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BARGAIN BASEMENT
COMPACT DISCS - Country, Bluegrass & Old Timey
| E.C. BALL & ORNA BALL | Rounder 11577 | E.C. Ball With Orna Ball | ● CD |
| 25 tracks, 64 mins, essential Simply lovely and unique performances of traditional music featuring singer/ guitarist Estil C. Ball joined at various times by his wife Orna or his church group The Friendly Gospel Singers recorded in 1972. Estil, from the Virginia/ North Carolina border had a distinctive and warm baritone voice and was a superb guitar player who included among his influences Maybelle Carter, Riley Puckett and Merle Travis. The result is playing that is accomplished but not flashy - the three instrumentals here are truly outstanding. His wife Orna had a gentle voice that perfectly complements Estil and on some cuts she adds some very effective accordion. The repertoire is mostly traditional gospel songs along with the instrumentals and a couple of novelty songs - Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party and The Early Bird Always Gets The Worm. Rounding out this reissue of Rounder 0026 are excerpts from a couple of of the Balls' regular weekly radio shows over WKSK in West Jefferson, NC. - truly charming performances. Now Rounder can you please also reissue on CD the Ball's second album? (FS) |
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| FIDDLIN' JOHN CARSON | Document DOCD 8017 | Complete Recordings, Vol. 4 -March 1926 to October 1927 | ● CD |
| FIDDLIN' JOHN CARSON | Document DOCD 8018 | Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 5 : 1927-29 | ● CD |
| FIDDLIN' JOHN CARSON | Document DOCD 8019 | Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 6 : 1929-30 | ● CD |
| THE DIXON BROTHERS | Document 8046 | Complete Recordings, Vol. 1 - 1936 | ● CD |
| 22 tracks, highly recommended The first of four volumes featuring the complete recordings of this superb South Carolina duo. Lifelong industrial millhands, The Dixon Brothers were also among the most influential of the early country brother duets and were also successful recording artists in the 30's. The brother's repertoire was an intriguing blend of mountain ballads, parlor songs, self-penned country songs in the style of the day, religious songs, country blues, and songs about the hardships in the cotton mills drawn from personal experience. Dorsey does most of the lead vocal and plays regular guitar, brother Howard provides harmony vocals and steel guitar. This volume includes a couple of their most enduring songs the topical Weave Room Blues and the humorous delight Intoxicated Rat. Other fine original songs include Sales Tax On The Women and Spinning Room Blues. There are "answer" songs to such popular ditties as Maple On The Hill/ I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail and Bonnie Blue Eyes, religious songs like Not Turning Back/ A Wonderful Day and Are You Sure? and more. Generally decent sound and good notes from Keith Briggs. (FS) |
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| JOE GOLDMARK | HMG 3009 | All Hat - No Cattle | ● CD |
| A diverse selection of material from this versatile steel
guitarist including Duane Eddy's Because They're Young, the
Goffin-King composition Hey Girl, The Band's Whispering Pines,
the South African jazz standard Skokiaan, Don Gibson's Sweet
Dreams, The Byrds' Eight Miles High and more |
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| JOE GOLDMARK | HMG 3014 | Strong Like Bull ... But Sensitive Like Squirrell! | ● CD |
| 2001 album from fine and idiosyncratic Bay Area steel
guitarist - mostly original tunes with accompaniments from The Axe
Murderers, The Heavenly Horns, The 10 Gallon cats and others - Joe's
Jump/ Butane/ Okra Dokey/ Going Up The River/ take Four/ Fog City/ Presence
Of The Lord/ Sensiive Like Bull, etc. |
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| MERLE HAGGARD | Koch 4054 | Sing Me Back Home | ● CD |
| Circa 1967, this one mixed originals, covers and material
from other Bakersfielder writers. The title song was based on Haggard's own
too-recent prison experiences at San Quentin, where he saw Death Row inmates
firsthand. Also from his pen came Good Times, the honkytonker I'll
Leave the Bottle on the Bar and Look Over Me as well as Wine
Take Me Away, a Hag-Tommy Collins collaboration . Hag and former
employer Wynn Stewart created My Past Is Present (not Bob Wills as
the back composer credits state). Mom and Dad's Waltz came from
Haggard's idol and stylistic mentor Lefty Frizzell. The rest including
Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp (Dallas Frazier), If You See My Baby
(Bob Morris and Eddie Miller) and Where Does The Good Times Go (Buck
Owens) reflected the Bakersfield contingent. (RK) |
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| ROY HARVEY | Document DOCD 8051 | Complete Recordings In Chronological Order, Vol. 2 | ● CD |
| 24 tracks recorded between February 1928 and October 1929.
It includes ten more tracks with the North Carolina Ramblers including a
terrific version of the old ballad George Collins. There are ten
tracks with Earl Shirkey which are essentially solo performances by Harvey
with Shirkey adding yodelling and spoken comments and doing two of the
vocals. There are also four excellent guitar intsrumentals with Harvey
joined by guitarist Leonard Copeland. |
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| THE HILLBILLIES/ AL HOPKINS & HIS BUCKLE BUSTERS | Document 8041 | Vol. 3 : 1926-27 | ● CD |
| ROSE MADDOX & JOHN JORGENSON | Country-Town Music 1005 | The Moon Is Rising | ● CD |
| 12 tracks, 36 minutes, recommended When you consider that Rose Maddox's recording career began in 1947, it's a truly amazing thing to be reviewing her latest record in 1997! Actually the majority of these tracks are 10 years old, with 3 new songs added in 1996. According to the booklet, Jorgenson and Maddox met in L.A. during the early 80's when he backed her up in a punk club! The two vocalists trade off singing chores on most numbers and sing harmony as well. Of course Rose's singing is not as sharp and intense as it once was, but it remains instantly recognizable and better than many country vocalists. Several of these songs are familiar Maddox material, like "Stand Up Fool" and "Down to the River" and they sound fine. There's some other good material like "What Makes Me Hang Around" and "Love is Spoken Here", but others, like the title tune and Hoyt Axton's "Old Greyhound", just don't fit with Rose's style. Musical backing is top notch, especially Jorgenson's guitar and Jay Dee Maness' pedal steel. (DP) |
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| THE MCCOURY BROTHERS | Rounder 0230 | Mccoury Brothers | ● CD |
| Del McCoury, one time guitarist and lead singer for Bill
Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, has long been considered one of the premier
traditional bluegrass vocalists around. Here he joins with bassist-vocalist
brother Jerry and David McLaughlin, Eddie Stubbs and Richard Underwood of
The Johnson Mountain Boys to create one of the nicest traditional new
bluegrass records in a while. On I'll Never Make You Blue/ My Sweet Love
Ain't Around/ Lonesome Wind and 9 others, Del and Jerry evoke memories
of the great brother duets of the past. (RP) |
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| FIDDLIN' DOC ROBERTS | Document DOCD 8043 | Complete Recordings, Vol. 2 : 1928-1930 | ● CD |
| RALPH STANLEY | Rebel 1657 | I'll Answer The Call | ● CD |
| All Gospel album from Ralph and the boys including, as
usual, Ralph's bright ringing banjo and soulful vocals. Curly Ray Cline's
old timey styled fiddling, Jack Cooke's leather lunged harmonies, plus some
nice lead singing by rhythm guitarist Sammy Adkins and some tasty lead
guitar by Junior Blankenship. There are two a capella quartet numbers and an
outstanding version of Hazel Houser's Praying , with a moving lead
vocal by Blankenship. Nothing new here, and that's one of the nice things
about the record. Ralph and his band remain one of the few remaining strong
links to the beginnings of bluegrass, and for that reason, we should
treasure every record he puts out. (RP) |
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| DOC & MERLE WATSON | BGO BGOCD 416 | Lonesome Road | ● CD |
| Reissue of 1977 UA album. With occasional piano, bass &
drums accompaniment Doc & merle work their way through a fine selection of
older and newer country songs and blues -
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| SLIM WHITMAN | Jasmine 3549 | The Man With The Singing Guitar, Vol. 1 | ● CD |
| 23 tracks from the early 50s by this distinctive performer
including his first hit from 1952 Love Song Of The Waterfall. Plus
By The Waves Of The Minnetonka/ Bandera Waltz/ An Amateur In Love/
Birmingham Jail/ Danny Boy/ Cold Empty Arms/ Love Song Of The Waterfall/
There's A Rainbow In Every Teardrop and others. |
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