Terry Fell

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Terry Fell" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (March 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Terry Fell (May 13, 1921 – April 4, 2007) was an American country musician.

Biography

Childhood and adolescence

Fell was born in Dora, Alabama on May 13, 1921, and got his first guitar at the age of nine. Later, he learned mandolin and took singing lessons. When he was 13 years old, his father died; three years later, he moved alone to California, where he spent some time in a camp of the Civilian Conservation Corps. After he briefly lived in Alabama again, Fell and his mother moved to the US West Coast. There, he began playing in 1943 as bassist for Merl Lindsay.

Musical career

Fell started his record career in 1945 as a member of Billy Hughes' band, Pals of The Pecos. His first record was with Hughes on the Fargo label. He began his solo career with Memo, then Courtney, 4 Star, and Gilt-Edge Records, although none of his releases became hits there.

During his first session for RCA in Hollywood (1954), he recorded a song that would become a hit. Although the A-side, "Don't Drop It", was underplayed, the B-side, "

In 1958, he recorded some sides for Lode records. One of them, released under the name "Johnny Valentine," was a song he wrote called "Sandy" which became a No. 15 pop hit for Larry Hall in 1960.

In 1959, he began military service in the

Due to the lack of success and health problems, his career fell short. Later, for a short time, he managed country star Buck Owens and wrote a song in 1961 with Bobby Edwards titled "You're The Reason". In 1962, Fell moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was a songwriter for various publishing companies until he retired. Published in 1993 with Bear Family Records, the album Truck Drivin Man was released with his collected RCA works. Terry Gordon noted that it was discontinued in 1998, but revised/reissued again. Because of his achievements in country music, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

Fell died on April 4, 2007, in Madison, Tennessee.

Discography

He wrote and recorded a novelty record on the Lode label under the name Brother George Underbrush, called "Green Garden Hose". It was divided into two parts, one on each side.^[1] He later released a cassette on Lode that contained several more of his strange musings.

Singles

All of the Memo, 4 Star, Gilt-Edge, and "X"/RCA singles were published under the name 'Terry Fell & The Fellers'.

Albums/CDs

• Truck Driving Man (Bear Family BCD 15762, 1993) all RCA material
• Get Aboard My Wagon (B.A.C.M. CDD 191, 2007) Memo/Gilt-Edge/RCA material
• Ramblin' Oakie (B.A.C.M. CDD 333, 2011) Fargo/Courtney/4 Star material

References

Further reading

• Biography of Terry Fell from rockabilly.nl
• Biography from the Alabama Music Office
• Alabama Music History Blog: "Dora Native Terry Fell"
• "Terry Fell, Forgotten Father of Trucker Music"