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Author Topic:  Release Me
Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 17 Jan 2018 1:47 pm    
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Did you know that that song started out as a gospel song?
Erv
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mtulbert


From:
Plano, Texas 75023
Post  Posted 18 Jan 2018 5:25 am    
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Sorry Erv, but that song did not start out as a Gospel song. It was written by a gentleman named Eddie Miller. He was down on his luck and had a major drinking problem. The song is about his struggles with the demons of being an alcoholic. After the song became a hit he wrote a ton of material and produced his daughter who was on the way to becoming an artist.

He had enlisted the help of Fred Carter Jr and Nugget studios where I was engineering at the time. Eddie himself told me this story.
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Rittenberry Laquer D10, Rittenberry Prestige SD10, Revelation Preamp,Revelation Octal Preamp,Lexicon PCM 92 Reverb, Furlong Cabinet
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 18 Jan 2018 8:35 am    
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Original song written by Eddie Miller, Dub Williams & Robert Yount
The gospel lyrics:
"Please release me, from my sin.
Welcome Jesus come on in.
For only you can cleanse a soul.
Release me from sin to sin no more.
Oh, let me walk on sacred ground
and be the lost sheep that you found.
Just lead me on to Heaven's door.
Release me from sin to sin no more.
Oh, send your spirit from above.
Teach me your sweet ways of love.
I seek for all you have in store.
Release me from sin to sin no more.
Oh, please release me from my sin.
Welcome Jesus come on in.
For only you can cleanse a soul
Release me from my sin to sin no more."


Last edited by Erv Niehaus on 18 Jan 2018 1:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 18 Jan 2018 11:37 am    
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Here's the story of the song:

http://wired-for-sound.blogspot.com/2010/07/eddie-miller-on-4-star-1407.html

Which states about Miller:

Eventually he helped found the Academy of Country Music, still going strong today, and became a born-again Christian before his death in 1977. In his later years, he had re-recorded a spiritual version of "Release Me" with new lyrics............

So, the gospel version apparently was not his original lyrics, but a later re-write after he became born again.

Here's the way Bobby Gene Yount, the co-writer, tells it about the original:



Here's the first recording of the song (from 1949) by one of the writers and the label:

http://picosong.com/wy6LD




Here's the flip side, not exactly a hymn:

http://picosong.com/wy62H




Here's Eddie and his band in 1948; Tiny Colbert on steel:

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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 18 Jan 2018 12:36 pm    
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Interesting story. Cool history, Mitch.
There's some nice steel in back on the 1949 record.
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 18 Jan 2018 12:59 pm    
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Thank you SO much gentlemen, It appears that I was mistaken.
Embarassed Erv
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Glenn Suchan

 

From:
Austin, Texas
Post  Posted 22 Jan 2018 8:53 am    
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As mentioned in the "Wired-For-Sound" blogspot, Jimmie Heap and The Melody Masters (from Taylor, Texas) were the first to record "Release Me" after the writer, Eddie Miller's 1949 recording. Jimmie's was recorded in the early 1950's. I tried but couldn't find a YouTube of it, as it's excellent. Bear Family Records has a great collection of music by Jimmie Heap and the Melody Masters that is a must for anyone interested in 50's Texas honky-tonk.
https://www.amazon.com/Release-Jimmie-Heap-Melody-Masters/dp/B000001AZ7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516638578&sr=8-1&keywords=Jimmie+Heap+and+The+Melody+Masters

Here are three Jimmie Heap songs that are found on the Bear Family Records collection (I used to play all three of these in an Austin honky tonk band):

"Ethyl in My Gas Tank"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xd3WUReEMg

"I'll Follow the Crowd"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu8EgwZL_Cw

"Conscience, I'm Guilty"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXM2bqX_TMY

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn
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