In May of 1975 Jim Allison signed Judy Lynn Gregson of London, ON, to a publishing deal with his label, Thunderbird Recording. Four months later, on September 6th 1975, they recorded Judy’s demo in the front room of Jim’s house utilizing four local musicians who had been playing together for years. Johnny Givens was twenty and played mandolin & acoustic guitar. Thomas Wade Barker was fourteen, played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals. His younger brother Clayton Barker was thirteen, and played the fiddle. Paul Newell was also thirteen, and played the bass guitar as well as sang lead vocals. Johnny, Thomas and Paul were members of the group ‘The Favourite Five plus Sue.’ For this recording session Jim dubbed them ‘Tobacco Roads.’ The young musicians were augmented with three adults; Jim Allison was forty-three and played acoustic guitar, as well as produced the session. Fred McKenna was forty-one, and played flat top guitar & the spoons. The star of the show was thirty-four year old Judy Lynn Gregson who sang leads and played acoustic guitar. Parker Dean wasn’t present at the session, but lent Jim his Ampex reel-to-reel recorder. Jim wanted the recording done quickly, so he kept the process simple.
Judy had three originals, and a cover in mind for the session. The musicians picked out some other songs to record to round the demo tape out. This was the first time Judy had ever met any of the folks in the Allison household, other than Jim. Johnny, Thomas and Paul were musically tight; playing the strongest songs from their current set list. Clayton played six fiddle standards to get everyone warmed up, and then Judy and Thomas sang as a duet on ‘Take Me Home Country Roads.’ During the session they even composed a new number right on the spot, ‘I Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye To You’ with Thomas Wade on backing vocals and Paul on harmonies.
Over several hours during the afternoon the group got eighteen songs worth thirty-eight minutes down on tape. Jim was very pleased with how everyone meshed together. Once they’d finished and began putting the equipment away, Jim realized that he had two demos in one; he would promote Judy Gregson and Tobacco Roads as separate entities. He immediately saw two singles with Judy’s three originals and a cover, and another single with Thomas Wade and Judy’s new composition. Jim’s plan was to pick the best cuts off the tape and get them in the mail to Tommy Hunter on Monday the 8th. He was hoping the music would knock Tommy’s socks off! To cover his bases, Jim sent the demo tape to several other TV shows and labels as well. He planned to manage the boys to great success, just as he had tried to help Johnny with his career years before.
Unfortunately, after several months Jim didn’t hear anything back from the demos he had sent out. By this time Judy Lynn Gregson lost interest in recording with Jim when she found out she had to front all the costs. Thomas Wade, Johnny Givens, Clay Barker and Paul Newell all liked making music together, so they came up with a new name, ‘The Silver Wings.’ In this group Clay put down his fiddle and picked up the drums.
Lucky for this author, Clay Barker had a copy of the eighteen song demo tape made by Judy Lynn Gregson and Tobacco Roads. The music was finally released on CD in 2018 as ‘Love The Country’ by Judy Lynn Gregson and Tobacco Roads. Now everyone can enjoy the magic that was made that fateful September day in 1975.
Album:
2018 -- Love The Country (Digital Release) Mouton 19752
Track Listing; Love The Country - Song I Wrote For You Dad, The Black Velvet Waltz, Heartaches By The Number, Woodchopper’s Breakdown, I Love The Country, I Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye To You, Lievre River Waltz, Mississippi Cotton Pickin’ Delta Town, Rhinestone Cowboy, Road To The Isles, Bug Bug Bug, Shelly’s Winter Love, Whalen’s Breakdown, There Won’t Be Any More, Rocking Chair Jig, Whiskey River, Take Me Home Country Roads, Don’t Let Me Cross Over.
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