Session Guitarist Strummed Acoustic Serial Numberk
Wynona Aerni
Locals Only: California Twang This page collects artist profiles and record reviews of country music from the state of California. It's part of a larger guide to unsigned and off-the-radar regional artists from years gone by, which is also part of the even larger Guide To Hick Music on Slipcue.com. Most of the artists here are little-known locals, bar-band singers, etc., but the list also includes Nashville stars who were from the state, as well as some bluegrass and gospel artists, etc. This is an ongoing projects, with new stuff coming in all the time, and we welcome any recommendations, additions or corrections.
Les Aanderud & The Country Rock Shop "Simple Lovin' Man" (LEA Productions/Sundance Sounds, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Les Aanderud & Rick Foltz)
Originally from Minot, North Dakota, singer-guitarist Leslie Aanderud (d. 2012) and his wife Ethel were living in Southern California when they recorded this album, Mr. Aanderud having moved to Anaheim in the late '70s to work in the defense industry. Like many twangsters, Aanderud started out as a rocker: in his teens, he toured with a Texas-based garage band called the Tracers, which toured regionally and had considerable success in the late 'Sixties, notably with the local popularity of their single "She Said Yeah." By the early 'Seventies, though, Aanderud was ready for some twang, and started a band called The Country Rock Shop after moving back to North Dakota in 1972. This album is mostly full of original material, with the exception of a few cover tunes, including Leroy Van Dyke's "Auctioneer," "Words" by the Bee Gees, and Marty Robbins' weeper, "You Gave Me A Mountain." Most of the SoCal sidemen are unfamiliar names, though pedal steel player Blackie Taylor rings a bell... Aanderud's originals include "I Just Can't Stop Myself," "Simple Lovin' Man," "Lonely Eyes," and one called "Country Boogie." As far as I know, this was his only album...
Allen Abajian "Forever And A Day" (White Saddle Music, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by Allen Abajian, Jay Lacy, Gary Rowles, Lawrence W. Wendelken)
An all-original set by the self-proclaimed "Armenian Cowboy," Allen Abajian, of Sherman Oaks, California. All the songs were written or co-written by Abajian, some of 'em with his wife Alice Abajian and a few other collaborators. Originally from Chicago, Abajian played folk music as a kid, moved into country, and also moved out to LA, where he became friends with steel player Red Rhodes, who plays on this album and helped steer Abajian's musical career. Abajian later created the stage name "J. D. Allen" (because for some reason people had trouble pronouncing his real name, despite Armenian being a phonetical language) and also performed with his wife Alice using a few different names for their duo. Alice Abajian passed away in 2000, and J. D. Allen shifted gears away from secular country into singing strictly gospel material, albeit with plenty of twang. He's recorded several other albums under that name, including Windy City Cowboy, Out Of Our Hands, and Heaven Is My Home. The tracks on this album seem to have been recorded over the course of several years, at different studios between 1976 and 1985. In addition to Rhodes playing steel on several tracks, the backing musicians included producer Gary Rowles (who made some records of his own) and Herb Pedersen, who sings backup vocals on a track or two.
Allen Adams "The Better Life" (Kay-Lou Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Jacquline Adams, Manuel Alvarez & Gary Sloan)
A really cool album with a very understated, stripped-down feel and some very interesting material, delivered in a unique, discursive style that kinda reminds me of Dick Feller. Although he born in Oklahoma, Allen R. Adams moved out to California when he was still quite young, along with his family, which included his brother Charles, who also played country music. The Allens settled down in Eureka and may have done some local shows, though I suspect just on an informal basis... This album was recorded in the Central Valley, at Manny Alvarez's studio in Visalia, with backing by drummer Rick Burr, Max Denning (fiddle), Paul Dobbs (steel guitar), Eddie Sartuche Jr. (guitar), and Ron Schendel on keyboards. These guys all seem to have been from the San Joaquin Valley, notably steel player Dobbs, a Fresno-based picker who did session work with folks like Dennis Payne as well as local gospel artists such as the Gospelaires. I'm not sure if Mr. Allen also lived in the Valley at the time, or if driving down to Visalia was just easier than looking for a studio closer to home... At any rate, there wasn't much info about Mr. Adams to be found online, though I think we was still living up in Eureka pretty recently, though this seems to have been his only recording. Honestly? I think this is a great record. Very personal, very guieless and sincere, and packing with distinctive material, the kind of tunes that tug at your mind just around the time the last chorus is about to fade away. If I had a label, this is one I would reissue.
Pappy Adams "My Kind Of Country" (Ropes Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Gary Adams & Gary Denton)
Southern California songwriter Gary T. Adams penned all the songs on this album, with one ("Johnny's Job") co-written with Burton Carey and another ("Final Touches") with Elmer Garten. He's backed by a band that included pedal steel player Red Rhodes, along with a slew of more obscure SoCal players, with co-producer Gary Denton playing drums and guitar... This set was recorded in Van Nuys, California, though I couldn't find out much more about this guy.
Mistress Mary (Afton) "Housewife" (Afton Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Mary Afton)
An ambitious, wonderfully flawed outsider-art album apparently self-released in 1969 by Southern California musical indie auteur Mary Afton. It's not all country, although the opening track, "And I Didn't Want You," is a great twangtune where a tremulous, angst-ridden Ms. Afton displays a striking vocal likeness to Lucinda Williams. Soon after, though, she starts to channel more pop-oriented contemporaries such as Nancy Sinatra and Margo Guryan, with maybe just a touch of the Shaggs in the mix as well. Admittedly, this album requires a bit of charity on the part of modern listeners, but I agree with others that Ms. Afton shouldn't be considered a joke artist -- more like she was few decades ahead of her time, but had limited resources when she DIY'd this highly unusual record. There's plenty of ear-bending accidental glory on here, notably on the second track, "Dance Little Girl," a wildly warped take on the Carole King/Brill Building sound where the shrill backing music anticipates a lot of the lo-fi experimentation of the 1990s and beyond. The backing band is said to include country-rock luminaries such as steel player Carl Walden and guitarist Clarence White, who graft a Byrds-y style onto her kooky meanderings, while the satirical back cover liners portray Ms. Afton as an indolent, lingerie-clad stereotypical "bored housewife" of the era. Afton pressed a few hundred copies of this album and sent many of them out to radio stations and press, though after it (not surprisingly) tanked, she shifted gears and pursued a few feminist-oriented career paths (including self-defense instructor and auto mechanic/teacher) before finding her most profitable niche as an aerobic disco-dance teacher. Naturally, this album was reissued in 2016 -- with bonus tracks and informative liner notes -- and while it seems too good to be real, it is an amazing, authentic relic of the hippie era. Not that easy to listen to, but really kind of brilliant.
Singin' Sam (Agins) "Singin' Sam's Saddlebag Of Songs" (Haywire Records, 1971-?) (LP)
(Produced by Sam Agins)
Straight-up cowboy music from a fella who grew up in Corona, California, in the hills up above Anaheim. Agins says he learned country and old-timey tunes from migrant workers who came to the area during the Dust Bowl when he was a kid, then devoted himself to cowboy culture, gathering and writing songs that he performed at various gatherings, including a 1971 folk festival in Montreal, Canada that was organized by the Smithsonian Institution. This album appears to have been completely self-produced; it's not clear if some of these songs were his own originals. It has to be said, Mr. Agins is kind of a rough hewn, even somewhat erratic vocalist, though perhaps this will translate favorably for listeners in search of unaffected, unpretentious "real people" artists. He certainly seems like he quite a character!
Singin' Sam (Agins) "Singin' Sam And Friends" (Haywire Records, 1975-?) (LP)
(Produced by Sam Agins)
Another set of eccentric acoustic oldies, with covers of chestnuts such as "The Cat Came Back," "Good Old Mountain Dew," "Had But Fifty Cents," "Philadelphia Lawyer" and "Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine," along with more obscure campfire songs like "Cowboy Nick," "Iron Pants Pete" and "Peon Named Pancho." Sam Agins sings and plays guitar on all tracks, accompanied by Len Bacon on guitar, Kirk Opyt (guitar) and Joe Wolverton (mandolin), as well as Californian banjo picker Jim Hawkins playing on one track. The most notable of these sidemen was Mr. Wolverton (1906-1994) a veteran hillbilly performer originally from Chicago who is said to have taught Les Paul how to play guitar(!) and who led his own cowboy trio out West in his later years. (It's possible that the other guys were part of Wolverton's California band, though I haven't confirmed that yet...) As far as I know this was Mr. Agins' last album...
Tony & Susan Alamo "Mister DJ" (Alamo Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Dan Hoffman)
Here's a weird one. The Alamos were Pentecostal evangelicals whose born-again ministry devolved over the years into a full-blown cult, part of which involved polygamy, and more disturbingly, Mr. Alamo "marrying" underage girls and imprisoning them in a compound in Arkansas. Starting out in Los Angeles as "Jesus freaks" in the late 'Sixties, the Alamos were only moderately weird up until Mrs. Alamo died in 1982, and then Mr. Alamo really went off the rails and his behavior became more extreme and more grotesque. He was eventually arrested in the early 1990s and eventually convicted for tax evasion and for child molestation, and died in federal prison in 2017. Despite this checkered history, though, this late-'70s album is actually fairly good in musical terms. The cover art shows them onstage with Porter Wagoner at the Opry, so that got my attention: he wrote a testimonial for them in the liner notes, and if Porter liked 'em and sang on their record, I figured I oughta check them out. The album is all Christian music, and the title track, "Mister DJ," is sung by a guy who wants the local radio station to spin "The Old Rugged Cross." Other tracks may have been recorded earlier in non-country versions -- anyone know for sure? Anyway, it's all Jesus-y but there's decent twang in there, too. Super-icky back-story, for sure, but it's up to you how or if those later events should color your perception of this old album.