SPEEDY WEST Guitar Spectacular

Monday, February 23, 2009


1962's "Guitar Spectacular" was Speedy West's fourth Capitol LP and his third without his original partner, Jimmy Bryant. Nonetheless, with guitarists Roy Lanham and Billy Strange in Bryant's place the album cooks. The arrangements and musicianship are spot-on and highlight Speedy's "space-age" steel to tremendous advantage. There's really not much I can say about this music that can do it justice, but below is a link to a fantastic page:

Click here for a great Speedy West bio

There will be more West's LPs to follow on Scratchy Attic.

Includes jacket scans

Tracks:

1. Space Man In Orbit
2. Sunset At Wakaki
3. Lazy Summer Evening
4. Totem Pole Dance
5. Afternoon On A Swan
6. Speedy's Special
7. Double Or Nothing
8. Slow And Easy
9. Reflections From The Moon
10. Tulsa Twist
11. Rippling Water
12. Wild And Woolly West

*download here*

PHIL HARRIS That's What I Like About The South


The late, great Phil Harris (1904-1995) has a many faceted legacy. Initially a drummer and orchestra leader in the 1930's, he drifted into movies but achieved his first widespread exposure with the wisecracking and shady bandleader character he portrayed on Jack Benny's wildly popular radio show. This led to a radio spin off in 1948 with his wife of the time, movie actress Alice Faye. To modern listeners, however, he will be most instantly recognized as the voice of Baloo the bear in Disney's adaptation of "The Jungle Book".
This 1958 LP collects twelve of his late '40's/early '50's RCA Victor recordings. With national network radio exposure, Harris had some fairly successful hits during this period. The title track, "That's What I Like About The South" became the subject of a running gag with Benny. "Goofus" was a popular revival of the 1930 original, while "The Thing" became a staple of novelty song collections. Harris apparently appreciated the great comedian Bert Williams, as evidenced by "The Dark Town Poker Club", "Woodman, Spare That Tree" and "The Preacher And The Bear".

Includes jacket scans.

Tracks:

1. The Dark Town Poker Club
2. Woodman, Spare That Tree
3. That's What I Like About The South
4. The Preacher And The Bear
5. Deck Of Cards
6. Is It True What They Say About Dixie
7. Goofus
8. The Thing
9. The Persian Kitten
10. St.James Infirmary
11. Muskrat Ramble
12. Row, Row, Row

*download here*

HOMER & JETHRO Playing It Straight


Jethro Burns was one of the greatest mandolinists of his or any other generation. I always had the feeling that he and his partner Homer Haynes' country novelty act was a sort of device to get away with playing music that was largely over the heads of their audience. Like predecessor Spike Jones, much of the true humour in the act was derived from the extreme virtuosity required by their outrageous antics.
1962's "Playing It Straight" gave the boys a chance to showcase that virtuosity sans the usual schitck. It features twelve instrumental tunes, mostly standards, featuring only H & J's mandolin and guitar along with Nashville cats Bob Moore on Bass and Buddy Harman on drums. The LP has become somewhat of an underground classic, often taped and circulated amongst mandolinists and all lovers of great music.

Includes jacket scans.

Tracks:

1. If Dreams Come True
2. I Want to Be Happy
3. Melody from Raymond
4. Don't Be That Way
5. It's All Right with Me
6. Autumn Leaves
7. I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
8. Around the World
9. Homer and Jethro Boogie
10. Tico Tico
11. Nanner Puddin'
12. I've Found a New Baby

*download here*

HANK FORT Sings Her Own Great Songs

Thursday, February 19, 2009


The name Hank Fort conjures images of some lanky cowboy singer in full regalia, most likely standing in black and white, with a western swing orchestra behind him and a post war Cadillac or an old bullet-back bus. We find however that Ms. Fort was no such thing, as evidenced by the cover of this 1958 Epic LP.
Alma Louise Middleton Hankins Fort (b. June 19, 1914) was a Nashvillian who reflected not the hillbilly image of that fair city, but rather the cultured and somewhat antebellum aspects of "the Athens of the South". Her father was the painter Cornelius Hankins, her mother a writer of children's verse. With a background in theatre and music, Fort was very much a presence in the early days of broadcasting and recording in the the soon-to-be country music capital. In 1947 she composed the first radio jingle to be recorded in Music City, an ad for Shyer Jewelers that would run for the next twenty years.
Fort is best remembered, however, for the many novelty songs she composed and recorded. The most famous of these is undoubtedly "I Didn't Know The Gun Was Loaded", which has received decades of airplay via Dr. Demento. "Put Your Shoes On Lucy" was recorded by many artists and remains a standard piece of forties nostalgia. I first heard "You Can't Hurt Me Now Cause I'm Dead" on an old 78 (a different recording that the one featured here) and it stands out as one of the most bizarre songs I have ever heard.
Although the present album indicates no particular recording data, it was almost certainly recorded in Nashville. The Anita Kerr Singers can be clearly identified by listening, and I could be wrong, but the lead guitar sure sounds like Hank Garland to me (If not, Harold Bradley maybe?).
There is very little information about Hank Fort to be found online. There is no date of passing given in any of the brief bios, if in fact alive, Ms. Fort would be 90 years old. If anyone knows for sure, please comment.

Tracks:

1. Put Your Shoes On Lucy
2. Gray Flannel Shirt
3. I Didn't Know The Gun Was Loaded
4. In Arkansas
5. Honey Pie-Sugar Lamb
6. Save Your Confederate Money,Boys
7. Never Took A Lesson In My Life
8. You Can't Hurt Me Now Cause I'm Daid
9. Tall Tales Of Texas
10. Kissin' Kin
11. Florida Shore
12. Southern Cookin'
13. I Love Connecticut
14. My One Track Heart

*download here*

THE A.P. CARTER FAMILY

Monday, February 9, 2009


Two albums featuring the other side of the Carter Family, A.P., Sara, and their children Janette and Joe. The first LP is on the Pine Mountain label and features early to mid 1950's recordings by the elder Carters and their children, as well as visit by none other Mrs. Jimmie Rodgers! A.P. introduces many of the songs, even if he seems a little distracted at times by things like "the guitar gettin' outta line a little".
The second LP by Joe and Janette is on the County label and was recorded in 1966. Both LPs feature some songs otherwise not recorded by any of the Carters.

Includes jacket and label scans.

Tracks:

1. Midnight On The Stormy Deep
2. The Fate Of George Allen On Engine 143
3. Soldier And His Sweetheart
4. Westward Hobo
5. Wildwood Rose
6. Railroading On The Great Divide
7. The Last Letter
8. The Curtains Of Night
9. Wildwood Flower
10. Wabash Cannon Ball (with Sound Effects)
11. Pretty Raindrops
12. Two More Years And I'll Be Free
13. The Broken Engagement
14. Beautiful Isle O'er The Sea
15. Curtains Of Night
16. Will You Miss Me
17. I'm Going Home
18. Lonesome Blues
19. Farther On
20. Kitty And I
21. Anchored In Love
22. Waltzing With You
23. Higher Ground
24. Let Old Jordan Roll
25. Ramblin' Man
26. Sweet Story Of Old

*download here*

ESMERELDY Slap Her Down Again Paw

Sunday, February 8, 2009


The only information I could dig up on Esmereldy was the following by Richard Carlin:

Like her contemporary JUDY CANOVA, Esmereldy, a "hillbilly" performer who popularized the music in the 1940s in New York City, helped perpetuate the image of the slightly illiterate, comical female hillbilly for audiences in the Northeast. She was born in rural Tennessee but raised in Memphis, where she began her radio career at age eight. Upon moving to New York in the late 1930s, she quickly began performing with ELTON BRITT, CANOVA, and other transplanted country artists at spots like the Village Barn. She also landed her own radio program on NBC, working as a country disk jockey. In 1941 she was among the first country artists to make a soundie, a short film used to promote her recordings.
Esmereldy is best remembered for her late-1940s "authentic hillbilly" recordings. Many of her songs were comic novelties, including her biggest hit, "Slap 'Er Down Ag'in, Paw." By the early 1950s she was back in Memphis, hosting the Tennessee Jamboree syndicated country show and working as a country deejay.
Her daughter, Amy Holland, had a brief career as a pop singer in the mid-1980s. She married pop singer/songwriter Michael McDonald and toured with him as a backup singer through the 1990s.

Well, there you have it. Featured here are four 1940's tracks by Esmereldy, including the exceptionally politically incorrect "Slap Her Down Again Paw". This tune and "Red Wing" are from a Canadian pressing of a Musicraft 78 on Musicana. The remaining two titles are taken from a very cheap 1960's budget LP on the Sutton label which in addition to the present tracks features songs by Red River Dave and Dick Thomas. Esmereldy recorded a few more titles in her career, but these are all I've ever been able to track down.

Tracks:

1. Slap Her Down Again Paw
2. Red Wing
3. Clementine
4. Billy Boy

*download here*