One of the first white rock & rollers to record for a major label (Columbia… Read Full Bio ↴One of the first white rock & rollers to record for a major label (Columbia Records), Sid King (born Sid Erwin) was also one of the first young Southern musicians to go from Western swing to rockabilly in the mid-'50s. Erwin grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He sang and played guitar at school, and while still in his mid-teens he began appearing on local radio with a friend, Melvin Robinson. The duo eventually took over the program, and Erwin and Robinson (who also played steel guitar and sax) formed a band, bringing in Erwin's brother Billy Joe on lead guitar, Ken Massey on bass, and David White on drums.
The group, by then known as the Western Melody Makers, stuck to playing country and Western swing in their gigs and radio appearances, but they were listening to lots of records by black artists. They were signed to Starday Records in 1954 and recorded a handful of songs, but these yielded no hits. They subsequently got a contract with Columbia Records and rechristened themselves the Five Strings. Erwin, in turn, changed his name to Sid King, all for the sake of a rhyming moniker, Sid King & the Five Strings.
The Columbia sessions show just how far afield from country the group's listening had gotten. Their harmonies, the high-compression beat of their playing, and their choice of songs, coupled with Jim Beck's hard, up-front mixing of the rhythm section, made them, for a time, one of the hotter rockabilly acts outside of Memphis. They weren't as wild as the Sparkletones, but within Columbia Records' stable of artists, their music (along with that of the Collins Kids) constituted a tiny corner of rockabilly validity. Hearing their stuff today, they could have been fair rivals to Bill Haley & His Comets or Carl Perkins, with a sound midway between the two.
Sid King & the Five Strings were featured on the Louisiana Hayride alongside Elvis Presley and Johnny Horton and inherited "Ooby Dooby" from Roy Orbison (competing head to head with the latter's Sun version), but they never had the success of those whose paths they crossed. Their success was still confined to Texas, and by 1957 their Columbia contract had ended. The group's sound had also softened by that time, and their music no longer had the same edge, so by 1958 the band had called it quits.
King saw recording activity on his own in the early '60s on the Dot Records label through his acquaintance with Pat Boone, a fellow native of Denton whom he'd met years earlier, but by 1965 he was out of the music business. He resumed performing part-time in the 1980s, drawn back to the stage by a new generation of Europeans eager to hear authentic American rockabilly.
He never quite jumped into rock head over heels, nor did he ever break through to a national audience. The only vintage King available on CD domestically is an interesting, but not wholly representative, set of radio broadcasts from the mid-'50s that are closer to hillbilly than rockabilly. His Columbia recordings have been reissued in Germany on Bear Family's Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight. ~ Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder, All Music Guide[1]
The group, by then known as the Western Melody Makers, stuck to playing country and Western swing in their gigs and radio appearances, but they were listening to lots of records by black artists. They were signed to Starday Records in 1954 and recorded a handful of songs, but these yielded no hits. They subsequently got a contract with Columbia Records and rechristened themselves the Five Strings. Erwin, in turn, changed his name to Sid King, all for the sake of a rhyming moniker, Sid King & the Five Strings.
The Columbia sessions show just how far afield from country the group's listening had gotten. Their harmonies, the high-compression beat of their playing, and their choice of songs, coupled with Jim Beck's hard, up-front mixing of the rhythm section, made them, for a time, one of the hotter rockabilly acts outside of Memphis. They weren't as wild as the Sparkletones, but within Columbia Records' stable of artists, their music (along with that of the Collins Kids) constituted a tiny corner of rockabilly validity. Hearing their stuff today, they could have been fair rivals to Bill Haley & His Comets or Carl Perkins, with a sound midway between the two.
Sid King & the Five Strings were featured on the Louisiana Hayride alongside Elvis Presley and Johnny Horton and inherited "Ooby Dooby" from Roy Orbison (competing head to head with the latter's Sun version), but they never had the success of those whose paths they crossed. Their success was still confined to Texas, and by 1957 their Columbia contract had ended. The group's sound had also softened by that time, and their music no longer had the same edge, so by 1958 the band had called it quits.
King saw recording activity on his own in the early '60s on the Dot Records label through his acquaintance with Pat Boone, a fellow native of Denton whom he'd met years earlier, but by 1965 he was out of the music business. He resumed performing part-time in the 1980s, drawn back to the stage by a new generation of Europeans eager to hear authentic American rockabilly.
He never quite jumped into rock head over heels, nor did he ever break through to a national audience. The only vintage King available on CD domestically is an interesting, but not wholly representative, set of radio broadcasts from the mid-'50s that are closer to hillbilly than rockabilly. His Columbia recordings have been reissued in Germany on Bear Family's Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight. ~ Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder, All Music Guide[1]
Sag Drag and Fall
Sid King & The Five Strings Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by The Five Strings:
Amazing Grace Let's grow together, heal together Find true strength f…
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day I heard the bells on Christmas day. Their old familiar…
It's About Time It's about time to slow down. It's about time that I…
Moment to Live When you can dream a mountain high See the Earth from…
O Come All Ye Faithful O Come All Ye Faithful Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O…
This Ride When I was down at the bottom, way down, you…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@marklancaster2127
Too stiff to flip, too pooped to flop
I'd die if i try to fly
I tell my friends that i can't roll no more
I tell my friends that i can't roll no more
My wheels are flat, my bearings kinda wore
I like to be able to give these cats a try
I like to be able to give these cats a try
But i'm too stiff to flip, too pooped to flop
I'd die if i try to fly
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I'm so tired i never have a ball
I used to dance the whole night long it's true
I used to dance the whole night long it's true
I can't do now the things i used to do
Well i can't rock to save my dog-gone soul
No i can't rock to save my dog-gone soul
But i'm too shocked to shake, too rusty to rattle
And a little too square to roll
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I'm so tired i never have a ball
Too stiff to flip, too pooped to flop
I'd die if i try to fly
Sag, drag and fall
Yeah sag, drag and fall
Oh, sag drag and fall
@DaleMcFarland
Co-writer of this is guitarist Donnie Gililland (which is the correct spelling). He just turned 80 and can still shred it! I'm lucky enough to gig with him frequently here in Dallas.
@melaniejones6298
I love it all. it's in my soul, forever. rock on!
@HubMeunier
It's a classic !
SidKing & the 5 Strings rules !
Thanks a lot for the share.
@icollectstuff-vinylcommuni7294
There is an fantastic live version of this on Youtube
@user-ym7he5od4z
I just love 1955 Rockabilly! so simple!
@brunospringer5271
Love Sid King.... Great
@naalar
Sounds like Boogie Woogie and jazz guitar licks gave birth to R & R. Also hear some Chuck Berry
guitar being born. Great sound
@marklancaster2127
Too stiff to flip, too pooped to flop
I'd die if i try to fly
I tell my friends that i can't roll no more
I tell my friends that i can't roll no more
My wheels are flat, my bearings kinda wore
I like to be able to give these cats a try
I like to be able to give these cats a try
But i'm too stiff to flip, too pooped to flop
I'd die if i try to fly
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I'm so tired i never have a ball
I used to dance the whole night long it's true
I used to dance the whole night long it's true
I can't do now the things i used to do
Well i can't rock to save my dog-gone soul
No i can't rock to save my dog-gone soul
But i'm too shocked to shake, too rusty to rattle
And a little too square to roll
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I just sag, drag and fall
Can't have no fun at all
I'm so tired i never have a ball
Too stiff to flip, too pooped to flop
I'd die if i try to fly
Sag, drag and fall
Yeah sag, drag and fall
Oh, sag drag and fall
@Phil-nz9ux
Merci ^^
@marclayne9261
Classic Rockabilly......1955!!!!