Three notes and the truth

by chuckofish

So I don’t know about you, but for the last two weeks I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ newest 16-hour documentary, Country Music, as it premiered on PBS.

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It was 90% pretty great. The first episode and the last episode seemed a bit tacked on and the narrative muddled, but the rest of it, which was pure history, was wonderful.

I learned a lot and I was reminded of a lot I had forgotten. I especially enjoyed the commentary by Marty Stuart, Dwight Yoakam, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee,  and Ricky Skaggs. It was a treat to see them.

I was not brought up on country music. In our house we listened to classical music and broadway musicals. We had some Kingston Trio, Harry Belafonte and Tijuana Brass records. Our older brother bought Beatles records and Bob Dylan records, but when he learned to play the guitar, he branched out quite a bit. Our mother never really approved of his interest in country artists and didn’t understand why he would try to sing like Jimmie Rodgers. But through him I became acquainted with Doc Watson, Bill Monroe  and a host of bluegrass and country musicians.

Years later, when my own children were little, we started listening to country radio in the car (better, I thought, than the Backstreet Boys) and we became fans. We even traveled to Nashville several times and went to the Grand Ole Opry! It was all great fun and my children learned something about a whole other great segment of the country.

And it was great fun to go down memory lane, so to speak, with Ken Burns.

Here’s cousin Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Uu1B6O3HE

You don’t know me, but you don’t like me/ You say you care less how I feel/ But how many of you that sit and judge me/ Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

That just says it all, right?

Anyway, if you didn’t watch the documentary, take a look. I’m sure it can be found at PBS or streaming somewhere soon.

Have a good weekend. I think it will be a rainy one here and, therefore, probably a quiet one. Maybe we’ll get out out the old CDs and listen to some Johnny Cash. Sounds like a plan…