Stan Kesler

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Stanley "Stan" A. Kesler (born August 11, 1928 , Abbeville , Mississippi ; † October 26, 2020 in Murfreesboro , Tennessee ) was an American musician . From 1954 he was a studio musician ( steel guitar and bass ) and composer for Sam Phillips ' record label Sun Records and thus contributed to the creation of the "Sun Sound".

Life

Career

Kesler (also sometimes written as Kessler ) began his musical career with the country band The Snearly Ranch Boys , founded by Clyde Leoppard, consisting of Buddy Holobaugh (guitar), Stan Kesler (steel guitar), Jan Ledbetter (bass), Smokey Joe Baugh (piano / Vocals) or William "Bill" Taylor (vocals) and Johnny Bernero (drums). Scotty Moore , later a session musician for Elvis Presley , began cautiously to fit into the Memphis music scene in 1953 and played with the band at times. Kesler: "Moore was a pretty straightforward country guitar pluck." When the Snearly Ranch Boys recorded the single Lonely Sweetheart / Split Personality (# 502) for the Sun subsidiary label Flip Records in February 1955 , Sam Phillips had already scheduled Kesler as a session musician for Sun Records.

In 1954, while the Snearly Ranch Boys , Kesler wrote the country track I'm Left, Your Right, She's Gone with William "Bill" Taylor , which the still unknown Elvis Presley recorded on December 18, 1954 for Sun Records . Four more Kesler compositions followed for Presley, including (together with Charlie Feathers ) I Forgot to Remember to Forget (recorded on July 11, 1955). The title topped the country charts for five weeks, and Kesler and Feathers received a total of US $ 2,000 in royalties .

Session musician with Sun Records

Stan Kesler's first recording session as a steel guitarist for Sun was on October 25, 1954 for Maggie Sue Wimberley's How Long / Daydreams Come True (# 229) with Quinton Claunch (guitar), Marcus Van Story (bass) and Bill Cantrell (fiddle). The music for Charlie Feathers 'song Peepin' Eyes followed on February 17, 1955 . Feathers sought the services of Kesler again when Defrost Your Heart / Wedding Gown of White (published January 1956) was launched on November 1, 1955 . When Roy Orbison's support group The Teen Kings , unlike Orbison, did not get a record deal, it was replaced in December 1956 by Roland Janes , Kesler and Jimmy Van Eaton .

In Warren Smith I'd Rather Be Safe Than Sorry (composed by Kesler and received on February 5, 1956 as the B-side of Rock'n'Roll Ruby , # 239) Keslers be heard clear guitar work as well as the recordings of 15 April 1956 for I Need A Man / No Matter Who's To Blame , sung by Barbara Pittman . In addition to Kesler (steel guitar), the line-up consisted of Buddy Holobaugh (guitar), Smokey Joe Baugh (piano), Hank Byers (trumpet) and Johnny Bernero (drums). Then Kesler put together a vocal group called Sunrays , which, in addition to Barbara Pittman, consisted of Elsie Sappington, Hank Byers and Jimmy Knight. With Kesler on bass, the track The Lonely Hours / Love Is A Stranger (# 293) disappeared in April 1958. On May 20, 1958, Kesler took part in the recording session for Johnny Cash's LP Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams (released June 1958). In August 1959 he wrote I Won't Miss You (Til You Go) (# 372) and Two Pennies and a String for Ray Smith . He wrote One Minute Past Eternity for Jerry Lee Lewis (recorded on August 28, 1963, # 1107).

Producer of a million seller

For a short time in 1961, Kesler founded his own recording studio in Memphis under the name Echo Studios , in which Charlie Feathers had recorded four tracks. As early as 1958, Kesler tried his hand at the short-lived Crystal label, on which Jimmy Knight and Jimmy Pritchett, among others , released their records as a producer and label boss . From 1962 Kesler started as label boss with the establishment of Pen Records , where he produced two singles for Bobby Wood. For ex-bandmate Bill Taylor, too, two singles were recorded here in 1962 under the direction of Kesler, recorded in Sun Studios.

Although Memphis had become a hectic center for many recording studios and record labels, a certain Sam Samudio came to Stan Kesler with his band Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs . He and the band produced Haunted House / How Does A Cheating Woman Feel for Kesler's own Dingo Records (D-001) in May 1964 , but this remained just as unsuccessful as Juimonos (Let's Went) / The Signifying Monkey for Kesler's second record label XL (# 905). Around September 1964, the titles Wooly Bully / Ain't Gonna Move (B-side co-composed by Kesler) were created under the direction of Kesler in Sun Studios as XL # 906 . The A-side was recorded in three takes , with the first being the master tape. MGM Records , who had signed a distribution agreement with Kesler's tiny record labels , found out about this and acquired the master tape. In March 1965, MGM launched the single and quickly became a million seller with sales of three million singles worldwide. Kesler produced and composed a few more tracks for the striking band using the same formula, but there was no further success.

further activities

Kesler's ex-bandmate Quinton Claunch founded Goldwax Records on August 11, 1964 , which released around 60 records by 1970. Here Kesler led some recording sessions. For these recordings, Kesler founded two of the most famous studio session groups in the American music industry, namely the “American Studios Rhythm Section” (later “827 Thomas Street Band”). These included Reggie Young (guitar), drummer Gene Chrisman, keyboardist Bobby Emmons and bassist Tommy Cogbill, who were later recruited by Chips Moman for his own recording studio. Kesler used them for James Carr , among others . Then it turned Kesler a new studio troops for Sounds of Memphis -Studio together ( "Dixie Flyer"), consisting of Charlie Freeman (guitar), bassist Tommy McClure, keyboardist Jim Dickinson and Sammy Creason (drums), this time by Jerry Wexler poached has been. When Kesler's third studio group was taken away by music attorney Seymor Rosenberg, he gave up the independent music business and returned to Sam Phillips.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JOHN mugwort: Memphis music great Stan Kesler - to associate of Elvis, Sam the Sham, others - has died. MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL, accessed October 27, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Ken Burke / Dan Griffin, The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley's Band , 2006, p. 7.
  3. ↑ Ken Burke / Dan Griffin, The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley's Band , 2006, p. 47.
  4. ^ Billy Poore, Rockabilly: A Forty-Year-Journey , 1998, p. 721.
  5. ↑ James Dickerson, Goin 'Back to Memphis , 1996, p. 141
  6. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 213.
personal data
SURNAME Kesler, Stan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kesler, Stanley A .; Kesler, Stan A. (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician
DATE OF BIRTH August 11, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Abbeville , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 2020
Place of death Murfreesboro , Tennessee