Double Bass Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis...

[MT Spaces]

Hey guys. Careful we are the friendly ones Remember? Thanks for posting this Leslie .... Thump, thump but the bass not a head ....

Nice Reminder NoHandles ! As you will soon see .... I am also trying out the "kinder and gentler" approach .... Mr PC is my new-best-pal (he saw Merle fishin') even though me'n'PC have gone-round on several occaisions .....

Merle ..... Incredible songwriter ... The real deal ...a Lone Cat. I remember being way up in the Sierras and bumping into him fishing by himself ....

Holy Sh&t Mr. PC ..... I probably would have shat myself and fallen flat on my face grinning all the way down. In my new gig with the "alt-country" boys, we are doing "Sing Me Back Home" and "Big City" .... I'm lobbying for a couple more Merle songs. We have our gig tonite about 4 hours from now .... I'm chomping at the bit .....

It don't hurt that Merle sings about my home either ......
"Turn me loose, set me free, somewhere in the middle of Montana.
And gimme all I got comin' to me,
And keep your retirement and your so-called social security."

Willie Nelson usually makes it up to Montana once a summer ... at least he has for the past few summers anyhow.

.... I make no apologies for my affinity for old school "country" music. It all must have sunk in while I was a kid in the Midwest ... These guys are geniuses and legends for a reason. George Jones is another one.

Good Deal Marcus ..... That old stuff really does sink into your bones, doesn't it ? I remember a lot of old stuff from AM radio back when I was a kid growing up in Montana in the "Middle Ages." It's a real thin line between old country and bluegrass.

How about them fellers Roy Acuff, Merle Travis, Hank Snow, Ray Price, Ernest Tubb, Red Foley, Lefty Frizzell ........ And them gals Patsy Cline, Wanda Jackson, Kitty Wells, Connie Smith ..... It's downright scary to look at The Bear Family Records website in the "Country" category and see all those great box sets available and then look at the on-line banking website to see how much money is in the checking account .

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Hey Knebel, you left out >>>>>>>>> Miss Loretta <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

And Dolly and Tammy and Melba Montgomery and Rose Maddox and The Marshall Family and..........

 

[MT Spaces]

Hey Knebel, you left out >>>>>>>>> Miss Loretta <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

And Dolly and Tammy and Melba Montgomery and Rose Maddox and The Marshall Family and..........

I Know ... I Know ... I can't gettum all Jake .... Please forgive me. I sure do like all-them Country Gals For Sure. When I lissen to them .... It makes me wanna dance .... Which is sayin'-a-lot since I have 2 left feet. Usually my partners that I ask to dance from the sides of the hall have to buy some new shoes and ice'n'wrap their spraint ankles the next day !!!

 

[Gufenov]

Didja read where Kid Rock and Lil Wayne performed on the "Country" Music Awards show? The one where Kenny Chesney won his FOURTH Entertainer of the Year award? Those folks have truly lost the way...

Bobby Bare. Don Williams. Don Gibson. Ferlin Husky. Hank Snow. Webb Pierce. Jim Reeves - what a voice! Johnny Horton. Hank Thompson. Man, I miss country music!

 

[riverbum]

farron young, the louvin brothers, buck owens w/ don rich, emmylou harris, lulu from hee haw, and everybody's gotta love conway. but for my money, there was never a better duo than the louvin bros

 

[MR PC]

"Window Up Above". There's a good reason that Stevie Wonder once spoke to George (possum) as his favorite singer. He's done things that just can't be done with the human voice......what the ???***?!

.... I'm lobbying for a couple more Merle songs. /QUOTE]

If you need a tune to put silence and calm on the bar room, maybe even jerk some tears, check out "Kern River".

 

[Hammertime3]

It should be a violation of the law to even attempt to cover some of Haggard's songs. I have a video of a live performance from back in the 80's, I believe. He does a version of "If I Could Only Fly" that will tear your heart out. NEVER heard anyone try to cover that!

Also, Riverbum...you're right on the Louvin Bros...greatest duo ever with the simplest of accompanyment. Mostly just a bass and the "inimatable" Paul Yandell on lead. What a touch on guitar!

 

[D McCartney]

Bobby Bare. Don Williams. Don Gibson. Ferlin Husky. Hank Snow. Webb Pierce. Jim Reeves - what a voice! Johnny Horton. Hank Thompson. Man, I miss country music!

Ya fergot Jonny Dinvir! ROLF

 

[Jason Sypher]

I bet Wynton is just pulling a Louis Armstrong by playing with Willie. Louis played with country legend Jimmy Rodgers which shocked the jazz purists of the day. I love Willie's playing and think he is a great soloist on that old beat up guitar....

 

[Marcus Johnson]

I love Willie's playing and think he is a great soloist on that old beat up guitar....

You should hear what he did on our album. His take on gyspy jazz is ..... unique. Some of his original solos sounded like Sonny Sharrock or Fred Frith. He was just having a good time. He did some further stuff at his place in Austin, and it sounded a little more tamed, but still pretty "fringey". That old Martin ("Trigger") has such a unique sound with its pickup and "extra soundhole", there's no doubt that it's Willie.

 

[MT Spaces]

..... the "Country" Music Awards show .... folks have truly lost the way...

Bobby Bare. Don Williams. Don Gibson. Ferlin Husky. Hank Snow. Webb Pierce. Jim Reeves - what a voice! Johnny Horton. Hank Thompson. Man, I miss country music!

Hey Goof ..... Don't worry too much about the "lost ways" .... I really believe we can all still find some of that "real" country in the backwater taverns .... It's Retro .... At least I where I live . And it seems to be makin' a resurge-ance .. as far as I can tell. If some of that other krap starts up on the jukebox .... Shoot ..... 1/4 stick of dynmite solves that.

BTW .... Nice list of other country heros !!

It should be a violation of the law to even attempt to cover some of Haggard's songs .....

You are right about that HT ..... But we love some of them and try'em anyhow . Actually we didn't totally suk on "Big City" the other night ... We had a moment of silence for Merle's Sad Troubles Lately. We don't take his songs lightly.

I bet Wynton is just pulling a Louis Armstrong by playing with Willie. Louis played with country legend Jimmy Rodgers which shocked the jazz purists of the day. I love Willie's playing and think he is a great soloist on that old beat up guitar....

Jason ..... Do you have Merle Haggard's double-album "Same Train - A Different Time" ? It's all Jimmy Rodgers songs and history .... Good Stuff. Jimmy (at least to my untrained bass-brain) wrote pretty-jazzy stuff ... some 1-6m-2-5-1 progressions (I think .... I'm still trying to figger out "Peach Pickin' Time).

You should hear what he did on our album. His take on gyspy jazz is ..... unique ..... That old Martin ("Trigger") has such a unique sound with its pickup and "extra soundhole", there's no doubt that it's Willie.

I will look for that album Marcus !! P.S. I love the big raggedey hole in "Trigger" .... Seems like a lot of good music comes out that x-tra hole .

 

[BCAlbin]

This thread is a little cold, but when I found it, I just had to post...

Those folks have truly lost the way...
Man, I miss country music!

A BIG +1 to that!

There's a good reason that Stevie Wonder once spoke to George (possum) as his favorite singer. He's done things that just can't be done with the human voice......what the ???***?!

"Reminded that Frank Sinatra once called him the second best singer in America, Jones replied: &#8220;Bless his heart. I had a chance to record a song with him, but had to turn it down.&#8221; How does one turn down Frank Sinatra? &#8220;Well, I thought he was too smooth and too good a singer to record with an old country boy like me.&#8221;" - Invalid Link Removed
(I'll give you three guesses as to who Frank considered to be the best singer in America...and the first two don't count.)

It should be a violation of the law to even attempt to cover some of Haggard's songs. I have a video of a live performance from back in the 80's, I believe. He does a version of "If I Could Only Fly" that will tear your heart out. NEVER heard anyone try to cover that!

Of course I'm biased since I played for the guy for five years, but...
Country artist Joe Nichols did a cover of "If I could Only Fly" on his fourth album, Real Things. It's pretty amazing! As is his cover version on his second album, Revelation, of the Iris Dement penned Haggard song, "No Time To Cry". You won't find a more die-hard Merle fan than Joe Nichols...nor will you find a "modern" Country singer who can do a Haggard cover better! If you don't know him, (or only know his "radio-friendly" hits ), do yourself a favor and check him out. If you love "real" Country, he's one of the few good ones left who are capable of doing it. We used to play "If I Could Only Fly" in live shows and, yeah, it did "tear your heart out"! GREAT tune for a road musician to hear/play.

I must admit, this is my first time to check out the Bluegrass forum. Although Trad. Country bass is my "bread 'n' butter", I don't consider myself a "Bluegrass bassist"...mostly because I know plenty of outstanding Bluegrass bassists! (Kent, Mike, Dennis, et al) Done right, it's an art form. But I should have known that the other "folk-y" styles, Country, Americana, Roots, etc., would be lumped in over here. I should have been checkin' this out all along!

I'm also pleasantly surprised to see some names that I recognize from the Jazz/Classical/Other? forums chiming in over here expressing their knowledge and affection for Country and Bluegrass! Kudos to Marcus, Jason, Jake, Mr. PC, etc. for having an open mind and open ears. (I even saw where Paul had commented over here...of course, in his own inimitable way ). Thanks again and I'll now be a much more frequent visitor.

-BCAlbin