Ricky Segall and The Segalls

Artist: Ricky Segall and The Segalls

LP: Ricky Segall and The Segalls

Song: "What Kind of Noise Do You Make"

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I had a Chipotle burrito with white rice and pinto beans for dinner last night, so you can probably guess what kind of noise I make. To be honest, my noises don't sound half bad compared to the ones Ricky Segall makes on this 1973 collection of songs that he performed as "Ricky the neighbor kid" on the fourth and final season of "The Partridge Family" TV show. Born on Long Island in 1969, Ricky is now married with three kids and, after working as a minister in Texas for a number of years, he returned to Los Angeles in 2006 to go back into show business. You can check out his IMDB biography page here.

The Sneed Family

Artist: The Sneed Family

LP: Meet The Sneed Family

Song: "Danny Boy"
— feat. Billy Goodman —

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Song: "Brush Me From Your Shoes"
— feat. Marvin Cave —

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Song: "Wil-aWa"
— feat. Leslie Sneed —

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Song: "Call Me Up"
— feat. Don Sneed, Jr. —

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Song: "The End of the Week"
— feat. Suzie Sneed —

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Song: "My Uncle Ralph"
— feat. Danny Sneed —

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This rollicking hillbilly music turned out to be just what I sneeded to get me up and moving this cold, grey, and lonely Valentine's morning. The sensational singing Sneeds of Spanaway (it's near Tacoma) apparently got started in the early 1950s when Papa Sneed and his three young sons began making appearances at halls and on TV throughout the Pacific Northwest. You can find photos and info at The Sneed Family's Hillbilly-Music.com page here, see a neat photo of the group from the early days here, and find a German-language Sneed Family Wikipedia entry here. A partial discography and another neat picture of the group can be found here. In order to be sure I wasn't discriminating against a single Sneed, or Marvin or Billy either for that matter, I've included a track here featuring each and every one of them—Suzie, Leslie, Marvin, and Don, Jr. on vocals, and Danny and Billy on their instruments. In the words of Cascade Recording Company vice president I.P. Gadd, "relax and listen to some versatility that you do not find on the average record, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy this album to the fullest extent." If anyone out there has more info about The Sneed Family—or if you yourself are a Sneed—I'd love to hear from you!

[ The Sneed Family, plus two other guys. ]

The Dooleys

Artist: The Dooleys

LP: The Best of The Dooleys

Song: "Don't Take It Lyin' Down"

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Formed in the late 1960s in Essex, the British musical family act The Dooleys (comprised of six Dooleys, a Walsh, and a Bogan) really hit their stride in the latter part of the '70s, with a string of popular singles in their home country, as well as some hits in Japan. Many of those hits are included in this "Best Of" LP, along with "Don't Take It Lyin' Down," which probably can't really be considered a hit since it only peaked at #60, but it's indeed one of the group's best. Somehow this record ended up at a messy little second-hand junk shop in the touristy town of Seaside, Oregon, where I found it for a buck when my ex-boyfriend and I took a weekend getaway there a few years ago. You can read more about The Dooleys on Wikipedia here, and watch their 1979 "Top of the Pops" performance of their biggest hit, "Wanted," right here:

The Dooleys on YouTube:

[ "Wanted" ]

Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Their Family

Artist: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Their Family

LP: Jesus Loves Me
Song: "The Lord Is Counting on You (The Sunday School Song)"
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Song: "Jesus Loves Me"
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There are usually lots of old religious records to be found in the bins of any thrift store, and the GoodWill I went to after church last Sunday was no exception. The best of the bunch was this 1960 album from Roy "King of the Cowboys" Rogers, his wife Dale "Queen of the West" Evans, and their five children. Decades before big-name celebrities like Madonna and Angelina Jolie caused a media frenzy by snatching exotic children from impoverished countries to accessorize their glamorous lifestyles, western screen and music stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had quietly been adding a "mixed assortment" of kids from various ethnic backgrounds to their lovin' little musical family. And even sweeter is the fact that they didn't screen the kids first to make sure they could actually carry a tune. Though it was Roy's 3rd marriage and Dale's 4th, their union in 1947 lasted 51 years, which just goes to show... something, I'm not sure what. You can read about the life and career of Roy Rogers here, of Dale Evans here, and LP liner notes and a video clip from a 1944 film are included below.

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on YouTube:

[ "Lights of Old Santa Fe" ]

[ Roy Rogers: November 5, 1911 — July 6, 1998 ]

[ Dale Evans: October 31, 1912 — February 7, 2001 ]

Detroyt

Artist: Detroyt

LP: Detroyt

Song: "Physical Lover"

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I read last week that Detroit, Michigan lost 25% of its residents over the past decade, dropping from a population of 951,270 in 2000 to just 713,777 in 2010. The city had a population of 1,849,568 in 1950 and was the 5th largest city in the USA. It's strange and sad to imagine any city losing more than a million of its people—the great exodus has created some creepy, post-apocalyptic scenery in Detroit like this, this, this, this, and this too. And speaking of declining populations, I just found out that Farley Granger died two days ago, he was 85. I hope he didn't live in Detroit.

 

Tim Spencer Family

Artist: Tim Spencer Family

LP: Circuit Ridin' Preacher

Song: "Circuit Ridin' Preacher"

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Song: "Down Deep In My Heart"

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Song: "These Old Bones"

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Featuring songs written by family patriarch Vernon "Tim" Spencer, who was one of the founding members of The Sons of the Pioneers, this 1958 religious LP is loaded with catchy ditties. The album's title cut includes a refrain used by my favorite circuit ridin' preacher, Harry Powell, played by Robert Mitchum in the 1955 film "The Night of the Hunter." I'm also posting "Down Deep In My Heart" because, along with a nice vocal melody, it features some terrific instrumental bits with guitar and organ. "These Old Bones" is thrown in too, since it's relentlessly catchy and I'm pretty sure it features Tim's son Harold "Hal" Spencer on lead vocals. With that nifty suit and crew-cut, he's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen on the back of a record. You can read all about Tim Spencer and his family here, where you'll also find lots of neat pictures and some sheet music for songs Tim wrote. The "Circuit Ridin' Preacher" LP liner notes and a Spencer family photo are included below.

 [ Tim Spencer Family: Harold—Velma—Tim—Loretta ]

Heesch Family Singers

 Artist: Heesch Family Singers

LP: You Set My Spirit Free

Song: "Suzy's Prayer"

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Song: "The Chosen Vessel"

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This slightly warped record by the Heesch Family Singers is another I picked up at the Colville Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store. The Heesches are evidently natives of the small logging town, since their contact info includes a Colville street address. With "Suzy's Prayer," the Heesches pressure parents into teaching their kids how to pray, lest they be humiliated when called upon to offer grace while visiting a friend's house for dinner. Poor little Suzy's eyes fill with tears and she can barely croak an apology to her playmate's parents: "I am sorry, I am sorry, but I don't know how to pray. My mommy never taught me and I don't know what to say." What Suzy should have said is, "I am sorry, but I'm not really into that sort of thing. If you need to talk to God before we eat, go right ahead, but just leave me out of it." With "The Chosen Vessel," the Heesch Family Singers insinuate that God prefers dull, unattractive, broken people to good-looking, high-spirited, talkative ones who don't mind voicing their opinions. Some advice for the Heesches: if you're going to include your dog Quennie in the family photo on the back of your Christian music record, you might choose a picture where she doesn't look like she's possessed by Satan.

[ Quennie ]