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Bear Family - Page 5

BR5-49

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BR5-49 - One Long Saturday Night plus
BR5-49 – One Long Saturday Night plus

BR5-49 – One Long Saturday Night, plus

Bear Family BCD 17347
Even If It’s Wrong – Long Gone Lonesome Blues – Heartaches By The Number – Bettie Bettie – Right Or Wrong – Hometown Boogie – Honky Tonk Song – Go Boy Go – Lonesome 7-7203 – My Name Is Mud – I Ain’t Never – Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts) – Big Mouth Blues – Cherokee Boogie – Ole Slewfoot – Crazy Arms – Gone, Gone, Gone – One Long Saturday Night – Take Me Back To Tulsa – Hillbilly Tramp – Settin’ The Woods On Fire – Knoxville Girl – Sweet Georgia Brown

BR5-49 came like a breath of fresh air in the musical landscape of Nashville. Sure they weren’t the first to play traditionnal country, others played it on a smaller level, but they managed to get signed on a major lbel and for a while this music was at the place it deserved in the country music industry.
But though I like their songs and style a lot, I always thought that their studio albums sounded a little bit too clean and would have been better with a little more grit. Just imagine how they would have sounded had they been recorded by Wally Hersom at his Wallyphonic studio.
On this live album, recorded in Germany (and four bonus tracks recorded in Japan) in 1996, they show that the stage whether it’s a honky tonk in Dallas or a German TV show was the place where they belonged.
With no pression but the sheer joy of playing for an audience, the band felt free to play whatever they wanted from western swing (Bob Wills’ Right Or Wrong and Take Me Back To Tulsa) to 60’s country rock (Graham Parson’s Big Mouth Blues) with a solid dose of classic Honky Tonk and Rockabilly in between. This is fun from start to finish. Both Mead and Bennett are mighty fine singers and their harmonies are superb (without mentionning their guitar skills), Don Herron is a wizard with anything that has strings while Wilson and McDowell provide the beat with a subtility that too often lacks in modern country. In the end “One long Saturday Night” could possibly be the band’s best album (and as usual with Bear family it comes with a thick booklet including many pictures and liner notes by Chuck Mead).
And for those who think that the experience can’t be complete without Jay’s smile, Chuck’s legs, Gary’s hat, Shaw’s mustache and Don’s overall, Bear has a also released a dvd from the same live.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

The Everly Brothers – the outtakes

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everly_outtakes2Bear Family BCD 15931AR
Bye Bye Love (take 1) – I Wonder If I Care As Much (take 3) – Wake Up Little Susie (take 1)- Hey Doll Baby (take 4) – Brand New Heartache (take 2) -Keep A Knockin’ (take 5) – Love Of My Life (take 1) – Leave My Woman Alone (take 1) – Rip It Up (take 4) – Maybe Tomorrow (take 3) – Claudette (take 1) – Poor Jenny (one o’clock version/take 7) – Problems (alternative take) – All I Have To Do Is Dream (take 5) – Take A Message To Mary (take 7) – Bird Dog (take 1) – Oh What A Feeling (take 4) – Till I Kissed You (take 3) -Poor Jenny (ten o’clock version/take 3)- This Little Girl Of Mine (take 2) – Be Bop A Lula (take 4) – Claudette (take 7) – Wake Up Little Susie (take 6) – Hey Doll Baby (take 1) – All I Have To Do Is Dream (take 1) – Poor Jenny (one o’clock version/take 5) – That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine (take 2) – Down In The Willow Garden (take 3) – Long Time Gone (take 3) – Oh So Many Years (take 4) – Rockin’ Alone (In An Old Rocking Chair) (take 12) Kentucky (take 7)- Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet (take 15)- I’m Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail (take 2)
Coming in a beautiful package in the form of a magnetic tape box, this collection of unreleased material is the occasion to hear a band at work and be the witness of their quick progess. All the Cadence classics are here in their rough and unpolished forms some substantially different from the issued takes. Made mainly for die-hard fans who can compare to the released version, this is a fascinating journey into the studio with Phil and Don Everly. The set is completed by a deluxe booklet, superbly designed too, including song by song liner notes with rare and unseen photos. Another first rate release from the German bear.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Jimmy Swan – Honky Tonkin’ In Mississippi

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jimmyswanBear Family BCD 15578 AH
I Had a Dream – Juke Joint Mama – I Love You Too Much – Triflin’ on Me – The Last Letter – The Little Church – Mark of Shame – Losers Weepers – One More Time – Lonesome Daddy Blues – Frost on My Roof – Why Did You Change Your Mind – Hey Baby Baby – It’s Your Turn to Cry – Good and Lonesome – Country Cattin’ – The Way That You’re Living – Lonesome Man – I Love You Too Much – Don’t Conceal Your Wedding Ring – No One Loves a Broken Heart – It Takes a Lonesome Man – Honky Tonkin’ (In Mississippi) – I Love You Too Much – It Takes a Lonesome Man – Rattlesnake Daddy – Asleep in the Deep – Walkin’ My Dog – Good and Lonesome – Why Did You Change Your Mind
In his carreer Jimmy Swan recorded for various labels including Trumpet, MGM, and Decca. This compilation covers a period going from 1952 to 1968 and it’s amazing to see how his music saw little evolution during these 16 years. While country music radically changed, he sticked to his brand of raw and rural honky tonk heavily influenced by Hank Williams (sadly his political views also belonged to a bygone era). Many songs in this set of mostly self penned numbers remind of the lovesick blues boy. Lonesome Daddy Blues Triflin’ On Me, One More Time and Honky Tonkin’ are respectively variations around Long Gone Lonesome Blues, Lovesick Blues, I’m So Lonesome I could Cry and Honky Tonk Blues. He also played a couple of hillbilly boogie/proto rockabilly like Country Cattin’ and Rattlesnake Daddy that are worth the price of the cd alone. If you dig Hank Williams and country music before it changed for the worse, you’ll like this one.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Ernest Tubb – Thirty Days (Gonna Shake this Shack Tonight)

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Ernest Tubb - Thirty Days
Ernest Tubb – Thirty Days

Bear Family BCD 16866
Thirty Days / I’m A Long Gone Daddy / Mean Mama Blues / Jimmie Rodgers’ Last Blue Yodel / Walking The Floor Over You / I Ain’t Goin’ Honky Tonkin’ Anymore / Filipino Baby / So Round So Firm So Fully Packed / My Tennessee Baby / You Nearly Lose Your Mind / Tomorrow Never Comes / Tennessee Border #2 / Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin / So Doggone Lonesome / Let’s Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello / Don’t Forbid Me / Don’t Brush Them On Me / The Same Thing As Me / Counterfeit Kisses / Two Glasses Joe / Kansas City Blues / Have You Seen My Boogie Woogie Baby / This Troubled Mind O’Mine / My Hillbilly Baby / I’ll Get Along Somehow / Do It Now / Mister Blues / White Silver Sands / Crazy Arms / Tennessee Saturday Night.

Bear Family has released numerous boxed sets covering the whole career of the Texas Troubadour and I dream about them at least once a month but it may be a bit too much or too pricey (or both) for the casual listener. Fortunately, they have launched the “Gonna Shake This Shack” serie which is more affordable. This release gives a good overview on Tubb’s recording from the early 40’s to the early 60’s and focuses on his uptempo sides.
The selection is very well done and you won’t find any filler here. This album includes some Jimmie Rodgers (his first idol) inspired songs (Mean Mama Blues), his early hits (Walking the Floor Over You; You Nearly Loose Your Mind), honky tonk classics and succesfull attempst at mixing rock’n’roll to his own style (Chuck Berry’s Thirty Days). Listening to this side you realize the major role of Tubb in setting the standard for post-war country, instrumentation (electric guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, bass, rhythm guitar) that’ll pave the way to Hank Williams to name the most famous.
Needless to say that as usual with the German label it comes with a superbly designed and fully illustrated 32 page booklet that tells you all the details you want to know (and even more). A nice addition to your collection.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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