Tommy Blake (born Thomas LeVan Givens, September 14, 1931 – December 24, 1985) was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

singer and songwriter active in the 1950s to the 1970s. Regarded as a skilled writer, Blake penned several songs that were later recorded by rock and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artists, including

Johnny Horton John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Initially performing traditional country, Horton later performed rockabilly songs. He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrat ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

, and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

among others. He also achieved modest success as a recording artist for

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

, but failed to record a national hit himself, a fact that frustrated Blake later in his life. Retrospectively, he has received praise for his contributions to rockabilly and was inducted in the

Rockabilly Hall of Fame The Rockabilly Hall of Fame is an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennesse ...

Early life

Blake was born Thomas LeVan Givens in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

in 1931. He never knew his father nor did he develop a healthy relationship with his mother. His troubles continued into his teen years when Blake was imprisoned on

statutory rape In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent (the age required to legally consent to the behavior). Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sexual ...

charges. In 1951, he joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. During his service, he lost an eye, either, as Blake claimed, while on tour in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

or more likely during boot camp. While in the Marine Corps, Blake nurtured his ambitions of being a professional musician by frequently singing and playing on the guitar for enlisted men before his discharge.

Career

He pursued his music career further when he settled in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

to work as a

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

for the radio station

KTBS KTBS-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the locally based KTBS, LLC (owned by the Wray Properties Trust, which is managed by Betty Wray Anderson, John D. ...

and later for KRUS. In 1954, Blake persuaded the Rhythm Rebels, a duo featuring Carl Adams (lead guitar) and Eddie Hall (bass guitar), to operate as his backing group as he began touring on the live circuit and appearing on Southern television programs to gain exposure. On one such program, ''

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of th ...

'', Blake closely observed the approach of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

whose momentous performance on the show convinced Blake to adopt characteristics of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

. To capitalize on the craze for

that began to dominate the American charts, Blake recorded his debut single, "Koolit", in 1956. "Koolit" was issued by Young Records in April but it failed to chart. In 1957, Blake arranged a one-off single deal with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

record producer

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

in Nashville. Atkins hired a collection of

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s, including Buddy Killen, Farris Coursey and Floyd Cramer to record the rhythm sections. The single, which included the band originals "Honky Tonk Mind" and "All Night Long", was given the full rockabilly treatment. According to music historian Shane Hughes, the session displayed Blake and the Rhythm Rebels' potential as songwriters; however, Blake attempted to cash-in on "Honkey Tonk Mind" by offering it to

. RCA's competitor

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

quickly released Horton's version in April 1957 under the title "The Woman I Need". Horton enjoyed a Top 10 hit on ''Billboards country charts while Blake's rendition was shelved. Under advisement from RCA executives, Atkins released the other two songs recorded from Blake's session, "Freedom" and "Mister Hoody", then nullified his recording contract. Undeterred, Blake accepted a deal with

after

Sam Philips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

met him at a disc jockey convention in Memphis. Blake worked at the label's famous

RCA Studio B RCA Studio B was a music recording studio built in 1956 in Nashville, Tennessee by RCA Victor. Originally known simply as "RCA Studios," Studio B, along with the larger and later RCA Studio A became known in the 1960s for being an essential fac ...

; he is the first recording artist to do so. Sun Records released Blake's single "Flat Foot Sam" on September 14, 1957: it sold well in regional markets and earned Blake his first brush with success. Furthermore, it instilled confidence in Sun Records to bring Blake back for a follow-up recording session that resulted in nine songs. Among the sides was "Ballad of a Broken Heart", his own self-penned composition that was later recorded by

as "Story of a Broken Heart". "Sweetie Pie" and "I Dig You Baby" were paired together for a single in 1958 but it sold poorly. Sensing he had little hope with writing pop songs, Blake struck a songwriting partnership with Jerry Ross to work for country artists. In 1959, Blake began collaborating with

Carl Belew Carl Robert Belew (April 21, 1931 – October 31, 1990) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Belew recorded for Decca, RCA Victor, and MCA in the 1950s through 1970s, charting 11 times on Hot Country Songs. He also wrote singles f ...

, an already established songwriter who had his first major success with Johnnie and Jack. Together, they achieved their biggest success with "

Tender Years "Tender Years" is a song written by American country music artist George Jones and Darrell Edwards. It became Jones' second #1 country hit. Background "Tender Years" spent seven non consecutive weeks at #1 and a total of 32 weeks on the country ...

". However, they sold the rights to Darrell Edwards who pitched it to

in 1961, taking the song to number one on the country charts. The Blake-Belew partnership is credited with a number of charting hits recorded by Charlie Walker,

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...

Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman ...

Del Reeves Franklin Delano Reeves (July 14, 1933 – January 1, 2007) was an American country music singer, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty songs of the 1960s including "Girl on the Billboard" and "The Belles of Southern Bell". He is also known ...

, and

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

, among others. Nonetheless, Blake was disenchanted with the music industry, embittered by his inability to record a successful tune himself. He worked for minor labels in the late 1960s before retiring the following decade.

Personal life

Blake suffered from alcoholism throughout the majority of his life. At the age of 54, Blake was murdered by his third wife over marital disputes on Christmas Eve in 1985. He was posthumously inducted into the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Tommy 1931 births 1985 deaths Singers from Dallas American murder victims American rockabilly musicians Country musicians from Texas People murdered in Louisiana Mariticides United States Marines 1985 murders in the United States