Homer Clemons And His Texas Swingbillies

Western Swing Band Members: Vocals and Bass: Homer Clemons Electric Guitar: Benny Wilbanks Piano: Fred Burkhalter Although Homer Zeke Clemons was a fixture on the Dallas scene for almost a decade, he remains a very elusive character. A bassist, vocalist and would-be songwriter good at attaching his name to songs composed by others, Clemons first seems to have surfaced as a member of Jimmie Davis' 1943-44 gubernatorial band in Louisiana. By war's end, he was in Dallas, working clubs like the Round-Up. He recorded almost identical sessions (in terms of repertoire, not in regard to musicians or style) for two different labels in 1947. The better known date, which was probably cut a couple of months after Operation Blues heard on the Diggin' Texas Swing CD, was for the Blue Bonnet label in Dallas, a raw session that featured young steel guitarist Bobby Koefer and guitarist Sonny Hall. It yielded, among others, the version of the notorious "Operation Blues" that most collectors know (and which Nick Tosches celebrated in his classic book "Country." Far more obscure were Clemons' four sides for the Swing label out of Paris, Texas. The "Swing With The Stars" session was first cut by label owner Jimmy Mercer, who would shortly record Harry Choates for his Cajun Classics label and would later start the Personality and Royalty labels. The jazzier Swing version was apparently became a Dallas jukebox hit in early 1947. Though poorly pressed and recorded, it includes some tasty jazz guitar, possibly by Benny WIlbanks, clarinet and a great piano solo (complete with a left-field quote from "Rhapsody In Blue"), possible by longtime Dallas scene pianist Freddy Burkhalter. Clemons recorded eight sides for Imperial in 1950, including still another version of "Operation Blues," (while the Blue Bonnet version was reissued by Modern on a Royalty 4 a few years later), then played on Lee Bell's 1952 RCA Session, cut at Jim Beck's in Dallas. He was last heard of in poor health (following a car accident) in 1954, playing in a trio at a Dallas nite spot with Paul Blunt and Johnny Gimble. His subsequent movements and career are, at this point, a mystery.