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One of the first, and I'm pretty sure the first of the rock and roll bands out of New Mexico to have their music chart nationally would be the Fireballs. Hailing from Raton (and a couple of them still live there), they first hit the charts with the 1960 instrumental song "Vaquero", off the old Top Rank label. After recording on Top Rank and Warwick with mostly instrumental songs (good stuff too), they hooked up with Jimmy Gilmer and signed with Dot records in 1962. Gilmer had lived in Amarillo beforehand. Before Gilmer joined up with them they actually were known as Chuck Tharp and the Fireballs as some of their early 45's are pressed with that title on the record itself. And also for the record Chuck Tharp co-founded the group with George Tomsco. The Fireballs had some of their early material produced by Norman Petty at his Clovis recording studios and met Gilmer there. They changed the sound of their band and in 1963 hit big time with the classic tune "Sugar Shack", which turned out to be the #1 rock song in 1963 if I'm not mistaken. They had a follow up song later that year called "Daisy Petal Pickin'".
A few years later Gilmer broke away from the band, the Fireballs signed with Atco after the next few lp's with Dot didn't go well sales wise, and went top 5 with the classic October '67 hit "Bottle Of Wine." Two other songs that charted with them in 1968 were "Going Away" and "Come On React". They broke up a couple years later, sadly.
I've been lucky to see the Fireballs in concert a few times, the first time being years ago in downtown Albuquerque at one of the Route 66 festivals downtown. Another was in Clovis during Buddy Holly Days. I understand they have played at the Inn of The Mountain Gods in Mescalero. Would love to have seen them there!
But all of the MH hits you show are from his very best work during the late 1960s to 1970s. That era is all I listen to of his.
A very fine songwriter indeed, and a good guitarist and fiddle player to boot.
His Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player (Bob Wills) remains one of my all-time favorites.
Same Train, Different Time (Jimmie Rodgers) is another. Just outstanding work.
Ditto his rendition of the old Ernest Tubb hits!
I thought that his 1990s stuff was just terrible. I suppose it's because he's trying to appeal to a new audience. The last 2 more recent CDs that I bought of his, I donated to the library.
Just really disappointing.
But I'm glad I got to see him in person at Texas Tech in the 1970s. Magnificent concert!
Thank God for CD re-issues...and the ability to rip songs and create custom CDs for my car.
Merle has moved around musically a bit and followed both the times and his aging..inevitable. I respect that and don't expect him to be a carbon copy of the early days. Like other favorites of mine, Frank Sinatra and Emmylou come to mind, the voice changes with years and use...and not always for the better. But the work goes on.
I saw Merle a few years ago, touring with Bob Dylan, at a show in El Paso. I was excited to hear two icons in the same show. Merle was by far the highlight of the evening...and not just 'cause I'm a Haggard freak. It was the consensus of the crowd as well. Merle put on a good show, with lots of early hits and some good recent stuff, and certainly gained some new fans who really didn't know him. A few people I was sitting near thought he was some new guy...lol...so I filled them in. Of course, all they knew was Okie from Muskogee, and we all got a good laugh when Merle played a few bars of it. But he was a great mature presence on stage, worked his voice well, made good contact with the crowd, and did some great songs.
When Dylan came out everyone, including me, was psyched. I hadn't seen Dylan in over 30 years. He sat at an electric piano, didn't give a damn about the audience, ran thru his set and was gone. It was disappointing to say the least, and more than a few people in the crowd shouted "Bring back Merle" when Dylan left the stage.
Ah well....nothing is the same as it was....except me, of course!
Forgot one thing...what did you think about Merle's dead-on impression of Marty on the video? He had MR down perfectly. He also used to do Johnny Cash and Hank Snow, among others.
If Marty Robbins was still alive (and I sure wish he was) even HE wouldn't be Marty anymore....things change! Except me..lol
I think this is where we started...
Cathy...as a great man once said: Right or wrong, I'll always love you!
LOL!! One of the greats!
MH could do just about anybody for sure!
I don't know that it's the aging, though the voice certainly does change. It's not that so much as the songs/MUSIC they do at later stages, I think.
Don't get me wrong. I've seen MH as an older performer on Austin City Limits, and he did a bang up job! Of course, he did mostly his greats from his peak/heyday, too.
Pancho and Lefty is one of my favorite albums! Willie Nelson is an icon, and one of the greatest songwriters ever--he just couldn't sing! When he was paired with people who COULD sing--MH and Ray Price, for example, it's occasionally painful, LOL! But...having said that, I have several of Willie's albums. He just sounds very nasally and flat next to RP and MH.
Johnny Cash is another that I've always loved, but he can't sing, either! But I loved listening to him, and he had great style, just as Willie does.
I can't stand Bob Dylan.....but he and Johnny Cash did one album together (Nashville Skyline, if I remember correctly) that I liked, and that is all of BD that I ever had.
As for Marty? Just absolutely timeless. There was a 23-year spread between El Paso and Some Memories Just Won't Die.....but he was still just about as good from one to the other.
Emmy Lou Harris is also a favorite, but NOT her later stuff. Again, it wasn't so much that the voice changes and is not as strong--she went to more or less hard rock on some of her later stuff, and I just didn't care for it at all. Luxury Liner and Roses in the Snow remain favorites.
Ray Price is another that is still going, though his voice is not nearly as strong as it once was. He, Willie and Merle did a recent album called Last of the Breed. It's pretty good!
Thank God for CD-re-issues and XM Radio. Willie's Place has all of the old greats--they even played Ballad of the Alamo, and I haven't heard that on the air in YEARS.
Don't listen to the "new" country. It sounds like 1970s rock.....
Emmylou Harris' Luxury Liner is a terrific work, all right.
Willie sings on key. He doesn't have a great voice, but he uses what he's got quite well.
Cathy4017: Did you ever hear El Paso City by Marty Robbins? What a great song! And you can bet I've got Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs! Real American folk music, in my opinion.
DOUBLE H: I have Torquay by The Fireballs on a 45. They were quite good. Sugar Shack was a cool record (nice bass part!), as was Daisy Petal Pickin'.
Emmylou Harris' Luxury Liner is a terrific work, all right.
Willie sings on key. He doesn't have a great voice, but he uses what he's got quite well.
Cathy4017: Did you ever hear El Paso City by Marty Robbins? What a great song! And you can bet I've got Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs! Real American folk music, in my opinion.
DOUBLE H: I have Torquay by The Fireballs on a 45. They were quite good. Sugar Shack was a cool record (nice bass part!), as was Daisy Petal Pickin'.
Willie sings on key? I wonder why he sounds so flat to me next to RP/MH? Guess it's just my ear.
Oh, sure, have El Paso City along with most of the rest. And you're right--it does have spooky lyrics!
I wish I could remember Sugar Shack. I recognize the song title, but I can't hear the song in my head. If I'm not mistaken, it came out the same year Downtown did.
I think Sugar Shack preceded Downtown by about a year. But who's counting, they're both over 45 years old! I feel so old...
Me, too....LOL!!
Saw Ray Price at 1968 Hemisfair--loved it except for the fact that he was drunk onstage!
Heartaches by the Number, My Shoes (Keep Walking Back to You), I'll be There and Crazy Arms (writen by Willie)...the best!
I got deathly sick of Danny Boy and For the Good Times both, though!
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