Douglas Winston Poindexter (October 19, 1927 – October 1, 2004) was an American singer and guitarist who fronted the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

band The Starlight Wranglers (or Starlite Wranglers) in the early 1950s and 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 ...

. Members of his band included Scotty Moore and

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys. Black later formed Bill ...

, before they started playing 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 ...

Biography

Poindexter was born in Vanndale, Arkansas. He idolized

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

. By 1953 he had moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, and joined a band, the Starlight (or Starlite) Wranglers, whose members included Scotty Moore on electric guitar, Bill Black on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, Clyde Rush on acoustic guitar, Millard Yeow on steel guitar, and Tommy Sealey on fiddle. The band played what at the time was called hillbilly music, and Poindexter sang with a pronounced nasal twang. Bruce Eder, Biography, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved February 5, 2019 In May 1954, Moore organized a session for the group at the Sun Studio in Memphis, where they recorded two songs, "Now She Cares No More" and the more upbeat "My Kind of Carrying On". A single was released (Sun 202) but was unsuccessful. Elvis Presley had seen the band perform, and, six weeks after Poindexter's session, Moore and Black played with Presley on his seminal recording of " That's All Right". It has been speculated that Poindexter may have played on some of Presley's early recordings such as " Good Rockin' Tonight", or helped with the arrangements. He certainly performed with Presley at some early shows, and is credited with playing guitar and percussion on 1954 recordings issued in 1956 on Presley's debut album. Ken Burke, Dan Griffin, ''The Blue Moon Boys'', Chicago Review Press, 2006, p.35
/ref> Poindexter left the music business by the end of 1954. He said: "There was no way of knowing that success was coming to Presley. Frankly, I thought the boy would starve to death." He later worked in insurance, and for a baking company, and became the owner of Southern Statistical Computer Consultants. Poindexter died at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in 2004, aged 76. Obituary, ''Commercial Appeal Memphis'', October 3, 2004, at ''FindaGrave.com''
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poindexter, Doug 1927 births 2004 deaths American country singer-songwriters Sun Records artists