The “Golden Hits Of The 50s”
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Travis & Bob
“TELL HIM NO“
(Travis Pritchett)
Sandy 1017
No. 8 April 27, 1959
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“Bob [Weaver] and I [both born in 1939] went to Jackson School together played ball, baseball together,”
said Travis Pritchett, in an exclusive interview. “It was a grammer school, high school the whole shot–a
candy store across the street, dirt floor. Jackson, Alabama was, population 3,000, maybe 4.000. It was a
big town to us.
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“We just found out that we liked to pick and sing a little bit. You know, music just became our thing. We
worked it and everybody ’round said, ‘Hey, you boys is good! So, we gave it our best shot.
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“One of those DJs over at WPBB [Jackson’s hometown radio station] suggested that we go to Mobile to
make a demo. There was this guy there that had a little sound studio; did commercials. We told him we
wanted to do ‘Dream,’ the Everly Brothers’ song, and put one of my originals on the flip. We started singing
‘Tell Him No’–the first thing I ever did write and he stopped us in the first verse. He had a big cigar in his
mouth. This was Henry Bailey. Never will forget. He said, ‘Are your boys interested in making a record?’
I said, ‘Hey, like yesterday.’ ‘I can get you boys a recording contract…” ‘You boys is goo-oood.'”
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Bailey introduced Travis and Bob to to the Dubois brothers, Paul and Johnny, partners in what Travis
called “a little ole record company, named Sandy. They’d put out a lot before we show’d up, but no chart
records. They had this guy Darrell Vincent, that had a song called ‘Daddy’s Goin’ Batty.’ He shoulda, but he
couldn’t make it, so he wound up committing suicide. He was a wild young guy that sounded like Jerry Lee
Lewis. We’s figured if he couldn’t make it, we weren’t neither.”
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The Dubois boys recorded the duo in a garage in their hometown, Gulfport, Mississippi. Bigtime Dot
Records’ owner Randy Wood had a teenage daughter that by chance happened to hear ‘Tell Him No.’ “Fate
would have it that way; no way else.” explained Travis. “I hear it told that it stopped her in her tracks. She
said, ‘Daddy, this is a hit!’ He said, ‘I think you’re right.”‘
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A deal was cut between the Dubois brothers and Dot, for the latter to distribute the disk nationally. “Two
Cadillacs and $20,000,” said Travis. “They got the Cadillacs and we got zilch. Man, oh man, we didn’t know
nothin’. We were just kids and our dads didn’t know nothin’ ’bout music. We got a cent and a half a
record, a piece.”
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“Tell Him No” was rapidly covered by Dean and Marc (Mathis) on Bullseye Records. Their take on the tune
went to #42, taking a good chunk out of sales away from the boys from Jackson, Alabama. “Some say we
sold a million [copies],” said Travis. “Johnny [Dubois] looked me right in the eye and said 757,000. He’s
dead now, though; said he had ta eat a lot of left over copies.
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With Dot providing distribution “Oh Yeah,” “Wake Up And Cry,” and “Little Bitty Johnny” were issued in
rapid succession. Only the latter number did near anything sales wise–when for one week, it occupied the
number 114 slot on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under The Hot 100” chart.
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“Gettin’ that one hit was just like winnin’ the lottery, I’d guess. We was in shock and we stayed in shock for
five, maybe six years. ‘Times we was gettin’ $1,700 a night, a piece; not chicken feed. We had Cadillacs, the
whole nine yards; the girls, you know, how that goes…”
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A albums’ worth of stuff was recorded, but never released. “They had quit trying on us,” said Travis.
“They’d made some bucks and they were satisfied. It woulda meant puttin’ more money into us.”
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Mercury Records issued a weird number by the duo, “The Spider & The Fly.” Bigtop Records took a mild
interest in Travis & Bob, but decided not to put out any singles. “Now, Wesley Rose [owner of Hickory
Records and Wesley Rose Publishing]–who’d lost out on the Every Brothers–offered us ten grand if Bob
and I would sign with him; put us on the Opry the nest day. But, Bob wouldn’t cooperate. We split up. Bob
went in the service; came back in ’64. We tried again; traveled all over the South with MARK DINNING for
six, seven months. There was just nothin’ there…”
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