COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS
Doug Davis
Owner/Publisher/Manager/Editor/
Writer/Gopher/Chief Cook & Bottle Washer
Email: djdclassics@gmail.com
STORY BEHIND THE SONG
In the 60's - many of the hit records on RCA Victor came from Chet Atkins – not
that he wrote the songs – but the songs became hits because of Chet's talent for
matching the song to the artist.
According to Hank Locklin – his 1960 number one, "Please Help Me I'm Falling,"
came to him thru Chet Atkins.
Hank commented "Please Help Me I'm Falling" was written by Don Robertson and Hal
Blair. Robertson played piano on the demo of the song and he sent the lacquer
acetate demo to Chet. Robertson played that "slip note" piano style on the demo.
Chet called me in and played me the song and I told him that I liked the song
and if we could get Floyd Cramer to play that same "slip note" style of piano
– I thought we might have a hit. Floyd played that "slip note" style perfect and
we recorded the song just one time and that was it."
Hank Locklin's RCA Victor single "Please Help Me I'm Falling" came on the
country charts March 7th, 1960 – made it to number one and stayed there for 14
weeks.
It was his 9th charted song and was on the charts for 36 weeks.
Hank Locklin re-recorded the song with Danny Davis in 1970. The second version
peaked at # 68.
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FROM THE STORAGE ROOM: The original "WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN" - a 1972
album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with collaboration from Roy Acuff,
"Mother" Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis, Pete "Oswald"
Kirby, Norman Blake, Jimmy Martin, and fiddler Vassar Clements.
Every track on the album was recorded on the first or second take straight to
two-track masters, so the takes are raw and unprocessed[ Additionally, another
tape ran
continuously throughout the entire week-long recording session and captured the
dialog between the players. On the final album many of the tracks—including the
first
track—begin with the musicians discussing how to do the song or who should come
in where.
The record includes the first meeting of Doc Watson and Merle Travis. This three
LP album is in mint condition - $25 and I'll pay shipping. PayPal – Check or
Money Order
– reply to djdclassics@gmail.com
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: Do you know anything about a Willie Nelson tribute to Merle Haggard
concert? My daughter heard it on the radio.
A: Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney, and others will pay tribute
to Merle Haggard on April 6th at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena
Q: The radio guys were talking a long-time member of Merle Haggard's band
passing. DO you have any information?
A: Don Markham died February 24th. He was a member of the Strangers from 1974
until 2013 and played in Johnny Paycheck's band before that.
Q: There was a song on the radio years ago about "There's Always Another Day"
that I really liked. Have you ever heard of such a song?
A: That song was in Sonny James 1966 "True Love's A Blessing" album
Q: I love the Lee Greenwood record of "God Bless The USA." My brother says
that song won some kind of major award. Is that true?
A: "God Bless The USA" was the CMA Song Of The Year in 1985
Q: I have a copy of Johnny Cash's "Folson Prison Blues" that I bought in the
late 60's. My sister in law says that record came out several years earlier. Is
that true?
A: Cash's first recording of that song was released in 1956 and peaked at
number four. He re-recorded the song in 1968 and the second version made it to
number one.
Q: I have a tape of a song recorded from the radio back in the 50's by a guy
singing "If You Were Me." Do you know his name?
A: "If You Were Me" was a number seven hit for Webb Pierce in 1955. It was the
flipside of his number one "Love, Love, Love"
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A T T E N T I O N: R A D I O S T A T I O N S:
Our short form daily radio feature, "Story Behind The Song" is now
available to radio stations at no
charge.
For information, email me at djdclassics@gmail.com
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NUMBER ONES ON THIS DATE
1948
I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms) - Eddy Arnold
1956
I Don't Believe You You've Met My Baby - The Louvin Brothers
1964
Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell
1972
Bedtime Story - Tammy Wynette
1980
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys - Willie Nelson
1988
Face to Face – Alabama
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TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY
Courtesy: Bill Morrison.
1925 - Ralph Sloan, founder of The Tennessee Travelers, was born in Wilson
County, Tennessee.
1936 - Mickey Gilley singer, songwriter, and pianist born Mickey Leroy Gilley in
Natchez, Mississippi. Between 1974-1989 Gilley placed 17 #1 hits on the country
charts.
Mickey's cousins are Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart.
1941 - Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan recorded "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold
Again."
1956 - The Louvin Brothers' "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" was #1.
1957 - Columbia Records released Marty Robbins single "A White Sport Coat." The
self penned tune charted the following month, went to #1. This was Marty's 3rd
#1 hit.
1958 - The Everly Brothers appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
1959 - George Jones' first #1 record charted to day. "White Lightning" was
written by disc jockey J.P. Richardson, who died in a plane crash along with
Buddy Holly, and
Richie Valens in Iowa, one month before this song was released. Richardson never
knew that he wrote the first #1 hit for his friend George Jones.
1963 - A moment of silence was observed at the Grand Ole Opry in memory of Patsy
Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, and Patsy's manager and pilot Randy
Hughes. All lost their lives in a plane crash on March 5, 1963. Opry member Jack
Anglin of "Johnny & Jack" became the fourth member of the Opry to die in a 48
hour
period, when he was killed March 7th, enroute to Patsy's memorial service.
Cowboy Copas' daughter was married to Randy Hughes, and lost her husband, and
her father
in the plane crash. On March 29, 1963, the Opry lost another member when Texas
Rudy, age 52, died in a fire at her home.
1964 - Lefty Frizzell topped the charts with his Columbia single "Saginaw
Michigan." Bill Anderson and Don Wayne wrote the song.
1965 - Wanda Jackson recorded "Oh, Blacky Joe."
1968 - The 10th Annual Grammy Awards originally scheduled to be presented on
February 29th, were postponed until this evening due to the death of a black
civil rights
leader. Winners in the Country Music category included: Best Vocal Performance
Female "Ode to Billie Joe" Bobbie Gentry; Best Vocal Performance Male "By The
Time I
Get To Phoenix" Glen Campbell; Best Instrumental Performance "Chet Atkins Picks
the Best" Chet Atkins; Best New Artist Bobbie Gentry; Best Gospel Performance
"More Grand Ole Gospel" Porter Wagoner & The Blackwood Bros. Best Folk
Performance "Gentle on My Mind" John Hartford; Best Vocal Duo "Jackson" Johnny
Cash &
June Carter; Best Country Song "Gentle on My Mind" Songwriter John Hartford.
1969 - Jeannie C. Riley appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
1969 - Buck Owens recorded "Johnny B. Goode" at a live performance at the London
Palladium, in England. Ken Nelson produced the album "Buck Owens In London,"
and the single was released on May 5, 1969. The players included Buck
Owens-vocal & guitar; Don Rich -lead guitar & harmony; Jay Dee Maness-steel
guitar; Doyle
Holly-bass; and Jerry Wiggins-drums. The Capitol single charted four days after
its release, and went to #1. This was Buck's 18 th #1.
1970 - Johnny Cash recorded "What Is Truth" in Nashville. Bob Johnston produced
the session, John Cash wrote the song. Session personnel included; Johnny Cash-
vocals & guitar; Carl Perkins-guitar; Bob Wooton-guitar; Marshall Grant-bass;
W.S. Holland-drums; Norman Blake-dobro.
1974 - The Grand Ole Opry played their last Saturday night show at the Ryman,
prior to moving to the new Opry House. This was a sad evening for a lot of
artists and
musicians. Tom T. Hall quit the Opry rather than move out to the new building at
Opryland. Tom returned a few years later, after Ernest Tubb told him it was time
for him to come home.
1988 - Alabama's "Face To Face" topped the charts 1988.
1990 - Reba McEntire's MCA Music Video of "Reba" was certified Gold by the RIAA.
1993 - Columbia released Vern Gosdin's album "Nickels & Dimes."
1996 - George Burns 1896-1996, age 100, comedian, Oscar winning actor, singer
died today at him home in Beverly Hills, California. George charted 3 country
songs in
the early 1980's on the Mercury label. "I Wish I Was Eighteen Again" "Willie,
Won't You Sing A Song With Me" and "The Arizona Whiz." George Burns was laid to
rest in
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
2005 - Chris LeDoux 1948-2005, age 56, singer, songwriter, guitarist and rodeo
champion, died at the Casper, Wyoming, Medical Center as a result of
complications from cancer treatment. Chris was cremated.
Courtesy: <http://www.talentondisplay.com/countrycalendar.html>
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IN THE STUDIO.
By: Jack Blanchard
Listening to our old records
is like hearing yourself a thousand years younger.
Our minds go back to the original recording sessions.
We remember the genius of the Nashville A-team musicians,
and how they would take our ideas
and make them sound better than we had imagined.
Lloyd Green, Billy Sanford, and Hargus Robbins recently said
that our music was the most creative they've played,
but it goes both ways.
Our sessions were like parties.
In fact, sometimes we hurried to get things done
before the party got too wild.
We liked to record late at night
and with all the musicians and singers there at once.
It got a feeling going that you can't get with overdubbing.
Feeling is more important to us than perfection.
We always showed up prepared...
with numbered chord charts, demo tapes, and lyric sheets.
Our lyric sheets were color coded...
red text for Misty, and blue for me.
If there was overdubbing, it was usually Misty or me,
laying down a keyboard or guitar track,
that we couldn't do while singing.
Whenever we'd find a good engineer that was easy to work with
we'd asked for him as often as possible.
This is especially important to us
because we always oversee and take part in the mixdown.
When we first hit Nashville and they weren't used to us,
some engineers resented our suggestions,
but after a while they became friends and allies.
A lot of our most popular recordings were done in one take.
We'd probably do a backup,
but end up using the original mix.
We were lucky to be with record labels that gave us the freedom
and the budget to make music our way.
Jack Blanchard
http://www.jackandmisty.net
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View From The Front Porch-Stan Hitchcock
"Why The Mockingbird Sings"
On this cold, late Winter morning…still far too cold to enjoy our front porch of
the Old Farm House, where I like to sit and write my stories. Ah, but it will
soon be Spring,
and I eagerly await that time.
One of the joys of writing on the Front Porch is the company I keep. there is my
friend the Mockingbird. I call him My Mockingbird, and for the past three or so
years, he
comes every morning to sit in the branches of the flowering plum tree that grows
next to the porch, serenading me as I write my stories. He is amazing, he sits
here in the
tree, no more than 12 feet from where I sit, and starts singing as soon as I
come out…and the volume, and different melodies, he is able to sustain is
awesome.
So it goes, me quietly drinking my first cup of coffee, the bird on his limb,
singing at the top of his voice…and I am reminded, the mockingbird and I have a
lot in common.
How many times, in the 54 years of being a music professional, and the years
before that as just a singing teenager, did I sing at the top of my
voice….singing for the love of singing….singing because that is what I am.
Probably I should have been singing, with a plan, a career building plan, a
calculated plan to make a profit, a desire to make the singing take me to the
top of something or other…sadly, I never learned to do that. No, I was always
like the Mockingbird, singing for no other reason than the simple love of
singing. He, on a limb, me on some stage, singing at the top of our voices, even
if it is only to one person sitting with a cup of something or other…who cares?
Little Jimmy Dickens told me the story of one time when the curtain opened, and
in the seats in the auditorium, there was only one man sitting, watching him.
True to his
own love of singing, Jimmy started the old Show Biz adage of entertaining no
matter the size of the audience, singing his songs and telling his old jokes…the
man sat
there, never clapping, just staring at the stage. Finally, Jimmy stopped and
asked the man, "Sir, do you have a request?" The man thought a minute, and then
said, "Yeah,
how long is it gonna be before I can start cleaning up the room?"
So, it is all in what your driving force is, I suppose. The smart entertainers
realize, early on, that the title "Show Biz" means just that, Show Business.
Bill Anderson told
me, "Today's entertainers make more money in one night, than any of us did in a
year", and of course, that is true. And, if money is your driving force, then
that is your success.
But, to me, and the Mockingbird, our reason for singing remains the same. The
Robin is out early searching for a worm, the Crows, down by the creek are doing
whatever
it is they do, Nature's plan continues, as always….but, the Mockingbird has no
plan, other than to sing, and bring a sense of joy to one person, sitting on a
front porch having one cup of coffee, on a misty morning in Tennessee. stan
www.hitchcockcountry.com -
http://www.hitchcockcountry.com
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and
fitting to praise him!
– Psalm 147:1 (NIV)
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