Whoa Nelly! I just stumbled upon an eBay auction for a strange hitherto unknown-to-me record by one Deb Hyer, on the great Lexington LEMCO label. Lemco flourished from, I believe, the late 50s to the mid 70s. It's a safe bet that Hyer, like most of Lemco's artists, is Kentuckian, and I'm highly intrigued by his "One Man Band" act.
And lo and behold, a Google search shows that some enterprising soul with a taste for the obscure is offering a RAR file of the album online.
But I'm obsessed now and want more actual information about Mr. Hyer. Who the hell is he? Is he still alive? Why was he named "Deb"? Does a treasure trove of unreleased tapes exist??
6 comments:
I actually saw this guy perform in the early/mid 70's at the Maloney's
store in Irvine when I was just a kid! I was around 4 or 5 years old at the time. I was so amazed my mom and dad even bought me this album...8-Track format of course!! Thanks for bringing back some very fond memories! Deb, if you're out there I'd love to hear from you!!
I spit soup all over the keyboard at the image you just put in my mind! I haven't thought of the old Maloney's in Irvine in years. Loved that place.
I wonder what the heck Deb was doing out there, performing a one-man-band routine in a department store in Estill County. It could mean he lived in the area...
Yeah, Maloney's ruled! I'm not sure if he was a native of Estill County or not, but I do believe he was from somewhere in KY. A people-finder search yielded a Deb Hyer in Flemingsburg, but no contact information....could it be THE mysterious One Man Band??? Some additional googling also seems to indicate he did at least one more album titled (best I can tell) "Nashville Streaker" around 1976, but I found nothing else after that.
Ok Deb Hyer is my great uncle he lives in Flemingsburg,KY His sister (my grandma) moved to michigan in the 70's and so now i live in michigan..and yeah he had an album titled "Nashville Streaker" WHY? Beats Me. while my family was visiting he performed and played his guitar for us - and sang. i have is first album too! (the one in the pic)
Thanks for posting! Tell your Uncle Deb I said hello next time you see him! To this day, everytime I hear "Too late to turn back now" or "Baby baby don't get hooked on me", I'm reminded of him! Would love to meet the guy again!
At Margie's Cafe here in Maysville, there is a framed collage of Deb Hyer publicity material, including photos publicizing the "Nashville Streaker" album. Next time that I'm in there, I could ask to take a photo and send it to you, if you like.
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