Missouri native and two-hit wonder Leroy Van Dyke is probably best known for his tongue-twisting novelty number, "The Auctioneer," though if you ask me, the boisterous, bouncy "Walk On By" is a far better song... It's certainly easier to sing along to! An indefatigable performer and recording artist, Van Dyke's career spans over half a century, dozens of albums and numerous record labels... Here's a quick look at his career...
Leroy Van Dyke "The Auctioneer" (Bear Family Records, 1994)
Pop-country smoothie Leroy Van Dyke hit the big time in 1956 on Dot Records with his tongue-twisting novelty hit, "The Auctioneer," which he recorded many times afterwards for various labels. That original is included here, along with over a dozen other Dot recordings, material which is almost dominated by perky faux-rockabilly pop tunes (including pepped up, smoothed-out covers of hard country classics like Mel Tillis's "Honky Tonk Song" and Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On"). The palpable attempt at coopting the teen rock fad is a little silly -- Van Dyke had more vigor than Pat Boone but less soul than Marty Robbins, and most of these tracks are pretty disposable... And yet, fun in a way. This 15-song CD follows the original Ace Records LP pretty closely, but tosses in several more songs, just for good measure. It's worth checking out, although it sure would be swell if someone could come up with a best-of package that would include his later Mercury sides as well.
Leroy Van Dyke "Walk On By" (Bear Family, 1994)
A nice follow-up to the Auctioneer collection above... This 30-song CD covers Van Dyke's Mercury years and has a slew of his '60s hits, which is just perfecto for fans of his classic records.
Leroy Van Dyke "Walk On By" (Mercury-Nashville, 1995)
A relatively demure offering from Mercury proper. Still, if you're looking for hits, this disc has got 'em!
Leroy Van Dyke "Golden Hits" (Sun Records, 1973) (LP)
Re-recordings of old hits, re-cut in the 1970s for the semi-revitalized Sun label...
Leroy Van Dyke "Walk On By" (Mercury Records, 1962) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Movin' Van Dyke" (Mercury Records, 1962) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "The Great Hits Of Leroy Van Dyke" (Mercury Records, 1963) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Songs For Mom And Dad" (Mercury Records, 1964) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "At The Trade Winds" (Mercury Records, 1964) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Out Of Love" (Mercury-Wing, 1965) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Walk On By" (Mountain Dew Records, 1965) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "The Leroy Van Dyke Show" (Warner Brothers, 1965) (LP)
(Produced by Dick Glasser)
A truly terrible record, emblematic of a certain sector of the Beatles-era music industry that was still simply going through the motions, despite the tectonic shifts in post-Kennedy pop culture. Van Dyke is paired up with producer Dick Glasser, who had previously worked with pop vocal acts like Vic Dana, The Fleetwoods, and Andy Williams, and more recently had produced a few of the Everly Brothers' early '60s albums. The baroque, pop-infused arrangements by Don McGinnis are completely ridiculous, and Leroy Van Dyke is just a big enough of a cheeseball to really go for it. He sounds simultaneously insipid and robust, going all baritone ala Tennessee Ernie Ford, singing some okay-ish material as well as riding high on some amazingly bad arrangements, including a really bizarre-sounding Hank Williams medley. As far as the "show" part of the title goes, Van Dyke inserts a few spoken-word bits, faux-live stage patter meant to emulate a Vegas routine. But for some reason they didn't completely try to fake a "concert" album by using canned applause, but instead let his voice echo in a cold studio atmosphere, giving the record an even more stilted, absurd feel. The best part about the cheap copy I picked up is that the anthemic closing track -- a reprise of Side One's "Big Wide Wonderful World Of Country Music" -- skips. And it does so with perfectly timed disruptions of every big beat and crescendo, sounding like a techno sample from the 'Nineties. It's a real hoot -- maybe someday I'll post on YouTube or something.
Leroy Van Dyke "Country Hits" (Warner Brothers, 1966) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Movin' " (Mercury-Wing, 1966) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "The Auctioneer" (Dot Records, 1966) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Have A Party" (Mountain Dew Records, 1967) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "What Am I Bid" (MGM Records, 1967) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Lonesome Is" (Kapp Records, 1968) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Greatest Hits" (Kapp Records, 1969) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" (Kapp Records, 1969) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "I've Never Been Loved Before" (Columbia-Harmony Records, 1969) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Greatest Hits" (Decca Records, 1972) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Golden Hits" (Sun Records, 1973) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Just For You" (Dot Records, 1975) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Gospel Greats" (Plantation Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by LeRoy Duncan & Shelby Singleton Jr.)
A truly uninspiring inspirational album, with lackluster vocals and bland, prefab pop-country arrangements. I think they were trying to project a modern sensibility into these gospel oldies, but nobody really seems to have had their heart in it. This is just stuffy, stiff, and boring.
Leroy Van Dyke "Rock Relics" (Plantation Records, 1978) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Cross Section" (Audiograph Records, 1982) (LP)
Leroy Van Dyke "Audiograph Live" (Audiograph Records, 1983) (LP)
