The Victor Cover
While Matte Black from Black Cash and the Bad Trips yodeled up to a glorious cover of the song “Country Boy” by The Man in Black one of my friends leaned over to me and said “This is your type of world.” My simple and proud answer was “Yes. Yes sir it is.” In that room where the shadows of people walked into each other by blending into the overwhelming black dressed suits, shoes, rolled up sleeves and smiling bad ass people the energy could be just simple described by the roar at the end of each song. I realized while standing in the crowd the importance of the culture, the grit and grim of what it means to hear the words, to feel the juice in your blood, and to flat foot it all away. Sometimes when you know something too much you forget what it looks like.
Eighty years ago in 1927 “Victor Talking Machine Company talent scout Ralph Peer brought an electric recording machine to the city of Bristol, Tennessee. For 10 days, in what would come to be known as the Bristol sessions, in a makeshift studio with state-of-the-art equipment, Peer recorded 76 songs from 19 different groups.” (link)
Many of us know the importance of the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Stoneman, and many others but for those 10 days Mr. Peer chronicled an age of a subculture not yet tapped. It was that country boy celebration, wild and reserved, that I saw in the hazy eyes of both band and audience and on a Sunday evening the worship service celebration was still goin on. As it says in the Cash song, “When it's quittin' time, and your work is through- There's alot of life in you”
More info I just came across
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum Marks the 80th Anniversary of the Historic Bristol Sessions with the new exhibit check out this link
Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
222 Fifth Avenue South
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
615-416-2001
"Country Boy"
Country boy, ain't got no shoes
Country boy, ain't got no blues
Well, you work all day while you're waitin' to play In the sun and the sand, with a face that's tan
But at the end of the day, when your work is done
You ain't got nothin' but fun
Country boy, you got a shaggy dog
Country boy, up a hollow log
Well, he comes in a run, when you pick up your gun
And with a shell or two, and your dog and you
When you get your rabbit, you'll skin his hide
He's gonna be good fried
Country boy, you got alot to lose
Country boy, how I wish I was in your shoes
Country boy, ain't got no ills
Country boy, don't owe no bills
You get a wiggly worm and then you watch him squirm
While you put him on a hook and you drop him in a brook
If everything's gonna turn out right, you're gonna fry fish tonight
Country boy, got alot to lose
Country boy, how I wish I was in your shoes
Country boy, you got work to do
Country boy, in the morning dew
You gotta plant the seed, you gotta cut the weeds
There's many a row you know you gotta hoe
When it's quittin' time, and your work is through
There's alot of life in you
Country boy, you lucky thing
Country boy, I wish I was you, and you were me
Country boy, ain't got no shoes
Country boy, ain't got no blues
Well, you work all day while you're waitin' to play In the sun and the sand, with a face that's tan
But at the end of the day, when your work is done
You ain't got nothin' but fun
Country boy, you got a shaggy dog
Country boy, up a hollow log
Well, he comes in a run, when you pick up your gun
And with a shell or two, and your dog and you
When you get your rabbit, you'll skin his hide
He's gonna be good fried
Country boy, you got alot to lose
Country boy, how I wish I was in your shoes
Country boy, ain't got no ills
Country boy, don't owe no bills
You get a wiggly worm and then you watch him squirm
While you put him on a hook and you drop him in a brook
If everything's gonna turn out right, you're gonna fry fish tonight
Country boy, got alot to lose
Country boy, how I wish I was in your shoes
Country boy, you got work to do
Country boy, in the morning dew
You gotta plant the seed, you gotta cut the weeds
There's many a row you know you gotta hoe
When it's quittin' time, and your work is through
There's alot of life in you
Country boy, you lucky thing
Country boy, I wish I was you, and you were me
1 comment:
Reading the lyrics of Country Boy the other day from my city desk nearly brought a tear to my eye.
Your post got me thinking, as they tend to do. If Mr. Peer were roaming the country side today with his recording machine, I wonder where he would stop? And what would the recordings sound like?
Everything seems so increasingly homogenized, I guess my main question would be, do we still have any subculture left to tap into?
Thanks for the post.
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