Well, then this website is for you! Here's your chance to read all about Nashville pop, from the late-'50s "Nashville Sound" and the countrypolitan scene of the '70s to today's chart-toppers and pretty-boy hat acts, seen through the lens of DJ Joe Sixpack, a hick music know-it-all with a heart of gold...
The Quinn Brothers "A Bushel Of Charley Pride Hits" (Pickwick/Hilltop Records, 1972) (LP)
I couldn't tell you for the life of me, who these here Quinn Brothers were, although it's possible -- since this is a Hilltop LP -- that this also includes singer Bill Quinn (from above) who recorded for Pickwick a few years earlier. Or not. Anyway, this is a cheapo-label set of "soundalike" cover songs, including hits like "Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger," "Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone" and "Kiss An Angel Good Morning." Originally it was meant to appeal to folks who would be fooled into thinking it was really a Charley Pride album, and unlikely to make those folks very happy. But now, decades later, it's just another old, prefab countrypolitan album, and can be taken at face value.
Jack Quist "Texas Bound" (Oscar Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by George Mallard & Jack Quist)
A longtime fixture on Utah's twang scene, earlier on Jack Quist was a member of an outlaw country band called Cold Blue Steel, which recorded an album back in 1976. He may have been in a few rock bands, too, back in his younger days, as heard on this album which appears to be a collection of his early work, all of it composed by Mr. Quist. The album includes outlaw-ish stuff like "Can't Get Enough Cocaine," as well as the single "Surfin' Hermosa Beach," a bar-band song with a raucous, garage rock sound than might fit more in the alt-country or hippiebilly categories... Plenty of good, pure honky-tonk stuff, too... definitely worth a spin!
Jack Quist "Where Does Love Go" (Grudge Records, 1989)
(Produced by Earl Richards)
Hailing from Utah, singer Jack Quist has tried his hand at a wide range of country styles, including a stint in Branson working as a Johnny Cash impersonator. This is his best and most focussed album, with the strongest commercial feel. It's a decently produced, laid-back album with a strong stylistic debt to mid-'80s Merle Haggard... All the songs are originals and they're all pretty good. He's backed by a talented Nashville studio crew including Harold Bradley, Ray Edenton and Pete Wade -- they don't completely knock it out of the park, but they don't overdo it, either. If you're a Merle fan, this is definitely worth checking out.
Jack Quist "Dear Mom" (Grudge Records, 1996)
Commercial Country Albums - Letter "R"
Hick Music Index
