VA- Greatest Western Hits Number Two

Just trying to wrap it up with this compilation form Columbia in 1960. I paid $6 for this.

This record features such country and western stars as Carl Smith, Marty Robbins, Ray Price, George Morgan, Lefty Frizzell, and Little Jimmy Dickens. Two songs a piece. Pretty good stuff.

SO hard to pick a sample with this but I am going to take the lazy way out and go with Price’s take on “Heartaches By The Number”. Note that this is a very lazy way of approaching this record for me, going with a popular blog artist and song. I don’t think I can find a picture of Price on the web that I have not used here before.

Satisfactory.

Heartaches By The Number

Waylon Jennings and the Kimberlys- Country Folk

Here is one I paid $8 mainly for the songs. Released by RCA/Victor in 1969, this record pairs a then famous but still not 1970’s country outlaw peak Waylon Jennings backed by rising folk stars The Kimberlys.

At least that is what the label wanted. I don’t think the Kimberlys did much outside this record or playing in their native Oklahoma or Los Vegas. The group which consisted of the brothers Harold Dean and Carl Gene Gay and their wives ( also sisters ( NOT THIERS)) Verna Marie and Vera Louise. Regardless, Jennings, I believe was quite keen on broading his fan base at the time.

Throwing additional gas into the fire was producer Danny Davis with whom Jennings clashed repeatedly during recording ( despite having Chet Atkins’ name on the record, I believed he largely turned over duties to Davis when he got wind of the direction Jennings wanted to take). Regardless, this record did well and produced a Grammy winning version of Jim Webb’s “MacArthur Park” which charted at # 23.

Decent record. Along with the song above, this record featured “Games People Play” along with Tom Springfield’s classic, ” A World Of Our Own” which I am using as a sample.

$8 s a bit pricey but good enough record. Definitely more folk than country but solid effort. Satisfactory.

A World of Our Own

The Bluegrass Wranglers- Hard Grass!

Two days of local content. Woo-who!!! I bought this for $5. It was once owned by a Charles Monroe.

Not sure if any of the current Texas bands with Bluegrass or Wranglers are related to this band, which I believe hailed from Lolita , Texas, but here we have this self produced record ( Wrangler Records) from what year, I am unsure. It was recorded in Houston at Ludwig Sound Recording Studio, which I believe is empty warehouse space now. Very much a family affair with Kenny and John Fussell as well as A.A and Rick Powell. This record was rounded out by Pam Grammer and Harry Hendry. I am sure there are more members as there are 8 people on the cover with only 6 listed on the back. If you have some information, please comment and fill in the blanks for me.

Overall, pretty decent bluegrass music, technically speaking. Also, this record has pretty intricate vocals as well. I am not the greatest fan of the genre, but when something is good, I will let it be known. I liked this album more than I would have have thought.

For a sample, I wet with the dark “Why Blessed Savior” as well as the country staple, “Wild Side Of Life”. Satisfactory.

Why Blessed Savior
Wild Side Of Life

ZZ Top- Fandango

We are closing out the end of this anniversary month a bang: Home town Hero’s, ZZ Top. I paid $1.60 for this if my math is correct ( I think I had bad math earlier this month (Got to stay away from bad math)).

This was the band’s fourth album, released in 1975 on London Records. It went to #10 on the charts. “Tush” became the hit single from the record which was one side live album ( The Warehouse, New Orleans) and one side studio.

For a sample, I went to the studio side with “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings”.

Top Rated Record. See you next month.

Nasty DOgs and Funky Kings

Burt Bacharach and the Houston Symphony- Woman

Here we go with one of the greatest song writers ever backed by my own Houston Symphony. I paid $6 for this, which in all honesty, I am not sure what it is other than a recording, done live at Jones Hall on November 2, 1978. I would probably have more Burt Bacharach records on this blog if I did not hate spelling his name.

This record was composed, arranged, and conducted by Bacharach with production duties by Michael Woolcock. As stated above, Bacharach is behind the Houston Symphony Orchestra and its concertmaster, Ronald Patterson. At this point in Bacharach’s career he had suffered a few setbacks but was still a giant among men in the composing world.

I am not sure what was behind any of this music or this album, (from A&M in 1979), but it is decent enough. Was tied a bit when trying to pick a sample, but once I saw that vocals on “I Live In The Woods” were handled by Carly Simon, I decided to go that route.

Satisfactory

I LIve In The Woods

John Adams/ Orchestra of St Lukes conducted by Edo De Waart/ Nixon in China

I just wrote this and then accidentally hit delete instead of save. So here we go keeping it Soviet, two days in a row with this. Thsi was one of the Holy Grail albums I have been searching for. For so long, I forgot I was even looking for it when I found this at Half Price Books- West for $5. In the first version of this post, I had it at $4. I guess I am glad I correct this

This opera, based on Dick Nixon’s 1972 trip to China obviously, debuted in Houston at the HGO/ Wortham Center Oct 22, 1983 (thus, I am classifying this as Texas Music). Reviews at the time were mixed but the radical opera has gathered a lot of respect over the years. Three years back. I attended a 50th anniversary show in Houston and it was awesome. It was the smallest opera crows I had seen, though. For shame people.

This version is from Red Dawn Records in 1987. It features the New York based Orchestra of St Lukes led by Edo De Warrt, whom I am guessing is Dutch.

The principles inlcude James Maddalena (Nixon), Carolynn Page (Pat Nixon), John Duykers (Mao), Sanford Sylvan (En-Lai) and Thomas Maddalena (Kissinger). There was no libretto (which was written by Alice Goodman) inside the box, nor was there any fold out, I do not know if sixths was by design or if said materiel was lost, but i feel slightly ripped off.

There were many great moments on this album, both remembered by me and not. Who am I fooling, though? You knew there was only one choice for a sample when I bought this. Here is my favorite song from the opera, sung by Trudy Ellen Craney, the majestic “I am the Wife of Mao Tse-Tung” (Craney plays said wife).

So happy to have this. Satisfactory.

I Am The Wife Of Mao Tse-Tung

Hank Thompson- Songs for Rounders

We are transitioning from Country month to Anniversary Month with my second favorite Hank, Mr Hank Thompson. I bought this for $2. It was formerly owned by Joe Baimbridge of Webster, TX where I work ( hopefully still when this post comes out).

So right off the bat, this album made me ask the question, what is a rounder, (even though I had heard the terms before). The dictionary defines a rounder as a dissolute person. Dissolute means unrestrained by convention or morality. And here I thought a rounder was more like a greenhorn.

Well, as the title says, these songs are about fast people who live unconventional lives unrestrained by convention or morality. Released by Capitol, in 1959, Thompson tears thru songs such as “Rovin’ Gambler”, :Three Times Seven”, “Cocaine Blues” , and “I’ll Be A Bachelor Till I Die”. As the back cover so elegantly states, “Hank sings his way through a rhythmic rogues gallery of drunkards, gamblers, and their ornery pals”.

For a sample, I decided to go with “Drunkard’s Blues” which in itself is a re-working of my old favorite “St James Infirmary”.

Satisfactory.

Drunkards Blues

Isaac Payton Sweat- Cotton Eyed Joe

This is the last official week of Country and Ireland month and since we are all out of Ireland, here is some more country. A friend of mine, (I want to say his name was Tucker but I feel this is wrong) once told me if you want to play music in this State of Texas, you got to play two songs, one of which is the title track. I paid $4 for both these songs.

Isaac Payton Sweat. Born in Port Arthur, Texas. Died in Richmond, Texas in 1990, right about the time I used to work there. Hope I was not a contributing factor. Anyway, big time working musician. Played bass for Johnny Winter’s band in the 60’s and 70’s. I should take this chance to quit writing sentence fragments and trade them for run-ons, noting that Sweat enjoyed “regional” solo success with this album and title track single being the apex of that ride.

Good enough album. A lot of good country dance hall songs and steppin’ numbers. Really well done.

Well, I am going with the two songs alluded to in the opening paragraph. The first being :Cotton Eyed Joe”. This version features the bull shit chorus which was so dominantly played and chanted when played in public. Never was it more okay for a 8 year old to yell Bull Shit then in Texas. Sweat does really well with this song and ties it in to a strain of another dance hall favorite “Schottische”. As far as the second Texas essential, it actually comes from his cousin to the east, Louisiana(the state I still can not spell) and “Jole Blon.Great little record. Satisfactory.

Cotton Eyed Joe/ Schottische
Jole Blond

Asleep At The Wheel- Framed

I posted this record today particularity for the title since it is my birthday. Ha! This was $3.

From MCA in 1980, this was 9th record from the country collective Asleep at the Wheel. This record is a bit more hot jazz/ swing than country but still is an excellent record. With the departure of original member Lucky Oceans, the 80’s were a bit of a lost decade for the band, but I enjoyed this record with its heavy usage of female vocals.

For a sample, I decided to go with “Cool As A Breeze”. I was originally going to go with “You Want To Give Me A Lift” which was a bit more country but this used record overall had really bad distortion on most of the songs, with that one being one of the worst. That means someone played the tar our of it. Don’t like the sound quality of this sample? Why not buy an original copy of the album, you cheap bastard.

Satisfactory Record.

Cool As The Breeze

The 93Q Morning Zoo- Greatest Hits Vol 1

Oh the tragedy of having this record at the end of the month where I would rather push these through to get to next month rather than write lengthy blogs. I bought this for $4.

93Q was a Top 40 Radio station that was the most popular in town (Houston) or at least according to what I remember of my worldview at the time. In fact, many things about this record were forgotten by me until I had a listen. Not that I listened to a lot of morning radio in the 80’s as I was still in school, but John Lander and the Morning Zoo Crew were doing groundbreaking things on the Houston Airwaves. The kind of things people would be taking for granted if people still listened to radio. Also, for those keeping score at home, 93 Q is now country.

This record features Texas Hall Of Fame Broadcaster Lander as well as other luminaries such as Ron Parker and John Rio, who portrayed Mr Leonard. I actually read a few articles for this post but again, due to my desire to kick out the rest of this month, I am going to leave it to this.

For samples, I went with a collection of song parodies from the Zoo. I also went with a Mr Leonard and Lander Bit .

Satisfactory record. So many memories.

QZoo Songs
Mr Leonard/ John Lander