Earl Scruggs RIP

One of the true legends passed away March 28, 2012. Earl Scruggs was 88 years old and is generally considered as being one of the most influential banjo players of all time. He was a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys and played an important role in developing the banjo bluegrass style. He later formed with Lester Flatt a duo called Flatt & Scruggs, their backing band were the Foggy Mountain Boys. One of their most famous tracks was the "Foggy Mountain Breakdown."

Read more here.

Anniversary!

Hello folks! February 2008 saw the first post on this blog and I guess this is a good occasion to celebrate it with a special anniversary compilation. 25 tracks with the best of four years CRH, ranging from country to rock'n'roll and even a little bit pop. Also included are some rare track you will not find on any other comp. Enjoy!

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track list:
1. Houston Turner - Uncle John's Bongos
2. Ray Harris - Greenback Dollar (alternate take)
3. Eddy Bell - Rock'n'Roll USA
4. Al Oster - Paddle Wheeler
5. Al Dexter - Calico Rag
6. Dave Dudley - It's Gotta Be That Way
7. Jimmy & Dorothy Blakley - You Left Me with the Blues
8. Western Cherokees - Cherokee Steel Guitar
9. Charlie Waggoner - One Eyed Sam
10. Sonny Fisher - I Can't Lose
11. Bobby Wayne - Swing Train Twist
12. Bobby Wayne - Twistin' Swing Train
13. Unknown band - Steel Guitar Rag
14. Buck Trail - Beneath Miami Skies
15. The Sensations Sound - Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller
16. Mike Waggoner - Bye Bye Johnny
17. Billy Stephens - Dozen Diamond Man
18. Baker Knight - Things Are Looking Good
19. Chuck Reed - A Southern Boy Sings the Blues
20. Johnny Cash - I Got a Woman (live)
21. Rhythm Rockets - My Shadow
22. Derrell Felts - The Weepers
23. Kenny Owens - Hey Porter
24. Red Kirk - It's Nothing to Me
25. Eddy Bell - Knock, Knock, Knock (Knocking on Your Door)

The Country Rock Sound of...

 ...Dave Dudley again! This is another repost on request, hope you all like it. The CRH catalog includes two compilations with early Dave Dudley c&w rock'n'roll tracks, this here being the first one. Great tracks on it, have a nice day!

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track list:
1. Rock and Roll Nursery Rhyme
2. Nashville Blues
3. Careless Fool
4. It's Gotta Be That Way
5. Where Do I Go from Here
6. Six Days on the Road
7. I Feel a Cry Coming On
8. Cowboy Boots
9. Taxi-Cab Driver
10. Two Six Packs Away
11. Hillbilly Wolf
12. Six Days on the Road (live)

Sonny Fisher once again

Over the next weeks, I will try to reupload all CRH compilations and post them here in chronological order. Today I chose Sonny Fisher because there was a request for this from a visitor. In addition, it's a great comp and the only one that features all 1950s recordings by him.
By the way, here in Northern Germany is beautiful weather, perfect time to listen to the Decemberists!

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track list:
1. Rockin' Daddy
2. Hold Me Baby
3. Sneaky Pete
4. Hey Mama
5. Rockin' and a Rollin'
6. I Can't Lose
7. Pink and Black
8. Little Red Wagon
9. Rockin' Daddy (alternate take)

Tribute to Sun

"706 Union St" by Against the Odds, a tribute to Sun Records and its early stars. Check it out.

Dateline Disaster

 Rusty Adams / Kathy Dean  - Dateline Disaster (Briar 45-153)

 Rusty Adams - Angels from the Opry (Briar 45-153)
March 5, 1963: Country music stars Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee. Unlike the deaths of other stars like Jimmie Rodgers or Hank Williams, the death of the three did not cause cover versions, soundalikes, or tribute songs that tried to profit from the tragedy. The Brair release of Rusty Adams and Kathy Dee is believed to be the only one that appeared right after the crash.

Rusty Adams also had a release on D Records and was a one of Tops Records' soundalike singers in the 1950s. Kathy Dean was possibly also known as Kathy Dee (1933-1968)  recorded also for Carlton in the early 1960s, Decca, United Artists, and B-W. She was also a featured act on the WWVA Jamboree.

This 45 comes from bobsluckycat. Other tributes were done by Ray Guyce and his Lonesome Valley Boys ("A Tribute to the Stars," Brite Star Records) and Dick Heil ("Three Country Stars" on MRM 103). Thanks to Bob for this info!

Hödlmoserpolka

German folk music at its best. This was done at a tv show called "Wirtshausmusikanten beim Hierzinger."  A great tune.

Tennessee Rock, Vol. 2

Finally, I made the decision to use another filehoster in order to post my comps here. Since Megaupload is down I've lost a great amount of my own compilations because I had not all of them on my pc. So if anyone out there has them still (I hope some of them do!), please send them to me, I'd like to have them back for reposts.

Back to the music. This is the second installment of the "Tennessee Rock" series. I'm especially proud to present two very obscure titles here which aren't reissued yet, so grab it while you can. This disc features recordings that were done in Tennessee but not in Nashville or Memphis (apart from one or two exception). I am planning to do also one with Memphis recordings (but no Sun/Meteor/Fernwood/Hi cuts) and Nashville stuff (no major label stuff). The next download will be a special anniversary compilation because Mellow's Log Cabin exists now four years. Stay tuned!

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track list:
1. Phil Barclay - Young Long Lohn
2. Johnny Reno - Naughty Mama
3. Dixieland Drifters - Bongos and Uncle John
4. Billy Wayne - Walking and Strolling
5. Lynn Pratt - They're Learning
6. Kenny Parchman - Don't You Know
7. Charlie Waggoner - Oney Eyed Sam
8. Franklin Stewart - That Long Black Train
9. Brownie Johnson - The Sun Would Never Shine
10. Larry Brinkley - Right String, Wrong Yo Yo
11. Nelson Ray - Walkin' Shoes
12. Joe Griffith - Annabelle Lee
13. Jay Earls - Baby I'm Lonesome
14. Lynn Pratt - Come Here Mama

Wayne Walker on Coral

 Wayne Walker - Just Before Dawn (Coral 9-62026), 1958
[dead wax: 45 105507 1]

 Wayne Walker - After the Boy Gets the Girl (Coral 9-62026), 1958
[dead wax: 56105508 2]
Wayne Walker had started his career in the late 1940s as a sidekick of Tillman Franks with straight country but over a stretch of six or seven years, he developed a style that was much more leaning towards a polished country pop sound with rock'n'roll elements. Although Wayne Walker was so shy that he refused to do live appearances without Franks, he became a member of the Louisiana Hayride in the early 1950s. His first record for Chess, "Now is the Time for Love" b/w "You Got the Best of Me," followed in 1955. Since Tillman Franks had not the time to be on Walker's side on every occasion(he was now the manager of the rising Johnny Horton), he persuaded Walker to team up with singer and guitarist Jimmy Lee Fautheree. Fautheree was also a regular on the Hayride and had just disbanded from his singing partner Johnny Mathis. The duo recorded the now legendary rockabilly number "Love Me", backed by the lighthearted country flip "Lips That Kiss So Sweetly."

Jimmy Lee and Wayne Walker

This record already proofed the change Walker was running through. Although the team of Walker and Fautheree didn't last long, it must have been successful enough to secure Walker a contract with ABC-Paramount. A songwriter contract with Cedarwood publishing and a move to Nashville made the change complete: Walker was in Music City, USA. After his rockabilly classic "All I Can Do Is Cry" (covered by contemporaries Johnny Bond and Otto Bash), Nashville record producers began to use the countrypolitan sound on Walker that was just evolving during this time in the Nashville studios. The product were pop sounding, with background vocals and orchetra backed tracks on such labels as Columbia, Coral, Brunswick, and Everest, among others. One of those records can be heard here. Both songs were cut on August 11, 1958, at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville, most likely with musicians from the famed "Nashville A-Team." The harmony vocalist on "Just Before Dawn" was simply listed as "The Redhead" in the session files, so there's no hint who this singer really was.

Most of the songs Walker recorded were written by him with help from Mel Tillis, Webb Pierce, or others. Although he kept on recording, live performances in front of an audience were still a torture to Walker, which may have prevented him from a national career as a singer. Instead, he concentrated on his songwriting talent and established himself as one of Nashville's most prolific composers in the 1950s and 1960s.

Eddie Cletro RIP

Country music singer Eddie Cletro died February 2, 2012. Cletro was born in 1918 and became a household name in California's 1940s and 1950s country music scene. He appeared on such shows as Town Hall Party and Foreman Phillips' Country Barn Dance as well as recording for various record labels, including Imperial, Sage & Sand, and Lariat. One of his most famous recordings was "Flyin' Saucer Boogie."