The family boasts an ace saxophone player too – Ace Dinning. Ace had his own band which played gigs at the “Boots and Saddle” club in Bowling Green, Kentucky. (The pianist from Ace’s band was Billy Vaughn, who went on to a very successful career, beginning with a group called “The Hilltoppers.”) Here is Ace with the instrumental, “Mulholland Drive” from 1959, which features somebody named “Jeanette,” perhaps his sister Jean?
Johnny Spencer, “Mulholland Drive”
More recently in the family tree, Ginger Dinning and husband Harry Lutke had a son named Steve Lutke who has made a name for himself as a banjo player:
As has their other son, Kevin, a jazz guitarist:
Here’s another member of this musical family, Dean Dinning, who is the bass player for the band Toad the Wet Sprocket:
Interesting and informative. Thanks for doing all that research and broadening our horizons.
Shelby Singleton is actually the name of a country music label owner who bought the rights to Sun Records from Sam Phillips in the late 60s, as well as putting out records by Orion, who was alleged to Elvis performing under a mask. Great article.
Interesting story. Will we see a book in the future?
Definitely a book. Simply print this post, then staple the pages together!
Standing ovation. Outstanding work, formidable research, quite a story or set of stories. Very impressive.
THAT is some musical family roundup! Thanks, and thanks for reminding me of “Teen Angel,” a song I always dug as a kid.
cher, I meant to ask you what spurred your deep interest in this family? Did you connect the dots starting at the beginning of the story, or did that Mystery Date clip lead you to work from the middle out?
Not sure how it began – I knew one song by the sisters, kind of at random. One day I had the songs “The Streets of Laredo” and “El Paso” in my head and while surfing around, came across “Teen Angel” and I wondered about the connection.
The sisters’ wikipedia page also connects the dots. Everything I wrote here is really semi-unsubstantiated hearsay of the internet. I think they are still local heroes in Missouri and so I have a feeling that anybody over the age of 60 in MO could tell you more than what I wrote here.
Yeah, but I want more details. Besides my printer is having a tough time with those You Tube clips.