Confusing song titles that weren't odd just to be odd

1. "From Boulder to Birmingham"
2. "Big Iron"
3. "Iron Fire Shootin' Pony"

1. I knew there was a Boulder, Colo., but I never thought of it in the context of the song's title.
2. I should have guessed by all the cowboy songs Marty Robbins had done previously that "Big Iron" was a pistol.
3. I had to read the liner notes on the vinyl album to know that was the name of the singer's big rig truck.

-30-

Act Naturally, But Beware of the Consequences

Buck Owens: The Biography (Chicago Review Press, 400 pages, June 24, 2010)

For years during his long career, Buck Owens received mostly favorable publicity. He even had his own public relations staff. He had it his own way, by his own account, until now, when someone came along and decided to balance the ledger.

Eileen Sisk wrote -- finally -- what every citizen in Bakersfield had already known for years, or should have known, the truth about Buck Owens, the truth local journalists apparently feared to tread -- even after Owens' passing. By now, after the inevitable feedback, I am sure she realizes she just scratched the surface on ol' Bucko, the person. She has mined the past in a city where others in her trade feared to even shake the timbers.

-30-

Is Don Schlitz really world famous?

It's not Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. It's The World Famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. The shrine dive on Broadway in Nashville really is famous in some circles.

I've often wondered though, as I'm sure others have, why it has to be spelled out that something is world famous if it is world famous. Wouldn't we know without being reminded?

When you think of the song "The Gambler," as popularized by Kenny Rogers, what do you think of other than that? The movie of the same name? The songwriter?

Not the songwriter. Almost no one knows the songwriter of any given song. Most people can't even recall who sang a particular song, nor the exact title.

Yet, the daily Tennessean in its July 6, 2010, issue offers this:


"Don Schlitz
Schlitz is a world-famous songwriter who has penned some of the biggest singles ever in country music, including 'The Gambler' and 'Forever and Ever Amen.'"


It goes on. But that's the gist of it. I would argue that the two songs mentioned, one actually - "The Gambler" - received some worldwide notoriety that still holds up. That in no way means that anyone is familiar with the name Don Schlitz on anything remotely approaching a worldwide scale.

And to be absouletely accurate about it, Schlitz's contribution to "Forever and Ever Amen" was as a co-writer with Paul Overstreet. Does that make Overstreet world famous as well? There is some truth to the idea that the songs are world famous, but not the songwriters.

So what, you say. It's a journalism problem. It's flack work, or public relations, serving as journalism. It's inaccurate, misleading and irresponsible journalism right here in Music City.

--Bryce Martin

-30-

Cutting Through the Maze

I'm Saying it, You Should Have Been Thinking It

Joe Perry is touring to promote his solo album Have Guitar, Will Travel. What a turnoff album title. Anyone who would okay such an unoriginal title is not someone I would expect much from. I can already hear the replies to that: "Hey, have you heard it?" No. And I intend not. He could have at least twisted those cliched words, to something like Have Travel, Will Guitar. Just another guy with a riff.
Key word: "cliched" -- something used over and over again to the point it loses any meaning or value.
...
So, Steven Tyler is in rehab for a painkiller addiction brought on by orthopedic problems. It's always "brought on" by something, isn't it? Why not just come out and say he was addicted to it because he liked it. It makes you wonder what his past "brought ons" involved.
Key word(s): "brought on" -- a person with an addiction needs to take personal responsibility for their actions -- "brought on" is not part of the vocabulary.
...
Wild costumes, canned and Pro-Tooled vocals. Lady Gaga. What next? She runs off with Wanda Sykes? Oh, I get it. It's theater. Does she still run off with Wanda Sykes?
Key word: "theater" -- find a category for such junk at the Tony Awards.
...
The Grammy Awards remain a joke. Steve Martin gets the potmetal for best bluegrass album? What an insult to those boys and girls in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee who, oh, never mind.
Key word: "Grammy" -- enough said.
...
The Bakersfield connection? It's there somewhere. It always is.
-30-

A Callous Approach to the Bakersfield Name

Mickey Kalis

Kalis likely used studio musicians for this self-produced single and perhaps chose the pseudo-band name for its alliterative flow. Mickey wrote both sides, though "2:10 to Yuma" was a near-title he borrowed from a 1957 western movie that owed its life from a novel. The vocals on it are by Mickey and wife Linda. Mickey growls along solo on the flip. The record company was located in Youngstown, Ohio.

and The Bakersfield Blues Band
2:10 to Yuma b/w Got No Time
United Audio Custom Series 6003
August 1969
...

Bands, listen up!

An unexpected Christmas present

A gentleman from Tulsa sends me his regular Zig Gazette. I don't recall why or how it came about but this one I found especially enjoyable, mainly the part I culled here verbatim:

Rules For Bands (some of them. Thanks to Wanda and several others who sent this)

Never start a trio with a married couple.
Before you sign a record deal, look up the word ‘recoupable.’
No one cares who you’ve opened for.
Strings do not make your song more important.
Never name a song after your band.
Never name your band after a song.
Don’t enter a ‘Battle Of The Bands’ – if you do you’re already losers.
Learn to recognize scary word pairings like ‘rock opera,' ‘white rapper,' ‘blues jam,’swing band,’ and ‘open mike.’
Drummers can go shirtless or wear gloves, but not both.
Playing two towns doesn’t mean you’re ‘on tour.'
If you use a fog machine, your music sucks.
Oxymorons: Major label interest, demo deal, blues genius, $500 guarantee, and Fastball’s second hit.
Never coming back: a) gongs, b) headbands, c) playing slide guitar with a beer bottle.

-30-

I'm Not Often Seen in These Parts

I'm not often seen in these parts
We'll meet again whither bound
I'm out when day turns to dark
When a full moon is shining loud

-- Bryce Martin