This week on SWING ON THIS, we’ve got more than the usual number of Bob Wills covers, done by a varied group of artists that includes Billy Parker, Gayla Earlene, and a group I wasn’t familiar with until Brazos Valley Boys’ leader Morey Sullivan recently turned me onto `em, the Whippoorwills. I’ll end the show with another cover tune, featuring Ernest Tubb channeling Hank Williams.
Also, because of continued requests, there’ll be another one from that lowballed pioneer of Southern California country-rock, Michael Nesmith. And a cut from the final disc recorded by Muskogee’s man of many talents, Jim Paul Blair.
Those offerings, just scratch the surface. And while we’re on the subject of surface scratches, be sure to catch the latest edition of “Shellacked,” in which I’ll play another song directly from the original 78 rpm record. This week, thanks to our musical archeologist John Hamill, it’s Milton Brown and His Brownies, with a song whose style is identified on the Decca label as “String Band with Singing.” (As we’ve discussed in this space before, the term “Western swing” didn’t come around until the ‘40s, when it was first used to identify the music made by Spade Cooley.)
So there it is, and you can hear it all for free on Tulsa’s NPR affiliate KWGS, 89.5 FM, live-streaming worldwide at publicradiotulsa.org.
1. “Don’t Stop Loving Me,” Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
2. “Bob Wills Is Still the King,” Rolling Stones
(for MARK WOOLEY)
3. “Drinking Champagne,” Lou Walker
(for BRETT BINGHAM and the GLASS LIFTERS)
4. “Hesitation Blues,” Hank Penny
5. “Faded Love,” Gayla Earlene
6. “Joanne,” Michael Nesmith
(for MERVYN RELOY)
7. “Stay A Little Longer,” Whippoorwills
(for MOREY SULLIVAN)
8. “Home in San Antone,” Billy Parker
9. “Lady in Red,” Hoyle Nix and the West Texas Cowboys
10. “Kentucky Means Paradise,” Billy Jack Wills and His Western Swing Band
11, “Call Me the Breeze,” Jim Paul Blair
(for CAROLE & JACK BENDER)
12. “Beale Street Mama,” Milton Brown and His Brownies
(for SHELLACKED and HAMILL TIME)
13. “Meet Me in St. Louis,” Tom Morrell and the Time-Warp Tophands
14. “San Antonio Rose,” Don Helms and the Drifting Cowboys
(for WAYNE MCCOMBS)
15, “I’m A Long Gone Daddy,” Ernest Tubb
(for BILLY & JERRI PARKER)