April 2013 Newsletter
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April 2013 Newsletter ------------------------------------ Yesterday & Today Records P O Box 54 Miranda NSW 2228 Ph: (02) 95311710 Email: [email protected] Web: www.yesterdayandtoday.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------- Postage 1cds $2/ 2 cds $3/ 3/4/5 cds $8 ---------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the first newsletter of the year. This is a slash and burn newsletter with some bargains you won’t believe possible. As hard as it may seem to believe major label country just keeps getting worse. There are still some vestiges of quality on the major labels but they are ignored by the radio programmers. Dwight’s latest was a return to Reprise but sold only 75,000 copies as radio programmers deemed it too country to play. Ditto Jamey Johnson’s wonderful Hank Cochran tribute. Sold poorly. It seems that there are so many guided by what the mainstream radio plays that they are too dim to vary their buying habits and embrace the true stuff. Again I like to think of Yesterday & Today Records as some kind of alternate universe where the true fans are rewarded. Early in the year, releases tend to be of fairly low volume but there have been some absolute stunners, including favourite Amber Digby. 2012 Albums of the Year 1) Tim Culpepper “Pourin’ Whiskey on Pain” $28 If we had such a thing as a People’s Choice award this would also be the winner...so maybe can be a dual winner. The album owes more than a nod to Mark Chesnutt’s classic “Too Cold at Home” and that is not a bad thing. Better even is that they are all original songs, mainly written by Elbert West, who wasn’t bad in his own right but Tim is a vastly superior singer. Not one bad track. Personal favourite is “One More for the Road”. Some may say a steal of the song “Too Cold at Home”...but even if it is, I don’t care!! Even with all the plaudits it was hard to favour it over any other album in the top 10. 2) James Hand “Mighty Lonesome Man” $28 The classic traditional vocalist lives. Very much in the same school as Norman Wade & Vernon Oxford, and hard to 1 believe this is his best album yet. The song, “Old man Henry’ is my song of the year. A very Jone-ish delivery on this but honeslty George at his prime could not have bettered this original version. Wonderful. 3) Eric Strickland & The B Sides “Honky Tonk Till I Die’ $25 There is nothing like an album of honky tonk songs performed superbly with a couple of modern day truckin’ classics thrown in for good measure. There is a hidden track, assumably called “Drinkin’ Whiskey”...why they do this is beyond me but no mark down as it is great. “Haggard & Hell’ is a gem!! 4) Blake & Kendall Barnes “Welcome to Barnes Country” $20 Such exuberance. He is the wonderful honky tonk singer and she shows all the enthusiasm and style of Brenda Lee. Only 2 in stock at this price. 5) Wesley Dennis “Country Enough” $25 Hard to Believe this is only his 3rd album. 6) Dottie Jack “Lighter Shade of Blue” $28 as wonderful as her previous gems , also on the revitalised Hillside label. If you were speaking of Dottie, along with Amber & Miss Leslie, in racing parlance there would be a short half head between them. They are that good. 7) David Ferguson “David Ferguson” $20 This wonderful tribute to Cowboy Jack Clement is something everyone should have. Sadly, Cowboy Jack is in a very poor heath state. He has liver cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. The wonderful album is a fitting tribute. David Ferguson sounds incredibly like Cowboy. 8) Kelly Spinks “Right Out Of This World” $28 Again, hard to believe this is only Kelly Spinks’ third. Wonderful voice like Beaumont natives George Jones & Mark Chesnutt and a fine mix of originals and covers. In the latter category non is better than Stoney Edwards’ “Two Dollar Toy” 9) Joey & Rory “His & Hers” $20 The perfect pair. Limited to copies on hand 10) Chuck Cusimano “I Wrote This” $20 Hard to believe he is not more widely known. Limited to copies on hand Honourable mention Sweethearts of the Rodeo “Restless” $28 and Teea Goans “That’s Just Me” $28 Latest Special Guest reviewer...the Swedish Cowboy. The time factor has gotten to me so need to get these through quickly, so I thank the wonderful Swedish Cowboy for his reviews. Yes, he is a real person and yes he is Swedish. He likes upbeat stuff. He is, as a reviewer, one third sage, one third seer and one third axe murderer. Bold notes added are mine. Here by the way is the Swedish Cowboy’s 2012 Best ofs. 1. The Time Jumpers: The Time Jumpers 2. Tony Booth: Old School 3. Dottie Jack: Lighter Shade of Blue 4. The Cornell Hurd Band: Drop In On My Dream 5. Blake & Kendall Barnes: Welcome To Barnes Country 6. Kelly Spinks: Right Out Of This World 7. Kimberly Murray & Bob Manning: One Night Only! 8. Tim Culpepper: Pourin’ Whiskey On Pain 9. Tony Booth, Darrell McCall, Curtis Potter: The Survivors II 10. Diane McCall: My Imagination Amber Digby: The World You’re Living In, Heart Of Texas Records HOTR4606: Yes, Duncan Warwick is correct (note..Country Music People reviewer/editor). This is actually the best album so far on Heart of Texas Records. It is actually better than last year’s Tony Booth album, and that was the best that far. When I heard the first track I thought that I heard the song of the year, but when I heard #7 it was even better. After that there were 2 more contenders for song of the year, namely #9 and #13. This album 2 is just unbelievably good. I would say that there are 3 trax that are just good; the rest of them are superb or better. The last track is a steel guitar instrumental and it is excellent as such. I cannot imagine that we will get anything better this year. The album of the year is already decided. I will add that Amber has added a new string to her bow and that is as songwriter. Despite the aversion for the Nashville style she has been to Nashville and written with several major writers. This includes Vince Gill and their co-write, “One More Thing I Wished I’d Said” is superb. Yep, Amber sings a female version of “The key”Whilst there they also cut a duet together, “The One I Can’t Live Without”. She was on Mark Chesnutt’s last and now Vince. I would dare say both enjoyed their experience. Wonderful album. Yes, her best. Shades “Music from the Honky Tonks” by virtue of the quality of her original songs. Dale Watson & His Lonestars: “El Rancho Azul” , Red House Records $28: Dale has made a lot of excellent CD:s through the years (and several that are just good but not excellent) and could be called one of the biggest country stars of the last 20 odd years, but he still struggles to maintain a proper 5-piece band and obviously sells moderate numbers of albums. There is no justice in country music. However, this CD is probably one of his very best. It is up there with his 3 Hightone ones and Dreamland. It is just superb. Only original songs, and damn good ones at that! A great mix of mainly up tempo songs, shuffles and waltzes! Great singer and backing! Would echo these sentiments. Dale for mine has been producing even more consistent albums than he did at Hightone. This is the first in a little while. He did do some of the songs when he appeared here a couple of years ago and they went over a treat. Wayne Hancock: “Ride” Bloodshot $25 And Wayne The Train also comes up with an excellent album. This one is in exactly the same style as his earlier ones; country boogie and early 50’s style country. All the songs seem to be original and the backing is spot on. What is a bit surprising is that he calls out for Johnny before every guitar solo when there is no musician listed with the name John or Johnny. Excellent! Might add that Bob Stafford is wonderful both on guitar & trombone. Trombone is an integral part of Wayne The Trains’ best albums and gives wonderful light and shade. Wayne has been in a Betty Ford style establishment and now says he is a “Double A Daddy”. Don’t worry his music is superb. VA: “Unsung Hero, A Tribute to The Music of Ron Davies” Little Chickadee $30 Who is Ron Davies was the first thing I thought when I saw this disc. Well, it turns out he is Gail Davies’ brother and a song writer; a dead one at that. I cannot remember ever hearing of him, so he is no hero of mine, but evidently of Gail Davies who has taken on the task of producing a tribute to her dead brother. This is a long album, but far from everything is worth listening to. The Delbert McClinton song is OK and others worth listening to are the ones by BR549, Suzy Bogguss, Rodney Crowell, Jeff Hanna and John Prine. Other notables include John Anderson, Robbie Fulks and Dolly Parton. This is mainly folk music and a few rock songs with a bit of country here and there. With 22 trax everybody should be able to find something to listen to here, but most of it isn’t my taste.