Wednesday, January 1, 2014

F&F Records - Homer Fiske

F&F label out of Arvada.
Appears to be the vanity label of Homer Fiske (born 1914).
Active 1962-1963
801 - Bobby Martin (with Eddie Star's Band) "Cotten Picken Relatives" /"Sky Over Memphis"

802-805 ??? - Copyright filings show "Be My Guest" (co-written with Karleen Carley) and 
"Tell Your Troubles to Me" (co-written with Evelyn LeBlanc) were filed on January 1962.


806 - Johnny Stewart (with Eddie Star's Band) "A Little Bit of Heaven" / "It's Only a Token"
807 - ????


808 - Bobby Martin (with Eddie Star's Band) "Could it Be" / "The Road to the Right" (1963)

Of note:  Homer Fiske's name appears on a couple of 1961 singles on the Florida-based Roxie label: 302: "Anyhow" - Sammy Marshall with The Gold Coast Boys / "Please Believe" - Kris Arden with the Gold Coast Boys
305 "Just Passing Through" - Kris Arden and the Keys / "Sundown Valley" - Sammy Marshall and the Keys.

Records indicate Homer Fiske passed away in 1984.

Let's Go Bowling with Fred Baca



I have found numerous hobby records about favorite pastimes, but this ditty from Trinidad, on the joys of bowling, is a first.



Once again, this one is a mystery.  One can assume that the label Val-Bac is the amalgamated name for the song's composer, Ted Vallejo and the singer, Fred Baca.  Based on the label number (SK4M-2180), I thought it might be a Rite pressing from the mid to late 1960s. However there is also an RCA Pressing "H" of note.

Address for the label is 627 Arizona Avenue, which a quick Google map search shows as an apartment complex, hugging the interstate.

According to Fred Baca's daughter, who sent me a note after I previously (and incorrectly) posted her father had passed away (apparently there were two Fred Bacas in Trinidad):

"Hi. I just wanted you to know that Fred C. Baca, of Trinidad, CO, who sings on this recording did not pass away. He still lives in the Trinidad area and occasionally still plays his fiddle and his Rickenbacker guitar. Fred and The Serenaders regularly perform on weekends at the El Rancho Club in Trinidad for close to two decades. They were a very popular band - one that continued to perform for weddings, reunions, and other special weekend events well into the late 90s. How do I know all of this? Because Fred is my father. I am so grateful for the recording you provided - only a couple of the original physical copies survived within our family - they were seemingly lost. Thank you for this post!!!"

Ted Vallejo passed away in 1988.