Regular visitors to the GMC know that we're mostly about nostalgia and music, with an occasional shot of current events. But one of the situations that arise from something like this being around for so long (six years and a thousand+ posts) is that you start feeling like you're beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel of personal memories that drive the nostalgia part of the equation. Just the act of building a post around things from my past might seem a little nervy but it is one reason that I started all this, and [...]
Tennessee Ernie Ford: Mule Train [ purchase ] Count Prince Miller : Mule Train [ purchase ] In 1949, America went "Mule Train" crazy. Now, more than 60 years later, it's not clear what drove that obsession. Maybe the song "Mule Train" was a metaphor, or nostalgia, or just the beneficiary of a clever PR campaign. It's not a particularly compelling piece -- it's largely a laundry list of dry goods being hauled by a mule-drawn convoy. There are some funny rhymes [...]
As Cooper's second birthday looms, he's finally aged to the point where he has developed some bona fide opinions about music—or at least latched onto a few favorite songs. Being that this is a household that emphasizes songs the whole family can enjoy (while not wholly outlawing outright kids' music), the majority of the songs on this list are simply oldies for young'uns . These are the songs (especially of late) that Coop asks for by name, and/or can "sing" on request. The Beach Boys: Barbara Ann The [...]
HOBBY - [ hob -ee] : an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation. I think we all know people who have had a tough time adjusting to retirement, and it seems to me that a lot of them have one thing in common. In their working life they seldom stepped back from their jobs to enjoy leisure activities. They always thought they'd get around to it after retiring, but they now find it difficult to relax and enjoy themselves - and they also have no established [...]
Filed under: Exclusive , The Hit List Every good protest needs a soundtrack, and though these turbulent times may have inspired mostly escapist pop about dance floor decadence, we live in a post-iPod era where the [...]
Some years ago, the brains at Rolling Stone grappled to identify the first ever rock & roll record. In the final face-off, they picked Elvis Presley's debut single That's All Right, a cover of R&B singer Arthur Crudup's song, over Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock (itself a cover, though the song was actually written for the former western swing singer). It is, of course, a fruitless mission to identify a "first" rock & roll song, because the genre is a jumble of diverse influences that convened, not always simultaneously, in an untidy evolution. One might [...]
After a hiatus of a few months we return to the history of country music. In the last narrative instalment ( Volume 4 ) we noted the rise of female country singers; some of them will feature in this mix, which covers the years 1950-51, and its follow-up, 1952-53. In the course of the 1950s we will also review country's contribution to rock & roll, and discuss some of the artists featured. What follows then is a brief overview of country music in the 1950s. [...]
As before, this album refers to artists and songs featured on both 1940s compilations. The importance to country music of Ernest Tubb 's Walking The Floor Over You cannot be underestimated. It was not the first honky tonk record, nor the first to use the new-fangled electric guitar. But it was the first really big hit to use electric guitar solos, performed by Fay 'Smitty' Smith, and is considered the breakthrough record for honky tonk music, a label that was variously used for different genres, but now [...]
Ok. Fess up. Who loves Mad Men? Who saw the first episode of Season 4? I only watched half of it on iTunes so, shhhhh, no spoilers. This is song is one that I knew, because, hey, doesn't everyone know it? But why? It's not like we learned it in grade school music class…did we? Is it just one of those standards embedded in the subconscious mind of every red-blooded American? I don't know. But I do know that I hadn't thought about it for quite some time, until it was the credit music for a recent [...]
Anciennement animateur radio, Tennessee Ernie Ford devient chanteur et guitariste de country américain de bonne réputation. Le voici dans l'interprétation de son One Hit Wonder "Sixteen Tons". Ce titre sera son plus grand succès en 1955. Il ne fera jamais mieux.
Hey kids, how is your school year going? Are you excited to be in a new grade? Do you like your teacher? Are you learning lots of good stuff? Are there any cool projects you will be working on? Since our daughter loves school, we all look forward to this time of year. She is especially excited because her grade will be learning about Greek mythology (her favorite topic), natural disasters (though scary, they are pretty amazing things to study), and they will hold a "living wax museum" where everyone dresses up as a historical figure and present [...]
Snap judgement is that we may have seen the last of Dick Whitman. "...after all, when it comes down to it, who's really signing this contract anyway." More on it later... but in the meantime, how about using the great Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons" for closing credits? The song, originally by Merle Haggard , was Ford's biggest hit, topping the charts in 1955 against. The song was about workin' the coal mines, but it's the lyric, "I owe my soul to the company store," [...]
As a young teenager with eclectic music tastes, one of my favorite records was Tennessee Ernie Ford's tribute to coal miners, "Sixteen Tons." (Video below.) Of course, I wasn't the only one who found a lot to like about that song - after all, it rocketed to the top of both country and pop charts - but the "B" side of the record also provided an interesting story. I had that record and played it constantly, but mostly the "A" side. Still, I must have listened to the reverse side fairly often because Ol' Ern's version [...]
Après ce petit hommage à l'inspirateur de L.A.D.R.I, on met les sacs dans le coffre et on part sur les chapeaux de roues! Neimo - Lines (Midenken Cheval Remix) The beta Band - Round the bend La course se stabilise avec le groupe du batteur des Artics Monkeys. Mongrel - Julian Et puis non, sur L.A.D.R.I on est pas en clio alors on remet les gaz pour la sensation! Hip-hop vs Drugs! Xrabit + Dmg$ - [...]
Tennessee Ernie ( Official Wiki AMG ) is best known as the guy who recorded "16 Tons," and quite a few gospel records we all saw marketed on late-night television. Four years before his massive hit with "16 Tons," and seven years before anyone ever had a hit with Stag, Tennessee Ernie (still then working on a weekly radio show) recorded his take on Stag. Remember how I said that Tommy Roe's version of Stag was relentlessly upbeat ? Well, so is Tennessee Ernie's, but don't hold that against [...]
With many apologies for our extended absence (life intervenes...) The introduction to the next section of the book, "Hillbilly Boogie," gives us essentially the story I've been building us up to all along. With the coalescence of rockabilly as a commercial form of music, and most specifically with the arrival of Elvis, "the focal point of a revolution in taste and style," (94), we arrive at a great "widening" of the appeal and cultural significance of popular American music. This is the beginning of the era of what our good friend Bob Christgau calls the "monoculture"--that [...]
Wow. I didn't realize I had this many songs about elves on my hard drive. I'd figured this'd be five or six songs, maximum, but here it is -- 48 minutes of elvish material. The first five songs are about how elves help out Santa: two of them slip down the chimneys themselves to unlock the front door. In these songs, you'll hear a Thurl soundalike (track one), the story of how one elf is so tiny he takes naps in Santa's beard (only a leetle weird), and even how fat old Santa ended up bareass [...]
Here is one of last year's two CD-length mixes. This one focuses on country, western swing, bluegrass and folk music. (In two days, I'll post the other mix from '07, focusing on blues and soul.) I had a hard time whittling this down to one CD's worth of music. At the earliest stage, I had almost three hours of music to pick from, all songs on the theme which I loved. (The second mix was a little easier to choose from -- I only had to delete about half an hour from that one.) I'm well aware this [...]
Geezer Music Club
Star Maker Machine
Keep the Coffee Coming
Pretty Goes with Pretty
Spinner.com
Any Major Dude With Half A Heart
One Sweet Song
Le Mellotron
R. O. pre-K.
thus spake drake
L.A.D.R.I.
She'll Grow Back
She's Making Whoopee in Hell Tonight...
SABRINA JOHNSTON + TIEFSCHWARTZ
American Idol Finalists: where are they now?
Check Out: Curren$y feat. Big K.R.I.T. & Wiz Khalifa – “Jef Life”
