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closed on August 27, 1960, the
Shreveport music scene had already faded significantly. As a result, the Ram label was struggling. A few years later, Smith closed the studio and moved to Nashville to focus on songwriting with Lewis. They became partners and continued to own Ram Records. After Smith's
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Bobby Page and The Riff Raffs recorded many songs in the Ram studio. The band included singer Bobby Page (a.k.a. Elwood Dugas), singer/pianist Roy "Boogie Boy" Perkins, tenor saxophonist Jimmy "Scatman" Patin, and saxophonist Harry
Simoneaux. Many of their songs remained in the Ram vault and were not
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In an almost exclusively male business, Smith often found it difficult to find distribution and promotion services. Her cousin, Alton
Warwick, was interviewed in 1994 and commented that he believed being a woman hindered her success, because people did not always take her seriously, especially with
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needed a place to record their music and saw the opportunity to open her own recording studio. In 1955, at the age of 29, Smith opened Royal Audio Music (Ram) Recording Co., located at 2439 Lakeshore Drive in
Shreveport, Louisiana. Ram was the first commercial music studio in Shreveport, and Smith
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and decided to use their services. In 1956, Ram released its first record titled, "You Never
Mention My Name" / "Just For a While." Smith wrote both songs, and they were performed by country singer, Carol Williams. This release was also the first recording for 16-year-old steel guitar player,
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was one of the first women to own her own record company. Smith toured
Louisiana and east Texas, seeking out skilled musicians to record in her studio. She crossed genre and racial boundaries and found artists who performed a variety of styles including rockabilly, R&B,
262:. Ram recorded most of its music in the mid-1950s to early 1960s, but due to a tight budget, many of their recordings remained unreleased for decades. In 1994, Ace Records released a CD set of Ram recordings, including many which had never been issued. In 2018, the
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K Records was another Ram subsidiary record label, named after Smith's sister, Katherine. The
Lonesome Drifter (Thomas Johnson) and his single "Eager Boy" / "Tear Drop Valley" (1958) is considered one of the more significant recordings from this label.
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Linda
Brannon was Ram Records' first big-selling artist. In 1958, at age 17, she recorded the single, "Wherever You Are" / "Just Another Lie" (RAM #1478). Demand for the album was too great for the small Ram studio to handle, so Smith leased it out to
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issues like financing. Due to her tight budget, she only promoted a few singles each year and was often forced to leave quality songs in the vault. Many of Ram's recordings remained unreleased for decades.
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death the, by now, Margaret Lewis-Warwick, and her husband Alton
Warwick, continued to own and operate Ram Records from Shreveport, Louisiana. They own all trademarks, licensing and catalog.
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which included many previously unreleased songs from the Ram catalog. Ray
Topping assembled the collection. The Ace release received many mentions in the press including in
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In 1956, Ram recorded their first rockabilly release, "You Won't Know Why 'Til I'm Gone" / "Wilson's Blues No 1" by James Wilson and his band, The Jimmie Cats.
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Morris, Chris (December 10, 1994). "Declaration of Independents: Bluebirds Debut on Revived Ram Records And An Indie Label Exec Does Some Marital Splicing".
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In 1955, a short time after opening the studio, Smith started her own record label, Ram Records. Smith discovered that RCA made custom pressings for
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Roy "Boogie Boy" Perkins, (a.k.a. Ernest Suarez) was a songwriter and musician who wrote "Just Another Lie" and many other songs for RAM artists.
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released until 1994. The band's songs have been played on several TV shows and feature films. Their song, "I Love My Baby" is played in the
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Floyd, John (September 10, 1994). "Musical Tribute: Old Shreveport Label Ram Records Finally Gets Its Due with New CD Collection".
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355:(Warwick) recorded many songs with the Ram label, including her song, "Honey (I Miss You Too)" which charted at number 74 on the
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In 1957, Smith partnered with Cliff Hagin and added Clif Records as a subsidiary record label. Clif's first success was with
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reviewed the album and gave it a three star rating. "Just Another Lie" (written by Ernest Suarez) was later recorded by
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352:
75:
475:#44068-2)). In 1959, the Clif label released the songs "Hot Tamales and Bar-B-Que" by Chico Chism and his Jetanairs.
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49:
431:(Oscar Wills) and his song "Flatfoot Sam" (Clif #103), written by his wife, Clara Wills. Slim had connections with
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526:. In September and October 1994, NPR's Alex Chadwick ran a four part story on the Ram studio and record label.
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on June 29, 1968. Lewis later became Smith's songwriting partner. Smith and Lewis wrote more than 20 songs for
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and over 100 songs in total. Many of their songs made it to the Billboard Top 10 and together they won six
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258:. Ram also issued recordings on the Clif Records and K Records labels. The label later moved to
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Anglares, Dominique; Major, Ken (December 2013). "Margaret Lewis Warwick:A Shreveport Great!".
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This article is about Ram Records the Shreveport, Louisiana label. For the British label, see
757:"The Fastest, Most Complete, and Most Authoritative Evaluation of This Week's New Releases".
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Mira Ann Smith was a guitarist, pianist, and songwriter. She was also a fan of the
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In 1994, five years after Smith's death from leukemia in 1989, the London-based
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gave the song a 77 rating. "Flatfoot Sam" has since been recorded by
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566:"Various - Red River Blues (Shreveport Blues From Ram Records)"
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590:"Shreveport Music Featured in Oscar Winning 'Green Book'"
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to distribute the song across the nation (Checker #870).
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Rockabilly Riot! Volume 1: A Tribute to Sun Records
56:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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682:"Biography | The Official James Burton Website"
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518:, a British reissue label, released a six CD
394:The Lonesome Drifter (a.k.a. Thomas Johnson)
345:(Decca #7-38269/Brunswick #LAT 8376) and
337:(Chess Records #1720) for distribution.
272:, featured six songs from the Ram label.
238:(1924–1989). The label recorded regional
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910:Companies based in Shreveport, Louisiana
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742:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
254:artists. Ram's pressings were made by
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403:Sonny ("Golden Boy") Williamson II,
397:Endom Spires (a.k.a. Buddy Sepaugh)
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761:. March 9, 1959. p. 49.
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349:(Dot Records 45-15928).
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216:Shreveport, Louisiana
65:"Ram Records" US
16:American record label
552:from the website of
467:(for his 2005 album
435:and was able to get
409:Charlotte Ray Hunter
260:Nashville, Tennessee
50:improve this article
900:Blues record labels
373:Other RAM artists:
800:. August 26, 1957.
622:. 22 February 2019
596:. 25 February 2019
503:Louisiana Hayride
288:Louisiana Hayride
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48:Please help
43:verification
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849:Discogs.com
796:"Reviews".
594:710keel.com
570:Discogs.com
516:Ace Records
453:Paul Gayten
449:Sun Records
445:Tommy Blake
418:Elgie Brown
307:RAM Records
224:Ram Records
176:RCA Records
134:RAM Records
884:Categories
854:2019-02-25
782:2019-02-25
729:2019-02-25
691:2019-02-25
575:2019-02-25
530:References
388:Green Book
368:BMI Awards
343:Brenda Lee
269:Green Book
244:rockabilly
190:rockabilly
76:newspapers
870:Billboard
830:The Times
798:Billboard
759:Billboard
626:March 11,
600:March 11,
524:Billboard
501:When the
479:K Records
441:Billboard
429:T.V. Slim
415:Leon Post
357:Billboard
339:Billboard
326:Billboard
106:June 2011
738:cite web
654:: 30–34.
620:Ksla.com
546:Archived
459:#5277),
230:, based
212:Location
520:box set
451:#278),
391:(2018).
293:Hayride
281:Founder
154:Founder
144: (
139:Founded
90:scholar
167:Active
164:Status
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298:swamp
248:blues
194:blues
182:Genre
97:JSTOR
83:books
744:link
628:2021
602:2021
250:and
207:U.S.
146:1955
142:1955
69:news
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301:pop
256:RCA
52:by
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