By Steve Rhodes
Beachwood Bob, the co-owner with his brother of the Beachwood Inn, recently held a tag sale to clear out various items inside an old house they owned down the block from the bar. In after-sale scavenging, Bob gave me the pick of whatever records remained. This is what I grabbed.
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1. All-Time Country & Western Hits/Nashville All Stars
A Dynagroove Recording as well as an RCA Victor Record Club Special. Produced by Bob Ferguson and Chet Atkins, 1965.
2. This Is Music From Nashville/Columbia Special Products
Includes Ray Price, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Marty Robbins, Mac Davis, and Johnny Cash.
3. Golden Hits/Roger Miller
“Years before Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson grew their hair long, Miller took country to the counterculture with these hipster twists on the Nashville sound,” writes Dan Cooper of All Music Guide. “No tunesmith in Music City had ever tossed off songs like ‘Dang Me,’ ‘King of the Road,’ ‘Chug-A-Lug,’ and ‘Engine Engine #9.’ No one has since.” From Smash Records.
4. An Evening at the Famous Flying W Ranch.
Vol. 2, from Flying W Records out of Colorado Springs and featuring the Flying W Wranglers.
5. Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs/Marty Robbins
“A lonely Westerner in Nashville, Marty Robbins salved his soul by cutting an album (in one afternoon) of mostly self-composed cowboy ballads,” writes Colin Escott on Amazon.com. “One of them was a four-and-a-half-minute epic, ‘El Paso,’ that broke every rule of Top 40 programming to become a No. 1 pop and country hit in 1960. Robbins was arguably the most surefooted and accomplished singer in all country music, and that was never more obvious than on these Western ballads performed to often breathtaking perfection with a very small group and a vocal trio. Other titles include ‘Big Iron’ (also a Top 30 hit), ‘Running Gun,’ and Western classics like ‘Cool Water,’ ‘Billy the Kid’ and ‘The Strawberry Roan.’ Three extra tracks flesh out the 1999 release, including ‘Saddle Tramp’ (the B-side of ‘Big Iron’) and ‘The Hanging Tree’ (title song from the 1959 Gary Cooper Western).”
6. Hootenanny Parade
From Camay Records. Includes The Weavers and The Sportsmen.
7. The Best of Charley Pride
Produced by Chet Atkins, Jack Clement, Bob Ferguson and Felton Jarvis. On RCA, 1969.
Pride appeared on The Johnny Cash Show the same year he released this record to sing a medley of Hank Williams songs with the host.
8. The Ink Spots at Las Vegas
From Spin-O-Rama Records. Includes “When The Saints Go Marching In.”
The Ink Spots “helped define the musical genre that led to rhythm & blues and rock and roll, and the subgenre doo-wop,” according to Wikipedia.
9. Roger Miller
Features seven songs from “Big River” plus four more. On the cover, Roger is wearing an argyle sweater.I can’t seem to find a photo of it. 1986.
10. Marty Robbins’ Greatest Hits Vol. III
Produced by Bob Johnston, on Columbia. Comes in eight-track too.
11. It’s A Sin/Marty Robbins
“The Who’s 2006 album Endless Wire includes the song “God Speaks, of Marty Robbins,” according to Wikipedia. “The song’s composer, Pete Townshend, explains that the song is about God’s deciding to create the universe just so he can hear some music, ‘and most of all, one of his best creations, Marty Robbins.'”
12. Marty’s Country/Marty Robbins
A Deluxe 2-Record Set with 20 All-Time Great Recordings in One Great Package. Includes “Streets of Laredo,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” and “Long Tall Sally.”
13. Mel Tillis’ Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
On Kapp Records (MCA), 1971. Includes “One More Drink” and “Heartaches By the Number.”
14. The Tender Side of Ray Charles
From Suffox Marketing.
15. I Wrote A Song About It/Tom T. Hall
On Mercury, 1975. Includes “I Like Beer” and “It Rained In Every Town Except Paducah.”
16. I Never Picked Cotton/Roy Clark
“It’s fast cars and whiskey, long-haired girls and fun for all concerned.”
17. Your Cheatin’ Heart and other Hank Williams Favorites as sung by Johnny Williams.
From Custom Records.
18. Bummin’ Around With Jimmy Dean
La Brea Records. “Jimmy Dean can truly be considered the ‘Dean’ of Country and Western entertainers.” Includes “Why Don’t You Shut Your Mouth (And Open Your Heart)” and “I’m Feelin’ For You (But I Can’t Reach You).”
19. The Best of Don Gibson
RCA Victor, 1965. Includes “Oh Lonesome Me” and “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You.”
Not to be confused with The Very Best of Don Gibson, Remembering Don Gibson, Don Gibson’s K-Tel Greatest Hits, Don Gibson Greatest Hits, Don Gibson All-Time Greatest Hits (K-Tel), Don Gibson 20 Greatest Songs, Best of Don Gibson, Greatest Hits Vol. 1, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Country Gems, 18 Greatest Hits, All-Time Greatest Hits (RCA), A Legend In My Time, Collection, The Best of Don Gibson Vol. 21 (Capitol/Curb), The Don Gibson Collection, Early Years, Collector’s Series, 20 of the Best, Rockin’ Rollin’ Gibson Vol. 1, Rockin’ Rollin’ Gibson Vol. 2, Gibson Sound, 15 Greatest Hits, Don Gibson Sings All-Time Country Gold, Great Gibson, or .
20. I’m So Used To Loving You/Conway Twitty
MCA, 1973. Liner notes by Barbara Smith, a secretary at United Talent, Inc. Also noted: Fan club information including the address of national fan club president Elizabeth Rich of Peoria.
21. The Very Best of Mel Tillis and The Statesiders.
MGM, 1971. Mel contracted malaria when he was three-years-old that left him with a permanent stutter. “During his school days, various treatments failed to cure this speech problem and though originally embarrassed by it, he managed in later years to turn it into a trademark,” according to his Hastings Entertainment bio. He built his reputation not only as a performer, but a songwriter, turning out hits for artists such as Webb Pierce, Ray Price and Bobby Bare (“Detroit City”, which he co-wrote with Danny Dill).
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See what else is rattlin’ ’round the Cellar.
Posted on November 7, 2007