Reviewing I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny, by Vivian Cash At first glance, it’s remarkable that I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny is seldom drawn upon by the constantly swelling ranks of authors writing books about Johnny Cash. After all, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin (referred to hereafter as “Vivian,” to distinguish … Continue reading Triangulating, Part 1: Johnny, Vivian and June
Classic Country
Program Notes, “Tennessee Walt’s Riding with the Outlaws”
Bethpage Public Library * June 8, 2025 To read your program notes, please click here.
Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘Big-Time Lonesome Town: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson’
East Hampton Public Library, April 5, 2025 “Just the Other Side of Nowhere” (1970). This song is from Kristofferson’s first album, and is clearly autobiographical in its portrait of a young man from a small town who has come to the big city hoping to prove himself there, but instead feels that he’s losing himself … Continue reading Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘Big-Time Lonesome Town: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson’
Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘From Bakersfield with Love’
Island Trees Public Library, April 12, 2025 “Streets of Bakersfield” (Homer Joy, 1972). This song was the last of Buck Owens’ 20 No. 1 hits, and an absolute fluke. In 1988 Owens and Merle Haggard were scheduled to appear at the Country Music Association Awards and sing a duet. At the last moment Haggard couldn’t … Continue reading Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘From Bakersfield with Love’
Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘The Hank Williams Century’
North Merrick Public Library, March 24, 2024 “Hey, Good-Looking” (Hank Williams, 1951). Yes, the official name is “Hey, Good Lookin’.” To understand why I don’t call it that, read my 2016 blog post, “Hank Williams’ Apostrophe: A Quest for Authenticity.” It’s not about this song specifically, but it might just as well be. Williams’ penchant … Continue reading Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘The Hank Williams Century’
Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s An Afternoon in the Country
Friday, December 9, 2022 * Westbury Memorial Public Library, Westbury, New York Click here to read your program notes!
Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘Riding with the Outlaws’
Bethpage Public Library * June 8, 2025 1. “Honky Tonk Heroes” (Billy Joe Shaver, 1973). The story goes that in late 1972, after repeated efforts to corner Waylon Jennings and play his songs for him, Billy Joe Shaver had had enough. Knowing that Jennings was going to be recording at Tompall Glaser’s “Hillbilly Central” recording … Continue reading Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘Riding with the Outlaws’
Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘An Afternoon in the Country’
Westbury Memorial Public Library, Westbury, NY * December 16, 2022 1. “Night Train to Memphis” (Roy Acuff, 1942). Roy Acuff It’s impossible to say for sure who did what on this song, since it has three co-writers: Owen Bradley, Marvin Hughes and Beasley Smith. However, Bradley and Hughes were both best known as musicians, while … Continue reading Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘An Afternoon in the Country’
Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘Hanks a Lot”
Voorhies Hall, Bay View, Michigan * July 20, 2022 “Honky Tonking” (Hank Williams, 1947) Williams actually recorded and released this song twice in consecutive years, once for the low-budget, no-royalties Sterling Records in 1947 and again for the far more professional MGM Records in January 1948. Sterling didn’t have much distribution, so the MGM recording … Continue reading Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘Hanks a Lot”
The Night that Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb and Porter Wagoner Came to Town
Is it a mystery if not many people care what the answer is? I say it’s a mystery if even one person cares—and, in this case, I’m that person. I didn’t initially recognize it as a mystery. It started out looking like a song: “The Night Hank Williams Came to Town” (1987). It’s a pretty … Continue reading The Night that Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb and Porter Wagoner Came to Town
Tennessee Walt 