Dexture mccall picture12/29/2023 Although his first single for the label, "Pins and Needles (In My Heart)," didn't do much better than "There's Still a Lot of Love in San Antone," his second single, "Lily Dale," was a duet with Willie Nelson that cracked the country Top 40. In 1975, he left Atlantic for Columbia, where he had his greatest period of chart success since the early '60s. His debut single for the label, "There's Still a Lot of Love in San Antone," nearly reached the country Top 50 that year. McCall didn't reactivate his recording career until 1974, when he signed with Atlantic. took McCall's "Eleven Roses" (which he co-wrote with Lamar Morris) to number one, which led to Tree International signing him as a professional songwriter. The contract with Wayside expired in 1971, and McCall didn't immediately sign another recording contract. Over the next two years, he had four minor hits for the label - "I'd Love to Live With You Again," "Wall of Pictures," "Hurry Up," "The Arms of My Weakness" - and released one album, 1970's Meet Darrell McCall, which was distributed by Mercury. He didn't return to recording until 1968, when he joined the roster of the independent label Wayside Records. During that time, McCall also worked as a cowboy in the Southwest and appeared in several minor rodeos. That year, he appeared in the film Nashville Rebel, and the following year, he was in Road to Nashville and What Am I Bid. McCall decided to abandoned music for a short while in the mid-'60s, launching an acting career in 1965. Peaking at number 17 on the charts, the single spent eight weeks on the charts and seemed to be a positive beginning to his country career, but he wasn't able to deliver a hit follow-up, even though he sang the theme to the Paul Newman film Hud that same year. In January of 1963, "A Stranger Was Here," his first - and, as it would turn out, his biggest - country hit, appeared. In light of his unsuccessful forays into the pop marketplace, McCall returned to country in 1962 and signed a contract with Phillips. During 1961, he released two pop singles for the label, "My Kind of Lovin'" and "Call the Zoo," but both failed miserably, and the label dropped him. The following year, he signed a solo contract with Capitol. McCall agreed, and the Little Dippers had one major pop hit, the Top Ten single "Forever," in 1960. Impressed with Darrell's abilities, Killen asked him to join a group he was assembling called the Little Dippers, which also featured Hurshel Wigintin, Delores Dinning, and Emily Gilmore. In a short time, the studio work metamorphosed into road work, as he played bass and sang harmony for several different touring bands, including those of Young, Price, and Hank Williams Jr.ĭuring a recording session in 1959, McCall met Buddy Killen, a famous Nashville producer and publisher. Eventually, McCall became a studio harmony vocalist, singing on records by Faron Young, George Jones, and Ray Price, among others. McCall and Paycheck attempted to record as a duo, but they were unsuccessful. After his tour of duty was completed, he and his childhood friend Johnny Paycheck moved to Nashville in 1958. Following his high school graduation, he joined the Army, where he was stationed in Kentucky. Around the same time, he was playing local dances and events as a musician. McCall had a few hits over the course of his career, sliding into the charts every few years, whenever hardcore country crossed over into the mainstream, but for the bulk of his career, he essentially remained a semi-popular artist with a die-hard cult following.īorn in and raised in New Jasper, OH, McCall began his musical career by landing a slot as a Saturday morning DJ on a local radio station when he was 15 years old. As a result, his sales suffered somewhat. He sang both traditional country and honky tonk during the '60s, but he eventually became devoted to roadhouse country. After coming to prominence as a member of the Little Dippers in 1960, McCall broke away from the group the following year, and by 1963 his sound had evolved into pure country. Though his initial singles were pop, Darrell McCall was a hardcore country vocalist to the core, singing tough honky tonk during the majority of his career without caring for trends and fashions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |