Country Heritage: George Hamilton IV

I’ve been travelin’ down the highways with my guitar for so long
Shakin’ hands and meetin’ lots of folks
Living my life my way with a handshake and a song
Caring little if I was rich or broke
Cause there’s country music in my soul
People music for the young and the old
I’ll keep on singing my song keep on keeping on
Cause there’s country music in my soul

From “County Music In My Soul” written by Bobby Bond

Many musicians who have met Freddie Hart have commented to me that he is the one of the nicest people that they have ever encountered. I‘ve never had the pleasure of meeting Freddie Hart, but if he is nicer person than George Hamilton IV, he must qualify for sainthood. I’ve met George IV on a number of occasions over the last 39 years, and a finer gentleman can’t be found.

George Hamilton IV has always had country music in his soul, although his recording career, like that of a number of country stars, started off in pop. Unlike other country boys such as Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Narvel Felts and Billy Craddock, who started off as rockabilly stars, George’s early endeavors were straightforward pop rather than rockabilly or rock and roll.

Hamilton was born on July 19, 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was raised on the country music loved by his grandfather, George Hamilton II, and he learned to play the guitar at the age of 12. While in high school he formed a country band, and while still a freshman at the University of North Carolina, he met John D. Loudermilk, first cousin of Ira and Charlie Louvin (formerly Loudermilk), at the time a struggling songwriter. Landing a contract with the Colonial label, Hamilton recorded “A Rose and a Baby Ruth,” Loudermilk’s first attempt at teen pop. The single did very well regionally during 1956 and was picked up by ABC-Paramount later that same year. Since the song hit #6 on the pop charts and sold over a million copies in the process, ABC-Paramount signed Hamilton to a regular contract. During this time he transferred to American University in Washington DC to continue his studies.

Since Hamilton was never really comfortable recording pop music, subsequent efforts failed to achieve the heights of “A Rose and a Baby Ruth,” although the next four singles made the pop top 40, with “Why Don’t They Understand” reaching #10 in early 1958. After an appearance on The Jimmy Dean Show 1957-58, Hamilton was given his own short-lived show by ABC-TV in 1959.

Even while signed to ABC-Paramount, Hamilton was recording country songs such as “Why I’m Walking,” “Even Tho’” and at least seven songs associated with Hank Williams. His first entry on the country charts (“Before This Day Ends”) rose to #4 in late 1960.

In 1961 George switched labels, moving to RCA Victor, where Chet Atkins promised that he could record as a country artist. After top ten entries in 1961 (“Three Steps to the Phone,” “Millions of Miles”) and 1962 (“If You Don’t Know I Ain’t Gonna Tell You”), Hamilton finally hit the top of the country charts in 1963 with “Abilene,” a song penned by his old friend John D. Loudermilk. The single topped the country charts for four weeks in June and crossed over to #15 on the pop charts. During 1964, Hamilton charted three singles and returned to the top ten with “Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston.”

Deeply influenced by the folk music artists of the “Hootenanny Era,” George became a major conduit for introducing such future folk deities as Gordon Lightfoot, Ian Tyson, and Joni Mitchell to American audiences. Indeed, Hamilton probably recorded more Gordon Lightfoot songs during the mid 1960s to early 1970s than any other artist including such classics as “Steel Rail Blues” and “Early Morning Rain,” both hits in 1966. George’s version of “Urge for Going” (written by Joni Mitchell) hit #7 in 1967; “Break My Mind,” another John D. Loudermilk song, hit #6 later in the year. During this period Hamilton recorded songs by the likes of Leonard Cohen, James Taylor, Buffy St. Marie and countless other singer-songwriters. Not ignoring his country favorites, in 1965 he recorded an album in tribute to Ernest Tubb, enjoying a hit with “Walking The Floor Over You.”

George continued to record for RCA until 1974, but major chart success largely eluded him except for the #3 hit “She’s a Little Bit Country” in 1970. This is not to say that he quit making great records, as some of my personal favorite Hamilton tracks such as “Ten Degrees (and Getting Colder)”, “West Texas Highway” and “Country Music In My Soul” came after 1970.

While his stature as a singles star waned, George took on a greater prominence as the “International Ambassador of Country Music” thanks to his several world tours, 10 visits to Great Britain, numerous visits to Europe, and his BBC television programs (seven seasons). He became the first country artist to perform behind the Iron Curtain, and also toured Africa, Asia, New Zealand, Australia, and even the Middle East.

In recent years Hamilton has focused on gospel music, although he still plays dates in which he performs secular music. I saw George five years ago at the Florida Sunshine Opry in Eustis, Florida; he still put an an excellent show, and hung around as long as anyone wished to speak with him. Two years later I saw him at the Rolling Hills Moravian Church in Longwood, Florida where he performed an excellent show that was about 2/3 religious material – just GH4 and his guitar. Hamilton once mentioned to me that he’d like to live long enough to meet George Hamilton VII. It seems that GH1 (his great grandfather) was alive long enough for George to remember him, and son George Hege Hamilton V has a son George Hege Hamilton VI who should soon be of age to start a family.

Imagine that – getting to know seven generations of George Hege Hamiltons. I hope he makes it.

When the dead roam the country charts: posthumous hits and manufactured “duets”

When Brad Paisley’s Wheelhouse was released last week, everybody was talking about “Accidental Racist”, the controversial duet with LL Cool J. Late night shows like Saturday Night Live and The Colbert Report were merciless in taking apart the song’s misguided message. And the discussion isn’t likely to be over anytime soon.

Another track on the album stood out to me too. “Outstanding In Our Field“ features guest vocals from Dierks Bentley and the late Roger Miller, and Hunter Hayes on guitar. Miller’s contribution is used mostly to beef up the rhythm section of Paisley’s latest loud party anthem list song.  Paisley’s track rips off the entire ten-second opening of Miller’s “Dang Me” – the part where Roger sings  ”boo doo boo ba ba bum bom” – but any similarities between the two songs ends with that sampling. If Paisley’s song charts, it could be Miller’s first showing on the Country Songs list since 1986.

Country music has a long history of singers hitting the charts after their deaths, with solo hits and with “duets” pieced together using studio master tapes. Hank Williams had 4 #1 hits and a handful of top 10′s after his death on New Year’s Day 1953. (Even though it was on the charts in 1952, because “I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive” hit the top shortly after the singer’s death it is counted in Billboard as a posthumous hit.) In 1989, Hank Williams Jr. took a demo recording of his father singing “There’s a Tear In My Bear”, beefed up the production and added his own vocals to create a top 10 hit single, which would go on to win both Williamses a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration. The music video for that song featured old television footage of Hank Sr. performing merged with Hank Jr. and made for a cool illusion of the two singing together. It took home Video of the Year awards from the CMA and the ACM’s that year.

In May 1989, country music lost another great talent when Keith Whitley died. He too would hit the top spot after his death, with “I Wonder Do You Think of Me” and “It Ain’t Nothin’”. Whitley charted two more top 20 releases as a solo artist after his death, and two more in duets with wife Lorrie Morgan – “Til a Tear Becomes a Rose” – and with Earl Thomas Conley, on “Brotherly Love”. Unlike the duet with his widow, Whitley and Conley had recorded their song two years before, so it’s not an example of an electronic duet.

Gentleman Jim Reeves is country music’s biggest posthumous hit-maker. His string of hits after death is as impressive as what he charted during his lifetime. Reeves racked up 6 #1 country hits after he died in 1964, as well 13 top 10s, and over two dozen total country top 40 chart outings stretching to 1984 – two full decades later. He also consistently hit the top 10 on the charts in Norway and the U.K., Reeves even topped the U.K. singles chart with “Distant Drums” in 1966. Partly because of his continued popularity on the radio and in the record stores, Jim Reeves was also one of the first artists to have his vocals isolated and then remixed with another singer’s to form a duet. In 1979, Deborah Allen kickstarted her short solo career when she contributed to RCA’s unfinished master tapes of Reeves – which resulted in  3 consecutive top 10 hit duets. The Gentleman was then paired with his contemporary Patsy Cline – the two had recorded a number of the same songs – for a pair of albums on MCA and RCA, and they hit the top 5 with “Have You Ever Been Lonely” in 1982.

Those are just some highlights in country music’s history of posthumous duet creations. There are lots more, and some weren’t as well-received. Anita Cochran controversially added Conway Twitty to her “I Wanna Hear a Cheatin’ Song“ in 2004. Several other artists and even the late singer’s family spoke out when Twitty’s vocals were spliced from former performances and interviews and added to the song, in what has correctly been called a case of “musical necrophilia“.

Is Paisley guilty of the same musical necrophilia? I say he is. Unlike all the hit duet creations I mentioned above, Conway Twitty and Roger Miller didn’t record a version of either “I Wanna Hear a Cheatin’ Song” or “Outstanding In Our Field”. These are songs that were written years after their deaths. And while Brad Paisley’s sampling of Roger Miller’s distinct and well-known song opening  works better as an homage than Anita Cochran’s creepy robotic-sounding creation, it still seems like a cutesy way of paying tribute to Miller. How about covering “England Swings” or “Old Toy Trains”? Or better yet, why not write an original song that sounds like it was inspired by Roger Miller?

Roger Miller is not here today to say whether or not he’d like to add his trademark scatting to a song all about a party in a field, with a tractor tire as a cooler for the beer and a bonfire to light up the night. A song with all the subtlety and charm of a drill sergeant at six a.m.  Roger Miller – a man renowned for his quick wit and quips like “Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” – would likely object to it. But that’s not really my call to make. None of us – music blogger or platinum-selling country star – should be making that call for Roger Miller.  Dang you, Brad Paisley. Dang you.

Classic Rewind – Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty – ‘As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone’

Classic Rewind: Vince Gill and Patty Loveless cover the classic ‘Making Believe’

Album Review: Collin Raye – ‘Tracks’

Collin Raye was one of country music’s hottest male singers during the 1990s but by the end of the decade his career had begun to lose momentum. Though 1998′s The Walls Came Down managed to produce three Top 10 singles, it sold only about half the number of copies of his previous albums, and was his first album not to earn platinum certification. In an effort to remain commercially viable, he changed musical directions and released Tracks, an album that is as uninspired as its title. Dann Huff was his new co-producer — which is never a good sign — and the album that resulted found Collin moving even further away from his country roots and further into R&B and mainstream pop.

The opening track, “She’s All That” is a retread of 1994′s “My Kind of Girl” and could just as easily been titled “Been There, Done That”. Radio programmers were unimpressed; when the track was released as the album’s third single, it topped out at #43. The second track “I Want To Be There” is a tedious R&B flavored number and the third track “Completely”, while slightly more country-sounding, is equally tiresome.

“Couldn’t Last A Moment” isn’t one of my favorite Collin Raye songs, but it’s one of the better songs in this collection. The spoken intro reminds me of one of Conway Twitty’s early 80s efforts. Released as a single in advance of the album, “Couldn’t Last A Moment” brought Raye into the Top 10 one final time, landing at #3. The uptempo and more country-sounding “A Long Way To Go” is a breath of fresh air and is by far the album’s best track.

Two of the album’s tracks — “Harder Cards” and “Water and Bridges” were co-produced by Paul Worley, and both were later covered by Kenny Rogers. “Harder Cards” is told from the point of view of a policeman who is dealing with the dregs of humanity, while “Water and Bridges” is the story of an unplanned pregnancy that ends with an abortion and the regret that lingers long afterward.

Aside from “The Gift”, which was a previously unreleased track on Collin’s 1997 hits compilation, none of his previous albums contained any duets. “Loving This Way”, a duet with soap star Bobbie Eakes, is a mainstream pop ballad. It’s a bit overproduced and not very country, but it’s not a bad song. It was more suited to adult contemporary radio, though it did not make the AC charts at all. It stalled at #50 on the country charts.

The album’s closing number “She’s Gonna Fly” is about an Alzheimer’s patient whose caregiver questions the Almighty’s motives. It’s meant to be inspirational but the it’s too saccharine for my taste.

Tracks did little to change Collin Raye’s declining commercial fortunes. It failed to earn gold status and marked the beginning of the end of his dominance on the singles charts. It is one of his poorer efforts and arguably his worst album. It is not essential listening but used copies are available very cheaply, so those who want to hear it can do so affordably.

Grade: C

Week ending 3/16/13: #1 singles this week in country music history

1953 (Sales): Kaw-Liga – Hank Williams (MGM)

1953 (Jukebox): Kaw-Liga – Hank Williams (MGM)

1953 (Disc Jockeys): Kaw-Liga – Hank Williams (MGM)

1963: Don’t Let Me Cross Me Over — Carl Butler & Pearl (Columbia)

1973: ‘Til I Get It Right — Tammy Wynette (Epic)

1983: The Rose – Conway Twitty (Elektra)

1993: What Part of No — Lorrie Morgan (BNA)

2003: Man to Man – Gary Allan (MCA)

2013: Sure Be Cool If You Did — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.)

2013 (Airplay): One Of Those Nights — Tim McGraw (Big Machine)

Album Review: Collin Raye – ‘All I Can Be’

Collin Raye made his solo debut in 1991 on Epic Records. His first album for the label was produced by Jerry Fuller and John Hobbs, and their sympathetic work grounded Collin’s silvery tenor in neotraditional country backings slathered in fiddle as sweet as his voice. Collin keeps the vocals understated and subtle. The team also found some excellent songs well suited to Collin’s voice, and the result was delightful.

The enchanting title track, ‘All I Can Be (Is A Sweet Memory)’ is a sweetly sung older Harlan Howard tune (once recorded by Conway Twitty) whose married protagonist parts from his younger lover for her own good. As Colin’s debut single, it was a modest start for him, just creeping into the top 30, but it is an extremely good song, with Vince Gill providing a close harmony vocal.

However, the followup ‘Love, Me’ was a career song for the newcomer, rocketing to the top of the charts and helping the album to platinum status. It is still probably Collin’s best remembered song. Written by Skip Ewing and Max T Barnes, it is a sweet story of the lifelong (and beyond) love of the protagonist’s grandparents. It escapes schmaltz thanks to Collin’s beautiful and palpably sincere vocal and the tastefully understated arrangement.

The third and last single, Every Second’ is a sunny mid-tempo love song with a traditional feel, and peaked at #2.

My personal favorite track is the plaintive lost-love ballad ‘It Could’ve Been So Good’, which Chris Waters wrote with Lonnie Wilson. Collin reflects on the opportunity he and his ex lost of potential lifelong happiness.

Almost as good, the wistful ballad ‘Faithful Old Flame’, penned by Lonnie Wilson and Brent Mason, has a lovely melody and allows Raye’s voice to soar as he dwells on an old love whose memory can’t be shaken off.

The charming ‘Scuse Moi My Heart’ scatters in some random French phrases as country boy Collin tries to woo a sophisticated country club lady in New Orleans. It’s one of the most engaging songs of its kind.

‘Sadly Ever After’ written by Mark Collie and Bruce Burch, uses the fairy tale metaphor for a failed relationship; there is a surprisingly upbeat feel thanks to the pacy tempo and full-blooded vocal. There is a rare co-writing credit for Collin with ‘Blue Magic’, written with his producers. This is an attractive if unexceptional mid-tempo love song with some lovely Rob Hajacos fiddle.

Collin’s strength is as a balad singer, but he takes it uptempo with ‘Any Old Stretch Of Blacktop’, expressing the joy of coming home to a loved one. The album also closes with the bright up-tempo warning to a neglectful husband, ‘If I Were You (And She Was Mine)’.

Everything about this album is a delight. Copies can be found cheaply, and this is an essential purchase for fans of 90s country.

Grade: A

Spotlight Artist: Collin Raye

Our March spotlight artist is well known to anyone who was listening to country radio during the 1990s. Between 1991 and 1998 Collin Raye released five albums — four platinum and one gold — and scored 21 Top 10 hits, four of which reached #1. He was born Floyd Elliott Wray in De Queen, Arkansas on August 22, 1960. In the early 1980s he formed a duo with his brother Scott. Known as The Wray Brothers, they released a pair of singles on an independent label, which led to a brief stint with Mercury Records. When their singles failed to gain any traction with country radio, The Wrays were cut loose by Mercury and disbanded shortly thereafter. Floyd, also known as Bubba Wray, began a solo career shortly thereafer. Rechristened Collin Raye, he signed with Epic Records in 1990 and entered the charts with a cover version of an old Conway Twitty album cut called “All I Can Be (Is A Sweet Memory)”, which reached #29.

Following the success of “All I Can Be”, Raye released a ballad written by Skip Ewing and Max T. Barnes which would become his signature hit and the first of his four chart-toppers. “Love, Me” told the story of a young boy who visits a church and learns about his grandparents’ courtship on the day of his grandmother’s death. Most of Raye’s subsequent work was less rooted in traditional country; he became known primarily for his ballads, which often addressed social issues such as alcoholism, interracial relationships and child abuse.

Raye remained a staple at country radio throughout the decade, scoring his final Top 10 hit with 2000′s “Couldn’t Last A Moment”. His stint with Epic ended in 2001, and he took a four-year break from the recording studio before releasing Twenty Years And Change on an independent label. His most recent efforts include Never Going Back, a 2009 release for Saguaro Road Records, and the inspirational album His Love Remains, which was released in 2011.

Unlike many of his 90s contemporaries, Collin Raye was never a traditional artist, but his style of country-pop ballads are remembered fondly and among the things that many listeners of today’s country radio miss. We hope you’ll enjoy our look back at the career of this five-time Male Vocalist of the Year nominee.

Classic Rewind – Travis Tritt covers Conway Twitty’s ‘That’s My Job’

Week ending 2/16/13: #1 singles this week in country music history

1953 (Sales): Eddy’s Song — Eddy Arnold (RCA)

1953 (Jukebox): I Let The Stars Get In My Eyes — Goldie Hill (Decca)

1953 (Disc Jockeys): No Help Wanted — The Carlisles (Mercury)

1963: Don’t Let Me Cross Me Over — Carl Butler & Pearl (Columbia)

1973: She Needs Someone To Hold Her (When She Cries) — Conway Twitty (Decca)

1983: ‘Til I Gain Control Again — Crystal Gayle (Elektra)

1993: Can I Trust You With My Heart — Travis Tritt (Warner Bros.)

2003: 19 Somethin’ – Mark Wills (Mercury)

2013: Better Dig Two — The Band Perry (Republic Nashville)

2013 (Airplay): The Only Way I Know — Jason Aldean with Luke Bryan and Eric Church (Broken Bow)

Week ending 2/9/13: #1 singles this week in country music history

1953 (Sales): Eddy’s Song — Eddy Arnold (RCA)

1953 (Jukebox): I Let The Stars Get In My Eyes — Goldie Hill (Decca)

1953 (Disc Jockeys): I’ll Go On Alone — Marty Robbins (Columbia)

1963: The Ballad of Jed Clampett – Flatt & Scruggs (Columbia)

1973: She Needs Someone To Hold Her (When She Cries) — Conway Twitty (Decca)

1983: Inside – Ronnie Milsap (RCA)

1993: Too Busy Being In Love — Doug Stone (Epic)

2003: 19 Somethin’ – Mark Wills (Mercury)

2013: Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain) — Gary Allan (MCA)

2013 (Airplay): Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain) — Gary Allan (MCA)

Classic Rewind – Travis Tritt and Patty Loveless – ‘Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man’

Album Review: Amber Digby – ‘The World You’re Living In’

Independent artist Amber Digby is back with a new collection of tunes, which  like most of her earlier work, consists mainly of covers of classic country tunes.  This time around, however, she’s included some more contemporary fare along with some remakes of old classics and some lesser-known older songs.

The album opens with a reverent rendition of Norma Jean’s “It’s a Long Way From Heaven (To The World You’re Living In)” , which is pedal steel-drenched track in the vein that we’ve come to expect from Amber.  I’m not familiar with the Norma Jean version, but I like Amber’s take on the song very much.   Additionally, there are the expected covers of songs made famous by Connie Smith, Tammy Wynette, and Loretta Lynn.   She pays homage to Smith with the Dallas Frazier-penned “If It Ain’t Love (Let’s Leave It Alone)”  Nobody can sing it like Connie Smith, but the song is well worth resurrecting and introducing to a new audience.    “We Loved It Away”, which Amber sings with Randy Lindley, is one of my all-time favorite George Jones and Tammy Wynette numbers.  “The One I Can’t Live Without” was previously recorded by  Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn.  Vince Gill is Amber’s duet partner on this one.

Aside from the usual Smith, Wynette and Lynn tunes, Amber steps outside the box a little and covers some less traditional artists such as Lynn Anderson (“How Can I Unlove You”) and Outlaws such as Johnny Paycheck (“It Won’t Be Long and I’ll Be Hating You”).

As far as more contemporary numbers are concerned, Amber does a very nice cover of Vince Gill’s “One More Thing I Wish I’d Said”, from Gill’s recent Guitar Slinger.  My digital copy of the album from CD Baby came without liner notes, but “You Leave Again” and “She’d Already Won Your Heart” sound like newer songs, and “Saturday Night” with its references to cell phones and emails was definitely written recently, though it sounds like a vintage tune.

None of these tunes will ever be heard on mainstream country radio but all are worthwhile efforts that will be appreciated by anyone who enjoys traditional country music.  Legendary musicians such as Lloyd Green, Dicky Overbey and Jim Loessberg on steel guitar, Pete Wade on electric guitar, and Harold “Pig” Robbins help make these songs sound true to their era, as opposed to contemporary reinterpretations.  There is nothing to not to like here.  If you miss the way country music used to be, you need this album in your collection. It can be purchased from Amber’s website, Amazon, or CD Baby.

Grade: A

Album Review: Blake Shelton – ‘Red River Blue’

2011′s Red River Blue marked Blake Shelton’s return to the full-length album format, following a pair of “Six Pak” EPs that were released the year before. Like Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight, Red River Blue was produced by Scott Hendricks. It is more pop-leaning than his earlier work under Bobby Braddock’s guidance, but it has also been far more successful commercially. Shelton’s record sales have likely enjoyed a boost due to the exposure he has enjoyed as a judge on NBC’s The Voice.

The album’s first single was “Honey Bee”, which was written by Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip. It’s lyrically fluffy and not terribly country, despite name-checking Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, but nevertheless it’s a catchy, fun tune. It quickly shot to #1 and sold more than two million digital downloads. The second single is a cover version of “God Gave Me You”, which was written and originally recorded by contemporary Christian singer Dave Barnes. I like the song and Blake’s vocal performance, but Scott Hendricks’ production is borderline-bombastic, though one could argue it is restrained in comparison to some of the other songs on the album. It too reached the #1 spot, as did the two subsequent singles “Drink On It” and “Over.” “Drink On It” is a little closer in style to Blake’s earlier work, though the production is a bit too slick for my liking. “Over”, however, crosses the line with overwrought production on the chorus, which is a shame because the song itself is not bad and would have benefited from a more understated arrangement. Heavy-handed production similarly mars an otherwise very good cover of Dan Seals’ “Addicted”, which is one of two bonus tracks on the deluxe version of the album.

As one might glean from the title, “Good Ole Boys” is the most country-sounding track on the album, with a beat that is reminiscent of Waylon Jennings. It laments the disappearance of the good ol’ boy and is one of the best tracks on the album, though I could have lived without the gratuitous reference to feminine hygiene products in the song’s final twenty seconds. Also quite enjoyable is the ballad “I’m Sorry” which features a guest harmony vocal performance by Martina McBride. The title track, on which Blake is joined by Miranda Lambert is one of the quieter tunes on the album. It is one of the album’s highlights and it concludes the main setlist. The deluxe version of the album contains two bonus tracks, the disposable “Chill” and the aforementioned “Addicted”. There is only one track on the album that I dislike: the grating “Hey” with its dumbed-down lyrics and irritating beat.

Red River Blue isn’t Blake Shelton’s very best work but it does have its good moments and it is a lot better than most of what is on the country charts these days. Admittedly, that is setting the bar low, but the album is worth seeking out.

Grade: B

Album Review: Blake Shelton – ‘Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill’

Although 2003′s The Dreamer achieved gold-level sales, its singles performed inconsistently at radio. After producing the #1 hit “The Baby”, the album’s subsequent singles all failed to crack the Top 20. This trend began to reverse itself with the release of Blake Shelton’s third album, Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill, which was released in the autumn of 2004. The Bobby Braddock-produced effort got off to an initial rocky start when the album’s first single, a very nice ballad called “When Somebody Knows You That Well” died at #37. Blake’s chart decline bottomed out with that release, however, and all of the album’s subsequent singles reached the Top 10.

The album’s second single, the catchy “Some Beach”, written by Paul Overstreet and Rory Lee Feek, returned Blake to the #1 spot and also became the first gold-selling single of his career. It was followed by an excellent cover version of Conway Twitty’s 1988 hit, “Goodbye Time.” Blake’s version didn’t chart quite as high, peaking at #10. I prefer the Conway Twitty version but Blake’s rendition is my favorite song on this album. Both artists knock the Roger Murrah & James Dean Hicks tune out of the park and both versions deserved to be monster hits. A bit of trivia: the song was originally pitched to Reba McEntire, who turned it down because she was going through her divorce at the time and the lyrics apparently hit a little too close to home. The album’s fourth and final single, “Nobody But Me” was a substantial hit, reaching #4.

The album cuts in this collection are unusually strong and most of them had hit single potential. Two of them had been previously recorded; the uptempo “Cotton Pickin’ Time” (another Paul Overstreet co-write) had been released by The Marcy Brothers in 1989 and “What’s On My Mind” had appeared on a 2001 Gary Allan album. To my knowledge, “Good Old Boy, Bad Old Boyfriend”, which was written by Shelton’s producer and mentor Bobby Braddock had not been recorded before but it sounds very much like something Waylon Jennings might have done during his heyday. But perhaps the most interesting track is the Harley Allen tune “The Bartender”, in which Blake observes a tavern’s patrons and listens to their problems from across the bar.

There aren’t any weak tracks in this collection; they are well written and performed and without the production excesses that are the hallmark of most of today’s chart hits. Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill serves as a model that demonstrates how much better the artist’s material — and indeed, country music in general — was, just slightly less than a decade ago. The album is easy to find and is worth seeking out.

Grade: A-

Week ending 9/29/12: #1 singles this week in country music history

1952: It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels — Kitty Wells (Decca)

1962: Devil Woman — Marty Robbins (Columbia)

1972: I Can’t Stop Loving You — Conway Twitty (Decca)

1982: What’s Forever For — Michael Martin Murphey (Liberty)

1992: Love’s Got A Hold On You — Alan Jackson (Arista)

2002: Beautiful Mess — Diamond Rio (Arista)

2012: Wanted – Hunter Hayes (Atlantic)

Album Review: Wesley Dennis – ‘Country Enough’

Back in 1995, Wesley Dennis was a bright new hope for country music. Signed to Mercury Records, he got exposure opening shows for Alan Jackson, but never quite broke through himself. His closest to a hit single was the excellent ‘I Don’t Know (But I’ve Been Told)’, which peaked at a disappointing #46, and after the release of three singles and one album, Wesley went home to Alabama. He may not have achieved commercial success, but I was a big fan of his music, and disappointed that he subsequently disappeared into obscurity. A couple of years ago, I named him in my list of “the ones who got away” – artists who seemed to be on the road to stardom but who never made it as far as they deserved.

So I was thrilled to find that after 17 years, he was recording again. His rich voice and fine interpretative skills have not diminished with time. The material on his new record is generally high quality, with half of it written by the artist (with no need for assitsance from elsewhere). It is solidly traditional honky tonk country which should appeal to anyone lamenting the state of the music today, tastefully produced by Greg Cole.

Wesley wrote six new songs for this project. The title track is a fiddle-led critique of modern radio which should strike a chord with many listeners:

I used to listen to the radio
But now I don’t
It sounds too much like rock and roll
No matter what is on
I can call up my local station to request “Faded Love”
They tell me, “That’s too country”
Well, you ain’t country enough

He then harks back to the disappointment of losing his record deal:

I figured things were going well
Until that telephone rang
They said, “We don’t know how to promote you
So we’re gonna give you up
The fact is you’re just way too country”
Son, you ain’t country enough

I spend a lot of my time hoping
Someday that sound will come back
In the meantime I’ll keep playing
My old cassettes and my old 8-tracks
Can’t help but voice my own opinion
I love what I love
Even this song that I am singing
It ain’t country enough

A classic Vern Gosdin style heartbreak ballad, ‘A Month Of Sundays’ dwells on the difficulty in getting over someone who has left, and is probably the best of Wesley’s new compositions. ‘Sun, Surf, And the Sand (And My Ties)’ is slightly awkwardly phrased but shows how to make a beach setting work for a country song – have the protagonist crying over his lost love while observing happiness all around, making his own sadness, “so far from paradise”, all the more poignant.

In a more positive mood, ‘You’ is a pretty romantic ballad, clearly inspired by Wesley’s wife Jan, and which I like a lot. ‘That Dog Won’t Hunt’, a sardonic kissoff to an ex who has come crawling back, is quite entertaining. The playful ‘Ring that Belle’ is more fillerish but not bad.

Wesley pays tribute to his influences by including a handful of classic covers. The best of these is a very fine version of the Keith Whitley hit ‘Lady’s Choice’, a gorgeous heartbreaker written by Bill and Sharon Rice. It’s not quite up to Whitley’s sublime version, but that is a very high bar, and Wesley’s version is very good indeed. He duets with Canadian traditionalist Brian Mallery on ‘Brotherly Love’, a sentimental fraternal hit for Whitley with Earl Thomas Conley. A more obscure choice is ‘Final Touches’, which was the title track of Conway Twitty’s final album; it’s not my favorite track, but makes a nice change of pace.

‘Lovin’ On Back Streets’ is done as a duet with Wesley’s mother; a cheating song is a curious choice for singing with a family member, and Mrs Dennis’s voice shows the signs of age in its tone and timbre, but she can hold a tune well enough, and shows some nice phrasing. It is such a great song it is always worth hearing in any case. Mrs Dennis also gets one solo, on another classic, ‘When A Tingle Becomes A Chill’, which has some lovely steel and fiddle.

The album closes with revamped versions of Wesley’s three Mercury singles – ‘I Don’t Know (But I’ve Been Told’, the guilt-filled cheating song ‘Don’t Make Me Feel At Home’ and ‘Who’s Countin’’ – all excellent songs which sound as good here as they did on Wesley’s debut.

This is an extremely welcome return for an artist, and one I’ve been waiting for ever since he left Mercury.

Grade: A

Listen to the album and order a copy from Wesley’s website.

Classic Rewind: Conway Twitty – ‘Goodbye Time’

Last hurrahs and late career resurgences

I became interested in country music at a time when many of the genre’s legends were still scoring hits. Within a few years however, the landscape changed dramatically as the New Traditionalist movement swept a lot of veterans off the charts. Though it was an exciting time with a lot of new talent emerging, it was also a bit sad to see a number of old favorites disappearing from the airwaves all at once. In their struggle to remain commercially relevant, many of these veterans produced some of their finest work. In some cases it resulted in one last big hit; in a few rare cases it resulted in a temporary halt in their slide down the charts, but above all, it usually resulted in some really great music. Here are a few examples of memorable late career moments from some of my favorite artists:

1. “Two Story House” — George Jones & Tammy Wynette (1980)
Though this duo continued to record together after their divorce, their collaborations became less frequent as Jones battled his personal demons. “Two Story House”, a tale of a marriage destroyed by materialism, was their last big hit, charting at #2. They scored one more Top 20 hit later the same year with “A Pair of Old Sneakers”. After that there were no more Jones/Wynette collaborations until 1994 when they remade their biggest hit, 1976′s “Golden Ring” for George’s Bradley Barn Sessions album, which led to one final album of duets, 1995′s One.

2. “Another Chance “– Tammy Wynette (1982)
This bouncy tune was Tammy’s last Top 10 hit as a solo artist, peaking at #8 in 1982. It’s largely forgotten today but it received a lot of airplay at the time and I’ve always thought it was one of her best singles. She would hit the Top 10 one more time in 1985 with “Sometimes When We Touch”, a duet with Mark Gray.

3. “I Lie” — Loretta Lynn (1982)
Loretta’s chart decline paralleled that of Tammy Wynette. This #9 hit from 1982 is one of her glossiest singles. It was her first Top 10 solo hit in three years, and her only appearance in the Top 10 as a soloist in the 1980s, though she did enjoy three more Top 10 duets with Conway Twitty.

4. “Shouldn’t It Be Easier Than This” — Charley Pride (1987)
Charley Pride’s hits began to taper off in the mid-80s. He ended a twenty-year association with RCA Records in 1986 and signed with the independent 16th Avenue label. He scored one final Top 5 hit the following year.

5. “I Wish That I Could Fall In Love Today” — Barbara Mandrell (1988)
Barbara was at the peak of her popularity in 1984 when she was seriously injured in a car accident. Her career never quite regained its momentum, which she partially blames on the bad publicity she received when she filed a lawsuit against the estate of the driver that struck her car — a requirement under Tennessee law in order for her to collect from her own insurance company. She ended a three-year dry spell in 1988 when she returned to a more traditional sound. I was unfamiliar with the Ray Price original, but I loved Barbara’s take on this song and consider it to be one of her very best recordings. By coincidence, my colleague Paul also gave this record a shout-out in the latest installment of his Favorite Country Songs of the 1980s series.

6. “Don’t You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me” – Ronnie Milsap (1989)
Ronnie had a voice tailor made for country music, but unfortunately much of his output during the 1980s leaned heavily towards pop and R&B. He was still enjoying chart success when he got on board with the New Traditionalist movement and covered this Hank Cochran tune.

7. “Wrong “– Waylon Jennings (1990)
This whimsical tune about a marriage that didn’t quite turn out as expected was Waylon’s first single released during a brief stint with Epic Records. It reached #5 and was the last hit of his career.

8. “Feed This Fire“– Anne Murray (1990)
Anne regularly scored hits in both pop and country throughout the 1970s, but during the 1980s her successes were primarily on the country charts. In 1986, in an attempt to regain her popularity outside of country, she deliberately moved in a more pop direction. Ironically, her first release under this new strategy, “Now and Forever (You and Me)” became a #1 country hit, even though it was not remotely country. After that she fell out of favor with both pop and country radio, and by the beginning of the 1990s, she was trying hard to get back on country radio. She succeeded with this excellent Hugh Prestwood tune, which she took to #5 in the US and #6 in Canada. It was her last Top 10 country hit in the US.

9. “Three Good Reasons” — Crystal Gayle (1992)
Loretta Lynn’s little sister managed to buck the commercial trend towards more traditional country and stay on the charts through most of the 1980s. By the end of the decade, however, the hits began to taper off. Like many others she eventually switched to a more traditional sound. This 1992 tune did not chart, although it did get a lot of airplay in the Philadelphia market because Crystal was one of the artists appearing at the local country radio station’s annual anniversary concert that year.

10. “Buy Me A Rose” — Kenny Rogers (1999)
Kenny Rogers hadn’t scored a Top 10 hit in a decade, but age 61 he defied the odds and became the oldest person in country music history to score a #1 hit when he took this tune to the top of the charts in 1999.

Favorite country songs of the 1980s, part 4

The 1980s got off to a poor start with the early 1980s producing some of the lamest country music ever recorded, as the Urban Cowboy movie wrecked havoc on the genre. Fortunately, there was still good country music being released. The first flowering of the late 1980s “New Traditionalist” movement arrived in 1981 with the first hits of Ricky Skaggs and George Strait, but they remained outliers until 1986 as far as good new artists were concerned. The latter part of the decade, however, produced some truly excellent country music with the 1986 arrival of Randy Travis and company.

Here are some more songs that I liked and remember. See if you recall any of these records:

“Everybody Needs Love On A Saturday Night”– The Maines Brothers Band
This 1985 song was the biggest hit (#24) for a bunch of talented musicians, some of whom went on to bigger and better things. Lloyd Maines is a leading steel guitar whiz and record producer – his daughter is Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. Three other brothers of Lloyd’s were in this band, as well.

“I Wish That I Could Fall In Love Today” – Barbara Mandrell
This 1988 slightly re-titled cover of Warren Smith’s big hit  from 1960 was to be Barbara’s last top ten recording. It is one of my favorite Barbara Mandrell recordings.

“Save Me” – Louise Mandrell
Louise never quite emerged from her big sister’s shadow but this #6 single from 1983 shows that a lack of talent wasn’t the problem.

“My First Country Song” – Dean Martin with Conway Twitty
Not really – Dean had recorded many country songs to great effect, although never with country accompaniment. The album from which this 1983 song was taken, was actually the last album the 66-year-old Dean would record after a hugely successful career as a pop singer, movie star , television star and stage performer. In his time very few performers were bigger stars than Dean Martin. Conway Twitty wrote this song and performed it with Dean. It wasn’t a huge hit (#35) but it was an interesting ending to one of the greatest careers in American entertainment history.

“You Are My Music, You Are My Song”– Wayne Massey with Charly McClain
Wayne Massey was a soap opera heartthrob and his wife Charly was stunningly attractive. This 1986 hit was one of two top tens the duo would have, although Charly had a very successful career as a solo act.