The first tapes I bought were Nervous Night and Born in the USA, in 1985, but it was a year later that the George Satellites taught me what put the roll in rock n’ roll, via the guitars in this song. It’s from Georgia Satellites, their first record for Elektra in 1986. They put out two more records before Dan Baird departed for a solo career in 1990, then took a brief break and re-emerged in 1993, and are still out there making music today.
Meanwhile, Dan Baird is busy with Dan Baird and Homemade Sin, which also includes original members of the George Satellites, and George Satellites songs are in their repertoire. The version of Keep Your Hands To Yourself that I have and listen to probably once a week is a Dan Baird and Homemade Sin production.
And that is what this song sounds like to me: homemade sin. Dirty giggles, skinny dipping, having to be be sneaky about finding places to make out, riding in cars with bad bad boys, its all there, singing a siren song through their guitars.
Picking just one Mary Chapin Carpenter video turned out to be impossible. She just has so many good songs.
But since this week has been about country love songs – for certain definitions of “country love songs” – I picked two of those, one for the broken-hearted and one for those in the first flush of passion.
The sad song is first, and it is Never Had It So Good from State of the Heart (1989). The blue filter is perhaps a tiny bit dated (it was the ’80s, is all I can say) but the song itself is timeless.
Listening to it now has just reminded me how satisfying singing along to all that bitterness could be. And the thing is, even when she’s bitter, Mary Chapin Carpenter is a breath of fresh air.
And then to go into the weekend on an up-note, the one for people with stars in their eyes and sexy activities on their minds: Shut Up and Kiss Me from Stones in the Road (1994).
Also, she’s on tour for a big chunk of the fall. Check her listings and get out and see her if you can!
From Mark Chesnutt‘s second record, Longnecks & Short Stories (1992); I think my favorite line is Bubba hollered and raised hell / “I knew just where I was aimin’!
This is an acoustic version, so it’s a little bit slower than usual, but you can get the spirit of the song.
Speaking of me and country radio, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard Delta Dawn the first time: just past the lake and headed down the narrow road through the trees that would eventually take me up to the main road and the 7-11. It was a journey I took frequently, so I was practically on auto-pilot.
And then Tanya Tucker‘s voice and the eerie slow drone under it hit me like a cold bucket of water to the face. I think I turned it up mainly to make sure I was hearing correctly, because it didn’t sound like anything I had ever heard before. I don’t remember when this happened, but I’m guessing it was somewhere around 1992, when Two Sparrows in a Hurricane came out. The DJ probably even played them back to back.
I’m not sure I ever heard Delta Dawn on the radio again after that, or at least not for a while, but it stuck with me just the same.
Here she is singing it on Hee-Haw; she was 14 when this performance was recorded.
When I found this book in the music section of a used book store in Boston, I added it to my pile immediately.
Not because I’m a dedicated fan of Tammy Wynette – my favorite version of Stand By Your Man is the Lyle Lovett cover that was included in the Crying Game – but because she is such an iconic figure in country music, and I felt I should get to know her better.
Plus I’ve been reading a lot of auto/biographies of male rock stars lately, and I felt like I should branch out a little bit.
I may have picked it up out of a sense of duty, but what I got was the best kind of surprise. I loved this book. I honestly did not want to put it down, even though it was largely responsible for having Stand By Your Man stuck in my head on infinite repeat for the better part of a week.
Wynette’s story is a real rollercoaster ride of triumphant commercial success highs (all those #1 songs!) and tragic personal lows (her fifth marriage; being addicted to painkillers for most of her adult life due to extensive physical problems), but what really makes this book great is how much Jimmy McDonough loves her. His enduring affection for his subject melded with stubborn journalistic devotion to the truth – even if it is an ugly truth – is on every page.
I also learned a lot about Nashville, and the way country music used to be made, which, then as now, is very, very different from how rock music is made. McDonough also provides what has to be one of the finer, snarkier descriptions of Nashville ever committed to paper, which is Imagine that you’re at the dry cleaners, they’ve lost your pants, and you’re expecting them to be found. Then imagine you’ve been standing there waiting for forty-seven years.
And yet, as McDonough amply demonstrates, the place is home to so many vibrant characters. For example, George “The Possum” Jones, the country superstar who was the third of Wynette’s five husbands and by all accounts of the love of her life. Theirs was a stormy, dramatic union; they were married in 1969, divorced by 1975, and yet still continued to make beautiful music together for many years afterwards.
On a related note, this book is also a pretty good introduction to George Jones. I learned a lot about The Possum, not least being that his hell-raising days were the factual base One More Last Chance which was a hit for Vince Gill long after Jones had (more or less) settled down.
The one minor warning I would leave for the adventurous and ignorant coming after me is that McDonough presupposes a certain familiarity with the major events of Wynette’s personal and professional life. While it’s possible to enjoy this book without doing any previous reading – I know I did – I have a feeling the overall experience would be enriched by having at least a skeletal understanding of her story.
In summary: A++, add this to your end of summer reading list right away.
And now, some videos, so you can see The First Lady of Country Music in action.
Up first is D-I-V-O-R-C-E, her fourth #1 hit:
You know what’s next, right? Warning: may get stuck in your head for days at a time. It was so firmly lodged in mine that I fell into a Stand By Your Man-shaped YouTube hole while trying to exorcise it. My conclusion: I have mixed feelings about the various non-Lyle Lovett modern renditions, but I did enjoy Sara Evans’ version. I also came to the conclusion that this is not a song for the faint of heart or those possessed of a nervous disposition. You have to stare it down and then get up there and belt it out.
And here she is with Mr. Jones, and one of their most famous duets, Golden Ring:
And finally, singing Silver Threads and Golden Needles with her contemporaries, friends and competitors Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn:
This video for Baby Likes to Rock It by The Tractors was directed by Michael Salomon and was the CMA Video of the Year in 1995. Not that I knew that at the time, because I didn’t often watch CMT; nearly 100% of my interactions with the world of country music happened via my car stereo.
This song was part of the soundtrack of many a hot afternoon spent navigating traffic jams and never, ever failed to lift my spirits.
If someone had played this song for me and told me it was a lost Johnny Cash track, I would totally have believed it. It’s not, though, it’s RT N’ the 44s. They’re from Los Angeles, California, and they play some sweet country blues. They have three records out, all of which you can listen to at (and more importantly, buy from) their bandcamp.
Plus they are playing a bunch of shows in Los Angeles this month. If you’re already there or passing through, check their listings and get down to see them.
And now without further chatter: Lost My Way, from March of the Fools (July 2011):
I was, once again, noodling around YouTube looking for something else and got distracted by something shiny. By which I mean I was watching Revolting Cocks videos – they’ve apparently renamed themselves and are now RevCo – and happened to glance to the right, saw what YouTube offered as related videos, thought oooooooh! Ministry! and now here we are.
This song is called Jesus Built My Hotrod and is from Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992); Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers joins them on vocals.
The Wild Yaks are from Brooklyn, and they are awesome. The video below is for River May Come from 10 Ships (Don’t Die Yet) (2009). And there will be new music in the fall!
Reason I like this video: because I have lately made it my tradition to plunge myself into the ocean on New Years Day, and in doing so, found I never feel more alive than when I can’t quite feel my toes. I have to be more careful of the undertow than hidden rocks, but I feel like the spirit of the thing is the same.
