Country Music Talk

This is undeniably one of the most pleasurable version of this track ever set to tape.

SheikJust recording 70 sides over a career won’t necessarily guarantee a performer the ability to be recalled a few decades on. If one of those tracks, though, is “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” you’d get your deference. The Mississippi Sheiks, who penned and recorded that track in the ‘30s, were one of the early familial dynasties in recorded music. Using the moniker Carter, but actually being named Chatmon, the family’s figurehead, Ezell, was the uncle of Charlie Patton and was a popular performer during the waning days of slavery. His sons, any combination of Lonnie, Bo and Sam along with Walter Vinson, comprised the shifting line up of the Mississippi Sheiks. Read more

This CaleHaving a pretty nonchalant opinion of fame or renown generally won’t get you too fat in the music biz. That, however, doesn’t apply to J.J. Cale, a singer, songwriter and pretty sedate figure who has made a career of music for the better part of a half a century. He isn’t the most well known name in any genre, even if he’s written more than one tune that’s been covered by some other band or performer and subsequently made them a few dollars. That isn’t the way by which to figure success, but it is a good way to figure a personality. And Cale seems to be one genuine dude Read more

Just for YouUnfortunately, turned into a footnote, Lee Hazlewood impacted the rock medium more than most would be able to figure. Although his most commercially successful works would come behind the boards as a producer or engineer, the music that Hazlewood had a hand in, regardless of what he was doing, fused together disparate elements of rock and country that could arguably be considered the foundation of country rock. Read more

Acoustic Rave UpNew Grass is an odd way by which to explain that some folks associated with the counter culture of the '60s got a hold of some traditional American tunes, smoked a bit, revved up the music and maybe covered a Chuck Berry or Rolling Stones' song. But New Grass it is. Although, at this point, the phrase has been around for just about forty years or so, making New Grass the oldest new subgenre in Americana. Read more

DawgsPlaying in every important ensemble related to Americana at some point over the last fifty years has made David Grisman owner of a pretty intimidating discography. His earliest recorded moments with the Even Dozen Jug Band counted as an introduction the music biz. But soon, Grisman found his way into the Kentuckians, making his name as a soloist, but equally adept at rhythmic derivations for bluegrass settings.

In that, Grisman came to fully realize his musical intent. And to incorporate jazz improvisation and soloing into the already technically challenging genre of bluegrass would make his life mission pretty clear by the dawning of the '70s. Read more

LostAs the explosion of the '60s country and rock fusion thing moved more towards slick commercialized acts like the Eagles, but prior to the outlaw county movement really getting its teeth, a few acts were needed to keep dirty Americana alive and well in a rock context.

Ann Arbor, Michigan was a hotbed of hippies, social unrest and more drugs than can be recalled during this time. And that's why, in part, John Sinclair based his White Panther Party and the MC5 there after growing tired of the police harassment being levied upon them in Detroit. Ann Arbor, though, also had the Stooges for a bit, making the MC5 less of a threatening presence. Read more

GiftThe name Lefty Frizzell probably doesn't mean too much too many folks today. And really, if not for The Pizza Tapes from Garcia and Grisman, I'd probably have come upon the songbook of Frizzell much later. But that aside, the contributions to the stack of country standards from Frizzell is on par with songs from Hank Williams and the like.

During the '40s and '50s Frizzell was a part of the blossoming of country's initial commercial period. At that time, as opposed to now, songs weren't nonsensical retreads masquerading as stories from real life - they were real to life. To hear Merle Haggard sing about going to jail meant that he'd gone to jail. But the enormous catalog of Frizzell influenced a generation being raised on the radio, the Grand Ole Opry and traditional songs. Read more

The FBB were more than adept at any number of sounds...country was one.

Auld GrassIn discussing American music of any kind, there are a few innovators whose names always arise - Duke Ellington, Bob Dylan, Earl Scruggs, Chuck Berry. There're obviously others as well, but a complete list would take an entire day to compile. But never amongst these gentleman is the name of Bill Keith. Of course, the banjo doesn't have the luster about it that the instrument once did, but that doesn't make the contributions of this Bostonian any less important.

Beginning in the early '60s, Keith played with Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys and basically redefined the way in which banjo was to be played in the genre over the span of less than a year. These innovations would basically lay the ground work for what would later be referred to as new grass. Of course, these musics are all still tied to country and folk music from the '20s and '30s, but with a defiantly modern tinge to it all. Read more