Tennessee Country Artists Locals Only: Tennessee Twang This page collects artist profiles and record reviews of country music from the state of Tennessee. It's part of a larger guide to unsigned and off-the-radar regional artists from years gone by, which is also part of the even larger Guide To Hick Music on Slipcue.com. Most of the artists here are little-known locals, bar-band singers, etc., but the list also includes Nashville stars who were from the state, as well as some bluegrass and gospel artists, etc. This is an ongoing projects, with new stuff coming in all the time, and we welcome any recommendations, additions or corrections.






BAR BANDS, LONGHAIRS & NO-HIT WONDERS:
Local Country From A-Z | State-By-State | Thanks & Praise | Other Country Styles


Roy Acuff -- see artist profile


Dave Allen "Doin' My Thing" (TAD Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy Downs)
Not to be confused with the surf-rock musician, country singer Dave Allen was born in Rogersville, Tennessee and emerged as a child prodigy in the late 1950s, appearing on local radio as well as Opry member Archie Campbell's TV show... This album was "recorded in Nashville Studios with Nashville Musicians," though, sadly, none are identified. As far as I know, this was his only album.



The Amazing Rhythm Aces -- see artist discography


Rayburn Anthony "Audiograph Alive" (Audiograph Records, 1982) (LP)
Growing up near Memphis, singer Rayburn Anthony made into the first wave of rockabilly pioneers, but only just by a hair, cutting his first single for Sun Records in 1959, and releasing a couple more in the Kennedy era. His stuff was already a little more country-oriented than many of his labelmates, so when the first burst of rock'n'roll fizzled out, Anthony was able to make the jump into Nashville without too much trouble. He cut a few singles here and there, but his main gig was as a songwriter, successfully placing songs with several stars of the 'Sixties, in both the country and pop markets. Amazingly, for a guy who'd been around for so long, this early '80s offering seems to have been his first full album, and it's a pretty solid set, with several novelty-oriented numbers that fit the tenor of the times, such as "Wine And Tequila," "Tennessee Whiskey And Texas Women," and "I'll Love You Forever (Every Saturday Night)." Sone of these songs were recycled on his second album, Dance Floor Crystal Ball, which came out the same year... Raymond Anthony went on to release several other albums in the 1990s and '00s, including a bunch of reissue compilations that catered to his European rockabilly fan base.


Rayburn Anthony "Dance Floor Crystal Ball" (Audiograph Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Riggins)


Area Code 615 "Area Code 615" (Polydor Records, 1969)
(Produced by Kenneth Buttrey, Elliot Mazer & Area Code 615)
A funky, rootsy set of all-instrumental jams by several studio musician heavyweights, including then-ubiquitous superpickers such as fiddler Buddy Spicher, banjoist Bobby Thompson, steel player Weldon Myrick and Mac Gayden on guitar, with Charlie McCoy tootling on the harmonica. It's a loose, good-natured session, with these Nashville virtuosi obviously having a good time jamming together, dipping into bluegrass, baroque pop, and plenty of Southern-style, Muscle Shoals-y rhythm'n'rock. They cover several Beatles songs, perhaps the best of which is a steel-drenched "Hey Jude," take passes at Otis Redding and Bob Dylan, and Thompson plunks out an oddly slowed-down version of "Classical Gas." Some of the most inventive moments come with their covers of traditional bluegrass tunes, perhaps most surprising is on "Lil' Maggie," where Gayden plays some heavy electric guitar, flirting at the edges of the acid rock/proto-metal sound of the time, and Charlie McCoy gets into some gritty Chicago blues riffs ala Little Walter. Who knew he had it in him?? It helps to be a fan of instrumental music to get into this one, but it is a nice chance to hear some Nashville cats let their hair down and play a little rock'n'soul.


Area Code 615 "Trip In The Country" (Polydor Records, 1970)
(Produced by Area Code 615)
The second AC album feels more forced, less like a laidback jam session and more like an in-studio concoction. There's still certainly diversity: from the big, bright, brash pop-orchestral update of Bill Monroe's "Scotland" that opens this album, to the spacey proto-prog of "Stone Fox Chase," the group moves into a few tracks of outright easy listening, ala Mantovani, and finishes up Side One with a clunky acid-rock number by Mac Gayden called "Gray Suit Men." Their country roots are largely obscured between the Southern-rock electric riffs and the flowery muzak, with the banjo or fiddle drifting out of the haze from time to time, though the best tracks have more of a Muscle Shoals feel than a Nashville tinge. The core group is essentially the same, with the addition of pianist David Briggs, and the set list is almost all original material, in contrast to the covers-heavy first album. But it's pretty kitschy and easy listening-ish, with only one track, Weldon Myrick's robust instrumental, "Welephant Walk," to satisfy twangfans. After this, Mac Gayden took the 615 rhythm section of Kenny Buttrey and Wayne Moss, and founded the rock band Barefoot Jerry, which continued the country-meets-soul vibe going... On this album you can sense their impatience, from the sterile, multitracked feel of the songs to the album-art footnote that reads, "Ding Dong The Code Is Dead?" Farewell, too, to the Goodlettesville String Sextet, and to this chapter in country-billy crossovers.



Eddy Arnold -- see artist discography



Chet Atkins -- see artist discography


Ernie B & The Night Shift "Try It On" (HCM Records, 1977-?) (LP)
Ernest B. Hamm was a farm kid from East Tennessee who formed his band, The Night Shift, while serving in the military during the Vietnam War. Drafted in 1962, he served three tours of duty, was wounded in action and spent some time in West Germany as well, where he played at NCO clubs and the like. He brought the band back home and played regional gigs in the 'Seventies and seems to have been working in Atlanta around the time this album came out - the liner notes mention a 1976 gig at Fort Benning, while the album was recorded at a studio in Columbus, GA. The only mentions I could find of Mr. Hamm in print were an old classified ad for the band hustling gigs in Atlanta, back in '77 (presumably around the time this album came out) and a much more depressing article about his re-arrest in 2016 at age 72 for drug dealing (oxy) which was also a parole violation due to a prior sex offense. This all came after after he had moved back to Tennessee and retired in Johnson City... Unfortunately, those are the only mentions of him I could find online. This album features almost all original material, along with three cover songs -- a couple of honkytonk oldies and a version of Hank Strzelecki's "Long Tall Texan." He's backed by a fairly compact band, with Gary Byers on drums, Eddie Carden (rhythm guitar), Robert Richardson (lead guitar and synthesizer), and Danny Wombles playing bass. He also seems to have released a few singles, recording under his full name.


Jim Ball & The Mountain Boys "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive" (ACA-Album Company Of America, 19--?) (LP)
A country old-timer who just kept plugging away for decades, Tennessee fiddler James Norman, aka "Jim" Ball (1916-1991) played in a number of hillbilly and mountain music stringbands, dating back to the pre-honkytonk era. On this album, which looks like it's from the early 1970s, be is backed by Roger Mullhollen and Roger Ball, and works his way through a delightful variety of styles, starting off with some Lefty Frizzell-ish vocals on "I'm So Afraid (Of Losing You Again)," moving on to western oldies such as "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds" and squeaky fiddle tunes such as "Cacklin' Hen," gospel tunes and even a raspy, rough-cut rendition of Tony Joe White's "Poke Salad Annie." Alongside craggy old-timey tunes we hear loose, rock-flavored, bar-band electric guitars, all suggesting a relaxed, wide-armed approach to musicmaking, which embraces bluegrass, honkytonk and jam-band music alike. Ball apparently cut at least one other album, though I haven't tracked that one down yet...


Ava Barber "Country As Grits" (Ranwood Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Kay, Mac Curtis & Bill Rice)
In the early 1970s, Tennessee-born Ava Barber became a cast member of the Lawrence Welk TV show, adding a little country twang to Welk's more sedate pop offerings... This gave her a built-in audience when she began to record for Welk's Ranwood label, and she enjoyed modest chart success from 1977-81. (Although the reverse may also have been true: being part of Welk's easy listening scene may have held her back when it came to courting favor with the insular Nashville music business...) In keeping with the Welk tradition of wholesome, cornfed, all-American entertainment, this album includes sentimental oldies such as "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again," "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," and "Remember Me (When Candlelights Are Gleaming)," along with some material of more recent vintage. The record was produced both in Hollywood and in Nashville, with Bill Rice producing the Nashville sessions; her next record was produced solely in California.


Ava Barber "You're Gonna Love Love" (Ranwood Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Kay & Mac Curtis)
Her second album on Ranwood yielded Barber's biggest hit, a version of Gail Davies' "Bucket To The South," which peaked at #13 on the Billboard charts. Major commercial success eluded Barber, however, and following the cancellation of The Lawrence Welk Show, Barber embarked on a solo career, touring throughout the '80s, and gradually drifting towards the mini oprys that dotted the country music landscape. In the early 1990s, Barber co-owned a venue in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and eventually moved to Branson, Missouri to work in variety shows associated with the residual Lawrence Welk empire. She also apparently recorded a handful of indie albums, which I'll try to track down...


Ava Barber "All Time Gospel Favorites" (19--?) (LP)



Barefoot Jerry -- see artist profile


Mark Barnett "Opryland USA" (Nashville Album Productions, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Porter Wagoner)
Banjo picker Mark Barnett was a cast member at the Opryland USA venue, and musical partners with fiddler Mack Magala, who was a longtime member of Porter Wagoner's band. Magala plays on here, as well as other Nashville regulars such as Stu Basore, and Fred Newell... There are a lot of showcase instrumentals, also an outlaw tune or two, like "Luckenbach, Texas" and some scary stuff, too, like a version of "The Gambler" and Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are." A good portrait of real working musicians plugging away in the heart of Music City.


Mark Barnett "Mark Barnett" (MB Records, 1985-?) (LP)
A straight-ahead set of twangy, turbo-charged bluegrass, with banjo picker Mark Barnett whizzing away at top speed. Like I say, it's basic bluegrass with plenty of hotshot picking and a solid song selection, though nothing that really stands out apart from that. The vocals are nice, though things do seem a bit manic, if you ask me.


Mark Barnett "Treasury Of Golden Hits" (MB Records, 1985-?) (LP)
(Produced by Sonny Deaton)
On this souvenir album, Mark Barnett plays a lot of country stuff, tunes like "El Paso," "Cold, Cold Heart," "For The Good Times" and "You Were Always On My Mind," appropriately augmented by a top-flight Nashville crew, packed with pros like Phil Baugh, Buddy Emmons, Josh Graves, Roy Huskey Jr., Benny Martin, Tony Migliore and the like. This was still a souvenir of his Opryland Hotel days, where Barnett refers to himself as a "single" entertainer... This also includes a version of Mickey Newberry's "American Trilogy" medley, a dreary concatenation whose appeal has always escaped me, but clearly a crowd pleaser, as demonstrated by all its endless cover versions.


Joe Bob Barnhill "Joe Bob Barnhill" (Condor Records, 1977-?) (LP)
A native son from Turkey, Texas, Joe Bob Barnhill paid his dues in the 'Fifties rockabilly scene, knocking around with Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox and other contemporaries, playing guitar for sessions at the Norman Petty studios in Clovis, New Mexico before making his way to Nashville, where he became a notable songwriter, publisher and independent studio owner. Barnhill's biggest success may have been "Party Dolls And Wine," an early '70s hit for Red Steagall, though he's had several songs recorded by various artists over the years. Barnhill settled into the business end of Nashville, producing a bunch of mom'n'pop custom albums, as well as working with some middle-rung chart artists. He produced a string of albums for Canadian country star Dick Damron during Damron's mid-1970s outlaw years, wrote music with Steve Wariner, produced some late-vintage sessions with Hank Thompson, etc. etc., and even found time to record several singles and a couple of albums of his own, scoring a few mild chart hits along the way. His son, Joe Barnhill, took a swing at Nashville as well, recording a mainstream country album for Capitol Records in 1990, although his only chart success came with two middle-rung hits in the late '80s.


Len Barrow "Hades Highway" (Yanden Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Harold Rushing, Jim Yancey & Rick Shea)
Not a ton of info about Len Barrow out there, although he seems to have been from Memphis and is often (and perhaps incorrectly) pegged as a rockabilly artist, which helps make his records that much more collectable. The title track on this album is a supernatural-themed trucker tune with a loping beat punctuated by the same guitar thwack that Dave Dudley used on "Six Days On The Road." The song was reissued on the novelty country compilation, Hillbillies In Hell, which also raised Barrow's profile. Like most of the tracks, "Hades Highway" is credited to songwriter Bob Moore, which may well have been Barrow's real name. Although he remained an obscure local artist, Len Barrow continued to cut singles well into the 1970s, including one for the Stop label, and one of his songs, "Knights Of The Road," was released as a single by both Len Barrow and by a guy named Stan Lewis.


Chuck Baxter "Chuck 'N' Country" (Kwik Records, 1984-?) (LP)
(Produced by Mike St. Clair)
I go back and forth on this one... Overall, Nashville native Chuck Baxter is an appealing character with a good-natured presence, although it must be said that he does best on uptempo, novelty-oriented material -- when he croons on ballads, it can be pretty painful. The best numbers on here are the album's opener, "Harold's Super Service," a perky number about a guy stuck in a schlumpy job at a podunk gas station, and "Food Stamp Blues," which is kind of a nutty anti-welfare song where some guy keeps going to the county courthouse and giving false names without being asked for ID, and rakes in so much bogus welfare that he is able to buy an eleven-room mansion "with a TV in every room." Because that happens, right? (He sounds a little like Hoyt Axton on that song; elsewhere singers such as Dave Dudley, Ernie Ford and Jim Reeves come to mind...) On the flip side, though, are the slow songs, and his covers of "You Gave Me A Mountain" and "Statue Of A Fool" are truly catastrophic, with Baxter painfully searching for the high notes, and failing spectacularly. Nonetheless, I like this record, and not for sneery, make-fun-of-the-rube reasons -- these sessions had heart, and again, on the uptempo tracks he ain't bad. Unfortunately there's no information about the backing musicians, though the musicianship throughout is consistently good. Also no info on when or where this was made -- from the photos on the back, I'd guess late '70s, early '80s -- possibly 1984, based on the matrix number, NR-11284. The liner notes do say that Baxter was working "on the business side of country music," with a publishing company and record label, although they might have just been talking about this album. At any rate, I thought this was another nice example of a modestly talented, normal guy making a record of music for fun.


William Beasley "What's He Doing In My World" (Modern Sound, 1965-?) (LP)
(Produced by William Beasley)
A "solo" set by William D. Beasley, co-owner of the Nashville-based cheapie label, Hit Records, which also included the Modern Sound imprint. This disc was a soundalike album including covers of hits of the day such as "Girl On The Billboard" and Eddy Arnold's "What's He Doing In My World," though most of the other tracks seem to be originals. Alas, the musicians backing Beasley aren't identified, nor the songwriters, but like other Modern Sound releases this may have a wealth of unsuspected, anonymous Music City talent.



Matraca Berg -- see artist profile


Wayne Berry "Home At Last" (RCA-Victor, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Norbert Putman)
I'm listing this one not so much because it really fits into the '70s country vibe I'm into, but because I keep seeing it mentioned as a lost country-rock gem, and I'm not so sure I agree. A Nashville native who first tried his luck in folk-era New York City, Berry eventually headed out west, where he co-founded a SoCal country-rock band called Timber and was pals with Tommy Talton, of the band Cowboy. Which all gives him country-rock cred, I guess, but a lot of this is disc just tepid, strained '70s soft rock. There are some pleasantly twangy tunes, though nothing I'd recommend you try too hard to track down: "Black Magic Gun," "Welcome Home" and "Gene's Tune (Blonde Guitar)" are about it for me. This was apparently a big studiofest, with heavy hitters such as Barry Beckett, Johnny Gimble and Pete Carr sitting in, as well as several guys from the Area Code 615 band, and some pedal steel on a few tracks, courtesy of Weldon Myrick. Worth checking out, I guess, but it didn't really float my boat.


Big Jeff Bess "Tennessee Home Brew" (Bear Family, 2010)
Scrappy, super-obscure hillbilly oldies from the era before Nashville became a slick show biz town... In the 1940s, singer Jeff Bess was a local radio personality and businessman, notably as the owner of several bars (one of which, the fabled Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, is still around...) He also sang country music and recorded several singles in the late '40s and early '50s... It's fun stuff, lively and raw, with obvious debts to Hank Williams, but also a gangly individuality where Bess's personality comes through clear as a bell. One of his songs, "Tennessee Home Brew," is a real drinking-song gem, but there are a bunch of great goofball novelty songs. Another fine bit of roots music archeology from the fine folks at Bear Family!


Steve Bess "The Two Sides Of Steve Bess" (MIC Records, 197--?) (LP)
A Tennessee native whose father was honkytonker Big Jeff Bess, who co-founded one of Nashville's most fabled bars, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, way back in 1960 with his then-wife, Hattie Louise Bess. Apparently around that time their son Steve Bess was in Ray Price's band, the Cherokee Cowboys, and took part in the first funky jam sessions held in the back of Tootsie's, giving birth to a decades-long tradition that helped put the club on the map. Steve Bess also worked as a producer, session musician and singles artist in the late 1960s for the Nashville indie Spar Records. This LP appears to have been Steve Bess's only album, and outside of a few singles, his main recorded legacy was his stint as part of the Spar label's cheapie-label soundalike band, Nashville Country Jamboree. Other than that, he remains a fairly mysterious figure, though he sure had one heck of a great backstory.


Ron W. Blackwood & Donna Blackwood "Country" (Rite Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Burton & Lan Ackley)
A secular set by "RW & Donna," aka the Nashville-based duo of Donna Blackwood and her husband, Ron Blackwood, who was best known as the youngest member of the fabled Blackwood Brothers southern gospel group. Although their careers were mostly devoted to religious material, here RW & Donna work their way through an all-covers set of early 'Seventies country hits, singalong favorites such as "I'm Not Lisa," "Let Me Be There," "Please Mister Please," "The Top Of The World" and "Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song." Over the years R.W. moved between various incarnations of the Blackwood Brothers and his own Blackwood Singers band, eventually moving from Tennessee to the warm embrace of the Branson, Missouri/Ozark oldies opry scene. I'm not sure when this album came out, but I'd guess sometime around the mid-'Seventies.



Norman Blake -- see artist discography


Blue Jug "Blue Jug" (Capricorn, 1975)
These funky Southern rockers sounded a LOT like The Band though maybe they stuck more to deep-groove Southern funk... Anyway, they were pretty darn good. Apparently the band's principal songwriters went on to write songs for Molly Hatchet... go figure!! There's some differences of opinion (or maybe just some fuzzy facts) about where they were from -- the label originally said they were from Virginia, though other sources say they were a Nashville band, backed in the studio by fiddler Buddy Spicher.


Blue Jug "Blue Jug" (Ariola, 1978) (LP)
Same title, same band, different album, still good.


Blue Ridge "Country Music" (Ridge Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Raymer & Randy Hauser)
A quartet from St. Ann, Missouri, led by songwriter Bill Highley...


Blue Ridge "Country Music" (Ridge Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Raymer & Randy Hauser)
This second album (same title, different songs) was recorded in Nashville with studio musicians Mike Shrimpf on keyboards.


Debbie Bohanan "Just Look This Way" (Thunderhead Records, 1979) (LP)
Singer Debbie Bohanan (1963-2014) was a Knoxville native who started performing professionally as a teen back in the 1970s, working as a cast member of Bonnie Lou & Buster's Smoky Mountain Hayride show in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. She went on to perform in several other "opry"-style revues, including The Carolina Opry and the Down Home Dixie Review in Gatlinburg. Bohanan rounded out her career as part of the Comedy Barn Theater, back in Pigeon Forge, where she both sang and did comedic numbers... She recorded at least three albums including this debut disc which is mostly cover songs, though the title track is her own original.


Debbie Bohanan "Back Home In Tennessee" (Thunderhead Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Debbie Bohanan, Marcus Shirley & Charley Whaley)
This album includes two originals credited to Bohanan, "I Won't Be Second Place" and "Back Home In Tennessee," with a couple of others penned by Malcolm Link, who played bass in an 'Eighties edition of the Smoky Mountain Travelers bluegrass band, which also released an album on the Thunderhead label, and also contributed mandolin picker Rob Curtis to Bohanon's band. There are a slew of cover tunes as well, including the Carter Family's "Gold Watch And Chain," "Walking After Midnight," Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move," and even one by CCM pioneer Dallas Holm. Pretty wide range, if you ask me! Not sure of the exact date on this one, but it looks like an early 'Eighties offering.


Debbie Bohanan "Always On My Mind" (Transworld Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Debbie Bohanan & Joe Deaton)


Eddie Bond "Sings Greatest Country Gospel Hits" (Philips International/Advance Records, 1962-?) (LP)


Eddie Bond "My Choice Is Eddie Bond" (Country Circle Records, 1966-?) (LP)
The first secular LP by singer Eddie Bond (1933-2013), a pioneering rockabilly star from Memphis, Tennessee. Bond is perhaps most famous for being the guy who told a teenage Elvis Presley not to quit his day job when Elvis auditioned for a gig with Bond's band, back in 1954. That anecdote naturally overshadows a lot of Bond's own accomplishments and career, but even though he had limited success at the time, Bond was later lauded by rockabilly fans and his early stuff is available in various collections. Also like many first-generation rockabilly artists, Eddie Bond turned to country music when the rock'n'roll scene died down, and recorded a few LPs in the early '70s that were pretty twangy and rural. According to the liner notes by deejay Jim Wells, of KWAM, Memphis. this was Bond's first album, and though there's no date on it, it seems to be a mid-1960s release, with covers of songs such as "Big Boss Man," although most of the record seems to be original material written by Bond, including a few tunes he'd been performing locally since the 1950s. Among the juicier titles are "Double Duty Loving," "Only One Minute More," "Someday I'll Sober Up." No info on who was backing him up, though, alas.


Eddie Bond "...Sings Favorites" (Millionaire Records, 19--?) (LP)


Eddie Bond "Caution: Eddie Bond Music Is Contagious" (Tab Records, 1972) (LP)
The title track to this album, "Caution," was also released as a single on the Stax label's imprint, Enterprise Records, leading to a subsequent album tied to the release of the Buford Pusser biopic, Walking Tall.


Eddie Bond "The Legend Of Buford Pusser" (Stax/Enterprise Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Chesnut, Jack Clement & Eddie Bond)
For those of you not around in the early 1970s, when the movie Walking Tall was in theaters -- or in constant re-runs on TV -- let me fill you in on the backstory. Buford Pusser was the hardass sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee, fictionalized in numerous films and TV shows as an incorruptible, indestructible good ole boy tank of a man, who cleaned up the Tennessee border of the so-called Dixie Mafia, despite numerous attempts to kill him. Indeed, in real life Mr. Pusser was shot and stabbed on several occasions, and during one assassination attempt, his wife was shot and killed, an incident which some say transformed the already-volatile lawman into a remorseless vigilante. The fictional versions of his life were generally fetishistic glorifications of manly retribution and violence, with the portrayal of Pusser as an unstoppable law-and-order reformer making Walking Tall roughly into the redneck equivalent of Serpico. Country singer Eddie Bond claims to have been one of Pusser's deputies, and he really throws himself into this concept album which is loosely based on Pusser's career. The album is packed with jaunty, uptempo, Jerry Reed-esque redneck tunes, as well as a few honkytonk weepers and gospel songs that are sort of shoe-horned into the project. He's got a good band backing him, and though they aren't identified on the album, it's probably safe to assume that more than a few were from the Stax/Muscle Shoals studio scene.


Eddie Bond/Various Artists "A NIGHT AT THE EDDIE BOND RANCH" (Tab Record Company, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Bond)
Another obscuro-oddity from Memphis, Tennessee... Ex-rockabilly country singer Eddie Bond did apparently have his own ranch, out on West Mitchell Road... Whether it was a live music venue, a recording studio, or what, I'm not sure, but regardless, this is kind of a fun little album. By and large, the participants seem to have been real, live good old boys, charmingly unpolished, amateur musicians, dudes with thick rural accents and a relaxed, down home vibe. By and large they're kind of indistinguishable (although one guy sang with a lisp, which is kinda cute) though a couple of them had rather colorful names, such as Cousin Bo-Jack and Major Pruett, along with the more prosaic Dale Beaty, Bobby Davis, Leon Griffin and Wilford Ray. The backing band, The Stompers, was a rock-solid country crew, with plenty of steel guitar for those who like that kinda thing. Standing out from the pack was gal singer Sandi Stevens, who sounds quite a bit like Skeeter Davis on her lone number, "Tonight I'll Celebrate." Bond steals the show with a remarkable divorce/breakup song, "I'm Free," while Cousin Bo-Jack (Bobby) Killingsworth plays two songs, one at the end of each side of the original LP. Apparently it was Killingsworth who introduced Eddie Bond to lawman Buford Pusser, leading to Bond recording the hit single, "The Ballad of Buford Pusser," which doubtless helped with a few payments on the old ranch, and probably helped finance this album. Anyway, good stuff here.


Eddie Bond "...Sings Carl Smith" (Balser Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Russ Balser)
A tribute to Carl Smith? Dude, I'm in.


Jack Bond "...Sings Country Western All Time Greats" (Sterling Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by William Beasley)
Another cheapo/knockoff album from the Nashville-based Hit Records/Spar/Modern Sound empire... This album was, I think, all cover songs - country oldies and standards such as "A Satisfied Mind," "Candy Kisses," "Just Out Of Reach," "He'll Have To Go," etc., although a couple of tracks might have been originals: "My World's A Blue World" and "Best Years Of Your Life."


Jack Bond "...Sings Phantom 309" (Modern Sound Records, 19--?) (LP)
More cover songs by Music City hired hand Jack Bond... This disc features several trucking songs, along with more general-purpose country weepers and barroom ballads, such as "The Bottle Let Me Down," "Sam's Place," "Skid Row Joe," "Unmitigated Gall," and others. I don't think there were any originals on this one...


Bonnie Lou & Buster "Hymn Time" (Waterfall Records, 1963) (LP)


Bonnie Lou & Buster "...Sing Country Bluegrass And Gospel" (Angel Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Chris White & Tom Easley)
A husband-wife duo who were regulars on the Smokey Mountain Hayride, and whose careers stretched back to the 1940s. Hubert "Buster" Moore (1920-1995) was from rural Tennessee, and worked in various hillbilly and bluegrass bands before and after the war, including stints with Carl Story and Eddie Hill. After Moore met and married Margaret Bell, they formed their own band and changed her stage name to Bonnie Lou, moving from city to city for various jobs at radio stations and concert venues, including gigs in Bristol, Harrisburg, Knoxville, Salem, and her hometown of Ashville, North Carolina. They're best-known for their tenure at the Opry-esque Smokey Mountain Hayride variety show, a venue in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee that opened in 1972. They worked with local musicians including bluegrasser Don McHan, who performs with them on this album, playing banjo, along with Darrell Henry on dobro, and Buster Moore playing fiddle and mandolin. [Note: Mrs. Moore is not to be confused with the nationally-famous singer known as Bonnie Lou (nee Mary Joan Kath) who came from the Midwest and became a pop-country crossover artist in the 1950s.]


Bonnie Lou & Buster "...Sing Gospel" (Masterco Records, 1982) (LP)


Bonnie Lou & Buster "Smoky Mountain Hayride Show" (Green Records, 1983) (LP)


Paul Bowman & H. C. Langford "Memory Time" (Breeze Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Lonnie Holt & Jerry Sells)
Bowman and Langford were two old-timers who had a radio show on WLIV, in rural Livingstron, Tennessee... They focussed on the pre-honky tonk, sentimental styles of the Depression era, hummable ballads and gospel songs, reminiscent of duos such as the Blue Sky Boys, et. al. They both play acoustic guitar and song a little, and are joined by a few other locals, including Eldon Davis on dobro. This set of acoustic tunes is named after their "Memory Time" show, and as far as I know was their only recording.


Marti Brown "Ms. Marti Brown" (Atlantic Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by David Briggs & Steve Ham)
One of the most underrated -- and sadly neglected -- gal singers of the early 1970s, Martha Ann ("Marti") Brown (1941-2018) first found her niche in Nashville as a demo singer for Bill Denny's Cedarwood Publishing Company, cutting a few tracks in 1966 that resulted in two singles on his label, Dollie Records. Years later she got her real shot, recording this excellent album with backing by a rock-solid, A-list studio crew that included folks like Harold Bradley, David Briggs, Jimmy Covard, Grady Martin, Hargus Robbins, Jerry Shook, Buddy Spicher, et.al. It's a very rootsy effort by the standards of the times, and perhaps that explains it's poor showing in the charts -- released at the peak of the countrypolitan era, her single "Let My Love Shine" peaked at #78, forever consigning this disc to the dusty dollar bins of the world. Look for it: it's worth a spin. Ms. Brown cut a few more tracks for Atlantic, with only one single released after this album, and a bunch of stuff left in the can. She did a few USO tours before returning home to Chattanooga, Tennessee and though she gave up on show business and went into advertising, she moonlighted singing jazz at local nightclubs. Any recordings of those gigs? We can only hope so!


The Brush Arbors "Old Brush Arbor" (M&M Gospel Studio, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Wade Mitchell)
Not to be confused with the pioneering country-rock gospel group, Brush Arbor, this amateur band features guys from two families in Jamestown, Tennessee, the Roysdens and the Winninghams, playing a set of straight-up gospel oldies. The musicians include some country touches, with Perry Winningham on banjo, and lead guitar by Harold Hatfield. This privately released album also features a couple of original songs, "Are You Building A Temple In Heaven," by Perry Winningham, and "Patience From Above," by Patricia Roysden.


Buck & Tiny "Buck And Tiny's Country" (LP) (1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Billy Farmer & The Bondsmen)
The Bondsmen was a popular Memphis, Tennessee country band, anchored by the husband-wife duo of Mary Nell ("Tiny") Bonds Hutcheson (1943-1996) and her husband, guitarist James Albert ("Buck") Hutcheson, who is best known as a longtime on-again/off-again member of the Jerry Lee Lewis band. They met in the late 1960s when Bonds moved up from from Birmingham, Alabama to headline at a club called Hernando's Hideaway, where Hutcheson was working in the house band. Tiny Bonds soon formed her own group, which she led for over twenty years, touring regionally in the South, and opening her own nightclubs. The first was called Buck And Tiny's Country was a popular Memphis honkytonk, located out on Brooks Road, as was its successor, Tiny and Gary's Stake Out. Ms. Bonds also cut a few singles, starting in the early 'Seventies, as well as this album, a covers-heavy set recorded at their club with Bonds on vocals, along with Buck Hutcheson (guitar and vocals), Gary Adair (drums) and Billy Farmer (bass and guitar). The songs include contemporary hits such as "Hell Yes I Cheated," "The Rose," and "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma," along with some rock and country oldies, and a version of "Tulsa Time." As far as I know this was her only full album, accompanied at the time by another single under her name. Tiny Bonds retired from the music business in the early 1990s, in part due to health problems. She moved to Mississippi where she worked in the trucking industry for several years before passing away from respiratory failure at age fifty-three. Mr. Hutcheson, who first started touring with Jerry Lee Lewis in 1961 went back to work for The Killer in the '80s and has been one of Lewis' principal bandmembers over the years.


Larry Bunch "...And The Tansi Cherokees" (Tansi Records, 1974-?) (LP)
(Produced by Gary McVay)
If it's the same guy, bandleader Larry Bunch was a Tennessee rocker with a career dating back to the 1950s Memphis rockabilly scene, where he jammed with guys in the same circles as Sonny Burgess and the Sun Records rowdies. This album was a souvenir of a gig he landed many years later, leading a country lounge band in Tansi Lake Village, a resort located in Crossville, Tennessee. The group included Bob Johnson on bass, Junior Sharp (lead guitar), Jerry Phillips (drums), Donnie Finley, and saxophonist Ed Frenchie Rachal, who had worked with Burke in several Memphis-area bands, back in the old days. They cover a few rock oldies, like "Wipeout" and "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Goin' On," but mostly the songs come from the country side of the tracks. There's no date on this album, although the liner notes mention Finley joining the band in 1973, and some of the cover tunes came out around then: "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Behind Closed Doors," were from '73, while John Denver's "Good To Be Back Home Again") charted in '74. Overall, Larry Bunch remains a pretty elusive figure, and as far as I know, this was his only record.


Jennifer Burnett "Jennifer Burnett" (National Foundation Records & Tapes, 1983) (LP)
This Nashville album might have been some kind of composer's showcase - the songs are by a bunch of different people, but I don't recognize any of the names or any of the songs. I think this is a secular set, but it looks like later on Burnett got into recording Christian music... Anyone got more info on this one?



Archie Campbell -- see artist discography


The Tom Campbell Show "Recorded Live On Stage At Maxwell's Inn" (Maxwell Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Tom Campbell, Max Horkins & Steve Hembree)
Originally from Pacific Junction, Iowa, multi-instrumentalist Tom Campbell moved to Nashville in 1974 and found work as a backing musician for stars such as Roy Clark, Freddy Fender and Billy Walker. He toured and did Vegas gigs, worked in radio and at least for a while led his own band, and had a gig at Maxwell's Inn, outside of Nashville, at the time this record was made... This small ensemble included steel player Doug Jernigan, bassist Don McGinnis and drummer Jan Jones, with Armstrong kicking in on banjo, fiddle, and guitar.



Deana Carter - see artist discography



Fred Carter, Jr. - see artist discography


Jenny Carter "Layback With Jenny Carter" (Carto Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Glore)
This looks promising. I'm not sure when this self-released album came out or what it sounds like, but I sure am curious... Jenny Carter was a Memphis-area musician who entered a songwriting competition in 1978 and played on local radio and TV. This album includes a lot of original material, all of it written or co-written by Ms. Carter, including a couple of tunes co-written with Cordell Jackson, a local realtor who also dabbled in music and music publishing. Not a lot of info about this one online... Anyone out there have any more to add?


Al Carvell "The Original Lone Star Cowboy" (Owl Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Al Carvell)
A real country old-timer, singer Allen L. Carvell (1906-1996) set out as a professional musician at age 17, one of countless traveling pickers who looked for live gigs and radio shows in the decades to come. He played all kinds of venues, including regular appearances on WSM, the home of the Grand Ole Opry, dating back to the Great Depression. This self-released album appears to draw on multiple sources -- his Nashville home studio sessions, old demos and radio performances, including some pretty rough-hewn recordings. All the songs are credited to Carvell, although some, like "I Dreamed My Mother Called My Name," have pretty familiar themes, as well as the decidedly un-PC "She's My Black Faced Phelina Bobby," which is a thinly-disguised cover of Ernest Tubb's "Filipino Baby." Along similar lines, the novelty number "Married To A Tree" might not sit well with some modern listeners: in it, the singer laments having hooked up with a gal who has false teeth and a wooden leg... My how the times have changed! This album is poorly produced, but rich with history and authenticity... and for those of us who enjoy old-geezer records, this one's a doozy!


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...



Buzz Cason - see artist discography


The Chance Brothers "Don't It Feel Good?" (King-Tenn Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Haynes & Norbert Stovall)
As it turns out, none of the three guys officially in the Chance Brothers are last-named "Chance," nor were any of the guys in the Last Chance Band who back them. Go figure. Still, I think I get where the name comes from: vocal trio of Ron Allgood, Ron Ferrell and Ron Garner... all have the same FIRST name, so hah-hah, it's almost like they were brothers or something... These guys were looking for a hit in the tinkly-piano era of early-'80s Nashville, and though this album has the look of a songwriter's demo set, the band did tour in '83 and made several TV appearances as well. There's a wealth of original material on this disc, with several tracks credited to "K. Robbins," including one co-written with "G. Harrison" (though I doubt it George...) as well as one by Vince Gill. One one song was credited to the Chance trio, the album's lead track, "Lord It's Killing Me." Top Forty back-bencher Ronnie McDowell adds liner notes, so perhaps they were in his orbit somehow?


Eva Lena Chenault "Country Love" (Mount Vernon Music, 1963-?) (LP)
A charming album by a hillbilly second-stringer... Born in 1938, "Sweet" Eva Lena Chenault came from Memphis, Tennessee and played in various country shows, including with stars such as Texas Ruby & Curly Fox, as well as a regular gig with the Jimmy Dean Show, in Washington DC's fabled Turner's Arena. I think this was her only album, although she later recorded a handful of singles for Starday and a couple of smaller indies, then apparently she retired in the late '60s. This is a nice record with pleasant though minimal backing from an anonymous band built around some sweet, old-fashioned steel guitar, very reminiscent of the sentimental style of late '40s heartsongs and early honkytonk. Chenault's vocals are pretty discrete and restrained -- it's hard to tell if she just wasn't that strong a vocalist, or if she wasn't able to gather up much steam with the band. Regardless, it's nice music -- slightly lackluster performances, perhaps, but classic sentimental twang. Definitely worth checking out, particularly if you're a devotee of "hillbilly filly" country gals.



Kenny Chesney -- see artist discography


Andy Childs "Andy Childs" (Maverick Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Larry Rogers & Bob Tucker)
A Top Forty demo set recorded in Memphis, Tennessee with a fairly obscure studio crew that included Ronny Scaife on guitar, and a bunch of other guys I didn't recognize. Pretty boy singer and Memphis native Andy Childs, who also plays guitar and keyboards on this indie album, seems to have worked in the wings of the Nashville studio scene for a long time... He released a major label album on RCA fully a decade later, in 1993, and a decade after that we was in the band Sixwire, which released a lone album on Warner Brothers, and participated in some kind of reality-show battle of the bands a few years later. Way before all that, Andy Childs cut this album, which seems to have been a songwriters demo set, spotlighting Childs and others signed to the Lyn-Lou Music publishing company. Also of note are a couple of early songs by neotradder Mark Collie, who would break through himself as a Top Forty star years later in 1990. Neither of these songs, "On The Edge Of Getting Over You" and "She's On Top Of The World," were recorded by Collie on his own albums, so fans might want to check these versions out... The album ends with one of Andy Childs's own songs, "My Hometown" which likewise was not revived by Childs when he got his shot at the charts, so this is also a unique track on this album.


Old Joe Clark "...With Guest Star Jimmie Skinner" (Vetco Records, 1974-?) (LP)
A souvenir album of old-school country comedy from banjo player Manuel Dewey Clark, Jr. (1922-1998) a Tennessee native who played in a series of cowboy bands during the Great Depression, then shifted into the comedic persona of "Old Joe Clark" after serving in World War Two and getting back into show business. Clark was most closely associated with the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, starring as a cast member for the remaineder of the 1940s and most of the 'Fifties. He also went into radio, hosting a show on the Renfro Valley show's station, WRVK, for nearly twenty years, and even started his own bluegrass festival. Clark is joined here by hillbilly hero Jimmie Skinner, who probably shared the stage with Clark on more than a few occasions.



Lee Clayton -- see artist profile



Jack Clement -- see artist profile


George Clinton "The George Clinton Band Arrives" (ABC Records, 1974) (LP)
No, no, no... not that George Clinton. A Tennessee native, this guy was half of the creative team in an early-'70s Southern California country-rock band called Timber, which later briefly re-formed as "Volunteers," but never got much traction in either incarnation. Clinton was more of the "rock guy" in the band, with his partner Wayne Berry being more into twang. Still, this solo debut is certainly worth keeping track of here...


Trilly Cole "Live In Printers Alley" (LSI-Leson Insternational, 19--?) (LP)
"Applause to an entertainer is like warm hands to a cow on a cold morning..." This is a mere snippet of the stage patter on this live album, recorded during Trilly Cole's long-running stint as the headliner at the Captain's Table nightclub in Nashville's Printer's Alley, where she worked for fifteen years. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Cole was a child prodigy from LaPorte, Indiana who learned the banjo when she was just six years old and set off on a professional career as a teen. She's best known for her Captain's Table gig, but she also toured and played Vegas, mixing country covers with flashy instrumental numbers from pop, ragtime and old-timey sources. Cole wasn't strictly a "country" artist, but she definitely played a lot of country stuff... several of her backing musicians also went on to work other professional gigs in Nashville. I'm not sure, but I think this was her first album. The set is fun and far-ranging, though it has to be said Ms. Cole wasn't a terribly commanding vocalist, and she often rushes through songs that should be a little bit slower... She was a skillful crowd-pleaser, though, and this record gives a great picture of how she worked the room. High points include her giving a shout-out to the local policemen's association, her disavowal of "women's liberators," a zippy rendition of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," a terrible (but very 'Seventies!) version of Kiki Dee's "I Got The Music In Me" as well as a super-misguided and completely disjointed medley of Kris Kristofferson's "Lord Help Me Jesus" and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." And, of course, the cow joke. More cowbell!!


Trilly Cole "Just Trilly" (LSI-Leson Insternational, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Scotty Turner & Lee Hazen)
This one has a lot of country covers, including hits of the day like "You Can't Be A Beacon," "Country Roads," and "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," as well as instrumentals like the theme to "Exodus" and hillbilly oldies like "Old Joe Clark." Plus, omigod, you gotta love those awesome purple crocheted yarn pants... So Seventies!!


Trilly Cole "Doin' The Crawdad" (LSI-Leson Insternational, 1975) (LP)
I guess playing a big goofball was part of her act, as seen on this album art... At least it looks like she was a good egg, and could take a joke. A variety of material here, including a lotta uptempo tunes and a bunch of patriotic stuff rounding off Side Two, including yet another version of the oft-covered "American Trilogy" medley, which I still don't understand how it's considered a Mickey Newberry composition when he just strung three old songs together. But I digress. Again. Anyway, the back cover features a bunch of pics of Trilly working the room at one of her shows, and I guess she had a mildly naughty, flirtatious thing going on with the guys in the crowd. It was a swingin' scene back then, I guess. No info about the backing band, though we do see them onstage in a couple of photos.


Trilly Cole "Trilly Cole" (LSI-Leson Insternational, 1975) (LP)
This one includes several country songs, including "The Auctioneer," "Oh Lonesome Me," "Detour," and more contemporary countrypolitan numbers such as Donna Fargo's "Funny Face," a big hit for the gals at the time. There are also a lot of old-fashioned pop standards like "The Impossible Dream" and instrumental showcase pieces such as "Tiger Rag" and "The William Tell Overture." I'm not 100% sure about the release dates on these discs, but I think she really did just bang 'em out one after the other, so they must have been selling well


Trilly Cole "Trilly In Nashville" (Waco Records, 1980-?) (LP)


Trilly Cole "Keep On Believing" (Waco Records) (LP)


Country Music USA "Country Music USA" (Opryland Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Porter Wagoner)
The house band for one of the Grand Ole Opry's side-stage venues... At first glance you might assume this was a "various artists" album, like all the mom'n'pop "opry" LPs out of Branson and elsewhere, and that the cast members -- Larry Beaird, John Chessor, Mel Deal, Tom McBryde, Gene Merritts, Mark Morell, David Patton and Wayne White -- were being showcased individually. But it looks more like this was similar to how the Kasenetz-Katz bubblegum bands were run: Country Music USA was the "band," with musicians cycling through, hold down the day-job gig, and occasionally getting to make a record. Not sure how many of these guys had other projects or bands they were part of... I'd imagine most of them played in various road bands, or possibly on early TNN TV shows, like a lot of folks in the Opry's orbit.... It's also possible that this David Patton was the same guy who cut a couple of albums in the early 'Seventies and later worked in Nashville as a session player, but I'm not 100% sure about that.


The Country Travelers "Loves A Comin' " (Nashville, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Rex Allen Jr., Curt Allen & Harold Lee)
The trio of singer Joe Holcomb, drummer Denny De Marco and lead guitarist Bill McCullough seem to have been proteges of '70s Top Forty star Rex Allen Jr., recording this album on an uber-indie Nashville vanity label, with Allen producing and contributing liner notes. It's nice stuff -- low-key, commercially oriented country-pop with simple arrangements and sparse, simple production which nonetheless nicely frames their vocal harmonies. Each of the three sings lead, including on their own original songs: Holcomb wrote three songs "Love's A Comin'," "Statues Without Hearts" and "Beautiful Morning" while De Marco adds "The Painter" and "Sleepless Nights." They also cover '70 standards such as "Fox On The Run," "Never Ending Love," and "White Line Fever," and close the album out with "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," perhaps in honor to their patron, Mr. Allen, who started out as a western singer like his dad. The best songs on here are Holcomb's trio of originals, which have a distinctly poppy sound, probably modeled on the Statler Brothers, as well as contemporaries like the Bellamy Brothers and the Oak Ridge Boys, who were going secular at the time. With bigger, more robust production (and a better band name) they could have made it as a solo act, but as it was they worked for several years as Allen's backup singers... If you like his soft-country sound, this album's worth tracking down.


The County Line Band "Honky Tonk Two Steppin' Beer Drinkin' Saturday Night" (Password Records, 1987) (LP)
(Produced by Gary Lumpkin & Carmol Taylor)
The driving force behind this Nashville band was lead singer Gary Lumpkin (1952-2012) although personally I was most drawn by the presence of co-producer Carmol Taylor, who I knew mostly as a 1970s secret-sauce songwriter, a guy whose work a decade earlier I really admire. Taylor sings lead on a few tunes, and strums guitar, but just having him in the room signals that this was a high-quality outing. The County Line Band issued a handful of singles several years earlier, though interestingly enough they don't include any of those songs here -- I guess they had plenty of good ideas to spare. Much like Carmol Taylor, Gary Lumpkin was primarily known as a songwriter, and shared a preference for good-natured, hard-drinkin' novelty numbers. The title track, Lumpkin's "Honky Tonk Two Steppin' Beer Drinkin' Saturday Night," was covered by a guy named Larry Jackson, a few years later in '91.


The County Line Band "Mississippi Memory" (Ragged But Right Records, 1992) (LP)
(Produced by Ronny Light)



Paul Craft -- see artist discography


Crawpatch "Trailer Park Weekend" (Peabody Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Sid Selvidge)
A bluegrassy, longhaired hillbilly jugband from Memphis, Tennessee that wore its hick music bona fides on its sleeves. Along with the banjo, dobro and mandolin, these folks mixed in piano, washboard and drums, with a super-cool set list to match. From hippie-era twang faves like "Jug Band Music" and "Satan's Jewel Crown," these guys dipped into a deeper well of old-school honkytonk and hillbilly hits such as "Hadacol Boogie," "Picture From Life's Other Side," and Reno & Smiley's "A Dime Looks Like A Wagon Wheel," as well as barroom ballads such as Clyde Beavers's "Here I Am Drunk Again," an old Webb Pierce hit that helped propel Moe Bandy's late 'Seventies neotrad insurgency. There's even one by cult-fave swamp rocker Bobby Charles... That's my kinda eclectic! Crawpatch was a loose-knit confederation of local roots music freaks that had its origins in the late 1960s, playing together for years both before and after this disc came out. I also dig the inner label's visual homage to the old Bluebird label 78s, though its unfortunate that not all the songs are credited on the back cover. Were songs such as "I Wanna Go Country" original to the band? I suppose I could always write to the group's website and ask: that's also where you can also purchase a copy of the CD reissue. Tell 'em Joe sent you.


Terry Crisp "Burnt To A Crisp" (Gene Breeden Studios, 19--?) (LP)
Steel player Terry Crisp was still pretty young when he cut this uber-indie album, but working his way up into the Nashville elite -- later on he would do session work with mega-stars such as George Jones, Reba McEntire, Ricky Skaggs and Travis Tritt. Here, he gets his own instrumental showcase album, with stuff like "Kitten On The Bar" (his own take on the classic "Kitten On The Keys") "Orange Blossom Special," a Buddy Emmons tune ("At Ease") and a twangified version of the Jimi Hendrix adaptation of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Not sure when this came out -- early '80s, perhaps?


Mike Cross "Born In The Country" (Ghe Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Gronback)


Mike Cross "Rock 'N' Rye" (Ghe Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Burgh)
An uneven album that kicks off with a couple of fun country tunes, "Rocky Top Bar & Cafe" and "Not A Good Woman To Love," then veers into pop/folk crossover, with disastrous results. A couple of songs, such as the acoustic reggae tune, "The Groove," and a bland soft-rock song, "Start Drawing The Lines," are just plain dreadful, and in general his attempts at Harry Chapin-esque folk/AOR philosophizing are kind of a drag. Things pick up on Side Two, though, with the uptempo title track and its echo, a version of "Whiskey Before Breakfast," as well as the Leo Kottke-ish "Carrboro Crossing." The album closes with another sentimental-poetic folk-pop number, Mike Williams' "Catch Another Butterfly," which is a nostalgic look back at childhood's simple pleasures, and works better than similar material on Side One. A mixed bag, but the good stuff is kinda fun... Worth a spin, for sure. Backing musicians include bluegrasser Jesse McReynolds on mandolin, studio pro Weldon Myrick on dobro and steel, and even Irish folkie Triona ni Dhomhnaill pitching in on a tune or two(!)


The Cumberland Boys "Presenting Opryland's Gospel Quartet" (Opryland Records, 1982) (LP)
A modern-day gospel group playing one one of the Grand Ole Opry's amusement park/side-stage venues... There are surprisingly few usual-suspect Nashville session players here, though Terry McMillan plays harmonica amid the otherwise lesser-known musicians.


The Cumberland Mountain Boys "Nashville Bluegrass Opera" (Do-Ra-Me Records, 1963-?) (LP)
(Produced by Murray Nash)
Oh, I had such high hopes. I mean, this is perfectly fine bluegrass music and all, but as far as I can tell the "opera" mentioned on the cover was more of an idea, and not an actual venue. The musicians in this group -- lead singer Jimmy Maynard on guitar, with Johnny Montgomery (bass), Bill Thomas (mandolin), Bruce Weathers (banjo) and Earl White on fiddle -- appeared on the WSM Opry a time or two, although an opry of their own seems to have been more of a dream, or even just a metaphor. Nonetheless, this disc is notable for the wealth of original material, with songs written by the various bandmembers, as well as three tunes credited to the songwriting team of Norman Blake and Hal Culpepper. And, yes, I believe that it was that Norman Blake, who was still more or less a kid at the time.


Dianne Davidson "Baby" (Janus Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Charles Neese)
A native of West Tennessee, singer-picker Dianne Davidson dropped out of school in her teens and leapt full-tilt into a musical career which intersected blues, country and folkie material. While she recorded several albums in the early 'Seventies, she never quite broke through as a solo star, and eventually settled into a solid gig as a backup vocalist working with stars such as Jimmy Buffett, B.B. King, Linda Ronstadt and Leon Russell. This debut disc has a funky, Muscle Shoals feel, with backing by A-list Nashville pickers such as Mac Gayden, Kenny Buttrey, bassist Tim Drummond, piano player John Harris, Charlie McCoy and other guys in the orbit of the Area 615/Barefoot Jerry band. Though she subsequently got into a more rural, rootsy vibe, here there seems to be an attempt to go pop, showcasing distinctly Dusty Springfield-ish vocals, albeit with deeper soul roots than Springfield: Davidson was the real deal, a white soul sister of the kind that Springfield tried to shape herself into when she made her pilgrimage to Memphis. This authenticity may have been what held Davidson back professionally, as she consistently veers away from the brighter, more concise pop arrangements into a grittier, growlier, more improvisational blues style. But if you dig either the Dusty In Memphis sound, or other rootsy 'Seventies gals such as Jo Ann Kelly, Bonnie Raitt or Tracy Nelson, you're gonna want to hep yourself to Ms. Davidson and her remarkable recorded legacy. She was a trailblazer, for sure.


Dianne Davidson "Backwoods Woman" (Janus Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Charlie Tallent)
A more sluggish, downtempo sound prevails here, with curiously top-heavy covers of "Rocky Top," "Delta Dawn," and Elton John's "Country Comfort" though the album closes with a swell version of Cat Stevens' "Where Do The Children Play." This rest fo the record is packed with original material -- four songs from Dianne Davidson, and a couple more by composer John Drummond, who "hung out" at the sessions along with JJ Cale, while Mac Gayden anchored another all-star Nashville band, his own Area Code 615 cohorts bolstered by pros such as fiddler Vassar Clements and picker Bobby Thompson. Davidson backs away from the expansive, Motown-ish declarations of her first album, going for a more brooding, introspective, folk-informed style. Also worth noting is the presence of Tracy Nelson, who anchors a group of backup singers that also included Janis Siegel and the gals in her band, Laurel Canyon, along with Honey Combs, who also backed Nelson on one of her early albums. Though not as immediately appealing as the albums that sandwich it, this is a disc that stands up to repeat auditions, and sounds cooler each time you give it a whirl.


Dianne Davidson "Mountain Mama" (Janus Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Diane Davidson & Charlie Tallent)
Easing into a more expansive, funkier sound, Davidson takes greater advantage of the versatility of the Area Code 615 crew, digging into a bluesier vibe that invites comparison to Tony Joe White, Brenda Patterson or Tracy Nelson (who not coincidentally sings backup on these sessions...) Davidson puts her stamp on a few current hits, including a version of Jesse Winchester's "Brand New Tennessee Waltz," and a couple of Jackson Browne tunes, "Song For Adam" and "Something Fine," as well as an oddly lethargic rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Carey." About half the album is original material penned either by Diane Davidson or her bassist, Tim Drummond; Mac Gayden claims a co-credit on "Ain't Gonna Be Treated This Way," a greasy, loose-limbed blues duet that closes the album out.


Dianne Davidson "Breaking All The Rules" (Second Wave Records, 1988)


Smoke Dawson "Fiddle" (Oliver's Fiddle Works, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Hoffman)


Stormy Dawson "Stormy Dawson" (Cherish Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Hoffman)
I couldn't find much info about this guy, though he seems to have been kicking around for a while, having recorded a single on a tiny indie label back in 1971, and then this album, a couple of years later. This seems to have been a songwriters' showcase album for the Nashville-based Sunbury/Dunbar publishing company (aka Sunbar), with a little bit of help from "DJ Dan" Hoffman, a longtime fixture on the Nashville scene who worked at both Sunbar and the Cherish label. There are a bunch of songs from staff writer Glen Goza, and just one tune credited to Stormy Dawson, the song "Tear In Her Eye," which closes the album. Googling around, there have been several Stormy Dawsons at various times; no idea whether they are all related or not.


Walt Denny "Twelve All Original Country And Gospel Songs" (Breeze Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by J. P. Bowman)
A Kentucky native who moved to the Midwest as a teen, singer Walt Denny was a self-described hardcore alcoholic and born-again Christian who tried to make it big in music in the 1940s and '50s and found himself down and out and literally drunk in the gutter, at the mercy of his addiction. Back in '56 he got religion and turned his life around, and though he was an ardent Christian, this album is divided between secular songs (on Side One) and religious material (on Side Two) all of which Denny wrote himself. Backing him is a small band that included Frazier Moss on fiddle and Elton Davis on dobro, along with some other local, rural Tennessee pickers from outside of Nashville's orbit. (Frazier Moss also recorded a couple of albums of his own, reviewed on this site as well...) Definitely a little more rough-edged and more country-oriented than your standard-issue Southern Gospel album!


Bobby Denver "City Lights" (Modern Sound Records, 19--?) (LP)


Bobby Denver "Big Country And Western Hits" (Modern Sound Records, 19--?) (LP)


Bobby Denver "Sings Country And Western Hits Of The '60s" (Sterling Records, 19--?) (LP)


Joe DeShannon & Martha "Higher Than A Mountain" (Vetti Record Company, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Shockley)
An all-gospel set featuring country singer Joe DeShannon, whose give name was Joe Detty, Sr., and who seems to have been from Tennessee. His duet partner was wife of a friend who heard some of Mr. Detty's original music and insisted he make a record. I'm not sure how many of these tracks are Joe Detty's compositions, though his subsequent album (below) was packed with originals. Also no info on the backing musicians, though producer Mike Shockley did have a studio crew of regulars, any of whom could have been in these sessions.


Joe DeShannon "For The Love Of Country" (King's International Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Doyle Grisham)


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.



Jim Dickinson - see artist profile


The Dismembered Tennesseans "Forty Years With The Wrong Band" (1985-?) (LP)
(Produced by Elmer Cole & Jim Stabile)
Although they had a whole history of making fun of themselves, and belittling their own talent, these guys from Chattanooga were no joke. The DTs formed way back in 1945 with fiddler Fletcher Bright and several of his pals, and have remained together for decades, making this one of the longest continuously running bluegrass bands in the world. The group has a similar history to long-running groups such as the Sons Of The Pioneers or Max Roach's various ensembles, as a proving ground for countless talented musicians. This edition of the band featured Fetcher Bright on fiddle, George Bright (mandolin), Ed Cullis (banjo), Frank McDonald (guitar) and Ansley Moses on banjo, with joke quotes from Norman Blake John Hartford, and Benny Martin on the back. Pretty much straight-up bluegrass, but with that band name, they needed mention here as well. One of many albums.


Slim Dortch "Below The Dixie Line" (Kennett Sound/Lightning Ball Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Keene)
A Tennessee native who started playing guitar when he was twelve, Henry Pierce "Slim" Dortch (1921-2000) moved across the nation chasing various radio gigs, such as the "Breakfast Time Frolic," on WJJD, Chicago, or the "Saddle Mountain Roundup" in far-distant Dallas, where he played with musicians such as Fiddlin' Arthur Smith and singer Ray Whitley. He's best known among rockabilly enthusiasts for his 'Sixties sizzler, "Big Boy Rock," which has a driving hillbilly soul-beat sound, perhaps not surprising for an uber-indie Memphis single, back in 1964. There is some really wicked twang-bar guitar on that platter, but even more impressive is the vigor with which the forty-plus years old Dortch really grinds into some sweaty, bluesy 'billy vocals. Anyway, this album came out years later and was recorded in Mack's Creek, Missouri with a small local band that included James Prince on lead guitar and steel, Lee Barnes on bass, Jeff Bost on drums, and Dortch singing ten of his own original songs. Mr. Dortch eventually settled down in Poplar Bluff, MO, where he passed away at age 78.


Bob Douglas "Fiddles Old Time Gospel Music" (1970-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Trigg)
An old-timey fiddler from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bob Douglas performed regionally for decades in relative obscurity, though like many traditional artists, he became better known when he was "discovered" during the 1960s folk revival. Legend has it he was the very first musician to perform live on the radio in Chattanooga, back in the 1920s and he was the first bandleader to give The Louvin Brothers a professional music gig. Douglas was a championship fiddler who took the Tennessee Valley Fiddle King title in 1969-70, and made this commenorative album, backed by some of his local pals. He plays some gospel oldies -- real chestnuts such as "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" and "Where Could I Go, But To The Lord" -- but with a full country band behind him, including piano and electric guitars. Bill Wilson plays dobro, with Dan Hatchett on banjo, and Colman Emberton playing lead.


Bob Douglas "...Presents Waldens Ridge: Old Time Dance Tunes From Sequatchie Valley" (Tennvale-Collation Records, 1973) (LP)
This album features Mr. Douglas on fiddle, backed by Coleman Emberton (lead guitar), John Sanders (rhythm guitar), and Bill Trigg on bass, working their way through some tasty old-time material, including several less well-known tunes. At the time this disc was made, Douglas was on a roll, going on to win a national fiddling championship in 1975.


Dry Creek "Live And Kickin' " (Widget Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Terry Skinner & Dry Creek)
These guys were the house band for a place called Johnny's Club, in Iron City, Tennessee... The set list includes covers of "Waltz Across Texas," "Hell Yes I Cheated," "Sweet Home Alabama," and a Hank Williams medley...


The Dude Ranch Boys "Magical Campfire Show" (Campfire Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Frosty Gehron)
A souvenir album by one of the house bands at The Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch, a massive, 3000-acre tourist trap located in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, not far from Nashville. The bluegrass-y group included Kim Hilton (guitar and mandolin), Ricky Rebel (guitar and bass), Ken Terry (banjo and bass) and Louis Mitchell (aka "Souie Louie"), a comedian and musician who chimes in on numbers like "Tattooed Lady" and "Pfft She Was Gone." The band was just so-so, and the cornpone humor was pretty strained, which isn't unusual for this type of retro-vaudeville hillbilly act. Overall, I'd rate this one as subpar, even for the genre. The repertoire is super-heavy on novelty numbers and oldies and Dixieana, stuff like "Cripple Creek" and Leadbelly's "Cotton Fields," and very little in the way of contemporary country material, outside of a version of "Easy Lovin'," and yet another cover of Mickey Newberry's dreadful "American Trilogy" patriotic medley. Side Two showcases some folkier material, and a couple of standout tracks might be originals -- I couldn't track them down to any other sources, thought he credits are unclear. These are the folkie-sounding "Winter's Touch" and "General Lee," a rueful, haunting Civil War ballad with a much fuller, more produced sound than the rest fo the record. All in all, this is a pretty slight effort, but like many souvenir discs it offers a few surprises. Unfortunately there's no release date to be found, but it looks later than the Freddie Hart cover would suggest... I'd guess it was from anywhere between 1976 and '82; more precise into would of course be welcome. (Note: there's another album with the Dude Ranch Gang, but under Ken Terry's name. See below.)


The Dumplin' Valley Boys "Welcome To Dumplin' Valley" (1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Elmer Cole & Jim Stabile)
I'm not sure if "Dumplin' Valley" is an entirely real place, but there is a Dumplin' Valley Road a few miles out of Knoxville, Tennessee, and apparently that was the stomping grounds of this amiable country gospel band. They were cowboy-hatted twangsters who performed with steel guitar and an all-gospel repertoire that includes a half-album's worth of original compositions by Kyla Rowland, and one by Eulalia Martin, neither of who were in the band, but I imagine they were friends or relations...


Doyle Dykes "Doyle" (Doyle Productions, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Lawson, Donnie Sumner & Doyle Dykes)
Christian country, with most of the songs on here originals written by Doyle Dykes, a hotshot guitar picker from Jacksonville, Florida with a background in the Southern Gospel scene, notably having toured with the Stamps Quartet back in the day. Interesting cast of characters here, with Mr. Dykes playing guitar and banjo, Beegie Adair on piano, Mike Davis (harmonica), Paul G. Franklin (dobro and steel guitar), Buster Phillips (drums), Billy Reynolds (drums), Mike Severs (guitar) and Steve Wariner on bass. Of course, Wariner became a big top forty star, but he did a lot of session playing in the late 'Seventies, before he made it big, usually along with Mike Schrimpf, who also plays on this album. Pianist Bobbe Gorin ("Beegie") Adair was married to another Nashville session player, jazz guitarist William Adair; also on this album is Brent Rowan of the Rowan Brothers, among other additional side players.


Doyle Dykes "I'm Gonna Play My Gold Guitar In Heaven" (Doyle Productions, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Lawson, Donnie Sumner & Doyle Dykes)


Ruth E "Tonite I'm Missing You" (Melody Hill Records, 1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Ed Cleek)
Dunno why she went by a stage name, but singer Ruth Cleek was a gal from Kingsport, Tennessee, up in the far northeastern corner of the state. She's backed by a band called Flat Creek Revue which had released an album of their own a couple of years earlier; on their album they played a lot of country covers, although here the repertoire is packed with originals penned by Flat Creek Revue's lead singers Bobby Schaffer and Carter Stanley. (Leading, perhaps to some confusion about whether this is bluegrass music: the famous bluegrass icon Carter Stanley had passed away in 1966, and the originals here were written by Flat Creek's lead guitar player....) There are also a few cover tunes on here, notably oldies from folks such as Pee Wee King, Ray Price and Hank Williams, as well as a version of Kris Kristofferson's "One Day At A Time," which gives you a sense of where Ms. Cleek was coming from...



Connie Eaton - see artist discography


Eddie & Joe "Live?" (197--?) (LP)
Not to be confused with the 'Sixties soul-folk duo, these fellas from Hendersonville, Tennessee -- Eddie Seals and Joe Grant -- were a country comedy act that stayed together through the 1970s and early '80s. They seem to have mostly worked in clubs and lounges in the Nashville area. Previously Grant and Seals had been in an early '50s vocal group called the Rhythmaires, along with Don Walker and Sonny Kirkland.


Eddie & Joe "Live? Second Edition" (1975) (LP)


Eddie & Joe "Live? Third Edition" (1982) (LP)
(Produced by Bobby Francavillo & Mark Morell)
By their third album they had dropped the hick image and looked solidly '80s... This is another live set, recorded in a Nashville club called the Embers Showcase in May of '82 with a small band that included bass, guitar and Eddie Seals' son Jay Seals on drums.


Eddie & Joe "Live? Fourth Edition" (198--?) (LP)


Dennis Eggers "Rusty Rails And Cold Steel Blues" (Lady Jane Records, 1984) (LP)
An odd, flawed album, one that could charitably be tagged as "outsider" art. I dunno the story behind this one, but songwriter Dennis Eggers was clearly very serious about his music -- he booked sessions with some top studio talent, including pickers such as steel player Doug Jernigan, drummer Jerry Kroon, and guitarist Bruce Watkins, along with others who may have been from Eggers' own band... The record looks cool, too, with its train-oriented album art, but even with the legit country vibe running through the music, I have to confess, I really couldn't get into this one. The songs seem rambling and half-formed, the music is kind of lax, and Eggers' vocals... Well, they don't work for me. I'll leave it at that. Not sure where he was from, either... This was recorded at a studio in Colby, Tennessee (which might be a small place near Pigeon Forge) and there's a label address in Del Rio, Tennessee, and even tinier place near Knoxville -- maybe that was where Eggers was at the time? Anyway, I had high hopes for this one, but found it to be maybe a little more on the folkie side of things, and also a bit too "private" a private record for me.


The Coon Elder Band "...Featuring Brenda Patterson" (Mercury Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Ed Norman)
Bandleader Coon Elder was a regionally popular figure from Memphis, mixing swampy white soul with country twang and chunkier Southern rock... This was his only album, and was also a showcase for singer Brenda Patterson, who had previously recorded three albums as a solo artist -- her throaty, bluesy style draws this album into Tracy Nelson/Maria Muldaur territory, while Elder's roadhouse rock'n'soul has a slight Delbert McClinton-esque feel to it, a Southern bar-band sound, but with some Muscle Shoals soul coming out in the horn section... I suspects that working with an old-time mainstream Nashville producer like Jim Ed Norman is partly what gives this album its mellow feel, though there are still some gritty lyrics and a distinctly rootsy undercurrent. For country fans, highlights include "Send Him Home To Mama," the bluesy "Grinnin' My Blues Away," and their version of "I Ain't A Cowboy (I Just Found The Hat)," one of the great musical satires of the '70s urban cowboy scene. An eclectic album, and a nice picture of the shifting boundaries where longhair country met Southern rock. Although Elder never made another album, he kept playing locally around Memphis, and released at least one single after this album, "The Russians Ain't Coming," on Pharoah Records. Elder was killed in a 2011 traffic accident.


Ray Emmett & The Deputies "Nashville" (Spirit Records, 1978) (LP)
This one's a little bit odd... Sideman Ray Emmett (1937-2013) was a real road warrior, working in the backing bands of stars and falling stars such as George Jones, Jean Shepard, Tommy Overstreet, Billie Jo Spears, and in this case, Faron Young. The front cover bills this as Faron Young's Deputies (who had made other "band albums") but on the back cover, Ray Emmett got top billing. The deal seems to be that Side One is mostly instrumentals, probably performed by the most recent incarnation of the band, while the balance of the tracks seem to be old singles that came out under Emmett's name, a few dating back to the 'Sixties. This disc is a typical band album, with virtuosic but fairly ho-hum instrumentals and a few vocal numbers... Alas, no real liner notes to let us know who else was in this edition of the band, though the song credits provide a few clues. The song "The Sensuous Kind" was one of two tunes by Johnny Credit, and came out as a single in '76. Another pair is attributed to Jack Ripley, also included is an instrumental called "Fishing For Bass" by guitarist Richard Bass, along with Jerry Woodward's cajun-flavored "Colinda" at the end of Side One, and a song called "Winter's Comin' On Again," credited to Neal Merritt. I think most of these songs were recorded by Ray Emmett and released as singles over the years, probably with various configurations of the Deputies backing him for this session or that. He had a pretty corny, croony countrypolitan vocal style, kinda like Ray Price, but not as relaxed in his phrasing. Underwhelming, perhaps, but still a nice career summation one of Nashville's supporting players.


Dave Evans "Foxy Lady" (Broadland/McDaniel Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Dave Evans & Mike Reid)
I'm not sure where songwriter Dave Evans and guitarist Mike Reid were from, but like countless others they made their way to Nashville to cut an album with some heavyweight studio pros backing them -- Sonny Garrish and Doug Jernigan on steel, Harold Bradley playing rhythm guitar, Johnny Gimble on fiddle, and so on. Still, they seemed to be in the driver's seat for these sessions, with Reid playing lead guitar and Evans writing almost all the songs. He covers Mickey Newberry ("American Trilogy") and Jimmy Reed ("Baby, What You Want Me To Do") but otherwise, it's all originals.


Ezze "I Can Almost Touch The Feeling" (Delivery Records, 1980-?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddy Fox & Bil VornDick)
Slick, professional musicianship and glossy, early-'Eighties pop-country arrangements backing an adequate vocalist who aggressively modeled himself after Roy Orbison. He's a decent singer, though he falters a little on more complex passages, and seems too controlled overall; nice vocal tone overall, but it doesn't connect emotionally. Lord only knows who "Ezze" actually was -- they wouldn't give us his full (or real) name -- but he did have a session at the Marty Robbins studios in Nashville, with some top players such as Buddy Spicher and Larry Sasser backing him. This appears to be a Nashville songwriter's demo set, with several songs written by Shirl Milete, as well as some stuff from album producers Eddy Fox and Bil VornDick, including one credited to Eddie Rager, a songwriter with a career dating back to the early '60s... was he "Ezze"? I dunno, but it's the best theory I've got for now.


Ruby Falls "Sweet Country Lady" (Fifty States Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Charlie Fields & Johnny Howard)
Bertha Bearden Dorsey -- aka Ruby Falls (1946-1986) -- was a country gal from Jackson, Tennessee who worked for several years in the Midwest, most notably as a featured singer in the late 'Sixties Milwaukee soul band, Harvey Scales and The Seven Sounds. In 1974 she headed back to Nashville to devoter herself to a country music career, enjoying a fair amount of success in the late 1970s, cutting a string of twangy singles and one full LP. Along with Linda Martell she was one of the first African-American female singers to break into the national market, albeit with limited commercial success. This album collects several singles recorded between 1975-80, including 1977's "You've Got To Mend This Heartache," which was her only song to break into the country Top Forty. Unfortunately the liner notes don't list any of the musicians involved, though they were doubtless guys who were in the orbit of producer Charlie Fields, or possibly members of Justin Tubb's road band, as she sang backup with his group.


(Stephen And) The Farm Band "Up In Your Thing" (Farm Records, 1973) (LP)


The Farm Band "On The Rim Of The Nashville Basin" (Farm Records, 1975) (LP)
Real-deal hippie sh*t. This fabled jam-band album came out of The Farm, which, if you haven't heard of it, is probably the most famous American hippie commune, founded in the early 1970s by Stephen Gaskin and a caravan of California emigres who headed East and bought a ton of land in Lewis County, Tennessee, settling in for the long haul. The Farm has remained in operation, in various permutations, over the decades, though in its longhaired heyday, the community spawned its own band, which recorded numerous singles and LPs. This might be more rock-oriented than most of the stuff here, but hey, it was the 'Seventies, and there was a little bit of twang in the air... along with a whole lot of pot smoke.


The First Nashville Jesus Band "Welcome To Nashville" (Lamb & Lion Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Billy Linneman & Jack Linneman)
Man, what a great band name! This group, which may have had a shifting lineup, was formed primarily to back singer Pat Boone on some of his more country-flavored gospel outings, though they also backed Del Wood, and released some stuff "solo" under the band's name. Among the session players on this album are guitarist Jimmy Capps, Johnny Gimble, and steel player Jeff Newman. Although I think the sessions were cut in Nashville, Boone's Lamb & Lion label was headquartered in LA, and was associated with the budget-line Hilltop Records. A couple of the tunes were of newer origin, like their covers of "Daddy Sang Bass" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water," as well as an original, "Why," which was composed by the group's pianist, David Reese.


The First Nashville Jesus Band "Peace In The Valley" (Lamb & Lion Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Billy Linneman & Jack Linneman)
Another album of gospel standards, recorded in Nashville with a top-flight studio crew including Jimmy Capps, Paul Charron (drums), fiddler Johnny Gimble, bassist Billy Linneman (who also played in Marty Robbins' band), Jeff Newman (dobro and pedal steel) and pianists David Reese and Jerry Whitehurst -- basically the same lineup as the previous album.


Flat Creek Revue "Just For You" (Flat Creek Records, 1979-?) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Salyer)
A country covers band from Kingsport, Tennessee, up in the far northeastern corner of the state... Although the album provides no exact information about where this band was from, the liner notes inform us they played regionally in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Their album came out on a mostly-gospel label from Kingsport, which seems to be where several bandmembers lived as well. Flat Creek Revue included Bill Hass on bass, David Martin (steel guitar), Bobby Schaffer (lead vocals), Carter Stanley (lead guitar), Jane Cox Thompson (piano), and Darris 'Pop' Turner on drums; although some sources call them a bluegrass band, their repertoire was pretty solidly country, electrified instruments and all. Lots of covers, including late-'Seventies hits such as "The Door Is Always Open," from Waylon Jennings' outlaw glory years, and George Jones' 1978 weeper, "I'll Just Take It Out In Love." Alas, there are no songwriter credits, so it's difficult to tell if the album also contains any originals. This seems to be the only Flat Creek Revue album, although a couple of years later they backed another Kingsport musician, singer Ruth Cleek (aka "Ruth E") on her album "Tonite I'm Missing You," which featured several songs written by members of the band.


Ansley Fleetwood "Ansley Fleetwood" (ACA Records, 19--?) (LP)
Pianist Ansley Fleetwood is best remembered as the guy who wrote Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley's chart-topping 1979 duet, "Just Good Ole Boys," one of the biggest country hits of the early '80s. Fleetwood was a member of Joe Stampley's band when the idea to have the two singers combine forces was first being batted around, and he penned the redneck novelty number as a showcase for their talents. Fleetwood had been knocking around Nashville since the early '70s, recording on tiny labels and writing several other (far less successful) songs, as well as producing a few singles for other, equally obscure artists. He also composed the song "Finding You," which was a minor hit for Stampley in 1983... Later on Fleetwood worked in Jeanne Pruett's 1980's band and eventually seems to have dropped out of the Nashville scene and become a music educator. I'm not sure where this undated album fits into his career, although from the looks of it, I'm guessing it's a mid-to-late '70s record, made some time before the Moe & Joe thing took off. Maybe about 1977?


Footloose "Footloose" (Thunderhead Sound Studios, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Charles Whaley)
Not to be confused with (several) other bands using the name Footloose... These guys were a bluegrass outfit from Knoxville, featuring lead singers Steve Kaufman (a champion flatpicker who won the 1977 competition in Winfield, Kansas) and Dan Holman on rhythm guitar, along with old-timer Red Rector on mandolin, and Leesa Nanney on bass. In the liner notes, Dan Crary remembers jamming with them in Knoxville, and they recorded there as well.



The Four Guys - see artist profile


Wally Fowler/Various Artists "Wally Fowler And His Music City Jubilee" (Nashwood Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Breeden & Jack Smith)
One of the original movers and shakers in the Nashville music industry, Georgia-born Wally Fowler (1917-1994) wrote hundreds of songs, established his own record label, and, perhaps most significantly, founded the Oak Ridge Quartet southern gospel group way back in 1945, the group that would eventually evolve into The Oak Ridge Boys, one of the most popular country acts of the 1970s and '80s. Fowler performed on countless radio or TV shows over the years, was an Opry cast member and formed his own musical revues, including the gospel-oriented All Nite Singing concerts, which were held at the Ryman Auditorium in the 'Fifties and 'Sixties. He later created his own Music City Jubilee, which had earlier incarnations, but opened its doors as a bandstand venue in 1981. This 2-LP set commemorates the short-lived Jubilee, which seems to have lasted a couple of years and showcased a number of younger unknowns. The musicians on this album included vocalists Rick Baird, Chip Huffman, Mark McCauley, Jana Smith and Tim Smith, backed by a house band called the Tennessee Valley Boys, which was comprised of veteran producer-guitarist Gene Breeden, along with Ben Brogden (bass), Gary Smith (piano), Jack Smith (dobro and steel guitar), Steve Taylor (drums) and Phil Watson on guitar. To be honest, the album is a bit underwhelming. The material is fine but the production and the performances are resolutely generic, in keeping with the squeeky-clean production style of the times. Not surprisingly there are quite a few tracks that mimic the then-dominant harmony vocals sound of groups such as Alabama and The Oak Ridge Boys (a style that Fowler helped pioneer) while the Jana & Tim Smith duet delved more into ballads. Fowler sings as well, but he just sounds old and out of touch. I'm not sure how long exactly the Music City Jubilee persisted; there appears to have been a road show that staged concerts as far afield as Oklahoma, and the TVB band released a single in '84, an Oak Ridge-y, half-secular love song called "Lo And Behold" that got some traction on the charts. One of the Jubilee's later performers, Jimmy Ponder, recorded a solo album called Every Drop Of Water after moving to Branson, Missouri for a gig at Silver Dollar City.


The Fox Brothers "Jesus Was A Country Man" (LSI Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Babcock & Al McGuire)
Hailing from the tiny town of Bending Chestnut, Tennessee, the Fox Brothers -- Lynn, Randy, Roy and Tommy Fox -- were a Southern Gospel family band, and stalwarts of the Nashville country-gospel scene for several decades, dating back to the mid-1970s. They recorded several albums and performed regularly on Nashville-based TV shows such as Gospel Jubilee. On this early album their band also includes Jim Jones, Charlie Trent and Daryl Nelson, and the Nashville studio crew also included A-list pros such as Sonny Garrish, Lloyd Green, Charlie McCoy, and Bobby Thompson... A little slick sound, but definitely country-flavored, with group vocals very much in the style of the Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama...


Ray Fox "Missing You Just Started Hitting Home" (1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Eddy Fox)


Don Frost "Changes" (Nashville Recording Services, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Col. Dave Mathes)
This album was recorded in Nashville at the Jack Clements Studio with Col. Dave Mathes, head of the NRS label, at the helm... Apparently it was some kind of songwriters' showcase album, with a bunch of songs on it (by different composers) credited to House Of David publishing, which was another Mathes project. But does anyone know more about Don Frost? Was he a Nashviller? Was that his real name? I guess he was a demo singer, but I don't know for sure. As far as I can tell, though, this was his only album -- a single was also released, with material off the album.


Rob Galbraith "Nashville Dirt" (Columbia Records, 1970) (LP)
Originally with a background in R&B and soul, Rob Galbraith was a fixture in late 1960s/early '70s Nashville scene, working as a session musician and producer, notable for his work with country superstar Ronnie Milsap in the '70s and '80s, and for producing several albums for the musically eclectic cult favorite Larry Jon Wilson. This was Galbraith's first solo album, a mix of rock, soul and country that reflects the musical diversity bubbling under the surface of Music City's countrypolitan monolith; in 1972 he recorded an album with songwriter Dennis Linde, in the semi-rootsy rock band called Jubal. Galbraith's efforts as a recording artist weren't commercial triumphs, and he found more success behind the scenes, notably as co-owner of a music publishing company formed in partnership with Ronnie Milsap.


Rob Galbraith "Throw Me A Bone" (RCA-Victor, 1976)
(Produced by Rob Galbraith)
This one's more of a horn-rock/white soul album, but again, that does show some of the musical diversity bubbling underneath the surface of Nashville's country music monolith...


Rob Galbraith "Too Long At The Fair" (Tri-State Records, 2004)


Billy Galvin "Monkeyin' Around" (Audio Media Records, 1975-?) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Stone & Billy Galvin)
A comedically-themed album from a guy who started out in Nashville doing bar gigs at Roger Miller's club in the early 1970s. Galvin later moved into television, becoming the producer of the "Country Standard Time" and "Music City Tonight" variety shows, along with countless one-off specials, including several projects developed with producer Jim Owens. The album title is a reference to the novelty number "Signifyin' Monkey," which leads the album off... He also covers "She's Acting Single (I'm Drinking Doubles)," "Every Time You Touch Me I Get High" and (frighteningly enough) a version of Olivia Newton John's "I Honestly Love You." I'm not sure when this one came out, but it must have been close to the beginning of his career, not long after he came to Nashville in '72. Apparently super-picker Phil Baugh sat in on these sessions, though no other musicians are identified in the liner notes...


Kossi Gardner "Organ, Nashville Style" (RCA Victor, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Chet Atkins)
Instrumental kitsch from session player Kossi Gardner (1941-2009), a native Nashville organist who ensconced himself in the city's jazz scene and had a rather eclectic career. In the 1960s he toured with top jazz players such as David Newman and Sonny Stitt, then worked his way into the Nashville studio network when he returned to Tennessee. These two albums reflected his connections to the hometown country music industry, though later he dabbled in disco and composed a few tunes recorded by band such as Shalamar. Not sure how much appeal these discs will have to country fans in the post-countrypolitan decades, but you never know.


Kossi Gardner "Plays Charley Pride" (RCA Victor, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Ronny Light)
Though Gardner's jazz organ is the primary lead instrument, there's plenty of top Nashville talent backing him, folks like David Briggs, Johnny Gimble, Lloyd Green, Dave Kirby, Grady Martin, Pete Wade and the like... Plus, a Charley Pride tribute album? Heck, yeah!


Jimmy Gateley "Jimmy Gateley" (Westwood Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Frank Evans, Dave Lindley & Billy Troy)
Born in Springfield, Missouri, Jimmy Gateley (1931-1985) was a successful Nashville songwriter who composed hits for Bill Anderson, Sonny James and Webb Pierce. He was in Anderson's band, the Po' Boys, for several years and recorded some singles under his own name for Chart Records, ABC-Dot, Decca and other labels, but never quite clicked as a solo artist, and later became a gospel artist. This album features all original material and was recorded on the independent Westwood label, which was briefly a home for a slew of older Nashville stars who had been left behind during Nashville's big shift in the 'Seventies. He's got a pretty solid crew backing him, including studio pros such as guitarist Greg Galbraith Sonny Garrish and Jim Baker playing pedal steel, and Buddy Cannon on bass.


Mac Gayden "Skyboat" (ABC Records, 1976)
(Produced by Buzz Cason & Mac Gayden)


Mac Gayden "Hymn To The Seeker" (MCA Records, 1976)
(Produced by Mac Gayden)
Session guitarist Mac Gayden played on Dylan's Nashville Skyline and led the Nashville-based jam bands Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry... Although he plays banjo and mandolin (somewhere in the mix), there's not a lot of twang on this spacey, spiritual set of disco-tinged white funk, some of it quite monotonous. Didn't do much for me, sorry to say.


The Gems & Nashville Sound 70s "Dream Baby And Other Country Hits" (RCA Camden, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Ferguson, Ethel Gabriel, Chuck Seitz & Roy Shockley)
This is one of those quickie-cheapie anonymous-band truckstop albums that flooded the bins in the 1960s and '70s, although in this case, the band wasn't as completely anonymous as those playing on the smaller, non-major label records. The Gems were the full-time backing band of Nashville star Jim Ed Brown, anchored in the early 'Seventies by steel player Hank Corwin and lead guitar picker Earl Erb. The band's name was a take on Brown's own name -- Jim's Gems, get it? -- a play on words that also provided the title of one of his late '60s albums. Anyway, the Gems were for real, although I think there were a few RCA studio ringers on this disc as well, guys like Bunky Keels and Jerry Shook. Anyway, it's a legit "solo" album by a working Nashville band. Likewise, the Nashville Sound 70s vocal group -- Dianne Hines, Dottie DeLeonibus, Richard Law and Ronnie Drake -- were also part of Brown's entourage, originally singing on his TV show, starting in 1970. The songs include covers of a few big "sunshine country" hits, along with a bunch of other obscuro tunes that were probably written by some of the musicians themselves.


The Gems "The Gems" (1980-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Gant)
I guess around 1975, '76, there was a big shakeup in Jim Ed Brown's band, though steel player Hank Corwin stuck around and led the band for a few more years... This album features Corwin anchoring a new crew including Bruce Osborn (lead guitar), Ed Chambliss (drums), Jerry Braswell (bass), Tim Atwood (piano) and Tom Rutlege (banjo, rhythm guitar) and I'm guessing this was an early '80s lineup, just since they look so much like Alabama or the Oak Ridge Boys. Porter Wagoner wrote the liner notes for this album and is pictured on the back with the band, sitting in front of a giant mixing board, so possibly he produced the album as well. Eventually he poached some of these guys for his own band, notably Hank Corwin, who then played with Wagoner for several years. This disc has a lot of cover tunes, and possibly a couple of originals, although it's hard to tell, since there are no composer credits...


Gene & Debbe "Hear And Now" (TRX Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Gant)
The Nashville duo of Gene Thomas and Debbe Neville had their biggest success as '60s pop artists, although they dabbled with country and there's definitely an element of twang in the mix as well. They seem to have been pals of songwriter Mickey Newberry -- in addition to several songs written by Thomas, they recorded a couple of Newberry's early tunes, as well as one by John D. Loudermilk and a few others. Thomas had some commercial successes as a songwriter, and remains a cult fave for some retro-pop fans. There's also a generously programmed reissue CD on the Sundazed label that gives a pretty full picture of their career.


The (Swingin') Gentry Singers "Pop Goes The Country" (Hickory Records, 1966) (LP)
(Produced by Wesley Rose)
I think this was a "band" album by the Gentry Singers, a Nashville studio group modeled on the Anita Kerr Singers, and led by Sharon Gentry. They did a lot of session work, particularly for the Hickory label, and a few singles also came out under Sharon Gentry's name. The repertoire is typical cheapo-label, fake-band fare, mostly oldies by Hank Williams, Don Gibson, Marvin Rainwater, etc., including a version of the Everly Brothers classic, "All I Have To Do Is Dream." Not sure who produced this, but the sessions were conducted by John Cacavas, with an eye towards the same pop-country crossover market that had been tapped by Ray Charles and Patti Page.


The (Swingin') Gentry Singers "Come Swing With Us" (Hickory Records, 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Nick Firth)
I guess "swinging" was their thing! Easy listening country... just as you like it. Maybe.


Glass Hammer "On Our Own" (Crescent Hill, 1979) (LP)
Although they went on to become famous as a prog-rock powerhouse, the first album by Nashville's Glass Hammer spotlighted them as a '70s sunshine-y soft-rock band with a penchant for pop-twang similar to the stuff Mac Davis had been recording years earlier... There's a plain country vibe here, but it comes amid perky pop and disco, it feels pretty tongue-in-cheek... The "rebel shout" lyrics in the opening track sound satirical, and likewise, covers of Steve Goodman's "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" and Kenny Rogers' "We've Got Tonight" seem to underscore a Southern rocker's sense of irony or distain towards mainstream country, while their real creative mojo was somewhere else. I've seen this cited as a country-rock gem, but I'm not quite buying it...


Darrell Glenn "Down Home Dobro" (Laurel Records, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Henry & Monte Stephens)
Some fancy picking from a seventeen-year old kid named Darrell Glenn Henry, backed by a band called Cast Iron Country, which included steel player Charlie Finger. Not a lot of info about this guy, though I'm pretty sure he's not the same artist who recorded singles for Columbia Records and the Longhorn label, way back when.


Kaye Golden "The Golden Touch" (Music Industries Incorporated/MIC Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Bud Billings)
A Nashville hopeful who apparently had a gig at Roger Miller's motel-based King Of The Road nightclub around the time this record was made, back in December, 1971. It's not a songwriter's demo set, though: all the songs are covers, including Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night," Ray Stevens' "Everything Is Beautiful," "Country Roads" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by the Band.


The Golden Voyage "The Golden Hits Of Country Music" (1981-?) (LP)
This early '80s cover band plays versions of a couple of dozen hits, mainly stuff from the '60 and '70 such "Crazy" and "Thank God I'm A Country Boy," as well as oldies by the Carter Family and Hank Williams. The most contemporary tracks seems to be a cover of Dallas Frazier's "Elvira," which was a hit for The Oak Ridge Boys in '81. This nondescript set was recorded at Bradley's Barn in Nashville, and though I assumed the band was made up entirely of nobodies, it turns out it was led by pianist Little David Wilkins, a songwriter and Music City session player who made some mid-'Seventies albums that were actually pretty good


Jerry Graham "From Nashville To You" (1980) (LP)
(Produced by Eddy Fox)
Assuming it's the same guy, I think Jerry Graham was the longtime host of the United States Air Force's Country Music Time transcription disc service, where he interviewed and presented numerous country artists. Here, Mr. Graham's in the spotlight himself, recording at the Marty Robbins Studios in Nashville, with backup musicins that included Dolly Fox and Melba Montgomery(!) doing backup vocals, Dave Kirby on electric guitar, and Larry Sasser playing steel... Quite a lineup, especially for a diehard Melba Montgomery fan like yours truly!


The Grand Ole Opry Staff Band & The Carol Lee Singers "The Grand Ole Opry" (Woodsmoke Records, 1980) (LP)
I guess this was some sort of house band for one of the Opry's regular venues during the early '80s... The group included Nashville studio pros such as Sonny Burnette, Jimmy Capps, Weldon Myrick and Leon Rhodes, with vocals by a group called the Carol Lee Singers. Hey man, a paycheck is a paycheck!


The Grand Ole Opry Staff Band & The Carol Lee Singers "Showtime" (Woodsmoke Records, 1983) (LP)
Plenty of cover tunes, including some fun singalong songs such as "Take Me Back To Tulsa" and "I'm My Own Grandpa." And if you've ever wanted to hear superpickin' steel player Weldon Myrick step in front of the mic and sing, check him out on their version of "Even Tho." Lots of instrumentals, as well!


Rink Hardin "A Taste Of Country And Western" (Time Records, 1964-?) (LP)
(Produced by Mort Thomasson)
A Tennessee native, singer Ronald Huffstetler (aka Rink Hardin) tried his hand at pro baseball, spending one season in the minor leagues, back in 1956... He didn't see much action on the field, and I guess nothing clicked... So then he turned his attention towards a country music career, writing his own stuff and doing a club act that included impersonations of country stars. He cut a few singles for Jubilee Records, made his way to Nashville, and fell in with the budget-label indie, Time Records, where he recorded this solo album, backed by an A-list studio crew, including Pete Drake, Ray Edenton, Kelso Herston, Buddy Killen and Wayne Moss. The songs are about half originals, including several composed by Huffstetler, published under Rink Hardin monicker, as well as "When The Wine Is Gone," a tune being plugged by songwriter Clyde Beavers. Hardin went on to record a few singles for United Artists, including some goofball material that sounds imitative of Roger Miller, although nothing that charted nationally. He also appeared in a hickspoitation film, "That Nashville Beat," in 1966, though as far as I know that was the extent of his acting career.



Alexander Harvey -- see artist profile


Jerry Hayes "Back From 'Nam" (Toro Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Caton & Phil York)
A set of military twang, with a batch of songs written from the ground-level view of an American soldier in Vietnam, including tracks such as "Diary Of Private Jones," "I Praise The Vet," "Johnny's Going Home," and "Thoughts Of Home." The songs deal with combat, homesickness and psychological isolation, as well as the whole POW-MIA thing. According to the liner notes, Jerry Hayes was originally from Columbia, Tennessee and joined the Marines straight out of high school. He deployed to Vietnam in 1967, and served as part of the amphibious assault force stationed in Da Nang. Hayes returned to the States in 1968, following the Tet Offensive, though the notes don't make it clear if he was injured in combat. Hayes headed for Nashville but was working clubs in Dallas when he made this disc, with assistance from local legend Smokey Montgomery, who anchored these sessions and is credited as arranger, playing banjo with backing by guitar whiz Phil Baugh, drummer Dale Cook, Freddie Crane on piano, and Junior Graham playing bass. Honestly, Hayes wasn't a great singer, and it's all a little underwhelming, although the lyrics are fascinating and historically relevant. I'm not sure what happened to Hayes after this record was made; he's not to be confused with the Memphis-based songwriter below...


Jerry Hayes "Small Towns And Old Fashioned Ways" (Penthouse Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Fred Boyce)
Although he met with little success as a performer, Memphis songwriter Jerry Hayes scored several home runs as a composer, notably "Who's Cheatin' Who," which was a chart hit for both Alan Jackson and Charly McClain. He's backed here by members of the Amazing Rhythm Aces and various Memphis studio pros. Hard to track down, but definitely worth a spin.


Jerry Hayes "Tennessee" (Penthouse Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Fred Boyce)


Walter Haynes "Steel Guitar Sounds" Mercury Records, 1962) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Kennedy & Glenn Snoddy)
A showcase for some fancy picking by steel player Walter Ray Haynes (1928-2008) a Tennessee native who became prominent Nashville record exec, as well as a prolific music producer. The repertoire here includes plenty of chestnuts -- "Billy In The Low Ground," "Columbus Stockade Blues," "John Henry" -- as well as more contemporary folk/country hits like "Greenback Dollar" and "Battle Of New Orleans," as well as a version of Bill Justis' "Raunchy," which kicks things off, and even a little bit of "Chopsticks," just for fun. Mr. Haynes was accompanied by "the Merry Melody Singers," one of Mercury's in-house session groups which at some point included 'Sixties second-stringer Margie Singleton (although it's not clear if she performs on this specific album...)


Lawrence Heathcock "From The Faded Past" (Bri-Mar Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Heathcock, Brien Fisher, Jack Logan & Robert Meadows)
Maybe not the greatest country record ever, but certainly not the worst... Lawrence Lee Heathcock (1942-2017) was originally from Jasper County, Illinois, but he moved to Cedar Hill, Tennessee, where he opened a canoeing park in nearly Adams, TN, and taught in the local schools. For this album he booked a full session in Nashville with a bunch of A-list pros, including Jimmy Bryant, Buddy Emmons, D. J. Fontana, Roy Huskey, Sonny Garrish and others. They provide understated but effective backing to can fairly be called amateurish vocals. Really, there's nothing wrong about Mr. Heathcock's voice, he's just not quite... I dunno... completely confident? Nonetheless, he's obviously sincere and totally into it, and this is perhaps the kind of humble vanity album you'd hope to find in the private-press world. It's a little odd that he pitched this as a Johnny Horton tribute album, when half the songs are his own originals (and also pretty good...) Two of his best songs, "Jenny's Hand" and "Mountain Of Pure Gold," were also issued as a single when this album came out.


Brice Henderson "Brice Henderson" (Union Station Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Scott Tutt)
Top Forty-oriented stuff from a guy who found some success as a Nashville songwriter, notably for a gospel song that Kenny (Sauron) Rogers recorded many years later. Although this debut album was secular, Henderson later specialized in Contemporary Christian/country gospel music, recording several albums in that style.


The Hicks Family "Down Country Roads" (197--?) (LP)
Looks like the dad, Olan Hicks, was a pedal steel player, and got all his kids interested in music as well, while handing the mic to his wife Barbara. Chuck, Clint and Jean Hicks round out the ensemble... Not sure where these folks were from since the album has even less info than usual for a custom-made record -- the back cover is blank, and the inner labels only have the band name and song titles. Chuck Hicks also recorded a single in 1971, "I Ain't Cryin,' Mister"/"The Happiest Way," which gives Dayton, Tennessee as the home of Olan Hicks Productions, so they may have been from around Chattanooga. (Sadly, neither of those songs are included on this album, which favors covers such as "Country Roads" and "Making Plans." Alas.) Music was Mr. Hicks second occupation: he has been a prominent writer in the "Restoration Christianity" movement, and has written or co-written several religious tracts on a variety of topics.


The Hicks Family "A Cumberland Singing Tradition" (The Tennessee Folklore Society, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Bobby Fulcher & Charles K. Wolfe)
This appears to be a different group than the Hicks clan above, although this Hicks Family did live just about forty miles north of Olan Hicks and his people, so who knows... Anyway, this is a set of hardcore, old-fashioned folk tunes, rendered in solo and group vocals by Besford Hicks and family -- Dee Hicks, Delta Hicks, Lily Mae Hicks, Joe Hicks and Nancy Hicks Winningham -- who hailed from Fentress County, Tennessee. Hardly a rowdy honkytonk set, but if musicologist Charles K. Wolfe was involved, I'm definitely gonna pay attention...


Wade Hill "Featuring Wade's Rockin' Banjo" (Thunderhead Records, 1979) (LP)
A five-string banjo pickin' prodigy from Knoxville, Tennessee, Wade Hill cut his first albums at age fifteen, back in 1974, and was about 24 years old when this album came out. He shifted gears a little for this one, veering away from straight-up bluegrass into more country-oriented material, with songs like "(I've Got My) Future On Ice," "Amanda" and the George Jones oldie, "Color Of The Blues," and the boogie-flavored title track, which was one of his signature tunes. A flashy figure on the East Tennessee roots scene, Hill had his own TV show and led his own band while still a teen. He considered himself something of a wild child, though he also put in his time as a sideman, backing established stars such as Webb Pierce(!) and bluegrass elder Jimmy Martin, with whom he shared an affinity for bluesier, country-flavored arrangements. Cool stuff!


Elmer Hinton "Down To Earth" (Georgie Records, 19--?) (LP)
An oddball offering from Elmer Hinton (1905-1979) who was a columnist for the Nashville Tennessean newspaper, who wrote a feature called "Down To Earth" filled with fictional, folksy small-town characters like Cousin Nud, et. al. who commented on the human condition. Hinton worked at the paper for nearly four decades, from 1942 to 1979, and was also active in local politics... This album featured musical contributions from Gary and Randy Scruggs, as well as Charlie McCoy and some backing vocals by the Rudy Sisters... Not sure what year it came out, though...


Mickey Hiter And The Music City Limits "Dance To The Music" (Cane Ridge Records, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Pat Patrick, Joe Taylor & Paul Whitehead)
The quintessential custom-made LP: four guys playing country and white soul cover songs in a Nashville studio, taking turns singing lead on early '70s hits such as "Rainy Night In Georgia," "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues," "Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" and southern rockers like "Ramblin' Man," as well as rock/pop tunes like "China Grove" and Sly Stone's "Dance To The Music." The band was made up of Philip Douglas on lead guitar and banjo, David Finney on drums, Mickey Hiter playing piano and guitar and Billy Lawrence playing bass, possibly with a few studio pros padding out the sound. Mickey's dad, Wayne Hiter, is listed as the president of Cane Ridge Enterprises, so he may have ponied up the cash to have this album pressed... Though it seems unlikely that most of these guys did much professionally, Hiter apparently worked in music publishing and songwriting before founding an organization that promotes baseball youth leagues. Anyway, these seem to have had fun making this record, with a highlight being their bluegrassed-up version of the Allman Brothers song...


Lonnie Holt "Upper Cumberland Country" (Re-Echo Records, 1975-?) (LP)
Some true-blue oddball, "outsider art" country here, collecting ten tracks originally released in a series of indie-label singles cut by Lonnie A. Holt (1924-2003-?) a gravel-voiced old-timer from Livingston, Tennessee. These lo-fi offerings showcase his charmingly flawed, monotone vocals (a bit like Ernest Tubb's, but less polished) buoyed an intensity of purpose that lends itself to Mr. Holt's slightly nutty lyrics. Perhaps the oddest song is one called "Overton County Hanging," a disturbing little ditty written especially for the June, 1969 Upper Cumberland Folk Festival, which apparently included a well-attended mock public hanging, a photo of which was included on the original 7" single. Yikes. But the other songs aren't as creepy -- just pleasantly kooky and chaotic, with similarly haphazard musical backing. Not sure when the LP came out, but the original singles seem to have come out between 1969-71, one several different labels: American Sound, Breeze Records, and Re-Echo Records, some of which were probably owned by Mr. Holt.


Homegrown "First Time Around" (NRS Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Homegrown & Randy Rand)
This group from Lebanon, Tennessee included Tony Burns on lead guitar, Harold Fogel (steel guitar), John Frost (dobro and lead vocals), Ray Frost (drums), John McLaran (bass) and Danny White playing keyboards.


(Gene And Jerry &) The Homesteaders "Nashville Hootenanny" (Roulette Records, 1963) (LP)
The Homesteaders was a pickup band formed in the late 1950s by fiddler/multi-instrumentalist Jerry Rivers (1928-1996) several years after his high-profile gig with Hank Williams came to an end. This album projects an image intended to capitalize on the early '60s folk revival -- two guys posed with banjo and 12-string guitar -- but there's a pretty solid country core, notably in the repertoire. A couple of singles preceded this album, but as far as I know this was the first Homesteaders LP; there aren't any credits on the album, but I believe Jack Boles and guitarist Floyd Robinson were also part of the band at this point. Rivers led the band through the early 1970s, when he handed over the reins to guitarist Frank Evans. Rivers went on to be a core member of the Drifting Cowboys, a Hank Williams tribute band led by singer Jim Owen.


The Homesteaders "A New Frontier" (Little Darlin', 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Aubrey Mayhew & Jack Clement)
A fun, zingy album with a heavy Buck Owens influence and plenty of original material written by producer/label owner Aubrey Mayhew. The principal members of this edition of the band -- the guys listed on the back cover -- were Frank Evans, Bob Leftridge and of course, Jerry Rivers, although a full, six-person band is pictured on the front, and I think Jack Boles was also part of the band at this time. This record really is a lot of fun, with robust performances all around, and a strong repertoire of honkytonkers and novelty songs. Also a really swinging pop-psych flavored instrumental called "Homesteadin'," with some fancy rock riffs on guitar. Recommended!


The Homesteaders "The Homesteaders" (1972) (LP)
By the early '70s, the Homesteaders found regular work as the backup band for singer Jeannie C. Reilly, who contributes glowing liner notes to this album... She also recorded a song called "Six Guns And Popsicles," which was written by bandmembers Gordon Cash and Jimmy Halfacre, though unfortunately they didn't include a version of the song on here. Jerry Rivers had left the band by this time and let guitarist Frank Evans take over as bandleader. While this disc isn't quite as zippy as their Little Darlin' album, it's still a fun set... pretty much exactly how you'd want an off-the-radar tour band from the early 'Seventies to sound. It's all country covers including stuff like John Stewart's "Never Going Back To Nashville," "Life's Little Ups And Downs" and Billy Ed Wheeler's "Ode To The Little Brown Shack Out Back." They were good pickers, decent singers, and put their hearts into it, even getting into some cornpone comedic showmanship on oldies like their epic rendition of "She Taught Me How To Yodel." I'm not sure if the band held together much longer after this, though Frank Evans continued to tour and do session work throughout the '70s.


Hoover "Hoover" (Epic Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Chuck Glaser)
The now-obscure country songwriter Willis Hoover went to Nashville in the 1960s and hit the ground running... Although he's cited as an early forefather of the "outlaw country" style of Waylon and Willie, he also had success pitching songs that were recorded by old-school artists such as Eddy Arnold, as well as denim-clad rebels such as Tompall Glaser and Waylon Jennings. According to the perhaps unreliable website of Kinky Friedman's Sphincter label, after several years in the Nashville scene, "things got checkered," and Willis dropped out of the music business and drifted from job to job for the next couple of decades. This was his only full solo album, although he recorded singles for several labels, and wrote the soundtrack for a feature film called "tick...tick...tick..." Some of his older recordings were reissued on the CD below.


Hoover "The Lost Outlaw Album" (Sphincter Records, 2003)


Dorothy Jo Hope & The Pell Brothers "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man" (Pell Brothers Records, 1972-?) (LP)
Here's a cool one. You might recognize the title track, which was a top ten hit for Dolly Parton in 1970... It was co-written by Dolly and her aunt, Dorothy Jo Hope (1929-2008) who also wrote "Daddy Come And Get Me," a gothic country novelty number that Dolly included on another album the same year, with many more to follow. Dorothy Jo was the daughter of Reverend Jake Owens, whose Pentecostal church was one of the first places where Parton performed in public, and she remained a big influence on her niece over the course of years, including a long stint as a performer at the Dollywood amusement park. She's backed here by the Pell Brothers, a bluegrass gospel group from Lafayette, Georgia, whose lead singer, Windell Pell, contributes three original songs, notably his "Working Like A Truck For The Lord." Six tracks were composed by Dorothy Jo Hope, including a new version of "Old Time Preacher Man," which had just been a big hit for Parton. I'm not sure how many other recordings Dorothy Jo made, though she worked as a composer under a variety of names, penning both secular and religious material. She also wrote an autobiographical book, Dolly's Hero about the family history, with lots of info about Dolly and her musical and spiritual roots.


John Fred Houston "John Fred Houston" (Houston Records, 1969--?) (LP)
Born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, businessman John Fred Houston (1947-2016) played gigs with his own band for the better part of two decades, while also operating his own company, Merle Norman Cosmetics, in Columbus, TN. 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," as well as standards such as "Ghost Riders" and "Jambalaya." Not to be confused with John Fred Gourrier (aka John Fred), the chart-topping swamp-pop singer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.


Erv Howell "Travelln' Along" (KY Tenn Records, 19--?) (LP)
Dunno much about this fellow, other than that he was an uber-indie bluegrasser from Tennessee, and that he released at least two albums. On this record, other than a cover of the classic instrumental "Train 45," all the songs are credited as Erv Howell originals. The band includes Joel Aderhold on banjo, George English (guitar), Roy Fowler (mandolin), and Tim Talton playing bass.



Erv Howell & The Tennessee Hayriders "My Mack Truck" (KY Tenn Records, 19--?) (LP)
On this album cover, Howell bumped himself up from a VW bug to a big old, badass semi-truck... Dunno if he actually worked for the Harley Bag Company or not, but he sure looks comfortable up there in the cab of that big rig. The band -- now called the Tennessee Hayriders -- appears to include the same guys as before and about half the songs overlap with the previous album. (I wouldn't be surprised if many are the same versions as well...) The title track is new, though personally, I'm more interested in the opening song, "Chula Vista Baby," which sounds about as trucker-y as you can get.


Edwin Hubbard "A Great Deal Of Jazz And A Little Bit Of Country" (Orion Records, 1981) (LP)


Edwin Hubbard "Edwin Hubbard" (Prana Records, 1982) (LP)
This is definitely an oddball record, though also pretty cool. Flautist Edwin Hubbard is best known for his work as a jazz and soul player -- a well-known musician in the Memphis scene, Hubbard toured with Isaac Hayes during the peak of Hayes' career, and played on the "Shaft" sessions. But he also had a consistent fascination with and affinity for country material, often interpolating bluegrass standards into the jazz format. It's unusual, for sure, but if you really listen to Hubbard's recordings, you'll realize it's not just gimmicky, he really dug country music and had a unique way of folding it into other styles. I'm not sure how often I would want to come back to this album just for listening pleasure, but it's certainly worth checking out and giving a spin or two!


Al Huskey "In Tennessee" (Syntar/House Of Huskey Records, 197-?) (LP)
Ultra-DIY outsider-art country/folkie twang by a fella from East Tennessee... Huskey started out as a teenage garage rocker, way back when, then mellowed out and got more acoustic-oriented as the years wore on. This is, honestly, a little torturous from a strictly musical standpoint, but clearly sincere and heartfelt. Plenty of mopey, mid-tempo ballads, and one big, epic tune about racial prejudice, seen from a progressive Southern point of view. Huskey wasn't a great singer, but he sure was sincere, and the backing band ain't bad. Hipsters dig this disc, in an ironic way.


Al Huskey "Double Album Of Al Huskey Songs" (2012)


Roma Jackson & The Tennessee Pals "The Old Home Town" (Heritage Records, 1976) (LP)
A long-running bluegrass stringband with roots that stretched back to the late 1940s, the Tennessee Pals were based in their namesake state for many ears, though they'd moved to Texas by the time the Pals cut this disc in '76. They'd also found room for a little Merle Haggard in their repertoire, along with tunes by Hank Williams, Wiley Walker, The Stanley Brothers and even a few original tunes by old-timer Roma Jackson and other members of the band. The quartet at the time included Mr. Jackson on guitar and vocals, his son Randy Jackson on fiddle, and Texas-born brothers Emile Humbert (banjo) and Keith Humbert (bass).


Wade Jackson "Daddy's Baby Girl" (Tennessee Records, 19--?) (LP)
A fun, super-twangy album with kind of unfortunate, unintentionally creepy album art. A 20-year career veteran who served in both the Army and Air Force, singer-guitarist Wade Jackson (1929-2020) organized several military bands in the 1950s and '60s. Not only that, but he was the older brother of Nashville star Stonewall Jackson and often worked with his brother, to whom he bore a startling resemblance. At the time he recorded this album, Jackson was apparently a part-time member of the Grand Ole Opry's road show, touring with them in the summer while making "his winter headquarters" at home in Gallatin, Tennessee. He was a real throwback to the late-'50s/early '60s merging of hillbilly and honkytonk, a rugged singer belting it out over a pure twang band: Texas shuffle rhythm, squeaky fiddle, pedal steel, and twangy lead guitar on a bunch of fun novelty numbers. There's lots of original material on here, with Jackson claiming composer credit on the entire album... These songs were probably recorded over a number of years, since the production sounds noticeably different from track to track, and in a few cases they even sound like on-the-fly jam sessions, such as on "Honky Tonk USA" and "Please Be Mine," where the lead guitars go a little nutty and drown out his vocals. Jackson wasn't an A-list Nashville star by any means, but if you like chunky, old-school twang, this indie outing is definitely worth tracking down.


Wade Jackson "Merry Christmas Country Style With Wade Jackson" (Tennessee Records, 19--?) (LP)


Russ Jeffers "Russ Jeffers" (Lee Ann Records, 1975-?) (LP)
In 1974, this husband-wife duo started a regular gig playing at the Opryland Hotel, and worked on the road playing concerts at crafts fairs and the like... This may have been their first album and although the front cover makes this look like a solo album just focussing on Mr. Jeffers, the back cover pictures them both, with the caption, "Russ & Becky Jeffers At Opryland." There are no song credits on here, though it looks like this one has a fair amount of original material, including tunes like "POW Letter," "When The Blue In My Grass Turns Green," and "You Gotta Be Down To Get Up." Unfortunately there's not a lot of other information included, such as the musician names, the producer, or the date, though Discogs places this as a 1975 release.


Russ And Becky Jeffers "At Opryland" (Lee Ann Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Russ Jeffers & Al Pachucki)
The Jefferses continued their tenure at Opryland for several years, also working the county fair circuit and other gigs as they came along, including work at Busch Gardens and Dollywood. In addition to these 1970s albums, they have self-released a bunch of stuff, well into the digital era.


Russ And Becky Jeffers "Smokey Mountain Sunshine" (Royal American Records, 19--?) (LP)
In 1974, this husband-wife duo started a regular gig playing at the Opryland Hotel, and worked on the road playing concerts at crafts fairs and the like... But Mr. Jeffers wasn't just doing cover tunes -- on this album he includes three of his own original songs -- "Smokey Mountain Sunshine," "When The Blue In My Grass Turns Green" and the rather mopey-sounding, "Does Anybody Want To Sing My Song," as well as "Headed South" by Bill McCallie, who used Jeffers' publishing company. Pete Kirby, Roy Huskey and Buck White are among the backing musicians...


Betty Ann Jennette "Tootsie Sings Country" (Harvester Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jeff Newman)
An obscure private-press album, featuring mystery gal Betty Ann Jennette... So far the only clue about her career comes from the album's back cover, which features liner notes by appliance store owner Bill Myers, who also hosted the Goodlettsville, Tennessee TV show, "Country Junction," which Jennette performed on. Although the cover photo shows her sporting a hairdo reminiscent of Norma Jean, circa 1965, this disc appears to be of a later vintage, with several covers songs from around 1966-67 (Lynn Anderson's "Ride, Ride, Ride," Loretta Lynn's "You Ain't Woman Enough" and Dolly Parton's "Put It Off Til Tomorrow") capped off by Merle Haggard's, "Today I Started Loving You Again," which started life as a single B-side in early 1968 and finally charted in '69. If I had to guess -- and apparently I do - I'd tag this as a 1969 release, possibly late '68. Funny album title: if anyoneknows about a connection between this gal and bar owner Hattie Louise Bess, please feel free to let me know.



Lois Johnson -- see artist discography


Lonnie Jones & The New Grass Express "With A Touch Of Country" (Blue Lake Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Butch Dillon)
"...Live At The KOA Campgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee." Dude, you don't get more authentic than that. These pickers run through a lot of cover songs, including some country stuff such as "Love's Gonna Live Here" and "Rainy Day Woman." Jones also recorded a few singles, including a couple on Jenmark Records.


Jubal "Jubal" (Elektra Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Wayne Moss, Charlie Tallent & Jubal)
Well, looks can be deceiving, so I guess this one is mostly listed as a warning. Not that it's bad, mind you, it just ain't country, despite the very Southern-sounding band name and the Nashville studio connections. I was drawn to this disc because of bandmembers Rob Galbraith and Dennis Linde, who were sort of on the far edges of the country-rock scene, though there's not much overt twang to be heard here. It's more of a '70s soft-pop-meets-Muscle Shoals whiteboy soul kinda thing, and if you're into that shade of Seventies stuff, this is definitely worth checking out. One of the more interesting tracks is Terry Dearmore's uptempo tune, "Not Really A Rocker," which is a slightly twangy power-pop rock song, worthy of consideration by the Nuggets brigade. But country? Not so much.


The K-76A Trio "The K-76A Call Announcing Key System" (IT&T/Leson International, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by George Lewis)
This one comes to us courtesy of industrial-musical maven Steve Young (co-author of the book Everything's Coming Up Profits) who of course had a couple of country-flavored discs to recommend. This record was commissioned by IT&T (remember them?) to promote their new "call announcing key system," whatever that meant. They picked a country band for no particular reason, except perhaps because the company's "apparatus department" was located in Corinth, Mississippi -- or maybe just because they could get some unemployed guys from Nashville to work relatively cheap. Anyway, the K76A-ers -- guitarists Jerry Hensley and Ariliss Scott, with bass player Bob Niven -- were Nashville sidemen who also called themselves Poor Valley. As far as I can tell Poor Valley never recorded anything other than this album, but all things considered, it's a pretty fine legacy. There's only one actual "industrial" track (a song about the new IT&T product line called... wait for it... "The K-76A Song," full of technical details that no easier to digest in printed form, though the enclosed booklet is a hoot as well. After the product plug, the guys were left to record whatever they wanted, and cheerfully pick their way through nice, sweet versions of contemporary 'Seventies country and southern rock classics. "Come Monday," "Country Roads," "Wichita Lineman," "Louisiana Man" "Ramblin' Man" by the Allman Brothers -- basically the same stuff you'd hear if you hung out with these guys at a tailgate party or backyard barbeque. And they were good! It's a good record! Unfortunately the backup musicians (pedal steel, drums, etc.) are unidentified, but they make up for it by inserting a copy of the sheet music to "The K-76A Song," composed by Joel Heron and George Lewis. Y'know, just in case anyone ever wanted to cover it. Thanks, Steve!


Melvena Kaye "Tennessee Cowgirl" (Cowgirl Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Greg Humphrey)
This Tennessee cowgal made it out to LA to record this album... It's all original material, with backing by Thumbs Carlisle on guitar and Doug Atwell on fiddle... Kaye had kind of a thin voice, but she was real country: songs include "Pour Me A Stiff One," "Hillbilly Blues" and "You're Not My First Man."


Ramsey Kearney "Behind A Song" (Nashco/Safari Records, 1982)
A native Tennessean, William Ramsey Kearney was a local teen celebrity in the late 1940s, with a weekly radio show of his own, broadcasting out of Jackson, Tennessee until 1952. He rubbed shoulders with a lot of hillbilly performers, including some artists like Carl Perkins, who wound up as part of the Sun Records scene. Apparently, Kearney recorded a few tracks for Sam Phillips, but they were never released on Sun... After a stint in the Army, Kearney went home and tried to make it in Nashville, but like a lot of talented hopefuls, he found it pretty hard in Music City. Eventually he scored a job as a staff writer for the Acuff-Rose publishing house and demo-ed songs for them to pitch, a gig that also led to him recording a few singles for Roy Acuff's Hickory label, and later one or two for Challenge. Basically, though, Kearny was one of the zillions of pickers and singers who struggled endlessly to get on the radar and never quite made it. Eventually he started his own "song-poem" label, Nashco Records, where aspiring songwriters would send him their lyrics and Kearney polished them up into songs. This album was, I think, the first Nashco LP, gathering several singles as well as new versions of songs that Kearney had written earlier, including "Emotions," a song he co-wrote with Mel Tillis that several Top 40 artists have recorded. The musicianship is generally pretty high-quality, better than you'd imagine from your average song-poem outfit, and while Kearney isn't an earthshaking vocalist, he definitely gets the job done. I'm not sure just how many of these albums he produced, but I think it's well over a dozen... In later years, Kearney has self-released numerous CDs and CD-Rs of his own work, and has been recording and producing well into the 2010s... By the way, it's probably worth mentioning that Kearney started his work as a singer-for-hire back in the 'Seventies, and has cult status as the guy who demo-ed John Trubee's purposefully obscene song-poem prank lyric, "A Blind Man's Penis," which as far as I know has never made it onto any of Kearney's Nashco reissues. And probably never will.


Ramsey Kearney "Portraits And Songs Of Yesterday" (Nashco/Safari Records, 19--?) (LP)


Ramsey Kearney "Memories" (Nashco, 1987) (LP)


Ramsey Kearney "The Shining" (Nashco, 1989) (LP)


Ramsey Kearney "Golden Dreams Of Hawaii" (Nashco/Safari, 1990)


Ramsey Kearney "Song Autobiography" (Self-Released)


Bunky Keels "Midnight Moods Of Nashville" (Gusto/Power Pak Records, 1973) (LP)
Fabled Nashville studio musician Thomas B. Keels (1934-2004) is one of those guys whose names appears on literally countless albums and session notes... A multi-instrumentalist who played bass, piano, saxophone and more, Keels was in Jim Reeves's backing band, The Blue Boys, in addition to being one of Nashville's most in-demand session players. As far as I know, this was his first solo album.


Bunky Keels "Funky Bunky" (Guinness Records, 1977) (LP)
An all instrumental set including pop standards such as "Mood Indigo" "Walk Don't Run" as well as the Joe Liggins' R&B oldie, "The Honey Dripper." Naturally, there's country stuff, too, such as "The Maiden's Prayer" and a few tunes credited to Keels: "Bunky's Boogie," "Cold Turkey," and "Never Despair." Oddly enough, there are no musician credits in the liner notes... Who knows? Maybe he just played all the instruments himself!


Sherri King "Almost Persuaded" (United Artists, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Steven A. Davis)
The lone album by pianist/singer Sherri King, a Knoxville native who was backed here by a ton of top talent, including studio pros such as Tommy Allsup, Pete Drake, Buddy Emmons, Johnny Gimble, Hargus Robbins, Pete Wade and a couple of stray Gatlins on backup vocals. King is a decent but flawed vocalist with kind of a '70s Olivia Newton John/Karen Carpenter AOR undertone, albeit with a sincere country feel, maybe in sort of a Linda Ronstadt/Lynn Anderson kind of way. She's best on slower passages, and has rough patches on big key changes and big, emphatic moments. But overall this album has a nice feel, with a few mild standout tracks, particularly "I'm Alright 'Til I See You (Then I Fall Apart)". She also has a couple of notable good-girl tunes worthy of Tammy Wynette, "A Good Woman Waits For Her Man" and "I Don't Know What's Wrong (But I Know What's Right)" which show the virtues of suffering in silence. Clearly meant to be a commercial record, this one tanked: the title track grazed the Top 100 (at #95) though I suspect Ms. King must have done some studio work as a backup musician on a record or two. Anyone know more about her?


Koko The Clown "Nashville's Greatest Clown" (Door Knob Records, 19--?) (LP)
Egad. I was familiar with Koko the country music clown from his appearance as part of the Webb Pierce road show back in the early '70s, but I had no idea the character had persisted this far into modern-day Nashville. (I'm not sure exactly when this record came out, but it had to have been after 1976, when the Door Knob label was founded...) Apparently Koko was the nom-de-greasepaint of actor/singer/songwriter Rusty Adams, who also toured with Webb, Ernest Tubb and others, and also worked as a solo performer and recording artist. The Koko character dated back to the late 1950s, when Adams was rustling up any gigs he could find -- in addition to recording a random major label single now and then, he also cut several sessions as a "soundalike" artist for cheapo labels such as Somerset and Alshire. As far as I know, this was his only album made as "Koko," and unfortunately it's all clown-themed material, from straight covers of songs such as "Send In The Clowns" and "Rodeo Clown" alongside revamped oldies like "From King To A Joker To A Clown" and, of course, his prefab theme song, "I'm Koko The Singing Country Clown." Be afraid... be very afraid.


Barbara E. Leigh "...And The Everlovin's" (Everlov'in Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Hargus Robbins)
This one's kind of all over the map, combining disco, gospel, Christmas music and Nashville-y twang, with musicians including Lloyd Green on pedal steel, Pete Wade and Harold Bradley on guitar, Charlie McCoy playing trumpet(!) and the Four Guys vocal group singing backup. The super-earnest liner notes detail Leigh's childhood in Carroll, County, Tennessee, her efforts singing at county fairs throughout the South and the Midwest and even her enrollment at a beauty college in Memphis. There are several original songs, including some written by George Wells, one called "My Love Likes Simple Things" by Billy Gibbs (in both "disco" and "ballad" versions) and two songs credited to Ms. Leigh: "I'll Never Get Over Lovin' You" and "I Want To Touch You (And Feel You Touching Me)". I couldn't find out when this album came out, but I'm guessing early 1980s, possibly late '70s.


Bob Lewellyn & Crystal River "Big Train" (Iron Horse Records, 198--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Shuler)
This (undated) early '80s album was recorded in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee... I'm not sure if Bob Lewellyn was connected to any of the "opry"-style shows based in that area, although he did work as a country radio DJ in nearby Knoxville. The Crystal River trio featured singers Monie Urban, Marvin Goddard and Bob Lewellyn singing in three-part harmony, with a number of lesser-known backing musicians, including producer Bob Shuler, who plays banjo, fiddle and steel guitar. The title track is a John Fogarty song, though the album is packed with originals by Bob Lewellyn, as well as several that have an inspirational edge. Old-timer Archie Campbell seems to have been a patron, contributing liner notes and pictured on the back cover with the band.


Lonesome Coyotes "Lonesome Coyotes" (Vasari Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Hector Qirko & Jay Barron)
This much-beloved Tennessee band was founded in the 1970s by singer Maggie Longmire, and headlined gigs in Knoxville's Cumberland Avenue club scene. They mixed country hits and outlaw tunes with pop standards including tunes by the Beatles, Duke Ellington and Carole King. The country songs include Lefty Frizzell's "My Baby's Just Like Money," Gram Parsons' "Return Of The Grievous Angel," and Gary Stewart's "Sweet Tater And Cisco," which places them somewhere on the more obscuro end of the spectrum. The group included Jay Barron (pedal steel), Steve Horton (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), Maggie Longmire (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), Doug Kline (drums), Hector Qirko (lead guitar) and Stan Turner on bass. Jay Barron later moved to Nashville to do session work, while guitarist Hector Qirko went on to collaborate with alterna-poet R. B. Morris, as well as recording a handful of blues/rock albums under his own name, eventually moving to South Carolina to pursue a career in academia.


Spec Lovell "A Tribute To Webb Pierce" (4 Star Records, 1982) (LP)
Wait: there's a Webb Pierce tribute album? Why wasn't I told about this?? Oh... you're telling me now? Well, okay... A Tennessee banker by trade, but a fanboy at heart, Knoxville's Spec Lovell pays homage to honkytonk hero Webb Pierce with covers of ten classic hits from the '50s and '60s, including winners like "There Stands The Glass," "Back Street Affair," "I Ain't Never," "I'm Walking The Dog" and "Slowly." Sounds good to me! Unfortunately, there's no info on who produced or played on this album... alas!


Jodie Lyons "Talkin' Smokey" (Smokey Enterprises, Inc., 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Jodie Lyons & Fred Carter, Jr.)
A great record, but an odd release. A Nashville studio crew helmed by guitarist Fred Carter plays some great music behind a surprisingly strong, humor-filled set of trucker tunes, cashing in on the CB radio "craze" of the mid-1970s. What's weird is how singer-songwriter Jodie Lyons is kind of buried in the album art background -- if you read the liner notes it's not impossible to figure out he's the star of the show, but the record itself seems on-purpose pitched as a generic knockoff album -- I guess maybe they figured the middle-aged Lyons couldn't pull off a solo star act, ala C.W. McCall, so they packaged this is a Ronco-esque style? At any rate, it's a good record, with lots fo fun novelty numbers and really great picking from folks like Johnny Gimble, Weldon Myrick, Dale Sellars, Bobby Thompson, Charlie McCoy and the like.


Mack Magaha "The Dancin' Fiddle Man" (RCA Victor, 19--?) (LP)
Fiddler Mack Magaha (1929-2003) was a longtime member of the Reno & Smiley bluegrass band, a gig he left in 1964 to join the Porter Wagoner road show, 'way back in the Norma Jean and Dolly Parton years. Along with his gig in the Wagonmasters, Magaha also worked at the Opryland theme park, in one of their many house bands, and produced several souvenir albums, including those listed below.


Mack Magaha "Plays Bluegrass And Country At Opryland" (Fireside Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Porter Wagoner)
One of several similar-sounding souvenir albums from Magaha's Opryland gig. This set showcases his live band, with banjo picker Mike Barnett, and guitarists Larry Moore and Dean Rutherford, with additional studio help from folks like Bobby Dyson, Dave Kirby and Vic Jordan. Plenty of standard-issue country-grass covers, such as "Fox On The Run," "Orange Blossom Special" and "Thank God I'm A Country Boy," though a novelty number like "Star Wars Grass" adds a little pop culture zing to the proceedings. No date given on the album, but I'm guessing it's somewhere between 1978-80.


Mack Magaha "Live! Bluegrass Country Show At Opryland -- With Special Guest Porter Wagoner" (Fireside Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Porter Wagoner)
Fiddler Magaha called in a few chips and got the bossman, Porter Wagoner, to sit in and sing on a few tunes. The gig was the same, working the small stage at Opryland, though the band's lineup had changed a little... Still Magaha sawing away on the fiddle, of course, with bassist Larry Moore still anchoring the band, and new talent from banjo picker Dennis Bottoms and guitarist Mike Pearson. Okay, so maybe no fiddler should ever record another version of "Orange Blossom Special," but you know you wanna him 'em play "Devil Went Down To Georgia." Right? As with his other Opryland albums, there's no date visible, but judging from Porter's groovy hairstyle, I'd guess this one was from around 1981 or thereabouts. A few years later Bottoms cut some singles for Warner Brothers, but a Top Forty career wasn't quite in the cards.


Mack Magaha & Mark Barnett "Country And Bluegrass Show At The Opry" (MM Records, 19--?) (LP)


Jody Maphis & Joe Maphis "Guitaration Gap" (Chart Records, 1971) (LP)
This all-instrumental outing was the first album to spotlight Jody Maphis, the teenage son of guitar whiz, Joe Maphis. Originally a West Coaster, Jody was influenced by the California country sound his dad pioneered, as well as the Bakersfield twang of Buck Owens and his compatriots, and he went on to be a prolific studio musician in the Nashville scene. As promised, this set of father-son duets bridges the "gap" between musical eras, with plenty of Joe's flashy old-school superpickin' matched by vigorous rock arrangements that represent the contemporary hippie/country-rock scene. They cover some hits, like James Taylor's "Fire And Rain" and John Fogarty's "Lookin' Out My Back Door," while also tipping their hats towards the Chart label's biggest star, Lynn Anderson, with covers of a couple of her early hits. Jody Maphis had already been playing guitar in Earl Scruggs' progressive country-grass band, and pays tribute to his boss in "Scruggin' It," one of several lively, dynamic originals -- also notable is the swingin' title track, where licks are swapped on pretty much every country instrument you can imagine. Fun stuff!


Mark And Dale "Second Generation Nashville" (Flying High Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Slim Richey & Mark Jones)
That would be Mark Jones and Dale Maphis (1957-1989), the respective sons of country legends Joe Maphis and Grandpa Jones, lookin' pretty darn longhaired and hippied-out. It's a cool record: they each clearly inherited a lot of their dad's talent and personal style, so Jones plays a pretty chunky banjo style and Maphis sure can pick. A bunch of family members are also on this disc, including their moms and dads, as well as a sibling or two, and guest performers that include Steve Scruggs swapping banjo licks on "John Hardy," Marty Stuart playing a lot of lead guitar and singing lead on a version of "Hey Jude" and Ronald White picking mandolin on a version of "Reuben." And of course there are a bunch of Nashville studio pro usual suspects such as Ray Edenton, Gene Wooton and Roy Huskey filling out the sound... A nice, smooth blend of old-timey and old-school country, with just a smidge of new-fangled "progressive" ideas in a few arrangements... Mostly this is down-to-earth, easygoing and quite cheerful... Nothing earthshaking or mindblowing, but a nice, laidback jam session among family and friends. Sadly, Dale Maphis died young at age 31 in a traffic accident, after working for several years in bands at the Opryland theme park.


Sammy Martin "Mr. Dynamite: Live At The Longbranch Saloon Roadway Inn, Nashville Tennessee" (LP)


Vince Matthews & Jim Casey "The Kingston Springs Suite" (Delmore Recording Society, 1972/2015) (LP)
(Produced by Charlie Bragg, Johnny Cash, Jack Clement, Kris Kristofferson & Shel Silverstein)
Truly a glorious mess... This was a dream project of singer Jim Casey and Nashville wildman Vince Matthews, a longhaired, hard-partying good old boy who floated into the orbit of Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson during the early 1970s, when this set was recorded. Kingston Springs Suite was intended as a song cycle or concept album -- at one point they thought of it as a Broadway musical -- and for a while was the stuff of legend in Nashville, what with all the heavy-hitters working behind the scenes. Casey and Matthews worked on the project for several years, making big plans and all kinds of connections, but eventually they had a falling out and went their separate ways. Matthews had some successes as a songwriter: two tunes from this album were picked up by their patrons, with Cash recording "Melva's Wine" and Waylon Jennings making "Laid Back Country Singer" an outlaw anthem... He also penned a couple of mid-'70s hits for Gene Watson and Crystal Gayle, though apparently substance abuse problems sidelined his career, and he dropped out of the music business, dying young at age sixty, in 2003. In the end, the Suite turned into a big pile of unreleased demos, which found the light of day forty years later after archivists tracked down Jim Casey and put out this LP. Like I say, it's really kind of a mess, impassioned but sloppy, though perhaps it would be more charitable to call it an unpolished gem -- there are certainly some groovy tunes, though what wound up as the "final" product on tape is kinda clunky. Not an album you'd put on for fun, but definitely an odd and intriguing footnote to an era when musical boundaries were breaking down and even Nashville was loosening up. If you're a devotee of classic outlaw country, you'll wanna check this one out.


Wes McCoy & North Country "This Mask That I'm Wearing" (North Country Productions, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Wariner & Mike Schrimpf)
Another hopeful contender in Nashville... This album is notable as another stepping stone in Steve Wariner's early years, when he was doing studio work in the years before his early '80s breakthrough. In addition to producing the album, Wariner plays guitar and bass -- I'd guess this was one of the last projects he did at this level, since he is credited as an RCA artist in the liner notes. The album features one song partially credited to McCoy and three to the band's guitar picker, Rich Blackmore, including the barroom romper, "Crazy Things At Closing Time," which is an album highlight -- a drunken one-night stand novelty song that's like the sad, hungover sequel to "The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time." Okay, so here's the thing about this album: although McCoy had a rumbly baritone that could have passably gotten him into Dave Dudley territory, his vocals are uneven and his phrasing is often off the beat and awkward -- he just wasn't the world's best singer, if the truth be told. But he's plenty enthusiastic and the band backs him with admirable gusto, giving a strong approximation of the rootsier-sounding Top Forty country of the era. Not really a great record, but maybe worth tracking down for a tune or two, particularly for "Crazy Things," which is a nice, seedy barroom song.


Memphis "Memphis" (Chumley Productions, 198--?) (LP)
(Produced by John D. Loudermilk, Jr.)
This group's bandname was so generic, it's practically impossible to find out much about them online... I'll go out on a limb, though, and guess that the group's producer and rhythm guitarist, John D. Loudermilk, Jr., was related to songwriter John D. Loudermilk -- that's just a crazy, wild, random guess, though. Well, okay, so John D2 was indeed born to Nashville royalty, and worked for a while as a record producer, his name popping up in unusual places -- for example, working on one of Hazel Dickens albums -- and I guess this group was "his" band, although he just strums guitar and doesn't sing on any of the tracks, and wasn't a songwriter himself. The primary focus of the band seems to have been its four singers, Buck Buckles, Richard Lee, Billy Sea and Larry Strickland, who was the most famous of the four. In the '70s, Strickland was in the Stamps Quartet southern gospel group and as part of that group was in Elvis Presley's extended entourage, though his is probably best known now as the onetime husband of '80s country star Naomi Judd. This album includes songs by Nashville insiders like Max D. Barnes, but also a slew of tunes by more obscure composers. Not sure when it was made, but I'm guessing early to mid-'80s, from the looks of it -- apparently Naomi was dating Strickland before she formed the Judds, and used to hang out with the band.


Memphis "1983 Road Tour Album" (MPI Records, 1983) (LP)
A souvenir album for Larry Strickland's band, circa 1983, apparently with an all-new lineup, although still with an emphasis on vocal harmony. This edition of the group included lead singer Woodrow Wright, baritone Bob Fortner, tenor David Fonder, and Strickland filling in the bass part. The backup musicians also seem to be an all-new crew.


Shirl Milete "Shirl Milete" (Poppy Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Lamar Fike & Jim Molloy)
A good ole boy with a good ole gal's name, songwriter Shirl Milete (1933-2006) had a brief fling in the spotlight, doing some session work as a guitarist for RCA in the mid-1960s before recording his lone solo album and a brief string of singles which petered out around 1973. He was a prolific composer, though, and his main claim to fame is that Elvis Presley recorded several of his songs, including "It's Your Baby, You Rock It," "My Little Friend," and the super-pretentious cosmic gospel-meets-countrypolitan ballad, "Life," which Presley lodged in the pop and easy listening charts for several weeks in 1971. Milete's version is included here along with various topical musings and off-kilter romantic explorations. He seems to have been aiming for the same sort of stilted, roots-poet profundity that folks like Roger Miller and Tom T. Hall were exploring around the time -- one could say it's an acquired taste, though fans of the style may want to track this disc down. Biographical info about Mr. Milete remains elusive, and like many amateur music sleuths I found myself mostly stumped, though I think I may have moved the ball a couple of yards down the field by tumbling onto the obituary of his younger brother, Kent, who was born in Rockville, Utah back in 1934, one year after Shirl; the same obituary also notes that their sister was married and living in Salt Lake City. This helps place Shirl Milete as (most likely) being from Utah, but also informs us that the family name was originally spelled "Millett," and was changed as one of many show-biz affectations in Milete's career. After cementing himself in the Elvis machine and taking a fling at a solo career, Shirl Milete seems to have set himself up as a publishing house and recording studio mover-and-shaker, appearing at the margins of a slew of indie country releases over the years. He and his wife Kaye settled down in Hendersonville, Tennessee when he passed away. Apparently he had some continued success as a songwriter even after he quit making records himself: among others, Bobby Bare, Dolly Parton, Vern Gosdin, and Hank Williams, Jr. recorded some of his stuff later in the '70s, and perhaps most notably Loretta Lynn had a Top Ten hit with "We've Come a Long Way Baby," in 1978.


George Mitchell "Thank You Very Much" (Mid-Land Records, 1979) (LP)
A pretty languid, even low-energy country set by lounge crooner George Mitchell. Not a ton of info about this guy, other than what's in the liner notes... Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, for a while George Mitchell worked some nightclubs in West Memphis, Arkansas, then made his way to Saint Louis, and was working at venues such as the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, The Downspout and The Ranch Room club around the time this album was made. It looks like it's all cover tunes, and pretty much all straight-up honkytonk, with several Hank Williams covers, a little Waylon, a version of Dave Dudley's "Six Days On The Road," and a more contemporary cover of one of Gene Watson's singles from 1978, "I'd Love To Live With You Again." Alas, the studio (and the studio musicians) are not identified, though they may have been folks on the St. Louis/Ozark mini-oprys scene. Also worth noting, I suppose, is Mr. Mitchell being an African-American, not that that's the only thing that defines him. A very indie record, without much of a trail online.


Jack Moran "As I See It" (Athena Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Powell)
Socially-conscious but slightly square, songwriter Jack Moran penned the preachy "Skip A Rope" which was a chart-topping hit for Henson Cargill in '67... That success led to Moran making his own album, with a repertoire that was packed with similarly socially-conscious songs, tunes with promising titles such as "Suck Your Thumb," "Tommy's Doll," and "Teenage Kids Of Today." Moran was apparently a blind performer (hence the album title and the poetic liner notes by Billy Ed Wheeler that go on and on about how a blind man can "see" things that other people can't... Ah... That was then, this is now. Anyway, for Nashville in the late 'Sixties, early '70s, this was relatively liberal stuff... See what you think!


Nickie Morrison "Watch Your Mouth" (Charles Morrison Sounds Recording, 1975)
(Produced by Charles Morrison Sounds)
A nice example of the kind of under-the-radar recordings to be found on the peripheries of Nashville, balancing covers of hits by Kris Kristofferson and Joe South with a hefty dose of original material... Singer-organist Nickie Morrison recorded and self-released this vanity pressing, I assume, as a songwriter demo -- there are two originals by him on here, as well as three songs by a guy named Ray Marable, who shared the same publisher. The title track, which he included as the first song on both Side One and Side Two, is a little scary, meant to be a jaunty novelty tune in the style of Jerry Reed or Joe Stampley, about a guy who tells his wife, I love you baby but you better keep your mouth shut when I come home drunk -- clearly Morrison hoped that this would become a hit, but I'm glad it didn't. In contrast, the Marable songs are all pretty nice, your basic soulful, downtempo honkytonk weepers that Morrison sings in a robust, Charlie Rich-ish voice, with able backing from a studio crew that included Charlie McCoy, DJ Fontana and Russ Hicks. (...now you can see why I picked this one up, right?) Although he's not credited as a musician on this album, Marable apparently recorded at least one single under his own name -- Morrison never cracked into the big-time, but he did run a music store, selling pianos in Clarksville, TN for many years after this nice little record came out. Amazing how much talent there is in Tennessee, with guys like this as the guys who didn't make it! (Footnote: Mr. Morrison passed away in March, 2014, although this album was not mentioned in his brief obituary.)


Joyce & Bud Murry "You're My Woman, I'm Your Man" (Candy Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Bud Murry)
Well, yeah, okay... This is one of those obscurodelic custom-pressing albums that is tailormade for those ever-witty, super-sarcastic internetters who enjoy mocking how people looked in the past... (Though, to be fair... man, look at that hair!!) The Murrys were a husband-wife duo from Memphis, Tennessee who appear to have written most of their own material and plugged away during the countrypolitan era, even though their sound was a little more rugged and old-fashioned compared to what folks were laying down in Nashville. In all honesty, this isn't the best country music you'll ever hear, although I did find myself charmed by this album, eventually. Mrs. Murry has a rough, sometimes problematic voice, though she's passable in a Melba Montgomery-ish kind of way and she sings lead for most of this album... Bud Murry was a flat-out bad singer, although she coaxes a few semi-okay performances out of him when they get into their duo groove. Overall, I admire their tenacity and sincerity, as well as how raw and old-school their music sounded. No info on who the backing musicians were, and though the album also doesn't include a release date, the laudatory liner notes by WMQM deejay Les Acree, mention Joyce Murry's 1968 single, "Stuck In Jackson," as having come out four years earlier. They released at least one other single under Joyce Murry's name ("If You Can't Stand The Heat"/"Only The Name Is Changed," neither of which are included on this album...) and possibly others that I haven't tracked down yet.


The Nashville Bar Association "The Nashville Bar Association" (Chimer Records, 1977) (LP)
A cleverly-named pedal steel lovefest, featuring Music City heavyweights Jimmy Crawford, Buddy Emmons, Sonny Garrish, Russ Hicks, and John Hughey... If you like steel guitar, this is your record! (Many thanks to the folks at www.buddyemmons.com for their info on this album...!)


The Nashville Cats "Smash Hits Country Style" (Windmill Records, 1970) (LP)
I'm guessing this anonymous, budget-label studio crew was not the same group as the Cats listed below... but I wouldn't swear on it. This group covered plenty of obvious '50s/'60s standards, stuff like "Release Me" and "He'll Have To Go" along with more contemporary 'politanesque songs such as "Gentle On My Mind" and Nobody's Child," as well as "A Boy Named Sue" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town," all of which points to a 1969-70-ish release date. No idea who the pickers were on this one... but the label says it was recorded in Spectro-Dimension Stereo, so that's cool!


The Nashville Cats "Recorded Live" (Nashville Cat Productions, 19--?) (LP)
This one's a real obscuro-mystery album... Apparently this was a group of guys trying to make it in Nashville, recorded during a live set at the Country Club, a joint that was owned by Nashville second-stringer Hugh X. Lewis. No idea who these guys were, or if they were related to the faux-band above.


The Nashville Convention "Hopelessly Devoted To You" (Springboard Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Lisi)
A country covers album (hopelessly) devoted to Olivia Newton John songs. Really. I'm not kidding. Also, I think this is another one of those "Nashville" albums that wasn't made in Nashville: at the time, the Springboard label was headquartered in Los Angeles.


The Nashville Country Jamboree "Nashville's First Country-Rock Group" (SPV-Yellow Label, 2011) (CD)
At some point, devoted country music cratediggers will come across some goofy-looking old LPs by the Nashville Country Jamboree, a group with a name and an image as nondescript and generic as the dozens of other Nashville "soundalike" bands of the 1960s and early '70s. The soundalikes were the product of the lower-rent end of the music industry, generally anonymous studio crews who banged out cover versions of hits of the day, which were then sold at cut-rate prices at truckstops and drug stores, particularly in rural areas where there were no record stores or five-and-dimes, and where faux hits were better than no hits at all. The thing about the Nashville Country Jamboree, though, was that the group actually recorded a fair amount of original material, most of it written by Johnny Elgin -- one of the in-house bandleaders at the spunky indie Spar Records -- and his right-hand man, Jerry Foster, who went on to become a major hitmaker in the 1970s. These originals are gathered here, and while derivative of contemporary stars such as Buck Owens and Roger Miller, they're also pretty fun and definitely worth a whirl. The Jamboree band also featured some massive talent -- their singers included Elgin and Foster, as well as Bobby Russell and songwriter Marijohn Wilkin (best known for penning "The Long Black Veil" for Johnny Cash.) The pickers listed in this release are a Music City who's-who A-list, with basically every heavyweight studio player you can think of from the '70s, with the core group being the band that centered around Mac Gayden, Wayne Moss and Charlie McCoy, the group of superpickers who would later branch out into bands such as Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. Sure, if you listen closely you'll hear flubs and perfunctory run-throughs on some of these songs -- no one expected any hits off of these albums -- but you cal also hear the confidence and competence of the backing bands. This CD release also includes excellent liner notes that go into unusually rich detail about the people who were chugging along on the underbelly of Nashville's massive music machine. It's a fun collection of quirky, twangy tunes, as well as an excellent document of a time when indie labels were still a vibrant part of the Nashville scene. Recommended!


The Nashville Country Jamboree "Greatest Country Hits Of The '60s" (Cormar International, 19--?) (LP)


The Nashville Country Jamboree "20 #1 Country Hits" (Cormar International, 1972-?) (LP)


The Nashville Country Jamboree "The Saturday Night Sound Of..." (Spar Records, 19--?) (LP)


The Nashville Country Jamboree "Country Hits By The Nashville Country Jamboree" (Spar Records, 19--?) (LP)


The Nashville Country Jamboree "...Sings A Boy Named Sue And 11 Other C&W Hits" (Spar Records, 19--?) (LP)


The Nashville Country Jamboree "Straight From Nashville" (Spar Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy Downs)


The Nashville Country Singers "Country And Western Hits, Volume XII" (Mountain Dew Records, 19--?) (LP)
Lavish, baroque, occasionally bizarre cover versions of early '70s country hits, songs such as Freddie Hart's "Easy Loving," Charlie Pride's "Kiss An Angel Good Morning" and Dolly Parton's "Coat Of Many Colors," as well as a slew of less memorable minor works, such as "Only Love Can Break A Heart" (which was originally recorded by Sonny James) and Glen Campbell's "Oklahoma Morning." The recordings cycle through male, female and group vocals, and both pickers and singers tend to indulge themselves and overplay or over-sing the material, a habit that can be fun sometimes, in a kitschy kinda way. I'm not sure if this was the Nashville Country Jamboree crew recording under a slightly different name, or yet another goofy fly-by-night prefab studio crew... At any rate, for those of us who actually do enjoy these cheapo-exploito album this one's a fine example of the genre.


The Nashville Cousins "Golden Country Hits: New Country Sounds" (Premier Records, 19--?) (LP)
Another one of the many anonymous "bands" that recorded for the cheapo budget labels of the '60s and '70s... No info about who was in the group or when these tracks were recorded, though it does seem that the same material was recycled over the course of several LPs... Just a guess, but I think these are basically the same record, with different covers.


The Nashville Cousins "Harper Valley PTA/By The Time I Get To Phoenix" (Premier Records, 19--?) (LP)


The Nashville Cousins "Country And Western Spectacular" (Premier Records, 19--?) (LP)


Nashville Enterprise "Nashville Enterprise" (Nashville North Records, 1973-?) (LP)
Although they had Nashville in their name, these kids from Saint Louis, Missouri -- singer Vonna Faye, along with David Spier, Bob Rolens and Larry Rolens -- were "show me" staters all the way. The liner notes helpfully inform us that the quartet formed in March, 1972, and go into great detail about the shows they played, boasting of tours as far afield as Nebraska, South Dakota and Colorado Springs... Vonna Faye also released at least one single under her own name, though doesn't seem to have pursued music as a career... The three guys, Spier on bass, Larry on lead guitar and brother Bob on drums, later formed a country-rock bar-band called Cottonwood, recording an album in 1979, and then spent a chunk of the 'Eighties rocking out in a group called Bay Wolfe, which was notable for helping start the career of Top Forty redneck country queen Gretchen Wilson. After their hair-band folded, the Rolens brothers went deeper into the country music mainstream, with Larry Rolens joining the Bellamy Brothers and Bob Rolens helping anchor Wilson's band, after which he became part of the Well Hungarians indie-twang band. *Whew!* Quite a story, eh?


Nashville Fiddles "Nashville Fiddles, Volume One" (Little Darlin' Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Aubrey Mayhew)
This cheapo instrumental album was a showcase for Nashville fiddler Buddy Spicher, one of the most ubiquitous session players of the 1960s and '70s, and was also released under his name, as well as reissued under the Certron label's imprint. Spicher is credited as arranger and conductor, although the other musicians are unknown. The set list is a pretty unsurprising mix of (mostly) late 'Sixties country and pop hits, with chestnuts such as "Apartment #9," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Galveston," "Gentle On My Mind" and "Norwegian Wood," as well as fiddle showcase numbers such as "Black Mountain Rag," "Orange Blossom Special" and "Rocky Top." The "band" seems to have put out several records, though this one and the Johnny Cash tribute below are the only one's I've seen to date.


Nashville Fiddles "Country Giants" (Certron Records, 1970) (LP)
This was a straight-up reissue of the Little Darlin' album, with vague liner notes that nonetheless declare it to be the first of many Nashville Fiddles albums - later CD reissues seem to indicate there were a lot of these records, but it may be hard to track them all down.


Nashville Fiddles "All Wrapped Up In Cash" (Certron Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Aubrey Mayhew)
A Johnny Cash tribute album from the "Folsom Prison" era... As with the other Nashville Fiddles LP, there's no indication of who the other musicians were.


Nashville Impact "Nashville Impact" (Smallville Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Kevin McManus)
This band of struggling Nashville locals featured steel player Ron Crawley, singer Jill Crawley, Jerry Penrod on vocals and guitar, drummer Michael Cignarale (drums), and singer-bassist Michael Dukes (bass), as well as Marvin Steffens on keyboards, with Penrod and Dukes acting as the main songwriters. Additional studio crew included recording pros Terry McMillan and Doug Jernigan... They made at least two LPs, though I'm really not sure which came first. (When I find out, I'll let you know...)


Nashville Impact "Nashville Impact" (Fargo Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Kevin McManus)
Wow! They made two albums... although honestly, I'm not sure which one came first. As on the other album, this has a lot of original material -- all original, actually -- though this time around there are no songs by Jerry Penrod, and four each by Michael Dukes, Jill Crawley and the new member, singer Patti Stephens.


The Nashville Marimba Band "The Nashville Marimba Band" (Cracker Barrel Records, 1977) (LP)
Wanna hear "Orange Blossom Special" done on the marimba? How about "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town?" "I Fall To Pieces?" "Running Bear?" No? Oh, come on... they worked so hard!! Anyway, no info on the session players on this album, though in teeny, tiny letters at the top, they tell us that this was Mac Curtis's Nashville Marimba Band, so maybe there was an actual live act associated with this album... your guess is as good as mine. Chances are they weren't even from Nashville: according to the back cover, their distribution company was headquartered in Los Angeles.


The Nashville Now Band "From The Band To Our Fans" (Downs, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Schafer)
A truly dreadful album of bland, glossy Nashville pap -- I mean, pop -- from the house band of Ralph Emery's long-running Nashville Now TV program, which was on the air from 1983-93. There are a few usual suspect studio musicians in the band -- Hoot Hester, guitarist Fred Newell, steel player Larry Sasser... One of the backup singers is identified as Donna Rhodes, and I'm not sure if that's the same gal as was in the Rhodes Sisters duo. Otherwise, these are all pretty unknown artists, hopeful stars, I'm sure, but the music on here is just terrible and not worth knowing about unless you're a weirdo like me. 'Nuff said.


The Nashville Rhythm Section "Keep On Dancing (Country Style Swing), Volume One" (Silver Bear-Koala Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Wes Sanborn & Bernie Vaughn)
A wildly cheesy set of country-disco exploitation tunes, mixing aggressively dated covers of late-'Seventies/early-'Eighties pop hits such as Dan Hartman's "Instant Replay," Kenny Loggins' "I'm Alright," "Celebration," "September," "Hot Stuff" and a particularly horrific and unnecessary version of "Reunited." Of note are the A-list Nashvillers on this album, with steel player Sonny Garrish and lead guitarist Greg Galbraith anchoring the sessions, along with Bruce Watkins on banjo and fiddle, and several uber-generic backup singers working in a distinctly disco-y mode. The arrangements are actually fascinating, lacking the robust sway of the line-dancing songs of later years, opting instead for a full embrace of the tinny disco beats that had already died in '78-'79... Despite coming late for the party, this record has had surprising durability, spawning several followup albums as well as being reissued on CD and downloads. Wow. Go figure.


The Nashville Silver Strings "The Silver Strings" (1975-?) (LP)
At some point these guys -- Dennis, Rick, Travis and Willie -- were the house band at the Longbranch Saloon, near Opryland. Other than that, I was able to find out very little about the group, outside of this album. They covered a lot of 'Seventies country, pop and southern rock hits, with the majority of them from around 1974-75, songs such as BTO's "You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet," the Eagles' "Best Of My Love," "Ramblin' Man," and the Charlie Daniel's anthem, "South's Gonna Do It Again."


Sam Neal & Kay Neal "The Best Of Sam And Kay Neal" (Blake Records, 1971-?) (LP)
I can't tell you much about this duo who presumably were husband and wife, and who also released a string of singles for the Memphis-based Blake label around 1971-74. They frequently recorded as a duo, although Sam Neal also cut a bunch of tracks under just his own name, including an earlier single from 1966 ("I'd Rather Say Hello"/"I Won't Be Disappointed") on the equally obscure Allendale label. I couldn't find any biographical info on these two, but any leads would be welcome...


Cliff Nelson "Oh Baby" (Sunbird Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Miller)
This one belongs strictly in the "Warning, Will Robinson!" column... Although the Tennessee-based Sundance label did record some country stuff, and though this fella Cliff Nelson did croon a couple of tunes that were technically considered country at the time ("Annie's Song," "Me And Bobby McGee") his focus was mainly straight-up cheesy pop-lounge schmaltz -- Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are," Barry Manilow's "Copacabana," a goofy version of "On Broadway." I seriously doubt that Nelson -- apparently an Englishman backed by a six-piece band of Filipino musicians -- was an actual working lounge singer, and I'm fairly certain this album was strictly a vanity disc. Though I'm sure he had fun recording it, you can skip this one, really, particularly if you're a twangfan. (Although connoisseurs of loungecore kitsch might get a giggle out of it....) But country? No, not so much. Includes two original songs, Nelson's own "Reflections" and "Oh Baby."


The Neon Philharmonic "The Moth Confesses" (Warner Brothers, 1969) (LP)
A very weird record from Nashville. This faux-psychedelic pop odyssey was helmed by Don Gant (1942-1987), a singer who paid his dues first as a would-be teenpop star on Roy Acuff's Hickory label, then as a staff writer and executive at the Acuff-Rose publishing company. Nashville classical pianist and anti-government conspiracy theorist Tupper Saussy (1936-2007) composed and arranged the album's "mini-opera," more or less as a joke. It's supposedly written from the point of view of a moth, hatching out into the bright, beautiful world, although it sounds more like a send-up of rock music's starry-eyed, dilated-pupil hippiedelic orchestral meanderings, with classical-tinged arrangements reminiscent of the Left Banke, or late-vintage Zombies. Worth noting, amid the wind instruments, brass and strings are A-list Nashville sessionmen Kenny Buttrey, Jerry Kerrigan, Norbert Putman and Chip Young, though their twangy touches are infrequent and largely subsumed to the album's pop-psych sensibilities.


The Neon Philharmonic "The Neon Philharmonic" (Warner Brothers, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Don Gant, Ronald Gant & Tupper Saussy)
Another insanely manic, over-the-top outing from Saussy and Gant, though even less country-flavored than before. The album begins with the propulsive, forceful classical-rock juggernaut of "Are You Old Enough To Remember Dresden," and chugs along from there. They relax a little bit at the end of Side One with "Harry," a chamber-pop tune in the Left Banke style that sounds like it may have been an actual attempt at crafting a radio-friendly pop single. Then they go nuts again on Side Two, working their way up to the album's closer, "The Mordor National Anthem." Although they are kind of cagey about the musicians involved (referring to them by first name only) it is largely the same crew as before, with some additional help from several other first-name-only players, including "Sadao," who I assume was horn player Sadao Watanabe. Nutty stuff.


Jim Newberry "I Love Being In Love With You" (Playback Records, 1986-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Gale & Jim Pierce)
Born in Chatanooga, Tennessee, Jim Newberry was a businessman and amateur musician who decided to cut an album, and booked a session in Nashville to fulfill his dreams. Alas, the musicians backing him are not identified, though several songs seem to be from Nashville song pluggers. Newberry also covered some old faves from Ray Griff ("Beautiful") and Willie Nelson ("Half A Man.") A single was also broken off this album, and released the same year.


Glenda Faye Nicholson "Jesus, You're My Everything" (Glenda Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Dyer)
An all-original set of Christian country, or at least that's what she says... Actually the term they use on the cover is "Country Elegance," a phrase they liked so much they made it a registered trademark. The musicians were all students at a place called New Life Bible Center, with Guy Smith and Fran Zabloudil on backing vocals, and a band that included Bill Buchanan on guitar and bass, Ed Fultz (bass, piano and synthesizer), Charles Howell (percussion) and Roy Zachary (piano and organ). And, yes, I noticed a distinct lack of fiddle, banjo or steel... But, hey, maybe that's what made it elegant! The liner notes tell us that Ms. Nicholson had her own ministry at a place in Cleveland, Tennessee called Campus Challenge Mission School, where as the director she took students on "soulwinning meetings," which is a fancy way of saying evangelizing, or "witnessing" to the unsaved. Also, even though Steve Dyer is credited as the engineer, the liner notes inform us that the album was "Produced by God The Father, Arranged by the Holy Spirit, Written and Performed by Jesus Christ," which is one heck of a studio crew. (And is bass player Ed Fultz the same guy from Kentucky who released his own, raw-edged, hillbilly evangelical albums in the early '80s with help from J. D. Jarvis? If so, then that's kinda cool.)


The Oaks Band "Super Hits" (ORB Records, 1973) (LP)
An almost-secular gospel album by a group that was the backup band for the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1970s, just as they were making their transition from the Southern Gospel scene into the mainstream Top 40. The group included John Rich on steel and lead guitars, bassist Don Breland, drummer Mark Ellerbee -- and most notably, pianist Tony Brown, a top-tier gospel musician who would go on to play in Elvis Presley's TCB band (which overlapped with Emmylou Harris's Hot Band) and in the 1980s became one of Nashville's hottest and best producers. Although this looks like a cheapo best-of disc, it's actually a proper, early 'Seventies album.


The Oaks Band "Rockland Road" (Rockland Road Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Jimbeaux Hinson & Skip Mitchell)
An even more secular-looking gospel set, with the same lineup, though Tony Brown's last album with the group. This disc features material by producer Jimbeaux Hinson, who also went on to a very successful career as a secular songwriter in Nashville, providing a string of songs for the Oak Ridge Boys and other artists, particularly during the '80s, most notably, "Fancy Free," which was a big hit in '81, and "Hillbilly Highway," for Steve Earle. Breland and Ellerbee took this album's title and used it for a band, Rockland Road, that recorded a more high-concept, out-there gospel rock record, Planet Time, which included tracks such as "Alpha And Omega" and "I Could Be Forever. (By the way thanks to this Oaks Band discography page which I just found while updating this album.)


Jim Owen "...As Hank: The Life Of Hank Williams In Story And Song" (Gold Records, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Owen & Les Ladd)


Jim Owen & The Drifting Cowboys "A Salute To Hank Williams: A Song For Us All" (Epic Records, 1978) (LP)
During the 1970s, Nashville songwriter Jim Owen developed a one-man stage show tribute to his hero, Hank Williams, and he recorded this double-LP along with several former members of Hank Williams's band, the Drifting Cowboys. In 1978 he made it into Billboard with a strictly Back-40 cover version of "Lovesick Blues," but while chart success was elusive, his theatrical show was well-regarded, and is reflected in this widely-distributed album. An oddity, in some ways, but certainly the king-daddy of all Hank Williams tribute albums.


Jim Owen "Hank: Original Soundtrack Recordings, Volume One" (Sun Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Shelby Singleton, Jr.)


Bill Owens & The Kinfolk "Songs Of The Smokie Mountains" (REM Records, 1967) (LP)
You can be forgiven for mistaking this as just another generic folk-revival "mountain music" album, but scratch under the surface and you'll find that Bill Owens (guitar) and his wife Dorothy Jo Owens (banjo) were "kinfolk" to no less than Dolly Parton, as was the album's fiddler Jake Owens, and they were authentic practitioners of old-fashioned, Tennessee-style twang. The set list looks pretty tame -- gospel songs and folk chestnuts such as "Down In The Valley," "Barbara Allen," "On Top Of Old Smokey" and "Tom Dooley," though there are also several resonant country weepers, like "Careless Love" and "Gently Are The Weeping Willows." Although both Bill and Dorothy Jo were prolific songwriters, I don't think they contributed original material to this one, but fans of the Parton clan will still wanna check it out.


Hank Owens "...Sings Country Songs For Secret Agents" (Modern Records, 196-?) (LP)
(Produced by William Beasley)
A gimmicky mix of 'Sixties "spy jazz" and country twang, Nashville style. "Hank Owens" might have been a real person, but it seems equally likely it was a rural-sounding portmanteau designed to wow the rubes. This came out in a few different editions. Cool cover art.


Ricky Page "Harper Valley PTA" (Spar Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Beasley)
Pop/rock singer June Evelyn Kuykendall (aka Ricky Page) became a backup singer in Nashville after years in show biz singing and recording both solo and as a member of the Georgettes girl group, working on the edges of the Brill Building and Phil Spector scenes. She got her shot at the big time -- sort of -- on this private/indie session, which mixed late '60s country-pop and pop standards, ranging from twangtunes such as "Angel Of The Morning," "Harper Valley PTA" and "Ode To Billy Joe" to more mainstream fare such as "Do You Know The Way To San Jose," "To Sir With Love" and "Georgy Girl." The debts to Bobbie Gentry and Jeannie C. Reilly are obvious, as well as Dusty Springfield and the girl-group gals... She even tries her hand at singing Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata," a gogo-delic rendition which isn't an artistic success, but a potential kitsch classic. Page had a pretty nice voice and a strong, solid presence, although this album may not have fully realized her talent. The backing band is competent but lacks inspiration, and though the country tracks (in particular) are good, one really senses a missed opportunity here. Certainly worth a spin, especially for fans of late '60s country gals. Around the time this album came out, Page was recruited to work in the studio session vocal group, Nashville Edition, and while working with that group was a performer on Hee Haw for a number of years.


Cliff Parman & His Boys "Country And Western Guitars" (Time Records, 1962-?) (LP)
(Produced by Cecil Scaife & Billy Sherrill)
Best known as a composer and arranger, Cliff Parman crafted some hits in the pop-vocals era, including Nat King Cole's "Pretend." He worked with artists such as Connie Francis, Bonnie Guitar and Esther Phillips, as well as several country musicians. He was tapped to helm this budget-label project, an all-instrumental album featuring the talents of several A-list Nashville pickers, including folks like Fred Carter, Charlie McCoy, Wayne Moss, Buddy Killen, and a young Jerry Reed. The repertoire includes oldies like "Born To Lose," "Jambalaya" and "Sugarfoot Rag," as well as more contemporary hits, like Leroy Van Dyke's "Walk On By" and Claude KIng's "Wolverton Mountain." Maybe not a terribly challenging album, but definitely packed with talent!



Dolly Parton -- see artist profile


Randy Parton "Shot Full Of Love" (Electric Records, 1981) (LP)
Well, yeah, this is indeed a record by one of Dolly Parton's younger brothers... Randy Parton played bass in Dolly's band and parlayed his family connections into a short string of minor hits, and also apparently shared the family hairdo. The title track from this album peaked at #30 on the charts, followed by a few more singles that plunged into the deep Back Forty. He also contributed one song to the Rhinestone Cowboy soundtrack in 1984, but basically moved out of music and into other business ventures. As far as I know, this was his only full-length LP.



Stella Parton -- see artist profile



Brenda Patterson -- see artist profile


People's Choice "First Ten Tracks" (Superior Sound Studios, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by John Rich)
A spinoff of the Nashville-based Superior Sound Studios (later SMS) which was operated by pianist/arranger Mike Schrimpf, a guy who has produced countless sessions all up and down the Nashville food chain and also worked as a sideman for Conway Twitty for well over a decade... This album was recorded in Nashville, with Ron Saucier (lead guitar and vocals), Bobbe Seymour (steel guitar) and Mike Schrimpf (piano) and appears to have been Schrimpf's own band. Oddly enough, the album only seems to have nine tracks, not ten... I guess they were also counting the train tracks on the front cover??


The Perry County Music Makers "Sunset Memories: New Recordings By A Classic Tennessee String Band" (Davis Unlimited Records, 1974) (LP)
This old-timey trio from Linden, Tennessee was comprised by siblings Nonnie Presson on zither and Bulow Smith playing guitar, with their niece, Virginia Clayborne adding vocal harmonies. Way back when, during the 1920s, they played on WTNT radio station, in Nashville, which gained the attention of the Vocalion label. They cut two singles for Vocalion in 1930, songs that pop up on various old-timey collections. Nevertheless, their professional music years were brief, and it was the inspiration of label owner Steve Davis which got them to (literally) dust off their old instruments and return to their old repertoire. For those of you who appreciate "real people" records, prepare to be charmed by these heartfelt old-timers.


The Perry County Music Makers "Going Back To Tennessee" (Davis Unlimited Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Davis, Charles K. Wolfe & The Perry County Music Makers)


Conrad Pierce "Conrad Pierce" (MT Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bobby Bond)
Singer and songwriter Conrad Pierce grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee but moved down to Florida to try his luck playing country music someplace with a little less competition. He came to Nashville after years of working clubs in Florida and the deep south, and had been in Music City for eight years by the time he cut this disc. Pierce had some professional success as a songwriter, although as Tommy Overstreet details in his liner notes, Pierce kept a day job working as a hair stylist, working a street stand on Music Row, just one more guy trying not to get chewed up alive while keeping afloat in Nashville. Most of the songs on here are originals, written by or with Bobby Bond, along with one oldie by Tommy Overstreet, who seems to have been Pierce's patron. There's no date on this disc, but from the looks of things, I'd guess it was a late '70s/early '80s thing, maybe somewhere between 1978-81.


Conrad Pierce "It's Hard To Be A Cowboy These Days" (Phoenix Records, 19--?) (LP)
Plugging away with his day job as the "singing barber," Mr. Pierce met a lot of movers and shakers in Music City, including superstar Ronnie Milsap, who landed a #2 hit with the 1979 single "Back On My Mind Again." Pierce's own version of his song is included on this album, as well as the opening track, "There'll Always Be Honky Tonks In Texas," which was apparently a popular regional number in the Lone Star State.


The Pittmans "Country Gospel" (Life-Line Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Graham Williamson)
Twangy Christian tunes from a family band out of Christiana, Tennessee, just south of Murfreesboro... Bud and Ellen Pittman form the core of the group, backed by Dwight Bullard on guitar, Nancy Evans (piano), Rusty Gannon (steel guitar), Matthew Graham (fiddle), Rickey Rigney (dobro), withDavid Kivniemi and Mark Woodman on drums... The repertoire is a mix of old from the likes of Roy Acuff to newer (but still twangy!) tunes by the Hemphills and others... Pretty much the real deal.


Gary Poteet "Just A Singin' " (Brylen Records, 1982) (LP)
This was the lone album by Gary Poteet, a robust, deep-voiced singer and piano player who performed locally in Knoxville, Tennessee, including regular gigs at a place called the Corner Lounge, right around the time this album came out. He wears his heart on his sleeve, starting things off sounding just like Waylon Jennings, then slowly settles into a rockabilly-tinged hard-country mode that brings Sleepy Labeef to mind, and even gives a nod to Jerry Lee Lewis. Musically, this was a very strong album, with some wicked lead guitar on a tune or two, and Poteet growling his way through a nice set of country covers, including a version of John Anderson's "Swingin'," which gives the album its title. Unfortunately the album was very poorly mastered and sounds muffled and flat, even though you can tell the original sessions were pretty good -- maybe the master tapes are still out there somewhere? Or maybe it's just my copy? Sadly, the musicians are not identified, so I'm not sure if this was his own band or a hired-hands studio crew... Apparently Mr. Poteet passed away a while ago -- he also recorded a couple of singles on different labels, though I guess nothing really clicked, saleswise. This one's worth a spin, if you can track it down.


Pride "Just For You" (Nashville International, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Harold Shedd)


Paul Puckett & The Country Folk "Riders In The Sky" (Tad Records, 19--?) (LP)
This Nashville indie outing seems to have been a collaboration between singer Paul Puckett and steel guitar session man Speedy Price, who appears in photos with Puckett on the front and back covers and wrote two of the songs on the album, even though the liner notes don't identify him as one of the musicians. It's pretty decent, straightforward material, soft honkytonk with a few dips into folk-country material such as covers of "Leaving On A Jet Plane" and "Take Me Home Country Roads." The rest of the record does not, thankfully, sound like a John Denver album, though, and some of the original tunes are pretty nice. Puckett's wife, Joni, sounds like a dead ringer for Emmylou Harris, with a bit of Kitty Wells' rural edge in there as well. Not dazzling, but sincere and real, a modest, heartfelt offering from DIY Nashville.


Bill Pursell "At The Piano: The In Sound Of Country And Western Music" (Spar Records, 1967-?) (LP)
(Produced by William Beasley)
Pianist Bill Pursell wasn't the most elite of the studio elite, but his name pops up on a lot of country sessions, although he mostly recorded a lot of early-'60s pop material, including showtunes and the like... As far as the Nashville stuff goes, he was certainly in good company on this budget-label session, which also included Mac Gayden on guitar, and other "usual suspects" studio pros. An unsurprising set of covers of popular country hits, mostly oldies like "Detour" and "San Antonio Rose," as well as some more contemporary hits, like Bobby Bare's "Detroit City." Pursell's own hits came in the early 'Sixties, after which he concentrated on studio work -- his work included sessions with country stars such as Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.


The Putnam County Pickers "...It's About Time" (Rose Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Al Shackman)
An eclectic quartet from Culloden, West Virginia, playing a blend of folk-country, bluegrass and swing-string too... The repertoire includes several songs by Rusty Wells, along with two each by Steve Hill and Ron Sewell, as well as a cover of Mike Williams's "Sad South Texas Blues." The bandmembers trade off on singing lead and playing various instruments -- switching on bass or guitars, etc. -- and generally seem to have been pretty democratic about the whole thing. The band was formed in 1974 and stayed together through 1981, with a brief detour as the "Stark Raven Band" before officially breaking up in the early '80s. This album made a mighty fine legacy!


Rooster Quantrell & The Border Raiders "Col. Buster Doss Presents..." (Stardust Records, 1998)
(Produced by Col. Buster Doss)
Apparently "Rooster Quantrell" was a made-up country music character conceived of by Nashville-based indie-twang/song-poem producer Col. Buster Doss, although I have seen Quantrell's name appear on other artists' albums, so that origin story may be a bit mythical. This CD came out in the 1990s, but the recordings may have been made much earlier; there are also a number of singles out under Quantrell's name.


Bill Quisenberry "Sings Country" (Custom Fidelity, 1972-?) (LP)
(Produced by Burton A. Decker)
This one's got quite a story behind it... I'm pretty sure this is the same Bill Quisenberry who later took over a Nashville talent agency and became David Allan Coe's booking agent during the 1990s and early 2000s. Decades earlier, he was in the orbit of one of LA's fabled custom labels, not only recording his own album but also doing session work playing guitar on other records, such as Maxi Maxwell's Interstate 40 LP, which came out around the same time. More than half the songs on Quisenberry's record are his own originals: "Heart Of A Fool," "Fool's Gold," "When A Jester Loves A Queen," "A Girl Like You," "Sound Of The Wind," and "Alone." See any sort of pattern here? The forlorn ballads are paired with then-tempory hits such as "Is Anybody Going To San Antone," "Help Me Make It Through The Night," and "Maria," as well as a nice thumping oldie, "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down." The liner notes are a little fuzzy on where Quisenberry was from, but it sounds like at the time he was working somewhere on California's Central Coast -- the album was recorded in Hollywood, and producer Burton A. Decker mentions something about seeing Quisenberry play a show "75 miles up the coast." Somewhere between then and the Clinton presidency, Quisenberry opted for the business side of things, and started working behind a telephone rather than a microphone... As far as I know, this was his only record.


Buzz Rabin "Cross Country Cowboy" (Elektra Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Drake)
Songwriter Buzz Rabin (nee 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. Anyone with more info about Rabin's career? I'm all ears!)


Raisin Kane "It's About Time" (Legend Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Alan Raidt & Raisin' Kane)
An obscure, super-indie southern rock band from Martin, Tennessee fronted by lead singers Larry Brewer and Paul David Lindsey, with backing by guitarist Larry Bedwell, Bert Dyer (organ), Mike Jenkins (bass), and drummer Gary Wadley. To be honest, a lot of this verges on unlistenable, at least from a country music perspective (fans of 'Seventies rock might be delighted). The uptempo tracks generally feature frantic, piercing rock guitars, though some tracks (like "Tennessee Foxy Lady") sound kind of Eagles-ish and fit into a country-rock vibe. Mostly, there's lots of shrill, note-heavy, would-be guitar-god soloing -- including some twin guitar riffs -- and on these all-rock numbers the amateurish production values stand out. Some good vocal harmonies, but the disc really ping-pongs between mellow passages and Spinal Tap-ish excesss. Not my cup of tea, but worth noting.


Eddie Ray "Old Lovers and Friends" (JEGE Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Earl D. Adkins & Joe Deaton)
A Nashville man through and through, Eddie Ray Russell was born in Kentucky but moved to Music City in 1961, where he mostly found work behind the scenes, as a producer and promotions man and to a lesser extent as a songwriter. Nicknamed "the golden bear of country music," he seems to have done just about everything you can do in the music business, and claims to have composed over five hundred songs, including a slew of original tunes on this album. He also recorded numerous singles, dating back at least to the early 1970s, including one in 1980 called "Whiskey Talking Woman," which generated some regional buzz. This LP was recorded at Joe Deaton's indie studio in Bristol, Virginia, and featured prolific local picker and luthier Chuck Tipton playing lead guitar, as well as Randy Maniss on drums, Tim Compton (bass), Brad Booher (piano), Jack Willis (fiddle) and Eddie Ray singing and playing rhythm guitar. I gotta say, though, it's pretty cheesy record, with Ray fully under the spell of then-superstar Kenny (Sauron) Rogers, dipping into hushed, overly earnest tones and even letting his voice crack a little under the emotive strain of such profound sincerity and heartbreak. He really goes over the top on a few tunes -- huge, swooping arrangements and everything. Some of it's okay, but mostly it's a little too early '80s for me. Worth a spin.


The Rebel Yell Band "The Rebel Yell Band" (199--?) (LP)
(Produced by Melinda Grable, Larry Nix & Andy Black)
This Memphis-based group played a mix of bluegrass and country and apparently did extensive travel on multiple USO tours in the late '70s. That's according to the group's drummer, John Lodholz (aka Johnny Washboard) who later moved to Nashville, where he landed a gig in Mark Collie's band, as well as finding studio work... The group also included a guy named John Anderson, although as far as I know, he's not the swingin' dude from Florida. Not a lot of info about these guys out there... Anyone who remembers them, feel free to get in touch!


The Red Boot Boys "Fire!" (Williamson Recording Studio, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Stan Willamson & Terry Wilson)
This band was formed by several middle-aged members of the Greeneville, Tennessee fire department, including producer Stan Williamson on keyboards, Steve Morris on pedal steel, Marty Kaufman on fiddle and Steve Kaufman on banjo and guitar, as well as drummer Marty Llewellyn. Other than a couple of public domain oldies, it's mainly original material, including a few tunes written by guys who apparently weren't in the band, Johnny Jones and Don Williamson. They also released at least a couple of albums as cassette-only records, including the gospel-oriented Songs Of Inspiration and a concert album, Live From Rutgers University.


The Red River Boys "Red River" (Jerry Free Records, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by Ansley Fleetwood, Jerry Free & Pat Holt)
These young fellas were the winners of the fifth annual country music "battle of the bands" contest sponsored by Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Unlike the previous year's champions, an earnest group calling itself Crossfire, these guys were lucky enough to have their names included on the back cover, although no breathless blurb touting them as hometown heroes and telling us where they were from. The Red River Boys included four vocalists -- Dave Alford, Reuben Buck, Tim Buchanan and Bill Sealy -- with instrumental backing by guitarist Paul Carrol, Mike Cunningham (keyboards), Trevor Reddick (bass), Dave Steinquist (drums) and presumably some studio musician playing pedal steel(?) They seem to have been from Tennessee -- Reddick and Steinquist played together in a jazz combo at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, where Steinquist was an assistant professor... Or at least that's what they were up to in 1987-88. The folks at Jerry Free Productions recycled the album art on at least two of these albums... another entry in the annals of stock cover art.


Joseph Reeves "Heaven Forbid" (Tribute Records, 1977) (LP)


Sandy & Donna Rhodes "The Lonesome Rhodes" (RCA Victor, 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Felton Jarvis)
A completely charming folk-country outing, sort of like the Kimberlys or Gale Garnett, but better. Great backstory on this one, as well: hailing from Memphis, the Rhodes sisters were daughters of regional celebrities Dusty Rhodes and Dot Rhodes, singers who recorded for Sun Records in the old days, and who hosted a local TV show that the whole family performed on. Skeeter Davis caught wind of them and championed the gals at RCA, recording some of their original material and urging Chet Atkins to sign off on this album. It's a great record, simple, charming, with the gals singing sassy pop-country crossovers that mix light go-go stylings with a mod-country vibe that reminds me of Waylon Jennings. You can sense that the RCA studio crew weren't quite as hip or as funky as they wanted to be, but if you like the girl-group tinged '60s stuff by Skeeter Davis and Connie Smith, you'll want to check this out. Sandy and Donna went on to forge a truly remarkable career as backup singers singing with some of the best Southern soul and pop artists of the 70s, notably Al Green and O.V. Wright. They sang backup and recorded their own material as RCR, or the Rhodes Chalmers Rhodes trio, with Sandra's husband Charlie Chalmers as the third voice. In addition, both Sandra and Donna recorded their own solo albums, though more solidly in a soul and pop style. This early Nashville folk-pop album, at the beginning of their careers, is a winner... Give it a spin, if you get a chance!


Sandra Rhodes "Where's Your Love Been" (Fantasy Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Sandra Rhodes & Charlie Chalmers)
A remarkable distillation of the two strands of Sandra Rhodes' remarkable career -- a truly funky, truly twangy mashup of musical genres, filtered through the slick, professional Memphis Sound of the early '70s. Ultimately more of a white soul album, this still has strong callbacks to her country roots, including some swell steel guitar, but also the undeniable rural twang of Sandra Rhodes sly, sinuous vocals. On the title track she evokes a much-funkier Carole King, while obvious comparisons to Dusty Springfield and Bonnie Bramblett suffuse the rest of the record. Nevertheless, Rhodes emerges as a singular performer in her own right, and one marvels that she didn't find greater success as a solo artist based on the strength of this album alone. The material is uniformly strong, with a heavy tilt towards straight-up soul on Side Two; even her cover of the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" turns out to be a winner, with a sneaky country vibe that transforms it into a rural-rock gem. The RCR trio is at the core of this album, with Charlie Chalmers co-producing and sister Donna Rhodes playing percussion (and presumably adding harmony vocals...) Chalmers and Rhodes clearly benefit from their history as a session players, getting great performances out of the studio crew, which included Butch Johnson and Leo LeBlanc on guitars, Steve Holt on drums, pianist James Brown and a horn section led by Charlie Chalmers on tenor sax. If you get to check this one out, go for it -- it appeals to a wide variety of 'Seventies music fans.


Rich Mountain Tower "Rich Mountain Tower" (Ovation Records, 1971) (LP)
An interesting and very early '70s country-rock outing from a little-known Tennessee band... Really, though, these folks are mainly anchored in psychedelic folk, with a driving, rock rhythm and lots of jangly guitars and Southern-style slide balancing out the nascent twang. The lyrics are very hippie-dippie and diffuse, spacey, celebratory stuff about being alive and in nature, sung in airy harmonies with pedal steel an 12-string guitar providing sweet counterpoint -- all in all, a very Byrds-y sound. A few Nashville studio pros were brought in to beef up the band's sound -- Charlie McCoy lays down a few hot harmonica riffs, and steel player Weldon Myrick adds gorgeous accompaniment throughout. There's not a lot on here that I would call "country," as opposed to rock, and a few songs may get irritating if you're just in search of country sounds, although for psych/folk-freak fans this record is a real treat. A mixed bag, but a great document of its time.


Rich Mountain Tower "Can't You Feel It?" (Ovation Records, 1976) (LP)


Rich Mountain Tower "Playin' To The Radio" (Beau Geste Records, 1976) (LP)
There's more overt twang on this album, and more of a relaxed feeling overall... Still plenty of rock influences, and particularly a Byrds-y vibe, but the influence of mainstream country-rock comes into play as well, as on the John Denver-esque "Where I Live," as well as numerous tracks that have an Eagles/Poco/Ozark Mountain Daredevils feel. On the uptempo, funky "Sour Mash," they dive headlong into slide-driven Southern rock, but the rest of the record is much mellower -- and though "Good Time Music Band" has a nice, laid-back feel, there's one weird line about how one of his girlfriends used to "make love to a great dane" that was just a little too creepy for me. Ah, the 'Seventies! Anyway, like their other albums, this is a fine musical time capsule, with a handful of tunes that will interest country-rock cratediggers, balanced by rock music that really shows the eclectic spirit of the times. This does seem like a band ripe for some kind of reissue record. Anyone?


Jimmy Riddle "Country Harmonica" (Mercury/Cumberland Records, 1964) (LP)
An old-timer who played in Roy Acuff's band starting back in the 1940s, Jimmy Riddle (1918-1982) also did a bunch of session work in Nashville and later appeared as a regular on the Hee Haw TV show. He's backed here by an anonymous band on one of Mercury Records' budget label imprints. While on Hee Haw, Riddle teamed up with guitar picker Jackie Phelps where they jammed together as "the Hambone Brothers," introducing the weird improvisational vocal style known as "eefing" to a mainstream audience.


John Riggs "Bluejeans & Country Ways" (JRM Records, 19--?) (LP)
Cool souvenir album from Nashville-based songwriter John Riggs... Although he wasn't a smash hitmaker, Riggs had an impressive track record at selling his songs to many bona fide Nashville stars, and placed several in the Top Ten. This album features his own versions of songs that were recorded by folks such as Dave Dudley, Stonewall Jackson, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, Mel Street, Conway Twitty and Don Williams. Unfortunately, the liner notes don't give much insight into where or when this record was made, but if you're a fan of songwriters performing their own material, you might want to track this one down.



Hargus "Pig" Robbins - see artist discography


Ronny Robbins "Reach For All You Can" (Thunder Record Corporation, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Drake, Eddy Fox & Bobby Dyson)
Things never quite clicked for Ronny Robbins, who was the son of superstar Marty Robbins and piggybacked on his dad's career a little bit, but seems to have tried to make it on his own. He released his first solo album on Columbia way back in 1969 -- it tanked, but he hung on in Nashville and recorded this album a decade later with a bunch of top-talent studio pros. I think it was all just for fun, though... Includes songs by his pop, one by Eddy Raven and one by Eddy Fox, who co-produced this disc.



Betty Jean Robinson - see artist profile


Lillian Southard Robinson "Leave A Little Sunshine Through The World" (Custom Fidelity/Robinson Records, 1971-?) (LP)
(Produced by G. Carl Robinson)
This is one hundred percent the kind of super-goofy "private press" album that snarky hipsters like to make fun of... I don't really want to join in that chorus, but I will admit that this is definitely not a record I would put on when company was over, or, really, if anyone else was in the room. Mrs. Robinson was an older woman, I'd guess somewhere in her seventies, and according to the liner notes written by her husband, she'd been writing poems and songs by the truckload for many years, and although this was her first album, she had previously cut a few singles, including some country-gospel tracks recorded in Nashville. With backing by a group called Jim Hardy's Gospel Country Band, Mrs. Robinson plows through a dozen of her own original compositions, separated into one album side of gospel material and the other a set of patriotic and regional pride songs, including a trio of tunes that literally sing the praises of California, Texas and Tennessee. Though there's no date on the disc, this appears to have come out around 1970-71, when several of these lyrics were copyrighted. It's hard to assess the songs themselves, because her vocals (which are challenging to begin with) are inexplicably poorly recorded and pretty much indecipherable; this stands in contrast to the much crisper recording of her awesome anti-drug, pro-Jesus single, "Get Your Fix On Faith Avenue, Man," which was cut several yeas earlier in Nashville. The poor sound quality may be somewhat tragic, because what would otherwise be priceless novelty material is instead made notorious because of the egregious technical flaws: the band sounds fine, but she seems to have been recorded down in the bottom of an empty well in an abandoned cow pasture. Oh, well. I'm not sure, but there's probably a fairly good chance that the backing band was also known as Jim Hardy & His Country Rockers, in which case they were from around Memphis, which also matches up with Robinson's own Tennessee roots.


Chuck Rogers "...Sings Tied Down" (Frolic Records, 19--?) (LP)
A later-life recording full of all-original material by an old-timer from Tennessee. Chuck Rogers (nee Ross Arwood, 1926-1986) was born in Madisonville and worked for many years in Knoxville radio, with stints in other states, dating back to the 1940s. Initially nicknamed Tennessee Slim, he cut a number of singles in the hillbilly era, including a grim WWII ballad from 1944, entitled "Why Did They Bury Daddy In The Philippines." By the early 'Fifties he'd started performing under the name Chuck Rogers, and claims to have discovered honkytonk superstar Ray Price -- Rogers even penned one of the first two songs Price recorded, "Jealous Lies," back in 1950. Another one of his songs, "Tied Down" was recorded by Lulu Bell & Scotty, back in 1952. The liner notes imply these are newer (1970s?) recordings (though some might have been a mite more vintage) and he was still living in Knoxville when this album came out...


Jack Rogers "Sings Country Music Hits... The Road" (Modern Sound, 196-?) (LP)
(Produced by William Beasley & Tom Sparkman)
A groovy set of trucker tunes from singer Jack Roberts, who had previously released some singles on the Nashville-based Modern Sound label, which was an offshoot of Spar Records. Rogers was not a top-flight vocalist, and some of these tracks are a little rough around the edges... But actually, that's kind of cool, if you're in the market for authenticity and earthiness. The backing musicians retain a little chunkiness as well. The songs are mostly (if not all) covers of hits -- "A Tombstone Every Mile," Giddy Up Go," "Give Me Forty Acres," "Six Days On The Road," etc. -- though there might be a one or two originals, such as "Almost To Nashville..." Unfortunately, there are no composer credits anywhere on the album. Anyway, this is an enjoyable album, at least if you're able to cope with a few imperfections here and there. Plenty of twang!


James Rogers "Live At Saddles" (Commonwealth Recording Group, 19--?) (LP)
Guitarist James Rogers lived in Tennessee, but cut this album while playing a gig at the Saddles restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. The repertoire includes some country stuff, such as "Silver Saddles," "American Trilogy" and "Tennessee," though also a few showcase guitar songs such as a medley of Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" and "Malaguena."


James Rogers "Night At the Tivoli" (Producers Incorporated, 1985) (LP)
This seems to be the same guy, although by now he had a home address in Rock Spring, Georgia... This was a live set, recorded at the Tivoli Theater, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a backing band that included David Brooks (synthesizer), Billy Reynolds (drums), Dennis Talley (banjo and guitar), and Greg Throstle (steel guitar). It's only partially country, with a medley of "Rocky Top" and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," as well as some patriotic stuff and odd pop songs and standards. Some of the same material from his previous LP reappears here, such as "Malaguena" and a version of the '70s novelty number, "Toad Suck."


Jack Ross & Woody Bowles "Sedalia" (Room Service, 1973) (LP)
A Nashville-based folk duo, featuring Indiana-born Jack Ross and Nashville native Woody Bowles. A decade later, Bowles really made his mark in Music City as the manager of the Judds, helping elevate them from obscurity to mega-superstardom. Who'da thunk it, way back in'73?


Jack Ross "Quite The Handyman" (Room Service Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Ross)
Perhaps more on the folkie side of things... Most of the songs are Jack Ross originals, along with a version of Kris Kristofferson's "Jody And The Kid," and "Hobo's Lullaby," which most folks probably know from the Arlo Guthrie version. Some of the tracks on here were previously released on his Sedalia album, listed above. (Of note to Nashville fans: future super-producer Kyle Lehning plays piano and helped engineer and mix the album...)


Johnny Russ "Memories" (Ramblin' Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Russ & Wayne Woosley)
Singer Johnny Russ and Willie Glazier formed their band the Ramblers and for several years made a go of it in Nashville... This album is packed with original songs written by Russ, as well as a couple of covers. He seems to have been aiming at kind of a Joe Stampley kind of sound -- a smooth country balladeer taking occasional dips into white Southern soul. Russ didn't quite have the vocal ooompf to take things to the next level, but this is a pretty solid set overall, and on a few tunes he hits a pretty resonant emotional tone, notably on his version of Ann J. Morton's "Life Without You." A sincere, sometimes haunting, set by a struggling second-stringer... Worth checking out if you're into Top Forty-oriented Nashville hopefuls.


Mickey Salter "...Sings Nashville" (American Eagle Records, 1975-?) (LP)
There's no date on this album, but the liner notes mention Salter's appearance in the Burt Reynolds movie, W. W. And The Dixie Dancekings, which came out early in 1975, and the most contemporary songs on here are early 'Seventies hits, such as "Country Roads," "For The Good Times" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night," so '75 or possibly '76 seems like a good bet. Also at the time, Salter had a gig at the now-defunct Albert Pick Motor Inn in Nashville, which is mentioned on the back cover... Salter lived in Nashville throughout the early 1980s, moving to McCausland, Iowa mid-decade, where he worked as an entertainer on the Queen Of Hearts riverboat in the "Quad Cities" region. In the early 1990s, he moved with his family to Florida; his son, Joe Salter lives in Pensacola and got a bunch of press a few years back for trying to set some kind of record for "joggling" (juggling while jogging... I guess it's a thing?) Apparently his dad taught him how: Mickey Salter had worked juggling into his act during his riverboat days... Sounds nice... kinda wish I'd been on board, ice tea in my hand...


Mickey Salter "This Country Boy Loves You" (American Eagle Records, 1979) (LP)


Mickey Salter "Third Album" (1982) (LP)


Mickey Salter "Live!" (Mickey Salter Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Sam Pugh)
A live set, recorded at The Cannery, in Nashville...


Frankie Sanchez "Let's Walk Through The Ruins" (Charta Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Charlie Fields & Kevin McManns)
To be honest, this is a fairly torturous album... If you're really into overripe countrypolitan, you might dig this, but it'll be rough going for a lot of listeners. Singer Frankie Sanchez was originally from Guam, though he lived stateside in the 1950s and '60s, and played in a couple of California-based bands called the Velvetones and the Coming Generation before moving back to Guam in 1971. As far as I can tell, this was a songwriter's demo album, with a couple of songs credited to producer Charlie Fields, a couple more to Dennis East and one by Frankie Sanchez, "Love, Love Me Tonight," as well as a slew of one-offs by various folks I've never heard of... Sanchez invariably tackles them in the same spirit, imbuing the lyrics with as much emotive schmaltz as he can muster... The Nashville backing band includes pros such as Gregg Galbraith, Sonny Garrish and Bruce Watkins -- all of whom seem to be going through the motions -- as well as keyboardist John Propst, who also provides the lush string arrangements. Again, fans of the '70s sound might like this -- although I believe it was released in '79, it sound like music from a much earlier era, i.e. the late '60s and early '70s.


Kenny Lee Scott "Down On My Luck" (Nation Records, 1986-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bobby Rich, Fred Cameron & Steve Hembree)
A nice record, with an unusual mix of influences. Kenny Lee Scott was apparently the stage name of Ken Huens, who wrote all but two of the songs on this album. Huens also released at least one single under his own name, though those songs are not included on this album. Anyway, I like the overall vibe of this album, which is slick but rootsy at the same time, well-produced yet not goopy. Don Williams comes to mind, although there's a hint of Delbert McClinton-esque roadhouse roots bubbling underneath the surface, which works well with his voice, which sounds a bit like Russell Smith of the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Nice, mellow modern country stuff, overall. This was recorded in Nashville, and I think Huens lived there as well, although he may have originally been from Indiana: the genesis of this album was a song called "Knight Time In Indiana," which was an homage to basketball coach Bob Knight, who led the Hoosiers on a remarkable hot streak during the 1970s. The album was produced by Bobby Rich, the bass player for the Stonewall Jackson band, who also contributes liner notes.


Sid Selvidge "Portrait" (Enterprise Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Don Nix, Bob Pickering engineer)
A disciple of Delta blues legend Furry Lewis and longtime collaborator with Memphis iconoclast Jim Dickinson, singer Sid Selvidge balanced his time between music and academics, making records at his leisure while producing albums for other artists such as Alex Chilton, later in his career. His first recordings (made with Jim Dickinson) were in the early '60s, but this was his first full album. Most of the songs were credited to producer Don Nix, along with some oldies like "Wreck On The Highway" as well as the anti-war song, "The Ballad Of Otis B. Watson," which was briefly a radio hit, until local stations banned it as too political. As with his other albums, this is a subtle mix of folk, blues and rock, all of it uniquely "Memphis" in character...


Sid Selvidge "The Cold Of The Morning" (Peabody Records, 1976)


Sid Selvidge "Waiting For A Train" (Peabody Records, 1982)


The Settlers "Live At Trader Dicks" (Butter Bean Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Hack Dodds and Billy Dover)
A swell live album, recorded at Trader Dick's Truck Stop, in Memphis, Tennessee... The band includes Ned Turner, Buddy McEwen, Billy Dover, Gary Pierce and Doug Batchelor, playing half perky bluegrass and half hippiebilly twang, with a gosh-heck, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor... They cover some old-school classics such as "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" and Terry Fell's "Truck Driving Man" as well as more contemporary outlaw material, including Steve Goodman's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" and Jimmy Buffett's "Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw." They thank Paul Craft, and cover two of his songs, "Keep Me From Blowing Away" and "Bottom Of The Glass." The show was poorly recorded and the performances are ragged and rough, but the overall vibe seems pretty true to the time and the style. Definitely worth a spin, if you can track it down.


Gary Shaw "Gospel Road Songs" (Great Circle Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Roy Callaway)
Heartfelt, sometimes awkward, truly twangy and entirely original country gospel songs from Nashville-based Gary Shaw. The album is produced in a fairly solid approximation of late '70s/early '80s mainstream country, but the lyrics are mostly about getting back on the right path and leaving behind one's wicked ways. Basically, quit the boozing and running around and take the narrow way back home... Even though the musical style's a little different, the Louvin Brothers would be proud. Shaw's a very enthusiastic and robust singer -- his vocal tone's okay, but where he wobbles a little is on his phrasing... From time to time the meter gets away with him, partly because his songs can get a little wordy and clunky at times... But he can also hit some good, straightforward country grooves, as on the secular-sounding "Lefty Don't Sing The Blues Anymore." It's the more overtly preachy songs that are the real fun, though, like the earnest but campy "Sunday Sleepers," "Bibles From Booze" and "The Same Road As Me," where a little bit of finger-wagging goes a real long way, and kitsch lovers can't help but crack a smile. I think this album works either taken for a laugh or straight-up, as intended -- the musical backing is strong enough for it to work either way. Session players include steel player Sonny Garrish and some rhythm guitar from Brent Rowan of the Rowan Brothers. Definitely worth a spin, if you're not too bugged by the Jesus thing.


Danny Shirley "Local Legend" (Amor Records, 1984) (LP)
(Scott McClellan & Sonny Limbo)
An early outing from local lad Danny Shirley, who later would become the lead singer for the 1990s Top Forty band Confederate Railroad. As the album title implies, Shirley kicked around his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, working as a solo artist for several years before joining the soon-to-be-huge band down in Georgia. He released a string of singles in the mid-'80s, including several off this album -- "Live And Let Love," "Time Off For Bad Behavior," "The Right String, But The Wrong Yo-Yo" -- though the ones that charted only grazed the back end of the Billboard Top 100. Still, if you like hearing commercially-oriented country stuff from the indie end of the spectrum, this is a nice example of the slick-but-still-rugged sound that Shirley would perfect in years to come. Interestingly enough, bluegrass/old-timey icons Norman and Nancy Blake play fiddles on this disc... Who'da thunk it?


Shylo "Flower Of The South" (Columbia Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Larry Rogers)
One of Nashville's better attempts to co-opt the smooth '70s country-rock sound, Shylo was a vehicle for Memphis, Tennessee's Ronny Scaife (d. 2010) who wrote -- or co-wrote -- all the songs on here, including several with bassist Danny Hogan. Here, the band poses barefoot on the cover, wearing flashy dress jackets over rolled-up bluejeans, portraying themselves as both mainstream and rebels... The record has a few good tunes, notably "Dog Tired Of Cattin' Around" and "Whiskey Fever," although a lot of the album is kind of mediocre, if easy on the ears. As a single, "Dog Tired" scraped into the Top 100, and Scaife found greater success writing material for other artists, starting with Jerry Jaye's "Honky Tonk Women Love Redneck Men" and Johnny Paycheck's 1978 hit, "Me And The IRS," later scoring bigger Top Ten hits in the '80s and '90s. This is an okay record -- if you like early Eagles albums, this could be worth checking out.


Shylo "The Song Riders" (Maverick, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Larry Rogers & Ronny Scaife)
Wannabe Top Forty country from some guys who'd been around the block a few times, recording for Columbia in the '70s and for Mercury in the early '80s. This record has a definite woulda-coulda, almost-but-not-quite feel, a sense that these guys almost could have broken into the harmony-heavy "group" sound of the early '80s, alongside vocal groups such as Alabama, the Bellamy Brothers and the Oak Ridge Boys. They had the same kind of good-natured, smiley-tone sound and adherence to Nashville's musical formulas, though this self-released indie album is a little "off" in terms of the production values and overall smoothness... But you know what? It grows on you. If you like the kind of stuff they were shooting for, you'll want to track this down since it fits right in. Bandleader Ronny Scaife had reshuffled the band a few times, with drummer Perry York the only guy still there from the album listed above. His new collaborators includes guitarist-songwriters Don Singleton and Jerry Hayes, and the record includes a loose-knit cover version of Jerry Haye's best-known song, "Who's Cheatin' Who," which had been a breakthrough hit for Charly McClain in 1980. A good snapshot of a hard-working band that had a toehold in the Top Forty world, but was slipping off the radar despite their best efforts.


Sixteenth Avenue South "The Pick Of The Nashville Pickers Pickin' " (Dominion Records, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Ralph Wright)
A showcase disc for several high-profile Nashville studio pros who possibly were working together on some TV show or musical revue at the time. The "band" included bassist Joe Allen, picker Steve Chapman, steel player Sonny Garrish, pianist Randy Goodrum, drummer Larry Londin, and Buddy Spicher on fiddle, on an all-covers set heavy on early 'Seventies standards. There's no release date but mid-decade hits such as "I'm Not Lisa," "Lyin Eyes" and "Rhinestone Cowboy" definitely place us in the general range of 1975-76.


Roy Sneed "...And The Western Gentlemen" (Custom Fidelity Records, 1971-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Evans & Clark de Coux)
This live album was recorded at the San Luis Obispo Men's Colony, on the central California coast, probably sometime around 1970-71... Born in Decatur, Tennessee, Roy Sneed (1924-2005) was a Louisiana Hayride regular who also played bass with Bill Carlisle in the early 1950s. The Western Gentlemen band included a jazz player on trumpet and vibes as well as more traditional country instrumentation... The more current songs in their repertoire included "Silver Wings," "Is Anybody Going To San Antone" and "Okie From Muskogee," along with Hank Williams oldies, stuff by Hank Williams, and a couple of gospel oldies that bookend the album. There are two songs credited to Mr. Sneed, an instrumental called "Rob Roy" and the song "I'll Be So Blue Tomorrow." The performances are a little schmaltzy at times, but overall it's a solid, professional set... The engineering is okay - the crowd noise sounds fairly muted, although the captive audience seemed appreciative and was probably glad for the break.


Southern Image Band "Down The Road" (1982) (LP)
(Produced by Sonny Deaton)
Easygoing, unpretentious country-pop from a Lafayette, Tennessee band that started in 1979 and kept together for several decades after releasing this LP in the early '80s. Brothers Keith and Paul Ballou are the lead singers and while at first they may seem a little underwhelming, they grow on you after a while, particularly when singing covers songs such as JJ Cale's "Tulsa Time," Merle Haggard's "Swinging Doors" and even John Denver's "Back Home Again." There's a sincere, laid-back, no muss-no fuss feel about this album that's kind of nice... They also cover a few of Alabama's early hits -- "Tennessee River," "Love In The First Degree" -- that underscore the band's devotion to group-vocal harmony, but again, it's so low-key and relaxed you can't help but get drawn in. The Ballous and various cohorts kept this group going well into the Facebook era, and you can kinda see why the hometown folks would want to come see 'em play. Definitely worth a spin!


Red Speeks & Harvey Reynolds "Nashville Sounds Of Country" (Red Hed Records, 1972) (LP)
A fun, true-twang outing by Verlin ("Red") Speeks, an old-fashioned picker and singer from Knoxville, Tennessee who booked time in Nashville with a studio crew that included Joe Edwards on lead guitar, D.J. Fontana on drums, Junior Huskey (bass), Tommy Jackson and Buddy Spicher (fiddles), Hargus Robbins (piano), Curtis Young (guitar), and Speeks' pal Harvey Reynolds on steel guitar. Speeks and Reynolds stood for an older era of country music, mentioning Elton Britt in a patriotic anthem, while covering George Morgan, Buck Owens, and even Carl Smith's classic, "Loose Talk." There are a couple of originals on here composed by Speeks, "Mountain Man" (which he released as a single) and "The Red White And Blue," a gloriously over-the-top patriotic recitation in which the protagonist sees some wayward, hippie-era youth out burning their draft cards and toppling statues (as kids are wont to do) and stops to remind them of all the great stuff the WWII-era veterans had done to preserve our rights here on the homefront. (Apparently he sent a copy of the song to the White House, and reproduces a thank-you letter from Richard Nixon...) Anyway, this is a fun set! Red Speeks had an imperfect singing voice, but it fit nicely with the pre-Nashville Sound styles that he was tapping into... Definitely worth a spin if you can track this one down.


Burt Spencer "Only You" (BLS Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Burt Spencer)
Truly amateur indie twang plunked out by an unidentified band, quite likely Mr. Spencer's own pals, including an iffy rhythm section, a decent steel player and an odd, toy-piano-ish electric keyboard (which I find quite charming...) The album includes no real liner notes beyond the song titles, and no information about the musicians or studio crew. There's no address, either, though the song "Country Music" kicks off with the singer claiming Knoxville as his hometown, which seems fairly likely. Burt Spencer claims composer credits on all tracks, but his work is highly derivative and some songs seem more directly stolen than others... Sure, you're reminded of various old Hank Williams songs or classic rock'n'roll/R&B riffs, but some tracks are pretty plagiaristic, notably "If You Were Mine Alone" which sounds rather similar to "I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name" and "Love Me Like I Love You," which is a pretty direct a swipe of "Heartaches By The Number." But, y'know, we can probably forgive him. It took a while, but this one won me over: he's not the greatest singer, or the most original songwriter, but he certainly sounds sincere, and the unusual arrangements are, well, fairly distinctive -- and I don't totally mean that in a negative way.


Stone's River Band "Stone's River Band" (1977) (LP)
(Produced by Stone's River Band & Fred Cameron)
Before he established himself as a solo artist, Steve Wariner worked in Nashville as a session picker, notably in the studio run by producer Mike Shrimpf. This early band includes both Wariner and Shrimpf, playing a mix of covers and originals, with Wariner playing bass, guitar and even some steel on one of the songs. The album includes three songs credited to Wariner: "Blonde Haired Woman," "My Greatest Loss" and "The Whole World Is Smiling But Me."


Donnie Stovall & The Country Rock Express "Straight From The Heart And Soul" (VMS Records, 19--?) (LP)


Strange Brew "Strange Brew" (Juke Records Of Tennessee, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Bobby Farrell)


Guy Stringfield & Agnes Hicks "...Sing Old Gospel Songs" (Cumberland Records, 197--?) (LP)
Delightfully amateurish, undeniably rural gospel duets by a father-daughter team from Lancing, Tennessee... Both Mr. Stringfield (1909-1984) and his daughter Agnes were active in the Pilot Mountain Missionary Baptist Church, and the liner notes tell us he sang on the radio for over twenty years, although they don't mention what station(s) he performed on. Mr. Stringfield may have been a more robust vocalist in his youth, but he certainly sounds old-mannish here -- not that that's a bad thing, at all. Their style seems tightly tied to the old Appalachian "shape note" singing, though perhaps a generation or two down the line, more in a 1920's Alfred G. Karnes mode, perhaps. The repertoire is heavy on Stamps-Baxter material, and well-known chestnuts such as "Amazing Grace," "Angel Band," "No Tears In Heaven" and "If I Could Hear Mother Pray," as well as a few slightly more obscure tunes. The album starts off resolutely acoustic, but soon goes electric, with a hotly mixed guitar which makes up in enthusiasm what it lacks in finesse... Underpinning it all is Ms. Hicks' radiantly clear affection for her father, and her determination to bring this project to fruition -- her harmonizations are delicate and sincere, as well as earthy and authentically backwoods, real mountain music, for sure. She performs solo on one song, a version of "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven, But Nobody Wants To Die," freeing up an earthy vocal power only hinted at on the other tracks... One wonders if she recorded anything else. I am also charmed by the album's technical flaws, such as a track or two where the original reel-to-reel recordings whirr up to speed, or were possibly poorly engineered to begin with. It might have been embarrassing at the time, but as far as I'm concerned, it adds to the charm. Mr. Stringfield might not have had the technical polish as other hillbilly gospel singers in the region, but he certainly shared the same spirit.


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.


Bobby Sykes "The Rhythm Of Red" (JMI Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Clement & Bob Webster)
Tennessee native Bobby Sykes (1928-1994) was best known for his long stint as Marty Robbins's backup singer, helping craft the breakthrough Gunfighter Ballads album, and singing harmony on numerous other recordings. This album was a tribute to hillbilly-era country star Red Foley, who died in 1968 and was apparently a friend of Mr. Sykes, with covers of Foley's old hits like "Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy," "Tennessee Saturday Night" and "Sugar Foot Rag," as well as several gospel songs that Foley recorded later in his career. An interesting sidenote to Sykes' career was a 1964 single released using the nom-du-twang Johnny Freedom: supporters of Arizona's hard-right senator Barry Goldwater, Robbins and Sykes co-wrote a couple of anti-communist topical songs -- "Ain't I Right" and "My Own Native Land," -- which their label deemed too controversial for Robbins to record under his own name, so instead Sykes cut them for the Sims Records indie label.


The Tennessee Gentlemen "The Tennessee Gentlemen" (Southern Tracs, 1977-?) (LP)
Nice early 'Seventies progressive bluegrass. Not to be mixed up with The Country Gentlemen, except that they totally share the same ethos, and, well, maybe getting confused with that venerable band wouldn't be such a bad thing, after all. This Memphis-based quartet included Donnie Catron (guitar), Troy Castleberry (mandolin), Steve Gregory on bass, and Mike Morton strumming on the old banjo... I was drawn to this disc by the profusion of non-bluegrass cover tunes, mostly from the country side of the tracks -- two songs by Paul Craft, a rollicking version of Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline Rag," a Louvin Brothers tune, Gram Parson's "Sin City," and the like. Nice performances, nothing mind-blowing. If you dig the classic progressive 'grass style, this is a good one.


The Tennessee Hat Band "Breaking Out The Good Stuff" (Melon Patch, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by John Carey & Tennessee Hat Band)
A "solo" set by David Allan Coe's early '80s backing band, packed with all-original material by bandmembers Fred Spears, Jim Richmond and Bill Clark, with Spears penning almost all the songs, including "Under Rachael's Wings," which was co-written (or should I say, Coe-written?) with their boss. Although they had a mainstream pedigree, this is a surprisingly indie-sounding, hippiebilly-ish album, mixing outlaw/bar-band twang with smoother, sleek Eagles-y country-rock harmonies. The lyrics are generally speaking a little too wordy and rambling for my tastes, but the music is really nice. Definitely worth a spin if you're into the classic 'Seventies indie-twang sound!


The Tennessee Hilltop Gang "The Tennessee Hilltop Gang" (Christy Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jimmy Capps & Kevin McManus)
A bunch of high-powered Nashville superpickers just hangin' out and jamming together... Jimmy Capps helmed these sessions, with Steve Chapman, Buddy Harmon, Billy Linneman, Weldon Myrick, Leon Rhodes, Jerry Whitehurst and Tommy Williams all on board. If nothing else, the photos on the back cover will help demystify what these legendary session players were like. Plus, some fine music! Not sure when exactly this came out, though the group also released at least one single off this album, Dan Fogelberg's "Longer," backed by "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys."


The Tennessee Three "The Sound Behind Johnny Cash" (Columbia Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Neil Wilburn)
A "solo" set by some guys who backed Johnny Cash at various points over the years. The original Tennessee Two was made up of bass player Marshall Grant (1928-2011), drummer W. S. Holland (1935-2020) and legendary lead guitarist Luther Perkins, whose loping, stripped-down pickin' style defined Cash's early work. Perkins died in 1968 and is replaced here by picker Bob Wootton, who stayed with Johnny Cash for almost thirty years. Although billed as a "Tennessee" band, these guys actually grew up in several different states, with Mr. Holland the only native-born Tennessean in the group.


The Tennessee Valley Authority "Kountry Kilowatts" (Ovation Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Brien Fisher, Steve Messer & Alan McGuire)
A bunch of a-list Nashville studio pros -- Jimmy Capps, Sonny Garrish, Johnny Gimble, Buddy Harman, Dave Kirby, Fred Newell, Ron Oates and others -- gettin' together for a more-funky-than-usual instrumental jam session, playing everything from old-time tunes like "Bill Bailey" and "I'll Fly Away" to more modern stuff, such as "Boogie Your Butt Off" and "Down Home Disco."


Bernie Terrell "Bernie Terrell" (World International Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Billy Roines)
This album, produced in Nashville, looks like a songwriter's demo, with several songs written by producer Billy Roiles, as well as others on the same publishing company (Scorpil Publishing) by Bob Rash, as well as a couple by Lorene Mann (on Bullo Music). The studio musicians included pros like Sonny Garrish, Jerry Shook and Buddy Spicher... Terrell was also featured on a compilation with the comedic duo of Lonzo & Oscar, and gal singer Frankie Wray.


Ken Terry "...And The Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch Gang" (Campfire Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Sanders & Larry Sanders)
Geez, I didn't even know that Loretta Lynn had a dude ranch... but she does! It's part of her estate at Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, a beautiful former plantation that she bought back in 1966, when she first hit the bigtime. Apparently it's Loretta herself who likes to call the place a "dude ranch," rather than a theme -- that's 'cause she's not all fancy even though the place itself looks pretty swank. Of course, any self-respecting dude ranch needs to have a house band, and for a while Ken Terry and his pals filled the bill. This is a kind of standard-issue souvenir album, packed with cover songs of oldies and a few more contemporary hits and even a few originals. The oldies include "Rocky Top," "Wild Side Of Life" and "I'm My Own Grandpa," while the newer tunes include "South Is Gonna Do It Again," "Texas Women" and "Women I Never Had," as well as a version of Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again," which helps place this undated album into at least the early '80s. Ken Terry contributes the kiddie-oriented novelty number," while the group's gal singer wrote a couple of tunes with an almost folk-freak feel, "You" and "You Made It All So Real." Some tracks are credited to a band called Sweetwater, and they also spotlight an eight-year old named Miss Courtney Stevens, who sings cutesy versions of "Frankie And Johnny" and "Never Ending Love." These folks had a nice county-fair musical quality, though weren't top talent, as heard on the grueling cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying," in which their plodding, out-of-tune bassist dominates. But if you enjoy the souvenir album sound, this is a fine example of the genre; there was also at least one other LP credited to The Dude Ranch Gang.


Tiny & The Bondsmen "Tiny And The Bondsmen" (Camaro Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Gary Adair)
Only a little bit of twang on this one: lead singer Tiny Bond, backed by Gary Adair, Buck Hutcheson and Dave Parnell, cut this set of rock oldies, '70s disco and country covers while living in Memphis, Tennessee. Marilyn McCoo's "You Don't Have To Be A Star" coexists with Orlean's "Still The One," Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day" and Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around And Fell In Love." Groovy, baby!


Tony & Johnny "Today, Tomorrow And Forever" (Trail Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Salyer)
Tony Gosnell and Johnny Wilder were cast members of Bonnie Lou & Buster's country show at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee... They formed a duo in 1974, recording this album at the Tri-State Recording Company in Kingsport. includes four songs written by either Tony or Johnny, including the title track, which was written by Gosnell. There are also several cover songs, including a version of "Before The Next Teardrop Falls." Southern gospel pianist and country producer Otis Forrest plays on this album...


The Transplant Band "Gift Of Life" (CRT, 1983)
This was apparently a group of doctors and/or surgeons from the Nashville area that formed a band and released this album to benefit the National Kidney Foundation of Middle Tennessee.


The Travis Brothers "The Travis Brothers" (ToNam Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by John M. Virgin)
The so-called Travis Brothers were actually a Nashville concoction, pairing songwriters Billy Don Burns and Jimmy Travis Getzen, who wrote about half the songs on here, including tunes like "Be Alright In Arkansas," "Rockabilly Man," "Roll On Ruby" and -- just in time for the Bicentennial -- "The USA Is Where It's At." Before forming a partnership with Getzen, Burns had been working as a Hank Williams impersonator at the Opryland park, and apparently the duo were proteges of country star Mel Tillis, who contributes glowing liner notes, while the boys included a version of his song, "Ruby," so he got a little something on the back end. The two singers took wildly different paths in life -- Jimmy Getzen became a born-again gospel/children's music singer, while Billy Don Burns went full-on outlaw and went through some major substance abuse issues while trying for years to break through in Nashville. On this early outing, they got backing from an A-list Nashville crew, including Buddy Emmons, D. J. Fontana, Bunky Keel, Leon Rhodes, Bobby Thompson and others. (By the way, anyone know if Jimmy Getzen was the same guy who played football for Vanderbilt in 1970? Just wondering.) Getzen also released some albums as a solo artist, under the name Jimmy Travis... and these are listed below.


Jimmy Travis "My First One" (Getz Records , 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jimmy Travis)
A studio album by Jimmy Travis Getzen, who had previously been in a songwriting duo with Billy Don Burns... This record was cut at Pete Drake's studio in Nashville, and includes seven tracks credited to Getzen, including two co-written with Burns... Highlights include "Mama's Out With The Boys Tonight" and "God Never Made A Horse That Happy Couldn't Ride"; he also tips his hat to Harlan Howard and Hank Williams, as well a version of Tom Jans' crossover hit, "Lovin' Arms."


Jimmy Travis "Live" (Getz Records , 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jimmy Travis)
Recorded at the Boots Randolph Club...


Troublesome Hollow "Troublesome Hollow" (1978) (LP)
This progressive/newgrass band from Hickory Tree, Tennessee recorded several albums in the '70s and '80s with this, I believe, being the first. Although they are basically a bluegrass group, they worked some country rock-ish stuff in there as well, including a Beatles cover ("I've Just Seen A Face") and a version of Pure Prairie League's "Amie," which always sounds like a good idea to me... The pickers included banjo player Tim White...


Troublesome Hollow "New Shoes" (1980-?) (LP)
(Produced by Stan Bowman & Troublesome Hollow)
This album includes a version of Rodney Crowell's "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight" though most of the record is fairly straightforward bluegrass...


Gil Trythall "Switched On Nashville: Country Moog" (Athena Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Hall & Fred Cameron)
Groovy, man. An all-instrumental album packed with moogalicious versions of oldies like "Cattle Call," "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," "Gentle On My Mind," "Harper Valley PTA" and "Orange Blossom Special." Oh, and just for the record, Trythall was a serious classical composer, and also was actually born in Nashville.


Gil Trythall "Nashville Gold" (Athena Records, 1973) (LP)
Sure, why not?


Grant Turner "The Grand Ole Opry As It Was Back Then" (CVS Records, 1980) (LP)
Spoken word nostalgia from Grant Turner (1912-1991) the longtime concert emcee who joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1944, and worked there for nearly half a century. The album includes some musical interludes, but mostly this is a set of Turner reminiscing about the many stars he's worked with over the decades, including Roy Acuff, Eddie Arnold and comedian David "Stringbean" Akeman, another Opry old-timer who was murdered in a home invasion robbery in 1973.


Us Two & Him "The Chapel Hill Pickers" (Chapel Hill Records, 1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by Marcus Mitchell)
This country-comedy trio consisted of brothers Jim Rickman and John Rickman (aka "Us Two") and Phil Comstock (henceforth known as "Him"). Hailing from the sleepy hamlet of Chapel Hill, Tennessee, the group had its origins in the Rickman brothers' mid-1960s rock band (which apparently won a Nashville talent contest in 1965). The Rickmans met Comstock years later, and by 1972 had formed the trio that was introduced onstage as, "us two, and him," when they couldn't come up with a proper band name. They released several LPs (and later CDs, in the digital era) and enjoyed a long tenure as regulars on "The Ralph Emery Show." This album spotlights a slew of tune written by John R. Rickman, including "Interstate Is Coming Through My Outhouse" and, on a similar note, a cover of Billy Edd Wheeler's "Little Brown Shack." In addition to the three founding members, there are additional guitars and steel guitar by Michael Wilson. Fun fact: all three bandmembers settled into careers as real estate agents, a flexible profession that fit in well with their musical gig, which they continued well into the 2010s.


Us Two & Him "Out Standing In Their Field" (Chapel Hill Records, 1979) (LP)
A country comedy trio made up of brothers Jim Rickman and John Rickman ("Us Two") along with their pal, Phil Comstock ("Him"). They had a slightly more hick-oriented version of the classic Kingston Trio-style folk-tunes-and-standup schtick, and were pretty successful, scoring gigs at prestigious venues such as the Grand Ole Opry and the The Ralph Emery Show, as well as a slew of trade shows and convention halls All three grew up in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, where as kids, the Hickman brothers were in a popular regional '60s rock band. They formed the acoustic trio with Comstock around 1972, and soon zeroed in on writing material that emphasized their small-town roots. I'm not sure if this was their only album... seems likely one or two others might be floating out there as well.


Lenny Valen "Lenny Valen" (Lenny Valen Enterprises, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Dennis A. Baird, A. J. Rhodes & Ronnie Light)
A self-released album from a guy with an address in Hendersonville, Tennessee. This disc spotlights a lot of original material, with about a third of the tracks written by Valen, others by Mark Swindell, and Dennis Baird, as well as a few cover songs, such as a version of Jimmie Driftwood's "Battle Of New Orleans." This was recorded in Nashville with a mix of A-listers and unknowns; I wasn't able to find any info about Valen himself, but this looks like an interesting record.



Kenny Vernon - see artist discography


Elvis Wade "Introducing Elvis Wade" (Sahara Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Allan Cartee & Don Cartee)
In general, I'm not that into the Elvis impersonator genre, and see only a tangential connection to locals-only country, although I have been keeping track of the records as I come across 'em. This one was recorded in Nashville and does have some aspects that make it of particular interest. The singer was actually a fella named Wade Cummins, who also recorded in the early 'Seventies as rock artist/band Duffy, but later in the decade decided taking on the persona of an Elvis clone might be a good use of his time. The most notable draw for twangfans is the presence of rootsy Memphis songwriter Ava Aldridge, who sings backup and also wrote or co-wrote about half of the songs; the album also includes several originals credited to Elvis Wade, and others written by album producer Allan Cartee. Indeed, the album seems to have been all-original material and maybe was meant as kind of a "what if Elvis had lived?" kind of concept album. Though it looks like it hews to Presley's old pop-rock wheelhouse, there are a bunch of Music City pros involved, such as Chips Moman, Jerry Wallace and Neil Willburn; the Sahara label however was headquartered in Los Angeles...


Elvis Wade "It's Been Ten Years" (Elvis Wade Productions, 1987-?) (LP)
Ten tears since what...? Oh! I see... This is Tennessee-born Elvis impersonator Wade Cummins marking the tenth anniversary of the King's passing away with a tribute set that includes covers of songs such as "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "My Way" and a closing number called "The King Is Gone." Although he had a past in non-Presley pop music, Mr. Cummings kept at the Elvis thing for years and years, eventually touring with an edition of the Jordanaires and ultimately scripting a fully-funded, nationally distributed 2014 feature film called The Identical -- about an crypto-Elvis fictional pop star and his long-lost twin brother -- which despite having cast real stars such as Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta (and country singer Waylon Payne) is considered one of the worst movies ever made. (Gotta put that one on my watch list...)


Willis Wade "Introducing Mr. Versatile -- The Fabulous Willis Wade" (Ruby Jean Records, 1969) (LP)
Multi-instrumentalist Willis Wade led this Nashville-based band throughout the 1960s, notably doing several rounds on the USO tour circuit in Europe and Asia. This late-'Sixties edition of the band included bassist Jackie Lynn (also on vocals), Bob Cox (piano), Ray Salter (drums, bass, guitar and fiddle) and Eddie Weil (bass and drums). Also worth mention is singer Linda Vaughn, who the liner notes identify as "vocalist and dancer" and "short, but cute as she can be." Aw, shucks, that old-fashioned Southern sexism was so darn adorable!


Kay Weaver & John Muir "Country The Hannas Way" (Royal Master/Columbine Records, 1979-?) (LP)
(Produced by Robert F. Gordon & Curt Wilson)
A so-called "song-poem" album, wherein B-list studio musicians cook up an arrangement for lyrics written by aspiring songwriters who pay to have their songs recorded. Singers Kay Weaver and John Muir were part of the regular stable at Royal Master, a Nashville-based outfit that was one of the best-known song-poem labels. Here Muir and Weaver apply their skills to the work of only one pre-paid poet, a fella named Dan W. Hannas. I wasn't able to find any biographical info about Mr. Harras online -- perhaps it's a pseudonym? -- although he did send in "contributions" to other Royal Master albums; this disc seems to have been his magnum opus. Ms. Weaver sings on two songs, Mr. Muir on all the others; the backing musicians are not identified. Be advised, the genre is not for the faint of heart... heck, even for the most devoted obscurist these albums may be a bit taxing.


Gene Williams & The Country Junction Band "Memphis Country" (Cowboy Carl Records, 1980) (LP)


Various Artists "BOB HOOD PRESENTS THE WNOX TENNESSEE BARN DANCE" (Golden Crest Records, 1961) (LP)
Bob Hood was the program director at Knoxville, Kentucky's AM radio station, WNOX, which was a pop-oriented station for much of its history, but hosted a country-oriented program called "The WNOX Barn Dance," dating back to the early 1940s. This album features local talent drawn from that show, largely unknown musicians, including The Carey Sisters, The Rhythmaires, Johnny Shelton and L. E. White, each act showcased on two tracks, with Bob Wood himself performing on "Everglades" and "It's Nothing To Me." The album was plugged a couple of times in Cashbox magazine, but remains a pretty obscure release.


Various Artists "CMA PRESENTS THE 4th ANNUAL FAN FAIR REUNION SHOW" (Foundation Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Patty Hall, Jerry Bradley & Lou Bradley)
It was early days for the fabled Nashville "Fan Fair" event, and while later decades would have superstars on a par with Tim McGraw and Shania Twain rubbing elbows with the common folk, back in the '70s it was old-timers like Roy Acuff, Clyde Moody, Ernie Lee and Lulu Belle & Scotty doing the meet-and-greet and playing their old hits. The house band for this event was an all-pro crew dragged out of the studios for a few hours, including pickers and players like Fred Carter Jr., Johnny Gimble, Hal Rugg and Dale Sellers. The emcee was T. Tommy Cutrer, although Pee Wee King, Whitey Ford and others chimed in and introduced the artists.


Various Artists "COUNTRY MUSIC BY THE WAYSIDE" (Wayside Records, 1968-?) (LP)
(Produced by Little Richie Johnson)
The Wayside label was a hopeful Nashville indie started up in 1967 by Lou Casella and Arizona's desert-twang king, Little Richie Johnson. They'd signed up about a dozen artists by the time this LP came out, mainly second-stringers, with a few who made light dents in the charts at one time or another. This album included tracks by Bobby Buttram, Cathy Cass, Gayle Holly, Murray Lewis and Jerry McKinnon, though later more significant signings such as Darrell McCall and Lynda K. Lance aren't on this record, which was mentioned in an April, 1968 Billboard article, but might have come up in '67, when the label was starting up. Perhaps the most interesting artist here is one Hattie Louise Bess, aka "Tootsie," the proprietor of Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, one of Nashville's best-known music bars. (Her tracks are pretty negligible -- one was an instrumental, and the other could only charitably be called a vocal number -- so I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that just maybe she got a spot on the album simply as a ploy to try and get her to book some of these artists at her club... But perhaps I'm being too cynical?) Anyway, there's some nice, light twang on here, stuff that was probably a little out of step with the swank country-folk and countrypolitan sounds that were dominating Nashville at the time. Good, obscure stuff from several struggling in the long shadow of Music City's major labels, with several Kitty Wells soundalikes and Carl Smith wannabees. Which is just fine, in my book!


Various Artists "EARLY COUNTRY ROCK FROM NASHVILLE" (T-Bird Records, 2010)
First things first: the "country rock" part of the title is pretty misleading, since these early '60s recordings (cut for the uber-indie Spar label) feature a lot of latter-day rockabilly and oldies-rock sounds as well as some decent Bakersfield Sound-styled numbers and numerous uptempo novelty songs, but it's all pretty standard-issue country, hardly the cosmic-cowboy hippie-tinged stuff we identify with the "country rock" sound of the late '60s and '70s. That being said, this is still a valuable historical collection profiling a smaller Nashville label whose lineup was mostly made up of obscure non-stars -- the only names I recognize off the bat are those of Jerry Foster and singer Bobby Russell, and while I relish obscure artists as much as any other crazy record collector, I gotta say a lot of these tracks are pretty mediocre. There's a lot of noteworthy talent behind the scenes, though: studio musicians such as Lloyd Green, Mac Gayden, Kenny Buttrey, Wayne Moss and Pete Drake were heard on zillions of 'Sixties sessions, including on countless albums that did help shape the experimental country-rock sound of the era. This disc is worth checking out, just don't set your hopes too high.


Various Artists "FARMFEST 76: BACK TO THE SOIL" (Lee Stoller Enterprises, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Brien Fisher)
This classic industrial musical album -- "America's Bicentennial Salute To Agriculture!" -- features a gloriously jingoistic narration by Grand Ole Opry emcee Grant Turner, extolling the heroic saga of American farming from its sod-busting pioneer roots to the glorious commercial apex of millions of acres of amber, waving grain, drenched in red-white-and-blue fertilizers and insecticide, from sea to shining sea. There are also some adequately twangy musical interludes by Nashville songwriter Michael Kosser, who was riding high on a string of tunes recorded by the likes of George Jones, Barbara Mandrell and Ray Price during the early 1970s. There's also one song, "200 Years," credited to producer Brien Fisher's brother, Jack Fisher. Unfortunately the liner notes don't tell us who the backing musicians were, but one can imagine they were top-tier Nashville pros.


Various Artists "REAL OLD TENNESSEE ROCK AND COUNTRY, v.3: 1954-1957" (White Label Records, 1979) (LP)
This Dutch import showcases a bunch of delightfully super-crude, chunky, authentic raw rockabilly and hillbilly twang from late 'Fifties rural Tennessee. Side One is almost completely devoted to the raw rock stylings of Joe Griffiths and his band, The Teen Age Rebels, whose goofy regional hit, "Crazy Sack," made them a popular draw throughout Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. Griffiths recorded bunch of songs about girls -- including one called "Big Sandy" -- at the RCA studios in Nashville and the liner notes speculate on the involvement of studio pros such as Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer and Sugarfoot Garland. Although he cut a half-dozen tracks, most of the material went unreleased for two decades until this European reissue. Even rawer and more obscure are the tracks on Side Two which were drawn from a 1954 charity benefit concert held in Memphis with singers Charles Moore, Charlie Roach and Red Rolison, a bunch of real good ole boys working under the long shadow of the then-ascendant Elvis Presley, and who clearly were not slick show-biz pros... They awkwardly josh around on mic, and bash away at the songs, which include covers of Hank Williams and early rockabilly and R&B tunes, as well as a couple of originals. By and large this amateurish set is probably not that accessible to fans of either country or rock, but if you enjoy unfiltered, authentic rural twang, it could be a lot of fun! (Note: Volume One and Two in this series seem to have been the "Rock-A-Billy From Tennessee" collections, which were more strictly rock-oriented.)


Various Artists "TWO YEARS GONE" (Royal Master Records, 1979-?) (LP)
A song-poem album packed with tributes to Elvis Presley, with music by Will Gentry and "recording by Nashville Co-Writers." The marks -- er, authors -- were almost all gals, including Sophia Bisbee, Leola Bollenbacher, Margie Bright, Johnnie Lee Crooms (a gal), Ellen Hardy, JoAnn Looney, Christine Odom, Alta Pierce, Margie Spinelli and Monica Thompson, along with one guy, Kenley Huff. Songs include Ellen Hardy's "Elvis That Truck Drivin' Man," "Elvis Is Still The King In Heaven," "Elvis The King Of Rock," "He Was A Legend In My Own Time" and... wait for it... "Elvis Presley," by Christine Odom. Oh, and "Elvis," by Ms. Bollenbacher. One of countless custom albums on this Nashville indie. Alas, no musician credits, other than Mr. Gentry.


Various Artists "A WAGON LOAD OF OLD TIME COUNTRY MUSIC" (Big Valley Barn, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Carl Bean)
This one's more on the bluegrass/old-timey side of things, but with a fascinating and compelling back-story... Billed as a set of "East Tennessee music," this album was a collaboration between the president of the Museum Of Appalachia, John Rice Irwin, and Carl Bean, a high school coach from Clinton, Tennessee, who in the early 1970s founded the Big Valley Barn show, a humble, unpretentious venue for regional bluegrass and old-timey music. Bean sings on about half the tracks, with numerous others chiming in, including Tennessee and Kentucky locals such as Bob Cox, Elizabeth Irwin, dobro player Monroe Queener, comedian Ray Rutherford, Jay and Janie Ward, as well as several bands: the Museum Of Appalachia Band, Rollin' Grass, and the Big Valley Boys. The brother-sister duo of Mack and Willie Sievers were veterans of the old days, originally from a family band called the Tennessee Ramblers, which recorded numerous 78s during the Depression, on big labels such as Brunswick and Vocalion. Mack & Willie also recorded and performed as a duo in the 1930s and '40s, with Willie Sievers being credited as one of the most prominent early women guitar players in country music history. The liner notes say that James "Mack" Sievers was 78 years old when this LP came out -- which would according to some sources mean that this album came out in 1982, which sounds a little late. (Anyone know for sure?) Anyway, it's a cool document of a lively scene of dedicated regional preservationists. Neat music, too!




Hick Music Index


Copyright notice.