In this week's episode, we're featuring some lost 60s honky tonk from James O'Gwynn: The Best Of James O'Gwynn (1962). Nicknamed "The Smiling Irishman Of Country Music", he got his start around the same time as George Jones on the Houston Jamboree in the mid-50s, sharing a label and a legendary producer in Pappy Dailey. They stayed friends during their time at the Louisiana Hayride and Jones cut several O'Gwynn-penned songs. Encouraged to perform on the Opry stage by another good buddy in Jim Reeves, James O'Gwynn had hits, sure enough - three Top 30s, two Top 20s and one Top 10, before being dropped from Mercury Records. That success was never regained on the national stage, but O'Gwynn was kept employed in music for the next forty years, which says something for his quality as a country singer. He possessed a hard-edged honky tonk sound and may well have gone down in history in the same sentence as The Possum had the stars aligned. But James O'Gwynn, a likeable, dedicated family man, never complained about his stop-start career and he had all four biological children by his bedside when he passed in 2011. The Best Of James O'Gwynn is a small look back at a man who earnt his place in country music history and who is absolutely worthy of a trip down memory lane.
NB. Many thanks to Carol Murdock O'Gwynn for the help in putting this episode together.
HOUR 1:
1. James O’Gwynn – My Name Is Mud (1962)
2. Lonesome Standard Time – Grandpa Was A Carpenter (1995)
3. Mickey Gilley – Giving Up On Getting Over You (1983)
4. YOUTUBE REFLECTIONS: Ricky Van Shelton – I Am A Simple Man (1991)
5. George Jones – Talk To Me Lonesome Heart (1959)
6. James O’Gwynn – Easy Money (1959)
7. Buck McKenzie – Can’t Be A Use To Be (1988)
8. Dolly Parton – The Only Hand You’ll Need To Hold (1975)
9. David Houston – Honky Tonks And Honeys (1981)
10. Lucas Hudgins – World Of My Own (2009)
BUMPER: Buck Owens – Orange Blossom Special
11. Jade Jack – A Woman’s Man (2015)
12. James O’Gwynn – Losing Game (1956)
13. James O’Gwynn – Too Much Time To Cry (1962)
14. Marty Robbins – She’s Too Good To Be True (1972)
15. Rocky King Band – You’re In Love With The Wrong Man (2015)
16. Dean Dillon – The New Never Wore Off My Sweet Baby (1988)
17. James O’Gwynn – I Fell And Broke My Heart (1962)
18. Skeets McDonald – Call Me Mr. Brown (1962)
HOUR 2:
1. Jerry Hopper – Step Outside Your Ring (1976)
2. Loretta Lynn – When They Ring Those Golden Bells (1965)
3. George Jones – I Won’t Love You Anymore (1963)
4. Ray Sanders – Out Of A Honky Tonk (1970)
5. Bobby Flores – I Don’t Know Why (I Keep Lovin’ You) (2003)
6. James O’Gwynn – Slowly (1962)
7. James O’Gwynn – Down On The Corner Of Love (1961)
8. Garth Brooks – We Bury The Hatchet (1991)
9. Buck Owens – I Don’t Care (As Long As You Love Me) (1964)
10. Wynn Stewart – Your Stepping Stone (1968)
11. Rhonda Vincent – Busy City (2010)
BUMPER: Bob Wills – San Antonio Rose
12. Richard Lynch Band – All By My Lonesome (2015)
13. COUNTRY COVERS: Vernon Oxford – Family Bible (1979)
14. COUNTRY COVERS: Quebe Sisters Band – Yearning (Just For You) (2014)
15. COUNTRY COVERS: Melba Montgomery – Hickman County Blues (1974)
16. SHOT OF STEEL: Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen – Til It Does (2015)
17. James O’Gwynn – Two Little Hearts (1962)
18. George Morgan – One Wife, Five Kids Later (1974)
HOUR 3: If That Ain’t Country’s Year In Country Music - 1959
1. Faron Young – Country Girl
2. Frankie Miller – Blackland Farmer
3. Marty Robbins – The Hanging Tree
4. Buck Owens – Second Fiddle
5. Buck Owens – Under Your Spell Again
6. Flatt & Scruggs – Ground Speed
7. Porter Wagoner – I’ve Enjoyed As Much Of This I Can Stand (1962)
8. The Louvin Brothers – The River Of Jordan
9. The Stanley Brothers – Four Books In The Bible
10. Billy Grammer – Gotta Travel On
11. Carl Smith – It’s All My Heartache
BUMPER: Buck Owens – Orange Blossom Special
12. Lefty Frizzell – Cigarettes And Coffee Blues
13. Ray Price – The Same Old Me
14. Bob Wills & Tommy Duncan – The Image Of Me (1960)
15. Johnny Horton – Johnny Reb
16. Hank Thompson – Cryin’ In The Deep Blue Sea
17. Ernest Tubb – Thanks A Lot
18. Kitty Wells – Your Wild Life’s Gonna Get You Down
19. Charlie Walker – I’ll Catch You When You Fall