Search - Johnny & Jack, Kitty Wells :: At KWKH

Great Live Recordings from Country's "Golden Age"

12/24/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Johnnie & Jack, joined here by Johnnie's wife, Kitty Wells," were one of Country Music's most popular acts from the late 1940's through the `50s. Their national popularity started with their nearly three years on the famed `Louisiana Hayride' on KWKH radio in Shreveport, LA and magnified when they joined The Grand Ole Opry afterwards.The music here is from a collection of radio transcriptions from 1949 (and possibly early 1950). Johnnie Wright did most of the lead singing and played string bass; Jack Anglin sang the high leads and tenor and played rhythm guitar. They had a wonderful vocal harmony and few others could match the trio singing when Kitty Wells, the 'Queen of Country Music,' joined them. Supporting members of 'The Tennessee Mountain Boys,' were instrumental luminaries Paul Warren (fiddle)and Ray 'Duck' Atkins (dobro).Johnnie and Jack are best known for songs such as "Poison Love" and "Ashes of Love." They are not here. "Love Or Hate," sung here as a trio, is a real treat. In the main, however, we are wonderfully treated to covers of other artists' songs. The demands of doing radio shows each week meant needing a trove of material to draw on - an impossible task unless a group used songs outside its own commercial catalog. Examples: "White Dove" (The Stanley Brothers); "The Singing Waterfall" (first by Molly O'Day and then by writer Hank Williams Sr); "This World Can't Stand Long" (Roy Acuff), written by Jack's brother, Jim Anglin; and "Little Cabin Home On The Hill," (Bill Monroe) sung here in 5-part harmony!What is also interesting about the music here is that it largely predates Johnnie & Jack's "sound" that they popularized in the 1950's - country with a noticeable calypso beat to the rhythm."