Grady's Music

Grady wrote hundreds of songs during his lifetime--a great many of which may now be lost to the world.  He also worked as a solo artist, touring musician and studio musician on a great many recordings.  I’ve tried to catalog as much of his work on this page as possible, but doubtless I’ve left a great deal off.  In researching Grady’s life and work, I interviewed many of his old friends and band mates, and many of them either had some recordings of Grady or knew of them.  Most of this list was compiled in that way, though the internet has proved invaluable as a research tool as well. 

In approaching a list of Grady’s work, I’ve decided to break things down into two sections.  First will be a list of official released recordings of Grady, either solo or with other bands or artists.  Second, I’ll list all of Grady’s songwriting credits that I’ve discovered. 

I. Official Releases:

Official releases are listed below, in chronological order more or less, with song titles followed by the song’s writer, if known. 

A.  Solo Work:

Laurie Records:

1.  You Are My Sunshine (Gov. Jimmy Davis, Charles Mitchell)

2.  Balled of a Lost Love (Johnny Carroll)

This was Grady’s first record release, circa 1960, although it is likely the tracks were recorded earlier, perhaps 1957.  A brief blurb in Billboard Magazine from June 1960 references the release.

Note, this record seems to have inexplicably gotten an Australian release as well, as evident from the labels shown below. 

Sandeb Records:

3. I’m Losing Everything (Grady Owen, Jimmy Crisp)

4. Blue Driver (Wayne Waller)

5. 36 From Dallas (Wayne Waller)

6. Two Walls (Howard Hausey)

7. Laugh on Three (Grady Owen, Jimmy Crisp)

All of these are circa 1965 releases.  Note, the B-side of Laugh on Three was also song #6, Two Walls.  It had a separate record number (DLC-715) but as far as I can tell it was the same recording as DLC-713.

Sanshel Records:

8. Nashville Town (Grady Owen, Jimmy Crisp)

9. Cold Scraps (Grady Owen, Jimmy Crisp)

This record, circa late 1960s, was also released by Jimmy Crisp’s outfit, but Grady’s name was changed to Dean Autrey and the Tumbling Tumbleweeds, but it is unmistakably Grady performing on the recording.  Perhaps the name change was an attempt to capture attention due to its similarity to Gene Autry. 

Helton Records:

10.  Vietnam Blues (Irvin Russ)

I know next to nothing about this record.  I discovered it on YouTube.  It is unmistakably Grady singing and perhaps playing guitar as well.  I would date the song as late sixties to early seventies solely on the subject matter.  The B-Side was the same recording of 36 From Dallas as the Sandeb release listed above. 

Dragon Street Records

11.  I Don’t Feel Like Rockin’ Tonight (Grady Owen)

This was a demo recorded in Dallas by Grady, most likely in early 1957, when he cut many demos for Ed McLemore’s agency.  Dragon Street Records included it on their CD release Gene Vincent: The Lost Dallas Sessions. 

Dick McGrew Recording Service

12. Waiting for a Train (Jimmy Rodgers)

13. Silver-Haired Daddy (Gene Autry and Jimmy Long)

14. Tiny Blue Shoe (Grady Owen)

15. Wabash Cannonball (Traditional)

16. Just a Closer Walk (Traditional)

17. Wreck of Old 97 (Traditional/Charles Noell)

18. Great Speckled Bird (Reverend Guy Smith)

19. The Haven of Rest (Henry Lake Gilmore, George D Moore, Add’l lyrics by Grady Owen)

20. Maple on the Hill (Traditional)

21. Mother, Queen of My Heart (Jimmie Rodgers)

22.  Take me Home, Country Roads/Take me Home (John Denver/Taffy Nivert, Bill Danoff/Johnny Cash)

Front of Album Cover of the '50th Anniversary Album'

Back of Album Cover of the '50th Anniversary Album'

Record Label for one side of 'The 50th Anniversary Album'

I hesitate to call this a ‘release,’ as it wasn’t in the true sense, but it has all the makings of one in that the music was professionally recorded in a studio (likely Sellers or Phil York's) on Ampex tape and then a vinyl LP was cut from the tapes by Dick McGrew.  Grady had it made as a gift for his parents on their fiftieth wedding anniversary—an album of Grady, just him and his guitar, performing their favorite songs.  It is a truly beautiful piece of work and certainly unique as well.  As far as I know, there was only one album cut from the master tapes, so it is a singular artifact.  I guess you could say it was the closest Grady ever came to cutting an ‘album’ of his own.   

B:  Recordings with Other Bands/Artists

1. Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps

Capitol Records, Los Angeles, CA. 

The Following Songs were recorded by Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps at Capitol Tower in Los Angeles between March 25 and October 20 1958.  They represent all of the studio work of Gene Vincent’s on which Grady appears as a performer.  For simplicity’s sake, I am listing them in the order they were recorded, but the songs appeared on several albums, mainly A Gene Vincent Record Date, Sounds Like Gene Vincent and the Hot Rod Gang EP.  Some were only released as singles, and a few of the songs were not released until much later, when all of Gene’s Capitol recordings were released in a box set by Bear Family Records.  For more information and a full list of musicians on each song, see Derek Henderson’s incredibly thorough book Gene Vincent: A Companion.  I am only noting Grady’s role on each song (listed in parenthesis) here. 

1. Dance in the Street (rhythm guitar)

2. Git It (rhythm guitar)

3. I Love You (rhythm guitar)

4. Teenage Partner (rhythm guitar)

5. Peace of Mind (rhythm guitar)

6. Lovely Loretta (rhythm guitar)

7. Little Lover (rhythm guitar)

8. Rocky Road Blues (rhythm guitar)

9. Somebody Help Me (rhythm guitar)

10. Five Feet of Lovin’ (rhythm guitar)

11. Look What You Gone and Done to Me (rhythm guitar)

12. Hey Good Lookin’ (rhythm guitar)

13. Summertime (rhythm guitar)

14. I Can’t Help it if I’m Still in Love With You (rhythm guitar)

15. The Wayward Wind (rhythm guitar)

16. Now is the Hour (rhythm guitar)

17. Lonesome Boy (bass)

18. You Are The One For Me (bass)

19. Maybe (bass, background vocals)

20. In Love Again (bass, background vocals)

21. Say Mama (bass)

22. Be Bop Boogie Boy (bass)
23. I Can’t Believe You Want to Leave (bass)

24. I Got to Get to You Yet (bass, background vocals)

25. My Heart (bass, background vocals)

26. The Night is So Lonely (bass, background vocals)

27. Beautiful Brown Eyes (bass)

28. Rip it Up (bass)

29. Maybelline (bass)

30. High Blood Pressure (bass)
31. Who’s Pushin’ Your Swing (bass)

32. Anna Annabelle (bass)

33. Gone, Gone, Gone (bass)

34. I Might Have Known (bass)

35. Important Words (bass)

36. My Baby Don’t ‘Low (bass)

37. Over the Rainbow (lead guitar)

38. Ready, Teddy (bass)

39. Vincent’s Blues (bass)

As can be seen, several of the above songs recorded at Capitol were released as singles, but the majority of the songs were released on three albums over 1958 and '59.  They are pictured below.

 The Hot Rod Gang EP Cover

'A'Gene Vincent Record Date' LP Cover

'Sounds Like Gene Vincent' LP Cover

All of the Capitol recordings listed above appear in the box set, Gene Vincent: the Road is Rocky, the Complete Studio Masters 1956-1971.

This offering from Bear Family Records is quite a lovely item, containing 8 CD worth of music and a hardback book that details Gene's life and career.

Also if interest is the set, also by Bear Family, known as Gene Vincent:  The Outtakes.  Some of the tracks on this CD set are different versions of some of the songs listed above from the Capitol recording sessions, some quite different than the final master release.

Note: The above tracks also appear on many Best Of, Greatest Hits and other compilation albums on both vinyl and CD (as well as streaming these days of course) and such are too numerous to list here. The best source for identifying these would be Derek Henderson's book Gene Vincent: A Companion.   

Sellers Company Studio, Dallas, TX

The following songs were recorded as demos by Gene and the Blue Caps circa September 1958 in Dallas.  They were finally released in the late 90s on the CD Gene Vincent: The Lost Dallas Sessions.  Grady performed on three of these songs. 

40. The Night is So Lonely (bass, background vocals)

41. Lonesome Boy (bass, background vocals)

42. Lady Bug (bass, background vocals)

Compton’s Town Hall Party TV Show – Compton, CA. 

This was a television appearance by Gene and the Blue Caps on 25 October, 1958, possibly their final performance before the band and Gene parted ways.  The show was recorded on kinescope and years later, in the late 90s, it was released as both a video presentation and an audio CD.  Grady performs bass, background vocals and handclap on all six songs. 

43. Be-Bop-A-Lula

Gene and the Blue Caps performing Be-Bop-A-Lula on Town Hall Party, Oct 25 1958

Grady is playing bass on the (viewer's) left.  

44. High Blood Pressure

45. Rip it Up

46. Dance to the Bop

47. You Win Again

48. For Your Precious Love

2. Johnny Carroll/The Spinners

Grady was good friends with Johnny Carroll, a rocker of moderate fame from the mid to late 1950s who was also managed by Ed McLemore’s agency.  Grady played with Johnny both as a solo artist, and in the band The Spinners.  These recordings were made from late 1958 to early 1960.  Grady played bass on all. 

49. Bandstand Doll

50. The Swing

51. Sugar

52. Lost Without You

53. Rag Mop (as The Spinners)

54. Little Otis (As The Spinners)

55. The Sally Ann

56. Run Come See

3. Scotty McKay (real name, Max Lipscomb)

Max Lipscomb had a bit of local/regional fame in Texas in the late 1950s.  He was briefly in the Blue Caps as a pianist and later a ‘clapper boy.’  In 1958, when the Blue Caps broke up, he and Grady went to New York to record.  I have very little info on this period, and I have no idea how many songs were recorded during these sessions.  But I can confirm the following two of Lipscomb’s releases were recorded during this time with Grady on bass. 

57. Evenin’ Time

58. Rollin’ Dynamite

An interesting note: the writer of Rollin’ Dynamite is listed as JoAn Owen.  This was Grady’s wife at the time.  While she certainly could have penned this song, the liner notes for the Bear Family Records CD That’ll Flat Git It, Vol 20, on which this song appears, speculate that Grady wrote the song and gave credit to his wife to sidestep his writer’s contract.  Since he was likely still contracted to Ed McLemore’s agency at the time, this is possible. 

4. The Riels

59. Paul

60. Let Him Go

The Reils were a girl group of the usual 1960s doo-wop flair.  I know little about them except they recorded for Jimmy Crisp’s outfit and they had a few releases mid-sixties.  Grady is performing guitar on these two tracks. 

5.  The Levee Singers

The Levee Singers were a banjo-based nostalgia band whom Grady performed with for several years in the late 60s/early 70s.  Grady cut one album with them titled ‘The New Levee Singers.’  All tracks were recorded live at the Levee club in Dallas, TX, with Grady performing bass on all tracks, background vocals on some, and lead vocals on a few. 

61. Alabama Jubilee*

62. Funny Country Medley

63. Okie From Muskogee

64. Northern Medley

65. Texas Medley

66. Heart of my Heart Medley

67. Those Were The Days*

68. Sleep

69. Cheatin’ Heart Medley

70. Rockabye Your Baby*

                                    *indicates Grady on lead vocals

The New Levee Singers LP Cover Front

The New Levee Singers Album Cover Back

6.  Others

Grady undoubtedly recorded with other artists/bands over the years—he was a competent studio musician after all.  He possibly played bass on some Johnny Dollar recording sessions in the late 50s, and possibly some studio work for the York Brothers as well.  There are almost certainly other performances and recordings.  Any info on such would be greatly appreciated. 

II. Songwriting Credits

Grady was a truly prolific songwriter and he wrote many hundreds of songs in his lifetime.  Only a small number of these were ever recorded by him or other artists, so most of his songwriting work is, as far as I know, lost.  There are a few demos and home recordings of some songs, and there may be more out there somewhere, but who knows? 

This section will focus on songs that were indeed recorded by Grady or another artist or artists. 

The BMI website lists 63 songs as being written and published by Grady Owen.  Apparently these were all recorded by Grady or another artist at some point, because, as Grady told me himself, BMI doesn’t track songs that haven’t been released in some capacity.  The following songs are listed on BMI.  I’ve included the writing date and recording artist in parenthesis if known.  Tracks in italics indicate a song that I’ve never heard/seen lyrics for and have no idea if it still exists in any form.  Note, there was a songwriter active during the 1920s named Grady Owens.  It appears his BMI records may have been merged with the records of our Grady Lynn Owen at some point.  (The fact that our Grady’s name was often misspelled as Owens on labels and credits adds to the confusion)  Many of the songs listed below are likely the 20s Grady Owens’ work.  I am still researching this, but until I can confirm, I’ll leave these songs listed here.  Songs I suspect to be the work of the Earlier Owens are indicated with a double asterisk**

1. Ballad of a Little and a Lot

2. Blessed Are the Meek**

3. The Cabin I Built For You**

4. Cold Scraps (Early 1960s.  Recorded and Released by Grady Owen)

5. Cold Scraps (Dupe of #4 listing different co-writer)

6. Cold Steel Wheels

7. Darlin’

8. Don’t Say You Don’t Love Me Anymore (Early 1980s)

9. Finger Lickin’ Love (Mid 1960s)

10. For Cryin Out Loud

11. For the Child That Laughs No More

12. For the Very Last Time

13. Georgia Blues**

14. Gettin’ High

15. Gone

16. He Will Bring Victory**

17. I Found it Only a Dream**

18. I’ll Be Thinking Of You Little Darling**

19. I’ll Keep Dreaming**

20. I Love You Honest I Do**

21. I’m Losing Everything (Mid 1960s. Recorded and Released by Grady Owen)

22. I’m Your Baby**

23. I’ve Composed This Song For You**

24. I Wanna Be Your Only One

25. In the Region Of Real

26. Keep a Shakin Baby

27. Laugh On Three (Mid 1960s.  Recorded and Released by Grady Owen)

28. Let Him Go (Written late 1950s.  Recorded and Released by The Reils)

29. Let Him Go (Dupe of #28 with different publisher listed)

30. Life After You

31. Lovely Loretta (Late 1950s.  Recorded and Released by Gene Vincent)

32. Mighty Lovable Man (Late 1950s.  Recorded and Released by Sonny James)

33. Miss Everything of Nineteen Always (Mid 1960s)

34. Moose Is Loose

35. Morning After (Early 1980s)

36. My Darling**

37. Nashville Town (Mid 1960s.  Recorded and Released by Grady Owen)

38. No Money No Honey

39. Now in Our Judgment Day**

40. Off Color Blue

41. One That Got Away

42. Pandora

43. Papa Can You See Me Now

44. Part of My World

45. Smells Like Rain

46. So Lonely For You**

47. Souvenirs

48. Sweet on You

49. Tell Mother and Daddy Too**

50. There’ll Never Be Another Us

51. Tiny Blue Shoe

52. Under the Silvery Moon**

53. Us (Likely dupe of #50)

54. Very Last Page (Circa 1970s)

55. Wait for Me Little Darling**

56. What’s This Story All About

57. When it’s Pretty Violet Time**

58. Whoa You Old Drunk Fool**

59. Why Can’t You Care When I’m Blue**

60. Why Can’t You Love Me**

61. Won’t You Be My Baby**

62. Write Me Every Day Little Girl**

63. Your Voice Sounds like Sweet Music to Me**

The next group of songs are works written by Grady Owen which are listed on the U.S. Copyright website. 

64.  I Love You.  (1958.  Recorded an released by Gene Vincent) 

--Note, this song, co-written with Vincent, also appears on BMI, but Grady’s name is incorrectly listed as Gordy Owen.  It is possibly Grady missed out on some royalties due to this. 

65. Cold Scraps (Dupe of #4)

66. Don't Say You Don't Love Me, Anymore (Dupe of #8)

67. (I Lost You on) the Very Last Page  (Dupe of #54)

68. June Again

69. Morning After (Dupe of #35)

70. One More Whiskey

71. Pandora (Dupe of #42)

72. ('Scuse me) for Cryin' out Loud (Dupe of #10)

73. Swingin' Again

74. That Old Flame of Mine

75. Us (Dupe of #50)

76. Let Her Go. (Technically a Dupe of #28.  See Note)

--Note, Grady wrote this song as both Let Him Go and Let Her Go, with the intent that it could be sung either way, depending on the gender of the person singing.  Thus The Reils (a girl group) sang it as ‘Let Him Go,’ but when Grady performed it he sang ‘Let Her Go.’

77. Lovely Loretta. (Dupe of #31)

The Next Group of songs were written by Grady in the late 1950s and recorded as demos.  Most don’t appear on BMI thus were likely not released, though it seems a couple were.  I’ve repeated them here for the sake of consistency.  Recordings of these songs survive in the Ed McLemore collection. 

78. I Don’t Feel Like Rockin’ Tonight.  (Late 1950s.  Recorded and Released by Grady Owen)

--Note, The song was released in the late 1990s on the CD Gene Vincent: The Lost Dallas Sessions. 

79. Bye Bye Girl

80. Beautiful Dreamer

81. Can’t Get Away From the Blues

82. Careless Love

83. Wonderful Lies

84. Cha Cha Sam

85. Pandora (Dupe of #42

86. Let Her Go (Dupe of #28, #76)

Additional songs written by Grady Owen

The following songs are unreleased as far as I know.  Their authorship was either confirmed by Grady to me in person or via letter, or it is unconfirmed but likely based on the lyrical style or content of the song.  

87. Child of Love (Mid 1960s)

88. One Arm to Hold You

89. Mr Moon

90. It’s Your Own

91. The One I Adore

92. I’ll Be a Good Man

93. Love is More than This

94. Sadness of the Situation

95. The Money Store

96. Hold on to What You Got

97. A Secret Place

98. Many Miles Away

There were likely many, many more songs created by Grady.  I know when he visited me in the 1990s he played some songs not listed here, but I don’t remember much about them or their names.  In his letters to me from the Philippines he told me he was still writing songs, but he didn’t know who to send them to or if anyone would still be interested in them. I have no knowledge as to whether any of these have survived either.