Search - Sammy Masters :: Everybody Digs Sammy Masters

Renowned In Rockabilly Circles

07/27/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sammy Masters, a Korean War veteran, was born Samuel Lawmaster in Saskawa, Oklahoma on July 18, 1930 and, from 1959 to 1972, was a regular on TV's Cal's Corral. He wrote most of his own material which he recorded for several labels, including Connac, 4-Star and Lode, the best of which were probably at Flat Feet, Jodie, Pink Cadillac (covered by Rusty Draper on Mercury), 2-Rock-a-4, Some Like It Hot and Whop-T-Bop. He also recorded as Johnny Todd.



But in terms of hit singles he had just the one when, in early 1960, his rockabilly version of the old tune Red Wing reached # 60 on the Billboard Pop Hot 100 b/w another song he wrote, Lonely Weekend, for Lode, neither of which cracked the Country Top 100. Neither side is in this package which, in fact, presents all new recorded material from around 1998.



Besides that one hit, his biggest claim to fame outside Rockabilly circles (where, by the way, he is highly regarded) is probably the fact he wrote three others recorded by the great Patsy Cline - Turn The Cards Slowly, Who Can I Count On? and If I Could See The World Through The Eyes Of A Child. Who Can I Count On (also later recorded by both Wayne Newton and Bobby Darin) was a # 98 on the Billboard Pop Hot 100 as the flip of her monster hit Crazy in late 1961, while the last of the three was the B-side to Life's Railway To Heaven, a release by 4-Star some 15 years after her death in 1963 which made it to # 98 Country.



The cuts offered in this release by Dionysus Records of Burbank, California, on which he is accompanied by the likes of Deke Dickerson on acoustic guitar and bassist Ray Campi, are decent enough if you happen to be a Rockabilly fan, but if what you are seeking is a quality copy of Rockin' Red Wing, then I suggest you seek out Ace Records' The Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll - Volume 10."