Monday June 25th , 2007 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  
Email to:  Classics@countrymusicclassics.com

 

Monday  June 25th , 2007

 

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT www.countrymusicclassics.com

 

                                                      STORY   BEHIND   THE   SONG

 

 

When asked about their favorite song, a lot of recording artists and song writers will tell you their favorite song is the last one they wrote or recorded, but according to Merle Haggard, one of his favorites is a tune that’s been around awhile.

 

Merle’s latest album, “Working Man’s Journey,” is available at Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores and on the restaurant’s website. Merle says that one of his favorite songs is in that album and is titled “Shade Tree Fit-It man,” because it reminds him of fishing trips he took with his favorite uncle many years ago. 

 

He commented, “When I was about nine years old, we would throw an old two-man boat in the back of my uncle’s truck and go fishing.  I really enjoyed that. And now everytime  I see an old 1931 Model A pickup, it takes me back to those good times.  For me, those were the good old days!”

 

“Working Man’s Journey” contains never-released versions of previously recorded songs.

 

“Shade Tree Fit-It Man” was originally a track in Merle’s 1966 “Swinging Doors And The Bottle Let Me Down” album.

 

That album and his 1965 “Strangers” album were re-issued as “Close-up” in 1969. The track was also included in his 1968 “The Best of Merle Haggard” album.

 

 

                                                                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^

 

 Read “The Story Behind  The Song” on   Willie & Waylon’s “Mama’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To be Cowboys,”     at   www.countrymusicclassics.com  

and click on Story behind The Song and Page Five

                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                              

 

                                                                                     ^^^^^^^^^

 

 

E R N E S T    T U B B   S P E C I A L

 

“ERNEST TUBB—THE LAST SESSIONS”

A Double CD package containing Forty nine tracks

of The Texas Troubadour’s last recording sessions-

Produced by Pete Drake in 1977 thru March 1981

 

P L U S

 

‘ERNEST TUBB-THE LEGEND AND THE LEGACY”

CD Produced in 1979 by Pete Drake

Twenty tracks featuring Ernest Tubb and friends.

Hear Ernest Tubb singing with Willie Nelson, Vern Gosdin,

Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Marty Robbins,

Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Conway Twitty ,

Cal Smith and more.

 

 

P L U S

 

“ERNEST TUBB: THE TEXAS TROUBADOUR”

457    page biography 

THE   REAL LIFE STORY OF ERNEST TUBB—

ALSO contains 57 photos—many never before published

 

ERNEST TUBB SPECIAL IS SHIPPED POSTPAID FOR  $65

You may pay by PayPal, Check, Money Order, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express

Email credit card information to Classics@countrymusicclassics.com  OR

Mail check, Money order, OR credit card information to:

COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS-Doug Davis

3702 Pleasant Grove Road-Texarkana, Texas 75503

 

 

                                                                               ^^^^^^^^^^

 

                                                          

 

                                            QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS

 

 

QUESTION:   Do you know anything about a Carter Family exhibit? The radio folks mentioned it.

ANSWER:       Bristol, Virginia  recording sessions done in 1927 by Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are being recognized in an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The 1927 sessions are considered to be the first country sessions every done. On display at the museum will be the first recording, a 78-rpm disc of “The Poor Orphan Child” by the Carter Family and Rodger’s typewriter that he used to type lyric sheets for the sessions.

QUESTION:    I heard that Kris Kristofferson is some kind of special artist at the hall of fame. Do you have any information?

ANSWER:        Kris Kristofferson has been named the Country Music Hall of Fame's artist-in-residence this year. He will perform at the Museum's Ford Theater on Aug. 14 and 15.

QUESTION:    Are the Judd’s getting back together? My daughter says she heard it on TV.

ANSWER:        The Judds will reunite for one concert on July 5th in Atlantic City, N.J., and free tickets are available exclusively to Harrah's Total Rewards members. Tickets are not being sold to the general public, but Wynonna has donated three pairs of tickets to benefit the Oasis Center, a Nashville agency offering assistance to young people in crisis. Bidding for the tickets is underway at CMT Auctions.

 QUESTION:    Do you now if al Smith ever recorded the Charlie Rich hit song “Behind Closed Doors?” My sister says she remember hearing Cal sing that song on the radio.

 

ANSWER:         “Behind Closed Doors” was a track in Cal’s 1974 “Country Bumpkin” album

 

QUESTION:      Do you have any information on a Jim Reeves record of a song about “There’s That Smile Again?” My dad says he remembers hearing Reeves sing a song by that title on the radio.

 

ANSWER:         “There’s That Smile Again” was the flipside of Reeves’ 1965 # one, “This Is It.”

 

QUESTION:      My brother in law plays classic country music in a band and songs a song about “You’re Still On My Mind.” He says it’s an old George Jones tune. Is that true?

ANSWER:         “You’re Still On My Mind” was a # 28 hit for Jones in 1962

.  

 

 

                                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

COUNTRY MUSIC’S TOP TUNES IN:

 

1944
Straighten Up and Fly Right - King Cole Trio

1952
The Wild Side of Life - Hank Thompson

1960
Please Help Me, I’m Falling - Hank Lockin

1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro

1976
El Paso City - Marty Robbins

1984
When We Make Love - Alabama

 

 

 

                                                                                    ^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

ELIMINATE   INSOMNIA   THE  NATURAL  WAY

 

Get a  seven day no-cost sample  of  Essential Living—the natural choice

 

100% all natural ingredients normalizes sleep patterns and eliminates insomnia.  It’s the all-natural  and healthy way to fall asleep fast!

 

Click here:  http://roia.biz/ts/r/794/a/103407/l/ch4d78   OR copy and paste this URL to your web browser

 

 

 

                                     

                                                                                   ^^^^^^^^^

 

 

 

 

TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY

  By: Bill Morrison

 

Bud Davis born 1921.

 

 Glenn Tubb born 1935.

 

 Billboard magazine retitled its Hillbilly Music Chart “Country & Western,” in 1949.

 

 Eddy Arnold’s single “Cattle Call” hit the charts 1955.

 

 Marty Robbins & Lee Emerson released “I’ll Know Your Gone/How Long Will It Be” 1956.

 

 Lew Dewitt retired from the Statler Brothers 1982.

 

 Jenifer Strait, age 13, daughter of George and Norma Strait, died in a car wreck 1986.

 

 Boudleaux Bryant 1920~1987, age 67, master songwriter, died in Knoxville, TN 1987.  Inducted NSHF 1972, Georgia Music Hall of Fame 1982, National Songwriters Hall of Fame 1986, Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame 1985, National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame 1986, Country Music Hall of Fame 1991.

 

 Warner Brothers released David Ball’s album “Starlite Lounge” 1996.

 

 The Ryman Auditorium was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.

 

by: Bill Morrison  www.rockabillyhall.com/billmorrison.html

 

 

 

 

                                                                                       ^^^^^^^^

 

 

LETTERS   FROM SUBSCRIBERS:

Hey Doug,

 I applaud Charlie Daniels and all of the other great performers who are doing the "Home for a Hero" benefit concert.  I believe the time is ripe for a "VETERAN AID" CONCERT similar to Willie Nelson's "FARM AID." 

 I met LT Bobby Ross at a Farm Aid Concert with Willie at the Nissan Pavillion in Virginia, in 1998 or 1999.  Bobby had 50 of us Veterans, one from each state, singing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" while Grant Boatright presented Willie with the "Golden Pitchfork."  Bobby had been an Army Officer and an LRRP, in Vietnam.  Bobby had a CD of Vietnam songs called, "Voice of America" at the time.

 Bobby told us at that time one out of every three homeless persons in the U. S. were VETERANS.  He tried to drum up support for a Veteran Aid concert in Nashville, but didn't succeed at the time.  MAYBE NOW IS THE TIME!!!

 DON HOLLAND

MCPO USN RET

ORLANDO, FL

 

 

 

                                                                                    ^^^^^^^^^

 

 

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

Classics@countrymusicclassics.com

                                                                                    

 

                                                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

JUST ANOTHER FUNNY HAT BAND IN MIAMI.

     By: Jack Blanchard

It took us a while to find out who we were supposed to be.
Maybe some musicians start out one way and never change,but we tried just about everything.

In Miami we played jazz, we played rock and roll, rhythm and blues,society ballroom music, and doubled on a variety of instruments,
just trying to find our niche...and to not starve.

Once I brought a trombone home and tried to play it.
Property was sold on our street,by neighbors fleeing from the racket.
It sounded like a buffalo, crazed by a discouraging word.I paid no attention in my fervor to be a tromboner.

Eventually I learned to play one song well, "Georgia on My Mind",and the audiences liked it and asked for an encore.
I was dumb enough to try a second song.I knew I didn't have the lip for it,
but I was caught up in the glory, and assaulted the second song.My lip gave out half way through,
but I continued trying to blow my liver out the horn.It sounded like an ambulance hitting a buffalo.
A guy at the first table said "Is that out boat leaving?"I tried the bongos, timbales,  and the vibes but didn't see our career improving.
I played "Swingin' Shepherd Blues" on the flute... Nothing. You could hear crickets.

Piano was my best instrument,but Misty played better than I did,so I was trying to play something else.
Misty would switch around too,from piano to organ to vibes, while I did a piano number.
Funny...we never thought of featuring vocal duets until much later.The worst move we made was to try to be a comedy group.
I found out later that we could be verbally funny on the mike,but, starting out we didn't know that.
We went to novelty shops and bought rubber chickens,Groucho glasses, and arrows that go through your head.
We didn't know we could ad lib, so we rehearsed corny routines with our sax player, Paul Mclaughlin.
Is my face red?Here's a picture ... http://tinyurl.com/25dlbo

In retrospect, what we were doing was imitating other bands who seemed to get better jobs.
One miraculous day we found out we were supposed to Jack and Misty,and not everybody else.
We wrote some songs, sang together in our own new style,
and took the act to Key West.We had a recording contract within three weeks,and went to Nashville for our first sessions.

We have never varied from our personal style since that time,even when the pressure was on to conform.
A lot of artists got richer than us staying in the mainstream,and we've been through some hard times,
but if we had it to do again,we wouldn't change much at all.Everybody has to start someplace.

 

Jack Blanchard
THE JACK BLANCHARD & MISTY MORGAN HOME PAGE:
http://jackandmisty.com

 

 

 

                                                                                         ^^^^^^^^^

 

 

 

 

If you’re reading someone else’s copy of this newsletter  OR it has been forwarded to you by a friend --- AND---  you’d like to receive your personal copy, get  your  complimentary  subscription  by emailing to Classics@countrymusicclassics.com  with  “SUBSCRIBE” in the subject box

 

                                                                                     

                                                                                  

 

                                                                                                  ^^^^^^^^

 

 

 

“Country Classics ~ Music From The Heart”

   By: Bill Morrison

 

Quote:  “I was just a kid, delivering telegrams for Western Union; and you could hear Jimmie Rodgers records being played in every house up and down the street, on those $5 Victrolas in the days before radio got so popular. I’d be pedaling along, and hear part of ‘I’m In The Jailhouse Now’ coming out of one house, then hear the rest of it coming out of the others.”  --Floyd Tillman

Who Am I?  I opened the first all women’s nightclub in Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1980’s.

 

Mel Tillis appeared in the Hollywood production of “Cotton-Pickin’ Chicken-Pickers” in 1967.

 

Singer Laura Lee McBride 1920~1989; joined Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys during World War II, and made the move from Oklahoma to the West Coast.

 

Song Of The Day:  “McArthur Park” recorded by Waylon Jennings, backed on vocals by The Kimberlys. RCA released the single in the summer of 1969, it charted in August and topped out at #23, remaining on the chart for 11 weeks. The song was written by Jimmy Webb. This was Waylon’s 17^th chart hit, and the song won a Grammy for Best Vocal Group. The Kimberlys vocal group consisted of Harold and Carl Kimberly (brothers) and their wives Verna and Vera Kimberly (sisters). This Grammy winning group is from Oklahoma.

 

Book Of The Day:  “West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns.”  --By Jane Tompkins. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

 

Prior To Becoming A Country Music Star:  Tom T. Hall worked in a garment factory, and as a disc jockey in Roanoke, Virginia.

 

Radio’s  Finest Hours:  “The Ernest Tubb Show”—KMAC, San Antonio, Texas (1933)

 

***Who Am I?  Wilma Burgess 1939~2003. Wilma stopped recording in the 1970’s after rumors about her private life began circulating through Music City.

 

Remembering A Country Music Legend:  Joe Allison 1924~2002

Born Marion Allison in McKinney, Texas, on October 3, 1924. Joe attended Murray Jr. College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Prior to finding success as a Hall of Fame songwriter, Joe worked as a disc jockey, radio announcer, and record producer. His first job was at KPLT in Paris, Texas in 1943. Tex Ritter hired Joe to emcee his tour of the U.S. and Canada in 1945, and the following year Tex had a #1 hit record with a song that Joe wrote called, “When You Leave Don’t Slam The Door.” Joe was an announcer on WSM’s Grand Ole Opry, “Noontime Neighbors,” and “Tin Pan Valley” in 1948. Joe Allison was placed in charge of Liberty Records new Country Music division in 1960. Nicknamed “Jamboree Joe” and “Uncle Joe,” Allison would be awarded the Jim Reeves Memorial Award in 1970. That same year he was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame. Allison was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978. Joe wrote “He’ll Have to Go,” “Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young”, Teen Age Crush,” “He’ll Have To Stay,” and many other songs for some of America’s finest artists. Joe died in Nashville on August 2, 2002 from lung disease. He was laid to rest in Woodlawn Memorial Park, Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Thought For Today:   We all have the ability to learn how to be happy. The Apostle Paul did it in prison, and we can learn to do it no matter where we are, or what circumstances surround us. Contentment is not a state of circumstances, it is a state of mind. To learn the secret of finding peace, happiness, and contentment, in a world full of hate, greed and strife, read the 4^th chapter of Philippians. It will require approximately two minutes of your time, and if you apply the lesson therein it can change your life…it changed mine, and I live in almost constant pain. My spine is held together with bone grafts, steel plates and screws (Degenerative Disc Disease), and I am blessed with osteoarthritis in every major joint. After six operations since 1995, the doctors tell me hip, and knee replacements are in my near future. I don’t dwell on those problems. I think of the pain, and death, a totally guiltless man suffered, in order to pay for the sins I have committed in my life.  I understand my suffering. It is a requirement in order that I might share in the gift that Jesus Christ gave me (and you) at Calvary. What a wonderful gift…what a wonderful savior. Yep…that keeps a smile on this old hillbilly’s face, and it can do the same for your old mug. 

BillMorrison2002@hotmail.com

 

 

                                                                                 

 

                                                                                                     ^^^^^^^^^

 

 

                                               

FOOD   FOR   THE   SOUL:

 

I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Psalm 119:104 NIV

 

               

                                                                                  ^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

DISCLAIMERS

Country Music Classics  newsletter and website does not make any warranties, express or implied, regarding the use of the links that

we provide in our advertising.  We do not guarantee the accuracy, completion, usefulness or legality of any  advertisements, resources,

information, products, services,  processes or programs.  *All ads are subject to change and all offers may end at anytime. You may advertise

at your own risk. We disclaim any responsibility and/or all liability arising out of, or  relating to, any item listed in this newsletter or on

our website. *We adhere to the policies, guidelines and laws of the Federal  Trade Commission and we comply with the Children's Privacy

Act.  We do not share, rent or sell your private information; therefore we cannot be held liable for third party complaints.  *Unsubscribe directions included in each newsletter.  We respect your privacy, and pledge not to abuse this privilege.

 

 

                                                                    ^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

If you wish to  UNSUBSCRIBE from this newsletter, send a blank email to  countrymusicclassics-off@milepost1.com

 

 

                                                                   ^^^^^^^^