Ralph Marterie and His Orchestra (1955) and Joe Carson (1954): CNQ 45 Record Holder Series Episode 1!

Last Christmas I nabbed from my dad a Decca 45 RPM record holder that contained 24 45s from the '50s and '60s. I think they were his parents, but they coulda also been his older brother's, I'm not sure (Note the holder itself has the Decca label on it; the 45s it contains are from various labels). It's a lot of pop, country, some rockabilly. A while back I featured from this collection "Steer Stomper," the Pacers' sweet ode to the Arkansas Razorbacks, but that's the only one I've posted on CNQ so far (the embed and the link to download that Steer Stomper mp3 are both dead, btw -- let me know if you'd like me to re-up it).

A lot of the jams on these 45s are readily available on Youtube. As an ongoing project, I think I'll go through the twenty-four 45s, in the order that they're in the little holder, and post the youtube embed if there is one; otherwise I'll share the mp3. So, starting from the first 45 in the holder, here we go!

First up is Ralph Marterie And His Orchestra's 1955 Mercury release, "Remember Me" b/w "Blue Mirage (Don't Go)." As is typical with this type of fare, the B-side instrumental is the cooler track. Check 'em both out here tho:

Next up is some sweet country from Joe Carson, who I'd never heard of. This is a real find for me. "Little" Joe Carson began his singer/songwriter career at age 16, doesn't have a wikipedia page I can find (but here's his allmusic bio), and this particular 45 (another Mercury release), "Show Me Now" b/w "Don't Enter," isn't listed in Discogs or 45cat. Here's the links I found relevant to Little Joe:

In Memoriam LP, a best of available via Discogs

This Amazon review about a more recent Carson retrospective is informative.

Here's a cool blog post from New Jersey DJ Richard Sibello about Carson, featuring the excellent song "The Last Song (I'm Ever Gonna Sing)."

Finally, here's the two really great Carson songs on my 45, courtesy Youtube user lillymoons, whose channel is worth checking out for some classic country. This 45 actually looks to be kinda rare. I will take no less than a million dollars for it (OBO). Email me if interested.