Ken Burns' COUNTRY MUSIC Documentary

For a second thought Peter La Farge was Nick Cave.

Whole lotta these fuckers have died since recording these interviews. Good on Ken for getting this done.

But i guess they didn't get Leon Russell? I know they have a set narrative, but Hank Wilson's Back was the 2 in the 1-2 Roots Punch behind May The Circle...

There better be more coverage of glen campbell than “like Johnny Cash, he had his own television show, but it was nowhere as important as hee haw.”

I think that actually was it, and it sucks.

That said, less Vietnam more Junior Samples.

Being inspired after watching Dolly Parton sing “Dumb Blonde” to look up Curly Putman’s songwriting credits came across this:
The Paul McCartney & Wings hit "Junior's Farm" was inspired by their short stay at Putman's farm in rural Wilson County, Tennessee in 1974

what a contrast

Merle Haggard’s Mom takes the greyhound every chance she can to see her son in prison and takes on all the shame & disgust from her own family & rematived, while Kristofferson’s mom disowns him ~by mail~ just for trying to become a country singer

momma haggard <3

rematived = relatives

O_o

Yeah, that was pretty nice of Merle’s mom.

I am an episode behind. So Kris Kristofferson is coming up next? Do they mention him sneaking demo tapes to Charlie Louvin?

Also, apologies for getting confused and thinking Connie Smith had been married to Marty Robbins.

Kristofferson is a big part of tonight's show, ep 6. Louvin isn't mentioned, but Cowboy Jack Clement and Marijohn Wilkin are.

Thanks. One time I heard an interview with Kris Kristofferson during which they called Charlie to discuss this and anything else they might want to talk about. After Kris and Charlie greeted each other they barely said anything, seeming to be holding back some laughter, presumably at whatever unbroadcastable words would have come out of Charlie’s mouth at any other time.

Think the deal was that Charlie was breaking a rule by accepting a demo tape from the janitor or whatever Kris’s actual job was, although not sure how this lines up chronologically with the Marijohn Wilkin relationship.

Here is some background and that conversation:
http://blog.lightintheattic.net/a-conversation-between-charlie-louvin-and-kris-kristofferson/

Also in case the doc never gets to it and you missed the earlier Chemirocha craze here is a link:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chemirocha-how-an-american-country-singer-became-a-kenyan-star

Goddammit they skirted Glen Campbell entirely by classifying him as a pop singer and I’m fkn PISSED

Ugh

Just throwing this out there, but Jimmy McDonough's book on Tammy Wynette (and Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton and George Jones and George Richey) is great.

That’s on my list, in my pile etc./pvmic

Somebody circulated a copy of St least the first episode with announcements for the visually impaired. So I need to download a NE version.

I thought the last episode was fairly well done, even though it ended with a slide show of all post-1996 country performers (without identifying any of them, which was a little annoying). But that may be my ignorance; if I'd known nothing about the music, I might have thought the last episode of Jazz was fine. Also, for as much as they focused on the commercial success of each artist, George Strait didn't get much coverage, despite having 60 (!) number one hits.

Were there any super-glaring omissions in the final episode?

Like many of you, I’m unsure how I can go on living now that I know George Jones once marketed women’s underwear called Possum Panties.

— Jon Wurster (@jonwurster) September 24, 2019

yeah that was a horrifying detail O_o

George's Secret

See the end of item 6 here:
https://www.neatorama.com/2015/06/17/10-Facts-You-Probably-Didnt-Know-About-the-Beatles/

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/4/49/I_Love_Lisa_66.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20131017175029

Lots of good links on here, thanks. Here's the xpost excellent James Burton interview:
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/03/757066866/elvis-guitarist-james-burton-i-went-professional-when-i-was-14 with a mention of the new monster box Elvis: Live 1969.

lol Grisso.

Year he ascended the come-back launched in Ded. '68, subsuming country and all his other genres/subgenres, a la Dylan and The Band, electric Miles, etc.

Goddammit they skirted Glen Campbell entirely by classifying him as a pop singer and I’m fkn PISSED

― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, September 24, 2019 12:49 AM (fifteen hours ago)

I'm holding out hope that they return to Glen for "Rhinestone Cowboy" -- that was a giant hit. Perhaps it shows up in the Ronnie Milsap section where we see how popularized country had become by the mid-70s. Opportunity there to talk about his evolution from Square-Jawed Purveyor of Jimmy Webb Songs to Cocaine-Riddled Beardo Fighting With Tanya Tucker.

Aren’t there like two hours reserved at the end for Johnny Cash’s Rick Rubin comeback?

i always sort of thought of glen campbell as basically a pop star too, there i said it

Yes, Cash's Rubin recordings get a lot of time, though Rubin isn't interviewed, which is too bad -- it would've been nice to hear why he chose to work with Cash, and his perceptions of how Cash's fans, and the country audience at large, would receive the records. And no, they don't return to Glen Campbell; the only coverage he gets is the couple of sentences and few seconds of "Wichita Lineman" in episode 6 or 7.

"Country" and "pop" are the "this is Jazz" and "hey, that's not Jazz!" of this series, apparently.

Unless there was more in the front half of ep 4 (which I missed), but it seems like Jim Reeves and Ray Price got a similar treatment, except spread out in pithy bits over a couple of shows.

Cash's Rubin recordings get a lot of time

this is disappointing idgaf about those records personally

ray price was a giant

Indeed, glad I got to see him live when he finally ventured north after a long hiatus.

Think he was Hank Williams’s roommate for a bit and started out as kind of a Hank clone, beehive it or not.

They <did> mention that! Price was quite the Honky-Tonker before embracing balladeering.

Rick Kienzle's Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky-Tonk, Western Swing, and Country Jazz starts at a peak, then tracks the adaptation, or lack thereof, of adventurous country artists to the rise of rock & roll and The Nashville Sound and Countrypolitan, yeesh. Ray Price made a comeback into honky tonk with a strong beat, rallying the more mobile geezers and even some rock-tending kiddos---then he decided he did wanna go genteel, making his road dawg band learn them weepers (also sometimes crammed some lounge string players etc. into the clubs) And you out there in the audience, you better 'preciate it! Interesting story.
What the hell, he and the audience survived. Later did some good albums with his former teen bass player, Willie Nelson.

Was just trying to think of that book. Believe it may have a chapter on Jimmy Wyble.

Guy Clark!

No Doug Sahm, huh.

They did Ray Price dirty, no question

xpost Hi James, I don't remember there being a whole chapter about Jimmy Wyble, but he's def in there---says he got to play on the wonderful Frank Sinatra - Live in Australia With the Red Norvo Quintet (1959), which may have gotten lost; didn't come out 'til 97, on Blue Note, where it belongs. Everybody's so happy and excited, how can they do the lonely cosmic ballads right? Well, they do! Helps that it's also the many moods of Frank, and one of his jazziest ever, with no need for an orchestra. Jest doin' what comes natcherly.

Have they mentioned Freddy Fender?

Yeah. He and Johnny Rodriguez share a segment.

a highlight tonight was Billy Sherrill yelling at George Jones "that's 'Help Me Make It Through The Night' ... FOOL!" when Jones kept singing Kristofferson's melody while recording "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

For those who don't think of Glen Campbell as Country:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jah3hg119g

(Note: this time I spared you the British Guitarist Reacting to this)