Norma Dragoo - Nightmare (Custom Sound, circa 1970)
“In the dead of the night…” Norma Dragoo recorded the song “Nightmare” sometime in the early 1970s. Detective work performed by the Shreveport Songs blog reveals a few clues, but we welcome your input.
On December 19, 1999, the Shreveport Times newspaper published an obituary for Norma Jean Taylor Dragoo (1942-1999). She was a native and resident of Shreveport; her occupation – self-employed hair stylist. It appears this is the same Norma Dragoo who recorded “Nightmare.”
The details printed on the label of the record list George Armstrong as executive producer. His name also surfaces as producer on records released on another Shreveport label, Travis. The “Nightmare” record contains a reference to Heads Up Music, a music publishing company operated by Harding Guyon DesMarais (aka Dee Marais), who ran the Bayou Record Shop and Murco record label.
Online auctioneers may have noticed that a reel-to-reel recording of “Nightmare” surfaced a few years ago. The original tape box even contained a typewritten lyric sheet. Here are images of both items in all their fuzzy pixelated glory.
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| Norma J. Dragoo reel to reel tape box (circa 1970) |
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| Norma Jean Dragoo "Nightmare" lyric sheet (circa 1970) |
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| Norma Jean Taylor Dragoo obituary, Shreveport Times (Shreveport, LA), December 19, 1999. |