One of the most exciting country bands to be found in the
UK is Lynette Morgan & The Blackwater Valley Boys. They
will be remembered from a couple of years ago as Lynette Morgan
& The Tennessee Rhythm Riders, who regularly played on
mainland Europe and took the USA by storm around 3-4 years
ago with their two week tour, drawing great interest from
the likes of Robert Reynolds (Mavericks), BR549, Hank Williams
III and Gail Davies.
The band made the name change after a serious accident
left one of the band members unable to continue playing.
Bandleader Phil Morgan stated, "we started the Riders
together and with the loss of our drummer the Riders can't
be the same band. We live in the beautiful area known as
the Blackwater Valley, around the Hampshire and Surrey border,
so it was natural to call ourselves The Blackwater Valley
Boys.
Embarking on a musical journey, Lynette Morgan and The
Blackwater Valley Boys transport us with force and delight
back to the days of the Delmore Brother, The Louvin Brothers
and The Maddox Brothers and Rose....Rose Maddox was Lynette's
personal favourite singer and has one of the most bewitching
voices herself, ideally delivered on Floyd Tillman's 'I
Love You So Much', a song she wears like a favourite
dress.
There are no drums used as with the authentic bands
of the 1940's, with Al Saxby on the stand-up bass keeping
the rhythm. Willy Briggs on lead guitar writes or co-writes
5 of the tracks including the title cut, joining Lynette
to duet on 'Don't You Lie To Me'
and 'Love & Leave You',
which they wrote together. Phil Morgan playing lap steel,
takes lead vocals for the emotive prison song 'Poor
Boy', which he co-wrote with O.C. Holt. The sweet
fiddle of Jim Morrison works overtime and Randy Richter
joins in the fun on piano.
Road Signs & Middle Lines
offers 14 totally absorbing and tantalising tracks on the
El Toro label in the Hillbilly Series, giving testament
to the merits of a style of music from 50 years ago. When
these guys play, you can't help but listen and find yourself
being drawn into the passion and nostalgia of their music.
All top-drawer musicians, you don't get much better than
this!
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