Housed in a former grocery store in an industrial backwater, Meteor records lived in the shadow of the Sun label in 1950s Memphis. It was run by Lester Bihari, the mild-mannered brother of Joe, Jules and Lester Bihari, as an outpost of their thriving Modern/RPM label in Los Angeles.
Hoping to give Sun a run for its money, Meteor kicked off promisingly in 1952 with the R&B hit ‘I Believe’ by Elmore James recorded in Chicago. Though worthy, subsequent R&B releases proved less successful. However, a second hit, this time in the country field, ‘Daydreamin’ by Bud Deckelman in late 1954, gave Meteor a new lease of life and piqued Lester’s interest in recording rockabilly artists, especially now that newcomer Elvis Presley was breaking through on Sun. Soon they came calling: local honky-tonk bawlers like Bill Bowen and Brad Suggs, out-of-State rockabillies (Junior Thompson, Steve Carl), determined amateurs (Jess Hooper and Wayne McGuiness) and a smattering of Sun renegades (Charle Feathers and Malcolm Yelvington). Each and every one had something cool to say and laid it down for posterity at Meteor, among the most collectable of post-war labels since few releases were distributed beyond Memphis and the surrounding area.
The sign on the awning out front boasted ‘The Supreme Achievement in Recorded Sound’ but in truth the sound was quite the opposite – woolly, dark and mysterious, governed by whoever was closest to the mike in Meteor’s ill-equipped studio housed in a backroom with poor acoustics. Meteor’s studio was made to keep its secrets and herein lay the magic. No-one was ever paid and no-one was invited back for a second session.
At some point in summer 1957, Lester Bihari turned off the lights, locked up Meteor’s storefront for the last time and walked away without bothering to take the masters and any documentation, mythologising the label with that last turn of the key.
Meteor Rockabilly’s unwitting truth as our truth: it let the music speak for itself, unadorned and free of commercial imperatives.
Exquisitely mastered from the best available sources, pressed on luxurious 140 gram vinyl and attractively packaged, ‘Bop Baby Bop (Meteor Rockabilly’) is a vital testament to post-war Americana.
