Barbara Alan "In Nashville" (Mid Land Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by William Lee & Jack Logan)
A lounge singer from Saint Louis, Missouri, Barbara Alan was the runner-up in a talent contest sponsored by the Grand Ole Opry as part of its fiftieth anniversary celebrations. I guess that's kinda like playing horseshoes, though, 'cause a couple of years later, she was still playing the bar at the Best Western Inn. But what the heck? She was still a working musician, and she got to make an album in Nashville, with Buddy Emmons playing steel and Phil Baugh playing guitar. This is an appealing album, although it does have a rather static feel... Ms. Alan says that Patsy line was her hero, and you can definitely hear it in her singing (though perhaps filtered through the rougher tones of Kitty Wells...) though there's not a lot of variety to her style, she's still kind of appealing. The real problem was with the studio crew -- they just don't seem that into it, and don't give her a lot, and while there are much more going-through-the-motions albums to be found, this one does suffer nonetheless. What's cool about this album is the odd song selection -- she sings some pop standards by Gershwin and Berlin, a few country oldies by folks like Eddie Miller and Bill Monroe, as well as one by Wayne P. Walker (who's always a personal favorite of mine) but there are some odd entries that I think are unique to this album... "Walking Midnight Road" is the least of these, an odd ripoff of Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight, while "Walk On The Wild Side" is a pretty good honkytonk novelty number, where the singer balances six days of fun against one day of repentance and concludes that's a straight ticket to Hell. Perhaps the most interesting track is "I Don't Know," a song written by Bill Adams, that's a sort of sideways gospel tune, written by a person who questions their faith because of all the horrible things God lets happen. I also enjoyed their bar-band funk rendition of "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," which is solid private-record kitsch. On balance, I thought this was a nice, sincere record made by a gal who for whatever reasons maybe didn't get the best treatment when she made the trek to Nashville. And so she came in second...? Well, she made a record, and that's more than most of us have done! So who even cares who came in first?

Urel Albert "One Man's Woman At A Time" (Cinnamon Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by John Elgio)
An oddball novelty artist whose best-known work is in a long string of far-flung indie-label singles, Missouri native Urel Albert was a professional country music imitator, doing impressions of folks like Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Johnny Cash and the like... He had a few songs that grazed the back end of the Top 100, but mostly Albert was a plugger, relying on live shows for his bread and butter. Albert also recorded a few football-related private pressing singles (rah! rah! go Buckeyes!) which seems to have been a viable gig for under-the-radar country singers in the late '70s... Anyway, there's some straight country stuff on here, as well as some impressions, which, frankly I don't think were all that great, but they are kind of interesting in an odd, pop-culture way.

Urel Albert "Saturday Night In Nashville" (Spar Records, 1974) (LP)

Rick Albright & One Of A Kind "A New Flame" (Harvest Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Carl Godin & Jim Lake)
Well, yeah, I guess you could slate this guy from Saint Charles, Missouri as a "country" singer, though a heft dose of his repertoire (three songs) come from Bobby Goldsboro... Not to mention his covers of "The Way We Were" and Burt Bacharach's "Say A Little Prayer." Still, you've got some Jimmy Webb ("By The Time I Get To Phoenix"), Eddy Raven, John Denver, and a version of "Welcome To My World." No pedal steel or fiddle, but his pop-lounge leanings are clearly balanced by a taste for twang... or countrypolitan ballads, at least. This set was recorded at the KBK Studios, in Saint Louis. No info on whether Albright played live gigs as well, or where, but if anyone out there knows more, I'm all ears.

Arrow Memphis "Arrow Memphis" (Intermountain Records, 1980) (LP)
Originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, these guys moved to Tucson, Arizona in the late '70s when the desert's country-rock scene was really hot... They became mainstays of the local scene, and at the time they made this album, were the house band at the Stumble Inn honkytonk bar. Lead singer Steve Williams bought a smooth, James Taylor-ish voice to front a solid outlaw country sound -- he later broke into the Nashville songwriting racket, penning several Top Forty hits, including "Redneck Yacht Club" (a chart-topper for Craig Morgan) and "Where Have I Been All My Life," which was recorded by George Strait. And here's Williams and his pals, back in their longhaired glory... Pretty good stuff, though you can sure hear the commercial, Top 40 aspirations in there as well.

Eddy Asher "Faded By The Night Life" (Dry Holler Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Nelson & C. E. Asher)
A singer who hailed from Springfield, Missouri, Eddie Asher packed this album with original material, with eight out of ten songs were written by Asher...

Johnny Baker "Songs Of The Rodeo" (Audio Arts, 1964) (LP)
In the 1950s, over a decade before Moe Bandy, Chris LeDoux or Pake McEntire hung up their spurs, Missouri rodeo rider Johnny Baker became, as legend has it, the first professional cowpuncher to devote himself full-time to singing rodeo-related music. This was his first full-length LP, with a brace of songs so packed with with rodeo lingo that they had to include a glossary with the album. Keep loose, but hold on tight!

Johnny Baker "Let Her Buck" (1965) (LP)

Johnny Baker "Rodeoin' With Johnny Baker" (1966) (LP)

Johnny Baker "The Rodeo In The Sky" (FF&S Sound Recordings, 1974) (LP)
Clunky, sure, but it's the real deal. Johnny Baker wasn't the greatest singer... or lyricist... or guitar picker... or humorist... But I imagine he was a pretty good rodeo rider, and he was certainly committed to his music, as his multiple albums attest. Though musically static, these tracks ooze authenticity, with Mr. Baker ruminating about various aspects of rodeo life while strumming solo on his acoustic geetar. Perhaps the funniest number is "Microphone Bandit," in which a rodeo announcer razzes Baker by saying -- over the PA -- that if that's how he rides, maybe he should stick to playing guitar. So, yeah, Johnny Baker didn't take himself too seriously and he certainly was aware of his limitations as a musician, but he plugged away and had fun doing what he was doing, and that translates pretty well when you give him a spin. Not exactly the kind of record you'd listen to over and over, but it's got its charms.

The Baldknobbers - see artist profile

Tom Bark "Cosmopolitan Redskin" (Leprechaun Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Mike O'Neill & John Moseley)
Kansas City singer Tom Bark was a for-real Native American, so the album title isn't as weird as you might think... Over the years he moved through a series of local rock bands, although this solo album has a definite country flavor. Sure, there's scary stuff like conga drums and cowbells, but pedal steel player Roger Workman added some legit twang: he also played on the first album by the Jolly Brothers band, which is a KC alt-country classic. Most of the songs here were Tom Bark originals, including the title track, as well as "Mayes County Jail," and "Crooked Politician Blues" -- "Oklahoma Rodeo Queen" was penned by local folkie Dana Cooper a few years earlier.

The Barleen Trio "Country Favorites With Curt Burrell" (Eve In The Sky Sound, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Randy Miotke)
The family band trio of siblings Barbara, Brenda and Jeff Barleen started out singing in their Kansas hometown, but pursued music professionally after the family moved to Missouri and they became part of the Ozark Mountain country scene. They were bolstered by the addition of singer-fiddler Curt Burrell, who married Barbara and emerged as a solo vocalist. By the time this album was recorded, they had moved to a gig in Estes Park, Colorado -- where they ran their own venue -- and they're joined on the recording sessions by steel player Donny Cook and lead guitar Gary Cook. The Barleens recorded numerous other albums, though most of these came out as cassette-only releases.

Bill Beeny, Margaret Beeny & The Westerners "Sonny Boy" (Temple Records, 19--?) (LP)
The Beenys were, I believe, married couple from Saint Louis, Missouri who evangelized in the area as well as recording several albums of all gospel material, including both standards and songs they themselves wrote. I'm not sure about the time-frame for these uber-indie albums (some of which didn't even have cardboard jackets!) but I think they were made in the late 1960s or early '70s. Turns out Mr. Beeny was a more-than-colorful character, a rabid right-winger of the John Birch-ian variety: Beeny ran an "anticommunist ranch" near Wright City, and formed a group called CROSS (Counter-Revolutionary Organization on Salvation and Service) which sponsored classes to train its members to use guns, so they could mix it up withe the hippies and Black Panthers, in case the forces of godless anarchy ever tried to invade the Ozarks. A staunch segregationist, Beeny ran unsuccessfully for statewide office, and was a supporter of George Wallace's 1968 presidential run. He also had ongoing legal problems -- mostly on tax issues -- and was kicked out of several positions as a pastor in Southern Baptist churches. The best part comes years later, though, when Beeny mellowed a little and became an Elvis Presley conspiracy theorist, opening the "Elvis Is Alive Museum," which he ran until 2007, when he sold his Presley relics on eBay. Jinkies. What a nut! (Thanks to Wikipedia for filling in the blanks.)

Bill And Margaret Beeny & The Westerners "Heaven's Hall Of Fame" (Temple Records, 19--?) (LP)

Bill And Margaret Beeny & The Westerners "Circuit Ridin' Preacher" (Temple Records, 19--?) (LP)
This album includes a twenty-minute long sermon entitled "Are There Communists In Our Churches?" along with the title track and "Heaven's Hall Of Fame" (which appears on another Beeny album) and versions of oldies such as "Did You Think To Pray," "Supper Time," et. al. The sermon sounds pretty fun!

Black Stallion "...Featuring Benny Mahan" (Black Stallion Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Belknap & Frank Westbrook)
A country-oriented album featuring Springfield, Missouri's Benny Mahan (1944-2009) a regionally popular vocalist who started his career back in the 'Sixties, singing blues and soul, and was a longtime member of the local R&B band Granny's Bathwater, which toured nationally. This twangy album marked a real shift in direction, though Mahan's bluesy roots are never far from the surface. Black Stallion included Benny Mahan on vocals, with Kenny Cox (bass and guitar), Randy Gipson (steel guitar),Rex Meredith (lead guitar), Stan Smith (drums), and Frank Westbrook on piano and keyboards... Not sure how long the group was together, though this seems to have been their only record. All but three songs were originals written or co-written by Benny Mahan, with the exceptions being "Cajun Keyboards" an instrumental by Westbrook, and covers of "Since You've Been Gone" and Wayne Carson's "Bugle Ann." Mahan's tunes include tracks such as "Black Satin Stallion," "Honky Tonk Blood" and "Swamper," a tune he re-recorded two decades later with the band Howie & The Hellcats.

Blue Mountain Classics "Live In Concert" (Muddy Creek Productions, 1981) (LP)
A bluegrass-based band that performed in the cast of a Missouri-based "opry" venue called the Ozark Mountain Jamboree, Blue Mountain Classics started out as a bluegrass trio featuring brothers Ben and Paul Weatherford. In stepping up to the Jamboree's main stage, the group took a more country- and rock-flavored sound, delivering zippy (one might even say slightly frantic) versions of contemporary hits by harmony-oriented Top Forty groups such as the Statler Brothers and the Gatlins. This album was recorded live at the Jamboree, and there's something a little too rickety and unsure about these performances, though as always it's nice to have a snapshot of what these regional "opry" bands sounded like in concert. Didn't do much for me, but it's okay.

Blue Ridge "Country Music" (Ridge Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Raymer & Randy Hauser)
A quartet from St. Ann, Missouri, led by songwriter Bill Highley...

Blue Ridge "Country Music" (Ridge Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Dean Raymer & Randy Hauser)
This second album (same title, different songs) was recorded in Nashville with studio musicians Mike Shrimpf on keyboards.

Bluegrass Brigade "Happy I'll Be" (Ozark Opry Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by R. N. Parker & Jim Phinney)
A straight-up bluegrass band from Kansas City, Missouri, who seem to have been connected to Lee Mace's Ozark Opry, and recorded this album at Mace's studio in Osage Beach. This was their first album, with the band made up of Jack Burlison on guitar, Mae Burlison (bass), Rusty Dutton (banjo and fiddle), Jim McGreevy (banjo and mandolin), and Don Montgomery on fiddle. Though on a couple of tunes they hit an overly-folkie tone, on most others, though, thee's an old-timey Appalachian feel that's quite compelling, particularly on the group harmonies which find Ms. Burlison's voice as their anchor. The Brigade went on to self-release a couple of albums of their own and appear to have played a lot of regional gigs throughout the 'Eighties.

The Bluemont Singers "At The Castaway" (Brass Record Company, 1964) (LP)
(Produced by George W. Hodes, Jr.)
Real-deal, genuine 'Sixties folk revival material from a clean-cut Kansas City quintet that used to play at a venue called Castaways. This is less country-oriented than most of the records I'm reviewing here, but I just couldn't resist the Midwest connection. Plus, these folks were pretty good -- they play straight-up Kingston Trio/Backporch Majority-style coffeehouse folk, bluesy acoustic folk, prim spirituals and some decent bluegrass, too. Really, they were on a par with what bands were playing on the East Coast, with just a hint of the jugband scene as well. The group included founding members Larry Dimmit, Galen Slifer and Dave Warner, joined by bassist Byron Schlosser and a gal banjo player, Jackie Haines, who was a pretty good picker. A little-known but pretty sharp regional folk group, definitely worth a spin if you like the style.

Bob-O-Links "Country Born..." (American Artist Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Higgins)
This was the first souvenir album made for the Bob-O-Links Country Hoe-Down, a Branson, Missouri mom'n'pop opry show started in 1977 by Bob Mabe, one of several brothers who started the Baldknobbers Jamboree back in 1959. He and his wife Sue Mabe quit the Baldknobbers in 1976 and started this venue the following year, parking it near a motel and restaurant they also owned in the area. One thing leaps out at you right away: the wealth of country music talent that existed outside of Nashville. This was a very skilled and professional-sounding ensemble, with Bob Mabe as emcee, steel player Byron Arnold (a veteran of the 'Sixties Ozark scene), as well as Steve Crouch (drums), Rick Friend (banjo and guitar), Linda Henry (vocals), Randy Newman (fiddle), and Johnny Patton on lead guitar. Singer-pianist Donna Hale solos on a couple of tracks (later she changed her name to Donna Dixon); also featured are comic Don Koonce (later billed as "Tom Thumbpickitt") and the Rex Burdette Family cloggers, aka "The Hoe-Downers." The repertoire is notably modern, mostly contemporary hits with a couple of faves from the 'Sixties, such as "Tippy Toein'," and "You Gave Me A Mountain," as well as a little outlaw stuff, like "Luckenbach, Texas." There are some oldies, but not the same proportion of bluegrass and gospel you'd normally see in these Ozark opry shows, so maybe when he started out Mabe wanted to set himself apart from his old venue. Whatever the plan was, the record sounds good... A bit manic, but still pretty solid.

Bob-O-Links "Country '83" (Aardvark Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Kenny Gott & Ralph Plank)
Fun stuff... I like this one! Many of the musicians are the same, with a few new faces... Bob Mabe is still emcee and leader of the band, picking, singing and cracking corny jokes, zipping through a jovial performance packed with contemporary hits such as John Anderson's "Swingin'," Guy Clark's "Heartbroke," "Come On In," and "Tennessee River," as well as some oldies ("Why Baby Why" and "Last Date"), a little dab of bluegrass and a bunch of gospel tunes to close things out. Sue Mabe plays piano, with Eddie Lane on lead guitar, Arnie Arnold (steel guitar), Donna Dalton (piano), Randy Newman on fiddle, Don McAlee (banjo), Steve Maples (bass), Linda Henry on vocals and Don Koonce providing comic relief as "Tom Thumbpickitt" and even some clogging by the Burdette Family Square Dancers. Honestly, I do enjoy this album... there's no original content, but the band is into it and projects an air of joyfulness that doesn't always come through on this kind of souvenir album. They also get surprisingly funky on some of the opening numbers, with some playful guitar licks and lively rhythm. Worth a spin!

Bob-O-Links "Country '84" (1984) (LP)
(Produced by Kenny Gott & Ralph Plank)
The following year, covers included "Long Tall Texan," "Houston," "Y'All Come Back Saloon," and "He Stopped Loving Her Today," along with more oldies, less bluegrass, and another round of gospel tunes to finish things off... There are also dips into more pop/soul territory, with versions of "Slow Dance" and "Take Me To The River." I'm not sure if the band had the same lineup as on the previous record... I'm also not sure if this one came out on vinyl, or only on cassette, or if other records came out beside these two. The Bob-O-Links show, which was the fifth variety revue opened in Branson, had a large, 1800-seat amphitheater, and was run by Bob and Sue Mabe until the early 1990s, when they sold the venue to another group.

Bob-O-Links "Tuesday Night Live" (Aard-Vark Recording, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Kenny Gott & John Jacobson & Mark Roy)
A 2-LP set spanning bluegrass, gospel and contemporary country... The inclusion of a couple of Waylon & Willie tunes -- "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys," "On The Road Again" -- and a cover of "Elvira" leads me to think this probably came out around 1980, '81 or thereabouts.

Dewayne Bowman "Dewayne Bowman" (Antique Records, 1984) (LP)
Good ol' boy Dewayne Bowman was a local star in Southwestern Missouri, near the Oklahoma border, playing main in his own bar, the Paint Stallion, located in Joplin, Missouri. This album was recorded in nearby Pittsburg, Kansas, and is pretty much straight-up honkytonk country, with slightly slick early '80s production. He's a little stiff as a singer, but it's the thought that counts. Fans of Moe Bandy might dig this guy, too.

Dewayne Bowman "Dewayne Bowman" (Antique Records, 2001) (CD)
A reissue CD that includes all the tracks off his 1984 album, along with some more recent recordings.

Terry Ray Bradley "It Just Keeps Getting Better" (J.E.K. Records/Kennett Sound Studios, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Keene)
A nice, mellow set of rockabilly-tinged indie twang from a Missouri crooner who sounds quite a bit Elvis-y, with a velvety baritone and generally relaxed vibe. Mostly these are soft ballads, with a gentle rock backbeat... Some tracks are more country than others, such as producer Joe Keene's "I've Got A Lot To Get Over," which has a pure early '60s Nashville Sound feel. Another album highlight is his version of Bill Rice's "Hand Of Hurt," which is a solid country weeper. Ex-rockabilly-gone-country-star Narvel Felts contributes laudatory liner notes, and that gives you a pretty good sense of where Bradley was coming from... Fans of retrobilly crooners such as Crash Craddock, Narvel Felts and Orion might dig this as well. It's not electrifying, but it's heartfelt and musically solid.

Branson "When We Sing For Him" (Ramblin' Records, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by John Salem)
A southern gospel performance, recorded live on August 30, 1986 at a venue called Country Music World, in lovely downtown Branson, Missouri. This creatively-named vocal quartet is backed by a group called the NightWay Band, with pedal steel (Obie Jones), banjo (Danney Yancey), bass, drums and keyboards. Not sure if they made any other records...

Brewer & Shipley -- see artist profile

Leon Briggs "Dreamin' Again" (1987) (LP)
(Produced by Ron Roberts & David Gilmore)
Rough-hewn, stripped-down country story-songs with bare-bones arrangements and straightforward production... Kansas City singer-songwriter Leon Briggs was formerly in the band Midnight Flyer and had kind of a Merle Haggard vibe to him, both vocally and in his musical approach, and while this fine DIY album lacks pedal steel, there's fiddle, banjo and dobro adding the right amount of twang, and a loose, chunky sound that gives it a distinctive feel. Briggs has a few rough edges as well, as heard on "Nothin' In A Name," a novelty song about a guy who can't be bothered to remember (or learn) the name of whatever woman he's with at the moment, or "Old Whiskey And Young Girls," which has a similarly dude-centric point of view that almost drifts into Hank Jr./Toby Keith territory... A nice indie twang set from the heartland... These songs were all originals, written between 1980-87.

Leon Briggs & Peter Fisher "Hang And Rattle" (2008)
I'm guessing this is the same guy, just twenty years later... Anyone know if he recorded anything else?

Brother Love "Brother Love" (Kennett Sound Studios, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Keene)
The trio of Gary Blanchard, Mike Glisson and Clyde Brown got a little assist from rocker Terry Bradley and some other folks in the orbit of the Kennett Sound Studios in Kennett, Missouri. They played all cover songs, including an Elvis Presley medley, KC & the Sunshine Band's "I Like To Do It," a tune by Jesse Winchester, one from Roy Orbison tune, and a rockabilly-era Charlie Rich song as well as a version of "The End Is Not In Sight," from the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Eclectic, to be sure!

Albert E. Brumley, Jr. "Legendary Gospel Favorites" (Memory Valley Records, 1986-?) (LP)
(Produced by Vic Clay & Jackson Brumley)
The son -- or rather, sons -- of country gospel pioneer Albert E. Brumley pay homage to their father's work. The senior Mr. Brumley (1905-1977) wrote ebullient spiritual classics such as "I'll Fly Away" and "Turn Your Radio On," along with hundreds of other songs that remain bedrocks of the American gospel canon. Albert E. Junior sings lead on these two albums, recorded at the same time with a crew that included producer Vic Clay on lead guitar, Bruce Watkins (banjo, fiddle, mandolin), Terry McMillan (drums, harmonica), and of course his brother, Tom Brumley, an influential steel guitarist known for his work with Buck Owens and country-rock pioneer Rick Nelson. Several pianists also sat in on the sessions, most intriguingly Tennessee's then-governor Lamar Alexander(!), who tickled the ivories on both albums. Although their father was born in Oklahoma, the Brumley family had relocated to Missouri by the time the boys were born, though of course Nashville beckoned when the time came to make these records...

Albert E. Brumley, Jr. "Sentimental Favorites" (Memory Valley Records, 1986-?) (LP)
(Produced by Vic Clay & Jackson Brumley)
This album includes the same backing band as above

Jeannie Bryant "What Our Feelings Have To Say" (Column One Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Martin & Jim Vest)

Bureman & O'Rourke "Strawberry Pickin's" (Pearce Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Tom Stapleton)
The Kansas City-based duo of Bruce Bureman and Tim O'Rourke seem to have taken their cues from the more established Brewer & Shipley, mixing anthemic soft rock with country and folk. They recorded at least two albums in the '70s and have played together for decades since... Sweet, spacey, folkie, rock'n'country musings.

Bureman & O'Rourke "Somebody Give Me A Smile" (Happiness Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Allen Blasco)
A great record, though you wouldn't suspect from the goofy album art that this album would have such an expansive, polished pop sound... It opens with several soft-rock anthems, stuff that bigger bands such as Bread or America would be proud of... Their twangy side soon kicks in, sending them into pleasantly country-tinged tuned like "Tomorrow There's A New Sun," which features the steel guitar of Lynne Pillar. The Brewer & Shipley influence is still there, and in a very nice way... There are rough edges, sure but that's part of the DIY charm... Devotees of hippie rock will enjoy these melodic stoner pop songs...

Shirley Caddell/Shirley Collins - see artist discography

The Calton Family "The Old And New" (Professional Artist Recording Company, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Parvin Tramel & Dick Grady)
A family band, with Charles Calton on fiddle and mandolin, joined by Jimmy Bunch on banjo... They play a mix of (mostly) bluegrass and country, including a Paul Craft song, one by Mel Tillis and a tune called "My Oklahoma" by Steve Young, along with bluegrass and old-timey tunes by Flatt & Scruggs, the Carter Family and others. There's one original, "Minor Repairs," composed by Jimmy Bunch. They recorded in Saint Louis, though I'm not 100% sure if they were from Missouri, but Mr. Bunch certainly was: he was a founding member of the Missouri-based bluegrass band, Cedar Hill, and also worked at Silver Dollar City and other regional Ozark venues.

Clay & Vicki Campbell "Clay & Vicki Campbell" (Phone Records, 1975) (LP)
The Campbells were a country lounge duo from Bland, Missouri (that's a place, not a value judgment...) They were very young, although poking around online I couldn't determine whether they were they married or siblings. Anyone know for sure? This studio album was recorded at Kajac Studios in Carlisle, Iowa.

Clay & Vicki Campbell "Live!" (C&V Records, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Clay Campbell)
This live album -- recorded at the Paddock Steakhouse in South Sioux City, Nebraska -- captures their country music stage show, complete with comedy skits and impersonations of Nashville stars such as Freddy Fender, Hank Snow and Marty Robbins. Clay plays fiddle while Vicki Campbell sings a version of Jessi Colter's 1975 hit, "I'm Not Lisa" as well as the "Girl's Medley."

Clay Campbell "Clay Campbell" (Fiddler Records, 19--?) (LP)
He released two self-titled solo albums with different cover art on each one -- it's possible they're the same record, re-released, but I dunno for sure. Yet.

Steve Cantrell "Memories Of Years Past" (Ozark Records, 1978-?) (LP)
(Produced by Buddy Lane)
Homegrown honkytonk by a fella from Seymour, Missouri. About half the songs are credited to J. S. Cantrell, including tunes such as "A Year Ago Today," "Lonely Guitar Pickin' Country Music Lovin' Man," "Thinking Of You Again," and the title track, "Memories Of Years Past." Some other songs may have been originals penned by some of his pals, though he also tackles a few country classics, like "Break My Mind," "Springtime In Alaska" and Jud Strunk's "A Daisy A Day." The backing musicians were guys who worked in various local Ozark "oprys" as well as in the regional southern gospel scene, including drummer Jerry Dooley, fiddler Frank Ellis, Stan Friend (guitar), Mike McGee (steel guitar) and Gene Reasoner on piano. It's not clear whether Mr. Cantrell really ever pursued music full-time; he worked at a few different local "produce auctions," which seem to be like farmers markets on steroids... Other than that, not a lot of info.

Thumbs Carllile - see artist discography

B. J. Carnahan "You Ain't Never Had Lonesome" (History Records, 1974)
(Produced by Gordon Terry & Charlie Bragg)
Apparently Missouri native Billy Joe Carnahan was an old fishing buddy of Johnny Cash's -- that's what Mr. Cash says in his liner notes -- and they were stationed together in Germany when Cash was in the Army, before he came home and started his music career. So, they go back a ways. Carnahan recorded this album at Cash's studio, the House Of Cash, with his own local band augmented by studio pros such as Jimmy Capps, Charlie McCoy, drummer D. J. Fontana, Hargus Robbins and Earl Ball on piano, and hillbilly old-timer Gordon Terry playing fiddle, as well as producing the album. Terry also contributes one song to the album, "I Get Lonely Easy," though most of the songs are Carnahan originals, either written by him or by his relative Frank Carnahan. The band includes his brother Bob on bass, as well as several teenagers adding a youthful vibe, and gal singer Geri Whipple who is highlighted on a couple of duets, notably a version of "Jackson" which closes the album out. (Footnote: Cash also says that he used Carnahan's name in the song "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" when he recorded it years earlier... how's that for a little behind-the-scenes country music lore??)

Charley Carnelison & The Apostolic Faith "Bluegrass From The Heart" (Canaan Valley Records, 197--?) (LP)
Bluegrass preacher Charley Carnelison grew up in Hollister, Missouri, and was living in Springfield when he began his recording career. When he was eighteen, he joined Jack Keithley's band, the Ozark Country Boys, before forming a duo with Johnny Holt a few years later. Carnelison and Holt played on the radio locally in the Branson area, and recorded together over the course of several years. Carnelison's signature song is a gospel tune called "20-20 Vision," which bears a striking similarity to a secular heartsong recorded by Gene Autry way back in 1954 (and more famously in a bluegrass arrangement by Jimmy Martin) though he say he copyrighted his own version in 1967, first recording it in 1972. Mr. Carnelison cut several albums and published a collection of bluegrass gospel songs as well as a book of regional Ozark folklore. Eventually he quit performing due to hearing loss, but Carnelison his band 20-20 Vision were still performing locally well into the 21st Century, with a presence on Facebook and podcasting as well. These three albums seem to have dated back to the 1970s, though he also seems to have self-released a number of CDs, which are a lot harder to track down.

Charley Carnelison & The Apostolic Faith "America You're Drifting Away" (Canaan Valley Records, 197--?) (LP)

Charley Carnelison "Presents The Gospel, Bluegrass Country Style" (Pine Tree Records, 197--?) (LP)
On this album, Carnelison shares the spotlight with his pal Johnny Holt, as well as Ohio gospel singers J.D. Jarvis and Rose Jarvis, who hosted the sessions at a Cincinnati recording studio. They all sing lead on various tracks, with Carnelison in the spotlight for four of his own songs, a reprise of "20-20 Vision," another oldie called "I'm Longing To See That City," and two newer songs, "One Drop" and "Today I Started Serving My Lord Again." The liner notes indicate that this was Carnelison's third album, and I'm assuming the two above on Canaan Valley were the first two. In addition to Holt and the Jarvises, the musicians include banjo players Noah Holland and Carlos Jones; Junior Bennett and Jimmie Dutton on fiddle; Lucky Jarvis playing rhythm guitar and Bill Woolum on dobro and bass -- the overlapping personnel and the liner notes reference to "all four of the songs I recorded on this album" leads me to believe this was actually kind of a semi-compilation rather than strictly a Carnelison LP.

Vernon Carr "Roots Of My Raisin' " (Glory Barn Sound, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Hargraves & John Moseley)
This custom label country-gospel album was recorded at the legendary Cavern Studios in Kansas City... Vernon Carr was an old-school country singer who grew up in Bakersfield, but moved to the Kansas City area later in life and became a prominent country gospel (as opposed to Southern gospel) performer. He also recorded at least one secular hard-country single in his youth ("Country Music Fever"/"Breaking Point") and includes a Hank Williams oldies on this album.

Jimmy Carter & Dallas County Green "Summer Brings The Sunshine" (BOC Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Jimmy Carter, Brad Edwards & B. J. Carnahan)
Indie twang from Missouri. Part of the sprawling network of local Ozark "opry" venues, Jimmy Carter's band included lead guitarist Bill Belky, Jerry Bell on bass, Mary Beth Lemons (vocals), Steve Lemons (rhythm guitar and keyboards), Steve Storey on drums, with a spotlight lead singer Elaine Fender, who later recorded an album of her own after moving through a few different bands.

The Chaparral Show Band "The Chaparral Show Band" (19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Clyde Orten)
The very epitome of a country bar band, these guys actually took their name from the bar they played at, a local bar in Caruthersville, Missouri called the Chaparral. The bar apparently sponsored this record, and naturally there are lots of pictures of the bar -- which looked pretty dismal -- as well as the band. Gal bandmember Linda Countess sings "I'm Not Lisa," among an mostly-covers set that included a couple of relatively obscure songs, such as "Has A Cat Got A Tail" (a Tanya Tucker song recorded by Billy Crash Craddock) and Johnny Burnette's "Big, Big World." The album kicks off with one original tune, "I Ain't In A Long, Long Time," written by the band's saxophonist, Jerry Tuttle.

Randle Chowning "Hearts On Fire" (A&M Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Ron Bacchiocchi & Paul Leka)
The first solo album by Randle Chowning, a founding member of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and one of the pillars of the 1970s Missouri rock and country-rock scene. Methinks this is more of a pop/soft-pop set, but still worth having on our radar because of the Daredevils connection. Chowning plays guitar and mandolin (see? there is some twang!) and is backed by guitarist Ken Shepherd, a fellow Missourian returning the favor from when Chowning played on Shepherd's album of the previous year, Ken Shepherd And The Kenfolk. Randle Chowning apparently also performed and recorded under a couple of aliases, including "Ozark Joe" and "R. C. And The Keys."

Gene Clark -- see artist profile

The Clearwater Jamboree Show "The Clearwater Jamboree Show" (Mel-Ran Records, 1969-?) (LP)
This group was an early version of the Plummer Family revue, a family-based "opry" show from Knob Lick, Missouri, that was one of the staples of the Branson-area country tourism scene. The Plummers are notable for the high percentage of original material written by one of the kids, Randy Plummer, and this disc was no exception. He contributes two songs of his own, as does lead singer Harley Clements, with additional tunes by Darrell Plummer, Bruce Watkins and his dad, Glen Watkins. The band members include Harley Clements (lead vocals), Ray Elders (lead guitar), Bill Haggard (steel guitar), Bruce Watkins (banjo and fiddle), Randy Plummer (drums), Darrell Plummer (guitar), Melody Plummer (lead vocals, bass) and Rosie Plummer (accordion) -- the liner notes say that this was the first recording by any of the artists, which is particularly noteworthy since fiddler Bruce Watkins later moved to Nashville and became a prolific usual-suspects studio musician who has played on countless recordings. (A Missouri native, the teenage picker later had a stint performing at nearby Silver Dollar City, moving to Nashville sometime on the late '70s, touring with southern gospel groups such as the Hemphills as a day job until the studio musician gig fell into place...) There's no date on the album, but since it includes a cover of the 1968 hit, "Harper Valley PTA," I'd guess this disc came out around 1969 or thereabouts.

Kevin Cline "Rumor Has It" (BOC Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards)
All-original honkytonk from the heartland... Native sons of Weston, Missouri, Kevin W. Cline and his brother Ted cut their teeth performing at Buddy Boswell's Union Mill Opry in nearby Edgerton, starting 'way back in 1974. Later on, as seasoned veterans of the local country scene, they opened their own mom'n'pop opry, hosting live shows at the New Deal Tobacco Warehouse in their hometown of Weston, a tiny suburb on the north end of Kansas City. The brothers pursued various projects over the years, but rejoined forces and were still running a version of Cline's Opry well into the 2010s. This album is a a fine example of locals-only country... Kevin Cline wrote or co-wrote all of these songs, including a few writing partners such as Glenard Stephen Crowell, Darrell W. McClung and Henry Daniel Sage. The musicians were also all locals, including members of Cline's own band as well as folks from the AudioLoft studio in Mack's Creek: J.R. Bradford on drums, Kevin Cline (fiddle and guitar), Lisa Cline (vocals), Perry Edenburg (drums), Brad Edwards (bass and guitar), Monty Laffoon (steel guitar), Gene Reasoner (piano), Myron Smith and on steel guitar.

John Paul Cody "Reflections" (Ironside Recording Studios, 1985-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Millsap)
Early 'Eighties mega-hunk John Paul Cody had a gig at Branson in the early '80s and recorded this album with a crew that looks like all locals, including Greg Bailey on rhythm guitar, David Evans (piano), Mitch Kiersey (electric guitar), David Milligan (bass), Craig White (drums), and backing vocals by Johnny Long and Jake Nicely. Two hefty chunks of time are taken up by a pair of medleys -- one a tribute to Elvis Presley, the other for Marty Robbins. There are some regular country songs on here, too, though I'm not sure if any were original to this album.

Shirley Collins/Shirley Collins Nelson - see artist discography

John Corbin "Let Me Sing A Song" (BOC Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by B. J. Carnahan & Roger Wealand)
An oddball album of Appalachian-inflected dulcimer music by a guy who performed at the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, Missouri, which explains his recording on the normally country-oriented BOC label. John Corbin Goldsberry started playing hammered dulcimer at a park booth in the 1970s, and continued his residency for over four decades. He's backed here by a full band, including Steven Carter on mandolin, Jay Goumer (percussion), Don Jones (keyboards), Ron Meier (guitar), and Shawn Pittman on fiddle. In later years his act expanded to include his wife, Janice Marilyn Goldsberry, who he met in the late '80s. They recorded numerous albums together, though I think this may have been his first album. Not to be confused, methinks, with the Arkansas honkytonker below.

Cottonwood "Cottonwood" (Magic Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Keith Brown & Cottonwood)
Not to be confused with the hippie-era rockers of the same name, this Midwestern, disco-era trio were aiming for a Poco-meets-Eagles country-rock sound, but along the way they plowed their way through some truly horrible musical ideas. Matters are complicated by the weak vocals of two bandmembers, bassist David Spier and drummer Bob Rolens, although their lead guitar player Larry Rolens cuts loose on a few hard-rock anthems ("Movin' On," etc.) and his voice is fine, as are his bar-band rock instincts. But honestly, a lot of this album is pretty torturous, particularly the more AOR-oriented numbers, with chunky power chords and grandiose pop-schmaltz arrangements that were meant to mimic the pop music on the radio. Oh, well. It's still a good example of the music being made by "real folks" in the '70s, but it's one of the more painful indie-twang albums I've come across. Nonetheless, the band has a pretty interesting story. The trio was from Saint Louis, and in the early '70s had a band called The Nashville Enterprise (see below) which also included "girl" singer Vonna Faye. That band toured regionally, but apparently didn't last too long. Then there was Cottonwood, which later re-formed as the more overtly rock-oriented, late-'80s bar band, Bay Wolfe, which is notable for helping start the career of Top Forty redneck country queen Gretchen Wilson. After this hair-band folded, the Rolens brothers went deeper into the country music mainstream, with Larry Rolens joining the Bellamy Brothers and Bob Rolens helping anchor Wilson's band, after which he became part of the Well Hungarians indie-twang band. Anyway, this early work is an iffy record, at best: the bar-band rock numbers and the twangier tunes are okay, but the pop-oriented numbers are a bummer. But from humble beginnings...

A Country Band "Music By A Country Band" (Golden Eagle Records, 1973-?) (LP)
Behold: the most generic country record ever made! I couldn't resist. I mean, yeah sure, it cost me fifty-one cents and I was sure it wasn't going to be very good, but how could I pass this one by? This seems to have been a souvenir album made by the Golden Eagle label, which produced several albums in the 1970s which I believe were part of a tourist attraction related to the old steamboat industry... Anyway, turns out this album is actually pretty good -- two young guys picking and singing banjo and guitar in robust, salty renditions of golden oldies from the Antebellum and pre-bluegrass eras, as well as the cowboy-western and white gospel traditions... There's no information at all about who played on this record or when it came out, just the picture on the front (an anonymous group portrait from the 19th Century) and the song titles on the disc -- other than that, it's literally a blank slate. A little diligent research, though, and one discovers that this was the recording debut of guitarist Orville Johnson, who at the time was working on a tourist paddlewheel steamship, the SS Julia Belle Swain, and was an up-and-coming artist in the St. Louis music scene. I still dunno who was playing with him, but when I find out, I'll let you know. It's a nice record: thanks in advance if anyone has any additional info to add!

The Country Lads "The Country Lads At Music Mountain" (Music Mountain Productions/Sound 16 Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by W. A Madsen & Ron E. Riley)
A souvenir album of an early 1970s country quartet playing gigs around Jefferson City, Missouri, possibly at a venue called Music Mountain, though that part's a little unclear. The band itself is of interest to "private press" fans, as their seventeen-year old drummer was Mike Schrimpf, a guy who later set up shop as a record producer and engineer who worked on countless custom pressings (including any written about here...) including some work in Nashville and environs. The band was led by lead singer and guitarist and Ron Mahan, along with Ralph Mueller on fiddle and bass, and steel player Don Riley, who might have later formed his own band down in Texas. Though the liner notes definitely place these guys playing in Jeff City, the Music Mountain thread is harder to pin down -- it may have been the name of the studio (in Kentucky!) where they recorded this album, though there is also a Music Mountain venue near Hot Springs, Arkansas, and it's vaguely possible they might have had a gig down there at the time. No date on this disc, though it had to have been early, early 'Seventies or possibly late, late 'Sixties. The younger fellas look pretty clean-cut, though with a slight trace of counterculture creeping in around the edges -- the hit song covers are older stuff, tunes like "City Lights" and "Release Me," though overall this album features some pretty obscure material, including a slew of originals. There are two songs written by Mr. Mahan, and a couple others credited to J. Abernathy, who could have been Ab Abernathy, a guy who cut an album of his own several years later... (This is pure speculation on my part, though.) Anyway, nice snapshot of a local Midwestern band that had a few little ripple effects in years to come.

The Country Shindig Gang - see artist discography

The Crazy Horse Band "Jus' Horsin' Round With The Crazy Horse Band" (19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Blasingame & Rich Brown)
A good-timin' alt-honkytonk band from Sullivan, Missouri, a rural town about twenty miles west of Saint Louis. The group included fiddler Gene Bouse, Greg Klousek on lead guitar, Jeannine Leeker (keyboards), Dale McCanless (lead vocals), Glenn Richards (saxophone), Len Slankard (bass), Jerry Thurmond (lead guitar and pedal steel) and Mark Wooley on drums... They were mostly St. Louis locals, though Gene Bouse apparently had previously been working in a band from Indianapolis called Nashville Sounds, who were the original backing band for top forty hopeful Tom Grant. There's an obvious affinity for Charlie Daniels at play, both with the prominence of the fiddle, and with Dale McCanless's chunky, old-man vocals, which sometimes drift into pretty questionable territory. (Jeannine Leeker, by contrast, was a pretty solid 'Seventies countrypolitan gal, sort of a slightly rootsier version of Crystal Gayle...) I'm not sure when this album came out, but early 'Eighties is my best guess, maybe around 1981-82.

The Dick Crockett Band "Just For You" (D. C. Productions, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Dick Crockett)
Ozark locals from Eldon, Missouri... This looks like more of a western swing thing, with a horn section led by trombonist/arranger Ron Anson, and additional vocals from singer Carolyn Smart. The band covers songs by Bob Wills, Hank Williams and others

Al Crossland/Various Artists "Al Crossland's Table Rock Opry: Country Music Ozarks Style" (Dungeon Records, 197--?) (LP)
Another family band from some micro-opry located in Kimberling City, Missouri, near the Silver Dollar City/Branson, Missouri musical axis. This troupe was led by Al Crossland and his wife Linda, along with their teenage daughters Kim and Tammy, with six-year old "Little Lee" Crossland adding a little bit of comedic relief onstage. Kim Crossland sang and played bass; the house band also included Everett Glenn on harp, drummer Harley Israel, pedal steel player Jack Musgrave and Steve Plank on fiddle, as well as cornpone comedy from Warren "Jughead" Wade, who also sang gospel numbers. There's no date on the album, but judging from the girl's lightly feathered hair, I'd guess somewhere around 1976-77.

Monte Davidson "Love Country" (MCL Records, 1977-?)

Monte Davidson & The Wild Bunch "Wanted" (AudioLoft, 197--?)
An "outlaw" band from Missouri, recording at the fabled AudioLoft custom label in Mack's Creek, MO. They do some oldies -- real oldies -- like "Wabash Cannonball" "El Paso," and Will The Circle Be Unbroken," along with more modern, Waylon-esque material such as "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" and "Just Call Us Outlaws," and even a version of Rodney Crowell's "Ain't Livin' Long Like This." Monte Davidson was an Ozarks regular since the early 1960s, and led the house band at the Lodge Of The Four Seasons, in Lake Of The Ozarks, Missouri, basically in Branson territory. He also toured regionally, did Vegas, and eventually retired the band sometime in the 1980s. I'm not sure who else was in his band, although the steel and lead guitar was by a guy named Charlie Hill... Fans of Waylon Jennings and/or Jerry Lee Lewis might like this one... fake-live audience "cheering" and all.

Monte Davidson "...Sings The Old Ones" (BOC Records, 198--?)

Gene Davis "My Kind Of World" (Toppa Records, 1964) (LP)
Guitarist-singer Gene Davis was a true stalwart of the Southern California county-rock scene, cutting singles back in the 1950s while appearing on local TV programs such as Cal Worthington's popular show, Cal's Corral. Originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, Davis is probably best known as the early-to-mid 1960s bandleader at North Hollywood's fabled Palomino nightclub, where hot country pickers and talented sidemen such as James Burton, Jerry Cole, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Jay Dee Maness, Johnny Meeks, Red Rhodes and many others cycled through the club's revolving door during the early heyday of LA's live rock scene. Davis's tenure at the Palomino came before the club shifted to a more rock-oriented focus, but there was certainly some crossover, as hear here.. This is a strong album, packed with rootsy, earthy material and plenty of originals, giving some sense of what the Palomino's nightly jam sessions must have been like, back in the day.

Gene Davis & The Star Routers "All Together" (Toppa Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Davis & Lee Carroll)
As detailed in the liner notes by LA country music deejay Larry Scott, Gene Davis branched out after his Palomino days, setting up shop in San Diego as owner of Gene's Lion's Gate restaurant, and also back home in Missouri as owner of a music venue called the Indian Foot Lake Resort, in Pevely, MO, just south of St. Louis. He was also heading the Star Routers as the house band at a San Diego club called the Alamo, just for good measure, and recorded this album there as well. Alas, the boys in the band, although pictured on the cover are not mentioned by name. Oh, well. But this album is notable for the wealth of original material: all but one of the songs are credited to Davis's own Jay-Gene publishing, and the remaining track, on Mixer Music, is probably original to this album as well.

Gene Davis "Lovin' And Hurtin' " (OL Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by James Burton & Randy Davis)
How or when Gene Davis got hooked up with Overton Lee's oddball, mega-DIY OL label, I have no idea... But I would hazard a guess that this is perhaps the best record they ever put out, particularly with the input from fabled superpicker James Burton, a longtime West Coast icon who anchored Elvis Presley's Vegas band and had more recently starred in the Emmylou Harris Hot Band. Also included are the Gentry Sisters backing vocalists... a lot of talent here!

Gene Davis "Let's Coast Awhile" (Hydra Records, 2010)

Delisa Dawn "Memories Of You" (Stardom Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Chuck Bartlett & Frank Evans)
Not sure when this one came out, but it seems to be an early 'Eighties kinda thing. Singer Delisa Dawn grew up in Independence, Missouri and started her performing career when she was just nine years old. She made her way to Nashville and wound up working for several older artists on tour, backing up falling stars such as Jack Greene, Faron Young and the Wilburn Brothers; she seems to have been in Jack Greene's band at the time this album came out. This was her first (and as far as I know, only) album, and may have been a Nashville songwriter's demo, produced by steel player Chuck Bartlett, who co-wrote the title track. Later she moved back to the Midwest, performing mainly in eastern Kansas and the Missouri Ozarks with with guitarist Dennis Cook in a group called Delisa Dawn & Route 66.

Dichotomy "Muddy Waters Presents Dichotomy's Last Album" (KBK/Earth City Sound Studios, 1985) (LP)
A Saint Louis, Missouri bar band that was together from about 1970-85. They worked as the house band at a place called Burnham's St. Louis Opera, and then at the Muddy Waters bar up until the club closed in 1985. This commemorative set includes covers of country songs like "East Bound And Down," "Red Neck Mother" and "The Gambler".

Dichotomy "Just Here To Make Friends" (OMR Records, 1987-?) (LP)
According to the liner notes, this was their second album... Includes a cover of "Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother," in case anyone's keeping track...

The Dillards - see artist discography

Zig Dillon "Something Old, Something New" (Ripcord Records, 197--?) (LP)
In his heyday, midwestern honkytonker Allan "Zig" Dillon worked with national headliners such as Ernest Tubb, Porter Wagoner and Red Foley, although as a solo artist his main stomping ground was Kansas City, where he recorded a string of rockabilly-tinged singles in the early 1960s for the ultra-obscuro R Records label. This album comes from much later in his career, probably in the mid-to late-1970s. About half the songs are originals - including "There'll Be No Color Line In Heaven"; some of his earlier recordings have been anthologized on rockabilly and hillbilly bop collections, notably on Redita Records' fab KANSAS CITY COUNTRY ROCKERS collection.

Slim Dortch "Below The Dixie Line" (Kennett Sound/Lightning Ball Records, 1993-?) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Keene)
A Tennessee native who started playing guitar when he was twelve, Henry Pierce "Slim" Dortch (1921-2000) moved across the nation chasing various radio gigs, such as the "Breakfast Time Frolic," on WJJD, Chicago, or the "Saddle Mountain Roundup" in far-distant Dallas, where he played with musicians such as Fiddlin' Arthur Smith and singer Ray Whitley. He's best known among rockabilly enthusiasts for his 'Sixties sizzler, "Big Boy Rock," which has a driving hillbilly soul-beat sound, perhaps not surprising for an uber-indie Memphis single, back in 1964. There is some really wicked twang-bar guitar on that platter, but even more impressive is the vigor with which the forty-plus years old Dortch really grinds into some sweaty, bluesy 'billy vocals. Anyway, this album came out years later and was recorded in Mack's Creek, Missouri with a small local band that included James Prince on lead guitar and steel, Lee Barnes on bass, Jeff Bost on drums, and Dortch singing ten of his own original songs. Mr. Dortch eventually settled down in Poplar Bluff, MO, where he passed away at age 78.

Down Yonder Band "Where's Adrian, Missouri?" (Tuff-Stuff Records, 19--?) (LP)
I'm gonna make a couple of guesses here... One, this isn't the same band as the group "Down Yonder" out in California, and two, they probably played at one of the many Branson-esque venues that populated Missouri back in the '70s and and early '80s. It might take me a while to track down the particulars on this one, though... And by the way? Adrian -- population tiny -- is located in Bates County, on the very Western end of the state, just south of KC.

Dave Drennon "Live Dave Drennon Show" (American Artists, 1971-?) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Higgins)
A veteran of the Branson, Missouri "opry" scene, bandleader Dave Drennon was the first country artist to record for the Springfield-based American Artists label, which documented many of the Ozarks-area regional musicians of the 1970s. He and and his wife Dee Drennon, split off from her family's Branson revue (The Presley Mountain Music Jamboree) and started their own venue in the early 1970s, the Crossroads Auditorium in Nixa, Missouri, near Springfield. A few years later, in 1975 they pulled up stakes again and moved to the Saint Louis suburb of Eureka, where they opened a 900-seat venue called the Pine Mountain Jamboree. The Drennons ran Pine Mountain as a family business for over thirty years, eventually selling it to a fellow Bransonite, Mike Bishop, in 2006. This bluegrass-flavored album is a souvenir of their first, more short-lived venture, with a photo of the club and Drennon's tour bus parked outside. Alas, the musicians pictured on the front cover are not identified on the back, though a few of the musicians may have been piano player Joe Griffin, Kathy Kiehl, Jerry Mcnown and fiddler Don Wright. Whoever they were, they were pretty good: the banjo and lead guitar pickers were pretty flashy, and the fiddler was no slouch, either. The set list is pretty conservative -- mostly chestnuts like "Cripple Creek," "Orange Blossom Special," "Rocky Top" and "White Lightning," with a couple of bluesier numbers ("Going Down The Road Feeling Bad" and "It Takes A Worried Mind") that are a little unusual for the little-opry scene. The only semi-contemporary tunes are versions of Dolly Parton's "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man" and Joe South's "Games People Play," which both originally came out in 1970 so this album may have come out around '71 or '72. (Side note: judging from the photo montage on the front cover, they seem to have done a parody of the Porter Wagoner-Dolly Parton show as part of their act... bet that was a real hoot.)

Dave Drennon "...Sings The Words Of Lon Hogan" (American Artists Records, 197--?) (LP)
A set of patriotic, gospel, and regional pride songs written by Lon Hogan, an old-timer from the southern end of Missouri who was in Drennon's orbit. Alonzo Vannis Hogan (1883-1981) was born in Willow Springs, Missouri, and spent his life in the heart of the Ozarks, watching the intensely rural landscape change over time. He may be best remembered as a photographer: in his youth, Hogan worked for a large local lumber company and took countless photos of the lumberyard and other local sights; later in life he opened a photography studio and met and documented numerous local residents. In the late 1970s, Mr. Hogan had earned the title of the oldest resident of Shannon County, Missouri, and was interviewed on film about his life and the changes he saw -- these interviews were preserved by the state historical society, and have also been posted on YouTube and elsewhere. His work as a songwriter is less well-known, and it's interesting that a musician such as Dave Drennon, who had commercial aspirations decided to record an album of material by such an obscure local figure. The songs include "Old Missouri," "We Americans," and "God Isn't Dead," as well as the more frivolous "Doodle Bug Rag" and the exotic "My Hawaii."

Lee Dresser & The Krazy Kats "Beat Out My Love" (Fury Records)
This reissue label collection gathers over thirty tracks by Kansas City rocker Lee Dresser (1941-2014) and multi-instrumentalist who formed a high school band called the Krazy Kats in 1957 and scored a few regional hits before getting drafted and sent to Vietnam. When he came back to the States, Dresser headed for LA and fell into steady session work as a harmonica player, backing pop and country stars throughout the late '60s and '70s. The Krazy Kats got back together in 1980, and Dresser moved back to KCMO to play with them full-time a few years later, playing with the band up until he passed away from leukemia in 2014. This compilation mainly features his early stuff from the late 'Fifties and early 'Sixties -- lively, Jerry Lee Lewis-inspired (though sometimes kinda surfy) rockabilly, including unreleased demos and the band's best known song, "Beat Out My Love," a mildly naughty song which is frequently anthologized on rockabilly reissues. There's also some stuff the Krazy Kats recorded after they got back together... It's not very innovative, but it sure is fun!

Lee Dresser "El Camino Real" (Amos Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Jimmy Bowen)

Lee Dresser "To Touch The Wind" (Bella Linda Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Doug Gilmore & Doug Decker, Dennis Bachmann & Ivan Fisher)
This country-flavored album shows Dresser fully entrenched in the LA music scene, backed by an impressive studio made up of some of the elite pickers in the West Coast country-rock and bluegrass scenes, including Larry McNeely, Dan Crary, Glen D. Hardin, along with steel players Al Perkins and Red Rhodes. Dresser plays banjo, guitar and harmonica and wrote all but two of the songs -- the exceptions were the title track, "To Touch The Wind" and "Wilderness Family," which were both apparently from a 1975 feature film called "The Adventures Of The Wilderness Family."

Lee Dresser "The Hero" (Air International Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Mark Sherrill)
This later album was recorded in Nashville with session players such as Hargus Robbins and Bobby Thompson, as well as several less well-known players

Bill Dudley "Nashville Moves North" (Paragon Records, 1968-?) (LP)
Although he was born in Missouri, honkytonker Bill Dudley only hung around Nashville for a few years before sensing that he might have more opportunities up North in Canada. Earlier, Dudley had cut some singles for Capitol Records, but he had to hoof it up to Toronto to get out a full album. This is packed with low-tech twang -- simple arrangements that match his plainspoken vocals. Authorship of most of the songs is credited to Dudley, but many are just thinly-disguised ripoffs of better-known Nashville hits (such as "Poor Poor Me," which is a shameless lift of Don Gibson's "Lonesome Me") while several others, like "Oh Please Mr. Conductor" and "I'm Just Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail" are hillbilly chestnuts that Dudley didn't even try to gussy up into "new" versions. Like a lot of Canadian artists, he pulls out the regional pride card on the album's opener, "My Nova Scotia Home" (a Hank Snow oldie) while he also makes a brazenly direct appeal for radio airplay with "Top Ten In Heaven," a recitation tune that's kind of like Tex Ritter's "Hillbilly Heaven," except that instead of naming country musicians, he lists a bunch of country deejays -- by name -- in the lyrics of the song. Not very original, obviously, but a fun record nonetheless.

Bill Dudley "...Sings The Life And Death Of Hank Williams" (M. M & C Records, 1971-?) (LP)

Don Elkins & The Missouri Poor Boys "In My Style" (Nugget Records, 1969) (LP)
This Midwestern combo had been around for a few years before cutting this album... Beginning in 1965, the group played on radio station KLPW, in Washington, Missouri and played shows in Owensville and other nearby towns such as Rolla and Union, Missouri, in the stretch between St. Louis and Springfield. They were regulars on the Charlotte Peters TV show in Saint Louis and also played at the Cannon Dam Opry, a musical variety venue further to the north that was still in operation well into the 21st Century. The lineup for this album included Jim Day playing rhythm guitar, Wayne Lee (lead guitar), Roy Ritchie (drums), Jim Scott (steel guitar), Bob Vickers on bass, though apparently there was a fair amount of change in the lineup over the years. The fellas travelled to Nashville to record this LP, having cut a few singles a few years earlier... I'm not sure if this is the same Donnie Elkins (below) who recorded an album in the late 'Seventies, though that disc was on an Ohio-based label, so maybe not.

Donnie Elkins "New Sides Of Country" (Artist's Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Junior Bennett & Donnie Elkins)
A youngish-looking middle-aged guy with a deep, resonant voice, Donnie Elkins was a likeable though flawed performer... the flaw being mostly in his phrasing, which tends to be a bit rushed. He plows through the melody and drags the band along with him, so most everything is taken at a gallop. That's probably okay, though, 'cause when he slows things down, he really goes over the top with his crooning: "You're The Best Thing" is an incredibly cheesy, over-performed number that stands in sharp contrast to the country covers that lead up to it... Anyway, this disc is mostly real-deal twang, albeit with a few Nashville-style sweeteners. Plenty of thumping drums, loping bass and twangy fiddle, guitar and steel, and a good selection of tunes (a few of which might be originals, though sadly there are no composer credits...) The backing band includes Junior Bennett playing fiddle, Vic Clay on lead guitar, Joe Adams on steel, Chris Lee playing piano, Kenny Bobinger on drums and Dennis Whitaker on bass. I'm not sure if he's the same Don Elkins who led the Missouri Poor Boys (above) though it seems fairly likely. Anyway, this one's worth checking out, if you're into regional twang.

Harland Ellis "Songs Ole Harland Sings" (Custom Cavern, 197--?) (LP)
Dunno anything about this guy - this is a very generic-looking album from one of the many "custom" labels in the Ozarks area... The Cavern label was a regional powerhouse in the Kansas City area, though I'm not sure where Mr. Ellis was from himself. If I find anything else out about this one, I'll let you know.

Pete Estes "Dealer's Choice" (BOC Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Myron Smith & Pete Estes)
An exceptionally good indiebilly album from a top-flight band... This one's on a par with many "classics" of the genre, from folks such as Alvin Crowe, Deadly Earnest, or Cornell Hurd. And that's high praise, in my book. Estes was a bar-band singer from Chillicothe, Missouri, singing a mix of original songs and covers, including stuff by the likes of Rodney Crowell and Lefty Frizzell. He mixed jovial country-twang with discreet amounts of boogie rock and blues, tapping into a rock vibe without getting all clunky about it. Best of all, all the guys in the band were on top of their game and kept a nice, good-time vibe rolling throughout. Estes kind of reminds me of Gary P. Nunn as a singer -- he didn't have a great voice, but the voice he had, he used just right... If you get a chance to check this one out, definitely go for it.

The Etcetera String Band "The Harvest Hop" (Moon Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Dennis Pash)
I'm running a little far afield on this one, but I just can't resist a good, twangy band from Kansas. This Kansas City, Kansas trio specialized in pre-jazz, pre-country old-timey music, rags and cakewalk instrumentals, with particular emphasis here on composers from Kansas and Missouri, which is what makes this album particularly unique. A handsomely illustrated and copiously researched insert details the careers of regional turn-of-the-century composers such as E. Harry Kelly, Ed Kuhn, Charles L. Johnson and Charles A. Gish who clustered together in Northwestern Missouri, performing together in marching bands and other venues, and whose work complimented that of the better-known Scott Joplin, who hailed from nearby Sedalia, and whose ragtime tunes defined the popular music of the era. Like their obscure idols, the fellas in the Etcetera String Band stuck close to come, playing local gigs mostly in and around Kansas City. This first album is largely defined by the mandolin work of Dennis Pash, with firm but humble accompaniment by guitarist Kevin Sanders and fiddling by Pat Ireland that often seems obscured in the mix. There's not a lot of stylistic or sonic variety to this album, but it is compelling and immersive nonetheless. Highly recommended, particularly for fans of retro-ologists such as Steve Grossman or Bob Brozman.

The Etcetera String Band "Bonne Humeur" (1990-?) (LP)
Years later, the group explored Caribbean and Latin themes, resulting in this album. Eventually, Dennis Pash moved to San Francisco and formed a new group, the prolific Ragtime Skedaddlers, and the remaining bandmembers -- who now included art therapist Bob Ault, and a musical multi-instrumentalist in his own right -- formed a new old-timey/ragtime trio called The Rhythmia.

Dick Feller - see artist discography

Elaine Fender & Missouri Rain "Come On Home" (History Records, 1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards)
A singer and keyboardist, Elaine Fender played in a series of local Missouri bands, including a stint in Stan Hitchcock's short-lived opry, and later collaborations with other veterans of the Hitchcock show, notably multi-instrumentalist Larry Smith, who she later married. This solo album was made with bandleader Eddie Pangborn, who also worked in a variety of Ozark "opry" venues and formed his own band, Missouri Rain, in the mid-1970s. The group made two albums of its own before teaming up with Fender for this last hurrah, with Elaine Fender on keyboards and lead vocals, drummer Jerry Dooley, Jerry Ingle (also on drums), Eddie Pangborn (bass), and multi-instrumentalist Larry Smith on banjo, fiddle, guitar and mandolin. This album is self-consciously commercially-oriented, with Fender showing her vocal chops on covers of contemporary pop/country hits, and the boys in the band trying to craft rural power ballads. It's an uneven effort, though, as the male lead vocals (and the original songs) are a bit strained. Still, it's local as all get-out and fills in a few gaps in the Ozarks indie-twang scene. Ms. Fender also recorded with the group Jimmy Carter & Dallas County Green, on their 1977 album, Summer Brings The Sunshine, and on Stan Hitchcock's 1979 opry album, along with Larry Smith and others.

Festival "Just Another Band From Skidmore" (Max Stout Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Neal Rieffanaugh & Bill Schnee)
Definitely not your average, garden-variety southern rock band. This group was from Skidmore, Missouri, a microscopic hamlet in northeastern Missouri, halfway between Kansas City and Omaha. The band was the center of a large commune, originally based on a 300-acre farm outside of town, locally known as "the Farm." Festival was led by songwriter Britt Small, an Army veteran who served as a paratrooper in Vietnam, and spent much of the war fantasizing about starting his own rock band. His dream came true in 1971 when Festival was formed, drawing on several late 'Sixties rock groups from Northwest Missouri State University, in nearby Marysville. It was, oddly enough, the push to make the band successful that led to the formation of the commune, which gave the "family" members a sense of cohesion, as well as a place to perform. Self-professed socialists, the communards raised animals and crops, and also decked the band out in shiny, glammy outfits worthy of Jethro Tull or Wizzard, and sent them on the road. Beginning in 1975, the group released numerous singles and LPs, including this one which is perhaps the most country-oriented of the lot, ending with a medley of oldies by the cowboy band, Sons Of The Pioneers. The group included Mr. Small on lead vocals, Stan Funston (guitar) Becky Reinig (keyboards), Mark Reinig (drums), arranger Don Struve on trumpet, and various and sundry others. Although they were mostly rockers, Festival considered themselves distinctly a rural band, and referred to themselves as "the world’s funkiest cowboy band." They toured throughout the United States and Canada, though in the early 1980s the tone of the group shifted from a party vibe to a more conservative political perspective, as Britt Small became consumed by POW-MIA issues, and the band's repertoire became almost entirely patriotic music. The commune and the band began to fray in the 1990s, and broke up entirely in the early '00s. [Many thanks to David M. Struve for his amazingly detailed history thesis, which provides extremely granular detail of the Farm, and of his dad's band.]

Jan Files "What More Can I Say" (1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Schrimpf, Jerry Shook & Colin Walker)
Crowned as Miss Jefferson City in 1975, Missouri teenager Jan Files made a serious bid to crack into Nashville -- or maybe move out to LA? -- traveling to Nashville to cut this shiny, well-produced countrypolitan/AOR album right after graduating from high school. It's a pretty impressive set, even if the songs and arrangements get to be a bit much... Ms. Files evokes comparison to '70s sirens such as Olivia Newton-John and Karen Carpenter (and even Loretta Haggers, on the twangier tunes) and the musical backing is pretty solid, smoothly shifting from disco-tinged pop to generic pop-country. She's backed by the house band at Mike Schrimpf's independent studio, which at the time still included future star Steve Wariner, who plays bass, acoustic and electric guitars, and sings backup. There's also an early song of his on here, "Will You Still Love Me In The Morning," a hookup ballad that's not to be confused with Carole King's similarly-titled girl-group hit... Wariner was already under contract to RCA Records at the time, though hadn't yet released his own first single, and as far as I know, never released this song under his own name. Anyway, this slick-sounding custom pressed album really coulda-shoulda-woulda made Jan Files a star, if the planets had lined up the right way... As it was, I think it mostly made the rounds at county fairs and Christmas parties, though fans of 'Seventies soft-pop (and Steve Wariner devotees) might enjoy tracking it down.

The Foggy River Boys "Songs To Remember" (International Artists, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Higgins)
A gospel quartet from Carthage, Missouri who recorded an album with one side of secular music -- Dallas Frazier's "There Goes My Everything," "Skip A Rope" and "Cool Water" from the Sons Of The Pioneers alongside pop oldies such as "Glow Worm." Side Two is straight gospel oldies... all standards in that department.

The Foggy River Boys "Ozark Mountain Jubilee" (International Artists, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by David Dombrowski & Winnie Swaim)
A mostly-secular set by a later edition of the band, who by this time had their own private theater in the Branson, Missouri ecosystem. This lineup featured the main vocal quartet of Bob Hubbard, Denzel Koontz, John Shepherd and Dale Sullens, backed by Bobby Hill on drums, Mike McCallister (guitar), Bob Moskop (piano) and Rick Taylor on bass. They deliver a heavy dose of chart-toppers by folks such as Alabama and The Oak Ridge Boys, with covers of "Play Me Some Mountain Music" and "Ozark Mountain Jubilee," as well as a "Dixie Trilogy" medley and a version of "Peace In The Valley," along with several other hits of the day. There's no date on the disc, but judging from the early 'Eighties repertoire, this seems to be from 1983 or possibly early '84.

Joy Ford "The First Of Joy Ford" (Country International Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Sherman Ford, Jr. & Fred Christie)
The young Ms. Ford was born in Alabama but raised near Poplar Bluffs, Missouri... Although there are some cover tunes on here -- "Til The End Of The World," "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," "Release Me" -- most of the songs were written by various composers signed to the Rest A While Music Company... Folks like Don Canton, Eddie Fontaine, Janice Torre and Bee Walker who remain as mysterious today as they were back then, though presumably they were all Missouri locals. Sadly, there's no info on the musicians backing her, but this was certainly a very private/indie type of album.

Joy Ford "Keep On Truckin'... Keep On Lovin' " (Country International Records, 1977) (LP)

Joy Ford "From The Heart Of Joy" (Country International Records, 198--?) (LP)

The Forney Brothers "The Forney Brothers" (1979) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Forney, Phil Forney & Ronnie Light)
Led by guitarist Jerry Forney, this family band hailed from Hopkins, Missouri, a tiny town on the state's northeastern border with Iowa. Although Jerry Forney later focussed on blues music, his early career was in Nashville, where he landed a spot in Charlie Rich's band, straight out of high school. He was working in Nashville when he cut this country-flavored album with his brother Phil, backed by an elite crew of Music City session players (and possibly a few folks from home). Half the songs are Forney originals, including one song co-written with George Couts, and another original credited to "Sonny and Lindsey," as well as a cover of Rusty Weir's "Don't In Make You Wanna Dance," a Bob Wills tune, and a version of "High Time You Quit Your Low Down Ways." These outlaw tunes foreshadowed Jerry Forney's eventual move to Austin, where he established himself in the Texas modern blues scene. The Forney Brothers band also recorded a single or two in the early '80s, including one where they backed a fellow Missourian named John Marriott Jr.

Jerry Foster "Looking Back" (Cinnamon Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Morris & Lewis Willis)
One of Nashville's most prolific songwriters, Jerry Foster was born in Tallapoosa, Missouri, a tiny town just north of Memphis, and he made his way -- literally -- into the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame. His professional career started in the late 1950s, when he performed on a series of regional "jamboree" revues, including a TV show in Cape Girardeau, not far from Saint Louis. He met lyricist Bill Rice in the mid-1960s and formed a partnership that swept into Music City at the decade's end, placing hit after hit with stars such as Mickey Gilley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Charley Pride. A commercially dominant duo for most of the 'Seventies: they won ten awards at the 1972 CMA ceremony alone, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Foster recorded albums of his own, including this gentle countrypolitan gem.

Ken Fowler & The Hurricane River Band "Ken Fowler And The Hurricane River Band" (Ozark Sound Studios, 1978) (LP)
Apparently singer Ken Fowler was from rural Republic, Missouri and played in local bars and high schools in and around Springfield, later landing a gig at Branson... This indie album came out nearly a decade before Fowler's big shot at fame. In 1986, he cracked into the Top 100 with a slick, very '80s-sounding single, "You're A Heartache To Follow," which hit #96 on the Country charts, but wasn't enough to propel him much further. Don't know much else about him, though... Hurricane River is actually up in Michigan, so I'm not sure what the connection was...

Fragile "Fragile" (Renee Records, 1976-?) (LP)
An eclectic offering from a multi-directional band from the heartland... The poorly-named Fragile hailed from Kansas City, Missouri though they headed up to eastern Nebraska to record this album at the uber-indie Renee Records. The group seem to have been part of a stable of for-hire cover bands managed by local promoter Ken Summers and like their contemporaries such as the band Patchwork, they covered a lot of musical ground, playing country stuff (Bobby Bare's "Winners And Losers," "Welcome To My World," "The Auctioneer") alongside pop oldies ("Locomotion," "Let It Be," "Sunshine Of My Life") and more contemporary Top Forty material such as "Laughter In The Rain" and "Listen To The Music." Fragile was led by singer Terry Allen, with Niaomi Allen (his wife, I guess) as the female lead. The band was also notable for having an integrated lineup, including keyboard player Jim Carter, an African-American who stands out less for his skin color than for his lack of general dorkiness and scary 'Seventies hair. Maybe not the twangiest band on Renee Records, but still a good example of what working bands in the mid-'Seventies Midwest were like.

Mary Francis "A Little Bit Country" (Ozark Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Buddy Lane)
Not a lot of info on this Missouri gal or who was backing her on this album... Though she proclaims herself a country artist, the material's a bit odd, including tunes such as her own "TV Brainwash" or "Avenue Of My Mind," written by E. Goff, which were released together on the same 7" single. ("Fiddle Diddle Boogie" sounds a little more promising for twangfans, perhaps...) Mostly a mystery disc.

Dwayne Friend - see artist discography

Jimmy Gateley "Jimmy Gateley" (Westwood, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Frank Evans, Dave Lindley & Billy Troy)
Born in Springfield, Missouri, Jimmy Gateley (1931-1985) was a successful Nashville songwriter who composed hits for Bill Anderson, Sonny James and Webb Pierce. He was in Anderson's band, the Po' Boys, for several years and recorded some singles under his own name for Chart Records, ABC-Dot, Decca and other labels, but never quite clicked as a solo artist, and later became a gospel artist. This album features all original material and was recorded on the independent Westwood label, which was briefly a home for a slew of older Nashville stars who had been left behind during Nashville's big shift in the 'Seventies. He's got a pretty solid crew backing him, including studio pros such as guitarist Greg Galbraith Sonny Garrish and Jim Baker playing pedal steel, and Buddy Cannon on bass.

The Glory Gang "Nice Guys Finish First!" (BOC Records, 1982-?) (LP)
(Produced by B.J. Carnahan & Gene Reasoner)
A country-gospel featuring several members of the house band at BOC's Audioloft recording studios, as well as guys who were in various "oprys" in the orbit of Missouri's homegrown country scene. At the time, drummer Perry Edenburn and steel player Myron Smith were in Chuck Watkins' Ozark Jubilee show, while bassist Brad Edwards and pianist Gene Reasoner were working on numerous projects with Grandpa Jones and his wife Ramona; guitarist Stan Friend worked with several of these guys on this and other albums. The album is also noteworthy for the abundance of original material, written by Mills Caraway, Don Hulse and Steve Shotts, who are listed simply as "performers," which probably meant they were singing their own songs with backing from the studio band.

Gene Goforth "Strike Up The Bow" (Professional Artist Records, 19--?) (LP)
An old-timey/traditional fiddler from Shannon County, Missouri, Gene Goforth (1921-2002) worked as a heavy machinery operator in Saint Louis while also playing down-home music at the highest level. He toured with fellow Ozarkers such as Dub Crouch and Norman Ford, as well as nationally famous bluegrass auteur John Hartford, with whom he recorded an album in the 1990s. The Goforth family, including his father Josh and brother Cecil, was deeply enmeshed in the musical culture of the regions and had connections to bluegrass stars such as fiddler Kenny Baker and fellow Missourians, The Dillards. If you're looking for sincerity, authenticity and soul, this disc's for you.

Larry Good "Movin' Country" (Lari-Jon Records, 1979-?) (LP)
This indie album includes a bunch of original songs, including two by Kansas City honkytonker Larry Good, two more by Charlie Craig and a couple by old-timer Redd Stewart... Apparently Good was a minor-league baseball player 'way back in the '50s, but got into music after that, first as a 'Fifties rockabilly artist, and later singing country. Not sure, but I think this album was from the late '70s -- he also has a bunch of singles. (Thanks to the KCLawrencevinyl blog for background info on this one...)

Larry Good "Trying To Reach The Ground" (Third Rail Records, 19--?) (LP)

Kris Gordon "New Songs And New Writers" (CGM Productions, 19--?) (LP)
A song-poem set from a custom label in Saint Louis, Missouri. Apparently this features singer Kris Gordon singing the lyrics of numerous unknown "poets" -- too numerous and too obscure to catalog right now. This album came with a plain white back cover and includes no recording info, nothing about the studio or producer, or the musicians involved. Also, no date, alas, though your guess is as good as mine. I would guess sometime in the mid-1970s, just from the look of it.

The Grand Poo-Bah Beaner Band "It Must Be A Breakdown" (Rising Star Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Chuck Chapman)
Basically a decent "progressive" bluegrass band from the Kansas City area, with Byrds-y harmonies and a repertoire that spanned from traditional material to more rock-pop oriented stuff such as covers of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," "Friend Of The Devil" by the Dead, and Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain." The vocals aren't great, but the picking was fine, particularly Jan Carlson's banjo, and some sweet mandolin riffs on their version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," which is an album highlight. On their version of "Cold Sailor," they give Kansas a little shout-out, which is cute. No original material on here, as far as I can tell, but some nice picking.

The Great White Possum String Company "The Great White Possum String Company" (Professional Artist Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Parvin Tramel)
Formed at the start of 1976, this bluegrassy band took their name from an early, pioneer-days nickname for Kansas City... According to the liner notes, they met at a KCMO music shop called the Possum Trot Pickin' Parlor, which was defunct by the time this album came out, and played local festivals and fairs. Lead singer Don Hupp lived in nearby Olathe, Kansas, and the other members -- Gary Gray (banjo), Bill Norton (bass), Mark Pusell (lead guitar), and Tony Rodriguez (fiddle and mandolin) -- were from Kansas City and environs, augmented by fiddler Kirk Brandenberger, of Kirksville, Missouri, in the northern end of the state. As far as I know this was their only album, and has them trotting their way through a mix of bluegrass and stringband standards like "Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor," contemporary bluegrass numbers from J. D. Crowe and Tony Rice, country standards and folk-rock tunes such as Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard."

The Greene County Boys "Medic Emetics" (19--?) (LP)
A truly oddball, and truly local offering here. This folk-parody set was produced by several (sadly unidentified) medical students in Springfield, Missouri, and sold as a fundraiser for scholarships to Greene County Medical School. Songs on this disc include gems such as "At Your Cervix," "The House Calls Song," "Menopause," and "Pentothal Is A Ball." Although the record came without cover art, a xeroxed insert informs us of two other albums in the series, Borborygmi and Placenta Review which added tunes like "Black And Blue Cross," "Tranquil-Eyes Her," "Thanks For The Referral" and "It Must Be A Virus. Lots of songs about medical billing and financial bureaucracy -- also a bunch of tunes about flatulence and bad breath. Plus le change, and all that.

Harold & The Chaparrals "Live At The Teepee Lounge" (Sambo Sounds Records, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Del McKinnon)
A bunch of real-deal good old boys from Central Missouri, Harold & The Chaparrals included Harold Tincher on piano and vocals, Bill Barnhart (drums), Stan Friend (steel guitar), Bobby Preston (lead guitar) and Dale Wallace on bass. All the guys except the steel player sing lead on a track or two, and one instrumental, "Super-Del," is credited to the Chaparrals, and one track is credited to the Dallace Brothers, making me suspect most of the songs on this LP were originally released as singles, under various guy's names. They all seem to have been from the area just south of Lake Of The Ozarks, with a list of local sponsors that includes auto shops, supermarkets, pizza parlors from all around St. Robert, Missouri and the VFW organization of nearby Fort Leonard Wood, an Army engineering school in the middle of a state park. Biographical info is scarce, but it seems likely that at least some of the guys were also in the Army at the time... Harold Tincher apparently moved to Texas and worked at a sort of "wild west" style antique/thrift store village called The Mountain, in Canton, Texas. Had a booth of his own called Tincherville, and played music at least part of the time. Mr. Tincher also recorded at least a couple of singles, an older one on Lofton Records, and one from 1990 on a Texas label where he covered oldies by Lefty Frizzell and Marty Robbins. He passed away, down in Texas I think, though I'm not sure if I found his obituary info, or if it was someone else... Steel player Stan Friend passed away in 2009, at age 61.

Clint Harrison "...Presents Songs & Satire" (1965-?) (LP)
Clinton J. Harrison (1927-2012) was a California native who grew up in Southwestern Missouri, where he established himself as a regional performer, playing at Joplin, Missouri's Hidden Acres Supper Club during the 1960s and '70s, as well as regular gigs at some joint in nearby Tulsa, Oklahoma called The Camelot Inn. Harrison kicked off his career working casino lounges with the Bob White Trio, singing in Vegas after World War II. He also worked in Tucson, Arizona and in Bentonville, Arkansas, where he owned and sang at his own restaurant and nightclub. Although he started out as a pop/big band vocalist, very much under the spell of Frank Sinatra, by the time he made his own records, Mr. Harrison had also acquired a taste for country material. Apparently he was a one-man band as well, playing all the instruments on this live album himself. This is one of those high-concept, split-personality, Mister Versatility kinda records, with Side One all music, and Side Two a country comedy set, including a few tunes that had been monkeyed around with, ala Homer & Jethro. It was recorded at The Camelot Inn, although copies of the record could be obtained through Harrison's home address in Joplin. Not sure when, exactly, this came out but if covers of mid- 'Sixties hits like "Make The World Go Away" and "King Of The Road" are any indication, probably not much later than late 1965, or '66.

Clint Harrison "The Two Sides Of Clint Harrison" (Mark Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Higgins)
This was his second album, once again with one side devoted to comedy, the other to music -- among the tracks are covers of Harlan Howard's "Heartaches By The Number," "Help Me Make It Through The Night," and Ray Stevens' early '70s hit, "Everything Is Beautiful." He may have also cut a few singles, though this information is fairly sketchy...

Chuck Harter "Keep Me In Mind, Keep Me In Love" (Chaparral Records) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Maggard)
Although this early '80s album was recorded in Nashville, Harter seems to have been from the Kansas City area... Blue Springs, Missouri, to be exact, over by Lee's Summit. Harter hired a top-flight studio crew for these sessions, including Music City stalwarts such as Hoot Hester, D. J. Fontana, Hargus Robbins, Fred Newell and Doyle Grissom on steel guitar... But the sad fact is, Harter wasn't the world's greatest singer, and though he wrote all the songs on here (and many are quite good) they often fall flat due to his wobbly vocals and the sometimes indifferent accompaniment. Still, you can hear where he was headed with this, and on the twangier, less pop-oriented tracks (like "How Fortunate Am I" and "Sonya") he sounds pretty okay. Indeed, with attentive listening, this could turn into an inadvertent guilty-pleasure album, and it's certainly ripe for some stronger singer to mine for material. Harter mimics some great artists, notably George Jones and Gary Stewart, and those hopeful aspirations should give you an idea of where he was aiming on this one. Worth a spin, though you shouldn't get your hopes up too high. (By the way, thanks to the KC-Lawrence music blog for tipping me off to this one... I couldn't find the magic thrift store you mentioned on your blog, but I still appreciate the tips!)

John Hartford -- see artist profile

Carol Hascall "Spotted Pony" (Cavern Custom Recording, 1975) (LP)
Traditional fiddling by a gal from Independence, Missouri, near Kansas City. According to the liner notes, Elizabeth Carolyn Hascall (1936-2019) grew up in Humansville -- which is a real place -- down in the southern end of the state, in the Ozarks. Her dad, Andy Beaty, was a well-regarded local fiddler, and she grew up to learn several instruments, and performed at numerous bluegrass festivals and old-timey events. Hascall cut this album for Cavern, a legendary regional label, with backing by a group called the Bluegrass Association: John Bennett on guitar, Jim McGreevy (banjo), Don Montgomery (bass), and Chuck Stearman on mandolin. She recorded elsewhere, including her participation in an authoritative 2-CD set dedicated to Missouri fiddling, Now That's A Good Time, and later in life, Ms. Hascall became interested in making fiddles, as well as playing them.

Denny Hilton - see artist discography

Louis Hobbs "Louis Hobbs" (Creative Country Records, 1975-?) (LP)
Missouri's Lou Hobbs (1941-2007) was an early, first-generation rockabilly artist who played in Narvel Felts' band and wrote several songs with Felts, back in the day. Like many of his peers, Hobbs "went country" later in life, and placed a couple of songs in the Billboard charts in the early '80s. In addition to at least two LPs, Hobbs released a handful of singles under his own name back in the early Sixties, and in the early 'Seventies, Felts -- now a notable country star -- produced Hobbs on his own label, Cinnamon Records, before Cinnamon felt apart in '75. Hobbs came from the Mississippi River town of Cape Girardeau, in southeastern Missouri, about forty miles away from where Narvel Felts grew up. Hobbs seems to have been tapped into the Memphis scene, and recorded several songs by Don Nix, including "Olena" and "She Don't Want A Lover" on this album. This LP also includes a bunch of cover songs, including contemporary hits such as "Behind Closed Doors," "Delta Dawn" and even "Your Mama Don't Dance," from soft-rockers Loggins & Messina. There are two originals penned by Hobbs, "Day By Day" and "Without Your Love, both co-credited to Ken Keene, who was Felts' manager. Perhaps equally interesting are two songs from Memphis area roots auteur Don Nix, "Olena" and "She Don't Want A Lover," which Hobbs also included on his other album. When this album came out, Hobbs may have been suffering from artistic whiplash, at least if he'd hoped the Cinnamon deal was break him into the big time. Apparently the label crashed pretty quickly, and he headed back into Midwestern indie territory not long after. Not sure who's backing him on this one, though the liner notes thank Ed Glass, Don Holifield, Buzz Murphey, and Jerry Rau; I'm not sure if they are the backing band, but it seems kinda likely.

Louis Hobbs "Country Pickin' " (Music Mill Records, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Morris & Tom McConnell)
On this disc, Hobbs dug deeper into the Southern/Midwest regional scene, reprising Don Nix's "She Don't Want A Lover," along with a tune by Ava Aldridge, another by Arkansas bad boy Bobby Lee Trammell, and several credited to someone called Mary Lee: "You Got Sweet Love All Over Me," "Hey Bartender," "Passion Bit Me" and "A Man On His Way Down." One track, "Loving You Is All I Ever Needed," also came out as a single in 1976; Hobbs eked his way into the Billboard back forty a few years later, with the singles "We're Building Our Love On A Rock" and "Loving You Was All I Ever Needed" which may have been either a reissue or a re-recording.

Louis Hobbs "Mama, Mama, Mama" (Eagle Records, 1995) (CD)
Nice collection of rare material from three different decades -- a mix of his 'Sixties singles and a generous sampling of his 'Seventies stuff, as well as some live tracks for a 1987 concert.

Rick Holt "Rick Holt" (Rainbow Records, 1987-?) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Holt & Rusty Jones)
Songwriter-guitarist Rick Holt (1952-2017) was from Taneyville, Missouri -- near Branson -- but he apparently traveled to Florida to record this album with some local Pensacola musicians, possibly folks who might have been his fishing buddies as well. According to his obituary, after retiring from his construction work, Holt was a professional fisherman (which sounds like nice work if you can get it) and doubtless he traveled down to the Florida panhandle for a fishing trip or two. This record features all-original material by Mr. Holt, and while it doesn't have an address or a date, it looks like maybe late '80s and does list all the musicians, including Rick Holt on electric and acoustic guitar, Gene Burleson (drums), Steve Gunter (lead and slide guitar), Jerry Holmes (fiddle), Rusty Jones (bass), Rick Redmon (piano), steel player Sandy Wyatt. I couldn't track down much info on guitarist Rick Holt, though he may have been more of a rock and roll guy than a country player... The backing band, though, definitely had some country pickers on board, notably steel player Sandy Wyatt, co founded a local mini-opry called the Farmer's Opry House in Chumuckla, Florida, and played at other regional venues as well, while bassist Rusty Jones (1952-2009) was in a group called the Blackwater Band, which doesn't seem to have made any records. Rick Holt definitely loved Florida: though he maintained his home in Taneyville, he passed away in the Sunshine State, hopefully while on one last fishing trip.

Horse Creek Band "Ozark Mountain Music: Recorded Live" (LGS Records, 19--?)
(Produced by Larry Sledge & Butch Gregory)
The Horse Creek Band was started as an acoustic-based "house band" at Branson Missouri's Western-themed Silver Dollar City tourist park, where this album was recorded... They're mostly a bluegrass-based act, and have hosted a string of working musicians in their lineup over the years. Founded in 1975, the band remained together well into the 21st Century, with their original guitarist, George "Butch" Gregory, anchoring the group for over forty years.

Horse Creek Band "Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Age" (LGS Records, 1983)

Jan Howard - see artist discography

Lena Hughes "Queen Of The Guitar Pickers And Her Flat Top Guitar" (Power Records, 196-?) (LP)
(Produced by Wayne Raney)
A record you could really fall in love with. Multi-instrumentalist Lena Hughes (1904-1998) played fiddle, banjo and most notably the flat-top guitar... Her clean, elegant style had a profound influence on the regional music scene of the Ozarks, where the Ludlow, Missouri native played at barn dances and other events, dating back to her childhood and the post-WWI era. This was her only album, recorded in the 1960s by hillbilly boogie star Wayne Raney on his independent Rimrock label, and captures her remarkably clean, beautiful performances. Though she is said to have influenced the course of modern country music, Hughes embodied an earlier style, known as "parlour guitar," where popular songs of the Antebellum era and later decades were adapted by amateur, homegrown musicians playing melodies learned from the sheet music that was popular before recording technology existed. When I first saw this, I had expected something along the lines of Maybelle Carter's old mountain-music style of flatpicking, and while that foundation is heard in Hughes' work, a lot of this reminds me more of old-time picker Elizabeth Cotton, who added a layer of beauty and delicacy to the folk and blues styles -- Hughes has a similar sweetness that Cotton's fan may find appealing. A lovely album, reissued in the digital era on the Tompkins Square label as Queen Of The Flat Top Guitar.

Frank Hulett "At Jackson Hole" (Ozark Opry Sound Studios, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by R. N. Parker)
A live set recorded at Tom Flood's bar, a place called Jackson Hole in Osage Beach, Missouri, which is kind of Branson adjacent. It's basically just Mr. Hulett playing guitar with some assist on fiddle and bass from a guy named Tony Smith... apparently Hulett held a residency at Jackson Hole for several years, and also was a cast member of Lee Mace's Ozark Opry, which sponsored this album. The repertoire is a mix of oldies pop standards such as "Cab Driver," "Route 66", and "Who's Sorry Now," along with a few country tunes, including "Key Is In The Mailbox" and "Good Hearted Woman."

Frank James "Here's Frank James" (Elm Records, 1983) (LP) (Produced by Edd McNeely & Lloyd Green)
Singer Frank James was a native Missourian who did club gigs in Kansas City for several years before heading out West to play Vegas and Reno, and eventually settled down in Orange County, California, where he was living when he cut this record. There were a couple of different sessions, one with some locals in SoCal, and another in Nashville with a bunch of "usual suspect" Music City heavyweights -- Lloyd Green, Dave Kirby, Pete Wade, those kinda guys. James wrote four of the songs on this album, and all the others were originals by folks such as Larry Bales, Geanetta Brown, Gail James, John Lacy, and others, all published by the same publishing company. John Lacy was one of the musicians on the local sessions, though I think he's the only one who was as directly involved... I think James may have made several singles as well, though this might have been his only full album.

The Jolly Brothers Band "Typical Barroom Scene" (Third Planet, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Butch Dillon)
This live album captures these Kansas City-area longhaired country rockers at their peak, in a remarkably diverse but accomplished set that covers a lot of musical territory, from wistful, Jesse Winchester-ish folk-country ruminations like "Typical Barroom Scene" to the funky, Little Feat-styled Southern funk of "Linda Lee," and a lot of country twang, David Lindley-style slide guitar and rough-edged rock in between. Lead singer Norman Jolly's vocals take a little adjusting to get used to, but he proves as versatile as the band, sounding like Jonathan Edwards or Jesse Colin Young on some songs, then digging into some more rugged Allman Brothers-y grooves a little later down the line. I didn't like the album's opening track, "Horseracin' Blues," which had a whiteboy soul vibe that turned me off, but every track after that was much better, and I've found that this album is pretty durable over repeat auditions. An excellent example of late '70s Midwestern roots music, with lots of original material and well worth searching for.

The Jolly Brothers "Masterpiece" (Rebel Rock Records, 1986-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dick Wagner)
I'm not sure when this was made, but I'm gonna guess it was somewhere well into the '80s, maybe as late as '86 or '87, judging from the slick, bland, generally enervating pop production and the vaguely Michael Bolton-esque power-ballad vocals. Norman and Al Jolly went for more of a rock sound on this album, trucking down to Austin to record with the late Dick Wagner, who was best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Kiss, and other Midwestern rockers. Wagner was the dominant force on this album, writing seven out of ten songs while producing, arranging and engineering the sessions. But old Jolly Brothers fans hoping for more of their cheerful indie-barroom twang -- as well as fans of Dick Wagner the hard-rock icon -- are bound to be disappointed by this rather blah little album. It's neither fish nor fowl: I guess the Jollys were "at a different time in their life" when they cut these sessions. Oh, well.

Leland Jones "Everybody's Doing Their Thing" (Redcrest Records, 1970-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Logan)
Delightfully twangy hard-country-meets-Nashville material from an energetic second-stringer who started his professional career around 1968. Leland Jones found modest success as a songwriter and performer by the time this album came out... He'd played on the Opry and the Louisiana Hayride, and co-wrote some songs with Nashville star Carl Smith, including "Little Boy Blue," which is on this album, and was also released as a single. The title track, "Everybody's Doing Their Thing," is a shameless ripoff of Joe South's "Games People Play," with Jones trying to sculpt a hip-sounding crossover hit; the rest of the record is more engaging, mostly all originals written by Jones, though he also covers tunes like Wynn Stewart's "Another Day, Another Dollar" and Harlan Howard's "I Don't Believe I'll Fall In Love Today," giving a sense of Jones' jovial, Top Forty-friendly sensibilities. I think this was early 'Seventies outing his only full album, although Jones also released a handful of singles on Redcrest, mostly made up from cuts from this LP. A later 45 from '74 included some later material, "Take Flowers To Mama"/"You Can't Reach Me Anymore" and was plugged in Billboard -- at the time Jones was working shows near Kansas City. He and his wife Carole later opened their own "opry" in 1982, a modest, weekly variety show called the Country Pickin' Opry Show, held on Saturdays in a barn on their land in nearby Richmond, Missouri. Jones also landed a TV gig on TNN, where he performed with a string of touring stars and Nashville regulars.

Ethel Kean "It's Lovin' Time With Ethel Kean" (Guinn Records, 1981) (LP)
A charming album from an unlikely source... Middle-aged pianist Ethel Austin Kean (1928-2013) was a Kansas City native who taught music, played church organ and performed in several local orchestras and the Independence, Missouri symphony. She apparently liked country music, too, as heard on this uber-indie album packed with her own original compositions... There are stylistic and vocal echoes of Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells and Jan Howard, with Ms. Kean's not-quite-great vocals getting modest, low-key backing by an anonymous studio band with a slightly bluesy edge. In all honesty, it's not musically that strong, but it's a great outsider-art album, and some of her songs are pretty good for the genre (while others are kind of all over the map...) One of her songs, "Where Did All The Loving Go," was recorded by the Kansas City-area duo of Connie & Ed (Shaw) although sadly Ms. Kean didn't record a version of her own for this album, which I'm guessing was her only record.

Jerry Kirk & The Heavyweights "Blockbuster" (H.W. Records/KBK Custom Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Reid)
Although primarily a pop-lounge group, the Heavyweights also had a little twang in the mix, notably on a couple of songs written by lead singer Jerry Kirk, "Brother Love" and "Love Me Down." Mostly though this is a set of early '70s white soul-meets-sunshine pop... The band was based around Saint Louis and recorded at least one other album, Sketches, with singer Sherry Edwards. I think Kirk also went into Christian music at some point. Not a lot for twangfans here, but there is a tune or two.

Gary Kirkland "As Is" (Rank Buzzard Music, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Gary Kirkland)
A nice set of bluesy retro-twang from some Kansas City-area longhairs, led by singer Gary Kirkland, who croons in a thick, smoky style that reminds me of (future) country star John Anderson. His influences are immediately apparent: Kirkland was a keen student of Depression-era country, particularly the old-time, pre-bluegrass, pre-Nashville style of folks such as Dock Boggs, Vernon Dalhart and, most especially, the great blues yodeler, Jimmie Rodgers, whose distinctive sound echoes frequently on these early recordings. Side One includes a cover of gospel great Alfred E. Brumley's "Rank Strangers," and a version of Hank Williams' "You Win Again," which takes Williams' work back to its roots, singing his plaintive honkytonk in the earlier style of Rodgers. Side Two features three Kirkland originals, including "Goin' To California Blues" and "Doin' Time In The Prison Of Your Love," which may be my pick for the best song on the album. The six-piece band features acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass and mandolin, instruments taken back to an older mode of playing, with a bluesy, jug-band tinge.

Gary Kirkland "Plain And Fancy" (Rank Buzzard Music, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by Gary Kirkland)
This is very similar to Kirkland's first album, though a little sharper and more stripped-down, with less of a mellow, hippie jug-band feel, and more of an acoustic blues revivalist sound, similar to guys like Bob Brozman or Roy Bookbinder. This time around Kirkland doesn't provide any of his own original material, instead devoting himself exclusively to celebrating historical figures such as Hank Williams and Alfred E. Brumley (again) and a wider range of styles such as "Are You From Dixie?" and Andy Razaf's jazz-swing standard, "Yes Sir!" which kicks the album off. There are also several excellent country songs, such as Clyde Pitts' "Sad Situation" and Jean Ritchie's magnificent ode to the passing-by of smalltown rural life, "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore." Kirkland puts his own stamp on a lot of this material, for example the fascinating way that he reverse-engineers Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again" back to its Jimmie Rodgers-style roots. He had an all-new crew backing him on this one, with more musicians though interestingly enough, a tighter, more compact sound that almost feels like it's just him and his guitar. Not super country-sounding, but nice.

Gary Kirkland "Bluesabilly" (1990)

Gary Kirkland "Shootin' The Works On Love" (Dark Horse Productions, 2003)
Yup: this is the same guy, still keeping it real and ultra-indie in the 21st Century. Haven't heard this one, but apparently Iris DeMent sings on a tune or two...

The Krawl Family "Krawl Family Album" (Callfaye Records, 1975-?) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Breeden & Ellis Miller)
At first blush, this seems to be another uber-indie mystery disc featuring an unknown family band from the Pacific Northwest, as there are no liner notes to speak of, and no indication where they were from. The group included Roscoe M. Krawl (1916-1993) and Grace E. Krawl (1923-1999), along with their daughter and son, Karen Kenyon and Randy Krawl. The elder Krawls appear to have had a long history playing country music over the years... archival photos on the back cover show family members in full western regalia performing way back in the 1930s or '40s, including one picture of Mr. Krawl at the mic of radio station WMRO, an old AM station in Aurora, Illinois. Hmmmmm... Well, as it turns out, a little diligent poking around reveals that the Krawls were in fact the post-WWII country stars Idaho Call and Boots Faye, who toured with Ted Daffan's road show and recorded prolifically as a duo between 1945-52, then somewhat sporadically thereafter. Mrs. Krawl (nee Grace Eloise Tarch) was originally from Springfield, Missouri, and earned her stage name as part of a hillbilly act called the Faye Sisters, which she formed with another local girl in the late 1930s. She met "Idaho" after the duo broke up, and they soon became popular recording artists, notably on Capitol Records. This disc was recorded at the fabled Ripcord Studios in Vancouver, Washington, and may have included a few of the studio's in-house musicians. Although they lived in many parts of the country, the Krawls ultimately settled in Boise, Idaho, which is where I'd guess were when they made this album.

The Krier Brothers "It's Lovin' Time" (Sun Rize Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Shot Jackson & Terry Crisp)
Wow! This is a really impressive, rock-solid uptempo hard-country set, with strong vocals from Lonny and Roger Krier who seem to have been devotees of George Jones and other old-school country balladeers, but also were on the edge of the whole early '80s country sound, in maybe kind of a Moe Bandy style. The musical backing is from Gene Breeden and his Nashville crew, with Shot Jackson on dobro, Terry Crisp playing steel and Willie Rainsford playing piano, playing straightforward '70s-ish honkytonk, but with a western swing undercurrent that brings Red Steagall's stuff to mind. Of course, this is an indie/private pressing album and if you listen critically, you might hear a few flubs (like Breeden's lead guitar on the otherwise awesome novelty song, "I Lost 118 Pounds") but overall, this is an impressive album, particularly the stuff front-loaded onto Side One. Roger Krier was also a good songwriter, contributing four songs to a set list packed with originals... It's possible that some of the other tunes, written by folks like Hal Bynum, were shoehorned in to fill out the album, but it's all good, as the saying goes. There's also a nice cover of Guy Clark's "New Cut Road," where everybody gets to show off their chops. Apparently, the Krier Brothers were from Tiff City, Missouri --a microscopic town in the Southwestern-most tip of the state -- though obviously they went to Nashville to cut their album. At any rate, this records's a good find, and a great snapshot of some musicians that really coulda almost made it... The Krier Brothers toured pretty extensively, especially throughout the Midwest, though sadly Roger Krier died in a motorcycle accident in 1990.

J. V. Leigh "A Touch Of Blue" (Omni Records, 1974-?) (LP)
(Produced by Royce G. Clark & Leroy Donegan)
Really quite good. This (undated) mid- 'Seventies(?) album showcases solid, sincere, neo-trad honkytonk, very much in the style of and resonating with the same kind of back-to-basics drinkin' man's country that Moe Bandy championed around the same time. Good pickin' too -- straightforward, unfussy twang that doesn't get in the way of Leigh's matter-of-fact, hangdog vocals. There's almost zero useful information on the album itself -- nothing about the band backing him, or where he was from, who wrote the songs, what year this came out. However, this LP seems to have followed up on a single, "Box 1000, Segoville"/"Lady In Disguise," which came out in 1973 or '74 on the same label, with songwriting credits going to producer Royce G. Clark, and Finlay Duncan, so in part it seems to have been a kind of songwriter's demo set. Mr. Leigh seems to have been from the Kansas City region, since his band was called the Show Me Boys (after the Missouri state motto) and he also recorded "Lady In Disguise" for the Big K label, which was based in KCMO. The flipside of that single, "Making The Wheels," was composed by Leigh, and is included on this LP, possibly along with other songs he'd penned. At any rate, even though the disc is shrouded in mystery, the music is pretty solid. It's don't look like much, but it's a gem.

The Leverett Brothers "Lonesome Mandolin" (Birch Records, 1974-?) (LP)
Old-timey tunes from brothers Homer S. Leverett (1919-1982) and Wilbur Leverett (1916-2010), originally of Galena, Missouri. The brothers formed a professional musical duo around 1930, and toured widely throughout the Depression era, also recording a few 78-era singles in the 1930s and '40s, billing themselves as "The Original Ozark Hillbillies." The brothers performed together for several decades, including performances at the original Branson theater, and even an appearance on the Hee Haw TV show, in 1970. Wilbur Leverett was also immortalized in a 1931 portrait by painter Thomas Hart Benton, called "The Missouri Musicians," a famous painting which captures a fourteen- or fifteen- year-old kid playing the guitar in a trio of friends. The brothers gave up touring in 1970 due to Homer Leverett's declining health, recording this album around that time, up in Chicago. It's possible this may include older recordings of "Lonesome Mandolin" and "Diamonds In The Rough," though probably these are re-recordings. The music is mostly gospel material, as the Leveretts became a primarily evangelical act in 1934, although they still included a couple of secular tunes in their act.

Logan Creek Vocal Band "First Time Around" (1982) (LP)
(Produced by Don Thomson)
Original material by a fairly clean-cut band from Rolla, Missouri...

Johnny Long "Going Somewhere" (Starlight Records, 1985-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Millsap)
A teenage singer from the Starlite Theatre, in Branson, Missouri. The repertoire crosses over into pop and oldies ("Why Do Fools Fall In Love," the Eagles' "Heartache Tonight") but also includes some country stuff, such as Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA" and the 1984 Dan Seals hit, "God Must Be A Cowboy." The backing band seems to have been all Branson locals, going by the name The Starlighters: Greg Bailey on fiddle and guitar, Jonathan Beckett (saxophone), David Evans (piano), Mitch Keirsey (lead guitar), David Milligan (bass), Dennis Parsons (trombone), Kenny Walker (trumpet) and Craig White on drums.

Glenn Lonsdale "Glenn Lonsdale And Morning Reign" (Lariam Associates, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Glenn Lonsdale & Tom Tucker)
A highly-regarded Midwestern songwriter, Glenn Lonsdale (1946-2017) was longhaired, lanky and living in Hazelwood, Missouri when he cut this folk-rock disc, though later he moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he performed at numerous local venues over the years. All the songs on here were his own original compositions, recorded with his band Morning Reign (which is not to be confused with the late-'Sixties Oregon rock band of the same name...) The group included Don Hackman on drums, Marty Lonsdale playing synthesizer, and Rey Poston on bass and electric guitar, with Glenn Lonsdale on lead vocals and guitar. They played near and around Saint Louis, where their "charmingly new and different sounds" were touted in the local press. Not sure how long this band was together, or when Lonsdale moved up north to Iowa.

The Lowe Sisters "Good Ole Country" (Ozark Mountain Country Productions, 1981-?) (LP)
This album spotlights the sibling trio of Kathy, Sandy and Teresa Lowe, who were part of a Branson, Missouri mini-opry called Lowe's Ozark Mountain Country Music Show. The album suffers from a couple of unfortunate circumstances, one being the murky sound production, the other being the vocals, which I found a little stuffy and stilted. Still, like most mini-opry souvenir albums, it's a nice snapshot of working musicians in the Ozarks milieu, and there's some good good pickin' and an amiable atmosphere that can draw you in. Not all the tracks showcase the gals, either: the boys come to the fore on a cover of "Elvira" and one of the guys (unidentified) sings lead on a perky version of "San Antonio Rose." Though I didn't really enjoy the sisters as vocalists, Sandy Lowe was a darn good banjo and dobro picker, and Teresa Lowe Tolley shows her chops as a pianist on a nice rendition of Floyd Cramer's "Last Date." The rest of the cast included Brad Counts (lead guitar), Steve Hunter (drums), Ken Lowe (vocals), Mark Pearman (fiddle and steel guitaar), and Richard Rankin on bass. No date on the disc, but given the covers of "Elvira" and "Nine To Five," I'd guess somewhere around 1981, maybe '82.

Ludlow "Ludlow" (BOC Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards)
A lively local band from Ludlow, Missouri, a postage-stamp sized village near Chillicothe, about fifty miles northwest of Kansas City. Billed by promoter Jerry Woody as "the big band from the little town," Ludlow included singer Jim Anderson, Rich Anderson (guitar), Bob Berk (steel guitar), Mike Carey (guitar), Johnny Damerell (keyboards), Dearld Patterson (steel guitar), Rick Phillips (percussion) and lead vocals and guitar by Brenda Verjan. They were locals all, as far as I can tell, and while this seems to have been the only band most of the musicians ever recorded with, Johnny Damerell was also in a group called the Country Sunshine Band, while Rick Phillips appears to have played on and album by the obscuro-oddball folk duo Blegen & Sayer, several years earlier. Not sure when this one came out, but it sure looks early '80s.

Don Earl Mabury "Cry Along With Me" (Peach Tree Fork Records) (LP)
I have seen this record fondly described by Saint Louis locals as a "classic" and a masterpiece, and I suspect there's more than a little nudge-nudge, wink-wink hipsterism at play here, since Mr. Mabury, a middle-aged crooner of mopey, mournful original country ballads, is a singularly artless singer, hardly an inspiring vocalist, although his performances are obviously heartfelt. And indeed, it's that clunky, earnest, heart-on-his-sleeve quality that creeps up on you and makes this record compelling. As a lyricist, Mabury is pretty rudimentary as well, but this actually transforms his mournful, self-pitying songs into soul-crushing testaments to loneliness and regret -- when he sings "The Saddest Song" or "Can You Hear Me Crying Tonight," it feels real, and it's hard not to be drawn in. Unfortunately, the backing musicians aren't identified, though one suspects they were notable members of the Missouri twang scene... The arrangements are fairly perfunctory, but they do the job... and maybe that's all that was needed. Worth checking out, particularly if you go for naif art -- not faux-naif, but the real thing.

Lee Mace's Ozark Opry - see artist discography

Charlie Mack "...Sings Ten All-Time American Favorites" (About Time Productions, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Michael J. Zpevak)
It ain't all country, but for sure some is. Well, okay, maybe mostly just "Sixteen Tons," which personally I always thought was just a little bit too commie pinko to be considered and "American" song... But who am I to judge? Also...is it really okay to display the flag that way, all sideways and everything? Seems like the kinda thing you could get in trouble for. Anyway, no info on where this guy was from, although the label provides an address in Saint Louis. Michael Zpevak is credited as doing all the music, so it's possible "Charlie Mack" was just a pseudonym. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually

Johnny Maggard & Mary Lou Baker "Country Is The Music" (History Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Maggard, B. J. Carnahan & Brad Edwards)

Johnny Maggard "Tell It Country" (Chapparal Productions/History Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Maggard)

Johnny Maggard/Various Artists "Sparky" (Chapparal Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Maggard)
Springfield, Missouri's novelty-oriented Johnny Maggard cut a string of singles on the Chapparal label, with a kind of see-what-sticks approach. This holiday album made my head spin since legendary California songwriter Liz Anderson not only wrote a couple of the songs, she sings on here as well, on "Maybe You'll See Santa Claus" and "Christmas In My Home Town." She and labelmate Mary Lou Baker also released a split 7" together with two tunes drawn from this record, which supposedly was the soundtrack to a film called The Story Of Sparky. Maggard and Baker are the main artists here; Baker may have been from Kansas, having previously recorded for the Comstock record label, in Shawnee, Kansas, a Kansas City suburb. Maggard, whose real name was Robert A. Wyld (1939-2007) later moved to Ocala, Florida, where he passed away at age 72.

Main Street Opry "Lake Of The Ozarks: We Make Memories" (History Records, 1984-?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards & Main Street Opry)
A souvenir album from the Main Street Music Hall, one of the numerous country-themed shows dotting the Branson, Missouri landscape... This appears to have been the group's first album, although the various members had already logged a ton of time onstage and on the road, mostly in various Ozark-area opry shows. The core members were from two families, the Gumms and the Wests, with the full lineup being Doug Briscoe (lead and slide guitar), Alicia Farrell (lead vocals), Eric Gumm (bass), Sandy Gumm (bass), Thom Gumm (guitar and harmonica), Joe Hargrave (drums and keyboards), Shawn Pittman (fiddle, guitar and mandolin), Sarah West (piano) and Steve West on banjo -- pretty much everyone traded off on singing either lead or backup vocals, and several songs were instrumental showcases (such as the "William Tell Overture"). There's no date on the album but their cover of Kenny Loggins' big hit "Footloose" suggests this was a souvenir of the 1984 summer season. Though a little late to the game, the Main Street show has proven to be one of the more enduring and long-lived Lake Of The Ozarks venues, surviving well into the 2020s (so far!) while recording innumerable souvenir albums, including a number of self-released cassettes and CDs.

Main Street Opry "Lake Of The Ozarks: The Tradition Continues" (History Records, 198-?) (LP)
This one, which looks like another '80s release, includes the patriotic anthem, "I Wouldn't Trade America (For The Rest Of The World)." Amen to that, sisters and brothers!

Johnny Martin "Lay Back Easy Feeling" (History Records, 1978-?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Martin & Brad Edwards)
I try not to make a habit of making fun of records and artists just for sheer badness, but I have to say, despite the promising album art of the bearded, grinning Mr. Martin reclining in a field of flowers tilting his cowboy hat at a rakish angle, this is an astonishingly bad record. There is some twang, but not enough, and while a couple of tracks make it to near-classic novelty status (like "Stand In Line" and the super-clunky civil-rights-for-Native-Americans song, "Leather Boots And Moccasins") many are just plain awful, and Martin emerges as a vanity-label artist who maybe just didn't know when to quit. Although I don't approve of such things, this is an album best appreciated by folks who get their kicks bathing in the ironies of faux-loving bad records, with Martin appearing as sort of a country music Mrs. Miller. Recorded at the AudioLoft Studios in Macks Creek, Missouri, this is one of several albums on the History label, which had some connection to nearby Branson and the regional mini-opry scene. No release date, either, but I'm guessing around 1976-78.

Sandy Martin "Does Lovin' Come That Easy?" (19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Sandy Martin & Myron Smith)
Mostly covers, but one original (the title track) from a gal singer who seems to have been part of Denny Hilton's Country Shindig show, one of Missouri's many mom'n'pop Ozark "opry" venues... Martin penned the title track, and also sings country hits such as "Blanket On The Ground," "Break My Mind," "Don't Touch Me," "Satin Sheets," and of course, yet another version of "Rocky Top." She's backed by several musicians associated with Country Shindig's early/mid-1980s lineup, including David Nace on drums, Jimmy Nace (bass), James Pennebaker (fiddle), Myron Smith (steel guitar), Stanley Stidham (lead guitar), Sarah West (piano), and Steve West playing banjo. I couldn't find a release date for this album, but based on her fabulous perm and the overall look of the record, I'd guess somewhere around 1983-84, maybe later.

Sonny Martin "Live In Nashville, Tenn." (DeVille Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Robert Price)
A real good ole boy showman from Saint Louis, Missouri, George Edward Throckmorton, Jr. (1944-2011) started out as a child performer, a protege of country star Red Foley, who also gave him the Sonny Martin stage name. Martin performed regularly on the Ozark Jubilee and -- according to the liner notes -- started singing in nightclubs when he was only twelve. Eventually he made his way out to Nashville, which is where this album was recorded -- it purports to be a live set, and has a very casual, semi-funky Elvis-in-Vegas vibe, with thumping bass and a fairly loungey feel. It's mostly country covers, with tunes by Dave Dudley, Merle Haggard and others, including a fair number of the kind of play-'em-in-your-sleep numbers that populate the souvenir albums from the Ozark oprys Martin grew up around -- Chuck Berry rocks tunes, R&B thumpers like "You Can Have Her," etc.. The musicians aren't named in the liner notes, although they do get shout-outs in a version of "Momma Don't Allow," though it's hard to make out all the names, and an unknown gal who sings backup on a few tracks doesn't get mentioned at all. The entire album was repackaged and resold as Mr. Dynamite Live At Longbranch Saloon Nashville, the same year as this came out... Maybe he was pitching them to different audiences, one in Missouri, the other in Tennessee? Who knows... Anyway, this is not a great record, but it's probably a pretty honest snapshot of the artist at work.

Sonny Martin "Mr. Dynamite Live At Longbranch Saloon Nashville" (Triune Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Robert Price)

Sonny Martin "Live In Concert" (K.S.E. Records, 1984)
(Produced by Robert Price)
At some point, Mister Dynamite moved out to Southern California and set up shop performing in the Santa Ana/Irvine area. The repertoire is mostly cover songs, with two songs credited to G. Gentry that I think are originals: "Let Me Go To Helen When I Die" and "Mail Me Home To Georgia."

Sonny Martin "I've Always Been Country" (Orbit Records, 1986) (LP)
This disc seems to be packed with original material, including songs such as "Cowboy Boots And Soft Blue Denim," "San Jose Wine," and "Mail Me Back To Georgia," which seems to have been his signature song during the 'Eighties, appearing on numerous live albums released over the years.

Bill McAnally "Will You Be There" (Stop Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Lee Miller, John Pearson & Bill Hargraves)
A native of Baldwin, Mississippi, piano player Bill McAnally established his professional bona fides plunking the keys in Memphis before moving to Kansas City in 1963, where he cut this rough-hewn hard-country album using all-local talent and the production crew at the Cavern Sound studios, a regional powerhouse that recorded numerous artists in the KC area. The music is great and although McAnally was a pretty crude vocalist, there's immense authenticity and charm to his chunky barroom style, which varies between a Mickey Gilley piano-thumper vibe and more straightforward old-school honky-tonk. Besides, I'm a real sucker for country album photos that show the pizza parlours the bands played at on the cover. The repertoire is almost all honkytonk cover tunes, with one song by McAnally ("One More Time") and the title track, "Will You Be There," written by producer Lee Miller. It's swell stuff... really!

Jimmie McCartney "Country Gospel Time" (ARTS/Art's Recording And Tape Studio, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Art Pemberton)
A fine set of great, old-fashioned country gospel, with plenty of true twang and some pleasantly rough edges, kinda like Ernest Tubb fronting the old Jim & Jesse band, but a little more low-rent, filled with old-timey hymns, recitation songs and weepers such as "Little Tom," "Room 204," with plenty of plangent pickin' and heartfelt vocals. Back in the early 1950s, guitar picker Jimmie McCartney was a honky-tonk roughneck who joined one of Kansas City's hottest country bands, Dan Harless & The Trailblazers in 1948, then broke off to form his own group, The Midwesterners around 1955. He was a local headliner for several years, though living the fast life soon took its toll. The way Mr. McCartney tells it, his life soon spun out of control, filled with booze, drugs and all sorts of sin. He got religion at a revival meeting in 1961 and quit the secular scene. He never laid down his old guitar, though, and started cutting country gospel material instead, with this album as a fine example. He's backed here by several other right-minded locals, Bill Howell on bass, Dallas Nichols playing mandolin, and lap steel player Paul Tribble; Mr. Tribble also contributes a couple of his own original songs, and sings lead on a few tunes in a voice that's every bit as creaky and thick as Mr. McCartney's. This album simply oozes with sincerity and authenticity, their fervid Christian faith only enhanced by the musically ragged, amateurish edges. McCartney lived in Kansas City, hosting a Saturday morning radio show on KCLO and attending the Calvary Temple church on Sundays, though this album was recorded across the state line at Art Pemberton's studio in Lansing, Kansas, a small town close to Leavenworth penitentiary. Mr. Permberton was a radio professional and also an accomplished guitar picker in the Merle Travis style. Although I don't think he plays on here, Art Pemberton later backed other local gospel acts such as the Singing Straub Family on their albums. In 1975 he partnered up with Jimmie McCartney and his wife Margie, when they opened their Gospel Center Ministries, in KCMO, a revival program that featured a plenty of music, and became a way-station for touring southern gospel bands; Jimmie McCartney led the GC Ministries as pastor until 1998, when he passed the torch to a younger fella. Not sure just how many records he made over his career, but this disc's a doozy.

Pete McMahan "Missouri Fiddlin' " (Missouri Fiddlin' Records, 19--?) (LP)
An old-timer from Harrisburg, Missouri, Pete McMahan had been playing fiddle for over fifty years when he cut this album, and had won about two dozen trophies over the years. He's backed on this instrumental set by second fiddler, Fred Stoneking, a guy who lived in Clinton, MO, near the Lake Of The Ozarks.

Pete McMahan "Missouri Fiddlin' Number Two" (KSS Records, 19--?) (LP)
On this follow-up album, McMahan is joined by a "second," Joe Stephens. The cover art shows other instruments -- a banjo and guitar -- but I think that's just a stock photo used by the label.

Pete McMahan "Missouri Fiddlin' Number Three" (Graphic Records, 19--?) (LP)

The Middle Of The Road "Middle Of The Road" (Smith Music Productions, 1980-?) (LP)
(Produced by Chris Harwood & Lonnie Smith)
Despite their incendiary, confrontational band name, these fellas from Saint Louis, Missouri kept a pretty low profile and played it pretty safe with this set of country covers. The group included Joe Carpenter on lead guitar, Les Hermann (lead guitar, harmonica, and steel), Pete Meshell (guitar), Jan Smith (piano), Kenny South (drums) and Dick Wayne on bass... As far as I can tell, this was just an informal group of friends, making a just-for-fun record, though it's possible they worked in other bands as well; most of the guys had pretty generic names, so they aren't that easy to track down. At any rate, they picked some pretty fun songs to record, singalong classics like "Fox On The Run," "Let Me Be There," John D. Loudermilk's "Break My Mind," Delbert McClinton's "Two More Bottle Of Wine," Waylon Jennings' outlaw anthem, "Don't Think Hank Done It This Way," three Kris Kristofferson tunes, though no originals of their own.

Chuck Millhuff "...In Nashville" (Proclaim Records, 197--?) (LP)
A Kansas City-area Christian pastor, singer Chuck Millhuff led a successful ministry in the KC suburb of Olathe, Kansas, and continued evangelizing well into the 21st Century. He was firmly entrenched in the Southern Gospel scene, seen here by liner note testimonials by Bill Gaither and Brock Speer, as well as the inclusion of several songs co-written by Gaither and Milhuff. For this disc he made a pilgrimage to Music City and adds distinctly Nashville-ian production to his message, in this case a 'Sixties-era pop-vocal sound that shows the influence of crooner Jim Reeves and spotlights Anita Kerr-esque backing vocals. (Indeed, although no studio musicians are listed by name, I would guess that the female chorus actually was the Kerr crew, though I can't say for sure.) Several tracks open with robust flourishes of life, though most lapse into a more sedate feel... Overall, though, this religious set does deliver on its promise of a country touch, and is worth checking out if you enjoy hearing where these two styles meet.

Chuck Millhuff "Feelin' Country Good" (A+R Records, 197--?) (LP)
Early '70s Christian music with surprisingly robust country arrangements, including Christian folk star Phil Keaggy playing guitar. Milhuff was not a great singer, but this is a legitimately twangy record, with some nice pickin' on it, and a more laid-back, down-home feel than his other albums. Worth a spin!

Missouri "Missouri" (Polydor Records, 1977)
I'm really just listing these guys as a cautionary note: despite the promise of their non-coastal band name, they were not country-rock or country-flavored; they are often cited as a "Southern rock" band but I don't hear any of the hick licks or even the blues riffs that I'd consider hallmarks of the genre. Just a loud, punk-free, twang-free, mainstream American guitar-rock band from the '70s. Twangfans need not apply.

Missouri "Welcome Two Missouri" (Polydor Records, 1979) (LP)
The second album by this unheralded, cult-fave Midwest band... Still rockin', still not country. Just in case you're wondering.

Missouri Corn Dodgers "Old Time String Band Music" (Davis Unlimited, 1975--?) (LP)
(Produced by Steve Davis & The Missouri Corn Dodgers)
Squeaky, raspy, rollicking old-timey music by a Saint Louis trio also known as "The Original Missouri Corn Dodgers" -- this longhaired band included Bob Abrams on fiddle and mandolin, Julie Hager playing guitar and Jim Olin on banjo... Plenty of plangent twang on this one: the repertoire and performances are authentic as all getout, but as is often the case with old-timey music, you're either in, or you're out. Fans of the style will love this one, others may find it a bit severe.

Missouri Rain "Got To Have My Music" (History Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Pangborn, Pat Shikany & Larry Lee)

Missouri Rain "Country Rock High" (History Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Eddie Pangborn)

Missouri Woodland "Signing Our Lives Away" (Missouri Woodland, 1978) (LP)
Countryfied soft-rock from the Kansas City duo of Royal Scanlon and Gary D. Paredes, along with a modest, unobtrusive backing band. They wrote or co-wrote all the songs on here, with Scanlon contributing the most material. It's nice, innocuous stuff, sort of headed in a Seals & Crofts/Brewer & Shipley AOR direction, but still anchored to a local-folkie sound, with a nice, lazy vibe. Apparently they went up to Minneapolis to record this, and among the studio musicians is session player Cal Hand, who I believe was a Twin Cities local, adding some sweet pedal steel on several tracks. This might not electrify your world, but it's another good, quiet example of Midwestern DIY hippie twang. (Note: this album is frequently listed under the names of Scanlon and Paredes, but was actually meant to be under the band name. If you look at the original inner sleeve, it reads, "Missouri Woodland is..." Just in case it matters.)

June Murphy "Proud To Be A Mother" (Jay Bee Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Harold Luick & Jim Phinney)
Picking up where Tammy Wynette left off, Milan, Missouri native June Murphy opens this album with the stridently anti-feminist title track, "Proud To Be A Mother," which cautions her fellow fillies that if they insist on being a man's equal, they're going to wind up unmarried, miserable and unfulfilled on every level imaginable. Despite the militant stay-at-home ethic expressed in that sizzler, not all the songs are so pointedly political, although she sure did have an affinity for novelty numbers. A farmer's wife and June-of-all-trades who had a pretty interesting work life, Ms. Murphy started singing professionally in 1970, beginning with a gig at the local Skyway Supper Club in Milan, and steadily expanded her regional touring to include shows in states as far afield as Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska. She cut a few singles along the way, including the barbecue-friendly "Money Making Beefalo" and "G-Rated School Bus," which reflected her own work as a rancher and former school bus driver. At first blush, this seems like one of those almost-but-not-quite albums: the band kicks in with a slick but twangy, professional sound, while her vocals sound a little... derivative? But the album picks up steam and by the end, you may be won over. The novelty songs are decent fun, but she's particularly good on the ballads, notably on a version of Royce Clark's "I'll Take What's Left Of You" and Don King's "Unspoken Memory," along with a couple of others penned by Little Joe Terry. This album has overlapping sets of musicians and may have been made is several different sessions; I think a few of the tracks first came out as singles, which could explain some of it. The players seem to have been locals, possibly including some folks associated with the Lee Mace Ozark Opry, which helped make and market this album... Particularly notable are bass player/guitarist Jim Phinney and banjo player Bart Goldman, who also backed bluegrass-folkie Bob Everhart on an album of his made around the same time; Goldman was also co-composer of "G-Rated School Bus" and "Money Making Beefalo."

Wayne Myers "The Old Coal Miner" (Aard-Vark Recordings, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by John Jacobsen & Kenny Gott)
Born in Marshfield, Missouri back in 1917, Wayne Myers was an honest-to-gosh coal miner, though the material on this album covers a lot of other topics. Side One is gospel oldies, Side Two is secular country, mostly old-fashioned heartsongs, classics like "Ashes Of Love," "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" and "Making Believe." The super-DIY album has a plain white back cover with, alas, no musician credits and no info on the sessions. It's possible he may have been related to one of the various mini-oprys in the area, as the Aard-Vark label also released several albums by the Plummer Family Jubilee.

Johnny Nace "The Fabulous Johnny Nace/Sometimes I Wonder" (Topic Records, 1969-?) (LP)
Born in Kansas City, singer-guitarist Johnny Nace (1934-1990) played old-school country music in a variety of bands dating back to the 1950s, with some of his earlier, more rugged material claimed retroactively by the rockabilly camp. He spent his entire career in Missouri, working as a deejay on stations such as KOKO, Warrensburg and KDRO, Sedalia, as well as hosting a TV show called "The Circle 6 Ranch." In addition to leading his own band, Nace was one of those hard-working locals who would back Nashville stars traveling through the Midwest, rubbing elbows with folks such as Buck Owens, Elvis Presley, Dottie West and Faron Young. He recorded a ton of singles on indie labels such as Rimrock, Topic and Starday's custom series, though I think this was his first full LP. Nace passed away in his hometown of Sedalia at age 56 from a heart attack; his sons Dave and Jimmy formed a band of their own, a roots-rock group called the Nace Brothers.

Johnny Nace "Music Nace And Country" (Topic Records, 1970-?) (LP)

Johnny Nace "Live" (Topic Records, 197--?) (LP)
This album spotlights Nace and his band The Midnighters playing a show at a place called Maxine's, back in 1977...

Johnny Nace "In The Country With Johnny Nace" (Nova Records, 19--?) (LP)

Johnny Nace "Love Songs" (Ethics Records, 1980-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jack Eubanks & Harold Shedd)

Nashville Enterprise "Nashville Enterprise" (Nashville North Records, 1973-?) (LP)
Although they had Nashville in their name, these kids from Saint Louis, Missouri -- singer Vonna Faye, along with David Spier, Bob Rolens and Larry Rolens -- were "show me" staters all the way. The liner notes helpfully inform us that the quartet formed in March, 1972, and go into great detail about the shows they played, boasting of tours as far afield as Nebraska, South Dakota and Colorado Springs... Vonna Faye also released at least one single under her own name, though doesn't seem to have pursued music as a career... The three guys, Spier on bass, Larry on lead guitar and brother Bob on drums, later formed a country-rock bar-band called Cottonwood, recording an album in 1979, and then spent a chunk of the 'Eighties rocking out in a group called Bay Wolfe, which was notable for helping start the career of Top Forty redneck country queen Gretchen Wilson. After their hair-band folded, the Rolens brothers went deeper into the country music mainstream, with Larry Rolens joining the Bellamy Brothers and Bob Rolens helping anchor Wilson's band, after which he became part of the Well Hungarians indie-twang band. *Whew!* Quite a story, eh?

Bob Newkirk "Let Me Be The One" (Bareback Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Scott P. Schreer)
Schmaltzy independent country-pop by aspiring actor and cabaret singer Bob Newkirk (1936-2005), who was perhaps aiming at a Mac Davis-type vibe here, with a hefty dose of Barry Manilow thrown in for good measure. It's hard to assess Newkirk's vocals on the original material, but compare and contrast his versions of hits like "Always On My Mind" and (especially) on Marty Robbins' "El Paso," and you can say with greater clarity that, yes, he was pretty cheesy and over-the-top. Nonetheless, the novelty number "Country Disco" is a real blast from the past. Newkirk was originally from St. Louis, Missouri, though the Bareback label had a New York City business address... Newkirk's previous album from 1972, Bob Newkirk Sings For You, was mostly showtunes, although he also covered country oldies such as "King Of The Road" and "Green, Green Grass Of Home." This album is definitely meant to be all-country, and he had a competent studio crew backing him up, with plenty of pedal steel amid the glossy, disco-era production.

Nick Nixon & The Country Soul Band "Live" (Nashville North Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Michael Redford)
A concert album from a Midwestern guy who was slowly winding his way into the Top Forty country scene. Born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Hershel Paul Nixon (1939-2013) first broke through as a songwriter, most notably penning Barbara Fairchild's 1973 smash, "The Teddy Bear Song," a super-corny novelty number that doesn't really give you a sense of how rootsy he actually sounded. Nixon had been plugging away since the 'Sixties and had already made a couple of major label singles before this ultra-indie LP came out. He kept cutting singles for Mercury Records for several more years before his "debut" album came out in '77 though his career never really took off nationwide. The Nashville North was a nightclub in Saint Louis; backing Nixon on this R&B-tinged outing are steel player Wally Murphy, drummer Bob Noah, Cloyce Phillips on bass, and John Phillips on lead guitar.

Nick Nixon "Nick Nixon" (Mercury Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Kennedy & Glenn Keener)
Pleasantly twangy commercial country from the waning days of the countrypolitan era. Nick Nixon wasn't quite Moe Bandy or Gary Stewart-level neotrad, but this disc was still a breath of fresh air, considering the style of the times. It was a modestly successful release, though Mercury let him go not long after it came out, and Nixon's next gig was a brief fling with MCA, after which he more of less retired from show business, playing local gigs around Saint Louis while working as a real estate agent. He also started a nonprofit group, the Gateway Country Music Association, which was devoted to documenting and promoting eastern Missouri's regional country music scene; the organization too root and continued to sponsor live shows many years after Nixon passed away. Anyway, this album is definitely worth a spin as are many of Mr. Nixon's far-flung singles; someone might want to gather his work into a unified collection someday.

Mike O'Roark & The Freeborn Men - see artist discography

Ozark Bible Bluegrass Revival "Ozark Bible Bluegrass Revival" (Lemco Records, 1977) (LP)
This gospel group, which included Scott Bond, Rusty Martin, Ken Smith and Dave Stackable, was from (around?) Joplin, Missouri, though their history as a band is a little vague. The liner notes mention them playing together in the fall of '76, and while this lineup seems to have fallen apart fairly quickly, most of the guys went on to play in various other bluegrass and roots music bands.

The Ozark Hee-Haw "In Concert at The Old Sawmill Opry" (Dungeon Records, 1979-?) (LP)
This album is a souvenir of the short-lived Old Sawmill Opry, a late-1970s variety show located in Notch, Missouri, near Branson and the better-known Silver Dollar City. They sang a mix of country, pop vocals and gospel, perhaps with a little less actual twang that one might imagine. As near as I can figure, none of these musicians -- who included Eddie Asher, Diane Houseman and Danny McMaster -- had any direct connection to the Hee-Haw TV show, although one of them, Max King, wound up in the house band at the Hee-Haw Theater, in the early '80s. I think the Sawmill show may have been bankrolled by Hee-Haw producer Tom Lutz, who later ran the short-lived Hee-Haw Theater from 1981-83. (It's possible it was the same venue, just with a name change after the Sawmill show folded -- anyone know for sure?) Anyway, the show's headliner around 1979-80 was '60s second-stringer Stan Hitchcock -- local gossip has it that in the early he scampered off back to Nashville and used the profits from the Sawmill show to help bankroll CMT (Country Music Television) but I can't really comment on that. Anyway, the proprty changed hands a bunch of times, was sold to a church group in the 1980s and apparently hasn't been a secular music venue since then. Eddie Asher was an Ozark local who had put out at least one album under his own name, and played in several regional venues.

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - see artist discography

The Ozark Mountain Dewers "The Ozark Mountain Dewers" (Century Records, 196--?) (LP)
This band played at the Table Rock Opry, a 1960s-era tourist show located at the Dam Of The Lake, a state park near Branson, Missouri... Table Rock Opry was one of many venues owned by politician-turned-show-promoter Ralph A. Hunt, and the band featured guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Donnie Wright who was one of the early Branson stalwarts. Wright, who plays on this album, later joined Jim Weatherly's Ozark Jamboree, and though he toured nationally with artists such as Judy Lynn, his main base of operations was in the Ozarks.

The Ozark Mountain Hayride "The Ozark Mountain Hayride" (Ozark Mountain Hayride/Dungeon Records, 1978)
This Branson music venue was founded in 1977 by a couple from Quincy, Illinois -- emcee and rhythm guitarist Elmer Dreyer and his wife, Faunda Dreyer, along with their teenage daughter Gayla Lynn who was a featured singer in the ensemble. The cast also included Rick Eaves (steel guitar), Roger Eitel (drums), Robert Holt (lead guitar and fiddle), Rod Horner (banjo and bass), Richard Kennedy (piano), Jan Naylor (vocals) and cornpone comedy from the troupe hayseed, Butch "High Pockets" Williams, and an honorable mention to the group's youngest member, Debbie Mallard, who was listed simply as a "jig dancer." This Hayride made it through at least two seasons, when they started in 1977, and 1978, when they cut this souvenir album. Not sure if it morphed into something else, or if they made other records, but this is certainly a fine example of the mini-opry genre...

Ozark Renaissance "Ozark Renaissance" (1980)

Ozarks Country Jubilee "Singing The Gospel" (Ozarks Country Jubilee Records, 19--?)
One of numerous work-for-hire bands in the orbit of the Branson country scene, back in the pre-corporate olden days. Alas, this all-gospel album does not provide us with any information about the musicians involved or the recording session itself, or even what year this was made. Doubtless they were cast members in the Jubilee's regular stage shows, but who exactly played on this album remains a mystery. My copy has a bunch of autographs of what seems to be an entirely different cast, but that might not be a reflection of who was on the record.

Ozarks Country Jubilee "On Stage" (Ozarks Country Jubilee Records, 19--?)

Patchwork "This Is Patchwork" (Renee Records, 1975-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bud Comte & Bob Palensky)
This was an entirely different band from the San Antonio, Texas group listed above... This Patchwork was a five-piece band from Kansas City, Missouri made up of Mike Farley on saxophone and bass, Jeff Grinnell (keyboards, dobro), Steve Nierman (guitar, bass, lead vocalist), Jim Robinson (drums) and Tony Shafter playing lead and steel guitar. According to the liner notes the group formed three years earlier, with Farley and Nierman as the frontmen, playing regionally in a territory that spanned Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, and found them traveling to David City, Nebraska to record for the hyper-indie Renee Records label. On this debut disc, they cover pop Top Forty pop and country hits, as well as some country classics, and the emphasis is definitely on twang, with songs ranging from Dave Dudley's "Six Days On The Road" and Terry Fell's "Truck Driving Man" to more contemporary hits such like "Is Anybody Going To San Antone," "Good Time Charley's Got The Blues," and hipper, newer material such as Doug Sahm's "Just Groove Me" and Billy Joe Shaver's "Low Down Freedom." Along the way they also squeeze in some Buddy Holly and drop some hints about playing oldies, but for the most part this is pretty solidly a country record.

Patchwork "This Is Patchwork" (Renee Records, 1976-?) (LP)
On their second album this Kansas City band goes out of their way to telegraph their hire-us-for-your-wedding versatility, with less than half the album explicitly country, and a big tilt towards contemporary rock (Eagles, Peter Frampton, The Band) along with an ambitious mashup of Elvin Bishop's "Holler And Shout" and Graham Central Station's funk-pop single, "Entrow," which helps date this disc to at least late 1976 or 'early 77. The album closes with a big band medley, so you know these guys were serious about landing gigs wherever they could.

Johnny Patton "Keepin' Country Alive" (Gold Crown Records, 2000) (CD)
A back-to-basics solo set from honkytonk singer-guitarist Johnny Patton, an Arkansas native who was a founding cast member of the Bob-O-Links mini-opry in Branson, Missouri, and later went on to open his own venue, Johnny Patton's Hitchin' Post USA, in Springfield, MO.

Carl Peek "Carl Peek And The Echoes" (Peek Records, 1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by William Beasley)
Carl Peek and his brothers (and he had a lot of them) had quite a story... The family was originally from the far southern end of Missouri, later moving up North, first to the other end of Missouri and eventually up to Benton Harbor, Michigan. When they started playing music, they worked regionally, up into Illinois and the Great Lakes region, and it was older brother Buford Peek (1940-1959) who led the way. Buford was an early rockabilly star, cutting a few late 'Fifties singles for the Fernwood label, gaining regional acclaim while hustling from one gig to the next. Carl Peek was playing drums in his brother's band the night Buford's car was in a grisly collison in southern Illinois that took the young rocker's life. Carl and his brother Everett stuck to music, though, and Carl Peek cut his first single, "Papa Was A Mean Man," for Stop Records in 1969 backed by his band the Echoes, a group that originally included Everett Peek on bass, later to be replaced by Allen Peek by the time this album came out. The lineup here is bassist Allen Peek and Carl Peek on drums and vocals (the brothers living in Stevensville, Michigan) along with lead guitar/steel player Dennis Butler and pianist Dennis Fast (from nearby Benton Harbor and Berrien Springs, respectively.) Everett Peek also kept plugging away and in 1977 scored a minor back forty hit with his cover of the Frankie Ford oldie, "Sea Cruise." As far as I know this was Carl Peek's only album, though his and his many siblings and sundry relatives played regionally for many years to come...

Dean Peters "In Love" (WRP Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Arnold Rogers & Jack Logan)
Cover tunes galore on this folk-tinged album... Dean Peters was originally from Missouri, though he was working in Chicago when this record came out. The sessions were held in Nashville, with usual-suspect studio pros such as D. J. Fontana, Roy Huskey Jr., Doug Jernigan, Bunky Keel and Bruce Watkins backing him up. One odd, notable inclusion to the lineup is hillbilly old-timer Onie Wheeler, credited as playing harmonica. The songs include chestnuts such as Willie Nelson's "Just Pretend I Never Happened," Stewart Hamblen's "Remember Me," Ribbon Of Darkness: by Gordon Lightfoot" and "My Heart Would Know," from the Hank Williams songbook. There's no release date on this album -- it could have been from the later '70s, but I'd guess mid-1980s.

The Plummer Family - see artist discography

Willis Pounds "Will You Still Love Me Come Spring?" (Skaggs Telecommunication Services, 1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dave Bonham)
As the hand-painted portrait on the front cover implies, this is kind of a sensitive-guy set, following in the footsteps set by country crooners such as Bill Anderson, Hank Locklin, and Don Williams. And honestly, I kinda dig this album. On the back cover, Willis Pounds appears as a lanky-lookin', weather-beaten old-timer, the very epitome of a "real people" country artist, an impression confirmed by this low-key, no-fuss set of sincere country ballads. Quite nice, if you ask me. The album includes four original songs credited to Mr. Pounds: "Letting Loneliness Drive Me From My Mind," "Searching For Dreams," "When My Last Teardrop Falls" as well as the title track, "Will You Still Love Me Come Spring," which he copyrighted in 1978, and may have released earlier as a single. Willis appears to have been Willy Edward Pounds Sr. (1932-1997) born in rural small-town Missouri, just west of Saint Louis, though he moved out to Utah and married a local gal in the early 'Sixties, though he and his wife later moved back east and retired in Joplin, MO. The backing band are presumably all Utah locals, including Dave Bonham (piano), Mike Divencio (bass), John Drain (rhythm guitar), Harry Fullmer (steel guitar), Mike Johnson (dobro), Danny Peabody (acoustic lead guitar), Cliff Tipton (lead guitar) and Gene Young on drums -- they provide simple, effective and sincere accompaniment, perfectly suited to Mr. Pounds equally understated vocals. A quiet gem, if you ask me.

Presley's Mountain Music Jubilee - see artist discography

The Procks "At Lake Of The Ozarks" (197--?) (LP)
A surprisingly satisfying, rootsy set from one of the many mom'n'pop bands playing in one of Missouri's once-numerous country variety shows... Although the husband-wife team of Gerald and Elnora Prock were both Missouri natives, they met and married in Fresno, California, where she grew up and he was visiting in the late '50s, when she was singing in her brother's band. The Procks formed a duo and played shows up and down the West Coast before moving back to Missouri in 1969. They landed a regular gig at Gold Nugget Junction, one of the many Lake Of The Ozarks theme parks, and brought several Fresnans along with them as their band. Old-timey fiddler/banjo picker Bill Hunter was born in Oklahoma but grew up in Fresno, co-founding the Music Farmers stringband, while guitarist John Blair and Jim Ward were also from Fresburg, although the group's drummer, Gary Alexander (Gerald and Elnora's son) is the only bandmember who was born there. They sound great together, and though they cover a few newer songs, like "Satin Sheets" and "Country Roads," it's the old-timey music that stands out... Fans of golden age duos such as Curley Fox & Texas Ruby, or Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper, might find a lot to enjoy on this album.

Jerry Prunty "Jerry Prunty's American Music Jubilee" (BOC, 197-?) (LP)
Helming one of the countless mom'n'pop musical revues spawned in the Ozarks, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Jerry Prunty used Osage Beach, Missouri as his home base, although he toured throughout the Midwest and South with this youthful ensemble. There are a couple of songs on here that fit into the country tradition -- "Elvira" and a version of the gospel standard "I'll Fly Away" -- but most of the music draws on a wide swath of American popular music, notably pop standards and rock'n'roll oldies. This edition of the band included numerous singers and pickers, as well as a trumpet player and a gal named Dorla Stewart on pedal steel, along with singers Tim King and Cindy Lou Fisher, lead guitarist Wayne Vaughn and Prunty anchoring the band on drums. This album is often listed as "sometime in the 'Seventies," it was actually an early'80s production: the Jubilee was a family-run business founded in 1982, and kept it in business through the end of the 1990s. Prunty later worked with outfits such as the Missouri Opry, where he led a 'Fifties rock nostalgia roadshow. Earlier, as a teen, Prunty worked in the Illinois-based Lamoine Valley Opry Show, and the original Ozark Opry Show, also at the Lake Of The Ozarks.

Jerry Prunty "Jerry Prunty's Country Jubilee" (BOC, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards)
At some point, Jerry Prunty decided to narrow his focus to a twangier repertoire, and some copies of this album (including mine) have stickers proclaiming it to be "Jerry Prunty's Country Jubilee Show," covering over the original American Music Jubilee name. He still included standards such as "In The Mood" as well as an odd version of "New York, New York" and a rock-oldies medley, but various brands of country fill out most of the record, including two Ray Pennington songs ("Happy Tracks" and "Walkin' On New Grass"), Kris Kristofferson's "One Day At A Time" and Rusty Weir's "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance," as well as a little gospel, with a version of Alfred A. Brumley's "I'll Fly Away." There's also an original written by Jerry Prunty, "Music In Your Smile." The liner notes don't list members of the backing band (although there is a photo of "the Prunty Sisters," three adorable little moppets who look like they ranged from about three to eight years of age, and who sing on a couple of tracks...) Signatures on the album include Diane Bettis, Mike Engel and Don Shelton, though I can't say whether they were on the actual album, or just working the live show at the time.

Donnie Quinn "Reno Junction" (Big K Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Charlie Kellogg & D. J. Brundridge)
A rockabilly-flavored offering from a Kansas City-area teen, and an album that's packed with original material. The liner notes by KFIX radio deejay Uncle Don Rhea inform us that Donnie Quinn was seventeen years old when he cut this disc, and that "many" of the station's listeners were already fans, having heard him sing at churches and school events... I can't confirm or deny any of that, but this album is notable for its wealth of original material, including a couple of songs credited to Quinn ("Rockin' Fever" and "You're Living With The One You Love") as well as others by producers Charlie Kellogg ("Legend Of The Hillbilly Cat") and Donald Brundridge ("Your Love") along with a bevy of less well-known composers: Michael Angelo, Neva Cessnum, Ron Hake, Walt Hummell and Russ Pyburn. (One suspects some sort of song poem-ish, pay-to-play arrangement at work here...) The backing band seems to have been locals, though it's not clear if they were Quinn's own group or a studio crew -- Jack Hensley on steel guitar, Jeff Litrell (drums), Doug McBain (saxophone), and arranger Terry Swope on bass, lead guitar and sax. Two songs, including the title track, are credited to Terry Swope and one to co-arranger Jeff Litrell. In later years Donnie Quinn made his devotion to "the King" more clear and worked as an Elvis Presley imitator, albeit often in a "what if Elvis lived?" mode, where he records newly-minted songs written to match the Presley style.

Donnie Quinn "What Might Have Been" (2017) (LP)
He was still plugging away decades later, as seen on this self-released set... a bunch of cover tunes, mainly country oldies and 'Seventies pop hits, done Elvis style.

The Rathbun Country Music Show "The Rathbun Country Music Show" (Professional Artists, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Parvin Tramel)
An Opry-esque variety show from the Branson area, started in June, 1974 by Willis and Melvin Dickerson. The cast included Debbie and Steve Dickerson, Janice Pickering, Bill Pickering, comedian Bobby Allen, and others. Recorded in St. Louis.

Riverrock "Riverrock" (SRC Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Riverrock & Ron Ubel)
Longhaired bluegrassers from Kansas City. To be honest, these guys were not top-flight pickers -- they plunk their way through standards like "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "Orange Blossom Special," and well as grassed-up versions of old honkytonk tunes like "Jambalaya" and "Oh, Lonesome Me," as well as few nods at rock'n'pop, like clompy bar-band renditions on the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" and John Denver's "Thank God I'm A Country Boy." It's all adequate, but not sizzling. They hint at bigger things with their pedal steel-tinged cover of the Byrds' "You Ain't Going Nowhere," which is the only plugged-in tune on here. Curiously enough, a couple of years later they cut a single with two songs written by fiddler/lead singer Jim Blanton, which I guess they started tucking into the album from '75 -- that's how I found mine -- and it's really quite good. The songs, "Come On In" and "Pine Mountain Railway" have an electrified, Byrds-y feel, and were a sign of things to come, when they shifted into more of a country group. Here, though, they are more or less a straight-up, amateur-level progressive bluegrass band.

Riverrock "Still Live And Pickin' " (Rockin' W Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Riverrock)
This live album shows the Riverrock band in a more stripped-down mode, playing spunky bluegrass and acoustic-swing tunes, mainly covers of country and bluegrass standards such as "Gotta Get Drunk," "Nashville Cats," "Six Pack To Go" and "Fox On The Run," as well as a trio of original songs by brothers John and Paul Mumma: "Another Girl Like You," "I Love You Now" and "Lost Road At Midnight." This LP documents a July 9, 1977 show at Putsch's Strawberry Patch, a restaurant-lounge venue in Overland Park, Kansas that hosted a variety of musical acts. The sound quality's so-so, and the performances are pretty scrappy, but it's a nice picture of a DIY local band with their fans in full force, cheering them on. The Asleep At The Wheel-ish swing songs showed a promising, vigorous direction for the band, and it would have been nice to hear more of their own material, but overall this is a nice souvenir of bygone times... Worth a spin!

Riverrock "Midwest Man" (SRC Records, 1980)
This album marked a major change of direction for Riverrock, with the band ditching bluegrass in favor of a deliberately commercialized, bigger country sound, some of it kind of Firefall-ish or Poco-esque, some of it inching into the glossy style of Top 40 bands such as Alabama. The new lead singer, Rick Harrelson, sounded like a cross between Kenny Rogers and Jonathan Edwards, matching the bland material and the equally uninspiring arrangements. On a few tunes you can hear echoes of their earlier style, with bluegrass licks and novelty lyrics coming to the fore... But mostly this one's kind of rough going... Uneven, at best.

Bill Roberts "I Had A Dream" (Scot Records, 19--?) (LP)
Another mystery record from the heartland, but one packed with original material. All but one song was written by Bill Roberts, including "Nashville Country Singer," "Down And Out, Busted, Hated And Mistrusted," "Move It On Down The Road Blues," and one song penned by Julia Petty, "Butterfly Kisses And Yellow Balloons." (The liner notes thank Jack and Julia Petty, so maybe they helped finance the record?) This was recorded at RCA Nashville with a studio crew that included pros such as Lloyd Green, Harold Bradley, Pig Robbins, Ray Edenton and Hank Strzelecki... The label it came out on, however, was located in Independence, Missouri.

Troy Rogers & Harmony "Troy Rogers And Harmony" (TRH Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Troy D. Rogers)
A teenage band from Warsaw, Missouri fronted by talented guitar picker/multi-instrumentalist Troy Rogers and lead singer Darlene Hayes. Not exactly when they recorded this album, but they covered the outlaw anthem, "Luckenbach, Texas," along with two hits by Kenny (Sauron) Rogers -- "Lucille" and "The Gambler -- so I'm thinking this was from around 1979-80, somewhere in there. The kids in the band were all apparently seventeen years old when they cut this disc, with one original song, "Second Chances," written by second guitarist Jim Hayes, while everything else was cover songs, including a number of charmingly clunky instrumentals. I also kinda dig the folk-ish, strummy acoustic version of "I Wish You Were Someone I Loved," which has a John Denver-y feel to it. Hey, anyone know if Rogers did anything after this?

Matt Rolf & Robyn Rolf "Matt And Robyn Rolf" (Tambor Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Jimmy Tarbutton & Chad Watson)
I am, generally speaking, a bit leery if not downright suspicious of "kiddie" albums where some tiger-dad or tiger-mom dresses their children up in western outfits, books professional studio time, and pushes the kids in front of a microphone to make some cutesy souvenir album, or possibly promote their aspiring musical careers... They can't all wind up being Brenda Lee or Nickel Creek. I have to admit, though, that on the first couple of tracks of this album, I thought perhaps this sibling duo from Corder, Missouri, might be an exception to the rule: older brother Matt Rolf had a confidence and relatively skillful phrasing that made me think maybe there was more going on here than a couple of kids who were brave enough to bum-rush the stage at a county fair. That charitable impulse came crashing down as soon as they set Matt up on a stripped-down solo rendition of "You Light Up My Life," a version so bad it makes you realize that, as horrible as the original hit single was, the song is so much worse than you realized. From that moment on -- after I had to walk over to the stereo and move the needle over -- it was hard not to hear this as just another ill-advised set of adenoidal pre-teen clangor. Though the kids were from around Kansas City, they traveled out to Nashville to cut this session with some b-list pros, including pianist Gene Sisk and steel player Bobbe Seymour, and others. This has an almost-but-not quite quality, though in all honesty it probably has more appeal to "world's worst records" bloggers than to actual country fans. Oh, well.

Matt Rolf & Robyn Rolf "Live: Across The Country" (Tambor Records, 19--?) (LP)
Perhaps predictably, the Rolf siblings found work as a duo on the Branson "opry" scene, and toured together for over twenty years. I'm not sure when this album was made, though at some point it came out as a CD. Presumably they had matured as artists... Matt Rolf got married in the late 1990s, and around 2003 he and his wife Lisa formed a band (with their kids) called Matt's Family Jam, and thus the cycle began all over again.

Ron, Jeff, Frank, Ray & Mike "Makin' Tracks Together" (BOC Records, 19--?) (LP)
Cover tunes by a Missouri quintet that included Ron Mahan... They play stuff by Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Jerry Reed... Recorded sometime in the '70s, methinks, at the Mack's Creek studio, near Branson.

Ruby "Sings Sweet 'N' Swingin' " (Nashville Cats Productions, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Vest)
This vanity pressing, dollar-bin LP was a bit of a mystery... In the liner notes, Ruby is only identified as "Ruby" but she seems to have been connected to The Kendalls, who note they know her as a friend, as well as professionally, which made me wonder if maybe she sang backup for them. Also chiming in on her behalf are Nashville second-stringer Sonny Wright, impressionist Urel Albert, and steel players Curly Chalker and Jim Vest, who both play on the sessions. The Music City studio crew also includes Cliff Parker on lead guitar, Willie Rainsford plunkin' piano, Bob White on fiddle and Jack Leonard on bass; drummer Jerry Kroon was a South Dakota boy who started out making indie albums with his family band, then made it in Nashville as a studio musician. Despite the wealth of talent, this is actually a pretty sedate offering -- Ms. Ruby was an okay singer, but never quite lights a fire with her vocals, and the band mostly seems to be going through the motions. The repertoire is pretty interesting, though: there are several standards, stuff like Hank Williams' "Mind Your Own Business," "Sweet Dreams," "Crazy" and "Release Me," but also a flavorful offering of original material which reveals this to be one of those country music demo albums that were so prolific in the '60s and '70s. Highlights include "Back Porch Heart," one of two Doodle Owens tunes, as well as "I Can't Get Over Getting Over You" (by Willie Rainsford), a couple of songs credited to Calvin Miller ("Lay Your Head Down" and "He Makes Everything All Right") and a saucy-sounding composition by Susan Parsons, who also sings backup on this album. So, it turns out, after more research time than I'd care to admit, that "Ruby" was Mrs. Ruby Key of Platte Woods, Missouri. She was the wife of Larry Key, a country music deejay (and local amateur musician) who was nicknamed "the KC Thin Man," and was working at station KBIL at the time this album was produced. As far as I can tell, Mr. Key doesn't play on this album, but he did autograph the copy I found at my local Record Hut.

Rural Route 4 "Saturday Night & Sunday Mornin' " (Mokan Productions, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Israel)
A rural-themed barbershop quartet from Kansas City, Missouri, harmonizing their way through a set of sentimental secular songs and vintage gospel classics... I'm sure these guys must have been part of some local mini-opry, though if so, the liner notes don't mention it... First organized in 1971, the group was part of the Society For The Preservation and Encouragement Of Barber Shop Singing In America, and competed in numerous annual barbershop contests, doing their best circa 1976-77. This edition of the quartet featured Jim Bagby (baritone), Don Kahl (tenor), Calvin Yoder (lead), Willard Yoder (bass), with Bagby and Kahl replacing founding members Rufus Kenagy and Everett Roth, whose departures are acknowledged in the liner notes.

Jamey Ryan "Jamey Ryan" (Woodstone Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Virgin)
Perhaps best remembered as the gal who married Patsy Cline's widower, Charlie Dick, Texas-born Jamey Nell Ryan signed to Columbia Records in the late 'Sixties, and recorded a few singles for them and later for the Showbiz label. Nothing quite clicked, though, perhaps because so much of her career was spent living in Patsy's shadow -- singing Cline's material with masterful vocal likeness that both showcased and obscured Ryan's own powerful voice. Jamey Ryan landed a gig as the "girl singer" on Country Carnival, a syndicated variety show hosted by Del Reeves. She divorced Charlie Dick in 1972 and kept at her music career for a while, signing to Atlantic Records, though again, she couldn't quite hit the bigtime, and eventually retired from show business, although she did some voice work, including dubbing a version of "Blue Christmas" for the 1984 Patsy Cline biopic, Sweet Dreams. Although she was from Texas, Ryan had apparently moved to Saint Louis sometime in the mid-1970s: this album sports a mailing address in the Cross Keys Shopping Center in suburban Florissant, Missouri. Along with covers of Donna Fargo's "You Can't Be A Beacon" and several Tanya Tucker songs, the album includes two of Ryan's old songs, "21 Inches Of Heaven" and "The Worst Of The Hurt Is Over," although I think these are re-recordings rather than the Columbia originals. Seems like a reissue retrospective is long overdue!

Saratoga "What Tomorrow Brings" (KBK Custom Records, 1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dave Hilgendorf & Jim Lake)
A quintessential "private" album, made by two folks from Saint Louis, Cindy Burger who sings and plays tambourine, and multi-instrumentalist Dave Hilgendorf (1947-2018) who did everything else. Seriously: he played bass, guitar, harmonica, tambourine and piano, as well as singing lead and harmony vocals. The repertoire is mostly cover songs, including a hefty dose of soft rock stuff, tunes like "Danny's Song" and "Homeward Bound," though also country stuff like "By The Time I Get To Phoenix." In the liner notes they thank another lounge duo, Burns & Bono, who they cite as their inspiration and who recorded their own LP a couple of years earlier, also at KBK Studios. Like a lot of Midwestern lounge bands in the 'Seventies, Saratoga incorporated more country material into their act, as seen on their second album, below.

Saratoga "By Special Request... Saratoga Live" (KBK Custom Records, 1979-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dave Hilgendorf & Jim Lake)
This disc captures the duo live in concert at a checkered-tablecloth joint called Jacks Or Better, playing contemporary crowd pleasers and oldies such as "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," "East Bound And Down" and "Six Days On The Road," as well as ballads like "Love Me Tender" and "You've Got A Friend." They were joined for several songs by a guy named Russ Bono, who was in a more rock-oriented duo called Burns & Bono, with Mary Burns. Dave Hilgendorf later led a group called New Saratoga, which I assume had a different singer(?) as well as a band called Those Guys.

Lee Schmidt "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" (Alert Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Merl Olds)
Lee Schmidt (1930-2013) was a farm kid from rural Missouri who made his name in the Saint Louis country nightclub scene, but it was as a square dance caller that he would become known nationally... On his non-squaredance debut he picked some unusual selections (like Harlan Howard's "Too Many Rivers To Cross") and following the Saturday sinner/Sunday saint motif, he sang a bunch of gospel standards, in a Red Foley-esque style. Schmidt only penned one of these songs, "Lonesome Too," but I think there were a couple other songs from local artists. Prior to this, Schmidt was mostly known for doing square dance records; this was his first album of straight-up country songs.

Lee Schmidt "I'll Come Back As Many Times As You Need Me" (Marilee Records, 1974)

Dewitt Scott "Keepin' It Country (Almost)" (Mid-Land Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Rusty Thornhill)
A steel guitarist from Midland, Missouri, Dewitt Scott also worked as a producer for several albums of other steel players, including Zane Beck, Julian Tharpe, Curly Chalker, and others. On this album he's backed by Doug Jernigan (playing dobro), Lloyd Green, Tharpe, Chalker, Buddy Emmons, and Russ Hicks... As implied by the title, most of these tracks are country, stuff like "Drivin' Nails In My Coffin" and "Cold, Cold Heart," but a few are old pop standards, such as "Golden Earrings," "Harbor Lights" and "Misty."

Shepherd Of The Hills "...Featuring The Ballad Of Jim Lane" (Professional Artist Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Schulenburg)
What happens in the Ozarks, stays in the Ozarks? Well, one would hope so, based on this disc's weird and creepy album art, which shows a reenactment of a late-night lynch mob, illustrating the vigilante-themed title track. But get past the image of all the torches, guns and denim overalls, and this is actually a pretty ambitious (and pretty good) record which spans pure twang to poetic countrypolitan, with a forward-thinking proto-Americana feel. The musicianship is quite high, and all the songs are originals, written by bandmembers Hal Meadows, David Houseman and Gene Reasoner, a group that seems to have been from Saint Louis... There are several different lead singers and one of these guys (not sure which one) sounds an awful lot like Rodney Crowell, which is kind of cool. The group's name comes from an old American novel about frontier life in 19th Century Missouri, a story that's been adapted as a movie more than once, and apparently still resonated with the longhaired redneck crowd back in the '70s.

Shorty, Sue & Sally "Saddle Rockin' Rhythm" (Cattle Records, 1991) (LP)
"Shorty Thompson" was the stage name for Odie Head (1910-1980) a singer born in Ash Grove, Missouri, and an early star of the Show Me State's pre-Branson country scene. Like many musicians in the hillbilly era, Thompson performed regionally, working radio gigs and live shows wherever he could find them. His career took him all over the Midwest and the upper plains states, notably a five-year stretch in Denver, Colorado, and a stint in Nebraska, where he met his wife and her sister, Sue and Sally Nelson, who were a family act from South Dakota. After Shorty and Sue tied the knot, they eventually moved back to Springfield, Missouri, where they worked at radio station KWTO, as the trio of Shorty, Sue & Sally. This LP draws on several radio transcription discs apparently recorded between 1947-50; according to Cattle Records owner Reimar Binge, some fo the sessions may have included a young Chet Atkins on guitar, along with various less well-known musicians. [Cool footnote: Shorty and Sally's son, Wayne Carson Head (1943-2015) also went into the music business and became a highly successful songwriter, penning pop and country chart-toppers such as "The Letter" (and a few others recorded by the Box Tops) as well as "Always On My Mind," which became a huge hit for Willie Nelson. He also wrote classics recorded by Moe Bandy, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Paycheck, Gary Stewart, and Conway Twitty.]

Silver Dollar Jubilee "Silver Dollar Jubilee" (Silver Dollar City, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Allen Reynolds)
Well, maybe Rodney Dillard and Dean Webb were a little down on their luck when they landed a day job at Branson, Missouri's Silver Dollar City amusement park and cut this souvenir album for the tourists... But at least it was a paying gig and they did put their hearts into the recording, with the result that it's a pretty darn good record. Dillard's wife, Beverley Cotten Dillard, adds vocals on a number of tracks, and the musicianship is solid from start to finish. Other than the Dillards and Webb, I don't recognize the other musicians, though pianist D. A. Callaway performed on other Silver Dollar commemorative albums, so I'm guessing most of these folks were on staff at the park. Also, I had assumed that this was the same record as Dillard's At Silver Dollar City album but it turns out they are completely different... So, if you're a Dillards completist, you might wanna track this one down.

The Silver Star Band "The Silver Star Band" (Quark Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Chuck Angert & The Silver Star Band)
An indie band from Rolla, Missouri, just east of the Lake Of The Ozarks. This quartet included lead singers Gary Jones and Ron Hedrick, along with Jerry Brown on drums, and Jim Brown playing bass; they are joined on one track, "Rocky Top," by local banjo player Don Thomson, a music store owner who released an album of his own the same year. Mostly this is cover songs, including stuff like "Tulsa Time" and "Swingin' Doors," along with three originals by Gary Jones, "Come Back," "Beautiful Lady," and "Lovin' Man." As far as I know this was their only album.

The Simple Truth "Ain't Jesus Good" (Creative Sound Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Chet Barnett)
Good old "Jesus freak" country-rock gospel, from a group out of Kansas City, Missouri. Actually, these guys were all over the map, musically speaking, playing some for-real twang, notably on their cover of Chuck Girard's "Front Seat, Back Seat," along with a few tunes that get into a LA-style garage-pysch vibe. There's also a preponderance of geefier folk-ministry mooing and crooning, alas. Even though I'm not big on the whole making-fun-of-other-eras thing, I do have to admit that the opening tracks on Side One are pure kitsch gold, particularly "Time To Get It Together," a desperate-to-sound-hip, groovy youth anthem, swiftly followed by the less-amazing, but still goofy "Jesus Is For You," one of several originals on this album, in this case written by lead guitarist Paul Land. They pay homage to fellow now-generation evangelicals such as Girard and Ray Hildebrand... Indeed, if you dig folks like Brush Arbor and all those Marantha-label bands, you might enjoy this as well. Recorded at Benson Sound studios in Oklahoma, and released by a label from Hollywood, of all places!

Simple Truth "Reasons" (Tempo Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Jesse Peterson)
Apparently they cut at least one other album... There were a few changes, though: they shortened the group's name by dropping the article "the," and a couple of guys quit the band, though guitarist Paul Land and bassist Rick Passer were still on board. A new guy, singer-arranger Chad Watson, seems to have become the driving force, providing almost all the songs, though they did record a new version of Land's "Jesus Is For You." Watson went on to fairly steady studio work, including playing on a couple of Janis Ian albums.

Terry Sims "We'll Talk It Over" (Kennett Sound Studios, 19--?) (LP)
Mr. Sims was born in Hayti, Missouri, but had an address in nearby Mammoth Springs, Arkansas by the time he cut this album. The liner notes say he had recently moved just across the state line to Thayer, Missouri with his wife, but continued to sing in a vocal group with his mother and two sisters. He's backed here by Dennis Autry on piano, Lee Barnes (bass), Clyde Brown (guitar), Jamie Holmes (drums) and Gary Blanchard on lead guitar and steel on a country-gospel set that may include some of his own original material, along with songs by Laverne Tripp, Ira Stamphill and Johnny Cook.

Dale Sledd "Music The Way I Feel" (History Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards & B. J. Carnahan)
A banjo picker and guitarist from Benton County, Missouri, Dale Sledd (1937-2016) worked with bluegrasser Lonnie Hoppers on the Ozark Opry, and toured with the Osborne Brothers for a while, starting around 1965. He was married to country singer Patsy Randolph, of the Randolph Sisters, who later recorded major label material under her married name, Patsy Sledd. This rootsy, traditionally-oriented set finds him reunited with Lonnie Hoppers, along with Alisa Jones (dulcimer), Mark Jones (dobro), Ramona Jones (fiddle), steel player Myron Smith and other members of the Grandpa Jones Family show, in Mountain View, Arkansas.

Del & Sue Smart "Singing Country Favorites" (Alshire/Somerset, 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Cliffie Stone)
This is the lone album by Del and Sue Smart, a husband-wife duo who headed West from Missouri back in 1950, tried their luck in LA and then settled down in California's Great Central Valley, where they became fixtures on the West Coast country scene. The Smarts recorded several singles and toured regionally in California and the Pacific Northwest, but they never quite made enough momentum to crack into the national market. This is a charming record, if a bit low-key for a Bakersfield album -- there's some swell pedal steel and electric guitar, as well as some jaunty, uptempo tunes, but mostly it sounds like the band was being reined in, and there isn't quite as much bounce as you might like... (Unfortunately, this is one of those cheapo budget albums and doesn't have any liner notes, so the backing musicians are unknown...) Del Smart passed away in 1984, though Sue Smart remained active in the California country scene, though more on the business side of things, building up the booking agency that she and her husband started in the '70s. At any rate, if you like the Bakersfield Sound, you'll want to give this one a whirl. The Smarts also released a couple of singles after this album came out, but seem to have stopped recording in the early 'Seventies.

Duane Smith "The Country Side Of Heaven" (Crusade Records, 1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Casiolari)
A country-oriented set by Kansas City, Missouri gospel singer Duane Smith, who traveled to Crusade Records in Flora, Illinois, where he was backed by studio musicians Art Baker, Bill Casiolari, Fred Mooney and Tommy Shelton. Mr. Smith had previously released at least four other albums, though I'm not sure if any of those were as twangy as this one...

Southards & Thomson "Amber Brook" (Ozark Records, 1978) (LP)
A bluegrass collaboration between Missouri banjo picker Don Thomson and singer/mandolin whiz Wayne Southards, who went on to work with a slew of bluegrass and country artists outside the state. They're backed by locals Stan Friend (on bass and steel guitar) along with dobroist Ferrell Stowe, while former Dillards bandmate Mitch Jayne contributes the liner notes, and may have produced the sessions. This was apparently sold through Don Thomson's music shop in Rolla, Missouri, right in the heart of the Ozarks.

Southern Fried "Fiddlin' Man" (Fox Productions, 1980-?) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Wicks, Jon Sherman & Jim Rhodes)
An ambitious set of all-original southern rock, outlaw-tinged country-rock and neo-western swing, ala Asleep At The Wheel. This band out of Joplin, Missouri was a fine example of how really talented local bands could make their music, yet go unnoticed as the music industry grinds along. Sure, there are a few rough edges and goofy bits, but overall this is a pretty impressive set for such an uber-indie band. Almost all the bandmembers contribute songs, including bassist Steve Duncan, guitar picker Gary Hutchison, pianist Rick Banfield and fiddler Rod Williams. The only cover song is a kooky southern rock/reggae arrangement of the old folk ballad, "Black Jack Davy..." Otherwise this is all original material, and some of it's quite good. Southern rock fans, in particular, might wanna track this down, though twangfans should like it, too.

Big Dan Starr "...Introduces The Hometowners U.S.A." (Loyd Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Royce G. Clark)
Lead singer "Big Dan" Starr certainly had a colorful relationship with his own identity... The Dan Starr persona was one of many he used during his lifetime, including several variations of his birth name, Estle Don Linebarger (1937-2004). Mr. Linebarger was born in Missouri and as a teen he performed on local radio and played around in a hillbilly band called the Ozark String Dusters. Linebarger joined the Army in the late 'Fifties and played European gigs in a serviceman's band that included Tommy Cash, Johnny Cash's brother. (Or at least that's what he told the Orlando Sentinel when they profiled him in 1973, just before this album was recorded...) He started writing music as a teen, copyrighting at least one song in mid-'Fifties, and released a few singles between 1968-73, including a UFO conspiracy anthem ("Captain Tom Martell") and a patriotic song, "Bugle Boy," which he dedicated to Vietnam War-era POWs. At some point, he may have lived in Nashville, and in the late '60s was playing clubs around Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. Around 1968, he led a group called the Rustlers, which he later changed to the Hometowners. Going by the name Starr, Mr. Linebarger eventually moved to Florida, establishing himself as a bandleader and television host, fronting a group known as the Hometowners USA. Circa 1973, when this album came out, the group included Chip Williams (bass), Bill Nolte (drums) and Timmy Smith (lead guitar), who each took turns singing lead, along with Starr. The disc is packed with original material: all but one of the songs were written by Chip Williams. Two tracks were released as a single,"No Meat, No Potatoes" and "Hatchet Annie," co-composed by Sonny Ledet and Murry Kellum (author of the infamous country classic, "Long Tall Texan.") An earlier single on Loyd Records included two tracks, "Bugle Boy" and "Kiss Your Teddy Bear," that were not reprised here.

Randa L. Stout "Rendezvous With Randa" (Randa Records, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by Randa L. Stout, Wilson Dalzell & Chris Rathert)
Ms. Stout grew up in the Ozarks, in Ellington, Missouri but was living in Highland, Illinois when she recorded this album, which includes a bunch of her own material.

Sugarbush Revue "Ozark Mountain Music Show" (Audioloft Studios, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Max Sutton & Brad Edwards)
Yet another Missouri-based Ozarks musical variety show! The Sugarbush Revue's cast of musicians included Denver Golden (fiddle and guitar), Eric Gumm, Greg Harmon (banjo), Sherri Harmon (piano), and Don Sharp (lead guitar), singing a bunch of chestnuts and hits of the day. There's no date on this this one, but I'm guessing 1981-82, since they cover some contemporary Top Forty stuff like "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma," which was a hit for David Frizzell and Shelly West in 1981 and Eddie Rabbitt's "Step By Step," also from '81.

The Sunshine Singers "A Ray Of Sunshine From The Sunshine Singers" (BOC Records, 197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards, B. J. Carnahan & M. C. Rather)
This cheerful ensemble featured a four-woman chorus -- who rather oddly are not identified in the liner notes, although the instrumental musicians are. The driving forces behind the band seem to have been multi-instrumentalist Brad Edwards -- who plays banjo, dobro, guitar, pedal steel and drums(!) -- along with piano player Ramona Bullington, whose dad is thanked on the back cover for helping make the record possible. The set list is an eclectic repertoire, mixing old pop tunes like "In The Mood" and "My Blue Heaven" with country material as diverse as John Denver's "Country Roads," Peewee King's "Slowpoke," and Faron Young's 1957 classic, "Tattletale Tears." I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that the pop oldies were added as a favor to Ms. Bullington's old pop, who probably footed the bill for the studio time and the pressing. This was one of the many countless custom pressings made in Mack's Creek, Missouri, and it's worth noting that engineer B. J. Carnahan, an old Army pal of Johnny Cash, also recorded an album of his own around the same time, which is also reviewed on this site.

Shoji Tabuchi "Country Music My Way" (ABC-Dot Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Grady Martin & Chip Young)
One of the best-known performers in Branson, Missouri, fiddler Shoji Tabuchi was born in Daishoji, Japan in 1944, and played in a nationally popular bluegrass band in the 1960s. He later emigrated to the United States to pursue his passion for American country music, finding success in the mainstream scene with help from showbiz elder Roy Acuff and others at the Grand Ole Opry. This album features backing from the cream of the crop of Nashville's studio session players, among them steel guitarists Lloyd Green and Weldon Myrick, bassist Henry Strzelecki, Bobby Thompson on banjo, drummer Kenny Malone, Jimmy Colvard playing guitar, and of course top fiddlers Johnny Gimble and Buddy Spicher playing in tandem with Tabuchi. It's a pretty impressive lineup, though interestingly enough, Tabuchi moved away from the Nashville scene, choosing instead the more independent country industry of the heartland.

Shoji Tabuchi "Live At The Grapevine Opry" (Grapevine Opry Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Phil York)
Before moving to Branson, Missouri, Tabuchi joined the cast of the Grapevine Opry, a country variety show located on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas. There he was guided by the show's co-owners, singer Johnny High and manager Chisai Childs; when the Grapevine partners split up the show, Tabuchi followed Childs up north to Missouri, and like Childs, helped transform the Ozarks country scene from a series of smaller mom'n'pop operations into something slicker, more modernized and upscale, like Vegas but with a lot less sleaze. They both opened their own venues, with Tabuchi hosting the Shoji Tabuchi Show in his own 2000-seat auditorium. This album is a souvenir of his previous tenure in Texas, though it was recorded and released during a transitional period when Tabuchi was already gravitating towards Branson. The backing musicians were members of the Grapevine cast, including folks like Bud Carter (steel guitar), Dan Morris (lead guitar) and Joy Newman on piano... Lots of fiddle tunes and oldies, including standard fare such as a Hank Williams medley and, of course, a lively version of "Orange Blossom Special."

Don Thomson "Banjo In The Sky" (Grass Ridge Records, 1982) (LP)
I think this was mostly a straight-up bluegrass album, but the cover art is so great and so goofy, that it certainly deserves mention here. It's a picture of picker Don Thomson standing on the roof of the music shop he owned in Rolla, Missouri, perched next next to the store's giant mock-up of a banjo... Completely dopey, but completely cool. Thomson also operated a recording studio in the store, and helped produce (and play on) several albums by local artists.

Tiny Tillman "Down Memory Lane With Tiny Tillman" (Starway Records, 19--?) (LP)
This is what I assume was the lone solo album by a regional Missouri country star, Tiny Tillman, who performed on several Opry-like radio shows, most notably the Kansas City-based "Brush Creek Follies" where he was a cast member from the late 1940s through the early '50s. This self-released record caught my eye for a couple of reasons, notably because of the all-star lineup of hotshot musicians backing him up, including Tommy Hill on guitar, Shot Jackson playing steel, Junior Husky on bass and Tommy Jackson playing fiddle... the elite of the '50s studio crews! There's no discographical info on the jacket, but I'd guess this came out round 1966-69. Anyone know for sure?

Rhonda Vincent -- see artist profile

Ozie Waters "Central City Favorites" (Columbine Records, 19--?) (LP)
Like a lot of musicians from the pre-WWII era, cowboy singer Vernon Scott Waters (1903-1978) moved around a lot, migrating to wherever he could find a paying gig. He was born in rural Calloway County, Missouri and wanted to see the world. While still only fourteen years old, Waters fibbed about his age and joined the Navy, and wound up stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii. After his discharge, he was offered work singing on KGU-AM, the state's first commercial radio station, which began broadcasting in 1922. Later he returned to Missouri and landed a slot on radio station KMBC, Kansas City, where for six years he was a cast member of "The Happy Hollow Show," alongside hillbilly star Curt Massey. Now nicknamed the Ozark Rambler, Waters moved on to work in Texas border radio (XER), as well as "The Ford Ranger Show" on Denver, Colorado's KOA. Perhaps most impressive was his long stint in Hollywood where he acted in at least sixteen westerns, including most of the 1940s Durango Kid movies, alongside Charles Starrett, as well as with William Boyd (aka Hopalong Cassidy). In the 1950s, Waters settled down in Colorado, hosting a western themed TV show and later performing at the Silver Slipper Saloon in Central City, outside of Denver. These albums are souvenirs of that long-running gig, with Waters singing cowboy tunes and sentimental oldies, backed by fiddler Harvey Gosman and Gill Blagg on bass. Over a couple of decades Captain Ozie Waters became a cultural touchstone for many Coloradans; The Denver Post ran a long profile piece on March 20, 1977, which is reprinted in a highly informative post on a geneology website, which provided most of the biographical information here.

Ozie Waters "Central City Favorites, Album Number Two" (Columbine Records, 197--?) (LP)
Recorded at the same time as the blue-covered album above, this red-jacketed disc features the same trio of musicians and identical liner notes, with another fine selection of old-school country songs. No date on either album, though the 1977 Denver Post article mentions that Waters was selling them from his home for $8.50 apiece, postage paid.

Ozie Waters "Sings Great Western Songs From The 1940s" (Castle Records, 1981) (LP)
Mr. Waters also recorded a number of 78 singles for Decca Records and smaller labels such as Coast and Rodeo, fourteen of which are compiled on this European import. His Decca/Coral tracks are not included (presumably because of copyright issues) but most of his Coast recordings are, notably his version of "Cool Water," which was apparently selected for preservation by the Library Of Congress. In the digital era the British Academy Of Country Music issued two discs worth of radio transcriptions made during this same era.

Chuck Watkins "Chuck Watkins Ozark Jubilee: Country Music Family Style" (Audio Loft Studios, 1979-?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards & Chuck Watkins)
I think this was the first album recorded by Chuck Watkins and his homegrown "opry," a fairly modest operation which took over an old theater in Osage Beach, Missouri previously operated by cowboy singer Bob Nolan, of the Sons of the Pioneers. First opened in 1968, Nolan's Country Music Hall featured a revolving stage, a feature that Watkins kept running, as mentioned in the liner notes for this album. Although the Ozark Jubilee had a home base near the Lake Of The Ozarks, they also toured regionally through the South and the upper Midwest, as seen in show notices in various local newspapers. This early lineup was anchored by drummer Joe Hargrave (1954-2017) along with Gina Glidewell (rhythm guitar), Helen Russell (banjo and keyboards), Rick Newman (fiddle), Lonnie Patterson (lead guitar), and Steve Tillman on bass. I'm not sure if Chuck Watkins played much of the music as well, or if he was primarily the emcee, but he got top billing either way. This album has some of the standard stuff from this kind of band -- chestnuts such as "Rocky Top" and "Bile Them Cabbage Down," a few well-loved country oldies, a gospel medley, and some newer tunes, which help date the disc. In this case the more contemporary music included Merle Haggard's "Ramblin' Fever," "Boogie Grass Band" (a hit for Conway Twitty in 1978) and "She Believes In Me," which was a chart-topper Kenny ("Sauron") Rogers in '79.

Chuck Watkins "Ozark Jamboree Celebrates The 50th Anniversary Of The Lake" (BOC Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards & Chuck Watkins)
The lake in question is of course Lake Of The Ozarks, a large artificial waterway created by Bagwell Dam, a massive, privately-owned hydroelectric project first opened back in 1931. Over the decades the area became a huge tourism draw, including a proliferation of mom'n'pop musical oprys, including Chuck Watkins and his crew, recording their second LP. The lineup remained mostly the same, with Gina Glidewell on vocals, Joe Hargrave (drums), Andy Johnson (lead guitar), Helen Russell (banjo and keyboards), Steve Tillman (bass), and Chuck Watkins singing and hosting the shows.

Chuck Watkins "Ozark Jamboree Country Music Show" (BOC Records, 1983-?) (LP)
(Produced by Brad Edwards, Myron Smith & Chuck Watkins)
The liner notes inform us that this was their third album, and using their version of "Islands In The Stream" as a compass point, we can guess at a 1983 release date, possibly '84. Worth noting is an all-new lineup of musicians: Terry Crissup on fiddle, Perry Edenburn (lead guitar), Vickie Faulstich (vocals), Dale Henson (keyboards), Donnie Sloan (drums) Myron Smith (steel guitar), and Janet Luttrell playing bass. There's the usual mix of country classics, a rock oldies medley, and even some pop-vocals showtunes like "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" and a version of "The Way We Were" which was an instrumental showcase for steel player Myron Smith. Vickie Faulstich belts out a cover of Rusty Wier's "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance," which gives a little tip of the Stetson to the outlaw scene. I'm not sure if the Ozark Jubilee made more albums, but they did continue to pack 'em in at their theater and go on tour for many years to come: the most recent mention I found was a show notice in 2009(!). At some point their original venue got sold and converted into some kind of church; hopefully the congregation kept the revolving stage because that would have been awesome. Chuck Watkins passed away in 2020, at the age of eighty.

Gordon Watson "Meet Gordon Watson" (Little Richie Records, 19--?) (LP)
I'm not sure how "country" this one actually is, but since it came out on Richie Johnson's indie label (a country powerhouse from New Mexico) I figured it's worth keeping track of... Gospel singer Gordon D. Watson (1934-2013) was a Baptist minister from Mount Vernon, Missouri who also sang in a group called the Heavenaires Quartet, though I'm not sure if they ever recorded anything. The producer and musicians aren't listed on this one; as far as I know this was Mr. Gordon's only album.

Dennis Weaver "Dennis Weaver" (Custom Fidelity/Im'Press Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Dumas & Joe Johnson)
Born in Joplin, Missouri, actor Dennis Weaver (1924-2006) was best known for his role as sidekick Chester Goode on Gunsmoke, and as a laconic western detective on the '70s show McCloud. In the early 1970s, Weaver branched out into music, starting his own label and recording several albums, often with country and gospel themes. This LP is heavy on religious and inspirational material, as well as recitations, which were kind of Weaver's "thing." His wife, Gerry Weaver, performs on a few tracks as well, although I'm not sure what other musicians were on here. Weaver is credited with composing several tracks, including "Where Have The Wild Blackberries Gone" and "Work Through My Hands, Lord." Also of note are several songs by country-rock Larry Murray, who was previously in the psychedelic country band Hearts And Flowers.

Dennis Weaver "People Songs" (ABC Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Marty Cooper)
Going into a more explicitly musical -- and more country -- direction, as seen in his version of the Tex Williams hillbilly oldie, "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)." Weaver booked some sessions with producer-songwriter Marty Cooper, who was kind of a hot property in the early 'Seventies; Cooper helmed the studio booth and contributes a couple of songs, "Calhoun" and "Cowboys And Daddies" (perhaps better known from the version by Bobby Bare.) There are also a couple of tunes cowritten by pop artist Artie Wayne, including "Hollywood Freeway" (co-credited to Weaver) and Larry Hubbard rounds things out with one called "Hubbardsville Store."

Dennis Weaver "One More Road" (Ovation Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Marty Cooper)
There's a near-total of overlap between the songs here and Weaver's previous album on ABC... I'm not sure if these were just relicensed, or re-recorded. One new song, "Prairie Dog Blues," is credited to Dennis Weaver.

Frankie Williams & Jolene Sparks "Frankie Williams/Jolene Sparks" (197--?) (LP)
(Produced by Chuck Chapman)
Recorded at Chapman Studios, in Kansas City, this album is a memento of the duo's early '70s lounge gig at the Golden Spike Lounge, in Kirksville, Missouri, up by the Iowa border. Singer Jolene Sparks grew up in that neck of the woods, and was just about eighteen years old in 1972 when she joined forces with Frankie Williams, a veteran performer who had done some time in Nashville. They were both quite good. He was a solid, capable piano player with a very crisp sound, while she had a really impressive voice -- husky, bluesy, with a hint of Muscle Shoals soul, and definitely a notch or two above your average custom-label singer. Sparks and Williams played together for about four years; in the early '80s she worked with local guy named Gary Myers, and at some point went on tour with Boxcar Willie, traveling with his road show to England. Sparks really was quite talented and it seems like she would have had a decent shot at national fame, but for whatever reasons she never broke out into wider recognition and settled down in Kirksville, singing at weddings and funerals; decades later she and Williams did a reunion show at a local VFW hall. This album includes a lot of cover songs, such as "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "San Antonio Stroll," "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" along with a version of Floyd Cramer's "Last Date," a showcase for Williams' piano plunking. Unfortunately, the backing musicians aren't identified, so I can't say if it was their own band, or a studio crew lined up in Kansas City. Either way, they were also quite good, particularly the steel player.

Tuffy Williams "Tuffy" (Tuff Stuff Records, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Shockley & Tuffy Williams)
A truly disastrous set of countrypolitan and contemporary early 'Eighties country-pop by a singer-songwriter from Independence, Missouri. Tuffy Williams was the mastermind behind the KC Opry, a venue which released a few albums around the same time. This album features a lot of original material, along with some cover tunes, though by and large it's all pretty hard to listen to. At his best, Mr. Willams offers a robust, rumbling John Anderson-ish baritone, but unfortunately he's one of those guys who just doesn't know when rein himself in, whether plodding though a an interminably slow, super-cheesy ballad, or unleashing his band on over-the-top rock riffs, such as the tinny, frantic guitar solo on "Muddy Bottom River Man." Also, he's just an incurable cornball, and his emotive vocals wear thing pretty quick. I'm not one to go out of my way looking for records I can mock or make fun of, but in all honesty, this disc is pretty terrible. The backing band was drawn from the KC Opry cast, including steel player Bobbe Seymour, whose talent is subsumed by an avalanche of poor production choices and unfortunate arrangements.

Austin Wood "Swings Cross Country" (Sure Records, 1965) (LP)
A popular country deejay and musician in the Midwestern Ozarks, bandleader Austin Woods started his professional career in 1941 as a member of Saint Louis, Missouri's "Big Old Fashioned Barn Dance" show, moving several years later to a long-running gig as a radio host on KTTR in Rolla, MO. The station's general manager, Luther W. Martin, wrote the album's liner notes, attesting to Woods' longevity in the regional country scene. Though Woods had cut numerous 78s during the 'Forties and 'Fifties, this LP marked the occasion of him opening his own musical venue, Austin's Nashville Opry, near Bagwell Dam on the Lake Of The Ozarks. Unfortunately, there's no info included about where the album was recorded or with which musicians backing him up -- the from cover shows Woods posed next to his personal tour bus, which advertises his band, the Missouri Swingsters... Whether those guys are backing him on this album, I can't say for sure.

Austin Wood "Songs To Remember" (Sure Records, 1966-?) (LP)

Austin Wood "...And His Missouri Swingsters" (BACM, 2012-?) (CD)
A CDR collection of Austin Wood's early recordings from the 1940s and '50s, including some original material as well as plenty of cover tunes, ranging from honkytonk to western swing...

Billy Wyatt "Sweet Jean Marie" (B&J&W Records, 1978-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bernie Vaughn)
A self-proclaimed "barefoot boy from Southeast Missouri," singer Billy Wyatt was a middle-aged guy celebrating twenty-five years of marriage to his wife, Jean Marie, who co-wrote several of the songs on this album. The backing musicians include Dennis Bigby (bass), Bob Brown (piano), Curly Chalker (rhythm guitar), Johnny Cox (steel guitar), Don Mills (drums) and Bobby Whitton (lead guitar). Not to be confused the country singer Billy Wyatt from Wapato, Washington, who appears to be a much younger man.

Red Young "This Is Red!" (Red Young Enterprises, 1981)
(Produced by DeWayne Orender & Don Powell)
A nice set of rootsy though commercially-oriented country with a late-'70s neotrad sound similar to that of Top 40 artists such as Ed Bruce, Mickey Gilley and Red Steagall. Highlights include the weeper, "You're Treating Me Like Company" and the boozy "Here's A Toast To The Record (On The Jukebox)" along with other pedal-steel drenched twang tunes. Country crooner Red Young was apparently a Midwesterner who was based in Independence, Missouri when this record came out, although he may have originally been from Wichita. He traveled to Nashville to cut this album, backed by studio pros who included Mark Casstevens and Weldon Myrick, with Lamar Morris playing lead guitar. It's fairly solid honky tonk material, with most of the songs credited to DeWayne Orender and Lamar Morris, who were signed to Acuff-Rose publishing -- Morris played guitar on the recording sessions, while Orender was a co-producer. It's not the most vigorous album ever, but it's as good as a lot of major-label releases from the same era... Obviously, it went nowhere, since there seems to be no trace of Red Young (or this record) anywhere online, though honestly he could have -- and maybe should have -- become a real star.

Tommy Zang "I Love You Because/Just Call My Name" (Hickory Records) (7")
(Produced by Troy D. Rogers)
Born in Kansas City and raised on a farm near Independence, Missouri, pop singer Tommy Zang recorded for the country-oriented Hickory label, which was owned by big-time Nashville song publishers Roy Acuff and Wesley Rose... He cut a handful of singles for Hickory (and a few earlier ones for smaller indie labels) often covering material that would be considered "country," though with a decidedly pop-oriented, Brill Building-style teenybopper-crooner feel. Hickory seems to have made a legitimate push to establish Zang as a national act, garnering multiple plugs in Billboard in the early, Kennedy-era 'Sixties... The PR campaign didn't translate into chart success, though, and despite relocating to New York and then Los Angeles, Zang never placed a single in the Top 100. Zang appears to have released a dozen singles under his own name -- more than enough to make an LP, though he also never had an album to his name. This is the only one of his singles that really caught my fancy -- it includes a schmaltzy, though relatively robust version of Leon Payne's "I Love You Because," as well as a song that Zang himself wrote, "Just Call My Name." It's not great, but it's okay -- a nice memento of a regional artist who made into the almost-but-not-quite club.

Bobby Zehm "Without Your Love" (Z Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Johnny Russell & Claude Hill)
A set of all-original material by a singer from Poplar Bluff, Missouri who recorded this album at Chuck Glaser's studio in Nashville. Not sure what the story is behind this one, but this album is packed with original material, most of it written by Zehm, including "I Wouldn't Have You See Me Cryin'," "Think Real Hard," and the delightfully-titled "Blow Me Down A Rat Hole Backwards." There are a couple of other songs also published by Chuck Glaser's publishing company, such Cal Cavendish's "Sitar Pickin'," and "That's The Way The Cookie Crumbles," by Dan Pate. Zehm seems to have been tapped into the old-school Ozark hillbilly scene: on his 7" single of "He Is My Dad" (sadly, not included here) the credits include hillbilly old-timer Zeke Clements(!) as producer... So this Zehm fellow must have know what real twang was all about!

Zeke's Band "Music Time Approved" (Dungeon, 197--??) (LP)
(Produced by Tim "Cousin Zeke" Cagle)
Singer Tim Cagle was part of the Branson-based Plummer Family variety show, playing the hillbilly character "Cousin Zeke." In addition to this album, he also recorded with the Plummer Family band, touring regionally throughout the Midwest well up into the 1990s.

Various Artists "THE BEST OF BRANSON" (Silver Dollar Records, 1986) (LP)
(Produced by Lin Haley)
A live set featuring performers from several of the most prominent variety shows of the Ozarks country tourism scene... singers and pickers from The Balknobbers, the Branson Opry House, the Brachler Music Show, the Plummer Family, Roy Clark's theater, Silver Dollar City and other venues. The music is a mix of new country, old stuff and gospel.

Various Artists "GRASS CUTTIN' TIME IN MISSOURI" (MABC Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Jeff Cook)
A locals-only set from the Show Me State, with regional acts such as Don Brown & Norman Ford, Jeff Cook, Dub Crouch, Rod Moag & Rusty Marshall, Rich Orchard, Frank Ray, Ken Seaman & The Current River Drifters, with numerous notable sidemen, such as fiddler Stan Wagganer, who was thirteen years old at the time. Several of these artists recorded elsewhere, notably Dub Crouch and Rod Moag; Ken Seaman's group was the house band for the Current River Opry, in Eminence, MO, which made an album of its own, listed below. MABC stands for the "Missouri Area Bluegrass Committee," a nonprofit organization the held together for over forty years. The title track, "Grass Cuttin' Time In Missouri," was composed (and recorded) by Jeff Cook, who also produced this album.

Various Artists "KANSAS CITY COUNTRY ROCKERS" (Redita Records, 1979) (LP)
Great set of Kansas/Kansas City oldies curated by a European collector's label... These regional "hillbilly bop" recordings date back to the late 1950s and early '60s and are drawn from several indie labels associated with the Bill Davidson and Leroy Davidson, prominent Midwestern "one-stop" jukebox distributors who ran a recording studio on the side. The Davidsons were tapped into various musical trends, and captured several hot regional artists in their prime, including local faves Zig Dillon, Larry Good and Gene McKown, who all put out singles or full LPs later in life. These uptempo tracks are probably of most interest to rockabilly fans, though the country influence is undeniable and strong. Groovy historical collection!

Various Artists "THE KC-OPRY SHOW" (Tuff Stuff Records, 1981-?) (LP)
(Produced by Mike Shockley & Tuffy Williams)
Piano player Tuffy Williams led this early-'80s "opry"-style country music revue from Independence, Missouri, a suburb on the east side of Kansas City... The KC Opry's home was in the Englewood Theater, though they apparently also went on tour as well. The band included numerous Branson-area veterans such as bandleader Tuffy Williams (on piano and vocals), Mike Campbell (banjo), Cindy Crowell (fiddle), Dennis Dittemore (saxophone), John Long (acoustic guitar), Paul Oney (drums), Bobby Seymour (steel guitar), and Karen Williams (vocals) with a repertoire mixing contemporary hits such as "Elvira" and "Heaven's Just A Sin Away" with classics and chestnuts such as "Great Balls Of Fire," "Kawliga" and "Orange Blossom Special." Honestly, I have to question Mr. Williams's overall taste level, both here and on his later solo album -- there are really awful arrangements, often punctuated by the worst kind of tacky, tinny, show-offy '80s electric guitar, although this is still a good example of the Missouri mini-opry scene, albeit moving into its waning days. Dunno how long this particular group was together -- there are show notices as late as 1991, so Williams kept touring for at least a decade, and recorded at least one solo album with backing by this same band... Over the course of time, Cindy Crowell and Dennis Dittemore got married and founded their own show in 1982 -- the Big Creek Country Show, near Lee's Summit, Missouri -- where they continued to work with former KC Opry banjo picker Mike Campbell, who passed away in 2012.

Various Artists "LONGING FOR THE OZARKS" (Rimrock Records, 19--?) (LP)
A memento of the Current River Opry, this album features solid Ozarks bluegrass from a group that included brothers Alvin Bressler (bass), Andy Bressler (guitar) fiddler Odie Mullins, Jim Orchard on mandolin and banjo picker Ken Seaman. Orchard was a particularly well-known and highly regarded Missouri musician, whose signature song, "Trouble In B," was previously released on a 7" single under his own name, as well as on a 7" EP by the Current River Opry name. This "opry" venue opened in 1966 near Eminence, Missouri, a town in hyper-rural Shannon Country, down in the Southeast corner of the state. The opry's debut coincided with the 1964 creation of an extensive network of national parks which transformed the Ozarks into a regional tourism powerhouse; plenty of folks who had spent the day canoeing down one of the many local rivers doubtless came to hear some pickin' and singin' in the evening. I'm not sure how long this particular venue stayed in business, though it was going strong in the early '80s when a film crew was in town making a documentary about the area, called Shannon County. Eventually, this group scattered to the winds, as many bluegrass bands do. Alvin Bressler formed a family group that played regionally for many years; Ken Seaman later moved to Fort Collins, Colorado and formed a band called The Bluegrass Patriots and Jim Orchard also continued to play locally -- there's a great article about Jim Orchard buying the vintage mandolin he used on all his records (including this one!)

Various Artists "OZARKS COUNTRY JUBILEE: LIVE IN BRANSON" (Ozark Mountain Jubilee, 198--?) (LP)
This mom'n'pop opry was headquartered in Branson, Missouri, with Warren Stokes as its manager. Not all of the musicians are identified by their full names, although the vocalists get their own shout-outs on the songs they sing. The cast included Bob Davidson, Ted Emmons, Shorty Rogers, Barbara Wright, and Stub Meadows, who doubled as the troupe's hillbilly clown. No date was given, but it looks early '80s, maybe 1981-83(?)... The only contemporary number seems to have been a cover of the Oak Ridge Boys hit, "Elvira," sung by Ted Emmons.

Various Artists "THE SOUNDS OF SILVER DOLLAR CITY" (Dungeon Recording Studio, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Pat Shilkany & Dean Billingsly)
A souvenir album from the Silver Dollar City tourist venue in Branson, Missouri... There's no date on this disc, but it looks like a late 'Seventies/early 'Eighties kinda thing. The acts include The Calton Family, the Horse Creek Band, the Swing & Turn Jubilee, the Silver Dollar City Volunteer Fireman's Ragtime Band, and various comedians and instrumental soloists... Both the Caltons (made up of teens and pre-teens) and Butch Gregory's Horse Creek Band also released records of their own around this time.

THE STAN HITCHCOCK SHOW: MY OZARK MOUNTAIN VALLEY HOME" (1979) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Jones, Mike McGee & Pat Shikany)
Yet another souvenir album from a Branson, Missouri-area mom'n'pop "opry" venue... This time the proprietor was singer Stan Hitchcock, a late-'60s second-stringer who mostly faded out of sight after a couple of modest hits. Hitchcock had real Midwestern roots: he was born in a little town outside of Kansas City, and grew up near Springfield, where he made a name for himself singing regionally while still in his teens. In the 1950s he became a protege of hillbilly star Red Foley, appearing on Foley's Ozark Opry show before moving to Nashville in the early 'Sixties. Hitchcock ping-ponged between Missouri and Tennessee several times but eventually zeroed in on a career in broadcasting, helming a syndicated country music network emanating out of Branson. On this self-released album, Hitchcock sings on a few tunes, including the title track, although the spotlight shines just as brightly on the revue's cast of locals, notably gal singer Elaine Fender, bassist Max King, guitarist Danny McMasters, steel player Mike McGee and multi-instrumentalist Larry Smith, with each of them getting a solo number or two. The Stan Hitchcock revue seems to have been short-lived, with the cast basically splitting in two... Elaine Fender and Larry Smith formed a band called Missouri Rain which recorded an album in 1981, while Max King, Danny McMasters, Mike McGee and John Paul (as well as saxophonist Joe Loftin) kept the ball rolling for a while, changing their name to The Ozark Hee-Haw, releasing at least one album under that name. (See above.) Fender later rejoined her old band, Dallas County Green, a group she'd been in during the mid-1970s and continued to record with well into the mid-'80s. Meanwhile, John Paul started his own revue, the "Ozark Super Pickers," which released an album in '83, but with a mostly new group of musicians.

Various Artists "THE UNION MILL OPRY" (American Artists Custom Records, 197-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dave Dombrowski & Jim Wiggins)
Yet another Missouri-based roadside attraction, this mini-opry was based in Edgerton, Missouri, just North of Kansas City. Founded in 1973 by Buddie Boswell and his wife Gini, the upstate Union Mill Opry was a little off the beaten track from the main Branson-Ozarks show circuit. Before starting his own show, Mr. Boswell was a regular on the KC-based Brush Creek Follies, a regionally popular variety show, and the Boswells taught all their kids to play country music and featured them in the revue. The album kicks off with an ensemble version of "Cripple Creek," then opens up to a slew of solo performances. Artists include Randy and SuLin Boswell, Cindy Crowell, Dennis Dittemore, Russell Foster, Candy Staten and the ruggedly monickered Stan Steele, as well as a little cornball comedy from "Cuz'n Pud" and fancy banjo pickin' from Dennis White. One nice touch is the audible live-ness of this album, with a slight open-barn echo-yness -- you can feel the room, in contrast to many similar records where the sound is more tightly controlled, or the shows weren't actually recorded live... As is often the case with these souvenir albums, it's hard to pin down the date it came out, but among the oldies and standards is a cover of Glen Campbell's 1975 hit, "Rhinestone Cowboy," and that plus the clothing fashions lead me to a 1976-77 guesstimate. (I welcome any corrections!) The Union Mill cast also toured regionally and throughout the South, though by the 1990s the pickin's were getting kinda slim, and the Boswells called it a day in 1996. Around that time, Boswell's daughter Penni Lawrence moved to Lubbock, Texas and sang for several years with the band Silver Creek before trying out a solo career. Several of the Union Mill cast members worked at similar venues, including Stan Steele's stint with Edgerton's Red Barn Opry, a later incarnation of the Union Mill venue, operating under new ownership.

Hick Music Index