Clarence White

You may click on the following links for the further connected contributions...

Lee and Clarence White with Country Gazette
Lee and Clarence White with Arlo Guthrie
Lee with Herb Pedersen
Lee with Herb Pedersen & Chris Hillman



Various Artists - Silver Meteor - A Progressive Country Anthology
Sierra SRS-8706 (1980) - US LP
Sierra SXCD 6032 (2010) - US CD - CD reissue with 14 bonus tracks

Side One

1 - Never Ending Love* - Clarence White
2 - Last Thing On My Mind* - Clarence White
3 - Alabama Jubilee* - Clarence White
4 - Why You Been Gone So Long* - Clarence White
5 - Silver Meteor* - Casey Kelly
6 - A Good Love Is Like A Good Song* - Casey Kelly

Side Two

7 - I’m On My Way Back Home Again - The Everly Brothers
8 - Cuckoo Bird - The Everly Brothers
9 - The Bramble And The Rose - Barbara Keith
10 - Living In The Country - Levitt and McClure
11 - The Knight Upon The Road - Blue Velvet Band
12 - Hitch-Hiker - Blue Velvet Band

CD reissue bonus tracks

13 - The Great Pretender - Michael Dinner
14 - Pinto Pony - Paul Siebel
15 - Everybody’s Talkin’ - Rusty Young/Clarence White
16 - Bugler - Larry Murray
17 - Yo-Yo Man - Rick Cunha
18 - Great American Thunder Turkey - Red Rhodes
19 - Shady Lies - Ian Matthews
20 - Same Old Story - Shiloh
21 - Mississippi Memory - Cold Steel
22 - All His Children - Country Gazette (1972) - previously unreleased
23 - The Great Filling Station Holdup - Country Gazette (1972) - previously unreleased
24 - The Bramble And The Rose - Sari Schuwer/Country Gazette
25 - Still Feeling Blue - Sari Schuwer/Country Gazette
26 - One Hundred Years From Now - The Mystery Band

1) “Silver Meteor” is an anthological record album originally released on Sierra Records in 1980, including both previously un-issued and hard-to-find material in the area of early progressive country. Its primary importance lies in the presence of four tracks from guitar virtuoso Clarence White’s first - and never released - solo album. These four tracks were recorded on June 28 and 29, 1973, just two weeks before White got killed by a drunken driver in Palmdale, California, on July 15, 1973. The line-up of Clarence White’s recording group includes members of Country Gazette (minus Kenny Wertz), plus drummer Ed Greene, Ry Cooder on slide guitar (on track 4), Herb Pedersen on guitar and vocals, and Clarence’s brother Roland White on mandolin. Lee plays electric bass on all the four tracks alongside Steve Bush on acoustic bass. 2) “Silver Meteor” got finally reissued on CD in 2010, with 14 added bonus tracks. Two of these are previously unreleased recordings by Country Gazette (22, 23) and one is a cover of the Gram Parsons song “One Hundred Years From Now” performed by an undisclosed group of musicians called The Mystery Band (26). 3) In a list of the 50 greatest ‘lost’ albums compiled in May 2010 by British magazine Uncut, “Silver Meteor” got voted 11th best lost album ever. The poll commentary from Uncut is reproduced on the CD reissue back inlay. 4) Lee is also the bass player on the two Casey Kelly tracks that follow. In the Seventies, Kelly released a couple of albums on Elektra, “Casey Kelly” (Elektra EKS-75040, 1972), produced by Richard Sanford Orshoff, and “For Sale” (Elektra EKS-75072, 1973), produced by Sanford Orshoff and Robert Putnam. Lee is the only bass player on the first album, and plays bass on about half of the songs on the second. 5) CD album reissue comes with a fold-out inlay including original introduction and liner notes by William H. Koon, plus further annotations on the bonus tracks. Please refer to original inlay for these. 6) Above picture and following credits were taken from the CD album reissue. 7) Given the discursive fashion of the liner notes, line-ups and musician/songwriter credits therein presented are sometimes non-exhaustive. Since some of these albums are traceable through the web, it was possible to integrate a few missing catalog numbers and/or songwriters from photographic sources. No other integration has been made in the following write-up. 8) One track from Clarence White’s solo album sessions, “Alabama Jubilee”, got included also in the anthological Clarence White collection “Flatpick” (2006) released on Sierra CD 1024. The anthology got later reissued as an extended 2-CD collector’s edition on Sierra SZCD 6026 (see picture at the bottom). 9) “Silver Meteor” and “Flatpick” are available from the Sierra Records online shop at sierrarecords.goestores.com . 10) Again, my heartfelt thanks for help go to John Delgatto.

Clarence White:
Clarence White - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Lee Sklar - Electric Bass (1, 2, 3, 4)*
Roger Bush - Acoustic Bass (1, 2, 3, 4)
Ed Greene - Drums (1, 2, 3, 4)
Herb Pedersen - Guitar, Vocals
Ry Cooder - Slide Guitar
Roland White - Mandolin, Vocals
Alan Munde - Banjo
Byron Berline - Fiddle

Casey Kelly:
Casey Kelly - Vocals, Guitars
Lee Sklar - Bass (5, 6)*
Russ Kunkel - Drums (5, 6)
Craig Doerge - Keyboards
“Sneaky” Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel
Danny Cohen - Accordion
Al Garth - Fiddle

rest of original anthology:
Don Everly - Vocals, Guitars
Phil Everly - Vocals, Guitars
Barbara Keith - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Jim Rooney - Vocals, Guitar
Jerry Scheff - Bass
Emory Gordy, Jr. - Bass
Andy Kullberg - Bass
Gene Parsons - Drums, Banjo
Dennis St. John - Drums
Buddy Saltzman - Drums
Gary Chester - Drums
Clarence White - Lead Electric Guitar
Ron Elliott - Guitar
Gram Parsons - Guitar
Dan Levitt - Electric Guitar
Marc McClure - Electric Guitar
Eric Weissberg - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Richard Bennett - Pedal Steel
Bill Keith - Pedal Steel, Banjo
Spooner Oldham - Piano
Pat Rebillot - Piano
Richard Greene - Violin, Viola
John Hammond - Harmonica

bonus tracks:
Michael Dinner - Vocals
Paul Siebel - Vocals
Larry Murray - Vocals
Rick Cunha - Vocals
Ian Matthews - Vocals
Gib Guilbeau - Vocals, Fiddle
Herb Pedersen - Vocals
Sari Schuwer - Vocals
The Mystery Band - Performer
Michael Bowden - Bass
Roger Bush - Bass
Mickey McGee - Drums
Russ Kunkel - Drums
Danny Lane - Drums
Don Henley - Drums, Vocals
Greg Attaway - Drums
Bob Warford - Lead Guitar
Clarence White - Lead Guitar
Bernie Leadon - Rhythm Guitar
Jay Lacy - Guitar
Richard Bowden - Guitar
Kenny Wertz - Guitar
Ed Black - Pedal Steel
Rusty Young - Pedal Steel
Buddy Emmons - Pedal Steel
Red Rhodes - Pedal Steel
Al Perkins - Pedal Steel
“Sneaky” Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel
Jim Ed Norman - Keyboard
Bob Lovelace - Piano
David Grisman - Mandolin
Alan Munde - Banjo
Byron Berline - Fiddle
Linda Ronstadt - Vocals
Herb Pedersen - Vocals
Doug Haywood - Vocals

Produced, Compiled & Designed by John Delgatto

Produced by Jim Dickson (1, 2, 3, 4)
Produced by Richard Sanford Orshoff (5, 6)
Produced by Lenny Waronker (7, 8)
Produced by Larry Marks (9)
Produced by Ron Elliott (10)
Produced by Erik Jacobsen (11, 12)
Produced by Michael Nesmith (19)
Produced by Kenny Rogers (20)
Produced by Jim Dickson (22, 23)
Andy Wickham - Assistant Producer (7, 8)

Recording Dates:
June 28-29, 1973 (1, 2, 3, 4)
August, 1972 (5, 6)

Vicki Nadsady - Original “Silver Meteor” LP Art Direction
William H. Koon - Original Liner Notes (1980), Updated Liner Notes

Tracks 5, 6:
From the album “Casey Kelly” - Elektra EKS 75040 (1972)

Tracks 7, 8:
Single on Warner Bros. WB 7290 (1969)

Track 9:
From the album “Barbara Keith” - Reprise MS 2087 (1972)

Track 10:
From the album “Levitt And McClure” - Warner Bros. WS 1807 (1969)

Tracks 11, 12:
From the album “Sweet Moments With The Blue Velvet Band” - Warner Bros. WS 1802 (1969)

Track 13:
From the album “The Great Pretender” - Fantasy F-9454 (1974)

Track 14:
From the album “Jack-Knife Gypsy” - Elektra EKS-74081 (1971)

Track 15:
From the album “Suite Steel” - Elektra EKS-74072 (1970)

Track 17:
From the album “Cunha Songs” - GRC GADJ 5004 (1973)

Track 19:
From the album “Valley Hi” - Elektra EKS-75061 (1973)

Track 20:
From the album “Shiloh” - Amos AAS7015 (1970)

Track 21:
From the album “Cold Steel” - Ariola (1974)

“Special Thanks: Susie White, Roland White, Michelle White, June Clark, Peggy Hanson, Joanne Bratcher-Ferrari, Clarence Ferrari, Gene Parsons, Bruce Leek, Jim Bickhart, Mark Leviton, Roz Larman, Leigh Carlton, Mike Craig, Eddie Tickner, Jim Dickson, Brent Haesler, Dean Marshall, S.D. Ashley, Etsuo Eito, Richard Leher, Joel Strote, Ken Becker, Susie and Luke Piscitello, Pat Delgatto”.

“Dedicated in loving memory of Marsha Necheles and S.D. Ashley for rescuing me from the ‘wilderness’.”.

www.sierrarecords.net

Songwriters:
Alan Bergman
Marilyn Bergman
Bonnie Bramlett
Delaney Bramlett
Jimmy Buffett
Martin Cooper
Rick Cunha
Michael Dinner
Don Henley
Barbara Keith
Casey Kelly
Bob McDill
Henry Mancini
Larry Murray
Fred Neil
Mickey Newbury
Gram Parsons
Tom Paxton
Dick Reicheg
Red Rhodes
Pete Seeger
Paul Siebel
Richard Thompson
Traditional
Eric Weissberg



“Flatpick - Collector’s Extended Edition” - US 2-CD set - front cover

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source/pics: my records
US LP catalog # and side one/two breakdown: the web
additional catalog #s: the web

Barbara Keith

Barbara Keith - Barbara Keith
Reprise MS 2087 (1972) - US LP

Side One

1 - All Along The Watchtower*
2 - Rolling Water*
3 - The Bramble And The Rose
4 - Burn The Midnight Oil No More*
5 - Free The People*

Side Two

6 - Detroit Or Buffalo*
7 - The Road I Took To You*
8 - Shining All Along*
9 - Rainy Nights Are All The Same*
10 - A Stone’s Throw Away

Notes: 1) Album was reissued in 2004 as CD on Water Records water 127. 2) Above picture and following credits were taken from the 2004 CD reissue. 3) 2004 CD reissue comes with additional artwork in the form of pictures and memorabilia, but no credits for original artwork, recording locations nor original master engineering are indicated. Whether these credits were included in original LP release is unbeknownst to me. 4) 2004 CD reissue includes both a complete quoting and a picture reprint of the biographical promo wrap/insert that came with original Reprise LP. This inclusion is indicated as “Notes taken from the original 1971 LP promo insert.”. However, after a bit of web research about Reprise catalog numeration, it does appear that original LP was released not in 1971 but in 1972. 5) Although not indicated as such, it does seem that on track 9 Lee plays upright bass. 6) On track 2, the line-up playing with Ms. Keith - who is on vocals and acoustic guitar - is indeed The Section.

Barbara Keith - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Piano
Leland Sklar - Bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)*
Emory Gordy, Jr. - Bass
Max Bennett - Bass
Jim Keltner - Drums (1, 5, 8)
Russ Kunkel - Drums (2)
Dennis St. John - Drums
Ron Tutt - Drums (6)
Jim Gordon - Drums
John Brennan - Acoustic Guitar, Guitar
David Cohen - Electric Guitar
Tony Peluso - Electric Guitar
Danny Kortchmar - Electric Guitar (as Danny Kootch)
Lowell George - Bottleneck Guitar, Electric Guitars
Richard Bennett - Pedal Steel
“Sneaky” Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel (as Sneaky Pete Kleinow)
Craig Doerge - Piano
Spooner Oldham - Electric Piano, Piano
Clarence MacDonald - Piano
Mike Utley - Organ (as Michael Utley)
Milt Holland - Percussion (5, 8)

Produced by Larry Marks
An Artisan Lodge Production

Nick DeCaro - String Quartet Arrangement (4)

Ray Gerhardt (as Ray Gernhardt) - Engineer, Remixing Engineer
Tommy Vicari - Engineer, Remixing Engineer
Henry Lewy - Engineer
Rudy Hill - Engineer
Lee Herschberg - Engineer
Gary Hobish - Remastering Engineer

Produced for reissue by Pat Thomas

Patrick Roques - Reissue Design

“Additional photographs and memorabilia courtesy of Barbara Keith”.

Songwriters:
Barbara Keith
Bob Dylan
Doug Tibbles

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source/pic: my records
US LP catalog #: the web

Singles

This and the next two paragraphs are all about unverified data so please take it with the benefit of doubt. According to web sources, the singles released out of Barbara Keith’s second LP were mainly “Free The People” and “All Along The Watchtower”. Following info were sometimes supported by photographic evidence found on online auction sales pages.

“Free The People” was announced as a single release on Billboard magazine on January 13, 1973 (see here). B-side and a ‘valid’ catalog # are undisclosed, but it might be the same release coming with “Rainy Nights Are All The Same” as b-side that surfaced on some online shops and was suddenly no longer available as soon as further inquiries about it were made. I do not know if the latter was for real or just some kind of hoax, nor what type of mixes/edits (if ever) we are talking about.

“All Along The Watchtower” was apparently released for the US market in 1973 on Reprise with “The Bramble And The Rose” as a b-side, and in the same year as a stereo/mono-mixes promo with “Watchtower” on both sides. I found only one catalog # for both releases and no pictorial data, so this also is vaguely suspicious. What seems to be more certain is the existence of a 1973 French release on Reprise with “Watchtower” as a-side and “Free The People” as b-side. There are numerous different pictures of this French release on the web. Still, no indication about whether content might or not be inclusive of edit versions.

Back to ‘things-as-they-are’ now with the following single on A&M. It is the one Barbara Keith single in my possession, and it comes with no credits except for producer and singer-songwriter. Content was not taken from Ms. Keith’s LP on Reprise but it has one composition in common with that release, and the producer is the same (Larry Marks). Please read more about it below.



“Free The People/The Rainmaker” - US 7” vinyl promo single - a-side



“Free The People/The Rainmaker” - US 7” vinyl promo single - b-side

Barbara Keith
Free The People/The Rainmaker
A&M 1191 (1970) - US 7” vinyl promo single

a-side

1 - Free The People

b-side

2 - The Rainmaker

Notes: 1) This is a promo single by Barbara Keith released in 1970. Alternate catalog #s are 1976 for the a-side and 1977 for the b-side. 2) This version of “Free The People” is not the one included in Ms. Keith’s eponymous Reprise LP (see above). 3) “The Rainmaker” is a composition that was not included in either of Ms. Keith’s two solo albums. 4) Judging from other A&M singles catalog #s, and from the relative ad on Billboard magazine (see point 9), record should be datable to September, 1970. 5) Lacquer #s are 82099 and 82099-X. 6) Single was produced by Larry Marks, apparently (my inference) in between Ms. Keith’s first solo LP on Verve Forecast, produced by Peter Asher in 1969, and her subsequent solo release on Reprise, produced by Mr. Marks himself (see above). While no credits are available for the players on either side, I thought inclusion would be meaningful on account of production continuity with the album Lee plays bass on. 7) Both tracks are mono mixes. 8) No bass player is featured on b-side. 9) The ad repro at the bottom of post was taken from the “Barbara Keith” Reprise album CD reissue on Water Records. From a web research through past issues of Billboard magazine it appears that its caption has been altered so as not to show label and catalog # of release. As you can see from the original ad here, the single it refers to is indeed the one on A&M 1191 (thus, not the album version). The date for this issue of Billboard magazine is 26 September, 1970.

Barbara Keith - Vocals

Produced by Larry Marks

Songwriter:
Barbara Keith



“Free The People” - US 7” vinyl single - altered Billboard ad reproduction from CD reissue (see link in above notes for original)

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source/pics: my records