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Jenks (Tex) Carman
Born:  May 14, 1903
Died:  February 2, 1968
Hometown Jamboree
Town Hall Party
KMOX St. Louis, MO
KTTV Hollywood, CA
KXLA Pasadena, CA
WHAS Louisville, KY


About The Artist

He was known as the "Dixie Cowboy" and was a native of Hardinsburg, Kentucky. He showed his musical talents at a very early age while in school and at church and became quite a bit of an expert at 'strumming the old family guitar'. His very first professional musical engagement was with the Continental Lyceum Chautauqua Bureau of Louisville, KY as the leader of the International Glee Club Quartette. He stayed with them for a couple of years before doing a vaudeville tour with the likes of the Loew's Time, Bently Theatrical Agency Time of St. Louis, MO. and other circuits.

Jenks Carman

Jenks did his vaudeville act as a single for several years, while later teaming with his sister when they billed themselves as the "Royal Castillians". When his sister got married, the act broke up. And Jenks went back to doing the vaudeville tours by himself. Then he began to do radio work on stations such as KMOX out of St. Louis, WHAS out of Louisville. Later, he was signed to record with the Four Star Records, Inc. label.

On Four Star, some of his more notable recordings were:

  • End of the World
  • Sunny Tennessee
  • I Don't Know Why But I Do
  • Wreck of the Old 97
  • New Waikiki Beach
  • Hillbilly Hula

What was the key to his success? He was a showman. And he had a unique style of playing the steel guitar that "...placed him in a class by himself." Jenks learned his steel guitar from Frank Plada, one of the first of the Hawaiian musicians that came to this country. The showman he is, he learned the traditional Hawaiian stylings, but let his showmanship creativity turn it into something unique that entertained the audiences everywhere he went.

Those talents led to a later recording contract with Capitol Records where it saw him record such tunes as:

  • End of the World
  • Don't Feel Sorry For Me
  • Poor Lonesome Fellow
  • My Loney Heart and I
  • Samoa Stomp
  • Hillbily Hula
  • Indian Polka
  • I Could Love You, Darlin'
  • Dixie Cannon Ball
  • The Caisons Go Rolling Along
  • Locust Hill Rag

Jenks in the mid-1950s was performing on the west coast show "Town Hall Party", that was one of the top TV shows out of Compton, California on KTTV.

Credits & Sources

  • Jenks "Tex" Carman's All Star Western Song Collection"; M.M. Cole Publishing Co.; Chicago, IL; 1955.

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)

 
4 Star
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  1230 A Wreck Of The Old 97
  1230 B I Don't Know Why But I Do
  1278 A Sunny Tennessee
  1278 A New Waikiki Beach
  1278 B New Waikiki Beach
  1278 B Sunny Tennessee
  1302 A Hawaiian Hotel
  1302 B There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder
  1379 A Fire Ball Mail
  1379 B Kahila March
  1515 A Chain Gang
  1515 B The Artillery Song
  X-6 A Old Number 9
  X-6 B Little White Rose
 
Capitol
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  1571 A I Could Love You Baby
  1571 B Ten Thousand Miles (Away From Home)
  1822 A Hilo March
  1822 B Just Another Good Dream Gone Wrong
  2067 A My Trusting Heart
  2067 B Don't Feel Sorry For Me
  2345 A Hillbilly Hula
  2345 B I'm A Poor Lonesome Fellow
  2534 A Locust Hill Rag
  2534 B My Lonely Heart And I
  2621 A Blue Memories
  2621 B The Caissons Go Rolling Along
  2752 A The Samoa Stomp
  2752 B Sweet Luwanna
  2886 A Dixie Cannonball
  2886 B Indian Polka
 
Decca
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  28771 A Hillbilly Hula
  28771 B New Waikiki Beach
 
Rem
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  329 A Bamboo Love
  329 B Black Jack David
 
Sage
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  251 A Wolf Creek
  251 B My Broken Heart Won't Let Me Sleep
  272 A Honk Honk Honk
  272 B Wildwood Flower
  289 A Beverly Ann
  289 B I Feel Like I Feel
  300 A Little May
  300 B This Lonely Road
  337 A Amo Mio
  337 B Ozark Rose
  351 A Fire In The Tee Pee
  351 B Learning To Do Without You
  352 A I'll Go On Loving You
  352 B Maggie's Twist
  355 A Aungalala
  355 B Somewhere In This World
  364 A Indian Love Song
  364 B Lobo Of The Border
  398 A Custer's Massacre
  398 B Little Black Jack Davie
  EP 273 A Silver Rails Leading Westward
  EP 273 B The Old Guitar And Me
  EP 273 C Love Me Darling
  EP 273 D Spanish Dancer
 
Sage & Sand
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  218 A You'll Come Crawlin' Back
  218 B They Had To Say Goodbye
  246 A Krish-A-Boom-Ba
  246 B Walking And Crying Over You


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