Lee Finn - Last Records Club Heroes: Lee Finn (2014)

Dwain Lee Voorhies. Born 1926 in Greentop, Mo.
Lee Finn's life has remained mostly un-documented, apart from a tantalizing snippet provided by Finn himself to Ron Weiser in the seventies, which Weiser reprinted in toto on the reverse of a Rollin' Rock EP cover. From this, Lee tells us that he was born Dwain Lee Voorhies in Greentop, Missouri on 19 April 1926. Raised on a farm near Lancaster, he enlisted with the Navy during the Second World War and following his discharge, relocated to Kansas City, where he found work as a truck driver. Any interest in music or performing seemed absent during his adolescent years until, as he explained to Weiser, "I stopped at a truck stop at Savannah Mo., and a popular song (Condemned Without Trial) was playing on a juke box, I sang a few lines of it, & the owner of the truck stop liked my voice & encouraged me to get a guitar & start playing & singing".
What happened after this point is uncertain. Discographies of early post-war Missouri labels fail to document any Lee Finn or Dwain Voorhies releases, leading to a logical conclusion that Lee, despite encouragement from a certain 'truck stop owner', did not garner any serious interest in music until the following decade. He first appeared on a thoroughly arcane release on the local Stardust imprint in 1958. Curiously, the Stardust name had recently been employed by another Missouri hillbilly singer, Chandos McRill. McRill's own vanity label was located in his home town of Perryville and bore no obvious relation to Finn's release. The affinity is too coincidental though. McRill had first released a disc on Stardust in '57 and both his and Lee's records were pitched to Don Pierce in Nashville, who issued both as Starday customs. The begging question then is, were Chandos McRill and Lee Finn associates? Chandos' widow may have the answer, "I do not recall Chandos mentioning Dwain Lee Voorhies, so am sure he was not acquainted with him. Chandos pretty well kept up with all the country musicians". Maybe this chain of events was purely coincidental. Nevertheless, the propensity of Lee's debut record is clearly evident. Backed by his Ozark Country Boys, the typical country tinged Missouri sound was in abundance on the top side, Load Up My Blues. While the guitar pattern is somewhat monotonous, Lee's vocals are melodic and, to a point, almost over power the guitarists' novice capabilities. The sound is rural, but relaxed and the lyrical content is not as overtly clichéd as the song title may suggest. Released as by Lee Voorhies and his Ozark Country Boys (Stardust 45-671), Load Up My Blues and Hand In Hand proved an interesting precursor to what would soon follow.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Lee Voorhies & His Ozark Country Boys - Load up My Blues (2:35)
1.02 - Lee Voorhies & His Ozark Country Boys - Hand in Hand (2:28)
1.03 - Lee Finn & His Rhythm Men - High Class Feelin' (2:06)
1.04 - Lee Finn & His Rhythm Men - Pour Me a Glass of Wine (2:09)
1.05 - Lee Finn & His Rhythm Men - Cat All Night (2:24)
1.06 - Lee Finn & His Rhythm Men - It's Night (1:44)
1.07 - Lee Finn & His Rhythm Men - Lonesome Road (1:52)
1.08 - Lee Finn & His Rhythm Men - Just Wastin' My Time (1:48)