Country Music

[whitehall]

Country and pop singers were pretty smart folks but they were dumb as a door nail when it came to transportation by air. Patsy Cline's manager had a pilot's license and wasn't instrument qualified but Patsy, Hawkshaw and Cowboy Copas trusted him to get them from Kansas to Tennessee . He probably lost his orientation in a thunder storm and flew into the ground.

 

[longknife]

Why am I not surprised?
The 1st four episodes were "on the house."
If you want to see #5 and later - you gotta join the PBS club - in other words - Pay for View.

 

[Larsky]

Why am I not surprised?
The 1st four episodes were "on the house."
If you want to see #5 and later - you gotta join the PBS club - in other words - Pay for View.

I get PBS on digital broadcast. It continues tomorrow.

 

[longknife]

Why am I not surprised?
The 1st four episodes were "on the house."
If you want to see #5 and later - you gotta join the PBS club - in other words - Pay for View.

I get PBS on digital broadcast. It continues tomorrow.

Not here in Vegas.

 

[Larsky]

Bravo. Roger Miller reminded me of being a kid in the 60s. And Merle. And Charley Pride. And the women rising to the top.

Other than Steve Earle and James McMurtry, I own no country music.

But this is really good. So much fascinating information.

 

[Oddball]

Now I have this damn song worming around my head...I remember being a little dude, with this being the first radio song I knew by heart.

 

[Larsky]

Now I have this damn song worming around my head...I remember being a little dude, with this being the first radio song I knew by heart.

 

[longknife]

Ken Burns on His Eight-Year Dive into Country Music

The groundbreaking documentary filmmaker’s new series, Country Music, which took almost a decade to make, covers the human stories wrapped up in the genre’s uniquely American history

I’ve seen the first five two-hour episodes and can tell you they were riveting, interesting, entertaining, and informative.

I knew Johnny Cash had been big into drugs and Roger Miller’s addiction was news to me. (Now I can’t get the lyrics to “Dang Me” out of my head)

The film runs chronologically, tracing the many influences that shaped country music, from enslaved people bringing the banjo across the Atlantic from Africa all the way to the heyday of pop-country in the mid-1990s. The genre, Burns reveals, is less a set of rules and boundaries than it is a spectrum—one that trades on universal truths and bridges cultural, racial, and economic divides.

Here’s a paragraph of the story I find most valuable:

The much larger theme [that emerged] is that this supposedly “white” music is also black, and this supposedly “male” music is also very, very female. The original guitarist is Mother Maybelle. Everybody flows from her, including Eddie Van Halen shredding guitar. I think it’s always a struggle for a woman, just as it’s always a struggle for an African-American. You have to be that much better, that much more perfect, in order to get by. The bar is much higher. But the history of country music is a history of super strong women, and we rejoice in being able to tell that tale.

And this was surprising. We all know what a massive star Gene Autry was, but I never guessed this about him:

Just that he was able to meet her at a fair—you see that personable quality in country musicians throughout. There’s an anecdote in the film about Gene Autry, that his wife kept a filing system of the names and addresses of the fans who wrote to him, and when he came into town, he would look them up and give them a call. I love that you included that detail.

Can you imagine sitting at home and answering a phone call to discover Gene Autry is calling you to thank you for a fan letter?

A nice piece about a great series @ Ken Burns on His Eight-Year Dive into Country Music – Garden & Gun

 

[Camp]

Why am I not surprised?
The 1st four episodes were "on the house."
If you want to see #5 and later - you gotta join the PBS club - in other words - Pay for View.

I watched episode #6 last night. Still free on PBS where I live.

 

[Larsky]

Opening with Leon Russell was cool.
And great segment on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

 

[Camp]

I wonder how, and if Ken covers the Dixie Chics.

 

[Larsky]

I wonder how, and if Ken covers the Dixie Chics.

Same as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan would be my guess.

 

[Dalia]

I love country music

 

[Larsky]

The last episode did not disappoint. Carlene Carter and Rosanne Cash were outstanding commentators. And it brought me back to the late 70s, when Emmylou became the object of my desire!

 

[whitehall]

The last episode did not disappoint. Carlene Carter and Rosanne Cash were outstanding commentators. And it brought me back to the late 70s, when Emmylou became the object of my desire!

Emmylou was the protege of Gram Parsons who died at the age of 26 by overdose. It's kind of a shame that Parsons became better known for a Hollywood movie depicting the circumstances of having his dead body stolen (Grand Theft Parsons) than his music which was pretty substantial.