Gary James' Interview With "America's Lost Rocker" / "The Don Juan Of Rockabilly"
Al Hendrix



Al Hendrix holds a special place in the history of Rock 'n' Roll. You see, he was there when it was known as Rockabilly. Al recorded his first singles, "Rhonda Lee" and "Go Daddy Rock" in 1957, and by 1960 could be heard every hour on Alan Freed's radio show. In 2008, Al was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame. In recent years he's performed as the Feature Performer at events around the world, including Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Festival, The High Rockabilly Festival in Spain, the Hemsby Rock 'n Roll Weekender in the U.K. and The Crystal Palace. And now, Al Hendrix has partnered with Time Life to release 107 songs from seven of his classic albums on all digital streaming platforms. We spoke with Al Hendrix about the career he's had in music.

Q - Al, you're known as "The Don Juan Of Rockabilly". Where did that come from?

A - I wrote a lot of good love songs. Have you heard any of my love songs?

Q - I certainly have.

A - I love to write love songs.

Q - What does it mean to have Time Life do a digital distribution of all your albums?

A - I'm just thrilled because they picked me up because I was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame. They heard my music. I never thought it would happen, but I got an e-mail and they wanted to give me a five year, exclusive contract to promote my music on over 300 streams. You can hear Al Hendrix Radio Show, hear my music on Spotify and Amazon, Pandora, Apple. They've done that for me, but I've only been in a contract going on four months. It's just getting started. My God, no telling what's gonna happen in the near future. Kirt Webster is my promoter and he promoted Dolly Parton for fifteen years. He also promoted Garth Brooks for five years and Hank Williams Jr. He knows everybody. When he decided to showcase my music, I got the letter from him and I just couldn't believe it. They liked my voice. They liked the songs I've written. I write all my own music. I was just thrilled over it and still am. I'm still not over it really. New things are happening all the time.

Q - That's a good thing!

A - Yes.

Q - Have you received any recognition from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland?

A - No, I haven't. I mentioned that to Kirt and he said we're going to reach them. That hasn't happened yet as far as I know. But, I've been doing this for over sixty-four years.

Q - And you're only 39. How did that happen?

A - (laughs) Miracles. I believe in miracles Gary. When you hear my music, you're gonna rock and roll. You gotta keep on rockin' and that'll keep you young and wild. My number one song was "Young And Wild". It's one of the best Rock 'n' Roll songs ever recorded.

Q - You had this love for Country music, yet you're known as "America's Last Rocker." Why didn't America hear more about you? Did you have the right record label, agent, manager and promotion people behind you?

A - When I moved to Bakersfield right after I was released from the military in 1956, my dad was a welder and there was a lot of work in Bakersfield. So, he took us to Bakersfield, and Buck Owens, at that time, was playing at the famous Blackboard Cafe with Billy Woods And The Orange Blossom Playboys. That was the beginning of the Bakersfield sound.

Q - Right. Merle Haggard was there.

A - Yeah. Merle was only 16 years old. He wasn't one of 'em yet. Cousin Herb Henson And His Trading Post Gang had a TV show and he was the number one guy there. Everybody who was anybody would appear on his TV show. I was on his show about three times doing Rock 'n' Roll under Al Hendrix, Jolly Jody And The Go Daddies. I'd gone from Country because the money was in Rockabilly. And just about all your Country singers were doing Rockabilly. That's why I switched over. My number one here has always been Hank Williams. I just did a Hank Williams album, fourteen songs of Hank Williams called "The Lonesome Whistle". I'm getting lots of response off that. But to answer your question, back in the late '50s, '60s, I didn't have a manager. I didn't have an agent. I was just trying to make something happen at that time, hoping somebody would pick me up. Before 1960 I recorded three songs on Tally Records in Bakersfield. Louis Tally and Fuzzy Owens became Merle Hagggard's manager and road manager. They had a recording studio over in Bakersfield. I recorded three songs and two of my songs were issued though ABC-Paramount Records in New York. I was on a major label. Then, nothing happened with any of them. At the time I was living down in San Diego and I won an amateur contest. This disc jockey was there when I was. He told me about someone who was looking for a rocker up in L.A. His name was Phil La Gree and Herb Monte. Phil La Gree worked for Dot Records. He was a P.R. man for Dot. He worked with Tennessee Ernie Ford at John Solamani Publishing Co. in Hollywood. So, this disc jockey friend I met at the talent show, he set up a meeting. I went up to Hollywood with my guitar and played for these guys and they signed me up with a contract right then and there. I recorded "I Need You" and "Young And Wild" at Goldstar Studios in Hollywood. Both those songs were on Cashbox magazine. Cashbox said, "Watch out for Al Hendrix and these two songs." Well, Liberty Records picked me up and released the songs from La Gree Records. It was actually recorded under La Gree Records. "I Need You" became number one in El Paso, Texas for six weeks straight and I couldn't get one booking there! My publisher, Herb Monte, right after I recorded the song, was setting me up on American Bandstand. Ritchie Valens was six months ahead of me and he just appeared on American Bandstand. So Herb Monte said, "You're next, Al. Dick Clark wants you on his show." Well, two weeks after I did Wink Martindale at Pacific Ocean Beach TV show down in L.A. Herb Monte flew to Hawaii and died of a heart attack. There went my appearance on American Bandstand.

Q - Herb Monte was who to you?

A - He was my publisher. Then I got to meet Wink Martindale and Wink was a close friend of Elvis Presley and Priscilla. He (Elvis) said onstage he wanted to get my career going. Of course I never saw him after that. I only met him once. Then I was on Art Le Beau's Civic Audiorium with The Ventures. All these things came about, but to no avail. I was still out there being kicked around, nothing really happening. I was getting very depressed about it. I didn't know what to do. Nobody else picked me up. So, I kind of went into a stalemate for quite some time. My friends and relatives urged me to get back into the business. So I did. I went back up to Bakersfield. Started playing with Jolly Jody And The Go Daddies. We were always booked. We were the hottest Rockabilly band on the West Coast. That's where I ended up. I went into Country with my old band called The Country Mixes, and I played Country music with Rockabilly and Rock 'n' Roll and Rhythm And Blues. I could do it all, and I did. I was booked solid at all the air bases. I was getting well known. My name was getting around, but I wasn't doing anything that was significant that would really help me to get my name up there where I thought it should have been. So, I've been praying Gary, and I don't mind telling you this. My heart is with The Lord and has been for a long, long time, and I prayed to him for over fifty years to just let one of my songs get famous. Out of 107 songs that Time-Warner is now promoting for me, I would just like to see one of those songs do something so everybody would get to hear it. And that's where I am right now. I don't mind telling anybody, The Lord had kept me going all these years. My wife, I've had the greatest woman in the world. We just celebrated our 51st anniversary.

Q - Well, I do believe a congratulations is in order!

A - Thank you very much.

Q - Allan Freed liked your song, "I Need You". Did you ever meet him by chance?

A - Well, you know he was in L.A. after the FBI booted him out of the business. He was working for the biggest radio station in L.A. with his own radio show. He was playing "Young And Wild". He really liked that song. He played it every hour on his radio show. I was in San Diego at the time and I was going to go up to see him, but you know, I never did do it. I just wanted to go up there and thank him for playing "Young And Wild", but I never did. I wish I had. There are a lot of things I wish I'd done now that I didn't do then. We regret a lot of things in life when we get older and wish the heck we had made a better decision back then when we were younger. At all my shows I'll say, "Remember, never stop rockin'. That's gonna keep you young and wild." We all have a little young and wild blood in us, even when we get elderly. (laughs)

Q - The music keeps you young!

A - That's it. Humans need three things. The main thing is love. We all need love, especially in the times we're living in right now. We need the love and be loved with our families, the ones who have families, and we need laughter. Laughter is the main medicine to cheer the heart. And then the third thing is music. When you leave your business at work in the afternoon and get in your car, most people, the first thing they do is turn the radio on so they can entertain the brain. Entertainment. And I've always loved to entertain and make people feel good by what I did. That's why I stuck with it for all these years. I went to so many different talent shows. I won so many talent shows. I won so many Chinese dinners and bottles of champagne and bottles of wine. I would encourage anyone in this business, the younger bunch, go to any talent show you can. Go to where you get experience. Dress the best you can. Look the best you can because the first time people see you they're gonna look at how you're dressed. They're going to judge you according to how you appear and act and dress and don't use any profanity. Keep that away. Profanity insults good manners. The Bible says that. All the shows I've done, you'll see how well I dress. I look the part. My mother said, "Soap doesn't cost a lot of money." She was on cleanliness. She said, "Put on the best clothes you have. People will buy a real nice, expensive pair of shoes, but they'll only wear them once in awhile. They buy cheap shoes and wear them all the time." She told me that when I was just a little boy. She said, "I want you to grow up and be friendly." I said, "Well, why is that?" She said, "Because a friendly man will have a lot of friends, and you're going to need a lot of friends in this life."

Q - Yes.

A - She was a good woman. I just love my mother. At least I got to grow up to know her in her older years. I still miss her like we all do when we lose someone we really care for. Some of the things they teach us when we're young and growing up matters. It turns over in our elderly years.

Q - Tell me about your meeting with Elvis.

A - Lorraine (Al Hendrix's wife) and I were invited to his show in 1972 at the International Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. We were on his preferred guest list. Eight of us were there before everybody else got there. It was an evening cocktail show with 3,500 people there. And we sat right down in front. My wife was right next to the stage. (laughs) She got to hug and kiss him. I wish I had a picture of that. I know pictures were taken, but they wouldn't let you use flash cameras and didn't have cell phones. All you have is your memory of the moment when we met him. I got a good handshake from him, talked to him for about a minute. That's something you never forget, when you see him in person. There was nothing like it on this earth at the time in the entertainment world. When he did a show you would never see anyone else do what he did.

Q - Did you ever meet Jerry Lee Lewis or Carl Perkins?

A - I met Jerry Lee. I met him at the Viva Las Vegas show in 2010 in Vegas. Jerry Lee Lewis was the headliner. He did the outside car show and I did the upstairs ballroom. That's how I met Jerry. We actually had a twenty minute appointment with him in his suite. But after he did his show he got ill and the doctors wouldn't let anybody visit with him. He stayed up there for a couple of days after he was supposed to have left. But I met him when he left the car show. He was in a motor cart and he came by where we were and we talked to him for about a minute I guess. But I tell you, he could put on a show.

Q - We talked earlier about Buck Owens. Was he as nice of a guy as he appeared to be? He seemed like he was easy going.

A - Yes and no. He's gone now. If I want to say anything about anyone who can't defend themselves... When I knew him we became good buddies. We didn't pal around town together. He backed me up on his Fender cutaway guitar when I would get up and do my songs. He actually played lead guitar for Billy Woods. Billy Woods was the one that put him to work, but in the history books they'll say Buck Owens actually put Billy Woods to work. Billy Woods got a lot of people going. George Jones and Merle Haggard both went up to Bakersfield in '61 with their new albums. He invited 'em up to the Blackboard Cafe to sing that night. George Jones said he never heard Merle Haggard sing a song until that night and he knew he was gonna be a big star. They were good friends. Buck wrote a song called "Hotdog" and he wanted me to record it on Tally Records, which I did. I put The Go Daddys in there and all of us recorded "Hotdog". And then Buck changed his mind and wanted to do it himself after he heard my master (recording). My master was going to go to ABC-Paramount like my other two, and it was never issued. They told Paramount not to release it. Buck Owens changed his name to Corky Jones and recorded "Hotdog" under that name about a year later. No one knows what happened to my master. It's never been heard and no one has a copy of it. Fuzzy Owens was his manager and he just passed away a few months ago and to this day I think he had the master, but I'll never know. It bothered Buck years later because he called his producer and wanted him to reach me and ask me to record "Hotdog" again and send him a copy, which I did. I never got a response back.

Q - Al, you moved around quite a bit as a kid, so I suspect that experience actually prepared you for life on the road.

A - Yeah, I guess. (laughs) Life on a Greyhound bus. I've been a vagabond part of my life. Not intentionally. Circumstances sometimes direct our paths in life. Situations change our destiny. It's just amazing.

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