Werly Fairburn (November 27, 1924 – January 18, 1985) 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. Fairburn was born near

Folsom, Louisiana Folsom is a village in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 716 at the 2010 census, and 769 in 2020. The town is named after the wife of Grover Cleveland, Frances Folsom. It is part of the New Orleans– Metairi ...

. In his youth, he listened to the ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

'' and

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering ...

("hillbilly music") on the radio. He learned to play guitar from an old, local blues musician. When World War II began, he took a job at a

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

shipyard before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. When he returned to New Orleans, he considered a singing career, but to make a living he learned how to cut hair. In 1948 he became known as the "Singing Barber" when he broadcast on WJBW from his barber shop. In March 1955, Werly joined the cast of the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, where he performed alongside Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Luman, David Houston and other early rockabilly stylists. Werly remained with the Hayride through the end of 1957. His first album appeared on Trumpet Records in the 1950s. Over the years he recorded for Columbia, Capitol, and

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

. Fairburn also owned a label called Milestone Records—not to be confused with the like-named jazz label later founded by Orrin Keepnews—in the 1950s and 1960s. Fairburn's music blended country, blues, and New Orleans rhythm and blues ( R&B). He was popular in New Orleans and in Dallas, where he performed on the

Big D Jamboree ''Big D Jamboree'' was a radio program broadcast by KRLD-AM in Dallas, Texas. The show consisted of appearances by famous country musicians, and sketch comedy and jokes. It was also carried by KRLD-TV during the 1950s. History ''Big D Jambore ...

. His song "

I Guess I'm Crazy "I Guess I'm Crazy" is a 1955 song composed by Werly Fairburn. The song was first recorded in 1955 by Tommy Collins (country music), Tommy Collins who peaked at number thirteen on the C&W Best Seller chart. Jim Reeves version * In 1964, Jim Reeves ...

" was covered by

Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. One of the earliest pioneers and practitioners of the Nashville sound, he played a central role in the sonic development of country music in th ...

. His 1956 single "Everybody's Rockin'" is considered a rockabilly classic. Fairburn moved to California in the 1960s and performed until he died in 1985.

Discography

Notes

All singles before Milestone 2013 were issued as 78 rpm and 45 rpm records with the same issue numbers. Milestone 2013 and on are 45 rpm only issues. UK record collector Matthew Duncan provided information for this article, having referred to Barry John's Rockabilly Price Guide for 45 rpm records and vintage recordings from his collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairburn, Werly American rockabilly musicians American country singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Louisiana People from St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Barbers American hairdressers 1924 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Louisiana Trumpet Records artists