Blake Shelton: Legend in the Making

Unlike many people, my discovery of country music was inverted in the sense that instead of being lured into the genre by newer/hipper groups like Flordia Georgia Line or (god forbid) Taylor Swift, I started with classics like Cash, Hank, and Haggard. So when I came accross Blake Shelton for the first time, I found something that hooked me immediately as he mixes some familiar old themes and styles with the not-so-artificial side of Nashville`s new sound.

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General Information

This will be a rather short synopsis of Blake`s life, as, contrary to other artist I have written about, Blake posessess the lucky feature of being alive and young, which makes a biography not yet necessary. Nevertheless here it is. Blake Tollison Shelton was born 1976 in Ada, Oklahoma the son of Dick and Dorothy, a beauty salon owner and used car salesman (I’ll let you figure out who had which job).

As any true country singer, he began singing and picking early on.

Oh Boy (2003): This was a dark period for Blake Shelton’s hair, but he kept sporting that style for several years.

By 8 he had sung Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll” in a local talent show and was taught how to play the guitar by his uncle at age 12. A future career in music seemed even likelier once he won the Denbo Diamand Award, Oklahoma’s most prized honour for young entertainers in 1992. Two years earlier, Blake’s older brother Richie was involved in a fatal car accident, possibly spurring Shelton on to make something of himself.

However, what was a real motivation for Blake was the support of Mae Boren Axton, a songwriter who helped write

“Heartbreak Hotel” as well as songs for Steppenwolf and Willie Nelson. At one of his performances while at high school, she discovered his potential and told him a record deal is achievable if he worked hard. So, at 17, two weeks after graduating from high school, Blake Shelton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, his first job being a housepainter for Axton. She cemented his relationships in Nashville, ensuring Blake “met the right people and didn’t fall in with the wrong ones”. One of these right people was fellow songwriter Bobby Braddock. After they started collaborating, Blake’s career started picking up, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Nowadays Blake is probably best known in the non-country world for his success on the hit US TV show “the Voice” as one of the judges

His debut hit “Austin” reached number 1 (in the coutnry charts of course) for 5 weeks. His self-entitled debut album Blake Shelton reached gold and was released at the beginning of Austin’s climb to the top in July 2001, while being dedicated to hist deceased brother Richie. From there on, he has won CMA’s male vocalist of the year award several times, and his 2003 and 2006 albums The Dreamer and Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill also went gold after selling more than 500 000 exemplars each. 

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Best Songs (Public Opinion)

Honey Bee: Blake’s ninth #1 hit which even reached spot 13 on the Pop charts (which is pretty amazing for a country song) is just a gooey and sweet love song. If you manage to listen to the song and not end up happier than at the beginning then you have a heart of stone. The video itself is also a fun and light-hearted story of a honey saleswoman and well worth the watch.

Listen to Honey Bee (Blake’s Youtube channel disallows embedding videos for some reason)

Austin: Although this is by far not one of my favourite Blake songs, it was his first #1 hit that brought his career to fruition, so I could not leave it out. I would describe this song as a “grower”, meaning that you enjoy it more and more with each listen. It is again a love song about a girl called Austin and it consists of a series of answering machine messages.

Who are you when I’m not looking: If you haven’t guessed it until now, love is a recurring theme in many of blakes hits, but that is not necessarily negative. Blake wonders openly what his love interest does with her free time when she is alone: “Do you pour a little somethin’ on the rocks? Slide down the hall in your socks?” Simply a wonderful love song (another #1 hit of course) that everyone can relate to.

Listen to Who are you when I’m not looking

Best Songs (Personal Opinion)

Some Beach: A complete change of pace and feeling compared to his love songs, Some Beach is a brilliant feel good song. Everyone can empathise with Blake who sings about the daily grind of running late for work and painful experiences at the dentist while wishing he were “on some beach, somewhere”.

From the video: Blake in disbelief as a “foreign car driving dude” just flipped him off.

Nobody But Me: Many times have I sung along to this song at full volume while driving my car to town and back. The message is simple: “Nobody but me is gonna love you like you oughta be loved on”. Simple lyrics make this song quick and easy to learn while its short length (2:36 min) do not let the song drag on too much and become a nuisance.

Old Red: Ballad type songs are slowly disappearing, but Old Red definitely did its job and helped Blake turn into the superstar he is today. both George Jones and Kenny Rogers did this song already, but Blake released it as the final song of his 2002 debut album. A conert favourite, the song tells the story of a man trying to bust out of prison with the help a dog.

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Look at any Top 10 lists of Blues guitarists and artists, and I’ll be surprised if you don’t find Stevie Ray Vaughan there. Although he only had a short

SRV’s classic look: guitar in the hands, stetson on the head, cowboy boots on, and a poncho for good measure.

decade-long career, his material is the equivalent to the holy grail for any amateur and professional guitar player. I myself was introduced to him by my guitar teacher, and he is now what I consider to be the ultimate level of guitar playing – nothing is above him. Albert King and Jimi Hendrix are often cited as inspirations for Ray, and you can certainly hear it in his electric Blues, but more on his style later.

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General Information

Stevie plays guitar behind his back better than most people do in normal position – fact. “Texas Flood” is one of the tracks he liked to do this

Stevie was born on October 3 1953 (which is now officially the “Stevie Ray Vaughan Day”) in Dallas, Texas. He never got any formal education for guitar playing or learned how to read sheet music, relying instead on his older brother, Jimmie Ray Vaughan, and on his own ears to teach him to play.He played along to songs by Muddy Waters, Otis Rush and Albert King with his first guitar, and eventually joined his first band in 1964. By the time he’d reached high school, Stevie could already play well enough to start earning money at local clubs.

In 1978 he and two of his friends formed their band Double Trouble with Stevie on lead vocals. They established a solid fan base within the state of Texas, but had a troubles finding a big break. This break came in several stages. In 1982, Mick Jagger saw the band’s talent and invited them to play at a private party in New York. That same year, SRV and Double Trouble travelled to Switzerland to play at the Montreux Blues & Jazz Festival (link provided). It was here where David Bowie (yes, you read that correctly) discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan and asked him to come play on his upcoming album, “Let’s Dance”.

Stevie Ray and Double Trouble, from left to right: Chris Layton (drums), SRV (vocals and guitar), Tommy Shannon (bass).

Realising that there is some commercial value in Stevie Ray and Double Trouble, they signed a record deal with Epic, for who then ended up publishing their debut album, “Texas Flood” (some might say their best album). Finally, Stevie reached the ears and hearts of the entire country as rock and blues radio stations accross the US played his material, eventually allowing the debut album to reach 38th on the US album chart. The rest, as you would say, is history.

His alcohol abuse reportedly started when he was only six years old, when he would steal and mix alcohol from his alcoholic and abusive father’s stash.This abuse only got worse as time passed on, and escalated even quicker with his rise to fame. His lifestyle eventually lead to a breakdown of his marriage with Lenora Darlene Bailey, whom he married in 1979. In 1980, he was even caught by an off-duty cop consuming cocaine, resulting in a court sentence of 2 years probation in which he was not allowed to leave Texas – both decisions were ignored. It all culminated in a near-death experience while on tour in Europe, in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Stevie collapsed due to dehydration. His doctor in the London Clinic warned him that, at this pace, he had a month to live on this planet. For Stevie, this was the turning point, and he checked himself into a rehabilitation centre in Atlanta as soon as he returned to the USA.

Good music makes good people smile (left to right): Albert King, BB King, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan

As far as his tragic death is concerned, this link explains it better and further. However, the raw details are that, after a concert with Double Trouble, Eric Clapton and even Buddy Guy in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, Stevie Rayand 3 members of Clapton’s entourage boarded a helicopter on a golf course bound for Chicago. Although the pilot had many hours of flight experience in fog with planes, he had very little experience flying helicopters in such conditions. Sadly, 5 lives, and among them a musical hero, died when the pilot crashed into the side of a mountain, only several miles from takeoff. Just exactly what was lost to the world will never be known… Anyway, lets look at some of his best hits to cheer up a bit!

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The general public and I (or rather internet ranking sites and I) often have very opposing views on what an artist’s top tracks are, which is rather unsurprising as music taste is in its very nature extremely subejctive. So, to get rid of this minor hurdle, I’ll give you the best of both worlds: the public’s opinion, and mine.

Best Songs (public opinion)

Mary had a little Lamb – Originally written by Buddy Guy (another legendary bluesman) in 1968, Stevie Ray covered it for his debut album “Texas Flood”. Many people consider this album to be his best, and if you listen to it, you’ll know why. SRV’s best live performance of the song can be seen below, and you will not be able to help yourself from being sucked into the performance – I promise you will be tapping your feet or fingers in no time at all.

Cold Shot – A song from his second album “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” and a blues classic with some familiar motifs, i.e. drinking your problems away, drink after drink. This is one of SRV’s “slower” songs that was used to cool things down a bit in concerts. You might not find the most explosive riffs and licks here, but this song sure proves SRV is as dangerous with his voice as he is with his six string.

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Pride and Joy – To counterbalance the down-and-out atmosphere of Cold Shot, Pride and Joy makes a 180° turn and is the ultimate Pick-me-Up and lovesong. Also found on his first album, this was in fact Ray’s debut single and introduced many into the new age of electric blues. Pride and Joy is another proof that he can mix vocals with a bouncy shuffle.

Best Songs (personal opinion)

Love Struck Baby – The first song on his debut album, this song sets the pace for the whole album and Stevie’s entire career. It immediately throws you into the song, starting off with a lightning fast riff. Its an amazing love-song, and wbecause of its tempo, I can just picture this song playing loud while racing down Route 66 in a Camaro 68.

Crossfire – Staying true to his style, crossfire is another jumping song with great lyrics added into the mix aswell, although the awesome guitar picking in this live version would have been good enough on its own.

Honourable mention

Live at the El Mocambo – This performance was actually recommended to me by my guitar teacher, as he said this was the best performance he’d ever found. It’s an hour long, so maybe watch this in the evening while cooking or whatnot, but this is a visual as well as an audible masterpiece. The fact that this was performed in a small, crowded bar in Toronto, with an amazing atmosphere, just makes me think that this is how God intended Blues music to be heard and played.

Johnny Cash: The Man in Black (Part 1)

When I think of country music, two names immediately come to mind: Hank Williams Sr. and Johnny Cash, and it just so happens to be that the arguably two biggest people of country music were also the first ones I ever listened to. I do not think that Johnny Cash really needs an introduction or requires me to write a short biography about him, seeing as you can find plenty of information about him on the internet, but I will do it nevertheless. The main point of this post is really to showcase some of my favourite Johnny Cash songs and also present those that are not so well known. Seeing as how Johnny has had such a fruitful and very, very long artistic career, I’ll just divide it up into 2 parts: firstly everything he produced between the 50s and 90s, and secondly his career after signing for Rick Rubin and the American Recordings label.

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General Information

I’ll keep this short and sweet, and most of this is from my memory of reading his autobiography, so excuse some misinformation. Johnny was born in Arkansas in 1932, and spent most of his childhood in Dyess Arkansas, where his father was offered a government scheme to become a father. Naturally, as it was a staple cash crop, they mainly grew cotton, which already qualifies him to become an authentic country singer (cotton pickin’ is another one of those recurring country motifs). Johnny was very close with his older brother Jack, and when he died when Johnny was only 12, he fell into a sort of depression. He eventually got over it thanks to, guess what, sex. I suppose from this alone, you could predict that he was going to be a very rebellious fellow. As a child, he also tried to take vocal music lessons, but after his first hour, his teacher told him not go come again and to never try and change his voice.

At 18, he joined the US air force and was stationed in Landsberg, Germany as a morse code interceptor. Fun fact: he

John. R. Cash in the air force.

intercepted the Soviet message saying that Stalin was dead, possibly making him the first American to know this. While there, he already knew that he wanted to pursue a career as a musician. Johnny likes to remember that he walked 5 miles to a nearby town, in 5°F cold, and bought an ol’ guitar for 5 bucks.

He left the air force in 54, and married his first wife Vivian in that year aswell. together, they had 4 children, but they eventually divorced in 1966 for many factors: alcoholism, drug abuse and affairs or desire for other women, June Carter for one, whom he married in 68. After his return, Cash would stay up in the evening and play some gospel songs with the Tennessee Two, Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant. Eventually, in 55, Cash felt courageous enough to confront Sam Phillips at Sun Records studio and play some songs for him. However, his repertoire that he performed was limited to gospel music mostly, the type of music he envisioned playing for a living. This did not slide with Phillips, simply because gospel did not sell anymore and simply wasn’t profitable in that day and age. He returned the same year, but this time with some more songs delivered in his rockabilly style. He got his first record deal here, and released “Hey Porter” and “Cry, Cry, Cry”, the first one reaching spot 14 on the charts.

I could have posted the raw picture, but this caption summarizes what I felt when I first saw the picture.

The rest you could say is history. From here on, Cash released several more hits in the 60s, including “Folsom Prison Blues” (#5) and “I Walk the Line” (#1) in 56. However, from the onset, his alcohol and substance abuse started spiralling out of control. Even whilst touring with the Carter family in the 60s, drug abuse was omnipresent. The addiction culminated in 1968 after Johnny had an “epiphany” while on a drug trip. Apparently, while under the influence, he tried to commit suicide by crawling into a cave in Tennessee. However, while in there, he felt the presence of God, and he fought against the exhaustion and followed a faint light and a light breeze towards the exit of the cave.

This was not the end of his abuse though, as he relapsed in 83, after being put on painkillers after one of his ostriches gave him abdominal injuries…yes, you read that correctly: an ostrich he kept on his land. He finally kicked every addiciton by 1992 in the Loma Linda Behavioural Medicine Centre6 in California.

There is literally so much to talk about, that I would rather link you to a biography on his official website, run by his friends and family.

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The general public and I (or rather internet ranking sites and I) often have very opposing views on what an artist’s top tracks are, which is rather unsurprising as music taste is in its very nature extremely subejctive. So, to get rid of this minor hurdle, I’ll give you the best of both worlds: the public’s opinion, and mine.

Best Songs (public opinion)

Folsom Prison Blues – Something you may not know, is that Johnny’s signature song was in fact a semi-cover of Gordon Jenkin’s Crescent City Blues. Johnny is famous for having opened many of his concerts simply with “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”, followed by this song. Although it is a simple enough song to play, it is truly a masterpiece.

Ring of Fire – A marvellous sing-along song, where the mariachi band instinctively makes you go “ba-pa-ra pa-ra ba-ra-ba* (I’m not crazy, listen to it yourself below). Surprisingly, this was also another cover, as it was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore for June’s sister Anita Cash.

Sunday Morning Coming Down –  Written by fellow country star Kris Kristofferson, this song is one for the ages. If you’ve ever had a lonely weekend, or woken up away from home on a sunday morning after a night drinking and then had to walk home, you will identify with this song. It caused quite a stir at his first performance of it, due to the use of the word stoned, something unorthodoc for country music back in the 70s.

Best Songs (personal opinion)

One Piece at a Time – A simple tune with a funny story, what more do you want? The chorus is perfect to sing along to and once you learn all the lyrics, you’ll find it tough not to sing along to it.Truly a Johnny Cash classic, right next to “A boy named Sue”.

Cocaine Blues – “I took a shot of cocaine and shot my woman down” The shock-factor of these opening lines are probably only matched by Cash’s line in Folsom Prison Blues where he “shot a man in Rino, just to watch him die”. Mix a fast-paced, upbeat rhythm with attractive ballad lyrics and you have yourself a hit.

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Honourable Mentions

The Rambler (concept album) – If I possessed this album, it would hold a permament place in my car so I can whip it out whenever I’m on a longer journey. This album is just one of Johnny’s dozens of concept albums and is probably the most realistic ones, considering he’s done many about cowboys and old native americans. Nevertheless, you just can’t help but smile and feel good while listening to this, give it a go!

Deadly Duo: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee

The Duo in their happier days

If anyone would ask me what my all-time favourite Blues duo is (which is highly unlikely as I do not know any other person who listens to the Blues) my answer would come quickly: whooping Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. In all live recordings of the duo that I could find, Brownie McGhee sports a wide smile on his photogenic face, while his partner never fails to impress the audience with his iconic whooping and hollering in between his harp playing. It is through these artists that I first discovered that the Blues was more than just something casually mentioned in some country and rock songs. The first 8 songs on my Blues youtube playlist are by the Duo, showing just how much they have influenced my appreciation of music.

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Short Biography

Sonny Terry, born 1911 as Saunders Terrell, grew up on a farm in Georgia (the US state of course, not the ex-soviet republic) and lost his eyesight in two stages, one at age 5, the other at 18. Obviously limited by this tragic turn of events, Sonny was practically forced to take to the streets of Shelby in North Carolina to earn a

Blind Boy Fuller

living through playing the harmonica, an artform which his father had taught him. In 1937 Sonny joined up with Blind Boy Fuller and recorded for Vocalion. This information might sound anecdotal, but Fuller was a brilliant guitarist in his own rights and also a pioneer for the Piedmont Blues style, a subgenre which I will go into more details later.

Pete Seeger and the Duo

Sonny had met his future partner through Fuller in 1939, and after Fuller’s death in 1941, the two teamed up and settled into New York by 1942. Here, the two stormed into the Folk Scene and became household names (for followers of the Folk Scene that is) escpecially during the hayday of the Folk boom in the 50’s and early 60’s. Their most prolific time was between 1958 and the 1980’s and they both toured together almost until 1980. Widely known as a Folk duet and more popular among white Americans, they also joined the Blues scene more in the 60’s during the Blues revival during which they played many concerts and festivals. A testament to their popularity among the whiter crowd (if there even is such a thing, which I am doubting even as I type) is their appearance not only on the BBC in 1974, but also on country/folk icon Pete Seeger’s show , both of which are very enjoyable and relaxing performances with plenty of small talk making it ideal for background listening *hint-hint*. Pete Seeger was part of the protest movement that came with the Folk revival, as people tried to use traditional music and lyrics to provoke social change. Sonny and Brownie were part of this, which one can hear in their rather unknown song, Big Wind:

Seeign as I have dedicated more space to Sonny than to Brownie, let me briefly say some words about Brownie’s earlier life. Brownie Mcghee (born 1915 as Walter Brown Mcghee) grew up in Georgia’s neighbouring state Tennessee where he was surrounded by music his entire childhood as his father was a factory singer by day, and guitarist and singer by night (like a musical, less glamorous batman). His first guitar was made by his uncle and consisted of only a marshmallow box and a plank. At 22, he became a travelling musician to earn a living. On his travels he met Blind Boy Fuller and, as one says, the rest is history.

Sadly though, their more or less 40 year long collaboration was far from being harmonic and peaceful. By the end of their career, both musicians almost never talked to each other off stage and hated one another. Their dispute/disagreement went so far that Brownie even commented, after being asked whether he will atten Sonny’s funeral in 1986, that he would only go to the funeral to ‘make sure that he’s {Sonny} dead’. This is a part of the Duo’s lives that I wish I didn’t know about as it is always at the back of my mind when I watch one of their live recordings, as I always suspect being able to see the hatred slowly brewing within them. Exactly what the cause of this disagreement is/was is really unknown, but like in long marriages, long musical partnerships (and 40 years was extremely long) often lead to internal disputes, as one can imagine.

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Music Style

As I already mentioned, the majority of the Duo’s songs complied with a Blues division called the Piedmont Blues, named after the region from which it originiated (not very surprising), the Piedmont plateau which is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains. This style usually refers to guitar picking in which the thumb is used to produce a rythmic bass sounds that supports the syncopated picking of the index finger (or others), meaning that they are used to play those beats that are ordinarily left unstressed. Rather than just reading about the style, it is easier to just listen to someone play it very, very well.

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The general public and I (or rather internet ranking sites and I) often have very opposing views on what an artist’s top tracks are, which is rather unsurprising as music taste is in its very nature extremely subejctive. So, to get rid of this minor hurdle, I’ll give you the best of both worlds: the public’s opinion, and mine.

Best Songs (public opinion)

Key to the Highway – Actually a cover of Blues pianist Charlie Segars synonymous song from 1940, the version below was filmed on Pete Seegar’s show Rainbow Quest and also features him with his banjo, which simply enhances the song’s classic theme: leaving your darlin’ and hitting the highway.

Walk On – One song from their own repertoire, Walk On tells you how Brownie deals with his problems: he just walks them off. Including classic themes (again, the road and leaving your home) and some awesome whooping from Sonny, this is a brilliant song to sing along to.

Best Songs (my opinion)

Born and living with the blues – This song is the reason I fell in love with Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee – it just doesn’t get more Bluesy than what is talked about in this song: living on the streets, using your guitar as a pillow, keeping a smile on your face while your heart is bleeding (metaphorically of course… I think). If I were ever to compile a top ten favourite songs of mine, this would be in it. Perfect to sing along to in most situations.

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer – Covered by almost everyone and their mother including the likes of John Lee Hooker, the Duo’s rendition of this song is a must-listen, even if it is barely 2 minutes long. Brownie’s voice is flawless in this live recording, and Sonny’s upbeat harp playing just makes you want to tap your feet or shake your head along with it… Plus its a good drinking song!

Honourable Mention

Two More songs – This performance called Two More Songs by the uploader shows the Duo mixing two Piedmont Blues classics, Red River Blues and Crow Jane, into one single song. The transition from the one into the other is so seamless and almost unnoticeable unless you pay special attention to it.

Final Remarks

If I have not convinced you enough that these two are worth a listen, then I have failed in my mission. Does that upset me? Not in the least, because I just spent almost 3 days listening to brilliant live and studio recordings of my down-to-earth heroes which has simultaneously also taught me about the Piedmont style and other artists who use it. You might not have liked each other a lot by the end of your time on this earth, but I do hope you made up for it in heaven… now where did I leave my bourbon.