"The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" - Tom T. Hall (Live)

This is one off my favorite songs by one of America’s finest storytellers. That he happens to tell the stories to music is just an added plus; but the stories would stand on their own, even without the melodies. They’re simply that good.

Bob Dylan is great; abstract poetry and activism. It’s great stuff. John Prine writes about the ironies of life. And I love John Prine. But Tom T. Hall writes about the people he has met and what has happened to him in life; and guess what?  His stories reflect more accurately the everyday struggles and emotions of the average person.

Of course there are just some stories made up for plain fun. Listen to “A Week In a County Jail” sometime to hear what I mean. You can listen here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUPqASrmeYs

"Political Science" by Randy Newman (1972)

This song was satirical when it was first released; but with the advent of ISIS and all the rest of the crap going on in the world today it sometimes seems like a solution. Just kidding, of course. But the news can often be so frustrating. And a bit of musical "venting" seems to help.

"Spanish Harlem" - Demo (1960)

This recording of “Spanish Harlem” has just become my favorite version among the scores that have been recorded. And that includes the iconic version by Ben E. King. Why? Because it’s so bare and simple. With no marimbas or percussion, Jerry Leiber’s vocals (that’s him singing) really leap out and the beauty of the words is so much more apparent.

And the guitar playing, by Phil Spector, is a very pleasant surprise. He’s nuanced in his approach, in much the same way as Mr. Leiber is with his vocals. Mike Stoller apparently produced the session. Phil Spector and Jerry Leiber are the accredited songwriters.

Here are the lyrics- seeing them written down reinforces their beauty. And below that is a link to the Ben E. King version in its finished form. You be the judge.

There is a rose in Spanish Harlem

A red rose up in Spanish Harlem

It is a special one, it's never seen the sun

It only comes out when the moon is on the run

And all the stars are gleaming

It's growing in the street right up through the concrete

But soft and sweet and dreamin'

There is a rose in Spanish Harlem

A red rose up in Spanish Harlem

With eyes as black as coal that looks down in my soul

And starts a fire there and then I lose control

I have to beg your pardon

I'm goin' to pick that rose and watch her

As she grows in my garden

I'm goin' to pick that rose and watch her

As she grows in my garden

(There is a rose in Spanish Harlem)

La la la, la la la, la la la la

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOoutJtMCi8

Hank Williams on the Lost Highway - 60 Years On

It was 61 years ago this evening when Hank Williams started out for his last concert. He never made it. This is one of my favorite past New Year’s Eve posts. I've been having fun going back through some of my old holiday posts, but I promise to get back to work on January 2^nd; doing pretty much the same thing as always. And; if you ever figure out just what that is; please let me know; I've been wondering.

Meantime here's my version of the death of Hank Williams on new Years morning 1953. I would not enter the world for another 20 months, yet his music has touched generations; so this one's for Hank...

Did you ever hear about the death of Hank Williams, Sr., on a back highway early on the morning of January 1, 1953? I would not be born for another 20 months, yet this legendary singer/songwriter has left a lasting impression upon the world in which we live.

I don't ever recall a time of my life in which Hank Williams, Sr. has not been somewhere in the background; whether in movie, song, or his considerable influence on the music we call rock and roll. It all goes back to Hank. John Lennon used to carry the complete works with him on cassette. Bob Hope, after trying to follow him on stage during a "package tour" in the late 1940's said that he would never follow him on stage again. His songs were all about the pain of living, and the humor, locked away within that pain.

His recording career ran only 5 years, from 1948 until his death on the first day of January 1953, yet he left a catalog of about 267 songs, many of which are still sung today.

Born September 17th, 1923, in Mt. Olive, Alabama, he would be a superstar by age 25 and dead by age 29. And in between he lived a life of physical and emotional pain. Long considered to be the Father of Country Music, he got his first guitar at age 8.

Named Hiram King Williams at birth, Hank learned to play his guitar under the direction of a local black man whom everyone called Tee Tot. Tee Tot was a street singer of the blues variety and young Hank was fascinated by the sounds he heard the old man coax from his guitar. But even more than the sound of the strings, what caught Hank's ear was the painful lyrics sung in an almost joyful manner. It was like Church; you took your pain and turned it into music. Your despair became your salvation.

Early in his teens, Hank began performing around the Greenville area of Alabama. Shortly after that, the family would move to Montgomery. In 1937 his mother opened a boarding house there, and by 1941 Hank had formed his first band, The Drifting Cowboys. They even got air time on the local radio station, WFSA. Known as "The Singing Kid", he did mostly cover versions of Roy Acuff songs and other popular numbers of the day. He would remain with WFSA for the next 9 years, even after becoming a star.

In 1943 he met his first wife, Audrey, while playing a "medicine show" near Banks, Alabama. Within a year they were married and living in his mother's boarding house. She became his manager as his status and reputation grew. But he couldn't seem to break out of Alabama and onto the national scene. This was about to change.

Traveling to Nashville, he was determined to meet Fred Rose, Roy Acuff's publishing partner. Rose was immediately taken with both Hank's guitar and voice. He arranged for Hank to record two songs for Sterling Records, "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" in February 1947. On the strength of those two recordings he was signed to MGM Records and Fred Rose became his manager, as well as his producer.

"Move It On Over" was the first big hit for Hank with MGM in 1947. By 1948 he was a member of the "Louisiana Hayride", both on radio and on the road. His career was soaring. When he did a cover version of "Lovesick Blues" in 1949, he hit Number One and stayed there for 16 weeks, crossing every demographic line imaginable. When he performed the song live at The Grand Ol' Opry, he did 6 encores. I don't believe that record has ever been topped.

But, with all of the fame and success came trouble. Hank's drinking problem, which had been lurking just beneath the surface, began to rear its head again. The long separations from home while on tour; the fights when he was home; all began to take a toll on his marriage to Audrey. But the final "nail in the coffin" happened in late 1951 on Hank's farm in Tennessee, where he was hunting. He fell, re-igniting an old back injury. There was another tour coming up and so he did what so many performers have done before and since. He turned to painkillers, and finally morphine, to deal with the pain. He became almost instantly addicted to the morphine. He was also drinking heavily again.

In early 1952, Hank and Audrey separated for the last time. Yet, 1952 would be one of his most prolific and successful periods. "Honky Tonk Blues", "Half as Much", "Jambalaya", and even my favorite "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" were written and recorded in this final year of his life. They all went to the Top Ten. But he continued drinking and doing morphine. Most of his time awake was spent drinking, drugging and playing with guns. 

By August of 1952 he was fired from the Grand Ol' Opry, mainly due to his drunkenness. He was told that he could return once he was sober. The shame of it all was that no one knew how little time was left.

This infuriated Hank to the point of his becoming even more reckless, finally even losing his band, as well as his friends. Still working "The Louisiana Hayride" provided him with money to live on. His royalties were being handled by an attorney as part of the divorce from Audrey. He began using local pick up bands, which further reduced the fees he could have been earning.

It was in the fall of 1952, just 90 days before his death, that he married 19 year old Billie Jean Eshlimar, a policeman's daughter. At this same time, he was expecting a child with a woman named Bobbie Jett, and signed an agreement to support the baby once it was born. By December of 1952 he was also having heart trouble, mostly due to the morphine, booze, cigarettes and life on the road. His doctor was a man named Toby Marshall.

On December 31st, 1952 Hank was scheduled to fly to Canton, Ohio to perform on New Year’s Day. The weather was bad and the flight was cancelled, leaving no other option than to travel by car. Hiring a chauffeur, he headed for Ohio in his new Cadillac. Just before leaving "Dr." Marshall gave him 2 injections for the ride. One was Vitamin B-12; the other was a large dose of morphine. Hank got in the back seat, toting a bottle of whiskey, and the chauffeur started out for Ohio.

Early on the morning of January 1st, 1953 the chauffeur was pulled over for speeding. The policeman noticed that the passenger looked more dead than alive and escorted the Cadillac to a West Virginia Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7 AM New Year's morning. His last record was "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive."

His recordings continued to sell after his death, and all of the new songs that had been awaiting release charted in the Top Ten throughout 1953.

For me, Hank Williams has always been there in the background, a place where I can store my pain, face it, or laugh at it. His music is the same as the blues, only the tempo is different.

Tonight is New Year's Eve. I'll go out to dinner, watch an old movie, and stay up a bit later than usual. But sometime, after everyone else has gone off to sleep, I will probably still be awake, imagining that I am out there, somewhere on the Lost Highway. And if I tilt my head just right, and listen really hard, somewhere around dawn, I just might hear that “Lonesome Whistle Blow”.

"I Still Miss Someone" - The Story of a Song.

A lot of people associate this song with Carl Perkins and he is often perceived to be the songwriter on it. But actually, it was written by his close buddy, and one of the “Million Dollar Quartet”, Johnny Cash. The "Million Dollar Quartet" was composed of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. In 1956 these 4 guys changed the course of music; leading to the fusion of Country/Gospel and Rhythm and Blues which became known as Rock and Roll.

Working out of Sun Studios in Memphis, they pumped out a steady stream of musical hits which earned them their nickname. This song, “I Still Miss Someone” is mostly thought to be a Carl Perkins composition; probably because he got the biggest hit with it. But the song is actually written by Johnny Cash and his brother Roy Cash, Jr. and was released as the flip side of “Don’t Take Your Gun to Town” in 1958.

It didn't really move until it was included on “Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash” in 1963. After that, the song became so popular that it is included on just about all of Johnny Cash’s live albums throughout the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.

The song has been recorded by Flatt and Scruggs, Martina McBride with Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Stevie Nicks and Ben King; all of whom placed the song in the top 100. It’s that kind of song. It appeals to almost everyone because we all have someone special whom we still miss, even after a long period of time. There are people in all of our lives we may never see, or hear from, again. But that doesn't mean you don’t carry them in your heart just the same.

There isn't a live version on You Tube, so I used Loretta Lynn’s TV version instead. But below is the link to the actual recording by Carl Perkins. He really manages to make the song his own, and it’s no wonder he is often associated with having written it. My friend Glen Slater e-mailed this song to me recently, reminding me that while Carl may still be missing someone, I still miss Carl Perkins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g157QavEwY

Townes Van Zandt

It’s hard to know where to start with Townes Van Zandt. His haunting ballads have been recorded by so many artists. I suppose “Pancho and Lefty” is the most well-known of his works, but this early recording of Mr. Van Zandt performing “Waiting Round to Die” in the movie “Heartworn Highways” is probably my favorite. It reeks of desperation and sorrow.

Performers such as Mr. Van Zandt are seldom fully appreciated until after their death. That is the case with Mr. Van Zandt. He wrote some of the best songs; ones which other artists made into hits; but somehow never had a hit record himself. Sometimes it just works out like that. 

He moved to New York in the 1990’s, where his music influenced artists such as Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant, Gillian Welch, Norah Jones, Steve Earle and even Keith Richards. He passed away there on January 1, 1997 due to complications from years of substance abuse. In some ways, you might say, he was just waiting round to die.

“Waiting Round to Die”

Sometimes I don't know where

This dirty road is taking me

 Sometimes I can't even see the reason why

 I guess I keep a-gamblin'

 Lots of booze and lots of ramblin'

 It's easier than just waitin' around to die

One time, friends, I had a ma

I even had a pa

He beat her with a belt once 'cause she cried

She told him to take care of me

Headed down to Tennessee

It's easier than just waitin' around to die

I came of age and I found a girl

In a Tuscaloosa bar

She cleaned me out and hit in on the sly

I tried to kill the pain, bought some wine

And hopped a train

Seemed easier than just waitin' around to die

A friend said he knew

Where some easy money was

We robbed a man, and brother did we fly

The posse caught up with me

And drug me back to Muskogee

It's two long years I've been waitin' around to die

Now I'm out of prison

I got me a friend at last

He don't drink or steal or cheat or lie

His name's Codeine

He's the nicest thing I've seen

Together we're gonna wait around and die

Together we're gonna wait around and die

George David Weiss - American Songwriter

One of my favorite songwriters passed away this past Monday. It finally made the local papers today. George David Weiss, the man who chronicled several decades with hit songs such as "Can't Help Falling In Love", "Wheel of Fortune", "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and "What A Wonderful World" was 89 years young. I say young because a person with that much music in his heart is never really old. Our bones may creak a bit, and it might hurt to move around some, but if you can still appreciate, or maybe even just hum, one of your favorite songs, you're never truly old. Music is what keeps us immortal. It's the rhythm of our lives.

Mr. Weiss co- wrote many of the hit songs that comprise the soundtrack of the late 1940's "big band" era, most notably with Frank Sinatra's version of "Oh! What It Seemed to Be", and on through the 1950's, when he helped to write such classics as Ella Fitzgerald's "Lullaby of Birdland", Patti Page's "Confess", and my all time favorite "Wheel of Fortune" performed by Kay Starr. That these songs continue to appear in movies, such as "L.A. Confidential", underscores the impact that they had on the era in which they were written. Here's a short version of Kay Starr, live, doing "Wheel of Fotune" on The Wayne Newton Show;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Es-UJepFQ

He remained productive as a songwriter through the 1960's with such classics as "Can't Help Falling In Love" in 1961 for the Elvis Presley film "Blue Hawaii." He shared credit on this song with partners Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, both of whom he had met while scoring films, and on Broadway shows, including "Mr. Wonderful", which ran for 383 performances from 1956 to 1957. Co-written with Jerry Bock and Larry Holofcener, it was a musical comedy written for Sammy Davis Jr and which co-starred Chita Rivera. He also co-wrote "First Impressions" in 1959, based on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", and "Maggie Flynn" in 1968, once again co-written with Luigi Creatore and Hugo Peretti.

When Mr. Weiss and his colleagues penned "Can't Help Falling In Love", the producers of "Blue Hawaii" were looking for another "Hound Dog" type of song, but they got a wonderful ballad instead. And Elvis considered it one of his all time favorite songs. He sung it at all of his concerts, right up until he passed away in 1977. Listen to it here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFSfdL5lPoY

And no writing about Mr. Weiss would be complete without recounting the story behind "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." This song was based on the 1939 South African-Zulu song/chant "Mbube", which was written by Solomon Linda, and is the Zulu word for "the lion." In 1952 it was re-recorded by The Weavers and entitled "Wimoweh", with it's signature falsetto backup vocals. By adding the original chant to the harmonies suggested by the Weaver's recording, Mr. Weiss created the song we know today. In the late 1990's there was a legal dispute over who really owned the rights to the song, which was finally settled to the satisfaction of all parties, including Solomon Linda's. Listen to the Tokens version here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCM2nJfLD-0

With the hit by Louis Armstrong in 1967 of "What A Wonderful World", co-written with the late Bob Thiele, he had crossed all lines of creativity, encompassing the sounds of jazz, pop, soul and rhythm and blues in this remarkable crossover hit. And along the way he wrote, and produced some remarkable plays. Not too bad for a Jewish kid from New York. His music, and spirit will be missed.

A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak

I have been an admirer of Shel Silverstein ever since I was about 8 years old and looking through my Dad's Playboy magazines. There were some great cartoons drawn very simply with screamingly funny lines written beneath the one panel drawings.

Shel Silverstein was a Korean War Veteran who came from Chicago and a Jewish family. Funny how in all those years I never thought of him as Jewish. He was larger than any label. He defied being defined.

When he got bored with the Playboy Mansion scene Hugh Hefner sent him on a round the world tour. His only task was to report back once a month with either an article, photo or cartoon. All expenses paid. What a job!

By 1964 he was writing childrens books-"The Giving Tree" was one of the first. After that he went on to songwriting- collabarating with the likes of Johnny Cash- "A Boy Named Sue", "One Piece at a Time" etc. He was even the "behind the scenes" collaborator with Bob Dylan on the 1975 release "Blood On The Tracks", long considered to be Dylans "comeback" album.

This is the guy who met Bobby Bare one afternoon and they discussed writing some songs for Bobby Bares next album. The very next day Shel called Bobby and told him the album was done. He had written almost all the songs for "Lullabys, Legends and Lies" overnight!

Ever hear of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show? "Sylvias Mother" and all the other hits were written by Shel Siverstein. What would be next?

Childrens poetry of course! "Where the Sidewalk Ends", "A Light In The Attic","The Story of the Missing Piece", "The Missing Piece Meets the Big O"..... I have them all.


A very complex man, often misunderstood, Shel lived on a houseboat and had several houses from Cape Cod to San Francisco. He lived life by his own rules. Never married and often thought to be gay, he was the father of one daughter, whom he supported for the rest of his life.

If you are a fan of Shel Silverstein, or even if you have never heard of him, you will like the man you meet in this book. A very carefully crafted biography of a very unusual fellow.