Mike Auldridge - see artist discography

Mary Chapin Carpenter - see artist discography

Billy & Taffy Danoff - see artist discography

Danny Denver "Recorded Live At The Stardust Inn" (Go-Go Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Sam Ghoers)
A native of Hartville, South Carolina and one-time '50s rockabilly rebel, as a young man Danny Denver (1937-2003) spent some time in New York working as a demo musician and also moved to Maryland to pursue a career as a live performer in the Washington, DC area. Here he assembled a band that most notably included hotshot guitarist Roy Buchanan, who later became one of the top urban blues artists of the 1970s and '80s. Buchanan is part of the compact backing band on this private album, along with Link Wray's former bassist Shorty Horton (1921-1974) and drummer Dicky Maughn, who are called the "Three Sound Masters" on the back cover. The disc was pressed as a souvenir of the Danny Denver Band's gig at a place called the Stardust Inn, a venue in Waldorf, Maryland, and showcases Denver doing a mix of country and pop material presented in two album side-length tracks. Denver's act at the time seems to have relied heavily on show biz impersonations: instead of song titles, the albums sides are broken up by the names of celebrities being imitated: Johnny Cash, Webb Pierce, Buddy Holly, Dean Martin, Otis Redding, etc., with "Danny Denver" forlornly listed at the very end. There's no date on the album, but judging from the source material, it probably came out well before the 1972 album below; some sources say this lineup of Denver's band was playing in the DC area sometime in the mid-1960s.

Danny Denver "The Best Of Denver With Roy Buchanan" (Wrayco Records, 1972-?) (LP)
(Produced by Lewis Chitty)
Although this album seems to have come out in 1972, a few of the tracks may have recorded earlier, with some also issued as singles on the Wrayco label, though I'd guess these came out around the same time as the LP. The liner notes by Maryland deejay Tom Reder make it sound like this was recorded as a cohesive country album, rather than as a hodge-podge of older stuff; this is supported by the inclusion of newer tunes such as a cover of Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times" and Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again." By the time this disc came out, though, Roy Buchanan's solo career had finally taken off, and Denver probably saw it as a last chance to capitalize on Buchanan's presence on his band. Several country covers from the like of Ray Pennington, Mel Tillis and Hank Williams, as well as an original by Danny Denver called "Spring Is A Woman" and another called "Mother Nature," penned by William McCloud, that shared the same publishing company. Not sure what became of Denver as the 'Seventies rolled on -- this album seems to have been his swan song as far as recorded music goes.

John Fahey - see artist discography

Fast Flying Vestibule "Union Station" (Rolling Donut Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Bergman)
A cheerfully upbeat folkie stringband who appear to have been from Washington, DC. Named after a once-famous passenger train that ran from Ohio to New York, these guys had kind of a Red Clay Ramblers vibe, combining clattersome old-time stringband music (showing deep Celtic roots) along with sentimental country oldies, gospel and a bit of western swing. The group included Alan Oresky on fiddle and mandolin, Doug Pell (lead guitar), Joe Stork (bass), Jesse Winch (banjo, guitar and bodhran) and Terry Winch (banjo and accordion). Fans of the Ramblers, John McCutcheon, Norman and Nancy Blake, et.al., might dig these guys as well.

Fat City - see artist discography

Hank Fort "...Sings Her Own Great Songs" (Epic Records, 1959-?) (LP)

Hank Fort/Various Artists "My Favorite Friend: Original Songs" (Gemini Records, 1965-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Crutchfield & Chuck Seitz)
Born in Nashville, songwriter Hank Fort (nee Eleanor Hankins, 1914-1973) was a well-connected socialite in Washington, DC, where her husband, Bill McAuliffe was a successful stockbroker... Mr. McAuliffe actually sings on most of the tracks on this album, including one duet with Hank; she sings solo on two songs, while Dottie Dillard (of the Anita Kerr Singers) sings on one, and a vocal group called The Fortunes tackle the remaining track. All the songs were written or co-written by Fort, with backing provided by a Nashville crew helmed by producer Jerry Crutchfield. Fort had a fair amount of commercial success, penning humorous "hick" songs along the same lines as those sung by Judy Canova and Dorothy Shay... Honestly, though, this is a pretty dreadful record, owing more to the bland "pop vocals" sound of the 'Fifties than its Nashville counterparts, and while this isn't quite on a par with, say, the Mrs. Miller albums, there's a similar vibe at work. The very epitome of a vanity pressing.

Georgie Lee "Georgie Lee Sings" (Canasee Records) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Wood & Bernie Vaughn)
A businessman from the Washington, DC area, Georgie Lee went to Nashville to cut this album of pop oldies and country covers with a studio band that included Sonny Garrish on steel guitar and Dave Mathes on rhythm guitar. A few tunes might have been originals, such as "Tomorrow Night" or "All Night Worker," but mostly it's standards such as "Memphis," "Crazy" and "My Elusive Dreams." The album art is the same recycled "stage lights" graphics as on numerous LPs on the Cathay label, though the liner notes credit this as being on a Nashville label.

Liz Meyer "Once A Day" (Adelphi Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Liz Meyer & Obie O'Brien)
This one's a real find! Liz Meyer was part of the same Washington, DC folk/roots/country scene as Emmylou Harris and Bill & Taffy Danoff, and this album, which gathers recordings she made between 1975-77, is a testament to the vitality of that scene. It's also a pretty gritty, downright cool hard-country album, with a nice mix of covers and originals. She sings two Buck Owens songs, one by Hank Junior, and an earthy, rough-hewn rendition of Bill Anderson's "Once A Day." The most striking thing about Meyer is her tough, robust sound, both her affinity for true twang and her husky, throaty vocals, a tough-sounding voice that reminds me quite a bit of honkytonk heroine Melba Montgomery. More than half of the songs on here are Meyer's originals, including heartsong gems such as "I Don't Know How To Say Goodbye" and "Someone You Can't Love," which is perhaps the album highlight. Obviously it took Meyer a long time to get this record out, and she must have sat on these tapes for a while before assembling them into an album. The production is a little rough and so are some of the performances, but they are an excellent snapshot of the scene she was in, and among the guest musicians are Emmylou Harris herself singing backup on four of the songs, and superpicker Mike Auldridge playing dobro on two tracks. Meyer moved to Europe in the 1980s and went on to record several albums, many with a bluegrass bent, and had several of her songs recorded by artists such as Laurie Lewis, Del McCoury, and the great Emmylou herself. Meyer passed away in 2011, after a long struggle with bone cancer, but she certainly left a great musical legacy behind, starting with this album of her excellent early work.

The Rosslyn Mountain Boys "The Rosslyn Mountain Boys" (Adelphi Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Dawson & The Rosslyn Mountain Boys)
This DC-area country-rock/boogie band worked the Mid-Atlantic country-folk scene for the better part of a decade, and recorded a few albums and played a bazillion gigs (not counting the occasional reuinion gig...) The band sported several several ex-rockers and nurtured some country pickers who would later make a go of it in Nashville. Steel player Tommy Hannum, who had played with Emmylou Harris in her pre-Gram Parsons folk days, and who went on to be a notable session player in the '80s and '90s, is one of the most notable bandmembers, at least from a country perspective: he gets some sweet licks in on a tune or two. Another mainstay of the band was pianist Peter Bonta, who became a prolific Americana session player and engineer, and joined Bill Kirchen's band in the 1990s. This debut album is uneven but charming; I remember hearing the best songs off it getting airplay on KFAT, back in the days before "alt-country" existed... It's work checking out, if you ever run across a copy, though you shouldn't make any heroic efforts...

The Rosslyn Mountain Boys "Lone Outsider" (Schitzophonic, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Dawson, et.al.)
By the time this album came out, they'd pretty much worked the kinks out of their performing style... The steel playing, in particular, is pretty sweet, and undeniably true to country roots... There are several nice songs on here, although nothing really reaches out and grabs you -- that's probably mostly due to the modest production values... Nothing sounds bad, but the music lacks immediacy. Nonetheless, this is a nice document of one of the East Coast's great also-ran twang bands

The Rosslyn Mountain Boys "Different Skyline" (Sosumi Records, 2006)

The Time Machine "Live At The Back Alley Lounge" (Manchester Records, 197--?) (LP)
Boasting of their musical diversity, this short-lived trio from the Washington, DC area included guitarist Mike Faour (who was into soul music), drummer John Burgoyne (who is credited as the country influence) and keyboard player John Jackson, who was into oldies. Not strictly a twangband, by any means, they definitely had a country streak, covering a Hank Williams tune, Joe South's "Rose Garden," Leroy Dan Dyke's oldie-but-goodie "Walk On By" and Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times," as well as Albert Hammond's "It Never Rains In Southern California," a soft pop hit from 1972 that I always felt had just a little bit of twang to it. There's also one original song, "Can't You See," which is credited to Mike Faour, who apparently ran a DC-area guitar shop along with superpicker Danny Gatton, who was a rising star on the DC roots music scene. As far as I know, this was the only album this group put out, and I'm not sure if any of the members pursued other musical projects afterwards...

Hick Music Index