Mickey Barnett "Country Hits" (Little Giant Records, 1965) (LP)
Mickey Barnett "...Sings The Hits Of Johnny Cash" (Hilltop Records, 1966) (LP)
Mickey Barnett "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Pickwick Records, 1967) (LP)
More of a folk-pop covers album. One nice touch: the liner notes consistently misspell Art Garfunkel's last name.
Mickey Barnett (And Country Road) "Folsom Prison Blues" (Design Records, 1967) (LP)
Mickey Barnett "Rainy Night In Georgia" (Design Records, 1967) (LP)
Mickey Barnett "Galveston" (Design Records, 1968) (LP)
Mickey Barnett "Orange Blossom Special" (Design Records, 1968) (LP)
Mickey Barnett "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" (Design Records, 1968) (LP)
Mickey Barnett "Sings 18 Yellow Roses" (Little Giant Records/Pickwick International, 1976) (LP)
Budget label singer Mickey Barnett recorded several el cheapo specials for labels such as Design and Hilltop, though oddly enough this one seems like it was kind of a real album, with original material, a visible release date and an actual single released off the album(!) Pickwick even assigned this to a private custom imprint... what was up with that? Well, I guess somebody thought that Barnett had paid enough dues to merit the deluxe treatment...
Tim Davis "Another Turn Of The Wheel" (Spirit Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Tim Davis & Joe McSorley)
Folk-rock material by a guy associated with the eclectic East Coast country-rock group called The Sin City Band, which played regionally throughout Delaware and Pennsylvania. About half the songs are Tim Davis originals, along with a couple by future Sin City Band leader Scott Hardie-Birney; also included in a musical adaptation of the Walt Whitman poem, O Captain.
(Scott) Hardie-Birney "Word Of Mouth" (1976) (LP)
(Produced by Douglas W. Fearn & Joe McSorley)
Perhaps more of an outsider folk thing, though Scott Hardie-Birnie, along with several other musicians on this album, later formed an eclectic East Coast country-rock group called The Sin City Band, which released its first album a few years later, in 1979, and became a staple of the Delaware Valley's indie-twang scene. In between, they also backed songwriter Tim Davis (who sings backup on this album) on his solo album, Another Turn Of The Wheel, in 1978. Though hyphenated here, the Hardie part was later dropped, and he continued to perform simply as Scott Birney.
Dave Johnson "The Delaware Fiddle" (Unisong Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by John C. Greene & Bob Davis)
The Sin City Band "The Sin City Band" (Straight-Face Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Fred Kern)
This one's a little iffy. These guys from Newark, Delaware were aiming for an eclectic sound, mixing hippie twang with what I'm sure they fancied as more sophisticated pop-jazz stylings. When they play just plain twang, it's fine -- they had some assertive, enthusiastic pickers on banjo, pedal steel and electric guitar, and on uptempo tunes sounded kinda like New Riders Of The Purple Sage. But the slower songs and the jazzier riffs reveal a number of problems -- clunky tempo changes, fey vocals, etc. Still, their hearts were in the right place, and this is notable East Coast indiebilly... Worth a spin, but not one that really won me over.
Locals Only: Delaware Twang This page collects artist profiles and record reviews of country music from the state of Delaware. It's part of a larger guide to unsigned and off-the-radar regional artists from years gone by, which is also part of the even larger Guide To Hick Music on Slipcue.com. Most of the artists here are little-known locals, bar-band singers, etc., but the list also includes Nashville stars who were from the state, as well as some bluegrass and gospel artists, etc. This is an ongoing projects, with new stuff coming in all the time, and we welcome any recommendations, additions or corrections.
