Malcolm Yelvington
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Malcolm Yelvington (September 14, 1918 – February 21, 2001) 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 ...
and
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
ian. Born in
Covington, Tennessee Covington is a city in central Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. Covington is the second largest city and county seat of Tipton County. The city is located in West Tennessee, east of the Mississippi River. The city's population was 9,038 a ...
, he released a record on
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 ...
in 1956, just after
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 ...
. Yelvington began performing in local venues at the age of 14, having learned to sing and play guitar as a boy. His voice was a
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
, somewhat comparable to
Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), marked ...
(one of Yelvington's major influences). He continued with mostly local engagements into his 20s, and was passed over for military service in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
because of his health. In the late 1940s, he began playing with
Reece Fleming Reece derives from the Welsh name Rhys. It may refer to: * Reece (name), people with the given name or surname * Reece, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Reece, Antarctic Peninsula * Reece Valley, Queen Maud Land, Antartic ...
's band,
The Tennesseans ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
, at the
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...
Gem Theater. This group disbanded in 1952, and several of its members, including Yelvington, picked up with local troupe the Star Rhythm Boys. They performed daily on local radio and had a steady and popular gig at the Clover Club north of Covington, but family attachments prevented most of the players from traveling or touring with the group. Yelvington began playing side gigs in Memphis whenever he wasn't playing with the Star Rhythm Boys. Yelvington and guitarist
Gordon Mashburn Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heucke ...
first heard word of
Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American disc jockey, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, R ...
's
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 ...
in 1953, and arranged a meeting. Philips was initially unimpressed with Yelvington and the Star Rhythm Boys, because he was not interested in recording straight-ahead country music; however, he thought the band had potential, and had them audition a large number of songs. The first cut he recorded with them was a
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
number written by
Stick McGhee Granville Henry "Stick" McGhee (March 23, 1918 – August 15, 1961) was an American jump blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his blues song " Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", which he wrote with J. Mayo Williams. Note: Acco ...
called "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee". The result was a record with blues roots and a blues feel but a
steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...
that sounded unmistakably country. This recording was issued on Sun Records immediately after
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 ...
's "
That's All Right Mama "That's All Right" is a song written and originally performed by the American blues singer Arthur Crudup, and recorded in 1946. It was rereleased in early March 1949 by RCA Victor under the title "That's All Right, Mama", which was issued as R ...
". Phillips did not give Yelvington promotional backing, and so he and the band self-marketed the record to local stations, to little avail. The record was picked up neither by blues nor by country radio stations, each of which seemed to think it sounded too much like the other. "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" was one out of only two records Yelvington cut for Sun. In 1955 he released a single, "Yakety Yak" (not the same tune as "
Yakety Yak "Yakety Yak" is a song written, produced, and arranged by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the Coasters and released on Atco Records in 1958, spending seven weeks as #1 on List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States), the R&B chart ...
" by
The Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...
), on competitor
Meteor Records Meteor Records was a Memphis-based R&B record label run by Lester Bihari, one of the Bihari brothers, owners of Modern Records in Los Angeles. Founded in 1952, the label was a bold experiment to broaden the talent base by focusing on signing and ...
. The record was released under the name Mac Sales and the Esquire Trio so as to avoid
legal action In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the part ...
by Phillips, to whom he was still contractually obliged. In 1956, Yelvington recorded again with Sun, releasing the rockabilly track "Rockin' With My Baby". Yelvington, now in his late thirties, was not excited about the rockabilly sound, and by 1958 he and his band members parted ways. Yelvington struck out on his own as a solo artist, but had no luck and eventually quit music, concentrating on raising his family of five children. He was essentially forgotten until the 1980s, when popular music historians began digging into the Sun back catalogue; fans and concert promoters attempted to bring him out of retirement. His career saw a resurgence in Memphis as a rockabilly revivalist, and in 1997, he released his first full-length album at the age of 79. By the time of his death in 2001, in Memphis, he was regarded as an elder statesman of country music and rockabilly. A live show in the Netherlands during his first European tour in 1988 was taped and released on Collector Records (CLCD 4403) in 1991. In 2006,
Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...
reissued his Sun Records recordings on compact disc. On February 22, 2018, the song "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" b/w "Just Rolling Along" by Malcolm Yelvington and the Star Rhythm Boys was accepted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.


Discography


General references

* Malcolm Yelvingtonat
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelvington, Malcolm 1918 births 2001 deaths American country rock singers American country singer-songwriters American rockabilly musicians People from Covington, Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Tennessee 20th-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Tennessee Meteor Records artists