Tommy Blake Flat Foot Sam Sun 78rpm

Poor old Thomas Levan Givens (Tommy Blake). With a bit more common sense and some patience, Tommy could have made it either as a performer or a song writer.  His big break came in early 1957 where thanks to Chet Atkins, he got a recording session at RCA's Studio B in Nashville. Blake had co-written a song called 'Honky Tonk Mind'. It was a great record and a sure fire hit. A week before the session, Tommy offered the song to Johnny Horton who recorded the song for Columbia re- titled 'The Women I Need'  Horton taped his version on April 11th and Tommy his on the 15th . Columbia rushed released it, meanwhile RCA held back Tommy's version. Horton won the battle with regard to sales and a golden opportunity had been missed. Tommy would later meet Sam Phillips at a DJ convention and he was soon recording down at 706 Union where he cut a great version of the TV Slim tune, 'Flat Foot Sam' in the summer of 57. Like so many others, it sold well locally but that elusive hit eluded him.  As the years went by, he continued to release 45s on small labels until he eventually got a job as a carpenter in the 1970s. But he sooned turned to the bottle.  On Christmas Eve 1985 he rowed with his wife.  She got a gun and shot him once through the heart and it proved fatal.  Over the years, Tommy had sold himself early many times and burnt his bridges before even reaching them. He will always have a special place in the hearts of rock'n'roll fans for records like this and especially his famed 'Sweetie Pie' on Sun 300 which is like rockin' horse manure to find. RIP Tommy.

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[shaunsstuff79]

do you have a way to directly record this to your computer so it sounds better ???

[dkd1954]

yeah, man. cooler than oscar wills.