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WALKIN’ A COUNTRY MILE
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COUNTRY MUSIC COLUMN
by Scott
Stem
JOHNNY CASH
LEFT US WHILE AT THE TOP OF HIS
GAME…
Country Music’s greatest living legend lives no more.
The first person ever
to be voted into both the Country
Music Hall of Fame and the Rock‘N’
Roll Hall of Fame (Elvis
Presley has since followed), Cash embodied the best of Country
Music, Rock Music, Gospel Music, rockabilly and more.
Furthermore, Cash also holds prestigious membership in the Songwriters
Hall Of Fame.
Cash was a unique
American original who made an impact on all music genres with songs like
“I Walk The Line,” “Ring Of
Fire,” “Boy Named Sue,” “Get Rhythm,” “Ballad of a Teenage
Queen,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Man in
Black,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and more.
He was a CMA Entertainer of the Year who went on to host his own
critically-acclaimed television show that put a spotlight on the best
music being made at the time, regardless of genre.
A former drug addict who cleaned up his life and became one of the planet’s most well-known Christians, Cash was equally comfortable with men in prison and hard-drinking bar patrons as he was with world and religious leaders. He was a man who was always on the side of the underdog, as he spoke out in favor of civil rights and against the Vietnam War. His generosity to causes and individuals was unending. His struggles were many, his temptations were varied, yet he never gave up as he continued to overcome obstacles and make himself better.
Then, when many of his
contemporaries had long since retired, Cash became re-energized.
Teaming with rock and rap producer Rick
Rubin, Cash made four amazing albums that brought him full back into
the spotlight yet again with Grammy Awards, sold-out concerts in the
hippest venues and more.
His current album American
IV – The Man Comes Around, featuring his stunning rendition of
the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt,”
recently went gold and brought a slew of CMA Award and MTV Video Award
nominations.
Cash left us while he
was at the top of his game. He
joins his wife and dearest companion, June
Carter Cash, who died earlier this year, in eternity.
Tributes have poured in from the likes of U2’s Bono, Sheryl Crow, Mick Jagger, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Tim McGraw, Dolly Parton, Trent Reznor, Justin Timberlake and hundreds of other celebrities. All of these famous folks acknowledge the influence that Cash has had on their music and lives. The music world will never know another performer like Johnny Cash -- it is unfathomable to imagine what popular music would have been like without him. JOHN RITTER’S COUNTRY ROOTS… Just as tragic, actor John
Ritter died at the young age of 54.
Ritter also had
Country Music connections -- his father, singer/songwriter/film star Tex
Ritter was inducted into the Country
Music Hall of Fame in the ‘60s.
Ritter was one of the
few people who made television interesting in the last 30 years, from
his recurring role on “The
Waltons,” through his career peak on “Three’s
Company,” winding through the
politically charged “Heart’s
Afire,” before ending with his most recent series, the highly
successful “8 Rules…For Dating
My Teenaged Daughter.”
Do you remember that
John Ritter portrayed the tennis-playing minister who married Ted and
Georgeanne in Mary Richards’ apartment on “The
Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the ‘70s?
Ritter’s talent at slapstick and physical comedy made him a
favorite of the legendary Lucille
Ball. You can’t get a
higher compliment than that. CMA AWARDS Airs “Live” on Nov. 5… Moving on to much
happier news, it won’t be long before “The
37th Annual CMA Awards” airs live on the CBS
Television Network on Wednesday, November 5 at 8:00 PM/EST with Vince Gill as host. “Country Music’s Biggest Night” always features
great performances and this year will be no exception.
Alan Jackson and Jimmy
Buffett will perform their smash duet “It’s
Five O’Clock Somewhere” as the opening song, with more super
star performances to be announced soon.
The final nominees for
the CMA Awards were recently announced.
It was an eclectic year, with a great mix of both today’s
hitmakers and legends, showcasing both contemporary and traditional
Country Music, as well as several non-genre stars who crossed over into
Country territory this year.
Toby Keith is the frontrunner
with 7 nominations. Brooks
and Dunn, Johnny Cash and Brad
Paisley each received 4 nominations.
Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson and Darryl Worley received 3 nominations. Kenny Chesney, Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Joe Nichols and Blake Shelton each received 2 nominations.
And Alabama,
Gary Allan, Bellamy Brothers, Jimmy Buffett, Tracy Byrd, Terri Clark,
Sheryl Crow, Diamond Rio, Andy Griggs, Buddy Jewell, Kid Rock, Alison
Krauss, Lonestar, Patty Loveless, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dolly Parton,
Rascal Flatts, Sons of the Desert, George Strait, Randy Travis and
the Warren Brothers each
received one nomination. Key Nominee Categories Include… Entertainer of the Year: Brooks
& Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and Tim
McGraw. Male Vocalist of the Year: Kenny Chesney, Alan
Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and George Strait Female Vocalist of the Year: Terri
Clark, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Martina McBride and Dolly Parton Album of the Year:
American IV-The Man Comes
Around by Johnny Cash; Home by the Dixie Chicks; Man
With A Memory by Joe Nichols; Tim
McGraw & The Dancehall Doctors by Tim McGraw; and Unleashed by Toby Keith. Horizon Award: Gary
Allan, Buddy Jewell, Joe Nichols, Blake Shelton and Darryl Worley. Vocal Event of the Year: “Beer For My Horses” (Toby Keith/Willie Nelson); “It’s
Five O’Clock Somewhere” (Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffett); “Picture”
(Kid Rock/Sheryl Crow); “Tears
in the Holston River” (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Johnny Cash); and “The
Truth About Men” (Tracy Byrd with Andy Griggs, Montgomery Gentry
and Blake Shelton). Music Video of the Year: “Beer For My Horses” (Toby Keith/Willie Nelson); “Celebrity”
(Brad Paisley); “Concrete
Angel” (Martina McBride); “Hurt”
(Johnny Cash); “Red Dirt
Road” (Brooks & Dunn).
To check all CMA
nominations: www.CMAawards.com COUNTRY CHATTER… •
Rodney Crowell returns with his new album, Fate’s Right Hand.
Crowell has been a master songwriter for over 30 years.
His last album, The Houston Kid, was filled with autobiographical
tales of his youth. This
new album picks up with Crowell as he is today…what he’s
experienced, what he’s learned…and what he still has to learn.
It’s rare to see an artist on a major label go through such
self-examination as Crowell is doing in this project and still turn out
music that entertains and enlightens.
He continues to be one of music’s most important songwriters. • Lost Highway Records is releasing Lost &
Found Volume 1, a compilation CD featuring 15 rarities, B-sides,
unreleased and studio cuts from the Lost Highway family of labels. Ryan
Adams, Johnny Cash, Joe Ely, the Jayhawks, Tift Merritt, Willie Nelson,
Ray Price, Whiskeytown, Lucinda Williams and more are featured on this
album •
How many of you have heard of the Louvin Brothers?
Unless you’ve been following Country Music for awhile, you
probably haven’t. But these singer/songwriters, who were inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame a few years ago, were extremely influential.
Universal South has put together a new project titled – Livin’,
Lovin’, Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers – that features a
varied group of artists performing some of the Louvin’s best songs.
Among the stellar combinations on this album:
Pam Tillis, Johnny Cash and the Jordanaires singing “Keep Your
Eyes On Jesus”; Dolly Parton and Sonya Isaacs on “The Angels
Rejoiced”; Linda Rondstadt and Carl Jackson on “The New Partner
Waltz”; James Taylor and Alison Krauss on “How’s The World
Treating You”; Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell on “My Baby’s
Gone”; Joe Nichols and Rhonda Vincent on “Cash on the Barrelhead”;
Merle Haggard and Carl Jackson on “Must You Throw Dirt In My
Face”; and Vince Gill and Terri Clark on “I Can’t Keep You In Love
With Me.” This is an
amazing album and one I highly encourage you to check out. • On
Your Way Home is the new album from Patty Loveless. I mentioned it last month, but I’m mentioning it again.
It’s wonderful to have Loveless back on the radio with her
single “Lovin’ All Night” (written by the aforementioned
songwriting sensation, Rodney Crowell).
•
The gorgeous Mila Mason is back again on a new label, Twinbeat
Recordings, with her new album, Stained Glass Window. •
It may not be quite a Country album, but John Mellencamp’s new
Trouble No More is well worth your time.
Mellencamp covers 12 authentic American songs, from composers as
varied as Hoagy Carmichael, Willie Dixon, Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson,
Lucinda Williams and more. Part
folk, part blues, part Americana, part Country – but all pure
Mellencamp. • Also worth noting even though it’s not strictly Country is Franky Perez & The Highway Saints with their album Poor Man’s Son. Perez is definitely a child of the ‘70s, and combines folk, rock, country and more. He’s become a Nashville favorite, having played several gigs in our fair town over the summer. His videos are receiving CMT airplay and his album is being reviewed in publications across the coast. Perez is a star on the rise. •
Clay Walker returns
with his first album on his new label, RCA Records, A
Few Questions. Walker
has achieved quite a number of Country hits in the late ‘90s and
there’s every indication that he will continue to do so.
• In light of his recent passing, I’ve been asked by several people to recommend a Johnny Cash album. There’s not just one to recommend, but if you want to find some of the best work left behind by Cash, here are several powerful albums I am happy to suggest... The Essential Johnny
Cash features his biggest hits as well as his duets
(like “Jackson” and “If
I Were A Carpenter”) with wife June
Carter Cash. The
Highwayman finds him performing alongside Kris
Kristofferson, Waylon
Jennings and Willie Nelson
as part of the outlaw country supergroup, The
Highwaymen. Two of Cash’s best
albums were live albums that forever captured Cash in his prime: At
Folsom Prison and At
San Quentin. American
Recordings was his mid-’90s comeback album containing the haunting
“Delia’s Gone.”
American
IV-The Man Comes Around, Cash’s last album, is an eerie
collection of classic songs performed as only Cash can.
In all honesty, you can’t
go wrong with any Cash album. This month’s column is dedicated to the memories and careers of both Johnny Cash and John Ritter. Your talents enriched my personal life and the lives of millions of others. You will both be very sorely missed |
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The
Man in Black, Johnny Cash, is
dead at the age of 71.