GREAT traditional country music by Jimmy Velvit, who also had a country music career as James Bell. Twenty-four tracks you'll enjoy, from this venerable Texas artist who is still going strong.

24 MP3 Songs in this album (64:44) !
Related styles: Country: Country Pop, Country: Modern Country, Type: Vocal

People who are interested in Conway Twitty Ray Price Willie Nelson should consider this download.


Details:
Jimmy Velvit recorded pop and rock & roll for a decade under that name, with some notable successes, including two #1 hits (We Belong Together and Sometimes at Night). In the 1970âs he was signed by Bell Records, one of the Amy-Mala-Bell label trio in New York City. It was evident that he had been singing, writing and recording rock n roll, but at heart he was a country boy. As Jimmy explains it in his own words:

âI was recording rock & roll for Bell Records. Dale Hawkins (of âSuzy Qâ fame), was my producer. And I worked with the Grand Ole Opry road shows, one tour being 42 days long. On the same shows were George Jones, Willie Nelson, Little Jimmy Dickens, Slim Whitman and many others.

I could record any music that I wanted, and for a session in Nashville I had written âHe Ainât Countryâ and went into a studio with Darrell Glenn as producer of that session. However, Bell Records was spending money on the image of Jimmy Velvit in pop and rock & roll music, and so were not intrigued with the idea of a Jimmy Velvit country record. In the meantime Chet Atkins (RCA Records) and others, were calling Bell Records, including Dale Hawkins, to voice their support of âHe Ainât Countryâ being a hit record.

I said to Dale, âMy first name is James - the name of the record company is Bell, so letâs put it out under the name of âJames Bellâ, and they agreed. This was their first record in country music so they took their logo name âBellâ and placed a cowboy hat above it for their venture into country music. âHe Ainât Countryâ quickly climbed high on the charts, and to the top of many of them. Thus âJames Bellâ was born.

Country artists including Conway Twitty (who also started out in rock & roll music) would ask radio stations to play James Bellâs record! So thanks to Conway, Merle Haggard, Little Jimmy Dickens, Ray Price and many others for the help. (Donât we just love Ray Price!) Some country artists were beginning to cross-over to popular music. The core of country artists resented that attempt, yet I knew of no country artist that did not want a cross-over record!

Billie Jean Horton, who was married to Hank Williams Sr. and later to Johnny Horton, purchased my management contract so as to be my personal manager.â

James Bell had a good run of success in country music. So we offer this collection of country music by Jimmy Velvit- James Bell for your enjoyment. And as you will discover, he IS country, and a lot more. In fact, a CD on this record label already features his early rock & roll recordngs (âRockinâ With Velvit - the 1960âsâ). And a CD of his blues recordings is in the works, as well as a pure pop CD.

Be sure to visit jimmyvelvit.com website!

Songs were recorded in various studios in Texas and Tennessee. Digital remastering was done at Yorktown Digital Works, Irving, Texas by 3 Grammy recording engineer, Phil York.