Curley Money

Who was Curley Money?

Curley Money was an American rockabilly musician.

Robert Earnest Money, known by his stage name Curley Money, was the youngest of eight children born to a sharecropper in Haleburg, Alabama. Only eight years old when he first developed musical interests, Money could later be found fiddling at barn dances on Saturday nights in Henry County for extra cash. In 1942 he moved to Columbus, Georgia to find work in the Cotton Mills. While there, his dream of being a Country Artist/Songwriter manifested. He toured nationally with the group he assmbled, “The Rhythm Ramblers”. Traveling along with his group was his nephew, Comer Money. Comer went on to publish several records in the 1960s under his uncle’s record labels. The groups popularity continued to grow and finally they landed a radio show on WGBA Radio in Columbus. Later they made several regular appearances on WRBL TV as part of the “Spec and Doyal Wright Show”.

In 1956 Money launched record label, Rambler Records. ”Playing the Game”/”Why must I cry” was the label's first release, in April 1956; it was a great success and prompted him to continue with other releases such as “Gonna Rock” which made it to #3 on Billboard Chart. He later had to change the name of his label to Money Records. He failed to get proper copyrights on the first label, and another company took his label name. He released a total of 42 singles through 1965.