Best Of Johnny Gimble Vol. 1 BOB WILLS Merle Haggard GEORGE JONES Ray Benson

Best Of Johnny Gimble Vol. 1

Johnny Gimble was one of the most important fiddlers in Western Swing from his early days as a member of BOB WILLS & HIS TEXAS PLAYBOYS to his work with the greats of country music.  On this collection, he performs with BOB WILLS, GEORGE JONES, MERLE HAGGARD, CHET ATKINS, WILLIE NELSON, & RAY BENSON & ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL.

He was born in Tyler Texas, and played on his first recording in Corpus Christi in 1948.  A year later, he joined BOB WILLS & HIS TEXAS PLAYBOYS, & toured with them for the next decade.  He & his wife settled in Dallas & Johnny began doing television shows including THE BIG D JAMBOREE--a competitor of Nashville’s The Grand Ol’ Opry & California’s Town Hall Party.  Gimble rejoined Bob Wills in 1953 & played with him until the early ‘60s.  He hosted his own TV Show in Waco Texas JOHNNY GIMBLE & THE HOMEFOLKS which featured a young bass player named WILLIE NELSON.

After moving to Nashville in 1968, he backed the cream of country music, including Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Lefty Frizzell, Ray Price, Marty Robbins, & Chet Atkins.  He toured with Willie Nelson from 1979-1981 & appeared in Willie’s movie Honeysuckle Rose.  He also played his old boss Bob Wills in Clint Eastwood’s Honky Tonk Man.  Merle Haggard featured Gimble's instrumental wizardry on his 1970 album, A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World (Or, My Salute to Bob Wills).

Of course he appeared on HEE HAW, but the show he appeared on the most (holding the record for most appearances at one point) was AUSTIN CITY LIMITS.  He was also a frequent guest on Garrison Keillor’s PRARIE HOME COMPANION radio show.

He’s a member of both the ROCK HALL OF FAME, and THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME, and was nominated 15 times for Instrumentalist Of The Year by The Country Music Association.  An interesting bit of trivia; Gimble & his wife Barbara were divorced twice and remarried twice!

Fantasy American Explorer Series

About one year ago we posted Exploring The American Explorer Series, an in-depth overview of an almost-forgotten Elektra/Nonesuch series from the 1990s which sought to shine a spotlight on some American musical artists whose contributions were under-regarded or near-forgotten. As usual, we got some feedback from our regular followers.

However one Anonymous comment stood out:

“The American Explorer Series of the early 90s at Elektra was the product of the best intentions of the label's leadership to revitalize deserving American artists coupled with the extraordinary skill and ability of the A&R staff at the time to deliver on the vision. Profit motives and the bottom line were NOT a factor in this mission!”

We were intrigued by this remark and queried the writer for more details, which subsequently did follow via email. It turned out that one of the actual people involved in the American Explorer Series, Elektra A&R man Peter Lubin, had reacted as he was pleasantly surprised to see that some people still remembered that series fondly!

During the year emails were exchanged and the idea of doing an interview with Peter started to grow and ultimately materialized in a Zoom meeting with Koen last December.  He somehow managed to convert the rambling but highly informative and entertaining chat into a more coherent text. The results were shared with Peter and after loads of emails and revisions a fully-illustrated 27-page PDF had become a reality!

As everyone involved was rather pleased with the results, we continued on to the next phase of the project: a brand new “Fantasy” American Explorer Series with full input from Peter!  He took this challenge very seriously and subsequently presented us with a massive master list of 84(!) potential candidates that could possibly qualify by meeting the criteria to ‘bring forgotten artists back into the spotlight’. Even so, that list scared the sh#t out of us. Where to start??!?

With Peter’s guidance, we began living out the "fantasy" of being hard-boiled A&R men making critical decisions for the good of the record label as well as for the benefit of the listening public at large. This too required plenty of time as we took the mission seriously indeed. Some of the artists hadn’t recorded anything in years and it seemed too far-fetched to “revitalize” them, while others were disqualified owing to their citizenship (this is the ‘American’ Explorer Series, after all!) or a variety of other factors. Some, sadly, passed on during the time it took to bring this project to fruition.

We then hemmed and hawed about how we could approach compiling the music to accompany the interview. Finally it was decided to simply find the most recent recordings by each artist on the list and choose an appropriate song from that material. This rule applies in many but not in all cases.

Jonder took the lead and presented us with compilations of potential songs. Unlike some Tesla dude who enjoys wielding a chainsaw, we very slowly fine-tuned the number of chosen songs.

Jon’s original concept for the blog still stands—we post CD-length compilations—so there was the task of paring the material down to two volumes. All that remained was the running order of the tracks, which we created with an eye towards offering the best possible listening experience.

Koen submitted artwork for the front and back covers, and capped it all off with this introduction. ;-)

We let Peter have the final word: “I think this evokes the spirit of the original undertaking as well as the fantasy that we set out to conjure!”

For your reading and listening pleasure (and musical education) we proudly present…

Fantasy American Explorers Volume 1: Staxability

Fantasy American Explorers Volume 2: Kentuckiana

A fully illustrated 27 page interview with Peter Lubin PDF

Guest Spots: Kelly Hogan

Kelly Hogan started her singing career in Atlanta.  Her band The Jody Grind was beloved in their hometown. The band ended tragically, and far too soon. 

Not long after Kelly's first solo album was released (in 1996) she left Atlanta for Chicago, where she soon fell in with the Bloodshot Records crew.  On Beneath The Country Underdog (her second solo album), she was backed by the Pine Valley Cosmonauts.  A third album followed in 2001.

Kelly contributed lead and backing vocals to a variety of projects.  It was the golden age of alt-country (or Americana, if you prefer), and tribute albums were also popular.  Kelly appeared on tributes to Wanda Jackson, Joe South, Bob Wills, The Knitters, the Nashville soundtrack, and the recently deceased Kris Kristofferson.  Kelly has collaborated with Neko Case, Carolyn Mark, Robbie Fulks, The Sadies, and others.  She has sung backup with Mavis Staples, The Decemberists, Drive-By Truckers, Amy Ray, Jakob Dylan, Poi Dog Pondering and many others.

A decade passed before Kelly Hogan released another solo album, maybe because she was so dang busy.  She has performed children's songs as a member of the Wee Hairy Beasties, trad. arr. with the Love Hall Tryst, and vocal pop (think the Fifth Dimension or the Free Design) with the Flat Five.  Kelly can sing just about anything, but it's in country music that her full vocal and emotional range really shines: her voice can be sassy, sexy, silly or supremely sad and lonesome.

I'm not the only fan who wishes there were more Kelly Hogan solo records.  You could make an entire album of Kelly's songs that have appeared on Bloodshot samplers, tribute albums, and her duets with John Wesley Harding, Nora O'Connor, Alejandro Escovedo, Scott Ligon, and Rex Hobart.  That's what I've done here. Only one of the two dozen songs here is from a Kelly Hogan album, and that's only because it was impossible to resist "Wild Mountain Berries" (originally recorded by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty).    

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: Guest Spots from Lisa Kekaula, Hollie Cook, Cassandra Wilson, and others.

Country Boy: Albert Lee

Koen writes: I had heard Albert Lee’s guitar licks before, probably first on Emmylou Harris’ Luxury Liner (1977) and Dave Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary (1979), but I wasn’t aware of him as an artist in his own right. I vaguely recall a Nicky Hopkins LP called Super Rock (1975), which prominently featured Albert. It turned out to be a reissue of 1968’s No Introduction… and has been reissued under various titles ever since. His name popped up again on Jerry Lee Lewis' The Session (1973), which I still consider a classic album.

Over the years Albert never featured much in my music collection until 2019.  That year I was going back to the Netherlands and had asked an old friend to check if any interesting concerts were happening during my visit. He replied quickly with a “How about Albert Lee?” That made me do some digital digging on YouTube and various music blogs, resulting in me being utterly shocked, how could I have missed this fantastic guitar slinger all that time?!

On the 5th of October, I went to Amsterdam, met my friend Hendrik, and we moved to a place called the Q Factory. Everything looked quite new, and the concert area was not that big which suited us fine. After a beer or two, it was time and we went inside, standing only, none of that ‘remain seated please’ nonsense.

Albert & his band started playing (on time!), great sound, brief but fun interaction with the audience and they gave a hell of a show. Most of the songs were familiar classics and to hear these finally played live professionally was awesome!  The only worrying aspect was the fact that 98% of the audience was gray-haired, similar to Albert!  It does make one wonder how long concerts like these will continue…

Earlier this year Jonder, Stinky, and I were brainstorming about possible future Jokonky projects. My suggestion, an Albert Lee retrospective, was well received (as presently there aren’t any!) and you have the results here.

It was difficult to come up with a good selection for a single CD, as Albert has recorded so many great tracks, but I thought it would be fitting to start and end with his signature tune ‘Country Boy’ as well as several collaborations with the Crickets, Hogan’s Heroes, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, and others.

[Note from jonder: Albert Lee is touring the US in August and September (and the UK in October) to promote his new album, Lay It Down. He pays tribute to his influences with versions of songs by the Everly Brothers (The Price Of Love), Glen Campbell (Less Of Me), Jimmy Webb (Too Young To Die), the Flying Burrito Brothers (Wheels), and others.  Visit Albert Lee's official website for tour dates!]

ELSEWHERE ON JONDERBLOG: Stinky's compilations of Bill Kirchen, another Master Of The Telecaster!

Exploring The American Explorer Series

Last month (Koen writes] Jonder came up with this question: "Are you familiar with the Elektra Nonesuch American Explorer Series from the 1990's?  It would be cool to do a sampler for that series.  Terry Adams from NRBQ produced two of the albums (for Boozoo Chavis and Chuck Berry's pianist Johnnie Johnson), and Ben Vaughn produced two others (Charlie Feathers and Arthur Alexander).  The label did release a compilation, but it came out in 1991 after only 4 of the 11 albums in the series had been issued."

Sheepishly I admitted being familiar with Johnnie Johnson’s and Arthur Alexander’s records, but never had been aware that they were part of an Elektra Nonesuch series…

These records covered a wide range of styles: rockabilly (Charlie Feathers), blues (Johnnie Johnson), country/Americana (Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Guy Clark, and The Kentucky Headhunters), zydeco (Boozoo Chavis), soul (Arthur Alexander, Fontella Bass), gospel (Vernard Johnson, The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, and Fontella Bass), and Latin (Eddie Palmieri)…

And thus a new project was born!

Putting on my Sherlock Holmes hat and armed with a digital magnifying glass I dove headfirst in the murky depths of the World Wide Web.  Most of the albums weren’t too difficult to locate, either on obscure/forgotten blogs or through dubious file-sharing thingies.

The only one giving me serious headaches was The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama Featuring Clarence Fountain’s Deep River album.  Despite my considerable efforts, I found zilch…

Of course, there are some copies for sale available on eBay, but I always consider it a challenge to find them somewhere instead.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going to… YouTube! There I found 2 songs from the album of decent enough quality to be allowed into my project!

I rounded up some album art and reviews from various sources and mucked around with them a few times until they fit my PDF format.  Last part was coming up with a cover design and writing this piece!

The result is a 22-track sampler which sounds pretty good, although Eddie Palmieri is the odd one out. His Latin album is not bad at all, but very different style-wise from the rest of the series!  Anyway, hear the results and judge for yourself.

Faded Love: A Country-Rock Box Set from C90 Lounge

Over at the blog C90 Lounge, Nate Rabe has just posted a huge digital box set called Faded Love: Forgotten Country Rock of the 70's.  This is a monumental undertaking: 25 volumes and 426 tracks, including both forgotten artists of the era and deep cuts from big names.  

Nate has written extensive liner notes and included a reading list.  He surveys the subgenres, the regional scenes, and the global influence of country-rock. But he doesn't use these labels as boundaries to limit a music that was born to cross genres (as its hyphenated name implies).  "Definitional fuzziness is country-rock's superpower,"  Nate says.

I've lamented the shrinking blogosphere, but a set like this demonstrates the undiminished superpower of musical hobbyists (for lack of a better word). Bloggers and other online enthusiasts have created incredible compilations like this one, Musicophilia's legendary 1981 box set, Once Upon A Time (the late Mythkoz's 100-volume history of punk), Scavenged Luxury, Fathers And Sons Of Garage Rock, Lo-Fi Ladies, and A Reference of Female-Fronted Punk Rock (the latter three available here).  

I believe the fanaticism (intended here as a compliment) of music bloggers and other online crate-diggers has had an influence on record labels' compilations like this year's Blank Generation box set and the Soul Jazz Punk 45 series.  Perfect example: would Strum & Thrum exist without the inspiration of blogs like Little Hits and Wilfully Obscure?

Music blogs keeping the art of the mixtape alive include C90 Lounge, Architectural Dance Society, Butterboy, Global Groove, Groovy Library, Moozler Music, Musicophilia, Nothing's Going To Happen, Nothin' Sez Somethin', One Buck Records, Rhythm Plague, Surfadelic, The Unherd Music, and Vinyl Villain's Imaginary Album Series.  Amazing work is also done by Albums I Wish Existed, Albums That Never Were, Save Your Face, and other blogs that create unreleased albums or reimagine existing albums (through editing, remixing, resequencing, and adding alternate takes and b-sides).

A tip of the ten gallon hat to Nate Rabe (aka Sprayon Pants) for this achievement and his other fantastic compilations at C90 Lounge!

Another Music in a Different Kirchen

Well, it's the same Bill Kirchen, but he's in somebody's living room. A tip of the ten gallon hat to MrDave (lover of music and film), who pointed us toward some great footage of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen performing "Everybody's Doin' It" (a Western Swing tune originally recorded by the Modern Mountaineers) in the 1976 film Hollywood Boulevard!  

It's a B-movie about making B-movies, produced by the B-movie master (Commander Roger Corman).  Hollywood Boulevard was the directorial debut of Allan Arkush and Joe Dante.  Three years later, Arkush directed Rock & Roll High School.

At the 1:23 mark of this here video, a young Bill Kirchen (sporting a pair of bright red slacks) favors us with a tasty Telecaster solo, while the merry Airmen keep buckin' and truckin' along!

Let's give a hand to the half dozen readers (that's more than you can count on one hand) who singlehandedly persuaded Stinky to share another Bill Kirchen gem. Stinky has lovingly fashioned a "Living Room Session" (hosted by Elderly Instruments) into a new Homemade Record!  

Bill sings songs and tells tales about Mississippi John Hurt, Minnesota Bob Dylan, Dan "Hot Licks" Hicks, Nick "Name" Lowe, and the honorably aforementioned Cmdr. Cody (ret.)  We may never get to see Machete Maidens of Mora Tau (the movie shot by the characters in Hollywood Boulevard), but if you listen to this set you will find out what happens when you take three Bennies and your semi truck won't start!

Delbert McClinton: Lost In A Dream & Early Tracks

Delbert McClinton wasn’t pleased when his “Crazy Cajun Recordings” for Huey P. Meaux were released, and he didn’t cooperate or share any session information.  Delbert’s a packrat whose treasure trove of mementos was opened to his biographer Diana Finlay Hendricks (author of Delbert McClinton: One Of The Fortune Few).   

It’s common practice that early recordings get released when an artist becomes famous—or that an odds & ends album is released by their former label when an artist scores a hit on another label.   

Houston’s Huey P. Meaux had a hand in many artists’ success, producing hits for George Jones, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Freddie Fender, The Big Bopper, and Barbara Lynn.  A former barber, Meaux used to say he went from “cutting hair to cutting hits,” and he got his start when records were still being sold out of the trunks of cars.  

Delbert recounted that he was recording for Meaux’s Fort Worth’s counterpart Major Bill Smith, who thought “If You Really Want Me To, I’ll Go” might have potential.  “He called up Huey Meaux in Houston, and played it for him.  Huey offered Bill five hundred dollars for the song on the spot.  That’s when Major Bill knew he had something.”  The song was licensed to Smash Records but was pulled off the air because the ownership of the publishing was clouded—becoming a country hit for Waylon Jennings in 1967.  

Major Bill recorded artists in a basement studio at a local radio station KFJZ, often hiring Delbert & The Rondells as the backing group.  That’s how Delbert wound up playing harmonica on Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby”.  When there was time left on the clock, he’d let Delbert cut something.  Major Bill released at least 18 singles by Delbert’s band The Rondells between 1963 and 1970, several of them becoming regional hits.

That’s where a lot of the tracks on Lost In A Dream & Early Tracks are from.  Lost In A Dream became a bit of a holy grail for me.  I was unable to track down the cassette version that I found online, but pieced together the ten tracks listed from the best available sources.  In the process I found a whole mess of tracks on YouTube, & the rest were most likely recorded for Meaux.

Ronnie Kelly, Billy Sanders, & Delbert broke away from McClinton’s previous band The Straitjackets, and they combined Ronnie & Delbert’s first names to form their new band name, The Rondells (sometimes credited as The Ron-Dells).  

Delbert Part Three!

Stinky sez: You know someone’s a great artist when you put together a “Best Of” collection, and their Grammy winning duet with Bonnie Raitt doesn’t show up until the end of the third volume!  

Volume 3 also includes tracks of Delbert McClinton guesting on releases by Roy Buchanan & Frankie Miller.  McClinton’s a great duet partner, as evidenced by his three albums with his old friend, Glen Clark.

Clark had moved from Fort Worth TX to Laurel Canyon and wrote a letter to Delbert urging him to make the trip — explaining that the artists’ community was a place where audiences were hungry for singer/songwriters. The change in audience allowed Delbert the freedom to further develop his own unique mix of Texas Roadhouse Blues, country, R&B, and soul.  

Delbert seems to have more lifetime friends than the average recording artist.  As the old joke goes: “In show business, they stab you in the front.”  There's truth to that, but Delbert’s an exception. He’s still friends with members of his first bands, as well as Bruce Channel & Glen Clark — many of whom have joined him on his annual Sandy Beaches Cruise.  The next cruise leaves Fort Lauderdale on January 13th of 2024 and returns on January 20th.  

Another Bottle Of Wine With Delbert McClinton

What put Delbert McClinton on the map (says Stinky) was the song he wrote after that divorcee (the one who accompanied Delbert from Texas to Laurel Canyon) up and left him “sweepin’ out a warehouse in West LA.” “Two More Bottles Of Wine” became Emmylou Harris’s third #1 hit, and a country music staple.

Delbert had a #8 hit with fellow Texan Jerry Lynn Williams‘ “Giving It Up For Your Love”. Delbert's solo albums are consistently impressive, but none more than 1980's The Jealous Kind, which features "Giving It Up" and a performance of the title track which rivals Ray Charles' version. Most of the songs on Volume 1 are from this period. Delbert toured almost nonstop for the next ten years. There was a glaringly obvious Peruvian Marching Powder break during the (otherwise impressive) show I caught around 1985.

McClinton moved to Nashville and continued to write hits for others, while his own albums topped the blues charts. His most recent Grammy was a duet with Bonnie Raitt on “Good Man, Good Woman”.  Another duet with Tanya Tucker was a Top 5 hit. Duets with Iris DeMent and Kacey Jones are included in today's Best of Delbert McClinton, Vol. 2.

Delbert retired during the COVID pandemic, with the exception of his annual Sandy Beaches cruise — which is scheduled to set sail in 2024 with guests The Mavericks, Marcia Ball, Paul Thorn, The Band Of Heathens, Lee Roy Parnell, and more! His biography Delbert McClinton: One Of The Fortunate Few was published in 2017.

Hey Delbert! We Wanna Know If You'll Be On Our Blog

Delbert McClinton may be best-known among other singer/songwriters (Stinky writes), despite winning 4 Grammys and releasing 20 solo albums. While still in his teens, McClinton and his band played desegregated Texas roadhouses. They backed blues artists passing through (Bo Diddley, Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters), and accompanied Jimmy Reed and Sonny Boy Williamson on short Southern tours.

Delbert’s first taste of international fame came when he played the harmonica on Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby”, which reached #1 in the US and #2 in the UK in 1962. At the time, pick-up bands were more likely to have horns than harmonica, but Channel insisted on Delbert.

I had never really even been out of Texas, (Delbert told Lonestar Music Magazine.) So to go to England was a big deal. As for meeting the Beatles… we were all on common ground at that point. We were the same age, we had the same dreams, we were going to do the same things, and on and on and on. And it wasn’t until after I’d been back from over there, maybe a year before the Beatles broke it wide open, that John (Lennon) mentioned to somebody in an interview that he was encouraged by the harmonica on “Hey Baby.” So that has been romanticized now to the point where “I taught him everything he knew.”

McClinton’s band The Ron-Dels put out a single Delbert wrote (“If You Really Want Me To, I’ll Go”) that reached the Top 20 in some cities. They also covered “Hey Baby”, augmenting Delbert’s harmonica with 60’s-era organ.

Delbert’s friend Glen Clark had moved to Laurel Canyon and urged Delbert to join him, explaining that the artists’ community was a place where audiences were hungry for singer/songwriters. Delbert’s girlfriend had a car and a divorce settlement, so they made the trip. “And just like that, we became hippies,” as Delbert recalls. In California, Delbert further developed his unique mix of Texas Roadhouse Blues, country, R&B, and soul.

The duo Delbert & Glen released several albums. 1972’s Clean was produced by T-Bone Burnett, and 1973’s Subject To Change included Delbert’s “Let Me Be Your Lover", which was covered by Dr. Hook. Glen Clark was also a solid songwriter: his "I Feel The Burden (Being Lifted Off My Shoulders)" became a hit for Rita Coolidge. After a brief thirty-year break, Delbert & Glen released Blind, Crippled, & Crazy in 2013.

The Blues Brothers covered Delbert's “B Movie Box Car Blues”, which was pretty racy for the time with a line that sounds like, “She said she sure could dig it if I rode her.” Never mind that the lyric sheet reads: “She parked inside of town, laid the Rambler down, she said she sure could dig if I'd knew her”. After regaling his intended with tales of various hookups in a Rambler, a DeSoto, & the titular boxcar with “a hobo woman”, Delbert brings it all home with: “Look for me Sunday, gonna be there honey, with something special just for you.”

Yeah, a mouthful of hot death.

At Belushi & Aykroyd’s insistence, Delbert appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed Chuck Berry’s “Talking ‘Bout You”, which is included in Volume 1 of The Best Of Delbert McClinton. Delbert was linked to another SNL alum when his song “Weatherman" was featured in Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day. Volume 2 to follow!

Everybody Sings Dave Alvin

Dave Alvin has been this blog's poster boy for a few weeks now.  He must be wondering what he did wrong to deserve this infamy.  Folks around here just seem to like you, Dave.

Stinky made a nice cover image for this set of songs written by Dave Alvin but sung by The Chipmunks other performers. I bet nobody ever made a joke like that when Dave and Phil were kids.

Some of the songs are from Dave's solo career, some date back to The Blasters, and a couple were recorded by X. Some are from The Blasters' contemporaries: Los Lobos, Dwight Yoakam, and the late Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers. Dave appears on a few of these tunes: playing guitar, singing, maybe leaning back in the producer's chair and pushing the faders with his boot heels. 

If I had my shit together, I could have posted this in time for the 4th of July, but I prefer to mull over my ideas until they grow stale. Like a bad joke.

Gnarly Guitarists: Mark Spencer

I first became aware of guitarist Mark Spencer through his work with Freedy Johnston, and then learned that Spencer had been a member of country-rock band the Blood Oranges. 

Mark Spencer's many credits on Discogs reveal that his career started with an early 80's Vermont punk band called Pinhead. He also produced their records. Somewhere along the line, Mark learned the chicken-pickin' style of country guitar, as well as lap steel, pedal steel, and keyboards.

After Mark left the Blood Oranges, singer and mandolin player Jimmy Ryan formed Wooden Leg, and singer-bassist Cheri Knight went solo. Mark plays on their records, so I assume they stayed friendly. Ron Ward (drummer) became the singer for Speedball Baby. The Blood Oranges did some reunion shows circa 2000, and contributed to the 2006 Slaughter Rule soundtrack (which Jay Farrar compiled).

In the mid-90's, Mark Spencer opened Brooklyn recording studio The Tape Kitchen. He guested on records by Lisa Loeb, Kelly Willis, Laura Cantrell and others before joining Jay Farrar's band Son Volt in the late 2000's. He has been a touring guitarist with a number of bands, including The Pretenders and Rusty Truck.

Mark's blog (now dormant) featured his photography and humorous observations like this one: "sometimes playing pedal steel is like a math quiz folded into one of those high school in your underwear dreams."

Today we have a set of Blood Oranges and Wooden Leg songs, including some of the demos that were shared at the dB's Repercussion blog. There's also a compilation that draws from 25 years of other artists' music that Mark Spencer played on (and in some cases produced). The cover image is taken from one of his photographs, and the tracklist is on the right.

A couple factoids: Amy Allison is Mose Allison's daughter. Ruby On The Vine is led by Myrna Marcarian (former Human Switchboard singer and organist). And as Trouser Press pointed out, Marty Stuart's 1992 version of High On A Mountaintop is nearly identical to the arrangement on the Blood Oranges' 1990 debut. Hey, it's the 90's again -- two posts in a row!

Jimmie Dale Gilmore's Eyes

No doubt you remember Jimmie Dale Gilmore for his touching portrayal of the touchy blind panhandler on TV's "Gilmore Girls".  As the theme song goes, "He's mos'cocious, and he knows just what it takes to make the girls blush!" Didja know that Redd Kross was inspired to cover songs from TV shows after hearing the Adverts' version of "Jimmie Gilmore's Eyes"?

Jimmie was born in Flatland, and formed the country's first band The Flatlanders with his pals Joe Ely and Butch Hancock. While on tour in the Ukraine, they recorded their legendary Odessa tape over an old Bee Gees cassette. Unfortunately, the tape sounded as flat as an armadillo on an Amarillo highway. 

(Artist's depiction of a Flatland execution)

It was issued in Flatland (on vinyl and CD) as Odessean Auricle. The title was a translation error. A forgivable mistake in most of the world -- after all, The Zombies couldn't spell either! However, people in Flatland are deeply mainly concerned with surface appearances. They were outraged, and called for the execution of the Flatlandish translator. The disgraced translator faked her own death, which was reported in state-run media as a bizarre gardening accident.

The band members were distraught. They narrowly escaped Flatland by going their separate ways. Jimmie turned left, Butch went right. Joe Ely took a diagonal path, a radical move admired by The Clash and other punk rockers. Eventually, each former Flatlander became a well-rounded solo artist. 

(rejected art for Odessean Auricle) 

As a songwriter, Jimmie is famous for the theme from "Dallas", "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown", and "Pakko Päästä Kaupunkiin" (a  Flatlanders tune he wrote back in the USSR).

In July 2021, The Flatlanders released a new album, Treasure Of Love. American outrage over COVID restrictions inspired the trio to write songs about what government repression is really like. Although citizens are free to roam the breadth and width of Flatland, it is an oppressive environment that lacks depth. "They're a bunch of squares," historian Edwin "Abbott" Abbott said flatly, and he has a point.

Stinky (our field correspondent from the fourth dimension) was inspired by all of this inspiration, and he has compiled a Homemade Album called The Best Of Jimmie Dale Gilmore. (Disclaimer: Stinky is responsible for all of the alt-country music but none of the "alternative facts" in today's post. Treasure Of Love is a real new Flatlanders album: click here to buy it!) 

Country & Petty

Growing up in Florida, surrounded by country music, it’s only natural that some of it seeped into Tom Petty’s musical groundwater.  Petty’s main influences (Roger McGuinn, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles) all flaunted their country influences much more than Petty ever did.

McGuinn blended country and rock with The Byrds.  Dylan shocked the world by recording with Johnny Cash. The Beatles covered Buck Owens’ "Act Naturally" and no fewer than three songs by Carl Perkins—who straddled the line between country and rockabilly his entire career.  

Petty's influence can be heard in the contemporary country artists who undoubtedly grew up listening to him.  There’s more Tom Petty than Norman Petty in most country acts today.  He didn’t so much play country, as he influenced the direction that country music took.

Like Neil Young and Bob Dylan, who also have unusual singing voices, Petty seems to drench every song he sings with his pure Petty-ness, and to turn a song into a Tom Petty song more than a specific style of music.  That’s one of the measures of a great recording artist: to be instantly recognizable no matter what you’re singing.  

So pop a piece of grass in your mouth, let the sun warm your face (keeping one eye open for gators on your lawn) and experience The Country Side Of Tom Petty. - Stinky

A Double Shot From Stinky!

Here's a twofer from Stinky, with something old and something new: Heart Attack Alley (rockin' and reelin' all the way from Auckland New Zealand), and Minneapolitans The Jayhawks, who have a brand new album called XOXO.

Heart Attack Alley was a trio self-described as Hypno-Psychotic Blues Trash. Guitarist Kristal Gallagher started playing with harmonica player Karl Steven, and singer Caiomhe MacFehin (described as the "demon child of Polly Harvey and Screamin Jay Hawkins") soon joined. Between 2010 and 2012, they recorded two 7" and an album called Living In Hell. Stinky has assembled eight live tracks from this short-lived but well-loved group. 

The Jayhawks are led by founding singer-guitarist Gary Louris.  The band has a complex history.  Marc Perlman (bass) has been with The Jayhawks since the beginning; Karen Grotberg (keyboards) joined in 1992, and Tim O'Reagan (drums and guitar) signed on in 1995 (shortly before Mark Olson left), so they're no Jayhawks-come-latelies. Each of the members wrote, arranged and sang songs on the new album.

Four of the new songs were featured on The Jayhawks' recent Tiny Desk Concert. Stinky has paired those with four more from a live performance in St. Paul. A friend of mine says that XOXO is one of the Jayhawks' best albums yet, and the reviews are very positive.