Pam Gadd & Porter Wagoner "Something To Brag About" (Gusto Records, 2004)
(Produced by Porter Wagoner)
Hillbilly old-timer Porter Wagoner had a soft spot for singing duets with purty gals -- first he had Norma Jean as his partner, then Dolly Parton, and later Pam Gadd, of the band Wild Rose. Porter sounds pretty washed-up here, but Gadd puts in a good performance. Good songs, but you can easily find better records by both of these artists singing solo, and they never really click as duet partners. You could pass on this one, unless you're really a super-duper dedicated fan.

Pamela Rose Gadd & Porter Wagoner "22 Country And Gospel Duets" (Tee Vee Records, 2007)

Chris Gaines - see Garth Brooks

Pat Garrett -- see artist profile

Glen Garrison "Country! Country!" (Imperial Records, 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Scott Turner)
An ex-rockabilly rebel-gone-West Coast country singer who sounds stylistically and vocally very much like Buck Owens, Garrison only had two songs chart in the Top 100, including "Goodbye Swingers," off this album, which hit #72. Despite the lack of commercial success, this is still fun stuff. If you like vintage Buck Owens, there's no reason not to like this album, too... Even Buck agreed: he wrote the liner notes, opining on the differences between Hollywood and Nashville country. Garrison certainly seems like an artist ripe for reissue, particularly if anyone wanted to collect his earlier rock'n'roll records, which for years have only been available on far-flung rockabilly comps.

Glen Garrison "If I Lived Here: The Country Soul Of Glen Garrison" (Imperial Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Scott Turner)

Matt Gary "I'm Just Sayin' " (EP) (Quarterback Records, 2010)
I coulda seen this guy making it big, though apparently this was his only record, a six-song EP that sounded pretty solid for modern-day Nashville. This indie-released EP is very faithful to generic, guy-oriented, contemporary Music City pop-country conventions: there are the ringing, vaguely U2-ish electric guitars, the appeals to nostalgia and simple virtues (as on "The Days You Live For" which evokes milestones such as buying your first car and saying "I do" at the altar...) and even a novelty number that's so dumb that it might just be a hit ("Can't Take Her Anywhere" in which his girlfriend isn't very portable not because she's difficult or weird, but because she's so freakin' hot, that everyone always flips out whenever she's around...) Gary doesn't have the world's greatest voice, but he sounds about as "okay" as most of the other dudes in the Top Country charts today; a little bit of extra ooompf on the mix, and he's golden. I'm sure there are about a bazillion well-produced demos just like this out there these days, but I'm still curious to see how things go for this guy. Only time will tell!

Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers - see artist discography

Keith Gattis "Keith Gattis" (RCA Records, 1995)
(Produced by Norro Wilson)
Well, alright!! Now and then you hear this-or-that modern country singer praised as a neo-trad, back-to-basics kinda guy, but Keith Gattis (1971-2023) really delivered the goods. On the opening track, appropriately titled "Real Deal," he goes full-on George Jones, and spends the rest of the record splitting his time between his sounding like early-'70s Jones and hinting at a bit of Buck Owens. The music's great, the songs are great, his vocals are strong and the commitment is there... All around, this disc is as potent a twangfest as you could expect from modern-day Nashville, be it in 1993 or any other year. A surprisingly strong record that lives up to its reputation. So of course, the album's singles flopped commercially -- the only one to chart, "Little Drops of My Heart," peaked at #53, so Gattis switched gears and moved into a supporting role as a Nashville session player, songwriter and record producer. He even became Dwight Yoakam's lead guitar player 2002

Keith Gattis "Big City Blues" (Smith Music Group, 2002/2005)

Crystal Gayle - see artist discography

Ashley Gearing "Maybe It's Time" (Squeeze Records, 2006)
(Produced by Cliff Downs)
The lone record by this youthful performer from Springfield, Massachusetts... Sort of a "lost album" of early 21st Century top-country, this came out on an indie label but has all the hallmarks of the major label chart-toppers in an era when Sara Evans and Martina McBride still reigned supreme: plenty of gooey romantic ballads slathered with bombastic pop arrangements, sounding more influenced by contemporary R&B than by old-school C&W. Even the twangy numbers go overboard, with American Idol-style soul vocalese and really bad electric guitar solos. I'm sure for some super-fans of the style this is a real gem, but for me it was real torture. Terrible music combined with no sense of restraint or self-editing, although Gearing does seem like a very earnest performer.

Bobbie Gentry - see artist discography

Gary Gentry "Greatest Hits" (Saico Records, 2005)
A Texas songwriter who had a couple of Back Forty singles in the early 1980s... Not sure what vintage these recordings are, but he sure is looking long in the tooth on the album cover... Guess he went kind of novelty/outlaw... and indie, too... as these albums would suggest.

Gary Gentry "Biker Songs: Biker Heroes And Hell Raisers" (Laughing Hyena Records, 2008)

Gary Gentry "Trucker Songs" (Laughing Hyena Records, 2008)

Terri Gibbs - see artist discography

Don Gibson - see artist discography

The Gibson/Miller Band "Where There's Smoke" (Epic Records, 1992)
(Produced by Doug Johnson & Bill Miller)
Dave Gibson and Bill Miller had a handful of modest hits, most of which are on this disc. "High Rollin'," which kicks off the album, was their only song to crack the Top Twenty; everything else was tucked away further down the charts... They were likeable enough, though, with a formulaic but palpably heartfelt blend of Southern rock and hard-ish country... Confederate Railroad, Travis Tritt and ZZ Top come to mind as touchpoints, and while some songs are a little too safe-sounding, others might get your toes tapping. Worth checking out, but mostly if you're on the Southern/Country tip to begin with...

The Gibson/Miller Band "Red, White And Blue Collar" (Epic Records, 1994)
(Produced by Doug Johnson & Blue Miller)

Brantley Gilbert "Modern Day Prodigal Son" (Valory Music, 2009/2011)
(Produced by Brantley Gilbert & Jeremy Medkiff)
Songwriter Brantley Gilbert is one of those dudes who's had a real up-and-down relationship with Music City. This album was originally scheduled for release in 2006, but got shelved for a few years until it came out on the independent Average Joe's, and was finally picked up by the Valory label for more mainstream distribution. Nutty, huh?

Brantley Gilbert "Halfway To Heaven" (Average Joe's Entertainment, 2010)

Brantley Gilbert "Just As I Am" (Valory Music, 2014)
(Produced by Dan Huff & Steve Marcantonio)

Brantley Gilbert "The Devil Don't Sleep" (Valory Music, 2017)
(Produced by Dan Huff)

Brantley Gilbert "Fire And Brimstone" (Valory Music, 2019)
(Produced by Dan Huff, Steve Marcantonio & Seth Morton)

Brantley Gilbert "So Help Me God" (Valory Music, 2022)
(Produced by Brantley Gilbert)

Vince Gill - see artist discography

Mickey Gilley - see artist discography

Billy Gilman "One Voice" (Epic Records, 2000)
(Produced by Blake Chancey, Don Cook & David Malloy)
Awwww... a 12-year old kiddie country crooner. Iddn't dat cute? It's Nashville's answer to Hanson...! Or... Donny Osmond, even. As a singer, Gilman has remarkable control of his phrasing, and even a degree of expressiveness that belies his years... However, he founders on romantic ballads (just too young), and his style is too derivative of the Whitney Houston/Star Search/American Idol soul school to be taken credibly as true country music. His perky spins around pop oldies such as "Little Bitty Pretty One" and "Little Things" are cheery enough. The title track, an inspirational religious ballad, is the album's creative centerpiece, but if you ain't on either that wavelength, or into the novelty act aspect, there really isn't much going on here that will stick to your ribs.

Billy Gilman "Classic Christmas" (Sony-Epic Records, 2000)
(Produced by Blake Chancey, Don Cook & David Malloy)
Yeesh. Yeesh. Yeesh. And anyway, whatever happened to Billy Gilman...? Did his voice change or something? Anyway, the kid was all of twelve years old when this album came out, and for a child star, his phrasing and vocal control are impressive (I guess...) but honestly, he's just too young to put much sincere emotion into any of these songs -- it's just a well-produced, glitzy "Star Search"-ish pop outing, too cutesy by half. And not very "country," either... Sounds more like like Harry Connick, Jr. than Hank Williams.

Billy Gilman "Dare To Dream" (Epic Records, 2001)
(Produced by Blake Chancey, Don Cook & David Malloy)
It seems a bit odd saying that this album has more "depth" than his debut: both are super-fluffy, and popped-out prefab in a way that I find extremely tacky, and unlistenably soulless. Yet, be that as is may, this is a better produced album -- the arrangements are more complex, the mix is more textured, Gilman seems slightly more sophisticated as a singer. He's still too young and emotionally inexperienced to really carry these tunes, but there's less emphasis on his cutesy novelty status, and more songs that give him at least the opportunity to appear as more of a vocalist and less of a post-Millennial Shirley Temple. Still, I don't think this really works as music -- I'd like to wait until the kid's voice changes and he makes his first album as a young adult, and reserve final judgment until then. Check back with me in the year 2009...

Billy Gilman "Music Through Heartsongs" (Epic Records, 2003)

Billy Gilman "Everything And More" (Image Entertainment, 2005)
(Produced by Sandy Linzer)
...Well, okay, how about 2005? After the novelty wore off, Gilman faded from sight for several years, sorting out what he characterizes as personal doubts... On his return disc, as a full-fledged adolescent, Gilman unveils his new voice, still youthful and thin, but presumably settled down after breaking with puberty, with a range that places him squarely in the Emerson Drive-ish boy band style... He's also found religion: although there are some good secular songs on here, the album is preponderantly inspirational and perhaps we can assume that religion helped Gilman sort out the pressures associated with being so famous so young in life. The opening track, a secular love song called "Something To Do With That," shows Gilman is top form, and could easily make it into the charts, even if the rest of the album is very pop and not very country. Even if a mainstream commercial comeback isn't in the offing, I'm sure he'll find an eager audience among faith-based listeners. Fans of his old albums will not be disappointed.

Billy Gilman "Billy Gilman" (Image Entertainment, 2008)
(Produced by Sandy Linzer)

Billy Gilman "My Time On Earth" (Sony-BMG Records, 2007)
A collection of songs from his two Epic albums...

Girls Next Door "The Girls Next Door" (MTM Records, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy West)
An all-gal band created in the lab by Nashville producer Tommy West, Girls Next Door was a quartet made up of Doris King, Cindy Nixon, Tammy Stephens and Diane Williams. Their first album was released in '86 and did reasonably well, yielding on Top Ten hit, "Slow Boat To China," and another single, "Love Will Get You Through Times of No Money," that hit #14. Despite good press, the band sank down the ladder on their subsequent albums, and eventually disbanded in the early 'Nineties. The individual members seem mostly to have left the music business, although Doris King and her husband Mike Merritt became immersed in a "cowboy church" in Oklahoma, and released at least one southern gospel album together.

Girls Next Door "What A Girl Next Door Could Do" (MTM Records, 1987)
(Produced by Tommy West)

Girls Next Door "How 'Bout Us?" (Atlantic Records, 1990)
(Produced by Nelson Larkin)

The Jim Glaser Singers "Old Time Christmas Singing" (Starday Records, 1961-?) (LP)
Born in Spalding, Nebraska, Jim Glaser (1937-2019) was the youngest of the Glaser Brothers trio, a brother-harmony act first formed in the 1950s that found its biggest commercial success in the 1970s and early '80s. Each of the siblings also pursued solo careers at various times, with Jim Glaser skirting the edges of the folk scene, while also touring in the Marty Robbins band as a backing singer. Around this time he was also establishing himself as a songwriter, with hits in Nashville recorded by Skeeter Davis, Liz Anderson and others, and even had a pop-rock hit when Gary Puckett & The Union Gap took his song, "Woman, Woman," into the Billboard Top Five in 1967. The Glasers were also savvy enough to realize that the real money in Nashville lay in song copyrights, and established their own publishing company in the early 'Sixties, notably signing bluegrass oddball John Hartford, whose ballad, "Gentle On My Mind," became one of the biggest sleeper hits of the 'Sixties. This holly-jolly Christmas set is perhaps a little snoozy, but definitely has a country feel, with subdued steel guitar and Chet Atkins-y guitar mixed low in the background, with some distinctly Marty Robbins-esque vocal arrangements. No info on the studio musicians or producer, but it seems likely it included Starday regulars such as Tommy Hill and his usual suspects.

Jim Glaser & The Americana Folk Trio "Just Looking For A Home" (Starday Records, 1962-?) (LP)
More of a folk thing, sure, though a mere twenty, thirty years earlier many of these songs would have been considered in the country mainstream -- tunes like "Careless Love" and "Dark As Dungeon." Was the "Americana Folk Trio" yet another iteration of the Glaser Brothers? Possibly, even probably, but I couldn't say for sure.

The Jim Glaser Singers "Country Spectacular Live From The Stage In Nashville" (Wyncote Records, 1964-?) (LP)
I have to confess I have a soft spot for the cheapo-label Wyncote Records, which had a knack for digging up and re-purposing interesting material of odd provenance. In this case it looks like this was an album actually commissioned by Wyncote, but you never really know with these guys. On this set, Jim Glaser digs even deeper into the Kingston Trio-era folk sound, though with a hint of old-timey, Carter Family country-roots in the mix, as heard on tracks such as "Wayfaring Stranger" and "Little Brown Church In The Vale." No information about the musicians or producer, alas. Supposedly this was a live concert, recorded in Nashville "on a Saturday night."

Jim Glaser "Man In The Mirror" (MCA/Noble Vision Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Don Tolle & Doyle Grisham)
A more modern solo album by Jim Glaser, younger brother of Tompall Glaser and one-third of the Glaser Brothers family band. This album includes "You're Gettin' To Me Again," a song penned by Pat McManus which proved to be Glaser's only #1 hit as a solo artist. Co-producer Doyle Grisham also helped anchor the studio crew, playing lead guitar and steel.

Jim Glaser "Past The Point Of No Return" (MCA/Noble Vision Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Don Tolle & Bill Deaton)

Jim Glaser "Everybody Knows I'm Yours" (MCA/Noble Vision Records, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by Don Tolle & Bill Deaton)

Jim Glaser "Me And My Dream" (Solitaire Records, 2004)
(Produced by Jim Glaser & Doyle Grisham)

Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers - see artist discography

Gloriana "Gloriana" (Warner/Emblem Records, 2009)
(Produced by Matt Serletic & Justin Niebank)
Hyper-poppy -- and hyper-popular -- Top-40 country featuring four-part harmonies (two guys, two gals) that are carefully sculpted to sound like a mildly twangier Fleetwood Mac. Aside from the strummy-acoustic '70s-style tunes, there are also plenty of bombastic, wall-of-sound Nashville moments, with wailing vocals atop oceanic orchestrations. Not my cup of tea? Gee, how'd you guess? The sleek sounding Fleetwood-izations are okay, but I think I'd rather just dig out an old copy of Rumors instead: this is like getting into EMF when what you really wanted was a New Order album. Oh! I almost forgot to mention that reality show gal Cheyenne Kimball was originally a band member, though only on this one album.

Gloriana "A Thousand Miles Left Behind" (Emblem Records, 2012)
(Produced by Matt Serletic & Mark Dobson)
Cheerful but generic country-pop from this nearly-chart-topping band... This is gentle, pleasant, catchy stuff, a set of sweet, romantic pop songs, with wistful melodies, yearning lyrics, and sugary, prefab twang. It's not quite my style but I appreciate the lack of macho posturing and phony nostalgia for a mythic small-town world, the stuff that clutters up so many other contemporary Nashville albums. Rather than beckon you back into a Mayberry filled with gun-racks, pickup trucks and empty beer bottles, Gloriana are content to ask you to gaze into a lover's eyes. Nothing wrong with that! By the way, the band seems to have been trimmed down to a trio following the departure of Cheyenne Kimball, who only appeared on their first album. The rest of the group, Mike Gossin (guitar), Tom Gossin (piano) and Rachel Reinert (vocals and percussion) continued on for a few more years as a trio. Both Tom Gossin and Rachel Reinert recorded solo albums of their own (as had Cheyenne Kimball) though all of it looks dubiously "country" to me. Apparently Mike Gossin also cut a lone single with Kimball sometime in 2022.

Gloriana "Three" (Emblem Records, 2015)
(Produced by Matt Serletic)

Danny Gokey "My Best Days" (RCA Nashville/19 Recordings, 2010)
(Produced by Mark Bright & Kristin Wines)
Jarring, cluttered, C-list Nashville pop. I guess this guy from Milwaukee was one of the later contestants on the American Idol "reality" show series. He came in fourth place, which was apparently good enough to land a record deal, and kicked off his career with this glossy, modern country set. I didn't recognize most of the pickers, other than bluegrass fiddler Aubrey Haynie, although one of the songs was co-written by David Lee Murphy and Mark Bright was a reputable producer. Anyway, this all sounds overly shrill, manic and prefab to my delicate little ears, and way more glitzy and pop than I care for. Not to mention, he had a terrible voice for the genre: way too whiny and tonally piercing. Gokey didn't make many waves in Nashville, but he did continue to record as a Contemporary Christian artist, which may have been a better stylistic fit. I'm not rushing to find out how those albums sounded, though. This one was punishing enough for me.

William Lee Golden "American Vagabond" (MCA Records, 1986)
(Produced by Raymond Eli Ball & Booker T. Jones)
A solo album from William Lee Golden, the booming-voiced baritone of the Oak Ridge Boys... In addition to his bandmates Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall and Richard Sterban, this album is packed with interesting sidemen and guests, including Fred Carter Jr. on acoustic guitar, Rosanne Cash singing harmony, Jim Dickinson on piano, steel player Paul Franklin, Vince Gill and Eddy Shaver on guitar, not to mention co-producer Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. & The MGs) sitting in on the organ. Quite a lineup, though more traditionally-oriented country fans might find this album just a tad too synthy and slick. It's a very 'Eighties-sounding album, and a little too self-serious for my liking. Ponderous, even. The Oak Ridge Boys often yielded top forty guilty pleasures; this album, not so much. In fact, I'd have to say there's nothing on here I'd want to listen to again. Amazing how a guy who's known for his part in one of the richest harmony bands in country music history could cut an album where his own, overly-emotive vocals sound so uneven, and the music is just so damn awful. Oh, well.

William Lee Golden "My Life's Work" (Golden & Halsey Records, 2000)

The Goldens "The Goldens" (Epic Records, 1987)
(Produced by James Stroud)
Chris and Rusty Golden, William Lee Golden's sons, enjoyed a few minor chart hits as part of this short-lived country band, though it was all pretty much mid-level stuff, a fair distance from the Top 40. This album yielded two charting singles: "Put Us Together Again" (#55) and "Sorry Girls" (#63) while their third album, below, squeaked out one last single that hit #67. They broke up in the mid-1990s, with Rusty Golden trying his hand at a solo career in the rock world. Years later they backed their dad as part of a Branson-esque family band.

The Goldens "Live '89" (24K Records, 1989)

The Goldens "Rush For Gold" (Capitol Records, 1990)

Bobby Goldsboro - see artist discography

Gary Goodnight "Introducing Gary Goodnight" (Door Knob Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Kennedy)
Door Knob Records was one of the last great Nashville indies, a sub-major label that frequently punched above its weight and scored some unexpected chart hits, back when such things were still possible. Texas songwriter Gary Goodnight was one of their lesser success stories -- this was his only album and yielded one chart entry, "Get Me High Off This Low," which hit #91 -- but for those of us who enjoy imperfect, mildly unruly twang, it might be considered a gem. It reminds me of other flying-under-the-radar releases from this era, like Bill Phillips's early '80s comeback records, perhaps. Mr. Goodnight had an odd, some might even say weak voice, better suited to the DIY private-press scene perhaps, but he made these songs work. He also pitched quite a few songs of his own to other artists, though again, more at an indie level, with guys like Ogden Harless recording his songs, not Garth Brooks. In addition to this LP, Mr. Goodnight also cut several singles, though again, mostly likely nothing you've ever heard of. I'm not sure, but I think he was from Texas... He seems to have returned to the Lone Star State after his fling in Nashville, and may have gone into gospel music later in life.

Noah Gordon "I Need A Break" (Capitol Records, 1995)
(Produced by Steve Gibson)
A younger neo-trad guy with a background in his family's bluegrass band, Illinois-born Noah Gordon scored one modest hit off this album with the song, "The Blue Pages," which peaked at #68. You know the rest of the story. Gordon scaled back and returned to paying in regional bands; he also found success as a Nashville songwriters, placing songs with Top Forty artists such as John Michael Montgomery and Emerson Drive, and also found work as a studio producer, notably as part of Colt Ford's crew.

The Gosdin Brothers "The Sounds Of Goodbye" (Bakersfield International/Capitol Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Gary S. Paxton)
The sole LP released by the Gosdin Brothers after their shift from bluegrass into the world of folk-rock. The West Coast's sainted session guitarist Clarence Williams helped shape the texture and sound of this unusual album; see below for more details.

The Gosdin Brothers "Sounds Of Goodbye" (Big Beat Records, 2003)
Long lost amid the cavernous Capitol vaults, the 1960's debut of the Gosdin Brothers, Vern and Rex, is a genuine lost gem of the nascent California country-rock scene. While many mainstream country artists who tried to approach rock music and the youth culture during the hippie years often sounded hopelessly like fish out of water, the Gosdins were perfectly at ease. Although they were country boys tried and true, the Gosdin's psychedelic bona fides were pretty impeccable: they played in bluegrass bands with Chris Hillman, then hooked up with Hillman's Byrd buddy Gene Clark on his early solo career during the Summer Of Love. When they got their own shot at a solo career, they came out with an album that was surprisingly adventurous and electrified, with superpicker Clarence White laying down some delightfully noodly billy-delic folk-rock riffs. This CD reissue interrupts the track order of the original LP, but adds a bunch of extra material that kinda makes up for it. Even though I've been a big Vern Gosdin fan for years (his later solo work is fantastic), I was really surprised by how much I got into this record... It's goofy, heartfelt and fun. Not merely a nostalgic curio, but actually a fine set music. Check it out!

Vern Gosdin - see artist discography

Brian Gowan "Warm Spanish Wine" (2001)
The first solo set by songwriter Brian Gowan who was half of the short-lived duo of Blake & Brian, and composer of several songs recorded by Top 40 star Rodney Atkins...

Brian Gowan "Day One" (GMG Records, 2005)

Brian Gowan "I Am Strong" (Designs Of Hope Records)
I'm not sure, but I think this was a fundraiser for a children's cancer research program... The music may also have been pitched at a younger audience...

Josh Gracin "Josh Gracin" (Lyric Street Records, 2004)
(Produced by Marty Williams)
Yet another American Idol alumnus muscling his way onto the charts... Gracin is aided by huge, lavish production, some of it pretty silly-sounding, and most of it very by-the-numbers. The first single, "I Want To Live," shamelessly lifts a Led Zeppelin guitar riff; many of the songs have sugary, jittery pop-isms worthy of boy-band country acts like Rascal Flatts and Emerson Drive, although to his credit it must be said that Gracin is able to muster a bit more vigor than any of those wimpier singers. This is all tremendously fake and prefab, but it works well, given the formulae. Be interesting to see if his career really goes anywhere.

Josh Gracin "We Weren't Crazy" (Lyric Street Records, 2008)
(Produced by Marty Williams & Brett James)
Super-overproduced pop-country with merciless waves of over-sculpted, antiseptic, tightly woven studio-generated hooks, packed with mathematically precise beats and plenty of neutered, harmless electric guitars... I suppose if you're used to hearing this stuff on a regular basis, it might be an irresistible formula, but I gotta say I have listened to a lot of Top Country, and I still find records like this to be irritating and soulless. Usually I can find at least a few tunes on a Top 40 record that I can get into, here there was nothing. Gracin has been decisively cast as a "chick" singer, putting his market-tested "feelings" on his sleeve and singing in a remarkably torturous warble: God, I feel sorry for anyone who has to listen to this longer than a few seconds. Two funny moments stand out: in the vaguely-creepy stalker/love song "Invisible," Gracin declares his devotion by saying that he'd "ride shotgun with you all the way to work/just to watch you walk in the door" (Riding shotgun with a chick driving? Dude!) and the chorus of the title track where he swallows the "n't" every time, so it sounds like he's saying the exact opposite of what he means: isn't there anyone at the label who can offer him a little constructive criticism about this kinda thing? Anyway, this is definitely not my kind of country record, although I suspect I'm really not the target audience...

Josh Gracin "Redemption" (Average Joe's Entertainment, 2011)
(Produced by Josh Gracin & Kevin Murphy)

Tammy Graham "Rock 'N' Country" (Twin Cities Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Harold Bradley & Bobby Bradley)
In the early 1980's Tammy Wynette Graham, a teenaged piano-player from Little Rock, Arkansas went to Nashville, where she cut this private-press LP as a demo set. She was working with a top producer of the classic Nashville Sound era -- in addition to producing, Harold Bradley plays lead guitar, rhythm, mandolin, banjo and synths(!), with an A-list crew including fellas like David Briggs and Buddy Harman, steel players Lloyd Green, Sonny Garrish and Hal Rugg, as well as Hank Strzelecki on bass... As the title implies, it's mostly a set of country and rock oldies, stuff like "Johnny B. Goode" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," as well as Jambalaya" and "Blue Kentucky Girl" on the country side of things. There's one short track credited to Graham at the end of Side One, "Tammy's Boogie," and a couple of tracks by other composers that may have been original to this album. Graham made it to the majors, eventually, recording a self-titled album for Arista in 1997, though predictably was dropped when she only got one song into the Top 40.

Tammy Graham "Tammy Graham" (Career Records, 1997)
(Produced by Barry Beckett)
The lone Top Forty album from from a piano-plunkin' Little Rock gal who styled herself as a female answer to Jerry Lee Lewis. She scored one Top 40 hit, "A Dozen Red Roses" which charted at #37 and was bookended by a couple of other mid-range singles... Graham is said to have gotten caught up in one of those corporate reshuffles that make Nashville so much fun, and was dropped when her label got absorbed into Arista Records.

Billy Grammer "Gotta Travel On: The Very Best Of Billy Grammer" (Collectables Records, 1998/2006)
Guitarist Billy Grammer was a popular sideman and studio player throughout the 1960s and '70s... He was also a successful solo performer, starting his recording career with his biggest hit, a jaunty, rollicking version of the folk-tinged "Gotta Travel On," which rose to #5 on the charts in 1959. He also had a hit with Bobby Bare's "Detroit City," while the early '60s folk boom was still in full swing, although chart success became more elusive after that... This is a strong best-of set that gathers some of his early stuff, including a bunch of instrumental tracks that show his chops as an axe-man. Nice introduction to his work!

Gil Grand "Famous First Words" (Sony Records, 1998)

Gil Grand "Burnin' " (Royalty Records, 2004)

Gil Grand "Somebody's Someone" (Royalty Records, 2006)

Claude Gray "Songs Of Broken Love Affairs" (Mercury Records, 1961) (LP)
A delightfully corny, richly robust set, the debut album by Texas baritone Claude Gray, with his two biggest hits, "I'll Just Have Another Cup Of Coffee (Then I'll Go)" and "My Ear Should Burn (When Fools Are Talked About)" and ten other tunes of equal caliber. The backup is pleasantly kitschy, with a treble-happy, echo-y steel guitar flitting about in contrast to Gray's deep, stolid vocals. It's nice stuff, kind of like the music Ferlin Husky might have made if he'd hung on to his testicles, rather than going all soft-pop so early on. There are a lot of swell, lesser-known tunes on here, such as John D. Loudermilk's "You Take The Table (And I'll Take The Chairs)" or his searing rendition of the old Johnny Bond weeper, "Your Old Love Letters." Nice album -- someone oughta reissue Gray's work on CD one of these days.

Claude Gray "Sings" (Decca Records, 1967) (LP)

Claude Gray "Presenting Claude Gray" (Million Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Wright & Ronnie Reynolds)
Though I dig his early work, Claude Gray was clearly on the down-and-out as far as chart success (and artistic inspiration) went when he cut this indie-label comeback set... But if the intent was to bump-start his career, this languid set of snoozy country crooning seems like it would be unlikely to succeed, even given how bad "grown up" pop vocals were at the time. There's just no sense of life or vigor anywhere on this album. My ears perked up when I heard him start singing Tommy McCree's soul classic, "If You're Looking For A Fool," but they managed to make even that song sound boring and inert. Oh, well.

Claude Gray "Best Of The Best" (Federal Records, 2002)

Claude Gray "His Very Best" (K-Tel Records, 2008)

Damon Gray "Lookin' For Trouble" (Broken Bow Records, 2000)

David Gray "Signature" (BMG-BFE Records, 1993)
(Produced by Mick Lloyd, Mike Daniel & Ken Little)

Mark Gray "Magic" (Columbia Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Buckingham, Bob Montgomery & Gene Eichelberger)
After a stint as the lead singer for the transitioning-into-country late 'Seventies AOR band Exile, Mississippi-born crooner Mark Gray (1952-2016) set out as a solo act and did pretty well, with a string of softcore ballads that frequently cracked into the back end of the Top Ten. A little too synthy and tinkly-piano for me, but if you like, say, Gary Morris, you'd probably like this guy, too.

Mark Gray "This Ol' Piano" (Columbia Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Montgomery & Steve Buckingham)
This is halfway okay. The album alternates between moderately catchy, uptempo pop-country tunes (with a slightly synthy gloss) and slower, torturous ballads. The slow songs have a Michael McDonald-ish feel, and they are just horrifyingly awful. This includes his duet with Tammy Wynette, a cover of "Sometimes When We Touch" (yikes) which proved to be his biggest career hit, reaching #6 on the charts. But you can see where this is headed, though, right?

Mark Gray "That Feeling Inside" (Columbia Records, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Buckingham & Mark Gray)
Absolutely dreadful '80s country, slick, soulless and full of intrusive, tinkly piano riffs and sterile, tinny electric guitars. Oh, and cheesy vocals. Lots of those, too. Reminds me of Lee Greenwood, or Kenny (Sauron) Rogers, which are not complimentary comparisons in my book. Really, there's not a single track on here that I'd recommended, and a couple that I can't stand to listen to. His R&B rave-up version of "Walking After Midnight" is particularly cringeworthy and embarrassing...

Mark Gray "I Still Need Him" (Mark Gray Music, 2011)
A gospel album...

Jack Grayson "A Loser's Night Out" (Koala Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Lou Bradley, Jack Grayson, Bob Morris & Bernie Vaughn)
Singer Jack Grayson released one sleek, slinky rockabilly-pop single back in 1959, and reemerged in the early '70s with the first of several singles that appeared in the country Back 40 over the next decade or so. His biggest hit was his cover of the Percy Sledge oldie, "When A Man Loves A Woman," which went to #18 on the Country charts... Grayson wasn't a particularly impressive vocalist, working mainly in a light style of Nashville Sound retro... It's a little hard to place his similarities, but after a while I figured Hank Locklin was a good match. This isn't earthshaking material, but it's nice in a nostalgic way: perfectly competent examples of slickly produced, low-end early '80s country-pop, with kind of a whiteboy soul/rock oldies feel. Basically, if you felt like you were running short of Joe Stampley albums, Jack Grayson was there to fill the void. It might be nice to see a cross-label retrospective of his work someday, covering the major label stuff as well as the indie records. As far as this album goes, I have to confess I find myself to the album's closing number, "Mr. Music Director." Old habits die hard.

Jack Grayson "When A Man Loves A Woman" (Koala Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Grayson & Bernie Vaughn)

Jack Grayson "Jack Grayson Sings" (Joe-Wes Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Grayson & Bernie Vaughn)
I'm not 100% sure, but I think this slightly-more-indie album includes re-recordings of several of Grayson's songs, including "A Loser's Night Out" and "When A Man Loves A Woman," along with some new ones. Though still working with Bernie Vaughn, the studio crew is different, with a notable including of '60s pop/country star Sandy Posey singing backup.

The Great Divide "Goin' For Broke" (Campfire/Broken Records, 1995)
One of several groups using this name... Formed in 1992, this clangy, twangy band from Stillwater, Oklahoma was part of the region's homegrown, back-to-basics "red dirt" music scene, which mixed roots-rock, southern rock and country, picking up where the Tulsa Sound of JJ Cale and company left off. The original lineup included bass player Kelley Green, J. J. Lester (drums), Scotte Lester (rhythm guitar) and guitarist Mike McClure, who was Great Divide's lead singer and primary songwriter. They self-released their first two albums before landing a major-label deal and national exposure; the second album was reissued on Atlantic, while this first one remained a strictly indie release.

The Great Divide "Break In The Storm" (Atlantic/Broken Records, 1998)
(Produced by Lloyd Maines)
Their second album, Break In The Storm, was optioned and reissued by Atlantic Records, which then worked the band as a Top Forty country act, with limited success. This album includes Great Divide's two charting singles, "Never Could" and "Pour Me A Vacation," which both stayed pretty firmly in the back forty -- fine for a red dirt group, but career death in Nashville. Still: Lloyd Maines on board as producer? Yes, please. The group quietly drifted back to its regional roots, with Mike McClure going solo in 2003, being replaced as lead singer by Micah Aills until they broke up in '05. McClure soon reappeared as a recording artist and as a producer, most notably producing several albums by fellow red-dirters Cross Canadian Ragweed.

Great Divide "Revolutions" (Atlantic Nashville, 1999)
(Produced by Lloyd Maines)

Great Divide "Afterglow: The Will Rogers Sessions" (Broken Bow Records, 2000)

Great Divide "Dirt And Spirit" (Broken Bow Records, 2001)

Great Divide "Remain" (Thirty Tigers Records, 2002)

Great Divide "Under Your Own Sun" (Time Records, 2005)

Great Plains "Great Plains" (Columbia Records, 1991)
(Produced by Brent Maher & Don Potter)
Not to be confused with the indie-rock band of the same name, this Great Plains band was an agglomeration of old pros, notably multi-instrumentalist Russ Pahl and veteran picker Jack Sundrud, whose own career stretched back to his days in the early 'Seventies hippie twang band Podipto, and who also toured on-again, off-again with several latter-day editions of Poco. Also in the lineup were bassist Denny Dadmun-Bixby, drummer Michael Young, and fiddler/picker Lex Browning. Neither of their albums sold particularly well, and a handful of Great Plains singles failed to break into the Top Forty (though one song, "Faster Gun," came close.) The group broke up in 1996, with the members disbursing to various strata of country/roots fame. Interesting footnote to Jack Sundrud's career, though!

Great Plains "Homeland" (Magnatone Records, 1996)
(Produced by Brent Maher & Don Potter)

Lloyd Green -- see artist discography

Pat Green -- see artist discography

Jack Greene - see artist discography

Lorne Greene - see artist discography

Lee Greenwood - see artist discography

Ricky Lynn Gregg "Ricky Lynn Gregg" (Liberty Records, 1993)
(Produced by Chuck Howard)
Oh, my. That hair! Both the proud, flowing mane on his cabeza and the forest on his chest... Move over, Fabio: this dude was a full-on, real-life walking Harlequin romance cover! Originally from East Texas, megahunk Ricky Lynn Gregg started out in a high school rock band, played a little country when he moved to Fort Worth, and landed a mid-'Eighties gig with the '70s rock band Head East which lasted from 1984-87. Turning back towards twang, Gregg was spotted by producer Jimmy Bowen, and made his way to Nashville, where he cut two albums for the Liberty label. His biggest success was a cover of an old Mel Street song, "If I Had a Cheatin' Heart," which hit #36 on the country charts, though only two other singles broke through, both of them drifting back into the back forty. Like so many before him (and after) Gregg headed home and re-established himself as a regional artist, but returned to Nashville to cut another album several years later for the Row Music Group, which also had a young Joe Nichols in its roster.

Ricky Lynn Gregg "Get A Little Closer" (Liberty Records, 1994)

Ricky Lynn Gregg "Careful What You Wish For" (Row Music, 2001)

Clinton Gregory - see artist discography

Terry Gregory "The Handshake Years Anthology" (Renaissance Records, 2005)
Pretty much the complete works of this Top Forty back-bencher... Her biggest single, "Just Like Me," hit #15 on the charts, but even with numerous follow-ups, she never quite clicked with the bigtime... This collection reveals her as a pretty modest talent, alternately yearning and sincere or a bit overconfident and lofty (as on her cover of "Stand By Your Man," a song that requires a real belter, and not a Maureen McGovern wannabee...) A couple of tunes, like "I Need Another Lover (Like A Hole In The Heart)" have a perky lightness that's in keeping with some of the funner, sillier side of '70s country, but mostly this is pretty stuffy material, more geared towards the sappiest Top 40 AOR of the time, and a few dips into the nascent synth-country sound of the early '80s. Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure there are some devoted fans out there who will be psyched to find these old, hard-to-find indie recordings all in one place.

Terry Gregory "Terry Gregory" (Handshake Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Mark Sherrill)

Terry Gregory "Just Like Me" (Handshake Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Mark Sherrill)

Terry Gregory "From The Heart" (Handshake Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Mark Sherrill)

Ray Griff - see artist discography

Glenda Griffith "Glenda Griffith" (Ariola Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Don Henley & Jim Ed Norman)
A very, very, very LA in-crowd album with backing by a sizeable portion of The Eagles (Don Henley on drums, Don Felder and Joe Walsh playing guitar and Eagles producer Bill Szymczyk mixing the tracks...) as well as Carole King playing piano on a couple of songs and contributing a song called "Eagle," as well as a whole slew of folks from the Southern California soft-rock/country-rock studio scene in tow: Karla Bonoff, Valerie Carter, Danny Korchmar, J.D. Souther, Waddy Wachtel, et. al. Griffith seems to have been a particular protege of Danny O'Keefe, recording four of his songs and getting him to back her on one track; she herself contributes two originals to the repertoire. This is mostly a '70 pop record, in a lush, sometimes overripe Carole King/Carly Simon-esque mode, though with enough hints of twang to qualify it for mention here... The songs featuring the Eagles dudes sound very Eagles-y, with specific riffs and production touches that are lifted straight from the Hotel California playbook, just with a gal singing rather than Henley and his peeps. Really, though, I guess this is more of a buyer-beware review: I kept seeing this popping up in country bins and finally had to check it out, but there isn't really much twang on it. Her cover of Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry About Me" spotlights Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel and has a nice, plinky honky-tonk vibe, though her vocals are underwhelming; some nice steel work on O'Keefe's "Quits," which appropriately enough closes the album out.

Nanci Griffith - see artist discography

Andy Griggs "You Won't Ever Be Lonely" (RCA Records, 1998)
The perfect balance of pretty-boy image and hard-country grit, all anchored by Griggs's good natured, masculine drawl. This is a very enjoyable album, with a real country feel and plenty of clever, compelling songwriting. Griggs even lightly treads into territory that has become the bane of modern Nashville -- sensitive-stud chickbait weepers and "issue songs" -- and walks away the winner. The title song, which he cowrote, is a great romantic ballad, while the next track, "Waiting On Sundown," addresses domestic violence while succeeding as a pop song (and a very steamy one, at that!) in which a younger man helps an older woman escape her abusive husband. Even the obligatory, southern rockish, I-scratch-myself-in-public, he-man honkytonk tunes are first rate... In fact, the only song that doesn't work on here is the jittery, house-rockin' cover of "Ain't Livin' Long Like This..." But hey, even if he falls on his face, covering a Rodney Crowell tune is more than enough to make up for it... As far as the late '90s Nashville scene goes, this disc's a winner, definitely worth checking out.

Andy Griggs "Freedom" (RCA Records, 2002)
Yawnsville... in a big, big way. What a drag, that an artist who started out his career so playful and full of old-fashioned country grit would wind up doing one of these wanky, overwritten, post-millennial High Concept, high gloss pop-country outings. He still has a great voice, but these songs are just too darn overblown. One after another; boom boom boom. The closest thing to a plain old, straight-ahead catchy country song is the ballad, "Tonight I Wanna Be Your Man," which is pretty sappy, but not quite as lofty and poetic as the rest of the disc. I sure wish he'd go back to going back to basics: he was really good at it!

Andy Griggs "This I Gotta See" (BMG-RCA Records, 2004)
(Produced by Randy Scruggs)
For an old-fashioned, hard country fan like me, an album like this is nigh unbearable: it's bland and flat-sounding, while simultaneously floridly overproduced... Griggs is basically a pin-up artist: a clean-shaven pretty-boy with perfectly-coiffed, dusty blonde-highlighted hair, and a rather questionable voice. And yet, there is an interesting aspect to his work: Griggs is the latest in a line of purposefully(?) imperfect singers, who use their rough edges as a selling point, picking up the torch that Hank, Jr. has laid down. In Griggs's case, it's both an asset and a liability: he does manage to make himself stand out from the crowd, and the more maudlin, emotive aspects of his work come out quite prominently, which is a plus when you're building a career on slushy romantic tunes like "My Kind Of Beautiful," "Why Do I Still Want You" and "She Thinks She Needs Me." Griggs's reading of these lyrics is so amazingly clumsy that you are compelled to listen to every word he sings, so in a sense, I guess it works. Still, the neutered Southern rock guitars, buried under an avalanche of lifeless, studio-perfect production, and all his other Travis Tritt-isms consign Griggs to an eternity of artistic mediocrity, no matter what his momentary chart success may be.

Andy Griggs "The Good Life" (Montage Music, 2008)
Like many modern-day Nashvillers, Griggs had a short shelf life: he seemed next big-thingish in '98, but nowadays if you can't hit the top of the charts, the major labels lose interest pretty quickly. So, like a lot of contemporary country singers who've been chewed up and spat out by the Music City powers that be, he went indie. This album didn't chart, but fans might still want to check it out.

Andy Griggs "Naked" (Little Hannel Records, 2013)
I'm still underwhelmed by Griggs' vocals, but it's kind of neat to hear an all-acoustic album from someone whose career was so powerfully defined by slick, modern overproduction. If nothing else, this gives us some insight into how Nashville producers sculpt and (pre)package their artists. None of the songs stood out for me, but it's still an interesting change of pace.

Bonnie Guitar "Dark Moon" (Bear Family Records, 1991)
In her way, Bonnie Buckingham (aka Bonnie Guitar, 1923-2019) was an iconic, groundbreaking female performer and musical entrepreneur. Hailing from Seattle, Washington, she moved to Los Anglees in the late 1950s and found work as a session guitarist, notably for Abbott Records, and the Fabor Records label, which also released her first solo recordings. She also cracked into the Nashville studio scene and is featured on numerous pop and pop-vocals albums; she also had considerable success as a solo artist in her own right. In addition, she was a pioneering DIY-er, starting her own record label (Dophin/Dolton records, which she sold after a few years), all of which was pretty remarkable for a gal in the Eisenhower/Kennedy era. As a musician, however, particularly as a country musician, I find her pretty underwhelming, pretty much epitomizing the snoozy, lethargic pop sound of the time. This collection showcases a bunch of her early stuff (though not necessarily her biggest hits...) Doesn't do much for me. There are also a bunch of original albums, but they strike me as too "pop" to list here... Even though she charted as a country artist, there's precious little twang to be heard in her work.

Randy Gurley "Let Me Be The One" (ABC Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Harold Bradley)
This was the lone album by gal singer Randy Gurley, who was on the country scene roughly from 1977-80 and scored a minor chart hit from the 1978 single, "Heartbreaker." She also recorded a few singles for RCA, but those were never collected into an album, as far as I know... Indeed, I was inable to really find any(!) biographical information about Ms. Gurley... and she seems to have vanished without a trace. Anyone who knows more about her, please feel free to get in touch.

Guy & Ralna "Country Songs We Love To Sing" (Ranwood Records, 1973) (LP)
The husband-and-wife duo of Guy Hovis and Ralna English were regulars on "The Lawrence Welk Show" and had a built-in national audience to help with their modest success on the charts. Most of their albums were gospel-oriented, a few were secular... I'm not sure how "country" the religious records were...

Guy & Ralna "Guy & Ralna Country" (Ranwood Records, 1974) (LP)

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Hick Music Index

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