Biography
Narvel Felts devoted more than three decades to a career as a country singer and songwriter. Born in Bernie, Missouri, he mastered the guitar on his own, drawing early influence from the country sounds of Ernest Tubb and Floyd Tillman. His professional start came in 1956 after he claimed victory in a high-school talent contest by performing an energetic version of "Blue Suede Shoes." A disc jockey from Dexter, Missouri, attended the event and, impressed by what he heard, announced the next day on KDEX that the station wished to reach Felts. The eager teenager and his father drove eight miles to the nearest telephone, which soon led to Felts hosting his own Saturday afternoon program at the station.
A decisive opportunity arrived when Felts requested to sit in with Jerry Mercer’s band during one of their shows. He quickly became a member, and after Mercer departed in 1956 the 17-year-old assumed the frontman role for the Rockets. His first manager, a record-shop owner, secured an audition with Sun Records in Nashville. Felts and one other band member appeared before Jack Clement, who encouraged them to return home, compose additional material, and come back with the full group. They followed that advice, yet those initial sessions stayed unreleased for years. The Rockets resumed live work, and while serving as an opening act for the film Rock, Pretty Baby at a St. Louis theater, a regional Mercury promoter caught their set and offered a contract. Five singles resulted from their Mercury recordings and appeared in 1959.
Felts kept issuing some of the band’s material on independent labels and scored minor chart action in 1960 with a cover of the Drifters’ “Honey Love.” That modest success earned him a two-year stay at MGM, though no recordings were released during that period. Throughout the 1960s he continued performing and cutting tracks while placing most of his attention on his wife and children. A major break finally arrived in 1973 when he joined the Cinnamon roster. His second single, “Drift Away,” became his first Top Ten record. Additional hits followed, among them “All in the Name of Love” in 1973 and “I Want to Stay” in 1974. When Cinnamon closed in 1975, Felts moved to ABC/Dot and maintained his chart momentum. Around this time he achieved his largest success with “Reconsider Me,” which climbed to number three and drew favorable notice from industry publications. Further singles, including “Lonely Teardrops,” kept him on the charts, and another major release arrived in 1978 with “Run for the Roses.”
Felts’s association with ABC ended after MCA acquired the label. In the mid-1970s his road manager dismissed the Rockets and began booking Felts as a solo artist backed by Wild Country. After parting ways with that group—which later became the supergroup Alabama—Felts formed a new band, the Driftaways. By the late 1970s he had become a regular favorite at England’s Wembley Festival. During the 1980s he embraced his faith and turned to gospel music, documenting the shift on the albums On the Wings of a Song and Season’s Greetings, a Christmas collection.
A decisive opportunity arrived when Felts requested to sit in with Jerry Mercer’s band during one of their shows. He quickly became a member, and after Mercer departed in 1956 the 17-year-old assumed the frontman role for the Rockets. His first manager, a record-shop owner, secured an audition with Sun Records in Nashville. Felts and one other band member appeared before Jack Clement, who encouraged them to return home, compose additional material, and come back with the full group. They followed that advice, yet those initial sessions stayed unreleased for years. The Rockets resumed live work, and while serving as an opening act for the film Rock, Pretty Baby at a St. Louis theater, a regional Mercury promoter caught their set and offered a contract. Five singles resulted from their Mercury recordings and appeared in 1959.
Felts kept issuing some of the band’s material on independent labels and scored minor chart action in 1960 with a cover of the Drifters’ “Honey Love.” That modest success earned him a two-year stay at MGM, though no recordings were released during that period. Throughout the 1960s he continued performing and cutting tracks while placing most of his attention on his wife and children. A major break finally arrived in 1973 when he joined the Cinnamon roster. His second single, “Drift Away,” became his first Top Ten record. Additional hits followed, among them “All in the Name of Love” in 1973 and “I Want to Stay” in 1974. When Cinnamon closed in 1975, Felts moved to ABC/Dot and maintained his chart momentum. Around this time he achieved his largest success with “Reconsider Me,” which climbed to number three and drew favorable notice from industry publications. Further singles, including “Lonely Teardrops,” kept him on the charts, and another major release arrived in 1978 with “Run for the Roses.”
Felts’s association with ABC ended after MCA acquired the label. In the mid-1970s his road manager dismissed the Rockets and began booking Felts as a solo artist backed by Wild Country. After parting ways with that group—which later became the supergroup Alabama—Felts formed a new band, the Driftaways. By the late 1970s he had become a regular favorite at England’s Wembley Festival. During the 1980s he embraced his faith and turned to gospel music, documenting the shift on the albums On the Wings of a Song and Season’s Greetings, a Christmas collection.
Albums
