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Bulletin - December 2008
Country, Bluegrass & Old Timey
Johnny Bond -> Hank Williams + Book, DVDS

 

 

NEW BOOK

 
THE SELLING SOUND: The Rise Of The Country Music Industry by Diane Pecknold ● BOOK $22.95
Paper, 294 pages, counts as four CDs for shipping
Few expressions of popular culture have been shaped as profoundly by the relationship between commercialism and authenticity as country music has. While its apparent realism, sincerity, and frank depictions of everyday life are country's most obvious stylistic hallmarks, Diane Pecknold - a Postdoctoral Teaching Scholar in the Commonwealth Center for Humanities and Society at the University of Louisville - demonstrates that commercialism has been just as powerful a cultural narrative in its development. In the "The Selling Sound," Pecknold explores how country music's commercialism, widely acknowledged but largely unexamined, has affected the way it is produced, received by fans and critics, and valued within the American cultural hierarchy.

 

NEW DVDS

 
NOTE: Unless otherwise noted all DVDs offered are in NTSC format which means that they will not play on a European DVD players unless you have a multiple format player.
 
MERLE HAGGARD New West 8060 Live From Austin, TX ● DVD $15.98
Live from Austin City Limits in January, 1978. Hag in his prime with a great line up of the Strangers including Roy Nichols on guitar, Norm Hamlet on pedal steel and Bonnie Ownes on vocal backup. Songs include Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today/ Ramblin' Fever/ Singe Me Back Home/ Old Fashioned LOve/ Cherokee Maiden/ Misery/ Brain Cloudy Blues, etc.

 
WAYLON JENNINGS New West 8061 Live From Austin, TX ● DVD $15.98
New West's second volume of Waylon live on Austin City Limits. The first (New West 8019 - $15.98) featured a show from 1989, this one is from August 1984 and is even better. Waylon sings and picks with his band The Waylors on 14 songs including Are You Ready For Country/ I Can Get Off On You/ It's Not Supposed To be That Way/ You Asked Me To/ Good Hearted Woman/ Let's Turn Back The Years/ I've Always Been Crazy and more.

 

NEW COMPACT DISCS

 
JOHNNY BOND B.A.C.M. 248 The Clouds Will Soon Roll By ● CD $14.98
26 tracks, recommended
Fine collection of tracks by this popular and much loved performer whose career stretched back to the 30's, including long stints with Jimmy Wakely and Gene Autry. He also appeared in over 50 horse operas. The recordings here date from 1941 through 1956 and includes commercial recordings, unissued sides, demos and radio transcriptions. It includes his version of Jenny Lou Carson's religious flavored song Let Me Go Devil which became better known when rewritten as the pop song Let Me Go Lover. Johnny was a most engaging singer and arrangements range from a couple of guitars to small western groups to small orchestras. Includes Won't You RIde In My Little Red Wagon/ Down On The Old Plantation/ Darling What More Can I Do/ Remember The Alamo/ Jim Johnny & Jonas/ I Can't Hide The Tears/ Six Of One And Half A Dozen Of The Other/ Father Along/ Man From Texas, etc. Johnny was a fine songwriter and half a dozen of the songs here were written or co-written by him. (FS)

 
COWBOY COPAS Starday NA 2053 Filipino Baby ● CD $5.98
10 tracks, 26 mins, recommended
Oh, what to do when you have an artist whose biggest hit is totally in bad taste now. If you are Nashville/Gusto records I guess you just ignore that fact and put out a simple cheap compilation with that track and a few other well-known cuts by the artist and let it be. My Autobiography/ Louisian/ Don't Let Your Deal Go Down/ Signed, Sealed, Then Forgotten, and a handful more comprise this modest collection for a Grand Ole Opry great that died tragically, alongside Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. (JM)

 
KENNETH HOUCHINS B.A.C.M. 247 The Yodeling Drifter ● CD $14.98
23 tracks, recommended
Fine collection of songs recorded between 1932 and 1934 by singer/ guitarist/ yodeler Houchins from Champaign, Illinois. He performs a selection of cowboy, sentimental and blues songs basing his style on that of Jimmie Rodgers and Gene Autry with pleasing vocals and some nice yodeling. Most tracks are just vocal and guitar but on two titles he is joined by fiddler Slim Cox. His songs are a mix of originals and covers of other artists songs. It includes That Yodeling Gal Of Mine/ The Prisoner's Child/ Little Sweetheart Pal Of Mine/ Back To Old Smokey Mountain/ Homesick For Heaven/ My Silver Haired Mom/ The Gangster's Brothers/ When Jimmie Rodgers Said Goodbye, etc. Decent sound and good notes from Tony Russell. (FS)

 
LAURIE LEWIS & THE RIGHT HANDS Spruce & Maple 2004 Live ● CD $14.98
19 tracks, 79 min, highly recommended
Wherever the perfect combination of country and bluegrass is, Lewis and company managed to live there on their recent studio album. This new release, recorded live in in Oregon and Washington during three March days in 2007, isn't quite up to previous standards, but it's still full of razor sharp performances. Lewis again allows her Right Hands to one by one take center stage and offer up a song that suits them best. And yet the band is tight, as each right hand apparently knows what the other is doing. The song selection on Live is not as uniformly strong as on the studio album, but the finest moments (Lewis' own Love Chooses You and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell's Geraldine And Ruthie Mae, chief among them) are every bit the equal of the best studio sides. Other standouts include Si Kahn's Just A Lie, the traditional Worried Man Blues, the a cappella beauty The Rope, and Who Will Watch The Home Place. Not sure if their almost bluegrass reading of the Irving Berlin paean of sophistication (and probable double entendre) Without My Walking Stick works completely, but it's an interesting ride. Impressive. (JC)

 
SKEETS MCDONALD Bear Family BCD 16986 Heart Breakin' Mama - Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight ● CD $21.98
33 tracks, 79 mins, very highly recommended
A superb collection of sides recorded between 1950 and 1961 by this outstanding honky tonk singer whose comparitive lack of success is puzzling - he was superb singer, excellent songwriter and was accompanied by top West Coast musicians like Joe Maphis, Jimmy Bryant, Tommy Jackson, Speedy West, Buck Owens, Ralph Mooney and others. His only hit in the 50s was his great cover of Slim Willet's Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes which is featured here along with lots of other great songs with an emphasis on bluesy, uptempo titles. The titles are presented approximately in chronological order opening with two of his earliest sides recorded for Detroit's Fortune Records label including the risque The Tattooed Lady. It also includes his stab at rockabilly - the great You Oughta See Grandma Rock and Heart Breakin' mama which shows he could have easily had a career as a rocker. Other tracks include Scoot, Git And Be Gone/ Hi Diddle Dee (My Way)/ Baby, I'm Countin'/ Your Love Is Like A Faucet/ I Got A New Field To Plow/ You Gotta Be May Baby/ Keep her Off Your Mind, etc. Superb sound and set comes with 32 page booklet with extensive notes, rare photos and full discographical info. (FS)

 
HAL LONE PINE & BETTY CODY Bear Family BCD 16787 On The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine ● CD $21.98
30 tracks, 78 min, recommended
Not a new release but not reviewed before. This husband and wife team (the parents of guitar hero Lenny Breau, no less) found more fame in Canada than in the States, with the notable exception of Maine, where they were chart busters. Hal apparently considered himself the star of the act, though Betty seems the more talented of the two. At any rate, before their marriage and their act fell apart, they cut plenty of sides for RCA Bluebird and RCA Victor between 1950-54, many produces by Steve Sholes, who would a few years later produce some important sides for a kid named Elvis. The Hal Lone Pine sides are quite good (especially the very fine No Heart At All), but the duets with Betty (such as Yes I Do, No I Don't) are the real reason to pick this up--those and the Betty leads, especially Jealous Love. (On the Betty solo Tom-Tom Yodel she sounds a lot like Yma Sumac, minus some of the dog whistle notes.) This collection of "western songs and ballads" is a bit on the tame side, it's true, but that's actually part of the charm here. Great sound and informative booklet notes, as one might expect. (JC)

 
THE TEXAS TROUBADOURS Bear Family BCD 15946 Almost To Tulsa - The Instrumentals ● CD $21.98
Between 1959 and 1968 Ernest Tubb's great backup band The Texas Troubadours recorded a number of all instrumental sessions. This collection brings together all those recordings which were previously only available on vinyl or on the big Ernest Tubb box sets on Bear Family. The emphasis is on steel guitar solos or steel guitar/ electric guitar duets featuring the lead guitar of Leon Rhodes or Steve Chapman and the steel guitar of Buddy Emmons or Buddy Charleton. The material ranges from the sentimental sounds of Danny Boy to the jazzy Almost To Tulsa where the group updates the hot sounds of Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant from an earlier era.
BUDDY EMMONS: Blue Wind/ Four Wheel Drive/ Highland Swing/ THE TEXAS TROUBADOURS: 12th Street Rag/ Almost to Tulsa/ Big Beaver/ Buddie's Boogie/ C-Jam Blues/ Cain's Corner/ Cocoanut Grove/ Cool It/ Danny Boy/ E.T. Blues/ Gardenia Waltz/ Honey Fingers/ Jamming with C and C/ Leon's Guitar Boogie/ Leon's Guitar Boogie/ Leon's Guitar Boogie/ Lover's Waltz/ Nashville Shuffle/ Panhandle Rag/ Red Top/ Redskin Rag/ Rhodes-Bug Boogie/ Ridgetop Stomp/ Rose City Chimes/ Steel Guitar Rag/ Take That/ Texas Troubadour Stomp/ The Waltz You Saved for Me/ This Ain't The Blues/ Tuxedo Junction/ Twilight Over Texas/ Walking the Floor Over You

 
ERNEST TUBB B.A.C.M. 249 Just Rollin' On ● CD $14.98
22 track collection of sides from the King of Texas honky tonk recorded in 1944 for American Music World Transcriptions with his Texas Troubadour which, at the time consisted of Jimmie Short/ lead electric guitar, Melvin Short/ rhythm guitar, Johnny Sapp/ fiddle and Butterball Paige/ bass. The songs are all ones he recorded commercially for Decca but includes some of his more obscure songs and there are three fine instrumentals from the Troubadours. Includes I Lost My Ace Of Heats/ You May have Your Picture/ Sundown And Sorrow/ These Simple Things Are Worth A Million Now/ We Live In Two Different Worlds/ I'm Glad I met You After All/ You'll Love Me Too Late, etc.

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Bear Family BCD 16950 Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music, 1945 ● CD $24.98
27 tracks, essential
First in another great new series from Bear Family featuring some of country music's greatest recordings on a year by year basis starting with 1945. Most of the tracks were chart hits but in a few cases the compilers have chosen the original version of a country favorite which may have become a hit for someone else. So in this first volume we have writer Jenny Lou Carson's original version of Jealous Heart which subsequently was a hit for Tex Ritter and others and Lulu Belle & Scotty's original of Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. This set also includes Smoke On the Water by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, Shame On You by Spade Cooley & His Orch., Sioux City Sue by Dick Thomas, There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder by Jimmie Davis plus tracks by Ted Daffan, Gene Autry, Al Dexter, red Foley, Merle Travis, Ernest Tubb and others. There are similar collections out there but nobody does it like Bear Family. Each track has been carefully remastered for maximum listening pleasure and the CD is enclosed in a 5 1/2 x 5" hardbound book with 72 pages of notes by Colin Escott with loads of photos and full discographical information. (FS)
ROY ACUFF: We Live In Two Different Worlds/ EDDY ARNOLD: Cattle Call, The/ GENE AUTRY: At Mail Call Today/ Don't Fence Me In/ JENNY LOU CARSON: Jealous Heart/ SPADE COOLEY: Shame On You/ TED DAFFAN: Headin' Down the Wrong Highway/ JIMMIE DAVIS: There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder/ AL DEXTER: I'm Losing Mind Over You/ RED FOLEY: Hang Your Head In Shame/ PORKY FREEMAN: Boogie Woogie Boy/ JACK GUTHRIE: Oklahoma Hills/ PHIL HARRIS: That's What I Like About the South/ JERRY IRBY: Nails In My Coffin/ LULU BELLE & SCOTTY: Have I Told You Lately, That I Love You/ THE RAMBLER TRIO - FEATURING ARTHUR SMITH: Guitar Boogie/ TEX RITTER: You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often/ HANK SNOW: Blue Ranger/ DICK THOMAS: Sioux City Sue/ FLOYD TILLMAN: Each Night At Nine/ MERLE TRAVIS: That's All/ ERNEST TUBB: It's Been So Long Darling/ Tomorrow Never Comes/ WESLEY TUTTLE: With Tears In My Eyes/ JIMMY WALKER: Detour/ BOB WILLS: Smoke On the Water/ Stars and Stripes On Iwo Jima

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Bear Family BCD 16951 Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music, 1946 ● CD $24.98
28 more country classics - this time from 1946 including chart toppers like You Will have To Pay by Tex Ritter, New Spanish Two Step by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and Wine Women & Song by Al Dexter plus other gems like Atomic Poer by The Buchanan Brothers, Filipino Baby by Cowboy Copas, Someday by Elton Britt plus tracks by Roy Acuff, Gene Autry, The Delmore Brothers, Bill Monroe and more.
ROY ACUFF: No One Will Ever Know/ EDDY ARNOLD: That's How Much I Love You/ GENE AUTRY: I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine/ THE BAILES BROTHERS: As Long As I Live/ OWEN BRADLEY: Zeb's Mountain Boogie/ ELTON BRITT: Someday/ THE BUCHANAN BROTHERS: Atomic Power/ HARRY CHOATES: Jole Blon (Pretty Blond)/ SPADE COOLEY: Three Way Boogie/ COWBOY COPAS: Flilipino Baby/ Tragic Romance/ COUSIN EMMY: Ruby/ THE DELMORE BROTHERS: Hillbilly Boogie/ Midnite Special/ AL DEXTER: Wine, Women, and Song/ GRANDPA JONES: Eight More Miles To Louisville/ BILL MONROE: Kentucky Waltz/ Rocky Road Blues/ THE MORRIS BROTHERS: Salty Dog Blues/ HANK PENNY: Steel Guitar Stomp/ TEX RITTER: You Will Have To Play/ FLOYD TILLMAN: Some Other World/ MERLE TRAVIS: Dark As a Dungeon/ No Vacancy/ ERNEST TUBB: Rainbow At Midnight/ T. TEXAS TYLER: Black Jack David/ BOB WILLS: New Spanish Two Step/ Stay a Little Longer

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Bear Family BCD 16952 Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music, 1947 ● CD $24.98
27 more great titles starting with Tex Williams and Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) that topped both the country and pop charts and including the first appearance by Hank Williams with his Move It On Over. It also includes another chart topper from Bob Wills with Sugar Moon plus Milk Cow Blues by the Maddox Brothers & Rose, Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain by Roy Acuff, Signed, Sealed & Delivered by Cowboy Copas plus tracks by Red Foley, Jack Guthrie, Bill Carlisle, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Bill Monroe and others.
ROY ACUFF: Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain/ EDDY ARNOLD: I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)/ It's A Sin/ CHET ATKINS: Canned Heat/ THE BAILES BROTHERS: Dust On The Bible/ BILL CARLISLE: Rockin' Chair Money/ COWBOY COPAS: Signed, Sealed And Delivered/ THE CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN FOLKS (WITH MOLLY O': The Tramp On The Street/ THE DELMORE BROTHERS: Freight Train Boogie/ RED FOLEY: Never Trust A Woman/ JACK GUTHRIE: Oakie Boogie/ HAWKSHAW HAWKINS: Sunny Side Of The Mountain/ FAIRLEY HOLDEN: Keep Them Cold Icey Fingers Off Of Me/ BILLY HUGHES: Cocaine Blues/ THE MADDOX BROTHERS & ROSE: Milk Cow Blues/ BILL MONROE: Blue Moon Of Kentucky/ CHARLIE MONROE: Bringin' In The Georgia Mail/ CLYDE MOODY: Shenandoah Waltz/ MOON MULLICAN: Foggy River/ New Pretty Blonde (New Jole Blon)/ THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS: Cigarettes, Whusky, And Wild, Wild Women/ CARL STORY: I've Found A Hiding Place/ MERLE TRAVIS: So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed/ ERNEST TUBB: I'll Step Aside/ HANK WILLIAMS: Move It On Over/ TEX WILLIAMS: Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)/ BOB WILLS: Sugar Moon

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Bear Family BCD 16953 Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music, 1948 ● CD $24.98
1948 was really Eddy Arnold's year as five of the six songs to top the country charts were by him. This set includes two of his most famous Anytime and Bouquest Of Roses as well as the other # from that year One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart). Other titles that were hits but didn't reach such lofty heights include Tennessee Saturday Night by Red Foley, Waltz Of The Wind by Roy Acuff, Lost John Boogie by Wayne Raney and Carson Robison's whimsical Life Gets Tee-jus, Don't It. It also includes the original Lost Highway by Leon Payne and Wedding Bells by Bill Carlisle - both of which became hits the following year for Hank Williams plus lots more goodies.
ROY ACUFF: Waltz of the Wind/ EDDY ARNOLD: Anytime/ Bouquet of Roses/ JOHNNY BOND: Bartender's Blues/ BILL CARLISLE: Wedding Bells/ COWBOY COPAS: Breeze/ RED FOLEY: Tennessee Saturday Night/ HAWKSHAW HAWKINS: Dog House Boogie/ EDDIE HILL: Someday You'll Call My Name/ PEE WEE KING: Tennessee Waltz/ LONZO & OSCAR: I'm My Own Grandpa/ THE MADDOX BROTHERS & ROSE: New Muleskinner Blues/ BILL MONROE: I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling/ Little Cabin Home On the Hill/ MOON MULLICAN: Sweeter Than the Flowers/ DOYE O'DELL: Dear Oakie/ LEON PAYNE: Lost Highway/ WAYNE RANEY: Lost John Boogie/ CARSON ROBISON: Life Gits Tee-Jus, Don't It ?/ JIMMIE SKINNER: Doin' My Time/ THE STANLEY BROTHERS: Molly and Tenbrook/ FLOYD TILLMAN: I Love You So Much It Hurts/ MERLE TRAVIS: Merle's Boogie Woogie/ T. TEXAS TYLER: Deck of Cards/ JIMMY WAKELY: One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)/ HANK WILLIAMS: A Manison On the Hill/ BOB WILLS: Bubbles In My Beer/ JIMMY WORK: Tennessee Border

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS GVC 2018 The Hollywood Hepcats ● CD $18.98
2 CDs, 58 tracks, 129 mins, highly recommended
While the first CD concentrates on fantastic Up-beat Country and Western Swing acts, the second is chock full of some of the greatest Rockabillies and Rockers ever. So this collection is a hellofa one-two punch, with both CDs being total knockouts. On top of all of that, this compilation was all recorded in sunny old California, thus bringing us to the theme and purpose of this, which is to shine a light on how much great music was recorded out here, all the way back in the classic Country and Western Swing days. All tracks recorded through the '40s and '50s. Between these two CDs, there are far too many highlights to name them all in the space provided here, but to give you an example: CD One has such nuggets as Merle Travis' I Can't Afford the Coffee (I'm Tired of Drinking Weak Tea Blues,) Skeets McDonald's Don't Push Me Too Far, Joe Maphis & Larry Collins with Bye Bye, as well as great tracks by Maddox Bros. & Rose, Billy Strange & Speedy West With Cliffie Stone & His Orchestra, Sonny James, Johnny Bond, Eddie Dean, etc. CD Two has such hot tracks as Fools Paradise by The Cochrane Brothers, Make up Your Mind, Baby by Bob Luman, Hop Skip & Jump by The Collins Kids, Cool Love by Wanda Jackson, Lotta Lovin'by Gene Vincent, etc., etc. Plus Dorsey Burnette, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Lee Trammell, Tommy Sands, Kip Tyler & His Flips, and so many more greats populate the rest of this fabulous outing. Great sound throughout makes this one a total winner. (JM)
AL BARKLE: Jumpin' from Six to Six/ BILLY "HILLBILLY" BARTON: Day Late and a Dollar Short/ JOHNNY BOND: All I Can Do Is Cry/ CUSTER BOTTOMS: Stood Up Blues/ KENNY BROWN & THE ARKANSAS RAMBLERS: Throw a Little Wood on the Fire/ JIMMY BRYANT: Pushin' the Blues/ DORSEY BURNETTE: Bertha Lou/ JERRY CAPEHART: Heart of a Fool (Demo Version)/ CASEY CLARK & HIS LAZY RANCH BOYS: Lost John/ THE CLETRO COMBO: Rock & Roll Cowboy/ EDDIE COCHRAN: Teenage Cutie (Demo Version)/ JACKIE LEE COCHRAN: Ruby Pearl/ THE COCHRAN BROTHERS: Fool's Paradise/ THE COLBY-WOLF COMBO: Rock-A-Billy Gal/ SONNY COLE: I Dreamed I Was Elvis/ LARRY COLLINS & JOE MAPHIS: Bye Bye/ THE COLLINS KIDS: Hop, Skip and Jump/ BO DAVIS: Drownin' All My Sorrows/ MAXWELL DAVIS & RUSTY MCDONALD: Easy Big Mama/ TIM DINKINS & THE TEXAS CUTUPS: Cattin' Tonight/ TOMMY DUNCAN & BILL WOODS: Daddy Loves Mommyo/ JOHNNY FAIRE: Til the Law Says Stop/ THE FARMER BOYS: Cool Down Mame/ TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD: Tennessee Local/ DARRELL GLENN: Hello Baby (Glad to Have You Home)/ GLEN GLENN: Baby, Let's Play House (Demo Version)/ THE HOLLY TWINS: I Want Elvis for Christmas/ WANDA JACKSON: Cool Love/ SONNY JAMES & THE SOUTHERN GENTLEMEN: Mighty Lovable Man/ CORKY JONES: Hot Dog/ JOANNIE KING: OK Doll, It's a Deal/ ALIS LESLEY: He Will Come Back to Me/ BOB LUMAN: Make Up Your Mind, Baby/ THE MADDOX BROTHERS & ROSE: Let Me Love You/ Stop Whistlin' Wolf!/ SAMMY MASTERS & HIS ROCKING RHYTHM: Some Like It Hot/ SKEETS MCDONALD: Don't Push Me Too Far/ Heart-Breaking Mama/ JIMMY MCGRAW & THE MILLER BROTHERS: Loco Choo Choo/ KENNY MCKENNON AND HIS BLUE CATS: Call Your Daddy, Baby/ BILLY MIZE: Solid Sender/ MERRILL MOORE: Buttermilk Baby/ RICKY NELSON: Waitin' in School/ DUSTY PAYNE & HIS RHYTHM ROCKERS: I Want You/ RUDY PRESTON: Nobody But You/ TOMMY SANDS: Ring My Phone/ RAY STANLEY: My Lovin' Baby/ CLIFFIE STONE ORCHESTRA WITH BILLY STRANGE & SPE: Barracuda/ JIMMY THOMASON: Now Hear This!/ BOBBY LEE TRAMMELL: Shirley Lee/ MERLE TRAVIS: I Can't Afford the Coffee (I'm Tired of Drinkin' Weak Tea Blues)/ KIP TYLER & THE FLIPS: Vagabond Mama/ GENE VINCENT & HIS BLUE CAPS: Lotta Lovin'/ LEW WILLIAMS: Centipede/ DON WINTERS: Pretty Moon/ BILL WOODS: Bop/ Phone Me Baby/ GENE WYATT: Lover Boy

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Jasmine JASCD 469 "Rock Me!" Mississippi Hillbilly Boogie, Bop & Honky To ● CD $15.98
24 tracks, 62 mins, highly recommended
Terrific collection of mostly up tempo hillbilly recorded for various Mississippi labels though not all the artists are from the state. It opens with "Lucky" Joe Almond doing the great Gonna Rock And Roll which isn't exactly rock 'n' roll but certainly rocks. Almond is also featured on a several other fine sides including a great cover of bluesman Piano Red's Rock Me which was a regional hit with both a black and white audience. Louisiane born Lou Millett is featured on several cuts including the great My Inlaws Made An Outlaw Out Me. Jimmy and Jack are a fine duo who perform in a style reminiscent of The Louvin Brothers and there are other fine sides from henry Ford, Luke McDaniel, Al Terry & His Louisiana Hayriders, Bud Scarborough with The Southern Drifters, Bill Blevins and others. Sound quality is superb and there are knowledgeable notes by Al Turner. (FS)
'LUCKY' JOE ALMOND: Every Day Of The Week (i'll Be Loving You)/ LUCKY JOE ALMOND: Rock Me/ 'LUCKY' JOE ALMOND & HILLBILLY ROCKERS: Gonna Rock And Roll/ Hickory Nut Boogie/ BILL BLEVINS: An Hour Late And A Dollar Short/ THE COUNTRY COWBOYS: Mississippi Boogie/ HENRY FORD: No More Money No More Honey/ ROY HARRIS & HIS HAPPY HILLBILLIES: A Too Much/ EMMIT HAWKINS & HIS MISS MELODY BOYS: Anything For My Baby/ JIMMY AND JACK: I Don't Want You Anymore/ Love Love Love/ KAY AND SHIRLEY 'THE DIXIE RAMBLERS': Hee Ho/ LUKE MCDANIEL: Whoa Boy/ J. W. MEREDITH: I Love You So Much/ You're Not The Girl Of My Dreams/ LOU MILLET: Just You And Me/ My Inlaws Made An Outlaw Of Me/ Whisper Of Doubt/ MAC QUINN AND HIS 'DUBS': Don't Flirt With Me In Public (i'm A Married Man)/ BUD SCARBOROUGH WITH THE SOUTHERN DRIFTERS: A Fool/ CHICK SOLEY AND HIS WESTERNAIRES: Don't Let You Lips Say Yes (and Your Heart Say No)/ JIMMY SWAN: Lonesome Daddy Blues/ Triflin' On Me/ AL TERRY AND HIS LOUISIANA HAYRIDERS: Shoot Me A Line

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Point 5001 Boston Jamboree, Volume 1 ● CD $17.98
25 tracks, recommended
Country music in Boston? Yes, indeed and some pretty good stuff too. This is a fine and varied collection of Boston based artists recorded between the early 1950s and early 60s - many of whom appeared on the local Boston Jamboree Radio Program broadcast on WHIL-FM. The only national name here is Kenny Roberts who is featured on three tracks. Roberts was originally from Tennessee and Boston was one of many places he called home during his long career. The rest of the artists are either local artists or transplanted Southerners. The Chisholm Brothers are featured on six tracks ranging from a down home cover of Hank Williams' Pan American to the more uptown sound of Second Place Heart. Johnny White is featured on a fine cover of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues and two other fine sides. Other artists include Teenie Chenault & The Country Rockers, Doug Lavalley, Clyde & Willie Mae Joy, Bella Lee, Earl White, Lynn Holloway, The Rainbow Valley Boys (fine bluegrass group with the topical Coal Loadin' Johnny), Doug Terry and Jerry Devine. Excellent sound and four page booklet with brief notes and photos. (FS)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Stampede 5002 I'm Ready - Featuring Eddie Cochran ● CD $22.98
32 tracks, 72 min., recommended
Not so much an Eddie Cochran album as a country various artists collection featuring Cochran now as vocalist, now as guitarist. Other than the obvious appeal to Cochran superfans, this compilation (which apparently features some unissued material, although the notes are unclear) has limited appeal. That said, some of the more interesting recordings here are the eight Don Deal tracks recorded circa 1954 at California's Gold Star Recording Studios. Deal's friend Eddie Cochran is said to be playing rhythm guitar throughout, which is nice, but the songs stand up on their own merit. Four tracks listed as by Hank Hammer are identified as by The Cochran Brothers, which is to say Hank and Eddie Cochran. They're pleasant enough country sides too, as are the four other Cochran Brothers tracks, which boast superior sound and superior everything else. Also of interest are a pair of Cochran instrumentals: I'll See You In My Dreams and Cannonball Rag. Jess Willard, Jerry Capehart, and the fairly obscure Tom Forse each have two cuts, all very solid country fare, if nothing monumental. In short, "I'm Ready" contains enough good mid-1950s country sides to recommend it, even without the appeal of Eddie Cochran's name. But as the booklet notes make clear, the intended audience is the diehard Cochran fans who yearn for any new information and newly discovered recordings. The "hidden track," which ironically is listed on the tray card as the "hidden track," is the somewhat scratchy "original from Gold Star acetate" of Don Deal's Let's Get It Over Right Now, which actually skips once and appears in polished form as track 10. If that appeals to you, so will this. (JC)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Tee-Vee 762 30 Radio Gospel Hits ● CD $11.98
Fine budget priced two CD set with 30 tracks of bluegrass and country gospel drawn from King and associated labels with recordings ranging from the 1950s to the 1990s. Includes sides by The Masters Family, Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Wade Mainer, Harla Howard, Reno & Smiley, Wanda jackson, Archie Campbell, Carl Story, Jean Shepard, Porter Wagoner, The Stanley Brothers, Wayne Raney, Jimmie Osborne and more.

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Tee-Vee 7800 Road Music ● CD $9.98
23 tracks, 73 mins, recommended
I actually still have the original vinyl of this from the '70s. I had bought it for the ridiculously buxom girl on the cover, but inside there were all kinds of great old trucker songs to make it worth listening to. I pulled out the old vinyl to compare the two and they have exactly the same track listing, except that the CD has one less song than the vinyl. For some reason Red Sovine's The Gearjammer and the Hobo has not been included on the CD; I don't know, maybe there was a strong protest from the Hobo community that demanded its exclusion. You do get plenty of Red Sovine here though, with Giddyup Go/ Phantom 309/ Teddy Bear/ Truck Driver's Prayer/ Freightliner Fever, and Little Joe all included, not to mention Minnie Pearl's answer record Giddyup Go Answer. Along side the mighty Sovine, you get a few other trucker legends Dave Dudley with his Six Days on the Road, and Truck Driving Son of a Gun, Del Reeves with Girl on the Billboard, and Looking at the World Through a Windshield, and Jimmy Martin with Truck Drivin' Man, and Widowmaker. Convoy is here, but by the Tommy Hill Music Festival instead of C.W. McCall, which is fine. You also get some other great road nuggets like Truck Drivin' Queen by Moore & Napier, C.B. Savage by Rod Hart, and Pinball Machine by Lonnie Irving. The truck driving songs of the '60s and '70s are a continued source of inspiration to me and I heartily recommend this collection to all. It would be highly recommended if it had any notes or info at all. (JM)
DAVE DUDLEY: Six Days On The Road/ Truck Driving Son Of A Gun/ CLAUDE GRAY: How Fast Them Trucks Can Go/ JIMMY GRIGGS: Overloaded Diesel/ TINY HARRIS: Endless Black Ribbon/ ROD HART: C.B. Savage/ TOMMY HILL MUSIC FESTIVAL: Convoy/ White Knight/ LONNIE IRVING: Pinball Machine/ JIMMY MARTIN: Truck Drivin' Man/ Widowmaker/ MOORE & NAPIER: Truck Drivin' Queen/ MINNIE PEARL: Giddyup Go Answer/ DEL REEVES: Girl On The Billboard/ Looking At The World Through A Windshield/ RED SOVINE: Freightliner Fever/ Giddyup Go/ Little Joe/ Phantom 309/ Teddy Bear/ Truck Driver's Prayer/ THE WILLIS BROTHERS: Give Me Forty Acres To Turn This Rig Around/ COLEMAN WILSON: Passing Zone Blues

 
PORTER WAGONER Omni 118 The Cold Hard Facts Of Life ● CD $16.98
30 tracks, 76 mins, highly recommended
Continuing with their specialty of re-issuing off-kilter Country classics from the '60s and '70s, Omni now provides us with a double dose of ol' Porter Wagoner. Porter was rather fond of the concept album and did many in his career; here you get two concept albums, both originally released in 1967. The first album of the two--"The Cold Hard Facts of Life"--deals with infidelity and broken marriages/ relationships. Then you get the "Soul of a Convict" album, dealing with the hard life of a prisoner. Each album featured great staged shots with Porter in character, starting off with a rendition of Bill Anderson's most demented song First Mrs. Jones, a song about a drunken psychopath terrorizing his second wife with tales of the late, first Mrs. Jones (one of Country music's creepiest hit songs). From there you get other tales of doomed romance like the title track, Hundred Dollar Funeral/ Tragic Romance/ I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye/ Shopworn, etc. The better songs are really once you get to the second LP, with big hits like The Green, Green Grass of Home/ Folsom Prison Blues, and Snakes Crawl at Night, along with such fine tracks as Convict And The Rose/ They're All Going Home But One, and I'm Just Here To Get my Baby Out of Jail. Omni doesn't just leave you there though, as usual they provide some rare bonus tracks; I Lived so Fast and Hard/ Your Mothers Eyes, and House of Shame, to name a few. (JM)

 
HANK WILLIAMS Time Life 80031 Unreleased Recordings ● CD $39.98
Three CDS, 54 tracks, 168 mins, utterly essential
Now available. Here it is - the Holy Grail of country music - 54 previously unissued songs from the greatest country music singer and songwriter of all time including 28 songs he never recorded anywhere. In 1951 Hank recorded a series of 72 15 minute radio shows with his Drifting Cowboys sponsored by Mother's Best Flour. These recordings were almost lost but a couple of sets of the original 16" acetates used for the shows survived and have been embroiled in legal entanglements for many years though copies of these shows have circulated underground among Williams collectors. The legal issues have finally been sorted out and this is the first of several releases to feature those recordings along with other previously unreleased material. Although only one of the never before released songs is a Hank original his performances of other artists songs redefine that song for all time. In addition to covers of other artists' hits there are traditional gospel songs and obscure old songs that indicate the depth of Hank's musical knowledge. Every performance is a gem so it's impossible to really pick out highlights but I'll mention a fews titles of particular interest. On Top Of Old Smokey is familiar to everyone as a jolly campfire song but Hank sings it as it was originally written as a slow tragic love ballad and the result is simply spine chilling as is his performance of another old warhorse Cool Water which features one of his most intense performances. Backing is, of course, by The Drifting Cowboys featuring sensitive accompaniments from Jerry Rivers on fiddle, Don Helms on steel, Sammy Pruett on guitar and Cedric Rainwater on bass and various members of the group are featured on a gorgeous array of old gospel songs. The sound quality is absolutely magnificent - often better than on his more familiar studio recordings and the set is packaged in a 10"x6" book form with 40 pages of notes by Hank's biographer Colin Escott along with great and rare photos. My only regret is that they only included a few snippets of the talk between the songs but hopefully future sets will feature more and, perhaps, one day we will see all the shows reissued in their entirety. This is the release that Hank Williams fans have been waiting many years to finally see released and I believe it to be the best and most important release of this year and quite possibly of the 21st century. (FS)
HANK WILLIAMS: At The First Fall Of Snow/ Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain/ California Zephyr/ Cherokee Boogie/ Cold, Cold Heart/ Cool Water/ Dear John/ Drifting Too Far From The Shore/ Dust On The Bible/ From Jerusalem to Jericho/ Gathering Flowers For The Master's Bouquet/ Have I Told You Lately That I Love You/ Hey, Good Lookin'/ I Can't Help It(If I'm Still In Love With You)/ I Can't Tell My Heart That/ I Dreamed That the Great Judgement Morning/ I Heard My Savior Calling Me/ I'll Fly Away/ I'll Have A New Life/ I'll Sail My Ship Alone/ I'm Gonna Sing/ I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry/ I've Got My One Way Ticket To The Sky/ If I Didn't Love You/ Just When I Needed You/ Lonely Tombs/ Low And Lonely/ May You Never Be Alone/ Mind Your Own Business/ Next Sunday Darling Is My Birthday/ On The Banks Of The Pontchartrain/ On Top Of Old Smoky/ Pictures From Life's Other Side/ Pins And Needles(In My Heart)/ Precious Lord, Take My Hand/ Seaman's Blues/ Searching For A Soldier's Grave/ Softly And Tenderly/ Tennessee Border/ The Blind Child's Prayer/ The Old Country Church/ The Pale Horse And His Rider/ The Prodigal Son/ There's Nothing As Sweet As My Baby/ Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine/ Wait For The Light To Shine/ Wedding Bells/ When God Dips His Love In My Heart/ When The Fire Comes Down/ When The Saints Go Marching In/ Where He Leads Me/ Where The Soul Never Dies/ Why Should We Try Anymore/ You Blotted My Happy Schooldays

 

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