George & Earl - Can I

1950s Mercury Hillbilly George and Earl were of the most promising acts in Nashvilles country music scene during the 1950s, but at least, their career didnt take off. At the end of their joint career, George and Earl recorded some great rockabilly songs, which are now favorites among collectors. Two reissues miss-credited their rockabilly to George Jones due to Earls similar voice, but at that time, Jones was still recording for Starday and not for Mercury. George McCormick was born in 1933 in Tennessee and Earl Aycock three years earlier in Jimmie Rodgers hometown Meridian, Mississippi. George started out in the late 1940s as a bass player and harmony singer for a local band in Gatlin, Tennessee. He later moved to Nashville, where he joined Big Jeffs Radio Playboys and appeared on his Saturday Frolic over WLAP. Earl Aycock played bass for Bill Nettles before launching his own career. George became a member of Martha Carsons backing band, doing harmony singing, guitar playing and also bass playing while appearing on the famed Grand Ole Opry. Four months later, a young musician named Earl Aycock joined the group in Alabama. George and Earl soon became friends and discovered that their voices fit each other well. “Earl liked Carl Smith. My favorite was Hank. Thats one reason Earl and I sounded good together; we had a nice blend“, George remembered later. Together, they began to perform duets at the Opry during Martha Carsons portions of the show and became very popular with the audiences. In early 1955, they met A&R man Dee Kilpatrick backstage at the Opry and auditioned. Kilpatrick was impressed and signed them to Mercury Records. In February, George and Earl held their first session with Benny Martin on fiddle, Chet Atkins on lead guitar, Ray Edenton on rhythm guitar, Bob Moore on bass, Floyd Cramer on piano and Buddy Harman on drums. The duo recorded Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes and Anything Good along with Can I, which became their first single in April 1955. In June, Mercury released Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes and the song soon became a hit recording. It remained their biggest hit; Carl Smith also cut a version for Columbia, making it a bigger hit. Over the next months, George and Earl recorded more country material, mixing their songs up with rockabilly. Eight sides were issued on Mercury and Billboards reviews were good, the sales promising but at the end, none of their singles charted. In April, George and Earl issued their last single. They shook it up with Done Gone b/w Better Stop, Look and Listen with killer guitar work by Joe Edwards. But unfortunately, the single didnt have any impact on the record buying public and the duo disbanded. Earl moved to Houston, Texas, where he worked as a disc jockey and also recorded for Pappy Dailey associated labels. George stayed in Nashville and became a studio musician and played with Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper, the Louvin Brothers and Jim Reeves.