Sammy Masters

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Sammy Masters (b. July 18, 1930) is an American rockabilly musician.

Masters was born in Sasakawa, Oklahoma in 1930 and showed skill in music from an early age. At age 12 he debuted on radio station KTUL in Tulsa with Bob Wills. When he was 16 his family moved to California, and Masters began playing in country groups in the Los Angeles area alongside Spade Cooley and Ole Rasmussen. He recorded his first solo single, "Lost Little Nickel in the Big Juke Box" on Cormac Records in 1950, and followed it with "Crazy River". After these were released Masters served in the Korean War in the Army, where he often performed for fellow soldiers.

In 1954, he returned to California and signed with 4-Star Publishing as a songwriter and demo tape recorder. Patsy Cline recorded his "Turn the Cards Slowly" for a minor hit. Interested in furthering his chances at a successful career in rockabilly, Masters recorded "Pink Cadillac" and "Whop-T-Bop" with guitarist Jimmy Bryant and released them on 4-Star in 1956, but neither sold well. Follow-ups "Angel" and "Jodie" were no more successful, even after Masters's touring schedule and television appearances on The Jack Benny Show and Town Hall Party. His contract with 4-star ended in 1957, and he wrote for American Music for a few years before signing with Lode Records in 1960. Lode issued "Rockin' Red Wing" that year, which became a regional hit in Los Angeles and was picked up by Warner Bros. Records for national distributions. It eventually reached #64 on the Billboard Hot 100. His next single, "Golden Slippers", was released nationally by Dot Records, but it was not a success, and neither was "Pierre the Poodle", his last release before losing his contract.

He became friends with Willie Nelson in 1961, and his song "Who Can I Count On?" became the B-side to Nelson's "Crazy", a multplatinum smash for Patsy Cline. In the wake of "Crazy"'s success, singers such as Bobby Darin and Wayne Newton covered "Who Can I Count On?". That same year Masters founded his own label, Galahad Records, which was not a vanity label, though Masters did release an LP, May the Good Lord Bless You and Keep You, in 1964, as well as a few singles, on the label. He co-hosted a television program on KCOP with Johnny Horton in the 1960s and 1970s, and increasingly found work in TV production in the following decades.

In 1997, Masters signed with Dionysus Records and released Everybody Digs Sammy Masters with Deke Dickerson and Ray Campi, hoping to make a comeback on the rockabilly revival scene in Europe and Japan. He toured in both areas at the end of the decade.

[edit] Singles

Year	Title	Label
1951	Lost Little Nickel / May I Call You Darlin’?	Cormac Records
1956	Pink Cadillac / Some Like It Hot	4 Star Records
1956	Pink Cadillac / What’s Up	Modern Records*
1956	Whop-T-Bop / Flat Fleet	4 Star Records
1956	Whop-T-Bop / 2 Rock-A-4	4 Star Records
1957	Angel / My Heart Is A Hobo	4 Star Records
1957	Tall Grow The Sycamores / The Drifter	Decca Records
1958	Jodie / If I Could See The World	4 Star Records
1958	Whop-T-Bop / 2 Rock-A4	Moonglow Records
1958	Pink Cadillac / Some Like It Hot	Moonglow Records
1959	Rockin’ Red Wing / Lonely Weekend	Warner Bros. Records
1960	Rockin’ Red Wing / Lonely Weekend	Lode Records
1960	Charolette (In The Pink Corvette) / Golden Slippers	Lode Records
1960	Charolette (In The Pink Corvette) / Golden Slippers	Dot Records
1961	Never / Pierre The Poodle And The Puppy Dogs	Lode Records
1962	Stick Around Joe / Remind Me Baby	Galahad Records
1963	All Alone In San Antone / Roses Remind Me Of You	Galahad Records
1964	I Fought The Law (And The Law Won) / A Big Man Cried	Kapp Records
1964	Louisiana Jane / Barcelona Baby	Kapp Records
1965	You Can Have Her / You Can Have Her (Instr.)	D&D Records
1958	EP Angel My Heart Is A Hobo Tall Grows The Sycamores The Drifter	Sammy Masters Label (4 Star Records)
ca. 1958/1959	EP Stop The World (And Let Me Off) Pink Cadillac A Wonderful Time Up There Tall Grows The Sycamores	4 Star Records