PAUL BURCH ON THE MUSIC OF APPALACHIA Quote

"Appalachia is still, for American musicians, a kind of fountain of youth we always go back to, the old home place to a group of artists who represent the quintessence of American independence, fortitude, genius, and madness."  - Paul Burch

CHET ATKINS TRIVIA : CHET PLAYED ON EVERLY BROTHERS RECORDS AS WELL AS ELVIS' HEARTBREK HOTEL

CHET ATKINS!

ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME - CHET ATKINS INDUCTEE

When it was cut, Chet played on Heartbreak Hotel on RCA, no it wasn't The Blue Moon Boys group or Scotty Moore...

According to the Rock Hall bio, "As a studio musician, he appeared on records by Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, and countless country musicians. Atkins thumb-and-fingerpicking style influenced George Harrison, Duane Eddy, the Ventures, Eddie Cochran, Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler, as well as innumerable country pickers. Even the likes of Ted Nugent has credited Atkins with inspiring him to take up the instrument. ‘’I think he influenced everybody who picked up a guitar,’’ said Duane Eddy."

MISTERGUITAR - CHET ATKINS OFFICIAL

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE EVERLY BROTHERS : A DOCUMENTARY

(437) MAE BOREN AXTON: THE QUEEN MOTHER OF NASHVILLE and PROLIFIC SONGWRITER

MAE AXTON wrote over 200 songs, and 14 charted, but she will go down in music history and Elvis Presley history because she was the person who with Tommy Durden co-wrote "Heartbreak Hotel," perhaps the song Elvis is most famous for.  When Elvis had a hit with "Heartbreak Hotel" he had a hit on more than one chart.  It hit on Country, Pop, and R and B. 

As many songwriters have been known to do, Mae was out to sell her own song to the person she wanted to record it.  She personally presented the song to Elvis in Nashville in 1955 at a country music convention.  The video below is probably the January 1956 session with the Blue Moon Boys and session guitarist Chet Atkins.

Through the years Mae placed songs with many country music greats from Johnny Tillotson to Willie Nelson.

MAE AXTON : BLACKCAT ROCKABILLY UK SITE : By Colin Kilgour
MAE AXTON : OKLAHOMA : Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1985

(435) ME AND COUNTRY MUSIC : MY ROOTS IN CHEROKEE COUNTY

I grew up in rural Cherokee County North Carolina - The Smokey Mountains - where I ran with a kid gang, and as a teen followed my father's work to Oregon and then around the country to Akron, Ohio, where I got my big break.  From there I would move to New York City as my base but tour throughout the South.

I grew up hearing Country Music and I've always loved it. Rockabilly, as you probably know, has strong roots in Country.  Many of my peers in the business in the late 1950's and early 1960's also had country roots, people like Buddy Knox, Jimmy Bowen and Buddy Holly, who were from West Texas, and Glen Campbell, who was from the "Deep South".

As a song writer, I was just as interested in writing for Country music artists as ever and I was able to place some of the songs I wrote or cowrote with Country artists.  

I ALWAYS LOVED THE COWBOYS

(373) GLEN CAMPBELL : ALZHEIMERS : LAST TOUR AND ALBUM

We're linking here to a recent LA Times Blog article about Glen Campbell, who has announced that, at 75, he has Alzheimer's but will go on one last tour.

And to what we believe to be his own site which has some excellent photos including of his latest album: http://surfdog.com/glencampbellshow/index.html

Glen was blessed with amazing musical talent, has had a long and winding road of a career and is known for his dozens of hit records, but his journey in life was not and is not easy going.

(214) MARTY ROBBINS - WEST TEXAS TO LOS ANGELES

One of the stars who passed through Los Angeles on tour in 1961 was Marty Robbins who got the first ever country Grammy Award for "El Paso" in 1959, the song he is most associated with, and which got him into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Marty continued with hits like "If I Had A Hammer," which was covered by many other singers including Peter, Paul, and Mary. He was one of the singers I liked to go hear, along with some of the guys that I knew from Elvis'.

MARTY ROBBINS OFFICIAL updated March 2013
"Don't Worry" was a 1961 hit for Marty. (video replaced March 2013)
  
In 1970 after years from hits, Marty won a Grammy Award for the best country song in 1970. He was inducted into the Nashville Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1975. He got into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982.

Link to The Country Music Hall of Fame... NEW LINK January 13, 2011 Click on title!

"El Paso" is classic Marty Robbins and reflects the Hispanic culture of Texas.

  Here's a bio of Marty from Billboard.com
BILLBOARD MARTY ROBBINS PAGE  updated April 2014

COWBOYS WERE MY IDOLS

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