soon played in pubs and bars in and around Memphis. His bass player at the time was Johnny Black, the brother of the famous bass player Bill Black .
In the summer of 1955, Earls and his band made private recordings on the Memphis Recording Service . At the same time, Elvis Presley was in the process of recording Mystery Train . Since Presley did not know the lyrics of this R&B song, Earls had to get a record of the original from Junior Parker . This is how record label owner Sam Phillips became aware of Earls and his band.
Her title Hey Jim , written by Earls himself, impressed Phillips. But before Phillips could start production, Earls and his band, now called The Jimbos , played his rockabilly piece Slow Down . Instead of Hey Jim , Slow Down has now been released with the B-side A Fool for Loving You You . In 1956, the track became a local hit, played even by DJs in Texas and sold over 50,000 copies. However, Earl's performance options were severely limited as he still had a job to support his family. This hindered his career considerably, if only for the reason that he could not go on tours. Earls and his band recorded more than a dozen other tracks on Sun, but they remained unreleased. In 1957 the contract with Sun expired and Earls withdrew from the music business , despite offers from Meteor Records and King Records .
He then moved with his family to Detroit , Michigan , where he worked at Chrysler . In the 1970s, he released a few records, but they largely went unnoticed. However, during the rockabilly revival, Earls gained fame not only in America but also in Europe . He appeared again in public, including with Janis Martin and Sleepy LaBeef , two of the most popular rockabilly artists. Jack Earls still performs in public today. His Sun recordings were released in 1997 by Charley Records. Earls released his first albums in 2001 and 2002.
Discography
Singles
| year | title | Record company | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Slow Down / A Fool For Lovin 'You | Sun Records | |||
| 1975 | She Sure Can Rock Me / Crawdad Hole | Olympic Records | |||
| 1976 | Roll Over Beethoven / Take Me To That Place | Olympic Records | |||
| 1976 | Call Me Shorty / Mississippi Man | Olympic Records | |||
| 1976 | Flip Flop and Fly / Rock Bop | Olympic Records | |||
| 1998 | My Little Mama / Game Of Love | Enviken Records | |||
| 2001 | Take Me To That Place / Come On Little Mama (with Ray Harris ) | Norton Records | |||
| 1999 |
EP
|
Stomper Time Records | |||
| Unpublished titles | |||||
|
Sun Records | ||||
Albums
- 1990: Let's Bop
- 1996: Jack Earls Sings
- 1996: Hey Slim, Let's Bop
- 2001: Jack Earls live
- 2002: Game of Love (with the Sleazy Rustic Boys )
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Earls, Jack |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country and rockabilly singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 23, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Woodbury, Tennessee |