Werly Fairburn

Werley Fairburn (b. Folsom in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, November 27, 1924 - died January 18, 1985) was an American rockabilly musician.

Fairburn listened to the Grand Ole Opry and played guitar as a youngster, learning to play from a local blues musician alongside the hillbilly music he heard on the radio. With the outbreak of World War II, he took a job at a New Orleans shipyard, and then served in the Navy in Hawaii.

Upon his return to New Orleans he trained as a barber and attempted to start a singing career simultaneously. Known as the "Singing Barber" on local radio stations such as WJBW and WWEZ, he became a local country music star. In the early 1950s he also began recording, starting with Trumpet Records, and following this, Columbia, Capitol, and Savoy (often with his backing group called The Delta Boys). Fairburn also owned a label called Milestone Records in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Fairburn's style blended elements of country, blues, and New Orleans-style R&B. He became well known throughout the South, and appeared on the Big D Jamboree in Dallas without ever having scored a regional hit in the area. As rockabilly became more popular, he adapted to the style, and remained a regional favorite, though he never made the national charts. In his early years, his guitarist was Tommy Tomlinson of Minden, Louisiana.

In 1964, Fairburn sang his tune "I Guess I'm Crazy" on Louisiana Hayride, and Jim Reeves decided to cover the tune. This version was the single in current rotation when Reeves was killed in a plane crash in July of that year.

Fairburn continued to perform after moving to California in the 1960s, nearly up until he died of lung cancer in 1985. Nine years later, Bear Family Records collected his singles and released them on CD as Everybody's Rockin'.

Discography

Year	Title	Label
1953	Camping with Marie / Let’s Live It Over	Trumpet Records No. 195
1953	I Feel Like Cryin’ / Baby, Call on Me	Trumpet Records No. 196
1954	Good Deal, Lucille / Baby He’s a Wolf	Capitol Records#F2270
1954	Love Spelled Backwards Is Evol / Nothin’ But Lovin’	Capitol Records #F2844
1954	Prison Cell of Love / I Feel Like Cryin’	Capitol Records #F2963
1955	It’s A Cold, Weary World / Spiteful Heart	Capitol Records #F3101
1955	I Guess I’m Crazy (For Loving You) / That Sweet Love Of Mine	Columbia Records No. 21432
1956	Broken Hearted Me / Stay Close To Me	Columbia Records No. 21483
1956	Everybody’s Rockin’ / It’s Heaven	Columbia Records No. 21528
1956	All The Time / I’m A Fool About Your Love	Savoy Records No. 1503
1957	My Heart’s On Fire / Speak To Me Baby	Savoy Records No. 1509
1957	Telephone Baby / No Blues Tomorrow	Savoy Records No. 1521
1962	You Are My Sunshine / Doggone That Moon	Milestone Records No. 2013
1968	My Crazy World / There’s Something On	Paula Records No. 295
	A Little Bit Of Nothing Won’t It Be Nice	Capitol Records (not issued)
	I’m Jealous	Columbia Records (not issued)
	All By Myself (live) I’ve Got Nothing But Love Old Memories Come Back	not issued

All singles prior to Milestone 2013 were issued as 78rpm and 45rpm records with the same issue numbers and Milestone 2013 onwards are 45rpm only issues.

References

• Werly Fairburn at Allmusic
• Matthew Duncan, UK record collector, has given additional discographical data to this article having referred to Barry John's Rockabilly Price Guide for 45rpm records and vintage recordings from his own personal collection.