COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS
Doug Davis
Owner/Publisher/Manager/Editor/
Writer/Gopher/Chief Cook & Bottle Washer
Thursday July 12th, 2012
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT www.countrymusicclassics.com
STORY BEHIND THE SONG
A lot of songs for ideas for songs came from words overheard in a conversation and according to songwriter Larry Weiss, such was the case of Glen Campbell's 1975 number one, "Rhinestone Cowboy."
Weiss commented "The title for that song came from a phrase I overheard in a conversation and I liked it. I've always been a kid at heart and that song was just sort of a summation of all my childhood cowboy movie heroes."
Weiss recorded the song on his own "Black And Blue Suite" album for 20th Century Fox Records. The album didn't make the grade, but Campbell did hear the "Rhinestone Cowboy" track being played on the radio.
In the meantime, his record producer, Al Coury, had also heard the track on the radio and thought it was a good song for Campbell. So when the two got together – they told each other about the song . and Glen recorded it.
Glen Campbell's Capitol Records single, "Rhinestone Cowboy" came on the country charts June 7th, 1965 and made it to number one on August 23rd and it stuck there for three weeks.
It was his 32nd charted song and his 4th number one.
The single was on the charts for 21 weeks and also scored a # one on the pop charts.
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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. (NOT AVAILABLE TO INTERNET STATIONS)
The feature is available at no charge.
For information, email me at classics@countrymusicclassics.com
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: I heard that George Jones' Nashville home was for sale and then that it was not for sale. Do you know anything about it?
A: Jones' home was reportedly for sale thru auction but the highest bid did not reach his minimum bid of $1.5 million so the property did not sell.
Q: I heard a song on the radio just a few times back in the 1980's about "The Best Love I Never Had." None of the radio stations I called know anything about it. Do you?
A: "Best Love I Never Had" was the flipside of T. Graham Brown's 1988 number one, "Darlene."
Q: I bought the 45 rpm recording of Jerry Reed's "Alabama Wild Man" in 1968. My brother in law says that record came out years later. Is that true?
A: Reed's first version of "Alabama Wild Man" peaked at # 48 in 1968. He re-recorded it in 1972 and the second version made it to # 22
Q: The radio d.j. played Ronnie Milsap's "Please Don't Tell me How The Story Ends" and mentioned that it had been released before by Milsap. Do you have any information on that?
A: Milsap's first recording of that song was on Warner Records – and the flipside of "A Rose By Any Other Name," which peaked at # 77 in 1975. He re-recorded the song in 1974 for RCA Victor, which made it to number one.
Q: I love Jacky Ward's country version of the old pop tune, "A Lover's Question." My uncle says another country artist had a hit on that song before Ward. Is that true?
A: Del Reeves scored a # 14 hit on "A Lover's Question" in 1970, before Ward's recording made it to # 3 in 1978.
Q: I bought some old cassette tapes at a garage sale that had been recorded from the radio. There's a song on one of them that I'd never heard called "A Thing Called Sadness." It sounds like Ray Price. Is that a Ray Price record?
A: "A Thing Called Sadness" was a # 38 hit for Ray Price in 1965.
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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:
1945
Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima - Bob Wills
1953
It's Been So Long - Webb Pierce
1961
Heartbreak U.S.A. - Kitty Wells
1969
Statue of a Fool - Jack Greene
1977
I'll Be Leaving Alone - Charley Pride
1985
She's a Miracle - Exile
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TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY
compiled by Bill Morrison
Jimmie Rodgers recorded "In The Jailhouse Now #2," 1930.
Steve Young singer/songwriter, born Newnan, GA 1942.
Butch Hancock, singer/songwriter, born Lubbock, TX 1945.
Julie Anne Miller, recording artist, born Dallas, TX 1956.
Roy Clark's single "Yesterday, When I Was Young" charted on Billboard's Top 40 chart 1969.
Tom T. Hall recorded "Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine" 1972.
Marty Robbins released "Jumper Cable Man/Good Hearted Woman" 1981.
Hip-O released "Ain't Ever Satisfied: The Steve Earle Collection" 1996.
Jimmy Driftwood, age 91, died Fayetteville, AR 1998. Jimmy was a school teacher and songwriter. His Grammy winning songs were "Battle of New Orleans," "Songs of Billy Yank and Johnny Red," and "Tennessee Stud."
Toby and Willie's "Beer For My Horses" was the #1 single in the U.S. 2003.
Courtesy Bill Morrison: http://www.talentondisplay.com/countrycalMAR.html
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In response to many requests, YES I am on Facebook and you are welcome to become a friend—UNLESS you are one of those that posts photos of your grandkids or your pet cat every other day. I don't have the time or interest for that. SO—if that's what you do on Facebook.. just forget me !
I'm the Doug Davis with the photos of the guitars.
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The following is part of a periodic newsletter commemorates the lives of Faron Young and Marty Robbins. The University of Illinois Press published Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins and reissued Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story in soft cover.
MARTY ROBBINS FORTY YEARS AGO
In late July 1972, Marty filmed his singing western, The Drifter, at Apacheland near Phoenix, Arizona. The movie's name was changed to Guns of a Stranger at the request of Clint Eastwood's company, so as not to conflict with Eastwood's latest movie, High Plains Drifter. This agreement must have disappointed Marty, who had used the drifter theme in his first television series and in numerous songs and had long wanted to make the movie. To get a horse already accustomed to the Arizona climate, he hired Flax, who had appeared in The High Chaparral as the mount of Manolito (played by Henry Darrow). Several scenes showed Marty in a sleeveless undershirt, exhibiting his healthy-looking physique. His action scenes included a boxing match, and he did not look like someone who underwent triple bypass heart surgery less than three years earlier.
EBOOK UPDATE
I've just learned that Twentieth Century Drifter is available as a Google eBook:
http://books.google.com/books?id=jGbogMkLPLYC. Live Fast, Love Hard "had an issue with the file," according the the publisher. The file was resent, and the book should be available shortly. Legal issues with Amazon.com still need to be worked out before the books can be downloaded from Kindle. I haven't heard anything about Nook.
COTTON OWENS 1924-2012
Everett "Cotton" Owens--recently selected for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame--died June 7 at age 88. He'd been diagnosed with lung cancer seven years ago and chose not to treat the cancer aggressively, saying he had led a full life. When I did a phone interview with him in 2006, he said he started working with Marty Robbins when "I took this Plymouth and made a Dodge out of it for Marty there in 1972." He maintained Marty's cars for the next ten years, at his racing operation in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Cotton said Marty called him about six o'clock one afternoon in 1982. "We talked, and finally I asked him, 'What else you got on your mind?' He said, 'Oh, I just called you to see how you're doing, and wanted to chat a little bit.' And then at 11:00 that night he had his final heart attack." Cotton added, "After he died, I carried the Buick to Nashville, and they put it in Marty's museum up there in Nashville. And the Dodge, it went to Talladega."
LETTERS
Gerald Walton reports, "Just wanted to let know that Twentieth Century Drifter is in the Oklahoma City library."
Linda Elliott Clark writes from northern Virginia, "I just read your interview about Marty. Very good. What goes on inside a person, only that person knows. We are ALL human, with human emotions from either our beginning life or things we have gone through over time. Like the old saying goes, 'don't judge someone until you have walked in their shoes.' I'm trying to remember if the Andrew Jackson was where I stayed when I came to Nashville around 1955. I remember the hotel was on a hill within walking distance of the Ryman. I can remember the ride from Arlington, VA, to Nashville and how warm it was in the car, because many cars back then did not have A/C. When we got to the hotel in Nashville, it felt so good to get in an A/C room! Back in those days the Ryman was not air conditioned either, and I remember the night we went to the show it was very warm. Even with all the heat, though, the show was soooo good. I later went back to Nashville when I was about 20 to the Ryman as well. A lot of lasting memories of those days. Thanks for keeping them alive."
Marge Hemsworth writes from Nova Scotia, "Recently when my friend Bonny Martell and I went to visit friends in Nashville, I bought your Marty book (had already rec'd your Faron one from our mutual friend Diane Jordan). After a wonderful visit with Diane, and also with Hank's secretary, Sheri Blackwood and her husband Friday, I'm reading the book on the flight home. I'd also known Marty, and Bonny is reading over my shoulder. She says, 'You told me that part . . . you told me that part also . . . you told me Marty discovered the Glaser Bros. Marge, why are you bothering to read the book?' Thanks for another great read . . . .
P.S. Here in Nova Scotia, we just call him 'Hank.' We think 'our home town boy' is the ONLY Hank!"
SIDEMAN SIDEBAR
"Marty Robbins has always been my idol," Wayne Hobbs says. "I started playing acoustic guitar and singing when I was about four. It was Marty Robbins music that I was singing. My dad played steel guitar, and so that's where I learned to play steel guitar." Wayne worked with Connie Smith and Barbara Mandrell and then spent five years playing steel guitar in Hawaii before auditioning in early 1982 for Marty Robbins. "It was just Marty with his guitar and me with my steel," Wayne recalls. "That was kinda scary, like WOW. I thought he was gonna start doing his ballad songs or western songs. But he started singing Hawaiian music, and I think we took a liking to each other right off the bat. He said, 'how do you know all those songs?' " After Marty's death, Wayne returned home to Ohio, where he still lives.
Diane Diekman
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
diane@dianediekman.com
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
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