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Ken Burns: Country Music. 8 episodes. 16 Hours. Starts Sep. 15.


atomheartbevo

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10 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Tonight’s was my favorite by far, wished it could have gone on an hour around the Texas stuff.     Surprised and pleased by the solid coverage of Townes van Zandt.  They did a really good job of contrasting Austin/Texas with Nashville and LA.  

shit I picked it up around 830 and must’ve missed TVZ.  I’m gonna have to rewatch.  thanks for heads up

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31 minutes ago, futureman said:

shit I picked it up around 830 and must’ve missed TVZ.  I’m gonna have to rewatch.  thanks for heads up

Yep, whole part about him and Guy Clark and some of the other independent types.    First part was great with Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner and some of the others   

Loved how they ended tonight with connecting Willie and Merle to EmmyLou’s Pancho and Lefty, connecting her to Gram Parsons, and then to TVZ.  Then playing Willie and Merle’s Pancho and Lefty and showing an image of Willie’s guitar, and then rolling credits with Jolene.   

I’ve watched plenty of documentaries and A&E Biography and the like, and Ken Burns’s crew takes things just a little further and shows you the more interesting connections.  

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3 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

The beginning of the story of Hank Jr is pretty damn sad.   Damn.  Dude almost ended it before it started because the fans wanted him to be his dad 

Part of that was directly on the fans, part was on his crazy, needy mother, who promoted him that way for a decade prior to his "rebellion".

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9 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

He can commiserate with Tennessee Ernie Ford.   And maybe Conway Twitty, although he got mentioned as Loretta’s duet partner.   Johnny Horton.   Jerry Reed.  Jim Reeves.   

Im not gonna complain too much.  

Jimmy Webb 

 

Also a bit strange that Johnny Rodriguez gets more air time than Glen Campbell.

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18 minutes ago, EMAWesome said:

Jimmy Webb 

Also a bit strange that Johnny Rodriguez gets more air time than Glen Campbell.

I have seen some speculation on a few country forums that some people were not as prominently mentioned based on their estates/family’s amount of cooperation.  Some hints of them wanting big payments (or something else) for rights, etc.

I know the recording companies have all cooperated, both on the soundtrack, just like they did with the Vietnam series.

Shit, the record companies should have contributed a lot of money towards it, like Nashville and Tennessee did.  This has got to be helping their back catalogs.  

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I own probably 2000 lps and maybe 1000 cds. Tens of thousands of songs, but not one Dolly Parton song. Occasionally I've wondered why. Watching last night's episode I discovered the reason. As soon as she started singing, I started weeping, and couldn't stop. From Muleskinner Blues to I Will Always Love You the tears flowed. She opens her mouth, and out comes the breath of God. It's simply a beauty which is more than I can handle.   

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1 hour ago, Not that Bob said:

I own probably 2000 lps and maybe 1000 cds. Tens of thousands of songs, but not one Dolly Parton song. Occasionally I've wondered why. Watching last night's episode I discovered the reason. As soon as she started singing, I started weeping, and couldn't stop. From Muleskinner Blues to I Will Always Love You the tears flowed. She opens her mouth, and out comes the breath of God. It's simply a beauty which is more than I can handle.   

I dig Dolly, but Patsy had the best voice in all of country music history, past and present for now.

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13 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

It has always seemed strange to me that Willie had never heard Pancho & Lefty before recording it. Wasn’t Townes pretty well known amongst songwriters?

 But what a crazy credit to him that he heard it, then woke up Merle, then went and laid it down about as well as it could be done, all in one night.

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My Dad played guitar to pay his way through college (it only took him 11 years).  When I picked up a guitar and started mouthing off about how cool it would be to "make it" he set me real straight:  "I'm the only guy I've ever met in this business who's still married to their first wife.  I've seen guys better than anyone you've ever seen on TV practice 8 hours a day and never make it.  That's not to say don't keep playing, but don't forget your books."  That stuck with me, for better or worse, but probably mostly better.  

Watching this documentary I can see why he said that.  Damn near everyone who was anyone he had admired or associated with, sacrificed their health and personal life to make it.  Lots of broken lives in the wake of the greats.  

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Just looked at Amazon’s charts.  The top albums in Americana:

  1. Wanted! The Outlaws
  2. Flying Burrito Brothers Anthology
  3. The Essential Guy Clark
  4. The Very Best of Dwight Yoakam

Top MP3 Country Downloads

  1. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle be Unbroken
  2. Highwomen
  3. Willie - Red Headed Stranger
  4. Garths Biggest Hits
  5. Kris Kristofferson 16 Biggest Hits
  6. Country Squire
  7. Country Music Soundtrack
  8. Wanted! The Outlaws
  9. Essential Johnny Cash
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54 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Just looked at Amazon’s charts.  The top albums in Americana:

  1. Wanted! The Outlaws
  2. Flying Burrito Brothers Anthology
  3. The Essential Guy Clark
  4. The Very Best of Dwight Yoakam

Top MP3 Country Downloads

  1. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle be Unbroken
  2. Highwomen
  3. Willie - Red Headed Stranger
  4. Garths Biggest Hits
  5. Kris Kristofferson 16 Biggest Hits
  6. Country Squire
  7. Country Music Soundtrack
  8. Wanted! The Outlaws
  9. Essential Johnny Cash

Ken Burns ought to have some new sponsors for his next film - I'm looking at you big record companies...

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5 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

The stuff on Kristofferson is fascinating. I never knew any if this stuff about him. What a life. 

I knew nothing about him before he was a janitor. Had no idea about his military service. Really changed my view of him.

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2 hours ago, RPM said:

I'm pissed. When I set series record on my dvr I didn't change the default setting (keep 5 episodes). It deleted Ep 1 & 2 and I don't see another airing of them.

They are on the PBS app, but not sure for how long.  Also, PBS app has extra interviews, and did not realize it - I wasn’t scrolling down on my tv.   

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kris is no bullshit in the running for most interesting man in the world. can't imagine his check list back then, and he didn't discriminate from janis joplin to farrah fawcett (swear there was some story about him recanting his times with FF that she was so skinny his balls dragged across the mattress all night)

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Just now, RPM said:

I was wondering wtf happened to her. Bad plastic surgery?

Just too much.  I hate the over the top procedures some women have.  When you walk down the street in places like Palm Beach Florida or other upper income places/ resort towns  you see older women with frozen faces that just look like masks.  

An amazing voice though.

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19 minutes ago, RPM said:

I was wondering wtf happened to her. Bad plastic surgery?

She tells all in her book from a while back, Naomi's Guide to Aging Gratefully: Facts, Myths, and Good News for Boomers

It should be noted, she did not call it "Naomi's Guide to Aging Gracefully".  She knows what she's doing.

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kris is no bullshit in the running for most interesting man in the world. can't imagine his check list back then, and he didn't discriminate from janis joplin to farrah fawcett (swear there was some story about him recanting his times with FF that she was so skinny his balls dragged across the mattress all night)

Plus Rita Coolidge. She’s smoke.

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Did they talk about Billy Joe Shaver and Honky Tonk Heroes album when covering Waylon?

“I’ve got those songs, and you’re going to listen to them—or I’m going to kick your ass right here in front of God and everybody.”

https://music.avclub.com/honky-tonk-heroes-has-one-of-the-best-stories-in-coun-1798282204

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