Cat. No. VV 1404: SKEETS McDONALD ~ DON'T LET THE STARS GET IN YOUR EYES. BEAR FAMILY BFX 15195.
USED VINYL RECORD. PART OF A COLLECTION NOW UP FOR SALE.
SKEETS McDONALD (BORN ENOS WILLIAM McDONALD OCTOBER 1, 1915) IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS VERSION OF THE SLIM WILLET-PENNED SONG "DON'T LET THE STARS GET IN YOUR EYES". SKEETS WAS A DEVOTED HONKY TONK SINGER AND SONGWRITER WHOSE WORK HELPED TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN COUNTRY AND ROCK'N'ROLL.
SKEETS WAS THE YOUNGEST OF HIS PARENTS SEVEN CHILDREN. HE GAINED HIS NICKNAME FOR CALLING MOSQUITOES "SKEETS" AS A CHILD. WHEN HIS OLDER BROTHER MOVED TO DETROIT, MICHIGAN, IN THE EARLY 1930s, SKEETS FOLLOWED. HE JOINED HIS FIRST BAND, "THE LONESOME COWBOYS", IN 1935. HE LATER FORMED HIS OWN BAND AND PLAYED LOCAL CLUBS AND ON RADIO IN FLINT AND PONTIAC.
SKEETS WAS DRAFTED IN 1943 AND ON HIS DISCHARGE, HE RETURNED TO RADIO AND TELEVISION WORK IN DEARBORN, MICHIGAN. HE MADE HIS FIRST RECORDINGS FOR FORTUNE RECORDS IN 1950 WITH JOHNNIE WHITE AND HIS ROUGH RIDERS, AND CUT RECORDS FOR LONDON AND MERCURY RECORDS AS SKEETS SAUNDERS.
IN 1951, SKEETS SIGNED WITH CAPITOL RECORDS WHICH VIEWED HIM AS ITS ANSWER TO COLUMBIA RECORDS' LEFTY FRIZZELL AND DEMANDED HE CONTINUE RELEASING COUNTRY SONGS RATHER THAN THE ROCKABILLY SOUND HE HAD EXPERIMENTED WITH SINCE THE WAR. HE RECORDED MORE THAN 80 NUMBERS FOR THE LABEL INCLUDING THE SMASH COUNTRY HIT "DON'T LET THE STARS GET IN YOUR EYES" (NUMBER 1 FOR 18 WEEKS).
SKEETS SIGNED WITH COLUMBIA IN 1959 AND SPENT THE DECADE THERE, RECORDING SOME WEST COAST HILLBILLY, AS WELL AS SOME FORAYS INTO ROCKABILLY. HE EMPLOYED YOUNG GUITAR-WHIZ EDDIE COCHRAN TO BACK HIM IN THE STUDIO FOR "YOU OUGHTA SEE GRANDMA ROCK" AND "HEART BREAKING MAMA" WHICH TODAY ARE CONSIDERED ROCKABILLY CLASSICS. SKEETS DIED FROM A HEART ATTACK ON MARCH 31, 1968.
THIS RELEASE BY BEAR FAMILY RECORDS SPOTLIGHTS HIS TENURE WITH CAPITOL RECORDS AND INCLUDES SEVERAL TRACKS NOT PREVIOUSLY RELEASED AT THE TIME OF THIS RELEASE. THE SLEEVE IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH BARELY ANY SIGNS OF WEAR. THE RECORD IS GRADED AS NEAR MINT.
TRACK LISTING: Side 1 - Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes / Looking At The Moon And Wishing On A Star / I Am Music / I've Got To Win Your Love Again / I Need Your Love / But I Do / Be My Life's Companion / Heartbreaking One. Side 2 - The All American Boy / What A Lonesome Life It's Been / I'll Make Believe / I Can't Hold A Memory In My Arms / Bless Your Little Ol' Heart (You're Mine) / Big Family Trouble / The Love That Hurt Me So / Today I'm Movvin' Out.
12" VINYL RECORD
