Jimmie Logsdon

Jimmie Logsdon (born April 1, 1922 in Panther , Kentucky - † October 7, 2001 ), also known as Jimmie Lloyd , was an American country and rockabilly musician. Logsdon was particularly successful as a songwriter.

Life

Childhood and youth

Logsdon traveled a lot in his childhood as his father worked in the circus for a while. He later became a pastor and Logsdon therefore began to sing in the church choir with his sister Mary Jean from the age of twelve. When the family moved to southeast Kentucky, the Logsdon, previously mainly influenced by gospel , was now exposed to rural country and blues . He later listened to rhythm and blues as well as popular music by Glenn Miller . In the high school band, Logsdon played the clarinet and also learned to play the guitar .

Career

In the fall of 1940, shortly after graduating from high school, Logsdon married and was called up to the US Air Force in 1944 . While serving in the military in San Antonio , Texas , he heard honky tonk stars like Ernest Tubb and it was here that he made the decision to become a professional musician.

After two years of military service, Logsdon moved to the Louisville area . He opened his own record store in LaGrange, Kentucky and recorded some demos with an old recorder. He quickly put together his own band and traveled to Cincinnati , Ohio , and made his first records for Harvest Records. The recordings were made in the same studio where Hank Williams recorded his famous Lovesick Blues two years earlier . In 1952 Logsdon even toured with Williams and befriended him. Williams tried Logsdon to get a record deal in Nashville and that same year he signed with Decca Records . After his friend's untimely death, Logsdon recorded the tribute The Death of Hank Williams / Hank Williams Sings The Blues No More .

In 1953 his radio career began to be successful. Logsdon's breakthrough came with the Country & Music Show on WHAS-TV. He also had his own radio show in which he interviewed stars like Jim Reeves , Porter Wagoner , Elvis Presley , Merle Travis , Boyd Bennett , Les Paul and many more.

His records didn't sell nearly as well, however. Logsdon left Decca in 1955 and was briefly under contract with Dot Records , where success did not occur either. In 1957 Logsdon decided to turn to rockabilly as "Jimmie Lloyd" . His friend Vic McAlpin got him a contract with the independent label Roulette Records . His first single was Where The Rio de Rosa Flows , which he had already written in San Antonio. In some regions like Memphis , Tennessee , the song became a hit and was also covered by Carl Perkins , Ray Scott and Ken Copeland . This was followed in April 1958 by a second rockabilly single, I Got A Rocket In My Pocket , which he had written with McAlpin. When this record did not want to make it into the top 100 either, Logsdon canceled his contract, who realized that he was already too old for rockabilly.

In the 1960s, Logsdon concentrated on his work as a disc jockey and wrote some hits for Johnny Horton , Carl Perkins and the jazz musician Woody Herman . In 1963 he released an album on King Records . In 1981 he played the rockabilly LP Now and Then I Think of the 50's in Cincinnati . The producer was Rusty York , who also played the harmonica on the album. In 1993 Bear Family Records released an album with Logsdon works from the 1950s.

Jimmie Logsdon died in 2001. He had spent his final years in Louisville, where he was socially engaged and wrote songs.

Discography

Singles

year	title	Remarks
Harvest Records
195?	It's All Over (But the Shouting) / Road of Regret
Decca Records
1952	I Wanna Be Mama'd / That's When I Love You the Best
1953	The Death of Hank Williams / Hank Williams Sings The Blues No More
1953	The Love You Gave to Me / As Long As We're Together
	Let's Have a Happy Time / Where The Old Red River Flows
	Papaya Mama / In The Mission of St. Augustine
	Midnight Boogie / Good Deal Lucille
	These Lonesome Blues / My Sweet French Baby
1955?	I'm Goin 'Back to Tennessee / You Ain't Nothing But the Blues
Dot records
1956?	Midnight Blues / Cold Cold Rain
Starday Records
1957	Can't Make Up My Mind / No Longer Do I Cry	as Jimmie Logsden [!]
Roulette Records
1957	Where the Rio De Rosa Flows / (We've Reached) The Beginning of the End	as Jimmy Lloyd
1958	I Got a Rocket In My Pocket / You're Gone, Baby	as Jimmy Lloyd
King Records
	EP Mother's Flower Garden I know you're married I Know You're Married But I Love You Still Mother's Flower Garden
	Life of Hank Williams, Part I / Life of Hank Williams, Part II
	Making Believe / I Guess I've Let You Down
	Daddy Don't You / The Loneliest Guy In Town
	I've Got Over You / I Have To Laugh

Albums

• 1963: Howdy Neighbors
• 1969: Fireball Mail
• 1980: Doing It Hank's Way
• 1981: Now and Then I Think of the 50’s
• 1993: I Got A Rocket In My Pocket (Bear Family)

Web links

• Jimmie Logsdon in the All Music Guide
• Entry into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
• Works by and about Jimmie Logsdon in the catalog of the German National Library
• Jimmie Logsdon on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)