| Influences | Hank Williams, Sr., Elvis, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Conway Twitty, Charlie Pride, Mel Tellis, Waylon Jennings and many more.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Arnold Parker was born January 25, 1936 in Cuero, Texas. During highschool he played with two groups, mainly for fun, but it wasn't until closer to graduation that Arnold really got started.
In 1953, "The Southernaires" were a popular South Texas dance band. At the age of 17, he joined the group as the featured vocalist and the band continued to gain in popularity in the South Texas area. In 1956, Arnold and "The Southernaires" recorded a rock and roll song entitled "Find a New Woman", released on Starday records. The song played very well in the area where the group was known. That same year, Arnold and the band made their first appearance on the "Louisiana Hayride".
In February, 1957, Arnold's life took a big change. It was then he met Jeanette Catherine Wendt in El Campo, Texas.After that the big time music business did not seem important any more. In about three months, Arnold quit the dance band and in August of 1957, he and Jeanette were married.
In 1961, Arnold and Jeanette moved to Victoria and for a while Arnold played a little with other dance bands. In 1964, things fell into place and Arnold and Ken Williams, long-time friend and lead guitarist, put together a group called "The Mustangs". Arnold fronted this band for nine years, playing the biggest clubs and with some of the biggest entertainers during that time. Arnold and "The Mustangs" recorded seven more records on Sarg label to help promote their dance jobs. One of the songs entitled "Love Me" played really well in the area. In 1973, Arnold gave up the dance band to devote more time to his family.
In 1999 something happened that changed all this. Arnold's friend sent him a tape he had copied off a brand new rockabilly CD released in London, England. The song was "Find a New Woman", the original recording Arnold had recorded with the Southernaires in 1956. This created quite a bit of questions. After some checking Arnold found out that there were five other recordings of the song that had been released, and that he was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
After 28 years
Arnold went back on the stage and started singing again for Country Opry stage shows around south and central Texas.
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Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving............LaDonna
