DAVID FRIZZELL

   David Frizzell is the younger brother of country music legend Lefty Frizzell. His career first started in the late 1950s, but his biggest success came in the '80s, 30 years into his career.

   Frizzell was born in El Dorado, Arkansas, in 1941. He began performing in his brother's show at the age of 12. He toured with his brother throughout the 1950s and 1960s and served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. He signed with Columbia Records in 1970 and finally achieved solo success, placing the single "I Just Can't Help Believing" on the Billboard top-40 country charts.

   In 1981, he recorded his first number-one country hit, "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma," a duet with Shelly West. The song won the Country Music Association's Song of the Year and Vocal Duet of the Year awards in 1981

   He is currently touring and working on a book about his late brother, Lefty Frizzell.

   This year will be his first time on the stage of the Habnk Williams Festival.

   The following conversation was recorded on April 8, 2011.

   “We just back from the Mediterranean, playing in Italy, Spain, and France. Man, I’m telling you they love country music over there, just like we do back home.

   “This weekend we’ll be in Wisconsin, and then we’re headed down to Little Rock.

   “Hank Williams was one of the originals. He helped make country music what it is today. I never met him, but he and my brother, Lefty were good friends. They roamed around together.

   “Once they did a six-day tour. They started off in Little Rock and wound up down in New Orleans. I remember Lefty talking about it, and he said they went to Monroe and Baton Rouge, Lousiana. It was a real whirlwind type of thing. I don’t know how they did it.”

Note: This was probably a Hadacol Tour in either 1950 or 1951. Louisiana Senator Dudley LeBlanc, who made the Hadacol product, rented a steam locomotive with four or five passenger cars to carry the musicians.

   There was lots of advance advertising in each little town, or crossroads in which the train was scheduled to stop. An area for the band, complete with microphones and loud speakers was set up on the last car.

   In addition to Williams and Frizell, such stars as Milton Berle, Lucille Ball, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope, Cesar Romero, Dorothy Lamour, Carmen Miranda, Minnie Pearl, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Judy Garland, Jack Dempsey, Chico Marx, and James Cagney helped him market his product.

   Sometimes the train would only travel 15-20 miles before it stopped again.

   Hank and the other entertainers would play for a few minutes and then the train would pull out for the next place. They played 10-12 different little towns each day.

   "Hadacol Boogie" was also sung by Hank, but it should be credited to Bill Nettles and His Dixie Blue Boys. The song reached the top-10 in 1949.

Hadacol Boogie Lyrics

Down in Lou-'si-an'er in the bright sunshine
They do a little boogie-woogie all the time;
They do...
[Chorus:]
The Hadacol Boogie (Hadacol Boogie)
The Hadacol Boogie (Hadacol Boogie)
The Hadacol Boogie
Makes you boogie-woogie all the time.
(Chorus)
A-standin' on the corner with my bottle in my hand
And up steps a mama, said, my Hadacol man;
She done...
[Chorus]
I went down to the farm to rest about a week
But the farmer's wife, she got to walkin' in her sleep;
She done...
[Chorus]
If your radiator leaks and your motor stands still
Give 'er Hadacol and watch 'er boogie up the hill;
She'll do...
[Chorus]
The rooster and the hen, they were standin' in the shade
The rooster done the boogie, while the hen laid the egg;
He done...
The other little chickens, they gathered around
They done the boogie-woogie, til the sun went down;
They done-

 

   “After the tour, Hank and Lefty locked themselves into a hotel room and started writing songs. When they were finished, they exchanged songs, and no one ever knew which song the other one wrote.

   “At one time Hank and Lefty had seven of the top-10 records on Billboard.

   “I was too little to go with them at the time. The first time I played with Lefty was in 1954. Then in 1955, I started playing on a regular basis.

   “For the past several months, I’ve been promoting a book on Lefty. He talked about Hank quite a bit in it.

   “I’m coming to Georgiana to play with Jett and sing whatever the folks want to hear.

   “We’re not going to worry about the weather. I might not be doing the Hadacol Boogie, but we’re going to make it a little hotter.”