The Christian Troubadours "Country Gospel Singing" (Sundown Records, 1959-?) (LP)
The Christian Troubadours "Labor Of Love" (Vision Records, 19--?) (LP)
One of their earliest albums, and the first credited to the Vision Records label, which gives an address here in Lakewood, California, but appears to be the same label operated by Modesto businessman Leon Harris, leader of the Singing Harris Family which had some overlap of personnel, particularly in the studio. The musicians on this album aren't identified but the songs are credited to Walters, Yeoman and "Domaine."
The Christian Troubadours "Prayer Time" (Vision Recording Company, 1961-?) (LP)
An excellent early album, which is drenched in honkytonk twang, with plenty of steel guitar, mandolin and electric-acoustic twang. This edition of the band included Bill Carter on bass, Phil Price on lead guitar, Wayne Walters playing rhythm guitar and singing lead, and Harvey Yeoman on mandolin, with somebody (sadly unidentified) adding some rock-solid steel guitar. If you enjoy Hank Williams' classic gospel recordings, you're gonna like this too -- they were certainly cut from the same cloth, playing heartfelt spiritual music with a rollicking, resonant twang. Recommended!
The Christian Troubadours "Time For Prayer" (Vision Recording Company, 19--?) (LP)
This is actually the same album as above, though with a change of title that may have been intended to sell more copies(?) or maybe it was just some kind of aesthetic decision. Anyway, this version gives an address in Lakewood, California (where Wayne Waters was living) while the other edition lists a P.O. Box in Modesto, so these competing versions may mark some moment of separation between Walters and Vision Records founder Leon Harris. It's the same record, though, with the same musicians and the same tracks in the same order. So, either version you pick up is gonna be real good.
The Christian Troubadours "Country Gospel Singing, v.2" (Vision Records, 19--?) (LP)
Rock-solid country gospel with plenty of true twang and a resolutely rural vibe. Lots of great picking, and superior vocals, very much in the old-school hillbilly tradition. This edition of the band featured Bill Carter on bass, Frank Norman (electric guitar), Wayne Walters (guitar), and Harvey Yeoman pickin' some fine mandolin. The songs are classics from the likes of The Bailes Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Webb Pierce, Arthur Smith and Ira Stanphill -- songs you'll recognize, and which clearly the Troubadours believed in with heart and soul. If you're looking for rural gospel with vigor and twang, track this one down. It's pure gold.
The Christian Troubadours "Love Thy Neighbor" (Vision Records, 19--?) (LP)
The Christian Troubadours "The Inner Glow" (Vision Records, 19--?) (LP)*
Alas, as with their other albums, there's no date, also no musician credits, though a couple of guest musicians are identified: Dale Ellis on piano and Al Strickland playing guitar. Several earlier albums are pictured o the back cover, helping place this in the Vision Records lineup.
The Christian Troubadours "Country Bluegrass With The Christian Troubadours" (Vision Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced bu Cal Veale)
This album was issued with two different titles and two different covers -- this version and another (probably later) edition called Gospel In Bluegrass. (Go figure!) This edition included Bill Carter on bass, Phil Price playing banjo, Wayne Walters (guitar) and Harvey Yeoman (mandolin), with additional picking by Al Strickland adding what they called "ethnic" rhythm guitar, and Frank Petty, a former member of the band who had moved up north to the tiny town of Weed, California, out in the gold country.
The Christian Troubadours "I've Got A Song" (Vision Records, 19--?) (LP)*
(Produced by Joe Staley)
The Christian Troubadours "This Is Gospel Country" (Scripture Records, 1965-?) (LP)*
The Christian Troubadours "Down Home Gospel" (Scripture Records, 1965-?) (LP)*
The Christian Troubadours "Far East Tour" (Hymntone Records, 1966-?) (LP)
(Produced by Don Baldwin)
The Christian Troubadours "...Sing Authentic Country Gospel" (Hymntone Records, 1966-?) (LP)*
(Produced by Bob Baldwin)
The Christian Troubadours "Filled With Praise" (Heart Warming Records, 1967-?) (LP)*
The Christian Troubadours "The Nashville Folk Gospel/Country Gospel Sound" (Heart Warming Records, 1968-?) (LP)*
This disc kicks off with a version of the Louvin Brothers oldie, "Weapon Of Prayer," though almost all of the other songs are Wayne Walters originals, with additional tunes credited to Lowell Lundstrom ("Make Calvary Real") and Hansel Paul Vibbert ("I Want To Do Thy Will, O Lord"). The liner notes credit the trio of "Wayne, Phil and Bill" although there were doubtless other musicians involved -- sadly, they are not identified. The album's version of "Wayfaring Stranger" credits the arrangement to Benson and Benson, one of whom I assume was southern gospel producers Bob and Larry Benson, though it's unclear if they were directly involved in recording this album.
The Christian Troubadours "Extra, Tell The News" (Heart Warming Records, 1969-?) (LP)
The Christian Troubadours "Something For Everybody" (Heart Warming Records, 1970-?) (LP)
The Christian Troubadours "Down To Earth" (Gospel Heritage Records, 197--?) (LP)
The Christian Troubadours "On The Right Track" (Jessup Records, 1971-?) (LP)
(Produced by Carl Fracula)
This early 'Seventies offering features an edition of the the band that included Wayne Walters, his wife Jeanne Walters and their son Noel, along with bass playing by Bruce Watkins, who went on to become a prolific studio musician.
The Christian Troubadours "Versatility" (Heritage Records, 197--?) (LP)
The Christian Troubadours "Now... Hear This!" (Heritage Records, 197--?) (LP)
The Carters "Sing It Like It Is" (Brad Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Carter)
Nope, not those Carters. This was a country gospel band led by bassist Bill Carter who helped anchor the Christian Troubadours over the years. Carter seems to have moved up to Oregon at some point, and set up shop producing custom-label albums for gospel singers in the Pacific Northwest. He may have split his time between those two gigs, as there are some Troubadours albums of later vintage where he's still in the band. Alas, there's no info on the other musicians playing on this album, though most of the songs were written by Bill Carter and Vi Carter solo or as a team or together; there's also one song each penned by Richard Reneau and Ruby Kitchen. Not sure of the date on this disc, but it looks mid- to late-1970s.
Geri Meadows "Neither Silver Nor Gold" (Gospel Heritage Records, 19--?) (LP)
This was the first album by country gospel singer Geri Meadows (1926-2007), of Middleton, Ohio, who performed locally with her husband Johnny and their son Ron, although on this album she was instead backed by the Nashville lineup of The Christian Troubadours (who are not individually identified by name on the album...) The set includes a trio of Meadows originals, "Faith In The Savior," "Faithful," "New Life," and "Savior, Redeemer And Friend," along with a bunch of uncredited cover songs, and (hurray) an old Louvin Brothers song, "I See A Bridge." Mrs. Meadows and her husband ran a local automotive business, Johnny's Body Shop, up until 1995, and were also very active in their local church, which they helped found; they also performed on a radio show hosted by pastors Henry Howard and Cliff Hutchinson, and seem to have gotten backing by the congregation to make this record.
The Overholts "In Nashville! With The Christian Troubadours" (Gospel Heritage Records, 196--?) (LP)
(Produced by Wayne Walters)
A family band from Grand Rapids, Michigan, led of course by the dad, Ray Overholt (1924-2008) who had a long history in music. In his youth, Ray Overholt led a secular hillbilly band called the Grand River Boys, which backed him on his TV show, Ray's Roundup, back in the early 1950s. At some point Mr. Overholt got religion and began writing gospel material, including one song, "Ten Thousand Angels," which was recorded by Loretta Lynn on her 1968 album, Who Says God Is Dead? (though this album might have come out before then). Traveling down to Nashville, The Overholts recorded with Wayne Walters and his Tennessee-based edition of The Christian Troubadours. The set includes one song from producer Wayne Walters, "Angels Can't Tell" along with one by Leroy Blankenship, a Rambos tune, and several other tracks that are not credited. More importantly are several originals credited to Ray Overholt: "The Overcomers," "Ten Thousand Angels," "I'd Rather Go To Jesus," and "Let's Wave The Flag Again In America." Not sure who all the pickers are, but it's probably a typical Troubadours lineup.
Ted & Hazel Silva With The Christian Troubadours "When God Meets A Pilgrim" (Mega Records, 19--?) (LP)
Jim Stone "Sings Gospel" (Gospel Heritage Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Wayne Walters & Gene Lawson)
Singer Jim Stone hailed from rural Empire, California -- a tiny Central Valley town just east of Modesto. This country gospel album came out on a Nashville indie label, with session player Benny Kennerson on piano, Bill Johnson on steel guitar, and Don Morris playing drums. Jim Stone plays rhythm guitar, as does the producer, gospel songwriter Wayne Walters, whose son, Noel Walters plays bass -- Walters also sang with a California-based group called The Christian Troubadours, which had a pretty rootsy, country-oriented sound.
The Singing Straub Family "...With The Nashville Sound" (Heritage Records, 19--?) (LP)
Twangy gospel from a family band led by Randy Straub along with his wife and three kids, who harmonize in a peppy vocal style that would be familiar to fans of the Statler Brothers or the Oak Ridge Boys. The Straubs were from Kansas City, Kansas, and apparently played gigs at local churches -- the liner notes are by a pastor from nearby Lawrence, Kansas. They made the trek to Nashville to record this one, although sadly they don't mention which studio they booked. Lead guitarist Art Pemberton gets into some nice, clean Merle Travis/early Atkins-style pickin' while the liner notes credit the Christian Troubadours as background vocalists. (Note: this album seems to have two titles; it's called At An Old Fashioned Meeting on the inner label.)
Harvey Yeoman "Mightier Than The Sword" (19--?) (LP)
A super-twangy, absolutely wonderful, real-deal bedrock country gospel set from mandolin picker, singer and songwriter James Harvey Yeoman (1926-2009), longtime member of The Christian Troubadours. This "solo" album features several of his usual bandmates -- Bill Carter, Frank Petty, Philip Price and Wayne Walters -- providing solid, unflashy accompaniment on a set dominated by original material, with all but two tracks credited to Mr. Yeoman. It's great stuff, pure acoustic hillbilly twang, defined by Mr. Yeoman's rough-cut, resolutely rural vocals, which heavily echo the tone of Bakersfield icon Buck Owens, with a bit of Hank Snow's plainspoken monotone in the mix. Born in Hartford, Arkansas, Harvey Yeoman was the son of a Pentecostal preacher, and took up the mantle himself as a Pentecostal minister and evangelical musician; the contours of his career are a little fuzzy, but he seems to have been a member of the Troubadours when it was in Southern California, and moved to Tennessee when bandleader Wayne Walters set up shop in Nashville in the mid-1960s. It's not clear where or when this album was made, though it has a distinctly West Coast vibe, particularly when Yeoman leans into his Buck Owens-style vocals. Probably of 1970s vintage.
The Christian Troubadours were a long-lived Christian quartet with a very complex history. They became known as a Southern Gospel group but had deep country roots, using plenty of steel guitar, mandolin and electric-acoustic twang. Founded by Arkansas expatriate Wayne Walters, the Troubadours first coalesced in Lakewood, California (near Long Beach) in the mid-1950s and stayed together through the '70s, with stints in Modesto, Nashville and endless months spent on the road. There's some sort of overlap with The Countrymen, a mostly-gospel band from Stockton, California which also included bass player Bill Carter. The Troubadours recorded about a dozen albums and were later led by preacher Leroy Blankenship, moving to Nashville in its later incarnation. Here's a quick look at some of their work, and a few related records. Alas, like many country gospel artists, the Troubadours often neglected to list the musicians on their albums (and the lineup did change over the years) and perhaps more unfortunately also omitted the release dates for their many records, so exactly when each of these albums came out remains a bit of a mystery.
