Today in 2002, Big Kenny (of Big & Rich) already $140,000 in debt, lost most of his last $200 while playing black jack in a Las Vegas casino. He gave the dealer a $20 tip, which left himself with just one buck. This event inspired him to write a future Tim McGraw hit, “Last Dollar (Fly Away).”
Eli Young Band’s Mike Eli isn’t one for making New Year’s resolutions, noting he’s “not a big fan” of them.
“I feel as if, like they all happen all at once and all these changes come in and everything needs to be all this new, new, new come January,” he says. “And I feel like, it’s just like setting up for failure and so I have a really hard time with that.”
Not that Mike doesn’t like to make changes each year, either it’s “changing the set lists, or moving around the shows, or coming up with new ideas,” although he says he tries to make sure that happens before the first of the year.
Today in 2001, Neal McCoy joined Wayne Newton and comedian Drew Carey to entertain American troops at the Kandahar Airport in Afghanistan as a part of the USO’s Deliver America Tour.
Eric Church has written the forward of the novel “The DeVine Devils,” which was written by his good friend, Jeremy Spillman, who’s a songwriter who co-wrote the title track to 2006 debut album “Sinners Like Me.”
“Writing songs with someone is a creatively intimate process. You get to know someone at an inspirationally cellular level — what their fears are, their hopes, shortcomings, failures, triumphs, and dreams. The most important thing you get a glimpse at, though, is a person’s imaginative soul,” Eric writes. “I’ve written amazing songs with Jeremy Spillman — some you’ve heard, some you haven’t — but all were equally unique and special in their own way,” adding, “That’s just the kind of writer Jeremy is.”
Eric admits that he’s what you’d call a “book snob,” but says of the book, “I very simply loved it,” adding, “I’m thankful Jeremy wrote it, and I’m thankful he shared it with me and with the world. We are all better off for it.”
Source: CMT
Today in 1977, Dolly Parton earned the first gold album of her career with, “Here You Come Again.”
Here You Come Again is the nineteenth solo studio album by Dolly Parton. It was released on October 3, 1977, by RCA Victor. It was Parton’s first album to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipping a million copies.
The album peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country LPs chart and No. 20 on the US Billboard 200 chart. In Canada, the album peaked at No. 12 on the RPM Canadian Albums chart.
The album’s first single, “Here You Come Again”, was released in October 1977 and peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the US Billboard Easy Listening chart. In Canada, the single peaked at No. 1 on the RPM Canadian Country Singles chart, No. 7 on the RPM Canadian Singles chart and No. 1 on the RPM Canadian Easy Listening chart. In Australia, the single peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Top 100 Singles chart. The single also peaked a No. 75 on the OCC UK Singles Chart.
In February 1978, “Two Doors Down” and “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” were issued as a double A-side single, aimed at the pop and country charts respectively. The version of “Two Doors Down” issued on the single was recorded by Parton in January 1978 and features a more pop sound than the album version. It would replace the original album version on all subsequent pressings of the album. “Two Doors Down” peaked at No. 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 12 on the US Billboard Easy Listening chart. In Canada, the single peaked at No. 26 on the RPM Canadian Singles chart and No. 7 on the RPM Canadian Easy Listening chart. “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” peaked at No. 1 on both the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and the RPM Canadian Country Singles chart.
In April 1980, “Me and Little Andy” was released as a single in the UK and it did not chart.
Source: Wikipedia
Today in 1970, Lynn Anderson’s single, “Rose Garden,” began a dozen week sweep as the #1 song on the country charts. It also made it to #3 on the Top 40 charts. It was written by Joe Smith, who had been inspired by the book, “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden,” by Joanne Greenberg. The song became a movie in 1977.
Willie Nelson, has teamed with sons Micah and Lukas, plus Jakob Dylan, Dhani Harrison and Amos Lee for a new cover of a Tom Petty song, with proceeds going to a good cause.
The all-star lineup has recorded their take on “For Real,” a Petty song that was originally recorded in 2000, but wasn’t released until after the singer’s death. appearing on the retrospective, “The Best of Everything.”
Proceeds from the song will benefit Midnight Mission, a Los Angeles homeless shelter and homeless services provider Petty supported.
“When I first was sent this song asking if I wanted to record it, I was quite frankly dumbfounded,” Lukas shared. “It was the whole manifesto of our band [Promise of the Real] in a song. It just shows how connected artists who have integrity are with others who share the same passion and fire for being honest with their soul. Fearless and real.” Check out the song to the right.
Source: Rolling Stone
“USA Today” has come out with their picks for the Best Albums of 2019, based on ballots by the paper’s contributors, as well as contributors from papers from such cities as Nashville and Memphis; Asbury Park, New Jersey; and Palm Springs, California.
Several country artists made the list with The Highwomen’s self-titled debut ranking highest at eight, followed by Sturgill Simpson’s “Sound & Fury” at ten.
Other country artists recognized include: Tanya Tucker’s “While I’m Livin’” (14); Maren Morris’ “GIRL” (16), Luke Combs’ “What You See Is What You Get” (24) and Miranda Lambert’s “Wildcard” (35).
Source: USA Today
Today in 1964, Glen Campbell made his first concert appearance with The Beach Boys, standing in for an ill Brian Wilson last minute at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.
In 1960, Campbell moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. That October, he joined the Champs. By January 1961, Campbell had found a daytime job at publishing company American Music, writing songs and recording demos. Because of these demos Campbell soon was in demand as a session musician and became part of a group of studio musicians later known as the Wrecking Crew.
Campbell played on recordings by the Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean,[16] Bing Crosby, Phil Spector, Sammy Davis Jr., Doris Day, Bobby Vee, The Everly Brothers, Shelley Fabares, The Cascades, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Wayne Newton, The First Edition, The Kingston Trio, Roger Miller, Gene Clark, Lou Rawls, Claude King, Lorne Greene, Ronnie Dove and Elvis Presley. He befriended Presley when he helped record the soundtrack for Viva Las Vegas in 1964. He later said, “Elvis and I were brought up the same humble way – picking cotton and looking at the north end of a south-bound mule.”
In May 1961, he left the Champs and was subsequently signed by Crest Records, a subsidiary of American Music. His first solo release, “Turn Around, Look at Me”, a moderate success, peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. Campbell also formed the Gee Cees with former bandmembers from the Champs, performing at the Crossbow Inn in Van Nuys. The Gee Cees, too, released a single on Crest, the instrumental “Buzz Saw”, which did not chart.
In 1962, Campbell signed with Capitol Records. After minor initial success with “Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry”, his first single for the label, and “Kentucky Means Paradise”, released by the Green River Boys featuring Glen Campbell, a string of unsuccessful singles and albums followed. By 1963 his playing and singing were heard on 586 recorded songs. He never learned to read music, but besides guitar, he could play the banjo, mandolin and bass.
From 1964 on, Campbell began to appear on television as a regular on Star Route, a syndicated series hosted by Rod Cameron, ABC’s Shindig! and Hollywood Jamboree.
From December 1964 to early March 1965, Campbell was a touring member of the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson, playing bass guitar and singing falsetto harmonies.
Campbell continued as a session musician, playing guitar on the Beach Boys’ 1966 album Pet Sounds, among other recordings. In April of that year, he joined Rick Nelson on a tour through the Far East, again playing bass.
Source: Wikipedia
Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines is finally a free woman. The Blast reports the singer and estranged hubby Adrian Pasdar have finally settled their two-year-long contentious divorce.
The two sides were fighting over money, with Adrian looking for spousal support, claiming Natalie was the breadwinner in the family and Natalie insisting they had a pre-nup in place, which didn’t entitle him to any of her Dixie Chicks money. He was reportedly seeking $60,000 a month in support, along with $360k in retroactive support and $350k for legal bills.
As for the settlement, The Blast reports that legal docs were officially filed on December 19th, but doesn’t list exactly how what agreement they came to, because it is private.
Source: The Blast
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