Terry Fell

Terry Fell (born May 13, 1921 in Dora , Alabama , † April 4, 2007 in Madison , Tennessee ) was an American country musician . His biggest hit was Don't Drop It .

Life

Childhood and youth

Terry Fell was born in Alabama in 1921 and got his first guitar at the age of nine. He later learned the mandolin and took singing lessons. When Fell was 13 years old, his father died and three years later Fell moved alone to California , where he spent time in a camp run by the Civilian Conversation Corps (CCC Camps). After living in Alabama again for a short time, Fell and his mother moved permanently to the US west coast . There he began in 1943 to play as a bassist for Merl Lindsay .

Career

Fell started his recording career around 1945 as a member of Billy Hughes ' band. Fell was heard for the first time on record with Hughes on Fargo Records. After that, Fell began recording solo for Cortney and 4 Star Records . Although none of his singles were hits there, they led to RCA signing Victor Fell for their new sub-label X Records in 1954 .

During his first session for RCA in Hollywood , he recorded the single that was to become his greatest success. While the A-side Don't Drop It reached number four on the Hot Country Songs list , it was in the end the B-side Truck Driving Man that became a classic in trucker country music over the years. In 1976 the song made it into the charts in the version of Red Steagall . Don't Drop It has been covered by Wilbert Harrison and Jerry Lee Lewis , among others .

Fell continued to record for RCA for the next two years, but was ultimately unable to build on his initial success. RCA did not renew his contract in 1956 and Fell played a few records for Crest Records and Lode Records in the next few years, but they were unsuccessful. In 1959 Fell did his military service in the US Army and was stationed in Germany . Together with Elvis Presley , who was GI at the same time, he wrote the song Mississippi River ; the title was never published, but auctioned for $ 30,000 in 1996.

Due to the lack of success and health problems, Fell gave up his career. For a short time he managed the later country star Buck Owens and wrote Bobby Edwards ' hit You're The Reason in 1961 . Fell moved to Nashville , Tennessee in 1962 , where he worked as a songwriter and for various publishing companies until he retired. In 1993 Bear Family Records released the CD Truck Driving Man with his collected works. Terry Gordon noted that Fell died in 1998, but revised it again. Fell was recognized for his achievements in music by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame .

Discography

Singles

All 4-Star and RCA records were released under the name Terry Fell and the Fellers .

year	title	#	Remarks
Fargo Records
	Paper Heart / You Don't Want Me Anymore	1112	with the Red River Rangers
4 Star Records
1947	Paper Heart / You Don't Want Me Anymore	1160
1947	You Ran Around / I've Done All I Know To Do	1161
1947	You Are My Sunshine / Will There Be a Light In Your Window	1162
1947	Guess I'm Better Off Without You / Rainbow at Midnight	1163
1948	There's a Gold Moon Shining / You're Not Wanted Here	1206
1948	Napanee / Little by Little	1211
1948	Snow Beard / Put Another In Heart	1212
1950	Snow Dear / With Another In Your Heart	1426
X Records
1954	Let's Stay Together Till After Christmas / We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo	4X-0009
1954	Don't Drop It / Truck Driving Man	4X-0010
1955	You Don't Give a Hang About Me / Get Aboard My Wagon	4X-0079
1955	Mississippi River Shuffle / He's In Love with You	4X-0114
1955	I'm Hot To Trot / Fa-So-La	4X-0149
RCA Victor
1955	That's What I Like / I Nearly Go Crazy	20-6256
	That's The Way The Big Ball Bounces / What Am I Worth?	20-6353
	If I Didn't Have You / Over and Over	20-6444
	Consolation Prize / What! Bam! Hot Ziggity Zam	20-6515
	Don't Do It, Joe / I Can Hear You Cluckin '	20-6621
1956	Play The Music Louder / Caveman	20-6707
Lode Records
1958	Child Bride / Paper Kite	2004
Crest Records
1960	Y'all Be Good Now / Who Whose	1071
Sims Records
1964	If I Could Learn to Love You Less / Music City USA	192
RCA Victor
	I've Never Been Sober /?	47-9719

Albums

• 1993: Truck Driving Man (Bear Family work edition)

Web links

• Terry Fell in the All Music Guide
• Terry Fell on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
• biography