Jenks Carman

Jenks "Tex" Carman (born May 14, 1903 in Hardinsburg , Kentucky , as Jenkins Carman ; † February 2, 1968 ) was an American country musician and guitarist . Carman, also known as Dixie Cowboy , was best known for his stage presence and his play on the Hawaiian guitar .

Life

Childhood and youth

Carman was born in Kentucky in 1903 as the seventh of eight children of farmer Alford Carman and showed an early interest in music. At school and in the local church, he gained his first guitar experience and had his first professional engagement as the leader of the International Glee Club Quartette in Louisville , Kentucky. As a teenager, Carman left his hometown hoping to become famous as a musician.

Career

He then joined various vaudeville shows and developed his own novelty show as a singer and guitarist. Carman made his first recordings in 1929 for the Starr Piano Company in Richmond , Indiana , but they were never published. In the early 1930s, he first appeared with his sister as the Royal Castillians and, after his sister married and left the duo, performed with the Hawaiian giatricist Frank Plada , who taught him the principles of the Hawaiian guitar. Carman adopted this style and made it an important element of his pieces throughout his life.

He owed Carman's later popularity not to his special skills as a musician, his guitar style was simple and underdeveloped, his singing skills minimal and his nasal voice resembled the Fiddlin 'John Carsons . He also often showed his inability to keep the pace. To compensate for these disadvantages, Carman developed an impressive stage presence, which consisted of his unusual way of playing guitar, yodelling and elements of vaudeville. From time to time he also sang - according to his own account - in the Cherokee language . Although Carman repeatedly asserted that he was of Indian descent, this is still highly doubted today.

Hilo March , 1951

Carman began appearing on radio stations like KMOX in St. Louis and WHAS in Louisville. He had his most successful phase in the 1940s and 1950s in California . While building his popularity through radio and television, he received a recording contract with the West Coast label Four Star Records from Pasadena . Here he recorded titles such as Sunny Tennessee , The Wreck of the Old '97 , Kahila March and his most popular piece, Hillbilly Hula . He began regularly in the famous Town Hall Party from Compton to occur and was also a member of later Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree . After his contract with Four Star expired, Cliffie Stone brought him to Capitol Records in 1951 , where Carman was produced by Ken Nelson .

At Capitol, his recordings consisted of similar pieces such as Dixie Cannonball , Locust Hill Rag or a new version of the Hillbilly Hula , but Carman's records were only moderately successful, so his contract expired in 1953. Due to his performances, he remained popular in the 1950s. After a few years without a record deal, he signed with the small label Sage & Sand Records , for which he recorded a few albums, which were, however, less successful. In the mid-1960s, he slowly retired.

Tex Carman died in 1968.

Discography

year	title	#	Remarks
Published titles
4 Star Records
1948	End of the World / Hillbilly Hula	1229
1948	Wreck of the Old '97 / I Don't Why But I Do	1230
1948	Sunny Tennessee / New Waikiki Beach	1278
1949	Hawaiian Hotel / There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder	1302
1949	I Really Believe / Kahila March	1379
1950	Chain Gang / The Artillery Song	1515
1951	Old Number 9 / Little White Rose	X-6
Decca Records
1953	Hillbilly Hula / New Waikiki Beach	28771	Republication
Capitol Records
1951	I Could Love You Baby / Ten Thousand Miles (Away from Home)	1571
1951	Hilo March / Just Another Good Dream Gone Wrong	1822
1952	My Trusting Heart / Don't Feel Sorry for Me	2067
1953	Hillbilly Hula / I'm a Poor Lonesome Fellow	2345
1953	Locust Hill Rag / My Lonely Heart and I	2534
1953	Blue Memories / The Caissons Go Rolling Along	2621
1954	The Samoa Stomp / Sweet Luwanna	2752
1954	Dixie Cannonball / Indian Polka	2886
Sage & Sand Records
1956	You'll Come Crawlin 'Back / They Had to Say Goodbye	218
1957	Krish-a-Boom-Ba / Walking and Crying Over You	246
1957	Wolf Creek / My Broken Heart Won't Let Me Sleep	251	published by Sage
1958	Honk Honk Honk / Wildwood Flower	272	published by Sage
1958	EP Silver Rails Leading Westwards The Old Guitar and Me Love Me Darling Spanish dancer	EP 274	published by Sage
1959	Beverly Ann / I Feel Like I Feel	289	published by Sage
1959	Little May / This Lonely Road	300	published by Sage
1961	To Win, to Place, to Show / Ozark Rose	337	published by Sage
1962	Fire in the Tee Pee / Learning to Do Without You	351	published by Sage
1962	I'll Go On Loving You / Maggie's Twist	352	published by Sage
1962	Aungalala / Somewhere in this World	355	published by Sage
1962	Indian Love Song / Lobo of the Border	364	published by Sage
1966	Custer's Massacre / Little Black Jack Davie	398	published by Sage
Rem Records
1963	Bamboo Love / Black Jack David	329

Web links

• Jenks Carman on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)