Texas native Dave Kirby (1939-2004) became one of Nashville's most sought-after session guitarists in the 1960s and '70s, playing on countless albums, from Top Ten hits to the indie-est of indies. Kirby also wrote several extraordinarily successful songs, most notably "Is Anybody Going To San Antone," one of the most widely covered songs of the 'Seventies, and "There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang," which was a hit for Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. Kirby was a prolific session player though he had only modest success as a solo artist, releasing a handful of singles and only one full album during his lifetime. He married singer Leona Williams in 1985, and died in 2004, after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. Here's a quick look at his work...
Discography - Albums
Dave Kirby "Singer, Picker, Writer" (Dot Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Drake)
The lone studio album by the late Dave Kirby, an A-list session picker who had written several extraordinarily successful songs as well. It turns out he wasn't half bad at singing a tune, either. Oh, sure, he had the same sort of rough-edged dorkiness as, say, Roger Miller or Harlan Howard, but he wore it well, and a whole lot of personality comes through on these sessions, which were produced by Pete Drake. This album starts off with a folkie rendition of one of his best-known songs, "Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone," and slides into others from his repertoire, more off the beaten track, but no less engaging. Many of Kirby's songs are more like rough outlines, deft, evocative phrases lined up with catchy choruses -- like many songwriters of his era, he mined his own particular turf, mainly songs about drifters who were nostalgic for the comforts of their backwoods Southern homes. The sentiments of "San Antone" are repeated in "Streets Of Chicago" and "Alabama Sundown," while other songs like "I Wish I Didn't Have To Miss You" take a more interpersonal tack. Kirby didn't score any chart hits off this album, but for fans of 'Seventies country, this one's a gem.
Dave Kirby "Is Anybody Going To San Antone?" (Heart Of Texas Records, 2008)
Discography - Singles
Dave Kirby & Shirley Nelson (Boone Records, 1969) (# B-1086) (7")
A: "Two Story Home" (c: Glenn Martin & Dave Kirby)
B: "We Go Together" (c: Shirley Nelson & Dave Kirby)
(Produced by Dave Kirby)
Neat! This one combines the talents of two of my favorite underrated obscuro-country talents, super-picker Dave Kirby (a session player best known for writing the mega-classic, "Is Anybody Going To San Antone") and singer Shirley Nelson (nee Shirley Collins), an excellent hard-country singer who was also Willie Nelson's first wife (and first ex-wife), back in the early '60s. They co-wrote the B-side, "We Go Together," while "Two Story Home" is notable as a collaboration with Glenn Martin, who also co-wrote "San Antone," which -- by the the way -- had not yet been taken to the top of the charts by country star Charley Pride. Anything by Kirby or Collins is sure to grab my attention!
Dave Kirby (Monument Records, 1969) (# MN45-1168) (7")
A: "Don't It Want To Make You Want To Go Home" (c: Joe South)
B: "Her And The Car And The Mobile Home" (c: Dave Kirby & Don Stock)
(Produced by Ray Pennington)
Links
Hick Music Index
