Hi, there! This page is part of an opinionated guide to what I call "hard country" music -- the real stuff -- with a bunch of record reviews and recommendations by me, Joe Sixpack. Naturally, it's a work in progress, and will hopefully be expanded on quite a bit, as time allows.
Leroy Van Dyke - see artist discography
Mack Vickery "Live At The Alabama Women's Prison" (Bear Family Records, 1970/2008)
A gender-flipped send-up of the fabled Johnny Cash prison concert albums: the cover art shows Vickery striding in front of a cell full of love-starved female convicts. Pretty goofy, but there is some great music on here. Mack Vickery was a successful songwriter with a background in the same Sun Records scene that brought fame to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, and went on to pen hits for '70s outlaws and '80s neo-trads alike. Vickery wasn't much of an album artist, though he did also release a string of singles, some of which charted, though obviously most of his success came through the versions cut by his better-known buddies.
Mack Vickery "Greatest Hits, Volume One" (Bear Family Records, 1970/2008)
Wondering which hits Mack Vickery wrote? This disc includes a few that might turn your head: "I'm The Only Hell My Momma Ever Raised," which was a big one for Tanya Tucker, the Jerry Lee Lewis anthem, "Rockin' My Life Away" (and his more notorious, less radio-friendly "Meat Man") and "Cedar Town Georgia," a murder ballad Vickery co-wrote with Sammi Smith which was a minor hit for Waylon Jennings. There are also songs like "Brass Buckles" and "A Cardboard Pillow," as well as "Honky Tonk Wine," which was one of Mickey Gilley's best songs of the '70s. Vickery may have only had middling success as a chart artist, but as a songwriter, he really kicked some butt.
Mack Vickery "Mack Vickery" (Sapphire Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Alex Zanetis)
A later effort from this 'Seventies-era hitmaker... The songs are mostly his own originals, or were written by producer Alex Zanetis. The backing musicians, alas, are not listed.
Howard Vokes "Mountain Guitar And Other Favorites" (Del-Ray Records, 1962) (LP)
Originally billed as "Cowboy Howard Vokes," this Pennsylvania twangster enjoyed his time in the spotlight, particularly while recording for the nationally-distributed Starday label, in the mid-1960s. Vokes's true legacy was as a record producer and promoter, though, shepherding countless regional musicians into the recording booth at Vokes Studios, and tirelessly plugging their custom-made singles in the '60s and '70s. This was his first full LP, drawing in part on previously released singles, and showcases Vokes playing both modern-day honkytonk and older-style sentimental songs such as "Down In The Hollow," and "Willie Roy, The Crippled Boy." It's the novelty numbers that leap out at you, though, kooky tunes such as "Keep Cool But Don't Freeze" and "Polka From Outer Space," which was in keeping with the post-Sputnik vibe of the times.
Howard Vokes "Tragedy And Disaster In Country Songs" (Starday Records, 1964) (LP)
(Produced by Tommy Hill)
The peak of his performing career came when Vokes snagged a deal with Starday Records, culminating in this album old old-school tragedy ballads, ala the Louvin Brothers. There's plenty of gloom, despair and agony to be heard in this blend of murder ballads, topical songs, and maudlin weepers, tunes such as "Old Shep," "The Death Of Little Kathy Fiscus," "Death On The Highway," and "The Sinking Of The Titanic." A digital-era reissue added a couple of tracks that originally were separately released on a seven-inch single.
Howard Vokes "Pennsylvania's King Of Country Music Sings Songs Of Broken Love Affair" (Folk Variety Records, 1977) (LP)
This late-'70s offering brought to light some great sessions that were originally recorded in 1969, with D.J. Fontana on drums, Joe Hayes (fiddle), Al Gore (guitar), Billy Linneman (bass) and Jeff Newman (steel guitar, lead guitar). Folk Variety was a West German label, and apparently the prototype of Binge Disc/Cattle Records, an excellent reissue label that first got traction in the 1980s, reissuing material from obscure American artists, including a number of albums drawing from the vaults of Howard Vokes' various endeavors. The music on this LP is all pretty sweet -- Vokes was understated, but undeniably rootsy and steeped in country music tradition and lore. He wrote or co-wrote most of the tunes on here, with songwriting partners that include Marian Kaye, Billy Wallace and Louise Webb; there are also contributions from artists he published on his Lark Music company, notably Rudy Thacker and Bob Strack, who wrote "Keep Cool But Don't Freeze," which Vokes recorded on his 1962 debut. Such unreconstructed hillbilly twang was, obviously, out of favor in the early-'70s countrypolitan era of Billy Sherrill, so it's not hard to see why this music went unissued for nearly a decade, but it sure sounds sweet now that all the sequins have fluttered to the ground and blown away over the years. Recommended!
Howard Vokes "Tears At The Grand Ole Opry" (Folk Variety Records, 1979) (LP)
This is basically a reissue of his 1962 LP, Mountain Guitar And Other Favorites, with a few extra tracks added to round things out.
Howard Vokes "Sadness And Happiness In Country And Gospel Songs" (Vokes Records)
