The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built

INTRODUCTION

xi INTRODUCTION The Starday story is the tale of one of, if not the, most important independent labels in country music history—an empire based on East Texas honkytonk , rockabilly, bluegrass, western swing, cowboy trios, old-time stringband music, Cajun ditties, jug bands, gospel quartets, square dance jigs, cornball comedians, polkas, and almost anything else that has, at one time or another, fallen under the mighty umbrella of “country music.” Among industry professionals , the story is legendary. Among performers, the catalogue is textbook. Among record collectors, Starday can be an obsession. Yet beyond these insider circles, the Starday story has largely remained cloaked in mystery and obscurity. With the assistance of Starday president and co-founder Don Pierce, as well as dozens of Starday artists, employees, and family members, this shall finally end. Shortly after I embarked upon this project, several friends and colleagues inquired as to how I wound up writing a book about Starday Records. I assume that many readers might be pondering the same question, and so I will do my best to explain. Several years ago, while attending Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, I met a professor named Rex Trailer. I soon discovered that he had played host to a country and western–themed children’s television show for more than twenty years throughout New England called Boomtown. I further discovered that he had performed with Gene Autry and Bill Haley in the early 1950s and had recorded some mighty fine tunes on his own (my band later covered his 1956 ABC-Paramount recording of “Hoofbeats”). As I studied poetry and songwriting, Rex became my professor, mentor, senior advisor, and close friend. In 2001 we wrote and recorded a rockabilly-flavored country album entitled Nate Gibson & the Gashouse Gang and sang our playful compositions about TV remotes and the joys of Necco wafers. It was while crafting those tunes that we discovered another 1950s country and western–themed children’s television star living just two hours away. Kenny Roberts, known as both “The King of the Yodelers” and “The Jumping Cowboy,” was a prolific recording artist who had four Top 20 country hits on the Coral label prior to 1951 (including “I Never See Maggie Alone,” which reached number nine in Billboard’s pop charts as well)! Both Rex and Kenny had played music with Bill Haley during Haley’s early cowboy days and each xii INTRODUCTION were members of the Massachusetts Country Music Hall of Fame. They knew all about each other from having watched their TV shows—although, surprisingly , the two cowboys had never met. Rex and I invited Kenny to one of our recording sessions and we were thrilled with Kenny’s enthusiastic response. Months prior to the session, I found a copy of Kenny’s Starday album Indian Love Call (SLP 336). I bought it and was mesmerized. It was Suzanne Mathis’s album art that first attracted me. It was so bright and campy. Then I listened to Kenny’s awe-inspiring yodels. I began looking for and buying more Starday Records. Then more. And more. After I heard Kenny’s stories about getting on the label and recording in Nashville with the Willis Brothers, I wanted to know more. Kenny then directed me to Howard Vokes, “Pennsylvania’s King of Country Music,” who also recorded an album for Starday. Howard kindly answered my many questions and also put me in touch with the talented Rose Lee Maphis. After an informative discussion regarding her Starday recordings with husband Joe, Rose Lee gave me the phone number of . . . Don Pierce. Wow, Don Pierce! I was excited to talk with and meet the man behind the label and couldn’t believe he was so accessible. It was almost too easy. As I later discovered, directly across the street from Johnny Cash’s House of Cash in Hendersonville was a giant sign for an office building that included several names, one of which was Don F. Pierce. Anybody could have found him. I first called Don from Boston and told him that I was interested in his label and that I had some questions. He told me to get on a plane and come down to Nashville, and I did as I was told. We met at Don’s office and talked for hours about Starday and country music in general and I was amazed by his personal stories and vast knowledge of the industry. As I looked around his office...