Thursday February 2nd, 2017 COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS

COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS

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

Thursday February 2nd, 2017

Email: djdclassics@gmail.com


STORY BEHIND THE SONG

Most songwriters say they have written songs they did not consider to be hits
and according to Bobby Braddock - George Jones' 1977 hit "He Stopped Loving Her
Today" was one of those tunes !

Bobby commented, " I remember thinking when we finished the song that it was
nothing special !"

And at the time several others agreed with Braddock's opinion of the song as
more than a dozen top recording acts of the day turned it down - many of which
criticized the song for it's structure and the lacking of a catchy chorus.

Even George Jones thought the song was much to depressing to be a hit and had to
be convinced by record producer Billy Sherrill to record the song!

According to Bobby Braddock - he and co-writer Curly Putman - originally wrote
the song using various cliches that people say at funerals - all from a comedy
slant. But as they proceeded to work on it - the song became more of a story of
love and sadness.

George Jones Epic Records single "He Stopped Loving Her Today" came on the
country music charts April 12th, 1980 and made it to number one.

It was his 91st charted song and was on the charts for 18 weeks. It was also the
CMA Single Of The Year and Song Of The Year and is in The Grammy Hall Of Fame.

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MORE STORAGE ROOM FINDS:

270 Page hardback "ELVIS, HANK, AND ME" by Horace Logan –all about the Louisiana
Hayride days of country music as told by the man who was in the middle of it all
– sixteen pages of rare photos – one on one look from Hank Williams' ups & downs
to a teenage Elvis Presley plus inside stories of dozens of other country
performers plus: 600 page hardback "MARTY ROBBINS: FAST CARS AND COUNTRY
MUSIC" – The full Marty Robbins story – from his band members – the people who
knew him best – and from the man himself – who describes his life and career in
detail – lots of unpublished photos PLUS: 287 page hardback "'CASH BOX COUNTRY
ALBUM CHARTS – 1964 – 1988 – features a storehouse of data contained in Cash Box
Magazine's country album charts over a twenty-five year period.

ALL THREE BOOKS FOR THIRTY DOLLARS – AND FREE SHIPPING. CHECK – MONEY ORDER – OR
PAYPAL – reply to djdclassics@gmail.com

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q: I heard on the radio that Ricky Skaggs is going on tour with somebody else.
Do you have any info?
A: Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby will hit the road with Skaggs' band Kentucky
Thunder for a six-city tour beginning February 26th in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Q: Do you know anything about Willie Nelson canceling some concerts because of
illness?
A: Willie Nelson canceled two Las Vegas concerts January 28th -29th because of
"recent illness."

Q: You may have covered this before but if you did I missed it. Is Reba
McEntire doing a new TV series?
A: Reba will have a new TV series presently being developed by ABC - TV -
which Reba describes as a "Southern Gothic soap opera."

Q: My dad says that Hank Williams Jr. recorded the Waylon Jennings hit "Only
Daddy That'll Walk The Line." Is that true?
A: Hank Jr's version of that song is in his 1979 "Family Tradition" album.

Q: Can you tell me why Chet Atkins is not in the hall of fame?
A: Chet Atkins was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1973

Q: One of our ex-neighbors was always talking about an uncle of his writing a
big hit record back in the 50's titled "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby." He
said the uncles's name was "Autry" something. Could that have been Gene Autry?
A: "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" was a number two hit for The Louvin
Brothers in 1956 and was written by Autry Inman.

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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

1945
I'm Losing My Mind Over You - Al Dexter

1953
I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive - Hank Williams

1961
North to Alaska - Johnny Horton

1969
Daddy Sang Bass - Johnny Cash

1977
Let My Love Be Your Pillow - Ronnie Milsap

1985
A Place to Fall Apart - Merle Haggard with Janie Fricke

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TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY
Courtesy: Bill Morrison.

1891 - Frank "Cicero" Weaver 1891-1967, of "The Weaver Bros. & Elviry" born in
Ozark, Missouri.

1900 - Emmett Miller, early recording artist, born in Macon, Georgia. Emmett was
the first singer to record "Lovesick Blues," "Anytime," and "Right or Wrong."

1935 - Glenn Barber country, rockabilly, vocals, and guitarist born in Hollis,
Oklahoma.

1938 - Rusty Kershaw, of "Rusty & Doug" born in Tiel Ridge, Louisiana.

1946 - Howard Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers born in Darby, Florida.

1959 - David Parmley of the "Bluegrass Cardinals," born in Alameda, California.

1961 - Johnny Horton's Columbia Records single "North to Alaska," topped the
charts. This song came from the movie soundtrack by the same name. The movie
starred the Duke, a.k.a. (John Wayne) for you young whipper-snappers.

1968 - Jenks "Tex' Carman 1903-1968, singer, and guitarist died at the age of
64.

1970 - Susan Raye and Buck Owens Capitol single "We're Gonna Get Together" was
released today.

1971 - Loretta Lynn, and Bill Anderson were featured guests on "Hee Haw" 1971.

1974 - Dolly Parton's RCA Victor single "Jolene" topped the charts. The
self-penned tune became Dolly's 2nd chart topper. Dolly's next four releases
also claimed the chart's top spot. They include I Will Always Love You; Please
Don't Stop Loving Me (w/Porter Wagoner); Love Is Like A Butterfly; and The
Bargain Store. All were written by Dolly.

1974 - Tom T. Hall, Sunday Sharpe, Charlie McCoy Johnny Bench, and Ralph Emery
were featured guests on "Hee Haw."

1977 - The ACM announced the nominees for this years Awards show in California.
Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, and Mickey Gilley all received multiple
nominations.

1978 - Rita Coolidge's A&M single "We're All Alone" was certified Gold by the
RIAA. Rita was married to Kris Kristofferson from 1973-1980.

1980 - Alabama's hit MDJ single "My Home's In Alabama" charted. This would be
the last record released by Alabama on any label other than RCA.

1981 - George Strait recorded his first hit record in Nashville. "Unwound" was
released by MCA later this year made it to the Top Ten on the charts. The song
was written by Dean Dillon. Dean Dillon was inducted into the NSHF in 2002.

1985 - Merle Haggard and Janie Fricke's Epic single "A Place To Fall Apart,"
topped the charts.

1987 - The Judd's RCA album "Heartland" was certified platinum by the RIAA.

1988 - Tanya Tucker checked in to the Betty Ford Center today, after years of
drug and alcohol abuse.

1993 - Willie Nelson and the IRS settled a long-standing dispute in regard to
Willie's unpaid taxes. The IRS keeps 3.6 million in property that was seized
earlier, and Willie will pay 5.4 million of the unpaid balance of 13.1 million
that is owed.

1999 - Sony released Johnny Cash's album "16 Biggest Hits."

2001 - Hal Blair 1915-2001, age 85, died in Biggs, California. Blair wrote,
"Please Help Me I'm Falling," and "One Has My Name, The Other Has My Heart,"
among others. Hal was inducted into the NSHF in 2003.

2003 - Gary Allan's #1 single "Man To Man" debuted on Billboard's Top 40 Chart
2003.

2005 - Jimmie Crawford 1935-2005, member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, died
at 69.

Courtesy: <http://www.talentondisplay.com/countrycalendar.html>

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FRAMES.
By: Jack Blanchard

A famous photographer was set up on a scenic overlook
to shoot the beautiful sunset.
A stranger walked up beside him
and gazed silently at the gorgeous sky.
After a couple of minutes the stranger said this:
"It's almost like a painting."
The photographer said: "Yes. Nature's catching up."

Life is a picture without a frame.
There's too much to see to really appreciate it.
We see life best when it comes in little sections
cleverly framed so we know what to focus on.
It's easier for us to see the tree than the forest.

In olden days it was the fashion
for hikers on nature walks to carry wooden picture frames.
When they came upon a beautiful vista,
they would look at it through the frames,
blocking out the not so pretty things,
and adjusting the frame to see only the best parts,
in artistic balance...like a painting.

Frames are interesting.
On television they make a picture shorter from top to bottom
and we think we're seeing a panorama.
Hair styles are designed to frame the face.
When we "frame" somebody for a crime,
we focus suspicion upon them.

Stories and songs frame parts of life for us to understand...
showing us life with order and meaning,
and not showing us the ugly or boring parts.
People in story and song seldom sleep or go to the bathroom,
because they are not important to the plot.
Every line is written to add to the continuity,
and take the action to a satisfying ending.

Real life doesn't have many good endings.
It usually peaks somewhere around the middle,
and then just wanders off,
but the authors are smart enough to stop at a high point.
Stories give us life we can understand...in a frame.
Bite size.

I don't mean to say life can't be fun, inspiring, tragic, hilarious,
noble, evil, and interesting in every way.
It is, and I love it.
But it's often more interesting when we look back on it.
Our memory is selective.
It forgets the boring parts.

Artists, composers, and writers help us to find meaning,
or the illusion of meaning,
in a world that appears pretty random to the naked eye.
I do this kind of thing for a living. It's my life's work,
and I'm glad I didn't listen to the well-meaning people
who advised me to give up this nonsense and get a real job.

Music, literature, poetry, and art help us to to get a frame
around this life we find ourselves in.

Jack Blanchard
http://www.jackandmisty.net

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Late Night At The Old Farm House-Stan Hitchcock

Ya'know, old age is faster than the speed of sound…all those sounds I made for
so many years with a guitar and a mournful hillbilly voice…well, old age come
whooshin' up behind me, knocked me on my butt and left me lying there, an old
man. I'll admit I did not hear it coming…you just keep puttin' it off and
thinking "old age ain't gonna stop me"….uh-huh, that's right…I'm
unstoppable…tougher than whet leather…shoot, it ain't gonna whup me. So, after
thinking it over…I decided to embrace it…yessirreebob, I sure enough embraced
Youth…why not embrace ANCIENT? Why just look at the benefits…I've got my
Lifetime Senior Fishing License and I can fish as often as I want to and can't
nobody stop me…you become Invisible in Public…nobody want to look twice at an
old codger…I been expectin' some Boy Scout to offer to help me cross the street
at any time…all of a sudden folks add "Sir" when talking to you…I'm the oldest
one in our Sunday School Class and Ray, the Teacher brings up a lot of Sins that
only seem to happen to Younger Men and I sit there feeling pretty dang relieved
to be mostly past that stage of life. Your friends that are about the same age,
finally got past that place in life where the conversation went like this: "Aw
man, did you see the legs on that beauty…" now it goes like this: "Hey buddy,
how's the back?" or…"Uh, have you ever had a kidney stone…man, I think I got
one"…or, they leave you standing there in the middle of a sentence while they
head for a bathroom. But, it's alright cause you share a lifetime of friendship,
and it's enough just to hear their voice on the phone, or meet them at Krogers
in the pharmacy aisle picking up some stomach medicine or a new bottle of Aleve.
So, you can see there are lots of benefits to embracing where you are in life.
Once you get past the Pride thing, trying to hold on to youth…by golly it ain't
half bad just enjoying where you are in the journey. Wild Adventure used to be
the norm for me…now it is enough to sit here and have my coffee, listen to the
birds and remember all the good times I have been blessed with. Peace outweighs
glory every time…the Front Porch is just fine. stan

www.hitchcockcountry.com -

http://www.hitchcockcountry.com



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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and
share your master's happiness!'



– Matthew 25:23 (NIV)

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