August 09. Newsletter

Transcription

1 August 09 Newsletter Yesterday & Today Records PO Box 54 Miranda NSW 2228 ph/fax: (02) web site: Unfortunately there has been a slight postage increase, brought about by our friends at Australia Post. 1 cd $2/ 2 cds $3/ 3-4 cds $6.50 We will send registered or express as requested. New and just in. Hillside Records Country Song Roundup $30 This is new recordings on the Hillside label with special guest and musical director in Justin Trevino. Justin is still on the Heart of Texas label and his 4 songs (of a very generous 21). I can t say I have heard Kenny Seratt before but that is mainly through lack of material available more so than anything else but lo & behold if he doesn t sound like Lefty, which is particularly weird on Hank & Lefty Raised My Country Soul!! He appears on 5 songs and none are less than sensational. What a voice!! Jerry Inman is also fine on three tracks. He was once voted the CMA s Best Newcomer of the Year. Well he is close to the best on this. The remaining songs feature Curtis Potter, Darrell McCall and Ray Sanders in various trios, duos and solo spots. These are different to the Texas Dance Hall Music cd. Curtis Potter, who recorded a duet album on step One with Willie Nelson, is a superb Ray price style vocalist (as if I had to actually tell Y & T regulars) and is grand on January, April & Me. A must have cd and one where everyone will agree there are 21 gems. All are only on this cd!! DVD Heart of Texas Records Proudly Present Ernest Tubb Record Shops Midnight Jamboree $35 After the Grand Ol Opry would finish many of the cast would make the short walk across Broadway (the Nashville Broadway that is) to the original Ernest Tubb Record Shop where a small

2 stage was set up in the rear and they would do an encore if you like which was broadcast to radio. The shows still continue but are now at the Ernest Tubb Records Store in Music Valley Way rather than the original store. Occasionally the show will go on tour and this is how this dvd originates. Recorded in Brady, Texas in March 2009, this dvd offers 2 hours of some of the absolute gentry of country music, particularly the Yesterday & Today Records variety. There is Justin Trevino and Amber Digby (both together & alone), Darrell McCall (what a charismatic guy), Leona Williams, James Hand, Heather Myles, Frankie Miller, Big Bill Lister, Ferlin Husky etc. Then there are great contributions by the likes of Kimberley Murray, Rance Norton, Robert Mizzell (had one album by him a fair while back) and Mona McCall!! The band is under the direction of Justin Trevino. Just watch how Justin plays bass guitar. You would think you could go out and buy one and play with a similar level of dexterity; he just makes it looks so darn easy!! The band also features the brilliant Dickey Overby on steel guitar and there are few if any better. There is a bonus interview with David McCormick who has been the owner of the ET Record Stores (and hence owner of Midnight Jamboree) for a long time. A very sad legacy of the final years of the great Justin Tubb (after whom Justin Trevino is named). Seeing Justin Trevino and Amber Digby perform How s the World Treating You is just mesmerising. Other Recent dvds (3 of em.they are just not releasing them) DVD Jason Aldean Wide Open Live and More $28 90 minutes of one of the bright new artists. Recorded live in Tennessee. DVD Old Crow Medicine Show Live at the Orange Peel & Tennessee Theatre $25 70 minutes including quite a few tracks not on their cds. 1.Hard To Love 2.Down Home Girl 3.Trials & Troubles 4.I Hear Them All 5.Wheeling Breakdown 6.Raise A Ruckus 7.Caroline 8.Mary's Kitchen 9.Alabama High-Test 10.Reuben's Train 11.Hard To Tell 12.Humdinger 13.Next Go 'Round 14.Tennessee Pusher 15.Sally Ann 16.Wagon Wheel 17.Tell It To Me 18.Fall On My Knees 19.Tell It To Me (Reprise) 20.CC Rider 21. Shack #9 DVD + CD Sugarland Live on the Inside (only sold at Walmart stores in USA. NOT available elsewhere. The cd is an album of covers of such things as b52s Love shack plus other pop covers. The DVD has 16 tracks and over one hour of hits from their previous albums Joey Allcorn All Alone Again $30 This is the second cd by Joey and is right up to the quality of the previous 50 Years Too Late which rated very highly in our 2006 Best of List. That album featured an appearance by Hank Williams III and indeed comparisons are apt between he and

3 Joey. Joey is probably a slightly lower register but leaves Hank III for dead as far as backing goes. The backing on this is even an improvement on the first. The opening track Honky Tonk Ramblin Man is just a knockout. It features Chris Casello on guitar and steel guitar and he sounds like a one man Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West. He is joined by Hank Singer on fiddle and in places Chris Scruggs (son of Randy Scruggs & Gail Davies & a BR549 member) on guitar and the great Don Helms on steel guitar, in what is possibly his last recording. And just for good measure Lloyd Green drops in to lend a hand. Lonesome, Lovesick Man is classic. The songs are such a high quality that during our recent first ever garage sale (that was the special news from our last newsletter it was basically by invitation and we will be having another prior Christmas. If you would like an invitation please let me know) we sold out of our first shipment. That was 15 copies and whilst it may be a tad short of a gold record it still is pretty good to sell straight off the bat to people listening to it for the first time. Truly, everyone wanted it and that is no surprise, as it is that good. All the material is of the highest standard. Have At It Darlin is a great driving song. Honky Tonk Hell is the place where Joey sees as his final place for him and his ilk. Great references to the songs of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb etc. Lloyd Green punctuates ever line with a mini solo. Uncompromisingly full on country throughout. Every song has a classic feel that you have to remind yourself all 13 have a 2009 copyright and are all Joey Allcorn originals. Waiting by the Railroad Track reminds a little of Orange Blossom Special. You can see the train!! For a change of pace he even manages a Hank style yodel on the All Alone Again, the album s concluding track. Album of the year? Well I give it ten out of ten and would even add half a star on to that due his facial resemblance to Curly of the Three Stooges. A must have for all. We have a handful of his earlier 50 Years Too Late for $30. There are no more once these go. Leon Russell Best of Hank Wilson $30 Hank Wilson is Leon s country alter ego. The first album, Hank Wilson s Back was on Asylum Records back in the early 70s and was as important as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band s Will the Circle Be Unbroken in introducing real country music to a new audience. The songs that were on that original album have been rerecorded by Leon for this venture. There are also 3 songs that are additions to his Hank Wilson album set list, they being San Antonio Rose, You Win Again and Ballad of Jed Clampett. There were 4 Hank Wilson cds altogether with the final one being the mid 90s Rhythm and Bluegrass which featured New Grass revival. I would suggest that even if you had all 4 you would be such a Leon nutter that you would want this for the bonus tracks and new recordings. He Stopped Loving Her Today is given a great reading and features Willie Nelson and whilst the album is pure country an exception is Sixteen Tons which owes a lot to Ray Charles. 22 tracks and well over an hour has Pete the Quaker rubbing his hands in great value joy. Leon is such a fine interpretative singer that it leaves you wanting more! Johnny Paycheck Nowhere to Run: The Little Darln Years $28 Johnny Paycheck was a self destructive, troublemaking nutter who in his very brief heyday (but represented in everything on this cd) was the greatest hard country singer ever and even made the likes of George Jones seem like a picture of sobriety in comparison. During the period of these recordings Paycheck was a touring member of George Jones band, The Jones Boys and featured on some Jones recordings. Under the

4 auspices of Aubrey Mayhew and backed by some of the greatest country musicians in Lloyd Green, Pete Wade, Jerry Smith and Buddy Spicer. Paycheck s recordings had a rawness that was his trademark. 8 of the songs on this album are previously unreleased and Pint of No Return has some classic wordplay. The cd Real Mr Heartache: The little Darlin Years was issued on the Country Music Foundation label and had classics such as (Pardon Me) I ve Got Someone to Kill and He s In a Hurry (To Get Home to My Wife which were brilliant. Paycheck never tried to play the straight man. He was always erratic, even when recording for the Epic label in the 70s and 80s. But the honky tonk lifestyle and that of a self professed bad man found it way into songs with scary realism when Johnny Paycheck sang them. The 29 tracks on this include previously unissued gems and things that have not been on cd before such as I m a Coward, Don t Tell My Wife, I ve Got Wine on My Mind, Problem Solving Doctor, There s No Easy way to Die, If I m Gonna Sink (I Might As Well Go to the Bottom ) etc etc. Paycheck didn t just sing them he lived them too and then some. Not surprisingly there are not the quantity of recordings of a Jones but what there is is equal to (at least) anything the great man ever released. This is simply a must have cd, every single one of the 29 tracks!! Sonny Burgess Have You Got a Song That I Like $30 The 3 rd cd from young Sonny Burgess, as distinct from the Sun recording artist of the same name and it is every bit his best (but mind you there are a few inklings he may not be as young as previously thought). What is interesting is that he has opted to record other people s songs. In the words of the Swedish cowboy, the first track< Beer-i-cide is a killer up tempo drinking song. The album however has a lot more reflective songs. The next song, The Request is cowritten by Dave Gibson (ex Gibson Miller Band) and has a great storyline. This like a couple of other songs on the album reminds of the style of Doug Supernaw, that great but Johnny Paycheck crazy artist of the mid to late 90s. Thankfully Sonny will not be Committed to Parkview as was our Doug, notably on the excellent Every Now and Then, written by the Cosmic Cowboy s favourite Bobby Pinson. All in all an excellent album. High on the songs and no ditties. Before Nashville abandoned all vestiges of real country music this would have been a chart topper!! This next review is courtesy of the Swedish Cowboy, a man of (generally consummate) good taste, and by him as the first batch went in a thrice and will be a week before I get more. Also, another purchaser the rascal from Warren, enthusiastically texted me to say it was potentially AOTY!! That is Album of the Year. So courtesy of the S.C. Weldon Henson Tryin To Get By $30 Hillbilly renegade Records 4329: This guy knows what he is doing. A real surprise! Only originals written by the singer! Ricky Davis on steel and generally excellent backing, but fiddle on only one track! Somewhere between Dale Watson and Dwight Yoakam or maybe between George Highfill and Moot Davis! A slight rock or rockabilly attitude! Really good modern country true to tradition! Ed Bruce The Tennessean/Cowboys and Dreamers $34 Charlie Louvin Less & Less & I Don t Love You Anymore $34 Gene Watson Reflections/Should I Come Home $34 Faron Young Here s Faron Young/Occasional Wife $34 A series of excellent releases on the Hux label out of England. The Ed Bruce material is just so hard to get and as a singer there is none better.

5 Not too shabby in the writer department either. His When I Die Just Let Me Go to Texas was recorded by Tanya Tucker as Texas (When I Die ). I love Ed s decidedly non western cowboy persona. Both albums are gems with the latter including The Man Who Turned My Mama On. It is surprising he had not many hits. He is so darn good. The Charlie Louvin cd includes his first two post Louvins album with the hits I Don t Love You Anymore and Less & Less, the latter written by Roger Miller. The album also includes some great covers in Once a Day and Just Between the Two Of Us. The second album featured a couple of Ed Bruce songs including the title track plus contributions from fine writers such as the highly underappreciated Justin Tubb. You Finally Said Something Good is as honky tonky as Charlie gets! The first album on the Gene Watson cd was one of his most successful with 3 top tens (with Farewell Party being about the definitive Gene Watson track) whilst the second has two top tens including the fabulous word play of Nothing Sure Looked Good on You. Suffice to say, Gene Watson is an absolute favourite among Yesterday & Today customers, and indeed owner!! Faron Young s Mercury albums are impossible to get and apart from one fairly shoddy sounding cd his entire Mercury output is basically confined to scant hits collections. The first is full of great songs from the likes of Wayne Kemp and Jerry Chesnut (who wrote his biggest hit, the wonderful Four in the Morning, as pretty a melody as ever written). Kemp wrote the hit I Just Came to Get My Baby and Chesnut So Afraid. There is also the excellent b-side Missing You Was All I Did Today. The second album had big hits with the title song and If I Ever Fall in Love With a Honky Tonk Girl. Like I said this stuff is just not available anywhere!! Shane Worley Mister Purified Country $30 One of the greatest singers you would ever hear. A little like Mel McDaniel if any comparison is needed but decidedly his own man. The open Two Beers Ago was written for Vern Gosdin, but sadly just before Vern passed away from the after effects of a series of strokes. You could almost imagine it as an outtake of Chiselled in Stone. In the overall scheme of independent releases it is not just an artist that stands out but more so producer and musician and songwriter, Mike Headrick. He has written 3 songs of which Sweet Revenge is a classic. He also was featured on that great cd by Lawrence Reynolds and no doubt pushed Them Old Hank Williams Songs toward Shane and what an inspired choice in doing so. Similarly the Mike Headrick song The Right to be Wrong was recorded by Leo Nelson (see our rarities) bin, though with a quicker tempo. What more can I say except the material and performances are of the highest order. Again this would have been a chart topper if the majors were still concerned with country music. But then again I feel selfish sometimes. Lucas Hudgins The World Left Is Mine $30 His previous album was fine but had a cover rivalling the first cover from Amber Digby s debut album as one of the worst we have ever had. Thankfully Amber s folks saw fit the reissue it with a cover befitting its greatness. Simply put you couldn t see anything but a blur which on closer inspection was a barroom scene. Thankfully that has been fixed and then some. The Texas shuffle is alive and then some. Credit must partially go to David Biller who acts as producer. He of course is one of the best guitar players in Texas, and is

6 featured on the best albums of Wayne the Train Hancock and Dale Watson. He released some great guitar albums with Jeremy Wakefield (Biller and Wakefield) and was a star on Travis County Pickin. H e proves himself adept on steel guitar as well. Your Heart Just Slipped My Mind is a classic cheatin song and is prefaced by the line When your ring slipped off my finger. Great stuff. More Whine intersperses whine with the other wine. the Man Who makes Her Cry sounds like a song youd expect on a Vernon Oxford album but lo & behold you get a song which would have been right at home with the great Waylon Jennings. Uncanny in its Waylonish sound!! Great album and full marks this time as the cover is a knock up of one of those great late 50s Capitol label albums. Leland Martin Truckers for Troops $30 This guy looks uncannily like Trace Adkins, a great singer who has recorded some of the blandest and limpest songs we have ever heard. Leland is the opposite there!! This is the second truckin album he has cut though there are 9 new songs with 3 favourites from previous albums to round it out to 12. Truckers for the Troops is about a guy who is on foreign duty, presumably Afghanistan or Iraq, and the hardships of doing so. Grumpy Ol Truckdrivers is a pedal to the metal romp done as a duet with Uncle R who is seemingly not otherwise identified but it is a great track. The Purple Bag is unusual; he has hung the bag his liquor used to come in to his rear view mirror. Quite a moving story. It holds all my memories, the good ones and the bad. A very nice song. That Ol Truck is about a truck passed from a father to a son. When Haggard Sings The Fightin Side of Me is a patriotic number. The Long Rider is about the loneliness of the long distance truck driver. 400 Horses and Eighteen Wheels is a downhome tale of a trucker who enjoys his craft. This guy has a loyal and deserved following. David Frizzell & Shelley West Very Best $28 The daughter of Dottie West was married to Alan Frizzell who also played in their band. When Shelley and Alan got into marital troubles the duet fell by the wayside. The huge hit You re the Reason God Made Oklahoma plus other top tens such as Texas State of Mind and Another Honky Tonk Night Down on Broadway saw them as one of country music s most popular acts. This collects 16 Viva songs in all on the excellent Varese label. DVD Flatt & Scruggs Best of the Flatt & Scruggs TV Show Vol 7 DVD Flatt & Scruggs Best of the Flatt & Scruggs TV Show Vol 8 The charismatic Lester is the perfect compare and there is a good natured down home feel about them. Guest on the Vol 7 is Kentucky Slim. There is also a special feature explaining how they were able to get the deteriorated film restored to produce these excellent quality dvds. As always they include a gospel number here and there. Orville Dollar Traditional Sounds of Norville Dollar Now $30 Norville is a true veteran with a vocal style a tad like George Jones, particularly in the phrasing. Like Shane Worley it is on the excellent Country Discovery label, which is the baby of Mike Headrick, who also contributes 8 of the songs found here along with 1 from Bobby Atkins and 2 from Lawrence Reynolds, including the great Haggard & Jones. Who can pick the subtle lyrical change he makes?? Great honky tonk. Tanya Tucker My Turn $30 Brand New album from Tanya features her interpretations of country classics but of course with the appropriate

7 Tanya sassiness you know it is gonna be good. Even more so that is is produced by Pete Anderson. Guests include Flaco Jimenez on Is Anybody Going to San Antone, Jo-el Sonnier on Big Big Love and Rhonda Vincent who is the perfect foil for Tanya on the Eddy Arnold/Cindy Walker classic You Don t Know me. Notes are by well know author Colin Escott Liz Talley More Than Satisfied $30 The conception that female indie releases don t usually measure up to their male counterparts has been blown away again. Dottie Jack is firmly entrenched as Album of the Year favourite and Liz is knocking firmly at the door. Bump Bounce Boogie is a great swing opener, highly reminiscent of Carolyn Martin with the Timejumpers. Then bang straight onto the second which is a duet with Tony Booth on What We Don t Have, a classic George/Tammy style song from Billy Yates and Jerry Salley. Not a writer herself (apparently) she has some great songs from Melba Montgomery, Becky Hobbs and Leona Williams (2 from each in fact). One Man s Angel is a great cheatin song with a great set of lines ( one man s angel, another man s fool.) An obscure Lacy J Dalton You Can t Take the Texas Out of Me is another little swing number. So 2 swing numbers, some great cheating songs, a classic duet. A must for this year s top 10 or higher. Then there is the witty cajun flavoured Johnny Getting Out of Jail Barbeque. This is great. Henson Cargill On the Road: The Mega Years Plus $28 Second collection on the great Omni label which postdates his Skip a Rope period by ¾ years. His voice has taken on a slightly deeper tone is a classic Great Depression tale, of a family making its way to California from the Dustbowl. No happiness here baby! Mother dies just as they cross the State line and Dad takes his life. The final line is chilling Life was hell for us in Powerful!! Oklahoma Hell is another similar tale. A moral tale in 3 ½ minutes. Black gold.texas tea (maybe that should be Oklahoma tea??). Red Stegall s Picking White Cotton is a bluesy number. Pencil Walks on The Wall is in one sense the story of Jim and his growing up, from when he was a boy through growing up stages but then Jim gets called up you can guess the rest that s all that is left the pencil marks on the wall. 26 tracks and of those 3-4 covers may be the only ones that don t measure up. A consummate story teller who likes to add a little morality here and there. Great. Leslie Thom High Maintenance $30 Another fine lady singer who is making a total lie out of the fact that up until recenty female indies have not measured up. I ll Take the Fifth is great honky tonker from Becky Hobbs. Fiddles by Bobby Flores and production by Bill Green!! I Love Texas More Than You is a swing duet with Ray Benson, wittily sung by Leslie. Two more Becky Hobbs songs keep things rolling along nicely. But she shows she can handle a ballad as well with What Do I Do With Me Now, a nice waltz. Yes, I ma going to have to change my way of thinking and then some!! Rick Shea Shelter Valley Blues $28 Californian who has been greatly influenced by Merle Haggard, more so in emulating the style rather than the voice, which is very good. There are songs that you would swear were Hags, but are not. Shelter Valley Blues has a similar structure to some of Hag s 80s Epic recordings. Guests include Heather Myles and a couple of the members of Los Lobos who feature on the great Tex Mex track Sweet Little Pocha. Shea was on the 3 rd edition of Town South of

8 Bakersfield which we have liberally quoted as a guide to all things great in country music. Al Perkins Big Dog 3 $25 They get there name from the Hank Williams classic Move It on Over, notably the line Move over little dog, the big dog s moving in. Al Perkins has worked with a lot of west coast country rock acts including Gram Parsons, Stephen stills Manassas and was a member of Emmylou s Nash Ramblers. His former boss lends a hand on You and Me and it is interesting that former Sweetheart of the Rodeo vocalist, Kristine Arnold, makes a comeback and is featured on Born to Believe and She Came Along. Last I heard she was working in a clothing store with her sister (and fellow Sweetheart ) Janis Gill. There is a variety of styles even though you d classify this as a country rock album though 2 songs do rock. Other vocal guests include Brigitte DeMeyer who has made her name singing bluegrass tinged folk in Europe Due Very Soon (end August early-mid September) This first one is very exciting but it will be a mainstream release so I won t be getting it, but John Fogerty Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again will certainly be on my own shopping list, though I would not suffer the rubbish that are locally made cds better get a couple after all!! **Gene Watson A Taste of the Truth $30 New album on Shanachie If he isn t everybody s favourite vocalist he must run a close second!! **Billy Yates Bill s Barber Shop $30 quite prolific and great writer. Have heard an advance and it is one of his best. He was a barber before making it in the music industry, so consider it to be biographical to a certain extent. A great singer as well as writer. **James Hand Shadow on the Ground $30 We had better not award that Album of the Year just yet as methinks that place may be meant for James, one of the greatest honky tonk singers ever, a co-hort of Dale Watson and much more. An all new James Hand album is a major event at Yesterday & Today Records. Tracks: 1. Don't Want Me too 2. Mona Lisa 3. Just a Heart 4. The Parakeet 5. Floor to Crawl 6. What Little I Got Left 7. The Pain of Loving You 8. Ain't A Goin' 9. Midnight Run 10. Leavin' for Good 11. Don't Depend on Me 12. Men Like Me Can Fly **Ricky Skaggs Solo (Songs My Dad Loved ) $30 Tracks: 1.Foggy River 2 What Is A Home Without Love 3 Colonel Prentiss 4 City That Lies Foursquare 5 Little Maggie 6 Sinner You'd Better Get Ready

9 7 Pickin' In Caroline 8 I Had But 50 Cents 9 Green Pastures In The Sky 10 Calloway 11 This World Is Not My Home 12 Branded Wherever I Go 13 God Holds The Future In His Hands **Guy Clark Some Days the Song Writes You $30 First new album in quite a while. 1. Somedays You Write The Song 2. The Guitar 3. Hemingway's Whiskey 4. Coat, The 5. All She Wants Is You 6. If I Needed You 7. Hollywood 8. Eamon 9. Wrong Side Of The Tracks 10. One Way Ticket Down 11. Maybe I Can Paint Over That **Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Speed of Life $30 1. Tulsa Sounds Like Trouble To Me 2. Brand New Heartache 3. The Resurrection 4. Somethin' Dangerous 5. Goin Up The Country 6. Jimmy Martin 7. Lost In The Pines 8. Speed Of Life 9. Amazing Love 10. Stuck In The Middle 11. Earthquake 12. Tryin' To Try 13. Good To Be Alive **Patty Loveless Mountain Soul II $30 What can we say. The first is her best and one of the greatest ever albums by a female. To say this would eagerly awaited is an understatement. Guests include Emmylou Harris, Carl Jackson, Vince Gill and Al Perkins. Backing musicians include the great Randy Kohrs. A must have!! 1. Busted 2. Fools Thin Air 3. A Handful Of Dust 4. Half Over You 5. Prisoner's Tears 6. Working on a Building 7. Friends in Gloryland 8. [We Are All] Children of Abraham 9. Big Chance 10. When the Last Curtain Falls 11. Blue Memories 12. You Burned the Bridge 13. Bramble and the Rose 14. Feelings of Love

10 **Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers Pilgrimage $30 The Gatlins won me with their overwhelmingly immodest intro many years ago on the Bill Monroe & Friends album which went something like We would charge a lot of people a lot of money just to walk across the street but we would do it all for free for you now I thought that was nice and I also think this will be a big album as it will feature Johnny Cash Is Dead & His House Burned down which may be this year s answer to Who s Gonna Fill Their Shoes. Incidentally Pilgrim was J R Cash s nickname for Larry.wonder what John Wayne called him?? **Sam Baker Cotton $30 His too previous albums have been great; in the folky country Bob Dylanesque style if you like. Tracks: 1. Dixie 2. Cotton 3. Moon 4. Mennonite 5. Signs 6. Palestine II 7. Who's Gonna Be Your Man 8. Say the Right Words 9. Angel Hair 10. Not Another Mary 11. Palestine I 12. Bridal Chest 13. Snow **Chris Knight Trailer II (unplugged is his best style!!) 1.Old Man 2. It Ain't Easy Being Me 3. Highway Junkie 4. Summer Of '75 5. Bring The Harvest Home 6. I'll Be There 7. Send A Boat 8. The River's Own 9. Love And A Speeding Train 11. Blame Me 12. Till My Leaving's Through **Aaron Watson Live Deep in the Heart of Texas cd + dvd $32 Great young Texas singer. **Two Tons of Steel Not that Lucky $30 Great group from Austin who are like a slightly more rockabilly version of the Derailers. Great sound & honky tonk style 1. Hold Over Me 2. Not that Lucky 3. Run To You 4. Long Road to Heaven 5. Wanna Dance With You 6. Comin' For You 7. Crying Eyes 8. Bottom of the Bottle 9. Without Your Love 10. Alcohol and Pills

11 These other great cds are in stock now: **Wendell Adkins - Honky Tonkin Texas Style $30. Only cd of the shameless but excellent Waylon influenced artist. **John Anderson Bigger Hands $ on Country Crossing label. Great traditional style vocalist still cuts it!! James Stroud produced. **Eddy Arnold Memorial Best Of $38 Japan issue with 25 superbly remastered songs. Simply put Japan makes world s best cds. **Chet Atkins Japanese remasters - Discover Japan $35 - Me and Chet/Me And Jerry (w. Jerry Reed) $35 - Atkins Travis Travelling Show $35 - Picks on the Beatles $35 - Solo Flights $35 - RCA Days of Chet Atkins: Nashville Jump 2cds $48 **Hoyt Axton My Griffin Is Gone expanded 24 track version with 8 tracks being previously unreleased & 4 others on cd for first time. **Delia Bell Delia Bell $28 WB cd produced by and featuring Emmylou!! **Tony Booth Is This All There Is Wonderful Ray Price style $30 Tops **Jann Browne Buckin Around: a Tribute to Buck Owens $30 back in! **Johnny Bush Lillie s White Lies $30 a must have album which features as title song one of the greatest country songs ever. Bush is singing as well as ever & this is produced by Justin Trevino. A must! **Scotty Campbell Smokin & Drinkin $20 +++Special. 13 fabulous tracks by Canadian honky tonker, Great barroom honky tonk with a bit of rockabilly. **Henson Cargill A Very well Travelled Man $28 Features his Monument label recordings inc. Skip a Rope 27 tracks. **Anita Carter Songbird 28 tracks including ones not in the Bear Family box set. The greatest female country singer of all J R Cash. **Amber Digby Passion Pride & What Might Have Been $30 Texas gal who leaves the Nashville bimbettes floundering. Only Patty Loveless can hold her own wit hamber. **Dixons Still Your Fool $30 Dwight style twangy on the Cow Island label. **Norville Dollar Through the Years With $30 Great traditional style singer for George Jones/Vernon Oxford fans. **Richie Furay Heartbeat of Love $35 ultra deluxe book bound cover. Comeback to the country rock style he is famous for after spending several years recording only gospel music. **Bobby Flores Eleven Roses $30 a true Texas Great. **Tennessee Ernie Ford 6000 Sunset Boulevard $32 A positively amazing album of 22 unreleased tracks from his daily radio show in the 50s. The sound is of as recorded yesterday quality and the material is first class with backing including the great Speedy West. The reissue album of the year and it wouldn t matter what else came out. **Pam Gadd Benefit of the Doubt $30 In essence a reunion of sorts of the great Wild Rose! **Tompall & Glaser Brothers Lovin Her Was Easier/ After All These Years 2 on 1 $25 **Lorne Greene The Man $28 28 tracks and the only cd in print. Great sound and Ringo is just one of the many great story songs. **Arty Hill Bar of Gold $30 **Arty Hill Back on the Rail $30 Upbeat honky tonk Cow Island label **Hoyle Brothers Don t Leave Yet $30 Great shuffles & truck stop honky tonk all the way.

12 **Dotty Jack With Every Heartbeat $30 As good as Amber Digby and As good as Miss Leslie, both previous Album of the Year Winners which should tell you where this is headed. Just superb and then some. **Dotty Jack I Can See Texas From Here $30 **Dotty Jack Texan in a Stetson $30 her 2 earlier albums **George Jones The Grand Tour $20 **George Jones/ Tammy Golden Ring special $18 **George Jones/Tammy We Go Together/Let s Build a World Together special $20 **Josie Kreuzer Hot Rod Girl $30 great female rockabilly! **Lil Mo & the monicats On the Moon $30 from Ella Mae Morse srtle to rockabilly. **Josh Logan I Am What I Am $30 Merle Street inspired artist. **Joey Martin Strong Enough to Cry Earlier out of print and very hard to find album from the Joey & Rory gal. Great songs **Miss Leslie Between the Whiskey & the Wine $ Album of the Year and one of the greatest albums by a female ever!! **Dee Mullins The Continuing Story $28 27 tracks Even though his most remembered song is the Harper Valley PTA answer song The Continuing Story Of Harper Valley PTA he was a hard country singer of the finest ilk who could have been another George Jones ** Joe Paul Nichols The Price Is Right: My Tribute to Ray Price $30 a member of the Y & T indie Hall of Fame Includes some quite rare covers. David Peterson Comin on strong $30 Great country from a man with a bluegrass background. 18 tracks, all of which are good. **John Prine Great Days Anthology $45 Rhino s great 2cd set 40 tracks in remastered sound. Superbly compiled. Selections up to and including The Missing Years **Kimmie Rhodes & Willie Nelson Picture in a Frame $30 Wonderful album of duets with non better than the title song by Tom Waits **Daryle Singletary Rockin in the Country $30 latest by one of the best of the new breed. Good songs and a voice to die for. **Porter Wagoner - Cold Hard Facts of Life/ Soul of a Convict $28 2 of his classic themed RCA albums on 1 cd. **Porter Wagoner The Rubber Room $28 When it comes to quirky there is none quirkier. 29 classic examples by King of Quirkdom. **Dale Watson Truckin Sessions II $30 ** Dallas Wayne I ll Take the Fifth $30 we love these 2 guys!! ** Hank Williams The Unreleased Gospel Keepsakes $30 ** Billy Yates Favourites $30 21 classic tracks from all his albums with a bonus of a duet with George Jones on the neo classic Choices which Billy so wonderfully wrote Various Plantation Gold 2cds 58 tracks $35 from the Plantation label including the huge hit Harper Valley PTA by Jeannie C Riley. Amazing array including superstars and big names such as Webb Pierce and Jeannie C Riley, rather obscure but still known artists such Little David Wilkins, Lawton Williams, James O Gwynn, through to relative unknowns such as Tokyo Matsu (one of the first Branson performers as well as a fine proponent of Japanese country) and Rod Hart (yes C B Savage ), through totally unknown artists (and these are the best in many ways) such as Trooper Jim Foster and Margaret Lewis (who does a bizarre answer to Honey which she sings from the beyond. A fabulous set, and hard as it may seem many of the tracks are previously unreleased. BUT that guy who always bugged me for Groovy Grubworm still hasn t called,even though I answer the phone with expectation.

13 Bear Family **Johnny Burnette Trio Rockabilly Boogie $32 **Link Davis Big Mamou $35 **Little Jimmy Dickens Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight $32 **George Hamilton IV To You & Yours $32 **George Jones She Thinks I Still Care: The United Artists Years $210 5cds + book 150 tracks how good! **Leon McAuliffe Tulsa Straight Ahead $32 **Ken Maynard Sings the Lone Star Trail $32 Hollywood s first singing cowboy. Huge booklet. **Amos Milburn Rocks $35 **Gene Pitney & George Jones 31 tracks not on the Jones box sets $32 **Connie Smith Born to sing 4 cds + book $150 **Hank Snow The Goldrush is Over $32 Great **Hank Thompson A Six Pack to Go $32 **Merle Travis Folksongs of the Hills/Songs from the Coalmines $32 **Hank Williams Rockin Chair Money his uptempo songs $32 33tks **Leona Williams & Merle Haggard Old Loves never Die $32 28 tracks Various **GonnaShake This Shack Tonight 20 tracks $32 BEAR FAMILY NEWS These will be in around first week in September. Please order early to avoid missing out. This is a very exciting one: Sons of the Pioneers and Roy Rogers (King of the Cowboys) Complete Recordings 1934 to cd page book $ tracks which collect all the STUDIO recordings of both the Original Sons of the Pioneers and then when he went solo the recordings of Roy Rogers. Clocks in around 8 ½ hours. Of the 182 songs 52 are previously unissued recordings. All the original Sons of the Pioneers classics are here including Tumbling Tumbleweeds Roving Cowboy Cool Water along with all the Farr Brothers classic instrumentals. Roy s first solo turn was Cowboy Night Herd Song and includes the other gems such as Black Sheep Blues and Hadie Brown (what a yodeller!) and even has some early Christmas songs. They co-existed for quite a while but over the years the sheer power and magic of these original recordings could not be emulated. Each song is written about by Doug Green of Riders in the Sky, one of the foremost western song authorities. Spectacularly necessary and 10 years in the making. Johnny Horton Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight: Take Me Like I Am $32 33 tracks which are only available in the Johnny Horton box set. The previously issued Rockin Rollin; Johnny Horton singlecd is not duplicated in any way. It also is a great way to get a single cd of Horton rarities. Includes a previously unissued rockin version of Candy Jones. Best known track is probably First Train Heading South. Pat Boone Rocks $35 34 tracks which may have a bit more roll on them than rock but they are uptempo and often include covers of some of the best black R & B of the day which didn t get played on commercial radio. Such tracks include At My Front Door, Money Honey a seemingly out of place Fat Man plus a cover of Roy Brown s Good Rockin; Tonight and Havin Fun spo Dee O Dee (his image didn t allow the Drinkin Wine bit).

14 Justin Tubb Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight: Pepper Hot Baby $32 should be much more highly represented in the reissue stakes. One of the greatest songwriters Nashville had to offer. He had a big hit with Goldie Hill on Looking Back to see and there are 4 duets with Goldie. There is also a duet with Roger Miller on Mine Is a Lonely Life. Roger and Justin co-wrote Walking Talking Cryin Barely Beatin Broken Heart which was a hit for Johnny Wright and then a big hit for Highway 101 in the early 90s. There are 32 tracks. His RCA albums are some of the best country music ever recorded; I do hope Bear Family release them down the track but for now this is a good start. Freddie King Taking Care of Business cd page hardcover book $270 Called the Texas cannonball he was one of the greatest blues guitarists and Eric Clapton said Of all the people I ve played with he was the most stimulating. His song Hideaway was recorded by both Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. 168 tracks 9 hours plus playing time. His final recordings were on Leon Russell s Shelter Records. Louie & the Lovers Complete Recordings $32 A Tex mex obscurity which was produced by Doug Sahm and Tom Dowd of Atlantic Records fame. Lou Ortega then spent time after the demise of the group playing with Sam in various versions of the sir Douglas Quintet. Sweet Soul Music Series This is part of the deluxe series in which Bear Family presents the Soul Hits of a particular year and analyses them with a whopping 96pg book. 29 scorching Soul Classics 1966 $38 79 minutes 30 Scorching Soul Classics 1967 $38 over 80 minutes. 29 Scorching Soul Classics 1968 $38 79 minutes + 28 Scorching Soul Classics 1969 $38 over 80 minutes 24 Scorching Soul Classics 1970 $38 over 85!! Minutes. The thing about this series is that Bear Family have ensured they have the original version in the best quality sound. Rarities There are many one off items. They are all out of print and generally unavailable anywhere so please if just sending for them either list alternates or call first to reserve them. Axton, Hoyt Spin of the Wheel (DPI). Perhaps his last album and one of the best with 9 originals, 2 covers of his mother s songs (inc. a great version of Heart- Break Hotel ) + 3 other covers $28 Austin, Chad All My Dreams $25 It some times happens that a record company sends out some advance copies of an album and yet never releases the thing. This is from 1999 and is very good on the Asylum/Elektra label. Other artists on this list who are in the same boat are Radney Foster, Michelle Poe & Jeff Thompson all of them musts. Barker, Aaron w. Curtis Wayne Straight from Horse s Mouth (2 copies) $22 BSI label. Both are famed songwriters as well as great singers. 12 tracks inc. the 2 big Barker tracks Baby Blue and Love Without End Amen plus the Curtis

15 Wayne monsters Love Bug and Next In Line (both co-writes with Wayne Kemp). Also includes co-writes with Dean Dillon & Whitey Shafer. 10/10!! Bogguss, Suzy/Chet Atkins Simpatico Liberty (1994) $35 A classic with great interplay especially on Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word and the delightful Two Shades of Blue. It has a great down home feel esp. when Chet & Suzy share a duet. Larry Boone Swingin Doors Sawdust Floors $30 Down That River Road $35 One Way to Go $25 First 2 on Mercury & last on Columbia. First is very muchgeorge Strait style with original versionof Beyond the Blue Neon. Second has Everybody Wants to Be Hank Williams a classic and the 3 rd has a great ballad selection, It wouldn t Kill Me was covered by others But Larry is best. All great esp. if you like Strait & Ricky Van Shelton. Browne, Jann It Only Hurts When I Laugh $35 Perky west coast gal who had 2 albums on Curb which are both superb. This 1991 features great covers & Browne originals. If you like Heather Myles then Jann is a must. They go quickly. Cash, Tommy 25 th Anniversary Album $ gem with guests including Johnny Cash (on 2 songs incl. 1 on which George Jones also appears) and Mr George Jones is also on the highly pertinent Hank & George & Lefty & Me. Connie Smith Conlee, John duets on We ve Got Love. Blue Highway $28 16 track comp. of MCA material which largely avoids the hits. Fellow Travellers $30 16 Avenue label went bust so this was around for about 5 minutes. Highlight the wonderful Hopelessly Yours Cryner, Bobbie Bobbie Cryner $35 Until Miss Leslie s 2008 album of the year this was the only time I had heard a gal sing like George Jones. This is the best ever female country album released during my years in business. Dwight duets I Don t Care. Dalton, Lacy J Dalton, Lacy J Survivor $45 an amazing album; easily her best & that is saying something given the overall quality. Her version of Guy Clark s Old Friends ranks as one of the best recordings ever!!! Hard Luck Ace manages to tie Waylon Jennings with Janis Joplin. Crazy Love $30 Lacy s follow up to the above gem had a great version of Van Morrison s classic as the title song but the highlight was unquestionably Little Boy Blue a superb ballad written about her son. Goose bumps!

16 Davis, Joey Delray, Martin Emmons, Buddy Love Songs Waltz s (sic) True Stories & Lies $35 Rated an all time indie top 10 with 17 superb tracks. From Pure honky tonk & gem after gem. What Kind of Man $ Atlantic Now a professional tennis coach. The fact that country music could think they could let this wonderful vocalist walk away is nuts is scary. Check out Hugh Moffatt s Life of a Minor Poet for a rare appearance. Wonderful. Steel Guitar Jazz $30 Originally released on Mercury in 1968 and a limited cd reissue OOP Ethel & the Shameless Hussies Born to Burn 1988 $25 Another Jimmy Bowen production from 1988 featuring the fabulous Kasey Jones who came steamin & a rollin down under in Sassy female honky tonk with lots of wit esp. on tracks such as One Night Stan. Ford, Tennessee Ernie Capitol Collectors Series $35 This series is simply the best offering by all the artists who are featured on it. This 29 track Ernie cd features all the country boogies, the big hits ( Sixteen Tons River of No Return Mule Train etc) plus some great duets w. Kay Starr, Ella Mae Morse etc and the gospel His Hands. Brilliant variety. Freberg, Stan Capitol Collectors Series $35 We will try & include all in this series where possible. The best Freberg compilation includes his classic takes on A Dear John Letter (including that great line Make it more country a little more husky on the ferlin ). 21 super tracks. Frickie, Janie After Midnight $25 Labor of Love $28 Her 3 albums where she adapted the phoenetic spelling of her real name Fricke were her best. Labor of Love saw her include songs from Steve Earle & Katy Moffatt & is not to be missed. George, Sonny Greene, Jack Haggard, Merle Haggard, Merle Truckin Country $30 14 original songs from a great deep voiced artist in a similar style to his classic live album ( Inside Tennessee State Women s Prison ). A great cd. The Jolly Greene Giant $38 Issued on Edsel but deleted 10 years, it is the only cd of his original Decca & MCA recordings (Any others are not original but re-recordings). 20 tracks inc. 3 w. Jeannie Seely. Capitol Collectors Series Simply the best single cd anthology of Haggard s best work with all the classics and more $25 Best sound. 5:01 Blues $ cd long out of print. Includes the great Hag/Freddie Powers cowrite Wouldn t That Be Something and a

17 cover of the song made famous by Don Gibson, Sea of Heartbreak Hall, Tom T Songs from Sopchoppy $25 Tom s comeback to Mercury including the classic Shoes & Dress That Alice Wore which is simply one of his finest ever efforts. Hardwick, Billy Jnr Too Country $30 Only album and a true gem. With a voice a tad like Dean Dillon he wrote 8 of the 10 songs and all have instant classic. Whenever I played this someone bought it. It is that good. Harris, Emmylou Last Date $35 This is the deleted reissue on Eminent with a nice slip jacket (a sleeve that goes over the jewel case) plus it has the rare bonus tracks Another Pot of Tea & Maybe Tonight. Hobbs, Becky All Keyed Up $30 Wrote every song on the album in which Jones on the Jukebox (a co-write with Mack Vickery and Don Goodman) is the classic all time female honky tonk track. Honeys Capitol Collectors Series $40 This is the group which features Brian Wilson s future wife Marilyn Rovell and is produced by Brian Wilson who uses his Spector influence to produce a Ronettes style. Raindrops is a superb take on the Spector sounds and includes great original songs and select covers. Very rare!! House, James James House $30 (1989) Hard Times for an Honest Man$ Mainly original songs. Both top notch. Husky, Ferlin Capitol Collectors Series $35 See the comments for Merle Haggard & Ernie Ford. This 20 tracker has the hits Gone, A Fallen Star & Wings of a Dove. Superb sound & notes too. Jansen, Frank My Way or the Highway$28 Second great cd Sold a stack but gone now apart from this. Jones, George You Oughta Be Here With Me $35 In the overall scheme of things George has not made a lot of albums where every song is superb. To the contrary many albums are riddled with hokey novelties. Not this one though. From 1990 I would rate it the strongest overall selection of songs George has ever had on one album. The title track was from Roger Miller s superb Big River whilst I Sleep Just Like a Baby is the closest it gets to a novelty but clever wordplay overrides. 10/10 Jones, George Friends in High Places $30 Duet album with all songs recorded specifically. Includes Ricky Van Shelton, Vern Gosdin, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs etc but the highlight is probably his duet with Shelby Lynne on the Paul

18 Overstreet song If I Could Bottle This Up. She could have been anything.. Jones, George Live at Dancetown USA $55 Amazing album superbly recorded which was on Ace UK label but has been deleted 10 years or so, 26 tracks and over an an hour running time and in great stereo sound. Like the Ernest Tubb below (also from 1965!) this is amazing and George runs through things he has written ( Window Up Above / Ragged But Right / Accidentally on Purpose ) as well as songs by Dickey Lee ( She Thinks I Still Care ) Harlan Howard, Melba Montgomery etc. Although not a regular Jones boy Buddy Emmons joins the band for this set. Also Don Adams (not Max Smart!) acts as the leader of the Jones Boys & duets with George on Melba Montgomery s We Must Have Been Out Of Our Mind as well as a couple of his own leads. Just remembered the classic Jones line We re gonna take a short liquormission I mean intermission!! Kane, Keiran Find My Way Home $35 rare post O Kanes pre Kane-Welch album. Kemp, Wayne One Song at a Time $35 A rare album by this great honky tonk songwriter & singer inc. The Fireman and Don t Send Me No Angels. Logan, Josh Somebody Paints the Wall $55 Superb 1988 Curb album. He embodies the spirit of the wondrous Mel Street. Louvin, Charlie Amazingly good album. 50 Years of Making Music $30 Early 90s album with superb guests including Waylon, Charlie Daniels, Tanya Tucker, Melba Montgomery, George Jones etc but the best is Willie on This Darn Pen and most people agree it is one of the very best duets Willie ever did. Lyda, Jacob Here We Go Again $30 Amazing fresh faced vocalist and this album from Bob Grady Records capture the honky tonk style superbly. Indie wiz Mike Headrick produced. McCarters The Gift $40 Wonderful debut inc. great Carl Jackson & Jennifer McCarter track Letter from Home. McCarter, Jennifer & McCarters Better Be Home Soon $25 equally as good but the first is very very hard to get. Jennifer McCarter was given top billing on the second but the harmonies are the same & slight bluegrass tinged songs are ace! McDaniel, Mel Rockabilly Boy $ Capitol gem with some superb tracks inc. Reverend

19 Luther & The Madam and You Can t Play the Blues in an Air Conditioned Room, a huge personal favourite. McEntire, Reba Oklahoma Girl $40 2cds with booklet 40 Mercury tracks when she was a real country artist. Great selection. McQuaig, Scott Scott McQuaig $30 Again an album with Jimmy Bowen hallmark and superb as you may expect. Where did he go?? Dave Loggins My Friend the Bottle is a classic honky tonk song. Mandrell, Barbara The Key s in the Mailbox $25 Sweet Jiminy!! Superb Jimmy Bowen production job from 1991 w. Harlan Howard title song. Moffatt, katy The Greatest Show on Earth $28 This was the original issue but was Withdrawn when Ringling Brothers Claimed ownership of the title. It is The best folk country album we have ever had; Katy & Tom Russell have never done a true duet album but this is a worthy substitute!! Moffatt, Katy Midnight Radio $25 Out of print on defunct Watermelon label. Almost on par With the previous Montgomery, Melba And Norma Jean: First Ladies of Country. A compilation not duets. 12 by Norma Jean and 10 by Melba inc. the amazing No Charge $28 (2 copies) Morse, Ella Mae Capitol Collectors Series $35 21 tracks with a big band R & B flavour but also country. Best ever Cow Cow Boogie Nelson, Leo Under Neon Lights $55 Want to know my all time favourite independent, yeah not one of but the top spot?? This is it. Great album produced by Bob Grady with assist from the great Mike Headrick. 12 great tracks with a duet with Bill Arwood on the title track. Nelson, Leo Heavy for You $35 An earlier but not as good as the previous, but IMO nothing is!! Nelson, Willie A Horse Called Music $ Born for Trouble $35 two great Willie albums which are both out of print. The 2 nd has no songs written by Willie but features classics from likes of Hank Cochran, Beth Nielsen Chapman & Mack Vickery. O Kanes O Kanes $40 Their stunning debut with classics Oh Darlin and the bluegrass like romp Oh Lonesome You. Long long deleted. O Kanes Tired of the Running $38 Second album from Keiran Kane & Jamie O Hara is also hardest to get. Blind O Kanes accordionist Jay Spell is superb. Imagine That $25 Third and final cd from Owens, Buck Hot Dog $35 Kickin In $35 Buck Owens comeback albums