REVIEW: Connie Smith - Long Line of Heartaches (Sugar Hill)

Connie Smith-Long Line of Heartaches (Sugar Hill)

Singer Connie Smith as released her first album in more than a decade and it stacks up with the legendary hits that made her famous nearly 50 years ago. One of our most distinct stylists, Smith’s fans includes Dolly Parton, George Jones (and many more) who consider her the best female vocalist in country music

On her new Sugar Hill release Long Line Of Heartaches she serves up a dozen songs that fulfill every fan’s hope; a classic country album in the Connie Smith tradition.

The songs are a mix of originals, co-written with husband/producer Marty Stuart such as the title cut “Long Line Of Heartaches,” “I'm Not Blue,” “Pain Of A Broken Heart,” “You And Me” and “Blue Heartaches.” Other songs included here are from some of the same classic country songwriters that have provided material to her since the early 60’s, like Dallas Frazier who’s “A Heart like You,” is the perfect vehicle for Smith’s still powerful vocals.

At an in store appearance at Grimey’s in Nashville, the day of the album release Smith said the album picks up where she left off and in 2011 she continues the classic country tradition. There’s no hint at trying for anything contemporary here and her great song choices come from familiar names like Harlan Howard, Johnny Russell, Kostas, Patty Loveless and Emory Gordy Jr.

There’s plenty of twang here from her road band, The Sundowners who are among the tightest outfits in country music. They have performed together so much that their riffs are perfectly placed within her phrasing which is, as it has always been, near perfect.

Recorded at RCA’s historic Studio B where she made some of her earliest records and where she last recorded with Marty Stuart on his 2010 Grammy winner Ghost Train-The Studio B Sessions. The feel of the album gives a real sense of the excitement of a live performance by a true Country Star.   

This album offers no surprises, unless it is surprising that Connie Smith still has the range, style and power that she had during country’s golden age.

Gatlin Tarnishes Opry Image

I try not to watch Fox news, but it is at times hard to escape so I have noticed several recent appearances of Country star Larry Gatlin as a political commentator. Much like his music over the past 30 years, he has nothing new to say on issues of politics. His apparent longing to be in the spotlight is just sad for a once great songwriter. As a Grand Ol Opry fan, I have endured his repetitive routines on a number of Opry shows over the past year and he repeats them during his Fox chit chats

The routine is open with “Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You,” select an old lady out of the crowd to dance with, ask her religious affiliation, then deadpan; ”You cain’t be a Baptist, you dance too good.”  He even managed to shoehorn a few bars of the song in during a recent Fox interview, and since there was no old lady to pick from the crowd, he settled on the female anchor as his prop. The news segment was also sprinkled with his thoughts on Medicare, President Obama and defending large corporations like Exxon. I can avoid Fox News, but I won’t boycott the Opry. I wish Opry management would open up the Gatlin slot to someone willing to put a little more creativity into entertaining and understand its fans are not all right wingers. I doubt even those that agree with Gatlin’s politics do not pay steep prices for Opry admission to hear Fox News political commentary.

C-O-U-N-T-R-Y- Radio remembered

My recent visit to The Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville reminded me of my first country concert

It was 1976 and radio station WYRL, Melbourne sponsored a show starring Ernest Tubb. I was not sure who Ernest Tubb was but the DJ’s on that station were talking it up so much that I had to go. That radio station had a huge impact on my 13 year old mind. The station was programmed like a college station. The morning guy liked his smokes and coffee in the morning and would track live albums while he fixed. That was how I first heard concert albums by Waylon Jennings, Ronnie Milsap, Merle Haggard and others

Tracking a live album on a morning show will get a DJ fired these days, but again this was independent radio. The midday guy liked to work the phones and would take requests and play calls back on the air. Another DJ I knew about this time carried a thermos and it did not contain coffee. The night guy was a longhaired doper (you could actually catch him burning one outside the studio some nights). He played John Prine, Marshall Tucker, The Amazing Rhythm Aces and Jerry Jeff Walker. This was quite a progressive playlist for a station in Melbourne, Florida. It defied conventional country wisdom and defined what country music was to me. These jocks loved the music they played and the passion came through and made a connection that resonates 35 years later. That kind of radio is not gone, but it is rare. I caught a bit of a show on an Atlanta college station recently that was very deep. Some of the programming on WSM, Nashville (such as Jim Lauderdale’s Wednesday afternoon slot) connects that way. Public radio should make this niche part of its mission but the Roots music shows that lean country are too academic in their presentation. Inspired by my radio heroes, I would get into the act a few years later but the only country station I ever worked on as a DJ was my first one

(WTAI AM 1560-Melbourne, FL 1981)

I discovered you could make more money as a Program Director or writing reading news, so I went where the money was if only for ‘a few dollars more.’ Someday, perhaps I will program a country show. Until then, I will re-live the old days and create playlists and features in my mind; the radio equivalent of air guitar.

Nashville in One Day

If you are flying into Nashville for a day, you can do an excellent tour of the city in a few hours. Nashville International is a relatively small place. You can be off a plane and in a cab in about 10 minutes. The airport is just 8 miles from Broadway, which is where you want to go to see the country music sites of the city. Start at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge 422 Broadway

Tootsie's is not the greatest club on Broadway, but it is a legendary landmark for classic country fans. Roger Miller, Bobby Bare and Waylon Jennings would hang out between sets on the Opry in the old Ryman Auditorium which is just out the back door of Tootsie's. The music is inconsistent, a little too modern for a classic country lover but the memorabilia and signed photos on the wall are worth a look

A couple of doors down Broadway is Roberts Western World

This is the club where BR549 was the house band for a few years in the 80's and day or night, the music is consistently good. You can order a Pabst Blue Ribbon and a grill cheese on Texas Toast and get out of there for $5

Legends Corner at 5th and Broadway is another cool venue with live country and Honky Tonk which you can hear from the Street

Hatch Showprint is a few step back up the street at 316 Broadway. This is where some of the most enduring images of country music were created on a wooden letterpress. You can pick through a selection of newly produced posters for contemporary artists such as The Pixies, Bruce Springsteen and Keb Mo. You can also buy classic country and Rock & Roll posters of Elvis, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. Hatch Showprints only create a limited run for posters so if you don't buy one at the actual show advertised, you might be able to get a leftover the day after at the Hatch shop

Walk to the stop light at 5^th Avenue South and walk two blocks to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Admission is $19.99 to see displays such as Webb Pierce's silver dollar studded Cadillac, a Rhinestone Nudie suit worn by Gram Parsons and Hank Williams guitar. They have a nice (but pricey) gift shop with some of the nicer Music City souvenirs

The RCA Studio B Tour bus leaves from the hall of fame and takes you to the studio where Elvis recorded "Are You Lonesome Tonight," Waylon cut "Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line", and Connie Smith recorded "Once A Day" and many other hits in the 60's. Marty Stuart recorded his Grammy winning Studio B Sessions album here. This is a short video on the making of the album and the history of this landmark

Head down 5th Ave the The Ryman Auditorium for a tour of the most famous home of The Grand Ol Opry. The broadcast originates at the Opry House about 15 minutes down I 65, but through out the year The Grand Ol Opry is back at The Ryman, which is the place to see the show http://search2.opry.com/?view=events

Nashville Treasure: Ernest Tubb Record Shop #2

Most visitors to Nashville make the rounds Downtown, where The Ernest Tubb Record Shop is one of the most recognizable landmarks on Broadway. A few miles North is a second location and the Texas Troubador Theater, where the Midnight Jamboree broadcast originates every Saturday night. This other Ernest Tubb location is worth the trip down Music Valley Drive (a block from the Opry House). This store features considerably more room to move, and while I can't tell if there is more inventory than Broadway I found everything I was looking for. The Merle Haggard and Waylon Bear family box sets (available in multiples) along with a deep selection of Bluegrass, Americana and the finest selection of country music books I have ever seen. Some Obscure DVD's were also available, including "Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan: Cowboy Jack Clement's Home Movies," which I have been anxious to see for a year. A personal treat for me was The Green Hornet, Ernest Tubb's 1970's era tour bus (which you may board and view free of charge.) This was the bus outside The Eau Gallie Civic Center when I saw ET in 1976 when I was 13. It was my first country concert and really lit the fuse for my concert habit that continues 35 years later. Nashville has many sites for country fans making the pilgrimage here, but this stop at 2416 Music Valley Drive is essential. If you can make it on Saturday, even better. The Midnight Jamboree starts at 10pm and admission is free