Showing posts with label gram parsons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gram parsons. Show all posts

Thursday, October 10, 2019

A Country Album Primer

The word is that Ken Burns' "Country Music" series has sparked a sudden surge in country album sales. Folks who heretofore disdained country music are suddenly interested because it was featured on PBS. But where to start? Hank Williams? His songs, while superbly written, have that old-timey, antiquated sound. Johnny Cash? Download one track ~ they all sound the same. Don't waste precious dollars on a whole album until you understand what you're getting into. Nothing too twangy ~ the neighbors might be appalled. That eliminates Dwight Yoakam. Patsy Cline is pretty safe; her songs were "pretty" and featured lots of strings.

My advice:  Start with 1975. Emmylou Harris's second album, Elite Hotel, was a revelation to a jaded country fan like me. There is little good to say about country music in the nineteen seventies ~ it had lackadaisically bumped up against the doldrums. However, every decade of music has at least one breakout star, and Emmylou Harris was that. I don't recall, but I think I first heard a single by Emmylou, "If I Could Only Win Your Love", on my car radio. I had no idea who the singer was, and if I didn't catch the DJ's patter at the right time, I wouldn't find out until the next time the track was played. She was definitely country, updated; with the voice of an angel. Elite Hotel, featuring songs written by the likes of Buck Owens, newcomer Rodney Crowell, Gram Parsons, Hank Williams, Don Gibson, and even Lennon/McCartney; the album combined old and new and still sounded "old". Or perhaps "classic" is a better term. Emmylou was a vocalist who didn't dismiss country or try to change it. She simply improved upon it.

For the country novice, what could be better? It combines Hank and Patsy and Buck; it introduces a soon-to-be classic songwriter; it harks back to the sixties country-rock sound of bands like The Byrds.

To wit, here is a country primer for the newly-converted:

"Amarillo" ~ co-written by Emmylou and Rodney Crowell:



"Together Again" ~ Buck Owens:



"Feelin' Single, Seein' Double" ~ the awesome Wayne Kemp:



"Sin City" ~ Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman:



"One Of These Days" ~ Earl Montgomery:



"Till I Gain Control Again" ~ Rodney Crowell (again):



"Here, There and Everywhere" ~ some guys named John and Paul:



"Ooh, Las Vegas" ~ Gram Parsons and Ric Grech:



"Sweet Dreams" ~ Don Gibson:



"Jambalaya" ~ Hank Williams:



"Satan's Jewel Crown" ~ Edgar L. Eden:



"Wheels" ~ Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons:



My favorite? For sheer beauty, it's "Together Again". For reminiscence, "One Of These Days". But I think I like "Wheels" the best.

Elite Hotel combines everything a country lover or country novice could ask for in a classic album. For a forty-four year-old album, that's damn good.

I would start here.






Wednesday, January 30, 2013

My Dad Was Pretty Smart About Music




My husband subscribes to Uncut magazine.  The justification for pricing its magazine at $100 a year, apparently, is that the editors include a CD with each issue (still not worth $100; but maybe that's just me).

The latest issue had, slipped into its plastic wrapper, a CD titled, "The Music That Inspired Gram Parsons".

My husband said, "Hey, maybe you might want to listen to this".  (He's not a country music aficionado.)

I'll admit, here and now, that the only thing I know about Gram Parsons is that Emmylou Harris was his girlfriend.  I'm not some country music snob, but I never knew exactly why I needed to get to know G.P. since, it seems, he glommed his style from artists like Buck Owens, and The Byrds, and The Louvin Brothers; and I already knew about their music.

So, tonight, I'm playing the Uncut "Honky Tonk Heroes" CD, which essentially consists of songs I am well familiar with, but since I haven't heard them in ages, it's fun!

The Louvin Brothers, Faron Young, Carl and Pearl Butler, Ray Price, Buck Owens, et al.

The first cut on the CD is "Close Up The Honky Tonks", by Buck (and I will note, importantly, Don Rich; because without Don, that track would never have been so great.  Ever hear Buck sing harmony with himself?  He wasn't that much of a singer.  Don Rich made Buck Owens so much better than he ever would have been).

My dad had the album, Together Again/ My Heart Skips a Beat.  My mom and dad owned two country albums back in 1964.  That one, and Ray Price's Burning Memories.  Mom and Dad didn't have any disposable income back then,

Together Again/My Heart Skips a Beat is the quintessential country album.  One can't get much better than this.  And Burning Memories is pure country soul.

Two country albums.  As tight as their budget was, Mom and Dad still picked two of the very best.

Yup, I have good taste in music.  I inherited it from my dad.

And now, since I'm not about to become one of those crotchety old ladies, I'm going to search out some Gram Parsons.  See what the big deal was all about.

(This isn't exactly how the song went, originally; but you can't find Buck singing this song anywhere on the 'net, so here is my latter-day hero, Dwight):





Saturday, November 15, 2008

Officially Old

Yes, I've officially turned the corner.

I just ordered a CD from Amazon that I now realize that I already had.

How does that happen??

See, I wanted to order a book. And they said, if you have $xx.xx in charges, you get free shipping. So, I thought, well okay! I'll just order a CD and that'll add up to enough to have free shipping, PLUS I get a CD, too!

So, I looked through their choices of discounted CD's. And I thought about it, and looked at a few, and I finally settled on one that I thought I would like.

Well, SURE I would like it! I already have it! Moron!

So, now I've got two. Always good to have a spare! (I guess).

In case you care, here's the one I got:


And yes, it's good, but I wouldn't necessarily say DOUBLY good.

Here's a sampling of what you would find on the CD (if you were to purchase ONE copy):



And the book I was buying? It's this:


All 822 pages of it! I'm going to enjoy this! And only $20.55 at Amazon.com

That doesn't negate the fact that I am now old and senile.

But one learns to live with one's limitations.