BOB DYLAN ON COUNTRY MUSIC

Good ole Bob Dylan!
On his newest release 'TOGETHER
THROUGH LIFE", there's a bonus disc
from his radio show. It contains a great
selection of blues and country songs,
along with his PRICELESS commentary.
Among his nuggest of wisdom, is his
take on country music...
regarding the track by George Jones
and Melba Montgomery -
"LET'S INVITE THEM OVER"

I LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC, BUT I SAY WHAT
HAPPENED TO IT? YOU HEAR A SONG LIKE
THIS, AND IT'S OBVIOUS IT'S ABOUT REAL
PEOPLE AND REAL EMOTIONS AND REAL
PROBLEMS. THAT'S ALL THAT'S THE COUNTRY
MUSIC WE LEARNED TO LOVE. NOW DAYS,
THEY WANT TO SWEEP ALL THE PROBLEMS
UNDER THE RUG AND PRETENDS THEY DON'T
EXIST. WELL GUESS WHAT FOLKS,
THEY DO EXIST.
AND IF YOU TRY TO SWEEP THEM
UNDER THE RUG, THEN THEY JUST GONNA
POP UP SOMEWHERE ELSE...SO WE MIGHT
JUST AS WELL FACE IT AND LISTEN TO THE
OLD STYLE COUNTRY MUSIC, THE REAL COUNTRY
MUSIC YOU KNOW,ABOUT

DRINKING AND SLEEPING AROUND.

THAT'S MY KIND OF COUNTRY MUSIC.

and also, in response to a listener's request
for Bob to play garage bands, he says

WHAT EXACTLY IS A GARAGE BAND?
I'VE RECORDED SONGS IN MY GARAGE,
AM I A GARAGE BAND?

Happy Birthday to Gene Pitney

No one would consider Gene Pitney a country
star, but... he did 2 albums with George
Jones in the late 60's.

The late Gene Pitney was born today, February
17th 1940 in Connecticut. Pitney was known
as a teen-idol, but he was so much more.
Not just a puppet of some producer like Phil
Spector, Gene was a great songwriter, all-around
musician as well. Some of his own songs are the
Crystals, "He's A Rebel" and "Hello Marylou".

Pitney had the honor of being the first performer
to record a Jagger/Richards original "That Girl
Belongs To Yesterday". He was in England
in the early sixties, and Andrew Loog Oldham,
who was managing the Stones at the time, was
doing some publicity work for Pitney as well, and
made the connection.

I think Pitney got pigeon-holed by his image
and tortured vocals. Most producers and labels
wanted to put him in the "teen-idol" slot, but
in the long run, a categorization like that
could end up being severely limiting.

The albums that Pitney did with George Jones
kind of showed the road he could have gone on,
much as someone like Jerry Lee Lewis, who
in the second act of his life went country, without
going completely "Nasvhille". Of course Jerry Lee
was so volatile, he never would have let anyone put
him in a small category.

Pitney would go on to have a fairly successful career
in Europe, recording albums in Italian and Spanish,
as well has touring extensively in England.

Here's the version of "That's All It Took" with George
Jones from Youtube. Enjoy-

Moe Bandy- Happy Birthday!

Moe Bandy might not fit in with the type of

artists I'd profile on this blog, but he has some

great songs.

Born February 12, 1944 in Meridian, Mississippi,

he had the great luck to move to San Antonio, Texas

where he would try to become a real rodeo performer

bucking broncos, and roping bulls. (None of

them fancy robot bulls you saw in the

movie "Urban Cowboy"). The obvious

hazards of that profession led him to music.

His first single was "Lonely Lady", but it was his

second single, recorded in Nasvhille that hit paydirt-

"I Just Started Hatin' Cheatin' Songs Today"

This is why I love the early country artists-

they divided most of their songs into these

complex categories...

DRINKING or CHEATING.

(Of course Moe did write some rodeo songs as well.)

Some of Moe's songs-

"It's A Cheatin' Situation"

"Here I Am Drunk Again" and more....

Moe comes from a real honky tonk background,

influenced by Hank Williams, but mostly George

Jones. Music for real cowboys.

He seems to have a full touring schedule in Branson,

where he opened a theater, and across the country.

Moe's touring schedule

GEORGE JONES SONG BOOK

Cool score yesterday at a Used Bookstore- This is why it's great to check out your local used
book stores. I found the GEORGE JONES
Very Best songbook, along with a biography of
Gene Vincent, which I will be reviewing shortly.
These songs are early 1980's era George Jones.
I usually don't go past the 80's but George is
one of the few artists who still maintained the
creative quality in the later years. I strongly
urge you to get the Burn Your Playhouse Down
and The Bradley Sessions, which were both
recorded at the same time. The duets with
Keith Richards are obviously the best, but
tracks with Marty Stuart are pretty damn good
too. George (like Keith) has a unique voice
that just gets better with age. Please Keith,
if you do make another solo album, can it
be country? PLEASE! Back to George...
the best songs in this book "I Always get lucky
with you", and She thinks I care" and "Say It's
Not You" are all simple, mostly 3 chord
affairs. Emotional, in an understated way.
Perfect for 2:00 am drinking.

You know what else would be really perfect too?
Being able to get RFD-TV in my neighborhood,
with Time Warner Cable.
Marty Stuart has a show on, and
even though I'm in the NYC area, I'd
still like to be able to get Rural America's
Most Important Network, too! I could
be watching the Praire Farm Report
right now.