Kenneth W. Parchman (January 15, 1932 - June 2, 1999) was a rockabilly musician although largely forgotten in his native US, he developed a following in Europe.
Born on January 15, 1932 near Jackson, TN, he was drawn to the music he heard on the radio, and his parents bought him a guitar while he was still a boy. He learned to play from his mother, and it seemed like he might find a future, at least part of the time, in music. He later made a living driving a truck for Wells Fargo, but spent a lot of his spare time hanging around the clubs in Memphis, taking in the music. He finally formed his own band in 1955.
The outfit, heavily influenced by Carl Perkins' band of the same period, busied themselves playing local dances and record hops. The core of the band, known as the High-Hats, featured Jerry Lee Smith on piano while Parchman sang and played lead guitar.
By mid-1956, they'd made some demos for Sam Phillips at Sun Records, and they were signed in August of that year, with a planned debut of "Love Crazy Baby," which was subsequently cancelled by Phillips at the last moment for reasons lost to time. He recorded other sides, including several originals, for Sun, none of which ever got released. Finally, in the summer of 1957, he received an offer of a contract from the newly founded Jaxon label, based in Jackson, TN, and cut sides for them, making his belated debut as a commercial recording artist with "Treat Me Right" b/w "Don't You Know."
Ironically, it was after that release that Parchman cut what is usually thought of as his best classic track, "Tennessee Zip," for Sun Records, and again, it sat on the shelf for a quarter century. Although they continued to play some hillbilly-style country numbers, the band had pumped up their drum sound and pushed the tempos and slid easily into the booming rock & roll groove of the era, and their music morphed directly into a hot rockabilly sound -- just as effective on their records -- that audiences 25 years later devoured as fast as it poured off the grooves of their singles.
He was later signed to the LU label, also based in Jackson, which issued his second single, "Get It Off Your Mind" b/w "Satellite Hop," in 1958. He and the band were still getting lots of work locally, playing a mix of hillbilly-style country music and rock & roll. Kenny made his final visit to the Sun Studio on October 5th, 1959 when he recorded two songs. These were another version of "Treat Me Right" and his favourite "You Call Everybody Darling".
Throughout the 60’s Kenny and the band were still getting lots of work locally, playing a mix of hillbilly-style country music and rock & roll. By 1975, he appeared in the famous Pineridge Club in Jackson. His last appearance there was recorded and some of these titles were published later. During the 80’s he was amazed to learn of the discovery of his unissued Sun sides, and the degree to which his classic recordings of the '50s were idolized, especially in Europe.
He left the music business to start a very successful home construction company in Jackson. The construction business was good for Kenny and his family and they enjoyed a good quality of life in their large two story brick house on the outskirts of Jackson and which was just a couple of miles away from the Carl Perkins home. Whenever Kenneth got home after a hard working day and wanted to relax, he went to his music room and played on his guitar. That to him was peace of mind.
However in 1991, he developed the disease Mycobacterium Avium which he contacted working with bricks. His family clubbed together and bought him a new electric piano thus permitting him to play all the music that he wanted to. However, in 1997, Kenneth became seriously ill and was forced into spending a month in hospital. His family managed to get him back home to nurse him. On 2nd June 1999 and, after a six year long and painful sickness, Kenneth Parchman sadly passed away June 2, 1999 at the age of 67.
(Edited from Rocky 52., tims.blackcat.nl & Memim encyclopedia)