Even Elvis’ Crap Turns to Gold
- John Gerome lays out all the logistics of a Christmas album from the label side of things. Basically, the peak season for a Christmas album is between late October and Christmas, it usually sells well for a few seasons, and if it makes it to gold status, then it’s hugely successful. Gerome says Elvis’ Christmas Album is still the star at the top of the tree for many, and the biggest hit off that album, “Blue Christmas”, is the one that Elvis didn’t want to record.
As Gordon Stoker, a member of the Jordanaires, the vocal group that backed Presley on that song and many others, recalls, Elvis at first refused to do Blue Christmas out of respect for Ernest Tubb, who had had a No. 1 hit with it earlier.
When the producers said he had to cut it, he told folks at the session to come up with something so bad that it would never see the light of day as a single, Stoker told The Associated Press recently from his Nashville home.
“We thought that ‘oo-ooo-oooo’ was bad enough that they wouldn’t release it,” Stoker said of the signature backing vocals.
To this day, he said, “It still sounds bad to me when I hear it.”
- Big & Rich plan to take some time off from touring in 2008 due to recurring effects of an accident Big Kenny was involved in a couple of years ago. Both artists will continue to be busy in other ways. John Rich is producing new albums, writing new songs, and getting ready for his CMT series while Kenny Alphin is working on a Broadway play and feature film and songwriting, too.
- Country Universe bucks the top ten trend and lists fifteen albums in The Best Country Albums of 2007 feature.
- If you’re looking for songs, Craig Shelburne listed twenty-one that he can’t get enough of and the reasons why.
- “The story of dancehalls is really the story of Texas,” says Steve Dean, who helped co-found Texas Dance Hall Preservation Inc., a non-profit organization. Each dancehall has a rich cultural history and the organization hopes to document all the Texas dancehalls, organize driving tours, and reopen others to their past glory.
- Faith Hill says she hasn’t ruled out the idea of being the First Lady of Tennessee in the future.
- The January 10th episode of CSI will feature two Shooter Jennings songs. Jennings will also make an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on January 2nd.
- The list of ten albums at Twang Nation reflects Baron Lane’s tastes and biases from the Americana landscape.
- Roanoke Rapids’ residents aren’t too happy with the situation involving Randy Parton and the theater bearing his name.
“He’s known as Dolly Parton’s brother,” Jane Joyner said recently, bathed in the red glow of the neon pigs outside Ralph’s Barbecue up the road from the theater. “And that was about all he was known for.”
- Stop by Big Rock Candy Mountain to download their last Christmas songs this year. They’ve got 33 songs available from the likes of Wanda Jackson, Dale Watson, Hank Thompson, Faron Young, and Merle Haggard. Happy downloading. And while you’re at it, Living in Stereo has a “few lesser-known, country-flavored holiday tunes” from Bob Wills, Ferlin Husky, George Jones, and more.
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In each and every instance, the best country albums of the past ten years were built on the backs of songs -- stories about you and me from birth to death and stories that paint landscapes rooted in every region of America and beyond. These are the top country albums of the decade.Tagged In This Article
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December 26, 2007 at 4:41 pm Permalink
I agree with Elvis that his version of “Blue Christmas” is unlistenable. It is one of the most annoying songs ever recorded, fighting for the top spot with such notables as the Knack’s “My Sharona” or Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy, Breaky Heart” among others. The “ooo-eee-ooo-oh-wa” backing vocals could replace waterboarding as a mans of torture at the CIA…..
My favorite version of that song is from Amber Dotson, a fine real country talent that Capitol Nashville stuck on the shelf after Top 40 country stations ignored her two fine singles. Amber has the kind of earthy voice that Angela Hacker wishes she could aspire to and never will. Fortunately Amber’s two singles and “Blue Christmas” are available for download, but it seems no advance CD copies of her Capitol album were ever released as I’ve been searching for a couple of years. Oh well…….
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