Speaking of great Summer concerts – Lone Star 92.5 presents a Lone Star Fandango with ZZ Top, David Allan Coe, Hank Williams III (not on his tour itinerary below), Shooter Jennings, Old 97s, Drive By Truckers and the Drams at the Smirnoff Music Centre, Dallas, TX on Sunday, July 15, 2007 01:00 PM
Category Archives: Legends
Johnny Cash Final Performance – July 2003
Two months before he passed. Sad but beautiful. Enjoy.
CMT on Gruene Hall
In its continuing quest not to completely suck CMT has a nice write up on Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas. Gruene Hall, Texas’ oldest dance hall, was opened by Pat Molak in1974 and then featured a young unknown named George Strait and his Ace in the Hole band who played one or two shows a month there starting in 1975.
“I have many great memories of playing at Gruene Hall,” Strait says. “It was definitely one of the highlights of my early career. Pat Molak, who owns it and I still consider a friend, let us play there one Sunday afternoon for, I think, 50 cents at the door. He had never heard us and wanted to check us out before he let us do a weekend night. This led to many great nights at one of Texas’ greatest dancehalls.”
Loretta Lynn – Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool – 1963
Cash American VI News
Thanks to JakobGreen at the Hank III board for this one –
American VI will be the second album of songs from the final recording sessions Johnny Cash made before he died. Like its predecessors, American Recordings, Unchained, American III: Solitary Man, American IV: The Man Comes Around, and American V: A Hundred Highways, American VI is produced by Rick Rubin and will be released on Rubin’s American Recordings record label. Lost Highway Records currently distributes country releases from the American Recordings label. Though the liner notes of Unearthed (a box set comprised of outtakes from the first four entries into the series) claim “around 50” songs were recorded during the American V sessions prior to Cash’s death on September 12, 2003, only two albums worth of material will be released, including American V: A Hundred Highways.
One track known to be recorded during these sessions but not included on American V is “There Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down”. Another track that could possibly be included is “A Satisfied Mind” which was released on the soundtrack to Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Rubin is credited as producer and the track is copyrighted 2003, which would suggest that it came from Cash’s final sessions.
Sheryl Crow’s “Redemption Day” was recorded by Cash weeks before his death and is a likely candidate for inclusion on American VI.
Doug Kershaw has told audiences in 2006 that he has heard Cash’s recording of Kershaw’s signature song “Lousiana Man”, but its status for inclusion on American VI is unknown.
According to a USA Today article, American VI could be released in early 2007. Most likely it will be released Mid-2007.
Track listing…
“A tentative track listing has been revealed on ManInBlack.net, a Johnny Cash fansite. It includes the following songs…”
1. “San Antonio”
2. “Redemption Day”
3. “Here Comes a Boy”
4. “That’s Enough”
5. “1st Corinthians 5:55”
6. “I Can’t Help But Wonder”
7. “Nine-Pound Hammer”
8. “North to Alaska”
9. “His Eyes on the Sparrow”
10. “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again”
11. “The Eye of an Eagle”
12. “Don’t Take Everybody for Your Friend”
13. “Belshazzar”
14. “Loading Coal”
15. “A Half a Mile a Day”
16. “Flesh and Blood”
17. “I Am a Pilgrim”
18. “Beautiful Dreamer”
19. “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down”
20. “Family Bible”
Fire Destroys Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Home
From the Associated Press – Firefighters were battling flames this afternoon (April 10) in a major fire that has reportedly destroyed the home of the late country singer Johnny Cash. Dispatchers said all but one of the city’s engines had responded to the fire in the Hendersonville suburb northeast of Nashville.
No injuries were reported. Hendersonville Fire Department officials said construction crews were working at the house when the fire started. The cause is unknown.
Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived at the house until their deaths in 2003. The property was purchased by the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb in January 2006. Gibb and his wife, Linda, had said they planned to restore the home on Old Hickory Lake and hoped to write songs there.
Gibb’s spokesperson said the 60-year-old singer and his family are “both saddened and devastated by the news” but declined to release further details about the house or the fire.
While the Cashes lived there, the 13,880-square-foot house, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Nashville, was visited by everyone from U.S. presidents to ordinary fans.
“Of course we are all in a state of shock,” Johnny Cash’s sister Joanne said in a statement. “I feel that an era has passed. Just today in prayer, I had decided to move on, even discarding old newspaper clippings not realizing that this terrible thing would happen. My prayers are with the Cash family and especially the Gibb family during this time.”
Bluebird Cafe Celebrates 25th Anniversary
The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, long a mainstay for singer/songwriters in Music City, will kick off a year-long celebration commemorating its 25th anniversary in May through a nationwide “Bluebird on the Road” tour to 12 cities later this year, a private birthday bash for Bluebird family and friends and a “Superstars of the Bluebird” series in June.
“I set out to open a restaurant 25 years ago, but the music quickly took over,” says owner Amy Kurland. “Nothing could be more special than celebrating this milestone year with some of the same songwriters who were regulars back when we first opened the doors.”
Those original songwriters and many more will be invited to attend a private birthday bash hosted by performing rights organization BMI on May 24. Later, the festivities will be open to the public when a 10-day series titled “Superstars of the Bluebird” takes residence starting June 1. Dierks Bentley is among those slated to appear.
The show will hit the road on a 12 city songwriter tour, kicking off in New York City at Joe’s Pub on May 31 with a few of the founders of the “In The Round” format that originated at the Bluebird; Fred Knobloch, Thom Schuyler, Tony Arata and Jelly Roll Johnson. Additional songwriters, cities and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Garth Brooks’ record-shattering career began at the Bluebird, where a Capitol Records exec saw him substituting at the last minute for a performer who didn’t show up and promptly signed him. “In my opinion, the songwriter is the foundation of music,” Brooks once said, “and the Bluebird is the rock on which that foundation sits.”
Others who have played the Bluebird over the years include Melissa Etheridge, Steve Earle, the Cowboy Junkies, the Indigo Girls and the late Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury. Vince Gill, Janis Ian, John Prine, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Raul Malo, Radney Foster and Pam Tillis also have played the room.
Billy Joe Shaver Released on Bond in Connection with Bar Shooting
From the Associated Press – Country singer Billy Joe Shaver was released on bond Tuesday after surrendering to authorities in connection with a weekend bar shooting that wounded a man, police said.
Shaver turned himself in at the McLennan County Jail in Waco and was released after posting $50,000 bail, said Lorena Police Chief John Moran.
Shaver, 67, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawfully carrying a handgun on the premises of a business with a license to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption.
The singer’s attorney, Joseph A. Turner of Austin, has said his client shot the man in self defense after he left the Lorena bar and followed Shaver into the parking lot Saturday night. Turner said Shaver did not know the man and that the stranger was drunk, aggressive and had a knife.
The shooting occurred at 8:30 p.m. Saturday outside Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon off Interstate 35, according to Lorena police. The victim was reportedly shot in the cheek.
Shaver, who lives in Waco, about 15 miles from Lorena, rose to country music stardom in the 1970s. Shaver, an acclaimed songwriter whose hits include “Georgia on a Fast Train” and “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)” has recorded more than 20 albums.
Mathew Knowles, president and CEO of Music World Entertainment — which last month acquired Shaver’s label, Houston-based Compadre Records — said he talked to Shaver on Tuesday after he was released on bond.
Knowles, who is Beyonce’s father, said he and Shaver did not discuss the shooting but that he wanted the country singer to know that the company supports him.
Knowles said Shaver was appearing at Waterloo Records in Austin to promote his greatest hits CD.
“Billy Joe Shaver is an icon in the country music industry. We’re not going to turn our back on him at all,” Knowles said. “I personally wanted to tell him that, which is what we talked about today.”
Porter Wagner/Marty Stuart – Joe’s Pub – New York City – 3/30/07
At one time Porter Wagner was something of a visionary. A TV star before most of country music had anything to do with the new-fangeled contraption. Wagner’s TV show was syndicated out of Nashville and was the most popular country show of the ’60s, growing from 18 stations in 1961 to over a hundred stations in the early ’70s ( In 1981, after nearly 30 years, and his television show went off the air). Crooning and strumming guitar bejeweled in his Nudie suits and flanked by a young, buxom newcomer named Dolly Parton – who’s career was launched on his show. Dolly and Porter won the Vocal Duo of the Year by the Country Music Association for the years 1968, 1970 and 1971.
The Thin Man from West Plains, Missouri, was coming to Manhattan for the first time in nearly 20 years to play some of his many hits and showcase some work off his forthcoming CD from Anti records, the Marty Stuart produced “The Wagonmaster.”. I find myself at a 7:30pm sold-out show at Joe’s Pub on the East Side (claustrophobic even by Manhattan standards) among the devotees.
After a warm and heartfelt introduction by Mart Stuart, which included a story of when Stuart was shopping the CD around Nashville nobody was biting. “So we went to Los Angeles and approached Anti / Epitaph, that’s right we had to go to a punk label to make real Country Music.”
Then the man hisself entered the stage looking younger than his almost 80 years, still tall and thin and donning a spangled white Nudie suit and jeweled boots. Maty and Porter then took seats donning acoustics and began a trip through a simpler time, starting the show with “Satisfied Mind.”
Stuart played backup guitar like the master he is while Porter strummed occasionally on his acoustic and read the lyrics from his music stand.
Porter was in a jovial mood and joked with the audience like that did back in the day. He missed some of the lyrics and explained it away as “That used to be Dolly’s part. I called Dolly and told her I was coming to New York said “They are some of the nicest people you’ll meet.” First time she ever told me thee truth.” He cracked.
Porter sang the song that sat in Stuart’s studio for about 30 years after Johnny Cash gave his then band guitarist (and son-in-law) a song about being institutionalized (Porter and Cash were both) “Committed to Parkview.” Marty told the story “John said ‘I’ve got a song for Porter; it’s about a stay in Parkview, which is an asylum at the edge of Nashville. Porter and I both have been guests there.’ Cash gave me a cassette of the song in 1981 and asked me to get it to Porter. I never got around to it until we started collecting songs for this project. I searched my warehouse and found the envelope with ‘Committed to Parkview’ on it, with a note from John to Porter. now you got it!” Porter laughed.
Then came the “Big Sandy River,” “The Rubber Room” and the classic “Green, Green Grass of Home.”
Porter told a tale (after prompted by Stuart by a ‘fan question”) about seeing Hank Williams play in Arkansas when he was Young and then honored Hank by preforming Luke the Drifter morality tale “Men with Broken Hearts” and “Lonesome Whistle.”
Then the pair played the solemn “Cold Hard Facts of Life” and the ironically funny “I’ve Enjoyed As Much of This As I Can Stand.”
Marty played a blistering mandolin solo and then it was on to “Dooley”, “..about a man who created a wood picture beautiful woman.” Porter said as he introduced the song.
The fact that Porter Wagner was sitting here in this room was even more miraculous after Porter tells the story of how before recording the new CD last summer he almost died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. “I’m truly blessed to be here.” He said, tearing up a moment. “I’m truly blessed.”
As were we.
Last of the Breed Debuts at #7 on Billboard Country Music Chart
That’s right, right there between Keith Urban and Sugarland. Proof that there’s still room for great country music performed by legendary geezers that appeals to popular taste. You listening Nashville?
By way of StillIsStillMoving.com and the9513.com.