The Country Ducats "You Can't Take The Country From The Man" (Marathon Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy Hill)
Rowsell's recording debut came while working as the lead singer of The Country Ducats, an intriguing group from Port-Aux-Basques, Newfoundland that showed the steady gravitational pull of US-style country music in Canada during the 1960s and early 'Seventies. The Du-Cats first formed in the early 'Sixties and were one of Newfoundland's first youth bands to cut a full LP of rock-oriented material. They soon shifted gears from greasy kid's stuff, first refashioning themselves into The Ducats Showband, a UK/Irish-style variety act, and finally into the full-on country band heard on this album. Though this was recorded in Nashville and most tracks are covers of hits from US artists, there are also several originals co-credited to Edward Rowsell and bandleader/guitarist guitarist Lewis Skinner: "Book Of Memories," "Heartbroken Fool," and the title track, "You Can't Take The Country From The Man." Edward Rowsell joined the group in 1971, and seems to have worked with them at least as long at 1974, when he cut his first solo album, below.
Ed Rowsell "Close Up" (Audat Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Ron Duclos)
On his first solo album Rowsell -- soon to become Eastman -- seems to have still been connected to the Ducats, or some late edition of the band. Lew Skinner and Roger Skinner are among the musicians backing him, along with bassist Cathy Lawrence, steel player Fred Lawrence, fiddler Ron Randle, and Ollie Smith on piano. Most were Nova Scotians, and some of them recorded elsewhere, notably Fred Lawrence, who did an unknown amount of session work in the 1970s through the early '90s, as did Smith and Randle; Randle was a prolific bluegrass musician, notably a core member of the bluegrass band Crooked Stovepipe. It's important to note that this was an all-Canadian production, which stands in contrast to Rowsell's later career when he recorded exclusively in Nashville. The repertoire is half-and-half, though, pairing several US country songs with Canadian content, including four songs written by Rowsell: "Crying Over You," "Excuse Me," "Hey Mister Conductor" and "It Makes No Difference Now."
Eddie Eastman "Easy" (Bel Air Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Rex Collier, Bob Cousins & Lloyd Green)
This was his debut album as Eddie Eastman, a persona he'd been using for a couple of years in a string of singles starting in 1977 which included his first regional hit, "Eastbound 401," which is included here. Notably, this set was recorded in Nashville, with an all-star cast of studio pros such as Willie Ackerman, Harold Bradley, Johnny Gimble, Lloyd Green, Dave Kirby, Hargus Robbins, etc. Also in the mix was the vocal backing band Nashville Edition, which at the time included future top forty star Janie Fricke. It's a pretty glossy-sounding record, and though it contains several songs he'd released on early singles, the tracks here may have been re-recorded versions. Apparently the Bel Air label had been created by Bob Cousins mainly to promote Eastman's career, although eventually several more obscure regional artist recorded there as well. (Worth noting: the title track is not a cover of Keith Carradine's 1976 pop hit, "I'm Easy," just in case anyone was wondering. )
Eddie Eastman "Eddie Eastman" (Columbia/Bel Aire Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Rex Collier, Bob Cousins & Lloyd Green)
Another set recorded in Nashville, with pretty much the same set of producers and musical crew as above... The 'Eighties were Eastman's salad years, seen here with this album's major-label distribution deal and all-star cast. A bunch more original material, as well!
Eddie Eastman "Intimate Feelings" (Diamond Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Cousins)
Eddie Eastman "The Winning Side" (Bel Air Records, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Eastman & Giles Goddard)
Newfoundland's Eddie Eastman (ne Edward Rowsell) was a country singer who made his recording debut in 1972 as a member of The Country Ducats while still working under his birth name, which he also used on his first album. Around 1977 he began recording as Eddie Eastman, first releasing a string of singles on the Ontario-based Bel Air record label, which was originally founded by producer Bob Cousins to launch the Eastman's career. Eastman hosted his own CBC musical variety show for a couple of years, from 1984-85, but more or less retired from show business by decade's end due to his mounting frustration with the financial side of things. In 2010, he was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame.
