From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Sep 14, 2002  1:55 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Tommy Blake
 
TOMMY BLAKE

Born Thomas LeVan Givens, 14 September 1931, Dallas, Texas
Died 24 December 1985, Shreveport, Louisiana

No matter from which angle Tommy Blake's life is analysed, one final
conclusion is more than evident, the life and recordings of this tortuous
performer were marred by disaster almost from the beginning. The potential
existed, but was thwarted by circumstance, self- induced or otherwise, at
every corner. Despite this, Tommy Blake's desire to perform and write music
has left a considerable legacy for any fans of the solid sound of the Big Beat.

Tommy was jailed for rape at an early age, then signed with the Marines for
a tour. While enlisted Blake lost an eye, the circumstances of which are
unknown. On discharge from the Marines, Blake formed the basis of the
Rhythm Rebels, comprising Carl Adams on guitar (later becoming lead
guitarist for Dale Hawkins) and Eddie Hall on bass. The combo managed
to gain a regular spot on KTBS in Shreveport, plus various other stations
around Shreveport and Ruston. Regular appearances on the 'Big D Jamboree'
and 'Louisiana Hayride' followed in 1955, gaining Tommy and his boys much
needed exposure.

Buddy Young, who operated the appropriately named Buddy label in Marshall,
Texas picked up on the trio's talent, issuing Tommy's first disc in 1956.
The top deck, "Koolit", was Blake's first venture into the growing idiom of
rockabilly, whereas Tommy remained loyal to his country roots for the flip
with "If I'm A Fool". The disc seemed to impact little on the record buying
public, but may have been the catalyst that influenced Tommy's inclusion on
the 'Johnny Horton TV Show' in Tyler, Texas, during the same year.

Signing with one of the country's major labels, RCA, the following year,
Tommy's career seemed to gain momentum. Backed by his Rhythm Rebels,
with the addition of primo Nashville session musicians, including Buddy Killen,
Floyd Cramer and Farris Coursey, Blake cut a session for RCA during April,
1957. Two titles, written by the trio of Tommy, Eddie and Carl were cut at
this session, "Honky Tonk Mind" and "All Night Long". As befits the majority
of obscure southern rockers, fate dealt a blow to Blake, when Johnny Horton
picked up on "Honky Tonk Mind", recording the song for Columbia just four
days before Blake's RCA version. Horton received the nominal hit that should
have been Tommy's. RCA head honcho's decided to can the two tracks, in turn
issuing a further two tracks cut by the combo, "Mister Hoody" backed with
"Freedom".

The trio's luck had not dissipated completely. Later the same year Blake,
Adams and Hall met Sam Phillips at a D.J. convention and managed to
organise a contract to record for Phillips' Sun label. During the last months
of 1957, the trio travelled to Memphis to cut their first session for Sun. Held
in November at 706 Union Avenue, Jimmy Van Eaton was added to the line up,
rounding out a solid rhythm combo that belted out the immense "Lordy Hoody",
a reworking of their earlier RCA cut, and the T.V. Slim original "Flat Foot
Sam". Phillips' saw fit to immediately issue both tracks as a single release,
and prompted the trio to return to Sun during March of the following year.

Tommy cut a number of demo's just prior to the March session, each of the
titles Phillips' remastered with a full backing band a few days later. Eddie
Hall was absent from this second session, Stan Kesler assuming the role of
bass player, with the inclusion of Jimmy Wilson on 88's and Roland Janes
sharing lead picking duties with Carl Adams. Four titles resulted from this
session, Phillips' choosing to issue "Sweetie Pie" coupled with "I Dig You
Baby", other cuts, "Shake Around" (picked up a few months later by Ray Smith
on Sun) and "You Better Believe It" remained in the can. A further two demo
recordings exist performed by Tommy, including "Cool Alligator" and "I'll Be
Free", which were recorded around the same time as the above session.
However, whether these demos were recorded at the brief pre-March Sun demo
session is not certain.
Following the unsuccessful second Sun session, Blake departed company
with Sun, soon signing with Recco, recording a handful of sides for the label
in Louisiana in 1959. However, Blake's Recco sides, plus his later sixties
releases for Aetna, Chancellor, 4 Star and Paula did not seem to impact on
any charts.

During this period Blake began concentrating more on his songwriting
abilities, co-inking "Cool Gator Shoes" with Carl Belew in 1959 which the
latter cut for Decca that year (Decca 30947), plus writing or co-writing
"The Story Of A Broken Heart", picked up by Johnny Cash on Sun in 1958,
"Lonely Street" and "Am I That Easy To Forget".

The next two decades marked the beginning of a downward spiral for Tommy
Blake. Not only was he signing away the rights to songs he was writing, he
was also succumbing to alcoholism, drug abuse, weathering three marriages
and coping with heart disease. Blake did continue to record throughout the
sixties (under the name Van Givens), though the seventies seemed to usher
Tommy's exit from the music scene completely. Finally, Tommy exited the
land of the living on Christmas Eve, 1985, when his third wife shot him to death
under the Christmas tree in his Shreveport home.

Taken from: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/TommyBlake.html
with minor modifications.
Further reading: "Tommy Blake : Death of a Honky-Tonk Man, 2" in:
Colin Escott, Tattooed on their tongues (1996), page 140-147.
More discographical info can be found on Terry Gordon's website :
http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/b/blak3600.htm