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CD cover  Merl Lindsay

and the Oklahoma Nite Riders 
1946 - 1953

KKCD 33

 

Merle Lindsay Salathiel had been a fixture in Oklahoma City before being lured to the supposedly greener pastures of California in the early 1940's. In California he dropped his surname and built a highly respected dance band and also appeared in a couple of movies with fellow Oklahoman Jimmy Wakely.

Lindsay along with a couple of key musicians headed back to Oklahoma and cut "Lonesome Okie Goin' Home" around December 1947. Almost immediately his Oklahoma Nite Riders became one of the most popular western bands in the area and signed with the up-and-coming Bullet Label. For the next five years Merl Lindsay and The Oklahoma Nite Riders were the tops in Oklahoma City.

Recordings of Merl Lindsay and the Oklahoma Nite Riders are not likely to found in the collections of the vast majority of western swing fans, due perhaps to the fact the band were more a local phenomenon. The 28 tracks found here are a rare collection taken from recordings on Four Star, Bullet, Cormac, MGM and Mercury record labels and radio performances. Opening with a 1949 transcription recording of "Water Baby Blues" including an introduction of band members and a little calling very much in the style of Bob Wills. Several numbers on the CD are written by Lindsay including "Gotta Little Red Wagon" (recorded in 1947 and not to be confused with Rex Griffin's "Won't You Ride In my Little Red Wagon)"….a fast moving number with a terrific line; "I went to the store, I bought a quart if gin, I couldn't drink it all so I rubbed the rest in".

The songs run the whole gamut of life's little conflicts from booze "Pink Champagne" to troubled relationships such as "All Over Nothing" with the line "she goes through your pockets looking for cash, then she puts you out with the rest of the trash" and "Lonesome Hearted Blues". We also find several excellent instrumentals such as "Safety Pin Rag", the popular "Steel Guitar Rag" with Tommy Elliott on the steel and "Spanish Polka" including the twin fiddles of Ted Haff and Clarence Bailey. We also find previously unissued performances such as sensational renderings of Nat King Cole's "Orange Coloured Sky" and "Sentimental Journey", a smash hit for Doris Day when she sang with Les Brown's orchestra…on this occasion we find guitarist/vocalist Kenny Smith giving it a whirl.

Merl Lindsay and his Oklahoma Nite Riders

One of the less remembered of the great western swing bands, Merl Lndsay and his Oklahoma Nite Riders were one of the most exciting bands of the 40's and 50's as well as one of the most consistent. The front and back cover of the accompanying 24-page booklet (including a discography of tracks) written by Kevin Coffey pictures Lindsay and his band alongside a host of country legends at the radio station KBYE, Oklahoma City including, Red Foley, Minnie Pearl, Ernest Tubb, Cowboy Copas and Hank Williams. This CD is a significant piece of western swing history, so don't let Merl Lindsay and his Oklahoma Nite Riders 1946 - 1952 get away from you.

Released by Interstate Music Ltd, Bexhill-on-Sea and World Records, California.