Cecil Campbell and his Tennessee Ramblers Born:  March 22, 1911 Died:  June 18, 1989 KDKA Pittsburgh, PA WBT Charlotte, NC WCKY Cincinnati, OH WHAM Rochester, NY WHAS Louisville, KY WSB Atlanta, GA

About The Artist Cecil Campbell was the leader of the Tennesse Ramblers (refer also to a separate writeup of the Tennesee Ramblers). They were RCA Victor recording artists for many years, having started with them in 1934 and were still with them by 1951. Cecil earned a reputation as a steel guitar player and as you might know, some of his popular tunes had a Hawaiian flavor to them, such as "'Neath Hawaiian Palms", "Hawaiian Skies", "Little Hula Shack In Hawaii", and "Hawaiian Moon". He could also handle the banjo, guitar and vocals. In the early 1950s, they did an unusal number called "Spooky Boogie". Cecil was looking for an "...unusual hollow type of rattling sound designed to send cold chills rushing down the spine." He couldn't find that sound on the musical instruments. But as fate would have it, one of the members of the Tennessee Ramblers had false teeth and that mysterious sound that appears on the tune "Spooky Boogie" was made by a pair of chattering false teeth. The flip side of that disk was another unusual tune called "Steel Guitar Dig." That record was the follow up to his "Proud Papa Polka" and "Serenade To The Winds." By 1951, Cecil was living in Charlotte, NC with his wife, Katherine and their daughters, Joretta Kay, and Linda Lee. From there, he traveled to New York for his recording sessions usually. The Southern Attractions Booking Agency kept him busy performing in the south. Credits & Sources Country Song Roundup No. 12, June 1951, Charlton Publishing Corp., Derby, CT.

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)   RCA Victor Rec. No. Side Song Title   20-1874 A Beaty Street Blues   20-1874 B North Carolina Skies   20-2024 A Campbell's Steel Guitar   20-2024 B I Trusted You   20-2155 A Last Night I Cried   20-2155 B Little Hula Shack In Hawaii   20-2303 A She's Got The Cutest Eyes   20-2303 B Steel Guitar Hop   20-2404 A Hawaiian Moon   20-2404 B It's Gonna Come Home To You   20-2531 A Hawaiian Dreams   20-2531 B Talk, Talk, Talk   20-2669 A Neath Hawaiian Palms   20-2669 B Put Some Meat On Them Bones   20-2807 A Don't Call Help   20-2807 B Tryon St Boogie   20-2918 A Southern Special   20-2918 B Whose Blues Are You Now?   20-3116 B Please Daddy, Don't Drink No More   20-3239 A I'm A Henpecked Man   20-3239 B Time Will Tell   20-4325 A Carolina Steel Guitar   20-4325 B No Wedding Bells For Me   48-0169 A No Blues, No Blues For Me   48-0169 B One Little Flower