COUNTRY,
BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIMEY
Marvin Rainwater
-> The Tony Rice Unit
MARVIN RAINWATER |
Bear Family BCD 15600 |
Classic Records |
● CD $99.98 |
The idiosyncratic quarter-Cherokee singer made his biggest
splash in 1957 with "Gonna Find Me A Bluebird" before being
forgotten in the U.S. . Yet he remains big in Europe, one reason for this
comprehensive, 4 CD box. The 120 selections come from early demos (some
later issued on the Crown label), his complete 1955-1960 MGM sides (save
nine lost masters) and the Warwick and Star Dale sessions, a live 1962
WWVA Jamboree performance, the Brave sessions and his United Artists and
Warner Brothers material. At MGM he ran the musical gamut, obvious on the
witty "Tea Bag Romeo," the funky "Dem Low Down Blues,"
and rockabilly numbers "Hot and Cold" and "Mr. Blues."
Based in Washington D.C., Rainwater's band featured guitarist Roy Clark,
who long before Hee Haw, mediocrity and Vegas set in, was a hot guitarist
( he used some sort of early fuzztone on "Rovin' Gambler").
Rainwater's eclecticism was amazing. "My Brand Of Blues" reeks
of the Johnny Cash sound while "The Majesty of Love" a duet with
the then-obscure Connie Francis, features him crooning Perry Como-style.
Ironically, many songs with Indian themes were penned not by Rainwater,
but by Nashville writer John D. Loudermilk. This is a lot of Rainwater,
considering that his later sides were often bizarre rockers like the
echoey, distorted Sun Records imitation "Boo Hoo" and "Big
Tom Cat," a parody of Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John." Though
the live WWVA performance from 1962 with Patty is excellent, Most of the
later stuff is awful, particularly the duets with Bill Guess. The final CD
includes early demos and unissued sides but if you're interested, here it
is. Booklet by Colin Escott with the usual rare photos. (RK)
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MARVIN RAINWATER |
Bear Family BCD 16570 |
Rock Me - The Westwood Recordings |
● CD $21.98 |
Due mid-May. Country/ rock 'n' roll performer Marvin
Rainwater had a loyal following in England and this album features
recordings made for the English Westwood label in 1975 and 1976 including
a whole LPs worth of material that was never issued.
|
THE RANCH BOYS |
Cattle 208 |
Cowboy Harmony |
● CD $18.98 |
21 rare sides by this western group recorded between 1934
and about 1941 - Ragtime Cowboy Joe/ The Strawberry Roan/ Ole Faithful/
The Old Spinning Wheel/ Empty Saddles/ There's A Home In Wyoming<
etc.
|
WAYNE RANEY |
Ace CDCHD 857 |
That Red Hot Boogie Boy |
● CD $18.98 |
25 tracks, 68 mins, essential
At last, an in
depth look on CD
at the recordings of this outstanding harmonica player, singer and composer
recorded for King records between 1947 and 1953. Wayne sings in his unique
nasal twang, combining elements of honky tonk, blues, country boogie, and
old time balladry, forming his own very effective style. Nearly all the
recordings find him accompanied on guitars by The Delmore Brothers who also
provide vocal harmonies. On a couple of sessions they are joined by
harmonica player Lonnie Glosson for a twin harmonica sound and some of the
later sessions feature occasional electric guitar, steel, guitar, fiddle and
piano. It includes his hits Lost John Boogie, Jack & Jill Boogie
and the classic Why Don't You Haul Off And Love as well as lots of
other great songs like Fox Chase (his only solo harmonica piece), the
lovely Lonesome Wind Blues with fine mandolin from Mac Luna, the
delightful novelty Pardon My Whiskers, an excellent cover of Lefty
Frizzell's If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time and lots more.
Sound quality is superb (none of those horrible overdubs) and the 12 page
booklet has extensive notes by Dave Sax plus photos and label shots. A
winner all the way. (FS)
|
WAYNE RANEY |
King 588 |
Songs From The Hills |
● CD $9.98 |
Exact reproduction of an album from 1958, this is probably
the best single album by this artist that is readily available. This album
has 16 excellent cuts by this outstanding and historically important
harmonica player, vocalist, and composer. Included are his biggest hit, Why
Don't You Haul Off And Love Me plus Lost John Boogie/ Lonesome Wind
Blues, the humorous Pardon My Whiskers/ Jack And Jill
Boogie/ I Love My Little YoYo/ Adam/ Gone With The Wind This Morning,
and seven more excellent cuts. Accompanied by such musicians as Jethro
Burns, the Delmore Brothers, Henry Glover, and others, Wayne sings in his
unique nasal twang, combining elements of honky tonk, country boogie, and
old time balladry, forming his own very effective style. (RP)
|
OLE RASMUSSEN |
Bear Family BCD 16255 |
Sleepy Eyed John |
● CD $21.98 |
28 tracks recorded for Capitol between 1950 and '52 by
excellent and popular Westrn Swing band who performed very much in the Bob
Wills style.
|
THE RED CLAY RAMBLERS |
Sugar Hill 8502 |
Far North |
● CD $11.98 |
Music from the Sam Shepard film of the same name. Far
North/ Blue Duluth/ Roll On Buddy/ Train Through The Big Woods/ Night
Harps , etc.
|
RED RIVER DAVE |
Bronco Buster 9050 |
Honky Tonkin' Thelma |
● CD $18.98 |
Red River Dave McEnery was a popular and prolific performer
who was particularly known for his topical ballads. This release features
rare sides from the 40s.
RED RIVER DAVE: (Take Me Back To My) Boots And Saddle/ Cool Water/ Cotton
Eyed Joe/ Heartaches/ Honky Tonkin' Thelma/ I Have Got My Back To The
Wall/ I'll Be All Smiles Tonight/ I'll Never Be Ashamed Of You/ I'm A
Married Man/ It Could Have Had A Different Ending/ Living A Lie/ My Home
Is A Prison/ Over You/ Reeling Cowboy/ San Antonio Rose/ Shame On You/
Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)/ There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder/
Tumbling Tumbleweeds/ Where Is My Boy Tonight/ Why Should I Feel Sorry For
You Now/ You Never Waited For Me/ ROY SMECK: Mexicali Rose.
|
JERRY REED |
Bear Family BCD 16306 |
Here I Am |
● CD $21.98 |
Reissue of all 30 tracks Jerry recorded for Capitol between
1955 and 1958 long before he became a country star. A collection of
rockabilly and country.
|
JERRY REED |
Collectables 2702 |
When You're Hot You're Hot/ Ko-Ko-Joe |
● CD $16.98 |
Two LPs on one CD.
|
JERRY REED |
RCA 66592 |
The Essential Jerry Reed |
● CD $11.98 |
20 tracks including Guitar Man/ Amos Moses/ When You're
Hot, You're Hot/ Ko-Ko Joe/ The Uptown Poker Club/ Lord, Mr Ford/ East
Bound And Down/ The Crude Oil Blues/ The Bird/ She Got The Goldmine (I Got
The Shaft), etc.
|
GOEBEL REEVES |
Bear Family BCD 15680 |
Hobo's Lullaby |
● CD $21.98 |
26 tracks, 1929-35 by country music pioneer.
|
JIM REEVES |
A Touch Of Magic DATOM 3 |
Live - I Love You More |
● CD $17.98 |
21 tracks, 47 minutes, recommended. These transcription
recordings were commissioned by the Armed Forces and were made by Reeves
in front of a live audience early in his career. Reeves had one of the
purest and most beautiful voices in country music, but was largely
promoted as a pop artist, with lush orchestral backing. He was certainly
capable of singing hard country, as many of his early recordings attest.
These recordings are of the latter variety and are a real treat for those
of us who like him best in that context. An occasional pop number
intrudes, like Dear Hearts and Gentle People, but mostly this are
beautiful country ballads with a few uptempo numbers. Reeves' singing is
strong throughout and he sounds great on Have I Told You Lately That I
Love You, Your Old Love Letters, Roly Poly, and many
others. A highly enjoyable disk and a nice companion piece to the Live
at the Opry recording released by the Country Music Foundation a few
years back. (DP)
|
JIM REEVES |
Bear Family BCD 15656 |
Welcome To My World |
● CD $269.98 |
16 CDs, 447 tracks, recommended
30 years passed in 1994
since the day Jim Reeves's plane slammed into the countryside outside
Nashville. Bear Family marked that occasion by assembling literally every
single song Reeves commercially recorded plus dozens of demo recordings.
Admittedly, this is a lot of Reeves for all but the die-hard fan (in some
areas of Europe, he's practically a god) but for those who qualify, this
is the Holy Grail. It starts with his first four sides for the tiny Macy's
label. All the complete Abbott recordings, including his first hit, Mexican
Joe and a number of alternate takes and the complete RCA Victors. 26
of the RCA recordings are included again with the overdubbed accompaniment
used to try and make them sound contemporary, a joint effort between RCA
and Jim's widow Mary Reeves. This sort of thing wasn't bad at first,
though it eventually got tacky, starting with his ghostly hit duet of Don't
Let Me Cross Over with Deborah Allen. Even worse were the tasteless
1980 "duets" of Have You Ever Been Lonely and I Fall
to Pieces that electronically paired Jim with the equally dead Patsy
Cline. Discs 15 and 16 feature dozens of previously unheard demo
recordings beginning with voice and guitar recordings made at KGRI radio
in Henderson, Texas, where Reeves worked as an announcer. Three 1952 live
recordings feature him live with a band at Longview, Texas' legendary Reo
Palm Isle honkytonk. Among the oddities are four selections from a 1959
recording session with his band the Blue Boys for Mary Carter Paints.
Colin Escott's 124 page booklet features detailed notes, a discography and
what appears to be every Jim Reeves photo ever taken. Only the true Reeves
fanatic may want this, but for those who do, you won't get through this
one in a month (or even six) of listening. (RK)
|
JIM REEVES &
FRIENDS |
Bear Family BCD 16274 |
Radio Days, Vol. 1 |
● CD $99.98 |
4 CD set with book featuring 117 previously unissued
recordings drawn from late 1950s and early 60s radio transcriptions made
by Jim for Country Music Time. Accompanied by his Blue Boys he sings many
of his hits as well as songs he hadn't recorded elsewhere. In addition to
his own performances he introduces performances by fellow Nashville stars
like Chet Atkins, Jean Shepard, Del Wood, The Louvin Brothers, Carl Butler
and others.
|
JIM REEVES &
FRIENDS |
Bear Family BCD 16282 |
Radio Days, Vol. 2 |
● CD $99.98 |
Second collection of previously unissued sides drawn from
radio transcriptions Jim made in the late 50s and early 60s for Country
Style USA, Leatherneck Jamboree & Country Hoedown. Four CD box set
with book features 117 tracks.
|
DICK REINHART |
Cattle 212 |
Hot Rod Baby |
● CD $19.98 |
Enjoyable collection of 20 tracks recorded between 1940 and
'47 by this engaging West Coast based singer - Baby Be On Your Way/
Don't Make Me Wait Too Long/ Hot Rod Baby/ I Know What You're Thinking/
Mean Old Muddy Water/ No One To Kiss Me Goodnight, etc.
|
DON RENO & RED
SMILEY |
Copper Creek 127 |
On Stage |
● CD $16.98 |
20 tracks, 38 min; highly recommended
These wonderful live
recordings feature music from concerts at Sunset Park in 1958 and New
River Ranch in 1957, at a time when such country music parks played a
major role in keeping bluegrass alive. In addition to banjo legend,
songwriter, tenor singer extraordinaire and great lead bluegrass guitarist
Don Reno and his partner lead singer and rhythm guitarist Red Smiley, The
Tennessee Cut-Ups of the time included bassist John Palmer and the
fabulous fiddler Mack Magaha. The excitement of a live concert is palpable
on these recordings, and the repertoire features no fewer than nine songs
and tunes never commercially recorded by the band, including outstanding
versions of Don't Stop Now/ Springtime In Glory/ I Can't Stop Loving
You/ Gone Home/ Grey Eagle, and others, along with band staples like Your
Love Is Dying/ Sawing On The Strings/ Banjo Signal, and others.
Wonderful notes by Jack Tottle. An endearing peek at a time in bluegrass
history long since past. (RP)
|
DON RENO & RED
SMILEY |
Copper Creek 128 |
On The Air |
● CD $16.98 |
22 tracks, 37 min; recommended
Another privileged glimpse
into the history of bluegrass, this time via recordings from four
different radio shows featuring Reno & Smiley from 1957 to 1960. Less
satisfying musically than the concert recordings reviewed above because of
time constraints, long intros and too much palaver in general, this CD
nonetheless offers a fascinating look at local bluegrass programming of
the day. The Tennessee Cut-ups are augmented here on some numbers by ten
year old mandolinist Ronnie Reno, including a vocal on a number called Lasses.
Other numbers include It's A Little More Like Heaven/ I'll Stay Around/
There's More Pretty Girls Than One/ Sweethearts In Heaven/ Family Bible
and others. Extremely learned, knowing notes by Johnson Mtn. Boys fiddler
Eddie Stubbs. (RP)
|
RENO & SMILEY |
King KSCD 5105 |
Classic Bluegrass |
● CD $9.98 |
10 tracks, recommended Short but sweet collection of love
songs drawn from this great duo's recordings for King. Most from the late
50s and early 60s it also includes the great I'm Gone, Long Gone
from their first King session in 1952 plus other fine tracks like Love
Please Come Home/ Lonesome Wind Blues/ Another Day/ Ain'y Nobody Gonna
Miss Me/ Greenback Dollar, etc. terrific singing and instrumental work
with lots of fine banjo picking from Reno. (FS)
|
RENO & SMILEY |
King KMCD 6105 |
Tribute To Mother |
● CD $9.98 |
12 gospel songs with a mother theme by this suprerb
bluegrass group - Always Be Kind To Your Mother/ I'm Building A Mansion
in the Sky/ My Mother's Bible/ Mother's Only Sleeping/ A Brighter Mansion
Over There/ A Rose On God's Shore, etc.
|
BUDDY REYNOLDS |
Bronco Buster 9028 |
A Canadian Country Music Pioneer |
● CD $19.98 |
BUDDY REYNOLDS: A Stranger's Kiss/ Angel in Disguise/ Blue Okanagan./
Centipede/ Exile/ Golden Eagle Rag/ I Want to Be Your Valentine/ I Was
Only Foolin'/ Little Shoes/ Make-believe Castle/ Ogopogo/ Roly Poly Heart/
Seeing Is Believing/ Tundra/ Your Love Has Changed to Jealousy/ over an
Ocean of Golden Dreams
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SLIM RHODES |
Gee-Dee 270132 |
Gonna Romp And Stomp |
● CD $19.98 |
Mostly country and a bit of rock 'n roll including his 9 Sun
recordings and a radio show from 1966.
|
RHUBARB RED |
Bronco Buster 9023 |
Les Paul's Country Roots |
● CD $18.98 |
22 tracks, 47 mins, good
Any fan of Les Paul's knows that
before Mary Ford, multitracked recordings and so forth, he had the persona
of Rhubarb Red, and in the 1930s, worked extensively on WJJD's Suppertime
Frolics under that name. Years later, after he'd retired the Rhubarb Red
persona and formed his Les Paul Trio, who appeared on Fred Waring's NBC
radio show. Apparently in the 1940s, he was convinced to revive Rhubarb
Red for a series of MacGregor Transcriptions, issued on Orthotone
Transcriptions in Canada. Details behind these transcriptions aren't
clear. They could have been recorded with the Trio, or possibly in Los
Angeles after the Trio disbanded, since he's featured singing with only
guitar, bass and fiddle accompaniment. Don't expect much hot playing,
except for Les's own original instrumental Firecracker Rag. The
songs are standard-issue traditional country and mountain fare, everything
from Barbara Allen and Bully of the Town to In the Blue
Hills of Virginia, all sung straight. When he sings a pop tune like I
Never See Maggie Alone or Bill Bailey, there's nary a lick of
jazz. Even the very competent fiddler never gives into the temptation to
let fly with some swing licks. Les would burrow even deeper into jazz and
pop playing, not to mention guitar and amp technology. This set, however,
gives a pretty good survey of his ability with straight, no frills country
fare. He would, however, work with hillbilly music again, albeit in an
uncredited capacity on some of Red Ingle's material. (RK)
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TONY RICE |
Rounder 0167 |
Backwaters |
● CD $16.98 |
|
TONY RICE |
Rounder 0183 |
Cold On The Shoulder |
● CD $16.98 |
This is the first all vocal solo album by this talented
performer and an excellent album it is too - a nice mixture of traditional
and contemporary songs by writers like Godon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, Rodney
Crowell and others - excellent singing and guitar by Tony with Jerry
Douglas/ dobro, Todd Phillips/ bass, Vassar Clements/ fiddle, Sam Bush/
mandolin & others
|
TONY RICE |
Rounder 0201 |
Me & My Guitar |
● CD $16.98 |
Tony concentrates on singer-songwriter material for the most
part on this one (5 songs by Gordon Lightfoot, 1 each by James Taylor, Ian
Tyson, Norman Blake, Bob Franke and Bob Dylan, along with 2 instrumentals)
and it's a very nice record, partly because Tony's easy baritone singing
voice lends itself to these songs and partly because of some well
conceived bluegrass arrangements and great accompanists (Sam Bush, Jerry
Douglas, Mark Schatz, Vassar Clements, et al). Particularly nice is Tony's
sardonic reading of Dylan's Sweetheart Like You. (RP)
|
TONY RICE |
Rounder 0248 |
Native American |
● CD $16.98 |
Another contemporary folk kind of record from Tony, much
like his
Me And My Guitar of a while back. On this one, he does two Gordon
Lightfoot compositions, one James Taylor, one John Mayall, one Mickey
Newbury, one Joni Mitchell, an Ian Tyson, one Mary Chapin Carpenter and
one Phil Ochs, among others. The instrumentation is bluegrass provided by
Tony on guitar and his current band of Mark Schatz, Wyatt Rice and Jimmy
Gandreau, along with occasional help from Jerry Douglas, Vassar Clements,
Jonathan Edwards and others. Newbury's Why You Been Gone So Long is
the closest thing to bluegrass but that's OK if you're not expecting a
bluegrass record. Tony's obvious fondness for these songs, his great
singing and guitar playing and imaginative arrangements do generally show
the songs in their best light. (RP)
|
TONY RICE |
Rounder 0253 |
Plays & Sings Bluegrass |
● CD $16.98 |
|
TONY RICE |
Sugar Hill 3732 |
Church Street Blues |
● CD $16.98 |
|
THE RICE BROTHERS GANG |
B.A.C.M. 117 |
King Cotton Stomp |
● CD $14.98 |
25 tracks, 70 minutes, highly recommended
During the
1920s, Atlanta's fertile old-time music community was divided into two
camps. At one end: the older, tradition-minded John Carson and the Tanner
Brothers. At the other: Clayton McMichen, Lowe Stokes and Hoke Rice, who
could play the old tunes but were more captivated by blues, jazz and
popular music. Veteran country record producers initially ignored the
younger musicians' progressive repertoire, though the mid-'30s juke box
revolution changed all that. The opening tracks by Hoke Rice's Hoky-Poky
Boys from 1930 sound like a black hokum ensemble. In 1937 Hoke and his
younger brother Paul formed The Rice Brothers Gang, a versatile showband
with outstanding musicianship. Like the Hoosier Hot Shots, Rice Brothers
Gang weren't really country nor jazz. Unlike that popular Midwestern act,
they eschewed novelties and were definitely Southern. Hoke played electric
guitar (one of the earliest in country music), with Clinton Collins on
swing fiddle, Warren Sykes on hot harmonica and Ted Lewis/Johnny Hodges
disciple Johnny Gorman on reeds. The personnel shifted during the next
five years, but its sound remained consistent until the end; fiddler Cliff
Bruner sat in on one 1941 date. Highly recommended to hot string band
aficionados. (DS)
THE RICE BROTHERS GANG: Brown Mule Slide/ Down Yonder
(instr.)/ Georgia Jubilee/ Girl Of My Dreams/ I Won‘t Have Any Troubles
Anymore/ I‘ll Always Love You/ King Cotton Stomp (instr.)/ Linda May
Polka/ Little Girl I‘m So Blue Without You/ Lovelight In The Starlight/
Mary Lou/ Nagasaki (instr.)/ Oh Susannah/ On The Sunny Side Of The Street/
Please Don‘t Stay Away/ Ridin‘ Down The Canyon/ Sally Do You Love Me/
Sugar Blues/ Sweet Someone/ Sweetheart Wait For Me/ They Cut Down The Old
Pine Tree/ When It‘s Blossom Time In Old Caroline/ You Don‘t Love Me
Anymore (little Darlin‘)/ You‘ve Got That Thing/ You‘ve Gotta See Your
Daddy Every Night
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THE TONY RICE UNIT |
Rounder 11531 |
Devlin |
● CD $16.98 |
CD-only selection of tunes from Tony's
Mar West and
Still Inside albums, 15 tunes.
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