Musicians Web pages - Nashville Musicians Association

32 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Kelly Preston and Toby Keith on the red carpet.
Director Steve Goldmann.
Jimmy C. Newman marks 50th
A-A-A-eeee! Belated cheers to Cajun country
king Jimmy C. Newman, who on Aug. 4
marked his 50th year as a cast member of
WSM’s Grand Ole Opry.
“Hey Walt, they got me a cake and everything!
It was great,” says Local 257 Lifetime
Member Newman.
One of country’s true gentlemen, Jimmy
got his professional start in showbusiness 60
years ago, playing in a band in Ville Platte,
La., and pioneered his own TV show on new
KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, before joining
KWKH-Shreveport’s Louisiana Hayride.
Jimmy C. Newman
Thanks to his self-penned debut charting
“Cry, Cry Darling” in 1954, he went on to
place 33 singles on the Billboard country chart,
among them a near-charttopper “A Fallen
Star,” which crossed over into the Pop Top 20
in 1957. Other Top 10s include “Blue Darlin’,”
“A Lovely Work of Art,” “DJ For a Day” and
“Artificial Rose.”
Among his Cajun-flavored fan favorites
are “Alligator Man,” “Bayou Talk” and “Louisiana
Saturday Night,” all of which he helped
write. In fact, Jimmy’s New-Keys publishing
firm gave a helping hand to promising
songwriters such as Tom T. Hall, who enjoyed
his first #1 “Hello, Vietnam” thanks to
Newman (as recorded by Johnny Wright).
Jimmy believes in longevity and has been
married 58 years to Ville Platte native Mae,
noted for her Cajun cuisine. Their son Gary’s
getting dad back in the studio to recut his classics
for a new generation to enjoy. Viva le
Cajun!
Nashville site of Hollywood film premiere
By WALT TROTT
Willie Nelson and Burt Reynolds were
no-shows for Nashville’s red-carpet premiere
of the Toby Keith starrer “Broken
Bridges,” screened Sept. 7 at the historic
Ryman Auditorium.
Although the two were busy elsewhere,
Keith, co-stars Kelly Preston (“Urban Cowboy”
John Travolta’s better half), Lindsey
Haun (seen as a teen Barbara in 1997’s TV
movie “The Barbara Mandrell Story”),
Anna Maria Horsford and director Steven
Goldmann made the journey.
First-time screenwriters Cherie Bennett
and Jeff Gottesfeld, who hail from here,
were present. Given the “chick flick”
script’s shortcomings and Toby’s celluloid
inexperience, the country superstar walked
through his part with relative ease as moody
Bo Price, by more-or-less playing himself.
He scores best while singing, such as the
solo “Jackie Don Tucker.”
We viewed the PG-rated film at an advanced
press screening in Nashville’s
100Oaks Mall, where the print seemed a bit
on the dark side, but then maybe that was to
reflect the star’s darker aspects. The
storyline was chockful of little dramas that
commenced after young Bo ran off to evade
pending fatherhood, thus abandoning teenaged
girlfriend Angela (Kelly), who faced
the wrath of family and community in giving
birth to daughter Dixie.
Although filmed in Georgia (under a
working title “Angel From Montgomery”),
its setting is Armour Springs, a small town
in Tennessee. There folks are mourning the
loss of five young soldiers who died in a
tragic training accident at what could be Fort
Campbell.
The fact that two of the trainees were
their kid brothers, reunites Angela and Bo,
who return for funeral services. It also marks
Bo’s first encounter with teen-aged Dixie
(Lindsey), who’d rather be anywhere but
there. By now Bo has had a shot at country
music stardom, then blew it, gaining a discredited
“No-Show Bo” monicker due to
substance abuse.
Meanwhile, almost miraculously - sans
support of family - Angela had become a
successful TV journalist in Miami, Fla.,
where she’s being pursued by her station’s
producer-boss. At a community memorial
for the deceased, the cynical but cool Bo
has to face down Angela’s father (Burt) and
mother (Tess Harper), who in addition to
being grief-stricken over loss of a son, aren’t
in a very forgiving mood, considering his
behavior resulted in a 15-year estrangement
from Angela and a granddaughter they
didn’t get to know (who’s named after her
grandmother). During all of this aggravation,
grandma Dixie suffers a stroke.
Characters bobbing in and out of the
picture include Angela’s former best friend
Patsi (Kate Finneran), a fiery redhead who
still lusts after Bo; Loretta, a loyal friend
(Anna Maria), who seeks to reconcile the
dysfunctional family; a small-town boy with
big city ideas, with eyes on Dixie; and the
self-serving producer-boyfriend seeking to
turn a personal tragedy into a ratings boost
and an opportunity for national coverage.
It’s hard to feel much sympathy for Bo’s
character, who initially shirked responsibility
and continued to do so after winning success
in the spotlight, without even a minor
overture to his daughter. In a script full of
contrivances, a slight rewrite to offer a more
understanding departure might have made
Bo a more agreeable protagonist.
On the plus side, it’s fun seeing familiar
faces like Randy Scruggs, BeBe Winans,
Rich Eckhardt and the Easy Money Band,
and hey, isn’t that Conway’s grandson Trey
Twitty listed among the behind-the-scenes
camera crew? Unfortunately, Nelson’s appearance
amounts to little more than a
cameo.
One of the film’s more heartwarming
sequences has Bo and Dixie going over a
song she’s composing, in her desire for a music
career. We dug Bo’s insider joke about
changing a lyric here or there to let one cut
himself in on song royalties, We chuckled,
too, over a line when Dixie points out the
camera automatically adds 20 pounds to
one’s torso, that sort of explains why Toby,
who looks trim in person, appears chunkier
on screen.
Acting honors go primarily to the female
leads: Kelly as career-obsessed Angela, coping
with a rebellious teen-ager and conflicting
emotions about daughter’s dad; Tess as
a woman who walks the line drawn by a bitter
husband, while maintaining her dignity
and spirit; and especially Lindsey in the challenging
role of Dixie, a saucy but sweet 16,
who despite mixed signals in her life, finds
an outlet in song.
Musical highlights are the trio - Toby,
Willie and BeBe - vocalizing on “Uncloudy
Day” at a fund-raiser for the fallen heroes;
and Lindsey’s near showstopping rendition
of “Broken,” proving the fruit doesn’t fall
far from the tree, on screen as well as off
screen, as she’s the real-life daughter of
former Air Supply leader Jimmy Haun.
The strapping 6-foot, 4-inch Keith must
be satisfied with the production, credited
jointly to CMT and Paramount Classics, a
division of Paramount Pictures, for he’s already
started a follow-up film. It’s based on
his and Willie’s #1 duet “Beer For My
Horses,” for which he’ll share some of the
cost and hopefully more of the profits.
“Broken Bridges” soundtrack album is
available now on Keith’s own ShowDog label,
which has released Haun’s “Broken” as
the CD’s first single. Other performers on
the album (co-produced by Keith and Randy
Scruggs) include Matraca Berg - “Along For
the Ride,” Scotty Emerick - “What’s Up
With That,” Sonya Isaacs - “Battlefield,”
Flynnville Train - “High On the Mountain”
and Fred Eaglesmith - “Thinkin’ About You.”
Incidentally, the CD bowed on Billboard’s
country albums at #4.
The movie’s having a limited run in theaters.
Catch the DVD or video.
Movie Premiere Photos
by Patricia Presley
Fans greet screen star Kelly Preston (who plays Angela), as she arrives on the red carpet.
Anna Maria Horsford plays a family friend.
Fan favorite Lindsey Haun plays Bo’s daughter.
Podcaster Wichita’s new book
Celebrated podcaster Wichita Rutherford
boasts a new book “The Bluegrass Way,” just
published by GrooveGrass Books in Nashville.
It’s the world seen thru the eyes of the everyday
Bluegrasser. According to our downloaded
e-mail copy, it’s a sprightly series of
bromides, quotes and essays pertaining primarily
to the Bluegrass music genre.
Rutherford hosts a popular iPod program
beamed by SIRIUS Satellite Radio - Five
Minutes With Wichita - and it’s broadcast to
more than 275 stations, including 11 foreign
countries. The squint-eyed podcaster also
hosts both 30- and 60-minute shows.
Among the artists interviewed on
Rutherford’s mini-programs have been Doc
Watson, Alison Krauss, Dierks Bentley, Mac
Wiseman, Del McCoury and Bela Fleck.
Some of “The Bluegrass Way’s” passages
promote pickers’ nuggets of knowledge: “If
you can’t keep time, don’t play loud” or “Stay
in tune, people will listen longer.” There’s also
some redneck ramblings like, “If I’d know’d
you wanted to went, I’d a seen you’d get the
get to go.”
The author-host suggests a perfect squelch
for a nemesis: “A free banjo and two lessons
is what you give your enemy’s kids.”
Rural reminiscences featured cover
downhome topics, among them “What Makes
‘Us’ Different,” “When I Was Little,” “Hats”
and “Dinner On the Ground.”
Wichita’s book makes a good gift, especially
for Bluegrassers. For further information
about “The Bluegrass Way,” check out
WichitaRutherford@gmail.com or the
5MinutesWithWichita.com on line.
- Walt Trott
Union Music
Is Best!