Tennessee River Crooks - Tennessee River Crooks (Reissue) (1976/2011)

Friends of Jimmy Stewart and Larry Farrar from the city of Paris (Tennessee) have been victims of the “British invasion” since childhood. The main group that influenced them was called “The Beatles”, but being from Tennessee, naturally, they were influenced by country music. In 1970, friends began their musical career in the local group Rat Salad. Having nicked vocalist Mike Hendrix from there, friends formed their own band “Hit And Run”, for they always dreamed of playing their own music. After that, a low-interest leapfrog with musicians began, which by 1973 led to the final composition. At the same time, they had a rather intense concert activity. The band was influenced by other southern rock bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, 38 Special and others. During this period, the band met with Lynyrd Skynyrd musicians backstage at a show in Murray (Kentucky) and also got the opportunity to open performances by Barefoot Jerry, Henry Gross and Target. At about the same time, at the suggestion of their mutual friend and technical staff Jerry Crouch, the group had the final name Tennessee River Crooks. As usual, the name did not appear as a result of any painful deliberation, but only because Jerry constantly messed up his cigar box with the Tennessee River Crooks cigar, in which he kept money. Since 1975, the musicians of “Tennessee River Crooks” began working on their first album. It was recorded between June and October 1976 in Puryear, Tennessee, on the independent label "Sound Farm Studios" and released in 1000 copies. It would seem that everything is going well. But in May 1977, Ronny Waters was killed in New Johnsonville, Tennessee. In 1977, the band decided to re-release the album with a different cover to honor the memory of their friend and brother. In 1980, an attempt was made to work on the second album, but it was not crowned with success.