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Post by petrolino on May 1, 2023 1:57:16 GMT
My favourite by a mile, a country mile!
One of the most important albums in all of country music.
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Post by NJtoTX on May 3, 2023 20:54:47 GMT
Carlene Carter - Musical Shapes
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Post by petrolino on May 7, 2023 21:30:51 GMT
Brenda Lee worked with session pianist Neil Sedaka at the beginning of her career, whom Elton John idolised for his songwriting, performing and piano skills. Sedaka would later work with John on multiple recordings. Sedaka's regular songwriting partner Howard Greenfield co-wrote the song 'Your Used To Be' with Jack Keller for Lee who recorded it in 1963.
Little Miss Dynamite
There's more that connects these 3 pianists, but it begins with an open admiration for each other's work.
Brenda Lee, Elton John & Beth Nielsen Chapman
Brenda Lee on Elton John
Brenda Lee recorded a version of Elton John's song 'Take Me Back', from the album '21 At 33' (1980). It was composed during his split from lyricist Bernie Taupin; it's co-written with Gary Osborne whom Morrissey (the Smiths) is said to have described as a "British national treasure".
"That wasn't the only thing Elton John gave her. He also gave her "Take Me Back," which he originally released on his 1980 album 21 at 33 and then Brenda Lee's version was released later in 1980 on the album also called Take Me Back."
- ClassicTVMan1981X, Youtube
Brenda Lee on meeting Elton John in 1972
Singer-songwriter Dolly Parton, who idolised Brenda Lee in childhood (they're actually just a couple of years apart in age as both began performing early), believes Elton John has a country sensibility to his songwriting. Songs like 'No Shoe Strings On Louise', 'Country Comfort', 'Honky Cat' and 'Texan Love Song' provide ample evidence of John's burning passion for country music in all its guises. "In England, meanwhile, she remained famous for her unhinged rockabilly act. Her early-Sixties tours in the U.K. featured the teenage singer running through ramped up versions of songs like “Sweet Nothin’s” and “Let’s Jump the Broomstick” with her Nashville backing band the Casuals. It was primal rock & roll, unfiltered and filled with the type of abandon that Presley and Little Richard would become known for. “When I saw her perform, I was just stunned. I don’t think I had ever heard anything like it,” says Elton John, who was a teenager when he first saw Lee play in England. “Brenda Lee is in the top three female rock & roll singers of all time: her, Janis Joplin and Tina Turner.” John Lennon seemed to agree; he’s said to have called Lee “the greatest rock & roll voice of them all.” Lee’s hits became favorites of Elvis and helped lay the foundation for an entire generation of cosmopolitan Nashville country. Her music continues to leave its mark in surprising ways. Last year, Alison Krauss covered two of Lee’s songs on her Top Ten album, Windy City. Lee inspired both Kanye West, who sampled Lee’s iconic “uh-huh honey” introduction on “Sweet Nothin’s” for his 2013 hit “Bound 2,” as well as Taylor Swift, who has covered “I’m Sorry” and wrote an essay in which she called Lee – one of her earliest idols – “the singer who mastered the sound of heartbreak.” (The essay appeared in last year’s Woman Walk the Line, a book of personal essays about the most influential women in country music.)"
- Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone
Brenda Lee at the piano (with Elton John picture far right)
Brenda Lee shares thoughts on the music business and a whole lot more in her autobiography 'Little Miss Dynamite : The Life And Times Of Brenda Lee' (2002) which she co-authored with Julie Clay and Robert K. Oermann.
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Post by Power Ranger on May 22, 2023 22:28:16 GMT
Flyin Shoes by Townes Van Zandt
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Post by petrolino on Sept 16, 2023 0:50:39 GMT
The Strangeloves were a band created in 1964 by a New York-based American songwriting and production team consisting of Bob Feldman (who sadly passed away last month), Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer. Among the group's most successful singles were 'I Want Candy', 'Cara-Lin' and 'Night Time'.
'Someday Soon' - The Beach-Nuts (The Strangeloves & The Angels)
In between recording her albums 'Ridin' Rainbows' (1977) and 'Dreamlovers' (1980) with producer Jerry Crutchfield, Tanya Tucker recorded albums with Jerry Goldstein and Mike Chapman, a prolific producer from the world of rock and pop.
Tanya Tucker
'If You Feel It' (1978) - Tanya Tucker (produced by Jerry Goldstein)
'Poet's Problem' (1978) - Blondie (produced by Richard Gottehrer)
Meanwhile, punk band Blondie were travelling in the exact same direction, cutting records produced by Richard Gottehrer and Mike Chapman.
Debbie Harry
'Pretty Baby' (1978) - Blondie (produced by Mike Chapman)
'Tear Me Apart' (1979) - Tanya Tucker (produced by Mike Chapman)
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Post by NJtoTX on Oct 11, 2023 7:30:02 GMT
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Post by petrolino on Feb 23, 2024 0:14:44 GMT
With the documentary 'If I Leave Here Tomorrow : A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd' (2018), director Stephen Kijak embarks upon a heartbreaking journey through the fractured minds of rebellious southern rock 'n' roll band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The film only tells the band's story from its beginnings in the mid-1960s through to the dark days of the late 1970s, days of colossal indulgence that sparked a series of jaw-jackingly painful episodes in peoples' lives, (sometimes) fatal mistakes, and outright tragedies.
Early Days : Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns & Larry Junstrom
Remarkably, these events have failed to derail the original group's musical spirit, though of the core members of the band's line-ups from the 1970s, I think only drummer Artimus Pyle and singer Leslie Hawkins of the Honkettes are still with us. Also, guitarist Rickey Medlocke and bassist Greg T. Walker of Blackfoot, both of whom did a stint in the early 1970s. Ronnie Van Zant (1948 - 1977) : Vocals Cassie Gaines (1948 - 1977) : Backing Vocals Steve Gaines (1949 - 1977) : Guitar Allen Collins (1952 - 1990) : Guitar Leon Wilkeson (1952 - 2001) : Bass Billy Powell (1952 - 2009) : Keyboards Jojo Billingsley (1952 - 2010) : Backing Vocals Bob Burns (1950 - 2015) : Drums Ed King (1949 - 2018) : Guitar Larry Junstrom (1949 - 2019) : Bass Gary Rossington (1951 - 2023) : Guitar
R.I.P.
'Gotta Go' - Lynyrd Skynyrd
I'm not afraid to admit I found this to be one of the saddest music films I've ever seen, but inspiring too. The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd's glory days line-ups are all revealed to have had serious flaws, quirks, idiosyncrasies, eccentricities, proclivities and peculiarities; largely through anecdotal evidence, sometimes through first-hand testimony. I came away from it all feeling like they were a real band, and by that, I mean an extended family unit with an ever-evolving sound. Joining up with them meant you were purchasing a one-way ticket to ride, but for those chaotic souls that did, the trip was one they believed they had to undertake.
Misfits : Leon Wilkeson (mad-hatted, McCartney-obsessed, exhibitionist bass prankster), Billy Powell (compartmentalised classical roadie pianist), Ronnie Van Zant (bruiser, boxer & blue collar poet), Gary Rossington (wayward & impulsive ax-man), Bob Burns (unstable, satanically possessed, hard-as-nails drummer), Allen Collins (ultra-tall boy racer & 6-string fashion icon) & Ed King (tightly wound, psychedelic Californian outsider reject pick-up)
I feel like I learnt a lot watching this film. About the band's approach to making music, their wrestling with inner-madness, their regrets about education (they mostly grew up in grinding poverty and experienced tough environments) and most of all, about their relentlessly creative life. My only complaint is that it ended way too soon, but it sent me straight online the next day to read up on some of the things touched upon, and see where everybody was at now who still has a story to tell.
Southern Rock Mini-Selection (1970 - 1975)
01) 'Idlewild South' (1970) - The Allman Brothers Band (Florida)
02) 'Edgar Winter's White Trash' (1971) - Edgar Winter & White Trash (Texas)
03) 'Music To Eat' (1971) - Hampton Grease Band (Georgia) 04) 'Eat A Peach' (1972) - The Allman Brothers Band (Florida)
05) 'Keep The Faith' (1972) - Black Oak Arkansas (Arkansas) 06) 'Rio Grande Mud' (1972) - ZZ Top (Texas) 07) 'High On The Hog' (1973) - Black Oak Arkansas (Arkansas)
08) 'The Marshall Tucker Band' (1973) - The Marshall Tucker Band (South Carolina)
09) '(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)' (1973) - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Florida) 10) 'Tres Hombres' (1973) - ZZ Top (Texas)
11) 'Keep On Smilin' (1974) - Wet Willie (Alabama)
12) 'Second Helping' (1974) - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Florida)
13) 'Third Annual Pipe Dream' (1974) - Atlanta Rhythm Section (Georgia) 14) 'Mama's Pride' (1975) - Mama's Pride (Missouri)
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Organist Booker T. Jones of Booker T. & The M.G.'s is from Memphis, Tennessee. Sisters Priscilla Coolidge and Rita Coolidge were both born in Lafayette, Tennessee which is about 245 miles from Memphis, up Nashville way. Jones worked with both of the Coolidge sisters early in their musical careers. "Graham Nash was sitting right in front of me, Stephen Stills was playing and there was Booker T and the MGs. They were all these people with all this experience and I was this factory worker. Their general feeling was, 'Leave it like that'."
- Bill Withers recalls an early recording session for 'Ain't No Sunshine' in 1971, Smooth Radio
Graham Nash interviews Rita Coolidge [KCET - Los Angeles TV, December 30, 2016]
Priscilla Coolidge got married to Booker T. Jones in 1969 and he produced her debut album 'Gypsy Queen' (1970) on which Rita Coolidge provides backing vocals. They then formed the duo Booker T. & Priscilla and recorded three albums : 'Booker T. & Priscilla' (1971), 'Home Grown' (1972) and 'Chronicles' (1973).
'Good Morning Freedom' - Priscilla Coolidge with Booker T. Jones on keys
Rita Coolidge was a working singer in Memphis in the 1960s. Her jobs included sung voiceover work and recording jingles for commercials. She was discovered by Delaney & Bonnie who she worked with in Los Angeles, California. In California, she became a sought-after backing singer and worked with some of the hottest rock 'n' roll acts of the day. She was also a member of the band, the Dixie Flyers. 'Better Days' - Rita Coolidge & The Dixie Flyers
Her solo career hit the ground running with the release of albums like 'Rita Coolidge' (1971), 'Nice Feelin' (1971), 'The Lady's Not For Sale' (1972) and 'Fall Into Spring' (1974). Known as "the Delta Lady" (Leon Russell wrote the song 'Delta Lady' about her), Coolidge married Kris Kristofferson in 1973. Together, they recorded the albums 'Full Moon' (1973) and 'Breakaway' (1974).
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Post by petrolino on Feb 29, 2024 21:53:43 GMT
Dolly Parton : "The Smoky Mountain Songbird"
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946 in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the United States of America, the 4th of 12 children (her sisters Stella and Rachel Ann are both country singers and actresses). Her father, Robert Lee Parton Sr., worked as a construction worker, mountain guide and sharecropper before earning himself a plot of land. Her mother, Avie Lee Caroline Parton (née Owens), was a homemaker (she was the daughter of a Pentecostal preacher). There's an old legend you may have heard, that the family couldn't afford a doctor so they paid a gyspy in stones to deliver baby Dolly on the banks of the Little Pigeon River.
“People hear me talk about eating squirrel and groundhogs, but in the mountains like that, you really didn’t have much of a choice. There were twelve of us kids. We never ate possum — I remember Daddy saying, ‘That’s like a damn rat.’ But we ate everything — turtle, frogs. I just remember the big old groundhogs — whistle pigs, they called them — and you’d cook ’em with sweet potatoes, and you’d have different ways of making some of that gamy taste go away.”
- Dolly Parton, Rolling Stone
Dolly Parton
In the mid-1960s, Parton used unusual studio recording techniques to create a one-girl, girl group sound redolent of Phil Spector's line-up. Songs like 'Busy Signal' and 'Control Yourself' are now designated as curios in the career of a country artist who's gone on to establish her own sound, but they do demonstrate how she was always ready and willing to branch out and explore different creative avenues. Traditional country was a musical form that offered opportunities to female artists coming from communities where poverty was high and literacy rates were low. It was arrogantly assumed by some male stakeholders and business executives that these girls and women could be tightly controlled, but this assumption was wrong, as history had already indicated. Elsie McWilliams, Cindy Walker and hitmaker Marijohn Wilkin are in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame for a reason. Jenny Lou Carson was a prolific songwriter who's now acknowledged as being the first woman to write a No.1 country music hit. Liz Anderson enjoyed a lengthy career as a professional songwriter, producing hits for other artists, before emerging as a recording artist in her own right in the mid-1960s. Friends Loretta Lynn and Dottie West knocked down walls in the 1960s; West initially wrote songs with steel guitarist Bill West, while Lynn snuck songs she'd written on to her albums, here and there. By 1967, Bobbie Gentry had emerged as a singer-songwriter of standing.
"Along with being an entertainer, Dolly Parton is also a philanthropist, and one of her causes is her Imagination Library, which she founded in 1995. The library sends children all over the world books to encourage literacy, and Parton started the organization because of her father, who couldn't read or write. While he was illiterate, Parton credited her father for inspiring her business savvy, telling Rolling Stone, “but Daddy was real smart when it came to knowing the value of a dollar and how to make a deal, whether it was a horse trade or whatever.”
- Hannah Barnes, Pop Culture
'Don't Drop Out' (1965)
Parton was writing and recording singles as early as 1959 when she co-wrote the song 'Puppy Love' with her uncle, country musician Bill Owens. She explored a myriad of musical styles as a teenage performer, few of which performed particularly well on the commercial market, but this didn't derail her stated ambition to become a professional musician and songwriter. During this time, Parton looked up to Brenda Lee who she viewed as a great performer and who had legs as short as hers. Parton finally secured backing to go it alone as the 'Summer of Love' came around, releasing her now-iconic, introductory country cut, 'Hello, I'm Dolly' (1967). Truth is, Parton was already a creative entertainer by this point and she's never stopped writing music and lyrics since. In the process, she's become acknowledged as a trailblazer for every female singer-songwriter who's entered country music within the modern rock 'n' roll era. "I think the atmosphere in which Dolly Parton could be dismissed due to her appearance, her background, her gender and her genre has only just properly disappeared. In the 90s, when I learned to love music, you could enjoy a Dolly song but only with a large serve of irony. Every one of Dolly's hits was a one off - I'm still astonished at how many of her songs I know and love - because she was always a lightweight. It still requires a conscious effort for many of us, but now people are finally trying to enjoy art on its own terms. And when they do they find that Dolly writes perfectly contained stories about immediately relatable characters with an economy that I think is unmatched in pop music."
- Robert Iton, The Guardian
Bill Owens & Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1969 which she said was a dream come true for her. Since 1970 she's received 54 nominations at the Grammy Awards, the second highest number for any country artist after Willie Nelson with 57. She's also been nominated at the Academy Awards, the Emmy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, the Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Awards though she's never yet picked up an award at any of them. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her music in 1984, located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California; she received a joint star, in conjunction with regular collaborators Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, for their work as the musical and archivist collective Trio in 2018. A seasoned harmony singer and multi-instrumentalist, Parton is the composer of over 3000 songs and counting. Parton was awarded the Living Legend Medal by the U.S. Library of Congress on April 14, 2004, for her contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States. In 2005, she was honored with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honour given by the U.S. government for excellence in the arts. She received the Kennedy Center Honors from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for a lifetime of contributions to the arts, in 2006. In 2015, a newly discovered species of fungus found growing in the southern Appalachians was named Japewiella dollypartoniana in honor of Parton's music and her efforts to bring employment, education and global attention to that region. "The reason we are meeting today is that the 9 to 5 musical, based on the film, which Dolly Parton wrote the songs for, is opening in London. There has also been talk of Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin reuniting to make a sequel to the original movie, and when Parton confirms this is true I am not ashamed to admit that I squeal. Some have argued that 9 to 5, with its story of three women taking vicious revenge on their male boss, is too cartoonish to be taken seriously. I can only assume these people were never sexually harassed themselves because what the movie lacks in intricate feminist arguments, it more than makes up for in being a supremely satisfying howl of rage against sexism, an over-the-top response to an over-the-top situation. It is all the more pleasing coming from Parton, who may look like a lurid male fantasy, but has always shown more mettle than meekness. She is, after all, the woman who stood up to the notoriously fearsome Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s manager, and refused to sign away half the publishing rights to I Will Always Love You when Presley wanted to record the song in the 70s. This proved to be a pretty canny move 20 years later, when Whitney Houston covered the song and made Parton millions. Reviving 9 to 5 now is a no-brainer because of the mood of the moment. Fonda has gone as far to say that workplace harassment is worse today than it was in 1980, but Parton is surely closer to the truth when she says: “I’m pretty sure it’s always been bad. It’s just that with the #MeToo movement women are bolder to speak out against it.” Parton has to tread a careful line here because, while she may be adored by women happy to call themselves feminists, her core fanbase of southern Republicans has a rather more sceptical approach to the cause. They’re all for a woman standing up for herself on a sketchy New York street – and with a gun, even better! – but any sloganeering or talk of structural sexism would be frowned on. So, although she is sweetly keen to fly the flag for a movie she made almost 40 years ago, all discussions of the movie’s message are tempered with platitudes that will soothe any nervous male egos. Surely, I say, she must have experienced sexual harassment in her career. “I have, but I have always been able to manoeuvre because I come from a family of six brothers, so I understand men and I’ve known more good men than bad men. It’s a man’s world, and it’s not their fault any more than it is just life and … we have allowed it to happen. I think people now see that we’re here, and women are very important, and they need us, just as we need the men. But if someone was getting real aggressive with me, I’d scream or throw something at them. But, of course, I’ve been hit on – I’ve probably hit on some people myself!”
- Hadley Freeman, 'Dolly Parton On Sexual Politics' (article published at The Guardian on February 24, 2019)
Dolly Parton performs 'Dumb Blonde' (1967) on 'The Porter Wagoner Show'
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Accolades
Selected Hall Of Fame Honors
Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame (inducted in 1986) Country Music Hall Of Fame (inducted in 1999) Songwriters Hall Of Fame (inducted in 2001) Gospel Music Hall Of Fame (inducted in 2009) Music City Walk Of Fame (inducted in 2009) Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (inducted in 2022)
Selected Songwriting Honors
Grammy Hall Of Fame – 'I Will Always Love You' – 1974 Recording (2007) Grammy Hall Of Fame – 'Jolene' – 1974 Recording (2014)
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Country Radio Broadcasters Career Achievement Award (2005) Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) Country Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2016)
Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner perform 'Holding On To Nothin'' (1968)
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"The Iron Butterfly"
"Dolly Parton’s popularity has endured, in large part, because even after five decades of stardom, she remains an enigma in plain sight. Call it the Parton Paradox: Hers has been one of the most scrutinised female bodies in the history of modern celebrity, and yet no one can tell you for certain what her forearms look like. “Very often someone will wow you, but as you get to know them, the mystery wears off,” Jane Fonda, Parton’s co-star in the feminist film 9 to 5, told Rolling Stone in 1980. “One of the things that just flabbergasts me about Dolly is the amount of mystery she has.” And at the moment, the magical mysteries of Dolly Parton seem to be captivating a whole new generation. The 73-year-old is riding high on a trifecta of millennial milestones: she’s the subject of a popular serialised podcast (Dolly Parton’s America, hosted by Jad Abumrad), the inspiration for the new Netflix anthology series Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings, and the featured vocalist on an EDM song (the Swedish duo Galantis’ “Faith”, on which Parton appears alongside a Dutch rapper named Mr Probz). And, as her nearly five million Twitter followers will tell you, she knows her way around a “Jolene” meme. In some sense, though, 2019 is an odd time for a Dolly renaissance. It’s easy to see why someone like Fonda – a kind of octogenarian Greta Thunberg – is enjoying an uptick in intergenerational support from a politically aware cohort too young to remember her days of anti-war activism. Parton, on the other hand, has remained reluctant to make the slightest hint of a political statement, even in these urgent times. The first episode of Dolly Parton’s America centres partly on the 9 to 5 songwriter’s reluctance to call herself a feminist. Earlier this year, Parton’s own sister, Stella, said she was “ashamed” of Dolly for not speaking out more about the #MeToo movement. In response, Parton told The Guardian: “I don’t feel I have to march, hold up a sign or label myself. I think the way I have conducted my life and my business and myself speaks for itself.” Yet at the 2017 Emmys, Parton looked visibly, uncharacteristically flustered when she appeared on stage to present a best-supporting actor award with her co-stars Fonda and Lily Tomlin – both of whom took a seemingly unscripted verbal swipe at Donald Trump. Steering the conversation back to more familiar territory, Parton did what she’s also done when some interviews have got too political or contentious: She pulled from her trusted arsenal of boob jokes. “Well, I know about support,” she quipped, gesturing towards her chest. “If it weren’t for support, Shock and Awe here would be more like Flopsy and Droopy.” One reason Parton’s approval rating is so high, though, is that all the attributes that used to set her up for criticism – the outrageous, hyper-femme style; the unapologetic business savvy needed to pull off her late-Seventies pop crossover; even the so-what acknowledgement of her own cosmetic surgery – are no longer taboo. A generation that’s grown up with Snapchat-filtered selfies and pop feminism seems to have an innate understanding that artifice doesn’t negate authenticity, or that a penchant for towering wigs and acrylic nails doesn’t prevent someone from being a songwriting genius. (Maybe they even help: Parton claims to have first tapped out the beat of “9 to 5” while idly clicking her fingernails.) Perhaps that’s why her rhinestone DNA is visible in young artists as varied as Kacey Musgraves and Cardi B — to say nothing of Parton’s own goddaughter Miley Cyrus, who inspired a whole new generation of Parton fans who first came to know her as wacky Aunt Dolly from Hannah Montana. Parton sang a duet with Kesha on her 2017 album Rainbow – a 1980 Parton hit that Kesha’s mother happened to co-write. At this year’s Grammys, when Parton was honoured with the MusiCares person of the year award for her philanthropy, she performed a rousing medley of her hits alongside a who’s who billing of her millennial heirs, like Katy Perry, Maren Morris and Musgraves. Like Cher, another 73-year-old multi-hyphenate icon, Parton has over the past few years ascended to a rarefied level of intergenerational celebrity: a saucy grandmother of social media. When the Gen-Z sheriff and “Old Town Road” mastermind Lil Nas X wondered aloud, on Twitter, “y’all think i can get dolly parton and megan thee stallion on an old town road remix?”, Parton (or at least someone on her team) was quick to respond with a very appropriate unicorn emoji. “I was so happy for him,” Parton said recently of Lil Nas X. “I don’t care how we present country music or keep it alive,” she added. “I’m all about acceptance.” That quote is classic Dolly: Anyone can see himself or herself in it, no matter which side of the country traditionalists versus Lil Nas X debate they land on. Both-sides-ism rarely feels as benevolent as it does when coming from Parton, but that’s nothing new. When asked, in 1997, how she was able to maintain fan bases within both the religious right and the gay community, she replied, “It’s two different worlds, and I live in both and I love them both, and I understand and accept both.”
- Linsay Zoladz, 'How Dolly Parton Is Captivating A Whole New Generation Of Fans' (article published at The New York Times on November 21, 2019)
“I began to think about Dolly’s music as migration music — music for displaced peoples. People who’ve left their homes and come down the mountain to try and conquer the world, which is so many stories. It’s the music of movement and longing for the place you left."
- Jad Abumrad (co-creator of the podcast 'Dolly Parton's America'), Rolling Stone
"The Book Lady"
'Fuel To The Flame' (1967)
'He's A Go Getter' (1969)
'Evening Shade' (1969)
'Daddy Won't Be Home Anymore' (1970)
'When Possession Gets Too Strong' (1970)
'The Master's Hand' (1971)
'Walls Of My Mind' (1971)
'Coat Of Many ¬ Colors ...'
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Post by petrolino on Mar 1, 2024 22:44:16 GMT
Connie Smith : "Sweetheart Of The Grand Ole Opry"
Connie Smith was born Constance June Meador on August 14, 1941 in Elkhart, Indiana, in the United States of America. Her family moved from Indiana to Ohio to West Virginia. It's often said she suffered severe domestic abuse at the hands of her father during her formative years, which some believe led to the nervous breakdown she suffered during her teenage years. Music journalist Larry Price directly attributed a controlled tremor he detected in Smith's voice to these childhood experiences. I should stress that I've not heard Smith herself discussing these alleged aspects of her childhood (incidents of domestic abuse), but most biographies I've read do mention these same things.
"Once a Day" is a song written by Bill Anderson and recorded as the debut single by American country artist Connie Smith. It was produced by Bob Ferguson for her self-titled debut album. The song was released in August 1964, topping the Billboard country music chart for eight weeks between late 1964 and early 1965. It was the first debut single by a female artist to reach number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. This song peaked at number one for the week of November 28, 1964, and it stayed at number one for eight consecutive weeks, a record for a female solo artist for nearly 50 years, until it was surpassed by Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" in December 2012.
In 2021, "Once a Day" was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.'
- Wikipedia
Connie Smith performs her debut single 'Once A Day' (1964)
Smith's parents divorced when she was 7 and her father, who was a farmhand, left the family home. As a child, she'd listen to her favourite singers on the radio and dream about going places. She wrapped herself around the Holy Bible and engaged in regular prayer. She was too nervous to sing at times, but this changed over time. When her mother remarried, she became one of 13 siblings, as she had 4 brothers and sisters, and her step-father entered the family with 8 children of his own. “I was born a fighter because I was born into an alcoholic family.”
- Connie Smith, The New York Times
Connie Smith
As a child, Smith was almost killed during an incident with a lawnmower. In hospital, she was given a guitar and she taught herself how to play. She continued developing her guitar skills during an extended period of convalescence. Smith first entered the country scene in 1964 with the Bill Anderson-penned song 'Once A Day' which became the first debut single by a female country artist to reach No. 1 on the country charts. Her debut album, 'Connie Smith' (1965), reached No. 1 in the Country Albums chart. Though primarily known as a singer and musician, Smith is also a songwriter. She occasionally performed her own compositions in the 1960s and 1970s. Since the 1990s, she's written a lot of songs with Marty Stuart. "I love studio B. It was small and I could sing and I could kind of gauge how my voice was going by the walls. It would come back to you. It was just the sound that was easier for me to control."
- Connie Smith on RCA Studio B (often called "birthplace of the Nashville sound"), Off The Record
Connie Smith performs 'Then And Only Then' (1965)
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* Interview Excerpt : Connie Smith speaking with journalist Jeremy Roberts (article published at Medium on January 16, 2019) J R : Do you have a special message for your fans?
C S : I just wanna extend an appreciation for them being my fans. A lot of the people that come see us have stood by me going back to my first record “Once a Day” b/w “The Threshold” [both written by “Whisperin’” Bill Anderson for RCA Victor] 55 years ago. I joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1965 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. I love kids with all my heart. Not in comparison to my older fans, but there’s so many more young people coming to our shows that are interested in traditional country music. It’s always been that way in Europe. If they hear a record and like it, they research the artist. They know liner notes from a 50-year-old album, shows we did, marriages, just everything. My kids every now and then will tell me, “Mama, you’ve got so many hits on YouTube.” I’m really too busy to get on social media much, and I’m not that technically minded. There’s so many more ways for folks to get to know us today, and that’s a great thing.
J R : Do you use a computer?
C S : Very little [laughs]. I know how to turn one on. When you’ve got five kids and eight grand-kids, you gotta learn a little bit. When you call, you can’t catch ’em. But if you text, they’re right there [laughs].
J R : Which country artists do you prefer?
C S : My two favorites have always been George Jones and Loretta Lynn. You can’t beat Ray Price, Merle Haggard, Kitty Wells, or Dottie West. I like anything that’s good. Of the newer artists, Lee Ann Womack is a wonderful, wonderful singer. One of the most amazing performers that we have is Keith Urban. He’s so talented on the guitar and isn’t strictly country. I discovered Chris Janson performing on the Grand Ole Opry in 2013. He knows what he’s doing, too.
J R : When was the first time that you sang in front of an audience?
C S : My very actual first memory of singing in front of somebody was when I was about five years old. We’d moved from one place to another, and my parents were moving stuff into our new home in Forest Hill, West Virginia. Some friends were giving them a hand. I was sitting out in this big overstuffed chair in the yard that was waiting to be moved inside. I was singing away. I looked up and saw the couple standing on the steps grinning. Of course, I ran in the house and hid under the bed [laughs]. I was scared to death.
J R : Do butterflies still inhibit you?
C S : When I introduce a new song today, I can get pretty antsy sometimes as I’m still trying to learn how to do it. My biggest problem is I get to thinking and singing at the same time. If I hear a different lick that I’m not used to hearing or get to thinking about something that someone’s said, I’ll remind myself, ‘Uh-oh, I’ve gotta get back on track and be in the present.’ You can’t live in the future or past. There’s nothing like living in the moment. I really love to sing, and I love the people. Our greatest shows are when the people acknowledge that they’re enjoying it. I’m more of a fan than an entertainer.
Connie Smith performs 'I Can't Remember' (1965) & 'If I Talk To Him' (1966)
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Connie Smith : Deluxe CD Box Sets ~ Bear Family Records
In addition to releasing a wide range of restored studio albums, assorted rare cuts and unearthed raw materials, Bear Family Records have assembled special deluxe compact disc box-sets and collector's editions for a wide range of musical artists including Eddy Arnold, Bobby Bare, Chuck Berry, Pat Boone, Ed Bruce, Sonny Burgess, Dorsey Burnette, Bill Carter, Ric Cartey, Bobby Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup, Link Davis, Champion Jack Dupree, Fabian, Narvel Felts, Don Gibson, Curtis Gordon, Lesley Gore, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny James, Bill Haley, Johnny Kidd, Bob Luman, Gordon Lightfoot, Ned Miller, Bill Monroe, George Morgan, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Buck Owens, Vernon Oxford, Johnny Preston, Marvin Rainwater, Jimmy Reed, Billy Lee Riley, Tex Ritter, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Del Shannon, Ray Sharpe, Cliffe Stone, Floyd Tillman, Big Joe Turner, Conway Twitty, Bobby Vee, Billy Walker and Sheb Wooley, among others.
'The Country Music Hall of Famer Connie Smith is also known for being Marty Stuart's wife, but long before that she was a powerhouse vocalist many felt was under-appreciated because she didn't chase fame and fortune with every fiber of her being when she could have. Roy Acuff called her the "Sweetheart of the Grand Ole Opry." Opry announcer and WSM radio host Eddie Stubbs would later call her the Rolls-Royce of country singers.'
- Taste Of Country
'Nearly every description of Connie Smith begins with radiant comments about her voice. Cited by many as a favorite, the singer impresses crowds with her astonishing combination of tone, power, phrasing, and emotion each time she performs. Smith’s greatness, however, extends beyond vocal brilliance. It encompasses her song selection, her connection to great musicians (especially steel guitarists), her classy demeanor, and a spiritual bearing that serves as her foundation. She became one of country music’s most admired artists not because of one of her talents, but because of how they form such a distinct whole. For Connie Smith, her occasional reluctance to embrace celebrity marked her career almost as much as her inimitable talents. After launching her career with a debut #1 single, Smith at times looked upon stardom with ambivalence. She didn’t focus on scaling the heights of the entertainment industry with the single-minded tenacity shown by some artists of her generation. She struggled with the demands of her career, especially leaving her children to travel and perform. These internal dilemmas interrupted her momentum but brought depth to her music’s emotional content.'
- RCA Studio B
Connie Smith & Loretta Lynn
Bear Family Records have produced specialist releases and box-sets for the Browns, the Carter Family, the Kingston Trio, the Osborne Brothers, the Platters and the Smoky Mountain Boys. They've released music label collections, musical genre collections, musical venue collections, California country collections, Louisiana country collections, Tennessee country collections, German beat rock collections, Mexican street rock collections and a bevy of beloved British rock 'n' roll collections. The Bear Family also house the 'Elite B-Movie Collection' and the 'Elite James Dean Collection' within their extensive back catalogue.
'Connie Smith is a singer’s singer — a veteran country music performer whose distinctive phrasing, wide range, and powerful delivery are widely admired by fellow performers ranging from Dolly Parton to Merle Haggard to Keith Richards. She has been influencing other artists since launching her own recording career in Nashville in the early 1960s. This influence, as well as her artistic accomplishments, were recognized with her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.'
- The Willie Nelson & Friends Museum
'What's wonderful about the early stuff by Connie Smith is her unflaggingly rural voice -- she is a for-real country singer. Despite recording during the height of the Nashville Sound, and working in the midst of the most ornate countrypolitan studios, she hung onto the rough, twangy edges of her voice. Even more remarkable was the stylistic pairing of this country-girl voice with the girl-groupish perky pop arrangements from producer Bob Ferguson... the combination could have been disasterous, but instead it was heavenly.'
- Slipcue
"No one in the world does a better job of protecting, loving, and preserving music than Bear Family Records. I believe we have over one hundred of their albums, CDs, and boxed sets in our library. Each and every one a treasure. Latest Shade of Blue, The Columbia Recordings 1973-1976 is the third boxed set of my work to be offered by Bear Family. It's an honor, and just as much an honor to share it with you! Please enjoy." - Connie Smith, Bear Family Records
Connie Smith performs 'Louisiana Man' (1969) with Johnny Gimble & Merle Haggard
To date, Bear Family Records have presented no less than three major box-set releases of material recorded by Connie Smith, aligning her within their catalogue with Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, Clyde McPhatter, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnnie Ray, Little Richard, Gene Vincent and the Everly Brothers, musical acts with two or more Bear Family box-sets. The box sets available are 'Connie Smith - Born To Sing' (4-CD Deluxe Box Set), 'Connie Smith : Latest Shade Of Blue - Columbia Recordings 1973 - 1976' (4-CD Deluxe Box Set) and 'Connie Smith : Just For What I Am' (5-CD Deluxe Box Set). Also available for order is a rarities collection, 'Connie Smith - The Lost Tapes'.
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Connie Smith : 'Down In The Country'
'I'm Ashamed Of You' (1965)
'I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)' (1965)
'Same As Mine' (1966)
'Strange' (1966)
'Your Mem'ry Comes Along' (1967)
'I'm Little But I'm Loud' (1967)
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Connie Smith Chante En Français
Connie Smith is the only country artist I know of from the 1960s who recorded some songs in French. These recordings were released on a 4-track EP, 'Chante En Français' (1966). Smith sang French lyrics to three of her existing country recordings and performed the French song, 'Le Jour Et La Nuit' (Day And Night). "I went 20 years without an album, then I went 10 or 12, 13 years without another one. But when I started in 1964 we would cut three albums a year and a single every three months. And that went on for nine years with my first label, and then when I was with the next company I did a couple of them a year. So back then there was a lot more records cut. They weren’t as expensive to cut and they weren’t as elaborate as they are today. And of course when I started it was only mono, there was no stereo, and there was no fixing – if you messed up something you just had to do it again. And I had great musicians so there wasn’t much messing up on their part. So it worked out good. It just was easier back then than it would be today, and I loved it. It was one of my favourite things to do so I never complained about it."
- Connie Smith, Entertainment Focus
'J'imaginals Autrement L'amour' (interpretation of 'More To Love Than This' recorded during sessions for 'Cute 'N' Country')
In addition to having a fanbase in France, where country and western music has long been popular, Smith was also playing to French-speaking territories in Canada. During her career, she's also performed and recorded cajun songs including multi-instrumentalist Doug Kershaw's signature 1961 composition, 'Louisiana Man'.
"I still love the traditional sound so much. I love the steel guitar."
- Connie Smith, National Public Radio Al 'Jumbo' Hirt, Connie Smith & 'Mr. Guitar' Chet Atkins
Music biopics are all the rage at the moment, with films like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (2018), 'Judy' (2019), 'Rocketman' (2019), 'Elvis' (2022) and 'Bob Marley : One Love' (2024) making sizeable returns at the box-office. If any international movie producers, or film consortiums, are considering making a biopic of Connie Smith, may I suggest an actress to play her. I think Kaitlyn Dever would be a great choice for the role. Kaitlyn Dever (born December 21, 1996 in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.)
Kaitlyn Dever is a talented young actress with musical ability. She plays guitar and sings. She's also part of a recording duo with her sister Mady Dever called Beulahbelle.
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Connie Smith Goes To Church
"From time to time we feel exhausted, sometimes we stop for a while. However, if the problem starts to become too heavy, we start to become disappointed, and we quit. They said giving up is never the answer to anything, but what if you cannot take it anymore? What if you cannot find anyone who can help you carry all the pain and burden? What shall you do? The answer to all of the question is only God. It is only God who can take away all of the pain that is in your heart. He is the only one who can save you from your sins. Furthermore, He is the only one who can satisfy your hunger in life.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30
Connie Smith recorded a song written by Dallas Frazier and Arthur Leo Owens in 1971. “Come Along and Walk With Me” is a song that belonged to her third gospel album Come Alone and Walk with Me. Connie has released a total of 8 gospel albums. Some of her albums were recorded as a solo artist, while others were a collaboration with other artists. Some artists that Connie Smith collaborated with were Nat Stuckey, Barbara Fairchild, and Sharon White.
“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” - 1 Peter 5:7
“Come Along and Walk with Me” is a song that shows that the answer to all the burdens or problems in life is God. The narrator tells her friend that they must help each other to find God because it is only Him who can set them free from this world’s darkness. Moreover, the narrator also reminded others that if we truly are a believer and children of God we have to help our brothers and sisters find God too."
- Arden Lambert, Country Thang Daily
'Come Along And Walk With Me' (1971)
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Gospel Swing
"By the late '60s, the trappings of stardom left Connie Smith feeling helpless until the Christian faith changed her world view for the better. Later albums with RCA Victor and her eventual jumps to Columbia and Monument found the weary yet mighty voice that really knew about a "Long Line of Heartaches" recording more hymns and gospel albums--without abandoning her talent for emoting great country songs. Her self-titled 1998 comeback album on Warner Brothers Records -- just her second full-length release since 1978 -- was co-produced by Marty Stuart. The two country singers married the prior year. Since then, the couple has bolstered each other's careers as co-stars of The Marty Stuart Show and as two of the most visible ambassadors for old-time country music. Faith keeps furthering her career, too, with the 2003 trio album Love Never Fails, featuring Barbara Fairchild and Sharon White, ranking among the top ten country-gospel albums of the century."
- Bobby Moore, Wide Open Country
'Just A Closer Walk With Thee' (1966)
'Family Bible' (1967)
'How Great Thou Art' (1969)
'I'll Fly Away' (1970)
'Well, It's Alright' (1970)
'Amazing Grace' (1971)
'Way Up On The Mountain' (1972)
'Jesus Remembered Me' (1975)
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Post by petrolino on Mar 1, 2024 23:58:14 GMT
RCA Victor : Connie Smith, Dolly Parton & "Country Girl" Producer Bob Ferguson
As far as I'm aware, Bob Ferguson produced every one of Connie Smith's albums recorded between the release of her debut album, 'Connie Smith' (1965), and her final album recorded for RCA Victor, 'If It Ain't Love And Other Great Dallas Frazier Songs' (1972). Her collaborative albums with Nat Stuckey were co-produced by Ferguson and Felton Jarvis. So, it seems fairly rational and reasonable to surmise that Ferguson was instrumental in developing Smith's signature sound. That's about twenty albums before she left RCA Records and moved to Columbia Records where she worked with producer George Richey. "No one would think any less of Connie Smith if she chose to rest on her laurels. And she has some mighty laurels to rest on, starting with that plaque with her name on it in the Country Music Hall of Fame. So what drives the 80-year-old country legend to still record? "It's what I love ... I love music," Smith tells PEOPLE. "I can sing around the table. I can sing at the kitchen sink. It don't make a difference. It's just in me, and I think that's my destiny." And make no mistake, Smith can still sing, as she proves conclusively on her new album, The Cry of the Heart, out on Friday. Time has added burnish to her sound, but the familiar timbre, phrasing — and, most of all, emotion — still resonate from one of country's most powerful voices. Lots of Smith's fellow icons have held that voice in the highest esteem. George Jones and Merle Haggard both considered her their favorite female artist. And Dolly Parton famously said, "There's really only three real female singers: Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, and Connie Smith. The rest of us are only pretending." Yet Smith downplays the lavish praise. "Well, I'd like to earn it," she says, "so I'm trying."
- Nancy Kruh, PeopleConnie Smith signs her initial pre-contract with RCA Records (flanked by Bob Ferguson & Bill Anderson)
Dolly Parton's debut album, 'Hello, I'm Dolly' (1967), was produced by early mentor Fred Foster. Her recording work with Porter Wagoner for RCA Records was being produced by Bob Ferguson who became Parton's producer on her second solo album, 'Just Because I'm A Woman' (1968). Outside of her debut, Ferguson produced all of Parton's albums up to the release of 'Love Is Like A Butterfly' (1974), at which point Parton began co-producing some of her own material and working with different producers (including Porter Wagoner). So, I do feel it would be fair to say that Ferguson was instrumental in developing Parton's signature sound. 'When Ms. Connie Smith was introduced to Keith Richards, he grabbed fellow Connie Smith fan (and Rolling Stone) Ron Wood and brought him up to meet her, too, exclaiming "She's the real deal!" What the singers she's been influencing for decades spot in Connie Smith's performances — besides her genius for phrasing, perfect diction and a vocal range which have all long been envied — is her fervent joy in singing itself, her love for the emotional and physical act of letting loose a song, which is as evident on her recordings as it is in front of audiences at the Grand Ole Opry, on RFD TV's weekly Marty Stuart Show, or on the road.'
- Kick 'N' Up Kountry
RCA Victor labelmates Chet Atkins, Connie Smith, Bobby Bare, Skeeter Davis, Nat Stuckey and George Hamilton IV assemble in 1970
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The Big Country
“She knows her songs when she comes in. She doesn’t have to fumble over the melody or how she wants to phrase them.”
- Hargus 'Pig' Robbins on working with Connie Smith, The New York Times
'On And On And On' (1967)
'Let Me Help You Work It Out' (1968)
'What Makes A Man Wander' (1968)
'Sound Of Different Drums' (1969)
'Too Good To Be True' (1971)
'Dream Painter' (1973)
'Country Music Time' (aired in 1972) with Connie Smith performing 'Just For What I Am', 'Too Much To Gain To Lose' & 'Ribbon Of Darkness'
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In 2021, Fat Possum Records commissioned a mini-documentary on Connie Smith to be produced in association with Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music Archives. The centrepiece of this film was an interview given by Smith to music journalists Logan Allison, Weltsy Chong, Morelia Cuevas and Tyler K. George.
'The Cry Of The Heart : Connie Smith' (2021) [37:37 | Fat Possum Records]
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Post by Power Ranger on Mar 7, 2024 5:11:01 GMT
Most of those by Townes Van Zandt.
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Post by petrolino on Mar 9, 2024 0:33:48 GMT
Connie Smith & Dolly Parton Remember Loretta Lynn
Songwriter Harlan Howard was asked to write a piece for the liner notes that appeared on Conway Twitty's country album 'Look Into My Teardrops' (1966). Connie Smith was personally invited by Twitty to write the liner notes for his album 'Hello Darlin' (1970), for which she expressed gratitude at the beginning of her essay. The following year, Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard contributed liner notes for Twitty's albums 'Fifteen Years Ago' (1971) and 'I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving' (1971).
"Loretta Lynn was mentored by Patsy Cline in the early '60s, and in the same way Lynn advised Connie Smith, who was nine years her junior. The lessons from her "favorite girl singer of all time" included Smith making her Grand Ole Opry debut in an impromptu manner six months after their first meeting. "(Loretta) was on at the Opry one night, so I just showed up backstage to watch – I used to follow her around like a puppy in those days," Smith recalls. At the time, Smith's debut single, "Once a Day," was at the top of the charts. Asked by Lynn when she would take the stage that night, Smith said she was not scheduled to perform. Lynn was stunned. "What?" Lynn exclaimed. "You've got the No. 1 record in the country and you're not on the Grand Ole Opry? Well, you're going to sing with me." Smith joined Lynn onstage to sing the harmony parts of Loretta's "Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year." "That shows the type of person (Lynn) was," Smith says."
- Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean
'Rocky Top' (1970) - Conway Twitty (you can read Connie Smith's liner notes within the borders of this youtube video which includes a picture of the album's back cover)
“Loretta always cared. She opened doors to success for all of us and was a queen of country music. I think it was the Charlie Louvin song that she sang with Conway Twitty, and later with Marty Stuart, ‘Will You Visit Me on Sundays,’ that says one of the best ways to remember her : ‘Promise me that time won’t separate me from your memory.’"
- Connie Smith remembers Loretta Lynn, The Tennessean
Connie Smith performs 'Ain't Had No Lovin' (1966)
"In a recent Tennessean interview at the Nashville Film Festival for the Music City debut of her documentary "The Return of Tanya Tucker (featuring Brandi Carlile)," country legend Tanya Tucker spoke fondly of her longtime friend Loretta Lynn "looking out for her." She initially wanted to visit her to finish writing 2020 Best Country Song Grammy-winner "Bring My Flowers Now" (later finished by Carlile instead) because Lynn was on the phone with Tucker the first time she sang the song's hook. "(Loretta), like that song, is a great friend. If you meet a great friend, you never quite remember when you met them, so it feels like they've been around forever," Tucker said. Jeannie Seely, alongside Dolly Parton and Connie Smith, ranks among the oldest female members of the Grand Ole Opry. "The impact of the songs Loretta wrote and performed pushed limits for women – both as fellow artists and fans – and created a new revelation for society," Seely says. Regarding her four-decade-long friendship with Lynn, Connie Smith noted in a 2021 interview that Lynn "told me who to trust and who not to trust and what to do, what not to do. Things that she would never have had to do. She’s my favorite girl singer (ever). I love her to death." To the point about Lynn serving as an influential focal point for all women who followed her as country music stars, Seely adds a note comparing Lynn to Taylor Swift : "Just like Loretta, when Taylor Swift came along, she delivered songs that appealed to girls her age who liked country music," Seely says. "She was smart enough to identify the new audience she had out there, and make them fans of country music, forever."
- Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean
"So sorry to hear about my sister, friend Loretta. We've been like sisters all the years we've been in Nashville and she was a wonderful human being, wonderful talent, had millions of fans and I'm one of them. I'll miss her dearly, as we all will. May she rest in peace."
- Dolly Parton remembers Loretta Lynn, Instagram
Dolly Parton performs 'Jolene' (1973)
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Burt Sugarman's Midnight Specials
"The country acts were really special. Many of the rock ’n’ roll acts were scared to death about TV. But the country acts toured 280 to 300 nights per year, so for them, to see a red light in front of them with a couple of cameras, they were thrilled. Loretta Lynn was so great; she kept saying, ‘I want to come back.’ And I heard that out of George Jones and Kris Kristofferson."
- Burt Sugarman, Goldmine
EPISODE 30 : COUNTRY SPECIAL ~ Hosted by Loretta Lynn & Marty Robbins [August 24, 1973] { : Featuring Conway Twitty, Don Gibson, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Rodriguez, The Earl Scruggs Revue & Tanya Tucker : }
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'Loving Her Was Easier' - Kris Kristofferson [June 29, 1973]
'I Never Had It So Good' - Rita Coolidge & Kris Kristofferson [July 29, 1973]
'You Ask Me To' - Waylon Jennings [March 7, 1975]
'Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain' - Willie Nelson [July 9, 1976]
'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' - Willie Nelson & Rita Coolidge [July 9, 1976]
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Post by petrolino on Mar 9, 2024 1:53:27 GMT
Most of those by Townes Van Zandt.
Within a scene saturated with moody bad boys, he seemed like a tortured poet. He's beloved by indie artists.
Have you seen James Szalapski's documentary 'Heartworn Highways' (shot in 1975 - 1976, gained general release in 1981)? It gave me a better understanding of the direction taken by the "outlaw country" movement. And it featured this awesome studio performance from Barefoot Jerry.
Barefoot Jerry perform 'Two Mile Pike'
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Post by mikef6 on Mar 11, 2024 14:56:59 GMT
The only C&W albums I ever owned – a long time ago - were by the crossover superstar Johnny Cash, but at one point in my life I could sing you every song on both albums.
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Post by mikef6 on Mar 11, 2024 14:58:58 GMT
My favourite by a mile, a country mile!
One of the most important albums in all of country music.
Technically, "Gunfighter Ballads" was my parents' album, but I loved it, growing up in south Texas.
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