Ken Burns' COUNTRY MUSIC Documentary

I saw Townes Van Zandt open for Jimmie Dale Gilmore at The Bottom Line once and I have to say, while I am usually pretty tolerant of people’s eccentricities, he kind of freaked me out a bit.

I liked the story about how when he worked with the Cowboy Junkies, he asked had any of them shot up on a horse.

I actually lived in Austin for a few years, but hardly ever crossed paths with any of the notables, although I did see Joe Ely in a coffee shop once and almost housesat for Steve Young while he was going on a State Department tour of Mongolia or something. Then a few weeks after I moved back to NYC I walked out of my office on 52nd street and saw Jimmie Dale Gilmore pass right in front of me.

I think maybe I did laundry once with someone who lived in a place as Lucinda Williams used to live and had one of her shirts/famous people I have known

Good thing I wasn’t asked to be a talking head on that show or I would have really wasted time.

lol

I might have recited the lyrics to Gary Stewart’s “Single Again,” then gotten a little emotional and said “That’s good!”

Oh, did they mention Gary Stewart?
So glad for incl. music and comments of Jeannie Seely, but was Merle's mention of Lefty Frizzell (as his inspiration) the only one?

Did not realize that Charlie McCoy played that excellent guitar on "Desolation Row!" And that this chance encounter, leading to one-or-two take otm, led D. to A-List-Nashvillecatville.

or "Desolation Row"!

I want to say it was a first take, too.

Thought he said two takes, unless they didn't record the first.

Don't think they did mention Gary Stewart, so maybe it wouldn't have been a waste of time for me to mention him after all.

Don't remember too much about Lefty being in the doc except as an influence on Merle and maybe someone else.

They seem to have maybe mentioned "Long Black Veil," if not him singing it, at least in the context of Marijohn WIlkin writing it before she discovered Kris Kristofferson and it is mentioned here: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/favorite-country-song but I'm not sure, I am not such a good note taker.

Watching episode two now, they got Jean Shepard! She died in 2016.

Feel like we should poll the talking heads on this at some point

Marty wins for me <3

I like Marty but maybe he’s too much of a good thing.

Is it nitpicking to question Tom T. Hall putting a character called Mister Harper into “Harper Valley PTA”? It seem like a structural flaw if not a paradox or a time loop. If he owned the whole valley, wouldn’t he send his kids to a fancier school somewhere else? Unless maybe his family used to own the valley but lost control of it due to bad business dealings.

There's a three part Cocaine and Rhinestones just about that song.

Lefty Frizzell is also discussed to not massive length in the Hank Williams ep (#3).

There's a three part Cocaine and Rhinestones just about that song.

In case anybody missed it, Shakey dropped some science on us recently that Bob Dylan’s country voice was basically him doing Lefty Frizzell.

Actually don’t think I finished listening to the third, Tom T. Hall-based episode of the podcast about that song, so maybe that detail IS discussed.

Will have to check Shakey's post, thanks.
If he owned the whole valley, wouldn’t he send his kids to a fancier school somewhere else? Was a common Southern thing back then, to save some bucks, because egalitarian, complacent, and/or teach your kids to know their places, as big tadpoles in a small pond. Or this is how it seemed to me, before official desegregation (then "seg academies" started appearing, not always for the rich).
Unless maybe his family used to own the valley but lost control of it due to bad business dealings. Could be---as labor laws came into existence and tightened up, sometimes not much, could still make a big difference. Also there might be Harpers with different levels of income, most with more or less than the aforementioned Mr. Harper moving away, another Southern thing, then and now.

So, good of T. to slip that in there.

Actually Shakey’s post is almost ten years old, but I only saw it recently:
Poll: Nashville Skyline

bob dylan's lefty frizzell gives me more kermit the frog imo but it does make me like his singing voice a little more thinking of it as lefty

Wondering if Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose were influenced in their naming convention by The Maddox Brothers & Rose.

Okay, I do have one firsthand story that actually might be of interest to you. When I was introduced to Jimmy Wyble I was told “he played the solo on ‘Roly Poly’,” so I asked “And did Bob Wills say ‘Aah, Jimmy!’?” “Yes, and he hated it every time.” And Jimmy looked at me and said “I preferred to remain anonymous.”

haha that's so good. Def talking-head worthy :)

Lefty Frogzell:

http://toughpigs.com/uploaded_images/royrogers-726794.jpg

Frog Dylan

You guys are reminding me of something in this post

I really like Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and recognize their significance as the first full-time songwriters in Nashville but felt maybe there was a bit too much time devoted to them.

I believe Boudreaux co-wrote this novelty number I have a soft spot for with one of their favorite artists, Little Jimmy Dickens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6PH2wPsEnM

In episode two I wasn't too into the Minnie Pearl section. It was fine and I get why she's a country icon, but she wasn't really a singer or musician.

BTW, wiki says some of the interviews took place as early as 2012! Ken Burns must have a lot of pots cooking on the stove at once.

Minnie Pearl was a great ambassador for the Music for longer than just about anybody, and also figures in to a surprisingly big number of other artists lives (Hank I etc.).

This is all covered in later episodes.

^^^

Yes, this is true.

Some stuff I don’t think I saw in this doc but it kind of complicated and doesn’t always show up in other histories, particularly related to Why Nashville?:
1) Before BMI, before Acuff-Rose, before the Bryants, it was very difficult for a songwriter to make a living off of/collect royalties for this kind of music or to connect with the artists since things were still so regional, except for in Hollywood because of the singing cowboy craze, where somebody like Cindy Walker could be a full-time songwriter and survive. Although the doc does mention that Gene Autry was big enough for ASCAP to handle his publishing.

2) The breakthrough moment for Nashville as a recording hub is often said to be the freak pop hit in 1947 of Francis Craig’s “Near You” on Bullet Records, founded by Jim Bulleit, who left/was forced out shortly afterwards but still mentored other independent record label owners such as Sam Phillips.

And Randy Wood of Dot Records.

Debating whether to get a haircut this week or to just let it grow out to full-on Marty Stuart nirvana.

I know why Minnie Pearl is important to country music culture, I just wasn't that interested in her story. I mean, Buck Owens is as famous (may even as important) for Hee Haw as he is for his music, but I would be bummed if the doc spent more time on the former than on the latter. But I do look forward to hearing Pearl's story fleshed out and connected to others, if that is the case.

It’s fleshed out a bit, but it might not be what you are after.

Came to say, do you guys know about this podcast:
https://holdingthingstogether.com/page/1/

Thanks, will check that!
Also re your mention of things were still so regional, except for in Hollywood because of the singing cowboy craze, the West Coast, and Hollywood in particular is the initial setting of the book I mentioned upthread
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. They're having to go back to the boonies from which many of them sprung, or worse (well not going back to the Dust Bowl etc but some of these cats were from okay palces, they just wanted to do better, and Nashville was not that, to them).

Also does this series mention that Nashville was orignally yet another industrial hub, to which the music biz was a graft that took a while to take: swarm of migrants from the Asheville axis, after the establishment of monster station WSM--but I've also read that country was often not the top format in local radio, during the mid-to-late 20th Century at least, because many of the people who moved to town for work were more attached to music of their home states--another reason for countrypolitan etc, smooother less rootsy sounds, although some of that was also for Southerners who had escaped ro were trying to escape from rougher roots.

Also did they mention Charlie Rich, although I get that he might not be full-time country enough for much mention, like Doug Sahm and Elvis.

Charlie Rich is brought up briefly during discussion about Billy Sherrill in the '70s, and later they play the clip of him burning the envelope at the CMAs.

Seems like in a way the only reason they brought Rich up was to set up that clip later.

He got a really backhanded mention that at least one of those podcasters was pretty mad about. He was referred to in passing as an “R&B journeyman.”

Elvis gets quite a bit of airtime during the Rockabilly segment, which maybe goes on longer than it needs to, Doug Sahm nothing, even though the Texas Tornados are mentioned for a second at the tail end of the Freddie Fender segment, described as being created by Freddie along with Flaco Jimenez to promulgate conjunto music, which seemed to me to be close but not quite accurate