Malcolm Yelvington
Malcolm Yelvington (born September 14, 1918 in Coverton , Tennessee , † February 21, 2001 in Memphis , Tennessee) was an American rockabilly and country singer in the 1950s.
Life
Childhood and youth
Malcolm Yelvington grew up in Coverton, Tipton County , which is near Memphis. At the age of 14 he was already playing guitar and performing regularly with his band. He played the songs of his then rising idol Ernest Tubb . He mixed this with hillbilly music and blues elements . Yelvington escaped military service as he was retired for health reasons.
Rockabilly on Sun Records
In 1942 Yelvington met Reece Flemming and Respers Townsend , both of whom had already made records with Victor Records before the war . Together with Red Winn they met and decided to start a band. All four only played guitar, so Reece Fleming had to learn the piano and William Bird ( fiddle ) and Arnold Sanders ( bass ) joined the group. Together they appeared as The Tennesseans and played in the Convington area. Yelvington moved to Memphis in 1950, where his band got their own radio show, for which Reece Fleming wrote the theme song Just Rolling Around . In 1952 they merged with the Star Rhythm Boys and took over the name and electric guitarist Joe Mashburn. They played together in bars and honky tonks on weekends. Together with Mashburn, Yelvington had been thinking about recordings for a long time. Through Mashburn's mediation in 1953, Yelvington met Sam Phillips , the owner of Sun Records . Although Phillips wasn't enthusiastic about the group, he had them auditioned in his studio. Yelvington and his band performed the self-written piece Yakety Yak first, which Phillips was too country-oriented. When Yelvington played him a version of Stick McGhee's Drinkin 'Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee , Phillips was excited and signed the group. Their first session was in October 1954, when Drinkin 'Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee and Just Rolling Around were released as the first single. Unfortunately, the young Elvis Presley's first single came out exactly a week before the Yelvington record. While Presley's record was selling far better, Yelvington had to move from radio station to radio station in order to market his record.
Frustrated, Yelvington went with his band to Meteor Records in 1956 . There he published his title Yakety Yak, which, however, was a failure. The record was released under the name Mac Sales and the Esquire Trio , as he was still under contract with Sun Records. Returning to Sun Records that same year, he released the rockabilly number Rockin 'With My Baby .
Break and comeback
In 1958, Yelvington, who was now almost 40 years old, withdrew and concentrated on his family. He was to have five children in the course of time. In 1965, Yelvington made an appearance on the Slim Rhodes Show , appeared on several albums, and in 1971 recorded the unreleased song Disappointed . In May 1974 a recording session of former sun artists took place in the Glo-Lite Studio in Memphis, in which Yelvington, Marcus Van Story , Charlie Feathers and Red Hadley also took part. Yelvington recorded - with the support of other musicians - the piece Goobye Marie , in return he accompanied Red Hadley as guitarist on Rockin 'With Red . However, the recordings remained unpublished for a long time. It was not rediscovered until the mid-1980s as part of the rockabilly revival. He appeared again in public and, in contrast to his early career, reached a larger audience. He even made appearances in Europe. In 1996 he signed again with the Sun Records, with which he had not had success 52 years earlier. In 1997 he released his first album.
Malcolm Yelvington died in Memphis on February 21, 2001 at the age of 83.
Discography
Singles
| year | title | Label # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Drinkin 'Wine Spodee-O-Dee / Just Rolling Around | Sun 211 | |||
| 1955 | Yakety Yak / A Gal Named Joe | Meteor 5022 | |||
| 1956 | Rockin 'With My Baby / It's Me, Baby | Sun 246 | |||
| Unpublished titles | |||||
| 1955 |
|
Sun | |||
| 1956 |
|
Sun | |||
| 1957 |
|
Sun | |||
|
|||||
Albums
- 1997: There's A Little Left In This Old Boy Yet
Individual evidence
- ↑ On Yelvington's recordings for Sun Records see: Escott, Colin / Hawkins, Martin: Good Rockin 'Tonight. Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll . New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991, pp. 170f
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Yelvington, Malcolm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rockabilly and country singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 14, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Coverton , Tennessee |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 21, 2001 |
| Place of death | Memphis , Tennessee |