The wife-husband country combo of Margie Lane (1932-2007) and "Sundown" Pete Kobal (1929-2015) met way back in the post-WWII hillbilly era, marrying in 1953 and establishing themselves as an amiable though obscure western duo. Their biographies are elusive, with contradictory information all over the Web, though as far as I can tell, they were originally East Coast artists, meeting and marrying in New Jersey, then heading out west when they were young, doing their time in California, Texas and Nashville before eventually retiring in New Mexico. (Other states they're associated with include Colorado and Ohio, possibly because of them taking music jobs wherever they cropped up...) They recorded for several small labels, though starting in 1969 they were in the orbit of regional producer-promoter Howard Vokes, who had a habit of frequently reissuing or relicensing his catalog, which accounts for several of the LPs collecting their work. But if you like old-school sentimental country and western-cowboy material, here are a few records you might want to track down...
Margie L'Lane "Careless Hands" (Driftwood Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Peter Kobol & Bob Spieden)
"Easy listening country style" is how Margie Lane (who also used the stage name "L'Lane") described her own music... This album came out in 1984, though some of the tracks were originally singles from the 1970s and early 'Eighties, and others were probably made just for the album -- a couple of backing musicians are listed in addition to Margie and Pete, including bass player Jerry D'Anna and fiddler Gary Oleyar. The repertoire is heavy on cover tunes, but not all of them were super-old-timey, though even the newer songs (like Hank Cochran's "Little Bitty Tear") skew towards the sentimental.
Margie Lane & Sundown Pete "Treasures Beneath The Shifting Sands Of Time, Volume One" (Driftwood Records, 19--?)
(Produced by Peter Kobal & Robert T. Speiden)
More good old-fashioned western revival music... I'm not sure when this LP was produced; it looks like it might have been a later pressing that used some archival photos for the cover. The Kobals also released a string of albums in the 1990s and early 2000s, including some sets showcasing her love of pop-vocal standards.
Margie Lane & Sundown Pete "Margie And My D-45" (Driftwood Records, 1998-?)
Margie Lane & Sundown Pete "In El Paso" (Driftwood Records)
A tribute to Marty Robbins, with accompaniment from the Arriba Juarez Mariachi and the Midnight Strings
Margie Lane & Sundown Pete "The Only Star" (2003) (LP)
