In September 1957, Willie Jacobs was drafted into the Army and the band split up.
As far as we know, only “I Do” (a ballad) remains unissued from the few sides that the Strikes recorded for Joe Leonard. Unfortunately for Ken Scott, he had sold the rights to “Baby I’m Sorry” (a virtual clone of “Little Mama” by the Clovers) for a one-off payment of $ 500.Ī second session, on February 17, 1957, again yielded an Imperial single (“Rockin’” c/w “I Don’t Want To Cry Over You”) and a track that would remain unissued for several decades (“My Poor Heart” first appeared on the LP “Imperial Rockabillies, Vol. Later that year, both sides were covered by a fellow Imperial artist, Ricky Nelson, on his chart- topping debut album. Following a licensing agreement between Joe Leonard and Imperial boss Lew Chudd, the single was reissued on Imperial 5433 in March 1957, this time simply credited to The Strikes. The three main singers, Jacobs, Scott and Kunz, weren’t too happy with that billing. The other two songs, “If You Can’t Rock Me” (written by Willie Jacobs) and “Baby I’m Sorry” (by Kenneth Scott) were coupled for release on Lin 5006, credited to “The Strikes, Vocal by the Three Pelves”. Three songs were recorded, of which “Come Back To Me” was held in the can (first release on a Rollin’ Rock EP in the mid-1970s). The Strikes were given their own session on November 18, 1956. Joe Leonard leased the tracks to MGM who released them on two singles. All four songs on that date were supplied by members of the Strikes : “Give Me A Woman” and “No Room For Your Kind” were composed by Willie Jacobs “Round and Round” and “One More Time” by Don Alexander.
Before recording the group on their own, Leonard tried them out as a backing group, on a session by Andy Starr on September 9, 1956. In the summer of 1956, the Strikes hooked up with Joe Leonard, the owner of Lin Records in Gainesville, Texas, who held his sessions at Cliff Herring’s studio in Fort Worth. In 1956 the original trio was joined by Albert Brandon Cornelius (a top-flight rock- abilly guitarist), Don Alexander (bass) and Walter Paschal Parsons (drums). Prior to the advent of Elvis, they listened to hillbilly music and played in a honky tonk style, influenced by Hank Williams, but they also had an appreciation for rhythm and blues. Jacobs and Kunz also played rhythm guitar, but not on record. They sang at frat parties and campus stage shows. The original Strikes were Willie Jacobs (lead vocal), Kenneth Ewing Scott (rhythm guitar and tenor) and Paul Kunz (bass singer). North Texas State was then a musical melting pot other students included Roy Orbison, Dick Penner and Wade Moore. The group began life as a trio of students at Denton’s North Texas State College in January 1955. Though they didn’t have much success at the time, their music was discovered by European fans during the rockabilly revival of the 1970s and has been heavily reissued since (including unissued tracks). They were a self-contained group who wrote their own material.
The Strikes, from Graham, Texas, were a sextet of college students who recorded innovative rockabilly during their short career (1956-57).
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