Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic
Paul Hemphill‘s The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music — published in 1970 during a particularly vibrant musical era — includes this passage about the pushback against attempts to de-emphasize country’s less “polished” elements in order to increase the music’s appeal in the (more lucrative) “pop” marketplace: It isn’t
Recorded by Merle Kilgore in early November, 1963 at Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville and released January 1964 as a single by MGM: “Johnny Zero“ Merle Kilgore (1963) Does Merle Kilgore sound like Johnny Cash because they were such good friends, or were Merle and Johnny good friends because their
Teresa Brewer — whose duet with Mickey Mantle, “I Love Mickey,” reached #87 in 1956 — would later record ever so briefly for Shelby Singleton. June 1968’s “A Woman’s World” was the first of but two singles Brewer recorded for SSS International: “A Woman’s World” Teresa Brewer (1968) The song initially
Let’s see if we can track all (i.e., at least a handful of) the prominent women pop vocalists’ excursions down South in the late 1960s and into the new decade: (1) Entire chapters have been written about Aretha Franklin‘s first (and oh-so-brief) recording session for producer Jerry Wexler that was
Nice tremolo effect on the piano in this bittersweet tale (written by Charles Underwood) about how the good people eventually got their steeple: “Legend Of The Big Steeple“ Porter Wagoner (1960) This 1960 recording, issued on an RCA 45 both in the States and in Australia, was finally gathered up
In July 1974 Dave Dudley was the featured guest on an episode of (Your Local Navy Recruiter Presents) Navy Hoedown. On this broadcast, host Hal Durham appears to be giving Dave Dudley a good poke in the ribs when – after listening to uptempo ballad, “Comin’ Down” – he inquires,
Guitarist “Little” Jimmy Dempsey uses twin guitars to transform Johnny Cash‘s “Understand Your Man” into a tuneful instrumental that bears little resemblance to the original – in a good way: “Understand Your Man“ Little Jimmy Dempsey (c. 1970) This track can be found on 1970’s Little Jimmy Dempsey Picks on Johnny
“Hicktown” appears to be the B-side of an updated “Sixteen Tons” single released on Capitol in 1965. Tennessee Ernie Ford sings of a down-on-its-luck place that holds its destitute and demoralized residents captive, unable to leave. Sounds terrifying, actually: “Hicktown“ Tennessee Ernie Ford (1965) Written by Charlie Williams & Scott
In my prior post about the Nashville Chowdown LP, I mentioned that back in the early 70s jazz singer Blossom Dearie‘s “exceptional annunciation” was being put to good use in the ‘Singing Rice-ipe’ radio ads. If Blossom Dearie had a male counterpart, that person would undoubtedly be Hank Thompson, whose
For a modest sum, I picked up this Roy Orbison soundtrack for the 1967 motion picture – Fastest Guitar Alive – and was surprised by the quality of songs from start to finish. Cover art by Frank Frazetta All ten songs on the album are Roy Orbison originals – seven
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