BOB KING Original RCA Recordings

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Featured today is a great RCA Camden collection comprised of 10 original 1950's recordings by the legendary Bob King. King (1934-1989) was a successful regional country singer in the Ottawa Valley in the fifties, during which time he was signed to RCA Victor's Montreal division. These fantastic recordings have been out of circulation for years, this LP being the only edition of these tracks other than the original single issues.
Some standout tunes are "Josephine", a King original which contains the magnificent line "I'm a singin' hillbilly from Montreal" and "Crazy Me", also an original which was covered by Smilin' Jack Silvers on his Acadia album previously featured here. Perhaps his best work of this era is his original 1954 single of "Laurel Lee" which is reputed to have sold 40,000 copies regionally.
Bob's Montreal producer tried to interest the company's Nashville division in his work but to no avail and by the end of the fifties he was recording for George Taylor's Rodeo label, where he made some remakes of his old hits, as well as keeping new singles on the market. In the sixties he was a member of CFRA Ottawa's "Happy Wanderers", a regional supergroup that broadcast daily and played dates all over eastern Ontario. He continued to record and perform with his wife, French language country singer Marie, until his death.

I would like to thank Two Dollar Bill for the use of this rare LP.

I have also transferred some of Bob King's post RCA albums for Uncle Gil's Rockin' Archives, click here.

A brief biography of Bob King is here.

Tracks:

1. Josephine
2. Crazy Me
3. Hey Mam
4. I Don't Believe In Settlin' Down
5. Let's Make A Fair Trade
6. Anxious
7. Laurel Lee
8. Did You Do It
9. Always Lend A Helping Hand
10. Pretty Little Girl In Blue

*download here*