Showing posts with label charlie mccoy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charlie mccoy. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees - 2009

Don't even get me started about the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Has it become irrelevant, or is it just me? It seems like the electors have to choose three names, so they kind of put a bunch of names into a hat and draw three out. No disrespect. Yes, I guess this sounds disrespectful, but my point is, why some of these artists, and not others who are so OBVIOUS?

I don't want to get into the whole Bobby Bare thing again, but c'mon. And he is but one example of deserving artists who are overlooked. Seriously, Charlie McCoy before Bobby Bare?

I know I'm kind of late with this post, but the 2009 announcement was so irrelevant to me, and I frankly had more important topics to cover, that I kept putting it off. Plus, I wasn't sure how to approach this in an interesting way. But let's give it a try.

Roy Clark

While I can appreciate Roy Clark as an artist, I can't say that I'm a fan. No offense to Roy, but I tend to view him as a novelty act. Granted, he did host Hee Haw (an insult to the intelligence of country fans, if there ever was one), and granted, Buck Owens hosted it, too. But at least Buck Owens had a previous track record as an artist.

I'm not saying that Roy never had a good song. He did have this one, thanks to Bill Anderson:



And granted, he was a very good guitarist. Hence, his version of Malaguena, albeit not even close to a country song:



And he had a hit song in 1974, called "Honeymoon Feelin'":



And he was a banjo picker and a fiddler. As evidenced by:



I guess the problem I have with Roy is stuff like this:



Now, some may like it. It's not my cup of tea. But congrats anyway, Roy.

Charlie McCoy


Charlie McCoy has a long resume as a studio musician. He played on such seminal albums as Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde. He also played harmonica on Roy Orbison's recording of Candy Man. Remember that?

Granted, this video has Roy subbing for Charlie McCoy, but I can't pass up an opportunity to post a Roy Orbison video.



But back to Charlie. Here's his rendition of the Orange Blossom Special:



How about some 40's music? Here's Charlie with Choo Choo a'Boogie:



I'm a sucker for '40's swing music, so I like this.

So, overall, I'm kind of getting on board with Charlie being inducted.

Barbara Mandrell


On the other hand, there's Barbara Mandrell. I feel like I'm in a time warp, viewing and listening to Barbara's music, but there's no doubt that, in the seventies especially, Barbara was THE female country singer. I can't deny that I put Barbara's LP's on my stereo and sang along.

First of all, there's this:



And I've said it before, but it bears repeating. Wasn't Barbara the Barbie Doll come to life? Look at that platinum blonde hairdo. Look at those cool false eyelashes and that white lip gloss. And, you know, The Midnight Oil was a great country song.

As was Standing Room Only:



I can't lie; this is one of my very favorite Barbara Mandrell songs (please ignore the Judy Jetson uniform):



One cannot forget (well, okay, I can't forget) that Barbara formed a duo with the late, great David Houston, and had a hit on one of my favorite cult classic songs, "After Closin' Time" (and I love Barbara's pantsuit):



Remember this old Roy Head classic? Barbara put her own spin on "Treat Him Right":



I'm just going to ignore the clunkers like "Sleepin' Single in a Double Bed" and "Crackers".

But what about this?



So, okay, maybe my initial reaction has changed a bit. I think Charlie McCoy deserves his spot.

There was never any question that Barbara Mandrell deserves hers.

But Roy Clark before Bobby Bare? Nah, I just can't get on board with that.

Maybe next year. Right, Hall of Fame deciders?

~~~

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

The CMA Awards - 1973

1973 was a banner year. Not necessarily for country music, but for ME! Yes, I was eighteen in 1973, and I graduated from high school.

I may SEEM like a dork, concentrating so much on country music during my teen years, but let me assure you, I didn't spend 1973 locked away in my room. (I did that from approximately 1967 to 1972.)

But, on the bright side, look at all the useless knowledge I accumulated during those years! I always wondered what I would do with these needless facts, and now here I am today, authoring a blog that no one reads! That's redemption!

But enough about me. Let's just get this out of the way, right off the bat:

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass


INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR

Charlie McCoy

(I told you that there would be no more videos of these guys, and I'm sticking to that. Again, it's nothing against Danny Davis or Charlie McCoy; it's just that they just kept winning, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do -- post the same videos over and over?)

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Loretta Lynn


Well, there's just no decent videos of any of Loretta's songs that won her this award in 1973, so using my editorial discretion, I decided to go back to 1968 instead.



VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn


No doubt, C & L were on a roll during these years. They'd wrestled the title away from Porter and Dolly, and they were reveling in it. They had a bunch of hit records in a row, and while the following video isn't chronologically correct, I thought I'd just put 'em all out there and we'd watch.



VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Statler Brothers


Here we are again, Statlers! I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to be repeated for years to come, so let's post some videos while the video postin' is good.

This is an example of the songs I was talking about in my earlier post, about how they did that reminiscent stuff, about when they were kids, that I really couldn't relate to. But who am I to judge? I just got done telling you about locking myself away in my room, so watching Saturday morning serials really doesn't seem so odd, now, does it?

So, here's one of those.



SONG OF THE YEAR

Behind Closed Doors - recorded by Charlie Rich; written by Kenny O'Dell


SINGLE OF THE YEAR


Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich


ALBUM OF THE YEAR


Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich


Well, here we go. After all these years, thirty-five, I guess, here we are with a song that stands the test of time; in fact, one of my top twenty country songs of all time, "Behind Closed Doors".

I guess one could say that 1973 was Charlie Rich's year.

Forgetting about Charlie Rich would mean forgetting about the essence of country music, really. Country music has always been a blend of a bunch of stuff -- gospel, pop, twang, bluegrass, the Nashville Sound -- I'm probably leaving out some stuff. But is there no finer example of what country music truly is? That indefinable "something"? Here's one of the best, not only one of the best songs, but one of country music's best interpreters.

And that piano riff hooked me right off the bat. If anyone deserved these awards in 1973, it was Charlie Rich.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Roy Clark


I guess it was the Hee Haw phenomenon (ha! if you can call Hee Haw a "phenomenon"!) The other nominees for entertainer of the year in 1973 were Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Loretta Lynn, and Charley Pride. Which of these names stand out today? I'm thinking not Roy Clark. But hey! Maybe he put on a good show - I don't know.

Of course, the CMA's are not been to be looked at for historical relevancy. They are a snapshot in time. Sometimes they got it right (from a historical aspect); most times they got it wrong. Hindsight is 20/20.

So, here's a look at Roy Clark (a performance from Hee Haw, of course). And he certainly seems like a jovial fellow, so I guess, congratulations, Roy.



COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME

Chet Atkins

Much has been written about Chet Atkins and his career as both a performer and a producer. So, I'm not going to get into all that now. I thought maybe we'd just enjoy Chet picking the Wildwood Flower.



COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME

Patsy Cline

Well, there will never be another like her. It's such a shame that her life was cut short so prematurely. I think she'd still be making and selling records today, albeit on an indie label, of course. And she'd be laughing about the histrionics of today's female country singers. She didn't need to do any vocal gymnastics, because she had a pure, natural talent. To me, she will always be the queen of country music.

Monday, October 6, 2008

CMA Awards - 1972

Again, like 1971, there was good and bad to be found at the old Ryman Auditorium in October of 1972.

In some ways, these posts are getting easier, because there are so many repeat winners, and I'm just not gonna fight the futile battle to find videos on YouTube that just aren't there. C'mon country fans! Somebody must have some old obscure videos of some of these folks!

But, on the plus side, we do find some new winners each year, so that makes it interesting (at least to me).

A strange thing happened with the Song of the Year category in 1972. The winner repeated from 1971. Now, I don't know how that's possible exactly. Aren't there cutoff dates for eligibility or something? I don't know what the other nominees were, but they couldn't have been so bad that the voters decided, ah, the hell with it, let's just go with last year's winner. I don't know. But kudos, I guess, to Freddie Hart, because he won again!

SONG OF THE YEAR

Easy Lovin' - written by Freddie Hart; recorded by Freddie Hart


Here's the link again, in case you missed it the first time: Easy Lovin'

The INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR was, again:

Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass


(Just a heads-up -- this goes on for a few more years). You know, I liked these guys, but I'm ready to move on already. Aren't you?

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR

Charlie McCoy


We have a new winner! Yay! Charlie was a very much in-demand session player in Nashville back in the day. I don't know how much harmonica gets put on country records anymore. Lord knows I don't listen to the radio, so how would I know? It could be rampant.

I am not a big harmonica fan. Hey, did you ever get one of those cheap 25-cent harmonicas at the five and dime when you were a kid? They were just worthless. They played about three notes, and it was hard to find a lot of three-note songs. Three Blind Mice is the only one that comes to mind, and that's really a boring song, and it probably has some sinister hidden meaning, going back to the late 1600's or whenever the hell the song was written. And here they were, marketing the song to kids. I hope kids nowadays aren't forced to listen to that macabre song.

Yes, I do digress sometimes. But I was just bored thinking about Charlie McCoy and his harmonica, although I'm not denigrating his talent at all! He was (is) very talented.

So, let's give a listen to the Orange Blossom Special. And I'll just alert you ahead of time, he will continue to win this award for a few years to come, and I'm not going to post any more harmonica videos in the future. Sorry, Bob Dylan.



So, now we come to Single of the Year. Remember I told you how much I HATE the song, "Honey"? Well, here's another hateful song. Again, I'm sure the woman is very nice, and I would love to have tea with her sometime, if she promised not to sing this song in my presence.

It's a funny thing about songs. Obviously, this was a major, major hit, and thus won the award for Single of the Year. So, a lot of people liked it. And I (generally) like three-quarter time songs, so what's my problem with it? Maybe it's because I left nursery rhymes behind when I was about, oh, five years old. I know (in hindsight) that she probably used those types of words to express her "exuberance" about being in love or something, but that still doesn't excuse the "I'll fix your lunch if you fix mine" line. What kind of Candyland world is this woman living in? I can barely muster the energy to fix my own lunch in the morning. Everybody else is on their own, as far as I'm concerned. So, as I said, she is no doubt a wonderful woman, and it's nothing personal. I just REALLY dislike this song.

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

Happiest Girl in the Whole USA - Donna Fargo



P.S. I had a bridesmaid's dress in 1974 that looked a lot like the dress she's wearing.

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Charley Pride


There's not one iota of doubt in my mind that the song I'm posting here won the male vocalist award for Charley in 1972. That doesn't mean I have to like it. Perhaps I'm coming across as an old curmudgeon. I don't mean to. This song is nowhere near as hateful as Donna Fargo's song. It's just that it was done TO DEATH on the radio! And it wasn't that interesting to begin with! I mean, it's just verse - chorus - verse- chorus - chorus. Blah, blah, blah. I think Donna and Charley should get together and compare notes. He's kissin' his angel good morning and she's fixin' lunch for her zippity-do-dah guy. Gag me.

Anyway, here ya go:



FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Loretta Lynn


It's not often that I get to feature a video that has an introduction by Kermit the Frog, so hey! Unique!

I can never hear or watch a performance of this song without being reminded of the movie, Coal Miner's Daughter. I'm almost surprised to see someone other than Sissy Spacek singing it. I'm kidding, of course. I remember this song. I think I even had the album. In fact, I know I did.

1972 was Loretta's turn, so here's You're Lookin' At Country (backed by the Muppet Show Band):



ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Let Me Tell You About A Song - Merle Haggard


Now, there are no videos available of any songs from this album, but I will tell you, I had this album, and I now have it on CD, and it's worth buying! Merle actually did "tell us about a song" as an intro to each track. It was an early concept album (for country, at least). It's really quite good. I recommend the old Bob Wills song, "Bring It On Down To My House, Honey". I'd post it (not that I would know how to do that), but that would be copyright infringement, and I'm not of a mind to do that.

But here's a link to the CD (combined with the album, "Hag"; another one that I highly recommend):

Hag/Let Me Tell You About A Song

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn


Yes, sadly (for them), Porter & Dolly got shut out in 1972 for the vocal duo award. Well, time moves on. Not that it was a new generation or anything. It was basically their peers (or older) who took the mantle.

I'm sure Porter was hoping to win, and he probably spent hours in front of the mirror, getting his blonde bouffant just right for the big awards show. And picking out which upholstered sports coat he was going to wear. And Dolly was probably still in the dressing room when the nominees were announced, combing out one of her many frosted wigs.

Well, you know, these things happen. And Conway and Loretta, while certainly not my favorites as solo artists, did seem to meld quite nicely as a duet. And, if you think about it, they were kind of the anti-Porter-and-Dolly, looks-wise. They were both dark-haired, as opposed to bleached blonde. And they certainly dressed way worse (at least Loretta, with her patchwork quilt dresses). Anyway, I always really liked this one:



VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Statler Brothers


I like 'em! They've been around for a long, LONG time. And I just like 'em. I liked 'em when Lew DeWitt was the tenor, and I liked 'em when Jimmy Fortune assumed Lew's role.

I'm not saying that all their songs were stellar. Cuz they really did have a lot of clunkers. That whole "back when I was in high school" bit got old after awhile.

But I even liked the Lester (Roadhog) Moran and his Cadillac Cowboys albums. And, before that, when they were featured players on the Johnny Cash Show. And when they recorded "Flowers On The Wall". The Statlers certainly earned their awards.

This song is from 1970, so a couple of years before they were voted vocal group of the year, but I think this is one of their best, and I'm sure the CMA voters were thinking about this song when they checked off the little box next to the Statlers' name in 1972.



I love Lew's high part at the end.

And now we get to the entertainer of the year category. Well, unlike real life, it really didn't take too long for a woman to win the top award. Let's see, the awards were first given out in 1967; this was 1972. I'm no math genius, but I'll guess that's roughly five years.

I really don't know what kind of entertainer this woman was (is). I did see her around 1964 at Panther Hall, but c'mon! I was, what, nine? I was too fixated on the whole atmosphere of Panther Hall, with the long, white-clothed tables, where people had to sit with a bunch of strangers to eat (interesting concept), and the fact that people were carrying around booze in a brown paper bag, to notice how well or not well the show was going. But I take the CMA voters at their word, and concede that she was (is) a pretty darn good entertainer.

So, the 1972 ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR was:

Loretta Lynn



COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME

(Governor) Jimmie Davis

I think, if you write a song like, "You Are My Sunshine", you can just sit back and say, "Okay! My work is done!"

Because who, as a child, didn't sing this song? And this guy wrote it!

We don't see videos of Stephen Foster, because obviously, video wasn't yet invented when ol' Stephen was writing his songs, like Camptown Races or Old Folks At Home. But, like those songs, "You Are My Sunshine" is a standard. One that kids all over the world are forced to sing in elementary school.

So simple, yet so annoyingly catchy. It's not rocket science, folks. You're singing it now in your head, aren't you? See? That's the mark of a standard.

So, here you go, Governor Jimmie Davis: