* En anglais uniquement
Born in 1935 in Ohio, and best known for his rockin’ single “Doggonit,” Jimmy Spellman became a regular on the Arizona Hayride show out of Phoenix in the mid-'50s, and played a central role in the development of that city’s nascent rockabilly country scene, which also included Duane Eddy, Sanford Clark, and Loy Clingman, among others. He was the first artist signed to Lee Hazlewood's then-fledgling Viv Records imprint in 1955, and working with a band that included guitarist supreme Al Casey, he recorded several top-notch rockabilly and country gems, many of them written by Hazlewood, between 1955 and 1960 for Viv, as well as for the Dot (the label that released “Doggonit”), Vik, Rev, and Redstart imprints. Although he never became a household name, his recording legacy earned him a spot in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2004. Bear Family Records released Doggonit in 2011, which finally collected all of Spellman's Viv, Dot, Vik, Rev, and Redstart recordings along with several previously unreleased tracks from the era and six song demos (28 tracks in all) on a single disc.
© Steve Leggett /TiVo