Good rockin' last night

What became of Blue Bonnet and Star Talent remains unanswered. As best Bourquin can recall, Jesse Erickson died in the mid 1950s--according to another hillbilly researcher, Chris Bentley, owing much money to the IRS and the Musicians' Union because he refused to pay scale--and Herb Rippa's label similarly just disappeared.

But the history of Dallas music is a tale dotted with dozens of near-misses and failed shots at something bigger, and a telling tale from Star Talent's past shows why Jesse Erickson's label was bound for obscurity.

Shortly after the release of Professor Longhair's "She Ain't Got No Hair" on Star Talent in 1950, it began climbing the Cash Box charts (the A-side hit number two; the B-side, "Bye Bye Baby," went to number nine). Mercury Records, aware of Longhair's popularity, had him cut a new version of "She Ain't Got No Hair" and release it under the name Roy Byrd and His Blues Jumpers. Erickson, desperately trying to keep retailers from selling the new version of the track, placed an ad in Cash Box claiming 'Fess had signed a three-year contract with Star Talent in November 1949.

No matter. In the end, 'Fess became a superstar and made the folks at Mercury and Atlantic rich, and he never recorded again for Star Talent.

Scene, heard
At the risk of winding up like ol' Jesse Erickson, the Observer has gotten in the business of releasing records--with, of course, only the best of intentions and causes in mind.

On April 12, the 18-song Dallas' Scene, Heard: Rare and Unreleased Tracks Compiled by the Dallas Observer will hit stores featuring never-before-heard and hard-to-find cuts by: Cafe Noir, Funland, the Toadies, Vibrolux, Spyche, the Fuzz, Josh Alan, Brave Combo with Lauren Agnelli, Little Jack Melody and His Young Turks, Henry Qualls, Ronnie Dawson, Sixty-Six, Liberty Valance, the Old 97's, Cowboys and Indians, the Earl Harvin Trio, James Clay, and Marchel Ivery with Cedar Walton. The disc, which will be available for $5.99 in your favorite record outlet, is dedicated to the late, great Texas Tenor James Clay, and all proceeds from the sale of Scene, Heard will go toward the creation of a local musicians' health-care trust fund.

Street Beat welcomes E-mail tips and comments at DalObserv@aol.com.