Showing posts with label together again. Show all posts
Showing posts with label together again. Show all posts

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):





Thursday, February 5, 2009

Tom Brumley

Tom Brumley passed away this week, at the age of 73.

It makes me sad.

Once upon a time, country bands achieved a fame all their own. They even released albums. Merle, of course, had the Strangers, with Norm and Roy and a whole bunch of other supremely talented players. Bill Anderson's Po'Boys released an instrumental album that was a favorite of mine....way back when.

Fans followed big-name artists and their bands, and knew who played lead guitar and who played fiddle........and who played steel guitar.

There were (and are) a lot of great steel guitar players, but take a look at this:



Sorry the video quality is so poor, but this was the best representation of Tom's work I could find on the net.

This is, arguably, the most famous steel guitar solo in the history of country music.

So, Buck is gone, Don Rich is gone, Doyle Holly is gone, and now Tom Brumley is gone.

I once, a long, long time ago, had a chance to see Buck and his Buckaroos in concert. Actually, I saw them twice. When I was eleven, I visited my older sister in Fort Worth, Texas, and Buck and the guys were playing at some used car lot opening (okay, maybe it wasn't that, but it was some kind of store promotion), so we hussled ourselves out to see them.

The second time was an actual concert, and my friend, Alice, and I hung around after the show and collected autographs from all the Buckaroos. I wish I knew what happened to those autographs. But at least I have the memories.

So, rest in peace, Tom Brumley. And thanks for the joy you gave us. Autographs may be lost, but music is forever.


~~~