twang club radio hour episode 3 - my brain on twang
I decided to use this episode to introduce some of the silly sub-genres and categories I use to sort my records for DJing.
These are not proper sub-genres really, more like vibe and mood so that when something’s working during a set I can keep things going.
The Last set is then made up tunes by artists I saw at the Burning Ma’am festival.
I started off with some straight up Honky Tonk and general country.
Clyde Beavers was a second or possibly third tier honky tonk star who has been largely forgotten. The second song here is his most famous and was a hit for Moe Bandy later on. He spent much of his career running the recording studio Beaverwood Audio/Video working mostly with gospel artists but also artists like Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.
Helen and Anita Carter were two of June Carter’s sisters and both released several singles on their own. Anita released quite a few over the years ranging from bluesy numbers like this one to really unique rockabilly tinged records like one in a later set.
Skeets MacDonald was one of the originators of the Bakersfield Sound. He sadly only released a few albums before dying of a heart attack at the of 53 in 1968.
As far as I know this is the only record Kay Crowe ever put out.
0:00 - BG: The Royal Jokers - Vibrations - 1959
1:42 - Cylde Beavers - I Ain’t Gonna Drink No More - 1961
4:10 - Helen Carter - There Ain’t No Future For Me - 1957
6:39 - Skeets McDonald - Fingertips - 1957
8:36 - Anita Carter - I Want To Be Blue - 1951
11:10 - Kay Crowe - Walk Across - 1968
13:56 - Clyde Beavers - Here I Am Drunk Again - 1960
This set is made up of what I call Fuzz Country. Basically it’s harder edged country with a fuzz guitar or guitar with some kind of distortion. I always look for songs like this because they stand out among the chicken pickin’ and other standard sounds of country.
Carl Butler was around for a long time. He mostly recorded with his wife Pearl but his career started back in the early 50s. He wrote several originals that became standards and his recordings are often pretty unique. This was produced by Don Law and Frank Jones although there are debates about who really did what on records credited to them.
This Wanda Jackson tune comes from one of Wanda Jackson’s country leaning albums. It’s a pretty classic Ken Nelson production who often snuck in some weird ideas in with his more standard “Nashville Sound” recordings.
This Kay Adams record is more famous for the song “Little Pink Mack,” and it’s cover but I’m a sucker for answer songs and this is a good one.
Jack Reno didn’t release a ton of records but one of them happened to be the original version of Wonder Drug.
Atlanta James was an alias of Mack Vickery who worked mostly as a songwriter and wrote classics like “She Went A Little Bit Further,” “Brass Buckles,” “The Jamestown Ferry,” “The Meat Man” and this song which was later a hit for Johnny Paycheck.
16:29 - BG: The Rockin’ R’s - Mustang - 1959
18:06 - Carl Butler - Wonder Drug - 1962
20:13 - Wanda Jackson - This Gun Don’t Care - 1966
22:51 - Kay Adams - Six Days A Waiting - 1966
24:56 - Jack Reno - I’m A Good Man - 1968
27:32 - Atlanta James - I’m The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised - 1975
The following songs are what I refer to as Nashville Pop. This is a little different in my mind from pop country because it’s got a little more twang and is more country with pop elements instead of pop dressed up as country. They tend to be upbeat fun tunes. I have a separate section called Sad Nashville for what is generally referred to as the "Nashville Sound” or “Countrypolitan.”
Lois Johnson had a pretty long career including a Grammy for best country duo with Hank Williams, Jr. She started off singing and playing bass with bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin and would go on to be on the outskirts of the outlaw country scene.
Lamar Morris started out as a rockabilly singer but recorded some fun poppy country stuff too. This record was produced by Cowboy Jack Clement who wrote the B-side. This song was co-written by Mack Vickery.
Margie Bowes put out a few albums and 20 something singles and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry for several years. This tune was written by Helen Carter who was her label mate on Hickory. It would later be covered by The Knitters, the country side project of punk band X.
Ray Frushay had a long career but never had any substantial hits or a long term record deal. This song is pretty silly but I like it.
The Stonemans are basically the second family of country music. Ernest “Pop” Stoneman’s first recordings actually preceded the Peer Sessions known by some as the “big bang of country music,” and he was very involved in those sessions on both sides of the recording machine. The Stoneman Family would go on to record hillbilly, bluegrass and honky tonk and then branched out a lot in the 1960s. They flirted with country rock and many other contemporary styles.
30:31 - BG: The Rockaways - Band Stand - 1963
31:52 - Lois Johnson - Lonesome Number One - 1974
34:04 - Lamar Morris - Now I Can’t Call My Baby, Baby Anymore - 1967
36:05 - Margie Bowes - Poor Old Heartsick Me - 1959
38:23 - Ray Frushay - This Apartment House - 1968
41:03 - The Stonemans - The Love I Left Behind - 1968
This set features my favorite original category Sassy Go Go Country. These are similar to Nashville Pop but are all female artists doing sassy songs with an edge and a heavy beat you can go go dance to.
Connie Cato only released 3 albums and 20 singles. Both of the first two records have several fun sassy tunes some of which charted.
This is an example of Anita Carter’s later explorations in different styles. This one was produced by Felton Jarvis who was responsible for a lot of my favorite sassy country songs. The b-side to this record was co-written by Anita and Helen.
Jeannie Seely is more often on the sad Nashville side of things but has some great sassy records mixed in.
Judy Lynn mixed hard honky tonk but also incorporated some fun pop elements and a definitely sassy attitude. She had her own show on the Las Vegas strip for many years. She was no relation to Loretta Lynn.
Linda Manning never put out an album and only 20 or so singles. Everyone I’ve heard has been really fun but this one which features 2 obscure tunes by Tom T Hall is probably my favorite.
43:50 - BG: The Crowns - The Go Tune - 1959
45:25 - Connie Cato - Super Skirt - 1973
48:07 - Anita Carter - You Couldn’t Bet My Love Back If You Tried - 1966
50:01 - Jeannie Seely - You Tied Tin Cans To My Heart - 1966
52:07 - Judy Lynn - 220 Mama - 1973
54:16 - Linda Manning - Shade Tree Mechanic - 1965
Now for what may be the most controversial category: “Country Disco.” It’s a little less controversial now that Sturgill Simpson aka Jonny Blue Skies has been using the term to describe his latest album. The prime era of Country Disco was even shorter lived than the mainstream interest in standard disco. Some people cringe at the name but end up dancing or at least getting a kick out of the records. There weren’t many if any artists who made a substantial career out of country disco, but a lot of artists had a tune or two. I chose 2 artists who were known for more traditional country styles doing songs that aren’t exactly disco but are moving that way and two artists who were contemporary with the rise of country disco. These are all on the twangier side of country disco but you will be hearing plenty of records that are much closer to what most people think of when they hear disco in future episodes.
This Faron Young tune is fun largely because he sounds generally exasperated, probably because he’s singing a disco tune. Faron had his rockabilly side but I do wonder what he thought of this tune. Judging from this performance he seemed to be having some fun with it.
Little David Wilkins was largely a country soul singer in the vein of Charlie Rich but mixed in country disco, honky tonk and Nashville pop.
You might think Wynn Stewart was forced into doing this song by a label but he owned the label and wrote the song.
I haven’t found much about Wyvon except that he had a few minor chart appearances and toured with Merle Haggard. He generally had a harder, almost outlaw sound from what I’ve heard.
56:55 - BG: Glynn Hipp’s Jokers - Spitfire - 1959
0:58:36 - Faron Young - Here I Am In Dallas - 1975
1:01:14 - Little David Wilkins - Disco Tex - 1976
1:03:53 - Wynn Stewart - I Was Raised Down On The Farm - 1979
1:06:45 - Wyvon Alexander - Alice In Dallas - 1982
What most people refer to as Country Funk I prefer to call Funky Tonk because it’s more fun.
Delbert & Glen released two albums and consisted of Delbert McClinton who went on to stardom and Glen Clark who didn’t. He had a career as a songwriter and played on some records and reunited with Delbert in 2013 for what is better than a record that is better than most reunion records. The second Delbert & Glen record is phenomenal and the first one is good too.
Gordon Payne was Waylon Jenning’s right hand man and one of the post Buddy Holly lead singers of The Crickets. He put out one solo record and it’s amazing. It was one of the original inspirations for my “doors and windows” strategy when digging for records. I will check out any record that has a guy with long hair in front of a door or window. It’s worked pretty well so far.
Jerry Riopelle is an interesting guy who in addition to putting out a few of his own albums produced some records in the 60s and 70s, he was a staff writer for Phil Specter, wrote for film and tv, played with the Righteous Brothers and wrote several songs covered by others. He also became a huge star in Arizona even though he was from Detroit by way of Tampa and LA.
Toni & Terry is Toni Brown and Terry Garthwaite from the band Joy of Cooking. It’s one of my favorite discoveries of the last year or so. It was buried in a bin where it had probably sat for 20 years or more priced at $2. It fit my criterion of being from the 70s with a steel guitar and under $5.
Travis Wammack is an even more fascinating guy. The youngest person ever accepted to the musicians union at 11 years old, number one hit with “Scratchy” at 16 years old, one of the originators of the fuzz guitar and voice box, then a long career as one of the main guitarists at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also put out several albums of his own and continued to play live into his 80s. This track is from his second solo record which has become one of my all time faves. If you buy a copy and don’t like I’ll buy it off of you. I also found a fascinating interview with Travis on Youtube if you want to dig deep: https://youtu.be/WmTZzMfDE0M?si=UqKLflIP0YDy7RH6
1:09:27 - BG: Jimmy Dempsey - Night Fever - 1979
1:10:30 - Delbert & Glen - Bless ‘Em - 1973
1:12:55 - Gordon Payne - Down On Love - 1978
1:16:45 - Jerry Riopelle - Me and The Fox - 1975
1:23:08 - Toni & Terry - I Want To Be The One - 1973
1:26:15 - Travis Wammack - Shotgun Woman - 1975
When I was preparing this episode I had just gotten back from a trip out to central Pennsylvania for the Burning Ma’am festival. It was an amazing experience with a ton of great bands and these are just a few of them. Check out their records and but stuff from their bandcamp or websites.
1:29:14 - BG: Area Code 615 - Devil Weed and Me 1970
1:33:00 - Ma’am - Good Folks - 2019 https://maam-band.bandcamp.com/
1:37:15 - Nathan Xander - Pennsylvania - 2017 https://nathanxander.bandcamp.com/
1:40:00 - Wilson Springs Hotel - Butt End of the Bread - 2026 https://thewilsonspringshotel.bandcamp.com/
1:43:23 - Sheer Mag - Don’t Come Lookin - 2024 https://sheermag.bandcamp.com/
1:46:20 - The Out Sect - I Like To Die - 2025 https://theoutsect.bandcamp.com/
1:48:31 - The Mystery Lights - Sorry I Forgot Your Name - 2024 https://themysterylights.bandcamp.com
1:51:35 - Old Lady - Sweeter on Whiskey - 2023 https://oldladyofficial.bandcamp.com
1:54:05 - BG: Lloyd Green - Steel Guitar Jubilee - 1964
1:55:29 - Navasota - Ole Slew Foot - 1972
