Pete Sayers – Bye Bye Tennessee

Pete Sayers – Bye Bye Tennessee

Pete Sayers' Bye Bye Tennessee is a fascinating early-1970s British country album from one of the UK's most authentic links to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry. Released on the Nashville International label in the early 1970s (commonly dated 1972, with contemporary trade coverage placing the album's launch in December 1972), it captures Sayers at the beginning of his solo recording career after an extraordinary period working in the United States. The UK Nashville International edition was issued as NAL 5001 and was distributed by Pye Records.

Sayers was far more than a British singer adopting an American country style. After travelling to Nashville in the 1960s, he became a warm-up performer for the legendary Grand Ole Opry and is widely noted as the first British performer to appear regularly on the programme. He worked alongside major American country and bluegrass figures including Flatt & Scruggs and Kitty Wells before returning to Britain in 1971. Back home, he helped establish the Grand Ole Opry England shows in Newmarket, bringing visiting American country stars to British audiences.

That background gives Bye Bye Tennessee particular character. The title track immediately establishes the album's Nashville connection, while “City Of New Orleans” brings the celebrated Steve Goodman song into Sayers' country repertoire. Alongside these are more personal and observational songs such as “Springtime In Suffolk,” “Suicidal Sunday,” “Nobody Comes Down Town Anymore” and “The Sculptor,” giving the record a distinctly British perspective within its strongly American country framework.

The second side continues that mixture of traditional country storytelling and Sayers' own songwriting, with “Cover Of Vogue Magazine,” “Changes In A Never Changing World,” “Lament Of Willy Bones” and “Sister Mary Anna Tharp” sitting alongside the memorable “They're Gonna Tear Down The Grand Ol' Opry.” The closing “Someone To Give My Love To” rounds out an album that should appeal to collectors of British country, Nashville-influenced folk and early-1970s country & western.

For collectors, Bye Bye Tennessee is particularly interesting because it documents a relatively unusual moment in British country music: a British performer who had genuinely immersed himself in the Nashville scene and Grand Ole Opry tradition before returning home to build a career around it. Sayers subsequently recorded Grand Ole Opry Road Show for Transatlantic and Watermelon Summer, and continued performing, broadcasting and promoting country music in Britain for many years.

Side A

1. Bye Bye Tennessee
2. Springtime In Suffolk
3. City Of New Orleans
4. Suicidal Sunday
5. Nobody Comes Down Town Anymore
6. The Sculptor

Side B

1. Cover Of Vogue Magazine
2. Fantasia On A 1908 Five
3. Changes In A Never Changing World
4. Lament Of Willy Bones
5. Sister Mary Anna Tharp
6. They're Gonna Tear Down The Grand Ol' Opry
7. Someone To Give My Love To