The Deputies were the backing band of honky tonk legend Faron Young, whose showbiz monicker "the Young Sheriff" gave the group their name. Like a lot of backing band, the Deputies had a steadily changing lineup, though sadly few of their records provide the names of the individual musicians.
The Deputies "The Sounds Of The Deputies" (The Faron Young Record Company 1965) (LP)
(Produced by Russ Allison & Faron Young)
The Deputies "Faron Young Presents The Country Deputies" (The Faron Young Record Company 1972-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Logan)
Great picture of the band on the front cover... too bad none of them are identified on the back! No year, either, though clearly we're getting into the late 'Sixties, at the very least. Faron's band is starting to look a little shaggy, and definitely on the younger side, at least some of them. The songs aren't much help either, as there are no song titles, no shout-outs for particular bandmembers taking solos, etc. A couple of songs provides a few small clues: Maurice Jarre's theme from Doctor Zhivago places this one at least as late as 1965, though I'm guessing they were even more inspired by the song version, "Somewhere My Love," which was a big hit in '67. Likewise, their cover of Ohio Express' "Chewy Chewy" gets up up to '68. I'd guess this might even be a 1969 outing -- them kids look like hippies to me... Well, almost.
The Country Deputies "Faron Young's Backing Group" (Ember Records, 1975) (LP)
This UK pressing is apparently a straight reissue of the Faron Young Presents album, listed above (which in turn was released with a couple of different covers).
Faron Young's Deputies "F.Y.D." (Spirit Records, 197--?) (LP)
Ray Emmett & The Deputies "Nashville" (Spirit Records, 1978) (LP)
This one's a little bit odd... Sideman Ray Emmett (1937-2013) was a real road warrior, working in the backing bands of stars and falling stars such as George Jones, Jean Shepard, Tommy Overstreet, Billie Jo Spears, and in this case, Faron Young. The front cover bills this as Faron Young's Deputies (who had made other "band albums") but on the back cover, Ray Emmett got top billing. The deal seems to be that Side One is mostly instrumentals, probably performed by the most recent incarnation of the band, while the balance of the tracks seem to be old singles that came out under Emmett's name, a few dating back to the 'Sixties. This disc is a typical band album, with virtuosic but fairly ho-hum instrumentals and a few vocal numbers... Alas, no real liner notes to let us know who else was in this edition of the band, though the song credits provide a few clues. The song "The Sensuous Kind" was one of two tunes by Johnny Credit, and came out as a single in '76. Another pair is attributed to Jack Ripley, also included is an instrumental called "Fishing For Bass" by guitarist Richard Bass, along with Jerry Woodward's cajun-flavored "Colinda" at the end of Side One, and a song called "Winter's Comin' On Again," credited to Neal Merritt. I think most of these songs were recorded by Ray Emmett and released as singles over the years, probably with various configurations of the Deputies backing him for this session or that. He had a pretty corny, croony countrypolitan vocal style, kinda like Ray Price, but not as relaxed in his phrasing. Underwhelming, perhaps, but still a nice career summation one of Nashville's supporting players.
Faron Young's Deputies "Faron Young's Deputies" (FYD Records, 1981-?) (LP)
