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.
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.
|