Singer/guitarist Tim Menzies may not be completely central to country music history, but he certainly walked an interesting pathway though several genres and different levels of fame. Originally from Mechanicsville, Virginia, Menzies started out as a child performer showcased in a regional family band along with his parents and several siblings -- his mother, Janet Menzies, had been a professional country musician in her youth, including a stint as a cast member of the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, Virginia, back in the 1950s. After performing with the family band for over a decade, Tim Menzies headed to Tennessee in the early 1980s to try his luck in Nashville, and found work as a studio musician while also jamming after hours with his fellow unknowns in Music City's many clubs and bars. He co-founded the top forty group Bandana, which released one album and several singles before imploding and breaking up in 1986; after that, Menzies went back to studio work and songwriting, until the early 'Nineties, when he got a major label deal as a solo artist under the stage name Tim Mensy.
As Tim Mensy he was moderately successful, particularly as a songwriter. He notably co-wrote "Mama Knows," which was a Top Five single for the band Shenandoah in 1988. One of his last singles released as Tim Mensy was the sensitive-guy ballad, "She Dreams," which tanked for Menzies, but became a Top Ten hit for Mark Chesnutt in '93. Many years later, he became an evangelical Christian, started using his old family name again, and embarked on a new career as a Bible studies teacher and Christian country recording artist. Here's a quick look at his long, winding career...
The Menzies Family "The Menzies Family" (A.B.E. Recording Studio, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Frank Evans & Walter Menzies)
This family band from Mechanicsville, Virginia had been at it for many years, although I think this may have been their first (and possibly only?) album... The group was managed by their father Walter Menzies, and led by their mother, Janet Menzies, who had been a professional country musician in her youth, including a stint as a cast member of the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, Virginia, back in the 1950s. The rest of the band was made up of their kids, bass player Bobbie Menzies, nine-year old Kennie Menzies (who apparently yodeled at the their live shows, though not on this album), singer Tammie Menzies, and Timmie Menzies on lead guitar, along with the one non-family member, drummer Ronnie Altizer. Of course it's Tim Menzies who is perhaps the most notable band member: on this early album, recorded when he was about nineteen, Tim Menzies sang several numbers, including the outlaw anthem "Luckenbach, Texas" as well as the Don Williams weeper, "Til The Rivers All Run Dry" and -- somewhat less comfortably -- Stevie Wonder's inner city reverie, "I Wish." Also in the mix are various strata of country standards, including "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," and "Proud Mary," naturally, one of the most popular country covers of the decade.
Bandana "Bandana" (Warner Brothers, 1985) (LP)
A moderately successful Top Forty country band, Bandana released only one album, which was recorded after a string of singles dating back to 1982, including one Top 20 hit, "The Killin' Kind," which peaked at #17. The album didn't do so well, though, generating one more modest hit, "Outside Lookin' In" (#18) and several others that found the band slipping further down the charts. You know how that story goes. This proved to be their only full album, and sadly didn't reprise any of their earlier singles; nor does it include a couple of tentative singles that came out afterwards, before their label dropped the axe. The lead guitarist player, Tim Menzies, left Bandana before it broke up and started a solo career as "Tim Mensy," enjoying success first as a Nashville songwriter, then as a solo artist with a couple of major label albums under his belt. The original lineup of the band included Tim Menzies on guitar, as well as Jerry Fox (bass), Jerry Ray Johnston (drums), Joe Van Dyke (keyboards), and lead singer Lonnie Wilson, with Menzies proving to be the most successful member to survive the band's implosion. I suppose if there's ever some really big resurgence of interest in mid-'Eighties country-pop, someone could put together a retrospective that would include all of Bandana's "lost" singles, along with the tracks on this album.
Tim Mensy "Stone By Stone" (Columbia Records, 1990)
(Produced by Gene Eichelberger & Bob Montgomery)
Breaking out as a solo artist, Tim Mensy wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on his major label debut... Things kick off on a kinda wimpy note, with the uneven, unusually arranged "Don't Cross Your Heart," though the tempo picks up a little on subsequent tracks, before slipping back into mid-tempo material. His approach seems roughly in line with the neotrad balladry of Randy Travis, though overall Mensy seems a bit too cerebral, pressing into ornate, flowery, poppish arrangements that are ambitious, but distracting. A lot of almost-but-not-quite moments. And of course, he's backed by a ton of usual-suspect Nashvillers, folks like fiddler Rob Hajacos, guitar picker Brent Mason, Ron Oates on piano, and steel layer Jim Vest. Overall, this feels kind of cluttered.
Tim Mensy "This Ol' Heart" (Giant Records, 1992)
(Produced by Jim Stroud)
Tim Menzies's major label solo career was modestly successful, yielding a string of mostly-back forty singles, including a sensitive-guy ballad, "She Dreams," which tanked for Menzies, but became a Top Ten hit for Mark Chesnutt in '93. That song is included here, along with a couple of other tracks that were released as singles -- nothing broke into the Top 40, though, leading inevitably to the label dropping him in favor of the next bright, shiny object they could find. He persevered, however, and continued to record as an indie artist on the albums below.
Tim Mensy "Tim Mensy" (PJM Records, 2002)
Tim Menzies "His Way Of Loving Me" (Grace Records, 2014)
(Produced by Mark Capps & Ben Isaacs)
His first gospel album, produced in collaboration with Ben Isaacs, of the fabled Isaacs Family southern gospel band. This record was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Roots Gospel Album" category, as was his next album, His Name Is Jesus (below).
Tim Menzies "His Name Is Jesus" (Daywind Records, 2019)
Another Grammy-nominated gospel set, with tons of guest-star talent on board, including southern gospel artists such as The Gaithers, the Isaacs family band, Karen Peck, Charlotte Ritchie, and others, as well as Vince Gill from the world of top forty country, bluegrass star Rhonda Vincent, and Tim Menzies' wife, Brenda Anderson Menzies, who may have been a gospel artist in her own right before joining him in his ministry.
Tim Menzies "He Reminds Me" (The Word & The Song, 2023)
Another set packed with guest stars, this time tilting more decisively towards musicians more closely associated with mainstream bluegrass and country music. The list includes folks like Rebecca Lynn Howard, Ricky Skaggs, Dan Tyminski, Rhonda Vincent, as well as southern gospel singer Jason Crabb appearing on the title track, "He Reminds Me," as well as the Isaacs Family and Brenda Anderson Menzies.
