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16 JULY 2022

We have a mystery to deal with this Saturday on SWING ON THIS, and I hope someone out there will be able to help me figure it out. John Hamill, who has been supplying the show with wonderful (and sometimes weird) slabs of vinyl for our “Hamill Time” entries, has come up with a doozy for this week.
   

Here’s what we know: It’s on a 78 rpm disc from Campbell Records, which at the time had headquarters at 210 S. Emporia in Wichita, Kansas. We know that it’s the vocal version of “South,” which, as an instrumental, was a staple of the Bob Wills repertoire — and, before that, a jazz tune played often by its co-writer, Bennie Moten, and his Kansas City Orchestra.
   

And that’s pretty much all we know. Neither vocalist nor band is named on either side of the single.  This indicates that it may have been one-of-a-kind, or possibly some sort of master recording. But neither John nor I know.
   

It’s a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, one of you SWING ON THIS listeners will recognize the vocalist and solve this little mystery. If anyone can do it, you can.
   

In addition to the mystery recording, I’ve got a good little show going for you on Saturday. It begins with a 1938 release written by the Texas Playboys’ announcer/trumpeter and sung by bassist Joe Frank Ferguson, who usually got to do the poppier tunes with the band. And we end with a great rendition of the theme song from a 1950 Tin Pan Alley biopic, reimagined by our friend the Hot Club of Cowtown. In between, of course, plenty more.
   

So join me at 7 p.m. Saturday  on KWGS, 89.5 FM, or pick up the live stream at publicradiotulsa.com, for an hour of Western swing, cowboy jazz, and the usual surprise or two. It’ll be great to have you along.   


1. “Little Red Head,” Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (for TOM & FRANCIE BOMER)

2. “Oklahoma, Home of Good Ole Boys,” David Teegarden & Mike Bruce
(for TERESA KNOX)
 
3. “Bye, Bye, Bye,” Michael Nesmith
(for KEVAN JAMES, CHERYL IDE, and the GLASS LIFERS)
 
4. “Why Should I Cry Over You?” Adolph Hofner & His Texans
 
5. “Destination Catoosa,” Becky Hobbs
 
6. “South,” ?
(for SHELLACKED and HAMILL TIME)
 
7. “Swing on A Star,” Tom Morrell and the Time-Warp Tophands w/Rebecca Kilgore
(for JACK & CAROLE BENDER and BARRY HENSLEY) 
 
8. “Let’s Clap Hands,” Spade Cooley Big Band
 
9. “Sittin’ on Top,” Leon McAuliff
 
10. “Gone Away,” Bill Anderson & the Oak Ridge Boys
 
11. “San Antonio Rose,” Jenny Blackadder
(for AP MCQUIDDY)
 
12, “Once in Awhile,” Leon Russell
(for ROBERT BLANCK and the LEON LIFERS)
 
13. “Square Dance Boogie,” Johnnie Lee Wills
 
14. “Take Me Back to Tulsa,” Billy Parker w/Johnnie Lee Wills