Rocks - Bobby Lee Trammell

johnaalex
5 days ago
6 min read

Rocks-Bobby Lee Trammell

Released 2025. Buy it here: https://www.bear-family.com/trammell-bobby-lee-bobby-lee-rocks-cd.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqf_vBelnCMoWRDt4qnZ7Dvu3iY7R9NfL065zwS63n38xNb_FJt

Record Label: Bear Family Records

Producers: Roland Janes, Joe Lee, Wayne Raney, Russell Sims, Shelby Singleton and others.

Compilation Producer: Alex Petrauskas

Project Coordination: Nico Feuerbach

Tape & Disc Research: Alex Petrauskas and Nico Feuerbach

Mastering: Peer Meyer at Peerless Network

Liner Notes: Alex Petrauskas

Photos & Illustrations: Bear Family, Archive, Showtime Music Archive, Toronto

Artwork: Sven T. Uhrmann/Retrograph

Special thanks to: Marty Scarbrough and Dave Travis

Tracks 1-2, 10-16, 19-21, 23 and 26-29 with kind permission from Dave Travis Track 30: Courtesy of Sun Records and Primary Wave Music.

Reviewed by Terry Mead. 02/08/2025

Bobby Lee Trammell – Rocks (insert from Bear records)

The Wild Man from Arkansas – Unleashed Rockabilly Energy!

With Shirley Lee, Bobby Lee Trammell made Rockabilly history in 1957 – a song that instantly turned him into a legend. Bear Family Records® now dedicates a powerful entry in its acclaimed Rocks series to this electrifying performer: Bobby Lee Trammell – Rocks brings together his wildest, rawest, and most unforgettable Rock 'n' Roll recordings on one explosive CD.

Known for his outrageous stage shows – erotic, provocative, and, as some said, “ten times raunchier than Elvis” – Trammell pushed the limits of performance and sound. This collection features essentials like You Mostest Girl, Woe Is Me, and Arkansas Twist, along with forgotten gems such as Mayonnaise Man.

Compiled by respected music journalist and Arkansas expert Alex Petrauskas, who also penned the in-depth liner notes. The accompanying booklet includes rare photos, illustrations, and a complete discography.

A must-have for Rockabilly fans – and a fitting tribute to one of the wildest and most uncompromising artists of his era!

Album Review:

Bobby Lee Trammell the guy who brought us “Shirley Lee & The Mostest Girl “ amongst others has through the courtesy of Bear Records on one exclusive album a collection of his unforgettable tracks along with some rare gems. So, let’s have a look at some of the more notable gems. Starting with track 2 “Its All Your Fault” a deep sounding tune with a slow tempo, “Uh Oh” is a catchy number with a lively beat as is “My Susie” but more upbeat, “Open Your Heart” is a bouncy track that feeds on a live audience. Next up “Woe Is Me” a cross between Jerry Lee & Duane Eddy accompliment , ‘Hi Ho Silver” no lining though great jiver this one, two twisters follow in tracks 12 & 13, before we arrive at “Carolyn” a perfect stroller. “I Love ‘Em All” has traits of Chuck Berry’s Johnny Be Goode running through it, “New Dance In France” a live recording is a sixties themed rendition while track 18 “Come On And Love Me” gives us a blues feel to it with some sweet harmonica playing. ”I Need Love” has a typical early sixties sound & beat to it, two contrasting voices from Bobby on “Am I Satisfying You” high & low on this bouncy track. From his home state we have had the Arkansas Twist now we have the Stomp on track 23 and it’s a pounder. Tracks 25 & 26 have a similarity in both style and theme, “Toolie Frollie” is a wild one and will have your head shaking. “Mayonaise Man” is a super rare gem with a driving organ and sax revving it up. “Jenny Lee” is a mirror version of “Shirley Lee”. We end the album with the 1971 version of one of his best You’re The Mostest Girl” best described as made to sound from that era.

Well wrapping it up where else can you get all these tracks on one album, Bobby was there at the beginning he stayed the pace, and he recorded some absolute crackers. Bear have certainly done their homework here paying tribute to this great performer at twenty bucks its a snitch.

Track List:

02. It's All Your Fault (Alley version) B1962 2.14

07. My Susie J. - My Susie Jane @1958 2.05

08. Open Up Your Heart @1959 2.24

10. Hi Ho Silver @1960 2:13

11. Been A Walking @1960 1:59

21. I Need Love @1963 2:21

Bio:

Trammell was born on a cotton farm near Jonesboro, Arkansas to Wiley and Mae Trammell, who were cotton farmers. Wiley played fiddle and Mae was an organist at a local church; in addition to these influences, Trammell also listened to the Grand Ole Opry and attended services at the local Pentecostal church, where gospel music was sung.

As a high schooler, Trammell played country music, and when Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash toured in Trammell's area in the middle of the 1950s, Perkins invited him to sing a song and told him to talk to Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records. The meeting came to nothing, but Trammell moved to Long Beach, California soon after in hopes of landing a recording contract. While in California, he took a job in a Ford manufacturing plant. He saw Bobby Bare play at a carnival and convinced Bare to let him come on stage for a few songs. Lefty Frizzell, who was in attendance at the fair, asked him to open for a show at the Jubilee Ballroom, a venue in Baldwin Park, California. Trammell soon was performing there regularly and won a reputation for Elvis Presley-like spastic gyrations and wildness on stage that occasionally caused controversy. Trammell said: "I was much wilder than Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard".

Manager/record label owner Fabor Robison signed Trammell to a contract, and he released his first single, containing the self-penned tunes "Shirley Lee" and "I Sure Do Love You, Baby". The recordings included session musicians James Burton on guitar and James Kirkland on bass. The single sold well and was picked up for national distribution by ABC/Paramount. The song never hit the national charts but may have sold as many as 250,000 copies. Ricky Nelson covered "Shirley Lee" soon after.

Trammell's career then went through a series of mishaps. He auditioned for The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet but was not offered a spot. Ricky Nelson had expressed interest in looking at more of Trammell's work, but Trammell did not take the offer seriously. During the recording of his second single, "You're the Mostest Girl", he was backed by an orchestra and chorus, and he nearly quit his contract over the difficult recording session. Both this single and its follow-up, "My Susie J - My Susie Jane", failed to chart, and by the end of the 1950s, Trammell was performing strictly local dates in California. He staged a protest on the top of a broadcast tower in Los Angeles, against a radio station's refusal to play his record, but when the structure began to collapse, he had to be rescued by local authorities and was barred from performing in the state.

After returning to Arkansas, Trammell sparred with Jerry Lee Lewis before a gig and destroyed Lewis's piano. After stories of Trammell's misbehaviour made the rounds among promoters, he was effectively blackballed as a public performer everywhere.[

Trammell continued recording for small local labels, but his reputation prevented him from getting much radio airplay. He self-distributed the records from his car in the 1960s. He was offered licensing contracts with Warner Bros. Records and others, but he refused them; he recorded for Sims Records through the end of the 1960s. In the 1970s, he played country music, and in the 1980s, he found some success in Europe during the rockabilly revival there. However, at the Rockhouse festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, he tried to jump onto his piano but fell, breaking his wrist in the process.

In 1997, Trammell was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives, where he served until 2002. He unsuccessfully sought a State Senate seat in 2002, losing to Jerry Bookout. He died on February 20, 2008, in his birthplace of Jonesboro.

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Rocks - Bobby Lee Trammell

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