Curtis Gordon

"Play the Music Louder" already was a regular song on live shows from the Ranch Girls, when in may 1995 the Ragtime Wranglers were invited to back up Curtis Gordon. He appeared for the first time in Europe at the celebrated Hemsby festival in the U.K. This show was so successful, that Curtis Gordon and the Ragtime Wranglers did a German tour at the end of that same year.

From left to right: Kaar (steel-guitar); Sietse (drums); Curtis Gordon; Errol (bass) and Joe (guitar) at the Waverly Hotel, Great Yarmouth U.K.

Unlike other artists in the fifties Curtis Gordon started working directly for a major label: RCA-records in 1952. A year later he recorded "Rompin' and Stompin' ", an outstanding uptempo hillbilly-boogie.

The picture left shows Curtis Gordon with the Circle 'A' Wranglers in 1956.

At the end of 1954 he signed with Mercury, where he recorded some great rock-a-billy songs like: "Draggin' " and "Mobile, Alabama". He played with the best musicians around: guitar-pickers Chet Atkins, Hank Garland, and Eddie Hill and steel-guitar-players Noel Boggs, Al Murray, Bud Isaacs, Jerry Byrd and the young Buddy Emmons.

After his last session for Mercury in 1958 Curtis Gordon worked with smaller companies and kept on writing songs. Among others his songs were recorded by Fats Domino and George Jones.

There are two albums by Curtis Gordon available on Bear Family records which contain his RCA and his best Mercury recordings. Also available is an e.p. on Stomper Time on which are 5 songs he made for Dollie records in the end of the fifties.