DICK PENNER

Dick Penner isn't exactly a household name, even in rockabilly circles, but any man who could co-write a classic like "Ooby Dooby" has carved some kind of a place for himself in the history of the music. Despite his having been born in Chicago, Dick Penner got a shot at being an authentic country music and rockabilly legend when he was a year old and his family moved to Dallas, TX. It was there that he was exposed to country music on the radio, and by age 16 he'd taken up the guitar. At 18 he entered North Texas State University in Denton, TX, where he hooked up with Wade Moore and later met Roy Orbison, who at that time was leading a group called the Wink Westerners, who subsequently transformed themselves into the Teen Kings.
In collaboration with Moore, Penner co-authored a song called "Ooby Dooby," which Orbison and his band later turned into one of the best-selling rockabilly singles of all time at Sun Records. Making the switch from country music to rock & roll, Penner and Moore formed a duo and recorded for Sun in 1957, sometimes as Wade & Dick and sometimes as the College Kids. Wade & Dick recorded six songs, and Penner did a handful of songs on his own, all of which displayed a hard, youthful edge and were aimed at the new teen market, but none of them were notably successful. Penner's three singles (on at least one of which he shared guitar chores with Don Gilliland), "Move Baby Move," "Fine Little Baby," and "Someday Baby," all seemed to hook around a certain thematic similarity. They weren't in a league with "Ooby Dooby," however, which made a respectable showing on the national charts in Orbison's hands and has since come to be regarded as a classic of the genre. Moore continued working in music with Orbison, but Penner decided on a career in academia and reportedly became a professor of English.

Talents : Singer, Guitar
Style musical : Rockabilly

CINDY LOU FINE LITTLE BABY (Sun unissued)

12/1957

SP SUN 282 (US)

Cindy Lou / Your Honey Love

Penner, Dick

Denton, Texas, artist. Born 1936 in Chicago, Ill.

References:
Article in issue 305 (2008) of Now Dig This.

Original Releases

Date & Source	Label & Number	V	Titles {& References to LP/CD List}	As By	Matrix Numbers
1957/Dec. (Bb est.)	Sun 282		Cindy Lou {d,h,n} Your Honey Love {m,n,p}	1 1	U-279 U-278
Additional Tracks on Comps
1956	Sun unissued		Don't Need Your Lovin' Baby {i,l}
1957 (Sun Rec.)	Sun unissued		Fine Little Baby {a,e,f,j,k,o} Move Baby Move {a,b,c,j,o} Someday Baby {g}

References in "As By" Column:

1. as by Dick Penner
   
   Other Notes:
   

• SEE ALSO: Wade & Dick
  

Collector-Oriented Compilation LPs and CDs Containing Tracks

a.	AVI CD 5019 (cd)	Rock Boppin' Baby: Sun Rockabilly, Vol. 3
b.	Bear Family BCD 16210 (cd)	That'll Flat Git It, Vol. 14
c.	Charly CR 30116 (lp)	Sun - The Roots Of Rock, Vol. 9: Rebel Rockabilly, Vol. 2
d.	Charly CR 30128 (lp)	Sun - The Roots Of Rock, Vol. 13: Rockabilly Sundown
e.	Charly CR 30147 (lp)	Raunchy Rockabilly
f.	Charly SNAJ 713 (cd)	The Sun Records Story
g.	Charly CPCD 8137 (cd)	Unissued Sun Masters
h.	Charly CPCD 8236 (cd)	Essential Sun Rockabillies, Vol. 4
i.	Charly CPCD 8317 (cd)	Essential Sun Rockabillies, Vol. 5
j.	Charly CPCD 8352 (cd)	Essential Sun Rockabillies, Vol. 6
k.	Sun (England) SUN 1010 [1st] (lp)	Sun Rockabillies; Vol. 1
l.	Sun (England) SUN 1024 (lp)	Hot Southern Boppers
m.	Sun (England) LP 1035 (lp)	Sunset Special
n.	Sun (England) 12 (cd)	Rock 'N' Roll Originals, Vol. 4
o.	Sun (England) CFM 501 (10-in. lp)	Rock, Baby, Rock It