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COUNTRY,
BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIMEY
Red
Foley -> Tony Furtado
| RED FOLEY |
Bronco Buster 9014 |
Hillbilly Fever In The Ozarks |
● CD $19.98 |
20 tracks, 44min., highly recommended
All of the songs on
this CD were recorded as transcriptions for Radiozark in 1954 to 1955 and
they're great. Supported by his crack band of Tommy Jackson on fiddle,
Grady Martin on guitar, steel guitarist Bud Isaacs, guitarist Jimmy Selph
and Bobby Moore on bass; Foley swings through some of his hits (Sugarfoot
Rag, Birmingham Bounce and Tennessee Saturday Night) and
covers some country standards (including Western Swing numbers by Bob
Wills, Spade Cooley and Foy Willing). This release offers Foley's great
vocals without any schlocky over-produced songs.... it's a treat. (RS)
RED FOLEY: Birmingham Bounce/ Easy to Please/ Freight Train Blues/
Hillbilly Fever/ Home in San Antone/ Honey Be My Honey Bee/ I'll Be There
(If You Ever Want Me)/ Never Trust a Woman/ Please Don't Leave Me/ San
Antonio Rose./ Shame on You/ Skinnie Minnie (Fishtail)/ Sugar Moon/
Sugarfoot Rag/ Tennessee Border/ Tennessee Polka/ Tennessee Saturday
Night/ Texarkana Baby/ Texas Blues/ Why Don't You Haul off and Love Me
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| RED FOLEY |
MCA MCAD 10084 |
Country Music Hall Of Fame Series |
● CD $7.98 |
Available again at a budget price. Like Tubb, Foley's legacy
consisted of an awful double set of re-recordings of old hits cut before
Foley's death in 1968. This collection presents all sides of Foley,
starting with his 1944 cover of Bob Wills's Hang Your Head In Shame
through 1945's Old Shep, and Tim Spencer's elegant ballad Careless
Kisses. Two of his best and most successful hillbilly boogies, Tennessee
Saturday Night (1947) and Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy (1950)
are both here, as are three of his most powerful gospel performances, Just
A Closer Walk With Thee, When God Dips His Love In My Heart and
Peace In The Valley, the song he sang at Hank Williams's funeral. Alabama
Jubilee shows off his pop singing skills, and his blues singing shines
on Deep Blues and the long-underrated Boudleaux Bryant-Chet Atkins
blues Midnight (a 1952 #1 for Red) featuring Chet and Grady on lead
guitars. His vocal version of Hank Garland's instrumental Sugarfoot Rag
features Garland soloing on guitar. Two duets round things out. As Far
As I'm Concerned paired him with daughter Betty while One By One
paired him with Kitty Wells in one of the first hit male-female superstar
duets. The notes by John Rumble are surprisingly good. (RK)
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| TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD |
A Touch Of Magic DATOM 7 |
Showtime |
● CD $16.98 |
26 songs culled from radio transcriptions (RadiOzarks?) from
the early fifties. It's an eclectic mix that encompasses many numbers
Ernie never recorded for Capitol. All were performed in his late
40's/early 50's "boogie" style. The mix of material encompasses
pop (Waitin' For The Robert E. Lee/ You Gotta See Mama Tonight/ Up A Lazy
River/ Beer Barrel Polka/ Ma! He's Makin' Eyes At Me/ Wrap Your Troubles in
Dreams and If You Knew Suzie). The country tracks
include Just Because/ Catfish Boogie/ Tumbling Tumbleweeds/ Won't You Ride In My Little Red
Wagon/ Cool Water/ I Gotta Have My Baby Back/ Sunday Down In Tennessee/ Too Much Sugar For
A Dime and Half As Much. He even does a hot version of
the 1949 R & B hit The Hucklebuck Most likely Speedy West
is the steel guitarist on most of this material. Notes are virtually
nonexistent. Sound quality is mediocre. The worst problem throughout is
the fact that the speed is slightly off kilter. Ernie's voice is deep, but
not quite as deep as it is on the songs done here, obviously the fault of
a slow tape transfer or a balky motor on the turntable used for the
mastering. (RK)
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| TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD |
Bear Family BCD 15487 |
Sixteen Tons |
● CD $21.98 |
25 outstanding country, folk and country boogie numbers
Ernie recorded for Capitol from 1949 to 1958x, including the original Sixteen
Tons, Anticipation Blues, Rock City Boogie (with the
Dinning Sisters), Shot Gun Boogie, Catfish Boogie, Hey
Good Lookin' (with Helen O'Connell), Hambone (with Bucky Tibbs)
My Hobby, Smoky Mountain Boogie, Milk 'Em In The Morning
Blues Hey! Mr. Cotton Picker and Tailor Made Woman with
ragtime pianist Joe Fingers Carr as well as numbers like The
Ballad of Davy Crockett, Cry of the Wild Goose Mule Train
and later sides including his classic performance of Merle Travis's Sixteen
Tons, that topped both the country and pop charts in 1956. Earlier
sides feature the incredible guitar/steel guitar team of Jimmy Bryant and
Speedy West goosing things along. Later sides featured Jack Fascinato's
small band that accompanied him on his NBC TV show. Superb sound and
complete discographical data and notes by Cary Ginell included.
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| TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD |
Capitol 54319 |
Vintage Collection |
● CD $11.98 |
20 tracks collection of hits and rarities - Milk 'Em In
The Morning Blues/ Smokey Mountain Boogie/ Mule Train/ I'll Never Be Free
(with Kay Starr)/ I Ain't A-Gonna Let It Happen No More/ Streamlined
Cannon Ball (with The Dinning Sisters)/ Hambone (with Becky
Tibbs)/ Snow Shoe Thompson/ Kiss Me Big/ First Born, etc.
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| TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD |
Jasmine 3501 |
The Real Thing |
● CD $11.98 |
31 tracks drawn from transcriptions of Ernie's early 50s
radio show. He performs a mixture of country favorites, western songs,
traditional songs and pop tunes - Floatin' Down To Cotton Town/
Cimarron/ Red Sails In The Sunset/ Jealous Heart/ Pretty Little Pink/ When
The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob Bobbin Along/ San fernando Valley/
Cinnamon Sinner/ Sunbonnet Sue, etc. Ernie is accompanied by the cream
of West Coast session musicians including Speedy West, Billy Strange,
Jimmy Bryant, Harold hensley and Libert. Speedy gets a couple of
instrumental tracks to himself.
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| CURLY FOX &
TEXAS RUBY |
Bronco Buster 9016 |
A Memorial To Curly Fox & Texas Ruby |
● CD $19.98 |
Rare recordings from the 40s plus radio transcriptions -
some from the Grand Ole Opry.
CURLY FOX & TEXAS RUBY: Ain't You Sorry That You Lied/ Blue Love (in
My Heart)/ Casey Jones (the Brave Engineer)./ Even Though I'll Shed a
Million CURLY/ Have You Got Someone Else on the String/ Hometown Blues
(Inst.)/ I Don't Love Nobody/ I'll Take Back All I've Said about You/ Just
One Little Kiss/ Listen to the Mocking Bird (Inst.)/ Nobody Else but You/
Rock My Cradle (Once Again)/ The Letter That Broke My Heart/ The Old Home/
We Live in Two Different Worlds/ Whoa Mule/ Would it Make Any Difference
to You/ You'll Remember and Be Blue/ with Tears in My Eyes
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| CONNIE
FRANCIS & HANK WILLIAMS JR. |
Bear Family BCD 15737 |
Country Classics |
● CD $21.98 |
14 tracks 35:34 masochists only Believe it or not, there was
a time in 1964 when Hank, Jr. didn't have any rowdy friends. Back then,
MGM was willing to pair him with nearly anyone (except Eric Burdon and the
Animals) to try and sell him as a pop-country idol. So he and Connie, she
of such memorable and profound opuses as Lipstick on Your Collar
and Stupid Cupid, are paired to knock off a bunch of syrupy duets
on country standards ranging from Bye, Bye, Love, Singing the Blues,
(with harmonica!), If You've Got The Money, No Letter Today, Wabash
Cannon Ball (really!) and nine more. There are even two takes of Muleskinner
Blues (with new lyrics). The string-heavy schlock accompaniment was
typical of Nashville back then, and even annotator William Ruhlmann is
hard pressed to say much positive about the collaboration (his diplomacy
is admirable). Here's a suggestion: If YOU'VE got some rowdy friends at
your house who've overstayed their welcome and you'd like 'em out, crank
up either take of Muleskinner or Wolverton Mountain on the
CD player (or set it on repeat) and watch 'em flee! What about a Hank and
Connie reunion? Can you imagine a collaboration on Born to Boogie?
Ecstasy!
(RK)
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| FREAKWATER |
Thrill Jockey 022 |
Old Paint |
● CD $16.98 |
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| FREAKWATER |
Thrill Jockey 47 |
Springtime |
● CD $16.98 |
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| DONNIE FRITTS |
Oh Boy 17 |
Everybody's Got A Song |
● CD $14.98 |
New album from talented singer/ songwriter who was an
important part of the Muscle Shoals scene in the 60s and 70s. Includes
guest appearances from John Prine, Dan Penn, Tony Joe White, Waylon
Jennings, Lucinda Williams, Billy Swan & others.
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| LEFTY FRIZZELL |
Bear Family BCD 15550 |
Life's Like Poetry |
● CD $279.98 |
What you've heard about for the past two years is here at
last: the most elaborate country music box set ever, not to mention the
most elaborate ever done on a single country performer. It is every bit as
amazing as its advance publicity--and Bear Family's reputation for
excellence--indicated it would be. The 12 LP Lefty box of 1984 is now a 12
CD box with the addition of newly discovered songs and a drastically
expanded booklet. Given the enhanced storage capabilities of CDs, that
adds up to 330 songs. This includes every known Columbia and ABC recording
from 1950 to 1975 as well as a number of newly- discovered recordings and
recordings that weren't available for use on the first set. Nine CD's
cover the 1950-1974 Columbia/ABC recordings, with multiple versions of
several songs and without the overdubbed voices that were used on the
original releases. Alternate versions of early numbers like My Baby's
Just Like Money often equal the better-known versions. What can one
say about this stuff? It is some of the best, most influential country
music ever made, as George Jones, Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, John
Anderson or Randy Travis would tell you. One can hear Lefty's sound evolve
from the unvarnished Texas honkytonk of the fifties to a conservative
version of the Nashville Sound to a smoother, but sparse sound falling
between raw and polished with ABC. Totally remastered since the first set,
the remarkable remastering work here permits instruments inaudible on the
original 78s or 45s (or the first box) to come through. For those of you
who still mistrust CD reissues because you've heard badly mastered ones,
this set proves what capable, sensitive engineers can do. To hear this
compared to shellac or vinyl analog discs is comparable to standing right
in the studios while the recordings were made. The final three discs
include Armed Forces recruiting shows starring Lefty, including some new
ones from the fifties. More significant among the demo recordings are ten
home recordings done in New Mexico in 1946, four years before he signed
with Columbia. On them he sings a couple Bob Wills songs and some of his
first songs (nothing here became a hit) that say much about his musical
influences. You expect the Jimmie Rodgers overtones, but the influence of
Jimmie's protégé Ernest Tubb is a strong second. In addition, you can hear
the beginnings of his legendary elongated vocal phrasing. That these
recordings sound superb given the rough nature of any home disc recording
is a further tribute to the remastering. Charles Wolfe's 153-page,
LP-sized revised book (booklet being an inaccurate description) is laden
with newly-unearthed candid and publicity photographs (many of them color)
and Wolfe's notes have been totally updated, reflecting new research. As
Bear Family enters their 17th year of superb country releases, this is
their greatest triumph. Few artists are more deserving. (RK)
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| LEFTY FRIZZELL |
Columbia-Legacy C2K 64880 |
Look What Thoughts Will Do - The Essential
Lefty Frizze |
● CD $21.98 |
2 CDs, 34 songs, 87 mins, essential For those unfamiliar
with Lefty or unwilling to spring for the pricey Bear Family box, this is
the next best thing since it covers his best for Columbia from 1950
through 1965. You get the original I Love You A Thousand Ways and If
You've Got the Money I've Got The Time to the original Look What
Thoughts Will Do, Always Late and two songs from Lefty's Jimmie
Rodgers tribute album. There are also lesser known but no less potent fare
like I'm An Old, Old Man and Run 'Em Off, which later wound
up in Merle Haggard's repertoire. Also here is Lefty's brilliant,
prescient 1956 honky tonk warning Just Can't Live That Fast (Any More)
(19 years ago, he boozed himself into a fatal stroke), Rarities include an
engaging duet with Johnny Bond on Sick, Sober And Sorry. From 1958
comes his definitive interpretation of Marty Robbins' Cigarettes and
Coffee Blues and his final big hit, Saginaw, Michigan. Seven
tunes, among them Don't Think It Ain't Been Fun Dear (Cuz It Ain't),
You Want Everything But Me, You Can Go On Your Way Now, All of Me Loves
All of You
were released only on the Bear Family box, making their first
U.S. appearance. The packaging is fine, though I can't figure why Legacy
didn't feel a Frizzell collection didn't merit substantive, factual notes.
Patrick Carr's appreciation isn't really enough. If the Bear Family box
would bust your budget, this and the Varese set are an attractive
alternative. (RK)
LEFTY FRIZZELL: All Of Me Loves All Of You/ Always Give Me More, More,
More/ Always Late/ Bring Your Sweet Self Back To Me/ Cigarettes And Coffee
Blues/ Don't Let Her See Me Cry/ Don't Stay Away/ Don't Think It Ain't
Been Fun, Dear/ Forbidden Lovers/ Forever And Always/ How Long Will It
Take/ I Love You A Thousand Ways/ I Love You Mostly/ I Want To Be With
You/ I'll Try/ I'm An Old, Old Man/ If You've Got The Money/ It Get Late
So Early/ Just Can't Live That Fast/ Look What Thoughts Will Do/ Lost Love
Blues/ Mom And Dad's Waltz/ My Rough And Rowdy Ways/ Run 'Em Off/ Saginaw,
Michigan/ She's Gone, Gone, Gone/ Shine, Shave, Shower/ Sick, Sober And
Sorry/ The Long Black Veil/ Travelin' Blues/ Treat Her Right/ You Can Go
On Your Way Now/ You Want Everything But Me/ You're Humbuggin' Me
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| LEFTY FRIZZELL |
Koch 8049 |
Sings The Songs Of Jimmie Rodgers |
● CD $11.98 |
Reissue of long out of print LP originally issued as a
10" LP in 1951 plus one bonus cut.
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| LEFTY FRIZZELL |
Sony Music Special Products 30823 |
Pure Country |
● CD $7.98 |
10 of lefty most popular Columbia sides - If You've Got
The Money I've Got The Time/ Cigarettes & Coffee Blues/ Saginaw,
Michigan/ The Long Black Veil/ An Article From Life, etc.
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| LEFTY FRIZZELL |
Tee Vee 6007 |
20 Greatest Hits |
● CD $11.98 |
20 tracks, 55 min., recommended. Excellent budget collection
of Lefty's finest recordings, formerly on Columbia LP 15595. If You've
Got the Money / Look What Thoughts Will Do /Mom & Dad's Waltz /
Forever/ Release Me / Long Black Veil/ Always Late With Your Kisses/
Travelin' Blues/ Don't Stay Away/ She's Gone, Gone, Gone/ The Waltz Of The
Angels/ California Blues, etc.
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| TONY FURTADO |
Rounder 0290 |
Within Reach |
● CD $14.98 |
Tony is just 24, but his musical resume is already
impressive. Twice National Banjo Champ, a former member of Laurie Lewis'
Grant Street, and he even survived a stint with Roots & Rhythm! His
first Rounder album was a gem of bluegrass, newgrass, and string band
forms. Within Reach mines much the same veins, featuring such
luminaries as Stuart Duncan, David Grier, Mark Schatz, Joe Craven, Rob
Ickes, Scott Nygaard, and Allison Krauss (who sings the Beatles' I Will).
Includes 7 imaginative originals including Ralph Trischka/ Waiting For
Guiteau/ President Garfield's Hornpipe. Duskus is a bluegrass/
frailing banjo duet with Sall Truitt. Judging from the cover, Tony still
isn't shaving regularly, but it looks like he could if he wanted to.
(RP)
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