Gus Backus "Hillbilly Gasthaus" (Polydor, 1964) (LP)
Although a well-known star of German schlager (pop music), Donald Edgar Backus (1937-2019) was actually an American, born in Long Island, New York, and had started his musical career as a member of the East Coast doo-wop group called The Del-Vikings. Backus emigrated to Germany in the early 1960s during a stint in the US Air Force, following his deployment to an American military base in West Germany. Starting in 1959 he recorded numerous singles and LPs, and though not all of them were country-flavored, these two early releases were modest twangfests, and are actually quite nice. The albums are alternate versions of each other, this first one being German-language, and the second (Hillbilly Inn) sung in English. ("Gasthaus" is a German word for "inn," though the songs on the two albums are not identical.) Nashville's Bill Justis and his orchestra back Herr Backus on both albums, and though the arrangements are admittedly a bit kitschy, the overall vibe is pretty good. Definitely worth a spin.
Gus Backus "Hillbilly Inn" (Polydor, 1964) (LP)
This was an English-language country album, released at almost the same time as Hillbilly Gasthaus. The is some overlap of songs between the two album, but it's not complete... Both records feature arrangements by Nashville producer Bill Justis, as well as from Backus's German collaborator, Werner Scharfenberger.
The Bluegrass Specials "The Train I Ride" (Saydisc, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Evelyn Parth & Hans Peter Strobl)
A bluegrass band from Vienna, Austria, featuring Ferry Leitner (banjo), Wolfgang Entmayr (mandolin), Raymond Bamboschek (dobro and guitar), Eddy Mayrl (fiddle) and Willy Nefzger (bass). The repertoire is all traditionals and standards, with one original tune, "Russian Ride," credited to the band.
The Bootleggers "Old Time Stringband Music" (Autogram Records) (LP)
Canyon "Canyon" (Nature Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Gerhard Kampfe)
A German band with fluid boundaries between country and rock, though with a definite country direction... The trio included Manfred Weltterich (guitar), Wolfgang Ronsch (guitar, mandolin) and Achim Dresch (keyboards and harmonica) with additional backing by a slew of musicians, ranging from trumpets to pedal steel. Songs include "Brother Hobo," "Cowboy Song," "Don't Join A Rock'N'Roll Band" and a cover of the Beatles' "I've Just Seen A Face."
The Country Stars "Star-Club Show 8" (Star-Club Records, 19--?) (LP)
No indication of who there musicians were in this late-'60s German budget-label, country-covers knockoff band, though the set list is an interesting mix of honky tonk weepers, rockabilly and some stringband-era oldies, such as "Bile Them Cabbage Down" and "Golden Slippers," with one lone German-titled tune, "Doppeladler." Other albums in this series seem to be more rock-oriented, including several collections of non-Euro pop artists such as Little Richard and the Yardbirds.
Lone Star "Feierabend-Cowboys" (Buttner Records, 1987) (LP)
Hermann Lammers Meyer "Till The End Of Time" (Bullenschluck/Desert Kid Records, 1995)
Various Artists "BULLENSCHLUCK COUNTRY MUSIC ROUNDUP" (Bullenschluck/Desert Kid Records, 1996)
Hard country true believer Hermann Lammers Meyer is a songwriter from Germany who has made regular pilgrimages to Nashville, recording several albums with the likes of Buddy Spicher, Buddy Emmons and Tommy Hill, and guest artists galore. Among those guests is 'Sixties country queen "Pretty Miss" Norma Jean, who contributes three nice duets on Till The End Of Time, among them the Christmastime tear-jerker, "Faith In Santa", a recitation song in the grand old tradition. Norma Jean also has a couple of tracks on the Bullenschluck label's ROUND UP collection -- reprises of her big hit "Let's Go All The Way" and Porter Wagoner's goofy chestnut, "Company's Comin'".
Roger Morris & The Western Image "Living A Dream" (Image Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Red Saxon)
Rhyme And Reason "Motorhorse To Nashville" (Marifon Records, 1979) (LP)
Billy Rider & His Cowboys "Western Country" (Weltmelodie, 19--?) (LP)
Earl Robinson "Ein Portrait" (Eterna Records, 1974) (LP)
Well, not country, but close enough. Earl Robinson was an American folk singer who cut several albums for Folkways back in the early 'Sixties, here performing old-fashioned traditional tunes such as "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and "Shenandoah." While the material seems inoffensive, it's no coincidence this came out on a label in communist-controlled East Germany -- Robinson was a big, old leftie, known for his political stands in the 1930s and '40s, when he wrote political/patriotic classics such as "Ballad For Americans" and "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night," about the martyred labor activist, Joe Hill. He was blacklisted in the '40s and '50s, but as far as I know never went into exile or anything like that. Also not sure if this was recorded in East Germany with local artists, or just licensed by the commies so they could show that at least a few Americans were still on their side.
Southern Express "Southern Express" (Mediaphon, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Doctor Udo Unger & Peter Edwards)
A fairly confusing roots-music ramble by a band from Stuttgard, Germany... "...Vait, Ulrich, I zought ve verr playink country music... but zis sounds more boogie rock. Do you vant me to play like Little Feat? No? Oh, more of a Humble Pie thing? No? Argent? Hawkvind? Vait, no, zat song is like a psychedelic folk-protest-stadium-rock anthem, but now you are playing pedal steel again. Ulrich... I am confused here." In all honesty, this is a pretty horrible, awkward, sludgy-sounding album, with little of the economy or aesthetic balance that made cheesy AOR and '70s hard-rock viable -- the true epitome of Europeans trying to sound like Americans and really, really not getting it right. There are some songs on here -- "Blue Collared Worker," "Darling," "Outlaw Man" -- that were (I think) meant to be country tunes, but they are as clumsy and thudding as everything else on here. Can't say I'd really recommend this one. Sorry.
Sam Travis & The Rhythm Mavericks "Rhythm Mavericks Greatest Hits, Volume 1" (Welfare Records, 1974?) (LP)
(Produced by Klaus D. Stingel)
All cover tunes, mostly hits of early 'Seventies vintage, stuff like "Country Roads," "Easy Loving," "Is Anybody Going To San Antone," and "Kiss An Angel Good Morning," as well as "Silver Wings," and "Woman, Sensuous Woman" Of course, there are a few lounge band chestnuts as well: "Orange Blossom Special" and "Rocky Top." Absolutely no indication of where these guys were from, but they all definitely for sure were using fake "American" names, listed on various songs where they took turns singing the lead: there's Harry Harris, Earl Lilly and Sam Travis himself... Other than that, vun kompleat mystery. I'm gonna guess 1974 or '75 on this one.
Virginan's Crew "Trucks And Trails" (PPPM/Power Play Music, 1980) (LP)
Not sure where exactly this German twangband was from, though the liner notes inform us that they were "vier Musicker" -- Gustl Adnodler (piano and fiddle), Manfred Deuss (bass and banjo), Gunter Griepl (drums), Georg Lex (steel guitar) -- "und zwei Madchen": Monica Kohler (bass and tambourine) and Christine Zagler on 12-string guitar... Why the gals aren't also considered musicians is beyond me, but whatever. All the songs were originals, co-written by Adnodler and Deuss, sadly however with English-language lyrics. Steel player Georg Lex looks like a middle-aged old-timer... I kinda wonder if he'd been in any other bands before this... Das liner notes say that the band formed in 1980.
Nancy Wood "Imagine That" (Lovelight Music, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Byron Hill & Nancy Wood)
This double LP set collects work by Bremen, Germany's Renate Hildebrandt (aka Renate Kern) a European pop singer who "went country" in the early '80s in an effort to bump-start her flagging career. This was her second album working with Nashville songwriter-producer Byron Hill, and she sings a lot of his material as well as songs by fairly obscure writers such as Red Lane and Ava Aldridge, along with a couple by Marc Molen, who was affiliated with the Lovelight label, and I suspect was a German country artist as well. Although these tracks seldom really catch fire, it's a pretty solid set overall, with backing by a ton of Nashville studio pros: Sonny Garrish, Doyle Grisham, Fred Newell, Buddy Spicher, Chip Young and the like. Wood sings with a convincingly American accent, though she often seems a bit too controlled -- I imagine she sounded looser when singing auf Deutsch. Anyway, this is okay stuff, a little slick, but twangy enough for a spin or two. She also recorded an album under her German stage name -- Renate Kern -- in 1981, also with Byron Hill on board as producer.
Various Artists "COWBOY-LIEDER" (Elite Records, 196--?)
A very odd, but delightfully kitschy, collection from various German-speaking Swiss "country" musicians. The perky orchestrations and bouncy, singalong chorus vocals have more in common with squaresville pop artists like Mitch Miller and Frankie Laine than with Bob Wills or Hank Williams. But these goofy "cowboy" songs -- all sung auf Deutsche -- are still kind of a hoot. There are some recognizable American oldies -- Stephen Foster-y standards and tunes like "Down By The Riverside" as well as various less-familiar western-themed material which may have been written as part of whatever faux-Americana fad this record might have represented. There are numerous singers on here -- with colorful names like Western Jimmy and Leila Negra, as well as Ferry Graf, Lutz Landers, The Kay Twins and Gina Morelli -- backed by a few different ensembles: Die Texas Band, Das Orchester Lutz Albrecht, Das Orchester Konstantin Truxa and Das Orchester Ralph Dokin. This looks and sounds very 1950s, though I suppose that with the trans-oceanic crosscultural delay, this could have been from the '60s as well. If I find out more, I'll let you know!
Various Artists "COUNTRY TIME" (Amiga Records, 1990) (LP)
(Produced by Wolf-Dietrich Fruck)
There are only four bands on this LP: Biber's Farm, Brigitte & Company, Kactus and Gerhard Witte. Witte, a pedal steel player from Pottsdam, also performed on the COUNTRY GUT TUT album, as did Brigitte Grasnick and her band
Various Artists "COUNTRY TUT GUT" (Amiga Records, 1989) (LP)
(Produced by Wolf-Dietrich Fruck)
A fairly bland collection of slick, antiseptic, low-energy modern country music from the German Democratic Republic. A lot of different artists -- Brigitte & Company, Country Tramp, Fox Tower Bluegrass Band, Sonny's Country Special, Whisky & Soda and many others -- but nothing that really wowed me, or particularly caught my attention. It's possible that this was some kind of "pay to play" album, though doubtless many of these artists were real working bands. I like that they're not singing in English, but even with the local appeal, they all kinda sound the same.
Various Artists "NASHVILLE STARS IN DEUTSCHLAND" (Bear Family Records, 1980) (LP)
This European curio features several artists from the mid-1960s RCA stable performing and recording abroad, at the label's studios in Germany... Between 1964-67, the Anita Kerr Singers, Bobby Bare, Jim Ed Brown, Floyd Cramer, Willie Nelson and Stu Phillips all made the trek to Berlin, where they worked with various German bandleaders and composers, including Henry Mayer, Werner Scharfenberger, Erich Werner and Gert Wilden, who backed them on German-language versions of American country songs as well as originals by writers such as Kurt Feltz, Kurt Herthe, Henry Meyer and C. M. Peeters.
Country musik? In Germany? Oh, ach! Ja! Even before the big war, I'm sure there was some mild interest in American hillbilly music, but it was really the Marshall Plan and the postwar occupation -- with all those homesick American GIs with nothing to do but drink and smoke and spend their money -- that solidified the German affinity for good, old all-American twang. Indeed, as with classic blues and jazz, Europeans salvaged the history of country music and plumbed the depths of record company vaults to find both the best and the most obscure recordings. Specialty labels in Germany reissued this stuff on vinyl decades before the digital era helped American labels up their game in the reissue field... Of course, with all those great records floating around, and German fans taking the music more seriously than most Americans, you were bound to have more than a few local bands pop up as well. What the heck... let's throw in the Austrian bands, too!
