Remembering soulful singer/pianist Charlie Rich with a recollection of photographer Jim Herrington who took this great shot.
Here's the scoop...
Raising a can of Schaefer Beer to the amazing Charlie Rich on his birthday! Here's Nashville photographer extraordinaire Jim Herrington's entertaining recollection of an early 90s photo session with Charlie (A photo shoot for Charlie's fantastic 1992 album Pictures and Paintings produced by Scott Billington, listen to two songs below) and their road trip to Colt, Arkansas. Thanks to Jim and Otis Gibbs for sharing it!
Choctaw Ridge– New Fables of The American South explores a new country sound, one that emerged at the end of the 60s in the wake of Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode To Billie Joe', a shock number one hit in 1967. When singers like Gentry, Jimmy Webb, Michael Nesmith and Lee Hazlewood moved from the south to Los Angeles to make it in the music business, they were not part of the Nashville in-crowd and they forged a new direction.
'Ode To Billie Joe' was the tip of the iceberg, and it's success helped a bunch of singers and storytellers to emerge over the next three or four years. Some of the tracks on this collection bear that song's stamp more clearly than others: Sammi Smith's moody 'Saunders' Ferry Lane' had a similar mystery lyric, and Henson Cargill's 'Four Shades Of Love' is a portmanteau, with one (or possibly two) of the theoretically romantic situations ending in death.
Suddenly, character sketches of southerners became a lot more rounded - women didn't have to stay home, or take abuse at the office, and darkness wasn't only found at the bottom of a bottle. Storytelling is the link between all of the songs on this collection. We have cautionary tales about what could happen to someone who heads for the bright lights and doesn't make it, ending up in the grasping hands of 'Mr Walker' (Billie Joe Spears), or on the 'Back Side Of Dallas' (Jeannie C Reilly), or on a mortuary slab in the case of the songwriter with the 'Fabulous Body And Smile' (Robert Charles Griggs). And there are stories about wanting to go home - Nat Stuckey's 'What Am I Doing In LA?' and Charlie Rich's 'Feel Like Going Home' - and others from Ed Bruce and Lee Hazlewood, who know that their home isn't home anymore.
The tracklist and fulsome sleeve notes have been put together by Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) and Martin Green (Smashing, The Sound Gallery), who have been collecting these records for decades. The voices are resonant and relatable, and the productions take in the best of what pop had to offer in the late 60s and early 70s. Before the factionalism between smooth pop-conscious Nashville and the hedonistic 'outlaws' made it look inward again, this was a golden era for an atmospheric, inclusive and progressive country music. It began on the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day.
Choctaw Ridge – New Fables of The American South, 1968-1973 is out July 30. Pre-order a copy directly from ACE Records right here. Watch Jeannie C. Riley perform "Back Side of Dallas" and listen to Sammi Smith's delightfully dark "Saunders' Ferry Lane" and Jim Ford's epic "Harlan County" – which is among the best of the bunch – following the track listing below.
Choctaw Ridge – New Fables of The American South, 1968-1973
01 The House Song - Lee Hazlewood
02 If Only She Had Stayed - Chris Gantry
03 Endless Miles Of Highway - Jerry Reed
04 The Back Side Of Dallas - Jeannie C Riley
05 Way Before The Time Of Towns - Hoyt Axton
06 Strawberry Farms - Tom T Hall
07 Down From Dover - Dolly Parton
08 July 12, 1939 - Charlie Rich
09 What Am I Doing In LA? - Nat Stuckey
10 Mr Stanton Don't Believe It - Rob Galbraith
11 Saunders' Ferry Lane - Sammi Smith
12 Four Shades Of Love - Henson Cargill
13 Drivin' Nails In The Wall - Waylon Jennings & The Kimberlys
14 Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town - Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
15 Why Can't I Come Home - Ed Bruce
16 Mr Walker, It's All Over - Billie Jo Spears
17 Harlan County - Jim Ford
18 Widow Wimberly - Tony Joe White
19 Belinda (Alt take) - Bobbie Gentry
20 Joanne - Michael Nesmith & The First National Band
21 Mr Jackson's Got Nothing To Do - John Hartford
22 Alone - Lee Hazlewood & Suzi Jane Hokom
23 Fabulous Body And Smile - Sir Robert Charles Griggs
Showing up 15 minutes late for his highly-touted SXSW 2012 keynote address, Bruce Springsteen made up for his tardiness with a thoroughly engaging 50 minute address to an enrapt audience of musicians and music biz professionals.
His exceptionally well-constructed presentation – delivered with a directness that is the hallmark of The Boss – came filled with intriguing insights into his own musical inspirations and songwriting process intercut with often whimsical, sometimes poignant asides and punctuated with a guitar strum.
As far as SXSW keynote's go, Springsteen's bravura solo performance ranks as one of the very best in the festival's 25 year history as you can see below.
But that was just a warm-up for the Boss. He then rounded up the E Street Band Band and followed up his pulpit pitch with a two-and-a-half hour show for 3,000 people at Austin's Moody Theatre. It culminated with a few friends jumping on stage for a Woody Guthrie singalong, namely Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, Eric Burdon, Garland Jeffreys, Arcade Fire's Win Butler and brother Will, Tom Morello and members of The Low Anthem. Have a look:
And here's Bruce rocking what appears to be Alejandro Escovedo's Gretsch backing Joe Ely on an impromptu version of The Flatlanders' Midnight Train at the Austin Music Awards on Wednesday night:
