Monday June 14th, 2010 C O U N T R Y M U S I C C L A S S I C S

C O U N T R Y    M U S I C    C L A S S I C S

 

 

Doug Davis
Owner/Publisher/Manager/Editor/

Writer/Gopher/Chief Cook & Bottle Washer  

 

 Monday June 14th, 2010

 

 

             CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT  www.countrymusicclassics.com

 

             Our program website is   www.classiccountryfirst.com

 

 

                          

                                     STORY   BEHIND   THE   SONG

 

 

So many songwriter’s answer to the question of “where did the idea for that song come from” has been “I have no idea. The chorus or title or a line just popped in my head and I wrote it.”

 

According to Hank Cochran, George Strait’s 1987 number one, “Ocean Front Property,” was one of those tunes!

 

Hank explained, “I was in the studio producing a demo session on Dean Dillon and for some reason the chorus and the first verse for that song just came into my head and I borrowed a guitar and took another guy in this little room and started singing that chorus. About that time, Dean came in and I sang what I had to him and he sat down and wrote the last verse and that was that. I recorded a demo on the song and my wife kept telling me that it was a hit song. And I didn’t think it was but she kept telling me that I was wrong, and that I ought to get the song to George Strait. I finally told her if she would shut up about it I would send it to George Strait that very day. So I sent it to George, he liked it and he came in and recorded it. He put it out as a single and it was a hit and then they put it in an album they titled “Ocean Front Property.” And while we were in Mexico I called back home and asked how the album was doing and they told me that the album went in the charts as number one. And they told me that was the first time that had been done by a country artist.”

 

George Strait’s MCA single, “Ocean Front Property”  entered the country music charts January 17^th, 1987 and made it to number one.

 

It was his 18^th charted song and his 10^th number one. The single was on the charts for 21 weeks.

 

 

 

 

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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, “Classic Country First” now has its own website at
www.classiccountryfirst.com

The program is now syndicated thru Keller Broadcasting and is available thru barter.

Hear audio samples of the  programs  at:

http://www.keller-broadcasting.com/shows/classiccountryfirst/demo.mp3

 

To sign up to carry the program, email to: kellerm@keller-broadcasting.com

OR call Mitchell Keller at (503) 860-4707

 

 

 

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                                  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS

 

 

QUESTION:   Do you know anything about The Judds getting back together?

ANSWER:      "The Judds: The Last Encore Tour"  will begin November 26th -- in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The 18-date tour ends in Phoenix, Arizona on December 19th.

 QUESTION:   I bought some cassette tapes at a garage sale. One is labeled “Mel Street” and has a song about “Who’ll Turn Out The Lights?” I can’t find any information as to his recording that song. Do you have any info?

 

ANSWER:      “Who’ll Turn Out The Lights?” was the flipside of Mel’s 1972 # 5 hit, “Lovin’ On Back  Streets.”

 

QUESTION:    I have an old 45 recording of “Bluebird Island” with Hank Snow. Who is the girl singer on that record?

 

ANSWER:       Anita Carter is the girl singer on Hank’s 1951 top five hit, “Bluebird Island.”

 

 

 

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“Country Music Classics”  is made possible only by donations from subscribers like you. If you enjoy receiving this newsletter, please support us by sending a check payable to “Country Music Classics”  for any amount to:

Doug Davis—Country Music Classics—3702 Pleasant Grove Road-Texarkana, Texas 75503.  Or use   PAYPAL  ( http://www.paypal.com ) and donate (via your account or their secure credit card site) directly thru our email address (classics@countrymusicclassics.com). Thank you.

 

If you wish to make a contribution but do not have a Pay Pal account, you may use any major credit card and donate thru our secure Pro Pay account.

 

 

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QUESTION:     I love Jeanne Pruett’s records. Is that her real name?

 

ANSWER:       Jeanne Pruett was born Norma Jean Bowman in 1937

 

QUESTION:     Who was the guy who had the record of “What A Laugh” many years ago?

ANSWER:        Freddie Hart scored a # 23 hit on “What A Laugh” in 1961.

 

QUESTION:     Do you know how many  singers  recorded the song “Since I Met You  Baby.” Seems I’ve heard it by just about everybody.

 

ANSWER:        The song has been recorded by dozens of artists, but the only chart versions were by Sonny James in 1969  and  Freddy Fender in 1975

 

 

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Your comments, suggestions, gripes, etc. concerning this newsletter---are welcome. Email to:Classics@countrymusicclassics.com

 

 

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NUMBER  ONE  ON  THIS  DATE:

 

1949
One Kiss Too Many - Eddy Arnold

1957
Four Walls - Jim Reeves

1965
What’s He Doing in My World - Eddy Arnold

1973
You Always Come Back (To Hurting Me) - Johnny Rodriguez

1981
What are We Doin’ in Love - Dottie West with Kenny Rogers

1989
Better Man - Clint Black

 

 

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               TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY

                           compiled by Bill Morrison

 

Burl Ives born Newton, IL 1909.

 

George Carlisle born 1911.

 

Lester Flatt born Overton County, TN 1914.

 

Fiddlin John Carson recorded his first record in Atlanta, for Okeh Records 1923.

 

Tex Ritter married Dorothy Fay Southworth, 1941.

 

Janie Black, recording artist, born 1944.

 

Hank Williams released "Move It On Over," 1947.

 

Hank Williams recorded "Honky Tonk Blues," 1950.

 

Patsy Cline was seriously injured in a car wreck on a Nashville street in 1961. Patsy went through the windshield and received a dislocated hip, broken wrist, and serious lacerations on her face, and cracked ribs.  Patsy was unable to sing for the next eight months.

 

Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman, age 75, of the "Stoneman Family" died in Nashville 1968.

 

Johnny Rodriquez went to #1 with "You Always Come Back" 1973.

 

Alabama's debut album "My Home's In Alabama," charted 1980.

 

Bob Rolontz, age 79, record executive, originator of the platinum record, died 2000.

 

Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music, Songwriters Hall of Fame, in New York City in 2001.

 

The Charlie Daniels Museum debuted in downtown Nashville, 2001.

 

Courtesy Bill Morrison: http://www.talentondisplay.com/countrycalMAR.html

 

 

 

 

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A JOURNALIST ASKS US SOME QUESTIONS.

    By: Jack Blanchard

 

These clips from an interview contain some insight into the lives of musicians...
at least two of them.

Q: Why did you leave Buffalo for Ohio?
A: Misty left with her former husband, to get work. They were there for a couple of years.
She worked as a pianist in a bar owned by Doris Day's parents.
I lived in Ohio with my father's relatives when I was a child.
I later moved from Buffalo directly to Miami
and began playing piano all around south Florida.

Q: When did you leave and did you go right to Florida?
A: Misty and her ex went directly from Cincinnati to Miami.
In Ohio their car was hit by an old millionaire's limo, and he had a lot of clout in town.
Misty and her ex were being sued and were about to lose their trailer home.
We both moved to Miami somewhere in the 1950's.

Q: Exactly how did you guys meet in Hollywood Florida?
A: We were aware of each other because we both played piano in Hollywood FL,
and our names and pictures were often in the paper.
I went to a club where she had her band, and checked her out.
I made a date with her, and she stood me up.
Her friends told her I was a mafia guy, which wasn't true.
I just worked in a lot of mob owned clubs.
A few months later we were both playing piano bars in downtown Hollywood,
on US #1, about a block apart.
I dropped into my club on my night off to see how they were doing,
and Misty was talking to my boss about getting my job.
We began seeing a lot of each other after that.
Misty and I finally formed our own band and played a lot on the road.
We were married in the 1960's in Kingsland Georgia,
on the way to a gig in South Carolina..
one of our favorite Carolinas..

Q: Why did you start all those personal record labels?
A: The labels had different names because we had different partners (backers) in each.
The best way to get a major label career back then
was to release something on your own label, prove it locally,
and then make a deal with a bigger label.

Q: How many releases do you recall having on them?
A: We probable had 15 or 20 releases by us and other artists
on our Darn, Zodiac, and Marianna labels.
Mostly by us.
Misty was Jacqueline Hyde and Maryanne Male. I had The Jack Blanchard Group.
At that time I also wrote and directed the music for a government documentary film
titled "A Million Acre Playground",
and we released "Gemini" by the Jack Blanchard Group.
It was getting strong play on the Miami Pop stations.
Then the Ventures covered it note-for-note and released it on Dolton,
a subsidiary of Liberty Records.
They called and wanted 100% of the publishing on the song.
I was so angry about the cover, that I refused to give it to them.
They then flipped the record and promoted the other side,
which was "La Bamba", a big hit.
They later recut "Gemini" on a couple of their albums.
Each one sounded worse, and they have never paid us.

Q: What was your first country recording?
A: "Bethlehem Steel", our first duet, was initially on our Darn Records label.
"Bethlehem Steel" and three other songs were on an EP (Extended Play),
which had 4 songs on a 45rpm record.
EP's were often used to shop recordings to labels in those days.
These four songs were from our first Nashville recording session.
All our recordings before that were recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami.
"Bethlehem Steel" started getting local airplay in Florida,
and a DJ named Lee ("Hoss") Moss called Wayside Records,
a New England country label that was starting to get known.
They signed us. (Thank you, Lee Moss.)

Our second Wayside single "Big Black Bird" got a "Top 10 Pick" in Billboard...
Pop, not Country! They didn't know what we were.
It started to get heavy airplay,
and Wayside was afraid it would get too big for them,
so they made a distribution deal with Mercury/Smash Records.
They argued so long about the deal that the single had to be released again.
By that time it had already lost its momentum and newness.
Stuff happens.

Q: What did your families think/care when you left?
A: My family had already moved to Coral Gables FL. I was left alone in Buffalo.
I got married (to somebody else), worked in factories,
played piano nights and weekends,
and started The Dawn Breakers, a Pop vocal quartet.
The Dawn Breakers were signed by Coral Records.
Misty left home to get away from an unhappy situation.

Since those days we have performed concerts/shows in 49 states.
We were once on the road for 8 years straight.
Strangely, we have never played Buffalo together.
Before we had hits, we were once booked into a fancy restaurant in Buffalo,
and when we got there they had another band.
We settled for dinner.

 

Jack Blanchard 

Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan...

Grammy Nominees. Billboard's Country Duet of the Year.

OUR HOME PAGE: http://jackandmisty.com

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

 

 

FOR LOVELY THINGS

 

I thank You, God, for lovely things;

For sunshine bright, each bird that sings, for beauty that the springtime brings…

 

For fragrant roses kissed by the dew, For smiling skies of azure blue,

For loyal friends both old and new…

 

For Autumn foliage aglow, for moonlight on the new-fallen snow,

For awesome sunset’s crimson glow…

 

For every mother’s love so dear, for letters bringing me such cheer,

For sweet content as night draws near…

 

For golden deeds that say, “I care,”

For rainbows with their colors fair, for quiet time I spend in prayer…

 

For tulips bursting through the sod,

For peace along the path I trod, for lovely things…I thank you, God.

 

                      Beverly J. Anderson

 

 

 

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