Jayne ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
I think you should start with the Booker T. listings in 1963 in that first Stax singles list. It's probably one of those.
Though Steve Cropper wasn't just the guitarist in Booker T. (hence, the house guitarist at Stax), he was also one of the main producer/songwriters so he would've overseen a number of productions that he didn't play on. The fact that it was done at Sam Phillips studio though, is intriguing and weird. He could've been doing something with the Bill Black Combo.
Here's contact info for Sun Studio. If there isn't an inhouse historian, or if there's a separate one for the Memphis Recording Service to whom you'd need to speak, I'm sure they can point you in the right direction. Toll free number & everything. And here's info for the Stax museum, which so impressed our man Mr. Childs.
Boss used to work for Sun. He says they don't have anything.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't both Steve Cropper and Scotty Moore still kicking? Maybe the thing to do is to ask them directly, although I think David's right that checking with Guralnick (or Robert Gordon) should probably be the first thing you do. I agree that it's strange that this is coming out of the Sam Phillips studio. Y'know, Milo Miles hangs out on PF -- you might want to ask him for help, too. I think he knows some of these guys and could hook you up, if he hasn't alienated them.
I agree that it's strange that this is coming out of the Sam Phillips studio.
I think the original Sun Studios was still putting out stuff until the mid sixties. I'm thinking the Bill Black Combo because (a) Bill was the bass player in the original Elvis combo with Scott (b) his combo was the only aspect of that lineup actually having minor hits in the early sixties with instrumental rock (c) Steve Cropper was also putting out instro rock in that period with Booker T.
The Memphis studio culture is such that it's not that weird that Cropper would be doing stuff with Scotty Moore or sitting in at another studio, but...Steve would've been pretty damn busy in 1963.
Fuck! I just remembered that The Bill Black Combo recorded for Hi, too, and probably used the Sam Phillips Studio for that. Lemme check the Gordon book -- I think Cropper engineered for Hi, also.
I think he knows some of these guys and could hook you up, if he hasn't alienated them.
Ha! It's funny 'cause it's true!
Could it be the Killer?
From It Came From Memphis (p. 59):
...concurrent with playing in Brunswick [aka Stax, 1960-1963], Cropper was also doing some session work at the Sam Phillips Recording Service. Roland James remembers, "We worked three or four sessions there with Jerry Lee Lewis where we had Scotty (Moore) playing the rhythm guitar, Steve Cropper playing baritone guitar, and I played lead."
edit - This would have been the right time period, when Cropper was in the Mar-Keys, but the book doesn't give the exact date.
My brother-in-law has my copy of Sweet Soul Music right now, Heather, so that's all the research I'm good for.
Eh. That's ok. I'm not sure I'll ever solve the mystery.
I think they'll sell on the strength of the sigs alone. It's just instead of a story, there's a mystery.