Suzi Arden "The Suzi Arden Show Live At the Mint Hotel" (Mint Records, 1977) (LP)
Apparently originally from Colorado, fiddler-guitar picker Suzi Arden is best remembered as the leader of the longest-running show in Las Vegas history... Arden is also a legendary figure among guitar buffs for having field-tested the first Rickenbacker 12-string guitar back in 1963. (Take that, Roger McGuinn!) Though this album has plenty of pop and folk diversions, Ms. Arden did have a solid background in the golden era of hillbilly variety shows, notably performing on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee in a duo called The Arden Sisters. She hit Vegas in the early 'Sixties and became a fixture at the Merri-Mint Lounge, where she remained for most of the 'Sixties and 'Seventies. She also cut a couple of singles in Nashville and LA, but her vinyl claim to fame comes from this live LP, recorded in Vegas in the '70s... Her backing band included singer/bassist Lucky Clark, drummer Jerry (not that one) Garcia, Bobby Lee (bass), Leon Richardson (lead guitar), and Jerry Vance on rhythm guitar. I suspect these guys played quite a bit elsewhere, but like a lot of Vegas musicians, their wider careers were obscured... Not actually that country of a record, but still worth a spin.

Tommy Bell "Tommy Bell" (Gold Sound Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy DeVito, Mark Harmon & Scott Spain)
An ambitious though terminally bland, Top Forty-oriented album by a guy from up around Las Vegas... There's a lot of original material on here, including several songs by Bob Morrison, a couple by Buddy Cannon and other by Ronnie David and Bill Shostak, who are credited as arrangers on the album. The album seems to have been backed by deejay Johnny Steele, the program director at Las Vegas radio station KVEG, and seems to have been well promoted -- lots of copies still floating around. Overall, I suppose it's a strong effort, although Bell's Kenny Rogers-meets-Joe Stampley vibe doesn't really appeal to my sensibilities. Folks with more mainstream tastes might wanna check this out, particularly if you're into the early '80s country sound.

J. J. Bene & Darby Bene "Born To Pick Pick To Live" (Sang It Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Scott Spain)
This duo was from North Las Vegas, Nevada, playing mostly original material, including "Willie's Down At Gilley's," a tribute to Willie Nelson that compliments their covers of two Willie songs, "Goin' Home" and "Pretty Paper."

Brenda Blue "Ten Times The World" (Sunwood Records, 1980) (EP)
(Produced by Angel South & Bob Werner)
A four-song EP by singer Brenda Blue, who was a cast member of the Reno, Nevada production of Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, working with guitarist Angel South, formerly of the rock band Chase, who produced this disc. This was recorded in Reno with Brenda Blue on bass and vocals; Tony Booth (the same one?) playing bass, Jimmy Powell (steel guitar), Angel South (guitar), Billy Armstrong (fiddle) and others. There are three originals written by Blue: "Dirt And Stains," "Ten Times The World," and "Can't Say No Tonight," along with an oldie (from the '60s) called "Hee Haw Haw," by Oregon's Sally Wells. I'm assuming Brenda Blue was a stage name, but so far I haven't found any other info about her career...

Buffalo Country "Buffalo Country" (Universal Audio Recordings, 197--?) (LP)
This band featured piano player and lead singer Raymond "Bud" Mosley and his younger sibling Jerry, two brothers from Graham, Texas who moved to Nevada in the early 'Seventies and played in Reno and other local venues. Bud Mosely, who recorded an album of original material under his own name while still living in Texas, backed by a group he called the Whippoorwills. He founded Buffalo Country and played earlier gigs with a different lineup, but for this album he brought in his brother as well as bassist Jerry Akins and a singer named Becky Lynn (who might have later recorded a couple of albums as Rebecca Lynn, though I'm not sure if it's really the same gal...) The set list is mostly cover tunes, and as far as I know this was the group's only album.

Eddie Cash "Eddie Cash" (Prairie Wind, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Lentini)
This album was more or less the swan song for singer Eddie Nash, a Memphis native who scored a regional hit in the late 1950s with his first single, a chunky rockabilly tune called "Doing All Right." Nash's later 45s didn't make much traction, though, and he never broke through like Elvis or Eddie Cochran, et. al. Eventually he made his way out to Vegas, where he headlined his own musical revue, and by the time he cut this album, Nash was working in sort of a Mac Davis white-soul-meets-country mode, an approach that works better at some times than others... These sessions also dovetail the career of his relative, Tennessee-born Jay Ramsey, a true musical chameleon who also skirted the edges of national fame. Ramsey started his career in the early '60s as a pre-Beatles teenpop rocker, moved onto Nashville and did quite well as a professional songwriter, then in later years decamped to Las Vegas, where he settled down to become a songwriting coach and artist manager. Along the way he played all kinds of stuff, including Beach Boys-y teenpop, white soul, and a wide range of twang. All the songs on this album are credited to Ramsey, including one tune, "The Saddest Song," which was previously recorded under his name on a 1973 single. Oddly, there are two different publishing companies involved, and two different styles: Side One of the album showcases five country-oriented tracks from Billy Bob Music, while Side Two is more pop oriented, and published through Surety Songs; Jay Ramsey is also listed as a background singer on this album. You can sort of struggle your way into appreciating the country stuff, but the pop side is pretty terrible, full of bombastic, brassy arrangements and overly-emotive vocals. Worth a spin for obscuro fans (you're reading this website, for a start...) but the second side of the album is honestly pretty bad. Sorry fellas, nothing personal, but I gotta call 'em like I see 'em.

Eddie Cash "Live: A Concert In Tribute, Concert One" (Rainbow Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Cash & Dick O'Shea)
You'd be forgiven for not realizing this album art graced several different discs (and thanks to Discogs for sorting it all out...) One of a surprisingly long series of tribute-album LPs which were presumably souvenirs of Eddie Cash's Vegas lounge act. These were apparently all banged out at the same time, with all the volumes sharing the same cover art and with backing by the same small group of musicians: Garry Hudson on bass, guitar picker James Hunt and Roger Vanscoyk on drums. This first volume includes homage/impersonations of Buddy Holly, Conway Twitty and Elvis Presley, who Eddie Cash dutifully imitated back in the early 'Sixties. I'm not sure which came first, these homage albums or the self-titled album above; also possibly worth checking out are his early teenpop/faux rockabilly singles from the late 1950s and early '60s, which remind me quite a bit of Stan Freberg's parodies of the genre...

Eddie Cash "Live: A Concert In Tribute, Concert Two" (Rainbow Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Cash & Dick O'Shea)
Here Eddie Cash covers Nat King Cole, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Mathis... same backing band.

Eddie Cash "Live: A Concert In Tribute, Concert Three" (Rainbow Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Cash & Dick O'Shea)
An all-country set, covering Glen Campbell, Roger Miller, Marty Robbins and Kenny (Sauron) Rogers.

Eddie Cash "Live: A Concert In Tribute, Concert Four" (Rainbow Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Cash & Dick O'Shea)
This one digs into the blues: Ray Charles, BB King, and a medley of "gut bucket" blues. Hep, daddy-o.

Eddie Cash "Live: A Concert In Tribute, Concert Five" (Rainbow Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Cash & Dick O'Shea)
Almost all rock and pop on this one: other than some Jim Reeves impersonations, there are tributes to Bobby Darin, Fats Domino and The Platters

Eddie Cash "Live: A Concert In Tribute, Concert Six" (Rainbow Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Cash & Dick O'Shea)
Another all-country set, with imitations of Eddy Arnold, Merle Haggard, Charlie Rich and Hank Williams...

Bo Coulter "Meet Bo Coulter" (Gold Sound Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy DeVito & Bill Shostak)
A bunch of original material by Boyd "Bo" Coulter, recording on an indie label from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bo Coulter "Champagne Country" (Caprice Records)

Expression "Texas/Nevada Border" (Mediarts Records, 1971) (LP)
Previously known as the Expressions, this muttonchoppy quintet started out as a Kennedy-era teenpop/rock band working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Expressions released a few singles on various labels, with lead singer/songwriter Jay Ramsay as the driving force, adding another Lone Star rocker, Kirby St. Romain, to the lineup in 1965. The band plugged away as a pop act with only modest regional success; by the late 'Sixties they'd shortened the name and moved to Reno, and began incorporating more country stuff into their act. While all this was going on, Jay Ramsey was making a name for himself as a professional songwriter, increasingly tilting more and more towards twang. In 1972, his song, "We Can Make The Morning," was the flipside of a Top 10 Elvis Presley single; another song, "Draggin' Chains," charted for Conway Twitty in '79. This was the first Expression album, released while they were working a gig at the Mint Lounge, in Las Vegas.

Expression "Expression" (Expression Records, 197-?) (LP)
This album was recorded live at the Riverside Hotel, in Reno, Nevada, although I'm not quite sure what year. Looks like it was mostly covers, and not just country stuff -- tunes like "Georgia On My Mind," "Country Roads" and "The Letter." So it was a mix of country and pop-soul, possibly with hints of a Christian folk-rock vibe on a few tracks. Around this time, Kirby St. Romain was also in a band called Kansas Rain, which also was working the casino and ski lodge scenes, and released an album around the same time.

Expression "Portrait" (Expression Records, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Kelly & Expression)
A slicker-looking, slicker-sounding set which is more rock/funk oriented in some parts, but still pretty rootsy. Includes a zippy version of the Eagles' "Already Gone," along with "Take It Easy," "Delta Dawn," and other overtly twangy country/country-rock hits of the day. This was basically the same lineup as before, with Jerry Brown, Frank Cole, Bob Kelly, Jay Ramsay and Kirby St. Romain credited as the main members. Alas, still no indication when this came out, but I'm guessing 1976-78-ish. In 1982, Ramsey started a new group called the Jay Ramsey band, though over the years he continued to collaborate with Jerry Brown, one of the original members of the Expressions.

The Family Portrait "At Home" (Sierra Nevada Recording Studios, 1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jody Peterson)
The epitome of an local, amateur-hour bar-band, Reno, Nevada's Family Portrait was a later incarnation of a folk duo formed by brothers Jim and Jerry Estes, who were originally from the Midwest but later settled in Nevada and worked at venues such as the King's Inn and the urban-cowboy oriented Shy Clown casino. They were joined on this album by Jim Estes' wife Jackie and pickers Bill Van Dyke (banjo and fiddle) and Ernie Hagar (dobro and steel) who add some nice instrumental ooompf to the sometimes-iffy vocals. This set shows a heavy influence from the Emmylou Harris Hot Band, with covers of Rodney Crowell's "Song For The Life" and "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" as well as Guy Clark's "She Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and Paul Siebel's old chestnut, "Louise." Perhaps the campy highlight on the album is a lo-o-o-o-ong version of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," which might not be as kooky as Don Bowman's word-for-word recreation of "Alice's Restaurant," but it's in the same ballpark. Also included as interstitial ditties are a few of Mason Williams' "Them Poems," as odd and entertaining here as they were the first time around. The Estes all worked day jobs as schoolteachers in Reno and perhaps weren't the world's all-time greatest country musicians, but there's a sincerity and guilelessness here that adds authenticity and charm... Worth a spin if you're really rooting for the locals.

Phil Harris "Here I Am" (Evergreen Records, 1989) (LP)
(Produced by Phil Harris & Linda Stern)
Singer Phil Harris had been grabbing at the country music brass ring for a long time before cutting this solo set in Nashville. Sometime in the late '70s or early '80s he and his brother Jim started a cover band called Whiskey Ridge, which played the Nevada nightclub and casino circuit for most of the decade. Whiskey Ridge recorded an album in 1985 and was still putting out singles in '87, a couple of years before this album came out. This disc really represents the chronological tail end of "pre-Americana" locals only/unsigned country artists I can fit into this website, but even as late as 1989 there were earnest, unknown hopefuls putting out vinyl records and looking to break into the charts. I hate to be harsh, but this is basically pretty cheesy, low-end would-be Top Forty material, with the sort of tinkly, antiseptic 1980s Nashville production I shrink away from, although there are some nice pedal steel riffs from the ever-fab Doug Jernigan, as well as some good songs. Other studio musicians include Gene Breeden playing lead guitar and backup vocals by the Calloway Sisters. There's one tune written by Red Lane, and several on Side Two by Harris's brother Jim which are the strongest material on here. There's no release date on the album itself, but my copy came with a signed headshot, dated October, 1989, so I figure it's a pretty good guess. Joining Phil Harris on one track is his longtime duet partner Linda Mowray, who was the last original member of Whiskey Ridge around in '87, which may have been when the band broke up.

Eddie Hawkins "Cowboy Memories" (Summit Records, 19--?)
(Produced by H. Wayne Fox)
I have absolutely no info about this album, except that I saw it at a used book store a while back and thought the novelty album art was funny (it's a picture of the artist -- a big, lanky cowpoke feller -- sittin' nekkid in a tiny tin washbasin, scrub brush in hand...) and I was tempted to pick it up, but thought it was a little too pricey for me, like two bucks or something... Anyway, this fella (who is not to be confused with the gospel artist Edwin Hawkins) seems to have been a rodeo rider in Colorado and Wyoming, and the music is mostly cover tunes, ranging from Hank Williams to other oldies such as "Philadelphia Lawyer" and "Yellow Rose Of Texas." There's one song that might have been an original, "Teardrops In My Heart," but I don't know for sure. I couldn't find any other mention of this guy anywhere else... I'm guessing this came out in the mid-to-late '60s, possibly the early 1970s(?) Apparently pedal steel player Don Buzard plays throughout this album, and adds some pretty tasty licks, with guitarist George Braswell backing him up. Anyone out there have anything to add?

Eddie Hawkins "Old Reno Casino Presents Eddie Hawkins" (SNR Records, 1980-?)
(Produced by Carl Gay, Jody Peterson Sr. & Jon Holloman)

Toni Ingraham "This Is Toni Ingraham" (Artists Recording Studios, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Junior Bennett)
California-born singer Toni Ingraham had a background in pop/big band vocals, including gigs with bandleaders such as Ray Anthony and Esquivel where she played Vegas and the hotel circuit... In the 'Seventies, though, she "went country" and switched to playing state fairs and rodeos. This album is an all-hits set of country covers, specializing in chart-toppers originally sung by female artists: "Funny Face," "Top Of The World," "Happiest Girl In The USA," "Teddy Bear," "No Charge," et. al. To be honest, I found her vocals a little lacking in oomph, but it's a decent snapshot of a working, ground-level country artist. The backing band, led by fiddler Junior Bennett, seems to have been all Cinnicinnati locals -- guys like Denny Rice, Gary Toy and Brownie Mannett -- though I'm not sure if Ms. Ingraham was living in the Midwest when she cut this album.

Toni Ingraham "More Of Toni Ingraham" (Sunset Records, 1977-?) (LP)
Well, she made at least one other record, though I'm not sure when it came out. The catalog number and the cover photo suggest 1977, although the set list really seems from much earlier. There are early '70s hits such as "Delta Dawn" (1972) and "Let Me Be There" (1973) and several from 1975 -- "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" (1975), "I'm Not Lisa" (1975), and "When Will I Be Loved," an Everly Brothers oldie that was a hit for Linda Ronstadt in '75. Maybe they had some stuff sitting in the vaults? Although she kept some back-east roots, with this album being pressed in Cincinnati, her label's address was in Vegas, and that seems to have been her base of operations for most of the 'Seventies and early 'Eighties. Ingraham had some success nationally, recording at least one single for RCA Victor, circa 1975, and even had headshots done for the label by a studio in Hollywood, but chart success eluded her. She also toured in California, and may have retired around LA, though I'm not 100% certain about that. Sadly, no info about the musicians backing her here, or who produced this album.

Just Us "Just Us" (Sierra Nevada Recording Studio, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Jody Pederson)
A pretty low-rent private-press album by a band from up around Reno... Their music ranges from mid-tempo country (with a slight outlaw edge) to more sluggish ballads, reminiscent of late-vintage Conway Twitty. These dudes were definitely longhairs, but they dipped into some pretty cheesy stuff, including a cover of the then-popular Kenny Rogers hit, "She Believes In Me." Lead singers Clifford Kay and Rick Warren also penned a few originals for this album -- "Alright With Me" and "Running Away" by Warren, one called "Can't Get You Off Of My Mind" by Kay, and "Breezy," a track they co-wrote. The album kicks off with a boogie-rock rendition of the Jimmie Rodgers oldie, "California Blues," and they also a thumpy, rocked-up rendition of Waylon Jennings' "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," an anthem of the outlaw scene. The originals are pretty dreadful -- AOR pop ballads that are totally at odds with the country vibe of the rest of the record... But maybe that was the kind of stuff that could make you popular with chicks back then? Maybe...

Pamela Kay "Thank God I'm A Country Girl" (1975) (LP)
A stereotypical perky '70s blonde, banjo-plunking Pamela Kay was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and worked in Las Vegas at the Frontier Hotel's Horseshoe Lounge, originally performing under her maiden name, Pamela Petfarken, in an act led by trumpet player Billy Kay, who she eventually married. By the time this album was recorded, Ms. Kay adopted a country music image, covering versions of "Country Roads" and "Two Doors Down," in addition to oldies such as "Mr. Sandman" and "Alabamy Bound." This isn't exactly a women's lib album: Pamela Kay is pictured on the back cover in short-short cutoffs and a particularly revealing, denim halter top, with the liner notes more focussed on her physical beauty than on her musical talent. "She is beautiful, dynamic, soft, energetic, with a supple, lithe body to enhance her other attributes. Let's just sum it with -- WOW!" Wow, indeed. Yeesh!

Darwin Lamb "I Have A Dream" (Flying L Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Jay Chevalier & Shelly Ford)
A spunky vanity album recorded by rancher, rodeo rider and businessman Darwin Lamb, who came from a prominent Las Vegas family, a tight-knit clan that was frequently likened to the Kennedys, in that they were so politically connected and intertwined... Among his many pursuits, Darwin Lamb was a well-connected state politician, alongside his brothers, Clark Country Sheriff Ralph Lamb and state senator Floyd Lamb, who was a crony of Governor Paul Laxalt. Darwin Lamb also acted in a handful of late '60s/early '70s films -- westerns and action movies -- and he recorded this croony country record with backing by Charlie Moore and the Western Union Band when he was 46 years old. This is a perky but amateurish album -- I wouldn't say Mr. Lamb was a great stylist, but he was definitely having fun when he cut this disc, and the band was pretty tight. Mainly, this is an interesting footnote to the history of a family that helped shape modern-day Vegas. It's okay as twang, too, though -- fans of Jim Reeves or Tennessee Ernie Ford might dig it.

Kenny Laursen "Kenny Laursen" (KayJay Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Kenny Laursen & Earle Weatherwax)
Singer-comedian Kenny Laursen may have originally been from Southern California, where he is said to have played on Cliffie Stone's Home Town Jamboree show, and at various SoCal venues in the 1960s. He spent the '70s working steady gigs in Reno and Las Vegas, as well as in Texas and California, before eventually settling in Vegas in the early '90s to run his own audio-visual production studio. I think this was his first record: on later albums, Laursen subsumed himself to a sort of goofy, county fair/lounge lizard persona, but this early outing was his bid as an early '70s singer-songwriter/sunshine pop auteur. He does a couple of cover tunes -- of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles" and Jerry Reed's "When You're Hot, You're Hot" -- but the rest of the record is original material, including seven songs written by Laursen, one by Marcia Barnum (a backup singer in his band) and a version of Gene Rockwell Gant's comedic number, "I Got The Funny Feelin' That You Really Wouldn't Care If I Went Home," which is an album highlight. This album wobbles between wannabee '70s pop anthems ("Sunshine") and comedic material reminiscent of the '60s commerical scene, with Laursen seeming aiming at being kind of a low-rent version of Dick Feller. This is less country-oriented than some of his other albums, but shows again the diversity of influences in his act. Underwhelming, perhaps, but still an honest portrait of a way-under-the-radar working musician.

Kenny Laursen "The Wildest Show In Dallas" (KayJay Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Sandell)
A funky, low-rent live set from singer Kenny Laursen, a true veteran performer who cut his teeth singing on late '50s shows like "Home Town Jamboree" and backing Cliffie Stone on the radio... Laursen also carved out a niche as a regional entertainer, as documented on this and other, similar self-released records. These are real, authentic documents of average-sounding locals entertainers -- he does oldies, corny jokes, a big Buddy Holly medley, covers of crap hits like "The Gambler," and hints at more rugged stuff, like Ed Bruce's "Texas When I Die." It's not great, but it's real... Not the kind of record I'd really want to listen to more than once, but if you want to hear what county fair country singers really sounded like in the late '70s, this guy's that guy.

Kenny Laursen "Songs That Were Popular When I Was In High School" (KayJay Records, 19--?) (LP)

Kenny Laursen "One Of America's Greatest Entertainers" (KayJay Records, 19--?) (LP)
Recorded live at the Reuben E. Lee in Newport Beach California... (The Reuben E. Lee was a faux riverboat restaurant/music venue, built in dock and decommissioned in 2007 after four decades of various businesses coming and going... Guess they had room for Texas country boys at one point, too...)

Kenny Laursen "Live!!!" (KayJay Records, 19--?) (LP)

The Billy Ledbetter Show "Just Us" (1979-?) (LP)
(Produced by Richard Pond)
This was a Vegas lounge band, though they definitely had a lot of country in their act. Their repertoire included oldies like "Choo Choo Ch-Boogie," "Heartaches By The Number" and the Mills Brothers chestnut, "Till Then," as well as newer tunes from the '70s, like Dr. Hook's "Couldn't You Try" and the Statler Brothers' "I'll Go To My Grave Loving You." The latest songs on the album are the Oak Ridge Boys hit, "Come On In" and "New Orleans Lady" by Le Roux, which both came out in 1978, most likely dating this album to around 1979... though that's really just an educated guess. Oh, plus the hair.

The Leland Four "Live At John Ascuaga's Nugget" (Frisbe Records 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Roy Ward)
A Reno, Nevada lounge act with some country stuff in the mix ("American Trilogy," "Let Me Be There") sandwiched between a bunch of definitely not-country material ("Puka Shells," "Sweet Caroline," etc.) The band originally included four guys from the West Coast -- Lee Hendricksen (on accordion, trumpet and guitar), Spud Ivens (drums), Jet "Pineapple" Kanahi (bass, ukulele), and Rick Stock on guitar -- who seem to have been from Southern California, though Reno became their home base. Various members peeled off over the years, though Lee Hendricksen kept the group going as The Lelands for over two decades. This LP was a souvenir of a gig at John Ascuaga's Nugget casino; as far as I know, this was their only album.

Helen Long & Longshot Country "The Ponderosa Hotel Presents: Longshot Country" (Longshot Records, 1979) (LP)
A nice document of a hotel lounge band from Reno, Nevada featuring singer Helen Long and her musical partner, steel guitarist Lynda Buzard, who also get a credit as the band's arranger. There's no date on the album, but the liner notes say that the band was formed in 1969, and had been together for ten years before cutting this disc. The music is all cover tunes, with some interesting choices, generally on the softer side to the spectrum -- stuff like Harlan Howard's "Another Bridge To Burn," "The Green, Green Grass Of Home," "Old Dogs, Children And Watermelow Wine," along with a few more uptempo numbers, such as "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Let Me Be There." Long was not the world's greatest singer, and the band backing her often rushes the tempo, but still, this is a good snapshot of a working band, chugging away on music they love. Plus, it's kind of cool to see one of these bands being led by two women, rather than having them in the role of "backup" musicians.

Longbranch Trio Plus One "Live" (Tab Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Lloyd Johnson & Charles Palmer)
This is one of those rural-looking albums I keep circling back to, thinking that it looks country, though several times I've determined that it is not. The house band at Kitty's Longbranch saloon, a frontiers-y style tourist destination in old-town Virginia City, Nevada, the trio was a brass-based trad-jazz act, with horn players Clyde Amsler (saxophone), Don Forbes (sax), Jerry Lane (trumpet) joined by front man Bobby Watson, and the repertoire on this album was pretty strictly jazz standards, show tunes and pop oldies such as "Sentimental Journey," "Satin Doll," and "You Made Me Love You," with a sorta-rock number like "Yakety Sax" thrown in to goose things up a bit at the end. The wood-plank artwork which years ago frequently denoted a country record, in this case was instead a nod to the Wild West's Gold Rush-era roots. I add this review more as a warning to my fellow twangfans, and also just to get it out of the way.

The Lucky Numbers "Mr. Lucky's" (MARS Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Les Liedel)
A souvenir album featuring a couple of guys who had worked as sidemen for various bands: bass player Clyde McCoy and guitar picker Roy Young. The liner notes say they played with country stars Little Jimmy Dickens, Judy Lynn, Leon McAulliffe and Marty Robbins, though this is one of those albums where the liners are suspiciously vague, so I don't know how intensive any of those engagements actually were... Anyway, they were doing a gig at the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas around the time they cut this album, and the set list certainly reflects the kind of diversity lounge acts required back then, with pop stuff like "Walk Right Back" and Otis Redding's "Dock Of A Bay" alongside "Sweet Dreams Baby" and John Hartford's "Gentle On My Mind," as well as a cover of Bobby Goldsboro's dreadful "Honey." No date on the album, but based on the material, I'd guess it's from around 1968 or '69, though it could be a few years later...

The Nevadans "Virginia City's Bonanza Presents The Nevadans" (Tab Records) (LP)
Alas, neither of the guys in the duo called "The Nevadans" was actually from Nevada... Merle Bartlett and George La Ferry were from Arkansas and Sacramento, California (respectively) and the Tab label was, oddly enough, based in San Jose. Nonetheless, the Bonanza nightclub sponsored their lounge-act souvenir album, which is packed with honky-tonk cover songs and oldies... Not sure of the year on this one; late '60s/early '70s perhaps?

Jesse Rucilez "The First Of Jesse Rucilez" (Ripcord Records, 1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Breeden & Blaine Allen)
A confident and robust country crooner, roughly in the same camp as Conway Twitty or Mel Street, Jesse Rucilez fronted the Rucilez Brothers Band, which played regularly around Reno, Nevada in the late '70s. The album includes covers of Marty Robbins' "You Gave Me A Mountain," "Listen To A Country Song" (originally recorded by Lynn Anderson), Doug Kershaw's "Louisiana Man," and pop tunes like "My Way" and Fats Domino's "I'm Walking." There are also a few originals, including two songs credited to Eddie Hawkins: "We Don't Need Tomorrow" and "Oklahoma Pride." Also worth noting is one by Willie Nelson's first wife, Shirley Nelson, "No Place To Go." Alas, there's no info in the liner notes about who played on this album, but it's a pretty good bet that Ripcord's Gene Breeden was sitting in on guitar... It's a well-produced set, with a few flowery arrangements, but a pretty solid country core. I'm not sure what happened to Mr. Rucilez -- after this album came out, he seems to have vanished from sight; his son, Jesse Lynn Rucilez, is also a musician, playing in some local rock bands over the years, as well as authoring several self-published novels.

Junior Sasnett & The Tennessee Ramblers "Saviors Hand Holding Mine #2" (Junior Sasnett Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Junior Sasnett)
According to the liner notes, Junior Sasnett was born and raised in Brent, Florida and was living in Las Vegas when he cut this disc. As a teenager he played guitar in a traveling tent revival show, though later when he formed a band with his siblings, he played and wrote secular honky-tonk music. Sasnett made his way out west to LA, where he worked odd jobs and finally moved to Las Vegas where he played a few country bars and self-released at least three albums of very twangy gospel material. (This appears to have been his first record, although the title is confusing: the "number two" is part of one song's name, while a small note in the corner says this is "volume one" of a series. Backing Sasnett is a group including Drake Day on drums, Dusty Henson (bass), Emmett Jones (mandolin), Ned Ketchum (accordion), Ray Kiper (guitar), Loyd Lass (steel guitar) and Buddy Streight on fiddle. These guys were a mix of young'uns and old-timers from all over the country... Several of guys were from California, including the son of fabled Bakersfield TV host Cousin Herb Henson, bassist Keith "Dusty" Henson (1953-2017), who tragically was paralyzed in an accidental shooting in 1982 but previously led a Vegas-based group called the Back Porch County Band.

Junior Sasnett & The Tennessee Ramblers "Volume Two: The Bus Drivin' Blues" (Junior Sasnett Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Junior Sasnett)
Including the title track, about half the songs on here are Sasnett originals, paired up with a bunch more Hank Williams covers and a version of Jimmie Davis's "You Are My Sunshine." Unfortunately the musicians backing him aren't identified, although the liner notes do give us some more biographical detail about Mr. Sasnett's younger days and the two years he spent as part of Rev. Billy McGee's tent revival show, and also informs us that one of the three albums he put out in the late 'Seventies was actually a reissue of earlier material.

Junior Sasnett & The Tennessee Ramblers "Good Old Gospel Time, Volume III" (Junior Sasnett Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Junior Sasnett)
According to the liner notes, Junior Sasnett was born and raised in Florida and as a teen he played guitar in a traveling tent revival show, though later when he formed a band with his siblings, he played and wrote secular honky-tonk music. Sasnett made his way out west to LA, where he worked odd jobs and finally moved to Las Vegas where he played a few country bars and self-released at least one album. (Has anyone laid eyes on volumes one and two?) All but four of the songs on here are Hank Williams covers while the others are gospel and country gospel standards such as "Where Could I Go But To The Lord" and "Life's Railway To Heaven." Sasnett apparently released a few hard-country singles in his youth, though I don't know if they've been gathered or reissued anywhere.

Patti Shelton "She Touches" (Gold Sound Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy DeVito, Robin Freeman & Mike Lyman)
Commercially-oriented country by a young gal from Nevada -- a bit too lush and overly-emotive for my tastes, though there's some resonant original material on here. According to the liner notes, Ms. Shelton started performing publicly when she joined a local rock covers band at age fifteen; she also sang backup in Vegas for a lineup of the Platters, and for the Johnny Harras Show, and somewhere along the line caught the attention of would-be record mogul Tommy DeVito (best known as the odd man out in Frankie Valli's group the Four Seasons.) DeVito seems to have lined Shelton up to demo some songs for Sherl Milett's Moondance Music publishing company -- all the songs but one are credited to Moondance, including a couple written by Patti Shelton. She had a good set of pipes, but could have used a little coaching on her delivery -- along with Bill Shostak's swelling countrypolitan arrangements, her performance tilts towards the overripe and gooey, but it's not that out of line with the sound of the times -- a bit like Crystal Gayle, or late-vintage Lynn Anderson. The title track, "She Touches You," was written by Bat Henderson and Hal Blu, and it's a pretty searing weeper with an effective refrain, about how "every time she touches you, it hurts all over me." Probably too poppy for most twangfans, though if you enjoy off-brand countrypolitan, you might want to track this down.

J. D. Sparkman "In A Silvery State Of Mind" (Luthier Sound, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by David W. Linscott)
A sprawling, spaced-out concept album, kinda-sorta about the state of Nevada, where J.D. (Joseph Dana) Sparkman hung his hat. Folks who relish so-bad-it's-good outsider art will find a lot to cackle about here -- this album is a real mess. At first blush, the gruff, growling Mr. Sparkman gives off a strong Johnny Cash/Waylon Jennings outlaw vibe, and I think that gal singer Laurie Larson fancied herself his Jessi Colter-esque counterpart. But the songs and the performances are ill-defined and erratic, a real seat-of-their pants mishmosh, with pretty much everyone on the album barely holding it together. Mr. Sparkman is an decent rhythm guitarist, strumming and picking his twelve-string while he rambles through the lyrics, but everybody else just seems to weave in and out erratically, and while I think that steel player Leon Wagoner knew what he was doing, the drummer and fiddler both sound clumsy and clunky, real amateurs. Mostly, it's Ms. Larson's warbling vocals (one hesitates to call them harmonies) that pull this album apart -- she'll swoop in out of nowhere with some sort of '50s western film score ululation and perhaps repeat one of the lines in the song, but she really seems to be beaming in from some other planet, and whatever Townes Van Zandt-ish, desert-poet mystique Sparkman was building up gets completely undermined, time after time. I am not big on mocking "bad" records, and that's not what I'm trying to do here, but the collision between Sparkman's vision and Larson's nutty Mrs. Miller-isms is really irritating and unfortunate; if there were some way to go back to the master tapes and remix this album without the backing vocals and percussion, this might be a real great record.

Dennis Steiner's Five-String Bonanza "Sounds From Nevada" (1985-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dennis Steiner)
Regionally-oriented bluegrass/folk originals from banjo picker Dennis D. Steiner, who wrote all the material on here, a mix of instrumentals and several vocal number spotlighting singer Bonnie Ludwick. The original idea was the record an album of banjo duets with fellow plunker Matt Smith, but it grew into a larger project that also included folks like California newgrasser Joe Craven, who adds a few licks on mandolin. The liner notes inform us that Steiner and his pals used to play at a place called The Deli, in Reno, Nevada, which attracted a lot of Golden State pickers. Steiner and Craven also played together on a similarly-themed 1981 album by Larry Elliott ("Songs And Legends Of Virginia City, Nevada") and Dennis Steiner won a few banjo contests in 1983 and '84, just before making this album.

The Timberline Band "Too Much Fun" (Golden Horseshoe Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Claudette Kerr Alldredge)
Not to be confused with the Nebraska-based twangband Timberline, his longhaired Vegas lounge act apparently worked in the Maxim Hotel in the '70s... They recorded several original songs by lead singer Kim Blakey, as well as a cover of Commander Cody's "Too Much Fun," a Flying Burrito Brothers tune and a Sons Of The Pioneers medley...Haven't heard this one, but I am curious!

Joyce Vetter "Walkin' On The Sunnyside" (Wild Rose Records, 1987) (LP)
(Produced by Joyce Vetter)
Although her Wild Rose label gave an address in Winnemucca, Nevada, it would be hard to pin Ms. Vetter down to one locale... In addition to her music career, she worked as a wilderness guide in Idaho, Nevada and Northern California, as well as an author, aviator, and video director. Vetter made other records, though as far as I can tell, this one was the rootsiest, with versions of "Bump Bounce Boogie" and "Dolly's Dive." I guess, on balance, I'd peg her as a California gal, since she wound up working on yachts in Sausalito, CA, across the Bay from SF. A rambler and rounder, to be sure!

Garry Waite "Garry Waite's Country Time: A Dance Album" (Gorilla Music Production, 198--?) (LP)
(Produced by Denny Crockett, Ike Egan & Garry Waite)
Caught up in the line-dancing craze of the era, singer Garry Waite (1947-1998) put together this album of would-be future fads, packed with original songs variously described as two-steps, side-by-sides, stomps, freezes, and one called a "flying ape." And if none of this sounds familiar to the non-mobile couch potatoes among us, Waite helpfully enclosed a couple of posters with the LP, which describe some of the groovy new moves for you to learn. Mr. Waite is pictured on front cover outside of Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Bar, a Las Vegas casino that opened in 1979 and -- as seen on the 1983 marquee -- once included the Coca-Cola Museum(!) One presumes that Mr. Waite performed there, or hosted dance nights... This album seems to include a number of local Nevada musicians, although some of it was also recorded in Los Angeles, with help from Cliffie Stone and some old West Coast pros such as steel player J. D. Maness. To be honest, I wasn't wowed by this one -- it's not bad, it's just super-generic early '80s pop-country. But then again, Dr. Waite wasn't a professional musician, he was a local dentist and country music fan, just a guy putting his heart into something he enjoyed. His daughter, Gabrielle, sang on and helped write one track, "The Telephone Song," which was a two-step, in case you're wondering. [Note: still looking for a song that would stick, in 1985, Dr. Waite released a single called "Pickin' On Willie," which fits nicely in my list of Willie Nelson tribute songs.]

Whiskey Ridge "Movin' Up" (Garnette Records, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Jody Everett Peterson, Sr.)
Amazingly enough, an entirely different band than the group from Canada... These folks were a hardcore country covers band, self-proclaimed veterans of the "Nevada Circuit" who namechecked a number of hotels and casinos they'd played in across the state. With a mix of contemporary and golden oldies, and their agent's phone number on the back cover, this disc was very much meant as a calling card to get more work. The group included brothers Jim Harris (rhythm guitar) and Phil Harris (bass and vocals), along with Carl Bird (lead guitar), Linda Mowray (vocals), Tom Scott (drums) and Jimmy Youngblood on steel. They all took turns singing lead, with Phil Harris and Linda Mowray singing a duet on "Paradise Tonight." Overall, the band sounds charming though maybe a little frantic and kind of slickly produced. This was recorded at Sierra Nevada Recording, an independent studio in Reno, run by producer Jody Peterson, who'd recorded some cool stuff with artists such as Ernie Hagar and Merle Haggard, circa 1979-81. Phil Harris and Linda Mowray kept Whiskey Ridge together all through the '80s, and were still putting out singles as late as 1987, although the rest of the band's lineup was completely different by then. Phil Harris recorded at least one solo album, Here I Am, in 1989, with Linda Mowray chiming in on one of the tunes, and a couple of the songs written by his brother Jim. Ms. Mowray settled down around Reno, though I'm not sure what became of the Harris brothers.

Various Artists "R.F.D. HOLLYWOOD: ON LOCATION, THE POP COUNTRY SOUND" (Custom Fidelity Recordings, 1973-?) (LP)
I'm not sure just how much "real" country stuff is embedded in this odd souvenir album documenting some seemingly random shows in Take Tahoe and Las Vegas, Nevada, but there certainly were some real country artists involved. Side One was recorded up in Tahoe at the Camelot Theater, and features a western swing ensemble led by old-timers Tex Williams and steel legend Noel Boggs, along with gal singer named Kathy Taylor who had recorded a folk/country solo album in Nashville a few years earlier. Side Two was recorded in Las Vegas with and ensemble that featured Noel Boggs again, along with several dudes who had been playing in Suzi Arden's band at the Mint Hotel, notably drummer Jesse Garcia and guitarist Leon Richardson; the lead singer Bobby Lee Richardson may have been her bass player "Bobby Lee." The rest of the band included Jimmy King on saxophone and pianist Jimmy Pruitt. Both sides of this album were single, long, album-length tracks with no separation between songs and no song titles provided... Probably a mix of California and Nevada-based performers.

Hick Music Index