dual personalities

Tag: Don Williams

April 6, 2023

With a picture of Stonewall Jackson above my head

by chuckofish

Congratulations to Patty Loveless who will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year! This coal miner’s daughter from eastern Kentucky always was a classy lady and a particular favorite in our family.

I will never forget the time the boy, age about 11, yelled out “We love you Patty!” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville just as there was a moment of silence in the audience. She looked up to the balcony where we were sitting and smiled.

We’ll be dancing a jig for you, Patty darling.

Also being inducted are Tanya Tucker and songwriter Bob McDill, who wrote “Good Ole Boys Like Me”. Don Williams recorded it in 1980 and the song reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart.

This is one of the great country songs in my estimation. Pure poetry, man.

Nothing makes a sound in the night like the wind does
But you ain’t afraid if you’re washed in the blood like I was
The smell of Cape Jasmine through the window screen
John R and the Wolfman kept me company
By the light of the radio by my bed
With Thomas Wolfe whispering in my head

I can still hear the soft southern winds in the live oak trees
And those Williams boys they still mean a lot to me
Hank and Tennessee
I guess we’re all gonna be what we’re gonna be
So what do you do with good ole boys like me?

Do yourself a favor and listen to these YouTube videos! This is true Country Music. Just beautiful. And cool, cool, cool.

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September 12, 2017

“I don’t believe that heaven waits for only those who congregate”*

by chuckofish

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“Plain-spoken” Don Williams has died. Here’s his semi-condescending NYT obit.

More to the point,  Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young told Rolling Stone magazine that “His music will forever be a balm in troublesome times. Everyone who makes country music with grace, intelligence, and ageless intent will do so while standing on the shoulders of this gentle giant.”

Balm is the right word.

Here’s my favorite Don Williams song:

Those Williams boys, they still mean a lot to me–Hank and Tennessee…

Well, besides being a bonafide Country Music legend in the U.S., he was consistently an international ambassador of country music, earning a devoted following in Europe, especially in the U.K. and Ireland, as well as Australia. He was also huge in Africa. He was the real deal.

In addition to his recording career, Williams appeared in two Burt Reynolds films, in the 1970s including W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975).

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It is available on Youtube, so I think I will watch it. We’ll  miss you, Don.

Into paradise may the angels lead thee, Don. At your coming may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem.

*”I Believe in You” by Roger Cook and Sam Hogin

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March 2, 2012

Take it easy on yourself

by chuckofish

(because)…the world will keep turning without any help…

This is a good thing to “meditate on” during Lent. We really have control over so little. So don’t sweat the small stuff. All you really need is love! At least that’s what Don Williams says.

You remember Don Williams. He’s “The Gentle Giant” of country music, singer of popular ballads with 17 Number 1 records to his credit. But then, maybe you don’t. Even with all those hits, Don was never a super star (except, oddly enough, in England and Africa). In the U.S. he hit his peak in the 1970s and 80s. I remember seeing ads for his records on Channel 11 and laughing, confident in my own sophisticated taste. (I must add that where I went to school we laughed at everything and everyone. Forced gaiety was our way of life. This is not to say, that I did not take some things seriously–but these things were guarded dearly and only talked about at home.) Anyway, somewhere along the way I heard old Don. I was hooked. And I tell you, if you are ever stressed out and in need of a chill pill, Don Williams is for you. Listen to him on the way to work or on the way home, and you will find yourself newly calm, cool and collected–even smiling.

Here’s a link to my favorite Don Williams song “Good Ole Boys Like Me” which has wonderful literary references to the “Williams boys–Hank and Tennessee” and Thomas Wolfe, not to mention the great line about “When I was a kid Uncle Remus he put me to bed with a picture of Stonewall Jackson above my head”. You ask, how could we resist putting a picture of U.S. Grant over the boy’s bed? Well, we couldn’t, and, yes, we did. And it was really cool.

You may wonder if there is going to be a country music Lenten theme on this blog. Well, probably not, but if the shoe fits…

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