Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
Back in 1993, Delta Music issued four albums in their Live in Branson MO, USA series. While I think the intent was to go farther, only albums on Johnny Paycheck, Faron Young, Connie Smith and Moe Bandy were ever released.
Live albums are always a bit of a gamble; some of them are quite good, others are a waste of material. Moe Bandy Live in Branson MO, USA is a pretty decent album; moreover, at the time it was issued it was the only live recording available of Moe as a solo artist (I believe that is still the case).
Moe is accompanied by the following musicians on this recording from June 26, 1992. The album was recorded at the Moe Bandy Americana Theatre, so which of these musicians were members, if any, of these were members of Moe’s road band, I cannot say:
Phil Coontz – leader & steel guitar
John Clark – fiddle, accordion, steel & acoustic guitar, mandolin
Scooter Hill – acoustic guitar, harmonica, keyboards & harmony vocals
John Parmenter – accordion, fiddle & harmony vocals
Kris Spencer – harmony vocals
Ed Synan – piano, synthesizer & harmony vocals
Shawn Tull – guitar & harmony vocals
Tony Walter – bass & harmony vocals
Terri Williams – vocals
Whatever the case, these musicians do a nice job of presenting Moe in a country context.
The album opens with “Another Day, Another Dollar”, the Wynn Stewart classic which is used to give the band a chance to show off. Moe sings the first verse and the chorus.
Next up is Ian Tyson’s “Someday Soon” which hit #21 for Moe in 1982. The song was long familiar to audiences through the Ian & Sylvia, Judy Collins and Chris LeDoux recordings (plus it was an album track on countless albums by other artists). Suzy Bogguss would have a slightly bigger hit with the song a few years later.
“Hey Joe” was written by Boudleaux Bryant and was initially a hit for Carl Smith, the father of Carlene Carter and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Carl took the song to #1 for eight weeks in 1953, the first of many #1 records written by Boudleaux Bryant. Moe &Joe (Stampley) reached the top ten with the song in 1981. This version is an up-tempo straight ahead version that I like better than the Moe & Joe duet.
“It’s A Cheating Situation” written by Curly Putman and Sonny Throckmorton, was one of Moe’s two #1 singles (Record World & Canada RPM). Terri Williams fills the Janie Fricke role here – she’s not as accomplished a singer as Fricke but acquits herself quite well.
“Rodeo Romeo” a typical Bandy song that reached #10 in 1981, is up next, followed by the first of two Moe Bandy compositions in “Many Mansions”, about a down and out homeless person’s faith in what is to follow:
Hope is a thing with feathers that perches on the soul
Said the homeless young man standing there strong against the cold
I reached into my pocket, said a penny for your poetry
But when I handed him a dollar bill he was shaking his head at me
And he said these words to me
In my Father’s house are many mansions
Though tonight some make their beds along the streets
Where I’ve seen lives still by winters bitter chill
In my Father’s house there’s a mansion for me
“The Horse You Can’t Ride” is an interesting song composed by Blake Mevis. Moe had this song on one of his albums, so it has not been widely heard but I think it is a compelling song. I think maybe Garth Brooks should hunt down this song and record it.
His boots were all beat up from the dust and the weather.
His face and hands were tanned like sun dried leather.
He rolled a Bull Durham reefer, as he thumbed my diesel down.
He said he had just blew Dallas on the first wind out of town.He must have read my face, I didn’t think it was showing.
Anyway that old cow poke had a way of knowing.
He said judging from the way your broken up inside.
My guess would be that you just found that horse that you can’t ride.We all find that horse that we can’t ride.
He kicks you in the heart and leaves you laying in your pride.
But every cowboy worth his salt knows its worth a little hide.
To fall and get back up on that horse that he can’t ride.He said son now I have done an awful lot of living.
It’s too late for me to ever be forgiven.
The devil holds the mortgage on my saddle and my soul.
‘Cause I left heaven crying on a ranch in El Paso.We split a pint or two by the time we got to Austin.
He told me how he loved it and then he told me how he lost it.
When nothing meets nowhere with nowhere.
I stopped and let him down.He said son now this is where you are headed,
If you don’t turn this rig around..
We all find that horse that we can’t ride.
He kicks you in the heart and leaves you laying in your pride.
But every cowboy worth his salt knows it’s worth a little hide.
To fall and get back up on that horse that he can’t ride
This is followed by “Hank Williams You Wrote My Life”, a quintessential Moe Bandy song if ever there was one.
Moe Bandy didn’t seem to write a lot of songs but the ones he did right were quite good. “My Wish For You” is about a father’s wishes for his child’s well-being.
The album closes with three of Moe’s later, less hard-core country hits, plus an early hit. The later hits are “You Haven’t Heard The Last of Me” (#11 – 1987), “Till I’m Too Old To Grow Young” (#6 – 1987) and Moe’s last top ten hit “Americana” (#8 – 1988). Because Moe did not have an orchestra, these recordings have a more solidly country sound than the post-Columbia albums from which these songs were taken. Sandwiched in between these numbers is an early GRC hit, written by Lefty Frizzell, “Bandy The Rodeo Clown.”
The only real criticism I have of this album is that on a few songs, I would have preferred that Moe’s voice be a little more front and center in the mix. A few of the tracks, most notably “My Wish For You” have a quasi-acoustic setting.
This is a really fine and enjoyable album that shows off the range of Moe’s talents, and is the only exemplar of Moe’s live show of which I am aware.
Grade: A-
1957 (Sales): A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation) — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Jukebox): A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation) — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Four Walls — Jim Reeves (RCA)
1967: It’s Such a Pretty World Today — Wynn Stewart (Capitol)
1977: Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) — Waylon Jennings (RCA)
1987: I Will Be There — Dan Seals (EMI America)
1997: It’s Your Love — Tim McGraw with Faith Hill (Curb)
2007: Good Directions — Billy Currington (Mercury)
2017: Body Like a Back Road — Sam Hunt (MCA)
2017 (Airplay): In Case You Didn’t Know — Brett Young (Republic Nashville)
1957 (Sales): Gone — Ferlin Husky (Capitol)
1957 (Jukebox): A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation) — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation) — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1967: It’s Such a Pretty World Today — Wynn Stewart (Capitol)
1977: Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) — Waylon Jennings (RCA)
1987: It Takes a Little Rain (To Make Love Grow) — The Oak Ridge Boys (MCA)
1997: Sittin’ On Go — Bryan White (Asylum)
2007: Good Directions — Billy Currington (Mercury)
2017: Body Like a Back Road — Sam Hunt (MCA)
2017 (Airplay): Hurricane — Luke Combs (Columbia)
Loretta’s 1967 output included three albums: Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind) released in February, a duet album with Ernest Tubb released in June, and a second solo collection, Singin’ With Feelin’, released in October. It consists of the Top 10 single “If You’re Not Gone Too Long”, three songs written or co-written by Loretta, and the usual remakes of other artists’ hits.
Written by Wanda Ballman, “If You’re Not Gone Too Long” is an upbeat honky-tonker in which Loretta bits adieu to a lover who is about to embark on a journey. She tells him that she will try to remain faithful to him while he’s away, but she isn’t making any promises. The single had been released the previous May and reached #7 on the Billboard country singles chart. Equally good is Loretta’s original number “Bargain Basement Dress” that opens the album. This is yet another round in the battle of the sexes, a theme she would revisit several times and one that would always serve her well. Once again she’s hopping mad when her drunken husband comes crawling in the wee hours of the morning. This time he’s at least had the foresight to come bearing a gift, but Loretta wants no part of the peace offering. The song is very much in the same vein as “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” which is likely why Decca chose not to release it as a single so soon after that mega-hit. “Slowly Killing Me”, another Loretta original, finds her coming to terms with her husband’s philandering but in a less confrontational manner than we’ve come to expect from her. “I’ll Sure Come a Long Way Down”, which she co-wrote with Maggie Vaughan, finds her Loretta in a similar situation that Tammy Wynette faced in “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad”. Had it not been for the similarities to Tammy’s song, which was released earlier the same year, this might have been a good single for Loretta.
As stated earlier, the album contains a number of remakes that had been hits for others. “Dark Moon” had been a huge crossover hit for country singer Bonnie Guitar in 1957. It was also covered by actress and pop singer Gale Storm that same year. Although Loretta sings it well, it doesn’t seem to be quite the right kind of song for her and it’s one of my least favorites on the album. She does much better with “Secret Love”, a 1953 hit for Doris Day, which Loretta also remade for her current album Full Circle. Also included are very nice versions of George Jones’ “Walk Through This World With Me” and Wynn Stewart’s “It’s Such A Pretty World Today”. Loretta’s managers Teddy and Doyle Wilburn are also represented: Teddy wrote “Wanted Woman”, a somewhat plodding ballad about a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who ends up killing the object of her unrequited love, and Doyle wrote the filler track “A Place To Hide and Cry” that closes the album. Also falling into the filler category is “What Now”, which is not particularly memorable but noteworthy because it was co-written by a very young Becky Hobbs.
Overall, Singin’ With Feelin’ is a very good but not great album that doesn’t quite reach the high marks set by Blue Kentucky Girl and Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind). It is out of print but completists can find used vinyl copies online.
Grade: B+
More than any other performer, Barbara Mandrell is the artist responsible for sparking my interest in country music. Even before there were any local country music radio stations in my area, her weekly TV series was my main source of keeping abreast of what was going on in the world of country music. This was in the early 80s, when she’d just become the first artist to win the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year award a second time. Her contributions to country music were significant, but her catalog has been criminally neglected. Fortunately, that grievance is starting to be addressed. With the reissue of This Time I Almost Made It, courtesy of Real Gone Music, all of Barbara’s solo albums for Columbia are now available on CD.
Barbara was signed to Columbia in 1969 by Billy Sherrill and remained with the label until 1975. During that time, she only released three solo albums, plus a duets album with David Houston. Most major country acts released three albums a year in those days, but like we often see today, the label was waiting for some radio hits before committing to album releases. Her debut album Treat Him Right, was released in 1971 and was a lackluster seller. 1973’s The Midnight Oil reached #8 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, buoyed by the success of the title track which reached #7 in Billboard and #1 in Cashbox, and “Tonight My Baby’s Coming Home”, which was Barbara’s first Top 10 hit. By the time This Time I Almost Made It was released in 1974, the momentum she had gained seemed to have been lost again; it only reached #41 on the albums chart. By that time, Barbara might have already initiated talks to negotiate her release from her Columbia contract. If so, the label obviously would have had little interest in promoting her records. At any rate, the quality of the material does not seem to have been the issue.
The title track was written by Sherrill when he realized that they didn’t have enough songs for an album. Though in some respects it may have been an afterthought, it is my favorite track on the album. It’s a beautiful ballad, not particularly country in arrangement but the production is tastefully restrained. It was released as a single in advance of the album, as a follow-up to “The Midnight Oil”, but it charted outside the Top 10 at #12. The second single was “Wonder When My Baby’s Coming Home”, another easy-listening style ballad, although it is a little more country thanks to the inclusion of some steel guitar. I wasn’t previously familiar with this one, but I like it a lot. The background vocals give it a slightly dated feel, though they are a lot less intrusive than many records of the era. This one stalled at #39 and was Barbara’s final single for Columbia.
Barbara is well known for making country versions of R&B songs, occasionally delving too far into R&B territory for my taste in later years but her take on “You’re All I Need to Get By”, which has been a 1968 R&B hit for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, is quite good. She also turned in good performances on some pop songs of the day: “Keep On Singing”, which had been a hit for Helen Reddy, The Bee Gees’ “Words”, and The Beatles’ “Something”, which closes out the original album. She also covered her country colleagues Merle Haggard (“Today I Started Loving You Again”) and Charlie Rich (“A Very Special Love Song”).
This CD would be worth buying for the original album alone, but Real Gone Music has included almost another album’s worth of bonus tracks. There are nine in total, seven of which have never been released before. First up is the very country “I Hope You Love Me”, which was recorded during Barbara’s first session with Columbia in 1969. Written by George Jones and Tammy Wynette, it was included on Tammy’s 1970 album The Ways To Love a Man under the title “I Know”. “You Can Always Come Back”, also recorded in 1969 is a cover of a Curly Putman hit. “Coming Home Solider” had been a 1966 pop hit for Bobby Vinton.
Though the album’s liner notes refer to Barbara’s version as “dramatic”, I found it a bit plodding and it’s my least favorite track on the disc. Although a bit tame, her reading of “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)” is much better. It was written by Joe and Rose Lee Maphis, who had hired Barbara for a two-week stint in Las Vegas when she was only eleven years old. It’s proof positive that despite her reputation for interpreting pop and R&B material, she was just as adept at tackling traditional country. Ditto for “You Took Him Off My Hands”, a Wynn Stewart/Harlan Howard/Skeets McDonald song that had previously been recorded by Patsy Cline.
Though not one a landmark album in the Mandrell discography, This Time I Almost Made It provides an interesting opportunity to trace Barbara’s development as an artist, and the bonus material is a real treat for her fans. After leaving Columbia, Barbara signed with ABC/Dot, which was later absorbed by MCA. That era of her career, despite being the years of her greatest commercial success, is still largely unavailable on CD aside from a few hits compilations. Hopefully the sales of This Time I Almost Made It will be good enough to entice Universal to finally allowing some of Barbara’s most commercially important recordings a chance to once again see the light of day.
Grade: A
1973’s Lonesome, On’ry and Mean was a pivotal album in the career of Waylon Jennings. It was his first release after gaining some significant creative control over his music, following some hard-fought negotiations with RCA. He produced most of the album himself, but interestingly, did not write any of its songs. We begin to see the “outlaw” Waylon, beard and leather vest included, emerge for the first time. The album has a much rawer, more organic sound than was typical of the era, though it is not completely free of Nashville Sound trappings.
Three of the album’s tracks had been recorded a few years earlier and were gathering dust in the RCA vaults. “Gone To Denver” was written by Johnny Cash and Red Lane. It had been recorded in 1970 and produced by Danny Davis — a producer with whom Waylon had clashed. Davis was known for heavily orchestrated, overproduced recordings, but “Gone To Denver” is not one of them, consisting of a tasteful electric guitar track, some harmonica and a touch of pedal steel. “Lay It Down”, written by Gene Thomas and produced by Ronny Light, is an understated number featuring the legendary Ralph Mooney on steel. Waylon’s buddy Willie Nelson provided the third older cut, “Pretend I Never Happened”, which includes a Nashville Sound-style chorus. It was released as a single and reached #6.
Waylon produced the rest of the album himself. “You Can Have Her” was the album’s other single, which reached #7. It too, has a Nashville Sound-style chorus and some strings. Perhaps despite having mostly caved to Waylon’s demands, RCA was hedging its bets and playing it safe with the records it was releasing to radio. My favorite song on the album is the title track, which I had always thought was released as a single, but apparently it was not. Mickey Newbury’s “San Francisco Mabel Joy” is a real gem. Waylon’s cover of “Me and Bobby McGee”, written by his pal Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, is a by-the-numbers reading of the song — certainly not bad, but not particularly memorable.
“Me and Bobby McGee” closes out the original album. The 2003 CD re-release includes three bonus tracks. I could have done without the Tex-Mex flavored “The Last One To Leave Seattle”, a Waylon co-write with Steve Norman, but I enjoyed “Laid Back Country Picker” and his cover of Wynn Stewart’s “Big, Big Love” is excellent.
The Outlaw movement wouldn’t officially get underway for a couple of more years, but the seeds were clearly sown with this collection, which is well worth checking out.
Grade: A
It seems to me that I never did finish off this series, the last installment being posted on February 11, 2014 (and the installment before that appeared April 9,2013). Here are some more songs from the 1980s that I liked. This is an expanded and revised version of the February 11, 2014 article which was a rush job :
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“Shame On The Moon” – Bob Seger
Bob’s 1982 recording of a Rodney Crowell song charted on the country charts in early 1983, reaching #15 in the process. The song was a bigger hit on the pop charts, reaching #2 for four weeks.
“Finally” – T. G. Sheppard
He worked for Elvis, sang background for Travis Wammack, and eventually emerged with a solo career worth noting, racking up 42 chart singles from 1974-1991. This 1982 single was one of fourteen #1 record racked up by Sheppard, eleven of them reaching #1 during the 1980s.
“Doesn’t Anybody Get High On Love Anymore” – The Shoppe
The Shoppe was a Dallas based band that hung around for years after their 1968 formation. In the early 1980s they had eight chart records, but this was the only one to crack the top forty, reaching #33. They had a record deal with MTM Records in 1985, but that label vanished, taking the Shoppe with them.
“Crying My Heart Out Over You” – Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs was one of the dominant artists of the first half of the 1980s with his bluegrass/country hybrid. Starting with 1981’s “You May See Me Walking” and ending with 1986’s “Love’s Gonna Get You Some Day“, Skaggs ran off sixteen consecutive top ten singles with ten of them reaching number one, This 1982 classic was the first chart topper. Eventually Ricky returned to straight bluegrass, but I like the hybrid recordings better. In my original article I spotlighted “Honey (Open That Door)“, a straight forward country Mel Tillis song recorded by Webb Pierce.
“Don’t Stay If You Don’t Love Me” – Patsy Sledd
Stardom never really happened for Patsy, who was a good singer marooned early in her career on a bad label. She was part of the George Jones-Tammy Wynette show in the early 1970s. This song reached #79 in 1987.
“Nice To Be With You” – Slewfoot
This band replaced Alabama as the feature band at the Bowery Club in Myrtle Beach. This was their only chart single, a cover of Gallery’s #4 pop hit from 1972 that reached #85 in 1986.
“King Lear” – Cal Smith
The last chart hit for the former Texas Troubadour. This song reached #75 in 1986.
“A Far Cry From You” – Connie Smith
After a six year recording hiatus, the greatest female country recording artist of all time returned with this one-shot single on the Epic label. It’s a great song but received no promotional push at all from the label landing at #71 in 1985. Unfortunately, this single has never appeared on an album.
“The Shuffle Song” – Margo Smith
Exactly as described – a shuffle song that reached #13 for Margo in early 1980. Margo had a brief run of top ten hits in the middle and late 1970s but the string was about over. In my prior article I featured “He Gives Me Diamonds, You Give Me Chills” but The Shuffle song is actually my favorite 80s hit from Margo. She lives in The Villages in Florida and still performs occasionally.
“Cheatin’s A Two Way Street” – Sammi Smith
Her last top twenty song from 1981. Sammi only had three top ten hits but made many fine records. This was one of them.
“Hasn’t It Been good Together” – Hank Snow and Kelly Foxton
The last chart record for the ‘Singing Ranger’. The record only got to #78 for the 65 year old Snow in 1980 but I couldn’t let pass the opportunity to acknowledge the great career of the most successful Canadian country artist. By any legitimate means of chart tracking, his 1950 hit “I’m Moving On” is still the number one country hit of all time. Hank had perfect diction and was a great guitar player.
“Tear-Stained Letter” – Jo-El Sonnier
A late bloomer, this was the forty-two year old Jo-El’s second of two top ten records and my favorite. It reached #8 in 1988. There were brief periods in the past when Cajun music could break through for a hit or two. Eddy Raven was the most successful Cajun artist but most of his material was straight-ahead country.
“Sometimes You Just Can’t Win” – J.D. Souther and Linda Ronstadt
George Jones charted this record twice, but it’s such a good song it was worth covering. This version went to #27 in 1982. J.D had a big pop hit in 1980 with “You’re Only Lonely” which reached #7.
“Honey I Dare You” – Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific was a bunch of guys who previously played with other bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Doobie Brothers and Pablo Cruise, making some real good country music in the process. This was one of their four top ten hits of the 1980s. “A Girl Like Emmylou” from 1986 only reached #17 but the song tells you where this band’s heart was located.
“Lonely But Only For You” – Sissy Spacek
Loretta Lynn wanted to Spacek to portray her in the movie Coal Miner’s Daughter, and it turns out that Sissy can really can sing. This song reached #15 in 1983.
“Standing Tall” – Billie Jo Spears
Billie Jo Spears, from Beaumont, Texas, was incredibly popular in England and Ireland, where “Blanket On The Ground” and “What I’ve Got In Mind” were top five pop hits in the mid 1970s and she had many more lesser successes. Many of her later albums were not released in the US but she had a substantial US career with thirty-four charted records, including two #1 hits. “Standing Tall” reached #15 in 1980.
“Chain Gang” – Bobby Lee Springfield
More successful as a songwriter than as a performer, Springfield had two chart sings in 1987 with “Hank Drank” (#75) and “Chain Gang” (#66) which was NOT the Sam Cooke hit. Bobby Lee was both too country and too rockabilly for what was charting at the time. I really liked All Fired Up, the one album Epic released on him.
As noted before, the year 1989 saw the debuts and/or emergence of a fine crop of new artists that would continue the neo-traditionalist movement that flickered in the early 1980s with the arrival of Ricky Skaggs and started building up steam in 1986 when Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam arrived.
Amidst the flood of newer artists, veteran artists struggled to remain relevant. The last of my three backward looks is Barbara Mandrell.
Unlike George Jones and Buck Owens who were in the vicinity of 60 years old in 1989, Barbara Mandrell was barely past forty. She had been the genre’s dominant female performer from 1977 until 1984, with a network television show for two of those years and twenty-one top ten records to her credit by 1984.
Then a near catastrophe struck, on September 11, 1984, when she was involved in a serious automobile accident in which the other driver crossed into her lane causing a head-on crash. In the accident Barbara suffered multiple fractures in her right leg, including a broken thigh bone, knee and ankle. She also suffered various lacerations, contusions and abrasions and received a severe concussion that caused temporary memory loss and speech difficulties.
Barbara would be out of commission until the middle of 1986. MCA had a sufficient backlog of material that they could continue to issue singles during the period, but without Barbara on the road working the singles, the hits became ever smaller.
Changing labels to EMI America (shortly to be merged into Capitol), the first truly new Barbara Mandrell material was released in July 1987 when “Child Support” reached #13. Between changing tastes and the loss of career momentum caused by the auto accident, Barbara would have only one more top ten single before retiring in 1997.
I’LL BE YOUR JUKEBOX TONIGHT was Barbara’s second post-MCA album and was released in late 1988, with three singles being released. “I Wish That I Could Fall In Love Today”, a slightly re-titled cover of an old Warren Smith hit from 1960, was the biggest hit on the album reaching #5. Two more singles were issued from the album, “My Train of Thought” which reached #19 in the spring of 1989) and “Mirror, Mirror” which peaked at #49 in early summer of 1989 and became Barbara’s final charting single. Personally I think the title track would have made a good single.
I’LL BE YOUR JUKEBOX TONIGHT was far more traditional sounding than anything Mandrell had released in twenty years. No doubt, this was because the ‘new traditionalist’ movement had overwhelmed the remnants of the Urban Cowboy and Nashville Sound styles; however, in her live shows, whenever she chose to get more traditional, she proved that she was completely comfortable with the style. I would regard this as a very good album and would point to her cover of Wynn Stewart’s “Big Big Love” as proof positive that Barbara Mandrell could be as country as anyone in the business.
This album did not project Barbara back into the top ranks of chart artists, and she would retire within a few years. There are many speculations as to why she retired but if I had to venture a guess, it would be that she never really recovered from the auto accident in 1984. Yes, bones heal, but with the extensive injuries she suffered, I would guessed that arthritis would become a major problem for her within a few years and made it painful, if not impossible, to perform at the energetic levels her fans expected of her and she expected of herself. If I were to recommend a single Barbara Mandrell album to anyone, this would be it.
The year 1989 saw the debuts and/or emergence of a fine crop of new artists that would continue the neo-traditionalist movement that flickered in the early 1980s with the arrival of Ricky Skaggs and started building up steam in 1986 when Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam arrived. Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt were the biggest names to emerge in 1989, but there were others as well.
This is not to say that the old guard didn’t produce some excellent records that year, even if they were having difficulty getting playing time. Among these was the Baron of Bakersfield, Buck Owens .
Unlike George Jones, whose 1989 album was but one of a dozen or more albums to follow, Buck Owens 1989 effort ACT NATURALLY, was the penultimate effort by the #1 country artist of the 1960s. Although Buck’s recording career essentially ended at the end of the 1970, there was a three album coda to his career.
Late in the decade, Dwight Yoakam dredged Buck out of retirement to perform a duet on “Streets of Bakerfield”. Following the success of that recording, Capitol inked Buck to a new deal which was to see three albums released. The three albums were 1988’s HOT DOG, this album, and 1991’s KICKIN’ IN. None of the albums sold especially well, but this album featured a return to the top thirty singles chart in “Act Naturally”.
In 1963, “Act Naturally” was the first number one record of Buck’s career spending four weeks atop the country charts. Not only did the song jumpstart Buck’s career, but Buck’s recording caught the attention of the Beatles, who had Ringo Starr record the song. In the USA, Capitol released the song as the B side of “Yesterday”.
Apparently Buck and the various members of the Beatles (especially Ringo) had established rapport over the years, so the two of them got together to record the song as a duet and shoot a video.
The rest of the album was comprised of remakes of some of Buck’s older classics, some songs Buck had written since retiring at the end of the 1970s and one cover. One of the highlights on the album was a duet with Emmylou Harris on “Crying Time”. Although Buck had not released the song as a single, Ray Charles more than made up for the omission with his recording.
In addition to the aforementioned “Crying Time ” and “Act Naturally” Buck reprised his older classics “Gonna Have Love” (#76 in 1989) , and “Take Me Back Again” . Newer Owens tunes were “Tijuana Lady”, “Out Chasing Rainbows”, “Rock Hard Love”, “I Was There” and “Brooklyn Bridge”. Since none of these newer songs were released as singles, not many had the opportunity to hear them. I think “Tijuana Lady”, “Brooklyn Bridge” or “Rock Hard Love” would have made decent singles. My favorite of the newer songs is “Out There Chasing Rainbows” which other than the rhythm section, comes closest to the 1960s sound (meaning it would never have made it as a single)
I’m always out there chasing rainbows always going for the gold
Searching for you in far off places yes I’m always out there chasing rainbows` Your memory makes me think of rainbows of summer days and daffodils
Of tender times and sweet surrender I loved you then and always will
I’m always out there…
The one cover song was of the old Wynn Stewart classic “Playboy”, it was a great song in Wynn’s hands and Buck does the song justice.
Other than latter day Buckaroos Jim Shaw (keyboards) and Doyle Curtsinger (bass), the musicians on this album are Nashville session men. This means that the album does not sound like one of the classic Buck Owens & The Buckaroos albums of the 1960s, but it doesn’t really sound like the typical late 1980s production either as no strings or synthesizers appear plus some real old school musicians such as Ralph Mooney (steel) and Rob Hajacos (fiddle) appear on some of the tracks.
I’m not sure whether I’d call Shanachie a major label or not – it certainly is one of the big three when it comes to Irish/Celtic music, but however you chose to characterize the label, this album, produced by Brent Rowan, found itself issued on Shanachie, one of two Watson albums released on this particular label.
By the time this album was released in 2007, Gene had been bouncing from label to label for a decade since leaving Step One Records. In fact much of the output of the period (1998-2007) consisted of Gusto reissues of material taken from Step One albums and other material released on independent labels such as Broadlands.
Unlike previous albums, which never saw Watson other than as a solo vocalist, Watson entered new territory, recording six songs featuring guest artists (mostly as harmony vocalists rather than true duets) out of the eleven songs on the album. Also unlike recent albums, this album does not contain remakes of earlier Gene Watson hits, focusing instead on some old classic country songs, with some newer material mixed in.
While this album could never be described as innovative (a value-neutral term as innovation can be bad) or cutting edge, it is yet another example of a master craftsman applying his talents to a terrific set of songs.
The album opens with the old Hank Cochran classic “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me”. Released during the 1960s this recording would have been a major hit. This song is followed by Vince Gill harmonizing with Gene on the Harlan Howard’s “Let Me Be The First To Go”, a song initially recorded by the great Wynn Stewart. This song is a tearjerker in which Watson asks God to call him home first as he couldn’t handle life without his wife. Aubrey Haynie’s fiddle and Sonny Garrish’s steel guitar really standout on this track
“What Was I Thinking” follows next – this was not the Dierks Bentley hit of a few years earlier but a Skip Ewing ballad lamenting the breakup of a relationship.
“Today I Started Loving You Again” is one of Merle Haggard’s most famous songs, even though it was never a hit for the Hag (it was the B-side of “The Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde”) although Sammi Smith had a minor hit with it. The song has been recorded many times, but never better than this version which features Lee Ann Womack’s harmony vocals, especially noteworthy on the repeat chorus.
Harley Allen and Tim Mensy penned the title track “In A Perfect World” , a song of a man who has reached bottom and is imagining life as it could be, not as it really turned out to be. Joe Nichols harmony vocals provide the proper shading for this very desolate song:
In A Perfect World It Never Rains on Saturday
In A Perfect World I Wouldn’t Hate The Holidays
I’d Sleep Just Like A Baby and Have One Down The Hall
You’d Still Be My Girl, In A Perfect World
Tim Mensy also contributed “She’s Already Gone” and “This Side of he Door” (co-written with Shawn Camp). “She’s Already Gone” is just another good song about a relationship that is already dead except for someone actually leaving, but “This Side of The Door is really good. Guest vocalist Mark Chesnutt has some solo lines on this song, which Chesnutt originally recorded on his What a Way to Live album released in 2004. This songs rocks a little harder than is customary for Gene.
It is hard to image that “Together Again” was the B-Side of “My Heart Skips A Beat” for Buck Owens never wrote a better song. Buck’s A-side spent seven weeks at #1 but so many DJs flipped the record that the B-side also spent two weeks at #1. Rhonda Vincent guest on this song, the only true duet on the album, an a harbinger of more collaborations to come. In my opinion, this is the standout track on the album.
Another Tim Mensy song “I Buried Our Love” was released as a single although I never heard it played on the radio. It has a strong lyric and should have received at least some airplay.
Connie Smith is one of the few country singers on a par with Watson in terms of being a master vocalist. I think this song was first recorded by Point of Grace but I doubt that many would consider this rendition in any way inferior to the original. I would like for Connie’s voice to have been more prominently featured.
The album closes with yet another Tim Mensy song, “Like I Wasn’t Even There”. This song sounds more like the stuff currently played on the radio (only sung better) than like classic country. The storyline of this ballad is one of a man encountering his ex and seeing her behave as if he didn’t exist.
Reaction to this album at the time of its release varied although all reviewers considered it a good collection of songs sung by an excellent singer, while docking it stars for not pushing the boundaries of the genre. In my humble opinion when an album is this good, I don’t care whether or not it breaks new ground.
From this point forward Gene would feature more duets – his next Shanachie album would feature actual duets with Trace Adkins and Rhonda Vincent and Alison Krauss providing harmony vocals on a track.
Grade: A
In 1981 Gene moved from Capitol to MCA, but his debut album for the new label was broadly similar to his earlier work. Gene co-produced with Russ Reeder.
There is a honey-sweet vocal on the title track, a tenderly seductive and quite unrepentant cheating song, involving two lovers whose weekly meetings seem too far apart:
Let’s take what this moment has to offer
Let’s fill every need we feel inside
Reach out and turn the lights down low
Then reach me every way you know
Let’s make sure before we leave that we’re both satisfied
It’s a beautiful performance and was a top 20 single. The song was written by Canadian country singer Ray Griff, who also recorded it.
The second and last single ‘Maybe I Should Have Been Listening’ is a wonderful regretful fiddle-led ballad as a man is haunted by memories of his ex, lamenting
Here you are back on my mind where you stay quite a lot
Bringing back all the old memories I thought I’d forgot
I just keep finding you with me and I don’t know why
…
Now I know leaving means one goes and one stays behind
I can’t escape from you no matter how hard I try
Maybe I should have been listening when you said goodbye
This one didn’t quite make it into the top 20. Both singles are excellent songs and recordings, and deserved to do much better.
The sardonic mid-tempo ‘I’m Telling Me A Lie’ finds another protagonist struggling with his memories of an ex in the aftermath of a breakup, when drinking away the pain by day won’t let him sleep at night.
The wistful New York-set ‘Come Back Home’, written by Joe Allen and Dave Kirby, is beautifully sung but with a slightly intrusive string arrangement. Once again, Gene plays the part of the one left behind, as he pleads with her to return. ‘Down Here On My Knees’ is another lovely, delicately sung ballad, with Gene begging his discontented wife not to leave. The steel-laced ‘Even At Its Worst It’s Still The Best’ has another up-and-down relationship, but one that is still just about hanging together.
Written by Tom T. Hall, ‘Three’ is the story of a newly wed couple entering on parenthood only to meet with tragedy. The anxious father’s chain smoking as she endures a labor neither she nor the baby survives has perhaps dated a little, but the story’s emotion is timeless and heartwrenching, as the narrator is left “a lonely One who wanted to be Three’. Last month we mentioned several times that Tom T Hall was a better writer than singer, and this is the perfect combination of song and singer with Gene adding further levels of emotion through his vocal.
‘The Look In Baby’s Eyes’ is a sultry ballad with a slightly dated Nashville Sound production but a great vocal.
As usual with Gene, the ballads dominate (not a bad thing since he is so good at them). There are only a couple of more up-tempo numbers.
‘We Got A Bad Thing Goin’’ is about a hookup between Gene’s bad guy who ‘ain’t never had a job’ and plans on robbing the local bank and a wealthy woman. Written by Wayne Carson and Don Tankersley, it’s a bit out of character with Gene’s usual romantic ballads, and the backing vocals are dated, but it is quite entertaining.
The Wynn Stewart song ‘I’m Gonna Kill You’ raises the tempo with its murderous threat to a wife with “cheating bedroom eyes”, who he intends to “bury … in a box about half your size”. I love almost everything Gene Watson sings, but here he sounds a little too cheerful, where someone like Johnny Paycheck would have made it genuinely threatening.
This is a great album. Sadly, it has never been released digitally or on CD, but if you have access to other formats, it’s well worth getting hold of. Hopefully it will get a re-release as several of Watson’s other albums have done.
Grade: A
It’s been a while since my last installment of this series. Here are some more songs from the 1980s that I liked and remember. See if you recall any of these records.
“Shame On The Moon” – Bob Seger
Bob’s 1982 recording of a Rodney Crowell song charted on the country charts in early 1983, reaching #15 in the process. The song was a bigger hit on the pop charts, reaching #2 for four weeks.
“Doesn’t Anybody Get High On Love Anymore” – The Shoppe
The Shoppe was a Dallas based band that hung around for years after their 1968 formation. In the early 1980s they had eight chart records, but this was the only one to crack the top forty, reaching #33. They had a record deal with MTM Records in 1985, but that label vanished, taking the Shoppe with them.
“Honey (Open That Door)” – Ricky Skaggs
The early 1980s belonged to Ricky Skaggs as he racked up eight #1 records before the end of 1984. Some of his records were bluegrass/country hybrids, others, like this cover of Mel Tillis-penned Webb Pierce record were more straightforward country. This record topped the charts in 1984 and had a very amusing video to accompany it.
“A Far Cry From You” – Connie Smith
After disappearing from the charts for six years, Connie emerged with this excellent single in 1985. Epic didn’t give the record much of a promotional push so it only reached #71, but it was one of my ten favorite records for the year 1985.
“He Gives Me Diamonds, You Give Me Chills”– Margo Smith
Margo Smith has a short run of chart success in the late 1970s but by the end of the decade her run was almost over. This 1980 record would stall at #52 and other than a pair of duets with Rex Allen Jr., she would not see the top forty again. Margo is still an active performer and lives in the Villages, FL. When she’s feeling well, she can still yodel with the best of them.
“Cheatin’s A Two Way Street”– Sammi Smith
Sammi’s last top twenty record, reaching #16 in 1981. Sammi should have become a much bigger star than she did.
“Tear-Stained Letter” – Jo-el Sonnier
This Cajun accordion player had two top ten records for RCA in 1988 before fading away. Cajun has never been mainstream so he didn’t figure to have too many hits (and he didn’t). This record reached #9 and the one before it “No More One More Time” reached 7. Nothing else reached the top twenty.
“Hasn’t It Been Good Together” – Hank Snow and Kelly Foxton
Hank’s eighty-fifth chart hit and the very last singles chart appearance for ‘The Singing Ranger’. This song crept to #80 in 1980. Hank would only record one more time after the album from which this album was issued, a duet album with Willie Nelson a few years later. Read more of this post
In recent years, covers and tributes albums have been a dime a dozen; it seems that nearly every artist past his or her commercial peak has released a collection of songs that he/she grew up listening to. Bakersfield, the recently released effort from Vince Gill and steel guitar virtuoso Paul Franklin, takes a different approach; instead of paying tribute to a particular artist or compiling their favorite songs, they opted to pay homage to a specific sub-genre of country music: the Bakersfield Sound, which emerged in California in the late 1950s, in response to the increasingly crossover-oriented countrypolitan music being made in Nashville at the time.
The two most successful and well-known Bakersfield artists were Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, and it is from their catalogs that the material on Bakersfield is culled. Although some of Buck’s and Merle’s big hits are represented here, Gill and Franklin, who produced the project themselves, also delved deeper into the two legends’ discographies and included some lesser known gems.
There isn’t a Vince Gill album that I don’t own, so from the time that this project was announced it was a must-have for me. Paul Franklin’s participation was a bonus, as it ensured that the album would include a generous amount of pedal steel guitar, arguably the most important instrument in country music, and one that is criminally underrepresented on most contemporary country recordings.
Although I did initially have some reservations that Vince could do justice to some of the Haggard tunes, he rises to the occasion most of the time. Both “Branded Man” and “The Bottle Let Me Down” are performed beautifully with the wonderful Dawn Sears taking over harmony duties from Bonnie Owens. However, “The Fightin’ Side Of Me”, while good, doesn’t pack the same punch as Merle’s original 1969 version. I’m not as intimately familiar with the Buck Owens material, so I’m inclined to slightly favor the ones that are newer to me, namely “But I Do” and “Nobody’s Fool But Yours”.
I can find no fault with the material or how it is performed; these recordings are impeccably performed and are a reminder of what country music once was and what it ought to be. The album falls short only in what it does not provide — namely, more music. It contains a mere ten tracks and clocks in at just under 37 minutes. I wish that it contained a few more tracks, and that Gill and Franklin had seen fit to include a few songs from other Bakersfield artists. It’s inevitable that Owens and Haggard will dominate a project like this one, but it would have been nice to have heard a Wynn Stewart, Tommy Collins or Maddox Brothers and Rose song or two. Let’s hope that a second volume is in the works to rectify these omissions.
It goes without saying that Bakersfield will receive no support from country radio, but it is worthy of a Grammy nomination and I hope that it sells respectably and gets the critical acclaim that it so richly deserves.
Grade: A+
1967: Wynn Stewart – It’s Such A Pretty World Today (Capitol)
1972: Donna Fargo – Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A. (Dot)
1977: Elvis Presley – Moody Blue (RCA)
1982: Willie Nelson – Always On My Mind (Columbia)
1987: Hank Williams Jr. – Born To Boogie (Warner Brothers)
1992: Billy Ray Cyrus – Some Gave All (Mercury)
1997: LeAnn Rimes – Blue (Curb)
2002: Toby Keith- Unleashed (Dreamworks)
2007: Taylor Swift – Taylor Swift (Big Machine)
2012: Dustin Lynch – Dustin Lynch (Broken Bow)
1967: Wynn Stewart – It’s Such A Pretty World Today (Capitol)
1972: Donna Fargo – Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A. (Dot)
1977: Waylon Jennings – Ol’ Waylon (RCA)
1982: Willie Nelson – Always On My Mind (Columbia)
1987: Hank Williams Jr. – Born To Boogie (Warner Brothers)
1992: Billy Ray Cyrus – Some Gave All (Mercury)
1997: Tim McGraw – Everywhere (Curb)
2002: Toby Keith- Unleashed (Dreamworks)
2007: Taylor Swift – Taylor Swift (Big Machine)
2012: Zac Brown Band – Uncaged (Atlantic)
For part seven of this series, as always, just some songs I liked, one song per artist, not necessarily the biggest hit, (although I feel free to comment on other songs by the artist).
“I’m Having Your Baby” – Sunday Sharpe (1974)
Female answer to a rather lame Paul Anka hit with the answer song being better (or at least more believable) than the original. Ms. Sharpe originally was from Orlando, FL, but seemingly has disappeared from view. This song reached #10 on Cashbox, her only Top 10 hit (#11 Billboard). A few years later she had one more top twenty hit with “A Little At A Time”.
“I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train” – Billy Joe Shaver (1973)
For a guy whose only two charting records charted at 88 and 80, and who can’t sing a lick, Billy Joe Shaver has had a heck of a career as a recording artist, issuing several acclaimed albums. Of course, his main claim to fame is as a songwriter.
“Slippin’ Away” – Jean Shepard (1973)
Jean took this Bill Anderson composition to #1 (Cashbox) reviving a career that Capitol had abandoned. Jean was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, an honor two decades overdue.
“Devil In The Bottle” – T.G. Sheppard (1975)
T.G. kicked off his career as a singer under the T.G. Sheppard name (real name Bill Browder, and recorded also as Brian Stacey) with consecutive #1s. T.G. would have fourteen #1 singles between 1975 and ’86, along with three more that reached #2 . He worked for Elvis at one point, before kicking off his solo career.
“Greystone Chapel” – Glen Sherley (1970)
This song first saw the light of day when Johnny Cash recorded it for the Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison album in 1968. At the time Glen Sherley was a prisoner at Folsom. This was his only chart record, reaching #63. In addition to this song, Sherley had several other songs he’d written recorded, most notably Eddy Arnold’s recording of “Portrait of My Woman.” Johnny Cash helped get Glen Sherley released from prison, and even had him as part of his road show for a while. Unfortunately, Glen Sherley was unable to adapt to life outside of prison, and committed suicide in 1978.
“Dog Tired of Cattin’ Around” – Shylo (1976)
An amusing tune, Shylo recorded for Columbia during the years 1976-1979. This single charted at #75. Columbia would release eight charting singles but none went higher than #63.
“I’m A Truck” – Red Simpson (1971)
A truck tells its side of the story:
There’d be no truck drivers if it wasn’t for us trucks
No double-clutching gear- jamming coffee drinking nuts
They’ll drive their way to glory and they have all the luck
There’d be no truck drivers if it wasn’t for us trucks.
Red’s biggest hit, in fact his only top 30 record, reaching #1 Cashbox/#4 Billboard. Simpson was from Bakersfield and co-wrote a number of songs with Buck Owens, many of which Buck recorded, including “Sam’s Place” and “Kansas City Song.” Junior Brown recently recorded Red’s “Highway Patrol.” Curiously enough, “I’m A Truck” was not written by Red Simpson, but came from the pen of Bob Stanton, who worked as a mailman and sent Red the song.
“Nothing Can Stop My Loving You” – Patsy Sledd (1972)
Great debut recording – it only reached #68 but unknown to Ms. Sledd, her record label was created as a tax write off, so that there was no promotional push for anyone by the label. The next single “Chip Chip” reached #33 but from there it was all downhill. Patsy was part of the George Jones-Tammy Wynette show for a few years.
“The Lord Knows I’m Drinking” – Cal Smith (1973)
Bill Anderson wrote it and Cal Smith took it to #1 on March 3, 1973. Cal only had four Top 10 records, but three of them went to #1. His biggest chart hit was “It’s Time To Pay The Fiddler,” but this song and “Country Bumpkin” are probably the best remembered songs for the former member of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours. Cal actually changed a few of the words from what Bill had written, probably a change for the better.
“Mama Bear” – Carl Smith (1972)
Carl only had one Top 10 song after 1959 and this song wasn’t it, dying at #46. By the time this record was issued, Carl was 45 years old and his career as a recording artist was stone-cold dead but that doesn’t mean he quit making good records. Carl issued many good records in the 1970s, but only “Pull My String and Wind Me Up” and “How I Love Them Old Songs” would reach the top twenty. Read more of this post
The 1970s were not my favorite decade for country music but it was the decade in which I did my largest amount of listening to country radio, having the good fortune to have such country giants as WSUN AM- 620 in St. Petersburg, FL, WHOO AM-1090 in Orlando and WCMS AM-1050 in Norfolk, VA for my listening pleasure, plus I could tune in WSM AM – 650 in Nashville at night. I did a lot of shift-work during this decade so my radio was on constantly.
This list is meant neither to be a comprehensive list of great country songs from the 1970s, nor any sort of ranking of records. It’s just a list of some songs that I liked and remember. See if you recall any of these records
“Silver Wings” – Jim & Jon Hager (1970)
Since Hag issued the song as a B side (“Workin’ Man Blues” was the A side), this version is the only charting version of Hag’s classic. The Hager Twins do a nice job with the song, although it only reached #59 on the charts . Fans of Hee Haw will remember this duo well.
“I Can’t Be Myself” – Merle Haggard (1970)
My all-time favorite Merle Haggard recording, this song went to #1 on Cashbox. Frankly, picking an all-time favorite Hag song is a hopeless proposition as he is the most consistently great artist of all time. Hag wrote about fifty #1 songs, the most of any songwriter. The flip side of this record “Sidewalks of Chicago” also received a lot of airplay and likely would be in my top ten favorite Haggard recordings. Read more of this post
My Kind of Country 