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Cow Island

Billy Bratcher

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Billy Bratcher – In the lobby

Cow Island Music – CIM 021
Big Time Woman – Who’s Sorry Now – TB BLues – My Walking Stick – The Sweeper and the debutante – Why – He calls That Religion – Sweet Sue, Just You – Any Old Time – My Melancholy Baby – Maybe It’s the Blues – Someday Sweetheart – Champagne Charlie – Diamonds Don’t Mean A Thing – This Hotel Room – Going Back To Tampa – She Ain’t Rose – If We Should Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)

Billy Bratcher

Billy Bratcher is well known for being the slappin’ drivin’ rhythmic force behind the rockabilly/honky tonk band the Starline Rhythm Boys. He also toured with Wayne “The Train” Hancock.

His debut solo album is a joyful collection of music from the 20s and the 30s (or at least played in that style for three of them), drawing upon the same source as Leon Redbone. Redbone’s influence can be heard throughout the album, and Billy Bratcher acknowledges it, but this collection of songs is very much his own. His arrangements are perfect, and the band, featuring saxophones, clarinet, trombone, cornet, piano, dobro, jug, bones, and a Venuti-esque violin, is simply perfect. Bratcher is a solid ragtime guitar player, but his voice wins the game most of all. If we had heard him sing harmonies and backing vocals with the Starline Rhythm Boys, little would we have known that he had such a beautiful and warm voice.

With In the Lobby, you have the perfect album to relax and chill. So sit in your favorite armchair, pour yourself a drink, close your eyes, and enjoy. Hey, look! There’s Dorothy Parker passing by. Won’t you buy her one, too?

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Janis Martin

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Janis Martin – The Blanco Session

Cow Island Music – CIM020
As Long As I’m Movin – Wham Bam Jam – Long White Cadillac – Wild One – It’ll Be Me – Sweet Dreams – Find Out What’s Happening – I Believe What You Say – Roll Around Rockin’ – Oh Lonesome Me – Walks Softly On This Heart Of Mine

janis martin

After years of hard labor, Rosie Flores finally managed to take Janis Martin back to a recording studio to cut new material. Martin and Flores already recorded together when Flores invited her to sing two songs on her Rockabilly Filly album. Thus, in just two days in April 2007, she found herself at Dennis Challman’s Rancho Relaxo studio in Blanco, Texas, with a cast of stellar musicians from Austin. These included Dave Biller (Biller & Wakefield, Wayne Hancock, Dale Watson), Sarah Brown (The Memphis Rockabilly Band), T Bonta (Horton Brothers, Cornel Hurd Band, and many more), Beau Sample (Cave Catt Sammy), Jonathan Doyle (Four Charms). Together, they recorded eleven tracks co-produced by Bobby Trimble. This album could have been – or should have been – Martin’s comeback album; sadly, the singer succumbed to cancer at age 67 shortly after the sessions.
Anyone lucky enough to see Martin on stage in the years preceding her passing can attest that she had aged wonderfully. Those recent recordings had nothing to envy to her 50s sides. In that she is comparable to Ronnie Dawson. Her voice had gained a deeper tone. The recorded material covered various styles, from blues to country, rhythm’n’blues to rock’n’roll, with plenty of rockabilly in between.The passing of such a great artist was an incomparable loss, but courtesy of the tireless effort of Miss Flores, we have this album, which is the best way to remember her, doing what she did best among musicians who loved her.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Dixons (the)

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The Dixons – Still Your Fool

Cow Island Music CIM010 [2008]
Please Don’t Stop Loving Me – Come And Get It – Still Your Fool – Lonesome Side Of Me – Broken Hearted, Lovesick And Blue – Talk Of The Town – Just Say You’ll Be Mine – Thanks A Lot – I’ve Got A New Heartache – Baby Please Don’t Go – Barely Hangin’ On

the dixons

It’s a little bit surprising to find a Honky Tonk / Bakersfield band coming from Brooklyn. Still, The Dixons ((Paul Greenhaw on drums, Joey Covington on bass, Fiddle, Luke Cissell on fiddle and piano, Chris Hartway on lead guitar, Gerald Menke on pedal steel guitar, and Jeff Mowrer on lead vocals and acoustic guitar) prove that a good country record has nothing to do with geography. This quintet gathered all the elements you’re right to expect from such a record: tons of pedal steel, good vocals, twangy telecaster, guest fiddle, and solid songwriting with tales of loves gone by and broken hearts. Lead singer Jeffrey Mowrer wrote eight of the eleven tracks here, the remaining three being from the catalog of Ray Price (I’ve Got A New Heartache), Ernest Tubb (Thanks A Lot), and Eric Kinsey and his Tip Top Daddies (Just Say You’ll Be Mine).
While drawing influence from past masters such as Buck Owens, Ray Price, George Jones, and Harlan Howard, The Dixons are not simply a retro band. They infuse their music with a fresh and contemporary sound, much like The Derailers, The Wagoneers, and Dwight Yoakam did before them.

Available on Spotify.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys

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Big Sandy & his Fly-Rite Boys – Sing and Play the Songs of Freddy Fender

Baldemar Records BR-201 & BR-202 [2020]
Before the Next Teardrop Falls – I Can’t Remember When I Didn’t Love You
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights – Holy One

Freddy Fender, born Baldemar Huerta hence the name of the label, was a versatile singer and songwriter. It’s no surprise to find Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys paying tribute to the man on this superb double 45 set. Like him, the band played Rock’n’roll, Rockabilly, Doo-Wop, and so on, and Fender’s influence can clearly be heard in some of Big Sandy’s intonations.
Each disc contains a hit and a lesser-known gem from the Fender’s early days.
Side A of disc one is Before the Next Teardrop Falls, Fender’s best-known song. It’s a tough job to sing it after Fender, not only because he sings it perfectly (an understatement if there is one) but also because this song is so much associated with him. Despite all that, the result is one of Big Sandy’s best vocal performance, perfectly supported by Ashley Kingman on Spanish guitar.
On side B, I Can’t Remember When I Didn’t Love You sees the band returning to its Rockabilly roots. It’s also the perfect vehicle to hear the skills of Kevin Stewart on bass and Kip Dabbs on drums.
The second 45 features the swamp pop Wasted Days and Wasted Nights. If the vocal is flawless, this is Kingman who steals the show on this one with a fantastic scorching guitar solo.
On the flip, the Doo-Wop Holy One, featuring Uncle Ernie Vargas, Alex Vargas, and Lil’ Ernie Vargas on backing vocals, evokes the best moments of Dedicated to You.
It’s a limited edition of 1000 copies, but it also exists on CD, and Sleazy records licensed it with a different cover.
Whatever the format, grab a copy here!

Big Sandy vs. Deke Dickerson – Jesus & Gravy

Sleazy Records SR142 [2018]
Make A Little Time For Jesus / Get The Gravy Hot

This release is a split single between Big Sandy (side A) and Deke Dickerson (side B).
Fellow Fly Right Boys Ashley Kingman and Kevin Stewart back Big Sandy, helped by Chris Sprague on drums and Ernie Vargas on tambourine. Make A Little Time For Jesus finds him, with no surprise, in full-gospel mode. The man who penned songs like Between Darkness and Dawn, Thru Dreamin’, and many others, has been more inspired in the past.
You’ll find the same musicians backing Deke Dickerson, but Kingman switched to 6-string bass, and Stewart plays electric-bass. The song, a cover of Shotgun Red, is an excellent country rocker that suits Deke’s voice and style to a T.

Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys - Fine, Fine, Superfine
Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys – Fine, Fine, Superfine

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys – Fine, Fine, Superfine / Everytime

Ruby records {2016}
It’s the first release of a brand new label, Ruby records, launched by Ruby Ann and Tom Ingram and it comes in a beautifully designed sleeve. And what a better choice to lauch a label than Big Sandy? Even though it’s only a single and we desperately need a brand new album, it’s always good to have a new release by today’s finest purveyor of Rock’n’roll, the man with the velvet voice himself, Mister Big Sandy. Not to forget the Fly-Rite Boys who are Ashley Kingman on guitar (23 years or so of service), Kevin Stewart and newcomer Ricky McCann on drums.
It was a very good surprise to see that Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys had recorded this two sides at Wallyphonic studios with Wally Hersom at the console, like they did for their debut album.
The A side is “Fine, Fine, Superfine” a good rocking’ song with a solid beat. This is not Robert Williams’ most original song but it completely fulfills its goal: make you dance, shake your head and tape your feet. The flip is far more original and is pure Big Sandy. It’s got the same highly melodic hook than song like “How did you love someone like me”, it’s smooth but rocking in the same time. This is a kind of tune that shows why Robert Williams has no equivalent in term of songwriting today. And with a first rate band like the Fly-Rite Boys, it’s a killer.

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys – What A Dream it’s Been

big-sandy-what-a-dream-its-been
Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys -What A Dream It’s Been

Cow Island CIM022 [2013]
Baby Baby Me – This Ain’t a Good Time – Missouri Gal – Don’t Desert Me – Nothing To Lose – Glad When I’m Gone – Parts Unknown – You Mean Too Much To Me – I Know I’ve Loved You Before – Three Years Blind – If I Knew Now What I Knew Then – What a Dream It’s Been.

When an artist and a fine songwriter like Big Sandy breaks a silence of nearly seven years to release an album of “acoustic and newly arranged versions of old songs” one can reasonably have some fears. But fear not my friends; although it borrows a song from each of his records, -with the exception of the Jake’s Barbershop ep- “What a Dream It’s Been” is not just a quick re-recording of old favourites like it’s too often the case with that kind of project. The reason lies, in part, in the choice of the songs. Big Sandy has dug deep in his discography to select lesser known songs than the one available on the two best-of released by Hightone and Rockbeat for example. And musically it’s an adventurous thing which is more a prolongation of the recent albums than the summary of a career. Thus it sees the band expanding the range of its styles to bring early ska and rocksteady (Baby Baby Me, I know I loved you Before) to the mix as well as bluegrass (This Ain’t A Good Time, Will You Be Glad) with Ashley playing mandolin and Jeff West providing harmonies, Country Soul (Parts Unknown), Mexican tinged stuff ala Marty Robbins (Nothing To Loose) and a jazz duet with guest vocalist Grey Delisle (What A Dream It’s Been). Big Sandy’s voice has never sounded so good and deep, particularly when he’s only backed by a double bass (“Don’t Desert Me”) or a guitar (You Mean Too Much to Me) and the acoustic format reveals the beauty of his song writing. It also puts a new light on Kingman’s skills. His talent shines throughout the album and is in large part responsible of the success of that record.
In the end, what was supposed to be just a celebration of a 25 year career turns out to be a pivotal album in the band history as were “Jumpin’ from 6 to 6” in 1994 or “Night Tide” in 2000.

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys – Turntable Matinee

Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys - Turntable Matinee
Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys – Turntable Matinee

Yep Roc – Yep 2121 [2006]
Power Of The 45 – Love That Man – The Great State Of Misery – Haunted Heels – Ruby Jane – Spanish Dagger – Mad – The Ones You Say You Love – You Don’t Know Me At All – Yes (I Feel Sorry For You) – Lonesome Dollar – Slippin’ Away – I Know I’ve Loved You Before – Power Of The 45 Pt. 2.

I became a Big Sandy fan from the moment the needle of my platter played Hot Water the opening song of Fly Rite With, their first album back in 1990.
In 2000, the dark mood of Nightide marked a turning point in Big Sandy’s recording journey and his songwriting. Having used the rockabilly and the western swing terminology and grammar for years, he freed his writing and went to a new level with no restrictions, creating more than re-creating.
After It’s Time in 2002, Turntable Matinee is a deeper step in that direction. Still built around western swing type of songs like Yes (I Feel Sorry For You) with Lee Jeffriess back behind the double neck steel guitar, it takes that genre further and brings on some of these songs a late 60’s feel (The Great State Of Misery). Straight rockin’ songs make a welcome return in Big Sandy’s set with Ruby Jane and the two parts of Power Of The 45 at the beginning and the end of the record, an ode to the band’s influences (Glen Glenn, Link Wray, Chuck Berry, Janis Martin, Etta James…). Between those two solid anchors you’ll find some latin / bossa nova (Spanish Dagger), a bluegrass inspired tune (Lonesome Dollar) and probably the biggest surprise: a Stax / Memphis soul masterpiece called Slippin’ Away with Cad Kadison on sax. And just when I was thinking Hey this is the first Fly-Rite Boys’ album without an instrumental tune came the hidden track, an instro version of Spanish Dagger. Finally it’s more than logical that after being produced by Dave Alvin for their first two albums as Fly-Rite Boys they now fit perfectly with the Blasters’ definition of American Music.
Since the Fly-Rite Trio days the line-up has seen some changed but that didn’t weaken the band and brought new blood and forced it to be more creative every time. The best example is bassist Jeff West who is now a key member of the band : he wrote three songs (and one of the most beautiful song ever sung by Big Sandy You Don’t Know Me At All) and sings two. The musicianship is, as usual, faultless from Ashley Kingman’s inventive guitar licks and his questions/answers with Lee Jeffriess (especially on Yes(I Feel Sorry For You) to Bobby Trimble subtle drumming (listen to I Know I’ve Loved You Before and pay attention to his brushwork). This album is going to be hard to top but I’ve already said that about It’s Time so I don’t worry that much.

 Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys – It’s Time

Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys - It's Time
Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys – It’s Time

Yep Roc, [2003]

”It’s time” follows the beautiful but dark and sad “NighTide”. The line remains unchanged except for Jimmie Roy (Ray Condo’s Ricochets) who replaces Lee Jeffriess on steel.
Entirely recorded live in the studio to capture the freshness of their first recordings, it’s also a much more varied album. You can find classic Rock’n’roll ala Elvis (Chalk It up To the Blues), followed by the Cajun inspired “Bayou Blue” with Chris Gaffney on accordion and there’s even a surfin’ instrumental written by Ashley Kingman (Strollin’ With Mary-Jane). Of course their usual brand of hillbilly bop/rockabilly is still present with songs like I Hate Loving You on which Jeff West voice blends perfectly with Big Sandy’s. He also takes lead on the jazzy Money Tree which makes you regret he doesn’t sing more. But Big Sandy remains the “real” singer of the band and the excellent “Night Is For the Dreamers” with its doo-wop atmosphere concludes the album in beauty.

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys – Night Tide

Hightone Records HCD 8123 [2000]
Night Tide – Between Darkness And Dawn – Tequila Calling – When Sleep Won’t Come (Blues For Spade) – If You Only Knew – Give Your Loving To Me – In The Steel Of The Night – A Man Like Me – Hey Lowdown! – My Time Will Come Someday – I Think Of You – Nothing To Lose – South Bay Stomp – Let Her Know

Released in 2000, Night Tide marked a turn in Big Sandy’s musical evolution.
Wally Hersom, former bass player of the band and the last remaining member of the Fly-Rite trio days, had left the group to be replaced by Jeff West (the Sun Demons.) West not only brought his bass, but he also came with his singing abilities, giving Big Sandy a second voice to play with, like a new instrument, hence the presence of harmony vocals on many of the songs.
It was also a change of mood. While previous albums featured dancing tunes and lighthearted lyrics (My Sinful days are over, The Loser’s Blues), Night Tide featured Robert Williams’ more introspective and dark songs. Songs like “When Sleep Won’t Come” written from the pint of view of Spade Cooley in jail, or “Nothing to Lose,” one of Williams’ saddest tune, are perfect examples of that direction. With these songs and others like the title track and Between Darkness And Dawn, Williams seems to throw off the limits of roots music and write songs without restraining himself.
And behind the Latin beat of” Tequila Calling,” one can hear the story of a man fighting with his demons. Even Lee Jeffriess, instrumental, which is usually danceable, is a slow and reflective number.
By comparison, ditties like “I Think of You” or “Give Your Loving” (penned by West) seem out of place and almost break the charm.
But the Fly-Rite Boys also stay true to their roots with rockin’ numbers like their cover of Cliff Bruner’s My Time Will Come Someday featuring Ashley Kingman in full Grady Martin mode as well as Hey Lowdown ( a stage favorite) and Let Her Know.

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys – Down at Jake’s Barbershop

Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys - Down at Jake's Barbershop
Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys – Down at Jake’s Barbershop

No-Hit records ‎– EP5
Down at Jake’s Barbershop – You’re No Fun – Fallin’ for You – Snake Dance Boogie

In 1992, steel player Lee Jeffriess joined Big Sandy and the Fly Rite Trio (Big Sandy, TK Smith, Wally Hersom and Bobby Trimble) that became Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys. Shortly after that, Smith left the band. The toured Europe with Malcolm Chapman (Carlos and the Bandidos) on guitar before Ashley Kingman (Red Hot’n’Blue) officially joined the band in early 1993.
In July of that year the new line-up recorded these four tracks at Wally’s studio for No-Hit Records.
These four songs are the missing link between the “On the Go” and “Jumpin’ From 6 to 6“. They show the transformation of a tight rockabilly combo into a western swing machine that will culminate with “Swingin’ West” and “Feelin’ Kinda Lucky.” Here the mood of the day is more hillbilly bop with two originals on side A and two covers, Link Davis’ Fallin for You that features Carl Sonny Leyland on piano and Roy Hogsed’s Snake Dance Boogie.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

https://www.bigsandy.net/

Stone River Boys (the)

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stone river boys

The Stone River Boys – Love On The Dial

Stone River Boys

Cow Island CIM016 [2010]
Bluebonnet Blue – Can I Change My Mind – The Struggle – Think I’m Gonna Make It – Lovers Prison – 40 Acres – Love On The Dial – Still Feel The Feeling – Special – Take A Giant Step – Love’s Gonna Make It – Martha – Steel City – Boomerangs

The origin of the Stone River Boys can be traced back when Dave Gonzales teamed up with Mike Barfield (ex-Hollisters) to play some gigs in the memory of Chris Gafney, his friend, and partner in the Hacienda Brothers. It seems that both of them liked what they did together, and they decided to continue and go beyond the tribute thing.
Love On The Dial is their debut album released by the fine folks at Cow Island known for their impeccable taste.
Gonzales and Barfield have gathered a cast of some of the finest Austin musicians including Dave Biller (Wayne Hancock, Dale Watson and many more) on steel, Kevin Smith (High Noon, Dwight Yoakam, The Derailers) on bass, Scott Esbeck (Los Straitjackets), Hank Maninger (Hacienda Brothers, Johnny Dilks) and Damian Llanes (Nick Curran). The first two tracks are a blend of country soul, a style reminiscent of the Hacienda Brothers. As if the Stone River Boys would salute the memory of their friend one last time before moving onto their own thing. By the third song, Barfield’s “The Struggle,” they let their brand of country funk speaks. Imagine if James Brown had cut an album at Owen Bradley’s studio, the result wouldn’t be far from the Gonzales-Barfield partnership. There are many more country-funk gems like this on this album, mostly penned by Barfield, whose nickname is the tyrant of Texas funk! Try to get his solo albums too. His deep and rich voice also allows him to perform straight country numbers like the Bakersfield tinged “Lovers Prison.” “Steel City,” a Dave Biller’s instrumental rounds up this groovy album.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Lil Mo and the Monicats / Monica Passin

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Lil Mo and the Monicats - Whole Lotta Love

Lil Mo and the Monicats - Whole Lotta Love
Lil Mo and the Monicats – Whole Lotta Love

Lil Mo and the Monicats – Whole Lotta Love

[2012]
Whole Lotta Love – Little Heart Attacks – When Girls Sings – Pain and Misery – Waiting and Wanting – Lovely Miranda – Three Cool Cats – Real Gone Jive – I Can’t Help Myself – Trouble In Mind – Too Much Time With Your Tears

Monica Passin (aka Lil Mo) and her deliciously sweet voice are back for another terrific album and, like on her previous recordings, she’s backed up by her partner in rhymes Hank Bones who plays a wide array of instrument (guitars and basses of all kinds, bongo, snare, cornet, dobro…). Another key element is Drina Seay who lends her voice to the beautiful harmonies you can hear on this album. This is really amazing how the voices of the two singers perfectly blend together! (so much that to be honest I first thought that Passin had doubled her vocal track). Russ Wilson completes the line-up.
The singer penned five originals and the remaining songs come from Marty Robbins (Pain and Misery), the Coasters (Three Cool Cats) and the Nettle Sisters (Real Gone Jive). One can also find a cover of Trouble in Mind (that is hard to associate to just one artist).The team Arty Hill and Linda Hill (who also wrote Mascara Tears for Marti Brom’s latest album) and Austin songwriter Terry Joyce have contributed one song each.
It is a very varied and rich album. Musically you cross the land, from the country to the town, from the Honky Tonk sound of Little Heart Attacks to the direct-from-the-Brill-building melody of When Girls Sing (with reference to Ellie Greenwich in the lyrics) and Too Much Time With Your Tears. There’s also some Texas hillbilly swing with I Can’t Help Myself, Hillbilly bop and Rockabilly with Real Gone Jive and the Everly Brothers/Buddy Holly influence can be heard on Whole Lotta Lovin and Waiting and Wanting. Lovely Miranda and its Latin beat tells a little slice of life settled in New York. That’s funny how simple but well crafted lyrics can create pictures in your head.
I love this album so I wouldn’t mind writing more but Bill Kirchen has said it better than me on his introduction: “Monica is a rare triple threat, a chanteuse who can rock and write songs that you swear you grew up with.” I couldn’t agree more.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Lil Mo and the Monicats - On the Moon
Lil Mo and the Monicats – On the Moon

Lil Mo and the Monicats – On the Moon

Cow Island Music CIM013 [2009]
I Could Get Used To This – Rockin’ Chair On The Moon – The Boy Who Loves The Blues – Dance Crazed – Why Don’t You Love Me? – Baby Be Good – I Really Love (To Love You) – I’m Here Today – I’ve Got A New Heartache – He’s A Handful – Dreamy

10 years after “Hearts In My Dreams” which is a bit too long for me but I guess this time was necessary to make such a rich and accomplished album and write this perfect songs (9 of the 11 are from Lil Mo’s pen), Monica Passin released On the Moon.
And the good folks at Cow Island with their soon to be legendary good taste didn’t miss the chance to release it on a superb digipack.
The outcome is a very versatile album and perfectly backed by the multi talented Hank Bones (drums, basses, guitar, dobro, steel, piano, cornet…), Lil’ Mo offer a journey through American music from the 30’s to the 60’s.
You find timeless Honky Tonk (I Could Get Used To This and Wayne Walker’s I’ve Got A New Heartache), muscled hillbilly with a rockabilly hint on Bill Haley and The Saddlemen’s Rockin Chair On the Moon and He’s a Handful on which Monica’s voice reminds me of the best sides of Rosie Flores.
Lil Mo (aka Monica Passin) also delivers a poignant appalachian ballad (the Boy Who Loves The Blues with a nice mandolin part and a heartbreaking fiddle) and good ol’ Cajun music with Dance Crazed featuring Steve Riley of the Mamou Playboys fame. Why Don’t You Live With Me is a beautiful pre-war blues with dobro and cornet. Fans of rhythm’n’ blues/soul will rush on Baby Be Good (with a horn section) and those who are in a 60’s mood will be delighted by I’m Here Today that features an amazing organ solo. Another highlight (but which song isn’t?) is I Really Love To Love You a Spector styled pop song (still with Hank Bones in charge of the wall of sound). And what a better way to say goodbye than Dreamy, an acoustic ballad, featuring just Monica’s crystal clear voice and Bones on guitar with some latin and jazzy echoes.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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