Thursday August 29th, 2013 Country Music Classics

COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS*



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Doug Davis

Owner/Publisher/Manager/Editor/



Writer/Gopher/Chief Cook & Bottle Washer





Thursday August 29th, 2013





CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT www.countrymusicclassics.com





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STORY BEHIND THE SONG*



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According to songwriter Rafe Van Hoy - John Conlee's 1979 number one, "Lady Lay

Down" was an easy song to write.



He commented: "That song was one of the first songs that Don Cook and I wrote

together. The first time we got together to write - we wrote four songs. It just

happened that Don ad I just seemed to have a natural collaboration and writing

with him was fun and easy."



"Lady Lay Down" was John Conlee's first number one and according to Conlee - the

record was a shoo-in - because of the success of "Rose Colored Glasses," - which

had peaked at number five.



Conlee commented, "The success of "Rose Colored Glasses" actually set up "Lady

Lay Down" so radio stations jumped on it right out of the box.



"Rose Colored Glasses" came on the country charts November 4th, 1978 and was the

top slot on January 13th, 1979.



The ABC single was Conlee's second charted song and his first number.



The single was produced by Bud Logan and was on the charts for 16 weeks.*



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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS







Q: I heard on radio that Dolly Parton is re-doing Dollywood. Do you have any

information?

A: Dolly recently announced plans to expand Dollywood to include a 300 room

Dream More Resort hotel and a roller coaster. The $300 million expansion is

expected to open in 2015.



Q: I have recently heard about a new Buddy Emmons recording. Do you know

anything about it?

A: "The Big E: A Salute To Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons" includes tributes

from Vince Gill, Duane Eddy, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and Little Jimmy

Dickens.



Q: The radio folks mentioned a new Randy Travis album. Do you have any

details?

A: Randy's 21st studio album, "Influence Vol. 1: The Man I Am" is scheduled

for release on October 1st and pays tribute to the songs and artists that have

influenced his career.



Q: My dad talks about hearing George Jones sing the Dave Dudley hit song

"Six Days On The Road" on the radio. Did George record that song?

A: George's version of the Dudley hit was a track in his 1966 "Love Bug"

album.



Q: There was a song on the radio several years ago by a guy singing about

"Motels And Memories." Do you know who the singer was and was the record a hit?

A: "Motels And Memories" was a # 7 hit for T. G. Sheppard in 1975.



Q: I always liked the young lady named Sylvia who made records and was on

several TV shows years ago. Is that her real name?

A: Sylvia was born Sylvia Kirby in 1956 in Kokomo, Indiana.





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Your comments, suggestions, gripes, etc. concerning this newsletter---are

welcome. Email *to: Classics@countrymusicclassics.com*



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* NUMBER ONE ON THIS DATE:*







*1948*

/Bouquet of Roses/ - Eddy Arnold *



*1956*

/I Walk the Line/ - Johnny Cash *



*1964*

/I Guess Im Crazy/ - Jim Reeves *



*1972*

/If You Leave Me Tonight Ill Cry/ - Jerry Wallace *



*1980*

/Drivin My Life Away/ - Eddie Rabbitt *



*1988*

/The Wanderer/ - Eddie Rabbitt *











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A T T E N T I O N: R A D I O S T A T I O N S:*



Our short form daily radio feature, *Story Behind The Song* is

*now available to radio stations.

NOT

AVAILABLE TO INTERNET STATIONS)



The feature is available at *no charge*.*



For information, email me at

*classics@countrymusicclassics.com*



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*



THE DOCTOR.*



By: Jack Blanchard



This is about an unusual doctor... maybe now, a former doctor.

Im calling him Doc Barnes because thats not his name.

He has enough problems.

We met him through some friends when we had a medium emergency.

His office was a humble wooden building,

with old Florida jalousie windows, and a coat of faded yellow paint.



The office was fairly crowded with folks who didnt look like they had money to

pay.



When we finally got to see the doctor we were a little worried

because he looked more like a veterinarian, or a farmer, or maybe a rancher,

in his faded jeans and plaid flannel shirt.

He joked around a lot, but he took care of our problem and didnt overcharge us.



We later got to know him a little and went to his home,

which was a little building behind his office.

Inside, the dcor was pure Star Trek. Doc was a Trekkie.



As we talked I began to see that he was not like other physicians.

He made house calls every evening, and he phoned patients on his own

to see how they were coming along.

He bowled instead of playing golf, and he didnt socialize with other doctors,

which may have been his downfall.



He was trying to help his ex-wife, who was a drug addict.

He still loved her and hoped to see her drug free and reunited with him.

She was a sweet, pretty woman, but way too skinny.

I dont know how her problem got started.



She seemed to be off the drugs

and asked him for a job as receptionist in his practice.

As I said, he loved her, so she got the job.

I believe they were both really trying.



Drugs became missing from his place

and there was an investigation.

He didnt turn his wife in, and he put up no defense.

He took the rap, and his practice was closed down.



Later, we heard from friends that he was working in a walk-in clinic

south of town.



The next time we saw him was on Channel 9 TV.

They were doing one of their exposs to boost their ratings.



The investigating team had found

that some of the medicines being dispensed were outdated.

Remember, Doc Barnes did not own this clinic.

He was just working there,

and probably assumed that all the medications were OK because his had always

been.



The slimy TV reporter stuck the mike in Docs face and growled,

Using outdated medicines, what kind of a doctor are you?



Doctor Barnes kept right on tending to a patient, and said, The best.



They closed down the clinic, and weve lost track of our friend.



He cared about people, and he gave them all the help and medicine they needed,

without worrying about covering his own backside.



We have a friend across the street who has advanced cancer.

His doctors wont give him enough painkiller to stop a toothache.

Are they afraid hell get addicted, or are they just covering their butts?



I wish our neighbor had Doc Barnes.

Hes The Best.



*Jack Blanchard



*http:// - http:///www.jackandmisty.net - http://www.jackandmisty.net











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TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY*



compiled by Bill Morrison*





Jimmie Rodgers recorded "Miss The Mississippi And You" 1932.*





Don Schlitz award winning songwriter, born Durham, NC 1952.





Cousin Jody re-joined the Grand Ole Opry 1953.





Dan Truman "Diamond Rio," born St. George, UT 1956.





Jim Reeves' "I Guess I'm Crazy," went to #1 three weeks after his death

1964.





Ernie Ashworth and wife Bettye, welcomed son Paul Wesley to the family

1964.





Shawn Camp, singer/songwriter/fiddler/guitarist, born Little Rock, AR

1966.







Kathie Baillie and Michael Bonagura of Baillie & The Boys were married 1981.







Jimmie Short, guitarist "Texas Troubadours" died 1986.





Archie Campbell, age 72, died in Knoxville, TN of a heart attack

_1987_. Joined the Grand Ole Opry /1958/. In

/1969/ he became a writer and cast member of Hee Haw. Archie won the

/1969 /CMA Award for Comedian of the Year.





Johnny Rodriquez arrested on a murder charge at his home in Uvalde Country

Texas, _1998_/. The arrest came after Rodriquez shot a man he

thought was an intruder in his home.





Charlie Feathers, pioneer Rockabilly artist, age 66, died Memphis, TN

_1998_. Charlie was a favorite Rockabilly songwriter, of the stable of

SUN recording artists. Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee.





Curb Records released "Best Of Deborah Allen" 2000.





Courtesy Bill Morrison:

<http://www.talentondisplay.com/countrycalMAR.html*>















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*

*View From The Front Porch*



Stan Hitchcock



Every year, at this time, I am bombarded with ballots and promo packages from

the CMA and the Record Companies, wanting me to vote for their new stars, to

honor these new folks, at the CMA Awards, some of whom have been in the music

business for as much as two or three years. They so badly want to honor these

folks. A lot of them I never even heard of, but, I reckon that is just because I

dont much listen to new country radio, so I am ignorant of what is happening

there. I suppose I am preoccupied with my list of deserving country music

legends, that seldom, if ever, even get mentioned at their Award Ceremonies, but

that I know were the real heroes of this music called country.



Here is one of the stories that I am working on for my new book



In 1985, Denise and I bought a 55 Acre piece of undeveloped land outside of

Castalian Springs, Tennessee. I ran some cattle and a few horses on the land,

because I love to mess with them. One day, walking along my fence line, back in

the woods, I noticed an old, falling down shack, just over my line fence and

overgrown with brush and sticker bushes.



I slipped through the fence and made my way through the briar patch over to the

old building. The roof had fallen in toward the back, and as I got closer, I

could see it originally had been a one-room log cabin, with a room built on to

the back. Being a history nut and loving old buildings, I climbed in through

what was left of the front porch and a partially opened door. Inside was a

jumbled mess of leftovers of life. Papers, old bottles, old scraps of clothes.

The rough walls had been papered over with old newspapers from the turn of the

century.



As I was rustling through some scraps of paper, I came upon an old stained

letter. The Postmark on the letter was 1929, I couldn't make out the month or

day, inside the envelope was a piece of newspaper, showing the death of John

Walton, 2 year old son of Staley Walton. Looking further I came upon a post card

to Staley Walton, from Roy Acuff, dated 1955, "Staley, I'm sorry about your

sickness. Hope you are feeling better, Roy". Suddenly, I realized I was in the

lifetime home of Staley Walton, rhythm guitar player for Dr. Humphrey Bate and

the Possum Hunters. I always knew he had lived around this area, but had no idea

where.



In September 1925, Dr. Bate and his band became the first musicians to play

old-time music on Nashville radio when they performed on the small local station

WDAD. A month later, William Craig, a purchasing agent for the National Life and

Accident Insurance Company, invited Dr. Bate to play on the company's new radio

station, WSM, which could reach a much wider audience than WDAD. Bate happily

accepted, and over the following weeks, he and his band which was typically

called "Dr. Bate's Band" or some similar variation played on WDAD in the

afternoon and WSM in the evening. The Possum Hunters became the first string

band on the newly formed Hayride format show, that was then renamed, "The Grand

Ole Opry".



The Opry founder, George D. Hay, named the band, "Dr. Humphrey Bate and The

Possum Hunters". This band was the seminal start of country music bands forever

to come, and Staley Walton was an important part of this historic group.



Dr. Bate's band was unusually large for a string band, typically consisting of

two fiddles, two guitars, a banjo, a cello, and a bowed bass. Regular band mates

included guitarists Burt Hutcherson and Staley Walton, fiddlers Oscar Stone and

Bill Barrett, banjo player Walter Ligget, and bassist Oscar Albright. Dr. Bate's

daughter Alcyone Bate Beasley often performed with the band as a ukelele player.

The band's set usually opened with the song, "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old

Town Tonight," and the band's repertoire included "Old Joe," "Greenback Dollar,"

"Going Uptown," and "Eighth of January."



Looking further, I found a letter to Staley Walton, Castalian Springs,

Tennessee, from Dr. Bate's daughter, Alcyone Bate Beasley, postmarked in

California, in the early 70s. It was a letter from one musician to another,

about their music history. Her father, Dr. Bate, passed away in 1936, the Possum

Hunters would continue to be a part of the Opry, in various forms, with Alcyone

and Staley Walton working to keep them together. But it was a struggle,

especially during the 60s as the Opry adopted a more sophisticated sound that

tended not to highlight the string bands.



Pushed farther and farther back, and used mainly as backup for the Square

Dancers, It was a cruel treatment for the ones who had started the whole

shebang, who showed up every Friday and Saturday night, whether they got to

perform or not, just because they felt a deep attachment to their comrades in

music.



I had gotten to know most of the Possum Hunters from my Opry appearances, during

the 60's and early 70's, but I never really knew Staley, other than to say

hello, for he was very shy and would sit backstage at the Ryman, in a corner,

alone. The Possum Hunters, The Crook Brothers, along with Sam and Kirk McGee,

"from Sunny Tennessee" represented the real Opry to me, and a lot of my friends.

I thought it sad that they were virtually ignored, and pushed aside by the

management at the Opry.



Kneeling there in the old house, amongst tangled remains of a legends life, I

looked around. No running water, no central heat and air, the old remains of an

outhouse, further back in the briar patch. One bare light fixture, hanging from

the ceiling....I reckon I just thought I had been raised in the country, Staley

Walton defined the very word, "country", living his simple life with his wife,

losing his two year old son to some early death, going through the rigors of a

primitive Tennessee life, but showing up, every Saturday Night, for his

appearance with his friends and neighbors, to play their music on the Opry, and

being there when it all started.



Staley Walton would never know fame...never have his spot in the Country Music

Halls of Fame...never make more than a few dollars a night for playing his old

guitar....but, he was there when it began, he was one of the founders of this

music we call country. I knelt there in his one room shack, and felt so humbled,

and a bit choked up with emotion for a life that I never knew, but who touched

me just the same.



Heroes in music don't have to be the headliners, they can be the support crew,

the light crew, the sound man or the stage manager.....or they can be the rhythm

guitar man that you can always depend on to be there when the music is being

made, every time. Staley Walton never left the music, unfortunately, the music

left him.



Staley Walton, the first rhythm guitar player on the Grand Ole Opry, made music

history, but few will ever know his name.



Stan Hitchcock*



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