Reasons to love youTube No.8 - The Honey Dewdrops

Rockin' Chair Money- The Honey Dewdrops

I've never heard of the Honey Dewdrops, but I just put Rockin' Chair Money into youTube and voila. What a great surprise. It's an acoustic take on the great Hank Williams number and it cooks. The driving sound of that acoustic guitar blows my mind.

From the look of things, they're a husband and wife folk group. Well, even if the sex gets stale they've still got the music.

Check out their other stuff on youTube, you should be impressed.

Hank Williams Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings

Hank Williams Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings
Time Life Entertainment

Hank Williams Revealed is the follow up to last years, Hank Williams: The Unreleased Recordings. The format is the same, three CD’s featuring some complete 15-minute “morning shows” of hits, narratives and gospel. The shows were pre-recorded in Nashville and sponsored by Mother’s Best Flour and Feed for distribution to radio stations across the land. Hank Williams Revealed features three full Mother’s Best programs first heard nearly 60 years ago, as well as stand-alone songs, in-studio conversations and banter between Hank and the Drifting Cowboys.

The first CD is billed as The Hits… Like Never Before. The first thing that strikes you is the quality of Hank’s vocals and the band. These versions are so tight they could have been released as singles. The disc kicks off with his then current single, Cold, Cold Heart, running at over three minutes. It’s of particular interest because this is believed to be the first public appearance of the song. Highlights include Move It On Over, described by Hank as “The Doghouse Blues, the dog song”.

The upbeat manner and jokey nature of Hank belie the pain and suffering he was going through at this time in his life. We do get a glimpse of it at the beginning of the second disc when during the introduction to That Beautiful Home he says he’ll get up out of this chair to the mic if his back can stand it. This second disc, Southern Harmony, contains the spirituals and although this isn’t really my favourite genre, there are some great numbers on offer. How Can You Refuse Me Now is beautiful and Lord Build Me A Cabin also hits the spot. Something Got A Hold Of Me is a duet with Miss Audrey where she maintains her 100% record of always sounding like she’s in the middle of an argument.

The third and final disc, Luke the Drifter, is an intriguing collection of less familiar songs. Hank jokingly refers to Luke The Drifter as his half brother before reciting the clever, bittersweet, Everything’s Okay. I love the version of Jimmie Davis’ honky-tonkin’ homage to Dixie, Where The Old Red River Flows with Hank’s strange yodel which is part Lovesick Blues, part Muleskinner Blues. A drop or two of moonshine liquor must surely have passed his lips before this recording. Prime-time Hank. His revamp of Tennessee Waltz to Alabama Waltz drags a bit, but not so a rompin’ Orange Blossom Special, which sees Jerry Rivers shine. I Hang My Head and Cry is neat ballad, almost a rewrite of I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.

As with the first box, this is a superb release that sits nicely alongside the 10 Hank box and the Health & Happiness Shows. He was a freak of nature to be such a brilliant and consistent artist even when his personal life was in tatters. He remains the bench mark for all country singers.

Hank Williams - Rockin' Chair Money

Hank Williams
Rockin' Chair Money - Gonna Shake This Shack
Bear Family Records

Tracklist: Tennessee Border/ Swing Wide Your Gate Of Love/ Move It On Over/ Rootie Tootie/ I'm A Long Gone Daddy/ I Saw The Light/ I Ain't Got Nothin' But Time/ You Better Keep It On Your Mind/ Honky Tonkin'/ Pan American/ The Blues Come Around/ Lovesick Blues/ Mind Your Own Business/ You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)/ Rockin' Chair Money/ Roly Poly/ My Bucket's Got A Hole In It/ Long Gone Lonesome Blues/ Why Don't You Love Me/ I'm Satisfied With You/ I'll Be A Bachelor 'Til I Die/ I Can't Get You Off Of My Mind/ Nobody's Lonesome For Me/ Fly Trouble/ Moanin' The Blues/ Hey, Good Lookin'/ Half As Much/ Honky Tonk Blues/ Jambalaya (On The Bayou)/ Settin' The Woods On Fire/ Kaw-Liga/ Ten Little Numbers/ Fool About You.

Along with most people who weren’t “there at the time”, my first Hank Williams album was a Greatest Hits affair. It gave me an insight into the greatest country music artist of all time and whetted my appetite for more. A couple of years ago I bought the stunning Complete HW 10 CD box set and over the years have bought the Opry live, the Health and Happiness shows and just about anything that offers something new. So why the hell did I need to get this CD? Well it’s on Bear Family for a start, and it also features 33 tracks in the uptempo mode, ideal for a happy drive around the countryside. Don’t get me wrong, I love Your Cheatin’ Heart and My Son Calls Another Man Daddy is one of my favourite songs of all time, but for me, the real meat and bones of ol’ Hank are the numbers when he’s got a pep in his step.

Seventeen of the songs here made the country top 10, but for me the real beauty of this set is the less obvious stuff. You Better Keep It On Your Mind, Nobody’s Lonesome For Me, I’m Satisfied With you, they all sound great even against such illustrious company as the likes of Hey Good Lookin’ and Lovesick Blues.

Following Hank’s death, a shed load of songs came out with backing tracks overdubbed. These were followed decades later by the unadulterated, “unplugged” originals. You may have both or you might just have the unplugged. For the most part, Bear Family have chosen to go with the fuller sounding dubs (thankfully minus strings) and I believe they’ve made the right choice. Overdubbed in 1959, Rockin’ Chair Money and Tennessee Border both sound brilliant in this format and I can’t stop singing track two. Surely Hank had his tongue firmly in his cheek with that famous half smile cracking as he asks his chick to “swing wide your gate of love, open it for me”. I’ll have ten bucks worth with her as well.

As with their Rocks! series, Bear Family’s hillbilly sister, Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight goes from strength to strength. Mind you, it can’t get any stronger after this. Rockin’ Chair Money packs all the punch of Miss Audrey when the drunken Hank stumbled home with a head full of booze and that lop-sided grin.

To top it all, and to close the CD in blistering style hanks 1951 demo of Fool About You is given a pure rockabilly backing with probably Grady Martin adding the spice as he did to so many sessions. A brilliant ending to an absolutely essential package.

Routes of Rockabilly - Various Artists

Routes of Rockabilly – Various Artists
Fantastic Voyage FVTD026

DISC 1
1. Thats All Right (Arthur Big Boy Crudup)
2. Love My Baby (Little Juniors Blue Flames)
3. Freight Train Boogie (The Delmore Brothers)
4. Move It On Over (Hank Williams)
5. Thirty Days To Come Back Home (Ernest Tubb)
6. Drinking Wine Spoli Oli (The Five Strings)
7. Welcome To The Club (Charline Arthur)
8. Country Cattin (Jimmy Swan)
9. Dign And Datin (Gene Henslee)
10. Peepin Eyes (Charlie Feathers)
11. Split Personality (Bill Taylor and Smokey Jo)
12. Juke Box Help Me Find My Baby (The Rhythm Rockers)
13. Im A Little Red Caboose (Maddox Brothers and Rose)
14. Daddys Got The Deep Elem Blues (Jimmie Revard)
15. Who Shot Willie (Arthur Guitar Boogie Smith)
16. False Hearted Girl (Tennessee Ernie and Ella Mae Morse)
17. Jersey Rock (Zeb Turner)
18. Rocking Chair On The Moon (Bill Haley)
19. Thirteen Women And Only One Man In Town (Dickie Thompson)
20. Motor Head Baby (Chuck Higgins)
21. Right String But The Wrong Yo Yo (Piano Red)
22. The House Of Blue Lights (Merrill E Moore)
23. The Milk Cow Blues (Jimmie Rogers Snow)
24. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Elvis Presley)
25. Baby Lets Play House (Arthur Gunter)

DISC 2
1. Cash On The Barrelhead (The Louvin Brothers)
2. Bear Cat (Rufus Hound Dog Thomas Jr)
3. Mystery Train (Little Juniors Blue Flames)
4. I Dont Care If The Sun Dont Shine (Elvis Presley)
5. Get Rhythm (Johnny Cash)
6. My Kind Of Carrying On (Doug Poindexter)
7. My Gal Gertie (Dub Dickerson)
8. Corrine Corrina 1947 Radio Transcription (Bob Wills)
9. Settin The Woods On Fire (Hank Williams)
10. Long Gone Daddy (Lou Graham)
11. Granpaws A Cat (Jimmy Murphy)
12. Catfish Boogie (Tennessee Ernie)
13. Rock A Bye Baby (Skeeter Bonn)
14. Kitty Kat (Bill Mack)
15. Alligator Come Across (Arlie Duff)
16. Rockin With My Baby (Malcolm Yelvington)
17. Movie Magg (Carl Perkins)
18. Feelin Low (Ernie Chaffin)
19. Lie To Me Baby (Johnny Tyler)
20. I Wont Be Rockin Tonight (Jean Chapel)
21. Choo Choo boogie (Kenny Roberts)
22. Fujiyama Mama (Annisteen Allen)
23. Forty Cups Of Coffee (Danny Overbea)
24. Im Coming Home (Johnny Horton)
25. The Rockaway Rock (The Collins Kids)

DISC 3
1. Hound Dog (Willie Mae Big Mama Thornton)
2. Red Hot (Billy The Kid Emerson)
3. Sittin On Top Of The World (Bob Wills)
4. Honky Tonk Blues (Hank Williams)
5. No No Baby (Al Ferrier)
6. Tom Catin Around (Jimmy Selph)
7. Rockin And Rollin With Grandmaw (Carson Robison)
8. Oakie Boogie (Ella Mae Morse)
9. Burning The Wind (Billy Wallace)
10. Dont Cry Baby (Cal Veale)
11. Dig Boy Dig (Freddie Hart)
12. Honky Tonk Man (Johnny Horton)
13. Tennessee RocknRoll (Bobby Helms)
14. Stop Look And Listen (Patsy Cline)
15. Mamas Little Baby (Junior Thompson)
16. Dont Go Baby Don t Go (Al Coker)
17. Take And Give (Slim Rhodes)
18. Crazy Arms (Jerry Lee Lewis)
19. Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On (Roy Hall)
20. Sag Drag And Fall (Sid King and The Five Strings)
21. Catty Town (Pee Wee King)
22. Party (The Collins Kids)
23. Just Because (Elvis Presley)
24. Trucker From Tennessee (Link Davis)
25. Down The Road A Piece (Chuck Miller)



The latest release from the emergent Fantastic Voyage label takes a look at the roads that led us to Rockabilly Central. The musical highways and bye-ways that gave us rockabilly are featured, from the Blues Highway to the Rural Route. Listen to Hank plead the Honky Tonk Blues for the perfect example of both styles in one magical two minute stroll. Not everything in life is black and white though, so we also get a few of the lesser trodden paths like western swing. To top it all we get a handful of songs from the town where all these routes converged, Memphis.

When I got into rockabilly/rock ‘n’ roll in the ‘80s I was soon digging out anything relating to its roots and quickly started to worship at the House of Hank. The likes Ernest Tubb and Tennessee Ernie Ford entered my conscience a little later and never quite thrilled me like the Drifting Cowboy. A big of digging to see what made Elvis tick led me to Arthur Crudup and Arthur Gunter and the jigsaw was starting to come together. There were some brilliant compilations in the ‘80s that shaped the rst of my lifes musical taste. And while that took a lot of collecting and searching, this 3CD set gives it to you in one fell swoop.

Why buy it then? Well, as well as the well known artists mentioned above, there’s a whole host of less obvious singers. Oklahoma deejay Gene Henslee’s 1954 Imperial single Dig’n And Datin’ is a rural rocker with honky tonk piano and a hypnotic shuffle beat. I’ve always loved the great Arthur Smith boogie, Who Shot Willie and there may be some out there unfamiliar with the early Bill Haley gem Rocking Chair On The Moon. I love his Thirteen Women, but here we get the Dickie Thompson original which I can’t recall hearing before. It’s bluesy and Thompson plays a mean guitar.
The second CD has a trio of numbers that might not be known to everyone but will definitely appeal to your taste buds -You’ll love Skeeter Bonn’s RCA Rock A Bye Baby, Bill Mack’s Kitty Kat and Arlie Duff’s superb Alligator Come Across. Johnny Tyler’s Lie To Me Baby is raw, country bopper shows that the Starday label was as hot as any label in 1956.


The only tracks that didn’t hit the spot for me were the two gals Jean Chapel and Charline Arthur and Bob Wills’ Corrine, Corrina. Three poor tracks, perhaps that’s why it sells for £9.99 not a tenner! These three are more than made up for by the stupendously brilliant, Burning The Wind by Billy Wallace. I’ve been saying “ah, play it Mr Gibson” to every acoustic guitar break since I first bought the Mercury Rockabillies album many moons ago.

Released this week and retailing at under a tenner for a triple set, this 75 song set is an absolute steal and will please new fans and seasoned collectors alike. This is the type of set that will stay in the car for years. The road between Pontrhydfendigaid and Aberystwyth might not be one of the Routes of Rockabilly, but it’s certainly heard a bit of it over the years, and with this set in the glove compartment it's going to hear a bit more for some time yet.

Rock 'n' Roll Art No. 2

J.D.Sipe was born in 1951 in the small farming community of New London, Wisconsin but has lived most of his life in New Mexico. He is an award winning self-taught artist who specialises in painting blues singers and general musicians that he's a fan of. He paints on pine boards, and embellishes his paintings with bits of recycled aluminium can. See Lightnin' Hopkins' tie and handkerchief as an example.

Among our heroes to look out for, Snipes has painted Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Hank Williams, BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.


Away from art he is the bass player for the blues band the HooDoos, performing in saloons, dancehalls, honky-tonks, roadhouse and nightclubs throughout the Southwest. He has been a professional musician for more than thirty years, and has performed with such bluesmen as Homesick James, Joe Huston, Buddy Ace and Wild Child Butler. He loves to tell the story about the night that Steve Winwood sat in with his band at the Chicago Bar in Tucson.

Luke McDaniel - the Daddy – O Rockabilly

Luke McDaniel, like many a good singer was born in the good ole southern state of Mississippi, in Ellisville on February 3, 1927. He started in music after buying a seven dollar mandolin, and was influenced by hillbilly singers like The Bailes Brothers. He formed his own band and turned professional in 1945. He opened for Hank Williams in New Orleans in the late 40's and appears to have become hooked on the lonesome sound of Hank. In 1952 he recorded "Whoa Boy" for Trumpet Records in Jackson, Mississippi as well as a tribute single, "A Tribute To Hank Williams, My Buddy". The Trumpet records were all high quality hillbilly, but as with many at the time, showed him at this stage as little more than a Hank Williams clone. I'm not knocking him, I love his Trumpet stuff, it's just that he hadn't developed his own sound yet.

In 1953 he was introduced to King Records by fellow artist Jack Cardwell (The Death of Hank Williams/ Dear Joan). McDaniel had become a fixture on the "Tom 'N Jack" radio and television show that aired over WKAB and WKAB-TV but during his time at King he failed to register any hits despite half a dozen fine singles. "Money Bag Woman" was particularly strong, fusing his hillbilly with a rhumba beat. When the King contract expired, he went back to New Orleans where he recorded for the Mel-A-Dee label. He worked under the alias Jeff Daniels and recorded his Mel-A-Dee tracks at the legendary Cosimo's Studio with the pick of the city's black musicians. Only one single was released, the great "Daddy –O Rock" coupled with "Hey Woman".

In 54 he was a country deejay for radio station WLAU in Laurel, Mississippi and joined the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, becoming a part of the touring Hayride show. It was a wonderful time to be part of the Hayride set-up and the influence of Elvis Presley saw McDaniel move towards a more rocking sound. It’s also believed that that when Grand Ole Opry stars Curly Fox along with Jamup and Honey came to do a show in Laurel, Luke gave up the job he had at that time to join the troupe as a bit of a handy man. Around this time, McDaniel wrote "Midnight Shift" under the pseudonym of Earl Lee, which Buddy Holly would later record.
In 1956 Elvis and Carl Perkins urged McDaniels to submit a demo to Sam Phillips. Sam was impressed and signed McDaniel to a contract with Sun Records. It's unsure whether he cut two sessions or just one at Sun (either Sep 56 or/and Jan 57). Nothing was issued though, as Sam and Luke had a financial disagreement. The unissued Sun sides have now seen the light of day thanks to reissue labels like Charly Records. "My Baby Don't Rock" sounds like a Sonny Burgess track with Martin Willis' sax to the fore and a firecraker solo from Roland Janes. "High High High" is another high class song in the best traditions of Sun. "Uh Babe" is more seminal-Sun rockabilly with Jimmy Van Eaton on fine form behind the skinned boxes. "Go Ahead Baby" is more exciting bop and sounds like a cross between Hayden Thompson and Gene Simmons.
As a songwriter he got some cuts by George Jones and Jim Reeves, but he was destined to fail as a singer in his own right. He recorded singles for the Big Howdy label, sometimes under the name "Jeff Daniels". Highlight is the manic "Switch Blade Sam", a frontrunner in anyone's bad boy rockabilly top ten. The other side was the original of "You're Still On My Mind", better known in the versions of George Jones and the Byrds. There are two versions of the great "Foxy Dan", a song written for him by Carl Perkins. Make sure you get the 1960 Astro recording, which is superior to the version on Big Howdy that was released in the 1970s.

Disillusioned by the early 60s he left the business to start his own trucking business - another great hillbilly singer that just couldn't get the right breaks. A lot of his rockabilly records got a new lease of life in Europe during the 70’s and 80’s but as far as I know he never came over to play any live shows. He died in Mobile, Alabama on 27th June 1992.

My Top 10
1. Uh Uh Uh – wonderful commercial bopper, sort of Foxy Dan meets the Andrews Sisters.
2. Go Ahead Baby – pure Sun rockabilly. This couldn’t have been cut anywhere but at 706 Union. Great guitar solos and drumming. LD sounds so at home in this rocking style.
3. Daddy-O-Rock – superb black meets white rocker with honking sax.
4. Switchblade Sam – kick-ass rocker like Dixie Fried on speed.
5. High High High – line up for a stroller of the highest order. The backing reminds me a bit of the Lifeguards’ Everybody Out Of The Pool. Sax and a hot guitar solo add to the excitement.
6. What I Tell My Heart – country with a beat that could almost be from an undiscovered Warren Smith session.
7. Foxy Dan – the dapper Dan man who’s "got more money than Wells Fargo".
8. I'm Tired Of These Country Ways – hillbilly vocals with a semi-rockabilly backbeat.
9. Uh Babe – laid back Sun rockabilly with a wonderful vocal performance.
10. Drive On – Not the Johnny Cash American Recordings song but a hillbilly song steeped in the Hank Williams tradition. Luke’s wailing vocals works in perfect tandem with the fiddle.


Discography
as Luke McDaniel
Trumpet Records
Whoa Boy / Tribute To Hank Williams (1952)
A Tribute To Hank Williams, My Buddy / This Cryin’ Heart (1953)
King Records
Drive On / Let Me Be A Souvenir(1953)
I Can’t Go / For Old Times Sake (1953)
The Automobile Song / I Can’t Steal Another’s Bridge (1954)
Honey Won’t You Please Come Home / Crying My Heart Out For You (1954)
Money Bag Woman / Hurts Me So (1954)
One More Heart / Living In A House Of Sin (1955)

as Jeff Daniels
Meladee Records
Daddy-O Rock / Hey Woman! (1956)
Big Howdy Records
Switch Blade Sam / You’re Still On My Mind (1959)
Big B Records
Uh-Huh-Huh / Table For Two (1959)
Astro Records
Foxy Dan / Some Day You’ll Remember (1960)
Big Howdy Records
Uh-Huh-Huh / Table For Two (197?)
Foxy Dan / Bye Bye Baby (197?)
Hard Luck / Johnny’s (197?)
I Tried / I’m Tired Of These Country Ways (197?)
Switch Blade Sam / You’re Still On My Mind (197?)
Sun (unissued)
Go Ahead Baby
Huh Babe
High High High
My Baby Don’t Rock
That’s What I Tell My Heart