Out of Tyler, Texas come Billy McKnight & The Plus 4 on the Custom label. “You’re Doin’ Me Wrong” is a fine Yardbirds-influenced punker, the drumming is especially fluid. An odd feature is the way the song fades out twice, each time coming back with a shrill keyboard note.

“Time Wasted” is almost country in its sound. I don’t know who else was in the band; Larry Graham did the arranging.

Both songs were written by McKnight and Curtis Kirk, who ran Custom and also owned Tyler Publishing. It seems he was the type of publisher who had his name added onto every song released on his label. Kirk had been a country singer in the ’50s (info on his first session here), most notably cutting “I Can’t Take It With Me”.

“Unlike Robin [Hood Brians], who began in the living room and moved to the back yard, Curtis started in his garage and stayed there!” – from a feature on Tyler studios in Billboard’s Sept. 8, 1973 issue.

This was the first garage 45 released on Kirk’s own Custom Records, which usually released country or gospel 45s. After the Billy McKnight 45, Custom released a killer by the Reddlemen , “I’m Gonna Get in that Girl’s Mind” and a very good one by the Brym-Stonz Ltd.

Billy released a 45 on International Artists the following year as Billy Wade McKnight, “Trouble’s Comin’ On” / “I Need Your Lovin'”, both McKnight originals. These are lighter pop sides, verging on country music, and were produced by Curtis Kirk and Steve Wright, and arranged by Larry Graham.

In 1970 he cut another single as Billy Wade McKnight on Congress, “Stacey” / “Mary Anne”, produced by Tommy Cogbill, but I haven’t heard this yet.