Rex Allen the best singing cowboy? It's certainly a startling thought, especially when you figure that most people would vote for Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. But here's the thing -- Autry himself called Allen the best cowboy among them, and Rogers said he was the best singer by far. So if you add up … Continue reading Rex Allen – Best Of The Singing Cowboys?
Category: Country
A Few Words About Friends
Nothing too complicated today. Someone passed this old poem along to me and I couldn't resist sharing it. --------------------------------------- A Friend -- Too Late Around the corner I have a friend In this great city that has no end, Yet days go by and weeks rush on And before I know it, a year is … Continue reading A Few Words About Friends
Country Songbird Billie Jo Spears
A country songbird I've always enjoyed listening to is Billie Jo Spears, who has had a long career specializing in a blend of honky-tonk and pure country blues. Although she's probably best known for her 1975 chart-topping hit "Blanket on the Ground," she's had several decades of solid success -- albeit with a few snags … Continue reading Country Songbird Billie Jo Spears
The Sixth Passenger – Hawkshaw Hawkins
I've written before about the 1959 plane crash at Clear Lake, which claimed the lives of three rock and roll stars -- Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. I've also written about an eerily-similar accident that occurred a few years later, one involving country music headliners Cowboy Copas and Patsy Cline. But there … Continue reading The Sixth Passenger – Hawkshaw Hawkins
Chattanooga Has Inspired Classic Songs
I've always been a train buff, and since I'm also a fan of big-band music it stands to reason that one of my favorite songs of all time would be Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo-Choo." I especially like the long version, which includes a 'jive' reprise. That performance, which features an 18 year-old Dorothy Dandridge and … Continue reading Chattanooga Has Inspired Classic Songs
Letting It All Hang Out — The Hombres
One of the most unusual stories of the Sixties had to be that of the Hombres, a group that started life as something else but then went on to record a strange, genre-crossing hit before eventually fading from view. The song was a novelty country-rock hybrid called "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)," … Continue reading Letting It All Hang Out — The Hombres
REVIEW: High Performance – Live From Breaux Bridge: Part 2
If you liked High Performance – Live From Breaux Bridge: Part 1, which I reviewed earlier this year, then the odds are better than even that you'll like a new release from the folks at Swallow Records, the Cajun/Zydeco music specialists, because it's pretty much more of the same. High Performance – Live From Breaux … Continue reading REVIEW: High Performance – Live From Breaux Bridge: Part 2
Puttin’ My Cat Clothes On
One of the things I enjoy about digging through old pictures is how I inevitably stumble onto surprises, in some cases jaw-dropping ones. That would be a good description of how I reacted when I recently found a picture of myself from the Fifties, when I was a teenager and obviously fashion-challenged. I think I … Continue reading Puttin’ My Cat Clothes On
Cleanin’ Up In The Aftermath
Holidays always kick up the ol' daydream machine a notch or two, but I guess I'm not the only one with that reaction. Most of us have a lot of memories squirreled away in our heads and it doesn't take much to jar some of them loose from their hiding places. Thinking about the just-finished … Continue reading Cleanin’ Up In The Aftermath
Jeanne Black Had The Answer
I've always enjoyed finding examples of a peculiar practice that seems to occur most often in country music -- singers hitting the studio to record "answer" songs. For the uninitiated, that's a type of song that follows a big hit by another singer, and either answers a question posed by the original, or just presents … Continue reading Jeanne Black Had The Answer
Geezer Music Club 