( Advanced Search )  


COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIMEY

Art Dickson -> Tommy Duncan

ART DICKSON
THE DILLARDS
THE DINNING SISTERS
THE DIXON BROTHERS
JERRY DOUGLAS
JIMMIE DRIFTWOOD
DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD
DUFFEY, WALLER, ADCOCK & GRAY
STUART DUNCAN
TOMMY DUNCAN & THE WESTERN ALL-STARS

 

ART DICKSON B.A.C.M. 243 ● CD $14.98
26 tracks, recommended
Entertaining collection of western songs performed by Oklahoma singer Dickson accompanied by various groups. Dickson apparently had a fairly lengthy musical career performing in several different styles but settled on western music in the late 30s. He never recorded commercially and these tracks are all taken from radio transcriptions - presumably from the early/ mid 40s and while his trained voice is a little off putting the accompanying harmonies and instrumental work are excellent. Songs include Lonesome Days/ When Cookie Yells/ I'm Gonna Have A Cowboy Wedding/ Chant Of The Wanderer/ Close To Heaven/ He's Gone Down The Long, Long Trail/ Tired Little Wrangler/ Blue Ranger/ All Day On the Prairie, etc. (FS)
ART DICKSON: A Dogie's Lullaby/ A Sinner's Prayer/ All Day On The Prairie/ At The Old Barn Dance/ Blue Ranger/ Chant Of The Wanderer/ Cindy/ Close To Heaven/ Don't Expect Me Home In The Morning/ He's Gone Down The Long, Long Trail/ I'm Gonna Have A Cowboy Wedding/ Jack O' Diamonds/ Lonesome Days/ Move On, You Lazy Cattle/ My Little Cow Pony And I/ No Good Son-Of-A-Gun/ No Letter Today/ Singin' On The Range/ Take That Night Train To Memphis/ Tired Little Wrangler/ When Cookie Yells/ Whoa Mule, Whoa/ Whoopee-Ti-Yi-Yo/ Would He Ride On A Roundup In Heaven/ You Nearly Lose Your Mind/ You're From Texas

 
THE DILLARDS Vanguard VCD 131/32 There Is A Time (1963-70) ● CD $17.98
The Dillards hailed originally from the Ozarks, and though they made much capital from their hillbilly image (they were the Darlin' family on The Andy Griffith Show), they were shrewd fellows, and carved a career out of being THE bluegrass band during the folk boom of the 60's. They also cut 5 albums for Elektra, all represented here. Doug Dillard on banjo, Rodney Dillard on guitar, Dean Webb on mandolin, and Mitch Jayne on bass were the original band. Their first three albums were mostly traditional bluegrass, and included spritely originals like Dooley (the Darlin's signature number), the very traditional Old Home Place, and others. Their third album, from which three tunes here are taken, was a wonderful all-instrumental LP featuring a young Byron Berline on a selection of fiddle tunes. Their last two Elektra albums featured Herb Pederson in place of the departed Doug Dillard on banjo, and the material veered increasingly toward contemporary folk and progressive country-rock sounds. 29 cuts in all - a generous sampling from the Elektra years. RP)

 
THE DILLARDS Vanguard VHD 79460 Let It Fly ● CD $17.98
New recording by Rodney Dillard, Steve Cooley, Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne, with Herb Pederson producing and playing guitar, and special guests Byron Berline, Bill Bryson, Tom Brumley and more. 12 selections.

 
THE DINNING SISTERS Jasmine 3551 Back In Country Style ● CD $11.98
26 tracks, very good
26 songs from, mostly from around 1951, The Dinning Sisters career included recording both pop and country material and although stylistically their performances are only tangential to country they were very popular on the National Barn Dance out of Chicago in the 40s and it must be admitted that their performances of western and country classics do have quite a bit of charm. Songs include Turn Your Radio One/ You'll Be Sorry/ Trouble In Mind/ I'm Sorry Now/ I Only Want A Buddu, Not A Sweetheart/ Oh! Monah/ Ridin' Down The Canyon, etc. Accompaniments are also a mix of country and pop and half the tracks feature the brilliant guitarist George Barnes. (FS)

 
THE DIXON BROTHERS Document 8047 Complete Recordings, Vol. 2 - 1937 ● CD $15.98
23 more fine sides including two rare demos that were in the possession of Wade Mainer - Answer To Maple On The Hill-Part 4/ I Will Meet My Precious Mother/ Darling Do You Miss Me/ How Can A Broke Man Be Happy/ She Tickles Me/ A twilight Old Pal Of Yesterday/ Bless His Promise/ I Won't Accept Anything For My Soul/ The Girl I Left In Danville/ The Lonely Prisoner, etc.

 
THE DIXON BROTHERS Document 8048 Complete Recordings, Vol. 3 - 1937-38 ● CD $15.98
 

 
THE DIXON BROTHERS Document 8049 Complete Recordings, Vol. 4 - 1938 ● CD $15.98
This volume completes the reissue of the Dixon Brothers and fills out the CD with the complete recordings of The Dixie Reelers from 1936.

 
JERRY DOUGLAS Rounder 11535 Everything Is Gonna Work Out Fine ● CD $15.98
19-track sampler from various Rounder releases, with Darol Anger, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs and more.

 
JERRY DOUGLAS Sugar Hill 3797 Slide Rule ● CD $15.98
 

 
JERRY DOUGLAS & PETER ROWAN Sugar Hill 3847 Yonder ● CD $15.98
13 tracks, 46 min; interesting. A conscious attempt by Peter and Jerry to evoke the simplicity and warmth implicit in the mostly traditional repertoire presented here. All songs and tunes feature only Jerry, on dobro or Weissenborn guitar, and Peter on guitar or mandolin and vocals. Traditional numbers include Cannonball Blues/ Tuck Away My Lonesom Blues/ Tribulations/ Girl In The Blue Velvet Band and other including four Rowan originals in the traditional style. The warm sound quality and presence achieved soundwise may be because the songs and tunes were recorded in various living rooms, using tube mics and tube mic preamps. A nice, atmospheric recording, lovingly performed. (RP)

 
JIMMIE DRIFTWOOD Bear Family BCD 15465 Americana ● CD $65.98
3 CD set of all of Driftwood's RCA recordings. Includes 24 page booklet with notes and discography.

 
DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD Rounder 0258 Fertile Ground ● CD $15.98
 

 
DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD Rounder 0289 Long Journey ● CD $15.98
 

 
DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD Rounder 0306 Just For The Record ● CD $15.98
 

 
DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD Rounder 0469 Memories That Bless & Burn ● CD $15.98
16 tracks, recommended Excellent collection of bluegrass gospel from one of the best currently active groups led by singer/ mandolin player Ron Thomason. Nine of the tracks are recent recordings, the rest are drawn from earlier albums by the group. The title song is an original by Suzanne Thomas who has her only lead vocal here - it's a stunning performance and I hope we'll hear more of her. Other songs include Looking For The Stone/ Were You There?/ I'll Be No Stranger/ I have Found A Way/ Dip Your Fingers In Some Water/ The God That never fails/ When I Went In the Valley To Pray and others.

 
DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD Rounder 11519 Tried & True ● CD $15.98

 
DUFFEY, WALLER, ADCOCK & GRAY Sugar Hill 3772 Classic Country Gents Reunion ● CD $15.98

 
STUART DUNCAN Rounder 0263 Stuart Duncan ● CD $15.98
11 tracks, 33 min., recommended
This is the initial solo effort by the Nashville Bluegrass Band's regular fiddler (and just about everybody's favorite young fiddler). Accompanied on various cuts by bandmates and other instrumental hotshots as Sam Bush, David Grier, Bela Fleck, and Jerry Douglas, Stuart tackles a varied repertoire including traditional fiddle tunes and originals. He takes the lead vocal on Lonely Moon, plays a little mandolin and guitar, and generally illustrates why he's one of the most highly regarded acoustic music players. RP)

 
TOMMY DUNCAN & THE WESTERN ALL-STARS Bear Family BCD 15907 Texas Moon ● CD $21.98
26 songs, good
Tommy Duncan's solo material hasn't gotten to the hands of reissuers, and now that it has, it's not always a plesant surprise. You might have figured that after Bob Wills canned him in 1948, since he formed a hot band of ex-Texas Playboys with his bass-playing brother Glynn Duncan, that this is loaded with white-hot swing. Well, the band hit the road and had one hit in 1949 with Gambling Polka Dot Blues But the complete 1949-1950 Capitols, mostly Duncan vocal showcases, are disappointingly tame, despite the presence of such hot players as Noel Boggs and Joe Holley. They seemed to be playing restrained accompaniment behind Tommy's singing, as he wanted. Two more songs, All Star Boogie and High Country made up a mediocre single on Tommy's own Natural label. Better are four songs that consist of Glynn Duncan's two Cormac singles, with Tommy and the band backing him (Tommy showing that his vocal talents didn't extend to playing bass fiddle). By late 1950, Tommy disbanded the group to work solo. The strongest material comes from Tommy's first two 1951 sessions for Intro Records teaming him with Ole Rasmussen and the Nebraska Corn Huskers, a Wills-like band with power and energy to energize Tommy. These are the best tracks on the album, without question. Comes with great photos, complete discography and typically factual and honest notes by Rich Kienzle, who doesn't mince words about the musical problems, though one sometimes has to read between the lines a bit. (AK)

 
TOMMY DUNCAN & THE WESTERN ALL-STARS Bear Family BCD 15957 Beneath A Neon Star In A Honky Tonk ● CD $21.98
28 songs, fans only This one picks up the ball with his 1951-1953 sessions for Intro, a far cry from the first two sessions. Some of this is unbelievably insipid, such as Who Drank My Beer (When I Was In the Rear) and Tomato Can, the latter so bad that in the notes, Glynn Duncan himself admits to hating it. The strongest Intro material teamed Tommy with the Texas honky-tonk/swing unit The Miller Brothers, with whom he recorded a 1953 version of Willie Mae Thornton's Hound Dog, that's apparently the first known recording of that song by any white singer. Inexplicably, Duncan's Coral recordings of the mid-1950s, some of his best solo recordings, weren't included by Bear Family. His lousy ultra-rare 1956 single Daddy Loves Mommyo and Crazy Mixed Up Kid for Bakersfield-based Fire Records does appear, and even Buck Owens on guitar can't save it. The music symbolizes Duncan's foundering career, which didn't get beyond second string until he reunited briefly with Wills in the late 1950s. After he returned to his solo career, the obscurity returned. Still, it's sad to hear one of Western Swing's great vocalists trying to gain a real foothold and failing, and inexcusably Bear Family left off the Corals. (AK)

  Back To Country Music Index 




Roots & Rhythm
P.O. Box 837
El Cerrito, CA 94530 USA
Toll Free Order Line : 888-ROOTS-66, Fax : 510-526-9001

©2010 Roots & Rhythm. No part of this site may be reproduced without written permission