Jim Beck’s ‘Dude Records’
In the grand scheme of mid-Twentieth century independent Texas record labels, Jim Beck’s ‘Dude Records’ label is a peculiar mystery.
Before we get into what minuscule info exists about the label, let’s briefly take a look at the man himself. Little is really known about Beck outside of hardcore country music fans and still-living associates, but his legacy as a recording engineer is an important one. In brief, Beck owned and operated a couple of recording studios in Dallas after his stint in the Army after WWII. His reputation for his recording quality helped to establish the recording careers of Honky-Tonk legends Lefty Frizzell and Ray Price, to name a few. Columbia and Decca records, two of the largest producers of country and western music at the time, went to Beck for much of their recording needs. It’s been argued by many historians and scholars that Dallas could have been the ‘music capital of the world’, other than Nashville, had Beck not died tragically in 1956, after cleaning his recording equipment without proper ventilation. With Beck’s untimely passing, artists and major labels turned to Nashville, as Owen Bradley’s reputation as a recording engineer grew. (Readers can get a deeper dive on the Jim Beck via the Texas State Historical Society.) I tend to agree with historians that Dallas could have made a bigger impact on the Country music industry had Beck not passed, especially at the time of the birth of a new and important music genre, rock n’ roll. Who know’s what would have transpired?
But back to Beck’s Dude Records label.
Over the course of my record digging and research excursions these last few months, I stumbled upon the Dude Records label. Immediately spotting Jim Beck’s name on the label, I became intrigued. After some quick online research, I was left with more questions than answers, like ‘Did Beck actually own the label?’ or ‘Did Beck only record the the music for each release?’ Despite only a couple of websites offering discography info and a few label scans, not much history was available about the label itself. In fact, many of the online historical journals and articles on Beck make no mention of Dude Records. I consulted with another fellow Texas music expert and they were kind enough to answer a few of the questions I had lingering.
Though Al Turner and Philip J. Tricker’s “The Hillbilly Researcher” magazine from the UK is mostly discography based in nature, the article on Dude Records (issue 14) helped provide crucial pieces of missing information. Beck co-founded Dude Records with fellow musician and radio tech, Leo Teel (who is also a who’s who within Texas Country music history) around 1947/48 as a side gig to their growing radio/electrical appliances repair shop and recording studio. Turner’s interview with Teel for the article helped shed some light on the label’s origins, though it’s not clear how involved Teel was with the label’s functions, as he handled most of the day-to-day repairs. The recording studio was established as a way for Beck to record local talent with the idea to play them on his radio program for KSKY. One thing led to another and Dude Records was born. Dude released several country and western recordings for Bob Manning and His Riders of the Silver Sage, Dub Adam and His K-Bar Ranch Hands, and Stoney Carlisle for the label’s 1400 and 1500 series. Other one-off releases by Dixie Harper and Her All Golden Drifters, Art Davis and His Rhythm Riders, and “Cowboy Pal” Loyd Weaver and His Pals of the Saddle made appearances. Oddly, a couple of releases by jazz artist, Denny Beckner and his Orchestra, which seem out of place amongst the heavily favored country and western catalog, are interesting and entertaining records, none-the-less. Little is known about Beckner or his band, but he did record for other Texas-based labels around the same time. Dude would also feature a 1600 series and a single release by Red Warrick with Tillis Square Dance Band for a 1700 series. It’s not clear if the 1700 series was to be devoted to square dance bands or just a random catalog number assignment. Some of the 1600 series releases were licensed for release by Bullet Records in Nashville, through a partnership Beck had with the label. It’s likely that Beck and Teel’s growing involvement with recording material for major labels, especially Columbia, and Beck’s working partnership with Bullet Records made little time for Dude label duties. One could assume Dude Records quietly folded without anyone really noticing, operating until 1950 or so. All-in-all, Dude would release around 24 known titles within the catalog. Beck’s artists would go on to record for other labels, like Imperial, 4Star, and Columbia, thanks to Beck and Teel’s connections within the industry.
Thankfully, the today’s internet landscape has made it possible to fill in some gaps in Turner and Tricker’s Dude discography (which will be featured in a future booklet and episode of “Record Ranger Radio”, just FYI.) Without their contributions and efforts to collect classic country and western music at a time when no one else was interested, we have easier access of research and music to build upon. The British Archive of Country Music (B.A.C.M.) has also done a fantastic job of archiving and preserving much of this music, too, making rare recordings easily accessible than having to find the original discs. The TJP is looking forward to having their collection of Dude’s country music catalog in our archive to further help tell the story of Dude Records.
On a related note, I have to thank music mega-historians, Andrew Brown and Kevin Coffee, for addressing my, what may have seemed like, slightly-obsessive questioning at every turn. Their research and knowledge has been incredibly valuable and have inspired me to keep my own research pursuits moving forward.
*Label scan courtesy of Discogs.