Joe Bonin "Blue Merry-Go-Round" (St. George International, 19--?) (LP)
Pretty obscure country-folk from New England... Although this album came out on the Boston-based Saint George label, singer Joe Bonin may actually have been from Rhode Island, as was his music partner, songwriter Fernand ("Fern") Kappelle (1940-2011). There's very little info about either of them online, and really nothing about this album that I could track down. It's all original material, with eight songs penned by Mr. Kappelle, and four by Mr. Bonin. Fern Kappelle seems to have been the driving force behind this album -- the liner notes describe how he urged Bonin to make a record, and seem to imply that Bonin had no aspirations to pursue music as a career; since I couldn't find any old show notices, it seems likely he didn't have his own band or play many gigs. Fern Kappelle was originally from Woonsocket, RI, although he later moved to Hawaii and passed away in Honolulu... He kept at songwriting for at least a few years, with a couple of songs copyrighted in 1970-71 that are not included on this album.

Billy Gilman "One Voice" (Epic Records, 2000)
(Produced by Blake Chancey, Don Cook & David Malloy)
Awwww... a 12-year old kiddie country crooner. Iddn't dat cute? It's Nashville's answer to Hanson...! Or... Donny Osmond, even. As a singer, Gilman has remarkable control of his phrasing, and even a degree of expressiveness that belies his years... However, he founders on romantic ballads (just too young), and his style is too derivative of the Whitney Houston/Star Search/American Idol soul school to be taken credibly as true country music. His perky spins around pop oldies such as "Little Bitty Pretty One" and "Little Things" are cheery enough. The title track, an inspirational religious ballad, is the album's creative centerpiece, but if you ain't on either that wavelength, or into the novelty act aspect, there really isn't much going on here that will stick to your ribs.

Billy Gilman "Classic Christmas" (Sony-Epic Records, 2000)
(Produced by Blake Chancey, Don Cook & David Malloy)
Yeesh. Yeesh. Yeesh. And anyway, whatever happened to Billy Gilman...? Did his voice change or something? Anyway, the kid was all of twelve years old when this album came out, and for a child star, his phrasing and vocal control are impressive (I guess...) but honestly, he's just too young to put much sincere emotion into any of these songs -- it's just a well-produced, glitzy "Star Search"-ish pop outing, too cutesy by half. And not very "country," either... Sounds more like like Harry Connick, Jr. than Hank Williams.

Billy Gilman "Dare To Dream" (Epic Records, 2001)
(Produced by Blake Chancey, Don Cook & David Malloy)
It seems a bit odd saying that this album has more "depth" than his debut: both are super-fluffy, and popped-out prefab in a way that I find extremely tacky, and unlistenably soulless. Yet, be that as is may, this is a better produced album -- the arrangements are more complex, the mix is more textured, Gilman seems slightly more sophisticated as a singer. He's still too young and emotionally inexperienced to really carry these tunes, but there's less emphasis on his cutesy novelty status, and more songs that give him at least the opportunity to appear as more of a vocalist and less of a post-Millennial Shirley Temple. Still, I don't think this really works as music -- I'd like to wait until the kid's voice changes and he makes his first album as a young adult, and reserve final judgment until then. Check back with me in the year 2009...

Billy Gilman "Music Through Heartsongs" (Epic Records, 2003)

Billy Gilman "Everything And More" (Image Entertainment, 2005)
(Produced by Sandy Linzer)
...Well, okay, how about 2005? After the novelty wore off, Gilman faded from sight for several years, sorting out what he characterizes as personal doubts... On his return disc, as a full-fledged adolescent, Gilman unveils his new voice, still youthful and thin, but presumably settled down after breaking with puberty, with a range that places him squarely in the Emerson Drive-ish boy band style... He's also found religion: although there are some good secular songs on here, the album is preponderantly inspirational and perhaps we can assume that religion helped Gilman sort out the pressures associated with being so famous so young in life. The opening track, a secular love song called "Something To Do With That," shows Gilman is top form, and could easily make it into the charts, even if the rest of the album is very pop and not very country. Even if a mainstream commercial comeback isn't in the offing, I'm sure he'll find an eager audience among faith-based listeners. Fans of his old albums will not be disappointed.

Billy Gilman "Billy Gilman" (Image Entertainment, 2008)
(Produced by Sandy Linzer)

Billy Gilman "My Time On Earth" (Sony-BMG, 2007)
A collection of songs from his two Epic albums...

Clay Hart "Spring" (Metromedia Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy Allsup)
Spending most of the 'Sixties as a folk-scene crooner, Rhode Island's Henry Clay Hart III was tapped by orchestral pop superstar Lawrence Welk to fill a slot as the resident country singer on The Lawrence Welk Show, which was a pretty good gig in the early 'Seventies. Working in sort of a Glen Campbell-like mode, Hart got big promotional pushes on the national scene, but never quite broke through. He became duet partners with another Welk show regular, singer Sally Flynn -- they recorded a string of records together and eventually married in 1974. This was Hart's first full album, earning him a Grammy nomination and setting the tone for his later albums, including several released on Hart's own indie label, Ragamuffin Records.

Clay Hart "Most Requested Country Favorites" (Ranwood Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by George Cates & Clay Hart)

Clay Hart "Travelin' Minstrel Man" (Ranwood Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by "Farah Productions")
A quarter-bin classic, this is a sunshine/countrypolitan album apparently without much of a constituency, mostly I think because Ranwood Records wasn't taken very seriously as a country label... But the truth is, this is actually pretty good, all things considered. Clay Hart had a pretty robust, manly voice, not unlike Hoyt Axton, though a more overt pop-country orientation. The repertoire and smooth production style were anchored solidly in the early 'Seventies mainstream, although Hart's rugged tonality was maybe a little too truck-stop to slot him into the same sort of crooner niche as guys like Mac Davis or Freddy Hart, which I think was the general idea. This was produced in Nashville at the RCA studios, though unfortunately the backing musicians (and producers) were not identified in the liner notes. Gal singer Sally Flynn duets with Hart on two tracks, "I Will" (one of six songs on this album penned by Jerry Foster and Bill Rice) and a particularly icky cover of Paul Anka's already-creepy "You're Having My Baby," which seems to have been taken up and extra notch or two in the wake of the then-recent Roe v. Wade U. S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in America. All in all, this album's not bad -- definitely worth a spin if you're a fan of this era's brand of Top Forty twang.

Clay Hart "Smile Of Joy" (Ragamuffin Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy Allsup)
Leaning hard into the 'Seventies rugged-dude crooner vibe, Clay Hart goes full baritone on this well-produced set of would-be countrypolitan hits. Recorded in Nashville with an unidentified studio crew led by Tommy Allsup (and doubtless packed with top session pros) this is a pretty solid set, with just enough imperfection to both keep him off the charts and make him interesting to obscuro-twang fans further down the road. No date on this disc, but it seems like like kind of a late '70s thing, maybe even early'80s(?) It doesn't look like much, but actually this is a pretty good record -- a very ambitious indie effort from a guy who had a real career on the outskirts fo mainstream country fame.

Clay Hart & Sally Hart "United We Stand" (Ragamuffin Records, 19--?)
A bunch of cover tunes (and possibly some originals?) sung by the husband-wife duo of Clay Hart and Sally Flynn, who were both regulars on The Lawrence Welk Show in the early 1970s. This folk-country album has a curiously low-rent, uber-indie look and sound, and was presumably pressed so they'd have some private merch to sell at their live shows. It features very stripped-down arrangements, often little more than him playing acoustic guitar, and many of the tracks have a sluggish, stilted folk-song feel. Clay Hart seems to have been challenged by uptempo material (as heard on their manic rendition of "Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line") although Flynn was pretty nimble and hits a nice, Dolly Parton-esque groove on the perky "Everlovin' Truckin' Man," which appears to have been an original (though sadly uncredited) composition. The album also includes several late-'60s/early-'70s staples such as "Love Of The Common People," "Little Green Apples," and Tony Orlando's "Tie A Yellow Ribbon." For me, what redeems this fairly square album is the amateurish production style and slightly panicky sound in their voices -- even though they were nationally known performers, the Harts still had a small-town feel. Worth a spin, with a couple of fun songs. Anyone know what year this came out?

The Neon Valley Boys "Bluegrass" (Sudden Comfort Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Kropp, Paul Mufson & John Nagy)
Bluegrassers, but with eclectic, outlaw-friendly tastes. This zippy quintet from Providence first formed in the late 'Seventies, and played together until 1986 (with the usual reunion shows and whatnot to follow... ) The lineup on this album included Mike Bresler on mandolin, Karl Dennis (fiddle), Jeffrey Horton (bass), Paul Mellyn (guitar), and Eddie Stern on banjo... In addition to a few truegrass oldies, they also covered tunes from the likes of the Amazing Rhythm Aces ("Say You Lied") and Little Feat ("Six Feet Of Snow") and had a few originals of their own... Mike Bresler composed one called "Grits!" while Eddie Stern contributes three tunes: "Cowboys Dig Them High-Heeled Shoes," "Half And Half," and "Enchilada Breakdown," which I imagine in part was an homage to the Flying Burrito Brothers... (Or maybe I'm just getting a little hungry?) Anyway, vests may come from Vest Virginia, but little old Rhode Island is famous for... bluegrass? You betcha!

Cousin Richie Zack "North Country" (Ricma Records, 19--?) (LP)
Born Richard Zacharian, "Cousin Richie" was a hillbilly singer from Rhode Island who -- along with his brother Eddie Zack -- recorded numerous 78s and singles for major labels and tiny indies alike, and in the early 1950s hosted a nationally syndicated NBC radio show called the Hayloft Jamboree. They started out in the 1930s, and moved through several styles of music -- cowboy songs, hillbilly boogie and honkytonk -- and remained popular regional figures for several decades. Not sure when this souvenir album came out, but from the looks of it, I'm guessing sometime in the 1970s or possibly early '80s.

Hick Music Index