I Dig You Baby

I met Marvin Rainwater in 1980 in South Shields ... or was it Sunderland?
Shook his hand, got his autograph, told him what a great show he did. He was still full of surprise that not only did people remember him (or in my case, had heard of him) but they knew the words to his obscure Rockabilly records. He was all fired up to cut a Rockabilly record when he got home, and because he was in favour of the local brew, the record was going to be about Brown Ale.

When it came out the following year "Henrieta, Oklahoma" was a hit in Scandinavia, even though it wasn't about Brown Ale, and it did fair thump along.
Bear Family has the Rockin' Rollin' Rainwater CD (which has all the tracks mentioned here and also the early rockabilly numbers like "Hot and Cold") where you can do a search to see the other CDs by Marvin in their catalogue.

One interesting thing I didn't know about Marvin Rainwater, was that his second UK hit "I Dig You Baby" was recorded in the UK with Ken Jones and his Orchestra (as they used to call em - I love that feature of old R'n'B singles that say things like "with Vcl Group and Orchestra" when they mean a piano). This track features some great piano playing from Mr Jones, and the rest of the 'orchestra' are right on the button, too ... for Limeys ... And a great follow up to "Whole Lotta Woman" it is, perhaps "Dance You Daddy" was meant to be in the same groove - I never understood why it ws issued on MGM Rockabilly Vol2 when it's such a great Rock'n'Roll record. Apparently they only recorded one track in the UK, unless there's anything else on the Bear Family box set. Let me know if you find anything comparable.


Just up recently is Marv's Myspace site
and you can also leave a message for the man at his official site AND there's an interview from 1998 where he sounds on good form.

And of course, the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame



I Dig You Baby
Dance Me Daddy
Boo Hoo

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