EARL BOSTIC Bostic Rocks

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Here at the Attic I have featured many King LPs, mostly of the country variety. Presented here is an example of the other side of the King catalog. Saxophonist Earl Bostic was a mainstay of the Cincinnati label from the late '40s until his death in 1965. Most of his output was commercial R&B, but a few of his LPs were of a more legitimate jazz nature, including the present album, "Bostic Rocks, Hits of the Swing Age". Despite the commercial nature of most of his recorded work, Bostic was well respected by his peers for his technical abilities, as evidenced by the following comments by fellow alto sax legend Lou Donaldson at the 2009 Portland Jazz Festival:

I’m telling you, Earl Bostic was the greatest saxophone player I ever knew. I didn’t like him ‘cause sometimes he’d play stuff that I’d consider corny, [with] that wide vibrato and the sound of growling in the mouthpiece. But the man could play three octaves. I mean play ’em, I don’t mean just hit the notes. He was bad. He was a technician you wouldn’t believe. But he never put those things on a record. And I asked him one time; “Earl, with all this stuff you can play”–and he said let me tell you something. “Don’t play anything you can play good on a record, [because] people will copy it.” And the man was dead right. Now you’d see him, we’d run up there and think that we’re going to blow him out, and he’d make you look like a fool. Cause he’d play three octaves, louder, stronger and faster. But he never put that on a record. (via https://larryappelbaum.wordpress.com/)

This 1958 release is a very early example of a King stereo LP, with a blue stereo label that features a small crownless logo, and bright orange sticker applied to the front of the generic mono jacket. The disk is pressed on styrene, and there is an occasional bit of distortion, but overall this slab sounds quite good for it's age. Hopefully it makes for the swinging Sunday listening!

Tracks:

1. Southern Fried
2. Jersey Bounce
3. Jumpin' At The Woodside
4. Tuxedo Junction
5. 720 In The Books
6. Air Mail Special
7. Pompton Turnpike
8. Woodchopper's Ball
9. Night Train
10. Stompin' At The Savoy
11. Honeysuckle Rose
12. No Name Jive

*download here*

STONEMAN FAMILY Live

Friday, May 27, 2016

Another great LP featuring the classic 1960s Stoneman Family lineup, including fiddle whiz Scotty, is budget issue on Liberty's Susset imprint. Issued in 1968, it is comprised of recordings of a 1964 performance in Hollywood. All in all a nice companion to the previously posted Starday album, both of which highlight the unique take on Bluegrass the Stonemans presented to appreciative audiences during the 1960s folk revival.

Tracks:

1. Big Ball In Monterey
2. Little Maggie
3. Dominique
4. The Girl I Left In Tennessee
5. Lost Ball In The High Weeds
6. Groundhog
7. Take Me Home
8. Darlin' Corey
9. Dark As A Dungeon
10. Fire On The Mountain

*download here*

STONEMAN FAMILY White Lightning

Saturday, May 21, 2016

This 1966 LP is comprised of tracks the legendary Stoneman Family recorded at Starday Studios in Nashville in 1962/63. Featured are the classic lineup of Van on guitar, Scotty on fiddle, Donna on mandolin, Roni on banjo, Jimmy on bass, and occasionally Pop on autoharp and guitar. All contribute vocals. Enjoy!

Tracks:

1. White Lightning
2. Out Of School
3. Guilty
4. Talking Fiddle Blues (Instrumental)
5. Nobody's Darling But Mine
6. Little Suzie
7. Turn Me Loose
8. Going Home
9. The Girl From Galax (Instrumental)
10. The Sinking Of The Titanic
11. That Pal Of Mine
12. Orange Blossom Breakdown

*download here*

MAC MARTIN & The DIXIE TRAVELERS Rural Rhythm Recordings

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Bluegrass legend Mac Martin and his band "The Dixie Travelers" made four classic albums for the Rural Rhythm label between 1968 and 1971. This was a really great and possibly underrated band and I really feel these albums stand up very well against any of the classic era stuff, and I am pleased to present all four of them here in their entirety. Below is a brief biography of Mac from allmusic.com:

b. William D. Colleran, 26 April 1925, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Colleran began his career as a teenager singing with Ed Brozi in a touring medicine show, and was influenced by acts such as the Monroe Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys. After World War II, he became interested in bluegrass music. In 1949, he and his band played regularly on WHJB Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and since there were three members of the band called Bill, he decided he would become Mac Martin. In the early 50s, he was noted for his banjo playing and fine vocal work, and in 1953, was playing with a band on WHOD Homestead, Pennsylvania, which was likened to that of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. In 1957, he and his band took a residency at Walsh’s Lounge in Pittsburg where they played weekly for the next 15 years. In 1963, the Travelers recorded two albums for Gateway records, although only one was released. A few years later, they recorded four albums for Rural Rhythm. Noted mandolin specialist Bob Artis (b. 26 July 1946, Santa Monica, California, USA) joined the band and when Mac Martin left for a time in 1972, Artis took over. In 1974, when the band recorded for County, Martin had returned. In addition to his playing, Artis wrote many articles for publications such asBluegrass Unlimited and Muleskinner News, and his bookBluegrass was published in 1975.

I first heard of Mac Martin as an adolescent when I checked Bob Artis' great book "Bluegrass" out of the local library and read it cover to cover, and I am glad to pass this great music along. Enjoy!

Rural Rhythm Presents Mac Martin & The Dixie Travelers
"With The Travelin' Blues" Rural Rhythm RRMM 201

Tracks:

1. Weary Lonesome Blues
2. Smoky Mountain
3. Mississippi Sawyer
4. Memphis Blues
5. Farewell Blues
6. Maple Sugar
7. Home In Tennessee
8. Natchez
9. I Don't Love Nobody
10. Peacock Rag
11. Fiddler's Farewell
12. Train On the Island
13. Lost River Blues
14. Reuben's Pardon
15. Mustang
16. I'm Working On A Banjo
17. Old Uncle Joe
18. Travelin' Dixie
19. Black Mountain Blues
20. Life's Railway To Heaven

*download here*

Rural Rhythm Presents Mac Martin & The Dixie Travelers
"Goin’ Down The Country" Rural Rhythm RRMM 214

Tracks:

1. Goin' Down The Country
2. Southern Moon
3. Love In My Heart
4. Little Star
5. Would You Care
6. Blue Railroad Train
7. Billy's Choice
8. We Can't Be Darlings
9. Me And My Fiddle
10. Katie Kline
11. Cotton Eyed Joe
12. Francis Lee
13. Why Do You Weep
14. Fireball
15. Faded Rose
16. Wheel Hoss
17. Don't Forget Me
18. Billie Wilson
19. Honeysuckle Rose
20. Gold Watch And Chain

*download here*

Rural Rhythm Presents Mac Martin & The Dixie Travelers
'Just Like Old Times" Rural Rhythm RRMM 232

Tracks:

1. Charlotte Breakdown
2. Sparklin' Brown Eyes
3. I'll Be A Friend
4. Stacey Lynn
5. Have You Come To Say Goodbye
6. Resurrection Morn
7. Durham's Reel
8. I Can't Forget
9. Corn Bread
10. This Rambler's Ramblin'
11. Greenfields
12. Swinging A Nine Pound Hammer
13. The Last Request
14. My Bonnie Banjo
15. Is She Praying There
16. How Will The Flowers Bloom
17. Sugar In The Gourd
18. Some Must Win
19. Going Home This Evening
20. Lee Highway Blues

*download here*

Rural Rhythm Presents Mac Martin & The Dixie Travelers
"Backtrackin'" Rural Rhythm RRMM 237

Tracks:

1. Backtrackin'
2. After Dark
3. This World Can't Stand Long
4. Fiddler's Farewell
5. Come Back Darling
6. If You See My Savior
7. Moonlight Waltz
8. Nobody Cares
9. I'll Live On
10. Fourteen Days In Georgia
11. When The Cold Rain Is Falling
12. Wake Up Susan
13. Will You Miss Me
14. East Tennessee Blues
15. Guilty Tears
16. Last Waltz
17. Weary Heart
18. I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling
19. Dixie Breakdown
20. A Silent Place

*download here*

HILLBILLY HIT PARADE

Good morning! For today's "Starday Saturday" feature, we go back to 1956 for the second LP the label issued, "Hillbilly Hit Parade". The idea seems to have been to combine some of the label's early hits (such as George Jones' "Why Baby Why" and Red Hayes' "A Satisfied Mind") with covers other artists' hits performed by 1950s Starday mainstays George Jones, Leon Payne, Jeanette Hicks, Benny Barnes, and Eddie Noack (credited here as "Eddie Blank"). Ol' George even takes on Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel" as "Thumper Jones", a handle that was used on a few of the possum's forays into rockabilly.

Liner notes are as follows:

Country music has come a long way in recent years. Many believe that so-called hillbilly music spread rapidly in popularity during and after the war. The vast movement of people from place to place resulted in widespread exposure to a sincere type of music that tells a story.
The artists who have helped spread the popularity of country music are too numerous to mention, but certain songs have come to the front. These are the songs that are performed on records, in the home and in juke boxes, on radio, on T.V., in movies, and on stages all over America. These are the songs of the people, This is Americana in every sense of the word.
Starday Records has selected the sixteen most popular country songs of the past few months and they have been recorded by top artists with the sound and arrangement which made the songs so successful.
It would normally cost $16.00 or more to purchase the 16 top country songs on single records. By combining the songs on one record, the top country songs in America are available at less than 1/5th the price that would ordinarily prevail.
It is the public who make the hits and here in one collection are the country hits of today.
Watch for future issues of The Hillbilly Hit Parade on Starday long play records.

STARDAY RECORDS

DON F. PIERCE, President

HAROLD “PAPPY” DAILY,
Artists and Repertoire


Tracks:

1. George Jones-Why Baby Why
2. Leon Payne-You Are The One
3. Jeanette Hicks-Searching
4. George Jones-Any Old Time
5. George Jones & Jeanette Hicks-I Take The Chance
6. Benny Barnes-Conscience I'm Guilty
7. George Jones-Hold Everything
8. Eddie Noack-I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
9. Leon Payne-Crazy Arms
10. George Jones-You Gotta Be My Baby
11. Benny Barnes-I Walk The Line
12. George Jones-Sweet Dreams
13. Leon Payne-Blackboard Of My Heart
14. Joe ''Red'' Hayes-A Satisfied Mind
15. George Jones-Yes I Know Why
16. Thumper Jones-Heartbreak Hotel

*download here*

>>> A related 1958 LP on the Mercury-Starday label, also titled "Hillbilly Hit Parade" but containing different selections, was previously featured on Scratchy Attic and may still be downloaded, click here. <<<

G.M. FARLEY and The WEAR FAMILY

Sunday, May 8, 2016

For Sunday morning, here's some great vintage country gospel from the mighty Rural Rhythm catalog. First released on LP in 1961, this collection of twenty tunes is performed by Rev. G.M. Farley accompanied by The Wear Family; both Farley and the Wears were featured on many early Rural Rhythm albums.
There is little information on Farley to be found on the net, but http://www.hankwilliamslistings.com/ has the following bio:

FARLEY, G. M.

Give Name: George Milburn Farley, Jr.
Date of Birth: January 16, 1927
Place of Birth: Kayford, West Virginia
Date of Death: November, 1991
Marital Status: Francis E. Castle
Children: 3

Musical Style: Bluegrass/Country Gospel
Talents: Fiddle, Guitar, Singer, Songwriter

Rev. G. M. Farley was a coal miner like his father, until he was called into the Gospel Ministry around 1950. Before his conversion he had a bluegrass band called Fiddling Slim Blue in which he played the fiddle and sang.
Part of his church ministry was singing, so in the 1960's cut several albums with Rural Rhythm Records. These were sold mostly in his evangelistic meetings and by Rural Rhythm Records' mail order service.

He always planned on doing another album with just songs that he had written but never got around to it. Most of his free time was committed to his writing. He had numerous articles and several books published. He was also an accomplished artist with oil painting.

He pioneered Trinity Bible Church in 1977, which is still thriving today.

The present transfer is from a 1990 cassette issue and although, like many early Rural Rhythm albums, the selections are on the short side and the fidelity not optimal, it is still an enjoyable collection of traditional country gospel. Incidentally, another collection of vintage G.M. Farley recordings is available for download here.

Tracks:

1. When I Lay My Burden Down
2. He Set Me Free
3. There's Going To Be A Meeting
4. When I Call Him
5. Only A Prayer
6. Need The Prayers Of Those I Love
7. Everybody Talks About Heaven
8. Down By The Riverside
9. Home Coming In Heaven
10. The Great Speckled Bird
11. Glory Bound Train
12. Let The Lower Lights Be Burning
13. I Don't See A Reason
14. Kneel At The Feet Of Jesus
15. On The Inside Looking Out
16. House Of Gold
17. Where Shall Be
18. Pass Me Not
19. He Came A Long Way
20. My Boy's Bible

*download here*

ROGER MILLER Wild Child

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Another Starday Saturday here at Scratchy Attic in today's post of the 1965 LP "Wild Child Roger Miller - Madcap Sensation of Country Music". The recordings contained on the album were recorded 1957-1960 when Miller was a struggling honky-tonk singer who had been brought to the attention of Starday by his buddy George Jones. In fact, ol' George can be clearly heard singing the harmony on "You're Forgetting Me". These recordings were originally singles, demos, and uncredited cover tracks on early Starday collections which featured covers of contemporary country hits of the time. The LP was obviously issued to capitalize on Miller's mainstream 1960s success, but it preserves some great classic raw Starday honky-tonk in the process. Enjoy!

Tracks:

1. Poor Little John
2. Under Your Spell Again
3. Jimmy Brown The Newsboy
4. I Wish I Could Fall In Love Today
5. My Pillow
6. Can't Stop Loving You
7. I Ain't Never
8. The Tip Of My Fingers
9. Country Girl
10. Playboy
11. You're Forgetting Me
12. Who Shot Sam

*download here*

BIG SLIM The Lone Cowboy

Saturday, April 23, 2016

The complete Arc recordings of Big Slim, The Lone Cowboy, comprising of three LPs released 1961-1964, are presented here. Below is a brief biography of Big Slim from "Mountaineer Jamboree: Country Music in West Virginia" by Ivan M. Tribe (The University Of Kentucky Press, 1984):

One of the musicians who came to WWVA as a Border Rider soon branched out on his own. Big Slim McAuliffe had already experienced a wide degree of geographic and occupational variety. Born in Mercer County, West Virginia, on May 9, 1903 (or 1899, or 1904, or 1905), the facts of Slim’s personal life have become somewhat clouded largely because of his own capacity for contradictory statements. For instance, in a 1939 autobiographical statement in one of his songbooks Slim claimed to have been born in the city of Bluefield and on a 750-acre farm. He also contended he had been orphaned at eight, left home at eleven, and become a radio trick rider that same year, while on another page he displayed a contemporary photo of his father. Slim also punched cows and railroaded according to his “Life Story” before entering radio work in 1929. He gained radio experience in Pittsburgh and on a border station at Eagle Pass, Texas. On December 17, 1936, he did a session for Decca under the name Big Slim Aliff which included the initial recording of the country standard “Footprints in the Snow” under that title. He came to WWVA late in 1937. At five feet eleven inches and 175 pounds he was neither very big nor very slim, but the nickname did seem to be in character with his other qualities.
Big Slim possessed a rich and deep voice and rendered good versions of both common and more obscure western songs such as “The Strawberry Roan” and “Patanio, the Pride of the Plains.” He also sang mountain ballads like “Hills of Roane County” and copyrighted some good original material such as “On the Sunnyside of the Mountain” and “Moonlight on My Cabin” (although he reportedly wrote none of them). Slim had other talents which supplemented his stage shows, including whip and rope tricks along with a trained horse act. While the Lone Cowboy generally stayed close to WWVA, he went to other stations for brief stints and later helped younger artists such as Hank Snow and Hawkshaw Hawkins.

Harry C. "Big Slim" McAuliffe passed away in 1966, two years after the release of his last Arc album.

Big Slim The Lone Cowboy
Arc 523

Tracks:

1. Sunny Side Of The Mountain
2. Put Me In Your Pocket
3. Where The Old Red River Flows
4. Wondering
5. Thought I Heard You Call My Name
6. Release Me
7. Patanio
8. Golden River
9. Speckled Bird No. 4
10. Rainbows End
11. Tragic Romance
12. Over The Hill

*download here*

Big Slim "The Lone Cowboy"
"Old Favourites" Arc 544

Tracks:

1. Little Joe
2. Go Down To The Graveyard
3. Pink Party Dress
4. Footprints In The Snow
5. Blue Velvet Band
6. Little Blossom
7. Old Rover
8. Cowboy Dance
9. Don't Blame The Children
10. Will You Love Me When I'm Old

*download here*

Big Slim The Lone Cowboy With The Blue Valley Boys
"On Tour With Big Slim" Arc 583

Tracks:

01-Rainbow at Midnight
02-Letter Edged in Black
03-Billy Veneero
04-Old Shep
05-Mother Queen of My Heart
06-Oklahoma Hills
07-Little Old Rag Doll
08-Never Say Goodbye
09-Weary River
10-When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold

*download here*

BUCK OWENS Country Hit Maker #1

An early bird Starday Saturday special! This collection of early Buck tracks plus some covers by Starday standbys popped up through the years with a few different covers and issue numbers. This edition is from 1965, and supposedly Buck worked a deal with Don Pierce to sell it at live shows at a time when Owens wasn't getting along so well with Capitol. All great stuff, enjoy!

Tracks:

1. Buck Owens-Down On The Corner Of Love
2. Buck Owens-There Goes My Love
3. Tommy Hill-Above And Beyond
4. Buck Owens-The House Down The Block
5. Cowboy Copas-Under The Influence Of Love
6. Cowboy Copas & Dottie West-Mental Cruelty
7. Buck Owens-Sweethearts In Heaven
8. Buck Owens-It Don't Show On Me
9. Eddie Wilson-Foolin' Around
10. Buck Owens-Right After The Dance
11. Darrell McCall-Excuse Me (I Think I've Got A Heartache)
12. Cowboy Copas & Dottie West-Loose Talk

*download here*