The Vinyl Years in Central Kentucky
I’ve had my 45 of the Depressions for nearly twenty-five years I suppose and always had a nagging feeling it was local despite nothing on the label to indicate such a connection. After more digging a few years ago I was able to establish their Frankfort roots and at long last I can shed at least some light on these guys. Cheer up – it’s...
This tribute to rockabilly legend Eddie Gaines and the Rockin’ Five is a deep dive into the band that helped make Eddie arguably THE face of rockabilly music in Kentucky. Back home (and thanks to his grandmother) Eddie was generally known as “Bill” Gaines and later “Brother Bill”. For sake of the legions of rockers around the world who know him as Eddie I will...
This tribute to Matrix is marked by sadness over the death of Stan Gibbons. I had started this late last summer and finally had the chance to interview Stan at his home in Paris just back in December. We were still working on details and exchanging messages when I heard of his sudden passing. I dedicate this to his lovely wife Shelia as well as...
Even during the time of the British Invasion nearly ever college town boasted a strong folk scene and Lexington was no exception. A genre largely disregarded by collectors these days, local acts once packed our clubs nightly. Dig deeper and there are always interesting stories to find – like Avo and Ray… enjoy! [2023 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] The Lennon-McCartney moment for Avo Kiviranna and...
Network was unapologetically a show band, dance band, and cover band and each weekend brought it in style to stages around the Central KY area. They are an important part of the rich musical legacy from Mt Sterling and Montgomery County and well worth a tribute – enjoy! [2023 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] I guess it started with me meeting up with Jerry and talking...
The British Invasion swept through every hill and holler in Kentucky and dozens of teen bands emerged in the wake. The small town of Harrodsburg was not immune and several excellent garage bands popped up in the 60s. Fortunately, at least one was able to capture their sound for posterity. And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Vandells! [2023 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] Note: the earliest...
The hunt for Daniel Turner (like so many other artists on this site) spanned many, many years. You would not believe how many Danny / Daniel Turners I called during those years all to no avail. This Lemco 45 was love at first sound for me and I have been on the hunt for his story since the first day I played it. As always...
Easily one of the hottest rock bands to ever emerge from the small town of Winchester, Kentucky, the Fabulous Illusions were a true mystery for years. It was great to finally shed some light and give some long overdue credit to the guys behind such a great record. [2022 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] The origins of the Fabulous Illusions share an oft-told tale of humble...
I’ve been strangely enamored with Vision’s record since picking it up at a flea market back around 1998 or so. Released during Lexington’s transitional period when the true garage and soul bands were lost to time (or in some cases Vietnam) but prior to the full on southern rock onslaught – it is unique. Every few years I would try again to track these guys...
Pro tip: If you are ever dating someone and that person has a copy of Hank England’s “My Little Kangaroo” – you should marry ’em right away. I did! I only wish I had been a little faster with this one. I dedicate this one to Kelly…Enjoy! [2022 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] Well, Hank was good friends with ‘Whispering’ Bill Anderson and I remember one...
This is my third entry in an ongoing Beyond the Bluegrass series where I take a look at a band outside the central KY area that deserves some greater recognition. The Volcanic Eruptions were as much a part of the 60s scene around the Ashland area as those far more recognizable names as say the Outcasts or Kickin’ Mustangs. While their EP may be lesser-known...
Sound Files #2 – Winter 2021 With a brief lull in finishing a bunch of upcoming pieces for 2022, I figured I’d drop another quick Lexingtunes newsletter on such a snowy day. Here’s hoping for a much better and productive year for all of us! [2022 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] Gear Fab’s New Kentucky Comp Didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas? Gear Fab...
In the digital age there seems to be fewer and fewer musical mysteries, but amazingly enough the origins of Them U.S.A. has stumped many music fans. This is my second entry in my Beyond the Bluegrass series where I offer up a band I totally dig from well outside the Lexington area. Let’s drift a bit westward once more … Enjoy! [2021 Shawn Chambers /...
The search for Bonnie and the Little Boys Blue felt for many years like chasing down the Loch Ness monster. This legendary vocal group from Lexington’s past had achieved almost mythical status in the vinyl community during the collecting heyday of the genre. But unlike Scotland’s Nessie, they were actually known to have existed! It took me many years to locate some members (which I...
The search for THE Soul Syndicate, Inc behind the gem of a two-sider 45 instantly became an obsession with many false leads – including a deep dive down an entirely different rabbit hole, but we will save that for another day. In the meantime, it is a true pleasure to celebrate a band that is (at least in my mind) under-appreciated. Man alive, these guys…...
Sound Files #1 – Spring 2021 News you can use? Dunno, but this is the first of what will probably be a quarterly installment of a Lexingtunes newsletter where I will share some brief bios, pictures, and whatever I’m in the mood to go on about. As always… enjoy! [2021 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] A Shoguns By Any Other Name… For many years, I had...
Tommy Baldwin was among the first generation of rock ‘n rollers gracing the REM label, but historically has been overshadowed by his peers in the musical collective memory of Lexingtonians. Nevertheless, his debut single in 1960 can stand toe-to-toe with any contemporary regional release and remains on want lists of collectors around the world (including my own). This is a brief bio and hopefully it...
Lexington’s own teen idol Bruce Marvello had a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it musical career and slipped under the radar of most local music fans. I’ve always dug his Nikko 45 and I am happy to finally salute him properly. Enjoy. [2021 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] I mean Bruce was a dancer. These boys would come in from out of town to challenge him you know, but they might...
The breeze is Texas-hot, but so far it is the only one on this stifling Kentucky summer day and not to be missed. The young man on the porch expertly flicks his sandy blonde hair aside and catches it on his sweating forehead, smiles to himself and places his fingers on his guitar one more time… Daryl Wayne “Butch” Lykins entered the world as a...
Who’s in your Vinyl Four? Thumbing through my Lexington / central KY music collection it dawned on me how many sports related 45s I had randomly accumulated through the years. I’m sure there are many more that I have missed. Give ’em a virtual whirl and don’t put too much thought into my rating system – I sure didn’t! Be sure to click the song...
This is the first in my Beyond the Bluegrass series where I will occasionally feature a band outside the central KY area that are of personal importance to me. My hometown heroes Sir Arthur & Co are just such a band. Grab a cold RC Cola and enjoy! [2020 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] The sleepy riverside town of Calhoun, KY, may seem an unlikely point...
The four Frankfort teens that made up the Acrosonics were undoubtedly the first all-girl rock band in the central Kentucky area and possibly the entire state. This was no “girl group” of pretty faces singing sweetly in front of a group of other musicians, however. Okay, okay, they had pretty faces, but they also rocked and deserve far more than a footnote in local music...
There have been numerous articles written about Kendall Hayes and his worldwide smash composition “Walk On By” but shamefully few references to his own recording career. Writing about Kendall Hayes without mentioning arguably the biggest country song of all-time is an impossible feat. I get that. Baseball without the Babe? Boxing without Ali? Nah, doesn’t work there and doesn’t work here. “Walk On By” casts...
By the mid-1960s several of Lexington’s record labels boasted at least one young performer: Little Jacky Wayne for REM, Little Lambsie Penn (a Miranda Records discovery), and Terry & Jerry Lester of Sun-Ray. All were preteen singers, but each of them was backed by adult musicians. At the time of their recording, the teens that formed the Dimensions held the distinction of being the youngest...
Highly prized and equally highly priced, the Elite UFO’s 45 has arguably become THE quintessential Kentucky garage record. This is the story, which I started in 2010 and shelved, but have now completed. Enjoy. [2019 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes] Teens from across Powell County rush into the Stanton skating rink and out of the crisp, rapidly cooling autumnal air. Inside some can’t resist sliding their...
The tale of the M’pax should have been far easier to tell, but like many artists on my research “wish list” the wanting and knowing were separated by a great deal of time. I found this record around 1995 or so and practically wore out an already beat copy and then wore out the pavement in search of them to no avail – until now....
The dozen or so releases on the Miranda label are not often found on the want lists of modern day collectors. The vocal / orchestral style captured on H.I. Miranda’s eponymous label has fallen from favor with the current collecting public, but it is important to give a nod to the pioneering label and contributions of Miranda to Lexington’s musical past. [2019 Shawn Chambers /...
When I interviewed Bill Stamper’s widow in 2010 I hoped she could tell me about Ray Watts. At that point it had been maybe a dozen years since I had found his 45 and it was definitely a local favorite of mine. It’s got soul. It’s got baseball. It’s got IT! No luck there, but, hey, it only took me eight more years to figure...
I had heard rumors of the Saxon’s REM recording for years. It was supposed to be a great rock record. I heard more rumors. None of the old musicians I quizzed in town had heard of the band. None of my local collector buddies owned it. Heck, no one had even seen it! My early REM spreadsheet had an entry for it with a brief...
Watching a project go from rough idea to full fruition is always exciting, but when it involves a great band like One of Hours it becomes something beyond excitement. When my buddy, Lee Bryant, laid out his plan to reach out to both the band and Chetwyd label owner to discuss a 50th anniversary reissue of their classic 45 “Feel the Pain / Psychedelic Illusion”...
I could write a whole story about my search for the elusive Little Jacky Wayne, but I will save that for another day. I will only mention that it spanned nearly two decades with many dead ends. From the first time I heard his single I was itching to know the story behind the small cat with the white felt hat. His REM 45 is...
The first time I heard the Intimate Cyrcle’s Chetwyd single was a bit of a shock. I knew it was the label’s last 45 release, but given the spelling and knowing most of the label’s prior releases I figured it had the potential to be a psych-tinged rocker. Like many times in my life I was dead wrong – but pleasantly so. This great two-sider...
The needle tracks the groove and a plaintive voice begins to tell of a lost love… Sadly, the Pratt Brothers only waxed one 45, but what a record! The now-classic flipside “The Wind Told Me So” features a hot guitar that helps lighten the mood of the mournful lyrics. It is really no surprise that Billboard ‘One Starred’ it on review – that rag never...
I think it was around 1994 the first time I chanced upon one of Frank Atkins’ records at a thrift store. The label reminded me of a Johnny Bench tribute record I had and the price was certainly right. Over the next couple years I stumbled upon more and more copies of this record – literally finding a box of 25 once at a yard...
Seldom will this site venture into the 80s, but Active Ingredients sure warrant a quick dip into the decade. The AI releases remain local classics and easily some of the most desirable punk releases in the state. The brief write up below was done around 2005 or so and was, again, going to be part of an unpublished book. Bear in mind this was going...
The Winchester music scene of the mid 1960s featured many talented singers, but the scene had an almost exclusively country focus – Bill Stamper was one of the first to change that. Truly a man of many talents, Stamper ran a small studio and his Loy label showcased his own brand of rock n’ roll – songs which are still being appreciated by fans around...
Winchester’s own Tommy Jackson was country through and through. Tommy died more than a decade before I began documenting the music of the region, but it sure wasn’t hard to meet people that remember his shows and his music. Unfortunately, when I had the unexpected opportunity to talk with his widow, I was without my recorder or camera and was not able to get a...
It is easy to see how Donald Agee could have had a career on stage in one form or another. When I met Don back in 2000 he was already in his mid 60s, but looked many years younger. With a strong profile and stronger handshake Agee reminded me of a classic Hollywood tough-but-good guy. His manner was positive, humble and he had a great...
Kenny Whalen and his group of Travelers have entertained Kentuckians for nearly 50 years – with Kenny’s contributions stretching back even further into the musical past (nearly 60 years spent onstage). The importance of Kenny’s picking on area artists and recordings cannot be stated strongly enough. He was the go-to for label managers, artists, and booking agents any time a song or singer just needed...
Richmond area music fans of an older generation will remember Ichabod in one way or another – either for his fine fiddle work or for his years behind the mic on local radio spinning country records and cracking jokes. Ichabod was nearly 80 by the time I tracked him down in a Richmond nursing home, but it didn’t take too long for the memories to...
During his heyday in the 1960s, Jimmy Lee Ballard was a staple on the central Kentucky music scene. His effortless delivery and Southern drawl suited both traditional country and clearly more rockin’ cuts. When I decided to launch this page to finally start sharing some research and information from a never-published book, I had no doubt that Jimmy Lee would be the first entry. He...