Tommy Dell "Roses For Mama" (Plum Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Lindsay Heard)
I dunno much about South African country singer Tommy Dell, but he seems to have been one of those guys who plugged away for years and years before finally "making it" as a solo performer. This appears to have been his first full album, following a long, long string of pop and country singles, dating back at least as far as 1968, when he released a seven-inch on the Nashville-based Stop Records. The repertoire is packed with covers of American country hits, mostly of 'Fifties and 'Sixties vintage, though the title track, "Roses For Mama," was a contemporary hit for C. W. McCall in 1977. Other songs included covers of oldies by Hank Locklin, Marty Robbins, Red Sovine, Conway Twitty, and others... No info on the musicians backing him on this album, but I imagine they were a mix of pop and country studio pros.

Tommy Dell "Words And Music" (Plum Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy Dell, Hennie Hartmann & Tony Pollecutt)
By the time the 'Eighties rolled around, Tommy Dell had upped his game and embraced much more contemporary country material, including outlaw anthems like Ed Bruce's "This Is The Last Cowboy Song," "Storms Never Last," and perhaps most impressive, a cover of Guy Clark's "Desperados Waiting For The Train," which is a pretty hip choice for some old-timer on the other side of the planet from Austin to include on his album.

Tommy Dell "Cowboys Don't Cry" (Plum Records, 1983) (LP)

Tommy Dell "Gettin' It Together" (Teal Records, 1986) (LP)

Tommy Dell & Shaun Dell "Old Doc" (Teal Records, 1995)

Tommy Dell "Teddy Bear" (Gallo Records, 2002)

Caroline Du Preez "Nobody's Child" (RPM Records, 1970-?) (LP)
A child prodigy who was born in Cape Town, South Africa, Caroline Du Preez grew up in neighboring Namibia, and later in the South African costal city of East London. She entered numerous regional talent shows as a kid, including many while still in her pre-teenage years, and eventually came to the attention of producer Dan Hill, who helped her land a contract for her first album, which featured her biggest hit, a version of Cy Coben's "Nobody's Child." (The song had been previously waxed by Hank Snow, The Beatles, Hank Williams Jr., and many others, though in South Africa, Du Preez was sometimes billed as the "original" recording artist.) Though she crossed over into pop material, Caroline Du Preez was definitely anchored in country music, notably recording several yodeling tunes early in her career. On this album, she covered the Elton Britt oldie, "He Taught Me How to Yodel," as well as John D. Loudermilk's "Sunglasses," which had been a hit for Skeeter Davis

Caroline Du Preez "Hier In Natal" (EMI-Music For Pleasure, 1972-?) (LP)
As far as I know, this was Ms. Du Preez's second album, with vocals sung entirely in Afrikaans... It's definitely not all country material -- I recognize the pop chestnut "Cu Cu Ru Cu Cu, Paloma" as one of the cover songs -- but at least some of the songs were of country-ish origin, such as the "Switserse Yodel," and possibly some American hits that had been translated for this album. Apparently this album was reissued in 1976, though the tracks are the same.

Caroline Du Preez "Nobody's Child (Original Artist)" (EMI-Music For Pleasure, 1979-?) (LP)
Although this disc shares the same title as her 1970 debut, it's an (almost) entirely different set... Sure, she re-recorded "Nobody's Child," but the bulk of this disc comes from covers of American country tunes -- three(!) from Dolly Parton, a cover of the Kenny Roberts oldie, "She Taught Me How To Yodel," Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou," a newer tune from Gail Davies... There are also two songs from Du Preez's go-to, favorite African composer, Zane Cronje, including one song, "Stay With Me," that credits Caroline Du Preez as co-composer. Definitely a country album!

Caroline Du Preez & Judith Melanie Carter "Me And Little Andy" (EMI-Music For Pleasure, 1980) (LP)
A mixed bag, a concept album of sorts centered around sentimental, kid-themed songs, with De Preez collaborating with a newer country artist, Judith Melanie Carter (although this may have been Ms. Carter's only career album...) The title track is a Dolly Parton song no one's ever heard of, and there's also a Conway Twitty tune, "But You Love Me Mommy," as well as (of course) yet another version of her old hit, "Nobody's Child," which seems to have been the conceptual lynchpin of this intentionally goopy album. It's worth noting that there are several originals from Du Preez: "Melody," "You've Done It Again," and "Please Don't Put Me Off This Train," and other South African originals from Peter Best and Zane Cronje. No info on the backing musicians, though... Alas.

Caroline Du Preez "I Love You" (EMI-Music For Pleasure, 1982) (LP)

June Dyer "June Dyer" (Renown Records, 1961) (LP)
(Produced by G. Balla & George Hayden)
Not really a country singer, but rockabilly-adjacent enough that she merits mention here... Billed as "South Africa's teen queen," June Dyer (1942-2011) was perhaps not the most dynamic vocalist... Trying to be fair, I assumed this was because English was probably her second language -- but as it turns out, according to her biography, she was actually mostly deaf from around the age of ten, and was said to keep the beat by touching musical instruments as they were being played by the band. Equally noteworthy here is the backing band, a Shadows-y crew called The Rousers, made up of Leon Booysen (bass), Johnny Kreuger (drums), Tony Spectre (rhythm guitar) and Jose Sumares on lead guitar, overall a pretty competent teenpop outfit with a surfy skiffle sound that's pretty good for the times. The Rousers seem to have been something of a free-floating house band for the Renown label, with various members in different configurations, backing various vocalists, or in instrumental bands using a variety of names.

June Dyer "Tell It To The Birds" (Renown Records, 1962) (LP)
In the classic early 'Sixties teenpop tradition, success breeds mediocrity, and like oh-so-many similar rockin' rebels from the United States and UK, after her initial breakthrough as a Wanda Jackson-ish firecracker, June Dyer was swiftly refashioned into a more staid, tamer, novelty-oriented pop performer. It's still intriguing from a historical perspective (how many South African rock'n'rollers can you name?) but it's also a lot hokier and less fun than her first album. Oh, well. I would have warned them, but I wasn't born yet. Not a lot here for twangfans, although her "answer song" to the Marty Robbins hit, "Devil Woman," is definitely a hoot.

Ray Dylan "Goeie Ou Country" (Select Musiek, 2009)
Some slick, modern stuff by a singer from Odendaalsrus, South Africa, a rural mining town south of Pretoria... Actually, although Ray Dylan (ne Jacobus Frederick Jersich) was a contemporary, digital-age artist, this album is very nostalgia-oriented, packed with English-language covers of American country hits from the 1960s and '70s, mostly pretty corny stuff, including songs like "I Can't Stop Loving You," From A Jack To A King," "Patches," "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and a medley of John Denver hits. Of course there's a nod towards Jim Reeves, who was hugely popular in South Africa, as was Kenny Rogers, apparently: Dylan covers two of his songs, including a version of "Island In The Stream," which was a duet with pop singer Elizma Theron. (She also included a duet with him, "Ons Soek Net Country," on one of her albums, which came out on the Select label... They later formed a pop group called 4 Werke, which released several records.) Ray Dylan has released roughly two dozen albums, singing in both English and Afrikaans -- I'm not sure the records are all country, so I'm only including the ones that use that word in their title, to be on the safe side. Worth noting: Dylan looks babyfaced and boy-bandish on the album cover, but was actually in his early thirties when this came out.

Ray Dylan "Goeie Ou Country. v.2" (Select Musiek, 2010)

Ray Dylan "Goeie Ou Country In Duet" (Select Musiek, 2013)

Ray Dylan "20 Goue Country Treffers" (Select Musiek, 2014)

Ray Dylan "Goue Ou Country, v.3" (Select Musiek, 2014)

Ray Dylan "Sing Roy Orbison" (Select Musiek, 2014)
Country? Well... close enough.

Ray Dylan "Country Vibes" (Select Musiek, 2019)

Denise Freeman "A Shoulder To Cry On" (Columbia Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Leo Lagerwey & Robin Netcher)
Although she was born in England, singer Denise Freeman emigrated to South Africa in 1969 and made her name there as a country singer. This album was packed with covers of contemporary country hits, mostly associated with various "girl" singers, including "Harper Valley PTA," Dolly Parton's "Just Because I'm A Woman," Bonnie Bramlett's "Never Ending Song Of Love" and Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe," as well as some stuff by Carole King. There are also two songs written by producer-arranger Robin Netcher, "Mean What You Say" and "A Shoulder To Cry On," which hit #2 on the South African charts. Mr. Netcher was also an emigre from England; he'd been in a couple of pop bands and did arranging and session work for the major labels, moving to Johannesburg around the same time as Freeman... (Perhaps they emigrated together, or worked together in London?) Freeman and Netcher released at least one more record together, a pop-oriented single with another of Netcher's compositions, "It's All Over But The Shouting," also released in 1972.

Charles Jacobie "Die Singende Beesboer" (Unika Records, 1962) (LP)
Known as "Die Singende Beesboer," or singing cowboy, Charles Henry Jacobie (1928-1988) was considered the main pioneering figure in South Africa's country music scene. Jacobie sang in both Afrikaans and in English, and was a very emotive though old-fashioned singer, in sort of a Marty Robbins-meets-Tex Ritter kind of style. As far as I know none of his records have been released outside of South Africa, although much of his music can be found online, including as digital downloads or YouTube videos and the like. Similarly, there's not a lot of biographical information to be found, though I imagine there are South African sources that might run a bit deeper.

Charles Jacobie "Sing, Swerwer, Sing " (Unika Records, 196-?) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "U Eie Keuse" (Unika Records, 1966) (LP)

Charles Jacobie & Ken Espen "I'll Pray For You" (Unika Records, 196--?) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "Travellin' Light" (CBS Records, 1966) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "Forever And Ever" (CBS Records, 1968) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "Golden Star" (CBS Records, 1969) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "No One Will Ever Know" (CBS Records, 1971) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "Mockin' Bird" (Harmony Records, 1971) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "The One And Only Charles Jacobie" (CBS Records, 19--?) (LP)

Charles Jacobie "Mockin' Bird" (EMI, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Boet Pretorius)

The Mattison Brothers "Wanted!" (MFM/Mike Fuller Music, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Peter Vee, Bones Brettell & Greg Cutler)
A country/rock group from Johannesburg, South Africa, pictured in a creepy posed-with-rifles photo on front cover which I guess was supposed to project a "hillbilly" vibe, but which seems a bit foreboding, given where the politics of the country had gone by 1981. Anyway, this is kinda slick-sounding stuff, and looks like it was mostly original material. No musician credits that I could find; most of the album was produced by Peter Vee, though one track was produced by Bones Brettell and Greg Cutler

Jeremy Taylor "Jeremy Taylor" (Gallotone Records, 1962) (LP)
(Produced by Peter Vee, Bones Brettell & Greg Cutler)
A sort-of African, not-quite country album by English-born folkie Jeremy Taylor, who launched his career in early 'Sixties South Africa, but was booted from the country not only for satirizing the racist apartheid system, but also for writing songs that mixed English and Afrikaans lyrics(!) Back in the UK, he collaborated with various folk and comedy artists, most notably Spike Milligan and Sidney Carter. This was his first LP, built off the success of his early singles; in later works he explored explicitly African themes, particularly in his 1966 world music potpourri, Always Something New Out Of Africa and the 1962 musical Wait A Minim!

Gus Whyburd "My Children, My Wife" (Warner Brothers, 1973) (LP)
Although frequently billed as a country singer, South Africa's Gus Whyburd sure sounds a lot more like one of those super-square, 'Sixties-era pop singers like Andy Williams or Robert Goulet. Whyburd, who sang in English, was discovered by Gerry Bosman, who backs him here, with jaunty pop-orchestral arrangements that may sound a bit dated to fans of the era. The title track, "My Children, My Wife," was a Top Ten his in South Africa, and was followed by several less successful singles. Whyburd may have released other albums, though if so, they aren't widely known to the outside world. Mr. Whyburd apparently passed away in 2013.

Various Artists "LIKE NASHVILLE IN NAIJA: NIGERIA'S ROMANCE WITH COUNTRY MUSIC" (Comb & Razor Sound, 2017)
A highly unusual and challenging collection of West African "country music" tunes, gathered by Nigerian musicologist Uchenna Ikonne, who posted a bunch material online as part of the Comb & Razor blog. It's truly an astonishing feat of songcatching and crate-digging, salvaging rare, lost and neglected tracks from a region much better known for the groovy guitar stylings of "world music" pop genres such as highlife and juju, and for the 1960s-'70s embrace of American funk and soul music. Indeed, many of the artists included on this set are better known as pop/dance musicians, including artists such as Ofege or Gnonnas Pedro, and these twang tracks, while revealing the breadth of their own musical explorations, were often one-offs or singles, rather than part of a broader country orientation. But the tracks are fascinating. The album opens with an odd, meandering psychedelic song, "The Seed Of Love," which perhaps illustrates the difficulties of reconciling the ecstatic, multi-layered, free-flowing improvisational traditions of West African guitar pop with the more constrained, meticulously crafted self-limitations of American country music, a genre largely dedicated to journeyman-like songsmithery, and the mass production of two- and three-minute hit singles. That track is a difficult entry point, but the feel changes quickly, and the country influences become more readily apparent on some (though not all) of the subsequent tracks. From a twangfan's perspective, highlights include Fred Donn's lilting "Lidina Lole," along with Rennie Cottonheart's "No More Love In This Town" (with its beautiful acoustic intro) and Al Jackson's "Sometime Someday," which has an airy AOR/country-rock vibe very much like the disco-era LA country-rock it emulates, or even the tween psychedelia of Ogak Jay Oke's delicate and surprising "Another Day," as well as Poor Charley Akaa's Simon & Garfunkle-esque "Be In Your Arms," which rounds the album out. There are also a few tunes that are kind of annoying and slip into styles I would consider more soul or gospel oriented. It's also worth noting: all of these songs were sung in English, which I often find to be a liability on "foreign" records, but is actually kind of useful here. On the whole, this is an impressive archival set, the kind of quixotic project that only one particular person, with one particular point of view could bring to fruition. Definitely recommended, although it might not be that accessible to many fans of either country music or African pop...

Various Artists "ZULU BOP!" (Blakey Records, 2020)
I'm fudging here, once again... This isn't really country stuff, but rather early-vintage South African rock'n'roll recorded in the early 1960s and highly imitative of American rockabilly, surf music, and Link Wray-style guitar rock. The artists seem mostly drawn from the stable of the teen-oriented Renown Records, which had a rotating cast of musicians using a variety of band names, as well as backing various vocalists. These included instrumentalist such as bassist Leon Booysen and guitarist Jose Sumares, singers Marty Barn, Al Bentley, June Dyer, Michel Martel and Mickie Most, as well as bands including The Diamonds, The 5 Teens, The Knights, The Rousers and the Silhoulettes. Pretty strong retro-delic material, musically solidand fascinating historically, and even useful in helping triangulate the trajectory of South African country twang. Nice archival effort!

Hick Music Index