The Hillsiders was a commercially successful twangband from Liverpool which proved to be one of the most durable and influential British country acts, recording together for over two decades. The group originally started out calling themselves Sonny Webb & The Cascades, with lead singer and guitarist Kenny Johnson taking on the Sonny Webb stage name. They soon switched to the more compact Hillsiders label, and became a stalwart presence in the UK media, playing on radio and television while touring prolifically, including performances at Wembley stadium and gigs as the backing band for visiting American country stars, and notably recorded albums with both Bobby Bare and George Hamilton IV. Singer-guitarist Kenny Johnson (1939-2015) fronted the Hillsiders for over a decade before going solo in 1975 and released a few albums under his own name. Joe Butler, meanwhile, switched from performing to production, working on a number of country and pop albums during the 'Seventies and 'Eighties.
Discography - Albums
Sonny Webb & The Cascades "Western Songs: Hillybilly Jamboree" (Pop Schallplatten, 1964-?) (LP)
Nice twangy stuff. Although this came out on a German record label, the band was most definitely an British group: hailing from Liverpool, Sonny Webb & The Cascades was an early, cheapo-label incarnation of The Hillsiders, featuring lead singer Kenny Johnson as "Sonny Webb," along with bassist Joe Butler and drummer Brian Redman, who anchored the band for over two decades. This record was also released on a French label, though apparently never in the UK... I also love the misspelling of "hillbilly" in the title, a typo that was included in both versions of the album.
The Hillsiders "The Hillsiders Play Their Country Hits" (Decca/Rex Records, 1965) (LP)
(Produced by Spencer Lloyd Mason & Vic Smith)
This was the first full album by The Hillsiders proper, cut for Rex Records, a subsidiary of Decca, a UK major label which made a concerted effort to promote British and Irish country artists. The album title is a bit suspect, as "their" hits were mostly covers of American country tunes, but as the years went by, The Hillsiders wrote more and more of their own material.
The Hillsiders & Bobby Bare "The English Country Side" (RCA Victor, 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Chet Atkins & Jim Malloy)
Among the many feathers in the cap of The Hillsiders was their trip to Nashville, where they played live and also were paired up with the not-yet-outlaw country star Bobby Bare. At the time, RCA was struggling to define Bare's career, which had shifted from its teenpop origins towards an uneasy accommodation of the posh "Nashville Sound" style. This set was recorded in Nashville with the great Chet Atkins at the helm; a few years later the label paired the band up with George Hamilton IV, though that album (see below) was recorded on the Hillsiders' home turf in the UK.
The Hillsiders "Leaving Of Liverpool" (RCA Victor, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Ian Grant)
The Hillsiders "Volume Two" (Lucky Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Gordon Smith)
The Hillsiders & George Hamilton IV "Heritage" (RCA, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Ian Grant)
A collaboration with country crooner George Hamilton IV who traveled to the UK to record with a British twangband...
The Hillsiders "By Request" (Polydor Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Ian Grant & Alun O'Duffy)
The Hillsiders "Our Country" (Polydor Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Ian Grant, Keith Grant & Alun O'Duffy)
The album title is literal: all the songs on this album were written or co-written by lead singers Joe Butler and Ken Johnson, in a lineup that included pedal steel whiz Ronnie Bennett, Joe Butler (bass and vocals), Brian Hilton (dobro and lead guitar), Ken Johnson (rhythm guitar and vocals), and Brian Redman on drums.
The Hillsiders "To Please You" (Stile Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Ian Grant)
The Hillsiders "On The Road" (SRT Productions, 1979) (LP)
The Hillsiders "A Day In The Country" (SRT Productions, 1979) (LP)
The Hillsiders "The Hillsiders" (SRT Productions, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by The Hillsiders & Geoff Higgins)
The Hillsiders "Only One You" (Suitbag Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Phil Ault)
Related Records
Kenny Johnson & Northwind "Lakeside Highway" (North West Gramophone, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Kenny Johnson)
Liverpudlian singer and composer Kenny Johnson (1939-2015) was a founding member of the popular country band The Hillsiders, as well as its predecessor, Sonny Webb & The Cascades, where he used the Sonny Webb stage name. Johnson left The Hillsiders in 1975 to go solo, recording one album billed as Kenny Johnson & Northwind, though later albums were just under his own name. This solo debut is packed with choice material from the American country scene, including a hefty dose of country-rock and outlaw material, with songs from folks such as Jimmy Buffett, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Mike Nesmith, Michael Martin Murphy, and a couple from Credence Clearwater Revival. The album closes with its lone original tune, Johnson's own "Cheating Kind Of Woman."
Kenny Johnson "Let Me Love You Once" (OBM Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Phil Ault)
Kenny Johnson "A Tree In The Meadow" (OBM Records, 1981) (LP)
Various Artists "LIVERPOOL GOES COUNTRY" (Decca/Rex Records, 1965) (LP)
(Produced by Spencer Lloyd Mason)
Yes, please. I would love a copy of this record. Even amid the continuing, escalating excitement of Beatlemania and the British Invasion, the UK's country music scene was alive and well, even in the Fab Four's old hometown. A pity they couldn't squeeze the Beatles' cover of "Act Naturally" onto this compilation, but there was plenty of twang to be heard Merseyside, as this album shows... The label's lineup included Phil Brady, The Delmonts, Carl Goldie, The Hillsiders, and Tom O'Connor, as well as Hank Walters, who the liner notes claim was "probably" the first country singer from Liverpool. Some of these artists were pretty obscure -- as far as I can tell, The Delmonts only recorded a couple of singles, and this LP was possibly the only record of Carl Goldie's Country Sounds. Tom O'Connor was primarily known as a television personality and as a comedian specializing in Liverpudlian humor and was a popular TV host throughout the 1970s and '80s. Phil Brady and The Hillsiders, however, were fully committed country acts whose careers lasted well past their 'Sixties origins: Phil Brady & The Rangers released about a half-dozen albums, while The Hillsiders made roughly twice that number, including full albums with the group backing American country stars Bobby Bare (in 1967) and George Hamilton IV (in 1971). Also worth noting in the predominance of of performers with Irish backgrounds... It was Liverpool, after all!
Various Artists "THE HILLSIDERS PRESENT: GOODBYE SCOTTIE ROAD" (Stile Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Ian Grant)
One of the UK's preeminent country bands of the 1960s and '70s, The Hillsiders took on an elder twangsman role as the "hosts" of this compilation album, despite having hit a rough patch of their own after founding member Kenny Johnson left the group in 1975. I don't quite understand the premise of this album, but I dig the country voices. According to Wikipedia Scottie Road was an Irish-dominated neighborhood in Liverpool built up around the old byway Scotland Road, which historically had been the stagecoach line heading up into Scotland. The area was a vibrant urban hub throughout the 1800s, but fell into decline in later years, with much of the original housing was demolished in waves of urban redevelopment, beginning in the 1930s and peaking after World War Two, wiping out the older houses and subsuming the old road into a new, modern highway system. The odd bit about this album, as best I understand it, was that in the 'Seventies a local newspaper started a cartoon feature about a fictional band called Scottie Road, and would insert real musicians (such as The Hillsiders) as characters in the cartoon strip, which eventually led to the creation of a "real" band, which plays one song on this album, "Return To Scottie Road." The revamped lineup of The Hillsiders contributes three songs -- "If," "Moving On" and a medley of various country weepers. Meanwhile several other, lesser Liverpool country bands add two tracks each, including tunes by Countryside, Rory Kain, The Miller Brothers and The Saddlers. I'm not sure if these groups had much of a career outside of their Stile Records debuts, but this is a nice bookend to the Hillsiders story, which kicked off with a similar set of Liverpudlian twang, over a decade earlier.
Links
Hick Music Index
