Backalley Bandits "Back Alley Bandits" (London Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Chips Moman & Dan Penn)
One of those odd, only-in-the-'Seventies kinda albums, this is a mix of (some) twang along with amorphous AOR and echoes of Muscle Shoals soul... The band hailed from Atlanta, Georgia and got caught in the orbit of Southern soul auteur Dan Penn, who produced this album and provided two songs. with most of the others written by lead singers Larry Bowie and Thetis Sealey. The sounds are far-flung, though, and this doesn't really hold together that well as an album -- it veers from decently mellow alterna-twang ("Rainbow And A Pony") to fairly dreadful, loose-knit pop meanderings, including several numbers with female lead vocals that seems to take their cues from Linda Ronstadt or (to a lesser degree) Joan Baez. Larry Bowie I like as a lead singer -- Thetis Sealey and Penelope Webb, much less so. Regardless, there are a couple of songs on here that have a nice, legitimately country feel, though not so much that I'd say you gotta go run out and find this record right away. Might be of more interest to Dan Penn's fans than to us country folk. According to their Googlebook, the band broke up in 1979.

Backstreet Journal "Requests" (Robroy Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Gaston Nichols)
An odd little album from Birmingham, Alabama... This quartet, led by vocalist Wanda Lee has the feel of a southern gospel vocal group, though at least half the repertoire is secular material, including covers of pop songs and countrypolitan hits such as Ronnie Milsap's "It Was Almost Like A Song" and Paul Anka's "My Way." They cover a couple of Statler Brothers songs ("It Was Almost Like A Song," "Do You Remember These") and one by John Denver, as well as an earnest reading of Bill Spivery's "Operator" (which was a 'Seventies hit for the Manhattan Transfer). Ms. Lee also plows her way into a milky rendition of "Crazy," though the most country bar-band sounding song is their frantic version of Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother" (mistakenly credited to Jerry Jeff Walker) a so-bad-it's-good novelty number which is probably the only really memorable track on this album... To be honest, this is a fairly painful album, with iffy vocals and sparse arrangements. I'm sure these guys must have done some live gigs, but there's no info about where or when that may have been.

Kathy Baillie/Baillie & The Boys -- see artist profile

Kathy Bain & Al Bain "Together In All Kinds of Country" (Trackdown Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Alan W. Prince)
This husband-wife duo from Salem, New York started their recording career around 1970, cutting a couple of singles for the Nashville-based Chart label, although they stuck pretty resolutely to a regional base of operations in rural upstate New York. At the time they cut this album, the Bains had a weekly radio show on WWSC in Glen Falls, although they were also in the orbit of the WWVA "Jamboree USA" revue, down in Wheeling, Virginia. Fans of Bill and Delia Bell might appreciate their acoustic-based sound, which dips into country classics such as "I Fall To Pieces" and the Bob Wills oldie, "Roly Poly," along with songs by Johnny Bond, Roger Miller and Willie Nelson. Perhaps most telling are a couple of tunes from Merle Travis, including "Sweet Temptation," which was one of their signature songs. Al Bain played both banjo and guitar, while Kathy Bain wielded an upright bass; they are backed by drummer Bil Anderson and multi-instrumentalist Gary Blodgett, who led his own Blodgett Family bluegrass band and worked with the Bains for several decades.

Gidget Baird "Sweet Memories" (CCHB, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by John Macy)
I have almost zero info on this Colorado-based artist, except that her band included indiebilly Timothy P. Irvin of the group Rural Route 3, and based on the quality of his records, I'm guessing that this one's good and rootsy, too. Baird made it to Nashville by decade's end, singing backup on some albums and placing several songs with mainstream artists such as Janie Frickie and Charley Pride. She's relatively down-home on this early album, though, covering folks like Rodney Crowell ("Bluebird Wine") and Willie Nelson ("Crazy"), as well as Roger Miller, Bob Wills and even does a version of Jesse Winchester's "Rhumba."

Becky Baker "Becky" (Southern Heritage Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Boles)
Singer-fiddler Becky Baker was a protege of guitarist Jack Boles, who performed on the Grand Ole Opry, Hee Haw, and the Nashville Now TV show. Baker worked with him on all three shows, and toured with him throughout the late '70s, '80s and early '90s. She also starred in a series of commercials for Lone Star Beer, and released this lone(?) solo album early in her career. Includes "Happy Honkin', Honky Tonkin' Truck Drivin' Man." Anyone know what happened to this long-lost country gal? Or where she was from?

Mary Lou Baker & Johnny Maggard "Country Is The Music" (History Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Maggard, B. J. Carnahan & Brad Edwards)

Penny Baker "God's Country" (Award Records, 1978) (LP)
In the early 1960s, "Texas Penny" Inman was on her way up in the country music world, having cut a single called "Cry Baby Heart" for the California-based Emmy Records label, and touring with Buck Owens just as his star was rising. According to an article reprinted on the back of this album, however, she found life in the alcohol and drug-fueled world of the honkytonks too draining, and finally realized that her love of music wasn't enough to sustain her. She got religion, got married, and moved up north to Tacoma, Washington where she renewed her country music career, this time as an evangelical Christian songwriter. Penny Baker recorded numerous albums, usually tucking a few of her own originals into the repertoire, and several of her songs were recorded by other gospel artists, such as gospel yodeler Buzz Goertzen. I think this was her first album.

Penny Baker "Country Roots" (Award Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Biff Collie)
The liner notes on this album tell us that her father Franklin Inman was a yodeler, while her mother, Gladys, performed on the radio in Baytown, Texas, and that Penny joined them on the air while very young. Sadly, there's no info about the musicians backing her, though Biff Collie's name popping up as producer sure caught my eye!

Penny Baker "The Old Country Church" (Penny Baker Ministries, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Penny Baker & Gary Duckworth)
Baker sings and plays piano on a set once again rich in original gospel material. She's backed by a local band that includes Leroy Briggs (steel guitar), Charlie Lee (drums), Roy Martin (guitar), and Paul Richardson on bass and synthesizer.

Marcia Ball "Circuit Queen" (Capitol Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Neil Wilborn)
Although she's now known as a blues player, early on pianist and singer Marcia Ball was singing country music in the Texas outlaw scene, notably with the band Freda & The Firedogs. Her solo debut was an interesting mix of Emmylou-ish country twang, countrypolitan, and a hint of the New Orleans-style blues she came to specialize in, further down the road. The hallmarks of Emmylou's "hot band" crew are easily heard, from the production style (and accompaniment by Emmylou cohorts such as Albert Lee, Buddy Emmons and Rodney Crowell) to some of the repertoire (including a version of Crowell's "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight"). This album won't blow your mind, but it's an intriguing footnote to Ball's career, and dovetails nicely with other records of the era. Worth checking out.

The Band Perry "The Band Perry" (Universal Republic, 2010)
(Produced by Nathan Chapman, Paul Worley & Matt Serletic)
I guess that singer Kimberley Perry is supposed to be the bad-girl version of Taylor Swift, with the same mix of pop-savvy teen-sensation twang and junior-high diary lyrics, with a hint of Gretchen Wilson tough-girl sass in there as well, and more controversial lyrics. For example, the suicide-friendly "If I Die Young" will probably upset a parent or two, but it's painful to listen to less because of the familiar, self-pitying teen angst than because of its utter artlessness... This bluntness of Perry's lyrics is repeated in song after song, with the upside that it rings true as teenage self-absorption: perhaps the most emotionally effective song on the album is "Walk Me Down The Middle," in which she tells her new boyfriend to show her off to everyone in town, particularly his old ex, who never deserved him anyway. It's a totally shallow song, but it does sound like something a teenager would write, if not actually say out loud. I do think that Ms. Perry has what it takes to make it big, although I'm not sure the whole family-band concept works for her: flanking Kimberly are her two brothers, Neil and Reid, who with their shaggy rocker hair and ready-for-the-WB telegenics, are credited with co-writing many of the songs on this album. They also accompany her on some -- but not all -- the songs, playing mandolin and bass, although on most of the album it's a crew of Nashville studio musicians who provide the real oompf. As long as she's leaning on the teen-popstar angle, I guess they're useful, but in the long run, she can probably ditch her sibs and make it on her own. For now, though, Taylor doesn't have that much to worry about: this album has enough adolescent navel-gazing to build up a younger fan base, but Perry's going to have to up her game as a songwriter if she wants to attract older fans. Time will tell.

The Band Perry "Pioneer" (Big Machine Records, 2013)

The Banjokers "The Banjokers" (Kelly's Ranch Records, 1973-?) (LP)
(Produced by Vic Clay)
An all-gal acoustic quartet from Cleveland, Ohio, although if truth be told, only one of them played banjo. The quartet included Lee Alflen (guitar and vocals), Helen Baker (banjo and guitar), Avnie Bedrosian (violin), and Marie Lenz on bass. They had a long-running gig at a Cleveland nightspot called Kelly's Ranch, playing novelty numbers from a variety of sources. This one's almost all country material, including versions of "Country Roads," "Dueling Banjos," "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "For The Good Times."

The Banjokers "The Banjokers" (Kelly's Ranch Records, 19--?) (LP)
Same title, different album. There's not much country material on this one, outside of covers of "Orange Blossom Special" "Release Me," and "There's A Love Knot In My Lariat." Otherwise, it's all "Swanee" and "Have Nagila." Dunno how long this group was together, though as far as I know these two LPs and some singles were their sum of their recorded legacy. (This album may have come out before the other: anyone know for sure?)

Ava Barber "Country As Grits" (Ranwood Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Kay, Mac Curtis & Bill Rice)
In the early 1970s, Tennessee-born Ava Barber became a cast member of the Lawrence Welk TV show, adding a little country twang to Welk's more sedate pop offerings... This gave her a built-in audience when she began to record for Welk's Ranwood label, and she enjoyed modest chart success from 1977-81. (Although the reverse may also have been true: being part of Welk's easy listening scene may have held her back when it came to courting favor with the insular Nashville music business...) In keeping with the Welk tradition of wholesome, cornfed, all-American entertainment, this album includes sentimental oldies such as "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again," "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," and "Remember Me (When Candlelights Are Gleaming)," along with some material of more recent vintage. The record was produced both in Hollywood and in Nashville, with Bill Rice producing the Nashville sessions; her next record was produced solely in California.

Ava Barber "You're Gonna Love Love" (Ranwood Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Kay & Mac Curtis)
Her second album on Ranwood yielded Barber's biggest hit, a version of Gail Davies' "Bucket To The South," which peaked at #13 on the Billboard charts. Major commercial success eluded Barber, however, and following the cancellation of The Lawrence Welk Show, Barber embarked on a solo career, touring throughout the '80s, and gradually drifting towards the mini-"oprys" that dotted the country music landscape. In the early 1990s, Barber co-owned a venue in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and eventually moved to Branson, Missouri to work in variety shows associated with the residual Lawrence Welk empire. She also apparently recorded a handful of indie albums, which I'll try to track down...

Ava Barber "All Time Gospel Favorites" (ABGF Records, 19--?) (LP)
Like a lot of country stars of the era, Ava Barber also released some gospel material... Not sure when this album came out (or when it was recorded) but it's packed with standards: "Amazing Grace," "Family Bible," "How Great Thou Art," "Old Rugged Cross" and the like...

Audrey Barger "Singing Songs Of My Childhood" (Sylvers Studios, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Common)
A bluegrass gal from Oxford, Ohio, Audrey Barger sings some great old tunes from The Bailes Brothers, Bill Carlisle, The Carter Family, Dolly Parton and others. Red Allen wrote the liner notes and says Ms. Barger is backed by "some of the finest Blue Grass musicians in Southwestern Ohio," though alas, they are not identified by name. Barger was apparently a full-time musician, and this was her first album; I'm not sure if she recorded anything else.

The Barleen Family "Estes Park, Colorado" (The Barleen Family, 1980-?) (LP)
This family band started out singing in their Kansas hometown, but pursued music professionally after the family moved to Missouri and they became part of the Ozark Mountain country scene. Led by their father Lloyd Barleen and anchored by a trio of siblings -- Barbara, Brenda and Jeff -- the group moved from the proto-Branson world to their own venue in Colorado around 1979. This album commemorated their second season in Estes Park, with the Barleen Trio joined by Lloyd Barleen playing lead guitar, and Bob Barleen on bass, and Billy Bower chiming in on guitar. The repertoire is almost all covers, though one song, "Even Though," was an original written Brenda and Jeff Barleen, and various band members take solo numbers, including some guitar instrumentals. The album is dedicated to William Barleen (Lloyd's brother?) who passed away in 1979.

The Barleen Trio "Country Favorites With Curt Burrell" (Eye In The Sky Sound, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Randy Miotke)
The Barleen family's main trio of Barbara, Brenda and Jeff are bolstered here by the addition of singer-fiddler Curt Burrell, who married Barbara and emerged as a solo vocalist. By the time this album was recorded, they had been running their own venue in Estes Park, Colorado for over five years. Also on these sessions were steel player Donny Cook and lead guitar Gary Cook, who were in the live show as well. The Barleens recorded numerous other albums, though most came out as cassette-only releases.

Lorita Barlow "Cute And Country" (Justice Recording Company, 1966) (LP)
Teen singer Lorita Barlow was an ambitious gal from Lenoir, North Carolina who was only fifteen years old when she cut this album for a label in Winston-Salem, about forty miles away from where she grew up. It's packed with uptempo material, mostly hits of the day such as "Act Naturally," "Under Your Spell Again," and "These Boots Are Made For Walking," as well as the weeper "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," which was a breakthrough hit for Dolly Parton in 1966. There are also some older tunes, catchy classics such as "Crazy Arms," "Love Letters In The Sand" and Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me." After high school Lorita Barlow really went for it, initially doing some shows around Charlotte before hitting the road to try and break into the music business. Her biggest adventure may have been a stint with Tampa, Florida TV host Jim Foster, where she was on the cast of his Nite Hawks program circa 1971 while recording several tracks that were released on a compilation album as well a single or two. She also had gigs in Toledo and Detroit, where she was the subject of a pretty extensive profile in the Free Press in the summer of '72. Her last record seems to have been a single called "I Want You," produced by Jim Foster's pal Finlay Duncan, and released on Capitol Records in 1975. I'm not sure how long she kept at her music career, though she eventually moved back to Lenoir, married, and became a local business owner. As far as I know this was her only LP... Alas, no info on the musicians backing her, though they probably were the house band at the Justice studio.

Phyllis Barnes & Bryan Barnes "Just Us 2" (Lost Creek Records, 1976--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Wilcox, Clarke Wilcox, Bryan Barnes & Phyllis Barnes)
This one's pretty iffy. A lounge-a-delic hodge-podge of AOR, folkie soft-pop and country material, recorded in the Irving, Texas by the husband-wife team of Bryan and Phyllis Barnes. Includes songs written or recorded by artists as diverse as the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, Neil Diamond, Tom Jans, Jose Feliciano and Kenny Loggins, as well as two songs written by Mr. Barnes, "Road To Nowhere" and "Now You've Gone." On the country side of things there's a cover of the Ray Price oldie, "Crazy Arms," though really that's about it. The regionally famous Top 40 country band, The Shoppe, back the Barnes duo up on one track. Not 100% sure when this came out, though the most recent song on here that I could pin down is "Jive Talkin'," which came out in 1975... so maybe '76?

Kathy Barnes -- see artist profile

Phyllis Barnes & Bryan Barnes "Just Us 2: Live" (Lost Creek Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Bryan Barnes & Phyllis Barnes)
I think this was their second album, a live set cut at a couple of different venues, the La Pirogue Lounge in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and the Steak & Ale restaurant in Houston, Texas... By the time they cut this disc, the Barnes duo seem to have settled on a more explicitly country sound, but also veering into cornball comedy, as heard on their "Johnny Trash" medley and a cover of Ray Stevens' "Ahab The Arab." They also tip their hats towards Waylon & Willie, Neil Diamond and Linda Ronstadt," covering her 1977 version of Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou." Not sure what happened to the duo after this, or if they recorded anything else...

Mandy Barnett "Mandy Barnett" (Elektra Records, 1995)
An unabashed Patsy Cline copycat (she actually portrayed Cline in the stage musical, "Always, Patsy Cline...") Tennessee native Mandy Barnett gets extra points for draping a jazzy torch song arrangement around Jim Lauderdale's loopy "Planet Of Love," but immediately loses traction on the generic "young country" grind of "Maybe," the song that follows. In general, she seems to have a good sense of material to cover (Willie Nelson's "Three Days," for example...) and is fairly "rootsy," at least in comparison to her Nashville contemporaries. Still, outside of the Patsy-isms, she's not that tremendous of a vocalist, and if she doesn't have the right arrangements behind her, Barnett's music lapses into mediocrity fairly fast. Mellow, easy on the ears and a nice change of pace, but she still doesn't really wow me.

Mandy Barnett "I've Got A Right To Cry" (Sire Records, 1999)
(Produced by Owen Bradley)
An absurdly derivative recreation of Patsy Cline's smooth, pioneering proto-countrypolitan sound. Legendary Decca arranger Owen Bradley -- who produced many of Cline's biggest hits -- helps sculpt this album, and studio veterans such as pianist Pig Robbins and guitarist Harold Bradley re-fabricate the feel of the old Decca sessions. Nonetheless, this dose of old-timer authenticity doesn't compensate for Barnett lack of Cline's slick, bluesy bite and sweet, soulful delivery... When not simply mimicking Patsy's intonations, Barnett slips perilously close to approximating Linda Ronstadt's lesser efforts. Sure, the song selection is cool (not a Cline cover among the lot), but neither Barnett nor her band are speaking with an original voice, and this homage founders in comparison to the real thing. Pleasant, and easy on the ears, but kind of self-defeating.

Mandy Barnett "Winter Wonderland" (Crackerbarrel Records, 2010)

Darlene Battles & Jerry Jaye "Kings Inn Presents..." (Bejay Records, 1984) (LP)
I think this album, recorded with his wife, was the last LP Jerry Jaye recorded, going back to his locals-only roots with the Bejay label...

Darlene Battles "I Just Want To Love You" (Bejay Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Mickey Moody)
Arkansas singer Darlene Battles sang backup gigs in Nashville throughout the late 60s and got married to country/R&B singer Jerry Jaye in the early '70s. She recorded this solo album with Jaye and his band backing her up, including steel guitar player (and label owner) Ben Jack, Darrell Price plunking piano, and Curly Lewis on fiddle. This was Darlene Battles only solo album as a secular artist -- she got religion in 2003 and has since recorded several gospel albums, bother under her own name and with the band On Call...

Jessie Baylin "Firesight" (Verve Records, 2008)
Although mostly pop-oriented and tailormade for placement in the background of a primetime TV drama, this album also encompasses wisps of jazzy cabarets with a hint of the twang of Baylin's hometown of Nashville. Several singers spring to mind, notably Dusty Springfield, Phoebe Snow and Maria Muldaur along with numerous modern musicmakers -- an eclectic mix, to be sure. Tonally, Baylin's voice shares a familiar, bluesy white-girl rasp with that of Amy Whitehouse, although her music is decidedly much mellower. Spotting similarities with Norah Jones wouldn't be misplaced, either, since one of Baylin's songwriting partners is Jesse Harris, who is also one of Norah's crew. This is a fine record for "mature" music fans looking for something new that doesn't fit into easy modern pop categories.

Beacon City Band "Beacon City Band" (Potato Satellite Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by John Hill & Laurie Hill)
This scruffy acoustic twangband from Gruene, Texas featured Roland Denney (bass), Denice Franke (vocals, guitar), Douglas W. Hudson (mandolin, guitar), and David Wright (vocals, guitar, and harmonica). About half the songs were written by David Wright, with one more from Denice Franke, along with a cover of an old Nanci Griffith song, "West Texas Sun," just for good measure. Years later, Franke would perform on several of Griffith's best-known albums, as well as releasing several albums of her own. Like Griffith, these guys were coming at their music from a fairly folkie vantage point, with flowery-but-not-cloying guitar picking and achingly emotive vocals. Fans of Townes Van Zandt, perhaps, might really dig this one.

Bearfoot Bluegrass "Only Time Knows" (2002)
A mostly-female bluegrass/newgrass band from Alaska... Later they shortened their name to just plain old "Bearfoot."

Bearfoot Bluegrass "Back Home" (Glacier Records, 2004)

Bearfoot "Follow Me" (Glacier Records, 2005)

Bearfoot "Doors And Windows" (Compass Records, 2009)
This Alaskan ensemble has beautiful mix of luminous bluegrass and tender, confessional neo-folk, all delivered with an impeccable sense of melody and timing. The female vocals intertwine while bouncing around to the well-placed fiddle and mandolin... A sly dobro slips in and out, underscoring the playful, allusive lyrics. This is, in short, one of the sweetest and most listenable Americana-folk albums of the decade, taking deeply traditional sounds and giving them an original-sounding, soulful modernization. Very distinctive, and very nice. Highly recommended!

Bearfoot "American Story" (Compass Records, 2011)

Susi Beatty "One Of A Kind" (Starsong Records, 1990)
The Starsong label was one of the last gasps of country indie labels in an increasingly corporate Nashville landscape, with singer Susi Beatty one of their most successful artists. The music is a somewhat muted mix of '80s synth-twang and early '90s "young country," while Beatty's vocals are kind of so-so. She scraped the lower rungs of the Top 100, but sort of faded from sight after this lone album came out.

Beaver Creek "Live" (Impresario Productions, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Phil York)
An ambitious album by a teenage trio from Oak Cliff, Texas, led by two gals -- guitarist Marsha Britton and bassist Lisa Burgess -- with Keith Livers on drums. Britton and Burgess wrote all of the songs -- each composing solo -- and sang some nice, spunky duets on material that ranged from honkytonk to slightly rockabilly. The band was formed right after the girls graduated from high school, and they played regionally in North Texas for several years. Lisa Layne Burgess later shortened her name and joined the country novelty band, Vince Vance and the Valiants and was the lead singer on their most successful song, the Top Forty holiday classic, "All I Want For Christmas Is You," and was a member of the band (off and on) for many years. She finally moved into a career as a Patsy Cline imitator, playing Patsy onstage and various venues such as Branson Park. Though less high-profile, Marsha Britton went on to have some success as a songwriter and recorded three indiebilly albums in the 1990s. Whew!

The Bee Kays "Letter From Home" (Eagle Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by The Bee Kays, Lyndon Bartell & Steve Peterson)
A family band from Good Thunder, Minnesota whose repertoire includes a lot of original material, written by Robert (Bob) Kittleson, Billye Jane Kruse, and Cindy Bee Kittleson... See the pattern here?

Molly Bee -- see artist profile

Philomena Begley - see artist profile

The Be Good Tanyas "Blue Horse" (Nettwerk Records, 2001)
This all-gal trio from Canada has a super-sugary, folk-tinged take on the Americana sound, with traces of acoustic soul-gals Tracy Chapman and Ani DiFranco evident in their sound, as well as more standard-issue folk-scene types like Cathy Fink and Greg Brown. Their big trick, musically speaking, is to take everything at a slow-moderate pace, with gentle syncopation punctuated with trad instruments such as the banjo and mandolin. The funny thing about it is that while the music is fairly monochromatic, their odd approach is still intriguing enough to hold your attention the hole way through. The weak spot is when they cover old folk tunes such as Stephen Foster's "Oh Suzannah," or public domain ditties like "Lakes of Ponchartrain" or "The Coo-Coo Bird," in the same lazy, disjointed slowcore style. THEN they sound mannered and pretentious, and may tax the good will of their listeners. Worth checking out, though, especially if you're looking for something mellow.

The Be Good Tanyas "Chinatown" (Nettwerk Records, 2003)
This moody, magnificent followup to the first BGT album finds the band gaining solid footing, penning stronger material while self-producing the album, perfecting an oddball trip-hop folk style with a uniquely disjointed, mellow sensibility. The gals deploy old-timey instruments in an unusually relaxed manner, plunking the banjo at a loping gait, sawing a lazy fiddle along with a few funk-laced guitar riffs and unexpected modern touches. They indulge in little of the drag-racing flash and fire of the traditional bluegrass scene; indeed, the band's low-key, minimalist approach is what makes it consistently listenable and alluring. In an era of bombastic, overly-layered corporate pop, the Tanyas are a model of restraint and willful imperfection. Sadly, they seem unwilling to shed the almost-tedious, mumbly-voiced, white-girl acoustic soul murmuring they apparently copped from Ani DiFranco. It's an affectation that muddles an otherwise refreshingly direct presentation; nonetheless, the band's quiet grace will doubtless cast a comfortable glow on a thousand cafes across the land. This is a swell record, highly recommended!

The Be Good Tanyas "Hello Love" (Nettwerk Records, 2006)

Bell "Do You Ever Get Lonely?" (Jester Sound, 1986-?) (LP)
The mononymic Ms. Bell was a young (teen?) singer from Billings, Montana who seems to have been a terribly sincere and well-meaning kid. The album includes the cautionary tale, "Don't Ever Let A Drunk Take You Home," which is dedicated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (akaMADD) and was also released as a single. Other originals on this album include tunes like "Victim Of My Heart" and "The Pools I've Cried," all copyrighted by the Hale Publishing company. Unfortunately, there are no producer or musician credits, but she does thank Gairrett Brothers, Shorty Spang and Mark Donahue -- Bob Hale is also thanked, and was perhaps her father, or at least manager/producer(?) Anyone with more info? I'm all ears!

Delia Bell -- see artist discography

Glenna Bell "Face This World" (2005)

Glenna Bell "The Road Less Traveled" (2008)

Glenna Bell "Perfectly Legal: Songs Of Sex Love And Murder" (Honey Island Records, 2010)

Vivian Bell "Take Me, I'm A Woman" (Princess Records, 1973-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jeff Newman)

Gloria Belle "...Sings And Plays Bluegrass In The Country" (Rebel Records, 1967) (LP)

Gloria Belle "A Good Hearted Woman" (Southern Belle Records, 1978) (LP)

Gloria Belle "Love Of The Mountains" (Webco Records, 1986) (LP)

Ben, Dana & Home Cookin' "Sweet Country Lady" (197--?) (LP)
Jackson, Mississippi's Ben Marney and his wife Dana formed their duo in the early 'Seventies, and had a gig playing the Playboy nightclub circuit for several years, also releasing a single on the Playboy Records label, "Oh Mama," which cracked into the Top 100 in 1973... The Marneys must have learned the ropes during that stretch, since they opened their own club -- Marney's -- in 1977, settling in as regional entertainers on the Jackson scene. I think this was their first LP; other records were released under his name.

Jane Benger "Something For Everyone" (Stage Four Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Donny Kees & David Martin)
Jane Benger hailed from Ansted, West Virginia and sang in the local church before making a go of it as a professional singer. She fronted a band called the New River Canyon Band that toured regionally and up in Canada a few times.... Benger wrote two of the songs on here: "Billie Lou" and "Smiling Through A Tear," while producer/pianist Donny Kees wrote "I Will Love You Every Morning." She also covers Jessi Colter's "I'm Not Lisa," as well as songs by Kris Kristofferson, Ray Charles, Kenny Loggins, The Beatles, and Errol Garner's "Misty." It's not all twangtunes, for sure, although the overall tilt seems to have been towards countrypolitan pop.

Jane Benger "Why Me Lord" (E Records, 19--?) (LP)

Laura Benitez "For Duty Or For Love" (Copperhead Records, 2010)

Laura Benitez & The Heartache "Heartless Woman" (Copperhead Records, 2014)
(Produced by Gabriel Shepard)

Stephanie Bentley "Hopechest" (Sony/Epic Records, 1996)
(Produced by Todd Wilkes and Paul Worley)
The lone album by this clear-toned singer-songwriter from Georgia. Bentley initially made her mark as Ty Herndon's duet partner on "Heart Half Empty" (which is featured here, as well as on one of his albums) although a few tracks on this album were modestly successful as singles. Like many aspiring Nashville artists, Bentley was more successful as a songwriter: she wrote "Breathe," which as a huge hit on Pop and Country for Faith Hill, as well as hits for singers such as Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina, and Pam Tillis. As that list might imply, she was pretty solidly in the pop-crossover style of modern Nashville music, and this album reflects that, largely through the by-the-numbers production, with a bright, but bland, sound. Still, I wish Bentley'd had the chance to go further as a recording artist... she had a nice voice, with a Nanci Griffith-ish feel on some songs, though also capable of getting a little gritty when she wanted to give a song more of a rootsy feel.

Barbi Benton "Barbi Doll" (Playboy Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Kilroy, Tom Pick & Roy Shockley)
An actress and popular Playboy "bunny," Barbi Benton also was a regular on the Hee Haw TV show, and parlayed that gig into a moderately successful country career, which saw the release of several albums during the 1970s... On the Playboy record label, no less! Born in New York and raised in Sacramento, Benton began modeling as a teen and shed her birth name, Barbara Klein, for a less Jewish-sounding monicker chosen by Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner. On this country-oriented debut album she was partly saddled by the kind of bland, simpy material expected of countrypolitan gals, kicking the album off with a cover of "The Teddy Bear Song," also covering the more uptempo "Queen Of The Silver Dollar," which was also recorded by Emmylou Harris the following year, as well as some other Shel Silverstein material. The backing band included a predictable wealth of talent, such as fiddler Johnny Gimble, pickers Dave Kirby and Bobby Thompson, and pianist Ron Oates, giving this set a smooth, professional sound, if not a giant slew of chart-topping hits. As an actor, Benton moved from comedic work into more dramatic roles with appearances on various TV shows and B-movies, including over a half-dozen appearances on Fantasy Island, playing several "different" characters. Ah, disco-era show biz.

Barbi Benton "Barbi Benton" (Playboy Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Kilroy, Randy Kling, Tom Pick & Roy Shockley)
This album included her biggest hit, "Brass Buckles" which hit #5 on the charts... Outside of a duet with Mickey Gilley, this was her biggest commercial success. Not surprisingly, she's backed by an all-star Nashville studio band, with superpickers galore -- Stu Basore, Dave Kirby, Russ Hicks, Charlie McCoy, Bobby Thompson, Jerry Whitehurst, et.al.

Barbi Benton "Something New" (Playboy Records, 1976) LP)

Barbi Benton "Ain't That Just The Way" (Playboy Records, 1978)

Barbi Benton "Kinetic Voyage" (Takoma Records, 1988) (LP)

Barbi Benton "Barbi Benton" (Max Cat Records, 2010)

Matraca Berg -- see artist profile

Crystal Bernard "Girl Next Door" (River North Records, 1996)
Actress (and singer) Crystal Bernard is perhaps best known for having sung the goofy anti-evolution novelty number, "The Monkey Song" on the Jerry Falwell show back in 1972 when she was just a little kid. Her father was an evangelical preacher who was in Falwell's orbit and they must have thought it was really cute having her and her sister Robin sing about how silly primate evolution was. But hey, "The Monkey Song" got her and her sister into show business, so I guess whatever works... Anyway, she did a lot of TV work and recorded a couple of albums as well. This one's the most country, and grazed the middle rungs of the Top 100. If you like glossy pop-country, this might be of interest... it's not terribly distinctive, but for the genre, it's okay.

Crystal Bernard "Don't Touch Me There" (Platinum Records, 1999)
There's a teensy bit of twang in here, but mostly I'd consider this a gooey pop album... I suppose fans of Sara Evans, et. al. could get into this... Doesn't do much for me, though.

Beth & Cinde "Cross Country" (Rising Moon Productions, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Cinde Borup & Beth Pederson)
Folkie-jazzy stuff with a notable streak of country twang... The acoustic-electric duo of Beth Pederson and Cinde Borup were from Sandpoint, Idaho and are backed by a few shaggy-lookin' locals, notably bassist Pat Ball, whose jazzy, electric noodling stands out in the sparsely-arranged, primarily acoustic setting. There are some callbacks to pop vocal oldies and standards such as "Java Jive," "Sea Cruise" and "Route 66," as well as a cover of a Billy Joe Shaver song, "Sweet Daddy," and five songs penned by Cinde Borup, who I assume is also the main vocalist. There's kind of a bluesy throatiness to many of the songs with recalls 'Seventies sirens such as Phoebe Snow and Ellen McIlwane, with dips into torch song and dewy singer-songwriter folk... Not as country as some would say, but worth checking out, especially if you're looking for female artists of the era.

Amy BeVille "Amy BeVille" (Pyramid's Eye Recording Studio) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Stabile & Lee Peterzell)
Though originally from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, songwriter Amy BeVille settled down in Georgia where she became a well-respected guitarist, as well as an ordained minister and a highly successful organic farmer, raising seedlings by the truckful for sale across the region. Along the way, she played gigs with some of the best roots musicians of the '70s and recorded this album which mixes original songs with some interesting cover tunes. This includes a cover of Ronee Blakley's "Tape Deck In His Tractor" and Bobby Charles' "Tennessee Blues" along with a slew of original material, although much of it looks pretty folkie. There's no pedal steel or fiddle, though Ed Cullis plunks the banjo and BeVille adds some sweet licks on guitar.

Lisa Biales "Singing In My Soul" (Big Song Music, 2013)
(Produced by Ricky Nye)
A really nice retro-blues record, with Ohio's Lisa Biales moving further back in time from her previous Bonnie Raitt-ish album back to the sounds of the 1920s and '30s, covering classics by Blu Lu Barker, Mississippi John Hurt, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Sippie Wallace. Her vocals are cool and confident, with strong string-swing accompaniment from pianist Ricky Nye and his Paris Blues Band. She includes several familiar tunes, such as "Careless Love" and "You Got To Know How," so listeners get to adjust themselves to this being a set of standards, and pay attention to her interpretations, which -- I gotta say -- are uniformly pleasant. She also contributes one original composition, the playful, eccentric "Magic Garden," which has a saucy take on the Garden of Eden scenario. Nice record... highly recommended!

Bill & Taffy "Pass It On" (RCA, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Dave Blume, Bill Danoff & Taffy Danoff)
Songwriter Bill Danoff has had one hell of a career: he directly influenced the success of country rock and wrote two huge smash hits that were an integral part of the 1970's soundscape. As part of the late '60s Washington, DC folk scene, Danoff and his then-wife Taffy Nivert formed an obscure band called Fat City, which released two odd and eclectic albums. They were also early supporters of Emmylou Harris, years before her fateful encounter with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. In 1971 Bill & Taffy co-wrote "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which became a huge hit for folk-rock icon John Denver and became frequent collaborators with the rising superstar. After releasing a couple of unsuccessful albums as "Bill & Taffy," they took stock of their own limited star potential, hired a couple of glamorous singers and relaunched themselves as The Starland Vocal Band, immediately scoring a chart-topping hit with "Afternoon Delight," which was such a huge success if earned them a short-lived prime-time variety show on CBS-TV. They never came close to matching that one, though, and the band broke up after a few albums, but recording that one song was enough to cement them in the holy firmament of 'Seventies cheese.

Now, about this record. In all honesty, this is a pretty terrible album -- a super-duper self-indulgent, starry-eyed, spaced-out philosophizing/navel-gazing folk-pop-psychedelic smorgasbord, with amiable warbling and poetic intoning. Folks who dig early '70s self-indulgence may find this to be pretty groovy, but it's more of an over-inflated LA studiofest than a groundbreaking country-rock outing, certainly there are no pop gems on a par with "Take Me Home, Country Roads," although to be fair, it does have its moments. Guitarist Larry Carlton is one of several notable studio musicians on here, adding some hot licks, particularly on the funky "She Won't Let Me Fly Away," one of the album's highlights. Other musicians include folkie Carolyn Hester on background vocals, jazz singer Al Jarreau doing something called "vocal flutes," sessionman Hal Blaine on drums, while for more country-oriented material, Byron Berline plays banjo and fiddle on one song, "Some Sweet Day."

Bill & Taffy "Aces" (RCA, 1974) (LP)

Rae Billing "Rae Billing" (Other People's Music, 2001)

Rae Billing "Blue Black Night" (Hug Music, 2008)
(Produced by Peter J. Moore)
An independently-released Canadian alt-country outing that is intensely derivative of raspy-voiced twang-gal balladeers such as Lucinda Williams, Mary Gautier and Eliza Gilkyson. Not that there's anything wrong with that, per se, but at times you do wish you were hearing more of Billing singing with her own voice, either metaphorically or literally. She tends towards the introspective and confessional side of the 'cana spectrum, not quite cutting loose with honkytonk twang or bluesy romps, but for fans of downcast, rueful-poetic lyrics, here's another album to put into the hopper.

Rae Billing & The Unpayables "Walls And Fences" (Hug Music, 2013)
(Produced by Michael J. Birthelmer)
Canadian songwriter Rae Billing is one of a generation of alt-country gals who sound like Lucinda Williams in much the same way skinny white guys in the early '70s all sounded like Dylan. But, hey, if you're gonna sound like someone famous, go for the gold. This album has a heavier, folkier, more singer-songwriter feel than some of her earlier work, but even though it's not my cup of tea, some songs stand out, such as the rueful "Sacramento River" and the Neil Young-ish "Seven Days." The production on this one's a bit lush for me, but folk fans might dig it.

Terri Binion "Leavin' This Town" (Daemon/Shinola Records, 1997)

Terri Binion "Fool" (Richter Records, 2002)
One of the most distinctive indie-Americana albums to come down the pike in quite some time! This record makes a strong first impression, and only gains depth with each successive listen. Orlando, Florida's Terri Binion sings with an irony-laced raspiness, making it easy to draw a facile Lucinda Williams comparison (especially since Lucinda sings harmony on the bouncy opening track, "GayleAnne"...) yet Binion clearly has her own artistic voice, and every song on this album has a compelling, off-kilter charm. Cloaked in familiar-sounding country-tinged arrangements, she glides subtly into pop-folkish singer-songwriter terrain, balancing wry lyrics and skillfully crafted melodies in a way that is also reminiscent of the Roches early work. Many of today's alt-hick types have their glimpses of brilliance; Binion is able to sustain her connection to the Muse throughout the length of the entire album. Nice touch on the "mystery track" at the end -- Binion does a little field recording with one of her old-timer Southern relatives, who she sits down and asks to sing the song about a moonshiner relative, Jim Binion, locally famous for having taken a pot-shot at the sheriff one day. with banjo plunkin', and quiet self effacement, he answers her question, "who wrote this song?" by saying, "I dunno: it was here when I was here!" Just one more charming touch on a compelling, noteworthy album. This is one you'll definitely want to pick up -- and hang onto. (Here's her website for more info.)

Jan Bird "...Sings Down Home Sounds, With Ernie Hagar's Swingin' Steel" (Meagher Electronics/High Hopes Incorporated, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Meagher & Paul Smith)
Singer-guitarist Jan Bird was originally from Weed, California and she'd moved to Monterey and was playing gigs at the Highlands Inn in Carmel at the time she cut this album. Local steel guitar whiz Ernie Hagar plays pedal steel and dobro on here, as well as arranging the album, with banjo by Bob Cameron and guitar and bass by Russ Allen. Bird balances a few pop and folk tracks like "Last Thing On My Mind" and "Fire And Rain" against a raft of true country tunes -- stuff "Heartaches By The Number," "Cold Cold Heart" and "It's Such A Pretty World Today." Interesting song selection, and a cool cast of characters from California's Central Coast.

Vicki Bird "I'm Gone" (Aaron Records) (LP)

Vicki Bird "God Is In The House"

The Biscuit Burners "Fiery Mountain Music" (Indidog Records, 2004)
Bluegrass-meets-indie from a North Carolina band featuring singer Shannon Whitworth, who went on to record several solo albums... Very chopsy, but also very eclectic... Fans of Uncle Earl or the Be Good Tanyas might enjoy this as well.

The Biscuit Burners "A Mountain Apart" (Indidog Records, 2005)

The Biscuit Burners "Take Me Home" (Indidog Records, 2008)

Becky Bishop "First Shot... Live" (Grass Roots Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Lee Magid)
A mix of roots blues and twang from this Southern Oregon folkie... This album includes several original songs, including "Truckstop Waitress" and "This Ol' Man Of Mine" written by Bishop, along with oldies from Gene Autry, Ella Mae Morse and Joe Turner. The album was recorded at a studio in Santa Monica, California and released on a label from Malibu, though I'm not sure if Bishop was living in California at the time, or just went to LA to record. The backing band includes dobro playing by Louis Golper and fiddle by Brantley Kearns.

Jeanne Black "A Little Bit Lonely" (Capitol Records, 1961) (LP)
Mostly known as a one-hit wonder, in 1960 Jeanne Black sang "He'll Have To Stay," an answer song based on the Jim Reeves classic, He'll Have To Go." That song hit the Top Ten, and is included here on her lone solo album, although lightning didn't strike twice and Ms. Black faded from sight with amazing finality. Alas.

Black Velvet "Watermelon Wine" (Bottman Records, 1980) (LP)
A mega-generic, ultra-anonymous, super-dodgy set of latter-day country rock and pop/rock oldies. This was released on an imprint of the Album Globe company, which is widely considered to be a "tax scam" label, where shady characters with extra cash they needed to keep off the books would bankroll recordings by phony or hopeless musical acts solely as a way of writing off the money invested, and thus launder an even larger amount in a corporate shell game. Despite being instruments of fraud, sometimes these albums were still kinda fun -- this one includes covers of a couple of Tom T. Hall songs ("Watermelon Wine" and "Ravishing Ruby") as well as a version of "Chantilly Lace" and a few tunes which may have been originals. No info on the musicians, the producer or the songwriters -- just the song titles, the generic artwork, and the disc itself. Let your imagination run wild.

Karon Blackwell "Live In Concert" (Blackland Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by James Garland)
Singer Karon Blackwell was from Ellisville, Mississippi, though she and her husband, comedian Marty Allen did extensive touring and lounge gigs in Vegas and elsewhere... This is a double LP, mainly with covers of '70s countrypolitan hits, a few honkytonk oldies ("Jambalaya") and a couple of Motown and pop standards, stuff like "Shop Around" and "Impossible Dream." The second disc is almost all gospel, including a longer gospel medley, although most of the other songs are secular... This album was recorded several years before she and Allen met and married... One song, "Blue Skies And Roses," scraped its way into the Country Top 100, but that was the extent of Blackwell's chart action on a national level.

Donna Blackwood & Ron W. Blackwood "Country" (Rite Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Burton & Lan Ackley)
A secular set by "RW & Donna," aka the Nashville-based duo of Donna Blackwood and her husband, Ron Blackwood, who was best known as the youngest member of the fabled Blackwood Brothers southern gospel group. Although their careers were mostly devoted to religious material, here RW & Donna work their way through an all-covers set of early 'Seventies country hits, singalong favorites such as "Let Me Be There," "Please Mister Please," "The Top Of The World" and "Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song." Over the years R.W. moved between various incarnations of the Blackwood Brothers and his own Blackwood Singers band, eventually moving from Tennessee to the warm embrace of the Branson, Missouri/Ozark oldies opry scene. I'm not sure when this album came out, but I'd guess sometime around the mid-'Seventies.

Boots Blake "Keeping It Country" (Great Records, 1982-?) (LP)
I could not find out any info on this country gal of yesteryear... As far as I can tell, this was her only album, mostly packed with covers, though she also released a single on the same label, with two original tunes by Lola Jean Dillon, "Here Comes The Bride" b/w "Leave Your Love At Home." Shame they weren't included here. Who knows? Maybe there's another album floating around out there somewhere...

Nancy Blake - see artist discography

Jenni Blocker & Neil Wayne "Two For The Road" (Safari Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Charles Fields & Johnny Howard)
A trip to Nashville resulted in this album by South Dakotans Jenni Blocker and Neil Bagaus (aka Neil Wayne) who had previously been in an amateur band called the Suns Of The West, which played several county fair-type events and talent contests but never really cracked into the professional country scene. The Suns recorded an album in 1974, though as far as I know, these were the only two records they made...

J'Anna Blossoms "J'Anna Blossoms" (Paradise Arts, 1978) (LP)
Fiddler J'Anna Blossoms saws her way through petal-powered, flowery classics such as "Blackberry Blossom," "Orange Blossom Special" and "Peach Blossom."

Brenda Blue "Ten Times The World" (Sunwood Records, 1980) (EP)
(Produced by Angel South & Bob Werner)
A four-song EP by singer Brenda Blue, who was a cast member of the Reno, Nevada production of Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, working with guitarist Angel South, formerly of the rock band Chase, who produced this disc. This was recorded in Reno with Brenda Blue on bass and vocals; Tony Booth (the same one?) playing bass, Jimmy Powell (steel guitar), Angel South (guitar), Billy Armstrong (fiddle) and others. There are three originals written by Blue: "Dirt And Stains," "Ten Times The World," and "Can't Say No Tonight," along with an oldie (from the '60s) called "Hee Haw Haw," by Oregon's Sally Wells. I'm assuming Brenda Blue was a stage name, but so far I haven't found any other info about her career...

Bluefield "Bluefield" (Mercury, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Drake & Ronnie Light)
This band featured Lang Scruggs and Joe Scruggs (cousins of Earl) along with Linda Hargrove on piano, Hoot Hester on fiddle, and Paul Franklin playing dobro & steel. The set list includes a few pop covers ("A Taste Of Honey," "I Can See Clearly Now") along with Alan Munde's "Molly Bloom," and a couple of Linda Hargrove songs -- indeed it seems like this was an under-the-radar Hargrove outing, as much as anything else. The Scruggs brothers seem to have grown up in San Angelo, Texas, or at least they went to high school there...

Bluerock "Bluerock" (Fiddlesticks/Aleatoric, 198-?) (LP)
(Produced by Tom Mrozonski, Tom Dougherty & Bluerock)
Not to be confused with the later modern alt-twang band called Blue Rock, this was an indie twang band from Spooner, Wisconsin which featured fiddler Susan Pederson and her husband, drummer Ken Pederson, who was also owned a local nightclub called Fiddlesticks, where they often played. The songs are all covers, with well-known stuff by Ray Wylie Hubbard, Townes Van Zandt and good old Hank Williams, along with more obscure twang tunes such as George Frayne's "Got To Be One Of Those Nights" (from his Commander Cody days) and "Riding High," written by upstate New Yorker Dick Solberg, a song that Bluerock also released as a single... By the way, anyone know what year this came out? I'm guessing very early '80s, like around '81 or '82...(?)

Bluerock "Style" (Bluerock Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Miles Wilkinson)
A second album by this Shell Lake, Wisconsin twangband... The lineup includes Rick Marshall on guitar, Sue Pederson (fiddle), Ken Pederson (drums), Gary Nielsen (piano), and Jack White on bass, with producer Miles Wilkinson also chiming in on guitar. The album seems to be about half cover songs, including some old-timey oldies such as "May The Circle Be Unbroken," "Orange Blossom Special" and "Uncle Pen," as well as a cover of Keith Sykes' "Oh, What A Feelin'," which had recently been recorded by Rodney Crowell. Five of the tracks are credited to White Songs publishing, which I assume is the band's own imprint.

Liz Boardo "Liz Boardo" (Roell Records, 2006)
I'm not sure, but I think this CD is a reissue... It doesn't include either of Boardo's (minor) hits from 1987, but it definitely has an '80s feel. Anyone know for sure?

Ginger Boatwright "Fertile Ground" (Flying Fish Records, 1991)
One of the driving forces behind the poppy early '70s newgrass band, Red, White & Bluegrass, singer-songwriter Boatwright returns with a talky, folky, mid-tempo album that doesn't really wow me, but may appeal to fans of mature, high-concept "progressive" bluegrass. An all-star cast of "usual suspects" superpickers back her up, including folks such as Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Doug Dillard, Mark O'Connor... The overall effect is similar to what Nanci Griffith or, later, Alison Krauss would record. It sounds okay in a broader bluegrass mix, but taken as an entire album, feels a little too intellectual for me. Good stuff, though, for the style!

Ginger Boatwright "Sipsey" (2000)

Ginger Boatwright "Inside The Gate" (2007)
A gospel offering...

Bobbi And Clyde "...And The Seaweed Cowboys" (BCS Records, 19--?) (LP)
Southern California's Bobbi McGavran and Clyde Lucas worked in a wide variety of venues, including a stint as the house band at Knott's Berry Farm, gigs with various country rockers and later, work in film and TV. This album was made with Bill Cunningham and J. Scott Hendrickson, who wrote about half the songs on the album. Not sure of the year on this one, but I think it's of late 1970s vintage.

Bobbi Jane "Bobbi Jane" (Pentagon Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Alan J. Dote)
Some Bay Area country, recorded at Alan J. Dote's Side A Productions studio, based in Millbrae, California, just south of San Francisco. As on other albums Dote produced, there's a profusion of material he wrote himself, although Ms. Jane is credited on two songs, "Looking For Mr. Right," and "I Guess It's Crying Time Again," both songs also published by Dote's own company. Singer Bobbi Jane was decidedly a back-bencher, really not a very good vocalist, although she threw herself into it with great gusto, and a few songs work as rudimentary country thumpers, albeit with a strong whiff of so-bad-it's-good kitschiness. The more straightforward country numbers are best, though a disco-era hangover is present throughout, in the persistent presence of a cheesy keyboard-synth. The keyboards are unleashed in a bombastic solo on "Gone Too Long," a straight disco pop song that's kind of jarring in comparison to the rest of the record. Overall, I have to admit there's not a lot to recommend this record, although obscuro-twang fans (like me) may enjoy it for its very DIY-ishness. The liner notes say she had her own band, and had done gigs in Reno and Vegas, so there may be more to this album than just he pay-to-play vanity pressing it seems to be.

Suzy Bogguss - see artist discography

Debbie Bohanan "Just Look This Way" (Thunderhead Records, 1979) (LP)
Singer Debbie Bohanan (1963-2014) was a Knoxville native who started performing professionally as a teen back in the 1970s, working as a cast member of Bonnie Lou & Buster's Smoky Mountain Hayride show in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. She went on to perform in several other "opry"-style revues, including The Carolina Opry and the Down Home Dixie Review in Gatlinburg. Bohanan rounded out her career as part of the Comedy Barn Theater, back in Pigeon Forge, where she both sang and did comedic numbers... She recorded at least three albums including this debut disc which is mostly cover songs, though the title track is her own original.

Debbie Bohanan "Back Home In Tennessee" (Thunderhead Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Debbie Bohanan, Marcus Shirley & Charley Whaley)
This album includes two originals credited to Bohanan, "I Won't Be Second Place" and "Back Home In Tennessee," with a couple of others penned by Malcolm Link, who played bass in an 'Eighties edition of the Smoky Mountain Travelers bluegrass band, which also released an album on the Thunderhead label, and also contributed mandolin picker Rob Curtis to Bohanon's band. There are a slew of cover tunes as well, including the Carter Family's "Gold Watch And Chain," "Walking After Midnight," Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move," and even one by CCM pioneer Dallas Holm. Pretty wide range, if you ask me! Not sure of the exact date on this one, but it looks like an early 'Eighties offering.

Debbie Bohanan "Always On My Mind" (Transworld Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Debbie Bohanan & Joe Deaton)

Joann Bon & The Coquettes "I'll Release You" (MTA Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Roy Drusky)
The Coquettes were an all-female '50s vocal group from New York, led by soloist Joann Bongiorno... Originally they represented a sort of whitewashed version of street corner doo-wop singing, and worked with mainstream pop bandleaders such as Ray Conniff. Here, more than a decade after their first singles, they reemerge with a set of country songs, including '50s oldies, then-current hits and the title track, "I'll Release You," an answer song to Eddie Miller's "Please Release Me," a 'Fifties hit for Ray Price that UK pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck had revived in 1967. Somehow the Coquettes were in Roy Drusky's orbit -- maybe they sang backup for him? -- and he is credited as producing this album. Frankly, I found it pretty lackluster -- the arrangements are pretty bland and the vocals don't coalesce into particularly strong group arrangements. But I suppose it's worth checking out if you're digging deep into country-gal singing, or really dig the Nashville Sound.

Joann Bon & The Coquettes "Looking And Searching" (MTA Records, 1969) (LP)

Joann Bon & The Coquettes "What Now My Love?" (Camelot Records, 19-??) (LP)
(Produced by Jan Curtis & Denny Collins)

Sue Bondz & Jonny Bondz "...Sing Original Country" (Bondz Records, 198--?) (LP)
Not to be confused with Texas honkytonker Johnny Bond, New York state native John Bondzinski was a multi-instrumentalist perhaps best known for his work as a steel guitar player, and for his song, "I've Played Second Fiddle (For The Last Time)," which he first recorded for Starday back in the mid-'60s. Bondzinski played gigs in and around his hometown of Glens Falls, NY as well as across the border in Vermont, and opened a music store called Bondz Music, which he ran for several years before moving down to Wildwood, Florida with his wife Susan. They were living in the Sunshine State when they recorded this album, which is filled with all-original material, including songs like "Second Fiddle," "Happy State Of Mind" and "In A Redneck Bar." I think they're the only two musicians on here -- they both sing and he played a variety of instruments, through the magic of multi-tracking, and they are "backed" by their pet drum machine, who they nicknamed "Winchester."

Emily Bonn "Songs From Alabama Street" (2009)

Bonnie & Clyde "The Other Side Of Bonnie & Clyde" (Hillside Country Records, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Williams Earl & Jack Linneman)
I'm not much one on the judge-a-book approach to album art pop-mockery, though I gotta say, this is one scary looking record cover! In this case, Bonnie and Clyde were Bonnie and William Earl, a husband-wife duo from Deland, Florida who worked the Southern coastal resort circuit as well as a lot of gigs in Las Vegas and Reno. Side One of this album features all original material by Billy Earl, while Side Two is cover songs, ranging from "Wabash Cannonball" and "They Call The Wind Maria" to contemporary hits such as "Take Me Home Country Roads" and "Let Me Be There."

Bonnie Blue Eyes & Bob Atcher "The Tophand Of The Cowhands" (Binge Discs, 1998)
A delightful set of western tunes, soft heartsongs and lighthearted novelty numbers from the husband-wife duo of 1939-1946 Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes (aka Loeta Applegate, who was married to Atcher until 1945, when they split the act. She retired, he went on the do a lot of TV and radio work in and around Chicago... ) Included is her parody/answer song, "Seven Beers With The Wrong Man" -- one of the first country hits by a solo female artists -- and his comedic version of "Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes," along with sweet western standards such as "Cool Water" and Johnny Bond's "Poor Little Rose." It's all lovely stuff; understated and sentimental, and with sweet vocal harmonies. These recordings catch the duo at the peak of their commercial fame. Nice stuff... Recommended!

Bonnie Blue Eyes & Bob Atcher "The Golden Age Of Bob Atcher & Bonnie Blue Eyes" (Binge Discs, 1998)

Bonnie Lou "Raining Down Happiness" (Wrayco Records, 1971-?) (LP)
A veteran musician whose roots date back to the hillbilly era of the 1940s, Mary Joan Okum (1924-2015) found national success as a pop-rockabilly artist, notably with her King singles "Daddy-O" and "Tennessee Wig Walk." Originally from Towanda, Illinois, Bonnie Lou moved through a series of regional radio and television programs, with high profile gigs as a cast member of the Kansas City-based Brush Creek Follies and later on Cincinnati's The Midwest Hayride, where she joined a latter-day edition of the Girls Of The Golden West. Highly successful in each point of her career, when larger fame beckoned she chose to stay in Ohio and headline the Hayride. In the 1950s, she partnered with TV pioneer Paul Dixon, co-hosting The Paul Dixon Show, a variety program that included both musical and comedic roles. Paul Dixon provides the liner notes for this album, and possibly the backing band as well (although there are no musician credits on the album...) Bonnie Lou starred on multiple local TV and radio programs, though she largely quit performing after Paul Dixon died in 1974, later working as a country deejay for several years while occasionally doing live concerts. This early 'Seventies album is notable for its wealth of material by up-and-coming songwriters such as Becki Bluefield, Rhett Davis, Canada's Don Devaney, Finley Duncan, and Susan Taylor of the Pozo-Seco Singers, and even one by her fellow 'Fifties rockabilly filly, Jean Chapel. [Note: Not to be confused with the North Carolina-born Margaret Bell-Moore (aka Bonnie Lou) listed below.]

Bonnie Lou "Doin' The Tennessee Wig Walk" (Westside Records, 2000)

Bonnie Lou "Bonnie Lou Sings!" (Collector's Gold Records)

Bonnie Lou "Danger! Heartbreak Ahead" (BACM, 2005)
(Available through the British Archive of Country Music website.)

Bonnie Lou & Buster "Hymn Time" (Waterfall Records, 1963) (LP)

Bonnie Lou & Buster "...Sing Country Bluegrass And Gospel" (Angel Records, 1977) (LP)
A husband-wife duo who were regulars on the Smokey Mountain Hayride, and whose careers stretched back to the 1940s. Hubert "Buster" Moore (1920-1995) was from rural Tennessee, and worked in various hillbilly and bluegrass bands before and after the war, including stints with Carl Story and Eddie Hill. After Moore met and married Margaret Bell, they formed their own band and changed her stage name to Bonnie Lou, moving from city to city for various jobs at radio stations and concert venues, including gigs in Bristol, Harrisburg, Knoxville, Salem, and her hometown of Ashville, North Carolina. They're best-known for their tenure at the Opry-esque Smokey Mountain Hayride variety show, a venue in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee that opened in 1972. They worked with local musicians including bluegrasser Don McHan, who performs with them on this album, playing banjo, along with Darrell Henry on dobro, and Buster Moore playing fiddle and mandolin. [Note: Mrs. Moore is not to be confused with the nationally-famous singer known as Bonnie Lou (nee Mary Joan Kath) who came from the Midwest and became a pop-country crossover artist in the 1950s.]

Bonnie Lou & Buster "...Sing Gospel" (Masterco Records, 1982) (LP)

Bonnie Lou & Buster "Smoky Mountain Hayride Show" (Green Records, 1983) (LP)

Patty Booker "I Don't Need All That" (PMS Records, 1999)

Patty Booker & Rick Shea "Our Shangri-La" (Tres Pescadores Records, 2003)
(Produced by Rick Shea)
A fun set of hillbillied-out duets that mostly mine a novelty-oriented "You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly" terrain, very similar to Melba Montgomery's comedic duets with George Jones and Charlie Louvin or some of the funnier Loretta Lynn-Conway Twitty duets. Booker and Shea come close to lapsing into trailer-park stereotypes, but manage to keep things real, and inject a genuine sense of country pathos into their stories of broken love and underfunded romance. Definitely worth checking out.

Patty Booker "Fire And Brimstone" (Tres Pescadores Records, 2007)

Debby Boone "The Best Of Debby Boone" (Curb Records, 1990)
Another one of the Curb label's refreshingly straightforward best-of sets... This compact, ten-song collection includes Boone's biggest hits from the late 1970s, when she was both a huge MOR pop star, and a semi-legitimate country singer. All the albums these songs came from appear to be out-of-print, so this is probably the best way to hear them. Keep in mind that her biggest hit, "You Light Up My Life," is perhaps the single most heinous pop song of the 1970s. After this era, Boone devoted herself almost entirely to recording Christian pop. Oh, and FIY, she's Pat Boone's daughter... and Red Foley's granddaughter, as well! What a family!

Debby Boone "You Light Up My Life" (Warner Brothers/Curb Records, 1977) (LP)

Debby Boone "Midstream" (Warner Brothers/Curb Records, 1978) (LP)

Debby Boone "Debby Boone" (Warner Brothers/Curb Records, 1979)

Debby Boone "Love Has No Reason" (Warner Brothers/Curb Records, 1980) (LP)

Debby Boone "Savin' It Up" (Warner Brothers/Curb Records, 1980) (LP)

Sarah Borges "Silver City" (Blue Corn Records, 2005)

Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles "Diamonds In The Dark" (Sugar Hill Records, 2007)
A muscular mix of driving, streamlined roots-rock and twang from this LA-based powerhouse. Borges opens the album with the propulsive "The Day We Met," which recalls Ryan Adams's finer, younger moments, then abruptly shifts gear into the power-poppy, Bangles-ish "Come Back To Me." Having established her multi-genre bona fides, she settles back into a roots-rock tone that strongly recalls Lone Justice, along with a dash of Tom Petty and Sheryl Crow. Apparently this is her second album, and though she'd formed an all-new lineup of her band, she's still working with rock producer Paul Q. Kolderie (known for his work with Radiohead and The Pixies...) There are several stand-out songs as well as a few others that are less distinctive. Overall, this is a strong, noteworthy album, and although it seems likely she'll head into a more rock-oriented direction, Borges has the potential to be a dominant figure on the Americana scene. We'll see which way the wind blows... In the meantime, I'm sure plenty of folks will dig this disc.

Sarah Borges "Do It For Free" (EP) (Sugar Hill Records, 2009)
An intriguing three-song sampler, with two rock songs bracketing a pleasantly twang-ful alt-country track. The title song is a loud, backbeat-a-licious hard rock song that's pure Joan Jett; the last track is more of a would-be alternative tune that's fairly anemic by comparison. This disc might be a little schizo, but she does deliver on both the head-bang and the twang, so I'd say it's still up to her which world to conquer. Country fans can stick with the lone twang tune, "Friend Of A Friend".

Sarah Borges "The Stars Are Out" (Sugar Hill Records, 2009)
(Produced by Paul Q. Kolderie)
Amid a music industry devoted to pigeonholing our every desire, LA's Sarah Borges really stands out for her commitment to stylistic diversity. As with her earlier releases, she's all over the map: this album opens with "Do It For Free," a thumping, banging, anthemic hard-rock number ala Joan Jett or the Runaways, then coasts into bright bubblegum pop and, yes, still a bit of twang. There are a lot of interesting cover tunes as well... The most surprising inclusion is a cover of Smokey Robinson's 1970s' AOR hit "Being With You", which gives way to a cover of the Magnetic Fields '80s-ish synth-ballad ">No One Will Ever Love You." It's the hard-rockin' stuff that'll stand the best shot at getting her onto the radio and into the charts, but it's also nice to see an artist wiling to take a chance by sticking with her interests in so many different styles. My pick here would be "Ride With Me" -- it's the twangiest tune on the record.

Sarah Borges "Live Singles" (Suck A Bag Of Discs, 2010)

Libbi Bosworth "Outskirts Of You" (Freedom Records, 1997)

Libbi Bosworth "Libbiville" (Ramble Records, 2001)
Wow. Yahoo! A super-likable, flat-out fun, indie-billy album from down Texas way... Rosie Flores fans might want to check this one out... If anything, Bosworth is a much more solid country singer, and the songs -- about half of which Bosworth wrote -- are uniformly great. Lloyd Maines, Johnny Gimble and Gurf Morlix are among the musicians lined up on this fine disc; Morlix also contributes a couple of tunes to the playlist. Texas yodeler Don Walser joins her for a spirited version of "Something To Brag About In You," an old duet hit for Charlie Louvin and Melba Montgomery (and George & Tammy, as well...) Great album; highly recommended!

Uncle Ish Bowen "Something Got Hold Of Me" (Master Records, 19--?) (LP)
A simple, haunting country gospel set from a former honkytonker who got religion and switched to gospel music... Ishel Femus Bowen (1917-1989) was born in Shelby, North Carolina, but had moved to Newport News, Virginia by the time he recorded this album. I don't have much info about his musical career; Mr. Bowen worked as a welder in the Virginia shipyards and possibly was strictly an amateur musician. The record includes two songs sung by bassist David Jones, as well as one written by Ann Allman who sings on the album, along with Ms. Lola Begg also play on the album. It's a nice, simple set -- sparsely recorded with Bowen strumming an acoustic guitar, singing in an old-fashioned style reminiscent of Roy Acuff and the Depression-era country scene, with Allman and Begg adding Carter Family-esque harmonies. Also charming are their clumsy attempts and counterpoint recitation on tracks like "I Wasn't There." This is deep, authentic rural stuff -- heartfelt, unpretentious and sincerely moving. The tracks with Jones singing lead are slicker and more upbeat, though also quite nice.

Margie Bowes "Margie Bowes Sings" (Decca, 1966) (LP)
She was not a great singer, it's true, but Margie Bowes had a welcome roughness to her (in comparison to some of the other country gals of the time...) She was a minor player in the early '60s, marrying Doyle Wilburn in '61 and cutting a few singles here and there, as well as several excellent duets with George Jones. This was her first big break, a full-length LP for Decca. The label obviously pressured her into singing as much like Loretta Lynn as possible, and she does a fine job of it, particularly on songs that have a good backbeat... On ballads she was a little shakier, and while she doesn't necessarily display much individuality on here, this is still a nice record, particularly for anyone looking into the history of women in country music. Worth checking out.

Margie Bowes "Today's Country Sound" (Decca Records, 1968) (LP)
A fun album if you can track it down. Sure, the musicians are mostly phoning it in, but there's still some spunky material and a few good novelty songs. There's also an odd, interesting assortment of little-known songwriters, including up-and-comers like John Hartford and Tom T. Hall (whose "Mrs. Cooper's Tea Party" is an album highlight, as well as one by Willie Nelson. She also recorded a couple of tunes by gals like Lola Jean Dillon ("Lonesome Woman") and Betty Robinson ("Baby's Back Again") And check this out: she recorded "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" a right around the same time Tammy Wynette did; wonder who won that chart battle?

Crystal Bowersox "Farmer's Daughter" (Sony-Jive/19 Recordings, 2010)
(Produced by David Bendeth)
Normally I'm not that big on bashing former American Idol contestants just because they were American Idol contestants... I mean, Carrie Underwood's alright, and I think she was on there once, right? Anyway, the reason I don't like this album (and I'm apparently in the minority) is because the arrangements are uneven and awkward, and Bowersox's voice doesn't really wow me. It's kind of a clunky mix of folkish "adult pop" and brash Nashville Top 40... and was pitched as a rock record (where it did pretty well.) I dunno, I mean I get that the photogenic, twenty-something Bowersox has some of same the youth appeal as Taylor Swift, but she strikes me as a lesser light. But I can see the appeal, and I am curious to see where she goes from here...

Crystal Bowersox "Once Upon A Time..." (EP) (Self-released, 2012)
Released on the heels of her Idol success, this 5-song EP is in more of a singer-songwriter-y mode, and very demo-tapey... Also not as country as her major-label stuff; more of a folkie feel, somewhere between, oh, Lucy Kaplansky and Taylor Swift. Doesn't really resonate with me.

Crystal Bowersox "All That For This" (Shanachie Records, 2013)
(Produced by Steve Berlin)
American Idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox has dabbled in twang, but I'm not sure I'd really call this rock-soul outing a "country" record. Still, a tune like "Till The Whiskey's Gone" could make it in the charts... Meanwhile, folks who are into mainstream-y genre-busters like Shelby Lynne might want to give this a whirl. There's a pretty similar soul-tinged, rootsy vibe.

Margie Bowman "From The Heart Of Margie Bowman" (Ranger Records)
(Produced by Forrest Green)
This gal from the town of Ozark, Arkansas wrote most of the songs on this album, adding a few cover tunes from the likes of Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and Loretta Lynn. Bowman was a rough, rural vocalist -- although she pays homage to Loretta, her roots run a little deeper, back to foremothers such as Kitty Wells and more particularly to Jean Shepard, whose proto-feminist anthems are echoed in Bowman's own lyrics. This is best borne out on the album's second track, "Lord, Did You Think Of Lonely Women," in which she directly confronts God (yes, that God!) about the religious double standards that make it okay for men to seek comfort in sex, but don't allow women to do the same. That's probably the most striking song on here, but there are several that are quite good. Bowman is backed by producer Forrest Green and his band, the Rangers, a veteran of the 1950's country scene and former Arkansan himself, who moved to Michigan and settled into a second act as an indie record producer... His band adds a lively, melodic, steel-driven twang, reminiscent of Lynn's best work from the '60s; the album isn't that well-produced, and Bowman's phrasing sounds a little stiff -- nerves, maybe? -- but it's still a cool record. Not entirely sure when this was made, but I'm guessing it was around 1974-75, based on the album art and on the cover tunes: "Me And Bobby McGee" was from the late '60s, but Haggard's "Holding Things Together" came out in '74. Anyone out there know for sure?

Carla Bozulich - see artist profile

Dale Ann Bradley -- see artist discography

Jean Bradway & Bill Bradway "Gospel Hawaiianaires" (Christian Faith Records, 1965-?) (LP)
According to the liner notes, steel guitar player Bill Bradway was a farm kid from rural New Jersey who had a flair for repairing musical instruments as well as a knack with electronics. He tinkered around and built his own electric guitars, and eventually designed his own line of double-necked pedal steels. He formed his own band in Atlantic City, a Pacific-themed trio called the Hawaiianaires, which played gigs at Hunt's Ocean Pier amusement park, as well as performing daily on the radio, and with big band/pop bandleader Horace Heidt. The Bradways were "born again" in 1955 and devoted themselves entirely to gospel music and evangelizing at church events. The tunes on this instrumental album are mainly gospel classics, such as "Onward Christian Soldiers," "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and "The Old Rugged Cross," but they sure sound like old-school Hawaiian guitar tunes rather than fusty old hymns. Certainly worth a spin!

Loretta Brank "This Is Loretta, Volume One" (1975) (LP)
(Produced by Allen P. Giles)
A championship fiddler from Winlock, Washington, Loretta Brank started playing music at age nine, and had already won or placed in numerous state and national championships from 1970 to 1975. She learned the fiddle from her dad, as well as the mentorship of the legendary Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson, who taught her much of his repertoire. Ms. Brank had just turned fourteen years old when this album was recorded, having already earned thirty-five trophies in less than five year's time, including a junior-juniors division victory over a neophyte Mark O'Connor at the 1973 competition in Weiser, Idaho. Brank later moved to Nashville where she played with old-timers like Charlie McCoy, and spent several years touring with Deana Carter. This album is mostly full of standards such as "Jole Blon," "Leather Britches" and "Sally Goodin," with a couple of more obscure tunes in there as well. Of interest to bluegrass and old-timey fans is Washington state native Molly Mason on guitar, along with bassist Larry Edwards and Roger Maddy on mandolin; I believe Ms. Mason is the same old-timey artist who teamed up with Jay Ungar, while Mr. Maddy went on to record a couple of albums of his own a few years later.

Kippi Brannon "I'd Be With You" (Curb Records, 1997)
(Produced by Mark Bright)
This was actually a comeback album: Brannon was a teenage singer who had had even bigger success in the early '80s, but retired after releasing several popular singles for the MCA label. She tried restarting her career a few years later, but only came back to record an album a decade later... And here it is!

Louisa Branscomb "I'll Take Love (From The Pen Of Louisa Branscomb)" (Compass Records, 2011)

Beverly Brice "Red Roses And Wild Violets Of Blue" (Great Record Factory, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Howard White)
A fan of Hank Snow's music, Beverly Brice was partial to old-fashioned sentimental songs, and covers oldies such as "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again" and "Jealous Heart" -- she also wrote about half the songs on this album, including the title track, "Red Roses And Wild Violets Of Blue," which fits into the same tradition. Hank Snow himself wrote the liner notes, mentioning that Brice was from New England somewhere, and that he'd shared the stage with Ms. Brice and her mother, who apparently had a duo act together. (As far as I know, she had no relation(?) to Top Forty star Lee Brice, whose career came decades later, and who grew up in South Carolina...)

Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher "A Song That Will Linger" (Rounder Records, 1988)

Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher "Blue Lightning" (Rounder Records, 1991)

Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher "Our Town" (Rounder Records, 1992)

Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher "Stay Awhile" (Rounder Records, 1995)

Kate Brislin & Katy Moffatt "Sleepless Nights" (Rounder Records, 1996)

Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher "Heart Songs: The Old Time Country Songs of Utah Phillips" (Rounder Records, 1997)

Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher "Songs Of The Carter Family" (Appleseed Records, 2000)
This Bay Area duo has long been a potent force in the old-timey revival scene, and here they capture the plaintive emotional longing of the Carter Family sound, although their take on things may be a bit softer and less desolate (or rowdy) than the Carters themselves. Still, this is pretty sweet and certainly loyal to the material. Nice stuff.

Marsha Britton "Marsha Britton" (Grapevine Records, 1990) (LP)
(Produced by Hud Hanson & Mark Singletary)
A Texas native, singer Marsha Britton was a featured performer at Billy Bob's dancehall in Fort Worth and, presumably based on this disc, at the Grapevine Opry variety show. She recorded at least four albums in the early 1990s and at some point moved to Nashville to try her luck in Music City. All the songs on this album (her first?) were written by Ms. Britton; Texas blues guitarist Anson Funderburg plays on two songs, "Oak Cliff Blues" and "Walk On Me," with additional guitar and pedal steel by James Pennebaker and Gary Carpenter.

Marsha Britton "Good News And Hard Times" (Hawk Records, 1992)

Marsha Britton "Bad News Boy" (Hawk Records, 1993)

Marsha Britton "Hayride" (Hawk Records, 1995)

Lane Brody "Lane Brody" (EMI, 1985) (LP)

Lane Brody "Familiar Places" (Records Records, 2001)

Lane Brody "Pieces Of Life" (Scream Records, 2002)

Lisa Brokop "My Love" (Libre, 1991)

Lisa Brokop "Every Little Girl's Dream" (Capitol/Patriot Records, 1994)
(Produced by Jerry Crutchfield)
Despite having a couple of lively, uptempo singles -- "Take That" and "Give Me A Ring Sometime" -- this debut album tanked, with both songs falling well short of the Top 40. Maybe partly it was because Brokop was from Canada, but more likely it was because she was mired in the same sort of overripe, white soul sister vocal theatrics that Wynonna Judd and K.T. Oslin banked on in years gone by... The style doesn't do much for me, especially when she gets bogged down in thick, overwritten ballads... But Brokop has her fans, to be sure, even if she had to retreat to the Canadian market when she failed to make a dent down in the States. If you like Wynonna, you might wanna check this gal out.

Lisa Brokop "Lisa Brokop" (Capitol Records, 1996)

Lisa Brokop "When You Get To Be You" (Columbia, 1998)

Lisa Brokop "Undeniable" (Royalty Records, 2004)

Lisa Brokop "Hey, Do You Know Me?" (EMI, 2005)

Lisa Brokop "Beautiful Tragedy" (Ellbea Records, 2008)

Marti Brom & Her Jet-Tone Boys "Lassoed Live" (Goofin' Records, 1995)

Marti Brom & Her Jet-Tone Boys "Mean" (Squarebird Records, 1996)

Marti Brom & Her Barnshakers "Snake Ranch" (Goofin' Records, 2000)

Marti Brom & The Cornell Hurd Band "Feudin' And Fightin" (Behemoth Records, 2000)

Marti Brom "Live At Jovita's" (Behemoth Records, 2003)

Marti Brom "Wise To You" (Goofin' Records, 2003)

Marti Brom "...Sings Heartache Numbers" (Goofin' Records, 2005)

Marti Brom "Not For NothinÔ" (Riptide Records, 2010)

Barbara Brooks "Long White Beach" (Memory Records, 1977-?) (LP)

Karen Brooks "Walk On" (Warner Brothers, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Brian Ahern)

Karen Brooks "Hearts On Fire" (Warner Brothers, 1984) (LP)

Karen Brooks "I Will Dance With You" (Warner Brothers, 1985) (LP)

Karen Brooks & Randy Sharp "That's Another Story" (Mercury Records, 1992)

Mary Brooks & Steve Brooks "Country Love... With A Touch Of Nashville" (Windchime Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Slate & Ben Hall)

The Brothers & The Sisters "The Brothers And The Sisters " (Soundspace, Inc., 1982) (LP)
I wanna call this "Brady Bunch bluegrass," but I don't think these kids from Dayton, Ohio were all technically related... "The Brothers" were the lads from the Bean family -- Greg, Matt and Steve -- while "The Sisters" are Eileen, Gena, Terri and Tina D'Epiro, altogether a wholesome gaggle of kids whose ages ranged from nine to seventeen years old. Their repertoire is pretty standard issue -- chestnuts like "Boil Them Cabbage Down," "Wildwood Flower" and "Orange Blossom Special" (of course!) along with gospel tunes such as Alfred E. Brumley's "I'll Fly Away" and Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light," and several well-chosen bluegrass standards from the McClain Family, The Osborne Brothers, et.al. Alas, no breakdown of who played which instruments, and no producer info, though the liner notes are by Bob Ferguson, host of the WYSO radio station's "Country Jamboree" show.

Alison Brown -- see artist discography

Barbara Brown "Hits Made Famous By Patsy Cline" (Coronet Records, 1969-?) (LP)
Cheapo-label stuff. No idea where she was from, who was backing her, or if this was her real name. (She may have been the same singer as "Holly Lane," whose Patsy Cline tribute album featured the same track listing.) This was also issued under the title, Great Country Hits Made Famous By Patsy Cline, on the Spin-O-Rama Records imprint.

Chastity Brown "Back-Road Highways" (Creative And Dreams, 2012)
(Produced by Paul Buono)
Bluesy Americana with a mix of roots, twang and gospel-soul that sounds like a mix of Bobbie Gentry, Tony Joe White and Joan Osborne. This is a little too much of a contemporary folk sound for me, but I think a lot of folks will enjoy it, just not old-fashioned crabby cakes like me.

Maggie Brown "Maggie Brown" (Riverwide Records, 2004)
A cool, catchy mix of roots-country and bluesy rock... There are obvious debts to early Bonnie Raitt, as well as a Sheryl Crow-meets-The Black Crowes guitar rock vibe, and a little hint of Norah Jones crooning on the soft side... These comparisons are inevitable but a little unfair, since Brown is also a fine, soulful singer in her own right, though more to the point, she crafts some mighty good songs, catchy stuff that sticks to your ribs. The doleful, country-drenched "Full Moon Over Dallas" echoes in my mind; folks who are into the whole adult-roots tip should like this self-released gem... a lot! (Available through MaggieBrown.net.)

Marti Brown "Ms. Marti Brown" (Atlantic Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by David Briggs & Steve Ham)
One of the most underrated -- and sadly neglected -- gal singers of the early 1970s, Martha Ann ("Marti") Brown (1941-2018) first found her niche in Nashville as a demo singer for Bill Denny's Cedarwood Publishing Company, cutting a few tracks in 1966 that resulted in two singles on his label, Dollie Records. Years later she got her real shot, recording this excellent album with backing by a rock-solid, A-list studio crew that included folks like Harold Bradley, David Briggs, Jimmy Covard, Grady Martin, Hargus Robbins, Jerry Shook, Buddy Spicher, et.al. It's a very rootsy effort by the standards of the times, and perhaps that explains it's poor showing in the charts -- released at the peak of the countrypolitan era, her single "Let My Love Shine" peaked at #78, forever consigning this disc to the dusty dollar bins of the world. Look for it: it's worth a spin. Ms. Brown cut a few more tracks for Atlantic, with only one single released after this album, and a bunch of stuff left in the can. She did a few USO tours before returning home to Chattanooga, Tennessee and though she gave up on show business and went into advertising, she moonlighted singing jazz at local nightclubs. Any recordings of those gigs? We can only hope so!

Maxine Brown "Sugar Cane Country" (Chart Records, 1969) (LP)
The lone solo album recorded by singer Maxine Brown after the breakup of her family band, The Browns... It's pretty good, too! A nice mix of folk-tinged countrypolitan and surprisingly robust, rootsier material. Definitely worth looking for... (Note: you might also want to check out her website and her autobiography, Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir... )

Sue Brown "...Sings The Gospel" (Chapel Tone Recordings, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Stan Anderson & Herb Kallman)
Originally from Dixon, California, in the Great Central Valley, Sue Brown started her career as a secular country singer, performing at local venues in northern and central California, and even hosted a television show in Sacramento. When her friend, gospel singer Polly Johnson died in a plane crash on May 7, 1964, Brown was deeply shaken and converted to a career as a gospel singer. She retained her rural roots, though, as heard on this fine album, recorded with the Christian Troubadours, a twangy band from Stockton that had a more-country sound than most gospel groups of the era. The opening notes of this album feature pedal steel and electric guitar, hinting at the more robust sound of West Coast country, and although the twang is mostly subdued, it's there. Brown had a fine voice, with clear country roots -- there are strong hints of Kitty Wells in her delivery, tempered by more modern influences such as Skeeter Davis and Patsy Cline. Students of country-gospel and southern gospel will find a lot to enjoy about this album, in particular the wealth of original material, including five songs composed by Chapel Tone owner Herb Kallman, another influential figure int he Central Valley gospel scene. One of these songs, "Don't Turn Jesus Away," is also co-credited to Sue Brown. The repertoire also includes classics by Albert Brumley, Thomas A. Dorsey, Mylon LeFevre and Ira Stanphill's "Mansion Over The Hill." Sue Brown (later Sue Brown Osbourn) performed tirelessly throughout the Valley, living in Lodi and Fresno, where she worked with legendary studio engineer Stan Anderson; later she retired to live in Henryetta, Oklahoma, where she continues to perform well into the 21st Century.

Sue Brown "I've Been Changed" (Chapel Tone Recordings, 19--?) (LP)

Sue Brown "Hold On To My Hand" (Chapel Tone Recordings, 19--?) (LP)

Shannon Brown "Corn Fed" (Warner Brothers, 2006)
(Produced by John Rich)
The lone solo album from singer Shannon Brown, who released a couple of moderately successful singles in 1996 and '01, but kept getting dropped by her labels before they'd commit to a full album. So, did producer John Rich, of Big & Rich fame, provide the right sound for her? You be the judge.

Tracey Brown "Woman's Work" (EMI, 1998)
A solo album from singer Tracey Brown, one of the featured singers in the popular Canadian family band, The Family Brown, whose popularity peaked in the 1970s and '80s. She was also in the group Prescott-Brown, with her brother Barry Brown, and her husband Randall Prescott.

Tracey Brown "Alone" (2008)

The Browns - see artist discography

Jann Browne -- see artist discography

Felice Bryant & Boudeleaux Bryant "A Touch Of Bryant" (CMH Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Singleton)
Two of the greatest pop and country songwriters ever, singing their own stuff in a super laid-back session... The Bryants did find themselves in the odd position of approaching their own material well after it had attained "oldies" status and particularly on classics such as "All I Have To Do Is Dream," "Bye Bye Love," and "Rocky Top," they ran the risk of sounding like cover artists when compared to the zippy hit recordings. To be honest, these Nashville sessions are really pretty goopy, and while I am generally a fan of hearing songwriters perform their own material, the Bryants both sounded pretty old on these tracks... It's not disastrous, by any means, but the arrangements are snoozy and lack the manic energy the Bryants showed on this early Hickory Records singles. Mostly of academic interest, I suppose.

Sherry Bryce -- see artist discography

The Bryte Show "The Bryte Show" (Bryte Records, 198-?) (LP)
Born in Georgia, singer Judy Gore (aka Judy Bryte) was one of those folks whose big break was always just around the corner. In Bryte's case, this lasted for well over a decade. First boosted in the late '60s by actress-singer Kaye Stevens, she toured for over a decade, ping-ponging between the Midwest, Vegas and Nashville, with long stints at clubs in Saint Louis and Detroit. Bryte made an appearance on the Mike Douglas show in 1970, performed on the Grand Ole Opry in '72, and cut her first single in 1974, the Jimmy Bowen-produced "Standing On The Promises (You Made)" on Opryland Records. Although she seems to have plugged away steadily and got some buzz going time after time, Bryte found few opportunities to record, cutting additional singles in 1978 and '80, and finally this album, which seems to have been cut circa 1980-82, when she was playing shows in Printer's Alley and at the Opryland Hotel. In the late 'Seventies, Judy Bryte recruited two "sisters" to sing harmony and beef up her act, working first in a duo with Kathy Bryte, then adding Sally Bryte to form the trio that sings on this album. Ms. Bryte seems to have settled down around Panama City, Florida where as late as 2016, she was singing at Mickey Gilley's club; she also wrote a play based on the life of country pioneer Minnie Pearl, called "Beneath The Hat," which premiered in Panama City in 2016. As far as I know, this is her only full LP.

Bubba & Nicky "Back Porch Country" (Deanne Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Narramore)
This one is super-duper amateur hour stuff... The husband-wife duo of Elmer ("Bubba") and Nicky Charles were a couple from Deer Lodge, Montana who were possessed of big hearts but modest talents. Now, I'm not in this to make fun of people, but even I have to admit that this disc has limited appeal. It's authentic, low-profile country DIY, and the Charleses wrote several songs themselves, but the album is poorly recorded and their performances -- particularly the vocals -- aren't exactly top-flight. However, if like myself, you've gone down the rabbit-hole of appreciating the efforts and aspirations of little guys and unknowns, you might wanna check this out... There's definitely enthusiasm and energy here, just not much musically that actually swept me up and made me sing along. Notable among the studio musicians is guitarist Bob Buell, who later led the Idaho-based band Coltrain and may have done session work on other albums. I couldn't discover this album's release date anywhere online, though it looks most likely late-1970s, possibly early '80s.

Buck & Tiny "Buck And Tiny's Country" (LP) (1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Billy Farmer & The Bondsmen)
The Bondsmen was a popular Memphis, Tennessee country band, anchored by the husband-wife duo of Mary Nell ("Tiny") Bonds Hutcheson (1943-1996) and her husband, guitarist James Albert ("Buck") Hutcheson, who is best known as a longtime on-again/off-again member of the Jerry Lee Lewis band. They met in the late 1960s when Bonds moved up from from Birmingham, Alabama to headline at a club called Hernando's Hideaway, where Hutcheson was working in the house band. Tiny Bonds soon formed her own group, which she led for over twenty years, touring regionally in the South, and opening her own nightclubs. The first was called Buck And Tiny's Country was a popular Memphis honkytonk, located out on Brooks Road, as was its successor, Tiny and Gary's Stake Out. Ms. Bonds also cut a few singles, starting in the early 'Seventies, as well as this album, a covers-heavy set recorded at their club with Bonds on vocals, along with Buck Hutcheson (guitar and vocals), Gary Adair (drums) and Billy Farmer (bass and guitar). The songs include contemporary hits such as "Hell Yes I Cheated," "The Rose," and "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma," along with some rock and country oldies, and a version of "Tulsa Time." As far as I know this was her only full album, accompanied at the time by another single under her name. Tiny Bonds retired from the music business in the early 1990s, in part due to health problems. She moved to Mississippi where she worked in the trucking industry for several years before passing away from respiratory failure at age fifty-three. Mr. Hutcheson, who first started touring with Jerry Lee Lewis in 1961 went back to work for The Killer in the '80s and has been one of Lewis' principal bandmembers over the years.

The Buckarettes "The Buckarettes" (2001)

The Buckarettes "Snow Angels" (2007)
A western-flavored Christmas-oriented set from these New Mexico cowgals...

The Buckarettes "Cowgirl Serenade" (2009)

Linda Buell "Linda Goes To Nashville" (Buffalo Chip's Records, 1978-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Logan & Jim Vest)
Singer Linda Buell hailed from Buffalo, Wyoming, just north of Casper and during the '70s she and her husband Chuck Buell fronted a band called the Fugitives which played regional gigs. She traveled to Nashville to cut this disc at the Music City Recorders studio, with Jack Logan on board as the producer, playing an all-covers set with some pretty nice selections. The packaging is unusually minimalist, with no pics of Buell on the cover and no info about the backing musicians. The thing is, though, she was pretty darn good. Buell's voice was a mix of Wanda Jackson, Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker -- a little thin, but soulful, and she really owns these songs, even with occasionally lackluster backing by the anonymous studio crew. Again, there's no information about the sessions, or a release date on the record, but I'm gonna guess 1978, based on the set list, which includes Ed Bruce's "Texas When I Die" and a version of "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" by the Kendalls, both of which were hits in 1977.

Linda Buell "Keeps It Country" (Vista International Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Vest, Dan Dunkleberger & Al McGuire)
On her second album, Buell worked again with producer Jim Vest, who also played steel guitar on these sessions. About half the album is original material, including one song credited to her, "Big Horn Mountain Breakdown," along with several others on same publishing company. A couple were written by Jodie Emerson (with co-credit to Wild Bill Emerson) and also sang a cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Never Do Nothing Right." In 1985, she and her husband moved to Nashville to try and make it as songwriters, apparently having some success getting demos placed with big stars like Alan Jackson, et. al. but for the most part she found her old-school traditional style out of synch with the increasingly glossy, pop-oriented sound of modern-day Nashville, and in the late 1990s they moved back to Wyoming. (Their son, Geoff Buell, is a steel guitar player still living in Nashville who has self-released a couple of albums of his own.) As far as I know, these two albums are the only records she made.

Buffalo & Brandy "I Love You" (KM Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Williamson & Cathy Potts)
A bit of a mystery album. Formed in 1977, the duo of Buffalo and Brandy are not identified by name, though they were definitely from North Tonawanda, New York, up by Niagra Falls. "Brandy" was local gal Mary Ann Ferree, while "Buffalo" mighta been Mike Stripling, who wrote or co-wrote all the songs on this album, and also plays rhythm guitar on this disc. However, the photo of Stripling on the back cover doesn't quite look like the guy on the front. I dunno. Anyway, this album seems to have been a pretty straightforward shot at contemporary (late 'Seventies-style) country heartsongs and ballads -- they went to Nashville and cut this set with backing by some seasoned pickers, with Mike Stripling on acoustic guitar, and Clyde Brooks (drums), Ralph Childs (bass), Lloyd Green (steel guitar), Tony Migliore (piano), Don Roth on lead guitar, and the Cates Sisters singing backup. They also released a string of singles on this label, for several years running, at least up until the mid-1980s, including a lot of material not included here. Ferree later formed a nonprofit 501-(C) around the group, turning her attention towards children and early intervention to prevent delinquency. I think they changed the focus of the act as well, playing primarily children's music at community events around North Tonawanda, right up through the 2020s(!)

The Buffalo Chipkickers "Cleaning Up Our Act" (Chedda Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Matthew Guntharp, Hugh Johnson & Bob Yesbek)
A freewheeling bluegrass/folk/twang band from Pennsylvania, The Chipkickers had previously released an album under lead singer Bob Doyle's name. This edition of the group included their recently-hired banjo player, Lee Ann Lenker, along with Bob Doyle on guitar, fiddler Matthew Guntharp and bassist Hugh Johnson, who had played on the earlier LP. Apparently Doyle left the band at some point; not sure when that was or how long they continued after his departure.

Marjorie Buffett "Take Me Easy" (Clover Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Tom Stapleton)

Becky Buller "Little Bird" (Bell Buckle Records, 2005)

Becky Buller & Valerie Smith "Here's A Little Song" (Bell Buckle Records, 2008)

Deanna Bullock "Here I Am Jesus" (Jordan Records, 19--?) (LP)

Deanna Bullock "When Prayin' Turns To Praisin' " (Jordan Records, 19--?) (LP)

Deanna Bullock "Variety" (Jordan Recording Studios, 19--?) (LP)
Heartfelt gospel from a country gal who first played the Renfro Valley Barn Dance back in 1961, a venue right next to where she grew up, in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. She was a regular performer at Renfro Valley for many years before she met and married a guitar player by the name of Bill Bullock. They later formed an evangelical ministry, and at some point settled down in Springdale, Ohio, a northern suburb of Cincinnati which is where they were living when they cut this disc. Bill Bullock plays lead guitar on several tracks, as does Junior Spivey, other musicians include pianist Dumpy Rice, who worked on a lot of gospel sessions, and Chris Lee playing piano on several other tracks. The song list includes a couple by Reba Rambo, an Easter Brothers tune, and two originals by Deanna Bullock, "Love Of God" and "Splittin' Up The Eastern Sky."

Deanna Bullock "One Of These Days It'll All Be Over" (Derby Town Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Kenny Sowder)
Although the music drifts into slightly by-the-numbers southern gospel-meets-countrypolitan territory, Bullock's voice is super-appealing, and really brings these songs to life. She has a pure rural tone strongly reminiscent of Loretta Lynn or Dottie Rambo that will make hard-country twangfans sit up and take notice. Also, what power and projection! Seems like she really could have made it as a commercial country singer -- which makes her devotion to religious music even more meaningful. The title track was written by Deanna Bullock, though the album also includes songs by modern country-gospel icons such as The Rambos, The Hemphills, Tim Spenser and Ronnie Hinson

Laura Bell (Bundy) "Longing For A Place Already Gone" (LAB Records, 2007)

Laura Bell Bundy "Achin' And Shakin' " (Mercury Nashville, 2010)

The Burch Sisters "New Fire" (Mercury Records, 1988)
The lone album by the Burch Sisters -- Cathy, Charlene and Cindy -- who hit the Top 30 with their single "Everytime You Go Outside I Hope It Rains," but faded from sight not long after that...

Wilma Burgess - see artist discography

Jennifer Burnett "Jennifer Burnett" (National Foundation Records & Tapes, 1983) (LP)
This Nashville-produced album might have been some kind of composer's showcase - the songs are by a bunch of different people, but I don't recognize any of the names or any of the songs. I think this is a secular set, but it looks like later on Burnett started recording Christian music... Anyone got more info on this one?

Shelley Burns "Be For Me" (Gold Country Music, 1985-?) (LP)
(Produced by Charlie Peacock)
Although she later evolved into a jazz singer, Sacramento, California's Shelley Burns cut this 6-song country EP back in the height of the big-hair '80s. All the songs were written or cowritten by pianist-producer Charlie Peacock, who went on to become a jazz musician himself, as well as a successful contemporary Christian songwriter and producer. Best of all, this is a pretty good little record, a little glossy and '80s-ish, but also rootsy enough to appeal to traditional country fans. Burns has a nice voice, the material is pretty strong, and the backing band plays with feeling and conviction... In addition to Peacock on piano, pedal steel player Marcus Welborn adds some sweet licks, as do Tom Phillips and Jim Beecker on guitar. Not classic, by any means, but surprisingly good. (Burns has also recorded a few albums of jazz-vocals material, which might be worth checking out as well...)

Irene Butler "The Country Spirit Of Irene Butler" (Capilano Records, 19--?) (LP)

Pearl Butler - see artist discography

Sarah Buxton "Almost My Record" (Lyric Street, 2007) (EP)

Sarah Buxton "Sarah Buxton" (Lyric Street, 2010)
This album, and the story behind it, is a real post-millennial Nashville time capsule... Kansas native Sarah Buxton broke out big in Nashville, writing hit songs for heavyweight stars such as Keith Urban (who took her "Stupid Boy" into the Top Five) and she found many doors open to her in Music City. Despite some modest chart success of her own, Buxton's debut kept getting put on the back burner: her cleverly-named Almost My Record was released as a download-only EP, and it wasn't until three years later that a full-length album (with a physical CD version) came out. Then, after all that, her label went out of business, and she was left high and dry, as is the case with many modern-day country artists. The album also mirrors its times in Buxton's excessiveness in a variety of ways: the opening tracks, at first seeming like garden-variety teen-pop (ala Miley Cyrus, et.al) but on the first song, "American Daughter," it soon becomes clear that this is the work of someone who just didn't know how how to rein it in: a 24-track mixing booth? Not a big enough sound! Buxton goes way overboard with the multi-tracking, ooh-aaahing over here, then woah-yeahing over there, it just gets bigger and more bombastic, and never pulls back to its simple pop core. Likewise, her songs are a little bit talky, similarly trying to cram in too much in too little space; the power of editing and concision seems to have eluded an artist who waited so long for her day in the sun. Buxton has a nice voice and a strong presence (even when doing what I must concede is a darn good Stevie Nicks impersonation... Hopefully her future efforts will build on these strengths, rather than bury them under an avalanche of trite modern production techniques.

Brenda Byers - see artist discography

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Hick Music Index
Sisters Who Swung: Women In Jazz & Blues

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