I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — for fans of the recently concluded television series, Downton Abbey: The Exhibition— twelve rooms plus 50 costumes (wedding gowns, beaded evening dresses, hats and jewelry) and ‘virtual visits’ from favorite characters, set to coincide with the feature film release on September 13th — will be at the The Castle at Park Plaza armory in Boston, Massachusetts through September 29th.
Plus hundreds of propsTHEATER NOTES — this coming March will mark the Broadway debut of a Conor McPherson-written play entitled Girl From the North Country— yes, featuring the music of Bob Dylan — based upon a down-on-its-luck community on the brink of change in 1934 Duluth, Minnesota and which had success in London.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Wilbur the Cat— an English kitteh who has been dubbed the ‘King of Ruddington’ by town residents, who plan to celebrate his 10th birthday … that is, if they can find him in one of his regular haunts (including a local hairdresser, two pubs and the Nottingham Building Society).
Wilbur the CatFOLLOWING ELECTION SUCCESS last month, India’s prime minister sought to make Hindi a compulsory language in non-Hindi speaking states in the south of the nation … but had to withdraw his bill after an instant uproar.
IN CENTRAL and SOUTH AMERICA courts are increasingly allowing same-sex marriage … with Ecuador’s constitutional court ruling that its constitution’s ban on same-sex marriage was outweighed …. by its equal protection clause.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Nala the Cat— an English kitteh who was the constant companion of a girl who died of brain cancer at age nineteen … now keeping a family’s memory of their daughter fresh three years later …. and Nala is a finalist in the UK’s annual Cat Awards (in the Outstanding Rescue Cat category) in August.
Nala the Rescue CatBRAIN TEASER — try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
TRAVEL NOTES — due to the city’s old walled town being a model for Game of Thrones, the Croatian city of Dubrovnik has seen a rise in tourism from the show’s fans … with 8 out of 18 walking tours of the city based on the show (and tourists re-creating scenes from it at certain sites).
GRANDMOTHER-GRANDDAUGHTER? — film star Kim Darby (“True Grit”) and Emma Boettcher, who recently ended James Holzhauer’s Jeopardy! reign.
Kim Darby (born 1947) Emma Boettcher (b. 1992)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… though I have featured him for two of his songs made famous by others — Jeannie C. Riley’s Harper Valley PTA and Leo Kottke’s Pamela Brown — it was only after seeing that he had been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame just this month …. that it occurred to me that Tom T. Hall deserved a full profile. He was both a songwriter and performer (in that order) and something of an outlier in Nashville. Long retired, his life as The Storyteller (as Tex Ritter dubbed him) needs to be told anew.
Born in Olive Hill, Kentucky in 1936— saying “I spent my whole life trying to get out of there” — he achieved success writing songs about the people who lived there. His mother died when he was eleven and later his father was hurt in a hunting accident and was unable to continue work as a bricklayer … so Tom had to drop-out of school and take a factory job.
He had taken-up guitar early and was taught by local musician Clayton Delaney (who died of TB at only age twenty-two) and joined his first band, the Kentucky Travelers bluegrass band while becoming a DJ at a local radio station in Morehead, Kentucky. In 1957 (at age twenty-one) he enlisted in the Army and spent the next four years in Germany (which featured into his future songs).
Upon his discharge, he enrolled in Roanoke College in Virginia (on the GI Bill) as a journalism student. His songwriting grew out of his love of literature and philosophy: from Socrates and Plato to Dickens to James Joyce to Sinclair Lewis to Kurt Vonnegut and Anton Chekhov.
He also worked as a radio station DJ and performing, and a Nashville talent scout heard some of his work. His referral landed Tom Hall a job with a publisher, who added the middle initial “T” to his name (there is some question as to whether he even had a middle name). In 1963, Hall had his first #1 country hit when Jimmy Newman recorded “DJ for a Day” and his songwriting became in demand. He moved to Nashville and had another #1 hit with Johnnie Wright’s rendition of “Hello Vietnam” in 1964. The song extolled the soldiers (and not the war) and his views would evolve over the years.
He was persuaded to perform his own songs and went on to have seven #1 country hits of his own, including “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine”, “I Love”, “Country Is” and “A Week in a County Jail”.
His big breakthrough came in my previous profile of Jeannie C. Riley’s rendition of Harper Valley PTA — reaching #1 in both the country and pop charts simultaneously in 1968. Hall’s best-selling own single was his tribute to his old guitar teacher, The Year that Clayton Delaney Died in 1971. I also like his aforementioned song “Pamela Brown” that I noted in a 2014 Leo Kottke profile.
He appeared on the television show Hee Haw several times and — owing to his first love — became a prolific author. Works of fiction accompanied his semi-autobiographical Storyteller’s Nashville and books on songwriting: The Songwriter’s Handbook and How I Write Songs (and) How You Can.
His views on war became more darker, and he always had a sense of social injustice: in songs such as “America The Ugly,” “I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew,” “The Man Who Hated Freckles,” and “I Want to See the Parade,” never suggesting the solution would derive from the authorities but rather from a change in the hearts and minds of individuals. “Watergate Blues” in 1973 was another example: “I’m obviously kind of a liberal. Most of the folks around here (where he lives) are Republican”, referring to himself as “sort of an old hippie.”
At age eighty-three, he (largely) retired from recording in 1986 and in personal performances in 1994 (although he did one final concert in 2011).
He received one 1972 Grammy Award (appropriately) for the prose in his album liner notes— and Rolling Stone named his 1972 hit ‘Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine’ as #93 in its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time list. Hall had traveled to Miami Beach to perform at the Democratic National Convention that nominated George McGovern and returned to Nashville afterward with a soon-to-be-hit. A janitor, just a month away from his 66th birthday, shared his impressions of the only three things worth a damn in life (while casting aspersions on the loyalty and value of lovers and friends) – and Hall took it all down.
He has been inducted into several Halls of Fame — in 1978, the Nashville Songwriters, then in 2002 the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. Next in 2008, the Country Music and in 2018 the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. The Country Music Hall came late in the eyes of many … attributed in part to his reclusiveness, not working with others and falling out-of-step with the corporate influence in Nashville. In 2012 he was named as by a performing-rights organization as a BMI Icon… and earlier this month, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Yet it is the number of people recording his songs that may perhaps be his best legacy. In addition to those already noted: Bobby Bare, Solomon Burke, Eric Church, Bill Haley, Johnny Cash, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Duane Eddy, Patty Griffin, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings and Gram Parsons.
Tom T. Hall (circa 1967) ….. …. and now in this decadeAnd while I wanted to feature a song he performed himself … I recently heard this song that he wrote in 1964, which was recorded by both Jimmy C. Newman … and this Texas-born performer. The lyrics blew-me-away … and speak for themselves.
On November twenty second Nineteen hundred sixty three A sunny day in Texas In a town they call Big D A man was killed to change The entire course of history His name was John Fitzgerald Kennedy
He was riding in a motorcade That sad and fateful day Mrs. Connelly turned to him In a voice so bright and gay She pointed out that people there Had treated him real nice Minutes later bullets took his precious life
Mrs. Kennedy cried “Oh no” And she caught him as he fell But the world lost him that moment Only history can tell They rushed him to the doctors Took five minutes on the way As the word flashed around The world stopped and prayed
It was over in just minutes John F. Kennedy was dead Disbelief shocked in sorrow The people bowed their heads Mrs. Kennedy stood beside him As the tears came to her eyes Put a ring upon his hand And kissed him good-bye
The pens of men will scribble On his sad utility Perhaps a paragraph or two Will touch reality John F. Kennedy was proud and brave His story has been told His only blessing May God rest his soul
When you sing this song, be brave And sing it loud and strong and clear John F. Kennedy was not a man To ever speak in fear Pick up the flag, march on to peace And pray that there will be More men like John Fitzgerald Kennedy
On that day ... the entire world lost a man
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