Gus Backus "Hillbilly Gasthaus" (Polydor, 1964) (LP)
Although a well-known star of German schlager (pop music), Donald Edgar Backus (1937-2019) was actually an American, born in Long Island, New York, and had started his musical career as a member of the East Coast doo-wop group called The Del-Vikings. Backus emigrated to Germany in the early 1960s during a stint in the US Air Force, following his deployment to an American military base in West Germany. Starting in 1959 he recorded numerous singles and LPs, and though not all of them were country-flavored, these two early releases were modest twangfests, and are actually quite nice. The albums are alternate versions of each other, this first one being German-language, and the second (Hillbilly Inn) sung in English. ("Gasthaus" is a German word for "inn," though the songs on the two albums are not identical.) Nashville's Bill Justis and his orchestra back Herr Backus on both albums, and though the arrangements are admittedly a bit kitschy, the overall vibe is pretty good. Definitely worth a spin.

Gus Backus "Hillbilly Inn" (Polydor, 1964) (LP)
This was an English-language country album, released at almost the same time as Hillbilly Gasthaus. The is some overlap of songs between the two album, but it's not complete... Both records feature arrangements by Nashville producer Bill Justis, as well as from Backus's German collaborator, Werner Scharfenberger.

Gus Backus "Hillbilly Gasthaus" (Bear Family Records, 1994) (LP)
Yeah, and leave it to good old Bear Family -- of course! -- to combine both these albums into a super-duper reissue disc, replete with all kinds of archival footnotes and other info. Always a class act.

Banjo Express "Country Music - Old-Time - Bluegrass" (Disques Pierre Verany, 1980)
Ooh, lala! Despite the flashy stars & stripes cover art, this disque comes to us from our friends in France, and is a pretty straight-up set of bluegrass and old-timey instrumentals. The banjo(ist) in question is Yannick Huet, joined by Christian Bon and Philippe Bon on guitar(s), mandolin picker Luis-Jose Landa, and bassist Pascal Maucourant. Not sure what the trajectory of this band's career was, though they do seem to have put out a record or two other than this one. Some stylistic variety here -- they could pick pretty energetically and really fast, but also switched the tempo up and had a few creative arrangements, as on their stop-and-start version of Bill Monroe's "Cheyenne" and elsewhere. Definitely worth a spin.

Pierre Bensusan - see artist profile

The Blom Brothers "...With The Bluegrass Swedes" (Old Homestead Records, 1979) (LP)
A "solo" set from Swedish siblings Alf Blom and Lars Blom, along with their bluegrass bandmates, fiddler Thomas Haglund, banjo plunker Gary Johansson, bassist Floda Lomaeus, and guitar picker Bert Wiklund. They were all in the band The Blue Grass Swedes, which released several albums (below) though curiously this American-label release was billed as a Blom Brothers album. Go figure.

The Blue Grass Swedes "Blue Grass Swedes" (G. M. Productions, 1975) (LP)
The origins of this Swedish bluegrass/old-timey/country ensemble date back to the 1960s when brothers Thomas Haglund and Urban Haglund (1947-2021) formed a band called Tennessee Travelers, which also made a few recordings before morphing into the Blue Grass Swedes after a few changes in lineup. This disc showcases plenty of American bluegrass and country covers, including tunes from the likes of Hank Williams, Dallas Frazier and Bill Monroe, but perhaps more important are the originals contributed by fellow Swedes, Thomas Haglund ("Lee Highway Swing") and Urban Halund ("Lapland High-Fly," "The Years I Spent With You"). The Haglunds also perform on this album, playing fiddle and guitar; other pickers include Gary Johansson on banjo and Goran Lomaeus on bass.

The Blue Grass Swedes "Midnight Cowboys" (Rondo Records, 1969) (LP)

The Blue Grass Swedes "Blue Grass Swedes" (Great Music Production, 1975) (LP)

The Blue Grass Swedes "Mystery Train" (Great Music Production, 1978) (LP)

The Blue Grass Swedes "Drivin' Nails In My Coffin" (AMR Records, 1979) (LP)
A more country-oriented set, with covers of American classics such as the Delmore Brothers oldie, "Blues Stay Away From Me," "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," Hank Williams's "You Win Again," and the title track from Ernest Tubb. This was issued with a couple of different covers, including a rather literal-minded one that showed an actual coffin on the front cover -- unfortunately neither version included producer or musician credits.

The Bluegrass Connection "Bluegrass Francais" (Puritan Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Dave Samuelson, Eddie Flick & Gary Elghammer)
This French bluegrass group -- here made up of Roger Bellow (bass and fiddle), Gilbert Caranhac (dobro), Eric Kristy (guitar), Mick Larie (mandolin), Jean-Jacques Milteau (harp) and Jean-Marie Redon on banjo -- worked in various configurations, including as New Bluegrass Connection and simply as Connection, and under the names of co-founders Caranhac and Milteau. Roger Bellow was a ringer: originally from Chicago, he played with several different bands, playing both bluegrass and country stuff. The rest of the group were French, though, mainly Parisians. (See below for the band's other various incarnations.)

The Bluegrass Specials "The Train I Ride" (Saydisc/Roots Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Evelyn Parth & Hans Peter Strobl)
The debut album by a bluegrass band from Vienna, Austria, featuring Ferry Leitner (banjo), Wolfgang Entmayr (mandolin), Raymond Bamboschek (dobro and guitar), Eddy Mayrl (fiddle) and Willy Nefzger (bass). The repertoire is all traditionals and standards, with one original tune, "Russian Ride," credited to the band. Mostly cover tunes -- "Orange Blossom Special," "Soldier's Joy," et. al., though there is one track, the Slavic-inflected "Russian Ride," that seems to be an original.

The Bluegrass Specials "Volume Two" (Roots Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Evelyn Parth & Hans Peter Strobl)
In tune with the progressive bluegrass vibe of the times, the Bluegrass Specials wove in some contemporary material, including pop-oriented songs such as John Fogerty's "Looking Out My Back Door" and Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain," along with a slew of more standard-issue grassy tunes. There are also a couple of originals credited to Wolfgang Entmayr, "Hitchhikin' Mandolin" and "Losin' My Sight."

The Bluegrass Specials "Different Ways" (Roots Records, 1974) (LP)
(Prduced by Herbert Giesser & Evelyn Sperker)
The Specials moved away from old-timey purism with a newly-expanded band and a more expansive, more contemporary repertoire with songs such as "Me And Bobby McGee," Arlo Guthrie's "City Of New Orleans," Paul Simon's "Hobo's Blues," and Joe Sullivan's ragtime/jazz oldie, "Little Rock Get Away," and even a cover of "Rocky Top," for good measure. The musicians were Ray Bamboschek (dobro and guitar), Peter Chan (percussion), Wolfgang Entmayr (guitar and mandolin), Wilfried Ertl (guitar, piano and organ), Ferry Leitner (banjo), Serge Mayer (guitar and vocals), Ewald Mayrl (fiddle), Tomi Muller (harmonica) and Willy Nefzger on bass. The album also includes three originals from the band: Wolfgang Entmayr's "Over The Sandhills," along with "Sing It Now" and "Larry Johnson," both composed by Ferry Leitner.

The Bluegrass Specials "Volume Four" (Roots Records, 1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by Herbert Giesser & Evelyn Sperker)
A similarly expansive lineup, with drums and piano added into the mix, though a slightly different cast of characters: Ray Bamboschek (dobro and guitar), Wilfried Ertl (guitar, piano and organ), Ferry Leitner (banjo), H. Kurz-Goldenstein (drums), Serge Mayer (guitar and vocals), Willy Nefzger (bass), Ernst Sigmund (drums), and Axel Szava (harmonica and mandolin). The set does circle back towards their bluegrass roots, with fewer non-twang pop tunes, although a fair number of country songs are in the mix, such as "The Goldrush Is Over," "Hickory Hollow Tramp," "Six Days On The Road," and "Mister Bojangles," as well as a couple of Bill Monroe standards, one from Doc Watson and a zippy version of the then-popular "Fox On The Run." A couple more originals as well: "Fire Brigade Rag" by Wilfried Ertl and "Wenn Scho, Banjo," from Ferry Leitner.

The Borderline Country Band "Purveyors Of A Fine Blend Of Good Time Country Music" (Border Records, 1984) (LP)

Bosse & Anita "Country For Dig" (Bonita Sound, 1990-?) (LP)
(Produced by Tom Anderson & Stig Wiklund)
Anita Andersson and Bosse Andersson have, like, a bazillion albums. They're from Sweden. I'll look into it.

Jiri Brabec & His Country Beat "Blizzard Drahy Muj" (Supraphon Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Vladimir Valenta)
Who would have thought that American country music would be so popular -- or even permitted -- in Soviet-era Czechoslovakia? And yet, bandleader Jiri Brabaec and his "Country Beat" outfit proved to be one of the most successful 1970s acts on the state-owned Supraphon label. No doubt it was all part of a calculated Cold War strategy to make the Eastern Bloc puppet states look cuddlier and more acceptable to folks in the West... Or maybe the Czechs (and Slovaks!) simply needed some good old-fashioned self-pitying, beer-drinking singalong music, like the rest of us. Either way, bandleader and keyboardist Jiri Brabec (1940-2003) was a key player in this charm offensive, playing both country stuff and pop music, and was considered a key architect in the growth of the Czechoslovakian rock scene. (I will pause now to point out that, like many "foreign" artists, Jiri Brabec's name went through many different spellings -- Jiri, Jiriho, Brabec, Brabaec, Brabce -- and his band names also had several permutations. I'm just picking the most common one, and sticking to it, even though that might not be the spelling on any particular record. And apologies once again regarding the absence of diacritical marks: I'm a know-it-all, not a coder.) Anyway, back to this album... This disc includes plenty of covers of classic country songs, stuff like "A Dear John Letter," "He'll Have To Go," and Don Gibson's "Sea Of Heartbreak," as well as several Eastern European originals. The Country Beat seems to have been kind of a Randy Sparks-like New Christy Minstrels operation, with a number of different singers, including Jiri Grossmann, Milan Chiadil, Milan Drobny, Eva Olmerova, Nad'a Urbankova, Ladislav Vodicka, and a couple of different vocal groups, including one called the Kvartet Inkognito.

Jiri Brabec & His Country Beat "Country Beat 2" (Supraphon Records, 1970) (LP)
As on the previous Country Beat set, this album showcases several different vocalists, and has an almost compilation album feel, though the singers were all part of Jiri Brabec's band. In this case it's Nad'a Urbankova singing several hits from American "girl" country stars ("I Don't Wanna Play House," "Rock Me Back A Little Rock" and "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad") with the delightfully klunky male singers Karel Kahovec and Ladislav Vodicka filling out the opposite side of the spectrum. Say what you will about the production values, but their song selection sure was up to date!

Jiri Brabec & His Country Beat "The Best Of Country Beat" (Supraphon Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Slava Kunst & Petr Kocfelda)
One of the Country Beat's most widely circulated albums, this features relatively stripped-down backing by Jiri Brabec on piano, Jaroslav Hanslik (steel guitar), Karel Kahovec (guitar), Vojtech Kobylka (guitar), Vaclav Machacek (bass) and Jiri Myslivec (drums) and a variety of vocalists, most notably some super-goofy, English-language old-man vocals by Ladislav Kahovec. A lot of cover songs, but also several originals from Jiri Brabaec... This is kind of rinky-dink sounding and not super robust, but it's definitely a country record. Perhaps the album's highlight is a guitar solo that reminded by quite a bit of the "Devil In Disguise" solo in Lilo And Stitch. Pretty kitschy, I guess, but, well... y'know...

Jiri Brabec & Nad'a Urbankova "Three" (Supraphon Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Jan Hrabek & Gustav Houdek)
This set showcases actress Nad'a Urbankova (1939-2023) a Moravian gal who was hardly strictly a country singer, but did sing a lot of twangtunes as part of Jiri Brabec's outfit. Though this album covers several contemporary countrypolitan tunes (notably Lynn Anderson's "Listen To A Country Song," George & Tammy's "The Ceremony" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night") there's also some pop/novelty material that's a bit painful. I guess the non-country material helps explain why they altered the Country Beat band name: the actual artist name used on this album is "CB Jiriho Brabc & Naďa," but I just found that to be too irritating to keep track of... Anyway, this one's a mixed bag.

Jiri Brabec & The Country Beat "12 Golden Country Hits" (Supraphone Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Jan Spalney, Jan Hrabek & Mojmir Balling)

Jiri Brabec & George Hamilton IV "Country Beat" (Supraphon Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Jiri Brabec, Michal Bukovic & Karl Hodr)
A collaboration with American country star George Hamilton IV, who had found a solid fan base in Europe, including, I believe, a few trips behind the Iron Curtain. Notable musicians include pickers Petr Klouda (banjo and steel guitar) and Max Presser (fiddle and guitar). Presser played in other bands, at least through the 1990s.

Jiri Brabec & Nad'a Urbankova "Nad'a" (Supraphon Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Jiri Brabec & Karl Hodr)

Jiri Brabec & The Moody Brothers "Friends" (Supraphon/Lamon Records, 1989)
(Produced by Jiri Brabec, Michal Bukovic & The Moody Brothers)
A post-Cold War collaboration between Czechoslovakian country star Jiri Brabec and the American group The Moody Brothers, a family band that also owned their own independent studio in North Carolina. This album unites the four brothers -- Carlton, David, Dwight and Trent Moody -- along with a few of their hometown studio musicians with a whole host of Czech pickers, including Jiri Brabec on keyboards and piano. Even < href= "../../countryartists/hartford_john_01.html">John Hartford was along for the ride! I dunno exactly how this collaboration was set up, but the liner notes say this was recorded in Prague in early 1989, with "additional recording" done at Lamon Sound, in Charlotte, NC. Anyway, the set included covers of country hits such as "Hey Good Lookin'," "Walkin' After Midnight" and Hartford's countrypolitan classic, "Gentle On My Mind," as well as several originals from the Moodys, as well as three tunes penned by Brabec: "Eighteen Wheeler," "Highway To Somewhere" and "One Big Honkytonk." Among the trans-continental panoply of musicians, notable contributors include Czech steel player Petr Klouda and vocalist Jana Feriova who sings on a duet of "Highway To Somewhere." Let's hear it for glasnost and perestroika!

Nipso Brantner & The Swinging Cowboys "Die Grosse Westernschau" (Fass Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Freddy Monaco)
Austrian-born gypsy jazz violinist Joseph "Nipso" Brantner (1935-2003) was best known as a jazz/swing player, but he recorded at least two LPs with the country-friendly Swinging Cowboys, including this one from the late 'Sixties, featuring steel player Frankie Baum, Nipso Brantner (fiddle and vocals), Laczy Brantner (drums), Willie Haunschild (bass) and Chuck Herrmann on vocals and guitar. The repertoire is mostly traditional material ("Golden Slippers," "Home On The Range," "Oh Suzannah," etc.) though two songs, "Same Old Town" and "The Slivery Tomahawk," are credited to guitarist Chuck Herrmann, while Frank Baum composed one called "Frankie's Waltz." Not sure where this fits into Brantner's musical arc -- he'd been making singles and such at least as early as the mid-1960s, and got heavily into more modern jazz in the '70s... but I think the cowboy thing was a parallel path enjoyed alongside his jazz and pop pursuits.

Nipso Brantner & The Swinging Cowboys "German Saloon" (Polydor Records, 19--?) (LP)
On this album all the song titles are in German, with most tracks on Side One credited as folk tunes, though all the others, interestingly enough, all the others (including all of Side Two) are credited to American bluegrass fiddler Chubby Wise. There also seem to be some other country stuff from Brantner and his crew out there, including a bunch of singles, but I'm not sure if they've been anthologized here or elsewhere.

Buntline "After The Gig" (Boni Records, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Karel de Greef & Ger Romunde)
This Dutch country band seems to have been something of a one-off (two whole album's worth) by a bunch of restless rockers who steadily moved from genre to genre before landing at the doorstep of the country-rock scene. Guitarist Karel De Greef was once upon a time in a short-lived Nederbeat pop-psych band called Green Apple, which put out one slightly jittery, proggish single in 1972, he also played in the jazzy, fusion-y Thomas Flinter band, circa 1978, as well as a long string of other not-country bands. In the early '80s, he engineered an album by the Dutch twangband West Virginian Railroad, though I don't think he played on the sessions. But this whole group was made up of Dutch rock'n'rollers and jazz players who'd been in a wide variety of bands who just suddenly decided to be a country band for a while, and see how that felt. Buntline included singer Ger Romunde, guitarist Karel De Greef, Joost Egmond (piano), Theo Heldoorn (bass), and Jan van Loon on drums. Around the same time they cut this first album, the entire band also backed Jimmy Lawton on his self-titled 1985 album; Egmond and De Greef later formed a rock band called Satisfy in '86 which released a few singles, and so on it went...

Buntline "Tired Of The Road" (New Harvest Records, 1985) (LP)

Hick Music Index