Music & More

English Country

It was a little over a year ago that I first heard of English country singer David Bradley. A resident of Nashville now, David hails from the town of Sunderland, in Northern England. According to his website, he finished his latest album, "Movin' On", in 2010 under the direction of singer/songwriter/director Brady Seals.

It was a little over a week ago at the Bluebird Cafe that I saw David perform for the first time. He hosted the 6 pm show which was originally billed as David Bradley & friends and then changed on the day before the show to "In the row with David Bradley, James Otto, Lucas Hoge and Johnny Gates". I guess sometimes they're not sure who will be appearing when the show is originally listed on the Bluebird website. Most Bluebird shows are "In the Round" with the artists forming a circle in the middle of the room. "In the Row" shows are performed on the small Bluebird stage on the right as you enter. As the name implies, the artists line up in a row.

I really enjoyed hearing David sing his moving ballad, "Hard Time Movin' On", written by Rivers Rutherford and Gordie Sampson (see my post of March 9, 2011) and the fun "If You Can't Make Money (Make Love)" from writers Brad Paisley, Bill Anderson and Jon Randall. David said that "Hard Time Movin' On" was a #1 hit in Europe although to my knowledge it didn't chart here. The recorded version features Rodney Crowell on harmony. A favorite of mine that he didn't sing, "Someday We'll Get It Right", features Emily West and was written by David and John Wayne Wiggins.

It was the last song of the evening that got to me. From the reactions of the rest of the audience I can safely say that I was not alone. The song, "Get a Hero Home", was written by Cory "The Black Dress Song" Batten and Phillip Pence. In the first verse, a soldier just home from Iraq is trying to hitch a ride from Virginia to Tucson, Arizona (Cory's from Tucson.) when a semi pulls up and the driver offers him a ride. The driver says he hears it's  hot in the Tucson desert and the soldier says yes, "but nowhere near that fiery hell back in Iraq". He can't wait to hold his wife and see his year old son who's never met his dad.

The soldier falls asleep to the humming of the engine and the driver gets on his cb to begin the chorus:

"Breaker, Breaker 1-9, who's got your ears on,

picked up a soldier in Virginia, he's trying to reach Tucson,

I can get him as far as Tupelo,

Then I could use a little help, to get a hero home"

After they arrive in Tupelo, the driver nudges him awake and tells him that his friend will get him to San Antonio. The middle of the chorus changes to reflect the progress of his ride:

"picked up a soldier in Mississippi trying to reach Tucson

I can get him as far as San Anton' "

In the bridge, we hear that when they get to San Antonio they find twenty 18 wheelers lined up, all offering to take that soldier home to Tucson. The last singing of the chorus tells of getting the hero safely home. There is no jingoistic posturing or political statement of any kind.

According to Bradley's website, the song was released on December 22, 2011. I don't know if it's ever gotten any radio play here in the States. I check the American Country Top 40 Countdown with Kix Brooks on-line every week mainly to see what's new so I do know that it never made the Kix countdown. You can see David's performance of the Hero song at Fort Knox on You-Tube and find the complete lyrics at: www.americansongspace.com/songprofile/get-a-hero-home-phillip-pence.

Some of the other high points of the show for me included James Otto singing  his #1 hit from 2007, "Just Got Started Lovin' You". James also sang the current Zac Brown Band hit "No Hurry" and Jamey Johnson's "In Color". He was a co-writer on all three songs. I don't remember the names of the other songs he sang. Each artist sang five. Although his songs were not familiar, I was very impressed with Lucas Hoge's vocals. Checking the i-Tunes store I see that his most popular song appears to be "Give a Damn". I couldn't find anything for Johnny Gates.

Before the show began, cards were placed on each table for Renegade music nashville.com. David Bradley is on Renegade Wednesdays and Fridays at 1 pm central time.

 

BP's Double Heart

My guess is that most fans of the Band Perry - lead singer Kimberly and brothers Reid and Neil - are at least 40 or 50 years younger than I am. Medicare and the BP just don't seem like a logical match. Much to my surprise however, I found myself liking their self-titled platinum debut album released in October of 2010. Maybe it's really not that strange that their music appeals to me since I still like a lot of the music I loved when I was in my teens and twenties, doo wop, rock, folk, etc. I still play that old music. I have no great desire to go see BP perform in concert. I believe they're touring with Brad Paisley this summer so that means playing arenas and other large venues. I'm a small venue guy and never was a fan in the sense that I wanted to meet an artist, get their autograph or have my picture taken with them.

I'm not wild about every song, but I certainly like a good part of the BP album. The singles were in order of release, "Hip to My Heart", "If I Die Young", "You Lie", "All Your Life" and the latest and most likely the last single, "Postcards From Paris". I think that "You Lie" was the weakest and "All Your Life" was just ok. I'm not going to comment any further on the singles. There are plenty of reviews for them on-line. I'll just mention that while the only solo writing effort is Kimberly Perry's "If I Die Young", the Band Perry family is involved in the writing of 8 of the other 10 tracks.

A song that was not chosen for single release has become one of my favorite tracks on this BP album. "Double Heart" is an uptempo rocker that moves along at an almost frantic pace. (Think Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Running" re the pace.) I have to listen to this song sitting down. The beat is so infectious that if I stood I'd be tempted to dance, an activity that could have devastating effects on my back. The BP is a country music act. Is the song country? Don't know and don't care. There is some steel guitar and fiddle. It's probably pop-country.

"Double Heart" was written by Brett Beavers and the BP trio. The girl's not ready for a permanent relationship but the first two guys she meets apparently are to the extent that they get tattoos of double hearts with their names and hers. The beginnings of the first two verses describe the guys. He's a "cold drink of water with butterscotch hair" in the first (i've heard guys described as a "tall drink of water" - maybe she was trying to avoid using a cliche) and a "tough brawny buster" who tried to rope her "right out of the shoot" in the second. They both swore they loved her. The first verse ends with the guy rolling up his sleeve and the girl seeing her name next to his. She varies the end of the second verse by saying "I thought here we go again" after he rolled up his sleeve.

I'm not into tattoos. I'm glad my kids don't have them. It's not a moral judgment. Just don't like them - the permanence and, from what I've heard, the pain, even though the pain is temporary unless you decide to have the tattoo removed. The pre-chorus begins by talking of "a new tattoo stinging like a hornet" and later "burning like a brand". When it comes to my skin, stinging and branding are not what I'm after. (No earrings or other forms of body piercing either.) The first two times Kimberly sings the pre-chorus, the last line concludes "first comes the ink, then comes the ring". The last singing of the pre-chorus ends "so don't you put ink 'til I take the ring". Pretty cool lyrics. She's saving the last guy from the pain and suffering of a tattoo removal. The main chorus begins "bye bye baby ..." The memories could have been sweet but he moved too fast. "You should have slowed down mister, moving like a twister's just a little fast for me". If he ever misses her, she's right there on his arm. She'll leave him "skid marks and a double heart".

Other favorite non-singles from this album include "Independence", "Lasso", "Quittin' You" and "Miss You Being Gone". The album lyrics in general have been described by some reviewers as quirky. But I like quirky.

 

World Songs

"How's the World Treating You"? Are you one of those people predicting  "The End of the World"? Or do you just want to "Make the World Go Away"? Are you on "Top of the World"? Back "Here in the Real World", I'm just an old retired guy looking for songs that include the word "World" in the title. I sometimes go through the songs in my MacBook's i-Tunes library, looking for ideas for a playlist. With all the information available on the internet, "It's Such a Small World". 

Today I came up with a list of country "World" songs. Some are singles, some album tracks, some old, some new. Some are so well known that no comment is needed for readers who are country music fans. I'm sure I've missed some good songs so I'm open to suggestions to upgrade this list. So "Hello World", here are the songs with the names of the songwriters in parenthesis and the album it first appeared in:

Alan Jackson - "Here in the Real World" (Mark Irwin & AJ), from the 1990 album of the same name.

Alison Krauss & James Taylor - "How's the World Treating You" (Chet Atkins & Boudleaux Bryant), from the 2000 tribute album, "Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers".

Brad Paisley - "The World" (Kelley Lovelace, Lee Thomas Miller & BP), from "Time Well Wasted".

Dixie Chicks - "Top of the World" (Patty Griffin), from the album "Home".

Brooks & Dunn - "Rock My World (Little Country Girl)" (Bill La Bounty & Steve O'Brien), from their 1993 album, "Hard Workin' Man".

Allison Paige - "The End of the World" (Sylvia Dee - lyrics & Arthur Kent - music), first recorded by Skeeter Davis in 1962 and by many others since.

Rodney Crowell & Rosanne Cash - "It's Such a Small World" (Rodney Crowell), from Rodney's "Diamonds & Dirt" album.

Ronnie Milsap - "Let's Take the Long Way Around the World" (A. Jordan & N. Martin), from "The Essential Ronnie Milsap", a 40 song collection released in 2006 on BMG Music.

Lady Antebellum - "Hello World" (Tom Douglas, Tony Lane & David Lee), from "Need You Now".

Lady Antebellum - "Heart of the World" (Tom Douglas & Scooter Carusoe), from "Own the Night".

Blaine Larsen - "Off to Join the World (the Circus Song)" (Mark D. Sanders & Shawn Camp), from his 2004 debut album of the same name.

Wynonna - "Change the World" (Gordon Kennedy, Tommy Sims & Wayne Kirkpatrick), an album track from her 1996 album "Revelations".

Wynonna - "What the World Needs" (Brett James & Holly Lamar), a single from her 2003 album "What the World Needs Now Is Love".

Mary Chapin Carpenter - "A Place in the World" (MCC), from her album of the same title.

Eagles - "It's Your World Now" (Glenn Frey & Jack Tempchin), the last track on disc 2 of their "Long Road Out of Eden" album.

Jeff Carson with Lisa Brokop - "God Save the World" (Pat Bunch & Doug Johnson)

The Jeffersons (who are LIsa Brokop & Paul Jefferson, not George and Louise) - "What a World" (Fred Wilhelm & Lisa Brokop), from their debut cd as a duo.

Mark McGuinn - "If the World Was Mine" (Mark McGuinn & Shane Decker), from his self-titled debut album in 2001.

Melinda Schneider - "Big World, Small World" (Jay Knowles & Melinda Schneider), from her album "Melinda Schneider, Hits and Rarities"

Rissi Palmer - "I'm Not of This World" (Sarah Majors, Dan Shea & Rissi Palmer), from her 2007 self-titled debut album.

Gloriana - "The World Is Ours Tonight" (Jess Cates, Lindy Robbins & Matt Serletic), from their debut album "Gloriana".

Tricia Walker - "Eighth Wonder of the World" (Bobby King & Ellen Britton), from her 2007 album "Velvet".

A few years ago I bought the "Ultimate Eddy Arnold" cd, a 20 song compilation released in 2003 from BMG Music. The cd included the following three "World" songs, all from the mid 1960's and all made it to #1 on the country charts:

"What's He Doing in My World" (Carl Belew, Billy Joe Moore & Eddie Bush)

"Make the World Go Away" (Hank Cochran), first recording was by Ray Price in '63.

"Turn the World Around" (Ben Peters)

In addition to these three, I found four other "World" songs on Wikipedia's Eddy Arnold discography. Guess he was the king of the world song singers?

What are your favorite country "World" songs?

If you like playlists with a theme, you may want to check out some of these past posts here on Music & More:

Country Covers of pop songs - 8/24/08

Sappy Songs - 9/29/08

True Duets - 10/20/08

Christmas Songs - 12/11/08

Fun Country Songs - 3/8/09

Best Baseball Songs - 4/5/09

Country Story Songs - 9/26/09

Country Dance Songs - 5/1/10

A Few Autumn/Fall Songs 10/1/10

Gone Country Songs - 11/2/10

Winter Songs - 1/27/11

Cities & States in Country Songs - 3/8/11

Cowboy Songs - 4/2/11

Country Rain Songs - 6/21/11

Pop Rain Songs - 7/12/11

Favorite Songs about Working - 9/1/11

Favorite Country Drinking Songs - 10/7/11



A Thousand Wild Horses

I've probably heard Gary Burr sing "A Thousand Wild Horses" about a half dozen times at the Bluebird Cafe and every time wished that I had the song in my i-Tunes library. Before singing it at his show the night before last, he mentioned that it's going to be on the Blue Sky Riders cd. For those who don't know, Blue Sky Riders is a group consisting of Gary, Georgia Middleman and Kenny Loggins. They did some touring last year and will be on the road again soon. Gary said that he and Georgia were flying out to L.A. the day after the show to do some more work on the debut Blue Sky Riders album. Hopefully, the cd will be released shortly. My guess is that "A Thousand Wild Horses" will not be the group's debut single, if it ever is a single. Kenny Loggins is obviously the best known member of the group so I think the first single will feature KL.

The song was written by Gary with Sam & Annie Tate, a husband and wife songwriting team. It's about a man starting a new relationship and worrying about the wild horses or demons of his past. He knows his old issues aren't going away. He'll have to deal with them in this new relationship and he's not optimistic about being successful. "One drink too many, one kiss too deep, and I feel that old shake in the ground, that's a thousand wild horses, thundering behind me, hell bent on running me down." After the bridge, he warns his prospective lover "so if you're thinking you're the one who can save me, baby this ain't no merry-go-round, it's a thousand wild horses ..."

"A Thousand Wild Horses" can be heard on You-Tube. There's a May 4, 2011 version by the Blue Sky Riders from the Rutledge, one of Nashville's live music venues. Gary sings lead. There's another from a March 18, 2011 show at the Bluebird Cafe with Gary singing solo. (My wife and I were at that Bluebird show which featured Gary and Don Schlitz.) The latter You-Tube is better because of the Bluebird's SHHH! policy so there's less talking in the background.

Tuesday night's show was on the small Bluebird stage rather than their usual "in the round" format. Gary was backed by Gary Hart on piano and Duncan Mullins on base with backing vocals - and two solos - provided by Gary's fiancee and fellow Blue Sky Rider, Georgia Middleman. I got to hear quite a few of my favorite Burr songs, like "Time Machine", "What Mattered Most", "One Night a Day", "She Can't Be Really Gone", etc. Great night! 

Related past posts:

8/9/10 Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before ...

2/9/11 Country Songwriting Team Tate

4/19/11 Burr-Schlitz

7/20/11 Blue Sky Riders, Headliner Opening for Himself?

 

 

Music Halls of Fame

The Country Music Hall of Fame just inducted Garth Brooks, Connie Smith and Hargus "Pig" Robbins. I would certainly not dispute the merits of these artists. Obviously, Garth is the best known of the trio. I have most of his music and especially liked his first three albums. A full list of the CMHF members can be found on their website, countrymusichalloffame.org. The list of inductees goes back to 1961 when Hank Williams, Fred Rose and Jimmie Rodgers became the Hall's first members. Click on their name or "More info" and you get a bio of the inductee. Some of my favorite members include - in most recent year of induction order - the Statler Brothers ('08), Alabama ('05), Glen Campbell ('05), the Everly Brothers ('01), Elvis Presley ('98), Brenda Lee ('97), and Patsy Cline ('73).

Although I've been a resident of Nashville for over 5 years, I have yet to go through the exhibits. I've only been in the lobby and giftshop. It's not the cost of admission that prevents me from going. The regular price of admission for adults is $20 and as a senior it would only cost me $18. I just have no compelling desire to go. I can read the bios on-line. The first time I go will probably be when some relative or friend visits and wants to go and I'll take them. It's not like I have anything against country music - far from it. I also have no desire to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, even though I grew up on rock music. I went to an Indians baseball game in Cleveland while on a business trip in 1999 but didn't have time to visit the R'n'R Hall.

Actually, I am much more familiar with the artists in the rock than the country hall, even though I've hardly listened to any rock music from the 80's on. The rock hall only goes back to 1986. In the first year, inductees included 16 acts. I guess they had a lot of catching up to do. Three of the these acts, the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley and, most surprising to me, Jimmie Rodgers, are in the country as well as the rock hall. It's said of Rodgers on the rock hall website, rockhall.com, that "his combination of blues and hillbilly styles made him a true forebear of rock and roll, and he was also part of the first group of musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". His induction category is called "Early Influence". I tend to think of Elvis and the Everly's more as rock than country. Their big hits were as rock artists. Some of the other '86 rock inductees included Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, James Brown, Fats Domino and DJ Alan Freed, the last in a non-performer category. 

I would probably be more interested in the Country Music Hall of Fame if they inducted country artists more to my liking. I would like to see John Denver, Ronnie Milsap, Anne Murray, Gene Watson, Larry Gatlin and Crystal Gayle be so honored by the CMHF. Frankly, if Elvis and the Everly's are members, I see no reason why Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles shouldn't be included. Some of my more recent country favorites, Suzy Bogguss and Hal Ketchum, will share John Denver's fate and never get in. George Strait will put out a doo-wop album before JD gets selected.

So, which is my favorite hall of fame?

 

Without a doubt, it's the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York which I first visited in 1966 and returned to on three other occasions.

Carusoe

Since there's an "e" on the end in the title of this post, you can safely assume that it has nothing to do with the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. I'm talking here about Scooter Carusoe, a country music songwriter, born in North Carolina who lived in Knoxville before moving to Nashville. He doesn't have a website or a myspace or even a wikipedia article about him. He should. I don't know how old he is or how long he's been writing songs although the oldest song I discovered was from 2005.

The name he chose to be known by - I'll explain later - makes me think of the first novel I ever read, Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", published in 1719. The nickname, Scooter, makes me think of the Hall of Fame Yankee shortstop, Phil "The Scooter" Rizzuto. I've always been a Yankee fan and I lived in New York for just over 60 years. Admittedly, my memories of Rizzuto were much more of his career as the "Holy Cow" announcer of Yankee games than as a player. But I digress as I'm prone to do. Wonder what made this songwriter choose Scooter Carusoe?

What got me thinking of Mr. Carusoe was a review of a song he co-wrote which became the title track and second single from David Nail's sophomore album, "The Sound of a Million Dreams". The country music blog Country Universe gave the song an "A" in their review on February 8, 2012. Writer Ben Foster called it a "tribute and testament to the power of a well-crafted, deeply resonant song".  CU does not often hand out "A's" and they are not afraid to hand out "D's' or even an "F" now and then. Although I don't always agree with them, I never get the impression that they're just shilling for the country music industry.

Written with Phil Vassar, "The Sound of a Million Dreams" features a great chorus:

"So I labor for hours 'cause I know the power

of a song when a song hits you right

pouring my soul into stories of life

hoping someone'll hear one tonight

maybe my voice will cut through the noise

and stir up an old memory

and out of these piano keys

comes the sound, the sound of a million dreams"

Makes me want to write a song. Unfortunately, I have no musical talent. When David sings "out of these piano keys" near the end of the chorus, co-writer Phil Vassar comes to mind. I've seen him in concert twice and always think of him as country music's piano man.The song's two 8 line verses are also very strong. The first calls up a musical memory. The second recalls a youthful mistake and a mother who said "I love you not, I told you so".

I recently purchased the new Nail album which includes another Scooter songwriter related song, this one written with Billy Montana. "Songs for Sale" takes a less inspirational approach than "The Sound of a Million Dreams". Songwriting is just his job, just as "some are called to preach the gospel, string fence in Colorado" ... "swing a hammer at a nail, haul bricks or carry mail", ... "I got songs for sale". Carusoe also wrote a third track on the Nail cd, "Catch You While I Can" with Jedd Hughes, a seize the moment song.

Scooter co-wrote 5 songs on David Nail's debut album, "I'm About to Come Alive": "Mississippi", "Again", "Clouds", "Strangers On a Train" and "Turning Home". Although the last was the only single, my favorites are:

"Mississippi" - written with Dan Colehour & Chuck Leavell. In the opening verse, I like how snow in New York is compared to cotton in Mississippi, a "southern man's field of white".

"Again", a song written with David Nail, seems like it might be autobiographical for David. He talks about giving up chasing his father's baseball dream. "I turned in that uniform before I ever played a game". His girl left town to pursue her dream. He wonders if he or she could ever again feel like they did as kids growing up in a small town.

"Strangers on a Train" was written with Aimee Mayo. It's about seeing someone you're attracted to when you already have someone, wondering how it would be but knowing that nothing will come of it. The second verse ends "but don't feel guilty, it don't mean much, the truth is the two of us ain't never gonna touch". There's a You-Tube video of Scooter singing the song with David Nail.

I first discovered Carusoe when I bought the third Sugarland album, "Love On the Inside", released in 2008. It's arguably their best effort and was unfortunately followed by the awful "Incredible Machine" cd. Songs by Carusoe included "We Run", "Fall Into Me" and "Wishing", all written with Nettles and Bush. None were singles but all are really good songs with "We Run" marred only by all the nanana's at the end.

Whenever I buy a new album, one of the first things I do is check the liner notes to see who wrote the songs. I've been doing this for close to 20 years. Because I like the songs Carusoe wrote for David Nail and Sugarland, I decided to try to find out what other songs he has written. Since it's the most user friendly of the Performing Rights Organizations websites, I tried ASCAP first, rather than BMI or SESAC. (see my post on Searching the PRO's of 4/14/10.) I searched by songwriter, typing in Scooter Carusoe. When his name came up as Carusoe, Scooter, I clicked on it and found 42 songs written by Travis Fredrick Hill. Hmm. Could that be his real name? The list included the Carusoe songs mentioned above.

I don't recall any other songwriters at this moment who use a pen name but so what? The guy can write so who cares. Besides Nail and Sugarland, he's written for:

Kenny Chesney - his #1 hit from 2005, "Anything But Mine", a solo writing effort, and another #1 in '08, "Better As a Memory", written with Lady Goodman.

Lady Antebellum - "The Heart of the World" written with Tom Douglas, from their "Own the Night" cd.

Eli Young Band - co-wrote the title track to their "Jet Black and Jealous" cd and one of the singles from that album, "Guinevere".

Wade Bowen -  "Before These Walls Were Blue", written with Wade Bowen. It doesn't appear to be available on i-Tunes but you can see Wade sing it on You-Tube.

You can check out other Carusoe songs on ASCAP and also find the names of co-writers where I didn't provide them. Looks like Scooter is well on his way to becoming one of the great country songwriters.

 

 

On the Amazon

Today's the 53rd anniversary of "The Day the Music Died". This post has nothing to do with that day.  I just thought I'd mention it even though 53 doesn't exactly have a nice ring to it like a 50th or 100th anniversary. My thin connection is that Don McLean wrote "American Pie" and this post deals with a song he recorded but didn't write.

 

In my post on January 7th, I recommended a great book about Teddy Roosevelt's 1913 adventure in the Amazon region of South America. It gives me a flimsy excuse to follow it up with a song about the Amazon. It's on the silly side but I like it anyway. Maybe it's the inner kid in me that delights in hints of naughtiness. If somehow you stumble upon this blog and question my taste in writing about such a juvenile song, I'll probably just agree with you - and play the song again.

 

"On the Amazon" is a song from the 1929 English musical, "Mr. Cinders". Don McLean's self-titled 1972 LP includes the only version of "On the Amazon" I had ever heard until a few days ago. A search of the ASCAP database indicates that the song was also covered by Bobby Short. Other sources indicate that one of the English songwriters recorded it, a man named Vivian Ellis, and also Denis Lawson, another Englishman. You can hear 90 seconds of the Short and Lawson versions on i-Tunes, but not McLean's. "On the Amazon" is not among the over 200 McLean songs  available there but you can hear it on You-Tube. Don gives a great vocal performance with appropriate intonations that add to the humor. Never released as a single, "On the Amazon" was written by Greatrex Newman, Clifford Grey and the aforementioned Vivian Ellis.

 

How did Don find this song "On the Amazon"? Back in the early 70's he couldn't sit down at his PC and google songs about the Amazon River. There were no PC's, no internet. Don was born in 1945 so he didn't attend the original play. Maybe his parents or grandparents knew of the song and passed it down to him. Did he hear Bobby Short's version? (Couldn't find out the year Short first recorded it.)

 

A cduniverse review of Don's album said in regard to "On the Amazon" that "the song's nonsense lyrics employ multisyllabic words as if they were the names of animals". It's a hoot! What more can you say about a song that describes a place where:

 

prophylactics prowl - Don sings it "pa-rowl"  

hypodermics howl - a shot from the doc as a kid made me howl

you hear a scarab scowl and sting - he sings "scowl" like his voice is scowling and "sting" like he's stinging the listener's ear.

 

the lyrics also describe:

stalactites and vicious vertebrae
stalagmites and parasites from Paraguay

snarling equinox - he sings with a snarl
and freezing fahrenheit 

duodenum lurk in the trees
the jungle swarms with green apostrophes

 

it's a place where:

the pax vobiscum bite
epiglottis fight and
hemispheres slink where the agnostics drink
hippodromes hunt metronomes then kodachromes drink their blood,
velocipedes scare you and menopause ensnares you

Frenzied adenoids - he sings a dainty "fuh-renzied" before concluding,
"everyone avoids the deadly stethoscopes

oh, the Amazon is calling,

yes, the Amazon is calling,

oh, the Amazon is calling me-ee!"

 

They don't write 'em like that any more.

 

other posts about Don:

 

2/3/09 - Don McLean's Other Songs

4/29/10 - Don McLean's Bio

 

other posts about songs I think are funny:

 

3/8/09 - Fun Country Songs

4/25/11 - Waikiki Cowboy

 

 

 

 

 

They Didn't Make It Big, Part 3

In the first two parts of this series, I covered Yankee Grey, Big House, Jamie O'Neal, Pinmonkey, Mark McGuinn and Kevin Sharp, all very talented folks. Here are three more country singers I thought would be big stars:

When I first heard Oklahoma born Kellie Coffey, I thought wow we have another Trisha Yearwood caliber singer in country music. She had a very good debut cd with "When You Lie Next to Me", which led to her winning a Top New Female Vocalist Award at the 2003 ACM's. Her uptempo single, "Texas Plates", reached # 24 in '03 - loved the video too - and she followed it up with a great cover of the Luther Vandross song, "Dance With My Father", which Vandross co-wrote with Richard Marx.

Kellie's second album, "Walk On", was self-released in 2007 and failed to chart. The album's only single, "I Would Die for That", met the same fate chartwise. The song, written by Trina Harmon, James Slater and Kellie, dealt with the issue of infertility.  She would die to have a baby. "With every test and checkup, we're told not to give up, he wonders if it's him, I wonder if it's me".  The album also included great uptempo songs "Bandwagon" and, my favorite, "It". Give "It" a listen to see what it is. 

Kellie didn't just show up and sing on her albums. She co-wrote 7 of the 11 tracks on her debut cd and 11 of the 12 tracks on "Walk On". Perhaps the lack of success for the second cd can be partially attributed to the fact that she never toured in support of it. With two young children she may have decided to pack it in, at least temporarily. The news section of her website hasn't been updated since July of '08.

My Sappy Songs post of 9/29/08, included two hits from Tammy Cochran. She had a #9 hit in 2001 with "Angels in Waiting", written by Jim McBride, Stewart Harris and Tammy. In '02, "Life Happened", written by Kerry Kurt Phillips and Patrick Matthews, made it to #20. Two other songs made the top 40 but she's had nothing significant in the way of chart success since. The line in "Angels" that always gets to me is "They always knew they wouldn't grow old, sometimes the body is weaker than the soul". Her two older brothers, Shawn and Alan, died of cystic fibrosis.

Her last two albums were on independent labels. "Where I Am" in '07 and "30 Something and Single" in '09, failed to produce any hit singles. On the last album, she co-wrote all but one song (a cover of "Stand By Your Man"). Three songs were written with Gary Harrison, the title track, "It's All Over But the Leaving" and "He Really Thinks He's Got It". Love the line from the last about unwanted attentions from "Mr. 1979", "I'll bet you've tasted pepper spray a time or two". There was also a song called "Half the World Away (Shawn's Song)" about her adoption of a boy from Guatemala whom she named Shawn Alan.

Although Tammy's still without a major record label deal and her website hasn't been updated in almost two years, she does still perform occasionally. I saw her at the Bluebird Cafe four months ago and she sounded great.

Michael Peterson's country music career got off to a great start when his first 3 singles cracked the top 10. In 1997, "Drink, Swear, Steal and Lie" made it to #3 and "From Here to Eternity" hit the top spot. In 1998, "Too Good to Be True" reached #8 but "When the Bartender Cries" peaked at #37. He had a few minor hits in 1999 to close out the century, but nothing in the top 40 since then. If you're new to his music, a good start would be to buy the Warner Brothers Nashville Super Hits Volume 5 album, Michael Peterson. (It's available on i-Tunes.) Besides the hits, there are two excellent duets, "I Finally Passed the Bar" with Travis Tritt and "Two of the Lucky Ones" with Bekka Bramlett.

I saw Michael at the Bluebird Cafe here in Nashville twice. He's a great singer and songwriter and has a good sense of humor. You can see him perform his funny song about living life in reverse, "From The Grave to the Cradle", on You-Tube. As a songwriter, in addition to co-writing most of his own hits and album tracks, he's penned such great songs as "My Heart Is Bethlehem" for John Berry and "Right About Now" for Ty Herndon, the first a solo writing effort, the last with Darrell Brown.

Peterson has traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan nine times to perform for the troops. In addition, he's been involved with the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival and is creating a music project for the Military Child Education Coalition.

 

They Didn't Make It Big (Part 2)

In my post of November 22nd, I mentioned some very talented artists who didn't make it big - Yankee Grey, Big House and Jamie O'Neal. Here are some other acts that I thought would be very successful:

The group Pinmonkey, formed by lead singer Michael Reynolds, had a great debut song, cool with attitude. "Barbed Wire and Roses", written by Tia Sillers, Mark Selby and Sean Locke, reached #25 in '02. The song was from their 2nd album, "Pinmonkey" on BNA. Their debut album was "Speak No Evil", released on an indy label, Drifter's Church. A Matraca Berg/Gary Harrison single, "That Train Don't Run", from their 3rd and last album, "Big Shiny Cars", failed to chart in 2006. I saw them open for Lee Roy Parnell at B.B.King's Blues Club in NYC in March of '06. They sounded great. Here's the cool chorus from BW&R:

"Barbed wire, barbed wire and roses
Cut me so deep you don’t even know
Every time I take a step closer
I wind up tangled, it’s all over
Ain’t worth the pain of tryin’ to hold ya
You’re like, barbed wire, barbed wire and roses"

There must be an interesting story as to how the group chose the name "Pinmonkey". A "pinmonkey" was the person who reset the pins in a bowling alley after each frame. My first experience with bowling was around 1960 and even then all the lanes I patronized had automatic pinsetting machines.

A soccer player from North Carolina, Mark McGuinn had a #6 song in '01 with the uptempo "Mrs. Steven Rudy". His third single, "She Doesn't Dance", peaked at #29 in '02. Both were from his self-titled debut album. The latter song tells of a man who catches his wife in a bar with a stranger and tries to convince himself that it couldn't be her - she doesn't dance ...  great country story song.

The scene is set in the first four lines of the opening verses:

"She was in the middle of an empty dance floor
Wrapped up in a tall dark stranger's arms
They didn't see me slip in through the shadows
And sit down at the end of the bar"

McGuinn's second album, "One Man's Crazy", was released in '06 and failed to produce any hit singles. It included a 9/11 tribute song, "More Beautiful Today".

Cancer survivor Kevin Sharp's 1996 debut cd, "Measure of a Man", included a cover (didn't know it was a cover at the time) of R&B artist Tony Rich's "Nobody Knows". It went to #1. Follow-up singles, "She's Sure Taking It Well" made it to 3 and "If You Love Somebody" to 4. After such a promising start, Kevin's country music chart success came to an abrubt halt. His next two albums and the singles from them went nowhere.

My favorite Sharp song was not a single. The title track, "Measure of a Man", really grew on me. The song was written by Larry Boone and Rick Bowles. Here's the chorus of this mid-tempo tune:

"It ain’t how far you go
It ain’t how much you make
Son, it’s what you give
Not what you take
It’s being strong and true
To those counting on you
It’s lendin’ a hand, makin’ a stand
That’s the measure of a man."

Kevin is a motivational speaker and spokesperson for the Make A Wish foundation. Sounds like he measures up just fine.

I never got so see the last two artists in concert or even hear them sing live on TV so I can't comment with any certainty on their vocal ability or their ability to connect with an audience. If they excelled at both, it would still be no guarantee of commercial success.

 

 

Past Repeated - Daddy's Oldsmobile

I was watching 60 Minutes last night. The first segment, hosted by Scott Pelley, was called "Hard Times Generation: Families Living in Cars". Sad story. You can watched the segment or read the interview on the 60 Minutes website.

As I watched the show, I almost immediately thought of the great Hal Ketchum song, Daddy's Oldsmobile", from his 1992 album "Sure Love". The past has become the present. A song that was most likely about the Great Depression of the 1930's unfortunately is still relevant today. The second verse sets the scene:

"Four kids can sure fill up a big back seat.
They used to stop and get us something sweet.
Now Mamma says: 'Let's pray for one good meal'.
Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile."

Dad is looking for work in the third verse:

"Another mornin' and we're up and gone.
Daddy says there's work in San Antone.
Two days of ridin', it ain't no big deal,
Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile."

Written by Hal Ketchum and David Mallett, "Daddy's Oldsmobile" was not released as a single. Commercially, it was probably the right decision. 

If released as a single today, I don't think Daddy's O would have done very well. A current song about a dad looking for work has had only moderate success. Ronnie Dunn's second single since the B&D breakup debuted on the American Country Countdown at #36 for the weekend of July 2-3. "Cost of Livin'", written by Phillip Coleman and Ronnie, peaked at #17 and as of last week it had slipped to #19.

Read some of the on-line comments following the 60 Minutes interview. It may provide an insight as to why these socially conscious songs are not as successful as many would expect.