contents
cmp
October 2018
Features
WHITEY
MORGAN
12 Whitey Morgan
The uncompromising Outlaw enjoys not being in
the mainstream. He talks to Duncan Warwick.
W
hitey Morgan has been hitting the road hard
for more than a decade and he rather likes
still being a little underground. So do his
fans. And there are plenty of them lapping
up his uncompromising foot-stomping Outlaw honky tonk
and hard country grooves. Whitey Morgan and his band, the
78’s, have reached the level where, whilst still not on the
radar of followers of the mainstream, any new album they
release is likely to make a healthy showing ahead of many
supposedly bigger names on the Billboard Country Albums
chart. Expect to see Morgan’s latest, Hard Times And White
Lines, doing just that when it is released at the end of this
month.
Morgan, whose real name is Eric Allen, has used the
Whitey monicker since 2005 and he is naturally delighted
that the years of hard work and constant touring are paying
off.
“It definitely is. What’s cool is that the fans that have been
there from the beginning really appreciate it too because
most of them are just a bunch of hardworking, blue-collared
people and I really get it that we’ve worked this hard for
it and we didn’t get it handed to us and we did it without
country radio. So, to me, that’s the only way to do it…I
tell people all the time if you want to do this for a living
expect to work really hard or expect to burn out really fast
if you don’t want to work hard,” says the singer, summing
up not only his own work ethic but that of the once proud
industrial Michigan town of Flint from which he hails.
“It’s good that we’re all on our little island and not
everybody is invited to this party because not everybody
would get it and we don’t want everybody to get it. I don’t
think that mainstream radio is something that would
really necessarily help what’s happening right now. It
would almost probably kill it like the mainstream does to
everything that’s good.”
He’s quite happy being outside of the mainstream thank you very much. The Outlaw singer
speaks to Duncan Warwick.
16 The Birth Of A Broadcast
The very beginnings of WSM and The Grand Ole Opry by Stan Hitchcock.
12 cmp - OCTOBER 2018
OCTOBER 2018 - cmp
20 King Of The Road
Dean Miller speaks to Duncan Warwick about the tribute album to his father - Roger Miller -
he’s put together and why he really was King Of The Road.
26 Ashley Campbell - Week In The Life
Glen’s daughter shares her week in Europe, from festival appearances to driving a stick
shift.
54 Duane Eddy
The Twangmaster talks twang to Spencer Leigh.
13
Page 12
THE
BIRTH
OF A
One Old Man, With A Fiddle
of insurance premiums. George D Hay was the first,
with the most, and it is still paying off for WSM. And
it was all because of one old man with a fiddle.
WSM, became an affiliate of NBC Radio Network,
and took most of their prime time long form
programs, but George needed a programming “Home
Run”. As I said before, George D Hay loved American
folk music, and he knew lots of local musicians. His
home run came when he found an old fiddle player
from La Guardo, Tennessee, by the name of Uncle
Jimmy Thompson, who was a local legendary fiddle
player and had won every fiddle contest he ever
entered. George Hay brought Uncle Jimmy into the
new studios of WSM, sat him in a comfortable chair
in front of the mic, and turned him loose to play. And
he played, and played. This 80-year-old fiddle player
played non-stop for over an hour and a half, going
out over WSM’s powerful transmitter, much further
than just around Nashville and the middle Tennessee
region. It seems that what few radios were in
existence at that time in history, most of them must
have been tuned in to 650 on their radio dial. Even
before the program was over and they were able to
get Uncle Jimmy to stop playing (he just kept sawing
away with his bow, a marathon ma n) telegrams
were pouring in to the station. The people loved it!
That’s been the case ever since the first song was
played - in ancient history, when an Aborigine cave
dweller strung a gut string across the jawbone of a
prehistoric donkey. So, think about it, one 80-year-
old, long white-bearded farmer from Wilson County,
Tennessee…Well, he started it all, caused the whole
explosion of Music City USA! One old timer with a
fiddle.
Luckily, George D Hay happened to love old time
music, called “hillbilly”, “folk music”, “old timey
music” and any number of other names, at the time,
before marketing geniuses got involved and came up
with even more titles. It sure did not take long for
the word to get out about this new medium of radio.
Musicians have always sought ways to reach their
audience, and that radio with live music was getting
people’s attention. Why, every musician and string
band in the area started trying to get in to see Mr.
Hay. The first appearance of Uncle Jimmy Thompson
was so popular with listeners that the program
was expanded, and other musicians added, but the
first string band that was invited to appear was Dr.
It would be nice to think that, when WSM Radio
went on the air in the Fall of 1925, that the owners
of the Station, National Life And Accident Insurance
Co, would be such fans of American music that they
would use their powerful radio signal to further
the advance of our beloved music. Yessir, that’s the
way it worked, right? Now, come on folks, can you
imagine the Nashville Country Club set, the Elite
Southern Aristocracy, richer than most of us can even
imagine, and they probably did not sit around with
their buddies and listen to a lot of banjo, fiddle and
guitar, playing Bile That Cabbage Down… No, these
insurance moguls formed the radio station WSM
for one good reason… To sell insurance, and they
did a dang good job of that. But, give the insurance
boys credit, they hired someone who would have
the foresight, and music vision, to establish a piece
of music history. History will always award that
visionary prize to the Program Director of WSM,
who had been hired away from the giant midwestern
radio station in Chicago, WLS, where he was the
announcer for The National Barn Dance. His name
was George D. Hay, “The Solemn Old Judge”, and
he was one smart feller. George D Hay took to
his new job with great enthusiasm, and found he
needed something to fill the hours of program time
allotted to WSM, when they were not, as the NBC
radio affiliate, just playing the networks programs.
George Hay was a smart radio guy, he knew Old Time
Music, and he knew that he had to develop some
local programs to gain acceptance for WSM in their
hometown and across the rural areas that WSM
was reaching. He also knew that the right program
would probably help solidify his position with the
parent company, National Life, and maybe even help
sell some insurance. Now, about this same time,
across town, the competition was also getting into
this new media of radio. Life And Casualty Insurance
Co. had launched WLAC radio, and built the highest
skyscraper in Nashville, at the time, and for years
the proud L&C letters stood out in neon on top, and
was the first thing you saw in the Nashville skyline.
WLAC management was looking into ways to sell
insurance also, but they ended up going in a different
direction with their music. So, Nashville radio, in
its infancy, was really no more than a couple of
insurance companies competing for a dollar’s worth
BROAD
CAST
How one radio station
changed the world
BY
STAN
HITCHCOCK
16 cmp - OCTOBER 2018
Humphrey Bate and his group The Possum Hunters.
Made up of five of his Sumner County, Tennessee
neighbours, including the first man to play guitar on
Nashville radio, Staley Walton, “The Man That Drove
The Rhythm”, and they, along with Uncle Jimmy
Thompson, had no idea what they were putting in
gear. But George D Hay knew what he was doing, and
he played it for all it was worth. He started calling the
program “WSM Barn Dance”, and it was stirring up
people to flood the station with telegrams and letters
of praise and support.
THE BIRTH OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY
Soon, other groups of musicians, some so new that
George Hay had to name them, followed Uncle Jimmy
and the string band The Possum Hunters. Groups,
like the Fruit Jar Drinkers, Sam and Kirk McGee From
Sunny Tennessee, The Crook Brothers, and one of
the first superstars of our music, Uncle Dave Macon,
“The Dixie Dewdrop”. After a couple of years of the
Barn Dance, Mr. Hay solidified his place in history by
changing the name of the program to “The Grand Ole
Opry” and, folks, it just kinda took off like a runaway
locomotive.
Although the end of the decade, in 1929, brought
financial chaos, the collapse of Wall Street, and set off
hard times for most business ventures, people still
had to have insurance, and by now WSM had started
letting audiences come in to watch the radio show.
They were doing the performances inside the little
20 X 20 foot studio, with a glass viewing window
to the hall so the audience could see the action and
hear the sound on a small wall-mounted speaker. The
Opry quickly outgrew the studio and went to several
other venues around Nashville to accommodate the
crowds clamouring to see the shows. Meanwhile,
don’t forget, the owner of WSM and The Grand Ole
Opry was an insurance company. They just wanted
to sell policies. So, the parent company gave each
insurance salesman a book of Opry tickets to give
away as premiums to new customers. It seems this
simple, backwoods music show was really catching
on, just as George D Hay had envisioned. “Keep her
down to earth, boys and girls”, he would continually
say to the musicians, and his simplicity worked.
The Opry was still featuring mainly string bands,
and it wasn’t until 1937 that Roy Acuff and The
OCTOBER 2018 - cmp
17
Page 16
Reviews
30 Album Reviews
49 Live Reviews
I
t has frequently been said that the music of Roger Miller
defies classification. He has also been described as an
“uncategorisable talent”. However, one inarguabl e fact is
that he was a genius. The man behind the global smash
and often covered King Of The Road was a songwriting
powerhouse responsible for a large part of the soundtrack to
the 1960s. Whether it was embracing the British Invasion of
the 60s in England Swings, or the whimsical nonsense of Chug-
A-Lug or Do Wacka Do, to the Dr- Seuss-like wisdom of what
he called “his favourite” song You Can’t Rollerskate In A Buffalo
Herd Roger Miller was a big deal. Away from the more wacky
side of his writing he could also write a honky tonkin’ country
song with the best of ‘em. He and George Jones coalesced for
Tall Tall Trees, the song revived by Alan Jackson in the 90s, and
as a member of Ray Price’s Cherokee Cowboys he came from
the same stable as Willie Nelson, Johnny Bush, Darrell McCall,
and Johnny Paycheck. He supplied Ernest Tubb with Half A
Mind, his boss, Price, with Invitation To The Blues, and Jim
Reeves with Billy Bayou. He co-wrote When Two Worlds Collide
with Bill Anderson, and some of those songs, along with many
others from his catalogue, can be found on the newly released
tribute to Roger Miller, called unsurprisingly, King Of The Road,
and featuring a wide range of artists from different genres.
You will find Kacey Musgraves, Loretta Lynn, Asleep At The
Wheel, Brad Paisley, Rodney Crowell, Alison Krauss and Dolly
Parton alongside Cake, Toad The Wet Sprocket, and actor John
Goodman. There are many more across the 31 tracks.
The album has been put together by Miller’s son, Dean Miller,
who has recently been behind the desk producing the likes of
Dallas Moore and Leslie Tom and has himself been signed to
the odd major label in Nashville in his time.
The album has been a long time in the works, and naturally
a labour of love for Roger Dean Miller Jr. who explains the
Regulars
20 cmp - OCTOBER 2018
conception of the project. “Well a guy came to me a couple
of years ago and said he’d like to do a tribute album to Roger
Miller and I said, ‘If you’ve got the money I’ll get the people.’ So
we kind of collaborated on this and I just knew if we started
asking people who wanted to be involved, a whole list of people
were going to jump on it and say, ‘Yes, absolutely’. So we spent
about a year gathering artists and putting songs with artists
and myself and my partner would produce the tracks, unless
the artist wanted to do it themselves, then we just let them do
it themselves with whoever they wanted to. So it’s a mixture
of all kinds of people producing the album, but I think it really
came together well. We spent about a year working on it and
then a year dealing with managers and lawyers on the phone.”
Some artists were a shoo-in for the project because of
their association with Miller senior. Others came later, Miller
explains, “Well I just kind of knew more than anybody else who
my dad had relationships with and who would have jumped on
it to do it. So I knew to call Dolly Parton, I knew to call Ringo
Starr, I know John Goodman was involved with his being in Big
River - the [seven Tony Award-winning including “Best Score”
for Miller] play on Broadway - and then I just started calling
the biggest and the best. And then the word got out and people
started asking to be a part of it and a lot of people we had to
say, ‘Oh, there’s not really room’. I was determined not to let
anybody cheesy be on the record.”
Miller adds with a laugh, “I was determined to make it all
cool people all doing cool renditions of songs.”
Alongside the household names like Dolly and Willie on the
project are some names that might be less familiar to country
fans, like, say, Toad The Wet Sprocket. “They’re kind of an
alternative rock band here and I just…I wanted to make sure
that there were people on this record that were maybe younger
or unknown or influenced by my father from unexpected
OCTOBER 2018 - cmp
21
Page 20
4 News
8 Tour Guide
11 The David Allan Page
25 Corner Of Music Row
52 Nice to meet y’all... - Shawn Williams
60 Nice to meet y’all.. - Cheryl Deseree
62 Americana Roundup
63 Write To Reply
WEEK
LIFE ...
IN THE
Ashley
Campbell
(Artist)
3-10 Sept 2018
Ashley Campbell:
The Lonely One is
available now
“ I
ashleycampbellmusic.com
I am a country/roots artist and I currently
call Nashville, Tennessee my home. I
just released my debut album earlier this
year and I’m just now beginning to see
the reach of that music. I had been to the UK
and Europe many times but had never played a
show in Europe until now. Here is a basic look at
my week long tour and adventures between the
shows.
Sept. 3, 2018 Paris to Berlin
Going into this tour, I happened to be coming out of a two week
vacation with two of my best friends. We spent a week on a beautiful
island off the coast of Rome and then a few days with some of my
family friends in the south of France followed by two nights in Paris.
Needless to say I was blissful, well-rested and definitely over the jet
lag by the time I landed in Berlin on that sunny afternoon of September
3rd. I had never been to Germany so I was very excited to see the city
and eat some schnitzel! I had lunch and enjoyed a beer in the charming
courtyard of the Michelberger Hotel and then, as is often the case at
the beginning of a tour, I headed off in an uber to a string of interviews
for various German media outlets. By the time I returned to the hotel,
my incredible musicians had arrived from a very long day of travel. It
was time for beer and schnitzel! We ate in a really lively part of town at
a place called Max and Moritz. The food did not disappoint! We walked
back to the hotel fully sated and ready to get a good night’s sleep.
Sept. 4, 2018 Berlin
I woke up around 10am and went downstairs with my band mates
Eli and Cy for coffee and croissants. The hotel cafe also had fresh
squeezed orange juice, which always puts a huge smile on my face. I
took an uber to another part of town to look in some clothing shops but
didn’t end up finding anything. I met up with Eli for lunch at a Korean
BBQ joint a few doors down from the hotel. If the schnitzel place wasn’t
a 30 mi nute walk I would have gone there again for lunch! I’m serious
about my schnitzel love y’all! But I’m also a huge fan of Asian food
so this Korean place really hit the spot. Incredible Bibimbop! Pretty
soon after lunch, it was time to head off to soundcheck at Privatclub.
Privatclub is a charming, intimate venue with great sound! We were
all very excited about the smorgasbord they had laid out for us in the
greenroom too! The guys had never tasted paprika potato chips before
so that was a big hit with the group. Also a mound of Haribo gummy
treats! Yes please. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a pretty food
oriented person haha. Before the show I was a little nervous about
performing in a non-english speaking country. I wondered what the
communication would be like in between songs or if my jokes would
land. All those fears were completely blown away the second I took the
stage. The audience was so wonderful, attentive and vocal! I felt like we
really connected and felt totally at ease on stage. Thanks to everyone
who attended for making me feel so welcome!
Sept. 5, 2018 Cologne
We took the train from Berlin to Cologne and managed to fit in a few
rounds of backgammon on the way. Upon arrival, we stepped outside
the train station and were immediately awestruck by the towering
Gothic cathedral just steps away from the station itself! Nothing makes
26 cmp - OCTOBER 2018
you feel like a blip on the map of time like a huge building that’s been
there since the year 1248 and is still going strong. Knowing we didn’t
have time to see the cathedral up close, we reluctantly hopped in a
cab and headed to our airbnb near the venue. We dropped our bags at
the stylish top floor apartment then immediately headed out in search
of some hearty German food. We found a cute German cafe and sat
down outside. We each ordered a beer as is very necessary on warm,
sunny days. There was a nice German gentleman at the table next to
us eating a plate of sausages and fried potatoes. We pointed to him
and said, “I’ll have what he’s having.” It was wonderful. After lunch,
I headed back to the flat for a shower and to get ready for the show.
Blue Shell, the lovely small music venue we were to play that night
was only a 6 minute walk from the flat. We did our sound check and
were taken to the green room. Once again, the delights of Haribo
gummy candy rained down on us from on high. The green room here
was a cute, small lofted space at the back of the venue. It had kind of
a treehouse feel. I really loved the vibe. There were a few bottles of
cold beer in an ice bin so Eli and I helped ourselves. We ate dinner
at a lovely Indian restaurant next door with the free voucher provided
by the venue then got ready to rock some faces off. This club was a
little smaller than the one in Berlin so it felt even more intimate. The
audience, once again, was absolutely fantastic! I loved every minute of
that night!
OCTOBER 2018 - cmp
27
Page 26
Charts
STILL TWANGIN’ AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
Duane Eddy talks to Spencer Leigh.
Photos: Eric Fairchild courtesy of gretschguitars.com
T
64 Americana & UK Country Charts
65 Billboard Country Charts
Courtesy of Billboard Inc.
54 cmp - OCTOBER 2018
he
rock
and
roll era of
the 1950s
was a youthful
revolution, both
for the performers
and for their
audiences. Elvis was
19 when he made That’s All
Right, Mama; Phil Everly 18 when he sang
Bye Bye Love; Ritchie Valens only 17 with the incredible
La Bamba; and Brenda Lee 15 when she belted out Sweet
Nothin’s. Eddie Cochran was 21 when he died and Buddy
Holly 22.
There have been numerous press commentaries, both
then and now, as to how ridiculous it was for Bill Haley
to be leading a youth revolution: he was only in his early
thirties, but he looked as old as our dads. Much as I deplore
Albert Goldman’s books, his observation of Haley as “the
scoutmaster of rock and roll” was both spot on and very
funny.
You can see the change in fashion if you compare the US
country charts for 1955 and 1956. In 1955 the Number
1 records came from Hank Snow, Webb Pierce and Eddy
Arnold. A year later it was Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and
Johnny Cash, who were considerably younger.
The comparison with the young stars would be with
athletes who have to be under 30 to compete effectively in
most sports, but there is a difference. As the athletes grow
older, they are replaced by newer, more active competitors
and many of them turn to training the future generation.
Unless they fall ill or go to that great jukebox in the sky,
most of the rock and roll stars have kept on playing and to
this day both Marty Wilde and Dion absurdly ask “Why must
I be a teenager in love?” when they go on stage almost 80
years old. Maybe they should change it to “Why can’t I be a
teenager in love?” which would sound less ridiculous.
One reason that I don’t go to many oldies shows is because
I can’t stand the silly banter about care homes, incontinence,
dicky hearts, hearing losses and getting out of breath. Take
a bow (or rather don’t), Wayne Fontana. When I last saw the
Tremeloes, one of them rolled up his trousers to show us his
new knees. These actions and remarks are self-defeating.
By and large, rock and roll’s senior citizens are entertaining
other pensioners but their audiences don’t want to be
reminded of their age. They have come out to enjoy
themselves. They want to remember when they were 16
years old and hearing these life-affirming records
for the first time.
That great rock and roll guitarist Duane Eddy
is not only 80 years old but celebrating it. The
posters for his forthcoming UK concerts say the
dates are to celebrate his 80th birthday – Duane
was 80 on 26 April. Duane is at the London
Palladium (October 23), King’s Theatre,
Glasgow (October 28) and Bridgewater Hall,
Manchester (October 30). He’ll be playing
his famous Gretsch guitar – I know that
because the concerts are sponsored by
Gretsch. I can’t wait to hear that pulsating
Peter Gunn being played live, as indeed I
heard it at the Liverpool Empire in 1960.
Let’s hope he can still twang his guitar
while lean ing backwards in that famed
knees-bent stance.
I’m giving you our full telephone
conversation as it happened as it brings out
Duane’s dry humour. So let’s ring Nashville…
OCTOBER 2018 - cmp
55
Page 54