Tommy Trent is an unknown artist among the thousands who tried to make up during the ’50s. He had only a hit in 1952, the justly acclaimed « Paper Boy Boogie », which apparently attracted a little attention : it was covered the same year by a singer of star status, Texas Bill Strength, on Coral. But this is only a small part of his interesting story.
Born March 8, 1924, in Strawberry plains, TN, he apparently was doing professionnal music in Arkansas and north of Louisiana by the late ’40s. He had then located himself in Little Rock, AR, and was deejaying Country music 3 hours a day on the waves of KTHS in Hot Springs. He also had a strong connexion with Shreveport, La. and could have been with his band a regular on the Louisiana Hayride, broadcasted every Saturday evening by the powerful 50.000 watt KWKH radio station. That’s where without doubt he met Hank Williams, a then regular of the show (having been fired from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry because of his drunkiness on stage). He recalled in a ’80s interview a short anecdote about him and Williams on the Hayride. « Since he was the main drew, a drunken Hank Williams was Horace’s [Logan, MC and chief of the La. Hayride] nightmare scenario. On one outside date for the Hayride, Horace bribed fellow artist Tommy Trent to keep Hank from imbibing hard liquor. The tour bus headed for Little Rock with Tommy sitting attentively next to Hank, watching him like a hawk. Hank was wearing tight clothings – jeans and a western shirt – with no room to hide whiskey. Each time to bus stopped Horace would pat Hank down as if he was a cop searching a criminal for a hidden gun. Nothing was found and Horace was convinced his plan had succeeded and that a sober Hank would tear up the house in Arkansas. Instead Hank’s drunken half showed up and it was a disaster. When the troupe boarded the bus to return to Shreveport, Hank looked mischievously at Horace. « I know what you did, Hoss », he said in a drunken stupor. « You gave Tommy twenty bucks to keep a bottle from me. The problem is I gave him fifty bucks to carry it for me ! »(1)
It was without doubt with the help of Stan Lewis, a record shop owner and a seasoning talent scout for Chess records in Chicago, that Tommy Trent got to record first. Chess had from time to time the desire to break into southern hillbilly market, and made some success of it, for example in 1954 with Jimmy & Johnny‘s « If You Don’t, Somebody Else Will » on a short-lived Hillbilly 4800 serie.
So one day of 1952, Tommy Trent entered KWKH studio run by Bob Sullivan. Added by a fine musicians’ troupe, among them shined a very good steel player and a fiddler, he cut two sides for Chess, the above mentioned « Paper Boy Boogie » (writing credit absent), a very nice romping Hillbilly bop, paired with the above ordinary uptempo ballad « Sweetheart I’m Missing You » (Checker # 761, Chess’ subsidiary label). It surely had a regional impact, but it, to my kowledge, never entered the nation’s Country charts. It seems that Trent, like many others, did have a record, not to attract a bigger label’s attention, but more to sell it on their personal appearances.
“Paper boy boogie“
After that, Trent pursued his activities as a singer, fronting his band and touring. A 1953 Billboard snippet reports that he had his own Hillbilly Park in Little Rock, AR. Another snippet talks about an ex-Slim Whitman songwriter/musician (?), Curley Harris, who did join Tommy Trent at KWKH.
Allan Turner, the King of Hillbilly researchers, has unearthed a song performed by Trent on the Louisiana Hayride: stye traight hillbilly waltz-tempo “Sweetheart I’m missing you“, which however could be a revamp of the Checker B-side.. It was issued on a HBR # 68 compilation of “Louisiana Hayride artists”.
Tommy Trent “Sweetheart I’m missing you” (live?)
Next record was cut in Little Rock for the small Carmack label in 1956. This time he and his bad back one Virginia Brannon for a fast Hillbilly, « Truck Driver Roll » (# 501), which apart the female vocal, included a mandolin player and none other than Teddy Reddell on piano. The flipside is a conventional hillbilly uptempo weeper (piano, steel and mandolin) by « Tommy Trent & Mountain Valley Trio ». Indeed such a disk went nowhere. And Trent continued deejaying at KTHS in Hot Springs, but didn’t give up his performing career. We found him four years later for four sides cut at KTHS studio, for Dan Mechura and issued on his prolific Houston All Star label. « Just For Tonight » («# 7184) is a very nice Rocker. Well sung (assured vocal), with a rollicking piano (T. Reddell), drums and a very short uninspired steel solo. This is the side he’s best remembered by rockers for. Another real solid tune is «A Mile To The Mailbox » (# 7198), with strong guitar (bass chords played), and a real fine fiddle.
Billboard Nov. 21, 1953
Billboard, Feb. 28, 1953
Then Trent had his last record on a small Arkansas label, T Bar T, in 1965, for a revamp – this time more Countryfied – of « I Walk A Mile (To The Mail Box » (T Bar T 665-T-0962). Label was located in Little Rock. And that was it. Tommy Trent died July 25, 2003. Another Country boy, who never made it between his first try in 1952 and his final one in 1965, but always sincere to his kind of music he seems to have revered all of his life, either playing it, cutting it, or deejaying it.
Billboard March 16, 1960
(1) from the book “Shreveport Sounds in Black & White”, by Kip Lornell.
Sources: label scans from Allan Turner‘s site “Hillbilly Researcher” or Germany’s Alexander Petrauskas‘ “Arkansas45s“. Pictures from Collector CD 2860 “High Steppin’ Daddy”
Discography into the “discographie” section.
Tommy Trent - Sweetheart I am Missing You (Checker 761) [ 2:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Virginia Brannon and Tommy Trent Band - Truck Driver Roll (Carmack 501, 1956) [ 2:43 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Tommy Trent - A Mile To The Mail Box (All Star 7198, 1960) [ 2:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Tommy Trent - I Walk A Mile (To The Mail Box)(T Bar T, 1965) [ 2:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
arkansas 45s
A very nice write-up, thanks!
Hello Xavier, somehow I was not able to send you an email, it always returned to me. I sure would like to have these label shots, you can send them to my email adress.
Thanks!
Growing up in north Arkansas in the early 1960’s, would watch his tv show on Saturday afternoons. Thank for the memories from the past.
Another ripping rock-a-Billy from Arkansas!
I remember watching and listening to Tommy Trent sing in the ’50s. He had a songbook with the lyrics to songs in it and I was able to acquire it but no later have it as our home place was burglarized and trashed in 1994 and my home burned in 1973.
I much appreciate the work that was done to put together all of this history for Tommy Trent. As a small boy in Conway, AR, in the early ’50’s, our family always listened to Tommy as he deejayed his radio program.
WoW, I remember Tommy Trent and The Fun Barn, I was in High School and a few of my Friends where in a Band, (Bobby and his Buddy’s) Played at the TV station and the Fun Barn back then. Wish i had a copy of the TV shows of us play at the TV Station.
I just can’t thank you enough for posting this. I was born 1956 and grew up through the 60’s and 70’s. My Mother Clarice Brannon Lawrence and Tommy Trent’s wife Virginia Brannon Trent were cousins and my Parents took us kids to the Tommy Trent Fun Barn in the North Little Rock, Arkansas nearly every weekend to hear all the Country Singers and new talents that would play and sing there. As a very young child I got to hear and meet in person many of the singing country Music stars, some before they made it Big on the National scene. Many up and coming talents were discovered there at the Fun Barn as there were plenty of talent scouts that would come to hear what Tommy Trent’s Fun Barn had to offer. Just to name a few I met, Johnny Cash (an Arkansas Boy) and The Carter Family with June Carter, later to become June Carter Cash ; then there was GrandPa and GrandMa Jones, who would hold me on their laps while others were singing; Little Jimmy Dickens; Ferlon Huskie; Faron Young who I had the biggest crush on as many other young girls did back then; Earnest Tubs and the Troubadours with just starting out Dolly Pardon, when I met her I fell in love with all that glitters and shines, makeup and BIG Hair, she pinched my cheeks and called me sweet cheeks and she loved my Copper red hair; Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells, Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, The Osmonds, before they hit it big on the Ed Sullivan Show; Jim Ed Brown (another Arkansas Boy) and his 2 Sisters (The Browns); Conway Twitty, and I can’t remember if that was before he took the name or if he was already called Conway Twitty, His manager told him he needed a catchy name, he later said in an interview that he took the name from two cities he really enjoyed visiting, Twitty Texas and Conway Arkansas a nice town he passed through on his way to North Little Rock Arkansas; Tammy Wynette, George Jones; Roy Acuff; String Bean; and many many more plus loads of local talent. I have been looking for pictures and information about Tommy Trent and his Fun Barn which was filmed and put on Tommy’s television show on Saturdays. If you know where I could find more history and such about Tommy and Virginia Trent I would appreciate you sharing it. Thanks again for sharing this, that time in my past was most enjoyable.
MANY, MANY warm thanks for your long message. How I’d love to have lived what you did! Congratulations: you’ve met all the Greats!