Category: Country Music

Categories
Americana Music Country Music

Raul Malo RIP

One of the greatest voices in music today unfortunately passed away on December 8th. Raul Malo, lead singer for the country/Americana group The Mavericks, died from colon cancer at the age of 60. His voice was undescribable, up there with Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, and even Luciano Pavoratti.

Born of Cuban immigrants, he co-founded The Mavericks in the late 1980s in Miami, fusing country music with rockabilly, pop, and Cuban/Latin influences. The band had a totally unique sound that made them not only popular in the country music scene, but in the alternative music scene as well.

It was that VOICE, one of those that no matter what Malo was singing, the emotion was there. It was often said that he could sing the phone book and make it sound romantic. The band had a few country chart hits, and won awards early in its career, but like most country acts, its star fizzled. As the band descended in interest with country fans, the emerging Americana music fan base embraced it wholeheartedly.

The Mavericks went on a hiatus in the early 2000s, and Malo recorded a number of solo albums that still stand the test of time when it comes to passionate vocals. He also fronted an Americana supergroup Los Super Seven. He also got heavily involved with the Americana Music Association, serving on its board for a few years. This is where I got to know him and work with him on a number of occasions. The man was one of the friendliest, most humble people in the music industry, never turning away from a fan or fellow music lover.

The Mavericks reunited around 2010, and toured extensively for the next decade and a half to packed houses. Every time I saw them, Malo was up in front, enjoying the hell out of the situation. And that voice, I swear, it could melt women in the crowd like a candle. In a way, he knew he had that tool, that weapon, but he never used it, being faithful to his wife for decades.

Malo announced his fight with cancer this past summer, but continued to tour and perform up until a few weeks ago when the fight had taken its toll. He left Nashville for treatment in Houston. Just days before his death, the remaining members of The Mavericks came to his hospital room to play for him one last time.

The music industry has lost an amazing voice, to be sure. I have been pulling up YouTube videos of Malo and The Mavericks all week, still knocked out by his singing. I know that no one lives forever, and that we all must meet our Maker, but I feel that he still had some more to give us. I will truly miss Raul Malo, as there will never be another voice like that for decades to come, if ever.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Americana Music Country Music

Flaco Jimenez/Jeannie Seely RIP

Two musical dignitaries from different genres passed away this wee. It is sad that we are losing those that kept roots music alive during the past decades.

Flaco Jimenez, who passed away on July 31 at the age of 86, was the ultimate in Tex-Mex accordion playing. He could adapt his sound to just about any form of roots music, be it country, alt-country, or even the blues. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he learned button accordion from his father, who learned it from his father, who learned it from German immigrants. He played in a number of local Tex-Mex bands during his teens and 20s, soon being noticed for his style by performers Ry Cooder and Doug Sahm. By the 1980s, he would become an in-demand session musician, recording with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Dwight Yoakam, and the Mavericks.

He would play with a number of Tex-Mex bands, his most famous being Los Super Seven with Sahm, Joe Ely and Freddy Fender. With Sahm and Fender he also formed the Texas Tornados. He won a total of six Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. He also received the Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

While I never got to see him perform, hearing his amazing accordion work on so many recordings that I hold dear, I can honestly say that his presence will truly be missed.

Jeannie Seely passed away August 1 in Hermitage, Tennessee at the age of 85. Her career as far as hit recordings spanned from the mid 1960s to about 1980, but she is best known for her reign as having the most appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. She was much more than a regular member on the show (her membership lasted 57 years) – she was a true matron, especially after the death of Minnie Pearl.

Born and raised in Titusville, Pennsylvania, she took a strong interest in country music at an early age, appearing on local radio and television in her teens. Once she graduated from high school, she work in a band briefly before moving to California to work as a secretary at Liberty Records. There she started writing songs for other artists. She soon moved to Nashville, signed to Monument Records, and had a hit with “Don’t Touch Me” in 1966.

After a number of solo hits, Seely teamed up with Jack Greene to record some hit duets, including “Wish I Didn’t Have to Miss You” from 1969 and “Lucky Ladies” from 1974. After a hiatus an automobile accident in 1977, she returned to performing, including an appearance in the Willie Nelson film Honeysuckle Rose. She also become the first female to host the Grand Ole Opry.

Seely’s recording schedule declined by the 1990s, with her last release coming in 2020 entitled American Classic. She would often host programs on the SiriusXM channel Willie’s Roadhouse. During her time at the Opry, she challenged many of the conservative standards by wearing contemporary clothing such as go-go boots and miniskirts. Her demeanor as wella s her music influenced many budding female artists such as Barbara Mandrell and Lorrie Morgan. She was married to country singer/songwriter Hank Cochran for 10 years, divorcing in 1979. During the Nashville flood of 2010, her home was destroyed along with almost all of her possessions. She soldiered on, and gained the moniker Miss Country Soul.

Again, a performer that I never saw live, but would listen to her on the Opry every Saturday night that I had a chance. She loved to motivate the audiences, and was singing from the heart until the end.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Country Music

Recommended Book: Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music

The 1970s through 1990s were a struggling time for traditional country and bluegrass music. Movies like Urban Cowboy were bringing rock, pop, and even disco influences into the country music vein. It was the start of moving country music stars from honky tonks to arenas, with overdriven guitars and light shows becoming the norm. There were a few sparkles of traditional country lights within the realm, but they were few and far in between. The Grand Ole Opry began to lose its charm, with old stalwarts re-hashing past hits to a senior citizen crowd for nostalgic purposes.

The tail end of the punk/new wave movement did show a lot of respect to the spirits of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, as well as some near forgotten legends like Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, and Loretta Lynn with speed-driven covers and originals that paid musical tribute. However, it would be at least a decade until the fledgling cow-punk and alt-country sub-genres would blossom into what we now know as Americana music.

So during those dry times, there were a few performers that kept the flame going because their hearts were in the right place. Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music provides a decent chronicle of that time by looking at the musical lives of Skaggs, Stuart, and a number of other musicians from that era and group.

The first chapter is a bit too politically correct for my taste, as while it looks at Skaggs’ poor upbringing in Kentucky, it looks at Stuart’s upbringing as being heavily influenced by the racial tensions in his hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi. While I am sure that there was a lot more bigotry around back in the 1950s, the author Michael Streissguth narrates it as if it was in the blood of every white person in the South. There is way too much coverage of segregation, lynchings, and other racially motivated happenings that have very little to do with the musical influences of Stuart.

Later chapters cover the legacy of Ronald Reagan and the influence of the Moral Majority. Again, it all passes as the author trying to be politically correct and apologetic for being white.

Once the reader gets past that, the flow if the book is quite interesting. Even if you are familiar with both Skaggs’ and Stuarts’ early careers, there are a few things that you may still learn. We all know of Skaggs’ work with Keith Whitley and Ralph Stanley, but there were a lot of inner struggles that he was having to move out on his own, as well as wanting to be known as a serious go-to musician and arranger. For Stuart’s part, his early teen years with Lester Flatt would cement him as a bluegrass prodigy, but the downside is that he really never got to live life as a normal teenager. He spent almost all of that time surrounded by older bluegrass musicians that had their ways of drinking, carousing, and occasional fighting, and his studies were spent in a tour bus instead of a normal high school.

While the gist of the book follows the career of these two modern legends, there is also ample coverage of other artists from that time. These include Jerry Douglas, Emmylou Harris, Larry Cordle, and Linda Ronstadt. Bluegrass coverage includes extensive mentions of J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, the Seldom Scene, and the many festivals that were popping up due to the public’s interest in roots music from both the liberal and conservative teams.

If you can get past the PC talk, this book makes for an interesting read, learning how much Skaggs and Stuart were able to keep traditional country and bluegrass alive during this dark time, and become the highly respected statesmen that they are.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Country Music Songwriting

Kris Kristofferson RIP

Last weekend, one of the greatest talents in the country music industry, if not in the whole entertainment industry, passed away. Kris Kristofferson left this world September 28 at the age of 88. He was a singer, songwriter, musician, actor, writer and poet. He was known in the music community as part of the country music Outlaw movement. The one word that I would describe him: Badass!

He was born in Brownsville, Texas with a father that was a US Air Force officer. The family moved around frequently, and he graduated from high school in California. His college interests were in writing, where he had a number of essays printed in the Atlantic Monthly. He worked as a dredging contractor on Wake Island, as well as appearing in Sports Illustrated for his achievements in football, rugby, and track & field. He graduated summa cum laude from Pomona College, and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in England, where he excelled not only in literature, but also in boxing.

After Oxford, under pressure from his parents, he joined the US Army, where he attained the rank of captain and became a helicopter pilot. While stationed in Germany, he re-launched his fledgling music career by forming a band. He then was assigned to teach literature at West Point, but resigned to pursue songwriting.

In Nashville, he struggled for a few years, taking on a janitorial job at Columbia Recording Studios. It was there that he met June Carter, who gave one of his demos to Johnny Cash. He also took a job as a helicopter pilot for a petroleum company in Louisiana, which is when he wrote some of his most iconic songs. During this time is when he performed his most famous stunt of flying and landing a helicopter in Cash’s front yard to pitch a song. Cash would eventually record Kristofferson’s song “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” That song would win Song of the Year at the 1970 Country Music Association Awards.

He briefly dated Janis Joplin, who would later have a posthumous hit with his song “Me and Bobby McGee.” Other songwriting hits included Ray Price’s “For the Good Times,” O.C. Smith’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” and Roger Miller’s “Darby’s Castle.” By the mid-1970s, he was starting an acting career, which included films throughout the next four decades to include Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Convoy, Semi-Tough, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a remake of A Star is Born (for which he received a Golden Globe Award), and most famously as Abraham Whistler in the Blade trilogy.

He was married three times, with the second marriage being to singer Rita Coolidge. The two of them made a number of recordings together, and even appeared as a couple on The Muppet Show. He was a political activist, especially with anti-war sentiments. He would often perform at rallies, and even performed in Havana, Cuba in 1979.

In the 1980s, he was best known for being part of the country music supergroup The Highwaymen, along with Cash, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. The quartet put out three critically acclaimed albums, as well as starred in a remake of the movie Stagecoach, and provided voices for audio readings of Louis L’Amour stories. In the later part of his career, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He has received numerous Grammy Awards, along with recognition from BMI, the Americana Music Association, and CMT. He announced his retirement in January 2021, while his last performance was in February 2020.

My view of him as a “badass” comes from the fact that he was multi-talented, supported so many causes, and had that stare from his eyes that he looked like he could kick your ass in if you crossed him (and he probably could). I was fortunate enough to meet him once a few years back at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. I was working for Jim Lauderdale, who was MC-ing the event, and Kristofferson was one of the headliners. He came in for his soundcheck early. It was cold and flu season, and I had a decent cold going on. I sneezed real hard once, and he turned to me and said that he knew how I was feeling, as he had a cold going on as well. It thanked him for all of his work, not only as a songwriter but for his military service, and he was extremely cordial and friendly to me. We talked about a few things, then he went off to do his soundcheck. All of his time there backstage, he was friendly and kind to everyone that he met. Later that evening, despite his cold, he gave an amazing hour-long solo acoustic performance that had the laid-back crowd go wild.

I have a Kris Kristofferson songbook that I occasionally pick up and look at. Not so much to perform one of his songs, but to look to his lyrics for inspiration. It is truly a gospel reading for songwriters everywhere, no matter what genre.

He was an amazing talent, and I know that his songs will continue to be covered for many years. And I can guarantee you, somewhere in this world right now, at a coffeehouse, there’s a singer/guitarist performing a Kris Kristofferson tune.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Country Music

Perfect Song #12: “Cannonball Rag” by Merle Travis

This is pre Eddie Van Halen shredding! I talked about Merle Travis in an earlier post about his songwriting (https://luegra.design.blog/2022/05/07/perfect-song-7-sixteen-tons-tennessee-ernie-ford-version/), and he was one of country music’s first superstars for his songs, his singing, and even his bit parts in Hollywood movies (check out From Here to Eternity). However, with most guitarists, he is famous for his trademark “Travis Picking.”

“Cannonball Rag” is Travis’ hallmark performance. I can lsiten to this song a thousand times and continue to be amazed. His picking is a combination of Mother Maybelle Carter’s scratch, hardcore bluegrass rhythm guitar, and classical fingerpicking. The result is a solo guitar sounding like two guitars and a bass playing at the same time. The listener cannot believe that all of that sound is coming from one guitar! Travis developed this style after studying Carter, Ike Everly, and Mose Rager. He used a banjo thumbpick and his bare fingers, which gave the bass runs a percussive feel, while the melody and rhythm strings a more harp-like feel.

Travis’ picking became a sensation in the early 1940s whenever he appeared on radio. He enlisted in the Marines during World War II, then returned to the country music scene around Cincinnati. In the late 1940s, he would appear in Hollywood shorts (“soundies”) showcasing his guitar skills. While he was getting better known for his songs, such as “Divorce Me C.O.D.” and “No Vacancy,” he still liked to show off his guitar prowess. He helped design an early version of a solid-body electric guitar with Paul Bigsby, which would later inspire Leo Fender’s designs.

While fans loved his singing and songs, guitarists such as Chet Atkins, Joe Maphis, and Doc Watson were heavily inspired by his guitar work. Watson even claimed to have named his son Merle after Travis (listen to their dialogue on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken album). Even modern guitarists such as Tommy Emmanuel cite Travis as a main influence.

“Cannonball Rag” Is one of those songs that from the first few notes, you know you are in for something amazing. That bass run along with the syncopated melody lines draw you in to think that you are listening to a small ensemble and not a solo guitar. Each verse begins with a different strumming/picking pattern, yet the last few bars of each verse return to a familiar pattern to let you know that Travis is getting back to the main theme. There are banjo rolls, blues bends, and bass solos, all sounding like each “player” is taking a turn soloing. This is the type of song that you turn up when cruising down a two-lane highway. It is also the type of tune that will either inspire the beginning guitar player to either work harder, or give up altogether.

I dare you to listen to this song and NOT hit repeat at least once or twice.

And if you still think that it is not one man only playing this song, here is a live version.

Are there any questions? Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Country Music

Joe Bonsall RIP

Elvira!

Everybody over 40 (and quite a few under 40) years of age knows that song. It was an anthem at stadiums, sports bars, and weddings for so many years. How many of us would wait for the “Giddy-up! Pa-pa-ooh-pa-pa-ooh-mow-mow!” bridge in the song? One of the great voices of that country/pop standard left us earlier this week.

Joe Bonsall, tenor singer for the Oak Ridge Boys from 1973 to his retirement in earlier this year, passed away on July 9th from complications of ALS (known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Known for his bushy moustache and wide grin, he was a favorite of fans for his sense of humor and dedication to The Lord. He adored his family, and especially loved his pet cat. He and the Oak Ridge Boys were stalwarts when it came to live performances, never giving a bad show and extremely warm to the fan base.

The history of the group actually dates back to the 1940s, performing primarily as a gospel quartet. By the time Bonsall joined in 1973, they were starting to delve more into mainstream country, and were finding minor success on the country charts. However, the release of “Elvira” in 1981, along with “Bobby Sue” (1982) and “American Made” (1983) gave them their biggest claim to fame.

The incarnation of Bonsall, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban were how most people remember the quartet and they were at their finest. Along with a number of country records, the group recorded many gospel and Christmas albums. They were one of the few acts to tour the Soviet Union before the fall of Communism, and recorded with other acts such as Roy Clark, Paul Simon and Jimmy Sturr. In 2010, they even recorded a country-ish version of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” They became members of the Grand Ole Opry in 2011, and were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Bonsall was also the author of children’s books, and wrote a story about his mother and father meeting for the first time called GI Joe and Lillie in 2003. He also wrote about the Oak Ridge Boys and the group’s touring adventures. At the time of his death, he was writing a semi-autobiography called I See Myself.

He had missed a number of tour dates starting in 2022 due to health concerns, and finally announced his retirement on January 3, 2024. His last performances were made sitting on a stool and he had to be assisted on and off stage. After the announcement of his passing, a number of country artists such as Travis Tritt and Blake Shelton paid tribute to Bonsall on social media.

I was connected to Bonsall through LinkedIn. We had messaged back and forth a few times, but mostly I watched his posts. He was almost always holding his cat, and his posts were always about faith and love. I remember his announcement of his retirement, and one of his last was a picture of him with his daughters. He also loved to play banjo, and would often post photos of him plucking the five-string.

Joe, your voice, your smile, and your heart will be missed in this world. Now teach the angels to song “Elvira” for me.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Americana Music Country Music

Toby Keith/Mojo Nixon RIP

Two greats in the country/Americana music fields passed away this past week. One death got a lot of media coverage, the other went almost unnoticed.

Country great Toby Keith passed away this past Monday from a long-time battle with stomach cancer. I won’t go over his career here, as one can Google it and it is all over the internet. What I will say is that he was a burly guy, and to see his most recent photos made me hurt inside. The cancer was working hard on him, but he was fighting it to his last day. He gave us anthems that were truly appreciated by thousands of fans. He was extremely supportive of the US military, often visiting and performing at bases around the country and overseas.

One thing that bothered me during this past week is that Keith had helped start Taylor Swift’s career. He had her as a supporting performer at a number of his shows, and even signed her to his label Big Machine Records. Yet, as dozens of country stars have posted tributes to Keith, she has not posted anything on her social media sites. Is she more concerned with what she will wear to the Super Bowl? Kudos to John Rich for calling her out on his X account.

Toby, the people who knew you and loved your music will always keep you in their hearts.

This past Wednesday, one of the craziest performers to ever grab a guitar passed away from a heart condition. Mojo Nixon was bigger than life, to say the least. Obnoxious as any person could be, you could not help but laugh when he was around talking his schtick. Nothing was off limits to his insults. I first saw him live back in the late 1980s when he performed with Skid Roper at a dive called Paycheck’s Lounge in Hamtrmack. He packed the place, and I can still remember his 15-minute rendition of his song “Stuffin’ Martha’s Muffin,” an ode to MTV VJ Martha Quinn. His only real hit was “Elvis is Everywhere,” which people my age still sing out loud every time something about Elvis Presley appears on TV or in the news.

He served as a DJ on the Sirius/XM channel Outlaw Country for a number of years, spouting off hillbilly philosophy between songs like a cartoon preacher. Every time he played a Patsy Cline song, he would tell the listeners that she was built like a brick shithouse. He recommended that anyone that wanted to learn rock-n-roll guitar should get a copy of the Rockpile album Seconds of Pleasure and learn from it.

His other project included the alt-country supergroup The Pleasure Barons with Dave Alvin and Country Dick Montana, as well as notable movie roles in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire and Super Mario Brothers. Whatever it was, he never stopped being Mojo Nixon.

I would run into him every year at the AmericanaFest in Nashville pre-pandemic. He was usually MC-ing a showcase, but would be typical Mojo at the mic or in the green room. Two memorable run-ins with im were giving him a fifth of homemade peppermint schnapps that he worshipped like a goddess, and another time when I had him talk to my buddy Ken over the phone, basically saying to him, “Where the fuck are you? Fuck you!” and hanging up. That was Mojo.

I still have this feeling in the back of my mind that he is not really gone. Like Joe Strummer for me, he will appear again when you least expect it and do something that will make you love him all over again. He had that type of impact on people like me.

Mojo, if you are in Heaven, it’s only because God knows that you can beat the Devil at his own game. You will be missed by so many who grew up during the late punk/early new wave period and took a dump on the synthesizer bands.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Americana Music Country Music

Perfect Song #7: “Sixteen Tons” (Tennessee Ernie Ford version)

This is one badass song! If there ever was a “man” song, it would have to be this recording. It is right up there as tough as any Led Zeppelin number. Merle Travis wrote it about the trials and tribulations that his brother faced as a coal miner. He recorded it in 1947, but his was more of a country-folk ballad. Frankie Laine, Doc Watson, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, The Dandy Warhols, Old Crow Medicine Show, and a slew of other artists have recorded this classic, but it is the Tennessee Ernie Ford version that stands out as the definitive version.

From the start, it did not have the ingredients for a cutting-edge pop number. The main instruments that work with the vocals are a clarinet (with a bass clarinet in the background) and a trumpet. A brushed snare drum and upright bass follow the vocals in a smooth jazz sense. It isn’t until the last chorus that we hear any other instrumentation: a laid-back rhythm guitar and an ending accented by a harp. Then there’s the snapping of the finger. Like the lighting of a match or the sound of a pick hitting rock far away. The minimalist instrumentation makes the listener pay attention to the story, with every instrument accenting the words and making sure that you understand what was just said.

But it is that voice! Ford’s bass-baritone vocals make every word sound like it is coming form the depths of a coal mine. Earth-shaking, heart-pounding tone of a voice! Before this recording, Ford was known for singing some corny country & western songs, as well as a few ballads with Kay Starr. He did have a Number 1 hit with “Mule Train” back in the late 1940s.

Travis wrote a number of verses for the song, but the four that Ford used are the most memorable, telling of what a man is made of, how he is a slave to the coal company and its store, how he can’t be made to “walk the line” by any woman, and getting on his bad side may mean death. Some of these ideas would not go over well in a song today, but back in the early 1950s, when coal miners were still revered by the common man yet treated poorly by the rich mine owners, one could hardly argue with the singer.

As you listen, you can actually hear this voice as it is working in the mine. You also wonder how much time it would take for one man to mine 16 tons of coal. But you don’t question it, because you have high respect for this guy. You KNOW he could kick your ass in! Everything that doesn’t work in a pop song falls into place to work here. In under three minutes, you get an autobiography of a working man. Someone who has broken his back to make sure that he has a roof over his and his family’s head as well as food on the table.

I could listen to this song a thousand times and never get bored. Ford’s voice is beyond human – it is from the gods! The story moves you, knowing that there is a man out there working his life away yet still can be tough as a rock after quitting time. This was rock-n-roll attitude before the media caught on to what Elvis and Chuck Berry were doing. So pay attention, a recording like this comes around only once or twice in a lifetime.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Americana Music Country Music

Tom T. Hall RIP

Another week, another sad news reception while attempting to write the blog. This one really hurts.

My buddy that told me about Nancy Griffith last week just sent me another text. My songwriting hero, Tom T. Hall, passed away earlier today. Information on his passing is still being gathered, but we do know that he was 85 and had removed himself mostly from public appearances since the death of his wife Dixie back in 2015.

His songwriting thumb print ruled the 1960s and 70s. The classic “Harper Valley PTA” has been in constant rotation on hundreds of stations, with the most popular version sung by Jeannie C. Riley. However, the actual songs, be they performed by him or others, are textbook examples of what a song should be. Hall was always called The Storyteller, and songs like “I Like Beer,” “(Old Dogs and Children) and Watermelon Wine,” “I Love,” and “ Me and Jesus” would make any songwriter envious. These WERE stories! In three minutes, Hall told a great short story that John Updike would approve of.

Born and raised in Kentucky, he played in various bluegrass and country bands as a teenager, then joined the US Army, where he performed on Armed Forces Radio, writing songs about military life. He returned home to do disc jockey work at a number of radio stations. In 1963, Jimmy C. Newman recorded the Hall song “DJ For a Day,” which helped to launch his glorious career with guitar and pen. The biggest country stars of the time, including George Jones, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Waylon Jennings, recorded Hall’s amazing work.

Just take “Harper Valley PTA.” Seen through the eyes of a young girl who gives her mother a letter from the local PTA about how risque the mother dresses. This was dangerous ground to tread in a song as it was during the 60s, but Hall made it into a comical lore. The mother goes to the PTA meeting and tells off all of the members by reporting on all of their hypocritical lifestyles. And Hall makes each line rhyme in a way that the whole stanza sticks in the listener’s mind so picturesque.

Then there’s the numerous songs that he wrote for children. “I Care” became a hit on the country charts in 1975. He married Dixie in 1969 (it was his second marriage; he married Opal McKinney in 1961 for a short period and had a son, Dan). The two of them wrote a number of hits for bluegrass bands, winning songwriting awards with both the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America. Even as the modern country music producers and executives were looking at him as past his prime, bluegrass artists knew that he still kicked out aural gold, and country stars such as Alan Jackson knew how great he truly was.

Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall fame in 2008, the Bluegrass Hall of Fame (along with Dixie) in 2018, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019 (way too long of a wait for that one). He preferred mowing his lawn over going to Nashville parties, and rarely collaborated with others excepting Dixie. Perhaps that was his charm in his songs. He could see the human characteristics best on his own. And each three-minute story made the listener realize that he was singing about someone that everyone seemed to know in some way.


I love all of Hall’s songs, but my all-time favorite is “Ballad of Forty Dollars.” A cemetery worker has to set up chairs for a funeral, and as it turns out, he knows the deceased. He goes on to talk about the shady way the widow handled selling some of the man’s possessions, and finishes off the song by saying that the dead man owed the singer forty dollars. The poetry that Hall uses to tell the story makes you continually listen for the next line. You want to hear it again because it’s a great short story. And that Ton T. Hall gravely voice makes it sound like a common Joe Six-Pack telling his woes. Pure gold.

I met Hall once years ago at The Station Inn in Nashville. It was at a show that was the night before that year’s AmericanaFest. Not too many people were aware he was there, but how could I not recognize one of my songwriting heroes? I went up to him and shook his hand, telling him how much his songs have meant to me and my dad. He looked tired, not in a sociable mood, but he was cordial and seemed grateful that a regular guy appreciated him. I didn’t get a photo, I’m not big on those types of pics. But I can remember everything about that few minutes. Visually clear as, say, a Tom T. Hall song.

Tom, you don’t owe me forty dollars, but I owe you a million thank you’s. Your songs have inspired my writing in so many ways. I could only hope that one of my songs could even come within spitting distance of one of your classics. You will be missed by so many, but will always be remembered and held in high regard by me.

Chew on it and comment.

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