“By the time you get close to the answers, it’s nearly all over.”
– Merle Haggard
The first time we met is a favorite memory of mine. They say time changes all it pertains to But your memory is stronger than time. I guess everything does change except what you choose to recall.
Wikipedia:
Merle Ronald Haggard (born April 6, 1937) is an American country music song writer, singer, guitarist, fiddler, and instrumentalist. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster and the unique mix with the traditional country steel guitar sound, new vocal harmony styles in which the words are minimal, and a rough edge not heard on the more polished Nashville Sound recordings of the same era.
My Favorite Memory:
By the 1970s, Haggard was aligned with the growing outlaw country movement, and has continued to release successful albums through the 1990s and into the 2000s.
Haggard’s guitar playing and voice gives his country a hard-edged, blues-like style in many cuts.
Merle Haggard is one of country music’s most versatile artists. His compositions ranges wide: ballads , autobiographical reflections, political commentaries and funny drinking songs. Easy dance songs and more serious stuff.
But first of all it’s the voice, man! That voice!
Todays album is the great , Big City. It’s Merle Haggard’s masterpiece and one of my all-time favorite country records:
Big City, both the cut and the album, revisits the seemingly eternal themes in Haggard’s best work — the plight of the honest, decent working man amid the squalor, complication, and contradiction of urban life. Besides the title cut, there are bona fide Haggard classics here — and some that aren’t but should be.
(Allmusic)
“The song is about the transformative power of love and that’s what it has always meant to me and that’s what it will always mean to the Cash children.”
– Rosanne Cash
“Ring of Fire” or “The Ring of Fire” is a country music song popularized by Johnny Cash and co-written by June Carter Cash (wife of Johnny Cash) and Merle Kilgore. The single appears on Cash’s 1963 album, Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. The song was originally recorded by June’s sister, Anita Carter, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as “(Love’s) Ring of Fire”.
Anita Carter – Love’s Ring of Fire:
According to the Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 500 Songs, June Carter wrote this song while driving around aimlessly one night, worried about Cash’s wild man ways – and aware that she couldn’t resist him.
“There is no way to be in that kind of hell, no way to extinguish a flame that burns, burns, burns”
Not long after hearing June’s sister Anita’s take on the song, Cash had a dream that he was singing it with Mariachi horns. Cash’s version became one of his biggest hits, and his marriage to June 4 years later helped save his life. The song was maybe inspired by the poem Love’s Ring Of Fire, and it was originally recorded in a more folksy manner by June Carter’s sister, Anita, as “Love’s Fiery Ring.”/”Love’s Ring of Fire”. Cash held back on his single to give her version a chance to chart. Continue reading Today: Johnny Cash recorded Ring of Fire in 1963→
Good Morning, Judge.
What will be my fine?
Good Morning, Judge.
What will be my fine?
He said I’m glad I got to see you,
That’ll be a dollar forty-nine.
…
They arrested me for forgery, I can’t even sign my name
(Judge Harsh Blues)
Wikipedia:
Birth name
Walter E. Lewis
Born
March 6, 1893
Origin
Greenwood, Mississippi, United States
Died
September 14, 1981 (aged 88)
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Genres
Delta blues, country blues
Occupations
Singer, guitarist, songwriter
Instruments
Vocals, guitar
Years active
Late 1920s – 1970s
Labels
Vocalion, Victor, Barclay, Lucky Seven, Universal
When I lay My Burden Down:
Walter E. “Furry” Lewis (March 6, 1893 – September 14, 1981) was an American country blues guitarist and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis was one of the first of the old-time blues musicians of the 1920s to be brought out of retirement, and given a new lease of recording life, by the folk blues revival of the 1960s. (Read more...)
Casey Jones:
Album of the day:
Shake ‘Em Down (1972)
….done for two Prestige/Bluesville albums (Back on My Feet Again, Done Changed My Mind) in April and May of 1961 at Sun Studios in Memphis. Lewis is in brilliant form throughout, his fingers nearly as fast and his voice as rich as they were 30-odd years earlier.
~Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)
OLD post … You’re being redirected to a newer version……
..Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him – the greatest of the greats then and now. I first met him in ‘62 or ‘63 and saw him a lot in those years. Not so much recently, but in some kind of way he was with me more than people I see every day.
~Bob Dylan (Statement on Johnny Cash – Sept 2003)
I love to go to the studio and stay there 10 or 12 hours a day. I love it. What is it? I don’t know. It’s life.
~Johnny Cash
You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
~Johnny Cash
Lyle Lovett Inducts Johnny Cash into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
I Walk The Line – 1956:
Wikipedia:
Birth name
John R. Cash
Born
February 26, 1932
Kingsland, Arkansas, United States
Died
September 12, 2003 (aged 71)
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Genres
Country, rock and roll, gospel
Occupations
Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Instruments
Vocals, guitar
Years active
1954–2003
Labels
Sun, Columbia, Mercury, American, House of Cash, Legacy Recordings
Associated acts
The Tennessee Three, The Highwaymen, June Carter Cash, The Statler Brothers, The Carter Family, Area Code 615
John R. “Johnny” Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author who was considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is primarily remembered as a country music icon, his songs and sound spanned other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—and blues, folk, and gospel. This crossover appeal won Cash the rare honor of induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
San Quentin (Live):
Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice, for the “boom-chicka-boom” sound of his Tennessee Three backing band; for a rebelliousness, coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor; for providing free concerts inside prison walls; and for his dark performance clothing, which earned him the nickname “The Man in Black”. He traditionally began his concerts with the phrase “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”, followed by his standard “Folsom Prison Blues”.
Much of Cash’s music echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. His best-known songs included “I Walk the Line”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Ring of Fire”, “Get Rhythm” and “Man in Black”. He also recorded humorous numbers like “One Piece at a Time” and “A Boy Named Sue”; a duet with his future wife, June Carter, called “Jackson”; and railroad songs including “Hey, Porter” and “Rock Island Line”. During the last stage of his career, Cash covered songs by several late 20th-century rock artists, most notably “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails.
Hurt:
Some awards & Honors:
His diversity was evidenced by his presence in three major music halls of fame:
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977)
Country Music Hall of Fame (1980)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992)
Only thirteen performers are in both of the last two, and only Hank Williams Sr., Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, and Bill Monroe share the honor with Cash of being in all three. However, only Cash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the regular manner, unlike the other country members, who were inducted as “early influences.”
His pioneering contribution to the genre has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996. Cash stated that his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, in 1980, was his greatest professional achievement. In 2001, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography for “Hurt” and was supposed to appear, but died during the night.
Dolly Parton’s 20 best songs according to Hallgeir.
This was hard. It was supposed to be a top 10 list, but I just couldn’t cut the list down to just ten songs.
15 songs written by Dolly Parton, 1 by W. Guthrie and 4 traditional songs. The first 15 are orginal Parton compositions.
Dolly Parton and Mick Jagger:
Take away the glitz and the bling, what’s left is a tremendous artist. Dolly Parton is one of the best performers out there and she is one of the all time best songwriters. 20 songs from a singer and songwriter that I consider to be world class.
