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COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIMEY

James Intveld -> Earl Johnson

JAMES INTVELD
JERRY IRBY
BUD ISAACS
ALAN JACKSON
STONEWALL JACKSON
WANDA JACKSON
SONNY JAMES
TOMMY JARRELL
SNUFFY JENKINS
WAYLON JENNINGS
JIM & JESSE
JIMMY & JOHNNY
JOHNNY & JACK
EARL JOHNSON

JAMES INTVELD Bear Family BCD 15900 James Intveld ● CD $21.98
10 tracks, 39 minutes, very good
Intveld's been a fixture on the L.A. roots-music circuit since the 80s, probably best known as the lead guitarist of The Blasters. on this CD Jim does it all, including producing, writing & playing all the instruments. Jim mines a similar vein as Chris Isaak, with a big influence by Roy O (see Samantha), & late 50s ballad Elvis, but with a less melodramatic & more rockin' country approach. Includes a cover of Don Gibson's Blue Blue Day, a Huey Meux-penned I'm To Blame, + Cryin' Over You/ Barely Hangin' On, etc. (GM)

 
JERRY IRBY Collector CLCD 2851 Boppin' Hillbilly Series ● CD $17.98
26 tracks, 70 minutes, recommended
Dapper Texan Jerry Irby has appeared on many a rockabilly compilation and now there's a whole whoppin' 26 track CD devoted to the man. He started out in the great Texas western swing scene of the 30's and has played with many of the greats. He's best known for writting and singing the C&W standard Nails In My Coffin (one of the all-time classic drinkin' songs) but as you'll hear, he had a lot of good ones. These were mostly taken from rare 78 rpm records (and a few demos) cut for little labels like Gulf, Globe, Cireco, Hummingbird, etc. and are performed in a boppin' hillbilly style (with some hillbilly boogie and western swing mixed in). Clickety Clack/ Nails In My Coffin/ 49 Women/ Texas Gal Polka/ Hillbilly Boogie/ I've Got The Blues For Texas, etc. (AE)

 
BUD ISAACS Bronco Buster 9051 The Swingin' Steel Guitar Of Bud Isaacs ● CD $18.98
The rest of the 1955 transcriptions.
BUD ISAACS: Beautiful Kawana./ Bud's Bounce/ Georgia Steel Guitar/ Hawaiian Sunset/ Hawaiian War Chant/ I Can't Go On This Way/ Kentucky Waltz/ Melody Of Love/ Over The Waves/ Rose Room/ Silver Moon On The Golden Gate/ Steel Guitar Chimes/ Steel Guitar Rag / Steelin' Away/ Texas Playboy Rag / The Waltz You Saved For Me / This Is Southland/ Two Out Of Three (Vocal By Bud Isaacs)/ Waltz Of The Ozarks/ Whispering Hope

 
BUD ISAACS Bronco Buster 9052 The Master Of The Steel Guitar ● CD $18.98
First of two sets featuring all the transcriptions cut by Bud in Hollywood in 1955 with Bobby Moore, Grady Martin, Tommy Jackson & Jimmie Selph
BUD ISAACS: Blue Bonnet Rag/ Blue Steel Blues/ Bud's Boogie/ Cocoabut Grove/ Go Ask Your Mama/ Hometown Stomp/ Hot Mockin' Bird/ Panhandle Rag/ Red Sails In The Sunset/ Roadside Rag/ Song Of The Islands/ Spanish Fandango/ Steel Guitar Jubilee/ Steel Guitar Rag / Steel Guitar Stomp/ Steelin' Home/ Steelin' The Chimes/ Texas Playboy Rag / The Punkin' Stomp/ The Waltz Saved You For Me ./ Twilight Blues/ Wabash Blues/ Yesterday's Waltz

 
ALAN JACKSON Arista 8623 Here In The Real World ● CD $15.98
A honky-tonk singer/songwriter with a style similar to that of Ricky Van Shelton, producers Keith Stegall and Scott Hendricks have even copied the sleek, yet traditional sound of Shelton's records. All that aside, Jackson is a gifted and expressive vocalist on these ten songs he wrote or co-wrote. He's particularly strong on the title track, his first major hit, as well as Wanted, the autobiographical Home and I'd Love You All Over Again, all impressive ballads. His acerbic, Lefty Frizzell flavored wit shines on She Don't Get The Blues. At a time Nashville record companies are promoting wimpy contemporary folksingers as "traditional" country because they don't know traditional country from hulas, it's heartening to find yet another real traditional talent. (RK)

 
ALAN JACKSON Arista 8681 Don't Rock The Jukebox ● CD $15.98
"Don't rock the jukebox/ I wanna hear some (George) Jones/ My heart ain't ready/ For the Rolling Stones" says it all. No way will Jackson be marketed to '60s rock fans as a Nashville version of James Taylor. Fact is, this second album is as strong as his debut. Producer Keith Stegall is in full form, and helped Jackson write the witty Dallas, which utilizes locations to chronicle a broken marriage. The mysterious, dark-hued imagery of Midnight in Montgomery is imbued with the ghosts of Hank, Sr. an awesome performance that gives the entire album a different dimension. There's even a ballad called From A Distance, but not that crappy bag of pretense recorded by Bette Midler and Kathy Mattea recorded but a simple ballad Jackson co-wrote with Randy Travis. Every bit as good as his first. (RK)

 
WANDA JACKSON Bear Family BCD 15582 Santo Domingo - Ihre Deutschen Aufnahmen ● CD $21.98
18 German cuts, recorded for the European audiences who formed Wanda's biggest fan base in the second half of the 60's, and into the 70's. With her continental hits Santo Domingo/ Morgen, Ja Morgen, the somewhat more familiar Oh Lonesome Me/ Louisiana Moon, and more. Great booklet, with Wanda's Okie-centric anecdotes on Europe, and many color pics (dig that vintage bouffant!). (MB)

 
WANDA JACKSON Bear Family BCD 16114 Tears Will Be The Chaser .. ● CD $189.98
8 CD box set with book featuring all of Wanda's Capitol recordings from 1963 to 1973 including nine top 30 country tunes and ten previously unissued cuts.

 
WANDA JACKSON Capitol 36185 Vintage Collection ● CD $11.98
20 tracks recommended
This one starts with her first country hit, I Gotta Know from 1956. Her rockabilly classics get ample attention, including Hot Dog, That Made Him Mad, Cool Love, Fujiyama Mama, Mean, Mean Man, and Rock Your Baby. Making Believe reflects the types of country material Capitol usually put on the other side of her rock singles. She dipped into Elvis's repertoire for Hard Headed Woman and Let's Have A Party (Elvis talked her into recording rock). Though by 1961 she and producer Ken Nelson refocused on country, even at the session where she recorded her first big country hit Right or Wrong, she recorded the Robins' Riot in Cell Block # 9. Her vocal intensity was outstanding on In the Middle of A Heartache and her cover of Stonewall Jackson's Why I'm Walkin' Also here is Let's Stop Kickin' Our Hearts Around, a song she wrote for Buck Owens. (AK)

 
WANDA JACKSON Curb 77398 Greatest Hits ● CD $10.98
11 sides from the 50s through the 70s plus a recent recording of I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know with Jann Browne + Let's Have A Party/ In The Middle Of A Heartache/ Fancy Satin Pillows/ A Woman Lives For Love/ I Gotta Know/ Back Then, etc

 
SONNY JAMES Razor & Tie 2150 Young Love : The Classic Hits Of Sonny James ● CD $15.98
20 track collection of this popular country-pop crossover artists' Capitol sides including 15 No. 1 hits - That's Me Without You/ Young Love/ First Date, First Kiss, First Love/ You're The Only World I Know/ Take Good Care Of Her/ A World Of Our Own, etc

 
TOMMY JARRELL County 2724 The Legacy Of Tommy Jarrell, Vol. 1 : Sail Away Ladies ● CD $13.98
15 tracks, 42 minutes, highly recommended. This is the first in a series of 4 volumes of recordings by old time musician Tommy Jarrell on the County label. Jarrell, who died in 1985, was one of the true masters of Appalachian fiddle music and is associated with the Galax style of playing from the North Carolina/Virginia border region. These superb performances are as non commercial and traditional as you can get! Jarrell learned most of these songs from his father and other older fiddlers and plays in a style that predates the rise in popularity of "old timey” music from the 20's. Fiddle and voice are the only instruments heard. Jarrell, who was clearly a master musician, plays with deliberate tempo changes and a complex bowing style and the sound is both stark and intensely moving. Each track is prefaced by a brief spoken introduction in which Jarrell gives tuning information and says something of the origins of each song, which include Soldier's Joy/ Cotton Eyed Joe/ Devil in the Strawstack/ Cluck Old Hen, and Step Back Cindy. (DP)

 
TOMMY JARRELL County 2725 The Legacy Of Tommy Jarrell, Vol. 2 : Rainbow Sign ● CD $15.98
CD issue of County 791. A Welcome album of fiddle tunes from the late North Carolina fiddler, none of which he'd ever played on record before, including rousing versions of Little Sadie/ Fire On The Mountain/ Granny Will Your Dog Bite/ Lola Red/ Little Maggie/ Poor Ellen Smith and an old timey version of Sugar Foot Rag. He is backed by Verlen Clifton (mand), Alice Gerrard (g) & Andy Cahan (bj). (RP)

 
TOMMY JARRELL County 2726 The Legacy Of Tommy Jarrell, Vol. 3:Come And Go With Me ● CD $15.98
On this collection Tommy shows that he was as adept as a banjo player as he was as a fiddler on a collection of 16 banjo solos.

 
TOMMY JARRELL County 2727 Vol. 4 - Pickin' On Tommy's Porch ● CD $15.98
CD issue of County 778. Tommy, who was over 80 at the time of these recordings, played fiddle and sings with a skill & fire rarely heard in musicians half his age. He is given effective and tasteful accompaniment by two much younger musicians Chester McMillan/ guitar and Andy Cahan/ banjo. The material includes familiar old favorites along with lesser known items Tommy learned from his family and friends.

 
SNUFFY JENKINS Arhoolie 9027 Pioneer Of The Bluegrass Group ● CD $9.98
1962 recordings of North Carolina group performing bluegrass, old timey and blues led by banjoist Snuffy Jenkins whose fingerpicking style was an early influence on Earl Scruggs. A wide variety of songs and tunes are featured including Watermelon Hangin' On A Vine/ Possum Up A Gum Stump/ Long Journey Home/ Dixie, There's No Place Like Home/ Big-Eared Mule/ Boggy Road To Texas and others including a delightful put-down of the one-eyed monster Television ("it's the devil's doin'!") (FS)

 
WAYLON JENNINGS Bear Family BCD 16320 Journey - The Destiny's Child ● CD $169.98

 
WAYLON JENNINGS Bear Family BCD 16370 Journey - Six Strings Away ● CD $169.98

 
WAYLON JENNINGS Bear Family BCD 16385 The Restless Kid Live At JD's ● CD $21.98
27 tracks, 80 mins, good. These previously unissued sides were recorded live at JD's club in Phoenix, AZ in 1965 which was Waylon's home base for much of the 60s. They feature Waylon performing a wide variety of songs - country and rock 'n' roll favorites, folk songs and a few originals - Just To , etc. Most tracks have a pretty sparse sound featuring only Waylon on vocals and guitar with second guitarist Jerry Gropp (who also does a few vocals) and electric bassist Paul Foster. A few cuts also feature a drummer which really helps fatten up the sound. The performances are not particularly inspired and the audience don't sound particularly enthusistic.This will have the most appeal to diehard Waylon fans. (FS)

 
WAYLON JENNINGS Buddah 99619 Honky Tonk Heroes ● CD $8.98
12 tracks, 33 mins, essential
Reissue of 1973 album which is generally considered one of Waylon's greatest achievements at the dawn of the Outlaw era. After eight years of control by RCA's Nashville machine Waylon finally had a chance to take charge and pick the songs and produce and the result is this acknowledged masterpiece. All but one of the songs was written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver whose songwriting helped define the genre with songs like Old Five And Dimers (Like Me)/ Willy The Wandering Gyspy And Me/ Omaha/ Black Rose the anthemic Ride Me Down Easy and others. For this reissue two bonus tracks are added - the single version of You Ask Me To with dubbed on harmonica and another Billy Joe Shaver song Slow Rollin' Low from another session.

 
WAYLON JENNINGS RCA 66857 The Essential Waylon Jennings ● CD $15.98
20 songs including Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line/ The Taker/ You Asked Me To/ Rainy Day Woman/ Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?/ The Wurlitzer Prize/ Storms Never Last/ Lucille/ America/ Drinkin' & Dreamin, etc.

 
WAYLON JENNINGS Zu Zazz 2021 Clovis To Phoenix - The Early Years ● CD $22.98
23 tracks, recommended Bear Family needs to chronicle Waylon's entire career someday, to build on that great series of LP's they released of the early Waylon RCA material a decade ago. This set goes back to 1958 when Jennings, a Lubbock Texas deejay and aspiring singer, made his first records in 1958 in Clovis, New Mexico. The producer was his pal Buddy Holly (Waylon played bass on Holly's final 1959 tour). Waylon went on to record two singles in Phoenix's legendary Audio Recorders studio. Both sides of Waylon's first, Holly-produced rock single for Brunswick show little of his later vocal punch, even with sax overdubbed by King Curtis. He had similar problems when he recorded for Phoenix-based Trend Records, finally getting his own bearings when he recorded for A & M Records (not included on this set). The 1964 material here consists of the famous rare LP Waylon Jennings at JD's, recorded to reflect his onstage show (including covers of Ray Price's Burning Memories , and Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's All Right) reflecting a voice closer to the Waylon everyone knows. My World was recorded earlier, but he overdubbed his vocal in 1965, after he'd been signed to RCA. (RK)

 
JIM & JESSE Bear Family BCD 15635 1952 - 1955 ● CD $21.98
These are the first major label (Capitol) recordings of this popular and influential bluegrass brother duo, and until recently they were difficult to find. Although they had yet to achieve the great success that awaited them on Epic Records, Jim and Jesse's mature bluegrass style was pretty much in place. There is some great music here, featuring such fine musicians as Curly Seckler, Hoke Jenkins, Tommy Jackson, Tommy Vaden, and Sonny James (who was a great bluegrass fiddler in the years before his countrypolitan . There are twenty cuts here, including Are You Missing Me (this Louvin Bros. song points up the strong early influence of the Louvins on Jim and Jesse), Virginia Waltz/Purple Heart/Airmail Special/My Little Honeysuckle Rose and Two Arms To Hold Me. RP)

 
JIM & JESSE Bear Family BCD 15716 Bluegrass And More ● CD $119.98
5 CDs, 136 tracks, 5 hrs 42 min.; recommended
Virginia-born brothers Jim and Jesse McReynolds represent the last flowering of the close-harmony duet singing style prevalent in pre-Nashville country music. At the same time they were also leaders of one of the finest, most innovative bluegrass bands in that music's history, Jim & Jesse and The Virginia Boys. Their influential close harmony vocal style owes much to the traditional brother duets such as The Blue Sky Boys, early Delmore Brothers, and especially the Louvin Brothers. It is smoother, more melodic, and less impassioned than that of more traditional bluegrass groups such as the Stanleys. Mandolinist Jesse McReynolds also influenced bluegrass mandolin styles through his revolutional techniques of crosspicking and split-string picking. Always interested in selling records as well as aesthetic purity, Jim & Jesse at times initiated projects like their album of Chuck Berry material rendered bluegrass style, entitled Berry Pickin' In The Country, their album of truck driving songs done with electric instruments, and an album of instrumentals featuring electric guitar, steel guitar, and the like. Their Columbia/Epic recordings 1960-1969 are their most influential and popular, and they are all included in this exemplary 5 CD box, along with an exhaustive discography of the period and a history of the brothers' career in a handsome 32-page booklet by Dale Vinicur. The wide-ranging character of Jim & Jesse's repertoire is well represented here: All the tracks from their Louvin Brothers tribute album are included, as well as their finest gospel albums, their more Nashville sounding material, and their traditional renderings of bluegrass and traditional country standards. Jim & Jesse have always featured great musicians in their bands and on their recordings. Fiddlers Vassar Clements, Jim Brock, and Jimmy Buchanan are featured here, as well as the fantastic banjo and dobro player Bobby Thompson and the equally talented and innovative banjoist, longtime Virginia Boy Allen Shelton, along with Nashville's finest on the more mainstream country material. All in all, a compelling document of Jim & Jesse's career during their most important period. (RP)

 
JIM & JESSE King Special KSCD 1453 Border Ride - The Best Of Jim & Jesse ● CD $8.98
10 cuts, 23 min, recommended
Great stuff, presumably from late 50s recordings that Jim & Jesse did for Starday, although there is no session information, personnel, or any other info. Suffice it to say that the brothers are in top form vocally, and the instrumental work is quite impressive, with lots of Jesse's patented mandolin crosspicking style ; we know that the Jim & Jesse band during this period included two of the finest instrumentalists in the history of bluegrass in addition to Jesse in banjo player Bobby Thompson and fiddler Vassar Clements, and somebody on these recordings is playing hot jazzy fiddle breaks and beautifully melodic banjo. Songs and tunes include Border Ride/ Have You Lost Your Love For Me/ Hard Hearted/ Love Me (with Carl Story)/ Let Me Whisper/ Dixie Hoedown, and more. (RP)

 
JIMMY & JOHNNY Bear Family BCD 15771 If You Don't, Somebody Else Will ● CD $21.98

 
JOHNNIE & JACK Bear Family BCD 16663 For Old Times Sake ● CD $21.98

32 tracks, 76 mins, essential
Brother-in-law duo Johnny Wright and Jack Anglin recorded some of the greatest country duets of all time. Back in 1992, Bear Family issued a six CD box set featuring all their recordings. That set has been out of print for several years so this collection featuring some of the highlights of that set is particularly welcome. 30 of the tracks were recorded for RCA between 1949 and 1959 and there is one of their Decca cuts from 1962 - their last hit Slow Poison. It includes many of their best known songs and biggest hits like Oh Baby Mine/ Ashes of Love/ I Can't Tell My Heart That/ Poison Love/ Cryin' Heart Blues, and others. Though the early RCA tracks featured accompaniment from their own band, featuring legendary fiddlers Paul Warren and Benny Martin and dobroist Shot Jackson, over time they augmented the group in the studio with Nashville session pickers. The 36 page booklet has informative notes by Colin Escott, photos and discographical information. If you missed the box set, this is a must. (FS)
JOHNNIE & JACK: (oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely/ Ashes Of Love/ Beware Of It/ Cryin' Heart Blues/ Don't Say Goodbye If You Love Me/ For Old Times Sake/ Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight/ Heart Trouble/ Honey, I Need You/ I Can't Tell My Heart That/ I Don't Mean To Cry/ I Loved You Better Than Ever You Knew/ I Never Can Come Back To You/ I Want To Be Loved/ I'm Gonna Love You One More Time/ Kiss Crazy Baby/ Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide/ Lonely Island Pearl/ No One Dear But You/ Poison Love/ S. O. S./ Sailor Man/ Slow Poison/ South In New Orleans/ Stop The World (and Let Me Off)/ Take My Ring From Your Finger/ The Only One I Ever Loved I Lost/ Three Ways Of Knowing/ We Live In Two Different Worlds/ What About You?/ Why Not Confess/ You Tried To Ruin My Name

 
JOHNNY & JACK WITH KITTY WELLS Bear Family BCD 15808 At KWKH ● CD $21.98
19 tracks, recommended
This unique set of transcriptions capture Johnnie and Jack and Kitty during their days at KWKH in Shreveport in the late 40's. The group generally did their 15 minute shows live. They also played live shows throughout the station's listening area, and because of the shows, they had to stay relatively close to Shreveport to be back for the shows. The transcriptions gave them greater latitude to tour further from the Shreveport area. Wright never got rid of the discs, hence their appearance on this set. The high points from several shows were mixed together, featuring Kitty, Johnny and Jack singing White Dove, Sweeping Through the Gate, Johnny and Jack singing Hank William's version of My Bucket's Got A Hole In It and Hank's I Saw The Light sung by the entire band. Kitty sings several solo numbers, including Singing Waterfall and the utterly depressing The Death of Little Kathy Fiscus. Fiddler Paul Warren plays such instrumental favorites as Orange Blossome Special, Mississippi Sawyer and Cotton Eyed Joe. Without Kitty, Johnny and Jack recreated He Will Set Your Fields on Fire, which they'd recorded with singer Clyde Moody under the name King's Sacred Quartet. The energy and drive is an excellent example of the group's radio days when Kitty in her pre-stardom days, was simply part of the act. An excellent companion to the Johnnie and Jack box (BCD 15553). (RK)

 
JOHNNY & JACK King KCD 6108 Greatest Hits ● CD $9.98
10 tracks - great songs though some seem to have additional overdubbed instrumentation - Poison Love/ Three Ways Of Knowin'/ When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again/ Goodnight Sweetheart It's Time To Go/ Stop The World (And Let Me Off), etc.

 
EARL JOHNSON Document DOCD 8005 Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 - 1927 ● CD $15.98

 
EARL JOHNSON Document DOCD 8006 Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 - 1927-1931 ● CD $15.98

 
 
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