BR549 (originally spelled BR5-49) was an American country music band. Founded in 1993, the band originally comprised Gary Bennett (lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar), Don Herron (steel guitar, Dobro, fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar), "Smilin'" Jay McDowell (upright bass), Chuck Mead (lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), and "Hawk" Shaw Wilson (drums, background vocals). Bennett and McDowell left the band in 2001, with Chris Scruggs and Geoff Firebaugh respectively replacing them. Both Firebaugh and Scruggs later left the band as well; Mark Miller has become the band's third bassist.
Before moving to Nashville and forming BR5-49, Chuck Mead played in a band called Homestead Grays, a roots-rock outfit based in his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. Gary Bennett, meanwhile fronted an informal band that played at Robert's Western Wear, a clothing store in Nashville, Tennessee, when he met Mead at a nearby bar. The two then decided to form a band officially, and completing the lineup were electric bassist Jim "Bones" Becker, then upright bassist "Smilin'" Jay McDowell (formerly of another band called Hellbilly), multi-instrumentalist Don Herron, and drummer "Hawk" Shaw Wilson. They assumed the name BR5-49 (from the telephone number of a used car dealer in a running Junior Samples comedy sketch on the television series Hee Haw), and began playing for tips at Robert's before being discovered by Arista Nashville in 1995.
BR5-49 is the self-titled debut album of the American country music band BR5-49. The album was released in 1996 (see 1996 in country music) on the Arista Nashville label. Three singles were released from the album, all of which charted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. "Cherokee Boogie", the first of these three, was the highest charting, reaching #44. Following it were "Even If It's Wrong" at #68 and "Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)" at #61.
The contains four covers: The aforementioned "Cherokee Boogie" was originally recorded by Moon Mullican, "I Ain't Never" and "Honky Tonk Song" were previously recorded by Mel Tillis, and the former was previously a hit for Webb Pierce as well. Also, "Crazy Arms" is a cover of a Ray Price song.
Track listing
"Even If It's Wrong" (Gary Bennett) – 3:16
"Cherokee Boogie" (Moon Mullican, Chief William Redbird) – 2:31
Well, the boys came lookin' for their soul They wanted all the world to see So they took Alcatraz and did a graveyard dance All they wanted was some dignity But from a rerun story from a late, late show Where the Indian gets no amnesty And spends the rest of his life in a Kansas cell At the bottom of priority High and dry, left to take another's blame High and dry, first hand knowledge of an innocent man You can hear him cryin' down in ol' K City Hear him up at Wounded Knee For the rest of his life in a Kansas cell At the bottom of priority Well, locked up, forgotten, tucked outta the way And treated like he wasn't a man They took their aim and wasn't it a shame How we stuck our head into the sand Well, it was way too late for the government They had to make somebody plea And spend the rest of his life in Kansas cell At the bottom of priority High and dry, left to take another's blame High and dry, first hand knowledge of an innocent man You can hear him cryin' down in ol' K City Hear him up at Wounded Knee For the rest of his life in a Kansas cell At the bottom of priority For the rest of his life in a Kansas cell
He namedrops BR5-49's Chuck Mead and Elizabeth Cook as independent-minded honky-tonkers who, like himself, eventually found solace in a style and creative path that, initially unbeknownst to them, tracked their arc into a deeper-rooted legacy.
... acts like '90s era country rockers BR5-49 to develop ... Before BR5-49's heyday ... By 2000, BR5-49 was a thrice Grammy-nominated band and Jones was chosen by Moore to take over the helm as Robert's owner.
That especially goes for most working, non-superstar bands, the majority of whom make their money on touring and merch ... And we were in Rolling Stone when there was stuff going on with us and Dale [Watson], Junior Brown, Wayne Hancock and BR5-49 ... 24th ... .
Omaha World-Herald
11 Jun 2023
Omaha World-Herald
11 Jun 2023