You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2010.
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Memorial Day
Why today? E.T.’s big hit during the last full year of World War II is the perfect way for 3 Chords a Day to honor America’s fallen heroes.
About the record: Decca 6098, recorded Jan. 13, 1944, at the label’s studio in Hollywood. Released two months later, it eventually topped Billboard‘s country chart and reached the Top 20 on the pop charts. First LP appearance was on Ernest Tubb Favorites, Decca DL-5301, an eight-song, 10-inch album released in 1952.
Redd Stewart — later Pee Wee King’s frontman and songwriting partner — composd this while in the Army and stationed in the Pacific. Ernest Tubb got hold of it, and as he did quite a few times in his long career, polished it up a little before recording it. The song understandably struck a wartime chord; it stayed on the country charts for seven months and was four weeks at No. 1. You might call it the anthem of Gold Star Mothers. It has been covered many times, with Merle Haggard’s version becoming a hit during the height of the Vietnam War in 1970.
We owe our freedom to men and women like the young correspondent in this song. Please take time out today to reflect on their sacrifice.
May 28-30
Why this weekend? Time for another Friday-Saturday-Sunday potpourri, featuring three top honky-tonkers of the ’50s, an iconic duo of the ’70s, a tear-jerking, cult-classic trucking song, and more. All but one of the selections you’ll find on the jump topped the charts.
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May 27
Why today? Of course, it’s almost tomorrow now. But, better late than never to give a shout-out to my out-of-town friend Laken Bowles, a young woman who is a huge fan of The Browns. She and a buddy are on a hillbilly holiday in Nashville, so on her behalf I thought I’d provide us all a welcome dose of Jim Edward, Maxine and Bonnie in the form of an on-stage version of their biggest hit.
About the record: Studio version, RCA Victor 47-7555, recorded June 1, 1959, at the label’s studio in Nashville. Released the following month, destined to top Billboard‘s country and pop charts. First LP appearance was on Sweet Sounds By The Browns, RCA Victor LSP/LPM-2144, released in September 1960. Version here a clip from National Life Grand Ole Opry, July 16, 1965.
Here’s the story of the career of the Arkansas siblings. But it fails to mention they were about ready to hang it up before “The Three Bells.” I’ve heard Jim Ed say that on the eve of what might have been their last recording session, the Browns heard the song performed in a Nashville club and thought, hey, maybe that’s for us. Coincidentally, Jim Ed said, producer Chet Atkins suggested the song the next day at the session. The record turned out to be all they’d hoped for, thanks to Chet’s actions both in the studio and out. See, he was so enamored of the performance that he told his (no-doubt) stunned RCA bosses in New York that if they didn’t get behind the record and promote it, he’d quit the company. They must have believed him, because it spent 10 weeks atop the country chart and four weeks heading the pop chart.
May 26
Why today? The Singing Brakeman, the Mississippi Blue Yodeler, the Father of Country Music — those are all the same person, in case you didn’t know — died on this date 77 years ago, two days after our song of the day brought an end to his final recording session.
About the record: Bluebird B-5281 and Montgomery Ward 4415, recorded May 24, 1933, at RCA Victor Studio A in New York. Released Dec. 20 of that year. First LP appearance came in April 1963 on The Short But Brilliant Life Of Jimmie Rodgers, RCA Victor LPM-2634.
When Jimmy Rodgers had tackled “T.B. Blues” a couple of years earlier, it wasn’t just a song — he lived it, and he died at age 35 from its complications in the Hotel Taft in the theater district of Manhattan. The story goes that he knew he was dying, and he knew his soon-to-be-widow would be in a bad way financially. So he asked the folks at RCA to set up a big recording session to essentially fill the larder for the sake of his estate.
He cut 13 songs in four sessions over the course of a week, so weary from fighting the tuberculosis that he skipped a couple of days to rest up, and having to lie on a cot between songs to preserve his strength. Weak though he was, he sounds in pretty good voice on “Fifteen Years Ago Today,” listed on some reissues as “Years Ago.” The yodel that gave him one of those nicknames was strong, the guitar work sounding the same as it always had.
It was the last of the original records in his career. But through countless reissues he influenced scores of country singers — Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe, Gene Autry, Merle Haggard and more — and he was in the inaugural class of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
You know, I’ve stayed in the Taft in New York twice, in my late teens and early 20s. At the time I didn’t know Rodgers died there. But now I wonder, did I occupy the very room in which the Singing Brakeman breathed his last?
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May 25
Why today? The Storyteller celebrates his 74th birthday.
About the record: Mercury 72951, recorded July 3, 1969, at the label’s studio in Nashville. Released that month, eventually reaching No. 5 on Billboard‘s country chart. Was the title track of Hall’s second album, Mercury SR-61247, which reached No. 23 on Billboard‘s country album chart.
In these days when the hook’s the thing, hardly anyone is writing great story songs. That’s why it’s great to go back 40 years and sample one of the best’s best. He’s so evocative — when I listen, I can clearly see those fat, slick cattle, that pretty headstone, the lady sleeping in the car. It’s one of my favorite Tom T. songs. And by the way, if you see Barbara Walker, tell her that I said hello.
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May 24
Why today? You won’t believe it, but it’s 25 years to the day since this wonderful performance was released as a single.
About the record: RCA PB-14093, recorded mid-1984 at Creative Workshop in Berry Hill, Tenn. Released on May 24, 1985, eventually topping Billboard‘s country chart. First appeard as a cut on the LP Why Not Me, RCA AHL1-5319, released in the fall of 1984, eventually reaching No. 1 on Billboard‘s country album chart.
I get chills listening to this song — maybe from the way Wynonna and Naomi’s daughter-mother voices blend so superbly, maybe from the fine acoustic studio band tailor-made for The Judds’ sound, maybe from the Grammy-nominated composition by the late Kent Robbins, one of several classics from his catalog. Or maybe it’s all of that.
“Love Is Alive” is the last of the singles released from the ladies’ first full-length album, a collection reviewer Thom Jurek dubbed “perfect.” It’s in my LP collection, and I have to agree.
May 21-23
Why this weekend? Because the calendar tells us these seven songs are keyed to the next three days. Go to the jump, and enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
