The Greatest Country Songs Ever Written, Part 5...

"Wine Into Water" by T. Graham Brown

Unsung heroine of the Bakersfield Sound, Bonnie Owens

When I was at Fordham University and on the air at WFUV-FM, I took over a country music program from a great DJ named Jim Monaghan, who went on to great success on WNEW-FM. I renamed the show, "Let There Be Country" and began my journey into country music, bluegrass and folk. Back then, the Mount Rushmore of country music, to me, consisted of George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff and Merle Haggard. And one of the main reasons I really dug "The Hag" was Bonnie Owens. A successful singer and songwriter, Bonnie ultimately became best known, not for her music, but for whom she married. First, it was the great Buck Owens, whom I wrote about on April 23, then Merle Haggard. She and Buck were married in 1951 and moved to Bakerfield, California. Unfortunately, their marriage didn't last, but Bakersfield was the right place for them to nurture their sound. Bonnie met Merle and they were married in 1965, the same year she was named the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year. Her career took a back seat to Merle's and from '65 to the late '90s, she toured with him as his back-up singer, even though they had divorced in '78. You can hear her on many of his recordings. She didn't have a pretty voice, rather, it was a strong voice, very distinctive. It complimented Merle's and, like Don Rich was to Buc Owens in helping define and refine his sound, so too was Bonnie to Merle. I thought of her today for some reason and recalled she had developed Alzheimer's a few years back. I decided to check on her online and was saddened to learn she has died in 2006 at age 76, a few weeks after Buck died, and that her passing went largely unnoticed.

There's not too much video of Bonnie solo on YouTube. Here's a clip from "Hee Haw", ironically the introduction by Buck Owens is clipped off. Then links to audio of an early Merle hit, "Sing Me Back Home", which he wrote while in prison. It showcases the Bonnie sound so well. Then links (embedding was disabled) to a late '90s version of "Today I Started Loving You Again," with Bonnie next to Merle, rather than in the background, and a couple of versions of "Just Between The Two Of Us."

Bonnie, we miss you.

"All Of Me Belongs To You":


"Sing Me Back Home" (Merle Haggard audio, with Bonnie on backing vocals)

Late 1990's Version with Merle Haggard:
"Today I Started Loving You Again"

1960's Version with Merle Haggard (lipsynching, but cute):
"Just Between The Two Of Us"
Late 1990's Version with Merle Haggard (live):
"Just Between The Two Of Us"

Porter Tubb

TRUE ARTISTS, Part 6: Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin

Feels like 1877, but, alas, it was 1977. I was finishing or had finished senior year in high school, about to go off to college, and I found myself going to Madison Square Garden almost every weekend. Saw Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes and other acts I'd not necessarily see again--but one show that stands out as the most momentous ever was Led Zeppelin. In those days, you had to mail in a check (or was it cash?), with a stamped, self-addressed envelope, and hope to receive tickets. When the Zeppelin tickets arrived, I was, I guess the word is, stoked! And I was towards the front in the orchestra section with M-80s or cherry bombs going off around me. So there was a show going on in the audience. But what happened on stage was surreal. Robert Plant rules. Plain and simple. While, lately, he's switched gears and has recorded and performed bluegrass/folk extensively with Alison Krauss--they're great together--I'll always remember him from the Garden in '77. Zeppelin came to mind again recently when a reunion tour was announced for the band without him. It won't be the same. Let's kick it off with "Kashmir."

"Kashmir"


"Rock and Roll"


"Whole Lotta Love"


"Dazed and Confused"


"Nobody's Fault But Mine"


"No Quarter" (Part 1)


"No Quarter" (Part 2)


"Heartbreaker"


"Black Dog"


"Communication Breakdown"

• "The Ocean"

Porter Tubb

"The Voice" Passes At Age 74

"Vern Gosdin's voice was truth — the hardcore country kind." That's how one singer/songwriter reacted to the news of Vern Gosdin's death. He had a "teary, flannel voice" that was "one of the most expressive instruments in country music history" (Pete Cooper, The Tennessean). Gosdin was greatly inspired by The Louvin Brothers (who hasn't been?) and was the "inheritor of the honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard." When he reached his 50s, he considered leaving the music business after largely going unnoticed for 25 years when he struck gold with what became his signature song, "Chiseled in Stone" in 1987. It won the CMA's song of the award award and his music career was reinvigorated--an inspiration to a near-50 year old like me (all I need is a good song and tour bus!). Gosdin, known as "The Voice", was respected by his peers, but he was never truly appreciated by the general, country audience and, in recent years, was largely forgotten. But his music remains with us, classics like "Do You Believe Me Now" and "Hangin' On," a duet with his favorite singer, Emmylou Harris.

"Chiseled In Stone"

"Do You Believe Me Now" (audio)


"We Must Have Been Out Of Our Mind" (audio)

"Love and Wealth" (Charlie Louvin, Emmylou Harris, Vern Gosdin)


Porter Tubb

TRUE ARTISTS, Part 5: Dolly Parton

I've grown to love Dolly Parton. I think she has a beautiful voice and is such a remarkable songwriter. Her songbook is amazing--"Jolene", "Coat Of Many Colors", "I Will Always Love You" and "Dagger Through The Heart". The fact that Porter Wagoner gave Dolly her first big break doesn't hurt either! And, with the Broadway debut of her play, "Nine To Five", she's demonstrated she remains RELEVANT more than 40 years after her debut on the Porter Wagoner TV Show. Thus far, Dolly is the only artist to earn the Porter Tubb "True Poet" (see March 18 blog entry) and "True Artist" designations. Here's Miss Dolly Parton.

"Just Because I'm A Woman"


"My Blue Mountain Boy"


Porter Tubb

Blues 102: HOWLIN' WOLF

"No one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits." That's how one music critic described this blues legend, a big man with a booming voice that was so distinctive. His rough, some would say crude style contrasted with Muddy Waters' powerful, but less "in your face" style. I first was introduced to the Howlin' Wolf sound in an odd way--through DJ and host of the "Midnight Special", Wolfman Jack, who sounded a lot like him. A couple years back, I saw Hubert Sumlin, who played guitar for Howlin' Wolf, plus David Johansen, Levon Helm and others in a show paying tribute to the blues great. His influence runs deep, with artists ranging from Led Zeppelin to Tom Waits to Jimi Hendrix to The Doors. Here's Howlin' Wolf...

"Smokestack Lightnin'"


"Spoonfull"


"How Many More Years"


"Back Door Man"


"I'll Be Back Someday"


Porter Tubb

Blues 101: MUDDY WATERS

A powerful performer, an awesome bandleader of James Brown-caliber, a master storyteller and slashing slide guitar player, Muddy Waters (captured above in artwork created by Michael Gragg) was arguably the most famous blues singer of all time. He infused the blues with such intensity that every song he sang became a Muddy Waters song. The legion of artists he inspired range from Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan, to Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, who named their band after one of his songs. The song most identified with him, "Mannish Boy", was a highlight of The Band's "The Last Waltz", which I introduced to my son, Anthony, and which he played over and over again. He tells me the filmmakers wanted to cut out Muddy Waters, but The Band stood their ground and he stayed in.

Let's start with that signature version of "Mannish Boy" and move on to the Newport Folk Festival in 1960, then on down and back to Newport, for a spirited jam featuring Muddy and other blues greats.

"Mannish Boy (I'm A Man)"


"Hoochie, Koochie Man"


"You Can't Lose What You Never Had"


"Nineteen Years Old"


"Got My Mojo Working"


Muddy Waters with Betty Jeannette, Sammy Price, Jimmy Rushing + @ Newport, 1960


Porter Tubb

Happy 90th Pete!

Pete Seeger's recent performance, with Bruce Springsteen, of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", at Pres. Obama's inaugural festivities proves he remains RELEVANT, something that is hard to achieve even for a brief time and virtually impossible to maintain for perhaps 70 years. Many stories abound about Pete, but the one that always comes to mind is when he alledgedly threatened to cut the wires with an axe at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 after Bob Dylan went electric. From Wikipedia: "The sound quality was certainly the reason Pete Seeger (backstage) disliked the performance: he says he went to the sound system and told the technicians, 'Get that distortion out of his voice ... It's terrible. If I had an axe, I'd chop the microphone cable right now.' Seeger has also said, however, that he only wanted to cut the cables because he wanted the audience to hear Dylan's lyrics properly, because he thought they were important. Rumors that Seeger actually had an axe, or that a festival board member wanted to pull out the entire electrical wiring system, remain unsubstantiated. In the film 'No Direction Home' , John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers claimed Seeger wanted to silence the band because it was frightening his elderly father. In the same film, Dylan claimed that Seeger's unenthusiastic response to his set was like a 'dagger in his heart' and made him 'want to go out and get drunk'."

Closer to home, I've seen Pete perform a few times, including once when my son, Anthony da Costa, shared the stage with him and Fred Gillen Jr., which was an honor for Anthony. And, from those close to him, the picture that emerges is that of a deeply decent and moral man who is steadfastly committed to civil rights and the environment. In fact, near his home and at festivals, if you see an older gentleman bending over to pick up litter, it's Pete. Or maybe you'll see a lone protester standing along a roadside holding up a sign protesting nuclear power--that will probably be Pete, too.

God Bless You, Pete. Here's to 90 more years of life and RELEVANCE.

Excerpt from the PBS "American Masters" program on Pete:

Tom Paxton & Pete Seeger: "My Ramblin' Boy" (by Tom Paxton)


Judy Collins & Pete Seeger: "Turn, Turn, Turn" (by Pete Seeger)


Pete Seeger on "Late Night with David Letterman"


Pete Seeger: "Bring 'Em Home" (by Pete Seeger)


Pete Seeger: "Quiet Early Morning"


Porter Tubb

A Satisfied Mind...Gram, Bob and Porter

Three versions. First, audio from Gram Parsons, who was first and foremost, a country singer who loved Porter Wagoner and all the trad country artists. Then a gospel version from Dylan and, finally, Porter from his all-girl band, "The Right Combination", days. A great song by three of music's best.

Gram Parsons


Bob Dylan


Porter Wagoner


Porter Tubb