JERRY BYRD help is needed...........................

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

The story of Jerry Byrd having recorded under the name of Jerry Robin and/or J-Bird Trio keeps surfacing. The wife ran across another post somewhere
today, stating how Jerry had cut a couple of tunes...
"Sun Shadows" and "Mountain Mambo" under the above names in 1948.....being his first recordings.

I have the Mercury Records P/R stating that Jerry's "Drowsy Waters" and "Steelin' the Blues" were his first solo records being released in 1950.
If my memory is correct, "Mountain Mambo" came out years later when Jerry went to Monument.

Other facts presented in the web site were a bit scewed as well, based on the knowledge I've held for years.

ANY of you olde timers know the straight scoop and what is the source, PLEASE!

c c johnson · From: killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.

Skip in 50 some yrs of talking with Jerry when the subject came up; it was drowsy waters and steelin the blues. cc

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

Ray:

Mountain Mambo was NOT on Monument.

King 1410: Mountain Mambo/Hot Strings
King 1430: Hop-Scotch/Sun Shadows

The first was released circa late 1954. The second was released January 24, 1955. The date is taken directly from the label itself. I have no idea where the 1948 dates come from. It is possible that these recordings were made in the 1940s, but not released until 1954/55, but I have no reason to think that is true, barring session information directly from King files. I don't know if session level information has survived.

King 1430 is billed as The Country Cats. Personnel given on the label as Louis Innis, rhythm guitar; Al Meyers, electric guitar; Floyd Chance, bass; Jerry Robin, steel guitar.

Not sure why King would try to hide Jerry behind "Robin" on the label, when the composer credits on "Sun Shadows" is shown as Innis-Myer-Byrd. If you want to conceal someone's identity, why use something as obvious as "Jerry Robin", which a child could see through?

I can't recall if Jerry ever actually had a record released under the name "Jerry Robin". I can't think of any right now, so it may just be a name King used in publicity or in a personnel listing in a laughable attempt to fool someone.

As far as I know, there are no King releases under the name Jerry Byrd, Jerry Robin, JB Trio, or anything similar.

Some of his Mercury records are by "Jerry Byrd and His Beachboys"; others are by "Jerry Byrd and The Stringdusters", etc.

My information is that Mercury 6175: Drowsy Waters/Steeling The Blues was from March 1949, rather than 1950. I am not sure if 1949 is a recording date or a release date, but I would guess the latter.

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

Ray:

Look here:

http://tinyurl.com/dyxykk

It is an attempt at a chronological listing of Jerry's releases.

It is NOT complete.

And it is not entirely accurate regarding the artist's name. He obviously does not have the records in front of him when entering the information, so it presumably is just info he gathered elsewhere on the internet.

http://countrydiscography.blogspot.com/search?q=rex

Look at the above link. It's a Rex Allen session
listing. Scroll down to February 1949 and you will see this:

ca. February 1949 poss.WBBO Radio Station Studio, Cincinnati, OH - Rex Allen & Arizona Wranglers

051 2346 AFRAID 6192 6271-x45 602x45 EP1-3113
052 2347 TENNESSEE TEARS 6171/BDP-15192
053 2348 ARIZONA WALTZ 6203/BDP-15192
054 2349 SONG OF THE HILLS 6171/BDP-15192

The matrix numbers shown are 2346 through 2349. Then you see the Mercury release numbers (6192, 6171, 6203, 6171).

Steeling The Blues was matrix 2350. Drowsy Waters was matrix 2351, released on Mercury 6175.

This is the Rex Allen session at which Jerry cut his first records under his own name.

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

THANKS MITCH.........
You're quite thorough in your research and I do thank you for that. WHAT LANGUAGE was that one web page done in?
Simply a wild imagination on my part, but I can just see some guy at KING confirming how to spell Jerry's last name (BYRD vs. BIRD)....and having Jerry respond back "NOT BIRD, cause that's LIKE a ROBIN. It's B-Y-R-D!
I know someone asked him on stage one time if he was from Leima, Ohio, and he blurted back "NO, LIMA like the bean!"
Again, many thanks for your keen insight.

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

Ray:

That web page was partially in Polish.

I've traced back that erroneous information to one "Jason Ankeny", a born-yesterday type who apparently worked for All Music Guide a few years back, where he was tasked with writing bios of many people. That stuff got published on All Music's site and of course is now regarded as gospel because if it's on the internet, it's true.

Does this look like a guy who would know a bar slant from a bar tab?

http://tinyurl.com/djt7lu

Read about our pal Jason at the above link.

Here are the top 10 CDs Jason would like to take with him if he had to reside on a deserted island:

1. Van Morrison, Astral Weeks
2. Spiritualized, Lazer Guided Melodies
3. Joni Mitchell, Blue
4. American Music Club, Everclear
5. Pavement, Slanted & Enchanted
6. R.E.M., Fables of the Reconstruction
7. The Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin
8. Mercury Rev, See You on the Other Side
9. Galaxie 500, On Fire
10. Prince & the Revolution, Purple Rain

You might notice the absence of anything by Jerry Byrd, Jerry Lee Lewis, or, for that matter, Jerry Colonna. Need I say more?

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