Kingbeats – I’ll Tell My Mama On You/I’ve Been A Bad Boy
Flash 1553
I can’t find much out about the Kingbeats other than that they were a three piece from
Olive Branch, Mississippi and consisted of Robert Geeslin, Gene Sullivan, and Larry Houston. I heard them through their inclusion on the Chicken Rock: Rockin’ Around The Mountain. The Eagle CD (1999) is well worth checking out for it’s Memphis area rockabilly from Sun era Carl Perkins, Jimmy Evans, Tommy Tucker and the great title track from The Mountain Ramblers featuring an up and coming Bobby Bare.
The Kingbeats were the 185th Inductees into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, purely on the strength of their Flash single. According to Terry Gordon’s brilliant website, Flash Records came out of Senatobia, Miss, and this Kingbeats classic seems to be its only release. It could be their own vanity label?
Despite the singles 1964, its more Gene Vincent than Beatles. I’ll Tell My Mama On You is a great rocker that could have been cut a decade before. This vocals are so exciting and the guitar is pure rockabilly. I’ve Been A Bad Boy is a strolling blues number with some stinging guitar, rudimentary drumming and call and response vocals.
1 comment:
Love reading this article. My dad is Larry Houston the drummer. Mr. Gene Sullivan has passed away but my Dad and Robert Geeslin still live in Olive Branch Mississippi.Gene Sullivan was guitar player and Robert Geeslin was singer. The bass was played by studio musician.
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