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A Gift from Dean Beard
Dean Beard was from West Texas and sometimes opened for Elvis, Scotty and Bill in Breckenridge and Stamford, TX. He formed a band called "Dean Beard & The Crew Cats" which featured Dean on piano, James Steward on lead guitar, Jimmy Seals on sax and Dash Crofts on drums where they played regularly to large crowds in the area's American Legions, VFW's and clubs. In 1956 he went to Memphis to record briefly at Sun Records.
Dean would later attribute his short-lived association with Sun Records as having "something to do with all the women and the partying". In 1958 Dean, Jimmy Seals & Dash Crofts became members of "The Champs" which had recently had a hit with "Tequila". Dean didn't stay with them long and Seals and Crofts after several years would break off and go on to success with their band of the same name. Dean suffering from ill health pretty much left music as a profession, however, in 1967 he recorded a record in Nashville that included Chip Young, Scotty Moore, Pete Drake, D.J. Fontana and The Jordanaires. The record was never released.
Early on in the days when Dean was opening for the boys, Elvis, Scotty and Bill had only a few records themselves. Dean had got a copy of their first recording "That's Alright Mama" on 78 and had put it away. Later on he had it framed and a plaque made up and presented it to Scotty. Scotty still has it to this day.
Dean passed away in April of 1989 page added September 25, 2003
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All photos on this site (that we didn't borrow) unless otherwise indicated are the property of either Scotty Moore or James V. Roy and unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited. |
