Charlene Condray has been singing professionally since the 1940’s in Lubbock, Texas. Her first recordings were made in 1952 and she is still active today. At age twelve she was a regular on the Circle 13 Dude Ranch Show on Lubbock TV. She joined Tommy Hancock’s band, the Roadside Cowboys and they eventually married, touring and recording under a variety of lineups and names, including the Supernatural Family Band.

On this 1970 single they each take a side to feature very different styles of music.

You may know Tommy Hancock from his look at Mexican cuisine, “Tacos for Two”, compiled on The Big Itch vol. 2: “Tacos for two, tacos for me and tacos for you,” and “hey Señor Waiter these tacos look great, put some clothes on the stripper so I can eat!”

On this 45 he covers the environmental manifesto, “I Am the Grass”, written by Mira Smith and Margaret Lewis. In case you didn’t know, grass doesn’t like to be stepped on, hates human hypocrisy and will have the last laugh in the end: “I am the grass – someday I’ll cover you green!”

On the other side, Charlene Condray and the Bitter End adapt the Louie Louie changes for good swing at soulful pop.

This is just a sample of a varied catalog from these two maverick artists, some of which is available on CD. Tommy X Hancock has a major part in the 2005 documentary Lubbock Lights which I recommend highly – the kind of portrait every good music scene should have.

The photo above is taken from their family website, much more information and photos are there.