Born in Texas, Allen Doye O'Dell (1912-2001) became a fixture in the Southern California cowboy-movie clique clustered around the Sage and Sand labels. O'Dell worked his way up through regional radio gigs and scored a couple of hard-country hits in the late 1940s and early '50s, then headed out to Hollywood where he worked in TV and film, as well as on numerous low-budget recording sessions. Here's a quick look at his work...
Doye O'Dell "Doye" (Era Records, 1956-?) (LP)
Mostly "western" material by an old-school hillbilly/honkytonker whose work made it into the digital reissue era. He's backed here by the Cass County Boys, a relatively amorphous studio crew who also recorded some stuff as a band. This set is heavy on classic country cover tunes -- Floyd Tillman's "It Makes No Difference Now," "Oklahoma Hills," "Old Shep," "Red River Valley," "San Antonio Rose" -- and an O'Dell original or two, notably "Pretty Woman For The Boss." [Note: All these tracks were reissued on vinyl by the German collector label, Cowgirlboy Records; see below.]
Doye O'Dell "Crossroads" (Sage Records, 1957-?) (LP)
Doye O'Dell "Country Time" (Crown Records, 1962) (LP)
(Produced by Billy Strange)
This album has a totally different set of songs from the Era LP above, though is similarly packed with a mix of covers and originals. As with many Crown label sets, this probably draws on old singles from the 'Fifties, though I'm not hardcore enough to precisely track them all down. His version of "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves" is a classic of the trucker song genre, though the other tracks are pretty cool, too.
Doye O'Dell "Valley Of Tears" (Sunset Records, 1967) (LP)
Doye O'Dell "Doye O'Dell Today" (Longhorn Records, 1983) (LP)
Doye O'Dell "The Original Bath Tub Blues" (Cowgirlboy Records, 1992) (LP)
A swell reissue set that combines the twelve tracks from O'Dell's album on Era Records (above) with four earlier recordings from 1947, including the title track, "Bath Tub Blues," featuring backing by Texas Jim Lewis and his band. These include two songs credited to O'Dell, "I'm Not Foolin' Now" and the more famous novelty number "Dear Okie," which was written by Rudy Sooter, but rather sneakily rearranged and rushed to market by O'Dell, who then claimed co-credit.
Doye O'Dell "Bath Tub Blues" (Binge Disc, 2001)
An expanded version of the Cowgirlboy LP above. Though he never lit up the charts, O'Dell did lay down a few dozen swell hillbilly 78s. Most of the songs were novelty numbers, with variable results -- there are about a half-dozen killer tracks on here, and a lot of lighter-weight toss-off tunes with sort of a Hoosier Hot Shots feel, some even with the slide whistle. The best tracks have good steel guitar and some rough-edged honkytonk musicianship. O'Dell's vocals are pretty crude, though at times he has a Tommy Duncan-esque feel, just not as purty-sounding. All in all, this is worth checking out, especially for tracks like "She Left Me When My Dreamboat Started Leakin'," "If You Want Some Lovin'," "Don't Call Me Daddy" and "Lookin' Poor But Feelin' Rich," as well as the title track, "Bath Tub Blues," which really is one of the weirder novelty songs I've ever heard.
Doye O'Dell "If Tears Were Gold" (BACM, 2005)
An even more comprehensive look at O'Dell's early career, albeit pressed on a CD-R...
