The Best of Johnny Cash TV Show 1969-1971 – Starbucks Version

So I’m standing in line at the Starbucks near my work (yes, I do need a day job to supplement by blog) and as I’m  in front of the register making small talk with the lady (making fun of all the “soy-half-caf-dry-upside-down” doofus’) and I see a DVD/CD combo entitled “The Best of the Johnny Cash Show.” Now the cover is different from the one I’ve seen on the notoriously difficult to find version (at least difficult to find in Manhattan, where all the store are sold out. No country music fans in New York? HA!) so I’m a little suspicious, but I’ve had a hard time finding the other version and it was the last one, so I snatched it up with my Grande of the day.

The Starbucks version has only one DVD where the Sony Columbia Legacy has two. So, the Starbucks version omits some pretty tasty bits like Creedence Clearwater Revival playing “Bad Moon Rising” and Waylon Jennings doing “Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line” and “The Singing Star’s Queen” with Johnny (Waylon’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” did make the SB cut.) But the Starbucks version does come with CD containing some performances not found on the original DVD.  Brenda Lee doing “Johnny One Time” and Johnny Cash,  The Carter Family and The Statler Brothers doing “Belshazzar” are some highlights.  Alas, the Starbucks version comes in a cheapo snap-case with no liner notes and I haven’t watched the DVD yet, so i don’t know if there are any interviews or features left out, but if you like me and finding it hard to find the original and want a CD of some of the selections, the Starbucks version is a nice make-due while waiting on the other to arrive in the mail.

“It Burns When I Pee” – Episode #0006 – Get Your Hank On!

“It Burns When I Pee” displays their fine upbringing by dedicating their episode #0006 to an 84th year birthday tribute to the legend Hiram “Hank” King Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953).

The episode features such great interview with Beth Birtley from the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. IBWIP also plays some of Hank’s song preformed by the likes of Joey Allcorn, Hank III, Andy Norman, Hank Cash, and Jake
Penrod and by Hank the the man himself. They also feature Jared Morningstar on the show and he will be reading an essay he wrote about the late great Hank Williams.

Head over to the Section 86 store for all your “It Burns When I Pee” merch.

Hank Williams Sr.- Honky Tonk Blues

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af9bbRTFPUY[/youtube]

Bluebird Cafe Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, long a mainstay for singer/songwriters in Music City, will kick off a year-long celebration commemorating its 25th anniversary in May through a nationwide “Bluebird on the Road” tour to 12 cities later this year, a private birthday bash for Bluebird family and friends and a “Superstars of the Bluebird” series in June.

“I set out to open a restaurant 25 years ago, but the music quickly took over,” says owner Amy Kurland. “Nothing could be more special than celebrating this milestone year with some of the same songwriters who were regulars back when we first opened the doors.”

Those original songwriters and many more will be invited to attend a private birthday bash hosted by performing rights organization BMI on May 24. Later, the festivities will be open to the public when a 10-day series titled “Superstars of the Bluebird” takes residence starting June 1. Dierks Bentley is among those slated to appear.

The show will hit the road on a 12 city songwriter tour, kicking off in New York City at Joe’s Pub on May 31 with a few of the founders of the “In The Round” format that originated at the Bluebird; Fred Knobloch, Thom Schuyler, Tony Arata and Jelly Roll Johnson. Additional songwriters, cities and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

Garth Brooks’ record-shattering career began at the Bluebird, where a Capitol Records exec saw him substituting at the last minute for a performer who didn’t show up and promptly signed him. “In my opinion, the songwriter is the foundation of music,” Brooks once said, “and the Bluebird is the rock on which that foundation sits.”

Others who have played the Bluebird over the years include Melissa Etheridge, Steve Earle, the Cowboy Junkies, the Indigo Girls and the late Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury. Vince Gill, Janis Ian, John Prine, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Raul Malo, Radney Foster and Pam Tillis also have played the room.