Al Barrett's Linemen "Open Country" (Sweet Folk & Country, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Alan Green & Joe Stead)

J. J. Barrie "Did I Forget To Say Thank You?" (Power Exchange Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Shel Talmy)

Philomena Begley - see artist profile

Big Dave And The Tennessee Tailgaters "Hits For A Truck Driving Man" (Stereo Gold Award Records, 1970) (LP)
A mega-shady budget-label mystery disc from a completely unknown, anonymous band. This set of trucker tunes seems to have been first recorded for Damil USA, a short-lived cheapie label of mysterious provenance, and was relicensed and reissued numerous times throughout the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, including at least one anonymous CD edition, with no band name at all. The set list is a mix of cover songs of well-known trucker hits like "Giddy Up Go" and "Gimme Forty Acres," and a few tunes that seem to have been originals, such as "T-Town Tailgaitin'," which appears to have been unique to this "band." The album was added to and altered over the years, though, and it's doubtful that the same musicians played on all the various editions: the first album seems to have been recorded around 1970, and later editions added new material, such as C. W. McCall's 1975 hit, "Convoy," which makes this sort of an unusual, evolving album. The old Damil label also had an early 'Seventies pop/easy listening album credited to "The Gate Crashers," so that was sort of meant to be their brand, back in the day.

Big Tom And The Mainliners "A Little Bit Of Country -- And Irish" (Emerald Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Gunner & Peter Lloyd)
A popular Irish "showband" with country leanings, the Mainliners were from Castleblayney, in County Monaghan, Ireland, first forming in 1966. Like many UK bands, they released a few singles before graduating to their first LP.

Big Tom And The Mainliners "From Ireland" (Emerald Records, 1970) (LP)

Big Tom And The Mainliners "The All-Time Hits Of Big Tom And The Mainliners" (Emerald Records, 1971) (LP)
A genuine best-of set, which includes one song from 1967, "An Old Log Cabin For Sale," which was originally recorded in mono, but remixed for stereo to match the other tracks. Nice, unassuming stuff, played at a generally pokey, plodding pace, which matches Big Tom's laid-back, unhurried style, which retains clear intonations of his Irish accent, though this album mostly sticks to country-based arrangements. The minimal liner notes inform us that the Mainliners were a country-oriented showband from Cartleblayney, County Monaghan, more or less between Belfast and Dublin. Lead singer Big Tom McBride (1936-2016) also recorded as a solo artist in the early 1980s and continued touring and performing regionally throughout the 2000s and 2010s, despite suffering from poor health for many years.

Big Tom And The Mainliners "The Image Of Me" (Emerald Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Goodman

Big Tom And The Mainliners "Ashes Of Love" (Emerald Records, !973) (LP)

Big Tom And The Mainliners "Smoke Along The Track" (Emerald Records, 1974) (LP)

Big Tom And The Mainliners "Souvenirs" (Emerald Records, 1975) (LP)

The Bigtimers "The Bigtimers" (Hallmark Records, 1968) (LP)

The Borderline Country Band "Purveyors Of A Fine Blend Of Good Time Country Music" (Border Records, 1984-?) (LP)
(Produced by Roy Neave)
Yet another boundary-obsessed Borderline group, this time from the UK. I dunno much about these guys; their producer Roy Neave was was in a few different English rock bands in the 'Seventies, and these Borderline chaps may have been from Yorkshire as well. I think the tracks are all cover songs, accurately described as "good time country music" in the title, tunes such as "Fire On The Mountain," "Leavin' Louisiana In The Broad Daylight," "Midnight Flyer" and "Texas (When I Die)."

Phil Brady & The Ranchers "Brady Country" (Hallmark Records, 1968) (LP)

Phil Brady & The Ranchers "Songs Of Nashville" (Sunset Records, 1969) (LP)

Phil Brady & The Ranchers "No. 1 In The Country" (Lucky Records, 1970) (LP).

Jimmy Brewer "Changin' Country" (Tara Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Hughes)
An excellent album of unruly, all-original deep twang from Ireland's Jimmy Brewer, who wrote all the tunes on this album and exuded a rough-hewn quality I quite like. I'm not sure where exactly he was from, though amazingly this was recorded for the same Dublin-based label that released classic trad-folk albums by groups such as Planxty, Oisin, Clannad and Stockton's Wing. As far as I can tell, this was Tara's lone album-length exploration into traditional American-style country music, and it's a doozy. On the opening tracks, the gruff-sounding Brewer comes off like a brash mix of Johnny Cash and Jerry Reed, twanged-out though with a novelty edge... He gets a little more idiosyncratic as the album goes along, but sticks to his core country sound, and overall his songs are quite good. Unfortunately the backing musicians are not listed, though this sounds like a pickup band, probably made up of Irish folkies who were perhaps not that versed in playing genuine country music... The lead guitar is good and solidly country, though, my guess being that it was Brewer himself pickin' those licks. At any rate, I consider this one a gem -- a real twang auteur here, and a cut above his contemporaries as far as really "getting" the genuine honkytonk vibe. Recommended!

Bronco "Country Home" (Island Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Jess Roden)
An early country-rock band from the UK, led by English guitarist Jess Roden. The group recorded three albums; the first two were reissued together on CD. There's definitely a "rural" vibe, though the lyrics meander into more of an introverted, obscurist, stoner-hippie direction. Also, it's a fairly down-tempo production, with a sludgey, almost lethargic feel on most of the songs, and a burst of louder, electrified blues-rock on Side Two. Not really my cup of tea, but interesting historically, I suppose.

Bronco "Ace Of Sunlight" (Island, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Richard Digby Smith)
In contrast to their first album, this has smoother, softer musicianship, though again the lyrics are sort of introverted and self-referential, with an unformed feel. Also less distinctly twangy... (not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Graham Broughton "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (Oakwood Records, 1977) (LP)

Graham Broughton & The Original Sundown Band "Living In The West" (19--?) (cassette)

Bus Brown & Driftwood "Portrait" (Tank Records, 197--?) (LP)

Buckshot "Two Barrels Of Buckshot" (Square Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Pamenter & Derek Tompkins)
Outlaw country, Hertfortshire-style... This English twangband had a rough-edged, unruly sound, due in part perhaps to their musical limitations, but also clearly because of the allegiance to the wilder side of country. They kick things off with an edgy, rock-inflected cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," then slide effortlessly into a long string of original songs, most of them written by lead singer Pete Pamenter, whose chunky, old-man vocals add to the band's neotrad/amateur mystique. Drummer Keith Brooker also contributes a couple of songs, "There's A Will, But No Way" and the uptempo "Kentucky Morning," which is an album highlight. Dunno much about these guys, where they played or how popular they were, but this is kind of a cool album... Not as accomplished as its American counterparts, but still pretty twangy and unusually earthy by the standards of the old UK country scene.

Buffalo "Stars Of The Bars" (Pixie Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Buffalo, Gary Lucas & Mike Kemp)
This British country trio seems to have only made one album (though I could be pleasantly surprised by more!) Not sure where they were from, though the tiny, independent Pixie label operated out of Stamford, Lincolnshire, north of London. This is a solidly honky-tonk inspired album, featuring covers of "Burning Bridges," "Rambling Man," "Rednecks White Socks & Blue Ribbon Beer," "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" and "That's The Way Love Goes." Any info about this band is welcome!

Julie Byrne & The Nashville Cats "The Nashville Sound" (Boulevard Records, 1972) (LP)
An ultra-generic-looking country covers set, complete with goofy stage-coach cover art, which claims to herald a "new generation" of UK country talent, despite the pedestrian song selection, drawn mainly from American sources. Still, though I couldn't find much information about them online, singer Julie Byrne and steel player Mick Byrne must have found a fair amount of live work with their band, Nashville Cat, since they were together for pretty much the entirety of the 1970s. Anyway, even though "Lady Madonna" seems like an odd choice, there are some country chestnuts on here as well, such as yet more versions of "Rocky Top" and "Me And Bobby McGee," if more versions are of interest. There are also a number of songs credited as being "arranged by" the Byrnes, and though some are clearly covers, a few could be originals... "Little City Girl," for example, is unknown to me elsewhere.

Julie Byrne "Ramblin' Round With Julie Byrne" (Folk Heritage Recordings, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Alan Green)
A curiously eclectic album. Though entirely a set of cover songs, this was "new" material for Ms. Byrne, with backing from a British studio crew made up of Pete Banman (drums), Mick Byrne (rhythm guitar and pedal steel), Bambi Burkhardt (lead guitar), Bill Friend (bass) and Drew Taylor (keyboards and fiddle), with guest pianist Steve Derrington playing on one track. Some interesting choices in repertoire: along with oldies such as "Crazy Arms" and "I Can't Stop Loving You," this set also includes a couple of covers of then-contemporary hits by actor Keith Carradine, "I'm Easy" and "It Don't Worry Me," as well as a version of the Willie Dixon blues classic, "My Babe," and Leadbelly's "Ramblin' Round." Even more esoteric selections included covers of Eddie Reeves' 1961 teenpop single, "Talk Talk," Karen Black's "I'd Like To Go To Memphis" (from the Nashville soundtrack, same as the Carradine tunes) and "Route 65 To Nashville," previously recorded by Dottie West, and Steven Dorff's "King Of Country Music," which was originally from Tanya Tucker's debut album.

Julie Byrne "Ramblin' Round With Julie Byrne" (Artistry Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Alan Caddy)
This may have been a cassette only release, which is a shame, since I wouldn't mind hearing her cover of "Feeling Single Seeing Double," though I'm afraid my boom box died years ago... This edition of The Nashville Cats included Mick Byrne on pedal steel, Neil Macdonald (lead guitar and fiddle), Mal Read (bass), Derek Reaks (keyboards) and Graham Walker on drums. I'm not sure what happened to Julie Byrne following this late 'Seventies swan song, though Mick Byrne seems to have done some session work in the early 'Eighties, including a guest appearance with a short-lived country band called Rodeo Times, playing steel on an EP they put out in '82.

Hick Music Index