Jimmy Patton

Oscar James "Jimmy" Patton (born October 28, 1931 in Berwin , Oklahoma , † June 25, 1989 in Portland , Oregon ) was an American country and rockabilly musician.

Life

Childhood and youth

Jimmy Patton was born on a farm in Oklahoma, but moved with his family to Springfield , Oregon in 1943 . It was during this time that Patton became interested in music and took every opportunity to sing and play. He initially had a job as a rodeo rider, but had to give it up in 1953 after he broke his arm.

Career

Patton pursued his career as a musician determined and made his first recordings in 1955 for Sims Records , a label that was then based in Sun Valley , California . His first single there, the duet Careful with Ann Jones on the A-side and Guilty on the B-side, was traditional country music without any influences, compared to Charlie Feathers ' early Sun recordings. Patton got the opportunity to perform in the famous Big D Jamboree from Dallas . These appearances were possibly decisive for Patton's move to rockabilly - although he was actually a country singer, he joined the Elvis Presley trend during this time .

Between 1955 and 1958 Patton played in the small clubs of Los Angeles , but made no recordings for unknown reasons. In 1958, Patton was discovered during one of his appearances by Woody Fleener for the record company Sage & Sand Records . A session was arranged at the Sunset Recording Studio in Hollywood , where Patton was accompanied by Roy Lanham ( guitar ), Lawrence Wootten ( bass ), Freddie Haynes ( piano ) and Ralph Gleason ( drums ). In early 1958, the first single from that session, Yah! I'm Movin '/ Love Come Back to Me published by Sage & Sand, but with around 2000 copies sold, it wasn't even able to achieve local success.

While I'm Not Chuckin ' appeared on a Sage & Sand LP in 1959, Let Me Slide remained unreleased from that session.

Patton held his next session in Phoenix , Arizona in 1959 with Donnie Owens on guitar. This time Okie's in the Poakie was recorded; a song that became Patton's biggest hit commercially and is now popular with rockabilly collectors. While the single appeared in 1959 on the local Hilligan label for the first time, Sims re-released a second version with a short spoken intro and another B-side in September 1960.

While Okie's in the Poakie was not selling badly, Patton left it at that and turned his back on rockabilly. In 1961 and 1965 Patton recorded two country-style albums, the second was recorded in Nashville with session musicians such as Autry Inman , Billy Grammar and Hargus "Pig" Robbins. In the late 1960s, Patton was signed to Moon Records, where he continued to make records. Patton returned to the music business after a brief hiatus, and although he was in a car accident in the mid-1980s, he never gave up his concerts.

In June 1989, a drunk truck driver struck his car. Patton was taken to the nearby Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon, where he died a few days later.

Discography

Singles

year	title	Label #
1955	Careful / Guilty (with Ann Jones)	Sims 103
1955	Teen-Age Heart / Jalopy	Sims 104
1955	Ocean of Tears / I Don't Want It	Sims 105
1958	Yah! I'm Movin '/ Love Come Back to Me	Say 45-261
1958	Call Me / Forty-Nine Women	Sage & Sand 261
1959	Ocean Full of Tears / Twinklin 'Teardrops	Say 282
1960	Okie's in the Poakie / Hut-Horp Rookie's Marching Song	Hilligan HC-001/2
1960	Okie's in the Poakie / Lonely Nights	Sims 45-117
1965	Preacher and a Girl in the Night / Blue Darling	Sims 227
	Taxes Are Going Up Again / Someday I'll Live Again	Stereotone 1002
	First Step Down /?	Moon 110
	Going Home with the Blues /?	Moon 1006
1976	Just For You / Brush Me From Your Shoes	Moon 2002
	Big Blue Diamonds / You Can Have Her	Moon 2003
Unpublished titles
1958	Let me slide	Sage & Sand

Albums

• 1961: Take Thirty Minutes with Jimmy Patton
• 1965: Blue Darlin '
• 19 ??: Blue Darling
• 1967: Make Room for the Blues
• 1976: Just For You
• 1999: Yah! I'm Movin '- 1955 - 1976

Web links

• biography
• Discography
• Discography with audio samples