Date News Posted: November 20, 2001

Well it's about time we got caught up on our web site news, it was a September that I think the world could have done with out and a birthday that I could have easily forgotten about but things happen and you just have to put a lid on it and move on.

More and more we see more real classic country music shows popping up, we are getting more and more request for the classics and more questions about where he or she is and are there any records or tapes or anything else we can buy on some of the greats we haven't heard from in years but that is really good because it makes me go diggin' to see where they are, some of them we can find, others we are still looking for like Mitchel Torok, we thought we had found his where abouts but like Waylon said "Wrong" but we are still looking.

I just mentioned a little something about a Rock-A-Billy artist by the name of Ersel Hickey a couple months ago, we had no idea where he was or even if he still  was "anywhere", I say that because you know the news papers, when a country artist dies unless he is hotter than a pop corn bag of gas he may make page twenty four by the lost and found section but what do-ye-know a couple weeks later the phone rang and it was Ersel Hickey, alive and well and in New Jersey and the song I had mentioned when I first wrote about him "Bluebird Over The Mountain" was the number one song in a collection just released on him not long ago, which he sent us along with two brand new ones he had cut plus a signed picture plus another copy of it.

The new one that I mentioned above that would probably knock the heck out of the charts if we still knew what good country and Rock-A-Billy sounded like might still make a place on some of the stations that still or has started to play country again and I guess we will find that out if we or some one else releases that bugger.

Anyway we plan to keep in close contact with Ersel and promote him ever chance we get and hope that if you had forgotten who sang the song that you will remember and buy this new CD it is called Ersel HIckey "The Rockin' Bluebird" it is a collection of twenty songs from Sony and if this don't bring back some fifties memories I'll slop your hogs.

As you probably know by now Freddie Hart and I have been friends for a long, long time and before I even mention anything about Freddie's music I want to mention something that I have only mentioned before in jest. Freddie would give you the shirt off his back if he knew you needed it, he is a good man from the inside out, he is never and I mean never to busy to stop and talk or say something good about a friend or fellow man or sign a picture or take one with you if that's what you want, and like we have also mentioned his love for animals and especially birds.

Simi Valley where we live or I live is pretty much surrounded by rolling hills and farms and the hills are dotted with cattle and horses grazing almost year round because since it don't snow here the grass stays pretty much good to eat year round and the mountain streams provide cool clear water for them to drink, but the point being that food for the animals like hay, straw for bedding and bird seed can be bought here at a much better price than the big cities so, Freddie calls me every couple of weeks and we check out the best place to buy a new supply of bird seed, "BIRD SEED!" yep, Freddie feeds between two and four hundred wild birds every morning and evening come hell or high water and if he is not home at the time he usually feeds them he makes dang sure some one else is, now you tell me who else would worry about a wild bird, sure you ain't a gonna let nothing happen to your dog or your kitty or your pet monkey or that alligator in your bath tub, but a wild bird? Freddie do: and he's dead serious about making sure they are fed, So when you look up at the sky and see a little bird a big bird or an Eagle flying free you might just under your breath just say Thanks Freddie.

Don Sessions has put together some "Really" neat packages,  they are in shrink wrap packages but made to open take out the CD or cassette and then close it back up, not like the shrink wrap that you have to open with a chain saw, these were packaged this way for counter top displays in Circle K's, 7-11's, truck stops or any other type of store that devotes some space on their counters for pick up items and for country music fans they are great, first place in the package you get not only a CD but a cassette album, one for the house, one for the car.

On this album are some old songs and some new ones, several years ago on one of George Jones' albums he recorded a song called "These Old Eyes Have Seen It All" a great song but some how I think it was just lost in the album but in Freddie's album it is the number one song and one that will make you hit the repeat button if your player has a remote on it, It is a story song about an old man sitting on a park bench looking like he has a lot on his mind and a lot to say, so, a guy sits down to see what the old man has on his mind and the story starts. Well anyway, I am a sucker for story songs and this is a good one. "My Favorite Entertainer " is the 2nd. song, "I Created a Monster" "The First Time" and his double year award winning song "Easy Lovin" "I Wouldn't Trade America For The World" a song that should be heard and played daily on every American radio station, "Best Love I never Had" Hank William's Guitar" "Until Then" and like all good country shows it ends with a gospel number and in this case it's Freddie doing "The Only Man-Made Things In Heaven, Are The Scars On Jesus Christ"

When you open the package, remove the CD there in front of you is a nice little story about Freddie, under that is a cassette with all the songs mentioned above, the front side of the package a picture of Freddie and Hank William's Guitar now here is the best part the whole package is only 9.95, if you don't find them at your local little store then you can order them from us, I think regular first class postage is about 78 cents, what ever it is, that's close enough.

Also you should find in this counter display the same package with Merle Kilgore, Thom Bresh, Melvin Couch& Versai Sain (southern country gospel)  a couple packages of Country Comedy and Ed Lovato with some Tejano Country and six or eight more packages of good stuff just in case you want to order the whole kit and caboodle for your store, it is for sure that this is a great buy  for any one of these packages at just nine dollars and ninety five cents* All from "Legend Records"

Here is one that will get cha' down in your Country Heart, if you haven't heard it then you ought' a  this one song is well worth the price of this David Ball CD it's called "Riding With Private Malone".

Now I have to tell it like it is here, I never heard of David Ball, I never heard him on the radio maybe that's because I don't listen to the radio any more except for the news there is nothing in this part of California that resembles Country Music radio 'cept on a damp rainy night some times we can pick up one of Buck Owens station from Bakersfield, he has a couple stations up there, one of them he plays good stuff on some times, I never heard of David 'till my Brother who just moved to Indiana from Tacoma called me one night and ask me if I had ever heard "Riding With Private Malone" I said "nope" he said see if you can find the album so I started looking, he did tell me the artist was David Ball which I said before I never heard of, I checked all our catalogs, it wasn't there and then I said we'll give it a shot and check the big record outlet on the other end of town, I knew they got a country section, it's about two foot long and six CD's high clear at the back of the store, they save the best part of the store for dirty mouth rap you know, the good stuff they think our kids should hear, anyway it was worth a shot, and kiss my goose, there it was. The album title is "Amigo"  they just have a small picture of David on the back of the album, front part is a map and guitar neck the part with the tuning keys.

I have said it before some where back down the line that I only had to pull off the road and listen to a song a few times over the years  if that's where I first heard it  (on the road)  one was "Country Bumpkin" with Cal Smith, one was "Teddy Bear" with Red Sovine, one was "Lonesome 77-203 with Hawkshaw Hawkins and there must have been a couple more but this time I was not behind the wheel I had the CD box in my hand when I hit the button to play the number four song "Riding With Private Malone" (eight times in a row) {I'm a sucker for them story songs}

Pulling over to the side of the road to listen to a song or do anything else I thank God now and then that when that happened that I was not on the top road driving through Grand Canyon.

I have always thought that one of the things in my life time that I wish was still here was the "Pony Express" to me that was a real part of America, a man risk his life for very little money taking the chance of being shot at by Indians (which was Christopher Columbus's fault) for telling the Indians and every one else that he discovered America, that's sure some bull, I don't blame them Indians for shooting at the white man, they should have started with Chris, they should have made him break out his computer and write it down so the whole world could later read, "When I hit these rocks, there was already men with feathers in their Willie Nelson type bandana sitting high on the rocks watching our ship come in so what I really discovered  was Indians"  I may cross the line with this one but I think if ever a race of people was ever screwed in this world, not just America, it was the Indian. The only reason they ever got stuck on a piece of land in Oklahoma or Montana or where ever we stuck um was because there wasn't enough of them to hold us off>>>Remember some years ago when they (the Indians) somehow got a hold of Roy Orbison and kept him for a while, don't remember now if it was Ransom or that Roy just decided to stay with them 'till our government gave them a break, what ever it was, good for Roy.

That was a heck of an intro for Casey Anderson's new CD called "The Ballad of the PONY EXPRESS" and let me tell you right off, if you are a fan of the "Western's Channel" and of western music and/or the old west period then you oughta' get this CD, this ain't something to shake your booty to it is a nice little piece of western history rolled up into a song.

A few months ago I picked up a bunch of wanted posters for our mail order catalog, Casey has part of one of them on the back of this CD package which reads in part >>>WANTED YOUNG SKINNY WIRY FELLOWS OVER  18

>>>MUST BE EXPERT RIDERS, WILLING TO RISK DEATH DAILY

>>>ORPHANS PREFERRED

I guess it was 1860 when the Pony Express started and according to the flyers the pay was twenty five bucks a week, looking back at what it took to make a buck back then, that was some pretty good money, that is if you made it back home, and that orphan part was so they didn't have to tell you ma-ma that you was found with feathers in your head on the end of a stick, you would have thought that some body by that time would have come up with an arrow proof vest and a helmet, even a Chase and Sanborn coffee can pulled over your head might have saved you an air hole through your head.

OK let me give you an address where you can write Casey for one of these, or just write him a letter about anything, I know he would especially like to hear from one of the original Pony Riders, if your hands are to shaky to write with a pen, use your computer he understands that you are up in years now and here is the address it is>>>Showboat Records> Box 150787>Nashville, TN. 37215-0787

By the way, you may have heard of other members of the Anderson family, Liz and Lynn, Wife and Daughter and of course it was Liz and Casey in case you forgot that wrote Merle Haggard's first number one (now Classic) single "The Fugitive" in 1967

Ain't it amazing that when postage goes up one lousy penny in this country that some people come unglued, the postal workers get everyday off that even remotely resembles a holiday, my postman won't even leave my mail if there is a car parked to close to the box, I told him three times, "There ain't no Indians in this neighborhood so don't worry 'bout no arrows, gimmie my mail from George Jones" hummm kemo'sabe'. That's probably the reason, George never writes.

Sittin' out there the other night just listenin'' to some good old stuff by myself and even though this one is not very old it is an outstanding album by Jett Williams, but the one that I keep playing over and over from this album of hers is one that I guess the gal that wrote it, did it herself on the Horse Whisper album but not one bit better than Jet's version, it's called "A Soft Place To Fall" most times I call it Lookin' For A Softer Place To Fall but what ever you call it, Jet Williams just does an outstanding job on it and ten or twelve others on this album, but Soft Place is my favorite. I sent a copy of it back to my sister in Indiana, she called me and said, "she is the best country singer I ever heard" thanks sis, I'll tell Jet's husband who is also her manager>>another one that would be nice for your collection.

Joe Paul Nichols is country as fried chicken livers and pinto beans and cold butter milk so this is all there is to say about him, his music and his singing. If he would of had been singing the songs he has recorded on any of his albums  in the 1950's on any label half     of them would have been stone-bone country hits, it is not hillbilly (even though I like some of what they used to call, hillbilly) it is just pure country and nobody does a better job of singing those songs than Joe Paul Nichols.

{Let me stick this in, anyone that has three names is country}

This new album of J.P's is called "The Way It Was" our old friend who is gone now, Hank Penny had a monster hit on one that J.P. has recorded for this album that you might remember called "won't you ride in my "Little Red Wagon" which was a Rex Griffin tune, and eleven more great songs to remember yesterday with while you listen like "Your Not Home Yet" "Everytime I Close My Eyes I See Texas" " My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You" a Hank Cochran song called "Tight As Twin Fiddles" and several more, what ever it takes to make a dozen really good country songs are in this Joe Paul album.

Joe Paul has got about all the work he can handle through out Texas and Oklahoma so if you don't get to see him work in person and you got a hankerin' to hear one of his albums, he has got a bunch, then drop us a note anyway you want email or otherwise  and we'll connect you with his music.         
 

Some times I wonder if there would be a clash between the movie cowboys and the real cowboys of yester-year and how much of the stories told about The James Brothers  and the Daltons, Billy The Kid  and all the rest was really true, watching Bonnie and Clyde it was plain that every bank that was robed anyplace close to where they had last been they were blamed for it, so I wonder if Jesse and his boys really robed all them trains or was just the fall guys.

Those days in 1800 were the days I should have lived, I did and do love what was once called the old west but it sure as heck is not California in the year of twenty o one, the only thing that linked the old west with today's world was the old movie cowboys that we just let slip away, the people with all the money said we didn't want to see cowboy shows any more so they quit making them, then cable and satellite came along and there was a western's channel, In the past few months I have called or they called me, friend from around the U.S. what have you been up to?, I ask, ah, I got hooked on that western channel and just been watchin' Hoppy, you know the Lone Ranger is on that thing every week? Then we get orders for Eddie Dean and Roy Rogers movies from Sweden or Germany.

What the heck is wrong with these people anyway, didn't they get the word that the movie makers said we didn't want to watch westerns anymore, why they oughta' be taken out and dipped in jelly

Well our building is just about finished and ready to move into , sure will make it easier to find things, for a while anyway, we hope by tomorrow that we can update the catalog, we just found and will be on the way to us soon a bunch of brand new "SUN" record wax including some from Orion, we are looking forward to that.

But for this time we must call it a day so..

We'll see ye later but just in case we don't, take care of yourself.

Don Bradley