From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Sep 26, 2002  1:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Merrill Moore
 
MERRILL MOORE (By Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born Merrill Everett Moore, 26 September 1923, Algona, Iowa
Died 14 June 2000, San Diego, California

Raised on a farm in the North-Central part of Iowa, Merrill started taking
piano lessons as young as 6, up until High School where he studied
classical music and discovered boogie-woogie (he named Freddie Slack
as his favourite).
After his wedding in 1945, the couple moved to Tucson, Denver and
eventually San Diego in 1948 where his parents-in-law lived. Selling clothes
at day, Merrill soon joined the Saddle Rhythm Boys, playing the Buckaroo
Club 6 nights a week. They signed with Capitol Records and a first single
"Big Bug Boogie"/"Corrine Corrina" was cut in May 1952, which gained
good sales, followed by a string of hot boogies, "House Of Blue Lights",
"Bell Bottom Boogie", "Fly Right Boogie", "Doggie House Boogie", etc.
Things seemed bright for Merrill and his producer, Ken Nelson, booked him
for a package tour, but unfortunately it went on the road without him as he
was stuck at the Buckaroo Club, having signed a 7 year contract! Merrill
managed to get a spot on Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree program,
continued to record for Capitol and also appeared as a sideman for a few
Capitol sessions, notably with Wanda Jackson ("Fujiyama Mama", "Cool
Love"). However, Merrill is definitely not the pianist on "Let's Have A Party"
(that's Big Al Downing) and Sonny James's "Young Love", as is alleged in
the Bear Family booklet.
He left Capitol in 1958 after a last and unreleased (until the Bear Family
CD) session, an LP of instrumentals of high calibre.
He then returned to San Diego and eventually played the Las Vegas/Lake
Tahoe/Phoenix club circuit in the 1960s and 70s.
Merrill Moore's music was a lot more than the boogie woogie and novelty
numbers that Ken Nelson somehow forced him to record. He was a great
admirer of boogie woogie/jazz pianists and a Bob Wills devotee. His musical
interests range from country and western swing to ballads.
(Thanks to Cary Ginell, writer of the liner notes for the Bear Family CD upon
which this bio is based.)

Recommended listening:
"Boogie My Blues Away" double CD, Bear Family BCD 15505
More info: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/MerrillMoore.html