"Pure Country" - Original Soundtrack To Be Released On Vinyl 9/15

For the 25th Anniversary of the movie "PURE COUNTRY," the soundtrack will be released for the first time on vinyl on September 15. George Strait will also incorporate some of the songs featured in the movie in his two Las Vegas shows earlier that month. 



How time flies, in 1992 my former editor, Christine Mäder and I went to Dallas to attend a press junket for the movie release "Pure Country." She was interviewing the main actors for our publication, Country Music, while I was covering it for Swiss Television. Isabel Glasser (Harley Tucker) was charming, Lesley Ann Warren (Lula Rogers) was a blast, we had so many laughs and George Strait (Wyatt "Dusty" Chandler)  was George Strait, slightly uncomfortable with the media thing and actually kinda reliving his movie role in the movie. Too bad, our favorite actor in the movie, Rory Calhoun playing Harley's wry grandfather Ernest, didn't make the junket.



Even though the movie was a commercial flop with just $ 15 million dollars coming in and never saw a world wide release; my TV tapes are still collecting dust somewhere in an archive in Switzerland, the soundtrack did much, much better.



Besides Greatest Hits and other Compilations, "Pure Country" is Strait's most successful album to date, with sales over 6 million units. The latest figures by the RIAA are from 1999, so I'm sure that with digital downloads we are now closer to 7 million. Talking about downloads the tearjerker hit single from the climax of the movie reached number 1 in December of '92. "Cross My Heart" (Steve Dorff, Eric Kaz) has sold almost a million copies per digital downloads since it was made available on that platform, according to Roughstock. Another composition by Dorff, who also was in charge for the whole musical soundtrack, "Heartland," co-written with John Bettis also reached the Top Spot on the Billboard Country Charts. Even though not as hokey as the movie or its main single, "Heartland" did not belong to the best material on the soundtrack, which by the way was the first album by Strait that had Tony Brown as a producer.











The real or should we say pure country song, released as the third single "When Did You Stop Lovin' Me?" by Texan Monty Holmes, who later contributed other hits to Strait, including "Troubadour," reached the top ten, but stalled on #6. But there are other gems on this soundtrack, there is a subtle countrified version of "Last In Love" originally recorded by Nicolette Larson and by co-writer J.D. Souther (together with Glenn Frey) on albums in the late 70s. The western-swing influenced "Overnight Male," first recorded by B.B. Watson, penned by Kim Williams, Ron Harbin, and Richard Fagan, who passed a year ago, made it in the charts, without ever being released as a single. I always thought the Phil Thomas/Hal Newman song "Baby Your Baby" should have been a radio single, advising the guys to better put some lovin' into their relationship. Because if you do it right, "She Lays It All On The Line," that rockabilly tinged tune came from Texas songsmith Clay Blaker and also gave him the title of his 1993 album "LAYING IT ALL ON THE LINE."











"PURE COUNTRY" also features two singles written or co-written by Jim Lauderdale, the beautiful "The King Of Broken Hearts" and the up-tempo "Where The Sidewalk Ends," which both were originally released on Lauderdale's 1991 major debut, the fantastic "PLANET OF LOVE." That first one belongs into the pantheon of country classics, also recorded by Mark Chesnutt and Lee Ann Womack, due to the times, never got the exposure, it really deserves.

My favorite track is probably the remake of an old tune, also recorded by Ernest Tubb and Carl Smith, written by Mel Tillis and Wayne P. Walker, the deliciously sad ballad "Thoughts of a Fool" with its exquisite leading steel guitar part. Not sure which of the three players mentioned in the liner notes actually brings me all that joy. But I guess it's Sonny Garrish over Buddy Emmons (who did it on Tubb's version, which you should check out as well) or Doug Livingston. It's just pure bliss of sadness.







"PURE COUNTRY" Soundtrack - ★★★★/★★★★★ (4 out of 5)



So if you still like vinyl, like some traditional country fans do, this is definitely an album you want to put into your collection. As an extra for the 25th Anniversary, Austin movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will be showing the original movie in its 28 locations across the country.



Sources: Essential Broadcast Media, YouTube, Recollections

SR: Jon Pardi "Head Over Boots" #1 & "Dirt On My Boots"

Good things come to those who wait. More traditional country fans were able to rejoice. "Head Over Boots" by Jon Pardi of his second album "CALIFORNIA SUNRISE" which was co-produced by the Northern Californian finally reached the top spot as the most played country single on the radio (Billboard) after a staggering 44 weeks on the charts by the end of August (8/27).



The song, an unusual shuffle (well at least in these times) with a slight rockabilly beat to it, sounds modern, even though it has a retro feel to it. It could have easily been done (in an even more traditional way) in the '60s by Conway, Ray, or Eddie.



Asked by trade magazine Billboard why he was using traditional instrumentation like a fiddle (Jenee Fleener) and steel guitar (Mike Johnson) on his recording - which is missing in today's country songs, Pardi was quoted:



Fiddle all day! There’s a lot of fiddle on this record. There are a lot of old sayings from the '90s and ‘00s: "Shuffles won’t work on country radio." "You can’t have a pedal steel lead on country radio." If someone says you can’t have a fiddle on county radio... this is what I grew up with. I’m helping country sound a little more country.



Playing the late Buck Owens Birthday Bash that weekend in Bakersfield, he received a signature Buck Owens guitar from local Bakersfield station KUZZ, as you can see in the picture above. Not only citing Buck but California country music in general, Pardi was quoted:



"This guitar represents CALIFORNIA, and I'm proud to help make people aware of BUCK's legacy." 



Visiting his dad many, many moons ago in Central Texas, they visited Twin Sisters Dancehall (where they later also filmed the video) outside of Blanco together. That's where he got the inspiration for the song. Back in Nashville, he sat down with Luke Laird, and they co-wrote "Head Over Boots," both not really sure they had written a hit song.



And some radio DJs actually had to be twisted in their arms, as they were claiming that the song was too traditional for today's radio. Well UMGN, Capitol's parent company was able to convince the DJs with solid numbers. Pardi started selling the song digitally and outsold many other artists, who were way farther up in the charts, the song was certified Gold for over 635'000 downloads - and still sells about 9000 copies a week. He also did extremely well in "streaming" - his youTube views for the lyric and the conventional video added up for over 21 million streams, all streams combined (YouTube, Spotify, etc..) over 100 million streams. These are impressive numbers if you compare them to the terrible "Fix" #1 hit and Chris Lane (see SR: No "Fix" please - make Chris Lane disappear!) who has only around 7.5 million streams on YouTube.





★★★★(★)/★★★★★ (4½/5)        
(scroll down to read about his new single "Dirt On My Boots")







I was hoping that the record company would follow this number one single with the outstanding "She Ain't In It," a song that evokes the timeless superiority of George Strait he defined for over 35 years. Maybe that's gonna be single number three of "CALIFORNIA SUNRISE." First, the powers there are, wanna keep the momentum going with boots, well more specific with "Dirt On My Boots."



Unfortunately, musical-wise the song is a U-turn to stupid radio mediocrity. There may be Banjo, Fiddle, and Steel accents in it, but the modern production destroys the real country feel of the lyrics. Written by Rhett Akins, Ashley Gorley, and Jesse Frasure, the song was according to a radio interview in Pardi's words 'way out there':



“...like, it was a super hip-hop kind of style. But I loved the lyrics; the lyrics were so country. I just loved that; that’s what really appealed to me [...} So we took it and made it more country, and I think it kinda really made a cool sound.”



WTF, somebody please chase Jesse Frasure out of the Country realm, back to Nicki Minaj or Drake. As a songwriter he's responsible for some of the worst crap coming out of Nashville - "High Class" (Eric Paslay), "Fix" (Chris Lane), "Road Less Traveled" (Lauren Alaina), and "Like The Sound Of That" (Rascal Flatts) just to name a few.



“Dirt on My Boots” was produced by Pardi and his long-time demo producer Bart Butler. Lyrically the song actually can be referenced to the old country theme of going out on a Saturday night, like Lefty Frizzell did in his tune "Shine Shave Shower" - with its lyrics:

Gonna shine, shave, shower, and brush my teeth

Go out a dancing and forget my grief

Make all the nightclubs in this town

'Cause my sweet baby's gonna show me around

It basically is a hard-working blue-collar guy, who wants to go out and woo his gal dancing with her in his high heeled cowboy boots:

Been up since the crack of dawn

Just trying to be paid

Been hotter than a thousand suns

I can't find no shade

Just two more rows and I'm good to go

Yeah, I'm shutting this tractor down

Get me a half an hour for a shave and a shower

And I'll be outside your house

and in the refrain (excerpt)

Gonna hit the club, gonna cut a rug

Burn it up like neon lights

Might have a little dirt on my boots

But we're gonna dance the dust right off them tonight

Got a little dirt on my boots

As a gentleman he even promises to leave his dirty boots outside, if he should be invited for coffee after the dancing:

Baby, we can slip right out of that barroom door

And when I take you home, don't worry babe

I'm gonna kick them off on the porch

The discrepancy between the quality of music and lyrics is so high that I included two different numbers, added up and divided by two, they give the rating of "Dirt On My Boots" as 3 out of 5.



Music: ★(★) 1½ - Lyrics: ★★★★(★) 4½                                                   ★★★/★★★★★ (3/5)







Sources: Billboard, Mediabase, Roughstock, Vevo, BMI

Clay Blaker's "What A Way To Live" resurfaces on iTunes

As of today singer/songwriter Clay Blaker finally has his own facebook page.



After retiring from the music biz over a decade ago, "Slick" as he is also known, spends most of his time catching the surf off Panama. Yes he had a group where dedicated fans and friends would post a video or memories from his shows in the US or his many tours in Europe. But these fans and friends kept bugging him to at least interact with them from time to time.



And that's exactly what Clay will try to do, as he stated in his first post on his new page: "I promise I’ll try hard to answer all messages and inquiries … at least until it starts cutting in on my surfing time, lol."



Also announced today: Clay's debut album "What A Way To Live" from 1981 which he cut during his second tour in Europe with an A-list of European pickers from the Netherlands and Denmark (list see below) is now finally available in a digital format and can be downloaded on iTunes or 300 other internet sites.



On his first album Clay pretty much stuck with the traditional Honky Tonk and Western Swing sound, he used to be playing at the Broken Spoke, the Split Rail, Cheatham Street or Gruene Hall in Central Texas. He wouldn't start featuring some of his songwriting that then would be recorded by other artists until his second album "Sooner Or Later." Of that album "Lonesome Rodeo Cowboy" and "The Only Thing I Have Left" were both recorded by George Strait.



Besides the title song, Willie Nelson also wrote "Darkness On The Side Of The Earth." Two Johnny Gimble swing tunes - "Under The 'X' In Texas" and "Playin' Around (Fiddlin' Around)" as well as the Leon Rhodes, Buddy Charleton instrumental "Rhodes-Bud Boogie" showcase the excellent musicianship, sometimes with twin steel guitars of the European pickers.

They also shine on Red Steagall's "Lone Star Beer And Bob Wills Music" (a co-write with Glenn Sutton). Another Honky Tonk treat is a medley of Ray Price tunes:  "Touch My Heart" (Johnny Paycheck; Aubrey Mayhew); "The Other Woman" (Don Rollins)  and "Another Bridge To Burn" (Harlan Howard).



Clay Blaker, Vocals

Koos Biel, Steel Guitar

Nils Tuxen, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitars, Steel Guitar

Bob Kelly, Steel Guitar

Maurits Hitijahubessy, Steel Guitar

Ton Trussel, Fiddle

Robert Kramer, Harmonica

Dolf deVries, Piano

Knut Henriksen, Six String Bass, Guitars

Peter Kreynen, Upright Bass, Electric Bass

Steve Mendell, Electric Bass

Dik Boer, Drums

Jelle Biel, Producer

Recorded at Flowertree Studio, Groningen, Holland



But that's still not all, Clay now also have his own YouTube channel, where he presents some of his videos. Besides some live Texas Connection videos (albeit a bit grainy) from the show of the same name, which aired on TNN, and a cut of his second album "Sooner Or Later" there is a superb acoustic version, just Clay and his guitar of the title track of his 2001 album "Rumor Town," a song he co-wrote with Tommy Connors and which was recorded by a TV station in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Strait Return To Stage Sold Out

© Ethan Miller - Getty Images - courtesy EBMedia

After a two year absence from the stage, the King of Country rode back in to town and a record-setting, sold-out crowd of 19'222 people came on April, 22nd to the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to see George Strait in his opening show of his "Strait To Vegas" concert series.



“I’ve missed you guys and I’m looking forward to being here a few more nights this year,” Strait told the crowd early on in the night before performing for over two hours, according to a press release by Essential Broadcast Media. Besides playing a selection of several of his #1 hits, Strait also took a moment to pay tribute to Merle Haggard who was not only an icon for Strait but also a friend. “We’ll never get to hear Merle play live again, but his music will live on forever,” Strait said before performing a medley.





YouTube user vegastrojan posted a decent quality video of George Strait doing the Merle Haggard Tribute during his concert.







Kacey Musgraves who opened for George this last weekend and will for his other 2016 dates, walked into the arena with a pony. (Picture from her Instagram feed @spaceykacey) - you may also want to check out her great version of the Lee Hazlewood penned cover "These Boots Are Made For Walking," orginally made famous by Nancy Sinatra  (look on her twitter feed +Kacey Musgraves.





Strait will be back at the arena in September (9 & 10) and December (2 & 3) of this year and has a weekend planned in February (17 & 18) of 2017. The brand new $ 375 million indoor arena opened this spring and will host a variety of events. Boxing and fighting matches will compete with entertainment events. The Billboard Music Awards, Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks are all scheduled to play T-Mobile Arena.



Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Strait Return To Stage Sold Out

© Ethan Miller - Getty Images - courtesy EBMedia

After a two year absence from the stage, the King of Country rode back in to town and a record-setting, sold-out crowd of 19'222 people came on April, 22nd to the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to see George Strait in his opening show of his "Strait To Vegas" concert series.

“I’ve missed you guys and I’m looking forward to being here a few more nights this year,” Strait told the crowd early on in the night before performing for over two hours, according to a press release by Essential Broadcast Media. Besides playing a selection of several of his #1 hits, Strait also took a moment to pay tribute to Merle Haggard who was not only an icon for Strait but also a friend. “We’ll never get to hear Merle play live again, but his music will live on forever,” Strait said before performing a medley.


YouTube user vegastrojan posted a decent quality video of George Strait doing the Merle Haggard Tribute during his concert.



Kacey Musgraves who opened for George this last weekend and will for his other 2016 dates, walked into the arena with a pony. (Picture from her Instagram feed @spaceykacey) - you may also want to check out her great version of the Lee Hazlewood penned cover "These Boots Are Made For Walking," orginally made famous by Nancy Sinatra  (look on her twitter feed +Kacey Musgraves.


Strait will be back at the arena in September (9 & 10) and December (2 & 3) of this year and has a weekend planned in February (17 & 18) of 2017. The brand new $ 375 million indoor arena opened this spring and will host a variety of events. Boxing and fighting matches will compete with entertainment events. The Billboard Music Awards, Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks are all scheduled to play T-Mobile Arena.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin