Posted by :Pete Smith on March 29, 2009, 12:47 pm
86.162.94.172
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.
The Advertiser (UK) 20 March 2009
One of country music’s greatest balladeers left us on 8 March. Hank Locklin had just passed his ninety-first birthday when he passed away in his home in Brewton, Alabama. Hank will forever be synonymous with the classic hits “Please Help Me I’m Falling” and “Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On” though these were but a small part of Hank’s legacy. Born in Florida Locklin was performing in public at the age of ten whilst doing his daily chores on the family farm. After a succession of jobs His first professional appearances were at the age of twenty and during the 1940s he gained his big break by being signed to the “Louisiana Hayride”, second only to the “Grand Ole Opry” in the world of country radio. This exposure led to Hank signing for Four Star for whom he charted “The Same Sweet Girl” (1949) and “Let Me Be The One” (1953). This success led to Locklin being invited to join the “Grand Ole Opry” and to sign with RCA Records. Hank’s big hits began to flow. “Send Me The Pillow” (penned by Hank and later covered by the Everly Brothers, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dolly Parton, Dean Martin and many more), “It’s A Little More Like Heaven” (1958), “Please Help Me I’m Falling” (1960), “Happy Birthday To Me” (1961), “Happy Journey” (1962) and “Country Hall Of Fame” (1967). For almost half a century Hank remained a favourite on the “Grand Ole Opry”. Hank Locklin influenced many singers including Vince Gill who, in 1995, sang a duet with Hank on the “Opry”. The song? “Send Me the Pillow”, naturally. Locklin released the album “Generations In Song” featuring guest appearances by Dolly Parton, Jeannie Seely, Jett Williams, Jeanne Pruett, Vince Gill and Hank’s son Adam, now a senior manager at the CMA. Hank never really retired, he loved performing too much, and not too long ago released his sixty-fifth album, “By The Grace Of God”. I had the honour to meet Hank Locklin at the Wembley Festival in 1979, where he received several standing ovations, and found him to be a quiet, unassuming person in fact, a real gentleman. On this day (30 March) 1937 Jerry Reed was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Singer, guitarist, songwriter, movie actor, Reed scored much success with his guitar collaborations with Chet Atkins, his song writing (“U.S. Male”, Guitar Man”, “A Thing Called Love”, etc), the “Smokey and The Bandit” movies and hit recordings such as “Amos Moses”, “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” and “She Got The Goldmine”. He died of emphysema on 1 September 2008, Remember there are stars in the southern sky.
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