Uncle Walt's Band - Uncle Walt's Band (2019)

New liner notes include a history of all the 1970s reissues and their variations. “Walter Hyatt, David Ball and Champ Hood have been an inspiration to me ever since the first time I heard Uncle Walt’s Band,” said Lyle Lovett, a journalism student at Texas A&M University when he first heard the band. “Musically, their finely crafted original compositions reflect diverse influences, while lyrically they demonstrate a sensitive, sophisticated understanding of the dignified South.” Uncle Walt’s Band, from Spartanburg, South Carolina, was an eclectic music trio that moved to Nashville in 1972 and shortly thereafter, to Austin at the urging of Willis Alan Ramsey. An attempt at an album with Ramsey at the helm was unsuccessful, so the band headed back to Spartanburg in 1974 to produce their own debut LP, Blame It On The Bossa Nova. One thousand copies of the original self-released vinyl were pressed, sold through performances and self-promotion, disappeared quickly. Heat was gaining for the band, so they headed back down to Austin with a reissued album now titled, Uncle Walt’s Band. (Original pressings of Blame It On The Bossa Nova change hands for hundreds of dollars these days). While the album gained many fans and followers, it wasn’t enough to sustain the band’s larger ambitions. After a hiatus a second album, An American In Texas was released in 1980 followed by a live album, Recorded Live in 1982. (a cassette-only release of studio sessions, 6-26-79 was also released along the way). Gaining the love of Texas music fans, performing regularly throughout the state, yet unable to get traction nationally, they called it quits in 1983. Although remaining friends and working on various projects over the years, each went on to pursue solo music careers. Hyatt release several albums, plus performed on Austin City Limits. Hood became a Texas Music Hall of Fame sideman playing for artists like Lyle Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker and more, and Ball’s success with the hit, “Thinkin’ Problem” established him as a Country music star. Following the first-ever, career-spanning Anthology: Those Boys From Carolina, They Sure Enough Could Sing, Omnivore is now proud to present a deluxe reissue of the original Uncle Walt’s Band album, expanded with eleven bonus tracks and remastered. New liner notes include a history of each re-pressing of this private press classic (reissued no less than six times with different covers and sequence variations back in the ’70s)! If you were one of the lucky owners of an original that you’ve worn out across the years, here’s your chance to retire that well-loved copy and double the fun discovering the new bonus tracks. For the rest of us, it’s the opportunity to own the classic!