b. USA. Singing with a tough-edged voice that was well suited to hillbilly music, Morris had a distinctive style. Even so, the big-time stayed elusively out of reach although he recorded with his Missourians for Capitol Records in the early 50s. Among the titles he recorded there are ‘Cold, Cold, Cornbread’, ‘Don’t Put Off Till Tomorrow (What You Can Do Today)’, ‘Free, White (Wise) And Twenty One’, ‘Hey Mister Mocking Bird’, ‘Honey, Honey, Honey’, ‘Everything To Lose, Nothing To Gain’, ‘I’m Not A Kid Anymore’, ‘That’s How I Take To You’, ‘Nobody Home’, ‘Ten To One I Love You’ and ‘Bimbo’. With the latter song, Morris demonstrated that he was also a competent composer. Apart from recording ‘Bimbo’ himself, the song was also recorded around the same time by Gene Autry. Later, this song was recorded by many, with Jim Reeves’ version proving to be especially popular. Other songs for which Morris is credited include ‘North Wind’, recorded by Slim Whitman, and ‘I’m Coming Over Tonight’, recorded by Little Jimmy Dickens.
After his spell with Capitol, Morris formed his own label, Ludwig Records, for which he recorded ‘Alabama Jail House Blues’, ‘Ghost Of Casey Jones’, ‘I Lived With The Angels’, ‘Bony Eyes Of Blue’ and ‘Heartbreak Letter’. All of his Capitol recordings plus several of his Ludwig sides have been reissued by Bear Family Records.
