Riders in the Sky have returned to Rounder Records, the company that originally signed the cowboy trio to their first recording contract in 1980. Their first new release for the label, Always Drink Upstream From the Herd, should reach stores in mid-October.

The trio of Ranger Doug, Too Slim and Woody Paul perfected their blend of sweet harmonies, sharp musicianship and sly, hip comedy on six albums for Rounder, from their outstanding debut, , to 1987’s Best of the West. They spent the intervening years at MCA and Columbia, during which time the trio fashioned the unlikeliest of careers as multimedia stars.

Even though they perform music that went out of style more than four decades ago—and even though they appear to have wandered off a Republic Pictures set during the making of an old Roy Rogers movie—Riders in the Sky have nonetheless become stars of National Public Radio, TNN and even Saturday morning kids’ shows. Despite all that airwave assistance, however, the major labels never seemed to know what to do with them, shoehorning them into a series of theme albums. “We always felt like the red-headed stepchild,” says Ranger Doug, who, as his saddle pals’ll tell ya, is also known as “The Idol of American Youth.” “We were always somebody’s pet project.”

The trio believes Rounder will do a better job of expanding their record sales and reminding people that the group’s primary talent remains singing and performing music. “We’re really excited about being back with Rounder,” Ranger Doug adds. “These are people who really know their acoustic music. They treat it lovingly and go full bore with it.”

Always Drink Upstream From the Herd is somewhere in the neighborhood of the group’s 18th album. As Too Slim succinctly puts it, “It sure feels great to be back in the home corral.”

Elliptical dispatches: AVI Records has released Excello Vocal Groups, a cool 31-song sampler of sides by some of the legendary Nashville R&B label’s soul and doo-wop groups. Included are such gems as the Gladiolas’ original version of “Little Darlin’,” the Themes’ “The Magic of You,” the King Krooners’ ghostly “Memoirs,” and the Marigolds’ “Two Strangers,” which is as spectral and beautiful as music gets. Check local record stores, or write 10390 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 210, Los Angeles, CA 90025 for a copy of the company’s mouth-watering Atomic Beat catalog....

The Delevantes will go back into the studio this December to record the follow-up to their Rounder Records LP Long About That Time, with producer Garry Tallent returning to the board. The record should be released by Rounder next spring. Meanwhile, the band continues its trek up the East Coast, opening dates for John Prine and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. The Delevantes also recorded an upcoming segment for the syndicated radio program Live at Mountain Stage....

Press release quote of the week, from guitarist Chris Hunter of the funk-rock outfit the honeyrods on the content of their just-released five-song CD: “There are NO HITS on this record, at least in the purest sense of the word. We purposely chose the most politically correct tunes with respect to the band members’ favorites....” Give ’em points for honesty, anyway. Look for their Del House Records EP at area stores, or call 664-1208 for more information.

— Michael McCall and Jim Ridley

A Picker's Singer

I just heard a record with a fiddle and a steel guitar played over a Nashville ‘country’ station,” Betty “Mama Hype” Gibson sarcastically wrote in a 1983 issue of NSD Nationwide News. “Called a few witnesses into my office to verify the fact.”

If Gibson had been alive and writing during the summer of 1995—and her words certainly apply to much of today’s country radio programming—she might have gathered her coworkers around the radio to hear Darrell McCall’s remake of “A Way to Survive,” a top 10 hit for Ray Price in 1966. Despite the fact that it was released on the local Artap label, McCall’s version of the hard-country shuffle has done remarkably well, reaching No. 3 on the independent country charts. The album of the same name has been one of the best-selling titles at Ernest Tubb Record Shops throughout the country this summer.

McCall attributes the success of A Way to Survive to the savvy management of local songwriter and entrepreneur Sam Bardin. “If I’d have had Sam managing me earlier in my career, I wouldn’t have moved from label to label,” says McCall. “We’d have taken the first label and run with it.”

As it is, McCall has enjoyed a fairly distinguished career in country music. Not long after he and Johnny Paycheck hit town together in early 1959, the two men, along with pal Roger Miller, quickly established themselves as highly sought-after session singers and players; with Opry star Bill Anderson, they also formed the core of Buddy Killen’s early-’60s songwriting stable.

McCall’s first big break came in 1960, when he sang harmony on Freddie Hart’s No. 1 hit “The Key’s in the Mailbox.” An even bigger door opened when the Killen-penned “Forever” topped the charts for the Anita Kerr Singers. After the record hit No. 1, Dick Clark called Killen to say that people wanted to see “The Little Dippers,” the studio singers whose “oohs” and “aahs” graced the mostly instrumental single. Killen was suddenly faced with the prospect of piecing together a touring edition of the group for appearances on and Clark’s packaged road shows. McCall, standing on a ladder painting Killen’s then fledgling offices, overheard the songwriter’s predicament; after wrangling an impromptu audition, he found himself on his way to the tailor’s to be fitted for a matching suit.

“I don’t think any of us had $5 in our pockets,” remembers McCall, “including Buddy. But that experience really opened some doors.” With help from friend and fiddle player Buddy Spicher, McCall soon landed a job playing bass in Audrey Williams’ band. He later went on to become frontman for Faron Young’s Country Deputies and, from 1961-64, led Ray Price’s Cherokee Cowboy Band. There, he worked alongside pedal steel guitarist Buddy Emmons and fiddle great Shorty Lavender, as well as drummer and future singing star Johnny Bush. “I’ve had some great teachers,” says McCall, who includes Carl Smith along with the artists mentioned above. “I’ve been in traditional country music from the beginning. The Grand Ole Opry raised me, and I still think it’s the best landmark for country music that we have today. My heart’s desire is to be a member of the Opry someday.”

McCall has often performed as a solo artist on the Opry; from 1963-84, he also placed a steady string of singles on the country charts, recording for labels ranging from Capitol, Phillips and Wayside to Atlantic, Avco and CBS. And yet, as he points out, he never got hot enough to lead his own band until 1970, when he wrote “Eleven Roses,” which became a No. 1 hit for Hank Williams Jr. Bear Family Records will soon put McCall’s considerable talents as a songwriter and performer into proper perspective; the well distributed German label plans to release a 132- to 135-song box set of his music sometime during 1996.

Questions of legacy aside, McCall is thrilled with the current success of “We’re doing surprisingly well. I’m like a kid with a new toy,” he admits, adding that work is picking up, especially overseas. It’s certainly no wonder: His latest album, coproduced by Buddy Emmons, is the kind of “fiddle and steel” record that hardcore country music fans hunger for but don’t hear much anymore.

“Getting that traditional sound back again—that’s what I’m after,” says McCall. “And if you want the best sound, you’ve got to get the best musicians.” A Way to Survive features Emmons on pedal steel guitar, Hank Singer on fiddle, Buddy Harmon on drums, Hargus “Pig” Robbins on piano, and Pete Wade on lead guitar. The record’s rich, warm presence and honky-tonk rhythms—as on the amazing Western swing of “If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It”—consistently bear McCall out.

The singer clearly favors an ensemble approach to making records. “I think today’s movement emphasizes the star over the music,” he observes. “When I started in the business, the emphasis was placed on both the music the artist. You had the Texas Troubadours with Ernest Tubb, the Country Deputies with Faron Young, Ray Price’s Cherokee Cowboy Band, and Hank Thompson’s Brazos Valley Boys. That’s basically what I’m trying to do today. I want to bring back some of the emphasis on the music, not just on me.”

Not surprisingly, McCall is known as a “picker’s singer.” “I basically sing to the steel,” he explains. “I try to choose songs that have melody lines that’ll have real pretty pedal changes.” “Wall of Pictures” and “Hide and Go Cheat,” both gorgeous originals from are perfect examples.

Eddie Stubbs, host of WSM-AM’s Classic Saturday program and an unabashed devotee of country music of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, has only lavish praise for McCall’s gifts as a singer and musician. He believes that A Way to Survive is the best traditional country album to come out in the last 10 years. If that’s not endorsement enough, Connie Smith calls McCall “a truly pure country singer.” Smith should know; she’s easily one of the purest country singers ever to record.

The accolades of his peers notwithstanding, McCall doesn’t seem bothered that an artist of his magnitude records for a local independent label, even though, as he observes, the majors have a tight hold over country radio and the charts. “I don’t think that you quit singing when you’re 30 years old,” he says. “When I got into this business, I thought I could sing till I was 80. I didn’t expect somebody to tell me otherwise.” The 55-year-old singer was encouraged to see Rounder recording artist Alison Krauss clean up at the recent CMA Awards. “There’s definitely an audience for traditional country music out there,” he insists. “If we can be heard, I know we can sell records.”