Wrestler Jerry Lawler Barbarian 103A/104B Rockabilly Cadillac Man & Memphis WWE

$

100

Up for sale is an exceptionally rare rockabilly single (7 inch, 45 RPM vinyl) from an underground Memphis, Tennessee label.  The vocalist was a professional wrestler!  This record has many great Memphis connections.

Artist:   "Bad News" Jerry Lawler "King of Memphis" (on the B side, he performs with "The Mystic King Od [sic] The Sea Trinidad Band")

Record Label:  Barbarian Records

Record Number:  0103 A and 0104 B

Release Year:  1975 (according to the website of Discogs)

The following credits appear on both sides:  Produced by Jim Blake for King Music Productions; Arranged by Jim Dickinson; Engineered by Knox Phillips; Mixed by Rick Ireland.

Side One (0103 A):  Cadillac Man (Minga) [Vocal, Time: 2:36; Knox Music, BMI]

     Wax matrix marks:  "0103 PP 79" and "I AM THE KING"

Side Two (0104 B):  Memphis (Chuck Berry) [Vocal, Time: 2:18; ARC Music, BMI]

     Wax matrix marks:  "0104 PP 80" and "I AM THE KING"

Cadillac Man is a real bangup rocker.  The song was initially covered on the Sun Records label by a local Memphis group, The Jesters.  The Jerry Lawler version is about 20 seconds longer than the Jesters' version.  I've played both and have discovered that there are ADDITIONAL PRETTY RAUNCHY LYRICS at the end of Jerry Lawler's version that were NOT present on The Jesters' version.  His last spoken words are "I AM THE KING" which also appears in the wax matrix marks on both sides of this record.

Jerry "The King" Lawler was born in 1949 in Memphis.  While working as a local disc jockey, he met a wrestling promoter who gave him wrestling lessons in exchange for publicity.  He made his professional debut in 1970.  By 1974, he won the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship which conferred upon him the title of "The King of Wrestling".  He also won the NWA MaconTag Team Championship (twice) and the CWA World Championship.  In 1982, he began his notorious "feud" with comedian Andy Kaufmann.  He would later play himself in the Kaufmann (Jim Carrey) biopic Man In The Moon and claim that the feud had been staged.  More recently, Lawler has been associated with the WWF and WWE, appearing on Raw and SmackDown, and has been a commentator under the company's "legends program".

Jim Dickinson, who is credited as the "Arranger" of this record, lived from 1941 to 2009.  He was a highly respected producer, singer, and pianist closely associated with Memphis.  Of note, in the original release of "Cadillac Man", on Sun Records, Dickinson sang lead and played piano even though he was not a member of "The Jesters", who were also a Memphis group.

In a 2018 article "Memphis' Lost Decade of Bohemia and Music" (website of the Memphis Flyer), Pat Ranier was interviewed about Barbarian Records owner Jim Blake.  She recalled that he had run the Yellow Submarine Record Shop on Poplar.  With regard to Barbarian, "Blake founded the company when Jim Dickinson told him 'You know, you should make a record of Jerry Lawler and sell it at the wrestling matches.'  I saw a light bulb go off over Blake's head.  The three of us kinda pitched in together, but Blake was the figurehead."

Knox Phillips, who is credited with the "Mixing" for this record, was the son of the legendary Sam Phillips who founded Sun Records and promoted the careers of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and so many others.

Francis Richard ("Rick") Ireland (1942 - 2011) was another Memphis native.  He was influential in the garage rock scene of the 1970s and would go on to become studio manager at Ardent Recording Studios.  He was an accomplished guitarist and also played with the Veterans Administration Band, the Shriners' Band, and the Memphis Doctor's Band.

See above for complete description of condition and for photos.  Sold as is.

Attention US Buyers:  I will ship by USPS Media Mail or by USPS Priority Mail, your choice.  Please note that if you have a Military Mail address (e.g. APO), I must ask that you pick USPS Priority Mail as t is my understanding that USPS Medial Mail is not reliable to Military Mail addresses.

Attention International Buyers:  I will ship using USPS Priority International Mail (worldwide) or by USPS First Class International Mail (to countries with e-Delcon service), your choice.  Please note that the price does not include any customs that may be charged by the country to which the record is delivered.