Folsom Prison Blues is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk genres, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash would continue to use for the rest of his career. It became one of Cash’s signature songs. It was the eleventh track on his debut album With His Hot and Blue Guitar but was also included (same version) on All Aboard the Blue Train. Folsom Prison Blues was in the country Top Five in 1956, though Cash had written it while in the Air Force somewhere before 1954.
The primary purpose in [performing] is to receive that pure inspiration that I derived from it when I was a kid the first time I saw one of those guitar slingers on television cock his leg and throw that guitar down and start doing a song and became completely infatuated with that and the moment that I was able to transport myself to another place, another plane of existence, by doing it alone in a room, you know, and realizing the enormous satisfaction from doing that … I don’t ever want to risk losing that as the primary catalyst for what I do musically.
~Dwight Yoakam
From Wikipedia:
Birth name
Dwight David Yoakam
Born
October 23, 1956 (age 60)
Pikeville, Kentucky,United States
“Each person comes to have this musical experience, this moment with us, where they get to sink into our world for a little while. It’s this very unhurried world. It’s fairly quiet, it’s contemplative, but it can be quite panoramic. I think people think interesting thoughts at our shows, and they go rather deeply into some personal experience of their own. I’m really proud that our music seems to connect, because it’s not for everybody. But for the people that our music works for, it really gets down pretty deep in there.”
~Gillian Welch on her live shows (via Acoustic Guitar)
Gillian Welch (born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as “at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms”.
Townes Van Zandt have been chosen, along with Bob Morrison, Beth Nielsen and Aaron Barker, to be included in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame 9th of October this year.
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1970 and have 199 inductees today.
We think Van Zandt’s inclusion is long overdue and here are 11 reasons why. There are many more, but these gems really shine.
Marie she didn’t wake up this morning She didn’t even try She just rolled over and went to Heaven My little boy safe inside
I laid them in the sun where somebody’d find them Caught a Chesapeak on the fly Marie will know I’m headed south So’s to meet me by and by
Marie will know I’m headed south So to meet me by and by
– Townes Van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt is one of the greatest songwriters in music-history. To narrow down my choice to just 11 songs is a pain. His 9 studio albums, and some compilations released after his death in 97 are so full of great songs that my task has been nearly impossible. I could pick 11 other songs in his songbook that are just as good, but today this is my list.
Marie:
Kurt Wolff (allmusic): Townes Van Zandt’s music doesn’t jump up and down, wear fancy clothes, or beat around the bush. Whether he was singing a quiet, introspective country-folk song or a driving, hungry blues, Van Zandt’s lyrics and melodies were filled with the kind of haunting truth and beauty that you knew instinctively. His music came straight from his soul by way of a kind heart, an honest mind, and a keen ear for the gentle blend of words and melody. He could bring you down to a place so sad that you felt like you were scraping bottom, but just as quickly he could lift your spirits and make you smile at the sparkle of a summer morning or a loved one’s eyes — or raise a chuckle with a quick and funny talking blues. The magic of his songs is that they never leave you alone.
Tony Joe White (born July 23, 1943, Oak Grove, Louisiana, United States) is best known for his 1969 hit “Polk Salad Annie”; “Rainy Night in Georgia”, which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970; and “Steamy Windows”, a hit for Tina Turner in 1989. “Polk Salad Annie” was also recorded by Elvis Presley and Tom Jones.
“Elvis’ producer Felton Jervis was a good friend of mine during the early days in Nashville. All of a sudden I released ‘Polk’ and it was a big hit single and then Felton called and invited my wife & me out to Las Vegas to see Elvis perform. He flew us out just to let us see Elvis do it live on stage! He did a good version of it, which of course he recorded for the live album. We hung out with Elvis for 2 or 3 days and just sat back in the dressing room and talked. We played a little guitar together – he really liked music. Elvis said, “Man, I feel like I wrote that song”. I said “You know, the way you do it on stage, it feels like you wrote it”. Elvis always treated me real good.”
– Tony Joe White
Here is another gem from the The Johnny Cash Show, Polk Salad Annie (w/ Johnny Cash):
June 28: Gillian Welch released The Harrow & The Harvest in 2011
The Harrow & the Harvest is stunning for its intimacy, its lack of studio artifice, its warmth and its timeless, if hard won, songcraft.
~Thom Jurek (allmusic.com)
The Harrow & The Harvest is simply one of the richest, most expansive roots albums to be released in some time.
~Douglas Heselgrave (pastemagazine.com)
