Skeets Yaney "Train Track Shuffle" (Binge Discs, 2005)
A hometown hero in St. Louis, Skeets Yaney specialized in a smoother, semi-crooning style of soft-edged honkytonk. He had some real zingers in his sometimes-sarcastic lyrics, but the music was more mid-tempo and jovial, similar in temperament to Jimmy Wakely or Spade Cooley. It's fun stuff, though, a nice slice of rare recordings from a dimly remembered regional star. And, as with other Binge Disc releases, this has great sound quality -- definitely worth picking up if you can track it down!

Malcolm Yelvington "It's Me, Baby: The Sun Years Plus" (Bear Family Records, 2006)
Born in Covington, Tennessee, Malcolm Yelvington (1918-2001) was one of those oddball hillbilly artists who wound up in the orbit of Sun Records during the early days of the rock'n'roll. Although he had a few thumping, rhythm-oriented hits (notably "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" and "Yakety Yak") and he made several rock-themed, electrified recordings, Yelvington was definitely a hardcore hick singer, and tilted towards straight-up, solid country, as well as a few earthy blues tunes. The only stuff that doesn't work, really, are the pop ballads -- he was one of those guys who had a voice that made Ernest Tubb sound like Pavarotti -- but even these misfires are fun, in a so-bad-it's-great kind of way. On uptempo material, though, Yelvington sounds great. Apparently he was not a favorite of Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who was looking for rock musicians to record in the early 'Fifties, and only reluctantly let the quite-country Mr. Yelvington cut a couple of singles. Phillips did little to promote these records, and Yelvington's career foundered by the end of the decade; it was only in later years when the rockabilly revival was in full swing that his work began to resurface, and Malcolm Yelvington finally found his audience. This Bear Family set is, of course, a strong collection, well researched and generously stuffed with as much vintage material as they could cram into one disc. Definitely worth checking out.

Malcolm Yelvington "Rockin' With My Baby" (Snapper Records, 2010)
Plenty of overlap between this set and the Bear Family album from a few years earlier. Personally, I'm more of a Bear Family man, but either collection would probably be just fine for this guy.

Dwight Yoakam - see artist discography

The York Brothers "Detroit In The 40's & 50's: The York Brothers' Best" (Collector Records, 2000)
Raspy, rattling hardcore hillbilly music from the wartime and postwar era (1939-'53, roughly), from a Brother duo transplanted from the Kentucky hills up to the Great Lakes region. This is urbanized hick music, with strong doses of blues and jazz standards creeping into the mix, classic hillbilly boogie and bop from the years when the "new" country sound was still up for grabs. These guys had a rough, thoroughly authentic sound -- not polished or slick like the Nashville scene was becoming, and they recorded mainly on tiny independent labels like Mellow and Universal (uh, no, not the same Universal that swallowed up MCA in the 1990s...), although they also did some sessions for Decca which also appear on here. This is rare material that must have taken years of super-collector nerd adventures to gather together, and fills a nice gap in the country music saga. If you like your country crude and enthusiastic, then this is a mighty fine disc for you to check out.

The York Brothers "Long Time Gone" (Ace Records, 2006)
More chunky stuff from these Michigan hicks... This disc gathers their work for the rough'n'ready King label, more fine examples of crude, catchy hillbilly music from up North. Definitely recommended!

The York Brothers "Going Back To The Sunny South: 1939-1942" (BACM, 2005)
Early stuff, with more serious crate-digging on the part of the fine folks at the British Archive of Country Music...

The York Brothers "Hamtramck Mama" (Binge Disc, 2001)
Personally, I'm shooting for this one, if I can track it down. The folks at Binge Disc always have the best stuff when it comes to obscuro-delic sets like this one!

Rusty York "Rusty York Rocks" (Bear Family Records, 2004)

Donny Young "Shakin' The Blues" (Bear Family Records, 2006)
The earliest work from country singer Donald Eugene Lytle, aka Donny Young, who later changed his name to... wait for it... wait for it... Johnny Paycheck! These old upbeat honkytonk tracks owe a deep debt to George Jones, particularly to Jones' earliest work on Starday Records, though even with his naked imitation of his idol, Paycheck's soundalike voice has its own distinctive, teenage-y twang. As with a lot of Paycheck's later recordings, this workmanlike material isn't particularly original, but it's rootsy and real. Worth checking out.

Faron Young - see artist discography

Cousin Richie Zack "North Country" (Ricma Records, 1981) (LP)
You'll forgive me for assuming that a country musician named Richie Zack -- "Cousin" Richie Zack, no less! -- would be some kind of unreconstructed uber-hick, hillbilly singer, though at least on this album he was actually a crooning smoothie, along the lines of Hank Locklin or Eddy Arnold. Born Richard Zacharian, "Cousin Richie" was a country singer from Rhode Island who -- along with his brother Eddie Zack -- recorded numerous 78s and singles for major labels and tiny indies alike, and in the early 1950s hosted a nationally syndicated NBC radio show called the Hayloft Jamboree. They started out in the 1930s, and moved through several styles of music -- cowboy songs, hillbilly boogie and honkytonk -- and remained popular regional figures for several decades. I'm guessing that these are later recordings, and that his earlier work was bit rougher around the edges... But I ain't complaining: this is still pretty good! This souvenir album came out in early 1980s... Unfortunately, no info on the musicians backing him, but I guess you can't have everything. Mr. Zack passed away in 2002, at the age of 79.

Rex Zario "Rex Zario" (Arzee Records, 1966-?) (LP)
Born in Palermo, Italy, immigrant Philadelphia twangster Rosario Lefavi (aka Rex Zario, 1925-1991) recorded a string of obscure hillbilly bop/rockabilly singles in the late 1950s, some of which are gathered on this later LP. According to the album's liner notes, he started his professional career in 1948 on ABC radio's "Hayloft Hoedown" show and later worked on East Coast radio and TV stations WHAT and WTEL. Although the music is good, I think Zario's actual success was pretty minimal -- the liner notes sound pretty noncommittal and puffed-up. Some of his songs such as "You Nearly Lose Your Mind" and "Go Man Go, Get Gone" have popped up on a few modern-day collections of hillbilly twang, and a full reissue of this album would certainly be welcome.

Hick Music Index