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 support 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. There are also several originals on here, written variously by Gus Backus, Werner Scharfenberger and Udo Westgard.

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.

Gus Backus/Various Artists "Prarie Saloon/Charley's Neue Tante" (Polydor, 1966) (LP)
(Produced by Lotar Olias)
A cast album of two separate musicals starring Gus Backus. Side One of this studio-produced LP showcases songs from a western-themed show, Prarie Saloon, with Backus singing on the opening number, "Ja So Ein Western," and two other tracks; he's also featured in two numbers in the other production.

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 Bootleggers "Shady Grove" (Autogram Records, 1970) (LP)
The initial six-song EP from this West German old-timey/bluegrass trio, which first formed in 1970. The group included Jochen Kaboth (banjo), Wolfgang Potter (banjo, dulcimer and mandolin), and Tax Schmidt on guitar, joined on three tracks by Dutch fiddler Toon Engelbertink. As on the album below, this is all legitimately, super-authentically old-school Appalachian folk music from America, with plangent twang to spare.

The Bootleggers "Old Time Stringband Music" (Autogram Records, 1971) (LP)
Still resolutely purist and rooted in the past, The Bootleggers widen the lens a little to let in some Depression-era acoustic blues, along with the regular backwoods ballads, fiddle tunes and whatnot. I think this album was just the original trio of Kaboth, Potter and Schmidt.

Nipso Brantner Und Die Swinging Cowboys "Die Grosse Westernschau" (FASS Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Frank Daniel & Freddy Monaco)

Nipso Brantner Und Die Swinging Cowboys "German Saloon" (Polydor Records, 19--?) (LP)

Arno Busch "Country Lane" (19--?) (LP)
A real mystery disc. Apparently recorded in Cologne by the otherwise elusive Arno Busch, this is an indie-looking album with ultra-generic artwork, featuring a fine set list of country standards with a few rock/pop oldies... We're talking standards such as "Blue Suede Shoes," "El Paso," "Good Hearted Woman," "Wild Side Of Life," "Six Days On The Road" and "Help Me Make It Trough The Night..." But everything else is a blur. Anyone got any info on this guy? Anybody at all?

Canyon "Canyon" (Nature Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Gerhard Kampfe)
A German band with fluid boundaries between country and rock, though with a definite country direction... The trio included Manfred Weltterich (guitar), Wolfgang Ronsch (guitar, mandolin) and Achim Dresch (keyboards and harmonica) with additional backing by a slew of musicians, ranging from trumpets to pedal steel. Songs include "Brother Hobo," "Cowboy Song," "Don't Join A Rock'N'Roll Band" and a cover of the Beatles' "I've Just Seen A Face."

The Country Stars "Star-Club Show 8" (Star-Club Records, 19--?) (LP)
No indication of who there musicians were in this late-'60s German budget-label, country-covers knockoff band, though the set list is an interesting mix of honky tonk weepers, rockabilly and some stringband-era oldies, such as "Bile Them Cabbage Down" and "Golden Slippers," with one lone German-titled tune, "Doppeladler." Other albums in this series seem to be more rock-oriented, including several collections of non-Euro pop artists such as Little Richard and the Yardbirds.

Dagmar "Gelbe Rosen" (Koch International Records, 1991) (LP)
Known as "The Lady Of Country," Bavarian country singer Dagmar Tietz was born in Russelsheim, Germany, though she seems to have recorded exclusively on Austrian labels. This seems to have been her first official album, though thee might have been some earlier indie recordings. Most of these songs were originals written by Harry Teitz, though the title track is a translation of Dolly Parton's 1989 single, "Yellow Roses." But... what is going on with her hair? Is that some kind of feather-boa headband? Why??

Dagmar "Immer Gut Drauf" (Koch International Records, 1993) (LP)

Dagmar "Goldener Truck" (Koch International Records, 1996) (LP)
Apparently in 1996 Dagmar Teitz won something called the "Goldener Truck" award, which comes with a very large, oddly shaped trophy with, well, a big golden truck on it. I guess it was kind of a Austro-German version of the CMA Awards? By the way, the full title of this album is actually, Goldener Truck (Fur Meine Helden Von Der Autobahn), so feel free to translate away on that one!

Dagmar "Lass Mich Damit Bloss In Ruhe" (Koch International Records, 1996) (LP)

Dagmar "Pures Gold" (Koch International Records, 1996) (LP)
(Produced by Charly Hornemann)
It's possible this is some kind of best-of set issued in the wake of her "Golden Truck" award, though I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to cross-reference every song. A couple of tracks at the end were recorded i Nashville, with a bunch of the A-List crew backing her up: Sonny Garrish, Charlie McCoy, Hargus Robbins, Brent Rowan, Vip Vippermann and others, though most of these tracks were recorded back home with her Austro-German band, including producer-arranger Charly Hornemann on dobro and guitar, steel players Alfred Holler and Fred Kreim and keyboardist Thomas Schwaiger.

Dagmar "Bitte Noch Einmal" (Koch International Records, 1998)

Dagmar "Wachgekusst" (Tyrolis Records, 20--?)

Dagmar "Pausenlos Und Ohne Ende" (Tyrolis Records, 20--?)
(Produced by Christian Rasinger & Helmut Rasinger)

Dagmar "Leben Jetzt Und Hier" (Tyrolis Records, 20--?)

Dagmar "American Style" (Tyrolis Records, 2013)

Dagmar "Ich Geh' Meinen Weg" (Tyrolis Records, 201--?) (LP)

Emsland Hillbillies "Endlich" (Nature/Metronome Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Achim Reichel)
The first professional band led by German honkytonker Herman Lammers Meyer, whose fifty-year career started in his northern hometown of Aschendorf, near Bremen, where he formed the Emsland Hillbillies back in 1973, releasing his first single in '74. The Emsland Hillbillies were sort of an on-again, off-again group, a name that Meyer periodically revived over the years for various projects. Both these early albums were reissued on CD by Bear Family Records.

Emsland Hillbillies "Bauer Barnes Mühle" (Teldec Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Achim Reichel)

Flophouse String Band "Country Music" (1983) (LP)
All cover tunes from a band that had been around for a couple of years, but seems to have only made this one record. It's all cover tunes, a mix of old and new, with three Don Williams songs, three more from Johnny Cash and an assorted selection of tunes from the likes of John Denver, Roger Miller, Don Gibson and the Eagles. The lead singers were Hans Laqua (rhythm guitar) and Manfred Peter (guitar and pedal steel), backed by Walter Buse on drums, Micky Kuhs (guitar), Ritchi Mach (bass) and Jurgen Schmidt on bass and pedal steel... Dunno much about these guys, except that they previously appeared on a 1980 festival album sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes (see below) and though there doesn't seem to be any label name, this was a fancy-looking, double-sided picture disc release. (Also released in Poland under the title In The Jailhouse Now.)

George & Lucky Riders "Backdoors Of The Honky Tonks" (AAR Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Heinz Ulm)
Lead singer George B. Isenmann fronted this band of Bavarian bad boys, an outlaw-friendly twangband that covered a lot of great songs on their first album: Bill Phillips's "Coca Cola Cowboy," Red Stegall's classic anthem, "Lone Star Beer And Bob Wills Music," "Satin Sheets," "Tequila Sheila," "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother," and even a little Hank Williams and a version of "Rocky Top." The title track, "Backdoors Of The Honky Tonks," may have been an original, though it's hard to tell since there are no composer credits. (Also, why is there no article before the band name? No "das" or "die"? Nein? Hmmm.) The full band included George Isenmann on vocals, with Fredy Kreim (steel guitar), Peter Kretzschmar (bass), Robert Lehl (drums), an Ralph Trautner playing lead guitar) These guys also backed schlager star Renate Kern when she "went country" in the early '80s, right around this time, and Fredy Kriem in particular seems to have done a fair amount of session work -- he later backed an early 1990s country singer named Dagmar, and played on a few of her albums.

George & Lucky Riders "Ours And Yours" (Lovelight Records, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Klaus D. Hildebrandt & Nancy Wood)
This seems to be the Lucky Riders' only other album, with a big shift away from cover songs into originals, including songs such as "Barstool Cradle" and "It's Hard To Live On Hangovers." The lineup on this album is mostly the same as the first, other than a new bass player, Timothy Noel... Nancy Wood (aka Renate Kern) sings on one track ("A Place To Hide") and her producer credit suggests that these guys were her backing band for a while.

Head Over Heels "Don't You Wonder" (Racket Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Bernd Stasko & Head Over Heels)
Not a ton of info about this band from Hanover... They definitely are giving off a rocker vibe on this album, though they had previously appeared on a country festival album, circa 1980, and still had a steel guitar player on this album. The band included Dieter Croemer (guitar), Fergus J. Holmes (guitar), Martin Huch (lead and steel guitar), Uwe Pölitz (bass), Peter Probst (drums), and Timm Renner (lead guitar). Other than the Marlboro Country concert, this appears to have been their only record.

Hein & Oss "Cowboylieder" (Songbird Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Kurt Hummel & Bertold Marohl)
A highly prolific folk duo, twin brothers Hein Kroher (1927-2016) and Oss Kroher (1927-2019) were from the Rhineland town of Pirmasens, near Luxembourg, and from the mid-1960s through the 1990s they recorded both together and as solo artists, tackling a wide range of topics. This album is entirely devoted to American cowboy music, making it perhaps their most country-oriented work. Other musicians on this album include Jurgen Moser (bass), Jochen Taboth (banjo), along with a trio called The Steier Brothers, which made sort of an old-timey album of their own around the same time.

Jurgen Herbst "Der Weg Zuruck Nach Haus" (CBS Records, 1969) (LP)
Well, yeah, I guess technically this is country material -- a lot of cover tunes, and a few German originals -- but the overall approach is from a very pop-vocals direction -- basically some corny, staid schlager, 1960's style. This is the kind of record where the orchestrations are so far from the original material that you often can only vaguely recognize the songs as cover versions. The set kicks off with a slow, cheesy rendition of "Green Green Grass Of Home" (translated here as "Der Weg Zuruck Nach Haus") with slow, bland orchestrations, and goes downhill from there... There's also some straight pop material, which isn't any better. I suppose he had kind of a Frankie Laine or John Davidson vibe going -- in tune with the square music of the times, but not very appealing to we twangfans of the enlightened future. I don't know anything about this guy, but if I had to guess, he was probably an actor or something. I have to cofess I did enjoy his semi-okay cover of Johnny Cash's "Guess Things Happen That Way" ("Mein Weg Führt Mich Zu Dir"), but that's about it.

Jurgen Herbst "Weit Ist Der Weg Zuruck Ins Heimatland" (CBS Records, 1992) (LP)
This digital-era reissue includes almost all the songs from his 1969 album,Der Weg Zuruck Nach Haus, along with a few extra tracks, probably random singles or something, or possibly another album. The song order is changed from the original release, though I think these were the same versions.

Renate Kern "Und Draussen Geht Immer Der Wind" (BASF Records, 1975) (LP)
A West German pop singer, Renate Kern dabbled at times in American-style country music, as did many other Schlager artists... Where exactly the fine line lay between super-cheesy Euro-pop and maybe-less-cheesy Euro-twang, I really can't tell, though this is the first of her albums that seems plausibly closer to the sleek Nashville countrypolitan of the era, but it's still pretty dreadful and tacky. Not to be dismissive or culturally insensitive, but this is one hundred percent the kind of weird prefab pop you would hear oozing out of a marketplace stall when you were on vacation abroad and think, "Wait, is that the kind of music Germans listen to?" Or at least it was, before they discovered techno. Anyway, this isn't the first record I would recommend to a twangfan looking to broaden their horizons, though she did record some legit country stuff farther on down the line, including a few records using the nom du twang of Nancy Wood. (See below.)

Lone Star "Feierabend-Cowboys" (Buttner Records, 1987) (LP)
A Bavarian twangband mostly singing covers of American country songs, including a hefty chunk of outlaw tunes: "Long Haired Country Boy," "Luckenbach, Texas," "Okie From Muskogee," "Help Me Make It Trhough The Night," and some other fun stuff like "Ring Of Fire" and Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," even some relatively obscure material, like Peter Rowan's "Dance Time In Texas" and Garry Lee's "Rodeo Song." The band included Stephen Chapple (guitar), Thomas Hofmann (drums), Matthias Hauck (guitar and pedal steel), Thomas Schlereth (bass) and Peter Steger (guitar), all of who are also credited as vocalists. There are also a couple of German-language songs, the title track (of course) and one called Rasthof Geiselwind, by Thomas Schlereth.

Lone Star "Frischer Wind" (TC Records, 1993) (LP)
Same lineup still, and waaaay more German-language material... which I approve of!

Mc Hill's Woodland Company "Growin' " (Western Promotion Records, 1982) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Half My Hearts In Texas" (Buttner Records, 1990) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Above All" (Buttner Records, 1992) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Till The End Of Time" (Bullenschluck/Desert Kid Records, 1995)
Various Artists "BULLENSCHLUCK COUNTRY MUSIC ROUNDUP" (Bullenschluck/Desert Kid Records, 1996)
Hard country true believer Hermann Lammers Meyer is a songwriter from Germany who has made regular pilgrimages to Nashville, recording several albums with the likes of Buddy Spicher, Buddy Emmons and Tommy Hill, and guest artists galore. Among those guests is 'Sixties country queen "Pretty Miss" Norma Jean, who contributes three nice duets on Till The End Of Time, among them the Christmastime tear-jerker, "Faith In Santa", a recitation song in the grand old tradition. Norma Jean also has a couple of tracks on the Bullenschluck label's ROUND UP collection -- reprises of her big hit "Let's Go All The Way" and Porter Wagoner's goofy chestnut, "Company's Comin'".

Hermann Lammers Meyer "The Last Country Song" (1996) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer & The Emmsland Hillbillies "Texas Trails: Live" (Desert Kid Records, 1997) (LP)
(Produced by Hermann Lammers Meyer)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Meyer Zeitlos" (Desert Kid Records, 1999) (LP)
(Produced by Hermann Lammers Meyer)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "The Waltz Of The Wind" (Desert Kid Records, 1999) (LP)
(Produced by Hermann Lammers Meyer)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "I'd Like To Live It Again" (2000) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Stories We Could Tell" (200-?) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "The Good Old Days" (200-?) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "My Life In Song : The Best Of Hermann Lammers Meyer" (200-?) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Aus Dem Leben" (200-?) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Yesterday Once More" (200-?) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "1961: A Love Song" (200-?) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer & Friends "Buried Treasures" (Sireena Records, 2008) (LP)

Hermann Lammers Meyer "Nashville Is Rough On The Living" (Sireena Records, 2010) (LP)

Roger Morris & The Western Image "Living A Dream" (Image Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Red Saxon)

Ralf Paulsen "Bonanza" (Die Volksplatte Records, 19--?) (LP)

Ralf Paulsen "Ralf Paulsen" (Capitol Records Records, 19--?) (LP)

Ralf Paulsen "Das Ist Im Westen So" (Coral Records, 19--?) (LP)

Rhyme And Reason "Motorhorse To Nashville" (Marifon Records, 1979) (LP)

Billy Rider & His Cowboys "Western Country" (Weltmelodie, 19--?) (LP)

Earl Robinson "Ein Portrait" (Eterna Records, 1974) (LP)
Well, not country, but close enough. Earl Robinson was an American folk singer who cut several albums for Folkways back in the early 'Sixties, here performing old-fashioned traditional tunes such as "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and "Shenandoah." While the material seems inoffensive, it's no coincidence this came out on a label in communist-controlled East Germany -- Robinson was a bi old leftie, known for his political stands in the 1930s and '40s, when he wrote political/patriotic classics such as "Ballad For Americans" and "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night," about the martyred labor activist, Joe Hill. He was blacklisted in the '40s and '50s, but as far as I know never went into exile or anything like that. Also not sure if this was recorded in East Germany with local artists, or just licensed by the commies so they could show that at least a few Americans were still on their side.

Sammy's Saloon "Sammy's Saloon Featuring Tina West" (Quadro-Surroundsound-Musikproduktion, 1990) (cassette)
Apparently the first album from an obscure, short-lived German twangband with a distinctive name but a pretty modest online profile. The group seems to have made only a few records, though they may have stayed together as a regional group beyond their early-1990s origins. This album may have been a cassette-only release, with Sammy's Saloon backing the otherwise-unknown vocalist Tina West... She had previously recorded a "solo" schlager album on the same label, circa 1988, but left no trace after that. (Since Sammy's Saloon soon went on to back Nancy Wood (aka pop singer Renate Kern) on the album below, I halfway suspect that Tina West may have been Renate Kern as well, testing out her new country music persona...) Anyway, the musical vibe on this set is similar to Asleep At The Wheel, with covers of "Choo Choo Chaboogie," "Route 66," and other English-language twang and rock oldies. The album also includes "Sie Kocht Den Besten Kaffee," a song that appears on their album with Nancy Wood, below. No info about the bandmembers, alas

Sammy's Saloon "Sammy's Saloon" (LaserLight Records, 1991)
Exit the mysterious Tina West, enter former pop singer Renate Kern, now working under the nom du twang of Nancy Wood... She's the focus of this set, with the text emblazoned on the front cover all centered around her, although she's flanked by a photo of the band, who look appropriately shaggy and southern-rocky. This is an almost-all German-language album, with two songs carried over from the first Sammy's Saloon album of the previous year, "Country Music In Texas" and "Sie Kocht Den Besten Kaffee Von Ganz Texas," though it's not clear if these are the same versions, or re-recordings. Another track, "Cowboyhut und Schlangenschuh," popped up on one of the Stars & Trucks compilations. Again, not much info on the band itself, which seems firmly relegated to backup band status, though they "went solo" on the album below.

Sammy's Saloon "Trucker Songs: Hallo, Guten Morgen Deutschland" (Topsound Records, 1991)
No mention of West or Wood here, or any other wimmin for that matter. The cover just shows the guys in the band, six fellas wearing a mix of cowboy hats and trucker caps. The music is definitely all country, and all sung in German, which I approve of: people in far-off lands should sing in their own, far-off languages whenever possible.

Southern Express "Southern Express" (Mediaphon, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Doctor Udo Unger & Peter Edwards)
A fairly confusing roots-music ramble by a band from Stuttgart, Germany... "...Vait, Ulrich, I zought ve verr playink country music... but zis sounds more boogie rock. Do you vant me to play like Little Feat? No? Oh, more of a Humble Pie thing? No? Argent? Hawkvind? Vait, no, zat song is like a psychedelic folk-protest-stadium-rock anthem, but now you are playing pedal steel again. Ulrich... I am confused here." In all honesty, this is a pretty horrible, awkward, sludgy-sounding album, with little of the economy or aesthetic balance that made cheesy AOR and '70s hard-rock viable -- the true epitome of Europeans trying to sound like Americans and really, really not getting it right. There are some songs on here -- "Blue Collared Worker," "Darling," "Outlaw Man" -- that were (I think) meant to be country tunes, but they are as clumsy and thudding as everything else on here. Can't say I'd really recommend this one. Sorry.

The Steier Brothers "Steier Brothers" (Joke Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Tom Astor & Kurt Hummel)
An old-fashioned blues and folk group centered around the trio of Joe Steier (guitar and harmonica), Stephan Steier (fiddle and steel guitar) and Manfred Peter (steel guitar), with additional backing by drummer Fips Breitschadel, bassist Michael Raffel and singer Ginette Tormann. The trio had previously backed the folksinging twins Hein & Oss on an album of American cowboy music.

The Steier Brothers "Das Neue Programm" (Biton Records, 1983) (LP)

Tennessee "Tennessee" (Happy Bird Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Micky Wolf & Holger Grabowsky)
One of the many, many dubiously twangy country/schlager crossovers... This band's first album looked a lot more pop than this one, although this disc -- with covers of Johnny Cash's "Blue Train" and the old novelty number about the trucker and the UFO -- seems to be a pretty legit "country" record, albeit with a kind of easy listening edge. Tennessee continued to record for over two decades, although infrequently. I can't vouch for all their records, though these two do seem to be twangy. But, man... do I love this album's cover art!!

Tennessee "Aus'm Leben" (Pilz Records, 1991) (LP)
(Produced by Ronald David & Barry Lane)

Texas Lone Star "Desperados Waiting For The Train" (Bear Family Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Rich Helt, Ulli Mohring & Richard Weize)

Sam Travis & The Rhythm Mavericks "Rhythm Mavericks Greatest Hits, Volume 1" (Welfare Records, 1974?) (LP)
(Produced by Klaus D. Stingel)
All cover tunes, mostly hits of early 'Seventies vintage, stuff like "Country Roads," "Easy Loving," "Is Anybody Going To San Antone," and "Kiss An Angel Good Morning," as well as "Silver Wings," and "Woman, Sensuous Woman" Of course, there are a few lounge band chestnuts as well: "Orange Blossom Special" and "Rocky Top." Absolutely no indication of where these guys were from, but they all definitely for sure were using fake "American" names, listed on various songs where they took turns singing the lead: there's Harry Harris, Earl Lilly and Sam Travis himself... Other than that, vun kompleat mystery. I'm gonna guess 1974 or '75 on this one.

Virginian's Crew "Trucks And Trails" (PPPM/Power Play Music, 1980) (LP)
Not sure where exactly this German twangband was from, though the liner notes inform us that they were "vier Musicker" -- Gustl Adnodler (piano and fiddle), Manfred Deuss (bass and banjo), Gunter Griepl (drums), Georg Lex (steel guitar) -- "und zwei Madchen": Monica Kohler (bass and tambourine) and Christine Zagler on 12-string guitar... Why the gals aren't also considered musicians is beyond me, but whatever. All the songs were originals, co-written by Adnodler and Deuss, sadly however with English-language lyrics. Steel player Georg Lex looks like a middle-aged old-timer... I kinda wonder if he'd been in any other bands before this... Die liner notes say that the band formed in 1980.

Eddie Wilson "Eddie Wilson Singt Stories Aus Der Neuen Und Alten Welt" (Ariola Records, 1963) (LP)
The lone album (I think) by German honkytonker Eddie Wilson (ne Armin Edgar Schaible, 1936-2019) a plaintive twangster who was aptly nicknamed "Der Hillbilly-Tramp." Born in Ludwigsburg, Germany, a city just north of Stuttgart, Schaible started his career wailing out twangtunes for American soldiers at nearby military NCO and officer's clubs in the 1950s. Although this album came out on a European label, the tracks were actually recorded in Starday Records in Nashville: Schaible emigrated to America in 1960, and worked as a staffer at Starday for several years. The set is packed with German-language and bilingual gems, notably the title track, a 1961 single called "Dankeschon, Bitteschon, Wiedersehn," a top-flight novelty number about an American GI who wants to learn the local lingo, capped by the forlorn and grammatically challenged refrain, "I wish I could sprechen sie Deutsch..." Great stuff, with solid country musicianship, apparently provided by the early 'Sixties Starday studio crew. Highly recommended.

Eddie Wilson "Dankeschon, Bitteschon, Wiedersehn" (Bear Family Records, 1979) (LP)
An early Bear Family release, back when they were more focussed on rediscovering German pop-rock artists of years gone by. This is a straight reissue of his 1963 album, listed above, and it's truly a doozy. In contrast to many of his rock'n'rollin' early 'Sixties contemporaries, singer Eddie Wilson was a real country boy and had the 'Fifties hillbilly style down pat, with kind of a Kenny Roberts/Eddie Miller vibe. As mentioned above, Eddie Wilson moved to the United States in 1960 and hung around Nashville for the entire decade, then moved to Texas in 1971. Years later he started a new group called the Walburg Boys, which seems to have been a bunch of Lone Star German expats who primarily played polka music, along with a little twang.

Mickey Wolf "Hot Spots" (Philips Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Micky Wolf & Wolfgang Schleiter)
A hotshot guitar picker who came out of the German rock scene and did a lot of session work during the 1970s, gradually gravitating towards the rootsier end of the spectrum. Here he's fully in thrall of 'Seventies-era Eric Clapton, but the roots-music, "Tulsa Sound" Clapton who recorded a bunch of J. J. Cale's country-adjacent classics, songs like "After Midnight," "Lay Down Sally," "Tulsa Time," "I Shot The Sheriff" and "Lies." He also dabbles in a few rock oldies, like Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." Among his many studio sessions, Mickey Wolf played on a fair number of country albums, backing folks such as Gunter Gabriel

Mickey Wolf "Angebot" (Philips Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Micky Wolf & Holger Grabowsky)
Though maybe a bit more rock/blues oriented, this album extends Wolf's fascination with the Tulsa Sound, including five more J. J. Cale songs, albeit less recognizable ones of later vintage, all translated into German by Mickey Wolf and co-producer Holger Grabowsky. His other albums seem to be more straight-up rock and blues-rock.

Nancy Wood "Imagine That" (Lovelight Music, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Byron Hill & Nancy Wood)
This double LP set collects work by Bremen, Germany's Renate Hildebrandt (aka Renate Kern, 1945-1991) a European pop singer who "went country" in the early '80s in an effort to bump-start her flagging career. This was her second album working with Nashville songwriter-producer Byron Hill, and she sings a lot of his material as well as songs by fairly obscure writers such as Red Lane and Ava Aldridge, along with a couple by Marc Molen, who was affiliated with the Lovelight label, and I suspect was a German country artist as well. Although these tracks seldom really catch fire, it's a pretty solid set overall, with backing by a ton of Nashville studio pros: Sonny Garrish, Doyle Grisham, Fred Newell, Buddy Spicher, Chip Young and the like. Wood sings with a convincingly American accent, though she often seems a bit too controlled -- I imagine she sounded looser when singing auf Deutsch. Anyway, this is okay stuff, a little slick, but twangy enough for a spin or two. She also recorded an album under her German stage name -- Renate Kern -- in 1981, also with Byron Hill on board as producer.

Nancy Wood "Loneliness Is Just A Point Of View" (Lovelight Music, 1985) (LP)
Just a point of view, eh? Deep!

Various Artists "A COMPENDIUM OF TODAY'S FOLK SCENE, v.1: LET'S ALL GO FOLKY!" (Autogram Records, 1974) (LP)

Various Artists "A COMPENDIUM OF TODAY'S FOLK SCENE, v.2: CONFIDENTIAL INTERFOLK" (Autogram Records, 197-?) (LP)
This second volume in the Autogram series has a higher proportion of German artists, but still remains an "interfolk" collection of folks from far and wide. Dutch bluesman Hans Theessink reappears, contributing a couple more tracks, along with Scandinavian artist such as Alf Hambe and the Simonsen Brothers; there's a whole brace of Celtic musicians, including Phyllis Mooney, Sean Pepper, The Travellin' Folkand Irish trad artist Al O'Donnell, who recorded a string of albums in the 'Seventies. As on other Autogram collections, many of these artists were pretty obscure and don't seem to have appeared on other record, though there are also several very accomplished acts on here as well: songwriter/comedian Christof Stahlin (1942-2015) made a ton of albums, both solo and as part of the group Die Fanfare Der Poesie; likewise the brother duo of Hein + Oss recorded a ton of albums, including a 1980 set of American cowboy tunes. The biggest commerical success, though, was probably that of Labi Siffre a queer, mixed-race British singer and multi-instrumentalist who started out playing folk and jazz but branched out into pop and soul in the early 1970s and became best known for composing the Madness single, "It Must Be Love," as well as the anti-apartheid anthem "(Something Inside) So Strong," which was a real hit in the UK, and was later covered by Kenny (Sauron) Rogers over in the United States. I'm also curious about the Dutch-based Silly Skiffle Group, though their only other recordings seems to be a split EP they made for Autogram a few years earlier. Okay, sure, once again this isn't all that "country," but it sure leads in a few interesting directions.

Various Artists "A COMPENDIUM OF TODAY'S FOLK SCENE, v.3: TRACKS OF INTERFOLK" (Autogram Records, 197--?) (LP)
A pan-European folk set, curated by the semi-purists of the Autogram label. Includes some hometown German artists such as banjoist Jochen Kaboth (one-third of the old-timey trio The Bootleggers, here playing an instrumental solo number) and the Westphalian duo Jeff & Greg, as well as Bo Maniette (from Sweden), Gerard O'Grady (presumably Irish), Groep Rum (Dutch, perhaps?), a Chilean refugee, Guillermo Basterrechea, and several figures from the British folk scene, including guitarist Wizz Jones, American expat folk-rocker Tucker Zimmerman, and super-earnest UK folkie singer-guitarist Terry Gould. Perhaps most interesting are a couple of old blues tunes strummed solo by a fella named Dave Travis: he later became an influential rockabilly revivalist and as owner of the Stomper Time label, brought several American rock pioneers over on tour for European audiences to revere. A little harder to parse is the Hannoverian avant-folk duo Arbeitstitel Knochen (Peter Frese and Reinhard Stroetmann) who went on to cut several albums in the early 'Seventies. A lot of interesting threads to follow from this one!

Various Artists "A COMPENDIUM OF TODAY'S FOLK SCENE, v.4: FOLK FESTIVAL" (Autogram Records, 1973) (LP)
Though still international in character, this set seems to acknowledge the UK and Ireland as the gravitational center of the European folk scene, with almost the entire first side devoted to trad artists from the islands, including a string of heavyweight players such as Mike Cooper (of the Cooper Family), Five Hand Reel's Bobby Eaglesham, songwriter Hamish Imlach, Battlefield's Davy Steele, The Sands Family and others. Side Two kicks off with several Dutch artists, including an intriguing Dutch acoustic group called Tail Toddle which had a distinctly Celtic-ish flavor, a gal named Cobi Schreijer who recorded several rather serious-looking straight folk albums and Herman Erbe, who recorded both as a solo artist and in a few different bands. We finally land on genuine German artists towards the end, notably folk-rocker Beppo Pohlmann, an earnest Hannoverian folkie named Wolfgang Uster and the Munster-based band, Fiedel Michel, which later morphed into a Pentangle-ish folk-rock band called Falckenstein, with a bunch of albums under both names. Nothing really country-oriented here, but, well... In for ein Pfennig, in for ein Mark.

Various Artists "A COMPENDIUM OF TODAY'S FOLK SCENE, v.5: INTERFOLK COLLECTIONS" (Autogram Records, 1974) (LP)
Hey... It's finally starting to dawn on me that these Autogram compilations didn't feature any French artists. Or Spanish musicians, either. Wonder what's up with that. Anyway, as with the previous volume, this set is dominated by Irish and UK folkies, including a number of pleasantly obscure trad singers who I'm now adding to my wantlist: Dave Abrams, Dominic Behan (brother of Brendan Behan), Pete Berryman, Kempion, Peter Nalder, Doug Porter, Bill Price, and an all-kids group called Harewood Magna (which later released a six-song EP on Autogram). Whew! I guess the real money in 'Seventies folk scene was out across the English Channel... or at least the major cool points. There are a few continental artists as well, though, all Germans, I think: blues picker Richard Bargel, a duo called Emma & Volker, Matthias Franck, a fella named Franz Kratschat, and the band Mayenfoghel. [It's probably worth noting that if it's German folk music you're looking for, a little while later, after the folks at Autogram had gotten all this internationalism out of their system, they released at least one all-German compilation album, Eigenheimer, which featured several of these same artists. The label also released an unfathomable amount of archival American blues recordings, just FYI.]

Various Artists "BULLENSCHLUCK COUNTRY MUSIC ROUNDUP" (Bullenschluck/Desert Kid Records, 1996)
Sort of an alt-country/oldies set hosted by neo-trad devotee Hermann Lammers Meyer, whose frequent pilgrimages to Nashville made him friends with 'Sixties country queen Norma Jean, who contributes a couple of tracks on this collection -- reprises of her big hit "Let's Go All The Way" and Porter Wagoner's goofy chestnut, "Company's Comin'."

Various Artists "COWBOY-LIEDER" (Elite Records, 196--?)
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 crosscultural delay, this could have been from the '60s as well. If I find out more, I'll let you know!

Various Artists "COUNTRY TIME" (Amiga Records, 1990) (LP)
(Produced by Wolf-Dietrich Fruck)
There are only four bands on this LP: Biber's Farm, Brigitte & Company, Kactus and Gerhard Witte. Witte, a pedal steel player from Pottsdam, also performed on the COUNTRY GUT TUT album, as did Brigitte Grasnick and her band

Various Artists "COUNTRY TUT GUT" (Amiga Records, 1989) (LP)
(Produced by Wolf-Dietrich Fruck)
A fairly bland collection of slick, antiseptic, low-energy modern country music from the German Democratic Republic. A lot of different artists -- Brigitte & Company, Country Tramp, Fox Tower Bluegrass Band, Sonny's Country Special, Whisky & Soda and many others -- but nothing that really wowed me, or particularly caught my attention. It's possible that this was some kind of "pay to play" album, though doubtless many of these artists were real working bands. I like that they're not singing in English, but even with the local appeal, they all kinda sound the same.

Various Artists "DIE STARS DER DEUTSCHEN COUNTRY-SZENE" (Polystar Records, 1991)

Various Artists "MARLBORO COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL '80" (Creative Partners Records, 1980) (LP)
Coffin nails for sale! The American tobacco company Philip Morris & Company had a pretty rural, outdoorsy sales image for its Marlboro brand, a vibe they imported to entice German consumers to purchase their death sticks. This included sponsoring a short-lived country music festival in the early 1980s, and even producing a few souvenir albums memorializing the shows, which were recorded at the Circus Krone-Bau in Munich. This disc includes live performances from several German twang bands: Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Nico Brantner, Flophouse String Band, George & Lucky Stars, Head Over Heels, Mc Hill's Woodland Company, and The Steier Brothers. (There's also a group called Bluegrass Unlimited with appeared on a subsequent Marlboro album, which I assume is also a German band, but I'm not 100% sure, because there was a band in the United States with the same name....) Most of these artists put out singles and albums in the early '80s, though most of them seem to have been none-hit wonders... Other, that is, than fiddler Joseph "Nipso" Brantner (1935-2003) who had a long career playing swing music and working on various cheapo/easy listening albums, including some that were country themed; Brantner kicks this album off with a version of "Orange Blossom Special," jamming with steel player Frank Baum, who was also a member of his band, The Swinging Cowboys. An interesting cross-section of the more indie side of the German twang scene.

Various Artists "MARLBORO COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL" (Creative Partners Records, 1982) (LP)
An odd promotional album featuring live recordings or a few obscure German bands -- George & Lucky Stars, Head Over Heels, and Mc Hill's Woodland Company -- as well as Hoyt Axton and

Various Artists "NASHVILLE STARS IN DEUTSCHLAND" (Bear Family Records, 1980) (LP)
This European curio features several artists from the mid-1960s RCA stable performing and recording abroad, at the label's studios in Germany... Between 1964-67, the Anita Kerr Singers, Bobby Bare, Jim Ed Brown, Floyd Cramer, Willie Nelson and Stu Phillips all made the trek to Berlin, where they worked with various German bandleaders and composers, including Henry Mayer, Werner Scharfenberger, Erich Werner and Gert Wilden, who backed them on German-language versions of American country songs as well as originals by writers such as Kurt Feltz, Kurt Herthe, Henry Meyer and C. M. Peeters.

Various Artists "STARS UND TRUCKS, FOLGE 1" (Karussell Records, 1991-?)
An odd collection of international country stuff, mostly big-name Americans stars such as Lynn Anderson, Willie Nelson, Sammi Smith and Don Gibson... Though as you'll notice, these are older tracks, and not a contemporary set. There are a few non-Yankee randos in here: the lone German entry appears to be a track by the band Sammy's Saloon, joined by one song by Australian(!) honkytonker Nev Nicholls and a cover version of "Green Green Grass Of Home" by some otherwise-unknown guy named Andre Blanchard. Of more interest methinks, are the subsequent volumes in this series, which feature a slew of German twangsters.

Various Artists "STARS UND TRUCKS, FOLGE 2" (Karussell Records, 1991-?)
By the way, although this may be an imprecise translation, I think "folge" more or less means "volume," as in "Volume Two," although not, "Hey! turn the volume up on that Kenny Rogers song!" You learn something new every day.

Various Artists "STARS UND TRUCKS, FOLGE 3" (Karussell Records, 1991-?)
Part of a series of albums spotlighting various German country musicians, with most of the songs performed auf Deutsch. Some of the artists were relatively well-known, such as the Emsland Hillbillies, singer Nancy Wood (nee Renate Kern, and Peter Quinn, though most seem more obscure. This ought to keep me busy for a while!

Various Artists "STARS UND TRUCKS, FOLGE 4" (Karussell Records, 1991-?)

Various Artists "STARS UND TRUCKS, FOLGE 5" (Karussell Records, 1991-?) (LP)
According to Discogs, this series goes up at least as far as Volume 10, though I haven't laid eyes on any of them past #5. Probably just as well.

Hick Music Index