Album Notes

In a little cafe just the other side of the Oklahoma border off Highway 49, in a Tolkien/Steinbeck inspired beer joint affectionately called the Prancing Pony, a remarkable band was born. In the early 1970s this unusual crew coalesced in this funky little club run by a few Vietnam Vets just the other side of the hill from Ft. Sill's (Lawton, Oklahoma) artillery range. Out of this hodgepodge bubbled up this great (as pictured in any good dictionary) first issue Americana band, justly called (by a concerned father) the Medicine Park All Boy Derelict Band. Their performances became a joyous trip through time and space. Hand-crafted songs and depression era work-gang chants were likely to be mixed in with the songs of Merle Haggard, the Stones, Dylan, Lefty Frizzel, the Eagles, Woody Guthrie, or the Band. Somewhere between their bent for perfection and their outrageous humor they managed to fuse all the diverse ingredients together and make the music come out right. Whether they played a ballad, a rocker, a country classic, one of Phil's or Mark's great originals, let Rug cut loose on some extemporaneous sermonizing, or maybe get Bill wailing on some bluesy soul shaker, the crowds at the "Pony" were rarely disappointed.
The band consisted of: Phil Sampson, (B. L. T. or Boswell Luther Thomas) lead vocalist, primary song writer and rhythm guitar, Mark (Chops) Paden, vocals, song writer, and lead guitar, Steve (Sparky Fairchild) Grunder, vocals and bass, Mike (Spats Carumbo) McCarty, vocals and drums, Bill (Captain Zoom) Russell, vocals, autoharp and acoustic guitar, Lewis (Rug P. Head & Reverend Ross the Bible Boss) Eckert, vocals, blues harp, sermons, and comedic ramblings. Joe DeGannett, another original member and partner in the bar took care of the bass and percussion duties until Steve and Mike joined the band.
This is the album they never got to finish in the '70s. Phil's fine songs are featured on this CD including "I Loved Them Everyone," which was a giant hit record for T. G. Shepard in the early 1980s and "I Ain't Goin' Down," that was on the Nashville Bluegrass Band's Grammy Award winning CD, "Waitin' For The Hard Times To Go," in the mid 1990s.
"Highway 49 Revisited" was recorded in Mike McCarty's Carumbo Studio in 1993 with all the original members. Mike was also the drummer in the Holy Modal Rounders and Blue Rose Cafe to name a few.
The CD comes with extensive liner notes and photos. If you like what you hear here give the CD, "Little Pieces of His Heart," by Phil Sampson a listen. Thanks for listening!