COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS*
*
Doug Davis
Owner/Publisher/Manager/Editor/
Writer/Gopher/Chief Cook & Bottle Washer
Wednesday April 9th, 2014
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT www.countrymusicclassics.com
*
STORY BEHIND THE SONG*
*
Songwriters say that ideas for songs can come from anywhere and everywhere and
according to Dallas Frazier - the idea for Emmylou Harris' 1980 number one,
"Beneath Still Waters" came as he was just watching the river that ran close to
his Nashville area home.
Dallas commented, "the water looked all still and quiet on top and I started
thinking about what might be going on underneath that still water and that's
where that song came from."
And Emmylou Harris commented, "I thought the song was almost perfect. The
imagery was beautiful - yet it was so simple and I loved the melody."
Her Warner Bros. single, "Beneath Still Waters" was produced by Brian Ahern,
came on the country music charts March 1st, 1980 and was at the top of the list
on May 10th.
It was her 18th charted song and was on the charts for 14 weeks.*
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: I heard that Willie Nelson was going into an Austin, Texas hall of fame.
What is that all about?
A: Willie Nelson will be the first inductee into the television series "Austin
City Limits" Hall Of Fame on April 26th. Willie will perform at the ceremony
which is part of the series 40th anniversary celebration.
Q: Do you know anything about a movie about Glen Campbell and his family. I
heard about it on TV news.
A: In "Glen Campbell - It'll Be Me," film makers followed Glen and his family
- as Campbell set on his "Goodbye Tour," following his diagnosis with
Alzheimer's disease. The film will be shown at the 2014 Nashville Film Festival
next month.
Q: Do you have information about a Merle Haggard tribute album? The radio
folks were talking about it.
A: "Working Man's Poet: A Tribute To Merle Haggard" features Haggard classics
performed by Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, and others.
Q: My daughter says she heard that The Johnny Cash Museum won some kind of
award. Do you have any information?
A: The Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville was honored with The 2014 Award Of
Excellence from The Tennessee Association Of Museums Conference.
Q: Whatever happened to Mickey Gilley? I heard that he was seriously ill.
A: Gilley kicked off a new tour on March 21st - which was his first national
tour since a 2009 accident that left him unable to work. The tour runs thru July
30th and will end in Louisiana.
Q: Do you have any information about a Steve Wariner album having to do with
Chet Atkins? I heard it mentioned on the radio.
A: "Steve Wariner c.g.p. - My Tribute To Chet Atkins" was released some time
ago but is just now available at Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores. A track from
the album, "Producer's Medley," won a Grammy in 2010 for Best Country
Instrumental Performance.
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Your comments, suggestions, gripes, etc. concerning this newsletter---are
welcome. Email *to: Classics@countrymusicclassics.com*
* ^^^^^^^^^^*
* NUMBER ONE ON THIS DATE:*
*1947*
/So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed/ - Merle Travis *
*1955*
/In the Jailhouse Now/ - Webb Pierce *
*1963*
/Still/ - Bill Anderson *
*1971*
/After the Fire is Gone/ - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn *
*1979*
/I Just Fall in Love Again/ - Anne Murray *
*1987*
/Ocean Front Property/ - George Strait*
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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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*
THE COMEDIAN.*
by: Jack Blanchard
I worked in a show club in Detroit with The Dawn Breakers quartet.
The emcee was a very funny comedian named Frankie Rapp.
He did impressions of a gay lighthouse and an old Pontiac.
I saw him in a Jerry Lewis movie once.
There was a classy female singer on the show
who was Frankies ex-wife.
She told me she didnt like old comedians.
Shed been married to two of them.
After comedians make us laugh we expect them to be jolly in real life.
They can be quite different from their onstage persona.
Mickey Rooney is one of our finest comedic actors,
but backstage we found him grouchy, unfriendly, and rude.
Lou Costello got 60% and Bud Abbott got 40% of their income.
When asked if he thought he needed Abbott, he said this:
I could have him painted on the curtain.
Misty and I have known hilarious comics
who were serious depressives.
We got involved with one who was a tyrant.
I was producing a Starday Records artist named Rusty Diamond,
who had a knack for getting rich backers.
Rusty wanted to put together a Vegas type stage show.
I knew he wasnt ready for that,
so I suggested we hire a comedy coach named Danny Rogers.
Rustys backer was paying for the coaching sessions,
and the rent on a rehearsal hall.
Danny could be funny, lovable, humble, devious, and cruel.
He could be different people at different moments.
He did so many characters, I didnt know which was the real him.
I think it was the mean one.
Hed been fired from Milton Berles Vegas show
for being too funny.
He told me Berle was right. It was his show.
The potential comedy group consisted of
Misty and me, Paul McLaughlin our sax player,
and Rusty was to be the star.
Rogers began calling Paul the hick and riding him mercilessly.
I was the designated straight man, Misty was the chick,
and it never became clear what Rusty was supposed to do.
It did become clear that Rusty was not going to be the star.
Danny was getting paid to train him, but Rusty was on his way out.
It was morphing into The Danny Rogers Group.
He was a terrific comedian, and I was to be his Dean Martin.
He didnt even want Paul in the act.
Thats why he made his life miserable.
But we made sure Paul stayed.
To be fair, Danny did teach us a lot about stagecraft and comedy.
He taught us some hilarious routines,
but he yelled at us all the time, which took the fun out of it.
Rustys backers pulled the plug and he left the group,
Paul the hick was miserable,
and Misty and I were imagining fun ways to kill Danny Rogers.
Misty bought an expensive new dress
and Danny commanded her to Never wear that again.
Then he booked our act into a famous showplace in the Caribbean.
We all knew at that moment
that we were not going to be on any island with Danny Rogers.
We were actually afraid to tell him.
He had become the cruel warden.
But we did tell him, and he wasnt happy
First he became the poor soul whos been hurt,
to make us feel guilty.
He was good!
Finally he got mad, did a troll dance, and left.
Maybe I made up the troll dance.
In the 1970s, after wed had several hit records,
I was calling old names in our address book, for some dumb reason.
I got Rogers on the phone,
and asked if he remembered us, and he said this:
Yeah. Too bad you never made it.*
*
Jack Blanchard
*http:// - http:///www.jackandmisty.net - http://www.jackandmisty.net
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TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY*
compiled by Bill Morrison*
*
1932 - Carl Perkins 1932~1998, was born in rural Tiptonville,
Tennessee.
1941 - Kay Adams Tower label recording artist, was born /Princetta Kay
Adams /in Knox City, Texas.
1942 - Margo Smith singer, songwriter, and actress, born Dayton,
Ohio.
*1945 *Con Hunley singer, songwriter pianist, born Conrad Logan
Hunley, in Fountain City, Tennessee.
1945 - Gus Hardin 1945~1996, born Carolyn Ann Blankenship,' in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Gus charted 10 of her RCA country singles on Billboard' s country charts in less
than three years. She died in a car wreck in 1996.
1953 - Hal Ketchum singer, songwriter and Grand Ole Opry member, was born in
Greenwich, New York.
1957 - Mark Roberts, member of the "Red Clay Ramblers" was born in Wareham,
Massachusetts.
1958 - Johnny Cash recorded "Guess Things Happen That Way" at Sun Studio in
Memphis. Cowboy Jack Clement wrote the song, and produced the session. Session
personnel included: John Cash~vocals & guitar; Luther Perkins~guitar; Marshall
Grant~bass; Jimmy Wilson~piano; J.M. Van Eaton~drums; Ed Bruce, Sara Bruce, Nita
Smith and Lee Holt~backing vocals. This recording was a #1 country hit, and
topped out at #11 on the pop charts.
1959 - Dave Innis, member of "Restless Heart," was born in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma.
1961 - Patsy Cline' s #1 single "I Fall To Pieces," charted today.
1968 - Elvis Presley's RCA album "Loving You" /was certified Gold by the
RIAA.
1969 - The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour featured Ray Charles, Lynn Kellogg, and
Glen Campbell.
1981 - The Carl Perkins Museum opened in Jackson, Tennessee, on Carl' s
birthday.
1984 - Kenny Loggins' Columbia single "Footloose" /was certified
Gold.
1987 - The Judds 'RCA/Curb album "Heartland" /was certified
Gold.
1988 - Dave Prater of Sam & Dave died in a car wreck near Sycamore,
Georgia.
1990 - Capitol released Lacy J. Dalton' s album "Lacy J."/
1990 - Darrell Glenn 1935~1990, age 54, died from cancer in Fort Worth, Texas.
Darrell was a regular on Bewley' s Barn Dance on WBAP-TV, and recorded for
numerous record labels.
1991 - Patty Loveless's MCA album "Honky Tonk Angel" /was certified
Gold.
1997 - Johnny Hicks, cast member of the Big D Jamboree, died today.
*1997 - *Mae Boren Axton 1914~1997, age 82, songwriter, author, and
mother of Hoyt Axton, died in Nashville. Mae was laid to rest in Hendersonville
Memory Gardens, Hendersonville, Tennessee.
1998 - Tammy Wynette' s Memorial Service was held at the Ryman Auditorium. The
two-hour service was televised nationally on CNN. Tammy was laid to rest in
Woodland Memorial Park, Nashville, Tennessee.
2006 - Reunion of Professional Entertainers (ROPE) Awards, were held at the
Nashville Palace.
2006 - CELEBRATION FINALE AND MILLENNIUM STAGE 9th ANNIVERSARY COUNTRY MUSIC
DANCE PARTY: The festivities comes to a thrilling close when nine-time
Grammy-winning Texas swing band Asleep at the Wheel, leads an outdoor country
music dance party, which also celebrates the ninth anniversary of Millennium
Stage. This concert brought to a close the /Country: A Celebration of
America's Music,/ presented by the Kennedy Center in co-operation with the
Grand Ole Opry.
*
Courtesy Bill Morrison:
<http://www.talentondisplay.com/countrycalMAR.html*>
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*
VIEW FROM THE FRONT PORCH
By: Stan Hitchcock*
*
View From The Music/Fishing Room-
*Sitting here with the laptop, working on some of my favorite Heart to
Heart moments. This is the late and great Hank Thompson, one of my all time
music heroes, telling me how he came to record "Wild Side Of Life", and many
other great stories of the beginnings of country music. Before this, I was
watching Little Jimmy Dickens and Ferlin Husky, tell how they came to be the
Legends that they are. All of these special moments of music and music history
are from the "Heart to Heart Collection dvd's". Oh what moments I have been
blessed to spend with the true heroes of our music. There will never be another
generation of entertainers like these giants. They raised me with the love of
their music, I grew up with it, and lived to know them as friends....it don't
get no better than that. I am so thankful that before they could no longer
perform or had passed, I was able to get the stories and songs that mean the
world to a true classic country fan. Legends like these and Dan Seals, Sammi
Smith, Keith Whitley and Buck Owens. So, now you know how I spend my
nights...revisiting my old friends.
*Stan Hitchcock*
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:*
*
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have
eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you
refuse to come to me to have life. *
* John 5:39-40 (NIV)*
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