Honkytonker Mel Street (1935-1978) was one of those guys who struggled for years before hitting the big time, which he certainly did starting in 1972, when his song "Borrowed Angel" soared to the Top Ten and earned him a gold ticket to Nashville. Before that, the Virginia-born singer had built a career as a local artist in small-town Bluefield, West Virginia -- he ran a local auto garage, while his band, The Swing Kings, played on TV and radio for the better part of the 1960s, including a stint from 1968-72 where Street hosted a show of his own. He first recorded "Borrowed Angel" in 1969 and released it was a private-label single before it bubbled up regionally and was picked up by the nationally-distributed Royal American Records. After moving to Nashville, he recorded a string of highly praised but modestly successful singles, including a few more Top Ten entries, and many others that hovered in the middle of the Top Forty. Sadly, Mr. Street struggled with depression and substance abuse problems, and took his own life on his birthday, in 1978. A posthumously-released best-of collection, Mel Street's Greatest Hits, was a commercial success a few years later. Here's a quick look at his work...
Mel Street "Greatest Hits" (Highland Records, 1992)
Hard to find -- but well worth looking for -- this disc collects Mel Street's mid-'70s singles on the GRT and Metromedia labels (back in the glory days of indie labels on the country charts...!) It's a swell set of throaty, rootsy, often quite raunchy true-country tunes that can be seen as a rougher version of the Ronnie Milsap sound. His jailbait ballad, "Forbidden Angel" is positively scandalous; the rest of the songs are less alarming, but they sure sound great. Street cracked into show biz relatively late in life, cracking into the country charts in 1972, when he was 39... Sadly, he killed himself on his birthday, in 1978, after a short (but sweet) run on the country charts... If you see this set, it's pretty nice, as are the original LPs and singles it draws on. Recommended!
Mel Street "Borrowed Angel" (Metromedia Records, 1972) (LP)
Mel Street "The Town Where You Live/Walk Softly On The Bridges" (Metromedia Records, 1973) (LP)
Mel Street "Two Way Street" (GRT Records, 1974) (LP)
Mel Street "Smokey Mountain Memories" (GRT Records, 1975) (LP)
Mel Street "Greatest Hits" (GRT Records, 1976) (LP)
Mel Street "Country Colors" (GRT, 1974) (LP)
Mel Street "Mel Street" (Polydor Records, 1977) (LP)
Mel Street "Country Soul" (Polydor Records, 1978) (LP)
Mel Street "Mel Street" (Mercury Records, 1978) (LP)
Mel Street "The Many Moods of Mel" (Sunbird Records, 1980) (LP)
Ronnie Cochran "...Sings A Tribute To A Old Friend: Mel Street" (Vista Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Ronnie Cochran & Nelson Larkin)
A longtime resident and musical stalwart of Bluefield, West Virginia, Ronnie Cochran was best friends with Mel Street, a charismatic local singer who finally broke through to national fame after about a decade as a hometown hero in a group called the Swing Kings. The band included Mel Street as lead singer, along with Ronnie Cochrane on bass, drummer Donnie Goins (a member of the Goins Brothers bluegrass family), fiddler Ray Morgan, and steel player Buddy Pennington. They worked together for about a decade, including stints on local TV and radio shows, including as the house band for Cecil Surrett's long-running Country Jamboree, as well as Mel Street's own show, which he hosted for a few years before breaking through and moving to Nashville. Cochran backed Mel Street locally and on the road, though he was apparently was sidelined by a tour bus accident, and settled down back in Bluefield, where he continued to record and to help other aspiring singers in the studio; he also sang harmony vocals on several of Street's albums. This tribute was recorded in Nashville at an off-the-radar studio called RC Demos, with backing by Glenn Barber Jr. (drums), David Greely (fiddle), Vic Jordan (rhythm guitar), Stuart Keathly (bass), Roger Morris (piano), Gene O'Neil (steel guitar), and Cliff Parker (lead guitar). Ronnie Cochran also recorded some singles around this time, including one dedicated to the local West Virginia coal miners. As far as I know this was his only solo album
