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COUNTRY,
BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIMEY
John Starling
-> The Swingin' Haymakers
| FRANKIE STARR |
Bear Family BCD 15990 |
Elevator Boogie |
● CD $21.98 |
25 tracks, (Marty Robbins) fans only. I imagine in the
greater scheme of things, few collectors give a hoot for Frankie Starr,
except for those studying the vital music scene around Phoenix, Arizona.
All but five numbers here are dreadfully dull 1950-1966 songs that taken
as a whole, explain pretty clearly why Starr never made it. Consider My
Woman Ain't Pretty (But She Don't Swear None) (no, I didn't make up
that title). This ballad sings praises of an unattractive but honest woman
who . . . you guessed it--don't swear none! About a minute of listening to
this will make the average listener swear lots (oops! pardon my grammar )
and the rest of Starr's performances will simply bore everyone to tears.
The main reason anyone will care at all about this utter waste of time are
the final four songs, from 1948, likely the first demos ever made by a
very young Marty Robbins. Starr met and befriended in Phoenix. In the
notes, Starr is justifiably critical of how Robbins later
"repaid" his early generosity. Marty's demos, done with acoustic
guitar, show an unsure Eddy Arnold influence that he'd leave behind in
just a couple years. (RK)
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| JODY STECHER
& KATE BRISLIN |
Appleseed 1043 |
Songs Of The Carter Family |
● CD $15.98 |
The newest by this outstanding duo featuring them performing
lovely versions of 12 songs originally recorded by The Carter Family
including Away Out On The Old Saint Sabbath/ Meet Me In The Moonlight/
Sow 'Em On The Mountain/ Bye & Bye/ Dark & Stormy Weather/ Don't
Forget This Song and others.
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| JODY STECHER
& KATE BRISLIN |
Rounder 0274 |
Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin |
● CD $15.98 |
Jody and Kate are two of our finest traditional country
musicians, and this, their first duet album, is on of the finest
traditional LPs we are likely to hear this year. Jody is an outstanding
traditional singer, and he also plays fiddle, guitar, and mandolin (often
overdubbed), even playing banjo on one cut. His fiddle playing and singing
in particular possess that mournful, doomy feeling that is an essential
element of really good old time country music. Kate, ex of the Any Old
Time and Blue Flame String Bands, is just about my favorite old time
country singer, and the unique timbre of her voice is heard here to best
advantage. Plus the harmony singing is heavenly. Larry Hanks adds some
rumbling bass on 2 cuts, while Heath Curdts sings baritone and plays banjo
on Paul & Silas. Other cuts: Alabama Waltz/ Love Farewell/
Hard Times & Will You Miss Me (another vocal gem) (RP)
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| JODY STECHER
& KATE BRISLIN |
Rounder 0284 |
Blue Lightning |
● CD $15.98 |
Jody and Kate are unique in the current bluegrass-old
timey-country-folk world in that they are able to draw material from a
variety of sources, interpret it, arrange it, and distill its' essence in
a way that stamps it as uniquely theirs. Still My Thoughts Go Back To
You, an original composition by Jane Voss, becomes in their hands as
timeless as The Carter Family's Old Pal Of Yesterday, The Stanley
Brothers' A Lonesome Night, Jean Ritchie's plaintive Blue
Diamond Mines, and traditional material like Lonesome Road Blues/
Elkhorn Ridge/ Adieu False Heart/ Polly Ann/ Stepstones/ Just A Few More
Days. Jody's great fiddle, mandolin, and guitar playing are much in
evidence. Kate has one of the truly rich, moving voices in folk music, and
their impeccable harmonies are state of the art. Kate also plays a couple
of banjo duets with bluegrass whiz Pete Wernick, and Laurie Lewis nails it
all to the floor with her bass playing. A great album. (RP)
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| JODY STECHER
& KATE BRISLIN |
Rounder 0304 |
Our Town |
● CD $15.98 |
13 tracks, 55 min., recommended
Once again, Jody and Kate
mine that borderland of traditional old time string band music, bluegrass,
and early country, coming up with a handful of gems. Our Town, Iris
DeMent's stunning look at small town America, is given their wonderful
treatment, as are The Bramble And The Rose, Mark Simos' In
Between Dreams, Hazel Dickens' Won't You Come And Sing For Me,
and Lyn Davis' Too Late, Too Late. Traditional songs included are Going
To The West/ Twilight Is Stealing/ Curtains Of Night, all invested
with the haunting vocal duet approach that makes Jody and Kate's music so
special. Jody's guitar, mandolin, and fiddle playing is outstanding as
always, and he contributes a rare original song, the whimsical Henry
And The True Machine. (RP)
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| JODY STECHER
& KATE BRISLIN |
Rounder 0334 |
Stay Awhile |
● CD $15.98 |
12 tracks, 50 mins, highly recommended
This is Jody an
Kate's fourth album as duo and is probably the purest recording yet of
their simple, almost stark, uniquely beautiful approach to the traditional
music that is their stock in trade. Much in evidence is Jody's
instrumental prowess on fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and banjo, as well as
his heartfelt dead-on vocal interpretations of such traditional fare as Seven
Year Blues/ Short Life Of Trouble, and the magnificent We Shall
Meet Someday joined here in a trio with Kate and the wonderful bass
singr Larry Hanks). Kate's evocative, artless lead and harmony vocals are
breathtakingly effective; she is among the finest interpreters of this
kind of material that we hav. She's also a fine old time banjo player, as
she demonstrates on the traditional ballad Willie Moore, which
features twin banjos with Jody. Other outstanding tracks are a great
versio of the cowboy clssic
, a prison songs called No Heaven On The Country Road, Long Time
Traveling and an original by Jody called Seventeen Cents,
which evokes images of Uncle Dave Macon in North Beach! (RP)
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| RAFE STEFANI |
County 2728 |
Hell & Scissors |
● CD $15.98 |
Talented young fiddler performing traditional tunes with
accompaniments from various musicians on guitar, banjo, uilleann pipes,
etc.
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| GARY STEWART |
Hightone HCD 8014 |
Brand New |
● CD $15.98 |
Welcome back Gary! After too long an absence one of the
great country singers of the 70s is back with a wonderful new album which
will surely renew his career in the 80s. Gary is singing as good as ever
with that hard edged soulful style that other singers aspire to rarely
achieve. On this new album, produced by Roy Dea, who produced most of
Gary's 70s hits he sings 10 new songs. Most of the songs were written by
Gary himself in collaboration with hsi wife Mary Lou or Dean Dillon. Fine
songs they are too - some like Brand New Whiskey and Rainin'
Rainin' Rainin' have that catchy lilt that finds you humming the songs
after only one hearing. There are tough rockers like Son Of A Honky
Tonk Woman and Lucretia, tender honky tonk ballads like I
Owe It All To My Heart and An Empty Glas, the whimsical I
Get Drunk and a dynamic blues Murdered By Love. All of it is
good and Gary is accompanied by a top notch band of Nashville musicians.
If this record doesn't take Gary back to the top there just isn't any
justice! (FS)
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| GARY STEWART |
Hightone HCD 8023 |
Battleground |
● CD $15.98 |
Gary Stewart's second for Hightone is another winner.
Perhaps not quite as strong as his first (Hightone 8014) there are some
fine songs here - honky tonk ballads and upbeat rockers. Nobody sings
cheatin' or hurtin' songs better than Gary and there are some great ones
here including Bedroom Battleground/ Nothing Cheat About A Cheap Affair
and a remarkable one about insane jealousy called Woman In Demand.
I'm not too wild about Gary's version of Robert Cray's Nothin' But A
Woman but there are some good rockers here including Let's Go Jukin'
written with Dicky Betts and Gary's own Hey Leona. Energetic
production from long time Gary Stewart producer Roy Dea. (FS)
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| GARY STEWART |
Hightone 8050 |
I'm A Texan |
● CD $15.98 |
12 tracks, 43 mins, recommended. Gary's first album of new
recordings in three years is another winner. He's not really a Texan but
his hard edged honky tonk style and his popularity in the Lone Star State
entitles him to sing the title song which is a powerful performance that
could well become a Texas anthem. The disc is full of hard living, hard
drinking country songs performed as only Gary can with his distinctive
vibrato, solid no nonsense accompaniments and usual impeccable production
by Roy Dea. A mixture of new and older songs with interesting covers of
Johnny Horton's hit Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor and the soul standard
Dark End Of The Street. (FS)
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| GARY STEWART |
RCA 66932 |
The Essential Gary Stewart |
● CD $15.98 |
20 tracks, 60 mins, recommended If you have the HighTone
Gary's Greatest collection, be aware this set duplicates eleven songs. The
rest weren't on that collection, including Honky Tonkin', Mazelle,
Cactus And A Rose, Are We Dreamin' The Same Dream, I See
The Want In Your Eyes and a duet with Dean Dillon on Brotherly
Love. It's not surprising that RCA missed the boat on this one. Better
to have added stuff to compliment the HighTone reissue, not simply rehash
it. (RK)
GARY STEWART: Are We Dreamin' The Same Dream/ Back Sliders Wine/ Brotherly
Love (& DEAN DILLON)/ Cactus And A Rose/ Drinking Thing/ Flat Natural
Born Good Timin' Man/ Honey-Tonkin'/ I See The Want In Your Eyes/ In Some
Room Above The Street/ Mazelle/ Oh, Sweet Temptation/ Out Of Hand/ Quits/
Roarin'/ She's Actin' Single/ Single Again/ Stone Wall/ Ten Years Or This/
Whiskey Trip/ Your Place Or Mine
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| JOHN STEWART |
Bear Family BCD 15468 |
California Bloodlines/Willard (Minus 2) |
● CD $21.98 |
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| JOHN STEWART |
Bear Family BCD 15518 |
The Complete Phoenix Concerts |
● CD $21.98 |
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| JOHN STEWART |
Bear Family BCD 15519 |
Canyons In The Rain/ Wingless Angels |
● CD $21.98 |
Two RCA albums from 1973 and '75 on one CD. 20 page booklet
with lyrics to all the songs.
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| WYNN STEWART |
Bear Family BCD 15886 |
Wishful Thinking |
● CD $259.98 |
Long awaited 10 CD set featuring all the recordings (279
songs) of this brilliant and influential singer and songwriter recorded
for various labels between 1954 and 1985. It includes 70 unissued songs,
alternates and demos including a whole album from 1969 that was never
issued. Comes with usual high quality LP sized booklet which includes
firts detailed biography of his life, a discography and previously
unpublished photos.
|
| LOWE STOKES |
Document 8045 |
In Chronological Order, Vol. 1 : 1927-1930 |
● CD $15.98 |
22 tracks, 66 mins, highly recommended. First of two volumes
featuring the recordings issued by this wonderful Georgia fiddler under
his own name - he recorded more extensively as a sideman. Stokes was a
versatile musician and played beautifully in a number of styles from the
expected mountain breakdowns to Tin Pan Alley songs to jazz to blues. A
number of tracks feature the dual fiddles of Stokes with Clayton McMichen
or Bert Layne and on one session all three play together! Other musicians
featured include guitarists like Hoke Rice, Perry Bechtel, Riley Puckett
and Claude Davis and Arthur Tanner appears on some tracks playing banjo or
banjo-mandolin. There are vocals from McMichen, Rice, Dan Hornsby and
others. An exciting and varied collection with excellent sound and high
quality notes from Tony Russell. (FS)
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| BILLY STONE |
Bear Family BCD 15736 |
West Texas Sky |
● CD $21.98 |
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| THE STONEMAN FAMILY |
King 4119 |
28 Big Ones |
● CD $10.98 |
28 tracks of old style country music by this country group
whose origins date back to the 20s - 100 Years Ago/ When The Snowflakes
Fall Again/ In The Sweet Bye And Bye/ Family Life/ Somebody's Waiting For
Me/ That Pal Of Mine, etc.
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| STONEY LONESOME |
Red House 46 |
Lonesome Tonight |
● CD $15.98 |
This band of young Minneapolis pickers brings a fresh
approach to traditional material such as the Stanley's Nobody's Love Is
Like Mine, Ola Belle Reed's I've Endured, Bill Monroe's Highway
Of Sorrow and others. Kevin Barnes on banjo, Chris Kaiser on mandolin,
Brian Wicklund on fiddle, Patty Shove on bass, and Kate MacKenzie on
guitar are solid, instrumentalists, and MacKenzie's lead vocals are very
nice; her rendition of Greg Brown's Early is particularly moving.
These young veterans of many appearances on Prairie Home Companion are a
refreshing addition to the world of bluegrass. RP)
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| CARL STORY |
King 9100 |
The Late & Great Carl Story |
● CD $9.98 |
14 tracks from the 60s by this great bluegrass gospel singer
who died in 1995.
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| CARL
STORY & HIS RAMBLING MOUNTAINEERS |
Starday 219 |
Mighty Close To Heaven |
● CD $9.98 |
Carl Story is one of the giants of bluegrass gospel and this
is a splendid collection of 12 songs from the early 60s on which Carl's
distinctive vocals are joined by William Brewster/ 5 string banjo,
Franklin Brewster/ mandolin, Tommy Jackson/ fiddle, Claude Boone/ bass
& harmony vocals and Jack Linneman on dobro. Songs include Amazing
Grace/ Row Us Over the Tide/ Rank Stranger/ Follow Him/ I'll Need The
Prayers Of Those I Love/ Mighty Close To Heaven, etc. (FS)
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| DON STOVER |
Rounder 0014 |
Things In Life |
● CD $15.98 |
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| THE STRANGE CREEK
SINGERS |
Arhoolie 9003 |
The Strange Creek Singers |
● CD $9.98 |
Reissue of Arhoolie 4004 featuring sides recorded between
1968 and 1970 by group which included Mike Seeger, Hazel Dickens, Alice
Gerrard, Tracy Schwarz and Lamar Grier.
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| MEL STREET |
Deluxe 7824 |
Greatest Hits |
● CD $9.98 |
20 tracks, 58 minutes, essential. The late Mel Street never
seemed to hit the big time even though he scored a number of top 20 hits.
Maybe he didn't fit in with the rhinestone cowboys and countrypolitan
crooners in the 70's. If you aren't too familiar with Street let me tell
you, the West Virginia boy could really sing! His style is firmly in the
honky tonkin' style of George Jones and Conway Twitty and there are at
least a dozen tunes here that stand right up there with the best of 'em.
Even when he strays from the formula on something like the patriotic Country
Pride or the country funk of Rub It In , he does a great job of
it. I can't recommend this highly enough to fans of real C&W. Let me
begin the litany- Lovin' On Back Streets/ Borrowed Angel/ Forbidden
Angel/ The Town Where You Live/ I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me/ Lust
Affair/ You Make Me Feel More Like A Man , etc. (AE)
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| DAVE STUCKEY
& THE RHYTHM BAND |
HMG 3010 |
Get A Load Of This |
● CD $15.98 |
14 tracks, 38 minutes, highly recommended Dave, best known
as co-leader of the famed Dave & Deke Combo, went to Austin to cut
this wonderful Western Swing set in the manner of the Bob Wills Big band,
complete with pedal steel, fiddle section & horn section. With a gang
of local Austin all-stars as well as the fine guitar/steel duo Biller
& Wakefield, on a fine selection with covers of everything from Nobody's
Sweetheart to Kansas City Kitty to Benny Goodman's Pick-A-Rib,
along with a bunch of great period-sounding originals including (Ol'
Daddy's Got A) Brand New Love/ You Shoulda Thought Of That/ Hitch My Wagon
(GM)
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| JIMMY SWAN |
Bear Family BCD 15758 |
Hony Tonkin' In Mississippi |
● CD $21.98 |
30 tracks, 78 minutes, good. One for the C&W collectors
only. Swan was a minor talent, a better songwriter than a singer. He
recorded for Trumpet and MGM in the 50's with little success, then turned
to deejaying and recording for small labels. Credit has to be given to his
stubbornness in sticking to the classic, simple hillbilly style - he left
Nashville when they threatened him with the dreaded Anita Kerr Singers. He
was very influenced by Hank Williams, cutting a tribute record after
Hank's death, and was allegedly taken on by MGM to help fill the gap after
Hank's passing. If you like classic 50's country you'll probably like
Jimmy Swan too. The sawing fiddle introductions and steel guitar moans
more than make up for Swan's limited delivery. Juke Joint Mama/ The
Last Letter/ Lonesome Daddy Blues/ Country Cattin'/ Mark Of Shame/
Lonesome Man, etc (
AE
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