The Steel Guitar Forum

Since the year is almost over I thought it time to start a list of the best music I bought this year. This is a list of stuff I got this year, but the CD's may have come out earlier. I only buy the real stuff so don't expect to see any Garth Shmucks, Shania, Faith etc. Here they are in no particular order.



Hard Honky Tonk:
Derailers- Full Western Dress- Honky Tonk Buck Owens style.

Souvenirs- King of Heartache- Sixties style country with a little sixties pop thrown in.

Jeff Bright and the Sunshine Boys- She's a Nail in My Heart- cool originals done in fine Honky Tonk style plus covers of Buck and George.

Two Dollar Pistols- Step Right Up- Hard Honky Tonkin recorded Live. Twangin Tele and Flame-throwin pedal steel. Features covers of "Honky tonkitis", "Wine Me Up", plus good originals like "Me, Myself, and Wine" and "How It Feels to Die". Keep away from HNC or Young country fans as something this hard could cause them to lapse into a coma.

Roger Wallace- Hillbilly Heights- Good Traditional country

Heather Myles- Highways and Honky Tonks- The real stuff

Justin Trevino- Texas Honkytonk- Ray Price and Johnny Bush type shuffles. Johnny Bush plays drums and guests on a couple songs. Lots o' PSG.

Truck Drivin' CDs
Dale Watson and his Lone Stars- The Truckin'
Sessions. Hey, its Dale and Ricky. For real country it doesn't get much better that that.

Sonny George- Truck Driver Man #1- all cool truck drivin' originals. High spots: the title song, The Truck Stops Here, and The Ballad of Big Joe- a hilarious song about a transvestite truck driver.

Red Simpson- Country Western Truck Drivin' Singer- good Bakersfield truckin' songs

The Big Guys

Buck Owens and the Buckaroos- six of the Sundazed CD re-issues. Buck, Don, Ralph, Tom, its ALL good.

George Jones- The Best of George Jones (1955-1967) Its classic George

Wynn Stewart- California Country, The Best of the Challenge Masters- One of the best country singers ever with one of the best PSG players ever. What more do you need?

Wilburn Brothers- "Troubles Back in Town", the Hits of the Wilburn Brothers- Great country harmonies.

Johnny Bush- 14 Greatest Hits- The country Caruso sings great country songs.

James Burton and Ralph Mooney- Corn Pickin and Slick Slidin- Great PSG and Great tele pickin'.

That's my list for this year. I think I'm gonna start out next year in fine fashion with some new Dale Watson and some new Alan Jackson.

Later, BobRob

P.S. BobRob is not affiliated with any of the above artists. I'm just happy to give them some of my money for making good country music in an era of seriously lame country music.

You've got some good ones there, (Dale Watson is a special treat), but I've got a few to throw on the pile.

George Jones - The Cold Hard Truth. Keeping it Country for 5 decades and aging like a fine red wine.

Mandy Barnett - I've Got a Right to Cry. Buddy on 4 Owen Bradly produced cuts and Hal Rugg on another 7 with the best female voice for my money since Patsy Cline. Need I say more?

Vince Gill - The Key. Vince and John Hughey never sounded better. This one really does kindly keep it country.

In addition, I've probably picked up 30 or more re-issues of my all time favorites. I've found everything from vintage Marty Robbins to Buck Owens to the Hag. But my true find of the year was the re-issue of Ray Price's The Other Woman CD from 1964. It just don't get any better than that.

All in all, 1999 was a vintage year for my music collection.

My list is a bit left field but steel was a serious consideration

1. I've Got a Right to Cry Mandy Barnett
2. Acres and Acres of Heartache Johnny Delks and his Vesitation Valley Boys
3. Full Western Dress the Derailers
4 Hillbilly Heights Roger Wallace
5. Knights Of the Last Crusade Ray Wylie Hubberd
6. Ride With Bob Asleep at the Wheel and friends
7. All Gussied Up the Ex Husbends
8. The Mountain Steve Earl and the Del McCorey Band
9. Under the Influence Alan Jackson
10. The Cold Hard Truth George Jones



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These may not be the greatest releases of '99 but they deserve mention.
1. "Johnny Paycheck Live at Gilley's"
This was recorded in 1985 two months before Paycheck shot someone in a Ohio bar and while he sounds a bit rugged his style is intact. And Jim Murphy plays his a** off in the 20 cuts on this Q Records (Atlantic affilliate) release.
2. Danny Leigh "29 Nights"
Her versions of "Touch Me" (Willie Nelson) and "I Feel a Heartache" (Harlan Howard/Kostas) are reason enough to own this CD. There are other fine tunes on this as well and Steve Hinson plays nice steel throughout. No radio succes resulted from this Decca release and it may be out of print already.

Paul Crawford always beats me to the punch (and he has more guitars than I do, also)!
To add to his list, which is exactly what bought in 1999, George Jones' Choices and Alan Jacksons new release. Mandy Barnett is one great singer and I think she has a promising future. I bought her new release and her old release too. They are both great.

<ul>[*]Vince Gill - "The Key"
[*]Led Kaapana - "Waltz of the Wind"[/list]

"Buddy Sings Bob WillS"
Didn't know there was such a thing but
I got it from Ernie last October. Anyone
know who played steel on this???

"The Music of Henry Mancini" compilation CD.
Maaahvelous!