Super Grit Cowboy Band
Encyclopedia
Super Grit Cowboy Band is an American country music
band formed in North Carolina
. It was founded by Clyde Mattocks, Danny Vinson, Mike Kinzie, Bill Ellis and Curtis Wright
. Active since 1974, the band has recorded on its own Hoodswamp label.
, Dobro
, banjo
, electric guitar
), Danny Vinson (drums
), Mike Kinzie (fiddle
, saxophone
, piano
, harmonica
, acoustic guitar
), Bill Ellis (bass guitar
, keyboards
) and Curtis Wright
(lead guitar
).
The band recorded their first album in 1977 featuring Bill Lyerly (Bill Lyerly Band).
Later the band recorded for its own label, Hoodswamp Records, and released three albums on it. In 1981, the band charted for the first time on Hot Country Songs
with "If You Don't Know Me by Now," which reached #71. Between then and 1983, four more of the band's singles reached the country charts, including its highest-charting, the #48 "She Is the Woman." Billboard
gave the band's 1981 album If You Can't Hang a positive review, praising the instrumentation as well as the rock
influences.
At one point, Don Cox was a member of the band. He later recorded All Over Town for Step One Records
and charted at #53 on the country music charts with its title track. Wright recorded as a solo artist for MCA Records
and Liberty Records
in the early 1990s, charting in the Top 40 with "She's Got a Man on Her Mind," and later recorded one album with Robert Ellis Orrall
in the duo Orrall & Wright
. He later joined Shenandoah
from 2000 to 2008.
Since the 2000s, the band has consisted of Mattocks and Kinzie, along with guitarist Mark Golladay, drummer Dexter Horton and bass guitarist Carroll Wade.
Country 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...
band formed in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. It was founded by Clyde Mattocks, Danny Vinson, Mike Kinzie, Bill Ellis and Curtis Wright
Curtis Wright
Curtis Blaine Wright is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1989 with the single "She's Got a Man on her Mind" on a branch of MCA Records, before recording a solo album in 1992 on Liberty Records...
. Active since 1974, the band has recorded on its own Hoodswamp label.
History
The band formed in 1974, comprising Clyde Mattocks (steel guitarSteel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
, Dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
), Danny Vinson (drums
Drum kit
A 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 ....
), Mike Kinzie (fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, 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...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, 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...
, acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
), Bill Ellis (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
) and Curtis Wright
Curtis Wright
Curtis Blaine Wright is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1989 with the single "She's Got a Man on her Mind" on a branch of MCA Records, before recording a solo album in 1992 on Liberty Records...
(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...
).
The band recorded their first album in 1977 featuring Bill Lyerly (Bill Lyerly Band).
Later the band recorded for its own label, Hoodswamp Records, and released three albums on it. In 1981, the band charted for the first time on 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...
with "If You Don't Know Me by Now," which reached #71. Between then and 1983, four more of the band's singles reached the country charts, including its highest-charting, the #48 "She Is the Woman." 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...
gave the band's 1981 album If You Can't Hang a positive review, praising the instrumentation as well as the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
influences.
At one point, Don Cox was a member of the band. He later recorded All Over Town for Step One Records
Step One Records
Step One Records was an independent American record label established in February 1984 in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded by singer-songwriter and producer Ray Pennington with Curtis Potter, the former of whom had produced for Waylon Jennings...
and charted at #53 on the country music charts with its title track. Wright recorded as a solo artist for MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
and Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
in the early 1990s, charting in the Top 40 with "She's Got a Man on Her Mind," and later recorded one album with Robert Ellis Orrall
Robert Ellis Orrall
Robert Ellis Orrall is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Signed to RCA Records in 1980, Orrall debuted that year with the album "Fixation". His first Top 40 single was "I Couldn't Say No", a duet with Carlene Carter...
in the duo Orrall & Wright
Orrall & Wright
-Track listing:#"She Loves Me Like She Means It" – 2:44#"The Last Time I Loved Like That" – 3:50#"I'm Outta Here" -Track listing:#"She Loves Me Like She Means It" (Angelo Petraglia, Robert Ellis Orrall, Billy Spencer) – 2:44#"The Last Time I Loved Like That" (Orrall, Curtis Wright) – 3:50#"I'm...
. He later joined Shenandoah
Shenandoah (band)
Shenandoah is an American country music group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984 by Marty Raybon , Ralph Ezell , Stan Thorn , Jim Seales , and Mike McGuire...
from 2000 to 2008.
Since the 2000s, the band has consisted of Mattocks and Kinzie, along with guitarist Mark Golladay, drummer Dexter Horton and bass guitarist Carroll Wade.
Albums
| Year | Album information |
|---|---|
| 1977 | Super Grit Cowboy Band
|
| 1981 | If You Can't Hang...Drag Your Country Ass Home
|
| 1983 | Showin' Our Class
|
| 1986 | This Way To The Stage
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Country 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... |
||
| 1981 | "If You Don't Know Me by Now" | 71 |
| "Carolina by the Sea" | 64 | |
| 1982 | "Semi Diesel Blues" | 83 |
| "She Is the Woman" | 48 | |
| 1983 | "I Bought the Shoes (That Just Walked Out on Me)" | 79 |