Steve Miller Band Fly Like An Eagle 1976 (2006).rar
Matt Dreher
Kevin Mabry & Liberty Street "We Love Our Country" (Rome Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by James Krause & Kevin Mabry)
A popular local artist and concert organizer, Ohio native Kevin Mabry led the band Liberty Street for several years before becoming born again in 1984, after which he devoted himself more fully to Christian music, founded his own ministry later in the decade. Before that, he played plenty of secular music and recorded several LPs and a handful of singles for the Ohio-based Rome Records label. This album includes songs such as "Married Strangers," "Turning The Tables" and "Misery On My Mind," as well as two songs written by Mabry -- "Dreamin' (Watchin' Time Go By)" and "Before Eight Has Turned To Nine." The musicians all seem to be Midwestern locals, with the sessions cut at the Rome studios in Columbus, Ohio.
Kevin Mabry & Liberty Street "Green Scene" (Rome Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Kevin Mabry & Jack Casey)
Pointing towards Mabry's later focus on Christian music, this was a Christian/Christmas album with a couple of Dallas Holm songs on it, one by Gary Paxton, and a few secular songs as well, including "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" and "Tennessee Waltz." Of particular note on this album is the album's pianist and fiddle player, a very young Lionel Cartwright, an Ohio prodigy who was several years away from his 1990s breakthrough in Nashville.
Don Earl Mabury "Cry Along With Me" (Peach Tree Fork Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Don Earl Mabury & Joe Blasingame)
I have seen this record fondly described by Saint Louis locals as a "classic" and a masterpiece, and I suspect there's more than a little nudge-nudge, wink-wink hipsterism at play here, since Mr. Mabury, a middle-aged crooner of mopey, mournful original country ballads, is a singularly artless singer, hardly an inspiring vocalist, although his performances are obviously heartfelt. And indeed, it's that clunky, earnest, heart-on-his-sleeve quality that creeps up on you and makes this record compelling. As a lyricist, Mabury is pretty rudimentary as well, but this actually transforms his mournful, self-pitying songs into soul-crushing testaments to loneliness and regret -- when he sings "The Saddest Song" or "Can You Hear Me Crying Tonight," it feels real, and it's hard not to be drawn in. Unfortunately, the backing musicians aren't identified, though one suspects they were notable members of the Missouri twang scene... The arrangements are fairly perfunctory, but they do the job... and maybe that's all that was needed. Worth checking out, particularly if you go for naif art -- not faux-naif, but the real thing.
Arlie Mac & Sundance "Po' Fo'ks Musik" (Cow Palace Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Arlie MacCowan & Jerry Trammel)
A longhaired band from Lubbock, Texas band, featuring Arlie MacCowan playing bass, Brian Tidwell on guitar, Bobby Ferguson on fiddle, and Jim Adams playing steel. The album features original songs written by various bandmembers, and some nice cover tunes as well, and several tracks credited to Doyle Haggard, another Lubbock local who was in tight with folks like the Hancock Family Band, The Maines Brothers and singer Larry Trider.
Billy Mac "Double Clutchin', Guitar Pickin' Radio Star" (Jimtown Records, 1976?) (LP)
(Produced by Roy Ward)
A slightly lackluster but ultimately likeable indie-country album. Despite the awesome album art that shows Mac posed on the hood of a shiny, star-spangled, red-white-and-blue Mack truck, and liner notes that give his gear-jamming bona fides, this isn't the grinding, rhythmic set of trucker tunes you might expect. Instead, Mac sticks more to a mid-tempo, acoustic-based sound, often with an almost folk-ish feel. He's more in the light-toned honkytonk tradition of Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb, with a bit of Mac Wiseman-esque ballad singing as well, in a style that reminds me of the artists on Starday. The production sounds a little thin, and some tracks (like "Wrapped Around Your Finger" sound muffled in comparison to others -- I'd guess that this album was recorded over a long period of time, in various sessions. The strongest element, though, is Billy Mac as a country auteur: all the songs on this album are originals, and they are well-crafted weepers written in classic country style. The performances might be a bit sluggish, but the songs are gems, definitely worthy of reconsideration by fans of the genre. (BTW: anyone know what year this came out? I'm guessing '76, but that may just be the patriotic Mack truck influencing me...)
The Clay Mac Band "Everybody's Favorite Cowboy" (ASA, 1977-?) (LP)
(Produced by John L. Alsip & Terry Nelson)
A great record with one of the all-time unfortunate album covers... This zippy, unpretentious little gem of indie twang reminds me quite a bit of outlaw-era favorites such as Alvin Crow or Deadly Ernest, a niche record, confidently performed by a rock-solid local band. New Mexico fiddler and guitar picker Clay McWhorter led his western swing-flavored group, The Clay Mac Band, for several decades, putting the first version together around 1970... In the late 'Seventies they had a regional hit with a song called "Boilermaker," which is included on this album. It's one of three tunes credited to McWhorter, along with the title track and one called "Later In Time." Other originals include two apiece from songwriters Judith Bordan and Bobby Fischer, who don't perform on this record, but must have been friends of the band. A trio of intriguing cover tunes close out Side One of the album, from Eric Clapton's "Lay Down Sally" and "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" by the Beatles to a cover of "Cuckoo Bird" by bluegrass music's Osborne Brothers. The musicians on here included Clay Mac on fiddle, along with Mike Easterling (banjo), John Kurnick (piano and guitar), Colin Kyffin (dobro and steel guitar) and perhaps most notably Phil Salazar on mandolin; he later went on to lead his own bluegrass group and receded several records of his own. Several gals sang backup or harmonies on various tunes, including Dana Bivens who sang on "Boilermaker" and later became one of the band's featured singers.
The Clay Mac Band "The Clay Mac Band" (Goldust Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Emmit Brooks)
Different lineup here, with the band now centered around Clay Mac, on and Dana Bivens and BoBo Supak, At some point, Mr. Mac and Ms. Bevins appear to have gotten married, and for a while she was plugged as a soloist -- in 1982 they released as single under the name Dana And The Clay Mac Band, and at some point she started performing as Dana Mac. Clay Mac kept his band running for decades, and around 2008 he moved from Ruidoso, NM over to Van Horn, Texas, where he set up shop as a tax consultant, though he continued to do shows in New Mexico and environs.
Ray Mac "Her Unexpected Good-Bye" (Dixie Press, 197--?) (LP)
A complete and absolute mystery disc. I mean like, there is no information about this album anywhere -- not even here! Ray Mac (and I'm sure that's a stage name or nickname) seems to have been from Dallas, Georgia, a town just west of Atlanta. There are not credits or date on this album, and no label name either, though some teeny-tiny print on the back cover gives an address for the Dixie Press, in the Atlanta suburb of Mableton, GA, and an art credit for Roy Wadsworth, whose 2003 obituary mentioned that he was a manger at a printing company. And that's it. This seems to be a mix of covers and originals, though again, there are no credits, so it's hard to say much on that score, either. Anyone know anything about this guy?
Charlie Mack "...Sings Ten All-Time American Favorites" (About Time Productions, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Michael J. Zpevak)
A delightfully amateurish album with more than a few charming flaws. Charlie Mack was just an average guy -- a shipping clerk who sang on the job while working in Midwestern warehouses. He had a decent baritone with a Thurl Ravenscroft-ish feel, and apparently this album came together after he taped himself singing
Genie Mack "The Magic Lady Goes Trucken, v.2" (Magic Country Music, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Phil York)
Yes, she did spell truckin' with an "e," but she's from Oklahoma, so we'll forgive her. This is an album of mostly original material from a red dirt gal who had a regional hit with a song called "We're Independent Truckers," dedicated to striking semi drivers in 1979... Ms. Mack grew up in Centerville, Oklahoma, and was local performing star back in her teens, before becoming a licensed professional truck driver in 1979, juggling a parallel music career that included a bit of national buzz that lasted for a couple of years. This set was recorded in Dallas, Texas, with a backing band that included steel guitarists Ray Austin and Johnny Blue... Presumably a "Volume One" album also exists, but so far I've only been able to track down a few singles...
J. J. Mack "One Hundred Percent Live At The Lucky Lion" (1971) (LP)
(Produced by Tony Flores, Clyde Jones & J. J. Mack)
An early album from this 'Seventies troubadour. Recorded live at the Lucky Lion nightclub in Newport Beach, California, this finds Mack in a folk-country mode, covering stuff like "Fire And Rain," "Games People Play" and "Poke Salad Annie," as well as an acoustic version of Al Wilson's 1968 soul hit, "The Snake." Mack was originally from Baton Rouge Louisiana, though he seems to have moved around a lot, including stints in Tahoe casinos and lounges... I believe this was his first album.
J. J. Mack "It's A Long Road Home" (1976-?) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Stone & J. J. Mack)
This is a pretty swell album of loose, rugged swamp-pop/white country/frat rock soul solidly in the style of John Fogerty and Tony Joe White. J. J. Mack wasn't a tremendously accomplished musician, but he has an amiable presence and this is a solid set overall, mainly packed with cover songs, but also featuring a couple of originals, including the title track, which is a really nice song, as well as the funky, Tony Joe White-ish "It Ain't No Big Thing," one of two originals credited to J.J. Mack. He also plays stuff like "Proud Mary," Chuck Berry's "Memphis," and Hank Williams' "Jambalaya." I think for me the album highlight in his version of Kenny Loggins' "Danny's Song," which is performed in a lazy, chunky bar-band style which completely and unexpectedly reframes the song into a rugged southern rock context while still keeping its original sweetness and down-to-earth sentimentality. It's not clear where (or when) this album was made, though it seems to be a mid-1970s set... There's no address, alas, and few clues to be found among the backing band, which included drummer Doug Altman, Larry Brown (lead guitar), Gregory Krochta (piano) and Michael Rice on bass. Greg Krotcha published a bunch of songs in 1976 and may have made an album, but I couldn't really find out much about any of these guys. At any rate, this record feels very authentic -- a snapshot of a local singer keeping true to his roots. Worth a spin!