Jim Eanes "...And The Shenandoah Valley Boys" (Bear Family, 1999)
Here's a nice surprise -- a tasty reissue of rare, early '50s country material recorded by bluegrass picker Jim Eanes, who had just left the Flatt & Scruggs band to seek fame and fortune on his own. These are atypical recordings -- a few banjo-based instrumentals speckle the craggy honkytonk that dominates these old Decca sessions. Eanes was clearly emulating Hank Williams (and later, Hank Snow) in his vocals, with a hefty dose of Ernest Tubb-style musical arrangements in the mix. Among the pickers present here are Chet Atkins, Autry Inman, and a young Bobby Hicks on fiddle... nice company, indeed! An interesting cross between hard country and bluegrass, which helps fill in some of the blanks in the husky, blues-laced style that made Eanes's later bluegrass recordings sound so unique. There are plenty of great heart songs and weepers on here, as well as a novelty tune or two, and a trio of Cold War-era patriotic songs round off the album... Nice stuff, well worth picking up!

Steve Earle - see artist discography

Jimmy Edwards "Love Bug Crawl" (Bear Family, 2010)
Rare, obscuro-rockabilly from a little-known rocker who hailed from Michigan... His 1957 hit, "Love Bug Crawl," has a Jerry Lee Lewis-ish feel to it, but he dabbled in twang and soft-pop as well, often singing in a sort of in a Charlie Rich pop-blues ballad mode. It's not the most ripsnorting material, and he's not the greatest or most original singer, but it's a definite blast from the past, with a nice nostalgic feel. Worth checking out, though not mindblowing.

Jonathan Edwards "Jonathan Edwards" (Atlantic, 1971)
Back in 1971, Jonathan Edwards broke through with the breezy Top-40 hit, "Sunshine," and helped define the early-'70s singer-songwriter roots revival. Early albums combined country and country-rock with wimpy (but pleasant) folkie love songs; gradually Edwards drifted more solidly into the folk circuit and left the other stuff behind. These are his first two albums -- some of it's dorky hippie folk-rock pop (which I like anyway) and some of it has a pleasant true-country feel and rich, satisfying arrangements, sort of a refinement of the eclectic retro-isms of the early 'Sixties jug band scene. The albums are definitely worth checking out, though you have to be willing to go back into that goofy Woodstock Nation vibe and soak up a little love and good vibes... But if you do, these are pretty rewarding albums.

Jonathan Edwards "Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy" (Atlantic, 1972)

Jonathan Edwards "Have A Good Time For Me" (Atco, 1973/Collector's Choice, 2005)
Yay. This one of Edwards' best records -- a stonerbilly gem sporting a solid country feel, with fiddles, twang and pedal steel galore. It's a longtime favorite of mine -- an album that I am very, very happy to see in print on CD. The title track is as savagely bitter and sarcastic a song about a dead love affair as ever was made... from there it drifts into some sappy, spacy, hippie-folkie tunes (which I actually like, but can't really recommend) until Edwards hits the country vibe again with a great cover version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Travellin' Blues." The album's true gem, though, is a Joe Dolce song called "My Home Ain't In The Hall Of Fame," which was a perfect statement of purpose for a guy whose debut album had put him in the Billboard Pop chart's Top Five, but whose subsequent releases were about as anti-commerical as you could get... It went on to become an alt-country anthem, both through Edwards's excellent version, and a fine cover by bluegrasser J. D. Crowe... That song alone is worth the price of admission for this fine old hippie album. Recommended!

Stoney Edwards - see artist discography

Tibby Edwards "Play It Cool Man, Play It Cool (Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight)" (Bear Family, 2008)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott "The Lost Topic Tapes -- Cowes Harbour: 1957" (Hightone, 2004)
Ramblin' Jack Elliott "The Lost Topic Tapes -- Isle Of Wight: 1957" (Hightone, 2004)
Here are some of the purest relics of the bygone era of the American folk music scene you're ever likely to hear... The crusty, craggy troubadour known as Ramblin' Jack Elliott is the real deal, and has been for over five decades. Woody Guthrie's sidekick and devotee for much of the 1950s, Elliott moved to England in 1955, and brought the Brits a genuine American folk hero, a blues-besotted would-be cowboy who was tight with the Beats and knew a bazillion old folks tunes. Ramblin' Jack must've charmed his English hosts to no end, especially as Great Britain was in the midst of the skiffle craze, England's DIY equivalent of the rockabilly and garage rock movements in the USA. These two CDs present a recently unearthed cache of live recordings made at informal sessions near the Isle of Wight, with Elliott drawling out casual, relaxed versions of old traditional songs -- "Jack Of Diamonds," "Streets Of Laredo," "Rock Island Line," etc. -- along with acoustic blues from Leadbelly, Jimmie Rodgers and some Woody Guthrie tunes, too. These tracks were recorded for the fabled Topic Brit-folk label, but after an initial 10" EP that came out in '58, the rest of the tapes were set aside for future generations. Well, here we future generations are... and boy are we glad to hear these songs! Elliott's mix of vulnerablity and calculating, savvy showmanship is fascinating: he wasn't the greatest singer, but he knew how to compensate through sheer enthusiasm and force of personality. He's charming and imperfect, and his imperfections are charming. The similarities between his vocal style and those of Townes Van Zandt and Jimmie Dale Gilmore are remarkable... Unlike those hippie-era songsmiths, however, Ramblin' Jack Elliott didn't write his own material; living in the shadow of his mentor Woody Guthrie, he figured he'd be better off learning how to sing songs rather than write 'em. Guess he was right, as these vintage recordings demonstrate... (For more info on Ramblin' Jack, check out his ramblin' website, which has tons of info about his life and music...)

Joe Ely - see artist discography

Buddy Emmons "Steel Guitar Jazz" (Mercury, 1963)
A veteran of the hillbilly and honkytonk bands of Little Jimmy Dickens and Ernest Tubb, pedal steel virtuoso Buddy Emmons also branched out into jazz (and, some might say, into easy listening...) as on this legendary crossover album. Emmons covers the work of some real jazz heavyweights -- Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver and others -- with sympathetic backing on bass, drums, piano, and saxophone. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but folks who are into the instrument will definitely want to check this one out.

Buddy Emmons "Steel Guitar" (Flying Fish, 1975)
One of the preeminent steel players of his generation, Emmons did tons of studio work, notably for Emmylou Harris and her country-rock crowd. Here he relaxes and works his way through a nice set of instrumental tunes, backed by fiddler Johnny Gimble and some of their pals. This is best when it showcases Emmons alone, as on slower numbers such as "Wild Mountain Time," where Emmons' precision and tonal control are best showcased.... The faster numbers, such as his version of "Sugarfoot Rag," with a drum kit rushing him along, are far less interesting, but still of a high caliber of musicianship.

Buddy Emmons "Sings Bob Wills" (Flying Fish, 1976)
A hippie-era homage to western swing legend Bob Wills. This mid-'70s usual-suspects ensemble, featuring steel guitar whiz Buddy Emmons, along with fiddlers Johnny Gimble and Buddy Spicher, Pig Robbins and others, hits the right marks and doesn't bump into the furniture, but somehow I don't think they got the Bob Wills vibe down right. It's all just too clean and clever: where's the rowdy, disshevelled, blues-soaked fervor of the old Wills/Duncan days? This album has its heart in the right place, but I don't think they were wild enough to really capture the easygoing beauty of the Texas Playboys sound.

Buddy Emmons & Lenny Breau "Minors Aloud" (Flying Fish, 1979)
(Produced by Michael Melford)
Like Emmons, jazz guitarist Lenny Breau had deep country roots... His parents were the Canadian/American country duo of Betty Cody and Hal Lone Pine (nee Harold Breau), who had considerable success in the 1940s as a regional hillbilly act. Breau emerged early on as a musical prodigy, and in his teen years turned to jazz after already playing in the family band for several years. Here he explores both worlds, twang and bop, with pedal steel player Emmons, who had similar inclinations, but stuck closer to the country stuff. A nice meeting of the minds that wil make fans of instrumental country-jazz feel all warm and fuzzy.

Buddy Emmons "Amazing Steel Guitar: The Buddy Emmons Collection" (Razor & Tie, 1997)

Buddy Emmons "Christmas Sounds Of The Steel Guitar" (Step One, 1987)
Pedal steel whiz Buddy Emmons rings in the holidays with a luxurious set of sweet standards on steel... It's kinda cheesy, but hey -- isn't that what we expect from our Christmas records?

Melvin Endsley "I Like Your Kind Of Love" (Bear Family, 1992)
Endsley wrote the super-bouncy singalong classic "Singin' The Blues," a big 1950s hit for both Marty Robbins and Guy Mitchell. Sadly, his own version of his signature tune isn't included on this disc, though plenty of similar recordings are. Following the success of "Singin' The Blues," Endsley had an all-too-brief whirl on Nashville's wheel of fame, but after a wild couple of years, interest in his songs completely evaporated. These demo-y tracks on this album aren't the best country records ever, but they are charming, and some are quite good. Endsley wasn't really much of a performer, and as a composer was perhaps a bit formulaic, but it's always fun to hear songwriters cover their own material.

The Everly Brothers - see artist discography

Don Everly "Brother Jukebox" (ABC/Hickory, 1977)
An endearing, if somewhat rickety, solo album by this much-beloved Everly brother. Going all-out country/countrypolitan on this one, Don hits a home run with the title track -- his definitive rendition of Paul Craft's "Brother Jukebox" has one of the greatest singalong choruses ever committed to wax, and remains one of my favorite lost-nugget country oldies... The rest of the album is much iffier, though, with Everly straining at the edges on more than a few of these songs, especially the more sensitive, emotive ballads. Still, it's worth it for the one song, and intriguing for devoted Everly fans and idle bystanders as well...

Hick Music Index