DESCRIPTION:
”(Rock'n Roll) Got The Best Of Me” … what a terrific title!! My old friend, W.O. ”Woody” Fleener, boss of the Sage & Sand labels out of Hillywood, Calif. Sent me a bunch of 45's in the early 70s and amoung them was a copy of Donnie Bowser's ”(Rock'n Roll) Got The Best Of Me”. And immediately I did a rather laidback version of it. I had in mind to do a real roughed up copy of it later on, but for some obscure reason something else must've popped up (don't it always!), so this is the only version I ever did of it. Enjoy...
TRIVIA:
Donnie Bowshier was born on April 14, 1937 as a native of Madison Mills, Ohio, a town southwest of Columbus along route 62, and really never strayed much from his Ohio roots during his long career. But his life was not your typical life of a country music singer. When he was just three years old, he had a polio attack. It may have left him handicapped, and facing the world from a wheel chair, but that did not deter his musical aspirations. He grew up in a musical environment and started his musical interests when he was about twelve years old.
In 1950, at age thirteen, he formed his own band that was known as the JR Melody Boys. The group included Paul Hopkins on lead guitar, Walt WIlson on steel guitar, Charlie Gore on fiddle, Zeke Turner on rhythm guitar along with his brother, Roger, on bass. The JR Melody Boys did the usual personal appearances in the local venues; their popularity and name came to the attention of the King Record label and earned them a recording contract in 1953, when Donnie was about 16 years old. They went to Cincinnati, Ohio to do their first two recordings. ”Strut My Stuff” was one of them and the record was released on the Skip label, a King subsidary. The vocals were credited to a fellow by the name of Slim Redman.
In April of 1953, the group went back to the King studios and cut another four tunes. One tune, "Bullfrog Boogie", was credited to Earl Slone and the Melody Boys, but the others were given the credits to Donnie Bowshier. His third and last single for King, ”Tight Shoe Boogie” b/w ”I Cried In My Sleep”, had big expectations upon it but despite strong regional airplay the record sold poorly and he did not resurface until four years later, landing a deal with the Dess label (Wilmington, Ohio) for "Stone Heart." b/w ”Rock and Roll Joys” (Dess 7002). The record credited him as Little Donnie Bowshier with the Radio Ranch Boys. That group included Donnie on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Homer Wooten on lead guitar; Sonny Curtis on steel guitar; Roger Bowshier on bass and Gene Sisco on vocals and fiddle. However, later on down the line they changed personal into Paul Hopkins on lead guitar; Ray Knap on steel guitar and Donnie's 16 year old brother Roger Bowshier retaining his bass duties, while Donnie still held the place as the band's singer and rhythm guitarist. Later on, the band also included a disc jockey by the name of Sam Salyer who was being heard over WCHO in Washington Court House, Ohio. That was the group that went into the recording studios in 1956 to record "Rock and Roll Joys" and "Stone Heart". During that session, Gene Sisco did a number called "Grandma Rock and Roll" for Dess as well. Sam Salyer was listed as co-writer of "Stone Heart"along with Donnie. "Stone Heart" caught on with the audiences. So much so, that in 1957, Donnie re-grouped and formed a new band that he named the Stonehearts. Band members included Ronnie Carpenter on guitar; Roger Bowshier on bass and seemingly another one of his brothers, Terry Bowshier on drums. It was at this time he decided to change his stage name to Bowser because the disc jockeys were not consistent in pronouncing his family name. Donnie and the Stonehearts also found themselves recording for the Sage record label in 1957. In one session, he re-recorded two tunes, "Stone Heart"and "I Love You Baby". "Stone Heart" proved to be a popular song and found its way on several other labels for Donnie. But in spite of the popularity of his recordings, decided to leave the music behind for a while. He grew a bit disenchanted with the obstacles he faced as a handicapped person in the entertainment industry and on the road.
After another long hiatus from the studio, Bowser turned up on Bamboo for 1961's "Tomorrow" -- he recorded even more sporadically in the years to follow, performing a duet with Bobby Bare on "Another One of My Near Mrs." and cracking the country charts with "Falling for You," but remained a popular live attraction, even appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. Bowser retired in 1989 following a heart attack -- another heart attack ended his life on February 22, 2002.