Country Music Month - The Texas Connection: Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr.

As a small child, I spent many a Saturday night at my Grandparents' house. After one of Grandma's home cooked meals like only a Grandma could make, the evening's entertainment consisted of crowding around the black and white TV, tuned to Channel 11 in Fort Worth. Saturday night's TV fare in the Shoemaker household was all about Country Music. We watched Porter Waggoner and Dolly Parton, The Wilborn Brothers, Live shows from Panther Hall in Fort Worth, where Willie Nelson was a regular guest, and a show from the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. Another regularly featured singer of the day was Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr, Buck to his fans. I saw Buck Owens on TV a thousand times before Hee Haw was ever thought of. I knew all the words to almost every one of Buck's hit songs like Tiger By the Tail, Love's Gonna Live Here, My Heart Skips a Beat and Together Again before I was even in school.

In my opinion, the harmony between Buck Owens and his guitarist, Don Rich, is unmatched by anyone before or since. Their connection to the music and the story of the song should be the standard by which any musical performance is measured. If you want to spend about an hour listening to honest-to-goodness country music and the emotions that go with it, go to this link to a Buck Owens YouTube page. The man from Sherman, Texas and his Buckaroos won't disappoint you. Guaranteed.

Wikipedia has a pretty good bio on Buck Owens if you'd like to check it out. As for me, I am gonna get a pocket full of imaginary quarters and drop them into an imaginary jukebox and fall under the musical spell of Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. and the Buckaroos.

Maine Minutiae: More Fall Fun!

Fun Times!**

I was looking at the weather radar for Maine a little while ago and for the first time this fall, I saw the Dreaded Light Blue Images on the radar map. The Dreaded Light Blue Images, DLBI for short, represent SNOW! It's already October 10, so we could conceivably get snow at any time now, though October snow in Augusta tends to be light and sporadic. I bring this up because, despite the cooler weather, there are still plenty of festivities going on here in New England. The one that caught my eye reminds me of my home state of Texas. It's a Chili Cook Off! The Great Western Maine Chili Cook Off  takes place this coming Saturday, October 16, at the Waterford Town Square. For more information you can call (207) 647-3472. Waterford is only seventy miles from Augusta, so a day trip is certainly a possibility and I do have some home grown jalapenos to take with me.
More autumn action in Maine includes:

• The Hallowell Fall Festival - Friday and Saturday (Oct. 15 & 16) More info at the link.
• Saco Pumpkin Harvest Festival - Make plans for Saturday the 16th
• 8th Annual Waterville Harvest Fest - Saturday and Sunday just up I-95 from my house

There's plenty more going on in October throughout the state, so click here to find an event near you that fits into your schedule. Have fun and be safe, y'all!

**Photo from Tabletofashion.com**

Country Music Month - The Texas Connection: Clint Black

I was driving through the Metroplex in about 1990 on my way to Puerto No One Knows when I heard this song. I thought to myself, "Damn, Haggard's done it again." One problem. It wasn't Merle Haggard singing that song. It was some new guy named Clint Black. Whoa! This guy was good and I was hooked. As Clint cranked out the hits, I was amazed at the way he told a story with the lyrics of his songs, like the phrase "Puerto No One Knows" (from When My Ship Comes In) That's great stuff.

Clint was born in New Jersey, but moved to his Dad's hometown of Houston when he was less than a year old. The story from there is a familiar one where boy teaches self to play guitar, writes songs, gets recording contract. But unlike many others who traveled a similar path, Clint went on to become a star. His first album Killin' Time was a smash, selling over a million copies. Black was consistently in the Top 10 with his albums and singles, when, in May, 2001, he became a Daddy to a little girl and took a three year break from the music industry. People in the industry told Clint he was committing career suicide, but he stood by his decision saying, "..it ended up not being a smart career move, but it was a real smart Dad move..." Now, I like this guy even more.

Here are some of my favorite Clint Black tunes:

• Like The Rain - probably my favorite CB song.
• Good Run of Bad Luck -  from the movie Maverick
• Untanglin My Mind - co-written by Merle Haggard. Enuff said.
• Cadillac Jack - Good deed gone bad.

With over twelve million albums sold, I am in good company with 11,999,999 other Clint Black fans who really like the man's music. If you wanna flash back to an earlier time, here's a Clint Black YouTube page for your viewing and listening pleasure. Until next time, I'm off to Puerto No One Knows.

Country Music Month Review...So Far

As some of you may have read, my oldest little girl is not feeling too well and she needs her Daddy. So, here's the deal: We are nine days into our salute to Texans (and others) who have made Country Music what it is today. We have assembled thus far a collection of names that anyone would be hard pressed to argue with, and there's still more to come. Below, you'll find a list of the artists we have covered and just in case you missed out on them the first time around, here's another chance to see what we said about each one on the list. In addition to a short bio on each singer, I have embedded links to some of their greatest hits as well. It is truly a walk down Memory Lane. Grab a cold one and some popcorn, hop into The Country Music Time Machine and feel like you are twenty-five again with our review so far of Country Music Month.

• Waylon Jennings
• Willie Nelson
• John Denver
• Garth Brooks

By Invitation Only

If you've been away from your computer and missed the last couple of days, we've got some great stuff on Tanya Tucker and George Strait !

Have a great time looking back on yesteryear and two steppin' around the room! Oh, yeah, pull the shades down...the neighbors may not understand. On second thought, invite 'em to join in!

Country Music Month: The Texas Connection - George Strait

I started in the radio business in November, 1979. A little over a year later, in 1981, I played a song called Unwound and it was at that moment that I became a George Strait fan. Damn, this guy from Poteet, Texas was country - honky tonk sound? Check. Fiddle? Steel guitar? Lyrics about drinkin' and lost love? Check, check and check. My faith in real country music had been restored. That restoration of faith was confirmed when Strait followed Unwound with the release of  Down and Out. Here we are thirty odd years later and George Strait is still making hit records. Early in Strait's career, a songwriter named Dean Dillon was the genius behind many of Straits hits. A partial list of those songs include the previously mentioned Unwound and Down and Out plus: Easy Come Easy Go, I've Come to Expect It from You, Ocean Front Property , The Chair and more. I think it's safe to say that George Strait and Dean Dillon made each other wealthy men - and Country Music Legends. The collaboration between these two men is so historic that I couldn't, in good conscience, not link to a Dean Dillon song actually performed by Dean Dillon.

George Strait has achieved a status in country music reserved for few men and women. He's earned Entertainer of the Year, Song of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year and Everything Else of the Year awards without compromising his integrity and belief in what country music and its traditions are all about for over three decades. I am going to link to a George Strait YouTube page that features many of his hits, the songs that have set the standard for the Country Music stars of tomorrow. You can read more about George's rise to fame and some of the hurdles, including the death of his daughter, he overcame to be the man and artist he is today at this link.

Maine Minutiae : Apples, Harvests and Other Stuff

It's been a while since we've done a list of festivals and goings on in Maine. As the second weekend of October 2010 approaches, I found a list of things to do for the remainder of the month. something good is bound to be near you, so let's get down to bidness:

• The Fryeburg Fair  continues through Sunday with pig scrambles, flower shows, livestock shows and, of course, plenty of food. Click the link at the start of this paragraph for a list of all the daily activities. While you're in Fryeburg be sure, be sure to stop by and see Arthur and Mary Ellen at the Bears and More booth, where you can choose a bear or another loveable pet and lots clothes and accessories to make your bear unique to you. Watch Arthur fill the bear with cushy goodness at "The Filling Station" and you'll have a snuggle buddy for years to come! Be sure to tell Arthur and Mary Ellen you read about them on Three States Plus One.
• Acadia Oktoberfest and Food Festival is my kind of community get-together. Going on through Sunday, beer, wine and cheese headline this weekend in Acadia, but there are about a million other things to do, so you are bound to  find something that trips your trigger. 
• Homecoming Weekend at Sugar Loaf goes on through Sunday the 10th. They've lined up an impressive list of events at this year's Homecoming Weekend, including a sunrise canoe trip Saturday morning at 5:45 and an auction to benefit the Western Maine Center for Children. Get lots more info at the link.
• Farmington Apple Festival - The Apple Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fairbanks School Neighborhood Association, on Route 4 two miles north of downtown Farmington. A celebration of everything apple! Apple Pressing, crafters, apple/fall novelties, food sale, luncheon, apples for sale, kid's corner. For info phone (207) 778-3808 or 778-4272. (copied and pasted from maine.info) 

If your weekend schedule is already filled up with things to do, click here to see more community events scheduled for later this month throughout the state of Maine.

Country Music Month: The Texas Connection - TNT

TNT

The town of  Seminole, Texas is the birthplace of two of the biggest Country Music stars of the '70s and '80s - Larry Gatlin and one of my all time favorites, Tanya Denise Tucker. Tanya Tucker (TNT) exploded onto the Country Music scene in 1972 at the age of thirteen with a song that remains a Country Classic today, Delta Dawn. Her way beyond her years vocals and style belied the fact that she was still barely a teenager. Over the years Tanya churned out hit after hit after hit on the Country Charts and as she grew up cultivated a sex kitten image that garnered a lot of notice from Country Music fans. In the vernacular, she was hot! That sexy, party girl persona was more than just an act, Tanya was, shall we say, an "independent" young lady, a lady Outlaw. Songs like Texas When I Die did nothing to disprove her images. Some of her songs did, however, show a softer side to this rowdy girl. Songs like Two Sparrows in a Hurricane (my favorite TNT song) were tender ballads of love, dedication and perseverance that tell a story of young love growing into a lifetime of commitment and devotion between a man and woman. Tanya could be rowdy and raunchy one minute, then tender and retrospective the next.

Here's a short list of Tanya's hits that I think are her best songs, in no particular order:

• Love Me Like You Used To - A damn good song of a love that's lost its spark and Tanya's plea to her lover to rekindle the romance.
• Lizzie and the Rainman - I really like this song because it reminds me of Neil Diamond's Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show. Good story in the song.
• What's Your Mama's Name? - Pretty heavy subject in the song. Just remember she was only 15 when she sang it.

Looking back, it's very difficult to believe that it's been almost forty years since that little thirteen year old girl sang about Delta Dawn. Wikipedia has a pretty good bio on Tanya if you want to delve into the details. If you'd rather take a trip back in time to catch some of Tanya's hits, YouTube has a great channel with some of TNT's best songs.

Tanya Denise Tucker, Lady Outlaw. And a damned fine performer.