Musicians Jan - 01 - Nashville Musicians Association

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24 The Nashville Musician January-March 2009 By WALT TROTT Letter,” “Each Night At Nine” and probably the biggest-selling war song from World War II, “There’s a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere” (a 1942 multi-million smash for Elton Britt). Was tickled to see Mac included the old Pappy O’Daniel standard “Put Me In Your Pocket,” one my mom used to sing. But was a bit disappointed he’d altered a few lines from the way we remember it: “She gave to him her photograph, upon which she wrote this song/ Put me in your pocket, so I’ll be close to you/ No more will I be lonesome, and no more will I be blue/Then when we have to part, dear/ There’ll be no sad adieu/For I’ll be in your pocket and I’ll go along with you . . .” Then our hero skipped the denouement verse completely - depicting the returning soldier’s final tragedy: “That evening soon had ended/Her darling went away/But when he did return again, for their happy wedding day/His sweetheart she was absent/To Heaven she had gone, but she left to him her photograph/Upon which she wrote this song . . .” It’s depressing, of course, but a great melodic ballad that’s had far too few revivals. Our research indicates that in the early 1940s Judy Martin & Her Mountain Rangers did a cover version, as did several years later, Terry Preston (Ferlin Husky) and also Hank Locklin. Wiseman is due special thanks for bringing back some of these songs (sung by our forebears), some fast slipping through the cracks, perhaps never more to be heard. Most notably “. . . In Your Pocket,” Henry Burr’s “Mary, Dear,” and the 19th century hearttugger, “One of the Boys in Blue.” Another welcome Golden Oldie is Mac’s superb take on the Bob Wills’ #1 classic “Silver Due On the Bluegrass Tonight,” written by Edith Burton, and released as war was winding down in fall ’45. A surprise is a “live” version of his near-trademark tune “I Wonder How the Old Folks Are At Home,” backed uptempo by Little Roy Lewis on banjo in Washington, D.C., wherein Mac’s heard goodnaturedly querying a bandmember’s lick, “Was that necessary there?” These CDs obviously are quite necessary, judging by the sheer listening delight one derives from either of these Wise Record releases. Here’s a chance to get two for a few pennies less than $20; check with the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, telephone (615) 255-7503. Chesney wins big at CMA’s gala Aaron Tippin, who campaigned for Republican candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin awhile ago, is back promoting a new album designed to appeal to the nation’s truckers. “In Overdrive,” which he co-produced with Tim Grogan - under the watchful eye of James Stroud, executive producer - hit the street Feb. 3, a collaboration of Nippit Records and the Country Crossing label. “I’ve had my heart set on doing this album for a long time,” says Tippin, who once spent time truckin’. “Now with the current economic state, I’m reminded of the unsung heroes of the road, that legion of devoted Americans, some four million strong, who make their living in the trucking industry and hammer down day after day. And I wanted to make this record for them.” Mainly a slate of oldies, Tippin’s 14 tracks benefit from the muscle the singer puts behind his hard-drivin’, nasally baritone, backed by superb studio pickers. The tried-and-true tunes here include: Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down,” Dave Dudley’s “Six Days On the Road” (also a later Sawyer Brown success), Ronnie Milsap’s “Prisoner Of the Highway,” Eddie Rabbit’s “Drivin’ My Life Away,” Merle Haggard’s “Movin’ On” and Del Reeves’ dandy “Girl On the Billboard.” For good measure, there’s even Cledus Maggard’s #1 novelty number “White Knight.” A brand new composition Aaron and wife Thea created, “Drill Here, Drill Now,” is a partisan paean to establishing oil fields off shore along the U.S.’s pristine coastline and in the Alaskan wilderness. The former corporate pilot debuted it on Sean Hannity’s show and sang it on the road: “No more debatin’/We’re tired of waitin’/Everybody shout out loud/drill here, drill now . . .” Local 257 members did well indeed at the 42nd annual Country Music Association awards, Nov. 12, and union brother Kenny Chesney again took home the big prize, Entertainer of the Year! Last issue’s centerspread artist Brad Paisley won best male vocalist - and won for his video Reportedly, “East Bound and Down,” heard to good advantage in the 1978 flick “Smokey & the Bandit,” will be Tippin’s premiere single off the set. We especially enjoyed his take on “Girl On the Billboard,” and was pleased that “Waitin’ On a Woman” - while Carrie Underwood was voted best female vocalist. Local 257 trio Rascal Flatts earned Best Group honor; and guitarist Mac McAnally won Best Musician. Tony Brown, producer, shared both Best Album trophy for “Troubadour,” and its single “I Saw God Today” was tops. Winners also include: Best Duo, Sugarland; New Act, Lady Antebellum; Jennifer Nettles’ “Stay” named Song of the Year; and Local 257 sister Alison Krauss won Best Musical Event with Robert Plant for their single “Gone, Gone, Gone.” (Continued from page 17) Mac Wiseman may have quit touring the U.S.A., but he hasn’t stopped making records, and in fact has a twofer for fans of bluegrass. Yes, the godfather of bluegrass has just released an album remembrance of great war songs, “Waiting For the Boys To Come Home,” along with another devoted to parlor-type tunes of yesteryear, “Old Likker In a New Jug.” A member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame since 1993, Wiseman’s currently busy pulling together his thoughts, and thanks to memorabilia saved through the years, plans to pen his autobiography this year. That should be an eyeopener. Listening to these new collections, it’s easy to see why he’s still singing, mainly because he can. How many octogenarians do you know who have the breath and stamina to sustain notes, as “The Voice With a Heart” succeeds in doing here on these acoustic sets. Little wonder the National Endowment For the Arts singled him out last fall for its prestigious annual National Fellowship Heritage Medal of the Arts, America’s highest honor bestowed on behalf of the folk and traditional arts (accompanied by a $20,000 stipend). A decade ago, producer-promoter Scott Rouse showed up unannounced to bring his father’s favorite bluegrass idol back into the studio, inviting Mac to join Doc Watson and Del McCoury, recording as the funky GrooveGrass Boys, who charted their “Country Macarena” many months. (Rouse has just released a 10th anniversary edition of their album “GrooveGrass 101” via iTunes.) The result was that ol’ Wiseman received more booking requests for daughter Maxine to turn down, and eventually invitations to join Johnny Cash, John Prine and Charlie Daniels separately in the studio, which he did do, not bad for a man who started recording more than 60 years ago. Molly O’Day took a chance on the musical stripling in the postwar year of 1946, taking him to Chicago where she cut such classics as “Tramp On the Street.” Bill Monroe heard him on Bristol radio and made Mac a Blue Grass Boy, and by the way, he’s one of the original Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys. Dot Records signed him solo and during the 1950s’ his chart hits included covers “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” and “Jimmy Brown the Newsboy.” Talk about versatile: In 1979, Mac mixed it up with big bandsman Woody Herman on “My Blue Heaven” and “Scotch and Soda,” then shared the mic that year with bluegrass boys, the Osborne Brothers, to revive his country cut “Shackles and Chains.” On these two latest sets, Mac invites mandolin master Jesse McReynolds (of Jim & Jesse fame) as special guest artist. Dave Ferguson did the engineering duties, at the Butcher Shoppe Studio in Nashville. Highlighting the “. . . New Jug” selections are slow country weepers “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes,” “I Was Seeing Nellie Home,” “When the Work’s All Done This Fall” and “Be Nobody’s Darlin’ But Mine.” As close to uptempo as Mac gets here is “Darlin’ Little Joe” and “Ballad of the Haunted Woods.” Mac gets into flag-waving on “Waiting For the Boys To Come Home,” which also features “Reveille Time In Heaven,” “Soldier’s Last Kenny Chesney . . book celebrates country humor kitchen.’ The dispatcher said, ‘But how do we get to it?’ She said, ‘You can come through the living room or off the back porch, either one.’ He said, ‘I mean how do we get from where we are to where you are?’ She said, ‘Ain’t you got one of them red trucks?’” Charlie Louvin recalling a joke he told a half-century ago, concerned an irate highway patrolman who finally succeeded in pulling over a speeding car that didn’t stop right away: “He asked him, ‘Why didn’t you stop when I first put the red light on you back yonder?’ The guy said, ‘Officer, I’m sorry about that, but when I seen a state trooper behind me, I remembered that about two or three months ago my wife ran off with a state trooper, and I was afraid that was him bringing her back!’” MEMBERS’ REMINDER Remember to attend the next General Membership Meeting, slated 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, at the George W. Cooper Hall. he used the Reeves’ trademarked “Doodle Do Doo Doo.” Courageous. Another interesting track is “Ballad of Danger Dave and Double Trouble.” Though obviously, this set’s not about to add any new charttoppers, it’s a solid, workmanlike album that mostly works well for the artist. Tippin’s last album - “He Believed” - was sold mainly through the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain last year. We gather he’s decided to go the standard route this time around, so check out your local retail outlet or try Amazon.com on the internet. - Walt Trott . . . Marty Stuart signs accord (Continued from page 3) want to get this exactly right, play by the rules and do it by the book - and make sure everybody is satisfied in every seat at the table. So when you’re not trying to do anything wrong, there’s no problem.” Amazingly enough, last week Marty and his Fabulous Superlatives band performed in Zurich and Rome, before winging their way back to face the cameras again. There are just six episodes remaining in the first season. Local 257’s Eddie Stubbs serves as announcer, and Marty’s wife Connie Smith is featured singer. How has the show rated thus far? “I really don’t know yet, as I haven’t seen any Nielsen ratings. But judging by the viewer response of written mail and e-mails, and the amount of merchandise orders that come in, it’s pretty staggering.” Does he remember first joining the union? “I sure do. Lester Flatt dook me down to Mr. George Cooper’s office. Well, he had given the spiel so many times, that Mr. Cooper was tired of it, and had put it on a cassette tape. Then he sat and smoked a cigar, I think, while he played me that tape. (Marty’s now laughing heartily.) “I was 13 years old and he played the tape and said, ‘Now look, this is a big business. Why don’t you go back home, finish shcool, and come back and see me in a few years?’ I said, ‘No, sir!’ When he saw he wasn’t going to persuade me to go back to Mississippi, he brought Lester in and he paid my initiatiion fee, and it was understood that Lester would take $5 a week out of my paycheck to pay that back. “Mr. Cooper asked, ‘How much did you have in mind to pay this boy?’ It was considerably less than what the others in the band made. ‘Now Lester, if he’s going to be doing everything else that the others in the band will be doing, you might want to bring that number up a little bit.’ So Mr. Cooper hit up Lester on my behalf to get me a better paycheck than I was originally to get!” Archie Campbell related how a traveling salesman stopped at a country store and saw a man playing checkers with a dog, and said, “That’s the smartest dog I ever saw. The man said, ‘Oh, he ain’t so smart. I beat him three out of five times.’” Indeed, they lit up the stage, delivering laughs to lighten the load for a musical troupe, ensuring audiences would come back again for such well-rounded entertainment. Randy Franks, who in addition to acting and fiddling, is a syndicated newspaper columnist: “Mr. Jones is recognized as one of the true authorities on the humor and traditions of our region. For 23 years he was director of the Appalachian Center at Berea College. It is such an honor to be recognized and included with so many of my comedic heroes such as Wendy Bagwell, Jerry Clower, Minnie Pearl and ‘Doc’ Tommy Scott and friends and contemporaries such as Jeff Foxworthy and Ron Thomason and so many more.” Jones takes Southern humor back to its last century origins in vaudeville and radio barndances, then brings it right up to television’s Hee Haw and onto today’s blue collar comedy scene. The result is both informative and highly enlightening.
January-March 2009 The Nashville Musician 25 Dean of Nashville guitarists to focus on AFM position Shortly after he succeeded guitarist Harold Bradley for Local 257’s presidential post, Dave Pomeroy summoned your editor to discuss the post-election edition. He suggested an article on Harold Bradley, citing his respect for his illustrious career and many years of service to Local 257 and the AFM. Dave recalled a time that he and Harold had worked together with Harold’s brother Owen Bradley, producing Brenda Lee at Bradley’s Barn in Mt. Juliet. The band included Buddy Harman, Floyd Cramer and Hal Rugg. “Cutting it all at once with that amazing band, Brenda’s vocal, 12 live strings and six singers, it was a sound and a feeling, I’ll never forget,” said Dave, who’s played on record with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Elton John. Harold and his wife Eleanor. Bradley’s amazing recording span began in 1946 with his first session, accompanying Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys to Chicago in mid-winter. This occurred three years after having hit the road the first time as a teen-ager on summer break from Isaac Litton High School, touring with Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours. Born Jan. 2, 1926 in Nashville, Harold Ray Bradley first learned to play banjo (which came in handy in the 1950s playing Dixieland), and joined Local 257 at 16. After a U.S. Navy stint, Harold attended Peabody College on the Vanderbilt University campus, under the GI Bill. One of Harold’s more memorable early sessions was for King Records (1947), backing R&B favorite Ivory Joe Hunter: “In that recording session held at Castle Studios (in the old Tulane Hotel), I was the only white musician. Fact is, I’ve got that recording at home. Of course, they misidentified me on the record. They said it was Owen Bradley on guitar. I took it to Owen and said, ‘This is why you’re rich and famous, and I’m not. They keep getting us mixed up . . .’ And they did that on my first solo album (‘Misty Guitar’), identifying Owen as my guitar player, but as long as he and I knew who we were, it was OK.” Incidentally, mention of Castle reminds us that Harold, along with pianist Owen, drummer Farris Coursey, bassist George Cooper (then Local 257 president) and singer Snooky Lanson cut the first session in that historic studio - a commercial for Shyer’s Jewelers. Harold Bradley In 1952, Owen and Harold opened their Bradley Film & Recording studio downtown, and after a couple moves, bought an old house on 16th Avenue, which with the addition of a quonset hut, they converted into a major recording facility (now owned by Mike Curb). Literally, it was the start of Music Row. Thanks to such A&R pioneers as Steve Sholes, Ken Nelson, Don Law, Chet Atkins and Owen, Harold became a first-call studio guitarist. As one of the heralded A Team of session players, he sat in with fellow pros Grady Martin, Hank Garland, Bob Moore, Floyd Cramer, Ray Edenton, Buddy Harman, Pig Robbins, Tommy Jackson and Charlie McCoy, all of whom played a part in developing the fabled Nashville Sound, which kept Music City humming along during the rock insurgence. “We didn’t realize we were making history,” said Harold, who did numerous sessions a day, sometimes sleeping on a cot in the studio. “We thought we would wake up one morning and this recording industry would be gone . . .” Harold participated in the recording of hits ranging from Ray Anthony’s 1952 fad “The Bunny Hop” to John Anderson’s “Swingin’,” 1983 million-seller. Artists he’s played for include Hank Williams, Red Foley, Brenda Lee, Buddy Holly, Kitty Wells, Perry Como, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Henry Mancini, Burl Ives, Roger Miller and Joan Baez. He’s also the picker who fostered the ’60s Tic-Tac style of playing guitar, reminiscent of Zeke Turner’s and Sammy Pruett’s earlier playing (on the bass strings). That was true later of Luther Perkins with Johnny Cash. Guitar Player magazine’s Jon Sievert called Bradley the world’s most recorded guitarist. He was especially proud to play on the Owen Bradley Quintet crossover Coral hit, “Blues Stay Away From Me,” recorded in 1949 (and according to Billboard, #7 country, #11 pop). Aside from his own solo albums, Bradley also produced veterans acts Slim Whitman and Eddy Arnold, and newcomer Mandy Barnett. His guitar stylings can be heard on some 40 movie soundtracks, including a trio of Presley pictures: “Kissin’ Cousins,” “Clambake” and “Stay Away, Joe.” In union matters, George Cooper, Jr. was his mentor, having served 36 years, the longest of any Local 257 president. Of course, Bradley’s the second-longest serving leader with 18 years as president, and is equally proud of the constituency and how the union’s progressed. “If you think about what happened to Muscle Shoals (Ala.) and Memphis,” said Harold. “Their best players moved to Nashville because they were being paid on a weekly salary and found out they could make as much in a three-hour union session here as they were making in a week. We got all the great players from those towns, whose recording has practically died as a result.” Harold was the first president of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Nashville chapter, and also has served on the Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission’s advisory council. In 1990, he was elected president of Local 257, and has served as Trustee to the Board of Directors for AFM’s Employers’ Pension Fund, was president of the AFM Southern Conference, and in 1999, became the AFM’s International Vice President, a position he still fills. In 2006, Harold Bradley was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, where Owen was enshrined in 1974, making them the only behind-the-scenes’ brothers inducted to-date. Harold became a charter member in the International Musicians’ Hall of Fame in 2007, along with fellow A Teamers. On Aug. 26, 2008, the Bradley family - Owen, Harold, Patsy, Jerry and Connie - were collectively acknowledged as Music Row’s First Family with Leadership Music’s Dale Franklin Award. (Patsy, long affiliated with BMI, and her brother Jerry, former RCA head, are the children of Owen. Connie Bradley, who heads up ASCAP-Nashville, is Jerry’s wife.) To what does Harold attribute his success? “Versatility. I think that was a big consideration . . . I played Dixieland on banjo; I play country; I’ve worked with (18) Rock & Roll Hall of Famers . . . I’ve gone all the way from Bill Monroe to Henry Mancini - and that’s a pretty good stretch, a wide variety of music. I would advise anyone coming up to play all different kinds of music, if they can.” Harold Bradley says ‘Thank you . . .’ to fellow members and staff Dear Members: As I leave this office as President of the Nashville Association of Musicians, Local 257, I will take many wonderful memories with me. I will always fondly remember the musicians, who supported me during the many trials and tribulations that occurred these past 18 years. During my Presidency, I was privileged to watch the scale wages of the recording musicians grow from $6 million to $15 million a year. I’m proud of my role for negotiating with the gospel recording companies, resulting in their signing the recording agreement (SRLA). I also was involved in Symphony negotiations that raised the average wages from $19,000 a year to $52,000 a year. As a 67-year member, I was proud to see the Local go from a one-room office to owning outright its own building. I look forward to our new officers maintaining Nashville’s position as a major recording and entertainment center. I encourage all members to support their officers. After the 9-11 financial crisis of Local 257, I determined that I would stay until the Local was financially stable. I am proud to state that as of Dec. 31, 2008, the day I left office, Secretary-Treasurer Billy Linneman informed me that all of Local 257’s bills were fully paid. Speaking of former Secretary-Treasurer Linneman, I would like to say that Local 257 and myself were truly blessed to have Billy Linneman as our Secretary-Treasurer for the past five-and-a-half years. Billy is not only musically and mathematically talented, he is a very honest, sincere and hard-working man. Thanks Billy!! I leave behind a dedicated staff of office employees who are the best of the best. They all know their jobs and are hard workers. Thanks staff! I love Local 257 and will still be representing its members as the International Vice President and as a Pension Trustee. Just stay in touch with me. You can visit my website BradleyHarold@ATT.net Fraternally yours, Harold Bradley Norm Ray Norm Ray waxes nostalgic Saxophonist Norm Ray has played on records for the likes of Elvis Presley (“I’m 1,000 Years Old”), Paul McCartney (“Wide Prairie”), Willie Nelson (“Me & Paul” ), J. J. Cale (“Anyway the Wind Blows, The Anthology),” and Ray Stevens (“Everything Is Beautiful/Unreal!”), but numbers among his fondest memories a breakfast show he did at WSM. A Local 257 Lifetime Member, Ray remembers vividly playing on WSM’s Waking Crew program. Called the Crew’s “resident hippy,” Ray’s strong point was improvisations, including his character creation “Death Valley Norm.” Others who became regulars on the one-hour and 15-minute morning program over time, included hosts Dave Overton, singer Teddy Bart, Rhyming Weatherman Bill Williams, fellow newsman Mike Donegan (Donegan’s Doodlins’), bandleader Bill McElhiney, guitarist Jack Shook, trombonist Clarence (Dutch) Gorton, bassist George Cooper, Jr. (also Local 257 president), singers Dottie Dillard, Delores Watson, clarinetist Harry B. Johnson (The Old Angler), singers Marty Browne, Carolyn Darden, Kay Golden, Tom Grant, saxophonist Jack Gregory, bassist Rex North, trombonistphotographer Beverly LeCroy, guitarist John Pell, drummer Terry Waddell, singer Darlene Austin, Professor Maxwell Lancaster (Dr. Philologue), Lou Muex (Prize Lady), pianistbandleader Joe Layne, trumpeter Ron Keller, sportscaster Larry Munson, sports director George Plaster, Ralph Emery succeeding Bart as M.C., and engineers Terry Farris and Chuck Sanford, among others. The popular program grew out of a Jack Stapp a.m. show titled Eight O’Clock Time, featuring music master Beasley Smith (known for hits “That Lucky Old Sun” and “Night Train To Memphis”). Launched in 1951, the spontaneous and wacky Waking Crew continued for more than 30 years, first broadcast from WSM Studio B, boasting a live audience. Other home bases: The Hermitage Hotel’s Grill Room, and the WSM TV studios (Knob Hill) in suburban Nashville (sans audience). Dutch Gorton, Local 257’s Secretary-Treasurer during his Waking Crew tenure, reportedly offered sage advice to promising musicians who hoped to succeed in Music City. When he picked up his instrument to join LeCroy, their “Twin Tombones” bit made them the Waking Crew’s best known act. According to an anniversary feature in the Columbia, Tenn., Daily Herald newspaper (dated March 21, 1982), saluting their high ratings: “While everyone makes his own contribution, some members of ‘The Crew’ are louder and zanier than others, and perhaps the title of Waking Crew Jester properly belongs to Norm Ray. Always quick with a quip, Ray is well known for his characterizations: The Vanderbilt Fan, The Belle Meade Belle, Death Valley Norm and The Senator. A master of accents, Ray can improvise a comic monologue from almost any situation.” Apparently both Ray and Joe Layne kept host Ralph Emery on edge due to their tendency to deliver off-color commentary. But Norm noted, “For just plain crude, Joe is the winner hands-down. My crude has a bit of finesse!” Aah, sweet nostalgia. -WT
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