Do you
remember the first record you
bought ?
The first records I OWNED were
"hand-me-downs" from
cousins. luckily for me
they were 45's of good stuff--50's
rock & roll and country.Stuff
like Bill Haley, Johnny cash, etc.--the
good stuff!What if they had been
Led Zeppelin records???
Anyway, the first record I BOUGHT
was "Elvis' Greatest Hits
Vol. 1" which I bought the
day after Elvis died. Some
readers may think "Wow, he's
really young to have started his
collecting in 1977" but some
readers may think "Holy cow
Deke is OLD!!!" And
the first one that really
impressed you…
Oh, Elvis impressed me.....I
played that record over and over
again until the grooves turned
white.
Were
you in a musical family?
My grandmother was musical.
She played autoharp, guitar &
harmonica and did "shape
note" singing. I have
a picture of her on my website,
along with my Grandpa who played
guitar and my great-uncles who
had anold-timey string band in
the 1920's called "the Webb
Brothers." So yes, I
guess you could say I had a
musical family.
Do
you remember the first time you
thought “Oh man,I’m
becoming mad about records, I’m
a COLLECTOR!!!” (you see
like Robert Crumb)
Well....by that point it was
already too late. My dad
was a collector, he was into
antique cars and antique planes
from the 1930's and 1940's.
So by the time I was
13 I was already collecting comic
books and records. I didn't
know I was a freak until too late!
Do
you know the size of your
collection
Roughly 50,000 LP's, 20,000 45's,
5,000 78's and a thousand CD's....give
or take a few!?
Are
you a vinyl “freak”, or
the format isn’t important,
it’s just the music?
It's all about the music.
Unfortunately like a lot of
people I bought records to get
the music and now kids can get
the stuff on their ipod for free
by trading files over the
internet! I do love playing
records, but I like playing CD's
and my ipod in the van set on
"shuffle." I find
myself playing 78's less and less.....maybe
in 10 years I won't even like my
vinyl anymore!?
Did
you ever buy records just for the
cover or the name of the band?
I go to garage sales all the time
over here, and I have to admit
that I constantly buy weird
records just because the cover
brings me joy. It doesn't
matter if it's a monkey on the
cover, or a pinup girl, or even a
midget singing gospel music, I
must have a thousand "weird
covers" albums that I would
never actually play!
Do
you have a record that you are
ashamed of, but you won’t
sell for nothing?
YES So ashamed of, you can't
tell what it is?Yes, that's
right, please don't make me say
it! ha ha!!!!
You've
played with many legends. Who
gave you the biggest thrills?
Scotty Moore, James Burton, Larry
Collins, Nokie Edwards, Dick
Dale, Link Wray.....I can't
believe that I've played with
these heroes of mine!!!!
This is only a small list, I feel
very fortunate to have played
with so many of the original 50's
and 60's legends.
Do
you have a musician or a player
you'd like to play with?
Yes, and he lives in France--MICKEY
BAKER! I really want to
meet Mickey before he dies.
Maybe we'll go by his chalet on
our tour this fall!!!
What
is the weirdest one you have?
That's a hard question.....maybe
the gospel midget!?
Is
there a recording you are
particularly looking for? Your
“Holy Grail”…
I have a few holy grail records
left. Unfortunately about
15 years ago I traded off my copy
of "Mr. Ducktail" by
Uncle Buck Lipe... And the last
one I saw on ebay sold for $866!!!
So that one will probably have to
STAY the holy grail for a while....that
being said I hope to find a
record that's rumored to exist of
"eefing" by Jimmie
Riddle....a full LP.....I have
the single of "Yaketty Eef"
b/w "Wildwood Eef".....I'm
a sick man! Is there a
record that was particularly hard
to getIt took me forever to get a
copy of the Fendermen "mule
skinner blues" album, I had
to go to Minneapolis to find one!
And then in Green Bay this year I
got to play with the Fendermen on
"Mule Skinner Blues"
and have them sign the album, so
it all came full circle!
What
is the one you are very proud to
have, and / or the rarest one of
your collection?
I'm probably proudest of my
collection of rockabilly records
from Missouri (my home state).
I have almost all of them, and
several are really insanely rare,
like "Hep cat" by Larry
Terry and "Be My Baby"
by F.D. Johnson.....obscure names
unless you're a hardcore
rockabilly collector!
Your
last great discovery?
The last really amazing score I
had was finding the Revels "On
A Rampage" album at a record
store in Fresno, CA. The
Revels were from Fresno, it's
probably the only place this
record ever turns up! I had
to pay some good money for it,
but I could turn around and
double or triple my money if I
had to.
Where
do you find them? Flea markets,
ebay, special stores?
Yes to all of the above!
Mostly I buy cheap records at
garage sales and flea markets.
most of my collection are "listening"
records as opposed to
'collectable" records.
Many of them are in beat up
condition, but I like them to
listen to!
Do
you find things when you’re
on tour,especially in foreign
countries?
When i'm on tour in europe I
always buy a big stack of records
to take home.I just can't seem to
stop myself!
How
have you been exposed to “Eefing”
(It sounds like a 50’s B-movie
“This boy has been exposed
to eefing, he won’t be the
same anymore…”
The television show "Hee Haw"
that was around in the 70's....Jimmie
Riddle would eef on it on every
episode.it was amazing!it still
is!
It’s
a classic question, but what is
your “desert island record”?
Probably the one record I could
listen to until the end of time
would be "Gene Vincent &
the Blue Caps" his second
album for Capitol.
How
do you choose a song you’re
gonna cover?
If it sticks in my head after I
hear it! that's a good sign.
Also,if no one else has covered
it already.
Well,
it’s not a record question,
but everybody knows you’re a
Dukes Of Hazzard collector, did
you try to be on the movie
soundtrack?
Yes, but they had already chose
Junior Brown. Too bad!I think the
movie is going to be terrible but
it is great that they cast Willie
Nelson as Uncle Jessie.
A
last one, for all those who
bought “Deke’s show-o-rama”
and were frustrated : what is The
Thing?
I can't tell you!You have to go
there and see it yourself!!!!! That
is the rule!
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