Ray Pillow - Even When It's Bad It's Good!

In this week's episode we're remembering an extremely popular regional act who almost broke the big time save for a few noble family decisions: Rem Wall & The Green Valley Boys. The host of a long-running TV show out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Rem Wall made some great honky tonk during his years with Glenn Records (Hammond, IN) and later Columbia. Poised to enjoy national success, Wall opted to stay put and lived out his career as a big fish in a relatively small pond. His recordings tell the tale of a man who had "it" as much as the next guy on the Nashville hit list so let's get digging into this week's box o' 45s!

In this week's episode we're featuring Kentucky's Hugh X. Lewis' fourth album for Kapp Records: "Country Fever" (1968). A high school buddy and his songwriting chops lead him to Nashville in 1963 and after Paul Cohen signed him to Kapp, Lewis cut some super material through our feature album's release (which was his last for the label). Lewis' wrote or co-wrote nine of his fifteen charting singles so it's no surprise his hand is prolific on "Country Fever" (particularly the B-side) and it's a better album for it.

In this week's episode we're featuring an album from the wonderful Ray Pillow: "Even When It's Bad It's Good!" (1967). From Lynchburg, Virginia and a Grand Ole Opry favourite for more than fifty years, Pillow's rich and smooth baritone drew comparisons to Dean Martin over his long career. And though he hailed from Virignia, folks often thought he was Texan for his love of country shuffles. Our feature album delivers in spades and proves Pillow's back catalogue is well worth digging into.

In this week's episode we return to Canada for a fresh new release from Winnipeg's Sean Burns: "Lost Country" (2023). After some spitballing with guitar slinger and buddy Grant Siemens, Burns' came up with the idea of recording an album of all-Canadian, mostly unknown country covers and it came together quickly. Recorded and released in between gigging as part of Corb Lund's band, "Lost Country" is delivered with bravado, swagger and reverence all at the same time. If hearing good material for the first time is up your alley, Sean Burns' "Lost Country" will be too.

This week it's all gals! More than just Dolly, it's three hours of the very best female voices of traditional country, honky tonk, bluegrass and western swing and nothing but.

In this week's episode we're featuring an ultra-rare slice of 1969 honky tonk from a West Virginian stationed in West Germany after his service: "Most Requested Country Songs" by Pat Patterson. An enigmatic character to say the least, we let the music do the talking as Patterson's lilting yet attention-grabbing honky tonk vocal demands your time. Recorded Stateside with the best players money could buy, the one LP that Patterson ever released has been on my radar (unsuccessfully) for almost a decade and has finally become widely available thanks to the obscure hard country reissue specialists at Sweet Mental Revenge Records out of Sweden. Superb stuff, a real treat to play it this week in full. Purchase it yourself at rodgerwilhoit.bandcamp.com!

In this week's episode we're featuring an unreleased album for Capitol Records recorded from 1973 by Oklahoma's Stoney Edwards: "The Land Of The Giants". A collection of songs paying tribute to the giants of country music as the title suggests, the project was shelved in the face of the '73/'74 oil embargo and never revisited (at least by Capitol). That situation somewhat sums up Edwards' career - an incredibly talented singer and picker with country credentials oozing from every note, this Seminole, Oklahoma native's life was plagued with bad luck and unfortunate events. We'll dig into Edwards' intriguing back story this week, unearth a good number of gems from his back catalogue and remember one of the few black country singers to ever score a chart hit this side of Charley Pride. Essential listening.

In this week's episode we're turning the spotlight on Texan Sonny Burns' second attempt at recording success during the years 1959-1968. What little information there is on Burns' career usually centres on his association with George Jones while at Starday Records: it's country music folklore that Burns famously missed (what turned out to be) a hit duet session with The Possum and stymied his own career in favour of bourbon and women. However, after resurfacing in 1959 on TNT Records out of San Antonio, the early 60s saw a reunification with Pappy Daily at United Artists and Burns' lay down some of the finest honky tonk music of the decade, albeit with some added sheen as compared to his Starday material. '59-'68 produced some sensational sides for Sonny Burns and this week we run through a tonne of 'em, thirteen hardcore honky tonk nuggets in total. Dig it!

In this week's episode we're featuring an album from Austin-based outfit The Derailers from the peak of their power: "Full Western Dress" (1999). Riding thousands of road miles as well as the rise in the Americana and alt-country radio scene, The Derailers Bakersfield-infused honky tonk saw them gain strong regional and national success, though it never translated into widespread mainstream radio airplay. A special musical connection and combination between joint frontmen Tony Villaneuva and Brian Hofeldt equated in tight harmonies and catchy, jangly, twangy country music pleasing fans of the hard stuff from coast to coast. The majority of the album was written by the band and earworms are plentiful as Buck & Don - er, Tony and Brian - looked to take it to the next level with their second outing on Sire Records in "Full Western Dress". Quality material!

In this week's episode we're featuring a 1985 album for family band The Whites: "Whole New World". When family patriarch and lynchpin of the group Buck White decided to rejig his band, he needed only look across the dinner table for what became The Whites: daughters Sharon White on guitar and Cheryl on bass along with Buck himself on mandolin (and whatever else needed playing) made the nucleus for this family act's most successful years. Enlisting all-star help in Jerry Douglas on dobro and Ricky Skaggs on fiddle, The Whites took their gorgeous harmonies and pioneered an ever-so-slightly swinging traditional country/bluegrass mash up which appealed to audiences for decades. The fact that nine of the ten tracks from this week's feature album were included in this episode proves "Whole New World" is an absolute delight and just the tip of a top notch and brilliantly selective disography.