Posted by Pete Smith on September 7, 2008, 12:48 pm
217.42.199.115
“The Advertiser” (UK)
22 August 2008
Regular readers will be aware of my passion for bluegrass and therefore appreciate my delight at receiving the album “Promises And Lies” (Thunderbolt). There are no artists names to this album because it represents the coming together of some of the greatest individual talents in bluegrass music. Former Bluegrass Boy Bobby Atkins brings his superb banjo and vocal talents to the project along with the great Dobro player Frank Pointdexter. Joe Hyatt is the fiddler and Bobby’s sons Mark (mandolin, vocals) and Matt (rhythm guitar) add to the overall excellence of the sound. Lawrence Prevette picks bass, Paul Atherton plays harmonica and Dara White flies the feminine flag with two great lead vocals on “I Believe I Am Entitled To You” and “You Can’t Live Alone”. This really is bluegrass heaven with unbelievable picking, strong lead vocals and harmonies to die for. Mark Atkins wrote the sole instrumental, “Mandolin Strut”, Jim Eanes penned “Wrong Conclusion” with Pointdexter providing the tearful “Why Did Tom Go Away” and “Coming Home”, “You Can’t Live Alone” and five more. Though these recordings are almost twenty-four years old, they are as fresh and valid in 2008 as they were in 1984. My sincere thanks to E.H. King Music of Santa Fe, Texas for providing me with such a wonderful album. E-mail: thunderboltrecords at aol.com
Katie Renea hails from Paw Paw, Kentucky where, with parents who picked banjo, fiddle and guitar, she learned to love country music. Later in life she headed for Florida where she began to build her career winning many contests at state fairs and country festivals. Katie’s current album, “That’s What I Think About My Baby” (Comstock) is a sheer delight and so refreshing in that it has a positive feel throughout with even the negativity of a failed relationship (“Cool Rain”) being turned into a positive. This is definitely a Kleenex free zone!
The title cut is my favourite. Every time I play it my spirits are lifted as they are with “Front Porch Boogie” and the two Gospels, “Walking In His Grace” and “Let The Praises Ring”. In a world with so much doom and gloom we need more projects like this. www.katierenea.com
Country stars do the funniest things. Forty years ago today (22 August) George Jones and Tammy Wynette announced they had married. They later claimed they had in fact not married but did get hitched on 16 February 1969.
Important birth dates this week. Fast talking (“Smoke, Smoke, Smoke”) Tex Williams (23rd 1917), songwriter/publisher Fred Rose (24th 1897), country comedian Don Bowman (26th 1937), bluegrass legend Carter Stanley (27th 1925), Cajun Jimmy C. Newman (27th 1927) and Billy Grammer (28th 1925).
29 August 2008
Ron Thompson is justly proud of his heritage, which he can trace back to 1685 when his ancestor, a Scottish Presbyterian Covenanter, William Thompson left Edinburgh for the “New World”. Ron explains that these Covenanters wore a red scarf around their necks to signify they believed Christ, not King or Pope, was head of the church and that is the true origin of the term “redneck”. Ron still maintains those beliefs and during his life, though he has involved himself in music and electronic engineering, has kept the Thompson tradition of singing in church and helping others along the way. Ron has passed his skills as a singer, pianist and guitarist to many young people who could not afford formal lessons and has introduced them to performing before audiences in churches and at special events. Ron has decided to semi-retire from recording. It is doubtful he will ever release another album and so “Redneck Preacher Man” (Treed Lion), his final album, is something special. The 21 original songs are country in the true sense of the word and actually make up a potted history of his heritage by introducing us to some of the Thompson clan from over the years and detailing some of the situations they have been in whilst clinging to their deep spiritual beliefs. The title cut, “Redneck Preacher Man”, is a true story about one of those ancestors whilst I suppose “Tennessee Mountain Boy” is autobiographical but could apply to others back down the line. Ron’s spiritual beliefs are evident in such songs as “God’s Country Of Love” and “Take My Hand And Guide” and there is a little humour (and a lot of truth) in “Fast Track Country Star”.
Three lovely Christmas songs conclude this most interesting and rewarding project. Hopefully Ron will still find time to write and to record the odd single. I certainly hope so. If you would like a copy of this album simply send two first class stamps (to cover postage) to 41 Lupton Road, Sheffield, S8 7NE. I have only eighteen copies so it is a case of “first come, first served”. Unsuccessful applicants will have their stamps refunded.
Buell Kazee was born on 29 August 1900 in Kentucky. He could never be described as a hillbilly for he was a very intelligent man, an exponent of the banjo, singer, songwriter, ordained minister, folklorist and author. He recorded for Brunswick and Vocalion from 1927 to 1930, introducing such timeless classics as “Rock Island Line”, “The Hobos Last Ride”, “Darling Cora” and “The Roving Cowboy”. He also recorded duets with Carson Robison and with Frank and James McCravy (The Blue Ridge Gospel Singers). The depression of the thirties virtually brought his musical career to a halt though he continued to work tirelessly for his God. Buell retired from the ministry in the 1960s just in time to become a fixture on the American folk circuit. Buell died in 1976.
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