Posted by :Pete Smith on March 15, 2009, 11:55 am
81.154.153.66
The Advertiser (UK) 6 March 2009
Today, 6 March is the forty-sixth anniversary of one of the most tragic discoveries in country music history. At daybreak on that day at Camden, just outside of Nashville, the wreckage of an aircraft was found. There were no survivors. Amongst the dead were Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins, three of the most popular country performers of the 50s and 60s. The plane has actually crashed the night before but was not discovered until the following daybreak. The late Roger Miller was one of the first on the scene. He remarked, “I walked up to it and wanted to turn back. It was ghastly. That’s the only way to describe it. The plane had crashed nose down, it just ploughed into the earth on this steep hillside. It was all twisted metal and pieces of bodies. It was especially horrible when you knew them all”. The memory of Patsy Cline has survived the decades as the continuing sales of her records testify but, regrettably, Copas and Hawkins seem to be forgotten which is a great pity for their presence added greatly to the scene and to the history of country music. Cowboy Copas’s honky tonk recordings of the forties and fifties were a feature of the top ten and his work with Pee Wee King proved essential to the era. Copas’s hits included “Filipino Baby", "Signed Sealed and Delivered", "Tennessee Waltz", "Tennessee Moon", "Tennessee Waltz” and Candy Kisses”. Copas hailed from Ohio where he began performing at the age of fourteen. Throughout the 30s and 40s he appeared on a number of radio stations before replacing Eddy Arnold in Pee Wee King’s band The Golden West Cowboys. Hawkshaw Hawkins from West Virginia was tall and handsome possessing a rich smooth baritone. Dressed tastefully in the best of western suits Hawkins was a real presence on stage. His career began in earnest after service in World War 11 with hits such as "Pan American" and "Dog House Boogie” and "Slow Poke”. Unfortunately he died without seeing his only number, “Lonesome 7-7203” hit the charts. Hawkshaw was just 41 when he died and his wife, Jean Shepard, was pregnant with his son at the time of the crash. 8 March, also marks the forty-sixth anniversary of the death of Jack Anglin, of Johnny and Jack fame. Jack was killed in a car crash on his way to a prayer service for Patsy Cline. Johnny and Jack’s hits in the 50s included “Crying Heart Blues”, “Poison Love”, “Ashes Of Love” and “Oh Baby Mine”.
A date for your diary. 12 March at the Rotherham Trades Club for a great night of country starring the Carolann B Duo, Comstock recording artist Mike Lane, Arizona Wes and Nev Page. Admission is FREE and all proceeds from raffles, etc go to the Rotherham Hospice..
For further information please email: pete_fabam@hotmail.com
Remember there are stars in the southern sky.
The Advertiser (UK) 13 March 2009
For many years I have been a lover (and supporter) of Texas country music. I believe the Texans have retained their roots where as their Nashville counterparts have, generally speaking, lost the plot. Lynn Davis’s “Wild Turkey and 7 up” (BSW) excited me as much as when I first heard George Strait and subsequent listening confirms that here we have an artist who deserves the utmost respect and success. Though not a Texan, Lynn, a native Mississippian, definitely possesses the heart and soul of Texas music. He was born into a musical family where his mother played fiddle and his uncles picked guitars and it was whilst touring with them that the young Lynn learned to sing real country. His style was later influenced by stars such as Flatt and Scruggs, Bob Wills and Hank Thompson. During the mid-90s, to enhance his career prospects, Lynn and his wife Shirley sold up and moved to Nashville where Roy Acuff encouraged him to keep plugging away until success came his way. Davis’s first tracks were laid at RCA but did not catch the imagination of the movers and shakers. Whilst in Music City Lynn met many top names who helped him hone his skills and develop his honest, warm approach to his music. “Wild Turkey And 7 Up” is one hell of an album, beautifully performed both vocally and instrumentally and country to the core. The album is packed with two-stepping, honky tonking, Texas swinging country music. Producer Jim Vest has assembled a group of talented musicians to provide just the right backdrop to Lynn’s excellent vocals for ten first class tracks that include “My Memory’s Gonna Serve You Right”, “Hurt Like Haggard And Cry Like Jones”, “That Comin’ Back Look” and the Gospel classic “Peace In The Valley”. Lynn Davis may not be a regular feature in “Billboard’s” top ten – but he certainly should be! www.bsw-records.com
Sad to report that Grand Opry Star Ernie Ashworth has passed away. Ernie died aged 80 on 2 March. In a career spanning six decades Ernie experienced the big time during the 1960s with such hits as “Each Moment (Spent With You)”, “You Can’t A Rose In December”, “Everybody But Me”’ and “Talk Back Trembling Lips”. Though the hits dried up after the 60s Ernie remained a popular performer and recording artist right up to his death. He was inducted into the Alabama Country Music Hall Of Fame in February of 2008.
Remember there are stars in the southern sky.
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