If It's Circle D, It's Good!

The "Circle 'D'" label, out of Speedwell, Tennessee, seems to have been a teeny-tiny project. And based on the one site I can find that has captured some information on the label, found here, it's connection to the song-poem world seems quite tenuous. The other known releases on the label are largely religious in nature, and the one other label scan found does not feature the same song-writers as are seen on this record (a hallmark of these teeny labels is that often, all songs on the label are written by the same person or people).

 

However, at some point in the mid 1960's, someone named Ruth Ellen White teamed up with two different co-writers (and perhaps composers) to put together songs, and then bought the talents of two very disparate song-poem outfits, Sandy Stanton's Film City factory and the gigantic Globe song-poem operation. Remarkably, they produced records which - despite completely different instrumentation and singers, have the same tempo, general (rolling) beat and key.

 

From Film City, we have chief label star, and one-man-band, Rodd Keith (as Rod Rogers, of course), with a lovely midtempo ditty titled "Out Where the Coyotes Howl". This is not one of Rodd's greatest vocals or Chamberlin efforts, but the thick production has some appeal to me, as do the howls that he helpfully added to the mix.

 

Download: Rod Rogers: Out Where the Coyotes Howl

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On the flip side, we have Sammy Marshall, or Sonny Marcell, to be specific. True to its title, "Strumming the Old Guitar" is accompanied by guitar, although it does precious little strumming, and a lot more picking, behind a fairly dreary song.

 

But wait, maybe it's better than I think it is, because, as the label says, "If Its (sic) Circle D Its (sic) Good"

 

Download: Sonny Marcell: Strumming the Old Guitar

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