And Even Something More About Jimmy Ballard

If this keeps up, I may need to rename the site to Jimmy Ballard Time.

During one of my periodic breaks from "real" work, I decided to do another hunt for info on Jimmy/Jimmie Ballard, and ran across the so-called "John Patrick Collection", a folklore collector whose main area of interest seems to be drinking and bawdy songs from various eras.

A page on the site features mp3 snippets from the 2007 CD compilation Griddle Greasin' Daddies and Dirty Cowboys, as well as a transcription of the liner notes. Griddle Greasin' Daddies includes two Jimmy Ballard numbers: Chicken Plucker, Birthday Cake Boogie, and another - straight country-western - version of She's Got Something. And according to the liner notes, Ballard is also the featured vocalist on two other numbers found on the CD, Butcher Shop Blues and T'aint Big Enough, making it nearly a Jimmy Ballard collection. Here's the relevant sections on Ballard from Al Turner's liner notes...

"...Charlie Aldrich's "Kinsey's Book" is not so much a risque song, more a commentary on Dr. Kinsey's weighty analysis of sexual behaviour in the USA. Whilst there is little to offend in Aldrich's song, many Radio Station's banned the record solely because of its reference to Kinsey's work. The Nov-Ettes, were an ad hoc ensemble put together for a single KENTUCKY session, this outfit appears to feature the doyen of Hillbilly Risque singers, Jimmie Ballard. That particular songster is also to be found as the vocalist on Buffalo Johnson's "Tain't Big Enough", the subject matter here one could, tongue in cheek, describe as a perpetual fixation of males worldwide....

...Cumberland Valley Barn Dance star Jimmie Ballard, was a veteran of the Country music scene. Born in Middlesboro, Kentucky in 1932, Ballard turned professional when he was eighteen. Whilst better known these days for his risque material, Ballard was also a devout Christian with a string of sacred recordings to his credit. Ironic perhaps, but Georgia Tom, whose early repertoire contained several risque songs, is cited by many as one of the founding fathers of contemporary Black Gospel music. Thankfully "Chicken Plucker" is a song that the Very Reverent Dr. Spooner was never asked to sing! Ballard has two further songs on this compilation, his original (Pre KING) recording of "She's Got Some Something", and his reading of Billy Hughes' "Birthday Cake". The practice of Hillbilly artists covering R&B numbers, and Visa Versa, was quite common place at KING records..."

[Photo: Members of the Cumberland Valley Barn Dance - 1950. Jimmy Ballard, who is listed as "master of ceremonies and popular singer" is in the center.] The photo and more information on the Cumberland Valley Barn Dance can be found here.

A bit more searching brought me to the 45 RPM Records site, specializing in local labels from the Ohio River Valley. And searching for "Ballard" revealed a discography of about 10 small label singles, ranging from Just A Closer Walk With Thee, recorded in 19 and 53 to the aforementioned T'aint Big Enough, probably recorded that same year. Note that Ballard did most of his recordings for the KENTUCKY label, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati was also the home base of KING records, which may be how Jimmy came to the attention of Syd Nathan.

So, more and more interesting. Risque songs. Sacred recordings. WMIK radio personality. Cumberland Valley Barn Dance star. Jimmy Ballard, country western renaissance man. Stay tuned for the next installment.

"Something" More on Jimmy Ballard

Thanks to the efforts of Dreamtime pal Adam Dean, we have a little more information on country-western singer Jimmy Ballard, as well as one of the few known photographs. Ballard's She's Got Something was played on the recent "Something" episode of Theme Time Radio Hour, and Mr. D. expressed interest in learning more about the man, one of the first country-western artists to cross-over into the new rock-'n-roll style.

Ballard is pictured above in a radio station WMIK (Middlesboro, KY) staff photo from 19 and 50. Jimmy is the man standing above the gentleman with the cake, and identified in the photo as "country singer Jimmy Ballard.". WMIK was owned by the Cumberland Gap Broadcasting Company (CGBC), one of Kentucky's foremost radio broadcasting corporations.

The photo - as well as the photo of a "deejay special" release of Ballard's The Creek's Gone Muddy (And Tthe Fish Won't Bite) - are taken from Chuck Owens ongoing documentation of the history of the CGBC. The copy on the single relates: "Born in Middlesboro, Kentucky in 1932, Jimmy Ballard started his musical career at the age of 15. When he was 18, he left home for a musical job in Knoxville, Tennessee, his first professional appearance."

WMIK began broadcasting on November 14th 19 and 48, and Owens reports that Jimmy, sometimes known as "Jimmie," had a show "at the start." Ballard was definitely on the air by December, 1948, as he's listed in the program logs as having a show airing from 6:00 to 6:30 every morning. And if you had been lucky enough to be in Middlesboro on January 19th 19 and 49, you could have caught Jimmy live at Central School Auditorium at 2:30 pm. Also appearing were The Pine Mountain Boys, Clayton York, Crusaders Quartette, Cumberland Valley Quartette, Kentucky Sweetheart, the Golden Sisters and Shorty Ward, and The Dixie Drifters.

The Dixie Drifters appeared to be WMIK's house band, and occasionally backed Ballard, although you'll note that both King singles displayed here list Ballard's backing musicians simply as "String Band." Here's an unfortunately abridged version of Birthday Cake Boogie performed by Jimmy Ballard and the Dixie Drifters from around 1950.



Interestingly, a "Jim Ballard" became the general manager of WMIK sometime in the `60s into the `70s, but based on a photo from 19 and 66 which you can find here, it appears to be an improbable coincidence of names, as "Jim" doesn't look at all like "Jimmy," plus looks too old to be Jimmy Ballard's son. And, it's hard to believe that Chuck Owens, who created both pages, wouldn't take the time to note that country singer Jimmy became or was related to general manager, Jim.

It's hard to tell whether Chuck Owens is still updating The Cumberland Gap Broadcasting site, but if his email address is still valid, he'd probably be the best starting point to find out even more about Jimmy Ballard. Born in 19 and 32, Jimmy would be in his late `70s now, and could very well still be in Middlesboro.

Thanks again, Adam, for setting this old hound-dog on the trail.

Tennessee, Tennessee

In a Season 3 full of firsts, the "Something" episode of Theme Time Radio Hour had - as far as I can tell - the first phone-in call from a real person...

Our Host: We're talking about something here on Theme Time Radio Hour, "Something" in particular. I think I'll check Line 1. Oh, it's not working. Line 2 is always good. Hello, caller, you're on the air. What's your name and where you calling from?

TT: My name is Tennessee Thomas, and I'm calling from Brooklyn, where I'm on tour with my band, The Like.

OH: How's the tour going?

TT: The tour is going really well, thanks.

OH: Are you listening to the show today?

TT: Yes, I've been listening to the show, and it's great. And, you asked a question earlier about a guy and I have some information for you.

OH: Oh, great!

TT: Well, um, he did the original version of The Twist, and his band was called The Midnighters.

OH: Oh, Tennessee! You're thinking of Hank Ballard. We were tring to find out about Jimmy Ballard.

TT: Oh, nooo!

OH: Well, that's all right. It was really nice of you to try to help. Have fun in Brooklyn. There's some great places to eat there. Make sure you try the Totonno's pizza on Neptune Avenue.

TT: Maybe I will go there.

OH: Ya can take it on the bus with you. Good luck on the tour.

TT: Thanks a lot!

OH: We'll see you soon.

OH: Nice of her to try to help. Still no closer to learning about Jimmy Ballard though. Perhaps it's lost to the mists of time.

***

As Tennessee noted, her band is The Like, an improabably young group which includes Elizabeth "Z" Berg (vocals/guitar), Charlotte Froom (bass/vocals) and Tennessee herself (drums/vocals). Now all of 24 years old, Tennessee and the other women formed The Like in 2001 at the tender ages of 16, 16, and 17 respectively. Tennessee is the daughter of Pete Thomas, longtime drummer for Elvis Costello.That may be the connection with Mr. D., or it may be through The Kings of Leon - who The Like opened for during a 2005 tour - or there may be some other mutual acquaintance.

The Like released their first album, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?, on the Geffen label in September 2005. If the band is touring now, I can't find any info about it. The last touring info I can find is from 2006, when The Like was in Europe. The band's MySpace blog hasn't been updated since 2007, and information on their web site seems to end at 2006. I'll resist digressing into a rant but note to bands: There are many good reasons why you don't want to do your Web site totally in Flash. Take heed.

End of rant.

Our Host seems to be on a kick of foodie recommendations of late, having giving the nod to The Rojo in Birmingham, Alabama during the "11 On Up" show, and now Totonno's in Brooklyn. Can an "Eating Out With Bob" book be in our future?

And, as he noted, there's a paucity of information about Jimmy (not Hank) Ballard, stumping even the crack Dreamtime team. According to what I discovered, She's Got Something was the B side of a single on the King label. Although hard to believe, the A side featured (I Want A) Bow-legged Woman, also a hit for Ballard, and both songs are cited as two of the earliest cross-over examples from country-western to rock'-n-roll. Ballard's other King singles included Creeks Gone Muddy and Till the End. And the rest, as Mr. D. said, seems to be lost in the mists of history.