Pop Archives

Ted & Ray - Tell Him No (1959)

(Travis Pritchett)
Australia Australia
#14 Sydney #6 Melbourne #17 Brisbane #14 Perth

Single on HMV, Sydney.

Ted & Ray were probably singer and actor Ted Hamilton (b.1937) and his contemporary at HMV, Ray Melton (c.1939-1964).

Both singers were releasing solo singles on HMV around the time of the Ted & Ray single. Ted and Ray each had an HMV single reviewed on the same page of the Women's Weekly in December 1959 [Trove]

Ray Melton later recorded on the Teen label: see The Key (1960, #28 Sydney) and its flipside Chain Gang.

References: 1. HMV (Australia) discography at Global Dog. 2. Tell Her No at Platter-saurus database, supported by reliable anecdotal evidence given to me. 3. Australian Women's Weekly, 16 December 1959 [Trove].

Further reading: Ted Hamilton's long and varied career outlined at Wikipedia.

Listen: 1. Ted & Ray – Tell Him No: audio at YouTube. 2. Ray Melton sings at YouTube.

Thanks to Dave Overett and Tony Watson.

 


The Unichords - Tell Him No (1959)

(Travis Pritchett)
Australia Australia

Single on W&G, Melbourne, "arranged & directed" by Bruce Clarke.

The Unichords released a couple of singles on W&G around this time, and were credited on records by Frankie Davidson, Heather Horwood and Denis Gibbons.

References: 1. The First Wave discography. 2. Global Dog’s discographies for W&G Records: OZ – 000 series (1955-1960) and OZ – 1000 series (1960-1964).


Billy Mize & Cliff Crofford - Tell Him No (1959)

(Travis Pritchett)
USA USA

Live performance on TV's Town Hall Party, once immortalised via YouTube but removed for copyright reasons.


Margie Rayburn - Tell Him No (1959)

(Travis Pritchett)
USA USA

Single on Liberty #55183 by California-born singer (1924-2000) who charted in 1957 with I’m Available (#8 USA).

Initially reported by Billboard, 16 March 1959, as having been "recalled" by Liberty, but by the 13 April edition it was being listed as an available version [Google books]. The other side of the single was A Boy And A Girl.

References: 1. Margie Rayburn biography at Black Cat Rockabilly. 2. Brief Wikipedia entry (incomplete discography). 3. Liberty 55000 series discography at Global Dog. 4. Billboard, 16 March 1959 (excerpt below under Travis & Bob) and 13 April 1959.


The Jackson Brothers - Tell Him No (1959)

(Travis Pritchett)
USA USA

Another cover version from March 1959, on Atco (reviewed in Billboard 23 March 1959).

A Leiber & Stoller production, originally for Big Top label (see Billboard story, below).

References: 1. Recording details, including audio and label shots, at Rockin’ Country Style. 2. Review, Billboard, 23 March 1959, p.51. 3. Ad, same Billboard edition, p.53. [Google books]

Listen; Audio (mp3) at Rockin’ Country Style.

Radio: This had some airplay on WJJD Chicago. See the charts from March-May 1959 at ARSA.


Dean And Marc - Tell Him No (1959)

(Travis Pritchett)
USA USA

Single on New York label Bullseye, released around the same time as the version by Travis & Bob (both were reviewed in Billboard on 9 March 1959).

Dean and Mark Mathis were from Hahira, Georgia. They later formed The Newbeats with falsetto lead Larry Henley and had a number of charting singles, beginning with Bread And Butter (1964, #2 USA).

References, further reading: 1. Recording details, including audio and label shots, at Rockin’ Country Style. 2. Newbeats article at Wikipedia. 3. Billboard, 9 March 1959 [Google books].

Listen; Audio (mp3) at Rockin’ Country Style.

Radio charts: This version had some airplay in the US, going by these radio station charts at ARSA.


Travis & Bob - Tell Him No (1959)

(Travis Pritchett)
USA USA
Original version
#8 USA

Single #1017 on Mobile, Alabama label Sandy. Recording acquired and distributed by Dot, retaining the Sandy label.

Travis Pritchett (1939-2010) and Bob Weaver (b.1939) were from the small town of Jackson, Alabama. Tell Him No was their only hit, although they recorded a few more singles before breaking up.

References, further reading: 1. Recording details, including audio and label shots, at Rockin’ Country Style. 2. Travis & Bob history (republished from another source) at Black Cat Rockabilly. 3. Alabama Music Office duplicates the Black Cat content but adds Travis Pritchett’s 2010 obituary and some images.

Listen: Audio (mp3) at Rockin’ Country Style.


From SEASON’S TOP SCRAMBLE: Dot Snares Sandy ‘Tell Him No’ Master With Capping 12G bid: Billboard, March 16, 1959
[Full story: Google Books]


Jim Carlisle - Tell Him No

(Travis Pritchett)
USA USA
Later version

Single on Georgia label Money.

Rockin’ Country Style dates this as 1965 or later.


David Essex - Tell Him No (1973)

(Travis Pritchett)
UK UK
Later version

Track on Rock On, debut album by British pop star and actor (b.1947).