Thursday October 1st, 2015 COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS

COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS

Doug Davis
Owner/Publisher/Manager/Editor/
Writer/Gopher/Chief Cook & Bottle Washer

Thursday October 1st, 2015

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- - - - I apologize for the newsletter being a day late this week. I just
couldn't get it all done on time - - - -
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Email: djdclassics@gmail.com


STORY BEHIND THE SONG


A lot of hit record began as part of albums before being released as singles.

And Emmylou Harris' 1983 number one (Lost Our Love) "On Our Last date" was one
of those tunes!

And the album was recorded under unusual conditions.

Emmylou's husband / record producer at the time Brian Ahern followed her and the
Hot Band during a California concert tour in a sound truck and recorded the
shows. The "Last Date" album tracks were culled from those live recordings.

Her Warner Bros single (Lost Our Love) "On Our Last Date" was written by Floyd
Cramer and Conway Twitty and came on the country music charts October 16th, 1982
and was in the top spot on January 22nd, 1983.

The single was produced by Brian Ahern and was her 27th charted song. It was
on the charts for 20 weeks.

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FOR SALE: One of the early Eddy Arnold RCA Victor vinyl albums "All-Time
Favorites" – released in 1956. LP cover is good condition with minor marking on
front and back. Vinyl is in very good condition – price: $30 and I'll pay
shipping – INSIDE THE USA. Email me at djdclassics@gmail.com.
Payment by PayPal only.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q: Do you know anything Vice Gill and Lyle Lovett doing some kind of project?
My daughter says it was mentioned on the radio.
A: After completing several concerts together earlier this year - the pair
decided to continue the project and have booked a 13-city tour this winter.

Q: I heard on the radio that Johnny Cash is receiving something to do with a
walk of fame. Do you have any information?
A: Johnny Cash will receive a spot on the Music City Walk Of Fame on October
6th.

Q: I thought Alabama had busted up but now my son says they have a new album.
Is that true?
A: Alabama has reunited to record a brand new "Southern Draw" CD.

Q: Have you heard of a Willie Nelson record " A Penny For Your Thoughts?" I
heard it a couple of times on the radio several years ago.
A: "A Penny For Your Thoughts" is a track in Willie's 1976 "The Sound In Your
Mind" album.

Q: I remember a song on the radio many years ago by a guy about "That's The
Kind Of Love I'm Looking For." Do you know who had that record?
A: The song was a number 9 hit for Carl Smith in 1953.

Q: My dad used to sing a sing a song about "Pecos Bill." He said it was on
the radio back in the 40's. Do you have any info on such a song?
A: (There'll Never Be Another) "Pecos Bill" was a top 15 hit for both Roy
Rogers and Tex Ritter - both in 1948,

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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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NUMBER ONES ON THIS DATE

1949
Slipping Around - Ernest Tubb
1957
My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You - Ray Price
1965
Is It Really Over? - Jim Reeves
1973
Blood Red and Goin' Down - Tanya Tucker
1981
Tight Fittin' Jeans - Conway Twitty
1989
Let Me Tell You About Love - The Judds

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THE SUNSET TRAIN.
By: Jack Blanchard

He headed for the cashier's counter,
hoping that the curtain rods he was carrying
were the ones she wanted,
when he saw it for the first time.

Funny!
He'd been in this store and up and down these aisles dozens of times,
but he had never noticed those wall pictures before.
He wasn't much of an art critic,
but he did know he'd never seen anything quite like that train picture.

The surface of the picture was textured
to look like a genuine oil painting,
and somehow that scene looked more real than life!
The silver steam from the old engine glowing in the sunset,
billowing against the yellow-blue-orange-pink sky.

The brightly colored, but weather worn railroad cars.
The red caboose so real you could almost step right into it.
Each piece of gravel along the track,
each clump of vegetation on the lonesome prairie
clearly defined and casting a long, late afternoon shadow.

The mountains were a bluish haze against the distant horizon.
It was a painting you could stare at for a long time,
finding details previously overlooked.

A bell rang. The store was closing.
On impulse he hurried to the Customer Service Desk
and put the picture on "layaway" with five dollars,
that should really have gone toward overdue bills.
He didn't know when he'd be able to manage
the eleven-ninety-five balance.
He paid for the curtain rods and went home,
feeling a little guilty.

She stood back and looked critically at the curtains she'd hung.
He told her that they sure made a big difference in the little apartment.
She laughed that, at least the curtains looked better
than the view of the trash cans in the alley.

He held her
and said he wished he could provide her with a decent home,
with enough furnishings to go around,
and she replied that they weren't doing too badly for newlyweds,
and that she believed in him.
He didn't mention the money
he'd foolishly spent on a picture of a train.

Pay day again, and another losing battle with arithmetic.
If only a tree or a patch of grass could be seen from their window,
it might raise their spirits by interrupting the stark drabness
surrounding their dingy, low rent apartment.

He felt especially sorry for her, being stuck there all day.
At least taking the bus to the factory everyday gave him a change of scene.
These were his thoughts as he paid the cashier
and waited for the large picture to be wrapped.

He centered it carefully on the wall
over the big easy chair with the broken spring,
and called her to come in from the kitchenette
and take a look at the "surprise".
Wiping her hands on her apron, she glanced around the room
until her eyes stopped at the unexpected explosion of color.
It was so beautiful she almost cried!
It was like having a window overlooking a lovely, peaceful valley
locked in eternal sunset.
They held hands and stared at the painting until dinner almost burned.

Years struggled by, and the broken spring chair was replaced
by a new living room suite, complete with payment book.
They moved several times in the course of their lives,
first to a couple of larger apartments,
then to a house in a suburban development and finally,
anticlimactically, back to another cheap apartment,
where they were to spend their autumn years.

The infirmities of old age often require a tightening of purse strings.
They weren't complaining though.
They'd been through rough times before.
Through the years they'd managed to hang on to two treasures:
the Sunset Train painting and a true love for each other.
Maybe they weren't so poor after all.

It hit him hard when she passed away.
Somehow, he's always imagined he'd be the first to go.
He wasn't prepared for the horrible emptiness.
Nobody ever is.

He took the habit of conversing with her, even though she was gone.
He'd stare at the painting and talk over old times.
Sometimes he'd sit for hours in front of the television,
but his eyes would wander back to the Sunset Train,
their most prized possession.
He'd imagine that they were together in that valley,
or riding on the train itself.

The neighbors, aware of his condition since her death,
occasionally dropped in to check on him.
Conversations always gravitated to the unusual picture.

Several days had passed
before anyone noticed the junk mail and newspapers
accumulated outside his front door.
Fearing the old man had died,
and after receiving no answer to their knocking and calling,
the neighbors set their shoulders to the door
and the old wood gave way.

Finding no one in the apartment, all clothes intact in the closets,
and the television left on,
the neighbors notified the police of the old man's disappearance.
They arrived shortly after.

While the premises were being inspected,
an officer casually commented to a neighbor,
"Unusual painting in there! So realistic, I mean."
"Yeah," replied the other,
"everybody remarks about that train picture. It's real pretty."
"No," said the policeman,
"I'm talking about that big picture of the valley and the sunset.
There's a railroad track runnin' through it, I guess, but no train.
I'm pretty sure there was no train in that picture."

And he was right. The train was gone.

Jack Blanchard
http://jackandmisty.net

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VIEW FROM THE FRONT PORCH
By: Stan Hitchcock
It's a cool, dark, wet morning in Tennessee...raining most of the night and
still coming down. Yesterday, it rained about as hard as I have seen in a long
time. The creeks and rivers are running full and strong, and even the grass has
decided that, after this good drink of water, it would start sprouting up again.

I love the Fall of the Year, when the Weather patterns change and the cool air
moves in, the trees start their Fall Coloration, the animals get more active in
their feeding and gathering food for Winter and a gentle nostalgia seems to fill
our minds with memories of olden times, old friends, old songs, old family
gatherings...and the sense that the curtain is closing on yet another year of
your life...
A long drink of hot strong coffee brings me back to the cool morning, as a young
deer starts across the yard down by the creek and Old Buck The Collie and
Calamity Jane rush in hot pursuit to protect Denise and I from any possible deer
attacks that might be eminent...the deer trots across the creek and is gone as
Old Buck and CJ come proudly back to the Porch with praise of a job well done.
Once again peace and contentment settle across the old farm house on the hill,
above the Chuckling Creek as it makes its way down to the Cumberland and on to
Forever.
Stan Hitchcock
www.hitchcockcountry.com -

http://www.hitchcockcountry.com



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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him
now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

—1 Peter 1:8-9


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