Best known for his rockin’ single “Doggonit,” Jimmy Spellman was born in Ohio in 1935. His family soon migrated west to Arizona. By the mid-1950s Jimmy became a regular on the KOOL TV show “Arizona Hayride” out of Phoenix. This led to Spellman playing a central role in the development of the city’s nascent Rockabilly Country scene, which also included such hitmakers as Duane Eddy, Sanford Clark, and Loy Clingman, among others. In 1955 Jimmy was the first artist signed to up and coming producer Lee Hazlewood’s then-fledgling Viv Records imprint.
Between 1955 and 1960 Jimmy worked with a band that included guitar great Al Casey and recorded several top-notch Rockabilly and Country gems, many of them written by Hazlewood. The songs found release on Viv, as well as Dot (the label that released “Doggonit”), Vik, Rev, and Redstart imprints. Fervor Records is proud to be home to Jimmy Spellman’s amazing recordings on the Redstart label.
