“Together Again”

I got up this morning, thinking about this old Emmylou Harris song.

Actually, I shouldn’t say it’s an old Emmylou song. Buck Owens wrote it in 1964 and it was the “b” side of a single on Capital Records. The “a” side was “My Heart Skips a Beat” which was a big hit for Buck, but then Country radio started paying attention to the flip side of the record. It became an even bigger hit.

But Emmylou made the song very much her own back in 1975. It was included in her album “Elite Hotel” and was released as a single the following year.

I remember DJs playing the sone on Country radio went nuts. They were crazy about how good it was and they were damn right. It was a #1 song for Emmylou.

It still holds up or at least I think it does. Let me know what you think.

(YouTube video)

Dead, Not Dead

Screwing around on YouTube one afternoon last week, I came across this thing called “Country’s Family Reunion.” Apparently, it’s on the RFD-TV network and features a lot of old time Country Music acts.

These clips were right up my alley as a lot of these performers I knew during my music days when I was a kid (I’ve talked about this before—you all know my strange history). When watching those clips, I composed a list. It is as follows and not in any kind of order. . .

Larry Butler: Dead

Jan Howard: Not dead

Freddie Hart: Not dead

Bill Anderson: Not dead

Grandpa Jones: Dead

Leroy Van Dyke: Not dead

Little Jimmy Dickens: Not dead (gee, how old is this guy?)

Merle Kilgore: Dead

Charlie Pride: Not dead

Bobby Lord: Dead

Skeeter Davis: Dead

Charlie Lovin: Dead

Bill Carlisle: Dead

Johnny Paycheck: Dead

Jim Ed Brown: Not dead

Crystal Gayle: Not dead

Charlie McCoy: Not dead

While Charlie McCoy may not be dead, as you will see in the clip up above, he’s slowed down quite a bit. I’m winking here.

(YouTube video)

Who is Bobby Lord?

Fair warning to those who hate these kinds of posts that I write. Yep, it’s another post about my weird, young, Country Music life.

Who is Bobby Lord? I think it’s fair to say most people have forgotten him. I haven’t.

My brothers and I met him at a club called Winter Gardens in Elizabethtown, Ohio years ago—I’m thinking mid to late 60’s. It’s odd the things you remember as a kid. He was the headliner on the show, but he didn’t have his own band. The house band backed him up.

Another thing I remember about that afternoon (Yes, Winter Gardens did afternoon shows on Sundays) was Mr. Lord arriving in a taxi. That taxi waited for him until the show was over. Did the taxi driver keep the meter running? That’s something I still think about.

My brothers and I got his autograph before the show when he was sitting at the bar smoking and drinking. He was very nice to us—talked to us for a long time. Someday, I’m going to write about those Country Music artists who weren’t so nice.

Of course, I should mention that Mr.Lord was a very good singer. He died in 2008. No, most people probably don’t remember him, but most will remember the person he’s singing with in the video up above. Who is Patsy Cline?

(YouTube video)

What Would it be Like to be a Street Musician?

I’ve been playing Pearl since around the first of March. I play every day—not a lot—but every damn day.

My friend Jim gave me Pearl. I wrote about this here on March 5^th. I’ve tuned her like a mandolin. I don’t do chords, I pick. It’s kind of a unique sound. Think of a Bluegrass ukulele tuned like a mandolin.

One story I’ve always wanted to write is one about street musicians and actually becoming one myself to see what it’s like. For years, I’ve approached publishers about doing this kind of story and nobody seems interested. I may just write it myself and see what happens. If worse comes to worse (don’t take this wrong, dear reader), I can always publish the story here.

The weather’s getting warmer (I keep telling myself that), spring is around the corner and soon my time may come. I’ve even read the ten rules for street musicians.

Will those rules apply here in Covington, Kentucky? Don’t know—will find out.

Maybe Pearl and I will become famous here in Kentucky. It could happen. I mean the pigs fly over in Cincinnati and that’s pretty damn close.

Just so you know, my next post here will be on Thursday.

(Photo taken by Jim)

Meeting Buck Owens

If you read me on a regular basis, you know that a lot of my young life was about performing Country Music with my brothers. While it was something I wasn’t all that interested in and didn’t want to do, I did get to meet some famous Country Music artists.

One of those artists was Buck Owens. He was a big deal in the 1960’s and one time, we were on the same bill with him and his band in a club just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.

To say I was a big Buck Owens fan wouldn’t be telling the truth. Looking back now, I can see the fact that he was a good songwriter and an even better businessman, but when it came to his music, he just didn’t do much for me.

My brothers and I got to meet him in that club just outside of Cincinnati. Actually, it was outside the club itself and just outside Buck’s tour bus. The owner of the club introduced us to Buck who seemed tired but was very polite and nice to three little boys. I remember his firm handshake.

“I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” was one of his biggest hits. Anybody want to go back to the 1960’s and listen and watch? That’s a YouTube video up there at the top of this post.

We’ll be back here on Sunday.

(YouTube video)

Seems Like Old Times

Don’t ask me where my head is these days because I probably couldn’t tell you. Getting ready to move, I’m up to my eyeballs in boxes. Taking pictures off walls seems sad to me. I get distracted packing up books—want to start looking through them. I’ve got a lot of good memories in those books.

For a few seconds this morning while drinking my coffee, I thought about trying to count up the number of times I’ve moved. What a silly waste of time that would be. I’m 58-years-old. I’ve done my share of moving.

As I’m boxing up my stuff, I’ve got Diane Keaton’s voice in my head singing that song from the Woody Allen movie, “Annie Hall.”  She’s singing “Seems Like Old Times.”While listening to it in my head, that head of mine drifts to thoughts of old girlfriends, girls that I wish had been a girlfriend or my ex-wife. It’s odd.

I usually stop my moving activities around seven. While eating dinner, I’ve been watching “Annie Hall” on my computer and when Diane sings that song in the movie, I’ll usually watch it a couple times.

I’m really not in a sad place at all. I’m looking forward to the move. Maybe with looking forward, it’s all right to look back. Maybe that’s where my head is.

(YouTube video)

I Don’t Know Much about Taylor Swift

I don’t know much about Taylor Swift at all. I know that a lot of the songs she writes and sings are about old boyfriends or people in her life and it’s all very personal. I don’t care—its fine with me. If that’s what the masses want to hear, let them hear it.

I also don’t care if celebrities like to poke fun of Taylor. I mean, she put herself out there. I’m assuming she has a sense of humor about it.

What I do know about Taylor is she’s a bit of a sellout. Maybe that’s unfair but this holiday season when I’d go into the Walgreens here on Madison Avenue in Covington; I got tired of seeing that life-size cutout of Taylor in the store and them promoting her CDs, posters, notebooks, book bags, sausage patties and prescription drugs (I’m making some of this up). You could even here her voice over the Walgreens intercom system. It was too much.

If you’re a true artist, I don’t think you sell your name to a company like Walgreens. That’s just my take and it’s my blog. So there.

We haven’t done a Saturday post in a long time. We won’t tomorrow either. See you on Sunday.

(Image from tumber.com)

Looking for Comfort

Probably just like you, the events of what happened in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday is still reeling in my head. When horrible things happen in this life, I usually turn to music for comfort. This morning, Art Garfunkel’s words and voice are making me feel a little better.

(YouTube video)

Taylor Swift, Corn Dogs and a Gallon of 2% Milk

Yesterday morning, I found myself at Walgreens on Madison Avenue here in Covington. I went there to purchase a few grocery items. Making a left as I entered the store, I walked by this life-size cutout of singer and musician Taylor Swift.

This cutout of Taylor has been in the store for a few weeks now. Next to it is the “Taylor Swift Store” where you can buy her CDs, posters, spiral notebooks, and T-shirts. I glanced at the display quickly and then kept walking.

I got myself a 2-liter of Diet Coke. Walking by the frozen food section, I saw those corn dogs—chicken franks dipped in honey-crunchy batter. They come on a stick and are so damn good. Last time I bought them, I ate all six corn dogs in the box in one day. This time, I walked right by them. I don’t need to be eating six corn dogs in one day.

Butterball turkey bacon was on sale. I picked up a package. I also got two containers of Yoplait yogurt—one peach, the other one strawberry.

Looking for the milk, I started thinking about Taylor Swift. I realize that I’m a very out of touch person when it comes to music nowadays and I started to wonder if I’ve ever heard any of her music. Even if I have, I probably didn’t know it was Taylor.

I found the milk. I just wanted to get half a gallon of 2%, but all they had were gallons. I went ahead and got it, knowing that along with that 2-liter of Diet Coke, I was going to have a heavy plastic bag to walk home with.

Before heading toward the checkout, I went back and picked up a package of those corn dogs, telling myself I would pace myself and not eat all six corn dogs in one day.

Reaching the checkout, as I unloaded my grocery items, I decided to be a smartass with the cashier. I told her in a mocking way how much I love Taylor Swift and asked her if I could have the life-size cutout of her when their “Taylor Swift Store” promotion was over. The cashier gave me an icy stare.

“I happen to like her music,” she said. I shut up.

With my walking cane in my right hand and an extremely heavy plastic bag in my left, I made my way back to my apartment. By the time I reached it, I thought my left arm was going to fall off.

As I put away the gallon of 2% milk and the other grocery items I purchased, I told myself that after getting a few household chores done, I would go to YouTube and watch a couple Taylor Swift videos to see if I like her music. Then, my mind went to other things and I forgot all about it.

By the way, those six corn dogs I purchased were gone by nightfall.

A Soundwich?

Really. Do we need this?

A Portuguese sandwich company has introduced seven sandwiches where each one is packed in a music-play metal box. They’re calling it the “Soundwich.”

Each sandwich (or soundwich) box has a different song. Sandwich and song will cost you close to ten bucks. You can go to the Huffington Post to read more about it.

There’s no word as to what the seven songs are and in my view that’s important. I would want to know what the song is before I order the sandwich. Actually they need to take this a step future and let the customer pick out the song they want to hear while eating the sandwich. If they want to listen to talk radio instead of music, that should also be an option. How about television instead of a song?

Actually, how about none of it. The whole thing sounds silly to me. I think I’ll buy a cheaper sandwich and read a newspaper instead.

We’ll be back on Sunday with a new post.

(Photo from WordPress)