Category: Music

Marty Brown is an “Undiscovered Treasure” on America’s Got Talent

Marty Brown Make You Feel My Love

Regular readers know that Chimesfreedom is a big Marty Brown fan, with previous posts covering his “lost career,” his recent albums he recorded on his own, and recent videos of an original and a George Jones tribute. Hopefully, tonight was another step in his comeback when he appeared on the first episode of season eight of America’s Got Talent singing Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” (a song we covered previously too).

The audience reaction gives away the result before any of the judges say a word. Unlike another former rising country star Julie Roberts who failed to win over any of the judges on The Voice this season, Marty Brown is moving on. Howard Stern called Brown an “undiscovered treasure,” but we have known he is a treasure for decades. And we are thrilled he is getting the attention he deserves.

We also saw how Brown’s wife Shellie Brown tricked him into appearing on the show. Marty is lucky to have the support of Shellie, who has given us previous reports on Marty’s comeback. We wish them both well in the next round on America’s Got Talent, although regardless of what happens, we hope some music executives saw tonight’s show.

In the excellent baseball documentary The Glory of Their Times (1977), someone once described seeing Babe Ruth when he was a pitcher before he played for the Yankees. After giving a glowing account of the Babe’s arm, the listener paused and then replied, “Wait until you see him hit.” After the judges tonight praised Brown’s cover of the Dylan song, I wanted to say, “Wait until you hear him sing his own songs.”

Knock it out of the park Marty and Shellie.

[September 2013 Update: For our recap of Marty Brown’s entire run and all his appearances on America’s Got Talent, check out our post The Great AGT Rebirth of Marty Brown.]

What did you think of Marty Brown’s performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Johnny Cash Concert With Glen Sherley Behind Prison Walls

    Johnny Cash Tennessee State Prison

    In 1976, Johnny Cash performed in “A Concert Behind Prison Walls” at the Tennessee State Prison. The video of the full Johnny Cash performance was released as A Flower Out of Place, also featuring performances by Linda Ronstadt, Roy Clark, and Foster Brooks. [May 2016 Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available for embedding but you may watch it at this link at iconcerts.]

    The Tennessee Prison show was hosted by Glen Sherley who also performed, but the video omits him and he is not listed as a performer on the 2003 CD release of the show. It is possible he was cut from the release because he was the least known performer. But the film editors may have omitted him because by the time the show was released, Sherley had come to a sad end.

    Cash met Sherley when Sherley was at Folsom Prison for armed robbery. Sherley, who had been in and out of prisons for much of his life, wrote the song “Greystone Chapel” while at Folsom. After Johnny Cash heard a tape of the song, he surprised Sherley by performing the song at his famous 1968 concert at Folsom Prison with Sherley in the audience. With some help from Cash, Sherley had a brief music career when he left prison, but he struggled to adapt to life outside prison bars and to his new fame. Sherley eventually fell back into drug abuse and shot himself to death in May 1978 at the age of 42.

    Here is a video of Sherley performing his song “Greystone Chapel.” The performance appears to have been at the same Tennessee State Prison show, which would have been about two years before his death.

    A movie about Glen Sherley may be in the works with actor Thomas Jane playing Sherley. Jane has been talking about making the film with different possible directors since at least 2009, but as recently as 2012, he was still searching for a studio. Its current status is unclear.

    Sherley’s life has the potential to be a great movie, but nobody would believe it.

    What is your favorite Johnny Cash song in the video? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Elvis and His Scarves

    Elvis Presley Opportunity Village In his later years, Elvis Presley notoriously used a lot of silk scarves on stage. According to the Elvis History Blog, Presley’s practice of giving away scarves started in September 1970 in Phoenix, Arizona. At that show, Presley gave his green scarf to a young fan in the front row, and her joyous reaction eventually led to Presley continuing the practice.

    I remember as a kid watching his 1973 Hawaii special and being puzzled and amazed as he used scarf after scarf to dab his sweat, giving each scarf to a happy audience member. Watch how a little bit of Elvis brings such joy as he sings “Love Me.”

    In more recent years, even as I have continued to listen to Elvis Presley’s music, I have not given much thought to those scarves. But this year, on All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, the season’s runner-up Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller revealed where the scarves came from as he discussed the charity he was representing on the show.

    Each scarf Elvis used did a little bit of good beyond drying his face and thrilling a fan. Elvis and his manager Colonel Tom Parker supported a charity Opportunity Village by buying scarves from this organization that still provides a number of programs for people with intellectual disabilities.

    This local Las Vegas news channel tells the story about Opportunity Village and Elvis.

    Knowing the story behind the scarves now makes me smile even more when I see Elvis using them on stage. Now that the King is not around, if you would like to walk a mile in Elvis’s shoes and help Opportunity Village, you may donate at the organization’s website.

    [Update August 2013 and 2021: A recent discussion about this post on the Elvis Collectors website recounts a different scarves story from Ed Bonja, Elvis’s photographer and tour manager from 1970-1977. According to the post, Bonja explained that in early 1975 Colonel Parker became concerned about the high cost of the scarves so they began ordering cheap scarves from Korea. It is possible Elvis got the scarves from both sources or that after awhile they stopped getting them from Opportunity Village, which lists itself as “the official manufacturer of Elvis’ scarves” on its website, although {update 2021} the website now has narrowed that claim to the “original manufacturer of the scarves that Elvis Presley tossed to his adoring fans during his record-setting run at the International Hotel in the 70s.”  Still, even if Opportunity Village did not supply all of the scarves, it is still a good cause and worth checking out its website.]

    What do you think of Elvis and his scarves? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    U.S. Speed Limits and I Can’t Drive . . . 15?

    15 mph sign On May 21 in 1901, Connecticut passed the first state speed law regulating motor vehicles. That first law limited city drivers to 12 mph but allowed drivers in the country to go up to 15 mph.

    At the time, there had been other speed laws for non-motorized vehicles such as horse-drawn wagons, including laws banning such wagons from proceeding at “a gallop.” But the 1901 Connecticut law prompted other states to start passing similar laws, which eventually led to you getting that speeding ticket.

    The 55 mph Speed Limit

    Some of our readers may remember the 1970s when rising gas prices caused states to lower speed limits, culminating with President Richard Nixon in January 1974 signing the National Maximum Speed Law, making the national speed limit 55 mph. At the time, there was a public service campaign designed to get drivers to obey the new laws.

    One television commercial from 1977 or 1978 that stood out for me was one about Grinnell, Iowa. In my many years of driving, I have often thought about the commercial that makes a powerful argument for not driving too fast. The producers do a good job of drawing you in before hitting you with a powerful — and yes manipulative — message. In case you do not remember the commercial, check it out below.

    By 1987, though, concerns about fuel supplies diminished and Congress passed a law allowing states to raise speed limits up to 65 mph. Then in 1995 the national speed limit was completely repealed, leaving it up to each state to set its own speed limits. Apparently, we decided we wanted to get to our destinations faster even if we were to wipe out poor Grinnell.

    And it wasn’t just the rest of us. Within five years after the Grinnell commercial aired, many Iowans were exceeding the new speed limit and reported as getting more speeding tickets than neighboring states.

    Sammy Hagar’s Protest

    While many credit the 1987 increase in speed limits and the later 1995 repeal to a drop in concern about fuel availability, I give full credit to a protest song by Sammy Hagar, “I Can’t Drive 55,” which was released in 1984 on his VOA album. It is one of the most famous songs written in response to Congressional legislation.

    Hagar has explained that he came up with the idea for the song when he was driving in upstate New York at 2 a.m. after returning to the U.S. after a long plane trip. When an officer pulled over Hagar for going 62 mph on a four-lane highway, a weary and exasperated Hargar uttered the immortal words, “I can’t drive 55,” realizing immediately it was a great idea for a song.

    As soon as Hagar arrived to his house in Lake Placid, he sat down and wrote the rest of the song. And the rest, like the national speed limit law, is history.

    What is your favorite song about speeding? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Ray Manzarek of The Doors Passes Away

    Ray Manzarek Keyboard Doors Ray Manzarek, a founding member of The Doors, passed away today at age 74. After Jim Morrison’s death at a young age, Manzarek became a recognizable face preserving the legacy of the great band.

    In this Break It Down video from L/Studio, Manzarek tells a little about the history of the band and how he came up with some of those great keyboard riffs. Among the stories, Manzarek tells how John Coltrane‘s “My Favorite Things” inspired a famous Doors keyboard part. Check it out.

    What is your favorite keyboard riff by Ray Manzarek? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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