Trace Adkins -- see artist profile

Vince Anthony "Closing Time" (Midnight Gold Record Company, 1981)
(Produced by Chet Guzzetta, Randy Russell, Buz Smith & Bill Triche)
A Louisiana native who recorded this set in Houston, Vince Anthony (aka Vincent Guzzetta) started out as a 'Fifties rock'n'roller, recording independent bluesy, swampy gems such as "Too Hot To Handle," way back in the day. He collaborated with his brother, producer/multi-instrumentalist Chet Guzzetta, to create this beer-soaked, Moe Bandy-ish country set, packed with original material such as "Closing Time," "I Cried All Day," I Hurt So Much" and "Sad, Sad Letter." The only cover song on here is a version of Jan Crutchfield's "Statue Of A Fool," which pairs nicely with all the mopey Vince Anthony originals. Backing him is a local crew including saxophonist Joe Auenson, fiddler Steve Snoe, session pro Robby Springfield on pedal steel and Chet Guzzetta playing bass, guitar, drums, piano and just about any other thing you can imagine, with Vince singing lead and playing piano and guitar.

Randy Armour "This One's For You" (Souvenir Records, 197-?) (LP)
A pretty scary-looking set of lounge piano performances by Randy Armour of Shreveport, Louisiana, who apparently did gigs in Miami, Dallas, New Orleans and on various Caribbean cruise ships. His Tony Orlando-ish fashion choices don't exactly scream out "country," but most of the songs on here are country covers: "Delta Dawn," "Help Me Make It Through The Night," "City Of New Orleans," "Please Release Me," and the like. Still...

Atchafalaya "One In A Row" (Nijik Records, 1982) (LP)

Atchafalaya "Live" (Nijik Records, 1986) (LP)
Recorded in concert at the Boudin Festival in Broussard, Louisiana, Feb. 1 and 2, 1986.

Atchafalaya "Defined" (Nijik Records, 19--?) (LP)

Joe Avants "Country Music My Way" (One Way Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Avants & Bill Clements)
Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Joe Leonard Avants Jr. (1931-1996) was the longtime engineer for Louisiana's legendary Swallow Records label, producing cajun, country and soul tracks by Rod Bernard, Clifton Chenier, Tommy McClain, and many, many others. That gig ended when the label closed its studio in 1978, with Mr. Avants then opening his own business in Slidell, Louisiana. He seems to have focussed on country music, as suggested by back-cover testimonials by Tex Williams and fiddler Billy Armstrong imply, and by this album of solidly country material, which unfortunately does not provide us with info on the musicians who backed him. It's not 100% clear if Joe Junior was the son of old-school honkytonker Joe Avants, who famously led a band in Arkansas that gave country legend Hank Locklin his start in the late 1940s, and who worked with Chet Atkins and other in the 'Fifties, but it seems likely. Also unclear if either (or which one) of them was the Joe Avants who cut several country singles up in Seattle during the early 1970s -- I couldn't find any info online that made the connections clear, but the hazy outline is there... Anyway, this album is a mixed bag, kicking off with some uptempo western swing, giddy music that helps us overlook Mr. Avants's vocal limitations, though they are harder to ignore on the slower, sappier tunes. Overall, though, it's hard not to appreciate his love of the music, and the backing band is clearly a solid, professional crew. I found it charming, though honestly not a record likely to inspire much recreational listening; several original songs, though, and probably a good resource for anyone looking for unknown old country songs to revive.

Back Porch Boogie Band "Crankin' Up!" (Southern Star Records, 1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Hunter, Joe Spivey & D. W. McKnight)
A down-home twang band from Shreveport, Louisiana, featuring Roland Hall and Jim Buckelew on vocals and guitar, along with bassist Rick Hagler and Kerry Hunter on drums Dunno exactly when this one came out, but it must have been some time before they (temporarily) broke up in 1982... The group reformed (several times) has been together for years, well into the 2010s, and has self-released a CD or two in their time.

Richard Banquer & Friends "The Original Papa Joe's Presents..." (Original Papa Joe's, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Tookie Banquer & B. J. Johnson)
I haven't totally got a bead on when this came out -- it looks late 1970s, possibly early '80s -- but it's definitely a product of New Orleans. This appears to be a souvenir of a twangband that had a gig at the Original Papa Joe's, a now-defunct restaurant-bar in the French Quarter. Lead singer Richard P. Banquer (1950-2017) had some deep local roots: his mother, Cleo Banquer, is said to have managed the career of regional star Clarence Frogman Henry, and numerous local musicians pitched in to raise money for medical bills when Mr. Banquer fell ill in the 2010s. A lot of country oldies on here, as well as two originals penned by Banquer, "Good Bye New Orleans" and "Sometimes." His band included Sam Alfano on bass, S. A. Allen (guitar), Rhonda Bolin (vocals), Rob Haines (steel guitar), Dick Hughes (guitar, bass, accordion), Don Kendrick (drums), and Randy Rea playing mandolin and dobro. This may have been at least partly a pickup band; Banquer was from the New Orleans area, but this was recorded at Precision Recording Studio, in Picayune, Mississippi. Also, in the liner notes Banquer thanks a couple of local groups, the Salt Creek Boys and the Lucky Star Band, for their help. Not a lot of other info though -- in 2012 Banquer was a member of a NOLA group called the Southern Groove Band. Lord knows what he was doing in between!

Joe Barry "Joe Barry" (ABC-Dot Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Huey P. Meaux)
A veteran performer from the Louisiana music scene, Barry worked as a producer and session player alongside Mac ("Dr. John") Rebennac and performed with musicians such as Clarence Henry and Smiley Lewis, Bobby Bland and T-Bone Walker, and was one of the first artists to record for the Smash label in the early '60s. He had been retired for several years when Huey P. Meaux asked him to record this album, which is a mix of country and R&B songs and styles.

Wade Benson "For The First Time" (Studio One Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Al Lee & Tommy Strong)
Cajun/country fiddler Wade Benson (aka Wade Benson Landry) was already a two-time Louisiana Junior State Champion fiddler by the time he cut this album, winning the title in 1975 and 1977, at ages 13 and 15 -- he was just fifteen years old when he made this record. Other, later albums were recorded under his full name, and concentrated more exclusively on traditional cajun material.

Rod Bernard - see artist profile

Wade Bernard "Live At The Cajun Festival" (Dominion Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Mills & Benny Quinn)
Cajun country from Golden Meadow, Louisiana, an early private-press release from Wade Alan Bernard, who later moved to Nashville and pursued both a solo career and worked as a backing musician for mainstream country stars such as fellow cajun Jimmy C. Newman. The music here is a mix of classic country -- some Hank Williams tunes, etc., and several originals by Wade Bernard and also one by his dad, Dudley Bernard, mainly sticking to mainstream country, with a little bit of blues and swamp-pop in the mix. The set was recorded live at the sixth annual Louisiana Cajun Festival, in Galiano, Louisiana, sometime in the late 1970s, with Wade Bernard backed by a band called Country Comfort: Richard Brunet (bass), Wayne Faucheaux (drums), and Terry Toups (piano).

Frankie Brent "The King" (Cutty Records, 19--?) (LP)
Lounge singer and Elvis imitator Adolph Gambino (aka Frankie Brent, 1934-2002) was born in Philadelphia, and later moved to New Orleans where grew his sideburns and shook his hips along with the best of them. Not completely country, but close enough. No info on the band backing him, though. Alas.

Bobby Bridger "Merging Of Our Minds" (RCA Victor, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Bobby Bridger & Bob Kramer)
A multi-talented writer, performing artist and musician, Louisiana-born Bobby Bridger made a handful of singles for other labels before recording this lofty, folk-tinged album for RCA-Nashville. In 1970, he moved to Austin and was an early participant in the pre-outlaw independent Texas country-folk scene, eventually becoming involved with the Kerrville Folk Festival, serving on its board of directors for over a decade, and performing there annually for many years. Bridger steadily became more and more interested in Western American history, and Native American rights issues... On this debut, he mixes cosmic-Christian spirituality with mildly bombastic, Jimmy Webb-esque/Glen Campbell-ish folk-pop arrangements and searching, sometimes strained lyrical profundities... On Side Two, he branches out into spacier, gooier, Tim Hardin-style dreaminess, notably on the uber-hippiedelic "Sharing's Just Another Word For Love," and the truly horrific "Sea Chanty." By and large the studio crew was not made up of Nashville regulars, although Pete Drake plays steel and slide, and it's not every day you find a record which features session guitarist Fred Carter, Jr. sitting in on bongo drums(!) Not really my cup of tea, countrywise, but worth checking out if you're in a kitschy or historical frame of mind. (BTW: an entire chapter is devoted to Bobby Bridger in Jan Reid's book, The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock, so there is much more to the story yet to be learned...)

Bobby Bridger "And I Wanted To Sing For The People" (RCA Victor, 1973) (LP)

Bobby Bridger "Heal In The Wisdom" (Golden Egg Records, 1981)

Bobby Bridger "A Ballad Of The West" (Golden Egg Records, 2001)
This is Bridger's magnum opus, a concept album trilogy about American Indians, with lots of narration interspersed with songs...

Brooks & Dunn - see artist discography

Kix Brooks "Kix Brooks" (Capitol, 1989)
(Produced by Kix Brooks & Rafe VanHoy)
The debut disc from one half of the Brooks-Dunn duo... This is his first record, a solo set recorded before beginning his partnership with Ronnie Brooks (though re-released in '93 after they hit the big time...) To be honest, it's a fairly flat album, pretty by-the-numbers and uninspiring. It just never really catches fire. But, man! When he hooked up with Dunn, the two of them hit a real groove. Go figure.

Kix Brooks "New To This Town" (Sony Nashville-Arista, 2012)
(Produced by Kix Brooks & Jay DeMarcus)
Solid, modern country-pop with real nods towards tradition. I think Kix sounds better with Ronnie Dunn harmonizing and adding his energy to the mix, but this album is way more exciting that his first solo set, from many years ago. Nice mellow arrangements, with traditional instruments like the fiddle, pedal steel and mandolin mixed up in the front and surprisingly well balanced with the more aggressive synths, electric guitars and other formulaic pop touches. The more subtle stuff is best; I can skip the parts where he tries to sound all macho and gruff, like on the Southern rocky "Next To That Woman" or "My Baby," which sounds like a Big & Rich outtake. Overall, I think fans'll be happy with this one, and the folks on radio ought to find some hits to spin as well. A well-produced, confident album from an old pro and proven hitmaker.

John Bult "Julie's Sixteenth Birthday" (DSR Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Ted Broussard)
The title track is a "Phantom 309"-style recitation song with an over-the-top tragedy narrative in which a no-good drunk of a dad is speeding to make it to his daughter's birthday party on time -- to just do one thing right in his life! -- and manages instead to hit the car she and her boyfriend are driving in, killing not only Julie and her beau, but himself as well. This album made the rounds as a "worst album art ever!" candidate -- a snarky hipster fad that I find fairly irritating. But it's actually not a bad record... if you like country music, that is. Singer John Bult was from Louisiana and had played in rockabilly bands years earlier, and wrote half the songs on this album, including the title track... He had a distinctive, plaintive voice, similar to Don Bowman or Vernon Oxford, but overall, I'd say he sells the songs well. As indiebilly goes, this ain't bad!

Roy Cagle "...And Snuff Ridge" (Chris Records, 19--?) (LP)
Louisiana's Roy Cagle was a country singer, but he also loved that old rock'n'roll, as heard in the several Chuck Berry covers on this album. This session was recorded in Shreveport, though I don't know who was backing him in the studio.

Kate Campbell -- see artist profile

Capricorn "Capricorn At Phil's Gusher" (Phillip's Cash & Carry Records, 1976-?) (LP)
A mix of country, fifties-style rock and classic New Orleans R&B by a quartet from around Lake Charles, Louisiana... The band consisted of drummer Gene Adam, vocalist Everett Brady, bass player William Burton Gaar and pianist Glynn Guidry, guys who played in a variety of other bands, playing blues, rock and country over the span of several decades. (There may be a few unidentified studio players in the mix as well, such as the steel player(s) on the album's country-sounding tracks...) This is, in all honesty, an uneven album, moving not only from singer to singer and style to style, though overall you can sense the group's high talent level, particularly on the stronger tracks. Most of the songs previously came out as Cash & Carry singles a year or so earlier, but were released under the individual artist's names: the bandmembers each put out singles as "solo" performers, including several songs that were not collected here, as well as earlier and subsequent singles on other labels such as Adonda, Crazy Cajun, Goldband and Smash Records. The drummer, Gene Adam, was the weakest singer of the four, specializing in oldie rock ballads ("Sea Of Love," etc.) sung in a fairly tremulous voice, though with great gusto and sincerity. On the other hand, there are some real gems here -- the opening track, Glynn Guidry's own "Louisiana Bayou," showcases some dazzling piano plunking, and Burton Gaar's "Leona" is a groovy approximation of the breezy harmony vocals of contemporary country-rock pop bands like America or the Eagles. Going by catalog numbers, the Cash & Carry label seems to have put out at least nine singles, though several have yet to be tracked down; presumably they include a few "missing" tracks by the fellas from the Capricorn band... Of all the Capricorns, Everett Brady may have had the deepest career: decamping to Las Vegas for a while, he formed a casino band called the Louisiana Purchase, along with swamp-pop old-timer Johnny Giordano (aka Johnny Gee) and they released a few singles in the late '80s. Johnny Gee was a veteran of Clint West's band, the Boogie Kings, and Brady recorded with a later edition of that band as well, and remained active up through the 2010s when health problems slowed him down. It's worth noting that Burton Gaar (1942-2011) was no slouch either: he started out playing bass for Slim Harpo in the 'Sixties, also did some time in the Boogie Kings, and later worked with zydeco legend Rockin' Sidney... So this record was kind of an encapsulation of a lot of their far-ranging musical interests. Definitely worth a spin!

Mike Cascio & Justus "Live At 327 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA" (Justus Records, 197--?) (LP)
A souvenir of a late 'Seventies club gig in New Orleans... Not a lot of info out there about this group, although I believe Mike Cascio was a Louisiana native. He's joined here by Nanette Streble on bass, Randy Weeks playing drums and Ray Wood on guitar; this group is not to be confused with the Nevada bar band, "Just Us," which was led by Clifford Kay and Rick Warren. The set list includes country classics like "Ruby" and a medley of Bob Wills oldies, but also a ton of more modern outlaw material, including "Long Haired Country Boy," "Texas When I Die," "South's Gonna Do It Again," "Tulsa Time," and "Willie, Waylon And Me." This album is one of many custom pressings using generic "wood" cover art, and unfortunately doesn't include a lot of info about the band, or where they were from.

Hadley J. Castille & Le Cajun Grass Band "Going Back To Louisiana" (Swallow Records, 1985) (LP)
Nice, straightforward set of French-language cajun tunes; nominally bluegrass-y, but sounds pretty swampy to me. Hadley is a distinctive fiddler, with an idiosyncratic "voice" that comes through his expressive bowing... He's joined for fiddle duets on several tracks by Doug Kershaw, and by Louis Darby on one track, "Payou Pon Pon," while Ann Davoy sings harmony on another. The basic backing is Castille's own small, five-member band who stick pretty close to a traditional acoustic sound (with a mildly jarring foray into more modern moods, when a synthesizer kicks in for a bar or two...) If you dig cajun fiddle music, this disc's a doozy!

Bobby Charles "Bobby Charles" (Bearsville Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Bobby Charles, Rick Danko & John Simon)
A real jewel of the eclectic early 'Seventies roots music scene... Swamp pop pioneer Bobby Charles Guidry (1938-2010) made his first big splash as a teen rocker in the early 1950s, penning hits such as Bill Haley's "See Ya Later, Alligator" and Fat's Domino's anthem, "Walking To New Orleans." Though he penned some of the era's most iconic hits, own solo career foundered and he was pretty much of out of the game by the early 'Seventies when, according to Colin Escott's liner notes on the CD reissue, Bobby Charles moved to upstate New York while on the lam from the law (and God knows what else). Apparently by chance he stumbled into the orbit of Rick Danko and The Band, who had set up camp around Woodstock, and when they hit it off, Danko offered to help Charles cut an album, with backing from luminaries such as The Band and other folks in their orbit, such as Jim Colgrove, Dr. John, Amos Garrett, Ben Keith, Geoff Muldaur and sax player David Sanborn. In this case, an impressive lineup led to an outstanding album, with Charles's sly, laid-back Louisiana style and rural funk vibe beautifully amplified by the loose-limbed musical diversity of the Woodstock crowd. Not surprisingly, many tracks bear a strong stamp of the Band's own sound, but others hint at a jazzy, jive-talking white blues/hipster sound that anticipates '70s stars like Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones, who were coming up just around the corner. There are also some topical, hippie-era lyrics, notably on one of the album's best, funkiest tracks, "Save Me Jesus," where the singer bemoans a world gone sideways, and looks to religion for a pathway out. Also noteworthy is the alluringly low-key "Small Town Talk," a wistful gem co-written with Rick Danko... But really, the whole album is quite rewarding. Like a lot of Charles's business deals, this one went south -- he had a falling out with East Coast record mogul Albert Grossman, and the album quickly faded from sight, though it remained revered by folks in the know and eventually got reissued on CD. Need I say it? It's worth tracking down.

Jay Chevalier & The Louisiana Longshots "...At The Golden Nugget" (Cotton Town Jubilee Records, 1964) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Williams & Ness Sechrest)
Born in Forest Hill, Louisiana, Jay Chevalier (1936-2019) was a first-generation 'Fifties rocker and country bopper, cutting his first single around 1957, with more to follow through the early 'Sixties, tunes that have popped up on innumerable rockabilly collections over the years. In 1959 he cut a politically themed single, "The Ballad Of Earl K. Long," in honor of the Louisiana's outgoing Democratic governor -- the song was a big regional hit and gave his band its name. Starting in 1962, The Longshots landed a longterm gig at the Golden Nugget casino, and scored a huge, nationwide hit as the band behind Dale Houston and Grace Broussard's chart-topping version of "I'm Leaving It All Up To You." Eventually Dale & Grace left the band, as outlined on this album's liner notes, and the Longshots forged along, with Gene Dunlap and Sonny McCready as its core members. Although Chevalier's early discs often dipped into topical novelty material -- songs like "Castro Rock" and "Khruschev And The Devil" -- by the time he cut this live album, he'd settled down into a mostly straight country mode, full of weepers and drinking songs galore... and, well, a novelty tune or two, like "American History" and "Satan's Ground." Chevalier seems to have been associated with the Cotton Town Jubilee, a short-lived mini-opry run by Gene Williams in the early 'Sixties, though in the late 'Sixties he ran a couple of different nightclubs before zeroing in on a career in state politics, working on several campaigns, including his own unsuccessful attempts at getting elected to state office. In addition to these two albums, many of his singles have popped up on various compilation albums, including an import album collecting his work for the Cotton Town Jubilee label.

Jay Chevalier & The Louisiana Longshots "A Tribute To Hank Williams" (Freedom Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Dittman & Marge Mathieson)
On this live set, Chevalier and his band pay an album-length homage to Hank Williams -- maybe not the most original idea ever, but still a lot of great songs to choose from. Between some medleys and songs are narrations about Hank's career, which gives this record an extra little bit of oddball charm. Unfortunately all the musicians are not identified, though cajun fiddler Amos Moses gets a special shout-out on the front cover, and back cover band photos include Al Harris, Trapps Thomas (drums) and a gal singer named Marjanne (no last name given). The real story here, though, is the venue: The Dutchess Outpost, located in Port Huron, Michigan was a fabled country music bar that started life as just a plain old neighborhood watering hole. That all changed when the original owner, Harvey Johnston, passed away in 1963 and his widow, Marjorie Johnston Mathieson (1928-2018) decided to turn it into a twang tavern. She made a pilgrimage to Nashville to ask the owner of Tootsie's Lounge, Ms.Tootsie Bess, for advice, and Tootsie also helped out by telling her many friends about this new joint up north. The Dutchess Outpost became a regular stop for numerous national artists, as well as more obscure bands like the Louisiana Longshots, who seems to have been the house band there around the time this record came out. Jay Chevalier kept chugging away and released singles at least as late as 1979, though things definitely tapered off over the years -- as far as I know these were his only full LPs.

The Copas Brothers "Copas Bros." (CoBro Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Sherman Bernard, Jr.)
Kind of a concept album, I guess... a mix of bluegrass, swamp twang and country-rock from this "family" band out of New Orleans. The group took its name from the non-du-twang of bassist and lead singer Pat "Copas" DeCuir, whose musical siblings included pianist Sherman Bernard, L. J. Dimaio (guitar), Hokie Gjertsen (dobro and steel guitar), Dickie Knickerbocker (fiddle, guitar and mandolin) and Jude Lerette on drums. If nothing else, they definitely deserve a nomination for the most colorful names contained within a single band... and I didn't even include most of their nicknames! The repertoire spans straight bluegrass classics such as "Fox On The Run" and "Uncle Pen" to freeform oldies like Terry Allen's "New Delhi Freight Train," as well as a few Louisiana-centric regional tunes, such as "Cajun Baby" and "Going Back To Louisiana" (the flipside of the album's earlier "Going Back To Texas.") Purty darn eclectic!

The Country Three "The Country Three" (Louisiana Division Of The Arts, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by Patrick A. Flory)
Old-timey stuff by the trio of Dink Burkdall, Elaine Burkdall and Bob Lambert (mandolin), a folkloric project sponsored by the Louisiana Division Of The Arts. Pretty darn down-to-earth and back-to-basics.

The Crawdads "Recorded Live At Billy Bob's" (Mud-Bug Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Larry Osier & The Crawdads)
A pretty solid live album by a pretty polished country/southern rock band out of Shreveport, Louisiana. The group included cajun fiddler Buddy Chamness, Robert Davis (drums), Dikie Guice (bass), Bill Parish (lead guitar) and Rod Rasberry on keyboards. This set was recorded in concert May 9, 1983, at Billy Bob's Texas dancehall, with far better quality sound than many live albums of the era. The songs are mostly crowd-pleasing covers such as "Diggy Liggy Lo," "Honky Tonk Man," "Midnight Flyer," "Big Mamou" and "Jole Blon," with an obvious tilt towards Louisiana-centric material, including a dreadful version of LeRoux's "New Orleans Ladies." There are also three originals by the band, including "Playin' In The Crawdad Band," Rod Rasberry's "Little By Little" and an album highlight, Bill Parish's "The Billy Bob's Song," a rollicking tribute to the venue they played at for a few years before cutting this disc. These guys may have made some other records, though I haven't tracked 'em down yet so I can't say for sure.

The Crowe Brothers Band "The Crowe Brothers Band" (TCB Ltd., 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Allen Samuels)
Not to be confused with the bluegrass band of the same name, these Crowe Bros were rock-flavored outlaw twangsters from Pearl River, Louisiana, just across the lake from New Orleans... The nexus of this group was keyboard player Gary Crowe and lead singer/songwriter John Crowe (the brothers), with backing by Steven Borgen (harmonica), Dave Boyet (lead guitar), Mark Brooks (drums), Jonathan Kirvan (fiddle and guitar) and Garland Polk on bass. Most of the repertoire was original material written or co-written by John Crowe, along with covers of J. J. Cale's "The Breeze" and a Hank Williams oldie, as well as a couple of tracks credited to a guy named Lonnie Brooks (presumably a relative of the drummer, and not the electric blues guitarist...?) Although this disc looks ultra DIY, they also released a single on the Nashville-based NSD label, with two songs, "Smoke Filled Bars" and "One Night Stander" peeled off of this album, so they were probably hoping for more than hometown acclaim. Other tracks include titles such as "I Was A Redneck Once" and "Partyin' Time," which might give you an idea where these guys were coming from... I'm not sure if the band has been together continuously over the years, but they had a presence online as recently as 2019, where they continued a longterm gig as the house band at a shrimp shack in Pearl River.

The Desperadoes "The Branding Iron Presents..." (Branding Iron Records, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Avants & Tommy Melder)
A souvenir album from a country bar in West Monroe, Louisiana called the Branding Iron ("home of red necks and goat ropers"), one of several nightspots owned over the years by former rodeo clown Warren "Pinball" Antley (1935-2001). This is mostly a set of country cover tunes, though there are three originals, each written by one of the bandmembers (which is how we learn the names of some of the otherwise unidentified musicians. James A. Crain, Jr. contributes "You're Gone From Me"; Terrell H. Howard wrote "Temptation Is Like Whiskey" and Ronald J. Lutrick adds "Too Much Stormy Weather." Born in nearby Columbia, Lutrick apparently performed on the "Louisiana Hayride" while in his teens, with the Desperadoes being his first band. He later moved to Nashville, where he did some session work, played backup and was in the house band at a place called Gabe's Lounge. The fourth guy in this band -- Steve -- remains a cipher. Probably the drummer. The Branding Iron itself seems to have closed in the late 1980s, a few years after this album came out.

Skip Folse "Panama Jack" (Metan Records, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Bordonali & Joe Wilson)
I'm not entirely sure about this one; it seems more like a folk-pop thing, with no steel guitar or fiddle, although Nashville session player Mark Casstevens picks guitar. A keyboard player, Louisiana native Norman ("Skip") Folse seems to have been a protege of (the late) singer-songwriter Jim Croce -- he covers a couple of Croce's tunes,"Workin' At The Car Wash Blues" and "Walkin' Back To Georgia" and most of the songs were from Croce's publishing company, Blendingwell Music, which Folse wrote for as well. Other composers credited include Bob Corbin and Joey George, rounded things out with a cover of Tom Waits's "Looking For The Heart Of Saturday Night." Folse suffered some kind of health setback in the early '80s, which required him to learn how to play guitar left-handed, and to move away from Hammond organ and rely on a MIDI player and pre-recorded backing tracks for his live performances. He also moved to Atlanta at some point, where he specialized in throwing raunchy concerts and dance parties at weddings, bachelorette parties, and the like. Not sure when this came out, but it was certainly after Croce's death in 1973... I'm guessing sometime between 1975-77 or so.

Richard Gibbs "No Use To Grieve" (Malinda Records, 196--?) (LP)
Ultra-forlorn, booze-soaked 1960's honkytonk from an unknown Louisiana singer, on an album I've only heard of courtesy of the Waxidermy website... This is kinda like the album that No Show Jones would have made if old George had gone down an indie-label path or been even more forthcoming about his drinking problem(s). The title track is a glorious mega-bummer about a divorced and down-on-his-luck dad, while other songs deal more explicitly with the themes of alcohol abuse, including the crushingly harsh "Drinkin' Spree," in which the narrator gets his ass royally kicked in a bar fight, which is illustrated in grim, explicit detail, but with a jaunty little lilt, with just the sort of bemused detachment you'd expect from someone who was drunk enough to stay conscious during the ordeal. This is a really good record: any chance the uber-collectors who have it (or Mr. Gibbs himself) could reissue it sometime? Love to hear the rest!

Dawn Glass "Sunshine And Lollypops" (R. C. Records, 1976) (LP)
A perennial second-stringer, Louisiana's Dawn Glass was a regional performer, doing concerts and TV shows in the Shreveport area while trying to make it on the national level. She recorded a few singles on a variety of labels, including ABC-Paramount, and Chart Records, and was signed by Columbia Nashville in the 1967, but as far as I know this was her only album. It was released on the Waco, Texas RC label, though perhaps the most interesting thing about this album is that all but two of the songs were written by Ann J. Morton, who was herself at the time an aspiring country musician. (I wrote to Ms. Morton to ask about the connection, and she said she had pitched some songs, including "Sunshine And Lollypops," to Glass and she wound up recording several others... One of these, "Kentucky Boy," was previously recorded as a single on Chart Records in 1973.) Even better, this is a nice record. Ms. Glass was an appealing vocalist, with a bright rural twang that strongly resembled that of Loretta Lynn, and while a couple of tracks on here sound less well-rehearsed than they could have been, mostly this is pretty solid musically speaking. A strong song selection as well, with a lot of stuff that should be of interest to any of Ann Morton's fans -- there's also a swell version of Ray Griff's "Pour A Little Water On The Flowers" that kicks off Side Two. All in all, definitely worth a spin!

Gib Guilbeau -- see artist profile

Bob Harrington "...Goes Cross Country" (Chaplain Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Kennedy, Joe Mills & Bobby Bradley)
Back during the 'Sixties folk revival, Baptist preacher Bob Harrington (1927-2017) established his niche as a folk-singing evangelical known as "the Chaplain of Bourbon Street." Originally from Oklahoma, Harrington attended a theological college in New Orleans, where he began preaching on the streets of the French Quarter, eventually starting his own ministry and recording a series of gospel albums well-known to dollar-bin crate-diggers across the land. For this album, he went whole-hog and headed up to Nashville for a country music session at Bradley's Barn, with slick, crisp backing by an a-list studio band that included Phil Baugh on lead guitar, Russ Hicks playing pedal steel, Jerry Smith on piano and Arlene and Bobby Harden anchoring an out-of-control vocal chorus. (Apparently nicknames aren't allowed in Harrington's ministry: Buddy Spicher plays fiddle, but is listed by his Christian name, Norman K. Spicher... who knew??) To call this disc "corny" doesn't quite capture the full glory of it -- Harrington barks his way through recitation tunes so outlandish that they'd make Porter Wagoner blush... Dying, homeless old men making their last journey to church, broken winos helping good Christians find their path, creationism triumphing over science, and the amazing closing number, "Letting Our Children's Heroes Die," where a thoughtful father lectures his kid about how comic books are the work of the devil, and instructs the child to learn about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson instead... and Jesus, too, of course. They really don't make records like this any more! Apparently Harrington's life took a sideways turn around the time this album came out: he divorced his wife and closed his ministry in New Orleans, moving to Florida, where he took up a more lucrative career as a motivational speaker, though he fell on hard times in the '90s and came back to God, as well as to Oklahoma, where he spent the last several years of his life. Anyway, this disc is a real doozy, whether you treat is as kitsch or as scripture.

Dale Hawkins "LA, Memphis & Tyler, Texas" (Bell Records, 1969) (LP)
Louisiana rockabilly pioneer Dale Hawkins was still kickin' it in the '60s and '70s, and on this funky, psychedelic swamp-rock freakout he gets into some pretty deep grooves. Among the backing musicians are roots-rockers, soul players and hippie-rock icons such as James Burton, Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn, and while the repertoire is groovy, it's really the overall funky, jam-band vibe that makes this disc most interesting. Hawkins and his various collaborators just go for it, getting wild tones and textures from their instruments -- this disc is all about rhythm and riffs, and while I don't think they really connected emotionally with any of the lyrics, they had a ball jamming together. It's mostly a little too John Lee Hooker-ish for me, but it's still a pretty interesting record.

The Hemphills/Joel & Labreeska -- see artist profile

John Fred Houston "John Fred Houston" (Houston Records, 1969--?) (LP)
A mix of pop and country covers, with songs by Neil Diamond ("Sweet Caroline" and "Song Sung Blue") alongside barroom weepers like "Good Time Charlie," and standards such as "Ghost Riders" and "Jambalaya." This guy also apparently released a bunch of singles under the name "John Fred" while living in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Arthur Jay "But, I Feel Good For The Shape I'm In" (Ebb Tide III Records, 1988) (LP)
(Produced by Jimmy Angel & Ben David)
An old-timer from Louisiana, Arthur Tevay (aka Arthur Jay) recorded his first single -- "Goin' Back To Arkansas" -- in 1964, and went on to record for other regional indies such as K-Ark and Rome Records. Nothing really clicked, though, and he gave up on pursuing a career in music. This album seems to have been inspired by his wife, Esther-Marie Tevay, who I suspect said something like, honey, you should really record some of those great old songs you wrote! and prodded him into the studio. The material is all originals, including the title track and another tune called "Sweet Esther-Marie." Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem to include any re-recordings of his older songs. Mr. Tevay is backed by Ben David on lead guitar, Jim Strahan playing steel, as well as some saxophone and string arrangements, and someone called "E.T." on drums... Esther, perhaps? Anyway, for those of you who enjoy hearing old coots playing their old songs, this disc may raise a few smiles.

Margie Kaye "...Sings Country From The Heart" (Hilltop Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Linneman, Johnny Nicholson & Clyde Pitts)
Pretty solid, modern-sounding country ballads by a gal originally from either southern Louisiana or (possibly) around Jackson, Mississippi, although she was working in Houston when this album came out. According to the liner notes, Margie Kaye started singing in public when she was just three years old(!) when she sang on a TV show in New Orleans, and appeared onstage with New Orleans big band jazzman Leon Kelner before joining the cast of the Louisiana Hayride for a couple of years. She also won some kind of talent contest, apparently sponsored by the Hayride, and that may have included a recording trip to Nashville, where she cut this album. The songs are all originals penned by producer Clyde Pitts -- generally workmanlike, mid-tempo tunes with rather similar arrangements, dutifully performed by a Music City crew that included pros like Benny Kennerman and Weldon Myrick, along with a few lesser-known pickers. Although most of the record sounds pretty similar, Ms. Kaye had a good voice and acquits herself well, working in a Donna Fargo/Barbara Mandell-ish mode that was probably a few years out of date in the synthy early '80s, but sounds fine all these years later. Nothing electrifying, but a pretty good record.

Casey Kelly "Casey Kelly" (Elektra, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Richard Sanford Orshoff)
A nice, understated set of contemplative hippiedelic country-rock and cosmic folk, with a mellow mix of laid-back twang and spacier, more amorphous soul-searching poetry songs. Kelly was a Louisiana native who moved up North and worked as a session musician for a while before going on tour with Tom Rush, which led to a series of short-lived recording contracts. On this album, the band is anchored by '70s studio pros like bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkle... even Jim Messina plays on one track! Still, he doesn't sound all prefab or AOR bland, more like a mildly psychedelic indie album. I think many folk-freak fans would find this one rewarding, while country-rock devotees will also enjoy the tasty pedal steel licks from Sneaky Pete Kleinow on the album's opener, "Silver Meteor." Overall, a nice album that reflects its era well... Definitely worth a spin.

Casey Kelly "For Sale" (Elektra Records, 1974) (LP)

Casey Kelly "Hits Package" (Self-released)
After he recorded for Elektra, Kelly faded into the background, but went on to make a name for himself as a very successful pop and country songwriter, with dozens of songs covered by major artists throughout the 1970s and '80s. The tune I'm most familiar with is George Strait's "This Is Where The Cowboy Rides Away," which Kelly sings himself on this independently-released album, available through his website, www.caseykelly.net.

Red Lane "The World Needs A Melody" (RCA Victor, 1971)
(Produced by Ronny Light)
An interesting -- and unusual -- item from the countrypolitan/sunshine country days. I think this was the only album from Louisiana-born songwriter Red Lane, who was best known for penning Merle Haggard's hit, "My Own Kind of Hat" and "Miss Emily's Picture" for John Conlee. Those hits were a long way off from this early album, though: he had more modest hits in the late '60s with folks like Waylon Jennings and Dottie West. This disc is kind fun, though, and has a distinctive sound, with an almost folk-scene acoustic feel that probably sounded pretty close to the demos he cut for his own songs (although the tracks have various levels of arrangements and added instruments). Lane's delivery sounds like a mix of early Merle Haggard and old Jerry Reed, not too robust or too gimmicky in either direction, but you can hear the similarities. All the songs are Lane's original work, including a collaboration with Wayne Kemp and two songs co-written with Hank Cochran. It's all pretty good, and surprisingly low-key and un-flowery for the era; the only bum note comes on the novelty song, "The Courtroom," which is a creepy, sexist song about a woman who falsely accuses a preacher of raping her, but the case gets thrown out when it is disclosed that the good Reverend "got so shot up back during the war/that he couldn't even take him a wife," and the naughty girl is duly reprimanded. But I guess that's just a product of its time... Not a song to remember, but not one to worry much about, either. Overall, this is a nice record, and a good document of an artist not well-remembered these days. One footnote: Lane toured and recorded with Haggard in the early '80s, and continued to write hits well into the decade.

Nick Laseter & Southern Edge "We Can Stick Together" (1972-?) (LP)
(Produced by Charlie Bryant, Bill Crowell & Terry Pace)
Definitely a rarity from this Louisiana-based country-rocker, with very little info about this album online. Though cited as a Southern Rock nugget, a lot of this album has a softer, more meandering vibe probably as much in line with the countrypolitan style of the early 'Seventies as with the talent level of the band. Although Laseter became a proficient guitar player, much of this album has a rudimentary feel, at least as far as the picking is concerned. What stands out are his vocals, which have an underlying powerfulness you might not expect in such a young singer, as well as a gruffness that probably was a tribute to the southern blues musicians who were Laseter's early idols. There are also some uptempo tracks with sort of a swampy, Elvis-meets-Jerry Reed vibe, though not quite the hard-edged, balls-to-the-wall Lynyrd Skynyrd sound you might expect. There may also be some discrepancies about just when this was made -- Nick Laseter posted comments on the music blog Skydog's Elysium stating that this came out in 1972, but I'm not so sure. There are several reasons: First, he was born in 1955 and his photo on the back cover does not look like a seventeen-year old. Similarly the pictures of the band members do not look like they are from the early 'Seventies, but rather the second half of the decade, which might match up with the disc's catalog number (DRP-7751) which leads me to believe this really came out in 1977. There's no date on the disc, though, so I could be totally wrong. Backing him was the Southern Edge band, with Laseter on lead guitar and vocals, Larry Davis on drums, Juanita Laseter singing backup, Nathan Roberts (bass), Ralph Snyder (piano) and Randy Tomlinson on rhythm guitar.

Scooter Lee "A Louisiana Lady" (1979-?) (LP)
(Produced by Porter Wagoner)
Born in New Orleans, Scooter Lee (nee Nancy Lee Gilhaus) was originally a teenage child star, singing twangy R&B for producer Allan Toussaint until she shifted towards straight country and country-pop. After decades plugging away on the road -- including hundreds of county fair shows, where she was sponsored by Reynolds Tobacco -- Lee landed a contract with Sony Records. She became a steady figure in the early 1990's line-dance scene and continued to perform well into the 2010's, also filming numerous instructional line-dancing videos. This was apparently her first album, recorded with an all-star, usual-suspects Nashville crew, folks like Weldon Myrick and Hargus Robbins. Notably, it includes original material such as Lee's "10,000 Miles" a song about her older brother who was stationed in Vietnam when she was a kid... Apparently her father also died there, in 1970. And, already, there's a strong dancey streak in her work, with a few tracks that had a disco feel, presaging her career as a line-dance popularizer and dancing instructor.

Doc Leigh "On Call" (Buzzard, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Bernie Vaughn)
A Lousiana local who made the trek to Nashville, songwriter Leigh Dillard (aka Doc Leigh) brought ten original tunes to the Koala Records studios and recorded this album, a fine example of an indiebilly artist with commercial dreams... The main vibe is straight-up melodic honkytonk, sort of in a Moe Bandy-ish mode -- generally, these are strong, uptempo drinkin'-cheatin'-cryin' songs, although there are dips into less effective material. Leigh's vocals are pretty good, although sometimes he sounds a bit tentative (which may have been due to nerves?) The Nashville studio crew, led by steel player Sonny Garrish and lead guitarist Fred Newell, provide strong, solid accompaniment, framing Leigh in a traditionally-oriented but still contemporary country sound. Some of the songs were plausibly commercially viable for the times, although on Side Two he goes a little far afield, slowing down to a crawl on the ambitious, folk-tinged "Lonely Room," a maudlin weeper about a divorced dad trying to figure out how to explain sticky grown-up troubles to his three-year old kid. But barroom stompers like "Don't Play The Last Song" and "North Louisiana Man" give this a nice, simple twangy vibe. Definitely worth a spin.

Lynn & Lynn "Down Home" (Brian's Recording Studio, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Lynn Anselmo & Reggie King)
A husband-wife team -- and yes, they were both named Lynn Anselmo -- backed by Lloyd Daigle on bass, and acoustic guitarist Jeffrey C. Sharpe; producer Reggie King sings lead on a version of the Carter Family oldie, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken." The repertoire is rich in originals, as well as several interesting cover songs, including country-rock classics "Some Of Shelley's Blues" and "Glendale Train." Lynn Anselmo (the husband) came from a family of restauranteurs and bar owners and he owned or managed a string of venues over the course of several decades, often using his perch to help promote struggling musicians through open mic nights and the like... He himself was a fabled singer-songwriter, and is best known as a Baton Rouge artist, though he worked in a lot of different towns. Starting in the late 'Sixties, Lynn & Lynn had residencies in Atlanta, Pensacola and elsewhere, but they settled down in Baton Rouge not long after this album came out -- Mr. Anselmo took over a place called Tony's Tavern, and ran it through the end of the '80s. (A profile in Crossroads Magazine fills in even more of the blanks.)

J. J. Mack "One Hundred Percent Live At The Lucky Lion" (1971) (LP)
(Produced by J. J. Mack & Tony Flores)
An early album from this 'Seventies troubadour. Recorded live at the Lucky Lion nightclub in Newport Beach, California, this finds Mack in a folk-country mode, covering stuff like "Fire And Rain," "Games People Play" and "Poke Salad Annie," as well as an acoustic version of Al Wilson's 1968 soul hit, "The Snake." Mack was originally from Baton Rouge Louisiana, though he seems to have moved around a lot, including stints in Tahoe casinos and lounges... I believe this was his first album.

J. J. Mack "It's A Long Road Home" (1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Stone & J. J. Mack)
This is a pretty swell album of loose, rugged swamp-pop/white country/frat rock soul solidly in the style of John Fogerty and Tony Joe White. J. J. Mack wasn't a tremendously accomplished musician, but he has an amiable presence and this is a solid set overall, mainly packed with cover songs, but also featuring a couple of originals, including the title track, which is a really nice song, as well as the funky, Tony Joe White-ish "It Ain't No Big Thing." He also plays stuff like "Proud Mary," Chuck Berry's "Memphis," and Hank Williams' "Jambalaya." I think for me the album highlight in his version of Kenny Loggins' "Danny's Song," which is performed in a lazy, chunky bar-band style which completely and unexpectedly reframes the song into a rugged southern rock context while still keeping its original sweetness and down-to-earth sentimentality. This record feels very authentic -- a snapshot of a local singer keeping true to his roots. Worth a spin!

J. J. Mack "You Can Make It Dancin' " (Salsoul Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Scheniman)
Hard to imagine a more unlikely transition, from the laid-back, bar-band Southern rock of his previous album to the redneck/frat rock disco of this album, which was recorded for the nationally-known, New York-based Salsoul label. Recorded just as the disco bubble burst, this one is definitely an oddity, and while it's not the rough-cut twang he did so well, you still gotta give Mack credit for just "going for it," as they used to say. This includes a disco version of "Hang On Sloopy," which was released as a single... it's a terrible rendition, but I'm sure it has its fans.

Nancy Tabb Marcantel "Ma Louisiane" (Swallow Records, 197--?) (LP)
The first album by Nancy Tabb Marcantel, who has since become one of Louisiana's most prominent cajun-country singers. The set list is mainly of country and pop hits given a Acadian French update by lyricist James Domengeaux... Thus, Tony Orlando's "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" becomes "Pends Un Ruban Jaune," and "For The Good Times" morphs into "Pour Les Bons Temps." Other adaptations include "Petit Oiseau" ("Snowbird"), "Avec Toi" ("Let Me Be There"), and "Ma Louisiane" ("Take Me Home Country Roads").

Nancy Tabb Marcantel "Lagniappe" (Swallow Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Greg Marcantel, Fred Soleil & Joe Avant, Jr.)
Louisiana cajun country, in the tradition of Bruce Vin -- mostly French-language stuff, but about a third of the songs are English-language songs, solidily in the mainstream country style. The album was recorded with local musicians and seems to have been a family affair, with Greg Marcantel producing and Peter Marcantel on guitar; bassist Benny Graeff also helped mix the record, with Gary Graeff on guitar. Greg and Peter Marcantel also wrote half the songs on here, and presumably had a hand in translating into French hits by Merle Haggard ("Today I Started Loving You Again" as "La Fin De L'Amour") and Kris Kristofferson ("Help Me Make It Through The Night" transposed into "Aide-Moi A Passer A Nuit") and Hank Cochran ("Enleve-Moi Ce Chagrin," or, "Make The World Go Away.") If you're looking for local, this little jaunt down on the bayou might be for you! All told, Ms. Marcantel has recorded at least ten albums, performing well into the 21st century... but we'll just stick to the '70s stuff for now.

Lou Millet "Favorites Of Lou Millet" (Wagon Wheel Records, 19--?) (LP)

Lou Millet "Where Could I Go But To The Lord" (Wagon Wheel Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Avants Jr. & Tom Breaux)
An old-time, postwar hillbilly twangster from Louisiana, Albert "Lou" Millet (1926-1988) was known mostly for playing good timing, good humored secular country, and for acting as Lefty Frizzell's bandleader for several years in the early 'Fifties. He eventually formed his own outfit, The Western Swingsters and led the group for several decades, releasing a string of singles stretching from the late 1940s right up through the 'Seventies, when this disc came out. It's an all-gospel album, perhaps reflecting the seemingly-inevitable path that so many artists of his era took -- sow your wild oats, then come back to the fold once you start to slow down a little. It's also a big contrast to his raw, rowdy older stuff -- which included the salacious (and often anthologized) 1956 single, "Slip, Slip, Slippin' In," a bop/rockabilly classics that's been covered by Eddie Bond, The Stray Cats, and others. No info about the backing musicians, or who produced this album, but it was apparently released around the same time as the Favorites album above, which is described on this album's back cover as being half-gospel, half secular. Mr. Millet provided an address in Denham Springs, LA, where he also hosted a daily radio show on station WLBI, 1220-AM. No date on this disc, but I'd guess it was from the late 1970s or thereabouts.

Ron Millet "...Sets Country Music On Fire!" (Wagon Wheel Records, 1979-?) (LP)
(Produced by Eugene Foster)
Hillbilly hero Lou Millet's son, making his solo debut at age nineteen, with a mix of country covers that includes a couple of his dad's tunes. There's also some Hank Williams and other oldies, as well as newer tunes such as "Long Haired Country Boy" and "Mr. Bojangles." He's backed in the studio by a relatively unknown band, apparently Louisianans, including James Lee Dawson on lead guitar, Mike McKenzie (bass), Mike Thomas (drums) and Larry Turner on piano and keyboards. Ron Millet apparently also worked as a deejay at his dad's radio station, WLBI, in Denham, LA. As far as I know this was his only album.

Bunnie Mills "Only A Woman" (Sagittar Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Paul Kettar)

Bunnie Mills "...Sings Country From The Heart" (Bunjak Records, 1987) (LP)
Occasionally I come across some weird background stories with the indie artists in these old albums, and I have to wrestle with whether a drug conviction or whatever really has that much to do with the artist or, more importantly, with their art. In the case of singer-songwriter Lillian ''Bunnie'' Mills, the weird story is so overpowering, I have to say, yeah, this is a big part of her life story. Apparently Ms. Mills was a relatively well-known country singer from Bossier City, Louisiana (near Shreveport) and at some point in her 50s she met a man twenty years younger than herself who she started going out with. Tragically, this guy turned out to be a particularly sadistic serial killer, nicknamed "the Gainsville Ripper," who brutally murdered at least seven people in Louisiana and Florida before being caught. Following his arrest in 1991, Mills was called upon to testify at his trial... She had nothing to do with the crimes, but had tried, along with the man's mother, to persuade him to seek help for mental health issues that became apparent in the late '80s. So, did this gruesome case have anything to do with Bunnie Mills' music? No, not really, but it is remarkable that even after her involvement in such a horrible and highly public crime, Mills was able to pick herself up and keep going with her music career. In addition to recording three albums, she also started her own label(s) -- Pot 'O' Gold and Greenback Records -- and worked as a producer of several aspiring young country singers. Still... yeesh. How creepy!

Bunnie Mills "A Simple Country Girl" (Bunjak Records, 1999)

Bunnie Mills "Foggy River" (Greenback Records, 2000)
Alas. Unfortunately, this this disc doesn't include her political single, "Who Is Our President?" which was written after the 2000 elections...

Pam & Carolyn "By Special Request" (Heartland Productions, 1972-?) (LP)
(Produced by Edna Holland)
When singers Pam Reynolds and Carolyn Donovan titled this album, they spoke from experience: this is a souvenir album from their lounge gig at a Holiday Inn in Hammond, Louisiana, and when they say these were the songs most requested by their audience, there's no reason not to believe 'em. The album is a mix of pop (mainly on Side One) and country hits (Side Two) with most songs of early 'Seventies vintage. The set list included gems such as Jonathan Edwards' "Sunshine," Freddy Hart's "Easy Lovin'," "Take Me Home, Country Roads," a couple by Kris Kristofferson, a little Neil Diamond, some Gordon Lightfoot, etc., and one original by Carolyn Donovan, "Lately I've Been Thinking." They were particularly fond of Mac Davis, covering three of his songs, including "I Believe In Music," which ties in with the gals both being music students at the University Of Southern Mississippi, in nearby Hattiesburg. According to the liner notes, the gals met in 1969 and formed a band with several guys which they called "The Sesame Street Singers" (though I don't think they had any connection to the TV show...) The group cut a record in 1970, and was later whittled it down to a trio, and eventually a duo; as far as I know this was the only Pam & Carolyn album.

James Pastell "Going Home To Truxno" (Rusty Nail Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by George Wallace, Tom Pick, Mike Shockley & Roy Shockley)
Songwriter James Pastell (ne James Robert Futch, 1941-2019) was a southern twang auteur with big, robust Elvis/Charlie Rich style vocals. He grew up in microscopic Truxno, Louisiana, up in the northern end of the state, near the Arkansas state line, and led his own band through most of the 1970s. To the extent he's remembered much at all, Mr. Pastell has the distinction of being the first artist to record the honkytonk classic, "Hell, Yes I Cheated," which has become an oft-recorded standard, although Pastell cut his version back in 1977. Before that he was holding down a long-term, five-year residency at the Tiffin Inn, in Monroe, Louisiana when he cut this album over in Nashville, with backing from an all-pro studio crew featuring guitar picker Grady Martin, steel player Lloyd Green, Hargus Robbins and others of equal caliber... As far as I can tell he didn't bring any of his Louisiana homies with be on the trip, although his brother Bruce Futch apparently was the drummer in his local band. The songs are all his own originals, including tunes like "The Day My Eyes Found You," "Sweet Mama Keep Moving On," "Suspicious Woman," and the title track, "Truxno," which kicks things off... Also worth noting, years later Bruce and James Futch recorded a topical tune called "The Ballad Of The Leesville Five," about James R. Little, a bank robber who in famously used a helicopter in one of his heists, releasing the song as a single in 1984, the same year as the great heist. I'm not sure what other work Pastell did, but his obituary mentions his music only in passing.

Chuck Pollard "Chuck Pollard" (Jin Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Avants, Jr)
The first album by Louisiana honkytonker Chuck Pollard, who opened a nightclub and dabbled in record producing, working with Rod Richard and other regional artists while continuing to compose and record his own originals well into the 1980s. This disc is packed with good, straightforward hard country and had some support from Shreveport's country station, KRMD-AM, whose program director contributes laudatory liner notes. Mr. Pollard was a fine, robust singer, stylistically midway between Merle Haggard and Conway Twitty, while also paying tribute to the true king of country on one of his own compositions, "I Wish George Jones Would Sing A Song." He wrote a few other songs on here, "Tomorrow You Won't Be My Woman Anymore," "You're My Pot Of Gold" and "You're Leaving Me Again," all fine weepers in the classic hard-country tradition. This may have been Pollard's only album -- he also released a couple of singles for MCA but, alas, he never made much traction on the charts. Still, this is a fine record if you enjoy throwbacks to twangier times. Unfortunately, the backup musicians are not mentioned in the liner notes, but there's some nice picking on here as well.

Buzz Rabin "Cross Country Cowboy" (Elektra Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Drake)
Songwriter Buzz Rabin (ne Raybon Busby) was a Nashville journeyman who is probably best known as one of the main contributors to Ringo Starr's country-oriented 1970 solo album, Beaucoups Of Blues. Rabin was recommended to Ringo by producer Pete Drake, and rode that coup all the way into a solo album several years later. Other than one single released in '69, this was apparently the only record Rabin released, though his career as a songwriter in Nashville lasted many years, most notably with the Top Five hit, "Your Body Is An Outlaw," recorded by Mel Tillis in 1980, as well as gigs with David Allan Coe and others. (Note: I'm not sure where Rabin was from originally -- he occasionally seems to be confused with the much-older, Louisiana-born bluegrass legend Buzz Busby, though I don't think there was any real connection, other than them both being from Louisiana. Anyone with more info about Rabin's career? I'm all ears!)

Ramblin' "Enjoy A Touch Of The West" (Kershenstine Holding Company, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Gary Edwards & Jay Gallagher)
If ever there was a "tax writeoff album," this disc issued by the Kershenstine Holding Company would be a pretty good candidate. Kershenstine's was an old-school rib joint in Metairie, Louisiana, and is pictured in the background of the album art... One assume's Ramblin' played there at some point? Anyway, Ramblin' was not, oddly enough, the name of a band, but rather the attempted pseudonym of songwriter Phil S. Malbrough, who wrote all but one of the tunes on this album. Malbrough was born in Marksville, LA and apparently tried his luck in Nashville, possibly in Austin as well. One strong point in his favor is that the liner notes were written by uber-indie honkytonker Norman Wade, so major props for the company he kept. Malbrough seems to have been backed by friends, or at least Louisiana locals -- nary a Nashville cat to be seen in this studio crew. The group included Johnny Bonvillain (bass), Harold Cavalara (steel guitar), Pat A. Flory (lead guitar), Phil Meeks (fiddle), Bobby Stapler (piano), Ray Wood (guitar), and others. The one cover tune here is a version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles," with all other songs credited to "Ramblin'," including tunes such as "Almost Perfect Lady," "Beertender Pour Me A Bar," and "What's A Workin' Man Gonna Do." Other than this album, Malbrough remains pretty much a cipher... He apparently passed away a while ago (it was mentioned in his brother's obituary) but where or when is unclear.

Rod Richard "Rod Richard" (Pirouge Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Chuck Pollard)
Independent modern-day honkytonk in perhaps a Moe Bandy-ish mode... A native of Sulphur, Louisiana (which sounds like a hell of a place to grow up) Mr. Richard was clearly a Hank Williams fan, covering a couple of Hank's classics, along with one each from Harlan Howard and Mel Street, and a couple more by the album's producer Chuck Pollard, "Back To The Bottle" and "Lonesome And Me." Rod Richard also penned two of the tracks on here himself, "Friday Night Love Affair" and "Lady, Love Me Forever." The liner notes mention Chuck Pollard's ventures as a nightclub owner, so I imagine it's possible Rod Richard was one of the musicians who played there in the early 'Eighties. (Couldn't find much info about him, unfortunately, so for now this album's sparse notes are all we have to go by... Any info is welcome!)

Rimrock "Rimrock" (Rimrock Records, 1981)
(Produced by Buzzy Smith)
An excellent, well-realized, professional-sounding country-rock set by a band from Lafayette, Louisiana... This is all very smooth and Poco-delic, but nicely done, with excellent musicianship and and with some pretty strong songwriting as well. If you like the classic, LA-based Top 40 country-rock sound of the 'Seventies, you'll want to check these guys out. Not to be confused with the fabled Ozarks indie, Rimrock Records, this was a private imprint of the band, with this LP apparently the only release. The group included lead singer Mark MacDiarmid on piano and guitar, B.B. Pride (drums), Righty Schwartz (rhythm guitar), Jake Steel (pedal steel) and Howdy Walls on bass. The songs are all all originals credited to either Mark MacDiarmid or David McBane (who I suspect is one of the musicians above, using a stage name); MacDiarmid also released at least one single under his own name, with Rimrock listed as the backing band.

River City Good Tyme Band "Lonesome Wind" (Tumble Weed Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Ronnie Dobbs & The RCGTB)

Russ Russell "New Orleans Country" (NoCo Records, 1979) (LP)
Includes "Willie Ain't Writing No Sad Songs," which I assume is a Willie Nelson tribute song... Anyone know for sure?

John Wesley Ryles -- see artist profile

Rocky Saxon "Butterfly Dreamin' " (Banner Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Triche & Rocky Saxon)

Joe Simon "Simon Country" (Spring Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by John Richbourg & Joe Simon)
A quick detour down an old country road for soul singer Joe Simon... The Simmesport, Louisiana-born pop star had recently changed labels, and was about to shift into a slightly disco-ish mode, but stuck to crooning mode for his versions of classics (and contemporary hits) such as "Before The Next Teardrop Falls," "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'," and "Five Hundred Miles." Perhaps not too surprisingly the disc was a commercial flop, but I for one appreciate the effort.

Harmie Smith "Songs From The Heart And Soul" (Custom Records, 196-?) (LP)
(Produced by Kirk Curtis)
Old-school country and gospel from Tyler, Texas. The liner notes are from Hal Evans, GM of country radio station KCIJ, Shreveport, Louisiana, who says Smith was originally from Shreveport, and had a show on KWKH in the late '40s through early 1955. He moved to Texas in '55, and left his music career behind. He moved back around 1967, and Mr. Evans offered him a job as a deejay, then helped get this album made. The first side is secular, the second side is gospel, with most of the songs credited to either Mr. Smith, or his wife Billie, while four of the gospel songs were written by Bill Permenter, who also used Tyler Publishing Co., along with the Smiths.

Warren Storm "Heart And Soul" (NSD/South Star Records, 1984-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Hendricks, Jay Jackson & Bobby Bradley)
Singer Warren Storm was a swamp-pop pioneer during the 1960s, cutting a number of singles as the primary artist, as well as playing drums on countless rock and R&B sessions. Storm was originally from Abbeville, Louisiana and hung out with songwriter Bobby Charles, who was also an Abbeville local. In the mid-1960s, Storm formed a band with Ron Bernard, another key figure in the crossovers between rock, country and rhythm, though Storm stepped out of the spotlight early on, concentrating instead on working as a studio session player... This album was produced in the early '80s by Bob Hendricks who, if his liner note testimonials are to be believed, was perhaps the world's biggest Warren Storm fan, though he only met his idol after years of fruitless inquiries... Hendricks asked Storm to come up to Nashville to cut some tracks with an all-pro Nashville band, including guitarists Jack Eubanks and Dale Sellers, Hoot Hester on fiddle, Willie Rainsford on piano, and John Reese on steel guitar, as well as Doc James playing sax. The engineer was Bobby Bradley, a nephew of brothers Harold and Owen Bradley, who were main architects of the early "Nashville Sound," and an old veteral on the Music City scene himself... The repertoire includes a bunch of re-recorded versions of Storm's older songs, given a slick, modern country brush-up -- a nice find, since his original recorded remain pretty obscure. Nice later work from a cult favorite... Later on, in the digital era, Storm went on to record prolifically, independently releasing CDs right up through the 2010's.

Glenn Sutton "Close Encounters Of The Sutton Kind" (Mercury Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Glenn Sutton)
An oddball album from Glenn Sutton (1937-2007) one of Nashville's best-known songwriters and producers, among whose claims to fame was his decade-long marriage to countrypolitan superstar Lynn Anderson, during her early 'Seventies glory years. At first glance, Sutton's choice to do a comedy record as his "debut" album might seem strange, but if you look back far enough, he'd been making semi-hip country comedy singles since the early 'Sixties. So, Ray Stevens, Don Bowman, Dick Feller... watch out! This album features the single "Super Drunk," as well as topical tunes such as "Hip! Hip! Hip! Hooray For The ERA" and "TV Preacher Man Blues," though tragically does not include "Red Neck Disco," a song that was the A-side of the "ERA" single, and is probably of more interest than most of the other stuff on here, which mostly falls into the corny, strained humor category. Sutton is backed, of course, by a slew of Nashville super-pickers, folks like Jimmy Capps, Jerry Kennedy, Hargus Robbins, Henry Strzelecki, et.al.

Harlan White "Harlan White" (Orchard Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Curt Allen)
Dunno much about this guy, though his comments about the song "Nashville Sunday" caught my eye: "Some of my favorite memories of Nashville are sitting around trading homemade songs at Guy and Susanna's..." And since Mr. Clark had only just put out his first couple of albums when this set from '76 came out, that's an impressive bit of name-dropping. All the songs are originals by Harlan White (1950-1992) a Louisiana native working in a solo acoustic, country-adjacent singer-songwriter mode. Townes Van Zandt comes to mind, as well as Greenwich Village veterans such as Keith Sykes, Mark Spoelstra, et. al. This appears to have been his only album, though he also cut some demos sessions that have circulated around the interwebs. There's surprisingly little information about this guy online although he was profiled in an obituary in Offbeat Magazine.

Tony Joe White -- see artist profile

Wildwood Flour "Live At The Lamplighter Club" (Akashic Records, 1973-?) (LP)
The country-folk trio of Ken Blake, Cappy Lyons and Ronnie Routh played gigs in and around New Orleans for much of the early 1970s, including a stint at the Lamplighters Club, where they recorded this live album. The set was all cover songs, including contemporary hits such as "Country Road," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Snowbird," "For The Good Times" and "The Theme To MASH." They also sang oldies, like "Ghost Riders In The Sky" and "You Are My Sunshine," as well as some slightly more alternative songs, such as John Stewart's "July, You're A Woman." The liner notes say they were all three songwriters, though sadly none of their own original material made it onto this album. They are joined by John Carpenter on one track, singing "This Old Rig"; guitarist Cappy Lyons also worked with Jim Smoak in the late '70s.

Lucinda Williams -- see artist profile

Various Artists "CATAHOULA COUNTRY TIME" (Zundak Records, 1968-?) (LP)
In 1962, veteran Louisiana bluegrass musician Don Wiley and his musical partner J. C. Henderson started up their own music venue, the Catahoula Country Music Show, a mom'n'pop venue in Hendersonville, LA that staged live concerts featuring both local and national artists. The show was also broadcast on two local TV stations, KALB, Alexandria and KNOE, Monroe, although I don't know when this arrangement started or how long the Show stayed together. This album and its companion disc, VOICES OF CATAHOULA (below) seem to have come out at roughly the same time, maybe around 1968-69. The cast on this album also included Gene King, J. C. Henderson and the Henderson Brothers, Nobby Dean Massey, Lawrence Roberts and the Roberts Brothers, Junior Trisler, Don Wiley and Ruble Wright... The liner notes are a bit vague, but I think most if not all these tracks were cover songs.

Various Artists "LIVE! AT THE LOUISIANA HAYRIDE" (KWHK, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by David Kent)
This album showcased four of the younger artists on the Louisiana Hayride in the late 1970s, backed by a house band called Catfish South... Although these folks were pretty obscure, minor-league newbies at the time, at least two of them ascended briefly into the big time: singers Craig Dillingham and Micki Fuhrman both got deals in Nashville and while they weren't the biggest stars, they did make an impression. Fuhrman, who was fifteen when she joined the Hayride and sixteen when this album was recorded, got signed first. Her first chart hit actually came on the Hayride label, 1978's "Leave While I'm Sleeping," which barely broke into the Top 100. But it was enough to get her a deal with MCA, though her solo album didn't do much better and she left the commercial country scene in favor of a presumably more stable career singing gospel music. Dillingham's break came a few years later, after he signed to Curb Records, but even though his singles did well -- getting him into the Top Forty -- Curb shelved his album and he returned to the Texas scene, where he became better known as a songwriter. But hey, here they are in their younger years, bright-eyed and hopeful on the stage of one of country's most venerable live shows.

Various Artists "A NIGHT AT THE HAYRIDE" (Hayride Records, 1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny James)
This album showcased four of the younger artists on the Louisiana Hayride in the late 1970s, backed by a house band called Catfish South... Although these folks were pretty obscure, minor-league newbies at the time, at least two of them ascended briefly into the big time: singers Craig Dillingham and Micki Fuhrman both got deals in Nashville and while they weren't the biggest stars, they did make an impression. Fuhrman, who was fifteen when she joined the Hayride and sixteen when this album was recorded, got signed first. Her first chart hit actually came on the Hayride label, 1978's "Leave While I'm Sleeping," which barely broke into the Top 100. But it was enough to get her a deal with MCA, though her solo album didn't do much better and she left the commercial country scene in favor of a more stable career singing gospel music. Dillingham's break came a few years later, after he signed to Curb Records, but even though his singles did well -- getting him into the Top Forty -- Curb shelved his album and he returned to the Texas scene, where he became better known as a songwriter. But hey, here they are in their younger years, bright-eyed and hopeful on the stage of one of country's most venerable live shows.

Various Artists "NORTH LOUISIANA HAYRIDE STARS" (Custom Record Company, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Curtis Kirk)

Various Artists "VOICES OF CATAHOULA" (Catahoula Records, 1968-?) (LP)
(Produced by Carol Rachou)
A local venue started in Harrisonburg, Louisiana back in 1962, the Catahoula Country Music Show existed both on stage and as a TV program broadcast on two different local channels. The Show featured a number of local and regional performers, as well as some folks such as Bill Landrum (aka Bill Lendrum) and Gene King who had modest national profiles. The cast on this collection also included Penny Davis, J. C. Henderson, Junior Trisler, Don Wiley and Ruble Wright... I'm not sure when this album came out (no date) but a cover version of Bobby Austin's "Apartment Number Nine," indicates this was recorded at least around 1967-68, when Tammy Wynette's hit version was popular. (I'm guessing it was around 1968-69...) Most of the tracks are covers, though two are credited as originals, "This Game Is Not Fun No More" (written by Gene King and sung by Penny Davis) and Don Wiley's "I’ll Never Be Lonesome Again." This is a companion disc to the CATAHOULA COUNTRY TIME album listed above.

Hick Music Index