Jack Clement and Slim Wallace formed Fernwood Records in 1956. Billy Lee Riley was the first recording artist on the Fernwood label cutting "Think Before You Go," and "Trouble Bound." Jack Clement broughtthe tapes to Sun records to cut the masters. Sam Phillips bought the masters and gave Billy Lee Riley a contract to record at Sun. Jack Clement and Slim Wallace was joined by Scotty Moore who was Elvis's guitarist, Early in 1958, when Elvis was drafted. Moore began working at Fernwood Records in production, and got a big national hit with Thomas Wayne's"Tragedy" in 1959. Thomas Wayne (Perkins), brother of Johnny Cash's guitarist, Luther Perkins,was the former paperboy to Scotty Moore, Thomas felt he had a connection once Scotty joined Fernwood. His first single,"Saturday Night," was a flop until some disc jockey decided to play the flip side, "Tragedy," which caught on and peaked at #8 on the national charts. Among the notable recording recordings was Travis Wammack's "Scratchy," was cut in 1964 at Fernwood when he was 17 and proved to be his only national hit. Fernwood cut 42 records. Among the artist to record at Fernwood were Ace Cannon, Joe Lee (who was also the A&R man), Nick Charles, and Dewey Phillips. Among the Fernwood subsidiaries were Mid-South Records, Pure Gold, and Whirl-A-Way.
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