It seems hard to believe that a full year has passed since Eddie Kilroy had Ray Price on his show. If you remember the last time (2008) it didn’t go too well. Ray got there a little late, but he has the right to do so. Eddie said Ray was starting a new career instead. Ray’s new career, according to Kilroy, was finding his way to Willies Place at Carl’s Corner Texas.

There is so much respect for Ray Price that no one minded. It is such a thrill to talk to the legend, and people waited in line to get through. This year was no exception.

On the show the conversation went something like this:

Kilroy: Who is this?

Tim: Tim in Windsor Missouri.

Kilroy: Well you need to talk to Ray Price.

Tim: Happy birthday Ray, and from one retired Marine to another Marine ‘Semper Fi’ my friend.

Ray: Thanks buddy. I appreciate that.

Tim: I won’t keep you. I know there a lot of folks waiting to talk to you. My wife told me I haven’t said anything intelligent all morning, so my first thought was to call Kilroy and practice on him.

Ray and Eddie: - laughter –

Tim: Then I found out Ray Price was on and I knew I could come up with something.

Kilroy: Thanks

Tim: Happy birthday Ray. Ya’ll take care

Ray and Kilroy: (final comments)

I saw no need to say I haven’t seen Ray in concert since 1964 or 65. It was important to me, but no one else. I’m sure Ray Price would understand. There seemed to be a scheduling conflict regarding Vietnam, 25 years in the Marines, and a few other issues that life sends our way. I have all of Ray’s music, and respect the man.

Many people don’t realize that Ray Price was in the Marine Corps from 1944 through 1946. Those were pretty tough years too. One short conversation between Marines, and Semper Fi said it all. May God bless the man and the legend. Ray Price is one of the singers who started it all, set the example, and still does so today.

Here is a link to the Ray Price fan club.

Now for the legal stuff:

XM-13 and Sirius 64, and Willies Place are trademarks of their respective owners. We are not associated or affiliated with them in any way and hold no stock in the corporations, as may be applicable.

Jimmy Short, his first guitarist in the Troubadours, is credited with the Tubb sound of single-string guitar picking. From about 1943 to 1948, Short featured clean, clear riffs throughout Tubb’s songs. Other well-known musicians to either travel with Tubb as band members or record on his records were steel guitarist Jerry Byrd and Tommy “Butterball” Paige, who replaced Short as Tubb’s lead guitarist in 1947. In 1949, Billy Byrd joined the Troubadours, and brought jazzy riffs to the instrumental interludes, especially the four-note riff at the end of his guitar solos that would become synonymous with Tubb’s songs. Actually a jazz musician, Byrd - no relation to Jerry - remained with Tubb until 1959.

You can still hear Ernest Tubb’s “There’s A Little Bit Of Everything In Texas” on Willies Place. The satellite station is broadcast on XM 13 and Sirius 64. Tubb’s music fits well with the station’s honky tonk theme.

In the 1960’s Ernest Tubb had great musicians in his band and the band was considered one of the best in the history of country music. The band included Leon Rhodes. Buddy Emmons, another pedal steel guitar virtuoso, began with Tubb in about 1958 and lasted through the early 1960s. Emmons went on to create a steel-guitar manufacturing company that bears his name.

When Marty Robbins was recording his 1961 hit “Don’t Worry”, session guitarist Grady Martin accidentally created a fuzz effect during the session. This came about because of a faulty channel in the console where Martin’s guitar was plugged in. The effect was left in the recording and this is rumored to be the birth of the fuzz guitar. The song made position 1 one on the country charts and position 3 on the pop charts.

The reference is Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Robbins

Since some old songs on YouTube are of better quality than others I do not know if you can hear what they are talking about, but I’ve heard it for years and did not know what it was.

Reference: (listen to the effect around the 1.25 mark)

The show will feature some special guests set to honor Texas Country Music pioneer Lister including Hank Williams’ daughter Jett Williams, Lister’s nephew Ron Williams, Frankie Miller and Johnny Moore among others. Lister’s son Weldon, grandson “Little” Bill Lister and daughter in law Toni will also be a part of the evening.

Big Bill Lister was born in Kennedy , Texas in 1923. His vocal career began when he accompanied Jimmie Rodgers on his parents old Victrola. Lister’s dad promised him a guitar when he could sing like Jimmie. Lister never did and had to wait for the guitar until he could trade in a harmonica and two dollars for one.

Lister’s first radio show was featured on KNEL in Brady, Texas, in 1937. He would move to San Antonio and be featured on many radio stations including WOAI, KABC, KMAC and KTSA. Lister gained a big following in the 1940’s in the San Antonio area. He was asked to join the Big D Jamboree in Dallas in the early 1950’s.

In 1951, Lister moved to Nashville and started appearing on the world famous Grand Ole Opry show. He was helped by his long time friend Tex Ritter to obtain a recording contract with Capital Records.

It was at the Grand Ole Opry that Lister would meet one of his best friends. Lister was paired to be Hank Williams’ opening act and rhythm guitarist. Lister traveled all over the country with Williams and was featured on Williams’ Health and Happiness Show over WSM Radio. Williams’ even lent his talented songwriting talents to several songs recorded by Lister including “Countryfied,” “The Little House We Built Just Over The Hill,” and “There’s A Tear In My Beer,” which became a posthumous ‘duet’ hit for Williams with Hank Williams, Jr. after Lister uncovered Williams’ original demo acetate in the late 1980s.

Lister returned to the studio in 1998 to “tell his story” with the album “Big Bill Lister Remembering Hank Williams Through Story and Song.” The album featured Lister relaying stories of his long Country Music Career and performing his own classics along with some Williams’ standards.

Bear Family Records recently honored Lister with a re-release of all of his 1951-53 Capitol recordings, as well as sides he cut prior to his move to Nashville for the San Antonio-based Everstate label in 1949-50. In addition to above-mentioned songs like “There’s A Tear In My Beer,” “Countryfied,” several other classics are included like “RC Cola And Moon Pie,” “What The Heck Is Going On,” “Local Yokel” and “This Time Sweetheart.”

Jett Williams has devoted much of her life to promoting and furthering the legacy of her father, Country Music Hall of Famer Hank Williams. Jett was born just a few days after her father died. She did not even know that the balladeer was her dad until doing family research after she reached adulthood. Her attorney, Keith Adkinson waged a successful battle to prove and uphold her birth rite. During the battle, Keith and Jett fell in love and now work as a team to continue the Williams legacy.

Ron Williams is enjoying success from his latest project “ Texas Style” for Heart of Texas Records. The project has received a lot of attention from XM Satellite radio and especially Willie’s Place. Williams has recently moved to San Antonio and will be featured in the production “ San Antonio Live” on the River Walk.

Frankie Miller was born in Victoria , Texas . He was honored with a Grammy Award for the song “Blackland Farmer”. The song would actually be a hit on two separate occasions. He followed it with others including “Baby Rocked Her Dolly” “Family Man” “Rain Rain” and “Too Hot To Handle.”

Johnny Moore is a native of Anson, Texas . He formed a band and began playing high school auditoriums, churches and virtually any place where people wanted to hear Country Music. He wrote and recorded “Fifteen Acres of Peanut Land ” which has become his signature song. He also helped to get his niece, Jeannie C. Riley established as one of Country Music’s greatest female vocalists.

“We are really looking forward to being with my Uncle Big Bill Lister,” Jett said. “When he was in Nashville , he asked me to come down to Llano and be a part of his birthday party. I told him that I would be honored to be with him. It will be a great show.”

The Llano Country Opry band will be a part of the show including Don Ricketson, Ben Watson, Sammy Geistweidt, Shane Lively and Lonnie Atkinson. Tracy Pitcox will MC the show.

For more information, log on to www.heartoftexascountry.com

By Everett Corbin

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.–Fans of the GREAT Vernon Oxford style of singing will be delighted in knowing that there is another “first” for this artist of renown, with the release of his first-ever dvd, entitled:

Vernon Oxford
SIMPLICITY in Country, Gospel and Bluegrass Music

It was produced by yours truly, taking more than a year in the making, and was barely ready for him to take with him on his recent tour to Ireland in latter October (he earlier also appeared in August over there). With this said, I must make a correction or two in announcing the fact that a few mistakes were made which carried over into the dvd:

I had NOTHING to do with getting Vernon Oxford his recording contract with RCA Victor Records; and: Harlan Howard, that truly GREAT songwriter of all time, wrote: WOMAN, LET ME SING YOU A SONG

Further, Vernon was already in Nashville in 1964, with my arrival in 1965, when I was named editor(1966) of the Faron Young publication: MUSIC CITY NEWS…but, since Vernon actually lived in Donelson, where I was also editor of THE DONELSON (Nashville) NEWS DIARY, we soon became acquainted, with that friendship last from then until this very day!

I had first come to Nashville in 1951, bringing with me a song:

IF KISSES COULD TALK, which Vernon later recorded in 1979 when I produced an album on him, namely: AMERICA’S UNKNOWN SUPERSTAR, which was released on the bluegrass label in Nashville (Rich-R-Tone)…and almost at the same time on the prestigious then West German label, Bear Family, as:

I LOVE TO SING

I then had this album released on Old Homestead Records in 2002 as:
THE OXFORD TOUCH…and began releasing single by single from the cd, with IF KISSES COULD TALK one of the songs promoted, and:

…with this song going on to become something of a classic on some traditional country music radio stations, as was the song,I LOVE TO SING, which became a No. 1 song when released in England on NCM: New Christian Music.

BUT: more than a year ago, Vernon and I again went into the studio here in Nashville and we produced what we called:

VERNON OXFORD Sings Gospel, Country and Bluegrass Music…and again I began promoting song by song from the cd, with the most popular being the topical:

THE LAST DAYS OF NEW ORLEANS, a song which remained on the ECMA (European Country Music Assn.) chart for nearly a year.

And so now comes this first-ever dvd:

Vernon Oxford:

SIMPLICITY in Country, Gospel and Bluegrass Music.

More information about the cds and dvd may be had by contacing me at:

Everett Corbin
Corbin Music, BMI
5801 Halls Hill Pike
Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37130
or: ejcorbin@juno.com

Finally, in summary, let me inform the fans that Vernon had a No. 1 song from this latter cd in July of this year, with an angel song:

GOD, THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE, making it to No. 1 on THE MUSIC REVIEW CHART out of Poughskeepie, N.Y. (headed by Rick Carbone), and my making it onto a chart for the first time with my recitation of:

THE PATRIOTIC AMERICAN

This song, among others (many by Vernon Oxford) can be found on You Tube , God Tube and other video sites around the world, along with;

I WANT TO DO A GOOD THING, the song we are now promoting by Vernon.

Lots of information about Vernon in a brochure I can pass along if requested. Further, at age 76, I am trying to wind down my music career, and have quite a bit of old country music items for sale, such as interviews I did with the stars at MCN (mostly back in 1966,67), old radio shows, some photos and MORE than a thousand old country music magazines with tons of articles on the artists, including both Vernon Oxford and Hank Williams.

12/11/08 T-Bones Bar & Grill ( Gary P. solo acoustic)
101 E. Main St.
Denison, TX 75020 903-464-0888

12/12/08 The Stockyards
10619 Westover Hill
San Antonio,TX
210-509 -8423

12/13/08 Texas Cowboy Christmas show-time 4:30PM
Wales Manor Winery
4488 county Rd. 408
Mc Kinney, TX 75071
903-542-0417

12/19/08 Blanco’s Bar & Grill
Houston, TX

12/20/08 Luckenbach Christmas Ball
412 Luckenbach Town Loop
Fredericksburg, TX
830-997-3224 x29

12/26/08 Broken Spoke Saloon
S. Lamar
Austin, TX

12/31/08 Love & War
2505 E. Grapevine Hills Circle
Grapevine, TX 972-724-5557

Our prayers are with Merle Haggard at this time, as always. On November 9th Reuters gave us the news about Merle, saying he was fighting lung cancer. He was a former smoker. Merle decided he would not fight the problem, but his family later prevailed and Merle had surgery in Bakersfield California. Some of you may remember Merle Haggard’s quotes before he toured with Willie Nelson and Ray Price. To paraphrase, Merle said if it was not a successful tour he would retire. Last of the Breed was a well received tour and CD.

Merle Haggard is 71, Ray Price is 82, and Willie Nelson is 75.

I think it’s time for Vernon Oxford and “Power In The Blood”

Artists drove from one radio station to another, promoting their music while hoping the DJ’s would play their songs. It was a tough life in un-airconditioned cars that were often crammed full of instruments. (Merle Haggard told of a night when he and his band were almost killed driving.)

Lefty was born on March 31, 1928 and we lost him on July 19, 1975 when he had a massive stroke. He was 47 years old. In 1970 Lefty Frizzell moved to famous Bakersfield California and later inspired some of the greats like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Lefty had a string of hits while releasing over 80 songs.

We are featuring a song that gets plenty of air play on Willie’s Place, XM-13, owned by Willie Nelson. To hear this song we get help from CD Universe and Muze Tunes, where you can hear sample tracks including “Saginaw Michigan”, “Just Can’t Live That Fast Any More” ( a song that probably came from the heart as Lefty battled alcoholism) and of course “I Never Go Around Mirrors”. Here are the sample tracks

When we reviewed the video of the mandoguitar (spelled that way so everyone can find it) I got sidetracked. A debate started while we discussed the song in the demo. I’m not sure that it is a song at all, but part of the demo struck a chord, so to speak. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

A mando-guitar is a short scale version of a 12 string guitar. You could capo the 12 string on the 12th fret to achieve the same basic idea. Phantom makes one, as does Rickenbacker. This link to Rickenbacker opens in a new window and shows many pictures.

We found some strings for the mando-guitar at Goldtone. The sizes are .052w .042w .032w .020w .013w .010w. One reason we decided to feature the mando-guitar is because it is so unique. None are for sale on any auction sites at this time. Another, of course, is because of the history and unique qualities of the instrument itself.

Now it’s time for the behind-the-scenes element and what really goes on in the office. We started by outlining the need for a review of Ray Price, Patsy Kline, and some western to Tex-Mex music. Dos Tacos de Chorizo Por Favor is where we started. (Here is the Meyer-Anderson band performing the song.)

Where we ended was totally amazing by the end of the day. I was still trying to pin down the mando-guitar demo when I found this video:

I’ll add this entire article to our odd and weird category, although the Byrds “Mr Tambourine Man” is not a country classic. I think it is the sound from the demo. What do you think? I think I should end my review of the mando-guitar before I get in any more trouble. When 60-year old kids get in trouble it can be a terrible thing.

“Little Ole Dime” has a combination of honky tonk, steel guitar, and the soft voice as only Jim Reeves can do it. I apologize in advance for not finding a video of Jim performing “Little Ole Dime”, but this video shows the lyrics.

“Four Walls”, “He’ll Have To Go”, “I Missed Me” and “Am I That Easy To Forget” all embody the soft gentle dynamic voice of Gentleman Jim Reeves. “He’ll Have To Go” was a hit in 1960. I think that time was a turning point in country music as people learned from Jim Reeves as Jim adapted and changed his style. The ability to record good studio tracks was improving, while the loud, brash, tinny, nasal sound that previously defined country music was losing favor with many listeners.

Other artists such as Ray Price also changed and adapted. The result was the beginning of a split between Nashville and Nashville West – Bakersfield California. The quality of recordings continued to improve, however, and country music came of age. I think Jim Reeves contributed the those changes, and he continues to get air time today.

“Little Ole Dime” was released in 1977 and it went to #23 on the country charts. You can listen to tracks and compare the young Jim Reeves style to the later years from here.