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COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIMEY
Chris Gaffney -> Skip Gorman
| CHRIS
GAFFNEY BOB GALLION JERRY GARCIA & DAVID GRISMAN HANK GARLAND BOBBIE GENTRY FRANKLIN GEORGE DON GIBSON |
JIMMIE DALE GILMORE JOHNNY GIMBLE TOMPALL GLASER JOE GOLDMARK DAVE GOODMAN CURTIS GORDON |
| CHRIS GAFFNEY | Hightone HCD 8038 | Mi Vida Loca | ● CD $13.98 |
| Southern California singer-writer Gaffney's third album (and
first for Hightone) with his excellent band, the Cold Hard Facts,
continues his individualistic direction mixing various musics, often
within the same song, with consistently high quality. There's no witless
"achy breaky" dances from this boy. And his producer, ex-Blaster
Dave Alvin understands Gaffney, whose music and lyrics have the same
quirky eclecticism as Jim Lauderdale (who sings along on They Made A
Mistake), Gaffney's Hispanic roots show up in the accordion-driven
Tex-Mex rockers Get Off My Back Lucy, I Never Grew Up and
the Alvin-penned title track, an instrumental. Yet Gaffney doesn't dwell
on his ethnicity. Quiet Desperation is a barn-burner of a ballad
perfect for George Jones. Six Nights A Week, a Gaffney-Alvin
original, captures bar band lifestyles more vividly than nearly any other
song. He really proves his eccentricities with the hilarious Psychotic
Girlfriend. If Lauderdale, Kevin Welch and Mark Collie can make their
marks commercially, there certainly ought to be room for Gaffney to do the
same. Garth Brooks or Billy Ray Cyrus he ain't--and that in itself counts
for something these days. (RK) |
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| CHRIS GAFFNEY | Hightone HCD 8062 | Loser's Paradise | ● CD $13.98 |
| 12 tracks, 42 min., recommended Six of the twelve tracks found here were written or co-written by Chris Gaffney and, taken together, these songs could make up half of a great non-commercial country CD. Unfortunately, the other six songs don't hold up their end of the bargain, so we end up with a good CD. Actually, two of the cover tunes are cajun-flavored rockers and naturally add some spice to the mix created by producer by Dave Alvin, so maybe I'm quibbling. Lots of accordion and guest appearances by Lucinda Williams, Rosie Flores, Jim Lauderdale and Dale Watson help things along. Now if we could just get George or Merle to record the heart-breakin' My Baby's Got a Dead Man's Number, we'd be all set. (RS) |
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| BOB GALLION | Bear Family BCD 16439 | Out Of A Honky Tonk | ● CD $21.98 |
| 20 tracks, 46 mins, recommended The complete MGM recordings
(1956 to 1959) of this outstanding honky tonk singer who had a couple of
modest hits from these recordings and later went on to greater success a
few years later at Hickory. Gallion is a powerful and expressive singer
who wrote many of the songs here. Although full personnel is not known one
session does feature Don Helms on steel and another session has Tommy
Jackson on fiddle. Some of the later sessions feature unnecesarry vocal
chorus but he generally is able to rise above it. The set includes his two
very fine stabs at rock 'n roll My Square Dancin' Mama (She Learned To
Rock 'n' Roll) and Baby, Love Me. Thre are also four previously
unissued songs including an excellent version of the Rod Bernard hit This
Should Go On Forever. Definitely worth a listen. (FS) |
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| JERRY GARCIA & DAVID GRISMAN | Acoustic Disc 2 | Jerry Carcia & David Grisman | ● CD $15.98 |
| JERRY GARCIA & DAVID GRISMAN | Acoustic Disc ACD 21 | Shady Grove | ● CD $17.98 |
| HANK GARLAND | Bear Family BCD 15551 | Hank Garland & His Sugar Footers | ● CD $21.98 |
| Guitarist extraordinaire Hank Garland made his first solo
recordings for Decca in the late forties and early fifties. This 20 song
compilation brings together all those early sides. It includes Garland's
original 1949 instrumental version of Sugarfoot Rag and Red Foley's
1950 hit vocal version of the song, recorded a few months later with Hank
on guitar. When Decca's Paul Cohen signed Garland in 1949, he thought an
instrumentalist needed to sing to sell records (Chet Atkins sang on his
first RCA sides). So Cohen had Hank record Hank Snow and Floyd Tillman
hits, imitating their vocals Rich Little-style on This Cold War With
You and I'm Moving On. Even Owen Bradley, then Cohen's
assistant, now admits this wasn't such a hot idea. But Garland's clean,
clear picking is a constant, and other instrumentals like Hillbilly
Express, Sentimental Journey, Lowdown Billy, Sugarfoot
Boogie (the earliest recording here) and Seventh And Union are
outstanding. The few vocals in his frame the mostly instrumental Guitar
Shuffle and E String Rag. His playing even saves the cornball
instrumental Doll Dance and I'm Crying, a variation on Blues
Stay Away From Me sung by Jack Shook and Dottie Dillard. Two 1950's
numbers come from a Garland session for the obscure Chic label of
Thomasville, Georgia. The booklet boasts complete discographical data for
the Decca sides and excellent notes by Garland authority Rich Kienzle.
(AK) |
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| BOBBIE GENTRY | Curb 77387 | Greatest Hits | ● CD $7.98 |
| 11 songs including her original hit version of Ode To
Billie Joe plus Okolona River Bottom Band/ Louisiana Man/ Steal
Away/ Let It Be Me (with Glen Campbell) /Penduli pendulum, etc. |
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| FRANKLIN GEORGE | County 2703 | Traditional Music For Banjo, Fiddle & Bagpipes | ● CD $14.98 |
| 21 tracks, 50 min; recommended West Virginia fiddler, banjo
player, and piper Franklin George possesses an infectiously jaunty,
melodic style both on fiddle and banjo, combined with a rhythmic feel that
indicates that he played lots of music for dancing during his formative
musical years. He's also an accomplished bagpiper, and is particularly
well informed on the bagpipe origins of the many Irish and Scottish fiddle
tunes that have made their way into the traditional Appalachian
repertoire. There are two bagpipe medleys here, but the meat of this very
enjoyable album, first recorded for the Kanawha label in 1967, is in the
wonderful fiddle and banjo tunes documented here, including Old Molly
Hare/ Salt River/ Soldier's Joy/ Fine Times At Our House/ Turkey In The
Straw/ Grey Eagle/ Mississippi Sawyer, and more. Occasional
accompaniments by John Summers on second fiddle or Pat Dunford on banjo or
guitar. Wonderful listening all the way around. Good notes by George
Balderose. (RP) |
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| DON GIBSON | B.A.C.M. 134 | I Love No One But You - The early Years | ● CD $13.98 |
| 24 tracks, highly recommended A fascinating glimpse at the early years of this fine artist who was to achieve great success in the late 50s and 60s. This album features 24 sides recorded for Mercury, RCA & Columbia between 1949 and 1955 before Don's voice had matured to the distinctive one we are familiar from his big hits.The first side features the 4 sides recorded in 1949 with The Sons Of The Soil and are very western flavored - on two of them all four members sing in astyle very reminiscent of The Sons Of The Pioneers. The 8 songs from 1950 & 1951 are straight ahead mainstream country with warm but not terribly compelling vocals by Don and nice accompaniment by a small group with pleasing steel by Summie L. Hendrick. By the time he joined Columbia in 1952 we can hear his distinctive style beginning to take shape with excellent vocals and strong instrumental work. Decent sound and brief notes by Brian Golbey. (FS) DON GIBSON: A Blue Million Tears/ Automatic Mama/ Carolina Breakdown (instr.)/ Cloudy Skies/ Dark Future/ I Just Love The Way You Tell A Lie/ I Lost My Love/ I Love No One But You/ Ice Cold Heart/ Just Let Me Love You/ Let Me Stay In Your Arms/ Many Times I‘ve Waited/ No Shoulder To Cry On/ Red Lips, White Lies & Blue Hours/ Roses Are Red/ Sample Kisses/ Selfish With Your Kisses/ Symptoms Of Love/ Waiting Down The Road/ Walking In The Moonlight/ We‘re Steppin‘ Out Tonight/ Why Am I So Lonely/ Wiggle Wag (instr.)/ You Cast Me Out Forever More |
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| DON GIBSON | Bear Family BCD 15401 | A Legend In My Time | ● CD $21.98 |
| Once again, Bear Family demonstrates the RIGHT way to
produce a CD with this incredible-sounding 26-track (over an hour and five
minutes of playing time) of classic 1957-64 Gibson RCA material. One of
country music's greatest songwriters, Gibson always epitomized the
positive aspects of the late 50s "Nashville Sound." He and
producer Chet Atkins (whose stinging lead guitar graces much of the
material here) achieved a sound that flattered Gibson's voice without
fiddles and steel. The Gibson standards are here, from Oh Lonesome Me /
Blue, Blue Day / A Legend In My Time / Give Myself A Party / I Can't Stop
Loving You / Sea Of Heartbreak and Sweet Dreams . Also included
are rarities such as the hard-country pre-Nashville Sound Sittin' Here
Cryin' and four 1964-5 sides issued for the first time. Musicians
include: Atkins, Floyd Cramer or Pig Robbins (pno), Buddy Harman (dms),
Junior Huskey or Bob Moore (bs), Hank Garland or Grady Martin (gtrs). The
insert features complete discographical data and brief but enlightened
notes from Charles Wolfe, whose companion book (below) complements this
set perfectly. |
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| DON GIBSON | Bear Family BCD 15475 | The Singer-Songwriter, 1954-60 | ● CD $84.98 |
| Some years ago, Bear Family issued several Don Gibson LPs
that brought together all of his early recordings, beginning with his
first four mediocre Mercury sides recorded at age 16 in 1949 as part of a
quartet of his hometown North Carolina musicians known as the Sons of the
Soil (Don sang lead on two numbers and played bass). This new set puts
everything on these albums and everything else he cut onto four CDs
including his first unsuccessful stint with RCA in 1950-1951 as leader of
the King Cotton Kinfolks. At this point Don's potential as a vocalist was
obvious, but the sides were much in the style of Hank Williams and any
number of other vocalists and went nowhere. The 12 sides for Columbia from
1952 to 1954 were excellent vocal showpieces for him (except when he
tried--unsuccessfully-- to sing like Hank Williams). These, too, went
nowhere. Most of the songs he cut not only weren't very good, they weren't
even his own compositions. With MGM in 1955 he did no better, being pushed
to sing in a style that wasn't his, though he began cutting more of his
own songs including his first hit--the original version of Sweet Dreams,
which became Don's first hit song when Faron Young covered it. His writing
career showed promise even though he had no more success on MGM. In 1957
he returned to RCA working with Chet Atkins, who had just taken over the
label's country A & R duties. The first session stiffed. The second
dropped the fiddles and steel, added the Jordanaires and produced Blue,
Blue Day. The new, streamlined Gibson sound was the ticket, giving him
a chance to such classics as Oh, Lonesome Me and I Can't Stop
Loving You (which Gibson wrote in one afternoon). As it turned out,
he, like Jim Reeves, became one artist whose work was enhanced by the
"Nashville Sound" to counter rock and roll. This shows that
sound at its best. The other hits, Look Who's Blue, Give Myself
A Party and Who Cares are all here. 123 songs later, the set
ends with a September 12, 1960 date that produced his second hit version
of Sweet Dreams. The booklet is Charles Wolfe's
previously-published "A Legend in His Own Time" which includes
rare photos and a complete Gibson discography. This isn't all the
excellent material Gibson recorded for RCA (another box would do it). This
one, however, shows his evolution, a hidden strength of Bear Family box
sets, and a reason to excuse the inevitable lousier songs. (RK) |
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| DON GIBSON | Bear Family BCD 15664 | The Singer, The Songwriter, 1961-66 | ● CD $99.98 |
| 4 CDs, 123 tracks, approx. 5 hours, good. This picks up
where the first volume (BCD 15475) left off, with Gibson's second hit
recording of his classic ballad Sweet Dreams. In the early sixties he
still made outstanding records, produced by Chet Atkins, that epitomized
the best of the Nashville Sound. Sea of Heartbreak, Lonesome
Number One andI Can Mend Your Broken Heart all came during this time.
In the spirit of experimentation he also recorded the strange LP
"Girls, Guitars and Gibson". Backing came from the Anita Kerr
singers and guitarists Hank Garland, Harold Bradley and jazz great Johnny
Smith playing gutstring models. During this period Gibson also recorded
the LP "I Wrote A Song", remakes of earlier Gibson hits along
with the LPs "Some Favorites of Mine" and "God Walks These
Hills". Nine tracks are issued for the first time. Mid-sixties
performances faltered badly considerably as Gibson's booze and pill
problems worsened, so along with the gems, there's much of dubious value.
His recordings with the Brazilian guitar team Los Indios Tabajaras were
particularly flat, never issued until Bear Family released them on LP some
years ago. Dale Vinicur's well-written notes add little new to Charles
Wolfe's original Gibson research. But she occasionally goes over the edge
with pretentious pull quotes, from the Bible, one from Edgar Cayce and
three from a book about Cayce, that come off as pure nonsense, not
insight. Greil Marcus she's not. (RK) |
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| DON GIBSON | Collectables 5874 | Oh Lonesome Me | ● CD $14.98 |
| Reissue of RCA 1743 from 1958 with 4 bonus cuts - Bad Bad
Day/ I Can't Leave/ I Can't Stop Lovin' You/ Sweet, Sweet Girl/ Blue, Blue
Day/ We Could/ Oh Lonesoem Me/ Give Myself A Party/ Sea Of Heartbreak,
etc. |
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| DON GIBSON | Curb 77440 | Best Of Don Gibson Vol. 1 | ● CD $7.98 |
| Yet another Gibson hits set (Bear Family and RCA got there
first with a lot of the same stuff) with Oh Lonesome Me/ Blue Blue Day/
I Can't Stop Loving You/ Lonesome Number One/ Sweet Dreams/ A Legend In My
Time. 12 cuts. |
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| DON GIBSON | Curb 77474 | 18 Greatest Hits | ● CD $10.98 |
| Hickory label recordings - duplicates titles on other Curb
and Bear Family collections, although many of these are later remakes with
rock guitar and noticeably different vocals. 18 picks, including Sea Of
Heartbreak/ Oh Lonesome Me/ Who Cares/ Sweet Dreams/ Look Who's Blue/ Give
Myself A Party/ I Can't Stop Loving You/ Lonesome Number One/ Blue Blue
Day/ Too Soon To Know. |
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| JIMMIE DALE GILMORE | Elektra 61148 | After Awhile | ● CD $15.98 |
| Former member of The Flatlanders (that legendary Texas band
with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock), moving from the straight country mood of
his previous Hightone recordings towards more earthy, folky directions.
Jimmie sounds like he's havin' a ball on these 12 songs, projecting his
very likable personality and no-nonsense philosophy of life with the help
of a talented multi-instrumental crew. Excellent Texas guitarisms from
producer Stephen Bruton, James Pennebaker and Gilmore himself, and lots of
memorable cuts like Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown/ Go To Sleep
Alone/ After Awhile. A real charmer. (MB) |
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| JIMMIE DALE GILMORE | Elektra 61502 | Spinning Around | ● CD $16.98 |
| 12 tracks, 45 min., essential I'll be the first to admit
that Jimmie Dale Gilmore isn't for everyone. But, if his earlier work
appealed to you at all, as it surely did to me, this is not the set to
miss. All of the essential elements are in fine balance here: Gilmore's
high plaintive voice, the sparse but effective instrumentation that
hearkens back to earlier times, the well chosen material, and the eerie
sense of the endless Texas planes that seems to pervade every number.
Featured cuts include Where You Going, a credible remade of Elvis's
I Was the One/ I'm Gonna Love You/ Another Colorado, and a standout
duet with Lucinda Williams on Reunion. The only number that seems
out of character to me is his version of the uptempo Mobile Line.
Otherwise, solid proof that at least some contemporary country music can
still evoke the mournful lonesomeness of its predecessors. ( |
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| JIMMIE DALE GILMORE | Elektra 61836 | Braver Newer World | ● CD $16.98 |
| 11 tracks, 47 min., recommended The title here, so the liner
notes say, is meant to suggest that Gilmore, best known for his ties to
the traditional, is now moving off in new directions to satisfy, again
from the liner notes, that part of his psyche that is "off the
map." Golly gee. Well, as cosmic as all of that is apparently meant
to sound, what it seems to boil down to is that on this particular outing
we get a few more numbers with rock accompaniment. Nonetheless, even with
that, almost all of the numbers here will still be stylistically
recognizable to long time Gilmore fans. Specific tracks include the title
cut, Come Fly Away, Borderland, Headed for a Fall, Sally,
There She Goes, a incorrectly titled (at least I
so assume) version of Blind Lemon Jefferson's Black Snake Moan, and
Outside the Lines. Most numbers are at least partially self-penned,
and the lyrics tend toward the ambiguous and the unresolved. Fine and
interesting music nonetheless, from one of the best of the current West
Texas troubadours. (DH) |
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| JIMMIE DALE GILMORE | Hightone HCD 8011 | Fair & Square | ● CD $15.98 |
| Texas musicians have long crossed stylistic barriers. In the
1930s, western swing merged old-time stringband harmonies with jazz-blues
rhythms. In the 1970s, a similar fusion emerged variously tagged
"country rock," "cosmic cowboy," or "progressive
country." For a decade, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Joe Ely,
and friends -- in Lubbock and Austin -- have pushed themselves and fans
onto inventive paths. Jimmie's current Hightone album of ten new songs is
superb: reedy soulful vocals, tight instrumental backup, fresh
restatements of timeless themes, imaginative poetry. Country rock remains
vital: highly recommended. (AG) |
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| JIMMIE DALE GILMORE | Hightone HCD 8018 | Jimmie Dale Gilmore | ● CD $15.98 |
| 1989 release by Gilmore, recorded in Nashville. Honky
Tonk Song/ Dallas/ Red Chevrolet/ Deep Eddy Blues/ That Hardwood Floor/
When The Nights Are Cold , etc. |
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| JIMMIE DALE GILMORE | Rounder 3173 | One Endless Night | ● CD $15.98 |
| 12 tracks, 54 minutes, recommended Jimmie Dale's latest is a
big improvement over his "Braver New World" release and probably
his best in years. The disk offers a powerful argument that Gilmore's main
claim to fame is as a song stylist. He only wrote 2 of the tunes here, the
title song and Blue Shadows, but both are strong additions to his
songbook. As for the other material, his instantly recognizable melancholy
croon and phrasing puts his individual stamp on the material, be it long
time collaborator Butch Hancock's Ramblin' Man, Walter Hyatt's Georgia
Rose, or his unexpected cover of Mack the Knife. The
arrangements are more consistently country and Buddy Miller's fine guitar
playing is a definite asset all and all a solid effort. (DP) |
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| JOHNNY GIMBLE | CMH 9027 | The Texas Fiddle Collection | ● CD $15.98 |
| All instrumental set - with Cliff Bruner, Eldon
Shamblin and others |
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| TOMPALL GLASER | Bear Family BCD 15596 | The Rogue | ● CD $21.98 |
| The third unissued ABC album, "Unwanted Outlaw",
is combined here with a more recent collection of classic pop and country.
The oldies are excellent, combining vintage country like Red Foley's Chattanoogie
Shoe Shine Boy with Eddy Arnold's I'll Hold You In My Heart,
Gene Autry's Tears on My Pillow, Floyd Tillman's I Love You So
Much It Hurts and Jimmie Davis's Shackles And Chains. The pop
numbers include Cole Porter's True Love, the 1949 Russ Morgan pop
hit Forever And Ever and the Kay Kyser hit Open Heart, Open Arms.
Mixed with all this is the traditional number My Pretty Quadroon.
"Unwanted Outlaw" was co-produced by Tompall and Jimmy Bowen of
Garth Brooks fame. Fact is, this is far better than any of the sludge
Bowen's produced on Brooks. Featured are Harlan Howard's Like An Old
Country Song, Tompall's own Sad Country Songs and Bob McDill's
brilliantly funny Don't Think You're Too Good For Country Music.
Musically, it dovetails surprisingly well with the older material. (RK) |
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| TOMPALL GLASER | Bear Family BCD 15605 | The Outlaw | ● CD $21.98 |
| Today, Tompall, one of the original Outlaws, seems barely
remembered. During the Waylon-Willie era he had only a few minor chart
hits despite the fact his Hillbilly Central studios in Nashville were the
spiritual center of the movement. Glaser cut three LPs for ABC/Dot Records
and this CD combines the two 1977 LPs: "Tompall And His Outlaw
Band" and "The Wonder of It All". Though neither album
sold, Glaser did some terrific work here that reflects his freewheeling
eclecticism. He tackled everything from Mickey Newbury's How I Love
Them Old Songs and a great version of Jessi Colter's Storms Never
Last to the traditional Duncan And Brady, Jimmie Davis's Sweethearts
Or Strangers and Release Me. Another indicator of his
individualism is the Stax-Volt arrangement of Waylon's hit You Can Have
Her. His voice alternates between raw and hoarse and a depth and
texture hauntingly similar to that of his friend Marty Robbins. The
backing is great, and I wish basic session personnel would have been
identified on both sets. Blues guitarist Mel Brown was part of Tompall's
band during this time. Perhaps Tompall was a bit too quirky to be as
easily marketed as easily as Waylon and Willie, though he admits in the
notes that drug use may not have helped the situation. These sides reveal
what everyone else missed. (RK) |
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| JOE GOLDMARK | HMG 3009 | All Hat - No Cattle | ● CD $15.98 |
| 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 | Lo-Ball 6 | All Over The Road | ● CD $15.98 |
| JOE GOLDMARK | Lo-Ball 7 | The Goldmark Round-Up - Steelin' From His Past | ● CD $15.98 |
| DAVE GOODMAN | Bear Family BCD 17009 | Live '96 | ● CD $21.98 |
| CURTIS GORDON | Bear Family BCD 16253 | Play The Music Louder | ● CD $21.98 |
| 34 tracks recorded for Mercury, RCA and Dollie between 1952
and 1957 and previously available on two Bear Family LPs. Curtis, from
georgia, is an excellent and expressive vocalist and is accompanied by
some superb musicians including steel guitarists Freddie Calhoun, Bud
Isaacs or Jerry Byrd, fiddlers Charles Mitchell or Dale Potter, guitarists
Chet Atkins and Eddie Hill and others. His material is a mixture of
ballads, country boogies, rockabilly and some novelty items all given fine
treatment though Gordon seems more comfortable with the uptempo items.
(FS) |
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