Paul Belanger "You're The One For Me" (White Mountain Music, 19--?) (LP)
An old-fashioned cowboy yodeler from New England, Paul Belanger was born in New Hampshire and hosted a weekly radio program for over thirty years, as well as performing and touring nationally and internationally for over sixty years, well into the 2010's. Backing him on this album is East Coast country legend Dick Curless, on rhythm guitar with his son, Rick Curless on drums, Jeff Patterson and Chuck Parish (of the John Penny Band) playing pedal steel and lead guitar, respectively. The repertoire's mostly straight-up cowboy music and sentimental stuff, including a couple of Gene Autry tunes, one by Montana Slim and a couple by Wilf Carter, who was a friend of Belanger. There's also a wealth of original material on here, including a pair of Christmas-related songs, the title track and one called "Cash Box For A Heart." Not sure when this album was recorded, but Belanger looks relatively youthful here, and Rick Curless was playing with Chuck Parrish in the John Penny Band around 1978... So, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that this came out around then as well.

Paul Belanger "The Old Man Of The Mountain" (Allagash Records, 19--?) (LP)
One of Mr. Belanger's most popular songs was his twangy tribute to the Old Man Of The Mountains, a curious rock formation near Franconia, New Hampshire than had a craggy profile not unlike that of Abraham Lincoln. The overhang was a popular tourist attraction and became New Hampshire's state emblem, drawing countless gawkers over the decades, until it collapsed from natural erosion in 2003. But we'll always have this song to remember it by!

Carl Brouse "American Hotel" (DTI Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Craig Luckin & Carl Brouse)
This was the lone LP by songwriter Carl Brouse (1950-2002), a New Hampshire artist notable in part for his collaborations with alt-twang luminary Tom Russell, who co-wrote for songs on here, and later recorded his own version of the title track on one of his own albums. This record might appeal to fans of the younger Rodney Crowell, or early Marty Stuart -- Brouse had a similar rock-appreciative country style, pop-aware, but definitely twangy. Plus, his laconic Southern-inflected drawl sounds an awful lot like Rodney at various points in his career. Highlights include the honkytonk boozing anthem, "These Bars (Have Made A Prisoner Out Of Me)" and the title track, which is an homage to the great American composer Stephen Foster. Brouse moved to Austin at some point, San Francisco as well, and worked with a bunch of talented people. On this album alone, he's got folks like Shawn Colvin, Amos Garrett, Bonnie Hayes and Paul Davis (which explains some of the 'Seventies AOR vibe on a tune or two...) as well as Bobby Black on steel guitar... Brouse died young, apparently from complications of diabetes. This album is a fine legacy, though! As are the few singles he recorded as well...

The Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra "Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra" (F&W Records, 1972) (LP)

The Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra "...Meets The F&W String Band" (F&W Records, 1972) (LP)

(Dudley Laufman &) The Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra "Swinging On A Gate" (Front Hall Records, 1974) (LP)

(Dudley Laufman &) The Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra "Mistwold" (F&W Records, 1974) (LP)

The Canterbury Orchestra "Shake A Leg: Canterbury Folk At Marble Palace" (Andrea Records, 19--?) (LP)

Connie Converse - see artist discography

The Country Playboys Show "Waltz Of New England (My Home)" (Country Playboys Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Don West)
Not a lot of info about this compact country crew from New Hampshire... The group was led by songwriter Brad Robinson, who wrote eight out of eleven songs on the album; there are two more originals by Milton Humpfus, who wasn't in the band but who shared Robinson's publishing company, Kinfolk Publishing... The album is rounded out by a version of Santo & Johnny's "Sleep Walk," which is the only cover tune. Robinson is the only bandmember identified by his full name -- Jim (drums), Ted (lead guitar) and Tony (bass) all get their pictures on the back cover, but not their names, which makes researching a bit difficult. The album was recorded at Don West's studio in Farmington, New Hampshire, and other than that the trail grows cold... The group was plugged by a couple of ads in the Portsmouth Herald in August, 1974, when they had a gig playing at a place called Driftwood Manor; an obituary for a guy who joined the band later indicates that the Country Playboys stayed together for over twenty years, though this was apparently their only album.

Dwight Davis & The Linemen "Meet Dwight Davis And The Linemen" (Lineman Records, 197--?) (LP)
According to the liner notes by Dick Curless, bandleader Dwight Davis was born in Lyneboro, New Hampshire, and was a trucker by profession, although he sure knew how to sing a twangtune as well... Davis led his band, The Linemen, for several years, playing throughout New England, notably headlining at the Gene LaVerne's Lone Star Ranch, out in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Confident though resolutely forlorn, Davis channels national stars such as Merle Haggard and George Jones, a rock-solid honkytonker with a calm demeanor and a firm hand on the tiller. The band included some excellent pedal steel by Al Eyles, with Ken d'Eon (bass), Normand Ouellette (drums), Gary Winslow on lead guitar, and harmony vocals by Roxanne Lebo. This self-released LP was recorded at EAR Studios in Lewiston, Maine, though Davis also recorded for Little Ritchie Records, in New Mexico, and is said to have played down in Texas as well. Recommended.

Don & Charlotte "My Little Corner Of The World" (Interstate Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Don West & Tim Sprowl)
This New Hampshire duo featured singer-guitarist Don West and "girl" singer Charlotte (whose last name isn't mentioned in the liner notes), who were from Manchester and Londonderry, NH, respectively. Some songs are sung as duets, others as solo... They performed together for several years before this album came out, and their repertoire included a lot of early '70s countrypolitan hits -- stuff like Donna Fargo's "Funny Face," Conway Twitty's "You've Never Been This Far Before," "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," "Let Me Be There," and of course a couple of Marie Osmond hits. So... early '70s? 1973? Something like that?

Jan Esty "Too Much Of You Still On My Mind" (Diamond Tape Productions, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Ray Fournier & Jeff Levine)
Not a ton of information about this gal out there... Jan Esty (1935-2014) was the stage name for Janice Hanscom, a New Englander born in Maynard, Massachusetts though she grew up in New Hampshire. In 1977 she led a band called The Happy Days which played regular gigs at a venue in Nashua called the Loyal Club, which I think was some sort of country club or fraternal order. The liner notes by her daughter Sally Nordle are charming, though not super-informative -- mostly Ms. Nordle talks about how she was into rock music, but her mom dug country, and how it took a while for her to appreciate the genre. Esty's range was fairly wide: she sang a mix of oldies such as "I Still Miss Someone" and "Sugar Coated Love" along with more contemporary hits like "Let Me Be There" and Kris Kristofferson's "Lord Help Me, Jesus." Unfortunately, the production notes don't tell us who was backing her, although the backup singers are identified as the Songsmiths, a trio including Lucy Devino, Pauline Downing and Gene Raschi. As far as I know, this was her only album, though she did record at least one single as well

Itinerant Musicians License "Itinerant Musicians License" (Front Hall, 1972-?) (LP)
This hippie-folkie old-timey string band was an offshoot of the Canterbury Orchestra, an amorphous ensemble led by multi-instrumentalist Dudley Laufman, who plays accordion on this record... He's joined by several fiddlers -- Jack Perron, Randy Miller and Fred Breunig -- on a lively acoustic set. Laufman also recorded a solo album (or two) back around the same time.

Dudley Laufman & The Canterbury Orchestra "Swinging On A Gate" (Front Hall, 1974) (LP)

Ray Little "The Ray Little Gang" (Arc Records, 196--?) (LP)
Bandleader Ray Little was originally from New Hampshire, although he and his wife Ann (a Massachusetts gal) emigrated up to Canada in 1946, where they led country bands in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. At the time of this album (sorry, no date) they'd been hosting a TV show in Regina for over three years. Unfortunately as is often the case with these old Arc LPs, there's no info about who the backing musicians were on this set.

Bill Madison "Sunday Mornin' Hayride" (Saloon Records, 1973) (LP)
Authentic spaced-out, meandering, longhaired, hippie folk music from a New Hampshire-based troubadour who mixed blues-based acoustic picking with a bit of country-flavored pedal steel and whatnot. The songwriting doesn't seem super-focussed, but the album oozes authenticity... After this album came out, Madison started a country-rock group called Them Fargo Bros... and while the band never put out an album(?) during their time together, they toured widely and recorded sporadically, with a couple of archival albums that came out years later. (See below.)

Them Fargo Bros. "The Studio Recordings: 1976-1981" (2010)
A digital-era reissue of from-the-archives material by the New Hampshire-based band, Them Fargo Bros., which featured songwriter Bill Madison, who had released his own solo folk album, Sunday Mornin' Hayride, before starting this country-rock band in '74. I'm not sure if any of these tracks really came out on vinyl, back in the day, or whether they are gathered here for the first time in album form.

Them Fargo Bros. "1979" (1979-?)
A previously-unreleased album recorded by this regionally-known New England country-rock band at a live gig at North Conway, NH's Oxen Yoke Inn... Apparently the band toured quite widely throughout the '70s and early '80s and stuck together until the early 1990s, in one form or another.

Rusty Wellington "Lonesome... In My Blue House" (Soundcraft Associates, 1963) (LP)
(Produced by Daniel N. Flickinger)
Although he was born in New Brunswick, Canada, singer Douglas "Rusty" Wellington (1925-1987) became known as a pioneering figure in New England's hillbilly country scene. His family moved to New Hampshire when he was ten, and the precociously talented lad had his own radio show as a teen, and even performed with several established bands. Wellington's career had an amazingly Zelig-like quality: he toured with stars such as Hank Snow, Hank Williams and Tex Williams and was closely associated with Bill Haley, who he wrote songs for and went on the road with following World War Two. After the war, Wellington settled in New Hampshire and established himself regionally, hosting a popular television show and writing regional pride songs such as "The Allagash" and "Packed In Maine," which helped earn him a spot in the Maine Country Music Hall Of Fame.

Rusty Wellington "Yes, It's Me Again" (Arzee Records, 1970-?) (LP)
(Produced by Lucky Steel & Tony Schmidt)
I'm not sure if Mr. Wellington continued to record in his later years, or mostly performed live and on broadcast shows. These sessions which date from the late 'Sixties seem to have been released as an LP around 1970, and may be his last recordings.

Rusty Wellington "Stepping Stone To A Higher Ground" (Arcade Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Howard)

Dusty Cal & Bonnie (Witham) "Songs Of The Old Country Church" (Soundcraft Associates, 196--?) (LP)
A married couple from Rochester, New Hampshire, Rev. Calvin G. Witham (1926-2021) and Clara C. Witham (1925-2012) were secular country stars in the late 1940s, before they got religion in 1951 and shifted towards gospel music. Cal Witham had a career going back to the mid-1940s, and was partnered up with another New England country picker, Clyde Joy, for a couple of years after the war. For several decades the Withams were connected with the Lone Star Ranch country music venue in Reeds Ferry, New Hampshire, and at the time this album came out "Dusty Cal" was a performer on a country show broadcast from Manchester's WMUR-TV. Their career found the couple working both sides of the Massachusetts/New Hampshire state line, though they eventually settled down in Cambridge, MA in 1985. They are accompanied on this album by organist Beverly Smith, and Warren Carney on guitar. The set was recorded in Cambridge, Massachusetts; later the Withams moved to Hanson, MA, south of Boston, where Cal Witham served as an ordained minister, and later moved to Cambridge.

Cal Witham & Bonnie Witham "...Sing The Gospel Country Style" (Bolt Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Buzz Whittica, Buck Carney & Richard Nevue)
The old-time country duo of Cal & Bonnie started out as a secular act, but went gospel later in life, with Mr. Witham becoming an ordained Baptist minister, in Hanson, Massachusetts. This album is mostly packed with standards, including a patriotic medley performed by John Phipps on the Wurlitzer organ. Producer Buck Carney plays dobro and guitar, and was apparently the co-owner of Bolt Records, which gives its address as the Lone Star Ranch, in Reeds Ferry, New Hampshire. (Many thanks to Hillbilly-Music.com for filling in a few blanks!)

Jimmy Woods & The Woodsmen "Just For You" (Onyx Records, 1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by Terry Sutton)
A lifelong resident of Dover, New Hampshire, bandleader James J. Wood, Jr (1936-2015) played in New England country bands for several decades, and started his group, The Woodsmen, back in 1967. They cut a couple of singles on the Natural Sound label around 1972, and this full album -- with a new lineup -- a few years later. This lineup of the Woodsmen included Jimmy Woods on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Ronny Chase (piano), Rod Levigne (drums), Jimmy Reynolds (lead guitar), John Rogers (bass), and producer Terry Sutton playing pedal steel, working their way through a set of cover songs including 'Sixties and 'Seventies hits such as "Fox On The Run," "Slide Off Your Satin Sheets," "Country Roads," and yet another version of "You Gave Me A Mountain." In later years, Mr. Woods opened his own club, St. Jean's, which opened in 1981, and later changed the name to Jimmy's Sports Bar. He was also a co-founder and longtime officer of the New Hampshire Country Music Association, and was inducted into its ranks in 1990. It's worth noting that the Woodsmen's earlier singles showcased several Jimmy Woods originals,, all co-written with a C. Hoitt (whose first name I couldn't quite track down...) None of those earlier songs are included here, so anyone reissues this record, be sure to include those tracks as well!

Hick Music Index