Ken Burns' COUNTRY MUSIC Documentary

Nudie suits for everyone!

Halfway through the Holding Things Together podcast which is holding its own.

i’m caught up, waiting for #8 to drop

Just went over there a little earlier and I have good news for you: Blue Yodel #8 has arrived in the station.

The synopsis of second episode of this show, “Hard Times (1933-1945),” says “Watch as Nashville becomes the heart of the country music industry.” Think this is a little premature.

Tell you one thing, I am not having a lot of trouble resisting clicking on the video of “British guitar reacts to the ORIGIN of country, Mother Maybelle Carter.” I’ve been down that road before.

lol

i was inspired to pick up Hag’s autibiography House of Memories.

Halfway through i think i am inspired to maybe put it back down again. :/

Why?

Maybe you should read that bio Alfred mentioned.

It’s horribly edited and full of typos mainly
But also stories that start with “i’m not advocating domestic violence...”

the caldwell bio is great but examines his life via his songs & i thought i’d like to hear his stories firsthand

Ugh, sorry

eh.. i think i kinda knew what i might get when i was going in, it was just a bummer to have my doubts confirmed.

i do want to read Guralnick’s Lost Highways now though

Lost Highways is great, especially the (now slightly outdated) listening guide in the back.

That one is good, as is almost every Peter Guralnick book I’ve read, which is most, although maybe I could go back and read them more carefully or at least another time. I saw him do an in-store for one of the Elvis books, the second I think, and he was oddly defensive.

I got rid of my paper copy in a painful purge, but now have the enhanced e-edition, with extra interviews and such, including one with the Hag.

That iconic picture on the cover of Hank Williams with a cigarillo in his mouth and some kind of defiant look on his face, the young lady next to him is Roy Acuff’s daughter, isn’t it?

In any case, I am going to use a word I assume he got from Sam Phillips which appears in his book about the same, “amplitudinous.”

Hm, there are Episode 8 Show Notes on HTT but no actual podcast that I can see.

yeah i’m wondering if they somehow forgot to post 8

Maybe it’s a sly tribute to No Show Jones.

i do want to read Guralnick’s Lost Highways now though

At least Charlie Rich is in it.

Exactly. That’s how we knew he wasn’t just a journeyman.

Well good evening,
Don’t that sun look good going down

I’m having withdrawal symptoms from/flashbacks to this. Right now hearing a mashup of “The Streets of Bakersfield” and “Delia’s Gone” in my head.

What these two songs have in common is that they were re-recorded by the artists decades later and finally became hits of a sort. Wondering what other songs from major country artists fit this bill.

Wow, Wikipedia says there have been tons of recordings by folk and country artists of “Delia” songs and that Johnny Cash alone recorded it four times.

Also is that a body double for Flaco Jiménez in the background of the video for “The Streets of Bakersfield”?

we dug up the BBC Lost Highways series on youtube and have started watching tonight. Charlie Louvin! <3

Wow, Ray Price gets an episode too.

Buck AND his producer!

Random fact that just popped into my head: believe “Ring of Fire” was first recorded by one of the other Carter sisters- Anita, I think- before Johnny had the idea to cut it with mariachi horns.

still reeling over some of these Lost Highways interviews - episode 2 interviews with Ray Price & Eddy Arnold <3

the one thing i don’t like about Lost Highways over Ken Burns is that it picks sides in a narrative way too heavily, ie Audrey drove Hank to drink; Ray Price is the “judas” of country for doing Danny Boy, etc

like sure it’s conventional wisdom of the time but as a storyteller you should try to do a little better than wallowing in the muck with everyone else.

idk. i think Burns has a lighter touch and allows for more context to tell a richer story, even when he leaves stuff out that we would want to see. i mean he has his glib moments too but they don’t feel as harsh
as some of these

Just got busted by a neighbor whilst walking home and singing along to “The Streets of Baltimore.”

breaking news update direct from the source (i coildnt take the suspense so i emailed the pod)

Holding Things Together episode 8 could hit yr feed Sunday (maybe)

quoting Don: “I’ve been traveling and traveling. Hope to get to it on Sunday. I’m actually in Nashville right now for Dolly’s 50th Opry Anniversary show so I’m keeping it country.” 🤠

Thanks. I have this far resisted using that email, but may do so soon.

i hope they continue it in some other form after the final ep. i really enjoy their convos & have learned so much!

Assuming you told them that in the email.

i wrote an itunes review for that :)

Leafing through the tie-in book, which does indeed have incredible photos and more details, more stories. Carlene Carter’s dad, Carl Smith, is discussed and there is even a photo of him and June. Random thing I never knew: the Patti Page hit version of “The Tennessee Waltz” was a B-side, the A-side being “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus.” Random thing I always forget: Jimmie Rodgers covering up the smell of his medicine with Black Narcissus perfume.

Just saw a busker presumably cashing in on the current country boom and doing Ray Charles singing “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

Was going to get around to watching this on PBS website...but uh I guess you can't do that once it's stopped airing? That's some bullshit. I pay their salaries etc etc. (Yes I am John D and Catherine T MacArthur.)

There was a two week window when you could watch it, I think, otherwise you need a special membership

I really enjoyed the first half of this but the latter part suffers from trying to extend the narratives. The lack of Glen Campbell was severely disappointing. Also, I missed the graphical devices they used to animate the early years.

Yup.

Just barreled through to the end of the book. The afterword by Dayton Duncan sheds some light on the generally high quality of this documentary, albeit with the various caveats expressed throughout thread: he was already a serious fan for a few decades before starting this almost a decade-long project.

The bibliography is reasonably serious too.

Also wondering if we should repurpose this thread as some kind of Good Books About Old School Country Music or find or start another thread for that purpose.

*fingers crossed*

i like that idea!

Yes plz