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| Pine Cones in White Viera Wetlands, FL |
Hello blog.
For those of you not, like, super into country music, you might not get the reference there.*
This week, I’m getting back into my habit of evening reading after spending my nights in front of the television watching Ken Burns’ Country Music instead. It was showing four nights a week on PBS at 8, with a rerun of each episode at 10. Some nights, I had to wait until the 10 o’clock showing because: football. But even when I was able to start at 8, I couldn’t get myself to bed until well after midnight. Television isn’t sleep inducing at all for me. And that was Sunday through Wednesday. Thursday through Saturday I kept myself up late because I had to stay in the groove. Right?
So…country music. I’m not a fan, really. At all. When my husband and I got married we specifically requested the DJ at our reception play “no country music,” and just to be sure, we added, “NO WILLIE NELSON!”
So why would I want to watch the documentary, you might ask. History, of course. I love history. And it’s been a while since I indulged in some. [Do NOT get me started on the History Channel, OMFG.]
I really like the film Coal Miner’s Daughter with Sissy Spacek, so I’m not vociferously against the genre. And it was an excellent documentary. I learned quite a bit about the history of radio itself, and the Grand Ole Opry. About ASCAP and BMI (entities I knew about, but not so much).
The coolest thing I learned was that the song “A Boy Named Sue” was written by none other than Shel Silverstein. And here is a list of the Top 10 Country Songs written by him.
And though I didn’t want Willie singing at my wedding, I don’t dislike all of his songs. His history with Nashville alone was pretty cool.
There was this one little orange dude (he seemed less orange over time) who was interviewed and featured throughout the episodes and I still don’t know who he is. His story, when it arrived, though, was pretty sweet. As a little kid, he and his mom went to see a young country music star on tour and he vowed he’d marry her one day. And he did. And toward the end (or at the end…it’s all a blur now) Burns wove him in as he brought it all around to a conclusion with the recording of, I think, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
The early stuff was fascinating. Country music’s roots in Europe, Great Britain, and Ireland. Race records and racism in the industry. The hillbilly mystique. I have to say, it was worth losing sleep over. But you don’t have to. It’s all available for your streaming pleasure at Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns on the PBS site.
And while you’ve got Ken Burns on your mind, check out this huge list of films he’s done. I’ve got a lot of watching to do.
*Willie Nelson wrote a song called “Hello Walls” which became a huge hit for Faron Young. In fact, Willie Nelson wrote a lot of songs recorded by other artists early in his career. According to Country Music, other artists made fun of the title by saying things like, “Hello cup,” “Hello chair,” and “Hello table.” But it was a good song nonetheless.