The 9513 - Country Music Blog

This article will focus on some artists who either had a very short period of great success or had an extended run of near-success. In other words, I cannot justify an entire article on any of them.
Deborah Allen was born in 1953 in Memphis, and probably has had greater success as a songwriter, having written [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Ten from the ’80s, Pt. 1"

Very few artists have been as successful at reinventing themselves as Donald Eugene Lytle (May 31, 1938–February 19, 2003). Possessed of enormous talent as a vocalist, Lytle was not as talented at keeping himself in check. As a result, he continually found himself in hot water.
Lytle was born in the small rural town of Greenfield, [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Donald Lytle, aka Donny Young"

One of the more interesting singers of the 1980s was a female singer who went by the name Gus Hardin. While never a big star, she had one of the more distinctive female voices and enjoyed at least a modicum of recording success. Her voice was hard to describe, although some listeners said it reminded [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Gus Hardin (1945-1996)"

Edward Thomas (Eddie) Rabbitt had a seventeen year run as a recording artist on the Billboard country charts with some success on the pop charts. He also enjoyed success as a songwriter, writing many of his own hits and supplying songs to other artists. Ultimately, 20 of his recordings reached #1 on either Billboard or [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Eddie Rabbitt (1941-1998)"

During the 1980s there was considerable confusion among casual listeners due to the presence of three male singers with somewhat similar names: Earl Thomas Conley, Con Hunley and John Conlee. All three had distinctive voices, all three emerged during the late 1970s, and all three had chart runs that basically died out by the end [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: John Conlee"

Thus far, the thrust of the Forgotten Artists series has been artists whose salad days occurred before 1980. While Brady tells me that many of the articles have received a lot of hits, relatively few comments have been left. I suspect that this is because few of the readers actually recall the artists of whom [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists – The 1980s"

Johnny Richard Duncan was born in Dublin, TX to a very musical family. His mom played rhythm guitar in his uncle’s country band and many of his cousins went on to have fine careers in the music industry, including noted songwriter Troy Seals (“Rattle the Windows,” “Don’t Take It Away,” “Two Old Cats Like Us” [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Johnny Duncan (1938-2006)"

You gaze at that guitar on your knee
In a way that you never look at me
This love affair of yours has gone too far
And I’m tired of playing second fiddle to an old guitar
From “Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar),” Capitol Records, 1964

Kitty Wells may have been the reigning Queen of Country Music during the [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Jean Shepard"

Give Me The Beat Boys and Free My Soul
I Want To Get Lost In Your Country Song
And Drift Away
Sam Phillips’ Sun Studios in Memphis had quite a coterie of performers during the mid 1950s: Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Harold Lloyd Jenkins (aka Conway Twitty), Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Carl Mann, Warren Smith, [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Narvel Felts"

Born with the last name Buckingham, Seattle native Bonnie “Guitar” was a true renaissance woman who moved from role to role during the course of her long career. You name it, this 85 year old has done it: singer, songwriter, session musician, producer, executive and record label owner.
Bonnie Guitar learned several musical instruments during her [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Bonnie Guitar"