1963-1964 - After several sensational appearances on major coast to coast national TV shows including two twenty five minute stints on the top rated Steve Allen show - debuted live at one of the most prestigious showrooms - The Beverly Hilton - Beverly Hills, The Flamingo - Las Vegas. Eventually meets up with Oscar Davis.

• The reason the contracts were not consummated previously with Oscar Davis (3 years later) now became apparent. On Oscar's arrival from Australia he was struck down with a severe stroke, leaving him unable to talk, walk or write.

• Hollywood gave Jamesy (Rock) a new name - Martin St. James, and a story to that also - read "Sleep you Bastard" his light hearted novel of the misadventures of a stage Hypnotist. (Click here for the "Sleep You Bastard" page)

• Martin stayed in Nashville for many months helping and encouraging Oscar to once again walk with the aide of a cane, talks again. Oscar became the volunteered godfather of Shane, Martin's son, now 5, little did Shane know that many a Sunday, The King "Elvis" would ring Oscar to enquire regarding his health. Shane talked with Elvis on several occasions.

• Back to Music - Several months of sharing an apartment with a few of Nashville’s top Manager/Promoters and top songwriters, meeting the crème de la crème of the songwriters, who would sit around all hours - day and nights, waking in a haze of smoke, who knows what kind of smoke, who knows who wrote the songs, there were the compositions of Wolverton Mountain, Ring of Fire, Honky Tonk Woman, Detroit City, Green Green Grass of Home, the list was endless. The apartment was a haven for stars whose wives had caveats on their earnings as most were pending divorces and off the tracks.

• By now the music bug had bitten again. At Bradley Studios one of the most celebrated recording studios in Nashville Martin, at about 3 a.m., accompanied his friend Merle Kilgore Writer of many Johnny Cash Hits including the best selling "Ring of Fire" was producing a record with the backing group of Elvis. There was time left from the studio booking - Merle requested Martin to put down a track with the famous band backing.

• It was a Song of Martin's the country boys liked - "Dig that Crazy Didgeridoo".

• Immediately after one take the sound engineer that had recorded an untold amount of hits came from the sound booth grinning - "Ya have got a hit there ya all". Within minutes they were recording another of Martin's songs for the flipside. From nowhere came a man from Mercury Records wielding a recording contract.

The main thing that Martin regrets that fateful night was that he did not have the sense to ask for a copy. He walked on air and lapped up the star treatment as once again he expected to be on the way to a music career. Upon visiting the Watering Hole, Boots Randolph (Yackety Yak Sax) in Printers Row, Nashville, Martin was invited to climb on stage with Hank Snow (one of the greats of country music) shocking the audience as they had not heard many Aussies before singing pure country. Then came the next and final disappointment - it appears the man from the record company who took the masters of the recordings and signed him up to record on arrival at his home in the early hours that morning was involved in a domestic situation ending in a shooting. The masters were never recovered - a disappointed Martin hung up his guitar to continue performing as a hypnotist.

It is only recently in 2005 he has been encouraged by a promoter Ray Maguire and Lee Kernigan's manager Steve White to bring out his old songs and rewrite.

So there ya go y'all - any prominent artists or recording companies out there who may be interested in something old that could be new - you know how to make contact.

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