Country Music Week 1961

Yes, it's Country Music Week here at WFMU's Ichiban blog, so listen in and see what it's all about! The 1962 promotional spots for this holy week can be found here.

SIDE A
Roy Drusky (:23)
George Hamilton (:24)
Ferlin Husky (:27)
Buck Owens (:29)
Minnie Pearl (:29)
Tex Ritter (:32)
Faron Young (:30)

SIDE B
Roy Drusky (:29)
Ferlin Husky (:29)
Buck Owens (:30)
Minnie Pearl (:28)
Webb Pierce (:24)
Tex Ritter (:30)
Faron Young (:15)

Happy Birthday, George Jones

George Jones - When The Wife Runs Off

Today George Jones turns 80 and tomorrow he'll be celebrating this milestone onstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

A Death In The Family

Jimmy Dickens - A Death In The Family

I have to admit that when I found this record, my hopes were high that the song was going to be some kind of demented country murder song. Why? Well, the jolting title and the fact that it was written by Bill Anderson (author of the country murder classics The Cold Hard Facts Of Life and The First Mrs. Jones) were all that was needed for some wildly groundless speculation on my part.

Sure, I admit that I was initially a little disappointed to learn that the song is actually about the misery of a shattered marriage rather than a cold-blooded murder. It still packs one hell of a punch, though.

8 Weeks In A Bar Room

Ramblin' Red Bailey - Eight Weeks In A Bar Room

So here's a lightly mangled copy of Eight Weeks In A Bar Room, Ramblin' Red Bailey's woozy ode to a bout with hardcore alcoholism triggered by, what else, the departure of the woman he loved. I first heard the song, like, I assume, most of the people who know it, on the celebrated twisted country LP comp God Less America.

I've Got My Pride (MP3)

Jan Howard - I've Got My Pride

In late 1960, Jan Howard released I've Got My Pride, a fine honky-tonker authored by one of country music's greatest songwriters, her then-husband Harlan Howard. Despite the fact that it was a superb performance and a great song, it quickly disappeared without coming anywhere near the charts.

Billboard's anonymous reviewer described it this way: "She doesn't have her man, but she has her pride, is the theme of this up-tempo country weeper, handled in sparkling fashion by the thrush over strong support. A sock side by the lass." I'd say that's about the size of it.

My Gal's Outa Her Tree Again (MP3)

Johnny Selph - My Gal's Outa Her Tree Again

More Johnny Selph craziness can be heard over here.

I Want To Be Loved (MP3)

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper - I Want To Be Loved

Dolly's A Mule Skinner?

She is!

Dolly Parton - Mule Skinner Blues

A Girl That Works In A Bar (MP3)

Ann Clark - A Girl That Works In A Bar (2:52)

A few days ago I posted the B-side of this record, an excellent murder tune called He'll Never Cheat No More and the Drunken Hobo was prompted to ask about the flip side. Here it is, a rather sad tale of a disillusioned booze hound and her job at one of the local watering holes.

He'll Never Cheat No More (Murder MP3)

Ann Clark - He'll Never Cheat No More (2:16)

Country songs about murder inspired by infidelity are quite numerous, and the vast majority of them deal with men exacting vengeance on cheating wives.

Ann Clark's He'll Never Cheat No More gives us the bloody flip side of the coin.

Hear the other side, if you're so inclined.

He Thought He'd Die Laughing (Murder MP3)

Bobby Helms - He Thought He'd Die Laughing (2:34)

Without a doubt, it's a hell of a long way from Jingle Bell rock to a cold-blooded murder song like He Thought He'd Die Laughing. Helms recorded this one in 1967 for the Little Darlin' label in Nashville, propelled by Lloyd Green's jarring steel guitar work. It rose to #46 on the Billboard Country charts before it ran out of steam.

I have a question, though. Can someone with better ears than mine tell me what the song's second line is? Despite having heard this tune about 200 times, I still have no idea what Helms sings immediately after "His mind was numbed with alcohol."

Wire My Grave With Country Music (MP3)

John & Margie Cook - Wire My Grave With Country Music

Unfortunately, the production on this deep fried country effort makes the whole thing sound slightly mossy, but I can find no fault with the philosophy they're espousing.

If you're not inclined to embrace such a philosophy, spending the next two and a half minutes of your life listening to this record might not be such a good idea.

In The Jailhouse Now (MP3)

Nudie suits don't come much cooler than this one, sported by Webb Pierce as a salute to his biggest hit, In The Jailhouse Now.

Webb Pierce - In The Jailhouse Now

Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves (MP3)

Burl Ives (and Grady Martin And His Slew Foot Five) - Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves

Assuming that you've never heard this record, it's safe to say I was as shocked as you probably are now to learn that Burl Ives made a great record. It definitely didn't hurt that he had the legendarily talented Grady Martin manning the guitar for the session.

If You Ain't Gonna Take It Off....

Bobby Jenkins - If You Ain't Gonna Take It Off



Above: Jane Russell, 1953. So long, Jane (1921 - 2011).

Preparation X (MP3)

Farris Garland & The Lonesome Valley Boys - Preparation X

I have no idea who Farris Garland is or was, but he deserves to be remembered for one of the most remarkable truck driving songs ever recorded. Preparation X is his deliriously cockeyed tribute to Preparation H, the hemorrhoid medication that's been around since the mid 1930s.

For the song, he shrewdly changed the name of the product to Preparation X, no doubt in an attempt to protect the Garland family fortune from Big Pharma's predatory legal sharks.

Since I don't expect I'll ever revisit the subject of hemorrhoid medication here on the blog, I should probably go ahead and mention Dave Dudley's Rolaids, Doan's Pills And Preparation H, a greasy 1980 release that somehow wound up being a minor hit on the Billboard chart. If you have the inclination and a strong stomach to go with it, you can check it out on YouTube.

Hillbilly Hades

Texas Bill Strength - Hillbilly Hades (3:07)

In 1955, Eddie Dean had the biggest hit of his career with a maudlin effort called I Dreamed Of A Hillbilly Heaven. The song details Dean's dream about about the aftermath of his own death and his experiences of being welcomed into heaven, where he encounters all his favorite deceased country stars. In 1961, Tex Ritter revived it and had a hit with it as well. You can see Tex doing it live over on YouTube. Unfortunately, the embedding feature on the clip has been disabled.

Texas Bill Strength's Hillbilly Hades is a slyly hilarious parody that came out in 1970.

Drinking Like A Fish

Johnny Koonse - Drinking Like A Fish (MP3)

Sorrow Overtakes The Wine (MP3)

Mel Tillis - Sorrow Overtakes The Wine (2:28)

A Pair Of Empty Sleeves (MP3)

Blaine Smith - A Pair Of Empty Sleeves (2:52)

Blaine Smith serves up an extremely mournful tale of a soldier who returns home from war with a mangled body only to find that his sweetheart's love for him has not survived their separation. This one's probably not for the squeamish.

The Bluebonnet label sure was a beautiful thing to behold, though.