Dolly Planning Musical Tribute to Porter Wagoner
- Hazel Smith says Dolly Parton is planning a musical tribute to Porter Wagoner. Parton will dress her band in the Wagonmaster attire and put Don Warden back behind the steel guitar, where he played for Wagoner from 1953 to 1974.
- The Village Voice’s review of Alan Jackson’s Good Time wins the award for most over-written review ever:
Alan Jackson’s latest runs 17 songs in 71 minutes, and what sounds initially like a pious daydream clocks in as a Zen sneak-fuck that mixes up countrypolitan waltzes with Chuck Berry blues and name-checks Jesus, “Kix and Dunn,” and bologna on white bread. Entirely written by the artist himself, Good Time lacks the pop savvy and uncanny nostalgia that producer Alison Krauss brought to 2006’s Like Red on a Rose. Jackson’s songs don’t seem uninflected so much as just plain skimpy, but their word-shy inertia suggests a sly detumescence that only the very successful can imagine, let alone turn to the service of their art.
“Good Time” sets the tone for a musically prolix and verbally laconic record.
Don’t worry if you didn’t understand the review, Alan’s publicist didn’t either. In fact, she’s offering $100 to the one person who can best translate the review “into easy-to-understand ‘real folks English.’ No cuss words are allowed.”
- After CRS Keynote Speaker Sean Hannity had to cancel at the last minute, a panel about the fairness of adding a Performance Right for Sound Recordings on terrestrial radio was added. In other words, should radio pay a sound copyright fee?
- CMT posted an excerpt and pictures from the book Pat Green’s Dance Halls & Dreamers.
- The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance is an organization dedicated to preserving and telling the story of…the birth of country music. One way of doing that is through the planned Cultural Heritage Center in downtown Bristol. A study conducted by The University of Virgina shows the center is expected to have an economic impact of over $43 million in its first five years.
- Twelve years after his death, Walter Hyatt has a new record out–Some Unfinished Business, Volume One.
Produced by Heidi Hyatt (Walter’s widow), “Some Unfinished Business” is built primarily from demo tapes Hyatt was working with before his death in the ValuJet plane crash of 1996 in Florida. Yet there’s nothing about the production or the quality of Hyatt’s vocals that suggests “first take” or “incomplete.” Walter Hyatt was a perfectionist, and it is as if he intended his voice and his guitar on these tapes to be album-worthy.
- Because there’s no such thing as too much “Pancho & Lefty,” ninebullets.net posted a sampling of different versions of the song.
- Ashton Shepherd’s Sounds So Good is only $7.99 on Amazon.
- Check out Showlist Austin for a list of the different showcases during SXSW. If you’re looking for country music you’ll have to wade through a lot of non-country music to find it.
- The new Tim McGraw penned Def Leppard single is getting a big boost from the NBA.
- Eddie Montgomery, Troy Gentry and several other people were trapped in an elevator at the Nashville Renaissance Hotel for more than 45 minutes when it decided to stall between floors. A hotel worker had to jump up and down on top of the elevator to restart it.
- The multi-brand company JAKKS Pacific plans to develop and market toys (fashion dolls) and related products based on Taylor Swift.
“When I was a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a country music star and having my very own fashion doll line,” said Taylor Swift. “Now it’s come true! I can’t wait to see little girls play with my doll and rock out with my crystal guitar!”
- Expect to hear Julio Iglesias Jr. on country radio soon. The Spanish born singer won the celebrity reality show “Gone Country” and had his first single, “The Way I Want You,” serviced to radio on Friday night.
- Lineup for Country Thunder Texas.
- Alan Brown says every song is sung with conviction on Always Lift Him Up: A Tribute to Blind Alfred Reed, “even when the artist may not agree wholly with the sentiments the lyrics express.”
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Alan Jackson // Alfred Reed // Alison Krauss // Ashton Shepherd // Blind Alfred Reed // Bristol // Country Thunder // Dolly Parton // Eddie Montgomery // Julio Iglesias Jr. // Pat Green // Porter Wagoner // SXSW // Taylor Swift // Tim McGraw // Troy Gentry // Walter Hyatt
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March 10, 2008 at 11:03 am Permalink
re:Dolly Planning Musical Tribute to Porter Wagoner - That is great news. I can’t wait to see what she does to honor her collaborator and teacher.
re: The Village Voice’s review of Alan Jackson’s Good Time - As someone who live in New York City, let me tell you, you can’t lose points in this town for being too clever of precious. Yeesh!
March 10, 2008 at 11:09 am Permalink
stuck on an elevator with montgomery & gentry? is there a clearer definition of hell? i think not.
if someone had really been on the ball, they would have taken the opportunity to go out and find a bear to take a few free shots at gentry while he was an easy target. see how he likes it.
March 10, 2008 at 11:37 am Permalink
Okay, I am just gonna say it. Every so often I see that I just “dont get” something or someone that everyone else seems to “get”. Dolly is at the top of that list for me. I just dont get her, and havent at any point, ever truly enjoyed her work. I dont have a bad thing to say about her per se and I dont think she sucks. I just dont see what everyone else seems to see when it comes to her being so great. Bring it on!!!
March 10, 2008 at 11:59 am Permalink
The McGraw family now basically controls sporting theme songs.
Watched some kids get stuck in an elevator once, only a minute earlier they were trying to convince me to get into the elevator but I was well aware it was over the weight limit. So I walk up 14 flights of stairs and find them stuck between the 13th and 14th floor…. and guess who had to get them out. It was still funny though!
Iglesias’s music is a far-cry from country. I don’t want to hear it on my stations, and I’m confident I won’t. If he wants to make it in music, fine by me - but put him in pop or adult contemporary where his sound fits in. At least give him a chance. But I think he’ll more than likely still be overshadowed by his brother.
I’m fairly confident I remember hearing Martina had some sort of doll made… but did Reba too? Anybody know for sure? Just think how awful it would be if they made your toy with lead paint and it ended up being the toy featured in all the news broadcasts. Then again, think how well a George Strait Team Roping action figure would sell at tractor and farm surplus stores.
Parton’s tribute to Wagoner is fitting, great way to pay respect. It will also help people remember the good times if they were Porter fans.
March 10, 2008 at 5:27 pm Permalink
That review is hilarious. I’m sorry, I can see the Village Voice reviewing Wilco or even Dale Watson but them reviewing a mainstream Country album is hilarious.
I dont see why CRS would even invite Sean Hannity as the keynote speaker. Yeah, the guy plays bits of Country songs on his radio show (I have been told, I cant stand him so i dont listen to him) but it just seems odd. Rather than inviting some blowhard political commentator, why not invite “legendary” radio voices to be the keynote speaker? Pay tribute to the past while hearing the songs of the future. I guess that would make too much sense.
I dont see anyone connected to that trainwreck Gone Country being on radio very long. Thankfully.
March 12, 2008 at 9:57 am Permalink
Yo Kelly, I don’t like a lot of her “poppier” sounding music, but I do enjoy the unique characteristics that her voice possesses. I’m by no means a Dolly expert, but I think The Essential Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton displays how great she can be at her best.
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