Vinyl Odyssey: Country 45s
Mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, featuring a few not-to-be-missed oddities and gems. As heard on 2/26/2025.
This week, two hours of country music, mostly from the 60s and early 70s and all on 45! Featuring many well-known names and more than a few obscurities. No theme, just a grab bag of 45s I wanted to play, many for the first time on the show.
I don’t have too much to say about a lot of these artists (and not much time to say it this week) so I’m just including notes below for particular songs that jump out at me.
Enjoy!
Listen here or on my Mixcloud:
The Songs
“The Stagger” - The Louvin Brothers (00:00)
“Only Mama That’ll Walk the Line” - Jean Shepard (02:00) A classic country “response song” to “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,” as made famous by Waylon Jennings.
“Don’t You Ever Leave My World” - Abe Mulkey (4:10) This is apparently the first recording of this song to be posted online, so enjoy!
“Tell Him No” - Travis and Bob (06:15) This is really more Everly Brothers ripoff pop than country, but I had it in with my country records and wanted to play it anyway. Just imagine some fiddle in there.
“Nothin’ Worth Takin or Leavin” - Waylon Jennings (08:20)
“X Marks the Spot” - Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper (10:11) What a voice!
“I Start Thinking About You” - Johnny Carver (12:31)
"You Can Give My Heart Back Now" - Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys (15:15)
“This Day” - The Facets (17:35) This one also seems to veer more into pop than country, but the B-side (coming up) is definitely country. I don’t know anything about The Facets but when I see a label like this that I’ve never seen before from Hood River, OR and the fact that the label is called Terrible Tommy’s Records then you know I’m gonna get it.
“Lost Highway” - Johnny Horton (19:55) Shoutout David Lynch.
“Auctioneer” - The Facets (22:30)
“Reaching” - Wanda Jackson (24:35) This track is written by Skeets McDonald (of “Don’t Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes” fame) although the melody is very clearly inspired/lifted from “Crazy Arms” by Ray Price (and more than a few lyrics seem to nod in that direction as well).
“Sweet, Sweet Judy” - David Houston (26:53) Aside from Houston’s always-great vocals, this one strikes me as one of the earliest instances I’ve heard (1967) of the dueling overdriven guitar sound that would come to be so common in rock music in the 1970s.
“Moj Vranec" (Fraulein)” - Rafko Irgolič (29:11) Some good old Yugoslavian country that I picked up in Slovenia many years ago. On the EP cover the singer looks a lot like the singer from Belle and Sebastian.
“What Would Santa Claus Think?” - Bobby Van and the Swing Kings (35:15) Some Grade A country schlock of the highest order. This one covers well-trod territory (I’m a drunk, woe is me, bad father, etc…) but edges out the competition with its visceral description of the narrator’s pathetic state. I don’t know why it took the specter of Santa Claus to make this mess of a father get into shape, but whatever works. Bonus points for using the phrase “a small baby hand touched my cheek.” This comes off of a wonderful, bizarre Numero Group country christmas compilation that I can’t wait to play next holiday season.
“A Pub With No Beer” - Slim Dusty (38:45) Australian country!
“Truck Driving Woman” - Norma Jean (41:44) A thematic sequal/response to all the male-centric truck driving song that were popular in the 1960s but, unlike “Only Mama That’ll Walk the Line,” not musically a copy of Buck Owens’s “Truck Driving Man.”
"She Don't Make Me Cry" - David Rogers (44:05) This cheesy production and arrangement really does it for me.
“Finger Lickin’ Good” - Bill Henderson (46:36) This seems like another one that doesn’t exist yet online! Enjoy! Bill is pretty clearly doing his best George Jones, but I won’t fault him for that because I think it’s the first time I’ve heard the word “psychedelic” in a country song.
“Folsom Prison Blues” - Rusty Draper (48:00) A fantastic, manic cover, better than anything else Rusty Draper ever did, as far as I can tell.
“Fifteen Beers” - Johnny Paycheck (50:40) I love Johnny Paycheck. You should really pay attention to the lyrics and try to follow the narrative on this one, it’s almost surrealist.
“I Want You Again” - June Carter (53:11)
“Don’t Touch Me” - Wilma Burgess (55:33) Another spectacular arrangement.
“Papa Woncha Let Me Go To Town With You” (Mono) - Bobbie Gentry (58:33) A lesser known but no less spectacular Bobbie Gentry track, featuring everything singular about her work: the writing, her intimate vocal, and that outrageous arrangement!
“Like A Rolling Stone” - Flatt & Scruggs (1:01:03)
"Clyde" - Waylon Jennings (1:03:45) Waylon takes JJ Cale’s mellow groove and sups it up with a diesel truck engine.
"Sam's Place" - Buck Owens & His Buckaroos (1:06:25) One of my favorite songs.
"What's A Honky Tonk Woman" - Judy Lynn (1:12:12) Don’t worry, drunk father of the Santa Claus loving son, mothers can be shameful embarrassments to their families, too!
"Easy Steps" - George Adkins (1:15:00) I don’t know who George Adkins is but I can tell that he thinks he’s Ernest Tubb. Another one that apparently doesn’t exist online and another one that features an incredible label design.
"Slip-Up and She'll Slip Away" - Stan Hitchcock (1:17:42)
"Devil On My Shoulder" - Cotton Henry (1:20:08) Can’t find this one online anywhere either!
"Do-Wacka-Do” - Roger Miller (1:22:45)
"Where There's a Will (There's a Relative)" - Ray Ferber (1:24:25) Feels criminal for a country song with this title to be an instrumental.
"The Invader" - Mike Yager (1:26:46)
"Effects Your Leaving Had On Me" - Claude Gray (1:28:50) Calm down, Claude.
"Big, Big Love" - The Sneed Family (1:31:50) Also doesn’t appear to be online! The Sneed Family were a country group from the Pacific Northwest who really nail that particular, upbeat (Bakersfield?) country sound that I love. And I’m a big fan of this song, written by Wynn Stewart.
"She Just Started Liking Cheatin' Songs" - John Anderson (1:33:50) Not explicitly a response to Moe Bandy’s great “I Just Started Hating Cheatin’ Songs Today” but clearly inspired by it.
"Moose's Saloon" - Smile (1:36:00) This is a special one! Moose’s Saloon is a famous bar in my hometown of Kalispell, MT. Saloon doors, sawdust on the floor, no windows, everything in the bar made of wood and every wooden surface covered in etchings and scratched initials. It’s a wonderful spot and has been for many years, including in 1975 when this track was cut for “Tojam Records,” which as far as I know only ever released this song. Some truly inspired guitar, drum and synthesizer work. I couldn’t find anything online about any of the names of the people on the record, besides one reference to dancing to their band in the comments under an obituary.
"Gotta Get Back" - Johnny Duncan (1:38:53)
"When Michael Calls" - Sammi Smith (1:41:23)
"Springfield Guitar Social" - Bill Wimberly & Thumbs Carlisle (1:43:43) This is extremely my kind of stuff. A great tune featuring imitations of all the lead country guitarists in the late 50s/early 60s, all performed by Thumbs Carlisle who’s probably best known as Roger Millers’s guitarist and who had a truly remarkable guitar playing style that needs to be seen to be believed.
"Cut Across Shorty" - Carl Smith (1:46:15)
"Rub-A-Dubbin" - Ken Mellons (1:51:40) Some underappreciated early 90s country cheese, featuring an equally inspired music video.
That’s it for this week! Remember to tune in to KBGA.org every Wednesday at 6pm MT//8pm ET to hear the show live.
Happy listening!