March 13, 2021 “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 is the version almost everybody knows … Continue reading Program Notes: Tennessee Walt’s ‘A Year in a Distant Country’
Johnny Cash
Music for Grownups
My first blog post, back in February, was titled “What Is Country Music?” That question—or, rather, its kissing cousin, “What is it that you like so much about country music?”—is in my mind again today. It’s been there since July 10, actually, when I had a brief conversation with a young friend, herself a brilliant … Continue reading Music for Grownups
The Man in Back
On the cover of his autobiography, Marshall Grant is hard to pick out. You’d expect him to be the focus of the cover photo, but that’s Johnny Cash. As he so often was in real life, Grant is the guy at far left, almost slipping off the edge of the cover and three-quarters hidden by … Continue reading The Man in Back
Squaring the `Circle’
If you visit the Grand Ole Opry in Music Valley, which I highly recommend, and if you get there early, you’ll have the chance to see a promotional video of past Opry highlights. Prominently featured is a clip from Sept. 28, 2010, the night the Opry reopened after being seriously damaged by the Nashville flood … Continue reading Squaring the `Circle’
An Overlooked Country Gem
Aficionados of classic country acknowledge the original Carter Family as among the wellsprings of country music. The hundreds of songs recorded by A.P., Sara and Maybelle Carter in the 1920s and 1930s are considered foundational works. Most discussion of the Carters, however, then slides effortlessly along to June Carter and her work with Johnny Cash … Continue reading An Overlooked Country Gem
