Various Artists "BANJO PARIS SESSION, v.1" (Cezame Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Denis Phan)
A veritable Rosetta Stone of the early 'Seventes French acoustic/bluegrass scene... This is an all-star summit session, presided over by multi-instrumentalist Gilbert Caranhac, of the band Bluegrass Connection, several of his collaborators, and a slew of Gallic pickers from across the musical spectrum. Also on board are American progressive bluegrassers Bill Keith and Jim Rooney, as well as French folkies such as guitarist Pierre Bensusan, who started out as a bluegrass musician before evolving into a mystical new-acoustic luminary; Daniel Olivier of the folk band La Bamboche; numerous others who recorded together on each other's albums.
Various Artists "BANJO PARIS SESSION, v.2" (Cezame Records, 1977) (LP)
Largely the same cast of characters, reassembled two years later for a set dominated by American bluegrass and honkytonk standards -- classics such as "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," "Footprints In The Snow," "Sitting On Top Of The World," and "She's No Angel," punctuated by a couple of original instrumentals courtesy of Jean-Marie Redon ("Mr. Gloub") and Christian Seguret ("Hot Mandolin #17") as well as one from American mandolinist Mike Lilly. Pierre Bensusan is on board, along with Jim Rooney, Mike Lilly and Wendy Miller, as well as a select handful of Gallic hosts, including banjo picker Jean-Marc Andrès, who was not on the first album. Seems pretty straightforward... I think these two LPs were later gathered together as a 2-disc set.
Various Artists "Folk Pirate" (Expression Spontanee Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Denis Phan)
A fair amount of artist overlap from the Banjo Paris albums above... including a lot of rare early work from Pierre Bensusan. The Expression Spontanee label was born out of France's 1968 social revolt, and as such specialized in politically-themed albums, although this is pretty purely a bluegrass/old-timey/new acoustic set. Includes a few Anglo-American tunes such as "Sailor's Hornpipe" as well as the bluesy "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" and even a version of "Hot Burrito Breakdown." A lot of French stuff, too.
Country Snakes/Various Artists "VILL VEST: COUNTRYFEST!" (Talent Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Jan Erik Kongshaug)
Norway's long-running honkytonk band Country Snakes has a rather idiosyncratic history... Formed in 1967, the group seems to have become a sort of free-floating backing band and/or host to various independent artists over the years. Their late 1970s series of "Countryfest" albums look a lot like compilations, and perhaps are in a sense, although it's more like the ever-amorphous Country Snakes lineup had put itself in the role similar to that of a mini-opry house band, backing various vocalists and showcasing instrumentalists who may or may not have been part of the group's official lineup. I think we can call these "comilation albums," though that might not be entirely accurate from a strictly technical perspective. This one includes The Country Snakes, along with Bjoro Hjaland, Ottar Johansen and others; most tracks feature members of the band Country Snakes.
Country Snakes/Various Artists "COUNTRYFEST" (Talent Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by O. Johansen)
The Country Snakes "Countryfest 2" (Talent Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by O. Johansen)
Various Artists "COUNTRY FEST 6" (1980) (LP)
A country set from Sweden, featuring Lillian Askeland, Ottar Johansen, Arnulf Holthe, The Country Team, and others...
Various Artists "COWBOY-LIEDER" (Elite Records, 196--?) (LP)
A very odd, but delightfully kitschy, collection from various German-speaking Swiss "country" musicians. The perky orchestrations and bouncy, singalong chorus vocals have more in common with squaresville pop artists like Mitch Miller and Frankie Laine than with Bob Wills or Hank Williams. But these goofy "cowboy" songs -- all sung auf Deutsche -- are still kind of a hoot. There are some recognizable American oldies -- Stephen Foster-y standards and tunes like "Down By The Riverside" as well as various less-familiar western-themed material which may have been written as part of whatever faux-Americana fad this record might have represented. There are numerous singers on here -- with colorful names like Western Jimmy and Leila Negra, as well as Ferry Graf, Lutz Landers, The Kay Twins and Gina Morelli -- backed by a few different ensembles: Die Texas Band, Das Orchester Lutz Albrecht, Das Orchester Konstantin Truxa and Das Orchester Ralph Dokin. This looks and sounds very 1950s, though I suppose that with the trans-oceanic cross-cultural delay, this could have been from the '60s as well. If I find out more, I'll let you know!
Various Artists "LANTTA KOHTI" (Scandia Records, 1971) (LP)
A compilation of early 'Seventies Finnish country artists, including Erkki Liikanen, Kai Lind, Eija Merila, and Jussi Raittinen & The Kantri Boys. I feel obliged to mention that I'm leaving out a few umlauts here and there, but alas, do not have the coding skills to include them.
Various Artists "THE NEW OUTLAWS" (Big Hand Records, 1984) (LP)
Country music is everywhere, even in the erudite intellectual aeries of Europe... In fact, there's so much of the stuff, I barely know a fraction of it. This section includes a bunch of random bluegrass and country bands from across the European continent, although I'm aware there are many, many other artists and albums not currently on my radar. Also, separate sections exist for Germany and The United Kingdom and Ireland which have their own large, impressive country scenes, though many of those albums may also be included here. And trust me, once I crack the code and find all the records, France, Croatia and Lichtenstein will all get their own twang guides, too! (PS: I apologize for not being able to support umlauts and schwas and other special characters and for making all your languages look so very not right. I'm just not smart enough for all that technical-type stuff!)
