George Jones, Charlie Louvin, & Ralph Stanley Hospitalized In the Past Week; Year End Lists; RIP Gary Claxton
- Here’s a briefer for the past couple of weeks: Shania Twain got married. So did Kellie Pickler. The Grascals’ Terry Eldredge got engaged. LeAnn Rimes got new boobs and engaged. The Shania and LeAnn stories seem to be the biggest, and of course there are other stories and links that were missed during my hiatus, but I hope to work those in over the next few days. Also, if you haven’t filled out our survey, please take a couple of minutes to go do that.
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Do yourself a favor and add some Heybale to your collection. The band only has one studio album (and one live one) to its name, with the possibility of a second to be released soon. Beyond that though, there probably won’t be anymore music from the band, at least not with frontman Gary Claxton, who took his own life Thursday morning at the age of 50. No further details were given about his passing.
Here’s Miss Leslie’s take on the loss, and the following clip is “California Wine,” a song Claxton wrote with guitarist and bandmate Redd Volkaert:
- A barn belonging to Charlie Daniels caught fire Friday night, killing 11 horses and a bull. Daniels, who was in Colorado at the time of the fire, still isn’t sure how much memorabilia was lost.
- George Jones spent the night at the hospital last week, but was released the day after being admitted.
Doctors ran some tests, looking for possible blockage in his heart. Jones was prescribed medication, but no further procedures were needed.
- Charlie Louvin, another Hall of Famer, spent some time in the hospital last week, too. For a while his prognosis wasn’t looking good, but reports says he’s now resting and recovering back at home.
- Word has it that Ralph Stanley had to have an emergency pacemaker installed yesterday.
- The staff at Country Universe listed their top country albums of 2010: Part 1 | Part 2
- Andy Langer on Lukas Nelson, and his recently released album Promise of the Real:
Lukas Nelson’s voice is high and nasally. And a little bit creepy, because in timbre and phrasing, his is a dead-ringer for a voice already ingrained in our consciousness: Willie Nelson’s. The similarities are inescapable, but dwelling on whether they’re going to be a blessing or curse on a nascent career seems futile: Lukas Nelson is his father’s son.
Langer goes on to cite “Fathers and Mothers,” a song Lukas’ father actually joins him on, as the most fascinating track. And indeed, it does sound really cool.
- Writing for The Daily Beast, Bryan Curtis commented on the rise of the country carpetbagger. (via several reader emails)
- My Kind of Country’s top albums of 2010: J.R. Journey | Razor X | Occasional Hope
- Also from My Kind of Country are lists of the worst singles and hidden treasures of the past year.
- It’s been a few months since lead vocalist Bryan Simpson announced his departure from Cadillac Sky, and now the remaining members are disbanding as well.
- Keep an ear open for Zoe Muth‘s sophomore release in April. In the mean time, revisit her self-titled debut, which was released right on the cusp of 2010. (h/t Songs:Illinois)
- For his next album, The Majestic Silver Strings (March 1), Buddy Miller will be joined by instrumentalists Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz on originals and reinterpretations of classic country songs. Guest vocalists include Emmylou Harris, Lee Ann Womack, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin and others.
- Here’s a hearty stamp of “Check This Out” for Country California’s list of underloved albums of 2010. A few of ‘em even made my top ten.
- Come March 15, Steve Martin will release his second bluegrass album with the Steep Canyon Rangers. Titled Rare Bird Alert, it’ll include 13 new songs written by Martin and guest stars the Dixie Chicks and Paul McCartney.
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Music Fog’s been cranking out a lot of new videos lately. Here’s some highlights:
- The Infamous Stringdusters – “Magic #9“
- Kevin & Dustin Welch w/ Kelley Mickwee – “Highland Mary“
- Hayes Carll – “Another Like You“
- Charlie Faye w/ Will Sexton – “Whirlwind“
- John Fullbright – “The Flower Song“
- Country Universe is counting down the 100 greatest men in country music history. Overachievers.
- Merle Haggard discussed his experience at the Kennedy Center Honors gala and the possibility of recording with Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson in an interview with Patrick Doyle for Rolling Stone.
- Patrick Caldwell on Hayes Carll‘s new album, KMAG YOYO:
Carll’s mix of humor, sadness and trenchant observation is present in full force on “KMAG YOYO” – the title is a reference to a military acronym for “Kiss My (Expletive) Guys, You’re On Your Own.” It’s loaded with memorable lines (“I’m like James Brown, only white and taller” he sings on opener “Stomp and Holler”) and songs on the woes of modern America – war, joblessness and economic struggle.
- Illustrator/graphic designer Madalynn Priester put together a pretty cool flowchart to help you pick a country song that describes your life.
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Bill Frisell // Bryan Simpson // Buddy Miller // Cadillac Sky // Charlie Daniels // Charlie Louvin // Dixie Chicks // Emmylou Harris // George Jones // Hayes Carll // Heybale // Infamous Stringdusters // Kelley Mickwee // Kellie Pickler // Kris Kristofferson // LeAnn Rimes // Lee Ann Womack // Merle Haggard // Miss Leslie // Patty Griffin // Ralph Stanley // Redd Volkaert // Shania Twain // Shawn Colvin // Steep Canyon Rangers // Steve Martin // Terry Eldredge // The Grascals // The Infamous Stringdusters // Willie Nelson
Current Discussion
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15 Comments
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January 10, 2011 at 12:32 pm
The more I study Hayes Carll, the more I wonder where he would be without Ray Wylie Hubbard.
January 10, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Congratulations, El!
January 10, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Glad to have you back, Brody.
Good for Steve Martin for bringing the Dixie Chicks back together on record.
January 10, 2011 at 4:40 pm
RE: Country Carpetbaggers….
The sad thing is both the artists and Nashville want each other in this instance. The artists need somewhere they can squeeze a few more bucks out of a fledgiling or failed career in another genre and Nashville will welcome these people with open arms because Nashville has always wanted what they think is that hip factor to bring them into more of a pop or rock audience and world. Nashville and Music Row have never really been satisfied being just country and proud of it…They want to be legitimate in the eyes of those in the pop and rock world. Look at how Nashville welcomed Dann Huff into the fold when his rock career stifled…and he is, in large part, responsible for how lame/repedetive the songs and acts coming out of Music Row today. That just one example…you can trace the lameness to the lot that have come over from pop career gone soft.
January 10, 2011 at 5:29 pm
New Buddy Miller music! Just in time for my birthday!
January 10, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Ever hear of Owen Bradley? Fred Rose? I just wish that people who yapped about keeping country country knew a little bit about its history – but of course, if they knew, then they wouldn’t be yapping, would they? And I think it’s pretty funny to see ol’ Bryan “Country” Curtis denouncing Jerry Lee Lewis as a carpetbagger (and misstating the facts of his career, to boot); I guess he’d probably denounce Conway Twitty, too, if he knew enough about country music to have heard of him, which he evidently doesn’t.
As usual, what purports to be a piece about country turns out to be a piece about rock: “Well, [to understand what happened to country] first, you have to understand what happened to rock.” Well, no, you dumb*ss, you don’t; what you have to know first is something about country. What a putz.
January 10, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Charles: That article pretty much sums how I feel about pop country artists invading country music. However, Jerry Lee Lewis might be an exception since his first two singles to chart “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On” and “Great Balls of Fire” went to #1 on the country charts and #2 and #3 respectively on the Hot 100. And even before his late 1960′s comeback into country he recorded country songs like Crazy Arms among others. Charlie Rich was also a rocker but he didn’t initially start out in country music and his success started out on the pop charts only. And I could add Olivia Newton-John to the list since she flavored her music with country instrumentations like steel guitar and strings.
The Eagles charted in country for the first time in 1975 with “Lyin’ Eyes” so I wouldn’t count them into the mix with Darius Rucker, Jewel, Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker as intruders since The Eagles first charted in the mid 1970′s.
And I didn’t see Kelly Clarkson’s name appear in the article but I guess that she counts as an intruder along with the rest of them.
January 10, 2011 at 6:33 pm
And I didn’t see Kelly Clarkson’s name appear in the article but I guess that she counts as an intruder along with the rest of them.
Does she? She’s cut a duet (and toured) with Reba McEntire and a duet with Jason Aldean – anything more than that? She hasn’t attempted any rebranding of herself as a country artist, as far as I’m aware.
Did Sonny Rollins become an intruder in to rock when he collaborated on The Rolling Stones album Tattoo You? Was Keith Richards an intruder in country when he cut a duet with George Jones? Was Bo Diddley an intruder into punk when he toured with The Clash?
January 10, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Good questions. The whole notion of an “intruder” or “carpetbagger” is a little troublesome in this context, ain’t it?
January 10, 2011 at 6:59 pm
I really don’t see what the problem with someone whose become famous in another genre putting out a country album. Is the problem the albums or the radio play? Were the same people bothered by The Beatles of the Stones cutting country songs 40 years ago? Or wasn’t it a problem because they weren’t trying to get them played by country radio?
January 10, 2011 at 7:22 pm
It wasn’t a problem because they weren’t making the same old music and calling it country. There hasn’t been a “country song” released by Jewel or Darius Rucker that would be out of place on Pieces of You or Cracked Rear View.
January 10, 2011 at 7:55 pm
My favorite line from the “carpetbagger” opinion piece: “Country is now less a style of music than a refuge from other styles of music.” Top 40 country may not totally fit that description yet, thanks to the likes of Chris Young and Easton Corbin, but its heading there fast.
PS – Just what in the hell is “The Daily Beast”? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that website before. Is it something for latte sipping NPR types?
That “country music song flowchart” was pointed out last week on Farce The Music and I’m amazed at the amount of time, effort, and thought that went into creating that thing! Good job.
Hayes Carll is a great live act, but I just didn’t listen to his last CD very much. Heck, I’d go see him again just to hear Bonnie Whitmore again!
It is sad about Gary Claxton. I purchased Heybale’s studio quite awhile ago CD based upon the recommendation here at the 9513, and it has a couple of killer songs on there. Miss Leslie’s comments are right on the money.
I need to petition Music Fog to have female artists comprise at least 50% of what they post to their website! (lol)
January 10, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Steve: Give Clarkson and her people time in getting her switched over to country since she’s being pushed into getting there in any way possible. After all it didn’t take Darius, Jewel, Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker no time at all to be accepted by country radio, did they? And be really thankful that Bon Jovi’s little sojourn into country music didn’t last long and the only thing they got out of it was a #1 country hit.
January 10, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Is it something for latte sipping NPR types
No, it’s for “conservatives” who swoon over Barack Obama and pretty much disavow everything small-government conservatism is all about. I trust you know all about two of its most notorious writers, Meghan McCain and Chris Buckley.
January 11, 2011 at 7:41 am
Well, Rick, The Daily Beast is a massively financed general news/opinion website of a sort of Washington establishment “in the money” type that, for instance, now owns Newsweek, or what’s left of it. It’s run by Tina Brown, who edited the likes of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker before…