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Recent Posts
- The Met Is Back, and Orgies® Pre-empt HAH for Two Weeks in December
- David Elliott—We Lost a Friend and Colleague
- Willie, John T, and Me
- HAH History: Sinc and Dave Interview Patty Loveless in 1994
- Exiled!
- For Met Fans—More Operas!
- Harvard Gazette Highlights WHRB
- Photos from the 2020 Joe Val Festival
- WHRB and HAH Are Still on the Air
- Coming Up: The Joe Val Festival for 2020!
- “Coming to You by Recording. . .”
- Here’s the Met Broadcast Schedule for 2019-2020
- Engine 576 Whistles & The Pan-American on WSM in Nashville
- Stuart and Stinson Celebrate Nashville’s ‘Duchess’, NC&StL No. 576
- Harvard Football vs. HAH: Call It a Draw
Top Posts & Pages
- "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem"
- The Met Is Back, and Orgies® Pre-empt HAH for Two Weeks in December
- Exiled!
- It's the Eighth of January!
- Willie, John T, and Me
- Why I Cancelled Barbara Martin Stephens
- David Elliott—We Lost a Friend and Colleague
- Paper and Pen—Open Page
- Phil Everly (1939–2014)
- "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem": The Composer's Grandson Writes
Home Base
- WHRB 95.3FM – Live Internet Stream for HAH HAH’s Home for Lo These Many Decades
My other hats. . .
- Walking Creek World Follow Cousin Lynn down The Walking Creek. . .
Category Archives: Country History
Willie, John T, and Me
In which Willie sits around in his underwear, his friend John T sells sheets to the KLan, and I get suspended. Back on September 26th, a listener to one of our prerecorded shows (I’ll call him ‘Mr S’), wrote to … Continue reading
Posted in Administrivia, Country History, Hillbilly Journal, Program Notes, Radio Talk, Songwriting
Tagged Harvard University, Helotes TX, Hillary Clinton, Hillbilly at Harvard, John Spong, John T. Floores, Ku Klux Klan, Sen. Robert Byrd, Shotgun Willie, The Texas Monthly, WHRB, Willie Nelson
13 Comments
HAH History: Sinc and Dave Interview Patty Loveless in 1994
Cousin Dave Schmalz hosted Hillbilly at Harvard with Ol’ Sinc from c. 1966 (see The Committee Saves the Show) into 1975, when Dave moved to Holland, and I came back from hither and yon. Sadly, as I mentioned on the … Continue reading
Engine 576 Whistles & The Pan-American on WSM in Nashville
In the previous post on the restoration of NC&StL Engine 576 and the Marty Stuart/Harry Stinson song, I drew on a post by ‘jh’ on the Mac Resource Forum. I left out the part where jh posted a link to … Continue reading
Stuart and Stinson Celebrate Nashville’s ‘Duchess’, NC&StL No. 576
Since 1953, Nashville, Chattanooga & Saint Louis locomotive no. 576 has adorned Nashville’s Centennial Park. It was the last of the 20 class J3 4-8-4 (‘Dixie’) steam engines built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) for the NC&StL (abbreviated ‘NC’) … Continue reading
Pickin’ on Ninnies
Saturday a listener named Liz posted a comment on the Paper and Pen page. I was going to respond there, but then decided that the question was important enough to merit a post. Liz wrote: “When the pickaninnies pick the … Continue reading
The Legendary Al Hawkes Dies at 88
I met Al Hawkes at one of the Joe Val Festivals, back in the Green Room. It was not the one where he received the 2009 Heritage Industry Award from the Boston Bluegrass Union. It might have been 2016 when … Continue reading
Posted in Bluegrass, Country History, Country News, Record Business
Tagged Al Hawkes, Allerton and Alton, Alton Myers, B Lilly, Bear Family Records, Betty Cody, Boston Bluegrass Union, Don Stover, Don Williams, Event Records, Everett Alan Lilly, Everett Lilly, Hal Lonepine, Jim Rooney, Joe Val Festival, Lenny Breau, Maine Public Radio, Rockhouse Mountain Productions, The Cumberland Ridge Runners, The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover
1 Comment
It’s the Eighth of January!
And that means it’s time for ‘The Battle of New Orleans’ with Johnny Horton (1959): Johnny Horton of course took the song from Jimmy Driftwood (whose real name was James Morris). From a site called the Greasespot Cafe, … Continue reading
Extra! Fiddlin’ John Carson Played Tex’s ‘Christmas Time’ in 1927!
Well, sort of. After I played Tex Logan fiddling his composition, ‘Christmas Time’s a-Comin’’ with The Lane Brothers, followed by Bill Monroe’s classic first recording of the song, listener Paul Murphy emailed me with this news (reprinted with his permission): … Continue reading
Talkin’ about Trains
The High 48s Bluegrass Band Back on the May 26th show I rediscovered the 2014 album of train songs, called Great Northern Railroad, from a band called The High 48s, a slim cardboard volume hiding amidst the plastic jewel boxes … Continue reading
Posted in Bluegrass, Country History, Hillbilly History, Hillbilly Journal, Radio Talk
Tagged Baltimore and Ohio, Becky Schlegel, Capitol Limited, Charlie Poole, Cosmo Cavicchio, David Davis, Ed McMann, Eric Christopher, Friendship Train, Giffords Ice Cream, Jim Walsh, Jon Chase, Merci Train, National Limited, Quarante et huit, riding the blind, riding the rods, Rounder Records, The Forty and Eight, The High 48s Bluegrass Band
6 Comments
‘Maple Sugar’, Sweetheart!
Last Saturday (5May) on a whim I played an instrumental version of the fiddle tune ‘Maple Sugar’ (sans fiddle) from White Mountain Bluegrass, and mentioned that the first version I recalled was from Doc Williams, “with words.” As it turns … Continue reading
Posted in Bluegrass, Country History, Hillbilly Journal, Songwriting
Tagged 'Maple Sugar Sweetheart', 'Maple Sugar', Chickie Williams, Dave Palmater, Doc Williams, Hank LaRiviere (Hank Rivers), Lonesome Lefty's Scratchy Attic, Rupert House, Tom Towle, Ward Allen, White Mountain Bluegrass, WWVA
10 Comments
