I want to thank Dave for posting this for Turntable Talk a few weeks ago.
When I heard Joyce Green for the first time in 2021, I was blown away. I was thinking…how in the hell was this woman not huge in the 50s and early 60s? She made possibly my favorite ever rockabilly song.
I hesitated writing about Green because what you will hear on this post is her total discography and it wasn’t a hit. I sure wish she had been given a chance. Finding Black Cadillac was like finding a treasure to me.
She was born in 1940 and started to sing with her brothers in church in the 1950s. They eventually formed a trio and began singing at parties and picnics. The big change for Joyce was when Elvis came along. She knew exactly what she wanted to do after that.
She started on radio in 1957 on a station in Arkansas with a musician named Jimmy Douglas. Douglas eventually talked Green’s parents into allowing the 17-year-old to play in bars with one of her brothers with her. She was the only female rocker in Arkansas at the time. After that she started to tour more of the state and get recognized. She met up with Arlen Vaden who had produced records for different artists.
In 1959, Joyce and her sister Doris wrote the song Black Cadillac. She played the song for Arlen Vaden who arranged a recording session for her at KLCN in Blytheville, Arkansas. Joyce sang and played rhythm guitar on the record which included the song Tomorrow on the A-side and Black Cadillac on the B-side. I can’t believe this was a B side.
This was her only release ever…the single Tomorrow/Black Cadillac in 1959.
The song Tomorrow is a cookie cutter 1950s song, but Black Cadillac blows the roof off the joint. Joyce was only 19 and she didn’t play around in this song. She not only sings this song…she owns it, and you don’t want on Joyce’s bad side. Her voice is electric. It’s a downright shame she didn’t do much more. The quality is great.
Wanda Jackson was hitting at this time with hits. Green should have been along with her because she had talent, and that voice is as strong as you can get.
When I heard this, I thought I died and went to rockabilly heaven. A man named Tommy Holder is playing guitar and does he ever. This wasn’t a hit but it’s a treasure to find. Joyce embarked on a promotional tour with Carl Perkins to support the record. The record was never a hit and Joyce did not record again until the 1970s. These later recordings were lost in a fire… so this is it. As far as I can see…Joyce is still alive in Arkansas.
Joyce Green: “I visited the radio stations and did some stage shows with Carl Perkins and other artists. We’d also do country fairs. I believe I could have been a successful recording artist if I could have gotten the breaks I needed.”
Black Cadillac
I caught you cheatin’ and runnin’ roundAnd now I’m gonna put you in a hole in the groundI’m gonna ride to your funeralDaddy, in a black CadillacOh yeah, you think you areOh baby, but you can’t come back
Now, I’m gonna bump you offGonna tell you the reason whyYou’re worth more to me dead, daddyThan you is aliveI’m gonna ride to your funeralDaddy, in a black CadillacOh yeah, you think you areOh baby, but you can’t come back
I’m gonna buy me a pistolA great big forty-fiveI’m gonna bring you back baby, dead not aliveI’m gonna ride to your funeralDaddy, in a black CadillacOh yeah, you think you areOh baby, but you can’t come back
I’ll hire a black CadillacTo drive you to your graveI’m gonna be there babyThrow that mud in your faceI’m gonna ride to your funeralDaddy, in a black CadillacOh yeah, you think you areOh baby, but you can’t come back
I’ll wear a black mink coatA diamond ring on my handI’m gonna put you under groundI’ll find myself another manI’m gonna ride to your funeralDaddy, in a black CadillacOh yeah, you think you areOh baby, but you can’t come back
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