A Pair of Legendary Songwriters Pass Away; Alan Jackson to Perform at National Cathedral; New Album Releases
- Jerry Leiber, who had a hand in classics like “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock,” passed away at the age of 78 yesterday.
- R&B singer-songwriter Nicholas Ashford, 70, also passed.
- Buck Owens’ pre-Capitol recordings have been collected for a 24-song album called Buck Owens—Bound for Bakersfield 1953-1956 that’s due out on September 27.
- T-Bone Burnett talked to David Wild of the Huffington Post and Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times about the O Brother soundtrack. An excerpt from the former: All the good that happened with the music of O Brother, Where Art Thou? was the result of an extraordinary group of musicians pulling together for the right reasons. In that way, it reminded me of the Rolling Thunder Revue. Here again were all these talented people, all giving into this center, to one incredible show. As I’ve learned over the years, shared generosity of that sort is very powerful in itself.
- On September 13, Time Life will release Hank Williams: The Mother’s Best Shows in Words and Music, an e-book by Colin Escott. On the same day, Williams’ complete Mother’s Best recordings will be released in digital form for those who didn’t shell out for last year’s box set.
- There was a seventh fatality of the Indiana stage collapse as Meagan Toothman was removed from life support Monday afternoon.
- The newest edition of Quotable Country is up at Country California.
- Folksinger Judy Collins‘ upcoming album, Bohemian (release date: October 18), features her take on songs by Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell, and more. Guest artists include Ollabelle and Shawn Colvin.
- Alan Jackson will perform at the National Cathedral in a memorial concert on September 11. Patti LaBelle is also slated to sing.
- Jackson, Garth Brooks, Allen Shamblin, Thom Schuyler, and John Bettis are this year’s inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
- Nashville venue the Exit/In is celebrating its 40th anniversary in early September with benefit shows featuring Cowboy Jack Clement, Guy Clark, Lee Roy Parnell, and more.
- Dolly Parton has some very dedicated fans in these folks on reality show My Collection Obsession.
- Glenn Gibson is the new banjo player for Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper.
- Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are all dolled up thanks to Mattel.
- The Gibson Brothers, nominated for seven IBMA Awards, got some love from their local paper.
- Brett Eldredge stopped by American Songwriter to sing a bit.
- Cindy Watts of the Tennessean takes a look at contemporary country duets.
- Listen to some samples from Lady Antebellum’s upcoming album over at Amazon.
- Saving Country Music asks if Willie Nelson’s legacy as an artist is being overshadowed by his well-known and often joked about affinity for marijuana.
- Zac Brown Band will host a three-day music and food festival in Charleston, South Carolina from October 21-23.
- New album releases:
Connie Smith — Long Line of Heartaches
The McClymonts — Wrapped Up Good
Various Artists — Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration: A Classic Bluegrass Tribute
Various Artists — O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition)
- Little Big Town covered “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5 for their latest edition of their “Scattered, Smothered, and Covered” series.
Tagged In This Article
Alan Jackson // Allen Shamblin // Brett Eldredge // Buck Owens // Cowboy Jack Clement // Dolly Parton // Faith Hill // Garth Brooks // Glenn Gibson // Guy Clark // Hank Williams // Jerry Leiber // Jimmy Webb // John Bettis // Joni Mitchell // Jonny Corndawg // Judy Collins // Lady Antebellum // Lee Roy Parnell // Little Big Town // Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper // Nicholas Ashford // Ollabelle // Shawn Colvin // T. Bone Burnett // Thom Schuyler // Tim McGraw // Willie Nelson // Zac Brown Band
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August 23, 2011 at 12:14 pm
I’ve often wondered the same thing Triggerman ponders about Willie. The youngest 2 generations of Willie fans are certainly as familiar with his pot-love, and some probably more so, than they are with his catalog of great music. I remember telling someone my age that he wrote the song “Crazy” and their reply was “I didn’t know he wrote songs”. They know him as a pothead and an actor who occasionally sings.
I saw those two fellas with the Dolly collection on the documentary For The Love of Dolly a few years back. An impressive collection indeed. Loving the new Connie Smith album too. Especially her take on “Ain’t You Even Gonna Cry”.
August 23, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Those Little Big Town folks are starting to impress me.
August 23, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Some great new albums coming out this week. I’ve been all over the new Connie Smith album since I picked it up at her Hall of Fame show. She autographed it for me, which was very cool. Haven’t heard the new Sunny Sweeney album yet, but I intend to grab me a copy soon, and possibly the new Pistol Annies album as well. I also got a review copy of the McClymonts’ album, which was pretty good, but still considerably weaker than some of the other new releases.
August 23, 2011 at 7:46 pm
I Want you Back is the cover song of the moment it seems – much prefer the version by Civil Wars.
August 23, 2011 at 7:57 pm
I command all of you lurkers at Engine 145 to run right out and buy Sunny Sweeney’s new “Concrete” album today! That is an order! (lol) (If I hadn’t purchased two slightly different advance versions back in mid-2010, I sure would.)
Opry Alert! Tonight’s Opry will be featuring Brett Eldridge, Eden’s Edge, Heidi Newfield, Larry Gatlin, Trace Adkins, and Rascal Flatts. Guess that kind of covers the good, bad, pretty and ugly! Crikey! (lol) Grade: B+
(PS – If you haven’t heard Eden’s Edge perform live, be sure to tune in to behold the sonic splendor! lol)
Opry Schedule: http://www.opry.com/shows/ThisWeek.html
August 23, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Rick, if you really supported Sunny, you would go out and get one still. She knew who you were before she even met you! (We talked about ya one time in an interview years ago).
August 23, 2011 at 11:58 pm
I bought a copy this morning, along with the Pistol Annies record. They both kick much ass.
August 24, 2011 at 7:59 am
I bought “Concrete” on i-Tunes yesterday and they deducted the cost of the singles I had previously purchased, “From a Table Away” and “Staying’s Worse Than Leaving”. I also bought Sunny’s earlier album,”Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame” for $3.99.
August 24, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Gotta feeling that Alan Jackson concert may not happen…National Cathedral is offlimits in the aftermath of the Virginia earthquake
August 24, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Sorry Matt, but guilt trips don’t work on me and especially where money is involved! (lol) When I spoke with Sunny on Sunday I gave her a couple of CD-R’s of music I think she will like, so I consider that support (well sort of). Those advance copies weren’t cheap, but I do know that the label and Sunny sadly didn’t get a dime off of those, but them’s the breaks.
On the other hand last fall in 2010 I burned a copy of the complete, mastered CD and gave it to one of KKGO’s top DJ’s named Shawn Parr at a promo event at a car dealership. When he saw Sunny’s name and picture on the cover his response was “Sunny Sweeney huh? Never heard of her.” I went on to explain that Sunny’s debut single “From A Table Away” was already at the # 30 Mediabase chart position (KKGO is a reporting station) and climbing at the time even though he had not heard it yet. Once “From a Table Away” hit the Top 20 KKGO finally jumped on board, and Shawn could no longer say he hadn’t heard of her. It is awesome they have jumped on the Sunny Sweeney train and asked her to perform at that free listener appreciation concert. Go Sunny!
August 25, 2011 at 7:42 am
Gotta feeling that Alan Jackson concert may not happen…National Cathedral is offlimits in the aftermath of the Virginia earthquake
It might just get moved to the Kennedy Center or a similar venue. Since it is the tenth anniversary of September 11 and they already have big names like Alan and Patti LaBelle lined up, my guess is that they’ll just change the location.
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