Wade Mainer RIP

Legendary banjo picker and old-time musician Wade Mainer died on  September 12, 2011, at the age of 104 in Flint, Michigan, where he had lived since 1953. Mainer was one of the most influential persons in bluegrass music. In the 1930s, he played with his brother J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers and with his own band, the Sons of the Mountaineers, and recorded for Bluebird. He also played with the Monroe Brothers and influenced such people as Reno and Smiley, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe and many others.

Read more here.

"Orangie" Ray Hubbard RIP

Country and rockabilly singer "Orangie" Ray Hubbard died on September 1, 2011. Hubbard is famous for his 1957 recording of "Sweet Love" on the Dixie label and has remained a part of Cincinnati's music scene for many years.

Source: Deadwax

Jerry Leiber RIP

Legendary songwriter Jerry Leiber passed away on August 22, 2011, at a hospital in Los Angeles. In the 1950s and 1950s, he penned more than 170 songs with Mike Stoller, for example Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" and "Hound Dog," "Yakety Yak" by the Coasters or "Kansas City," which was covered by numerous artists. Musicians like Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, and many more covered their songs.

Billy Grammer dies

Country music star Billy Grammer died on August 10, 2011, at the age of 85 in Benton Illinois. He was a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry and had such hits as "Gotta Travel On" or "Jesus Is a Soul Man." Born on a farm in Illinois in 1925, Grammer started his career as a guitarist for Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jimmy Dean, and Grandpa Jones. Eventually, he signed with Monument and later also recorded for Decca, Rice, Epic, and Mercury.

R.I.P. Jimmy Evans & Marshall Grant

Two great musicians recently passed away. The more famous one of course was Marshall Grant, member of the Tennessee Two/Three and bass player for Johnny Cash. Grant and guitarist Luther Perkins met Cash in 1947 in Memphis, where they began their phenomenal career at Sun Records. Grant was also Cash's road manager until 1980. He managed the Statler Brothers until his retirement in 2002. Grant was residing in Hernando, Mississippi, but visited the Johnny Cash Music Fest in Arkansas when he died at St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Jimmy Evans was a staff musician at Sun and played with such artists as Ronnie Hawkins, Bobby Darin, and Conway Twitty. Some of his recordings include "The Joint's Really Jumpin'" and "Pink Cadillac" as well as other great rockabilly songs. He passed away recently in 2011.

1950s Radio in Color

Chris Kennedy, author and musician from New York, discovered Cleveland DJ Tommy Edwards' photo collection in 2006, containing rare pictures of 1950s and 1960s stars, ranging from Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Link Wray, Doris Day to Johnny Cash, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Sonny James and many more. Now the Kent State University Press has published his book he wrote about Edwards' private photo collection. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, visit this site.

Randy Wood R.I.P.

Record producer and label owner Randy Wood died on April 9, 2011, at the age of 94. Wood founded the successful independent label Dot Records in Gallatin, Tennessee, not far from Nashville. In the early times of Dot, Wood concentrated in country music recordings but hit the charts in the mid-1950s with teenage rock'n'roll singers like Pat Boone, Jim Lowe, and Tab Hunter. He moved Dot to Los Angeles in 1956, one year later the label was bought by Paramount Pictures, though Wood still worked as the president for the company. In 1974, he finally called it a day and Dot was bought by ABC-Paramount.

Doc Williams dies

Country music singer and star of the WWVA Jamboree Doc Williams died on January 31, 2011, at his home in Wheeling, West Virginia. Williams, who was born in 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio, started out as a singer in Wheeling, West Virginia, where he led the Border Riders together with his wife Chickie. The couple soon became Wheeling's country top stars, appearing on WWVA and the station's Original Jamboree. Williams was 96 years old.

Read more at hillbilly-music.com.

Charlie Louvin dies

Country music legend Charlie Louvin died on January 26, 2011 in Wartrace, Tennessee. Louvin was one half of the Louvin Brothers, the other being his brother Ira Louvin. They had several hits in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s with such songs as "Atomic Power," "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" or "My Baby's Gone" in the traditional harmony siniging style. Their music inspired artists like Emmylou Harris or Allison Krauss. After Ira's death, Charlie started a successful solo career and was a member of the Grand Oley Opry until his death. He was 83 years old.

Read more at hillbilly-music.com.

James O'Gwynn dies

Country music singer James O'Gwynn died on January 19, 2011, at the age of  82 years. Born in 1928 in Mississippi, he was a member of the Louisiana Hayride and the Grand Ole Opry. During his career, he recorded for such labels as Starday, D, Hickory, Mercury, and others and had several country chart hits between 1958 and 1962.

CRH catalog and news

As you may know, the Mellow's Log Cabin catalog has grown to - at the moment - fifteen different compilations. Unfortunately, I am not able to realise and post my projects as fast as I wish because it takes a lot of time to compile the tracks, to design the covers, to do the researches for the liner notes, and finally to write them. That's why I posted a lot of "budget" comps with less information on the recordings and the artists during the last months, for example the soundalikes series. Currently, there are 15 discs in the CRH catalog:

CRH-01: Ray Harris - "Greenback Dollar - Complete Sun Recordings"
CRH-02: Sonny Fisher - "Texas Rockabilly"
CRH-03 VA - "20 Rockabilly Classics"
CRH-04: Derrell Felts - "Texas Rock & Roll"
CRH-05: Rhythm Rockets - "Complete Rhythm Rockets"
CRH-06: VA - "Rockabilly Duos"
CRH-07: VA - "Starday & Dixie Rock & Roll Soundalikes"
CRH-08: VA - "Tennessee Rock"
CRH-09: VA - "Gateway Rock & Roll Soundalikes
CRH-10: VA - "Dixieland Blues"
CRH-11: VA - "Tops Rock & Roll Soundalikes"
CRH-12: VA - "Boom Chica Boom"
CRH-13: VA - "Rock-a-Round Hop"
CRH-14: VA - "Dixieland Blues, Volume II"
CRH-15: VA - "Bye, Bye Johnny!"

At the moment, there are several more compilations in process. While I am working on comps dealing with Dave Dudley, Kenny Owens, Bakersfield rockabilly recordings, and a multi-part anthology of old-time music, I am also planning to start a new Dixieland Blues volume, more Tops/Gateway/Dixie soundalike discs, a second volume of "Tennessee Rock" and a compilation about Arkansas rock'n'roll. There are several more ideas flying around in my head... But as I said, this will take a lot of time, especially concerning the anthology, for the liner notes will be very extensive.
If you have any requests for compilations, comments, or additions, please feel free to contact me. I cannot promise to consider every request or comment but I will try to!

Best regards,
mellow

New Hayden Thompson album

Hayden Thompson's new album entitled "Standing Tall" has been released on September 27, 2010, on Blue Light Records. This is Thompson's second album on Blue Light from Finland and listening to it, you can say it is very, very good. The double bass is clacking, piano and guitar have nice breaks and Thompson's voice is as good as in the 1950s. The album also contains a new version of "Love My Baby".

You can read a full review here or purchase a copy at bearfamily.de, amazon.com, and others.

Bill Phillips died

Country music singer Bill Phillips, who had chart entries in his own right and discovered Dolly Parton, passed away on August 23, 2010. He was 74 years old.
Born in 1938, Phillips first break came on Miami's Old South Jamboree on WFIL. In 1959 and 1960, he had two chart hits with Mel Tillis. He also recorded on his own for Decca and United Artists. But it was not until 1966 that Phillips received his most commercial success. He discovered a demo by Dolly Parton, who was in the record business for about ten years at that time, and Phillips produced her first big hit "Put It Off Until Tomorrow". He also had three own chart hits later on and was a part of Kitty Wells' and Johnnie Wright's touring show.

Read more here.

George Kent died

Country music singer and songwriter George Kent died on August 12, 2010, in Loveland, Colorado, at McKee Medical Center. He was 75 years old.

Kent was born in 1935 in Dallas, Texas, and started his career in the 1950s. He was a member of the Big D Jamboree and recorded for Starday, Roulette, Rice, Shannon, and Mercury more than 60 singles. He also enjoyed success as a songwriter, penning songs for Jim Reeves and performing with Elvis Presley, Buck Owens, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings among others. He spent his last years in Lovlenand, Colorado, with his wife Jeanne.

Read more at hillbilly-music.com.

Bill Anderson inducted into AOTCMHoF

"Whisperin'" Bill Anderson will be inducted into "America's Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame", as according to an announcement the National Traditional Country Music Association made on July 16. A ceremony will be held in September 2010 in LeMars, Iowa, where the Hall of Fame is located at the Pioneer Music Museum. Anderson is also a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1961 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, among others.

Read more here.

Hank Cochran R.I.P.

Legendary songwriter Hank Cochran died on July 15, 2010, at his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Cochran started his career with the young Eddie Cochran as the "Cochran Brothers" in California. He became a profilic songwriter and penned such hits as "I Fall to Pieces", "Make the World Go Away", and "Ocean Front Property". He also had chart hits in his own right, including the Harlan Howard song "Sally Was a Goord Old Girl". Cochran was 74 old.

Read more at hillbilly-music.com.

Charlie Louvin in hospital

Country legend Charlie Louvin, who was a hit maker with his brother Ira as the Louvin Brothers, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On his website, Louvin wrote that he will go to hospital on July 22 to undergo a six hours long operation in order to remove the cancer.
Louvin just turned 83 years old on July 7.

R.I.P. Jimmy Dean / Lattie Moore

Both Jimmy Dean and Lattie Moore passed away recently on June 13, 2010. While Jimmy Dean was a country music super star and famous for such hits as "Big Bad John", Lattie Moore was less famous but will be remembered by country and rockabilly lovers.

Dean was born in Plainsview, Texas, and started his career in the 1950s as a country singer. During the 1950s and 1960s, he notched up several hits, including his massive crossover "Big Bad John" in 1961. He later came to success with his own sausage brand.

Lattie Moore recorded numerous songs for various record labels in the 1950s and 1960s, including Starday and King. He was a country and rockabilly musician and is best rememberred by collectors for his "Juke Joint Johnnie", a song that was covered by such artists as Red Sovine and Eddie Bond.

Slim Bryant R.I.P.

Country jazz guitarist Hoyt "Slim" Bryant died on May 28 at the age of 101. He passed away at St. Clair Hospital in Dormont, Pennsylvania, where he lived his last years.

Bryant became famous as the guitarist of fiddler Clayton McMichen in the 1930s and also toured with the Skillet Lickers in the late 1920s. During the 1940s and 1950s, he was a country music star in Pittsburgh and hosted his own TV show on KDKA for 19 years. He also wrote numerous songs, including "Mother, Queen of My Heart", recorded by Jimmie Rodgers.

Hank Williams awarded

Country music hero Hank Williams was honored by the Purlitzer Price Board with the Purlitzer Pirce in a special categories. According to the organisation, Williams is one of the most outstanding persons in American music, brought country music to the American culture and influenced thousands of musicians (both of his era and later artists).

Williams, who died in 1953 at the age of 29, is one of the few persons to receive a special Purlitzer price, among them Bob Dylan. Read the full story at hillbilly-music.com.