From: "Dik de Heer" 
Date: Fri Aug 5, 2005  1:32 am 
Subject: This Is My Story : Jimmy Lee Fautheree 

JIMMY LEE FAUTHEREE

Born James Walton Fautheree, 11 April 1934, Smackover, Arkansas
Died 29 June 2004, Dallas, Texas

Jimmy Lee Fautheree is probably best remembered as one half of the
country / rockabilly duo Jimmy and Johnny, but he also had a solo
career. Besides, he was a guitarist of more than average virtuosity.
Deke Dickerson has called him "the missing link between Merle Travis
and Lightnin' Hopkins".

When Jimmy was twelve years old, his aunt bought him a guitar, and
his parents wanted him to be an entertainer. Countless days and nights
were spent practicing guitar and singing with two of his younger brothers,
Lynn and Jackie. We'll come back to Lynn later on ; Jack Fautheree
would later co-write "Cradle of Love" for Johnny Preston.

Country and gospel were Jimmy's favourite genres. Ernest Tubb and Jack
Guthrie were big influences, along with Merle Travis, whose distinctive
finger-picked electric guitar style left a lasting impression.

At the age of 16, he debuted on "The Big 'D' Jamboree" in Dallas and
made an impression with his hot guitar playing. He was signed to Capitol
Records in 1951, where he was renamed Jimmy Lee. Among the tracks
cut at his first session was "Go Ahead And Go" (Capitol 1709, his own
composition), which already had the basic form of rockabilly in place,
three years before Elvis. The same can be said of "I'm Digging A Hole
To Bury My Heart" (Capitol 2153), from 1953, the year in which Jimmy
teamed up with "Country" Johnny Mathis. They appeared as Jimmy and
Johnny on the Louisiana Hayride, where they were managed by Tillman
Franks, and began recording for a host of mostly Southern labels. In the
autumn of 1954, the duo crept into the Country Top 10 with "If You Don't,
Somebody Else Will" (Chess 4859), which peaked at # 3. In 1953 they
had already recorded this hillbilly bopper for Feature. However, the pair
soon broke up and Jimmy formed a new partnership with Wayne Walker,
which lasted less than four months, but it did produce one rockabilly gem,
"Love Me" (Chess 4863), cut in January 1955 in Shreveport.

Jimmy then teamed up with his brother Lynn as the new "Johnny". Together
they recorded some classic rockabilly sides for Decca, including "Sweet
Love Of My Mind" (adapted by Wayne Walker from Jimmy Lee's song
"Living In A Dream World"), which they recorded on July 25, 1956, a few
weeks after the famous version by the Johnny Burnette Trio. The brothers
moved to Nashville while they were under contract to Decca, but returned
to East Texas when it ended in 1957.

The next few years found Jimmy Lee reuniting with Johnny Mathis, though
both men also made solo records during this time. In 1958 they released
another rockabilly classic, "I Can't Find the Doorknob", on Pappy Daily's
D label. There were further Jimmy & Johnny releases on D and Republic,
but sales were poor and having tired of Johnny Mathis' uneven personality,
Jimmy Lee eventually moved out to Farmington, New Mexico, to join in
the family asbestos installation business.

But prior to that, in 1958, Jimmy recorded the disc that is probably of most
interest to rock 'n' roll fans, "Baby It's Love"/"Teenage Wedding" (Vin 1004),
which was credited to Johnny Angel. Backed by Cosimo Matassa's studio
band, these were two slices of fervent New Orleans R & R, but completely
uncharacteristic for Fautheree. A second Vin single, "Look What Love Will
Do", was released under his own name (Jimmy Lee) and more in his usual
style. In the sixties, Jimmy recorded as Jimmy Fautheree for small labels
like Paula, Lodema and Town House. Later he turned to gospel.

Not long before his death, Fautheree's rockabilly career was revived. He
performed - with great success - at the Rockabilly Rave in Rye, Sussex,
England, in March 2004 (his first-ever gig in Europe). There he was backed
by Deke Dickerson and his band, the Ecco-Fonics, who had also recorded
a CD with Jimmy in 2003, which was received with enthusiasm by the music
critics. Howard Cockburn wrote in Now Dig This (issue 253, April 2004):
"What a truly wonderful set! Ten out of ten in all departments - choice of
material, singing and musicianship. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."

During the Rockabilly Rave, Jimmy was already in advanced stages of
cancer. After his condition worsened, he had to cancel appearances at
Viva Las Vegas and the Ponderosa Stomp. He died on June 29, 2004, at
the age of 70.

Acknowledgements : Tapio's discography at
http://www.pcuf.fi/~tapiov/discographies/jimmy_johnny.htm
was very helpful. So was Deke Dickerson's obituary in NDT 257 (Aug. 2004).

CD's :
- Jimmy and Johnny, If You Don't, Somebody  Else Will (Bear Family BCD 15771)
- Jimmy Lee, Knocking On Your Front Door (BBear Family BCD 16375, solo
recordings).
- "Jimmy Lee" Fautheree, Featuring Deke Dicckerson & the Ecco-Fonics
(Ecco-Fonic EFCD 002).

Dik

From: Bob Timmers 
Date: Fri Aug 5, 2005 9:13am 
Subject: Re: This Is My Story : Jimmy Lee Fautheree  

  Dik,

We have just posted a profile page on Jimmy Lee,
with the help of his wife, Nancy.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JimmyLeeFautheree.html