Tommy Blake

Chanteur Rockabilly US né Thomas LeVan Givens, en 1931 à Shreveport (Louisiane). Tommy Blake débute en 1945 en formant un petit groupe de Country Music. Il enregistre un premier disque en 1955 pour le label Recco Records, puis il passe chez Buddy (56), Chancellor (57), RCA (57), Sun (57/58) et Recco (59). Tommy est décédé à Carthage (Texas), en 1985.

Rockabilly artist Tommy Blake, like so many before him, started his career as a straight-ahead country singer before making the switch to the big beat. Born and raised in Shreveport, LA, Blake (born Thomas Givens) was already working in a teenage combo playing country music at station KTBS in the early '50s. By 1955, he had graduated to the Big D Jamboree in Dallas, TX, and Shreveport's junior version of the Opry, the Louisiana Hayride. A year later, he was a regular member of Johnny Horton's TV show out of Tyler, TX, and had cut his first record for the tiny Buddy label out of Marshall, TX. By 1957, Blake had put together his first great band, the Rhythm Rebels, featuring the red-hot guitar talents of one Carl Adams, who would later find fleeting fame with Dale Hawkins.
After a one-off session for RCA Victor, yielding a track called "All Night Long," Blake met Sam Phillips and re-recorded the same tune for Sun as "Lordy Hoody." By March of 1958, Blake was back at 706 Union recording more material, with another single seeing release and the rest finding its way into rockabilly history via reissues in the 1970s and '80s. Blake kept recording for smaller and smaller labels, pitching songs to anyone who had a ready advance, leaving "Story of a Broken Heart" for Johnny Cash to record after Blake had left Sun. He continued to write tunes, like "Cool Gator Shoes" with Carl Belew, and record a few stray 45s for Chancellor and Recco after his time with Sun, but Blake continued a downward spiral until he was killed by his wife in a domestic dispute over the Christmas holidays in 1985.

http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/tblake.htm

Talents : Singer, Guitar

Style musical : Rockabilly, Rock 'n' Roll

KOOLIT

Années en activité :

1910

2000

DISCOGRAPHIE

Singles

06/1956	SP BUDDY B-107 (US)	Tommy BLAKE with The RHYTHM REBELS - Koolit / If I Am A Fool
04/1957	SP CHANCELLOR 101 (US)	Three Cheers For The Red White And Blue / I Gotta Be Somewhere
05/1957	SP RCA VICTOR 47-6925 (US)	Tommy BLAKE & The RHYTHM REBELS - Mister Hoody (instr.) / Freedom
08/1957	SP SUN 278 (US)	Tommy BLAKE / The RHYTHM REBELS - Lordy Hoody / Flat Foot Sam
07/1958	SP SUN 300 (US)	I Dig You Baby / Sweetie Pie
11/1959	SP RECCO 1006 (US)	F-Olding Money / The Hanging Judge
1960	SP AETNA 103641 (US)	Texas Lovin' / Galveston
1961	SP FOUR STAR 1765 (US)	Van GIVENS - Back Door To Heaven / I Try Harder
1964	SP BRAGG 213 (US)	Van GIVENS - Who Threw The Water / You And I
1966	SP MUSICOR 1145 (US)	Van GIVENS - Dream Train / To Each His Own
1967	SP PAULA 271 (US)	Van GIVENS - Waitin' In The Waitin' Room / Sunday School Beginners
1967	SP PAULA 284 (US)	Van GIVENS - I Want To Go Home / Stop Kicking My Heart Around
1967	SP PAULA 286 (US)	Van GIVENS - Droopy Christmas Tree / Daddy's Baby Boy
1972 ?	SP SUN 614 (US)	Shake Around / You Better Believe It
2001	SP NORTON / SUN JUKEBOX SERIES 843 (US)	Better Believe It / + Jimmy WAGES

Album

1984

LP 12" WHITE LABEL WLP 8874 (NL)

TOMMY BLAKE AND GENE WYATT - Koolit / F-Olding Money / Cool Aligator (unissued) / I'll Be Free (unissued) / + Gene WYATT