The Kentucky Headhunters
Encyclopedia
The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock
band. They were founded in 1968 as Itchy Brother, which comprised brothers Richard Young (rhythm guitar
, vocals) and Fred Young (drums) along with Greg Martin (lead guitar
, vocals) and Anthony Kenney (bass guitar
, vocals). The Young brothers and Martin began performing as The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986, adding brothers Ricky Lee Phelps (lead vocals, harmonica
) and Doug Phelps (bass guitar, backing vocals) to the membership.
With the release of their 1989 debut album Pickin' on Nashville
via Mercury Records
, the band charted four consecutive Top 40 country singles. A second album for Mercury, Electric Barnyard
, did not do as well commercially, and the Phelps brothers left after its release to form Brother Phelps
. Kenney re-joined and Mark S. Orr took over on lead vocals for 1993's Rave On!!
and a compilation album
entitled The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'
before the band exited Mercury. Orr left and Doug Phelps rejoined in 1996 as lead vocalist for the album Stompin' Grounds
. He also led on the Audium Entertainment albums Songs from the Grass String Ranch and Soul
, as well as Big Boss Man
and a second compilation, Flying Under the Radar
, on CBuJ Entertainment. After Kenney's departure, Doug once again became the band's bass guitarist.
The Kentucky Headhunters have released seven studio albums, two compilations, and twenty singles, of which the highest-peaking is a cover of the Don Gibson
song "Oh Lonesome Me
," which the band took to number 8 in 1990. In addition, the band has won three Country Music Association
awards, an Academy of Country Music
award and a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
, won in 1990 for Pickin' on Nashville.
Richard Young, his younger brother Fred, and their cousins Anthony Kenney and Greg Martin began performing music in the Youngs' and Kenney's hometown of Glasgow, Kentucky
in the 1960s. They founded a band called Itchy Brother, named after Fred's favorite cartoon character, from King Leonardo and His Short Subjects
.
The band achieved regional success in Kentucky in the 1970s, including at least one single, "Shotgun Effie," which they wrote about the Youngs' grandmother, Effie. It was released in 1973 on the King Fargo label. Itchy Brother was almost signed to Swan Song Records
, an independent label founded by the band Led Zeppelin
, in 1980. The label closed after Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham
died, and Itchy Brother never recorded a full album on Swan Song.
Itchy Brother broke up in 1982. After their disbanding, Richard started writing songs for Acuff-Rose Music
, and Fred became a backing musician for country singer Sylvia
, who at the time was recording on RCA Records
. Martin played bass guitar
and sang backing vocals for Ronnie McDowell
, then a recording artist for Curb Records
, and Kenney stopped performing.
. The band decided to name themselves The Headhunters, taking the name from the term "headchopper," which blues musician Muddy Waters
used to indicate that he had supplanted another band in a gig
. After discovering that other bands existed with that name, the band added "Kentucky" to its name and thus became The Kentucky Headhunters. The Kentucky Headhunters began performing together the following year, playing twice monthly on the 90-minute Chitlin' Show, a radio program on WLOC
in Munfordville, Kentucky
.
album, which included seven original songs, plus covers of Bill Monroe
's "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine," Henson Cargill
's "Skip a Rope
" and Don Gibson
's "Oh Lonesome Me
." Originally intended to be sold at the band's live shows, the demo tape came to the attention of the Nashville music community. Although Martin said that the band had not seriously considered signing a record deal, the band pursued one through the suggestion of its manager, Mitchell Fox. Harold Shedd
, a record producer
who was then the head of Mercury Records
, helped sign The Kentucky Headhunters to the label in 1989.
Mercury released the demo in 1989 as The Kentucky Headhunters' debut album, Pickin' on Nashville
. The album produced four singles, all of which reached top 40 on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs
) chart. The first of these, the "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine" cover, peaked at number 25 in December 1989. After it came "Dumas Walker
," about a then-74-year-old marbles
player who owned a liquor store
that the band frequented. According to Doug, Mercury Records was initially reluctant to release the song as a single: "[The label] thought it was too regional, and that no one outside the area would get it, but what they didn't see, was the reaction we got to it every night that we played it in front of a crowd, and it didn't matter where we were playing either." The single peaked at number 15 on the Billboard chart.
Following "Dumas Walker" was the "Oh Lonesome Me" cover; peaking at number eight, this was the band's only Top Ten hit. Finishing off the single releases was the number 23 "Rock 'n' Roll Angel", which Richard wrote. Pickin' on Nashville also earned the band a Grammy Award
for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Best New Vocal Group award from the Academy of Country Music
(ACM), and Album of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association
(CMA). In addition, it earned a double-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for shipping two million copies in the United States. William Ruhlmann of Allmusic gave the album a four-and-a-half star rating out of five, saying that the band was "all the better" for having a sound closer to rock than country. After the success of their debut album, The Kentucky Headhunters began touring with Hank Williams, Jr.
and Delbert McClinton
.
. Although the album earned a gold certification from the RIAA and a second CMA award for Vocal Group of the Year, its singles received little airplay compared to the band's previous releases, with none of the four singles reaching the top 40 on the U.S. country charts. The album's first single was a cover of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett
," which was released on the 155th anniversary of Davy Crockett
's death; the single shipped to radio with promotional coonskin cap
s. It spent eleven weeks on the charts and peaked at 49. "With Body and Soul" was the next single released, peaking at number 30 on the Canadian RPM
country charts but reaching number 56 in the United States. The third and fourth singles were the original composition "It's Chitlin' Time" and a rendition of Waylon Jennings
's "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
," at numbers 63 and 60 respectively. Norman Greenbaum
's 1969 single "Spirit in the Sky
" was covered on this album as well.
This album was met with mixed reception from critics. Alanna Nash
of Entertainment Weekly
gave it an A rating, saying that it "skillfully blends raw wit, the working-class energy of sweat-stained factory workers jamming between shifts, and musical styles as diverse as the corny Tennessee Ernie Ford
and the creamy Eric Clapton
." Allmusic critic Brian Mansfield
, who gave it three-and-a-half stars, called the band a "top-notch Southern rock band with a sense of humor," and said that the covers on Electric Barnyard were highlights, while the originals were "adequate, offbeat filler." Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times
called the band "ZZ Top
lite" and said that most of the songs on the album had a "party-hearty sound."
Later in 1991, The Kentucky Headhunters performed with Roy Rogers
on the song "That's How the West Was Swung" from his Tribute
album, and covered Canned Heat
's "Let's Work Together
" for the soundtrack
to the film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
. In addition, Martin played lead guitar for Canadian synthpop
band Men Without Hats
on its 1991 album Sideways and filled in for Southern rock
band Lynyrd Skynyrd
guitarist Ed King
on that band's 1992 tour, as King was injured at the time.
, which had a more mainstream country sound than The Kentucky Headhunters did. Brother Phelps released two albums for Asylum Records
and charted in the country top 40 with "Let Go
" and "Were You Really Livin' ," which peaked at number 6 and 28 respectively.
1993–1994: Rave On!! and Still Pickin
Kenney rejoined in 1992 as bass guitarist, and Charlotte, Michigan
native Mark S. Orr took over on lead vocals. The first album to feature Orr and Kenney, the more blues rock-oriented Rave On!!
, was released in 1993. Although the band drew attention by touring with then-labelmate Billy Ray Cyrus
, Rave On!! sold poorly and failed to produce a successful single among its three releases: "Honky Tonk Walkin' ," "Blue Moon of Kentucky
" and "Dixie Fried," the latter two being covers of Bill Monroe and Carl Perkins
, respectively. The album also included a cover of The Lovin' Spoonful
's "My Gal". "Honky Tonk Walkin'" and "Dixie Fried" respectively reached numbers 54 and 71 on the country charts, while the "Blue Moon of Kentucky" cover did not chart.
Mansfield gave a two-star rating for Allmusic, where he wrote that the band had "devolved into a redneck
boogie
group." Nash's review for Entertainment Weekly gave it a C- grade, and called it "warmed-over blues" that lacked the "outrageousness, wit, and brilliance that distinguished their earlier albums." Steve Morse of The Boston Globe
called it an "irresistible car-stereo album," and Rolling Stone
critic John Swenson said that the album was more rock-oriented than its predecessors, and that it "sounds like a hell of a blueprint for a summer concert tour."
The Orr-led lineup also recorded That'll Work, a collaborative album with Chuck Berry
's pianist, Johnnie Johnson
. It was released later in 1993 via Nonesuch Records
, and it comprised twelve songs which Johnson and the band wrote over the course of four days. One year later, Mercury released a greatest hits
package, The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'
. It reprised singles and other songs from the band's first three albums, as well as "Let's Work Together" and a cover of The Beatles
' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
," which The Kentucky Headhunters had previously recorded on the 1994 tribute album Shared Vision: The Songs of the Beatles. After Still Pickin, The Kentucky Headhunters left Mercury.
to release its fourth non-collaborative studio album, Stompin' Grounds
, with Doug on lead vocals. This album was also an unsuccessful venture, failing to enter the country albums charts and producing only a number 70-peaking cover of Marty Robbins
' "Singing the Blues
". In order to promote the album, Richard suggested that the label send free copies to smaller-market radio stations, where the band's fanbase was still strong. He also considered the album's original songs as the strongest that the band had ever written. Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time
magazine wrote that it "may be the band's best album ever;" Thom Owens gave the album two-and-a-half stars in his Allmusic review, where he wrote that the band "show[ed] a lack of imagination" and "sound[ed] considerably less energetic and exciting" than on the first two albums.
Richard, along with Stan Webb and former MCA Nashville Records artist Marty Brown
, wrote Tracy Byrd's 1998 single "I'm from the Country
." Brown and the band also recorded the song's demo version.
, which gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, said that the up-tempo songs were "nothing very original[…]but lots of fun" but added that its ballads were "mushy and earnest."
followed in 2003, also on Audium. This album also featured Johnnie Johnson, as well as guest appearances by organist Reese Wynans
(of Double Trouble
), saxophone
player Jim Horn
, and a local musician named Robbie Bartlett, who sang guest vocals on "Everyday People." It included the non-charting single "Lonely Nights" and a tribute song to Carl Perkins entitled "Last Night I Met Carl Perkins", as well as two covers: "I Still Wanna Be Your Man," originally recorded by Eddie Hinton
, and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?
," a blues
standard made famous by Eric Clapton
. This album received generally favorable reviews. Mark Deming gave a three-star rating for Allmusic, saying that the album's more rhythm and blues
and soul
-influenced sound worked well due to the blues influences present in Southern rock, although he added that the album retained the "big guitar bombast" of the band's previous works. Matt Bjorke of About.com
considered its sound a departure from the earlier albums, but added "it's not hard to see that the band fully enjoys what they are doing" and highlighted the presence of a horn section
and Hammond B-3 organ on some tracks. Ray Waddell of Billboard magazine considered Wynans' and Johnson's contributions "perfect fits", and noted that the album was "laid back" until the second half. His review also mentions the extended drum solo and "stone blues coda" of the closing track "What You See Is What You Get."
, an album composed entirely of cover songs. This album was led off by its title track
, a cover of the Jimmy Reed
blues standard. Also released from it were renditions of Roger Miller
's "Chug-a-Lug
" and Hank Williams' "Take These Chains from My Heart." The project was financed by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
as a means of making extra money from older songs in the publishing company's catalog. Richard helped select the songs for this album, which included three other Hank Williams covers, as well as Bob Dylan
's "Like a Rolling Stone
," The Beatles' "I'm Down
," and Patsy Cline
's "Walkin' After Midnight
," among others. Despite saying that the album was "obviously aimed at longtime fans," Greg Prato of Allmusic gave it three-and-a-half stars, with his review making note of the "beefed-up" Patsy Cline and Hank Williams covers. Ray Waddell of Billboard called the album "loose and rowdy," saying that the band "injected soul" into the Dylan cover and recorded an "intoxicating" version of "Chug-a-Lug," although he said that the "Hey Good Lookin'
" cover was "heavy-handed." Robert Woolridge gave a mostly-favorable review for Country Standard Time, citing "Chug-a-Lug" and "So Sad to See Good Love Go Bad" (originally by The Everly Brothers
) as the most country-sounding. He also described three of the Hank Williams covers positively, but said that Phelps did not have a suitable vocal range for "I'm Down" and that his voice was monotonous on "Walkin' After Midnight."
One year later, CBuJ Entertainment released the compilation Flying Under the Radar
, which comprised selections from Songs from the Grass String Ranch, Soul and Big Boss Man, as well as two new songs and a remix
of "Chug-a-Lug." Kenney left the band around 2008 to take a job as the technical director of a movie theater in Glasgow, Kentucky, and Doug has since taken over on bass guitar.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Pickin' on Nashville, the band released a live album
entitled The Kentucky Headhunters Live/Agora Ballroom — Cleveland, Ohio — May 13, 1990. It was followed in October 2011 by Dixie Lullabies on the Red Dirt label, which the band recorded at the Practice House after touring with Jamey Johnson
. William Ruhlmann gave this album a positive review, comparing the sound to The Rolling Stones
and ZZ Top
.
's self-titled debut album
, which was released on September 11, 2007 by Show Dog Nashville, a label owned by Toby Keith
(now part of Show Dog-Universal Music
). This album includes the song "Truck Stop in the Sky," which Richard and Fred co-wrote with two of Flynnville Train's members, brothers Brent Flynn and David Flynn. Also in 2007, Greg Martin released a gospel
rock album called The Mighty Jeremiahs as a side project. The album features Jimmy Hall
of Wet Willie and Jeff Beck
, plus appearances by members of The Kentucky Headhunters, Phil Keaggy
, Darrell Mansfield
(for whom Martin has previously played) and others. Martin also played for Hall on his 2007 album Build Your Own Fire, a tribute album to Eddie Hinton. In 2009, Martin began a side project called Rufus Huff with Chris Hardesty, Dean Smith and Jarrod England. This side project released an album via Zoho Music in April 2009.
Richard's son, John Fred Young, plays drums in the rock band Black Stone Cherry
. The band practices at the same farm house where The Kentucky Headhunters once rehearsed.
, blues
, Southern rock
and heavy metal
, and has been described as "guitar-heavy, rambunctious music." Lead singer Doug Phelps' voice has been described as "alternately suggest[ing] Count Basie
's storied blues shouter Jimmy Rushing
and the laid-back cool of Eagle Glenn Frey
." The band's combination of styles is most notable in its cover song choices on early albums. All three Mercury albums contain a Bill Monroe
cover, and other covers on these albums include Waylon Jennings, Carl Perkins, Norman Greenbaum and The Lovin' Spoonful. Soul showcased the band's blues and R&B influences. The band's original compositions, such as "Dumas Walker" and the title track to Songs from the Grass String Ranch, often develop a regional theme.
At its peak in the early 1990s, The Kentucky Headhunters were considered a dark horse
in country music, due to the significant mainstream attention that the band received despite their rougher sound and the members' rural Southern image. In 1991, Entertainment Weekly critic Alanna Nash wrote that although the band did not sell as many albums as contemporaries George Strait
or Garth Brooks
, "they may just end up redefining country for the '90s" given the diverse range of influences and styles. Billboard critic Ray Waddell called the band "arguably the most consistent and durable Southern rock outfit on the planet."
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
band. They were founded in 1968 as Itchy Brother, which comprised brothers Richard Young (rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, vocals) and Fred Young (drums) along with Greg Martin (lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocals) and Anthony Kenney (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals). The Young brothers and Martin began performing as The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986, adding brothers Ricky Lee Phelps (lead vocals, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
) and Doug Phelps (bass guitar, backing vocals) to the membership.
With the release of their 1989 debut album Pickin' on Nashville
Pickin' on Nashville
-Personnel:*Greg Martin - electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps - background vocals, bass guitar*Ricky Lee Phelps - lead vocals*Richard Ripani - organ on "Rock & Roll Angel" and "Oh Lonesome Me"*Fred Young - drums, percussion*Richard Young - rhythm guitar...
via Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, the band charted four consecutive Top 40 country singles. A second album for Mercury, Electric Barnyard
Electric Barnyard
-Personnel:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps – bass guitar, background vocals*Ricky Lee Phelps – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion*Fred Young – drums, percussion*Richard Young – rhythm guitar-Chart performance:...
, did not do as well commercially, and the Phelps brothers left after its release to form Brother Phelps
Brother Phelps
Brother Phelps was an American country music duo formed by brothers Ricky Lee and Doug Phelps . Prior to the duo's formation in 1992, both brothers were members of The Kentucky Headhunters, a country rock band. In 1993, Brother Phelps charted with its debut single "Let Go", which reached a peak of...
. Kenney re-joined and Mark S. Orr took over on lead vocals for 1993's Rave On!!
Rave On!!
-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar, background vocals*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals*Mark S. Orr – lead vocals, background vocals*Fred Young – drums, percussion, background vocals...
and a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
entitled The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'
The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'
-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – bass guitar, background vocalsA*Ricky Lee Phelps – lead vocals, harmonica, percussionA*Fred Young – drums, percussion, background vocals...
before the band exited Mercury. Orr left and Doug Phelps rejoined in 1996 as lead vocalist for the album Stompin' Grounds
Stompin' Grounds
-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin - electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps - lead vocals, harmony vocals, rhythm guitar*Fred Young - drums, percussion*Richard Young - rhythm guitar*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals-Guest musicians:...
. He also led on the Audium Entertainment albums Songs from the Grass String Ranch and Soul
Soul (The Kentucky Headhunters album)
Soul is the sixth studio album released by American country rock band The Kentucky Headhunters. It was released in 2003 on Audium Entertainment...
, as well as Big Boss Man
Big Boss Man (album)
-Personnel:*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals*Greg Martin – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – lead vocals , rhythm guitar, tambourine...
and a second compilation, Flying Under the Radar
Flying Under the Radar
-Personnel:*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, harmonica, background vocals*Greg Martin – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals...
, on CBuJ Entertainment. After Kenney's departure, Doug once again became the band's bass guitarist.
The Kentucky Headhunters have released seven studio albums, two compilations, and twenty singles, of which the highest-peaking is a cover of the Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
song "Oh Lonesome Me
Oh Lonesome Me
"Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing for RCA Victor in Nashville in 1958. The song topped the country chart for eight non consecutive weeks, in addition to reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100...
," which the band took to number 8 in 1990. In addition, the band has won three Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
awards, an Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
award and a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group...
, won in 1990 for Pickin' on Nashville.
History
Glasgow, Kentucky
Glasgow is a city in and the county seat of Barren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,200 at the 2000 census. The city is well-known for its annual Scottish Highland Games. In 2007, Barren County was named the number one rural place to live by Progressive Farmer magazine...
in the 1960s. They founded a band called Itchy Brother, named after Fred's favorite cartoon character, from King Leonardo and His Short Subjects
King Leonardo and his Short Subjects
King Leonardo and his Short Subjects was an animated cartoon series released in 1960 by Total Television , sponsored by General Mills.-Characters and story:...
.
The band achieved regional success in Kentucky in the 1970s, including at least one single, "Shotgun Effie," which they wrote about the Youngs' grandmother, Effie. It was released in 1973 on the King Fargo label. Itchy Brother was almost signed to Swan Song Records
Swan Song Records
Swan Song Records was a record label launched by the English rock band Led Zeppelin on 10 May 1974. It was overseen by Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant and was a vehicle for the band to promote its own products as well as sign artists who found it difficult to win contracts with other major labels...
, an independent label founded by the band Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, in 1980. The label closed after Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...
died, and Itchy Brother never recorded a full album on Swan Song.
Itchy Brother broke up in 1982. After their disbanding, Richard started writing songs for Acuff-Rose Music
Acuff-Rose Music
Acuff-Rose Music was an American music publishing firm formed by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms at the time and lead them to fame throughout the 50's, 60's, 70's.-History:Acuff-Rose...
, and Fred became a backing musician for country singer Sylvia
Sylvia (singer)
Sylvia Jane Kirby is an American country music and country pop singer and songwriter. More commonly known by the singular name Sylvia, she enjoyed crossover music success with the song "Nobody" in 1982....
, who at the time was recording on RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. Martin played bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and sang backing vocals for Ronnie McDowell
Ronnie McDowell
Ronald Dean "Ronnie" McDowell is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1977 with the song "The King Is Gone", a tribute to Elvis Presley, who had died not long before the single's release. From that single onward, McDowell has charted more than thirty Top 40 hits on the Billboard...
, then a recording artist for Curb Records
Curb Records
Curb Records is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963...
, and Kenney stopped performing.
Musical career
When Martin attempted to reunite Itchy Brother in 1985, the Young brothers joined him, but Kenney declined. Martin invited Missouri Bootheel native Doug Phelps, also a member of McDowell's band, to replace Kenney, and Doug brought his older brother Ricky Lee to sing lead vocals and play harmonicaHarmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
. The band decided to name themselves The Headhunters, taking the name from the term "headchopper," which blues musician Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
used to indicate that he had supplanted another band in a gig
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
. After discovering that other bands existed with that name, the band added "Kentucky" to its name and thus became The Kentucky Headhunters. The Kentucky Headhunters began performing together the following year, playing twice monthly on the 90-minute Chitlin' Show, a radio program on WLOC
WLOC
WLOC is a radio station broadcasting a Country music format. Licensed to Munfordville, Kentucky, USA, the station serves the Bowling Green area. The station is currently owned by Forbis Communications, Inc.....
in Munfordville, Kentucky
Munfordville, Kentucky
Munfordville is a city in and the county seat of Hart County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,563 at the 2000 census.-History:The city was once known as Big Buffalo Crossing. The current name came from Richard Jones Munford, who donated the land for development in 1816...
.
1989–1990: Pickin' on Nashville
The Kentucky Headhunters borrowed $4,500 to record a demoDemo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
album, which included seven original songs, plus covers of Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
's "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine," Henson Cargill
Henson Cargill
Henson Cargill was an American country music singer best known for the 1968 No. 1 hit, "Skip a Rope". His music career began in Oklahoma in clubs around Oklahoma City and Tulsa...
's "Skip a Rope
Skip a Rope
"Skip a Rope is a 1967 single by Henson Cargill. The single was Cargill's debut release on the country charts and also his most successful single. "Skip a Rope" was Cargill's sole No. 1 on the country charts, spending five weeks at the top and a total of 16 weeks on the chart.The song asked...
" and Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
's "Oh Lonesome Me
Oh Lonesome Me
"Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing for RCA Victor in Nashville in 1958. The song topped the country chart for eight non consecutive weeks, in addition to reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100...
." Originally intended to be sold at the band's live shows, the demo tape came to the attention of the Nashville music community. Although Martin said that the band had not seriously considered signing a record deal, the band pursued one through the suggestion of its manager, Mitchell Fox. Harold Shedd
Harold Shedd
Harold Shedd is a music industry executive and producer, best known for his role as producer of the country group Alabama as well as Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and Toby Keith...
, a record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
who was then the head of Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, helped sign The Kentucky Headhunters to the label in 1989.
Mercury released the demo in 1989 as The Kentucky Headhunters' debut album, Pickin' on Nashville
Pickin' on Nashville
-Personnel:*Greg Martin - electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps - background vocals, bass guitar*Ricky Lee Phelps - lead vocals*Richard Ripani - organ on "Rock & Roll Angel" and "Oh Lonesome Me"*Fred Young - drums, percussion*Richard Young - rhythm guitar...
. The album produced four singles, all of which reached top 40 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
) chart. The first of these, the "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine" cover, peaked at number 25 in December 1989. After it came "Dumas Walker
Dumas Walker
"Dumas Walker" is a 1990 single released by country rock band the Kentucky Headhunters from its 1989 album Pickin' on Nashville. It reached number 15 on Country charts, and was written by the band's five members at the time.-Content:...
," about a then-74-year-old marbles
Marble (toy)
A marble is a small spherical toy usually made from glass, clay, steel, or agate. These balls vary in size. Most commonly, they are about ½ inch in diameter, but they may range from less than ¼ inch to over 3 inches , while some art glass marbles fordisplay purposes are over 12 inches ...
player who owned a liquor store
Liquor store
In the United States, Australia and Canada, a liquor store is a type of store that specializes in the sale of alcoholic beverages. In South Africa and Namibia these stores are generally called bottle stores....
that the band frequented. According to Doug, Mercury Records was initially reluctant to release the song as a single: "[The label] thought it was too regional, and that no one outside the area would get it, but what they didn't see, was the reaction we got to it every night that we played it in front of a crowd, and it didn't matter where we were playing either." The single peaked at number 15 on the Billboard chart.
Following "Dumas Walker" was the "Oh Lonesome Me" cover; peaking at number eight, this was the band's only Top Ten hit. Finishing off the single releases was the number 23 "Rock 'n' Roll Angel", which Richard wrote. Pickin' on Nashville also earned the band a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Best New Vocal Group award from the Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
(ACM), and Album of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
(CMA). In addition, it earned a double-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for shipping two million copies in the United States. William Ruhlmann of Allmusic gave the album a four-and-a-half star rating out of five, saying that the band was "all the better" for having a sound closer to rock than country. After the success of their debut album, The Kentucky Headhunters began touring with Hank Williams, Jr.
Hank Williams, Jr.
Randall Hank Williams , better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country...
and Delbert McClinton
Delbert McClinton
Delbert McClinton is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist....
.
1991–1992: Electric Barnyard
In 1991, the band released their second album, Electric BarnyardElectric Barnyard
-Personnel:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps – bass guitar, background vocals*Ricky Lee Phelps – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion*Fred Young – drums, percussion*Richard Young – rhythm guitar-Chart performance:...
. Although the album earned a gold certification from the RIAA and a second CMA award for Vocal Group of the Year, its singles received little airplay compared to the band's previous releases, with none of the four singles reaching the top 40 on the U.S. country charts. The album's first single was a cover of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn.The first recording of the song was made by Fess Parker, quickly followed by versions by Bill Hayes and Tennessee Ernie Ford...
," which was released on the 155th anniversary of Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
's death; the single shipped to radio with promotional coonskin cap
Coonskin cap
A coonskin cap is a hat fashioned from the skin and fur of a raccoon. The original coonskin cap consisted of the entire skin of the raccoon including its head and tail...
s. It spent eleven weeks on the charts and peaked at 49. "With Body and Soul" was the next single released, peaking at number 30 on the Canadian RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
country charts but reaching number 56 in the United States. The third and fourth singles were the original composition "It's Chitlin' Time" and a rendition of Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
's "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
"Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" is the title of a song written by Ivy J. "Jimmy" Bryant and recorded by American country music singer Waylon Jennings...
," at numbers 63 and 60 respectively. Norman Greenbaum
Norman Greenbaum
Norman Greenbaum is an American singer-songwriter. He was raised in a traditional Jewish household and went to Hebrew school. His initial interest in music was sparked by Southern blues music and the folk music that was hugely popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
's 1969 single "Spirit in the Sky
Spirit in the Sky
"Spirit in the Sky" is a song written and originally recorded by Norman Greenbaum and released in 1969. The single sold two million copies in 1969 and 1970 and reached number three in the U.S. Billboard chart, as well as number one on the UK, Australian and Canadian charts in 1970. Rolling Stone...
" was covered on this album as well.
This album was met with mixed reception from critics. Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer.Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books...
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave it an A rating, saying that it "skillfully blends raw wit, the working-class energy of sweat-stained factory workers jamming between shifts, and musical styles as diverse as the corny Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
and the creamy Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
." Allmusic critic Brian Mansfield
Brian Mansfield
Brian Mansfield is an American writer and journalist. A longtime music writer and critic for USA Today, Mansfield is also the writer/producer of syndicated weekly radio program America's Opry Weekend for American radio network Dial Global Radio Networks and author and co-author of a number of books...
, who gave it three-and-a-half stars, called the band a "top-notch Southern rock band with a sense of humor," and said that the covers on Electric Barnyard were highlights, while the originals were "adequate, offbeat filler." Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called the band "ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
lite" and said that most of the songs on the album had a "party-hearty sound."
Later in 1991, The Kentucky Headhunters performed with Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
on the song "That's How the West Was Swung" from his Tribute
Tribute (Roy Rogers album)
-Chart performance:...
album, and covered Canned Heat
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
's "Let's Work Together
Let's Work Together
"Let's Stick Together" or "Let's Work Together" as it was subsequently titled, is a blues song written by Wilbert Harrison, which was released in 1962...
" for the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Other songs in the film, but not included on the soundtrack are "Stop the World" by The Screaming Jets, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and "Work to Do" and "The Better Part of Me" by Vanessa Williams.-See also:* List of American films of 1991*...
. In addition, Martin played lead guitar for Canadian synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
band Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats is a Canadian New Wave group from Montreal, Quebec. Their music was characterized by the distinctive baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing...
on its 1991 album Sideways and filled in for Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
band Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
guitarist Ed King
Ed King
Edward C. King is an American musician. He is best known as the guitarist for psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd....
on that band's 1992 tour, as King was injured at the time.
Departure of Ricky Lee and Doug Phelps
Ricky Lee and Doug departed in June 1992 due to creative differences. According to Richard, Ricky Lee's tenure as lead vocalist was "a bad time" for the band given his opposition to Richard's opinions, although Richard was still surprised to hear of the brothers' departure, and said, "I tried everything I could to get them to stay." Ricky Lee, meanwhile, said that he "was a country singer more than anything" and wanted to eliminate most of the band's hard rock sounds. He and Doug then founded Brother PhelpsBrother Phelps
Brother Phelps was an American country music duo formed by brothers Ricky Lee and Doug Phelps . Prior to the duo's formation in 1992, both brothers were members of The Kentucky Headhunters, a country rock band. In 1993, Brother Phelps charted with its debut single "Let Go", which reached a peak of...
, which had a more mainstream country sound than The Kentucky Headhunters did. Brother Phelps released two albums for Asylum Records
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...
and charted in the country top 40 with "Let Go
Let Go (Brother Phelps song)
"Let Go" is the title of a song written by Dickie Brown and recorded by American country music duo Brother Phelps. It was released in June 1993 as the first single from their debut album, Let Go. The song reached #6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in October 1993.-Music...
" and "Were You Really Livin' ," which peaked at number 6 and 28 respectively.
1993–1994: Rave On!! and Still Pickin'
Kenney rejoined in 1992 as bass guitarist, and Charlotte, MichiganCharlotte, Michigan
Charlotte is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,074. It is the county seat of Eaton County....
native Mark S. Orr took over on lead vocals. The first album to feature Orr and Kenney, the more blues rock-oriented Rave On!!
Rave On!!
-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar, background vocals*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals*Mark S. Orr – lead vocals, background vocals*Fred Young – drums, percussion, background vocals...
, was released in 1993. Although the band drew attention by touring with then-labelmate Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus
William "Billy" Ray Cyrus is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor and philanthropist, who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon...
, Rave On!! sold poorly and failed to produce a successful single among its three releases: "Honky Tonk Walkin' ," "Blue Moon of Kentucky
Blue Moon of Kentucky
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley....
" and "Dixie Fried," the latter two being covers of Bill Monroe and Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
, respectively. The album also included a cover of The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
's "My Gal". "Honky Tonk Walkin'" and "Dixie Fried" respectively reached numbers 54 and 71 on the country charts, while the "Blue Moon of Kentucky" cover did not chart.
Mansfield gave a two-star rating for Allmusic, where he wrote that the band had "devolved into a redneck
Redneck
Redneck is a historically derogatory slang term used in reference to poor, uneducated white farmers, especially from the southern United States...
boogie
Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded...
group." Nash's review for Entertainment Weekly gave it a C- grade, and called it "warmed-over blues" that lacked the "outrageousness, wit, and brilliance that distinguished their earlier albums." Steve Morse of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
called it an "irresistible car-stereo album," and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
critic John Swenson said that the album was more rock-oriented than its predecessors, and that it "sounds like a hell of a blueprint for a summer concert tour."
The Orr-led lineup also recorded That'll Work, a collaborative album with Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
's pianist, Johnnie Johnson
Johnnie Johnson (musician)
Johnnie Johnson was an American pianist and blues musician. His work with Chuck Berry led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.-Career:...
. It was released later in 1993 via Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
, and it comprised twelve songs which Johnson and the band wrote over the course of four days. One year later, Mercury released a greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
package, The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'
The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'
-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – bass guitar, background vocalsA*Ricky Lee Phelps – lead vocals, harmonica, percussionA*Fred Young – drums, percussion, background vocals...
. It reprised singles and other songs from the band's first three albums, as well as "Let's Work Together" and a cover of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is a song by The Beatles. It was written and sung by John Lennon and released on the album Help! in August 1965.-Composition and recording:...
," which The Kentucky Headhunters had previously recorded on the 1994 tribute album Shared Vision: The Songs of the Beatles. After Still Pickin, The Kentucky Headhunters left Mercury.
Late 1990s: Stompin' Grounds
Orr left The Kentucky Headhunters in August 1995 because he "was wantin' to do somethin' else," according to Richard. Richard then called Doug and invited him to rejoin the band. As a result, Brother Phelps disbanded and Ricky Lee pursued a solo career. In 1997, The Kentucky Headhunters signed to BNA RecordsBNA Records
BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, is a label group that shares ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA features country music acts on its roster...
to release its fourth non-collaborative studio album, Stompin' Grounds
Stompin' Grounds
-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin - electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps - lead vocals, harmony vocals, rhythm guitar*Fred Young - drums, percussion*Richard Young - rhythm guitar*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals-Guest musicians:...
, with Doug on lead vocals. This album was also an unsuccessful venture, failing to enter the country albums charts and producing only a number 70-peaking cover of Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
' "Singing the Blues
Singing the Blues
"Singing the Blues" is a popular song written by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The best-known recording was released in October 1956 by Guy Mitchell and spent nine weeks at #1 on the U.S...
". In order to promote the album, Richard suggested that the label send free copies to smaller-market radio stations, where the band's fanbase was still strong. He also considered the album's original songs as the strongest that the band had ever written. Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time
Country Standard Time
Country Standard Time is a website dedicated to country music and related genres such as Bluegrass and Rockabilly. It provides news and musical reviews pertaining to the genre. It was established in 1992 by Jeffrey B. Remz as a print magazine, which was first published only in New England but went...
magazine wrote that it "may be the band's best album ever;" Thom Owens gave the album two-and-a-half stars in his Allmusic review, where he wrote that the band "show[ed] a lack of imagination" and "sound[ed] considerably less energetic and exciting" than on the first two albums.
Richard, along with Stan Webb and former MCA Nashville Records artist Marty Brown
Marty Brown (singer)
Dennis Marty Brown is an American country music artist. Active between 1991 and 1996, he has released four studio albums and has charted one single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts....
, wrote Tracy Byrd's 1998 single "I'm from the Country
I'm from the Country (song)
"I'm from the Country" is the title of a country music song written by Marty Brown, Stan Webb, and Richard Young, who is rhythm guitarist of the band The Kentucky Headhunters...
." Brown and the band also recorded the song's demo version.
2000–2002: Songs from the Grass String Ranch
Songs from the Grass String Ranch, the band's next album, was completed almost 18 months before its release. The band had consulted with 38 different independent labels before signing to Audium Entertainment, a branch of Koch Records (now E1 Music), which released the album in 2000. Three months before its release, Richard suffered a heart attack, from which he soon recovered. Because the "Singing the Blues" cover had been unsuccessful, the group decided to record entirely original songs for Songs from the Grass String Ranch. All five members co-wrote all of the songs, with assistance from Verlon Dale Grissom on four of them. In addition, this album featured the Youngs on lead vocals for the first time: Fred on "Dry-Land Fish" and Richard on "Louisianna CoCo." The title track was inspired by a nickname given to the Youngs' family farm. "Too Much to Lose" was the album's first single, peaking at number 66 on Billboard country chart. Richard considered this song an unusual single release because it was the band's first ballad. Neither of the next two singles, "Louisianna CoCo" and "Love That Woman," appeared on the music charts. Giving it three stars out of five, Al Campbell of Allmusic said that it was "crowd-pleasing" but "nothing out of the ordinary." An uncredited review in The LedgerThe Ledger
The Ledger is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida and the Polk County area. It is owned by The New York Times Company. Jerome Ferson became publisher of the newspaper on July 30, 2007....
, which gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, said that the up-tempo songs were "nothing very original[…]but lots of fun" but added that its ballads were "mushy and earnest."
2003–2004: Soul
SoulSoul (The Kentucky Headhunters album)
Soul is the sixth studio album released by American country rock band The Kentucky Headhunters. It was released in 2003 on Audium Entertainment...
followed in 2003, also on Audium. This album also featured Johnnie Johnson, as well as guest appearances by organist Reese Wynans
Reese Wynans
Reese Wynans is a keyboard player who has done session work and has been a member of Double Trouble and progressive rock band Captain Beyond.- Personal life :Reese Wynans grew up in Sarasota, Florida during the 1950s...
(of Double Trouble
Double Trouble (band)
Double Trouble was the backing rhythm section for Texas blues rock guitarist and lead vocalist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Originally consisting of drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, Reese Wynans would later join the outfit on keyboards.-History:...
), saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
player Jim Horn
Jim Horn
Jim Horn is an American saxophonist and woodwind player. He was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for five years, playing sax and flute on the road, and in the recording studio...
, and a local musician named Robbie Bartlett, who sang guest vocals on "Everyday People." It included the non-charting single "Lonely Nights" and a tribute song to Carl Perkins entitled "Last Night I Met Carl Perkins", as well as two covers: "I Still Wanna Be Your Man," originally recorded by Eddie Hinton
Eddie Hinton
Eddie Hinton was an American songwriter and session musician best known for his work with soul music and R&B singers...
, and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?
Have You Ever Loved a Woman?
"Have You Ever Loved A Woman" is a blues standard written by Billy Myles and recorded by Freddie King as Federal single #12384 in 1960.King's single failed to make an impact on its initial release. However, it was later recorded by Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos for their 1970 album...
," a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
standard made famous by Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
. This album received generally favorable reviews. Mark Deming gave a three-star rating for Allmusic, saying that the album's more rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
-influenced sound worked well due to the blues influences present in Southern rock, although he added that the album retained the "big guitar bombast" of the band's previous works. Matt Bjorke of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
considered its sound a departure from the earlier albums, but added "it's not hard to see that the band fully enjoys what they are doing" and highlighted the presence of a horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
and Hammond B-3 organ on some tracks. Ray Waddell of Billboard magazine considered Wynans' and Johnson's contributions "perfect fits", and noted that the album was "laid back" until the second half. His review also mentions the extended drum solo and "stone blues coda" of the closing track "What You See Is What You Get."
2005–present: Big Boss Man, Flying Under the Radar, Agora Ballroom
In 2005, following the closure of Audium, the band signed to the CBuJ Entertainment label. Its first release for the label was Big Boss ManBig Boss Man (album)
-Personnel:*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals*Greg Martin – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – lead vocals , rhythm guitar, tambourine...
, an album composed entirely of cover songs. This album was led off by its title track
Big Boss Man (song)
"Big Boss Man" is a blues song written by Luther Dixon and Al Smith in 1960 and first recorded by Jimmy Reed. The song was a hit for Reed and has been interpreted and recorded by a variety of artists, including Elvis Presley and B.B...
, a cover of the Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
blues standard. Also released from it were renditions of Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
's "Chug-a-Lug
Chug-a-Lug
"Chug-a-Lug" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Roger Miller. The song reached #9 on the U.S. charts in 1964, becoming his second pop hit.-Content:...
" and Hank Williams' "Take These Chains from My Heart." The project was financed by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing is a music publishing company co-owned by The Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony. The organisation was originally founded as Associated TeleVision in 1955 by Lew Grade. In 1957, ATV acquired Pye Records as a wholly owned subsidiary...
as a means of making extra money from older songs in the publishing company's catalog. Richard helped select the songs for this album, which included three other Hank Williams covers, as well as Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Like a Rolling Stone
Like a Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
," The Beatles' "I'm Down
I'm Down
"I'm Down" is a song by the Beatles written by Paul McCartney and first released as the B-side to the single "Help!" in 1965.-Composition:...
," and Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
's "Walkin' After Midnight
Walkin' After Midnight
"Walkin' After Midnight" is a song by written by Alan Block and Donn Hecht and originally recorded by American country music artist Patsy Cline. The song was originally given to pop singer Kay Starr; however, it was rejected by her record label. The song was left unused until Hecht rediscovered the...
," among others. Despite saying that the album was "obviously aimed at longtime fans," Greg Prato of Allmusic gave it three-and-a-half stars, with his review making note of the "beefed-up" Patsy Cline and Hank Williams covers. Ray Waddell of Billboard called the album "loose and rowdy," saying that the band "injected soul" into the Dylan cover and recorded an "intoxicating" version of "Chug-a-Lug," although he said that the "Hey Good Lookin'
Hey Good Lookin' (song)
"Hey Good Lookin" is a 1951 song written and recorded by Hank Williams, and his version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. Since its original 1951 recording it has been covered by a variety of artists.-Chart performance:...
" cover was "heavy-handed." Robert Woolridge gave a mostly-favorable review for Country Standard Time, citing "Chug-a-Lug" and "So Sad to See Good Love Go Bad" (originally by The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
) as the most country-sounding. He also described three of the Hank Williams covers positively, but said that Phelps did not have a suitable vocal range for "I'm Down" and that his voice was monotonous on "Walkin' After Midnight."
One year later, CBuJ Entertainment released the compilation Flying Under the Radar
Flying Under the Radar
-Personnel:*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, harmonica, background vocals*Greg Martin – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals...
, which comprised selections from Songs from the Grass String Ranch, Soul and Big Boss Man, as well as two new songs and a remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
of "Chug-a-Lug." Kenney left the band around 2008 to take a job as the technical director of a movie theater in Glasgow, Kentucky, and Doug has since taken over on bass guitar.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Pickin' on Nashville, the band released a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
entitled The Kentucky Headhunters Live/Agora Ballroom — Cleveland, Ohio — May 13, 1990. It was followed in October 2011 by Dixie Lullabies on the Red Dirt label, which the band recorded at the Practice House after touring with Jamey Johnson
Jamey Johnson
Jamey Johnson is an American Grammy Award nominated country music artist. Signed to BNA Records in 2005, Johnson made his debut with his single "The Dollar," the title track to his 2006 album The Dollar...
. William Ruhlmann gave this album a positive review, comparing the sound to The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
.
Work with other artists
The band's members have also participated in several projects involving other artists. Richard Young co-produced some tracks on Flynnville TrainFlynnville Train
Flynnville Train is an American country rock band. Their self-titled debut album was released on September 11, 2007, and it produced two singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
's self-titled debut album
Flynnville Train (album)
Flynnville Train is the debut album of American country music band Flynnville Train. The album was released by Show Dog Nashville on September 11, 2007 and it includes two chart singles: "Last Good Time" and "Nowhere Than Somewhere", which peaked at #47 and #50, respectively, on the Hot Country...
, which was released on September 11, 2007 by Show Dog Nashville, a label owned by Toby Keith
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...
(now part of Show Dog-Universal Music
Show Dog-Universal Music
Show Dog-Universal Music is an American independent record label specializing in country music artists. It was formed from the merger of Show Dog Nashville and Universal South Records in 2009...
). This album includes the song "Truck Stop in the Sky," which Richard and Fred co-wrote with two of Flynnville Train's members, brothers Brent Flynn and David Flynn. Also in 2007, Greg Martin released a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
rock album called The Mighty Jeremiahs as a side project. The album features Jimmy Hall
Jimmy Hall
Jimmy Hall was the lead singer and harmonica player for the Southern rock group, Wet Willie. He cofounded the band in 1970, which had significant success in the 1970s; in 1980 he scored a hit of his own with the single "I'm Happy that Love Has Found You"...
of Wet Willie and Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, plus appearances by members of The Kentucky Headhunters, Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets...
, Darrell Mansfield
Darrell Mansfield
Darrell Mansfield is an American gospel/blues musician.-Biography:Mansfield got his musical start in 1974, releasing his first album Gentle Faith in 1976. He later formed the Darrell Mansfield Band...
(for whom Martin has previously played) and others. Martin also played for Hall on his 2007 album Build Your Own Fire, a tribute album to Eddie Hinton. In 2009, Martin began a side project called Rufus Huff with Chris Hardesty, Dean Smith and Jarrod England. This side project released an album via Zoho Music in April 2009.
Richard's son, John Fred Young, plays drums in the rock band Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry is an American rock band formed in 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky. They are signed to Roadrunner Records. The band consists of Chris Robertson , Ben Wells , Jon Lawhon , and John Fred Young...
. The band practices at the same farm house where The Kentucky Headhunters once rehearsed.
Musical styles
The band's sound is influenced by country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, and has been described as "guitar-heavy, rambunctious music." Lead singer Doug Phelps' voice has been described as "alternately suggest[ing] Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
's storied blues shouter Jimmy Rushing
Jimmy Rushing
James Andrew Rushing , known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.Rushing was known as "Mr...
and the laid-back cool of Eagle Glenn Frey
Glenn Frey
Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
." The band's combination of styles is most notable in its cover song choices on early albums. All three Mercury albums contain a Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
cover, and other covers on these albums include Waylon Jennings, Carl Perkins, Norman Greenbaum and The Lovin' Spoonful. Soul showcased the band's blues and R&B influences. The band's original compositions, such as "Dumas Walker" and the title track to Songs from the Grass String Ranch, often develop a regional theme.
At its peak in the early 1990s, The Kentucky Headhunters were considered a dark horse
Dark horse
Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...
in country music, due to the significant mainstream attention that the band received despite their rougher sound and the members' rural Southern image. In 1991, Entertainment Weekly critic Alanna Nash wrote that although the band did not sell as many albums as contemporaries George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
or Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, "they may just end up redefining country for the '90s" given the diverse range of influences and styles. Billboard critic Ray Waddell called the band "arguably the most consistent and durable Southern rock outfit on the planet."
Band members
- Greg Martin – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, background vocals (1968–1982, 1986–present) - Doug Phelps – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, background vocals (1986–1992); lead vocals (1995–ca. 2008); lead vocals, bass guitar (ca. 2008–present) - Fred Young – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, lead and background vocals (1968–1982, 1986–present) - Richard Young – rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, lead and background vocals (1968–1982, 1986–present)
Former members
- Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, background vocals (1968–1982, 1992–ca. 2008) - Mark S. Orr – lead vocals (1992–1995)
- Ricky Lee Phelps – lead vocals, harmonica (1986–1992)
Albums
- Pickin' on NashvillePickin' on Nashville-Personnel:*Greg Martin - electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps - background vocals, bass guitar*Ricky Lee Phelps - lead vocals*Richard Ripani - organ on "Rock & Roll Angel" and "Oh Lonesome Me"*Fred Young - drums, percussion*Richard Young - rhythm guitar...
(1989) - Electric BarnyardElectric Barnyard-Personnel:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps – bass guitar, background vocals*Ricky Lee Phelps – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion*Fred Young – drums, percussion*Richard Young – rhythm guitar-Chart performance:...
(1991) - Rave On!!Rave On!!-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar, background vocals*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals*Mark S. Orr – lead vocals, background vocals*Fred Young – drums, percussion, background vocals...
(1993) - The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'The Best of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin – electric guitar, slide guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – bass guitar, background vocalsA*Ricky Lee Phelps – lead vocals, harmonica, percussionA*Fred Young – drums, percussion, background vocals...
(1994) - Stompin' GroundsStompin' Grounds-The Kentucky Headhunters:*Greg Martin - electric guitar, slide guitar*Doug Phelps - lead vocals, harmony vocals, rhythm guitar*Fred Young - drums, percussion*Richard Young - rhythm guitar*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals-Guest musicians:...
(1997) - Songs from the Grass String Ranch (2000)
- SoulSoul (The Kentucky Headhunters album)Soul is the sixth studio album released by American country rock band The Kentucky Headhunters. It was released in 2003 on Audium Entertainment...
(2003) - Big Boss ManBig Boss Man (album)-Personnel:*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, background vocals*Greg Martin – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – lead vocals , rhythm guitar, tambourine...
(2005) - Flying Under the RadarFlying Under the Radar-Personnel:*Anthony Kenney – bass guitar, harmonica, background vocals*Greg Martin – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, background vocals*Doug Phelps – acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals...
(2006) - The Kentucky Headhunters Live/Agora Ballroom — Cleveland, Ohio — May 13, 1990 (2009)
- Dixie Lullabies (2011)
Awards
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Academy of Country Music Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the... |
Top New Vocal Duo or Group | |
| 1990 | Country Music Association Country Music Association The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre... |
Album of the Year — Pickin' on Nashville | |
| Vocal Group of the Year | |||
| Grammy Awards | Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group... — Pickin' on Nashville |
||
| 1991 | Country Music Association | Vocal Group of the Year |