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NEW
CDs FROM BEAR FAMILY RECORDS
A Tribute Compilation To The Country Greats Collections by Big Jeff Bess and Ramblin Jack Elliott
VARIOUS ARTISTS A Girl Named Johnny Cash (And Other Tribute Songs) The Ballad Of J.C. (GORDON TERRY); The Night The Ernest Tubb Show Came To Town (STONEY EDWARDS); Leonard (MERLE HAGGARD); The Carter Family (STONEY EDWARDS); Cash (STONEY EDWARDS); A Girl Named Johnny Cash (JANE MORGAN); Roy Acuff, The King Of Country Music (STONEY EDWARDS); Hank, It Will Never Be The Same Without You (ERNEST TUBB); The Jimmie Rodgers Blues (STONEY EDWARDS); Goodbye Lefty (MERLE HAGGARD); Bob Wills, The Fiddlin' Man (STONEY EDWARDS); Hag Sang Me A Song (STONEY EDWARDS); The Ballad Of Johnny Horton (RUDY THACKER); Red Foley (STONEY EDWARDS); Gentleman Jim (CHARLIE RICH); Bill Monroe Daddy Bluegrass (STONEY EDWARDS); Johnny's Cash And Charley's Pride (MAC WISEMAN); Hank And Lefty Raised My Country Soul (STONEY EDWARDS). (Bear Family BCD 15945 AH)
Although rare these days, tribute records had once regularly found a place in the recording schedules, in particular following the deaths of such iconic figures as Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. Now Bear Family has assembled 18 such recordings, remembering various artists across the decades. The greater number of tracks originate from African-American Stoney Edwards who enjoyed 1973 chart success with Hank And Lefty Raised My Country Soul and recorded several other fine tributes (spotlighting Carter Family, Ernest Tubb, Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, Red Foley and Bill Monroe) which have remained unissued until the arrival of this collection. Johnny Cash is also remembered three other times, kicking off with the amusing The Ballad Of J.C, recorded by Gordon Terry, his close wild-partying friend. Equally amusing is Jane Morgans A Girl Named Johnny Cash (an obvious reference to Cashs Sue) and Mac Wisemans version of Jack Clements cleverly penned Johnnys Cash And Charleys Pride, a song that related to friends as much as to artists whom Clement produced. Merle Haggard, besides being the subject of an Edwards tribute, also contributed a couple himself Leonard (to his old friend Leonard Sipes, better known as Tommy Collins) and Goodbye Lefty, a touching song to an artist who had greatly influenced Hag. Charlie Rich, in somewhat unusual musical territory, gives acknowledgement to another of the musics iconic figures, Gentleman Jim, and The Ballad Of Johnny Horton comes from this collections least known singer, Rudy Thacker, a staff musician on the Wheeling Jamboree. A now almost forgotten sub-genre of country music, this tribute collection is accompanied by a full colour, 34 page booklet with notes by Deke Dickerson accompanying the photographs and recording details.
BIG JEFF BESS Tennessee Home Brew Hom-Bru Boogie; A Kiss And A Memory; Poppin' Bubble Gum; The Tramp On The Street; Gonna Give You Back To The Indians; After We Are Through; Poppin' Bubble Gum; Juke Box Boogie; You Talk In Your Sleep; Step It Up And Go; After We Are Through; Lifetime To Regret; Fast Women Slow Horses And Wine; Move On Baby; I'm In Love Dear With Thee; I Courted An Angel; I Don't Talk To Strangers; Somebody Clipped Your Wings; Car Hoppin' Mama; Most Of All; San Antonio Rose; The Bible Tells Me So; Waiting For A Train; Long Tall Sally; Precious Memories; The Same Two Lips; If You Ever Fall In Love; A Kiss And A Memory; I Courted An Angel; Slowly Dying; You; Ten-E-Cee Hom-Bru (Bear Family BCD 16941 AR)
For every hitmaker in country music, there were numerous others who didnt make it big but many, nevertheless, still created music that doesnt deserve to get overlooked. Big Jeff Bess was one such artist and, although his name may be unfamiliar to the majority of contemporary country music fans, his reputation was widespread in many parts of the States during the 1940s and 50s. This was the age of live radio and Bess would be heard daily on Nashvilles powerful WLAC performing with his Radio Playboys, which featured many of the towns top session players including, at one time or another, Hillous Butrum, Benny Martin, George McCormack, Jerry Rivers, Jack Henderson, Bob Moore and Grady Martin. Although a popular radio attraction, his output on record was fairly limited and, with the exception of several releases on the major Dot outlet, came out on small Nashville independent labels like Cheker, World and Ma An Pa Say during the period 1947-52. Then, making a late return to the studios in 1972/73, he recorded a handful of tracks for Fiddle & Bow and Delta. Most of these recordings are included on this cd alongside hitherto unreleased recordings made in the WLAC radio studios and, while the records comprised a lot of original material, the studio tracks centred upon mainly known titles (San Antonio Rose, The Bible Tells Me, Waiting For A Train and others). Overall Bess music was well representative of the period with his vocals always prominently supported by fiddle and steel guitar, his best known title being Step Up And Go, regarded as one of the first examples of how hillbilly music would develop into rock n roll.
And, if Big Jeff Bess isnt remembered for his music, theres a couple of other important credits to his name. He was the husband of the former Hattie Louise, better known as Tootsie, the founder of Nashvilles foremost bar on Broadway. He also appeared in two movies, A Face In The Crowd and Wild River, the former which Bess considered the highlight of his career. Accompanying this cds 32 tracks (11 unissued and the remainder so rare that theyve never been re-issued!), Martin Hawkins recounts the artists story in great detail in the accompanying 86 page booklet, also providing invaluable insight into the musicians, record labels and Nashville in the post-war years. The booklet also has photographs and discography.
JACK ELLIOTT At Lansdown Studios, London Talking Guitar Blues; San Francisco Bay Blues; Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms*; East Virginia Blues*; Ain't It A Shame*; Muleskinner Blues*; Ain't It A Shame (comic version)*; Howdido; My Daddy; Why Oh Why; The Fox; Riding In My Car; Old Rattler; Rusty Jiggs And Sandy Sam (The Sierry Petes); Git Along Little Dogies; My Little Lady (Sadie Brown); Night Herding Song; The Old Chisholm Trail; Fifteen Cents And A Dollar; Rocky Mountain Belle; Talking Blues; Diamond Joe; Down In The Willow Garden; I Ride An Old Paint; Jack O'Diamonds; Pretty Boy Floyd; Do-Re-Me; Dead Or Alive; Grand Coulee Dam; Dust Storm Disaster; I Ain't Got No Home; So Long, It's Been Good To Know You; Whippin' That Old T. B. (tracks marked * are duets with DARROLL ADAMS) (Bear Family BCD 16630 AH)
Although there were devotees spread around the country, Ramblin Jack Elliott effectively brought folk music to Britain in the mid 1950s and, busking his way around the nation, introduced the songs of his mentor Woody Guthrie and of the American Southwest to brand new audiences. Britain also launched Elliott's recording career, virtually beginning at the time of his arrival in the country when he was signed up to Topic Records, a non-exclusive that also saw the American recording for record shop owner Doug Dobells 77 Records. But it wasnt until 1958, and his association with Lansdown Studios (created by broadcaster, record producer and jazz critic Denis Preston, who had earlier achieved success with skiffle productions) and released through EMIs Columbia label, that Elliott recorded the majority of his British output. The first sessions comprised mainly traditional western folk songs like Git Along Little Doggies, The Old Chisholm Trail, Jack ODiamonds and I Ride An Old Paint but it wasnt until a year later after a short break in the States - that he would record material from Woody Guthries much revered catalogue. In a lineup that included Alexis Korner (mandolin) and Jack Fallon (string bass), Elliott first covered such familiar titles as Do-Re-Me, Grand Coulee Dam, I Aint Got No Home and So Long, Its Been Good To Know You before, at second session, recording a selection of childrens songs like Howdido, Old Rattler and Riding In My Car.
This collection of 33 tracks (with a running time of almost 89 minutes), brings together the majority of Elliotts Lansdown Studios recordings, hitherto unavailable for years, alongside a handful of previously unreleased recordings. These include Guthries Pretty Boy Floyd, Jesse Fullers San Francisco Bay Blues and five titles laid down in a 1960 reunion with fellow American Derroll Adams with whom Elliott toured during his initial British years as the duo The Rambling Boys. Regarded as a major influence on the development of the folk scene in Britain (as well as upon Bob Dylan, who idolized Elliott), the background of the recordings and this period of Ramblin' Jack Elliott's life, is precisely detailed by Hank Reineke in the accompanying 42 page booklet that also contains photographs and discography.
For more information on these and other Bear Family releases, please contact Yvonne Saunders at Rollercoaster Records, Rock House, London Road, St. Marys, Stroud, Glos GL6 8PU. phone: 01453 886252; fax: 01453 885361; e-mail: von@rollercoasterrecords.com |
NEW
CDs BY CARL SMITH & JOHNNY HORTON
Classic Country Music Legends Released By Bear Family
CARL SMITH Hey Joe! - Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight Hey Joe!; Go, Boy Go; Trademark; San Antonio Rose; Baby I'm Ready (1); If You Want It, I've Got It; Goodnight Mister Sun; Dog-Gone It, Baby, I'm In Love; Let's Live A Little (1958 version); That's The Way I Like You Best; No Trespassing; Lovin' Is Livin' (1952 version); (When You Feel Like You're In Love) Don't Just Stand there; 14. Don't Tease Me; Our Honeymoon; Happy Street; Oh Stop!; More Than Anything Else In The World; If Teardrops Were Pennies (1958 version); Baby I'm Ready (2); Time's A Wastin' (& June Carter); No, I Don't Believe I Will; Cut Across Shorty; A Love Was Born; Back Up Buddy; I Won't Be Mad, I'll Be Glad; Why, Why; Loose Talk; I Just Don't Care Any More; Mr. Lost; Lonely Girl; Be Good To Her; It's All My Heartache; Try To Take It Like Man (Bear Family BCD 16943 AH)
A very timely release from Bear Family as Tennessee born Carl Smith passed away just a few weeks ago (on January 16) at the age of 82. Elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2003, he was one of country musics most successful artists, scoring around 80 hits during the 1950s and 60s, and then slowing down in the 1970s before retiring from the music scene to raise quarter horses on his Franklin, Tennessee farm with wife Goldie Hill.
Bear Family has already released a 5 cd box set of Smiths recordings Satisfaction Guaranteed (covering the period 1950-59) but this generous 34 track solo cd, as part of the labels ongoing Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight series, concentrates upon his up-tempo hillbilly, proto-rockabilly and hardcore honky-tonk recordings. Kicking off with his 1953 chart-topper Hey Joe, the compilation also other high ranking chart successes like Trademark, Dont Tease Me, Go Boy Go, Our Honeymoon and Cut Across Shorty, the country hit version of Eddie Cochrans rock n roll classic. Theres a rockabilly remake of his earlier hit If Teardrops Were Pennies, a rousing duet with former wife June Carter on Times A-Wastin and covers of Loose Talk and San Antonio Rose.
Hey Joe is not only a collection thats a fine memorial to a classic country music singer but will also have appeal to listeners with an interest in bobbin country and hillbilly boogie. It comes with a 38 page booklet, containing a well researched detailed biography penned by Deke Dickerson alongside photographs and discography.
JOHNNY HORTON The Ballads Of Johnny Horton Whispering Pines; Everytime I'm Kissing You; You Cry In The Door Of Your Mansion; Words (1); All For The Love Of A Girl (2); Lost Highway; Journey With No End; The Mansion You Stole (1); Betty Lorraine (Betty Lou); Miss Marcy (Billy Boy); Words (2); Another Woman Wears My Wedding Ring; Shadows On The Old Bayou; When It's Springtime In Alaska (It's Forty Below); Counterfeit Love; Comanche (The Brave Horse); The Mansion You Stole (1); They'll Never Take Her Love From Me; Jim Bridger; Done Rovin'; All For The Love Of A Girl (1); Johnny Reb; Meant So Little To You; Tetched In The Head; North To Alaska (Bear Family BCD 16384 AR)
JOHNNY HORTON Take Me Like I Am - Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight Barbecue; Two Red Lips And Warm Red Wine; The Devil Made A Masterpiece; S.S. Lureline; Shadows On The Old Bayou; Broken Hearted Gypsy; Bawlin' Baby; Shotgun Boogie; No True Love; Ha Ha And Moonface; She Knows Why; You, You, You; The Train With The Rhumba Beat; You Don't Move Me Baby Anymore; Hey, Sweet Thing; Move Down The Line; On The Banks Of The Beautiful Nile; Sister Moonlight; Out In New Mexico; It's A Long Rocky Road (Overdub); Talk Gobbler Talk (Old Gobbler, The Hound Dog; In My Home In Shelby County (Overdub); First Train Headin' South; Ridin' The Sunshine Special; I'll Do It Everytime; Seven Come Eleven; You're My Baby; Goodbye Lonesome, Hello Baby Doll; Rhythm In My Baby's Walk; Big Wheels Rollin' (Bear Family BCD 16354 AH)
The early 1960s were particularly tragic times for country music as a number of its top stars were to die in plane or auto accidents, Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline being the most famous. Another was Johnny Horton, the first to suffer such a unforeseen death, on November 5, 1960, just as his movie theme tune North To Alaska was heading to the top of both Billboards Country and Pop Charts. Just a year earlier he scored his first number one with Battle Of New Orleans, which opened up the gates to international successes as well as launching a series of "historic" recordings that spotlighted famous events and people.
Although both the aforementioned titles have appeared on Greatest Hits collections, the majority of Johnny Hortons recordings have not seen the light of day for many years apart from two Bear Family box sets which presented the whole Horton career. Now the German based record label have delved into archives once again and, this time around, compiled two single cds that spotlight two different aspects of this distinctive singers recordings ballads and up-tempo songs.
Originally a 'ballad' was a story song, and then it became shorthand for a slow love song. Johnny Horton was the master of both sorts of ballads. This set was compiled by record producer Richard Bennett, who writes in the accompanying 26 page booklet that Hortons voice was big, infectious and friendly, bursting with charisma and personality, all such vocal characteristics clearly heard in this 25 song collection. Moving from earliest recordings like Done Rovin and Shadows On The Old Bayou in 1951 to his chart-topping North To Alaska, the set also includes another number one, When Its Springtime In Alaska (Its Forty Below), a handful of his historic offerings (Johnny Reb, Comanche and Jim Bridger), a couple of Leon Payne songs (Theyll Never Take Her Love From Me and Lost Highway) and two versions of his heartfelt original All For The Love Of A Girl. More generally remembered for his up-tempo recordings, the ballads were generally B sides or tucked away in albums. This collection gives them the recognition they deserve as well as revealing how superbly Johnny Horton could handle such material.
The second of the two cds, Take Me Like I Am, is another contribution to Bear Familys much acclaimed Gonna Shack This Shack Tonight series and presents Horton in his more familiar musical role as the up-tempo, honky-tonk singer who sometimes moved into the realms of rockabilly. Avoiding the over familiar (Battle Of New Orleans and Honky-Tonk Man among others), this 33 track collection brings together the singers less well known recordings like Tennessee Jive, The Train With A Rhumba Beat, First Train Headin South and Big Wheels Rollin as well as a previous unreleased rockin version of Candy Jones and a never before released cover of Shotgun Boogie that well matches up to Tennessee Ernie Fords original. Deke Dickerson provides the notes in this sets 36 page booklet, detailing the singers struggle for success and an almost bizarre life that saw him obsessed with spiritualism and fears of a violent death. As with all Bear Family booklets, this has a generous amount of photographs and full discography details.
For more information on these and other Bear Family releases, please contact Yvonne Saunders at Rollercoaster Records, Rock House, London Road, St. Marys, Stroud, Glos GL6 8PU. phone: 01453 886252; fax: 01453 885361; e-mail: von@rollercoasterrecords.com |
On the Wings of Songs and Familiar Places Now Available Worldwide in Digital Format (Nashville, TN March 15, 2010) Nashville-based label, GMV Nashville, has announced the addition of two new Lane Brody albums to its online digital catalog: On the Wings of Songs and Familiar Places. Best known for The Yellow Rose, her chart-topping duet with Johnny Lee, Brody released On the Wings of Songs earlier this year. The new album is available exclusively in digital format and features the recent Country single, Found In Each Other, which Lane produced herself. Brody wrote or co-wrote nine of the 12 tracks from On the Wings of Songs and produced the album with legendary drummer and producer Eddie Bayers at Emerald Sound Studios in Nashville. On the Wings of Songs has garnered substantial critical praise, including that of hit songwriter and artist Rodney Crowell, who proclaimed, With Lane Brody out there and making music, the songbird as we know it and love it is no longer an endangered species. Brodys collection of jazz standards, Familiar Places, was first released in 2001 but has since been reissued and made available for the first time as a digital download. Renowned critic Robert K. Oermann said of Brodys Familiar Places, She caresses notes with the finesse of Ella Fitzgerald. She reads the lyric with the sweet/sad ache of Billie Holiday. She has the light, deft sense of meter of Sarah Vaughan. Most of all, she has what all great jazz singers possess... the ability to get inside chord changes and melodies, become a part of them, and take them around little corners to places they've never been. This is much more than just another album of standards... its the work of a true stylist. Jazz legend Louie Bellson noted, Lane has a wonderful voice and is reminiscent of the great singers, such as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Pearl Bailey. The band is top notch and played the charts with integrity. On the Wings of Songs, Familiar Places and the single Found In Each Other are now all available for purchase at www.GMVNashville.com and digital platforms such as iTunes and Amazon.com worldwide. The GMV Nashville label continues to expand its catalog, featuring classic Country singers like Dale McBride and Jan Howard, legendary artists including Charlie Daniels and Toy Caldwell, and contemporary collections such as the three-disc This Is My America set, featuring Dolly Parton, Billy Dean, Kathy Mattea and more. About
Lane Brody: About
GMV Nashville:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (February 16, 2010)Country music recording artist Mindy McCready, whose career has lived and died by her own trials and tribulations, resurrects her platinum-selling talent and hard-fast commitment to her music with her latest CD release, IM STILL HERE. Available March 23, 2010, IM STILL HERE* (Iconic Records/Linus Entertainment/E1 Entertainment) showcases McCreadys brazen can-do attitude engaged with her subtle, womanly vulnerability. Since her breakout more than ten years ago with Ten Thousand Angels and the monumental success of Guys Do It All The Time, McCready has been drenched in public scandals. Despite personal issues and speculation about her new record, she announced her plans to record in May 2008. A proven self-help method, music is clearly McCreadys therapy. Having battled personal demons, Mindy McCready returns from her eight-year hiatus, and in her first album since 2002, she shines. Her steadfast yet fiercely feminine voice rises again. We have always been confident in Mindys talent, Michael Fancher, Iconic Records label head, states. This album shows shes at the top of her game musically; shes the best shes ever sounded and we look forward to reintroducing her music to fans new and old. With contributions by producers Christopher Jak, Trey Bruce and Jimmy Nichols, the nine new tracks (along with an acoustic By Her Side, her dramatic, orchestrated rendition of The Dance, and modernized versions of Guys Do It All The Time and Ten Thousand Angels) highlight the vocal talents and natural ability that made McCready a top-selling female recording artist years ago. Her authentic, raw emotions embrace and resonate each musical sentiment reminding both her fans and critics that Mindy McCready continues to have a home in country music. The Florida native has remained determined throughout her career. Moving to Music City after high school, McCready shopped demos and played at clubs and juke joints all across town. Her hard work lead to a deal with RCA and in the late 1990s, McCready introduced her brand of saucy country music; her first national recording was the top selling debut by a single female artist, selling more records out of the box than any female star before her. After years of success in Nashville, McCready became embroiled in an abusive romantic relationship and drug possession charges that landed her time in jail. Her history and battle with drug abuse caught the attention of a television producer; joining the cast of VH1s "Celebrity Rehab 3" (airing now), she returned to the public eye. She performs the title track, "I'm Still Here," on Episode 7. As Mindy McCready sings on the track, after the storm blew through, It kept me and it saved me. Im still standing right where you left me, there is no doubt those words are her truth. Shes still here. More information about Mindy McCready is available at: http://www.mindymcready.com |
SANTERIA FRONTMAN BROTHER DEGE TO KICK-OFF SOLO U.S. TOUR APRIL 29TH IN NEW ORLEANS! FULL-LENGTH ALBUM: FOLK SONGS OF THE AMERICAN LONGHAIR OUT APRIL 28TH FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD OF BROTHER DEGE'S NEW SONG "THE GIRL WHO WEPT STONES" LAFAYETTE, LA - Get ready for some raw dirt, railroad pounding, swamp-fried, Louisiana Mekong Delta blues music. Like the mad lovechild of Robert Johnson and Jim Morrison, Dege Legg (aka Brother Dege), the Cajun-born and Louisiana-raised leader of the band Santeria, releases his highly anticipated slide/Dobro record entitled Folk Songs Of The American Longhair, produced by 4x Grammy-winner Tony Daigle (Dr. John, Sonny Landreth, Gatemouth Brown, Bobby Charles), Legg and Primo (also from Santeria). This is Delta Blues for the 21st Century, raging out of the swamplands of Louisiana. Dripping with atmosphere and backwoods noir. The real dealdeath-obsessed, god-fearing, foot stomping acoustic blues steeped in the devilish myths and haunted ambience that permeates every inch of Louisiana. Factor in some Historic longhaired rock & roll influences from Sabbath to Black Flag and youve got an art project and anthropological study wrapped in one time traveling package. Folk Songs of the American Longhair takes the listener on a mind-bending, soul-crushing slide guitar journey into the backroads of the Deep South. Legg composed ten original tunes in the Delta-slide tradition, paying tribute to the old masters while pushing into the apocalyptic future. Much like the field recordings of Alan Lomax, the record tunnels into the ancient mysteries of pre-war blues, recorded in sheds, old houses and open fields. Its like Son House at a surrealist convention. Slide players from the U.S. to Europe are already covering the tunes - via a series of live Brother Dege YouTube videos which have garnered over 150,000 plays with no promotional hype or jive. Dege Legg is one of the best-kept secrets in the Deep South: an award-winning writer & musician from Lafayette, Louisiana. In 1994, he founded the underground southern-psych rock band, Santeria, which toured and gigged for 10 years in relative obscurity, pounding out a strange variety of "southern rock" that relied less on chest-thumping and beer guzzling, and more with concentrating their creative energies on expressing the isolation and loneliness of the modern south - at times loud and overbearing and alternately quiet, subdued and withdrawn. Over the years, hes explored nearly every corner of weirdness imaginable in the Deep South from jails to homeless camps to driving a taxicab to being a staff writer for the alt-weekly The Independent Weekly. Dege will be kicking-off his U.S. tour with two record release shows in suppport of Folk Songs Of The American Longhair (April 7th in Lafayette and April 29th in New Orleans) before heading through the South, East and Midwest (dates below). Feel
free to download and post Brother Dege's "The Girl Who Wept Stones"
MP3 from his forthcoming album Folk Songs of the American Longhair : BROTHER DEGE 2010 SPRING U.S. TOUR 04.07
LAFAYETTE, LA BECKY
SCHLEGEL MOVES FORWARD WITH NEW SINGLE, "Fans
of singer/songwriters such as Jewel and Dolly will want to take a chance
on this." - COUNTRY WEEKLY |
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