I heard Loy Clingman's 1957 country ballad for the first time about three years ago, and instantly fell in love with it - it's one of those weird, primitive records that sounds as if it was recorded some time in the 1880s:
That wouldn't have sounded out of place on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.
There have been many cover versions of the song, including ones by Jim Reeves and Duane Eddy's gravel-voiced producer, Lee Hazelwood, but my two favourites were a near-contemporary one by Red Kirk and one by Sanford "The Fool" Clark (released under the name Harry Johnson):
I do love a song which tells a good story, as I pointed out in a previous post, "Murder, mystery and heroics: my all-time favourite story songs" (here) - and "It's Nothing to Me" is one of the best.
When I have a moment, I must find out which film featured Ronald Reagan dressed in modern clothes, duffing up a cowboy.
We're really hoping Gram Bastardo knows emails sent to his Hotmail account are bouncing back like buckshot off an ABV! If you're drying out in the same clinic, please let the old boy know.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing mighty fine thank you kindly, sir. Just drove my lawnmower back to Raylene's place to check out if she wanted to hit a few bars downtown but I figure from the vase she thrown to my head that she ain't too sold on the idea. And rehab was a whole other bunch of fun.
ReplyDeleteWhy, bless your heart, you old substance abuser. Mind you, riding a lawn-mower on the main road probably isn't such a great idea - knew I shouldn't have leant you that "talking book" version of George Jones's autobiography.
DeleteThe White Lightnin's brewin' nicely ahead of your visit - and I've saved Raylene the trouble of booking you back into rehab by contacting the George Best Clinic myself.
By the way, you don't have to actually print off copies of your emails and comments and post them to me - they get via another route entirely. Let's have a talk when you're here.
...err, while you're down there, cowboy.
ReplyDeleteI wondered how long before anyone noticed this was a long-suppressed still from the gay cowboy porno film Ron made when he was down on his luck in the late 50s, before politics provided him with a fresh career path. Looks a bit S&M for my taste.
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