''Hotgun'' is an album purported to be the self-titled debut record of a band called Hotgun, released by tax-scam label Guinness Records. The album is actually a composite, combining demo recordings made by members of a Nashville area band called Ethos ( R. Stevie Moore, Victor Lovera, Roger Ferguson & Billy Anderson), with

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular songs recorded by employees of Nashville recording studio, Audio Media, originally intended for

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

Album release

As the release of a tax scam label, the album came with minimal documentation. While all of the cover versions were credited to the correct

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

s, the original songs were all credited to Victor Lovera, a friend and collaborator of R. Stevie Moore's and fellow member of the band Ethos when in actuality only the two solo acoustic songs ("Joe Pepitone" and "My Father's Son") were written by Lovera himself, with the other original songs being collaborations between Lovera and Moore. Bart Bealmear, with the aid of R. Stevie Moore and former Audio Media owner Paul Whitehead, was able to determine just how the three Ethos songs ("Show Business", "Nashville Bats" and "Love Graph"), all recorded at the Audio Media studio in 1973, found their way onto the album. It appears that the studio held onto copies of the recordings, which were in a style that was different from that dominating Nashville at the time and sold them to Guinness Records along with several cover versions of

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hits recorded by Audio Media employees for discount compilation albums, to recoup the recording costs. The two Lovera solo acoustic songs were recorded around two years prior to the Ethos songs at Tree Publishing, another Nashville area recording studio and were most likely provided to Guinness Records under similar circumstances to the other songs on the album.

Production notes

According to the liner notes, the album was released on Guinness Records and distributed by Dellwood Records. Its Guinness Catalogue Number is GNS 36014.

Track listing

Side one

# "Joe Pepitone" # "Show Business" # "

Whatever Gets You thru the Night "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1974 on Apple Records, catalogue number Apple 1874 in the United States and Apple R5998 in the United Kingdom. In the U.S. it peaked at No. 1 on all ...

" # "Nashville Bats" # "My Father's Son"

Side two

# "Love Graph" # "

Silly Love Songs "Silly Love Songs" is a song by the British–American rock band Wings that was written by Paul and Linda McCartney. The song first appeared in March 1976 on the album '' Wings at the Speed of Sound,'' then it was released as a single backed wit ...

" # "

Afternoon Delight "Afternoon Delight" is a song recorded by Starland Vocal Band. It was written by band member Bill Danoff. In the US, it became a No. 1 single on July 10, 1976, and earned a gold record. Background and writing The title came from the happy hour ...

" # "Fallin' in Love" # "Straight Shootin' Woman"

References

Notes References Sources * * *

External links

Album page at Discogs

Home of the Nashville Bats - Released on YouTube with permission of R. Stevie Moore
{{Authority control R. Stevie Moore albums 1977 albums Guinness Records albums