Dean Beard (August 31, 1935 – April 4, 1989) was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

musician, known as the "West Texas Wild Man".Dean Beard
Texas State Historical Association.

Early life

Beard was born in

Santa Anna, Texas Santa Anna is a town in Coleman County in Central Texas, United States. Its population was 1,014 at the 2020 census. Geography Santa Anna is located in east central Coleman County. Three U.S. highways pass through the center of town. U.S. Ro ...

. He was the son of Raymond and Opral (Baker) Beard. He lived in Coleman most of his life. In high school, he and his friends formed a band called the Crew Cats.

Career

He played at a night club in Memphis with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

in the mid-1950s. Beard's first record "Red Rover"/ "Wake Up Jacob" was released in 1955 for Fox Records. That same year, he made another single, "Time Is Hangin' Heavy On My Hands" /" Sing, Sing, Sing". Both singles didn’t attract any attention.

Sun Records

Between 1956 and 1957, he recorded for

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

, but none of his songs were released until years later. Some of these songs feature a young Jim Seals on saxophone, who would later co-found the duo,

Seals and Crofts Seals and Crofts were an American soft rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1969 by James Eugene Seals (October 17, 1942 – June 6, 2022) and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1938). They are best known for their hits " Su ...

, with drummer Dash Crofts.

Rakin' and Scrapin'

In 1957, his most popular hit, “Rakin’ and Scrapin’”, was released on Edmoral Records in March, but didn’t become popular, until another version he made was released a month later for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. He recorded it with Seals on saxophone and Crofts on drums. He kept making records for Atlantic such as, "Party Party". Earlier that year, he teamed up with songwriter

Slim Willet Slim Willet (born Winston Lee Moore; December 1, 1919 – July 1, 1966) was an American disc jockey, musician, and songwriter. Born in Dublin, Texas, Moore attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene and graduated in 1949 with a degree i ...

, and wrote their most successful songs together.

Challenge Records

He recorded for Challenge Records in 1958, and was also a pianist with

The Champs The Champs are an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged 1958 instrumental single "Tequila (The Champs song), Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by recording s ...

, who also had a contract with that label. In 1959, he was fired from the Champs by manager/rhythm guitarist Dave Burgess because he was accused of taking part of the cut meant for

, but made one more record for Challenge that year.

Later career

He kept recording for different labels through the 1960s with less success. His last single was in 1966 for Sims Records called, “Are There Honkey Tonks In Heaven" / "Pocketfull Of Stardust". He achieved recognition in the 1970s and 80s when he started performing live again.

Death

He died at Coleman County Medical Center in

Coleman, Texas Coleman is a town in and the county seat of Coleman County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 3,912. History Coleman was founded in 1876 when R. J. Clow donated a 160-acre site on Hords Cre ...

, on April 4, 1989, from diabetes and other health-related issues.

Discography

References

{{Authority control American rockabilly musicians Country musicians from Texas