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Bobby Caraway & Terry Caraway
Information and pictures of Bobby Caraway & Terry Caraway
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Eddie Cochran and Tom Tall are the only Crest recording artists whose careers have been well documented. Others to have recorded for this Los Angeles based label in the '50s are Bo Davis, Jack Lewis, Tom Wilson and Bob & Terry Caraway - all well known to rockabilly fans around the world. More than thirty years after the release of the Caraways' classic recordings of 'Ballin' Keen'/'Sweet Lies' (Crest 1065), we are now able to tell their whole story.
Bobby Caraway was born on October 26th, 1937 in Jonesboro, Arkansas and his younger brother Terry on March 24th, 1939. Their father, Wilson Howard Taft, better known as W.T., played harmonica while their mother, Edna May, had two brothers and one sister who played guitar. In such an environment it was not surprising that the two brothers soon found themselves playing the guitar, quickly becoming proficient on the instrument. Bobby remembers playing square-dances at an early age around Arkansas and Missouri with Orvel Haggard's band. Orvel was the father of future country music superstar Merle Haggard.
The Caraway family moved to Orange, Texas in 1945 then to Wink, Texas in the early '50s. It was in the latter city that the two boys worked as semi-pros at a club called The Palace Inn; Bobby playing lead guitar and Terry rhythm guitar. It was there in 1951 that they met two other local kids who came over regularly to the club to listen to them play. One of the kids was so impressed by Bobby's lead guitar playing that he asked him to teach him how to play. As it turned out, the kid was Roy Orbison and his companion James Morrow - later to form The Teen Kings before finding their share of fame with Sun Records in Memphis.
The family's next move was to Yuma, Arizona. Bobby and Terry had become very competent musicians by this time and found steady jobs in local clubs singing country music and rockabilly. In 1959 they were contacted by Tommy Dee, aCalifornian disc jockey and singer, who suggested they should contact Crest Records in Los Angeles, which they did immediately. Their first and only recording session for Crest was set for September at the famous Gold Star recording studios. The actual recordings took place just after Labor Day. Three songs were cut with Bobby on lead guitar, Terry on rhythm guitar and their two brothers-in-law, Tony Keltner on bass and Elvin Mendenhall on drums, completing the band. 'Ballin' Keen' and 'Sweet Lies' were released on the same single (Crest 1065) in October 1959, with vocals by Terry on 'Ballin' Keen' and by Bobby on 'Sweet Lies'. A third song was recorded at the session and according to Bobby's comments, 'Heartaches Inside' is a love ballad that he wrote himself, but it has remained unissued to this day. At this time rockabilly had lost its popularity in the United States but nevertheless 'Ballin' Keen' today remains one of the best examples of the style. (Check it out on the Rockstar LP 'Spotlight On Crest Records' - RSR LP 1011.) Only 'Sweet Lies' made it to the charts, reaching position 28 in Billboard. This brought some attention to the duo who found themselves touring extensively over California, Oregon and Arizona for the most part of the years 1960-1961. They appeared alongside Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Ray Price and Rose & Cal Maddox besides securing a regular spot at the famous Valley Ballroom in San Bernardino, California. They also appeared at the Big D Jamboree in Dallas, Texas in April 1960.
Back in Arizona in 1962, Bobby was suffering from an attack of influenza. He went to his doctor who gave him a shot, not knowing that he was allergic to the medication. Consequently Bobby spent the following eight months fighting for his life and it was not until 1963 that he was able to sing and team up again with hisbrother for a session in Nashville. Playing on the date were Mel 'Pig' Robbins (piano), Junior Huskey (bass), Willie Ackerman (drums) and Fred Carter (lead guitar), with Terry (lead vocal and rhythm guitar) and Bobby (second lead guitar and harmony vocal). Two songs were released in October 1963 on the Lawson label (Lawson 337). Both Caraway brothers compositions, 'Loving Belongs To Us' and 'When Love Was Young' are superb country numbers with great vocal harmonies and good guitar on 'When Love Was Young' which is set to a faster tempo. Five years later they recorded a second single for the same label (Lawson 339). Bobby doesn't remember which musicians were present on the occasion, with the exception of Jeff Newman on steel guitar. 'You Walk All Over Me' is a first class country bopper with Terry singing lead and bobby providing superb guitar playing in a style reminiscent of Johnny Horton's Columbia sides. The B-side, 'I'm Just A Fool', is a pleasant country ballad with Bobby on lead vocal.
Bobby and Terry continued to perform in clubs and tour the country circuit, but in 1975, for personal reasons, Terry had to stop singing professionally so he dropped out of the music business. Bob signed with the NSD label in Nashville in 1980. He found some success in the country charts with some of his NSD releases like 'Coming Down Alone' and 'Pride Of Wyoming' (1981) and 'Whiskey Dreams' (1983). A prolific songwriter, he had songs recorded by Boxcar Willie including 'A Good Ole Country Song', 'Watching A New Love Grow', and 'I'm Not On The Bottom Yet'.
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Bobby Caraway & Boxcar Willie
Bobby Caraway & Dottie West / Bobby Caraway & Grant Turner / Bobby Caraway & Connie Smith
Bobby Caraway & Fats Domino / Bobby Caraway & Little Jimmy Dickens
Click here to read Jerry Mac's News.Click here to visit Bobby's Home Page.
Click here to visit another site dedicated to Bobby Caraway with more interesting information and more photos. The information and photos on this site will tell some history that explains why Bobby Caraway was so deservingly inducted into "The Traditional Country Music Hall Of Fame".
Bobby Caraway is a citizen of The Country Music Planet!
Bobby Caraway's music is on Inside Nashville Jukebox!
Bobby Caraway's CDs are for sale through The CD Planet!
