August 2024 Wrap-Up
Episodes 014-017 highlights: unwrapped, behind the scenes, backstories, details + video links.
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, friends. I’m here to break down the 4 episodes that aired over the month of August. Some good ones in there, I’ll say. I recorded every one of them here at home in the basement at the reclaimed Boots & Saddle Headquarters. It’s familiar and mostly comfortable territory down there despite being cramped in amongst my own gear, household items, laundry hung to dry plus a plethora of Violet Moon’s toys and books. We’re somehow all makin’ it work though.
It was a mostly quiet month in terms of live performance and travel for me. Sara & Violet made it out the Trout Forest Music Festival that I was sad to miss while away for a weekend of shows with Corb. My lone Winnipeg show of the Summer was cancelled (more on that later) and we headed out to Ontario to see some friends & family which proved to be an exhausting endeavour. It’s nice to be home and back in to our routine here. I’m staying mostly local this month apart from a 4-pack of shows with Lost Country in Alberta that I’m quite looking forward to. Catch us live on stage at the following locations sympathetic to country music:
- Sept. 18: Vulcan, AB - Nine in a Line Brewing Co.
- Sept. 19: Calgary, AB - Ironwood Stage & Grill [Carter Felker opens!]
- Sept. 20: Twin Butte, AB - Twin Butte General Store
- Sept. 21: Diamond Valley, AB - Beneath The Arch Concert Series [double-bill w. Skinny Dyck & Band]
For you folks here in Winnipeg, Sean Burns & Lost Country will be on stage at Park Alleys on Saturday, September 28. Tickets are available now at:
https://app.3common.com/event/lost-country/66c517e4523b4c07a0c4710e
Hope to see some folks out at these September shows. As always, thanks for tuning in this month and for reading, perusing or even just scanning the newsletter.
Here we go…
EPISODE 014
We kicked this month of shows off with “Pretty Miss” Norma Jean. Her story is a little bit of a heartbreaker and a sign of the times she was living in but if we’re focusing on the positive and on the country music - she left us with a lot of nice memories and great songs to revisit. I spun One Way Ticket to the Blues from her seminole 1964 album, Let’s Go All The Way. The song was written by Jimmy Dallas and first recorded and released by Porter Wagoner in 1961. Norma Jean Beasier’s first big break came in 1958 when she became a cast member of the Springfield, MO-based ABC-TV show Ozark Jubilee, where Red Foley suggested shortening her name to "Norma Jean.” She recorded briefly for Columbia and then moved to Nashville in 1960, becoming a backup vocalist for Porter Wagoner's touring and television shows. She had met Wagoner on the Jubilee, and her new level of exposure led to a contract with RCA Victor. “Pretty Miss Norma Jean” was a member of The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961–1967 before passing the reigns to a newcomer named, Dolly Parton. Norma Jean had 13 country singles in Billboard's Country Top 40 between 1963 and 1968, recorded twenty albums for RCA Victor between 1964 and 1973, received two Grammy nominations, and was a Grand Ole Opry member for several years. Here she is in 1966 starring on The Porter Wagoner Show:
Written by Chuck Rogers, You Can’t Divorce My Heart was also recorded by popular U.S country duo, Johnnie & Jack and by the great Lefty Frizzell. We heard Rose Lee Maphis doing it on Episode 014 sandwiched between Hank & Lefty. Hers is a nice version but let’s hear Lefty shall we:
Now that I’m back doing weekly radio my ears are firmly to the ground the way they once were. I was glad and took a necessary break from paying too close attention during the B&S “semi-permanent hiatus” but I’ll admit, despite the time consuming efforts it requires, it’s nice to know what’s going on out in the world of underground, independent country music. I haven’t been shy in voicing my displeasure and even embarrassment at how little and poor the output of such music is here in Canada but every now and then something - or someone - pops up that grabs my attention playing the kind of country music that I enjoy. With that said, there’s been some nice stuff this year (The Lucky Ones, Ben Vallee, Nicholas Campbell - to name a few) along with this fella from Fort Fraser, British Columbia who calls himself Big Fancy. He and his group The Shiddy Cowboys released a nice offering of country music on March 24 called The Legendary Loser Wins Again. Love that title and really digging on a lot of the songs on this record. I really need to revisit and spin some more for ya. In the meantime, here’s a live version of the song I spun on Episode 014 called Let Me Fade:
Well as I mentioned earlier, my lone local performance this Summer was cancelled. I was set to open (solo) for Kelsey Waldon and her band at the Park Theatre on August 12 but for whatever reason they presented, it didn’t go down. The whole thing just reinforces my belief that touring Canada for independent, international artists on this level is a foolish notion. Stay in the U.S where there’s infrastructure and genuine interest in this kind of music. I’ve been lucky to tour the globe playing music and my preference remains doing so in the United States. I was sad to see such a lack of interest in Kelsey’s show from the folks here in Manitoba.
We closed the program off with a beauty from Tammy Wynette. Tammy’s voice and performances just do it for me on a high-level. Even when and if the song is slick, over-produced cheese. I don’t care. I love her. Sending this one out to my good pal, Skinny Dyck.
EPISODE 015
And so began my public obsession with the song, Two Empty Glasses. I’ve loved this song for a long time since first hearing it on Justin Trevino’s Scene Of The Crying record and that’s the one that kicked off Episode 015. Episode 018 opened with a version by Jody Nix and on the broadcast I dug in to some further research I’d done on the song but you’ll have to wait until next month’s newsletter for that. In addition to Trevino, I mentioned a fella named Johnny Lyon who’d cut Two Empty Glasses. Lyon had a 30 year career in the U.S Airforce which included service in Vietnam and went on to maintain a presence in the Texas Dancehalls singing beautiful country and honky-tonk music. I’ve got 3 clips of this one for you including 2 from Justin Trevino showcasing his strengths as both an electric bass player and a solid, no-nonsense acoustic guitarist.
A little while back we heard from Chicago-based artist, Michelle Billingsley with her cover of Linda Martell’s Bad Case of the Blues. Nice version by Michelle and I’ve always really enjoyed this song. Linda Martell was the first African American female performer to sing on the Grand Ole Opry and I dove in to more on her in the June 2024 newsletter. On Episode 015 we went to the source. Produced by Shelby Singleton and featured on a 1970 Plantation Records release called, Color Me Country here’s Linda Martell with Bad Case of the Blues:
I’ve been a fan of Jeremy Pinnell for the last couple years but have more recently found a further appreciation for his work. Underneath that gruff appearance of his is a beautiful voice and some high-quality songs. A country leaning singer/songwriter cut from a similar cloth to a few other cats I really dig: Ags Connolly, Pat Reedy, Leo Rondeau. The good folks at Western AF featured Jeremy recently and I was happy to spin his Ballad Of 1892 on Episode 015. Great fuckin’ song. Great fuckin’ band. Here it is… Live As Fuck:
I really enjoyed the Regional Round-Up of “lost” Canadian country music on Episode 015. We went deep with some of the Ladies of “lost” country complete with very regional, even municipal names. The highlight may have been Toronto-born singer, Shirley Mae Carr. Discovered 60+ years ago by Arc Records, with the help of Gord Symonds (Program Director for Toronto’s country-orientated CFGM Radio), Shirley’s 1961 Arc Records (Arc 596) release, Let’s Go All The Way is one of the finest pieces of Honky-Tonk to ever come out of Canada. Backed by Dick Nolan’s Blue Valley Boys which featured the great Roy Penney on guitar, here’s the whole damn album!
EPISODE 016
SB at the Badlands Amphitheatre in Drumheller, AB.
There’s a myriad of reasons for a Cover Song episode and Episode 016 was the first in what will no doubt be an on-going series of them on Boots & Saddle 2.0. They’re good to have on-hand as potential re-broadcasts should I run into any technical or scheduling issues in the future and can’t get a new show out.
Be it a tribute to an artist, or the same song being cut by multiple acts in the same year, or albums comprised solely of an assorted blend of covers (be it popular songs-of-the-day or those from yesteryear), the cover song has a long-standing tradition in country music. Shit, not just the cover song but entire cover records were for many years commonplace. A quick search will present dozens of tribute records to Hank Williams alone, for example.
Episode 016 was a dandy and I recall being quite satisfied with the results. Packed with beautiful country music being covered by beautiful country music singers, I managed to get one from off the beaten path into the mix by a band out of Michigan called The Bootstrap Boys. They’d reached out a few weeks prior with their new single, a cover of the 1993 Mazzy Star tune called Fade Into You. I tucked it away for the purposes of this episode. Mazzy Star was no country band and Fade Into You was not a country song… but The Bootstrap Boys are right for the B&S party so I gave ‘em the spin. Here they are performing Fade Into You live:
In the strong opinion of your host, Red Simpson’s 1966 album Roll, Truck, Roll is the quintessential truck-driving country music record. It’s a must-have record in your country music record collection; NO, it’s a must-have in ANY record collection! One of the most influential albums ever for me and my path in honky-tonk/country music comes straight from the Bakersfield-Sound that Red was such a strong competent of. It’s killer record from top-to-bottom. Which reminds me, we’ll need a Truckin’ themed show sometime soon, too. In any case, we heard from Bill Kirchen on Episode 016 with his take of the title-track to Red’s record. There’s some live clips of Red performing the song but they’re all in later years when he was kinda barely hangin’ on so I’m going to leave those out. But if you wanna see them, they’re easy to find. I’ve made a habit and an unwritten rule about not spinning myself/my own music on the program but if you’ve followed along with my career then you’ll know I released tribute/cover records to both the Bakersfield-Sound and Truck-Drivin’ classics in 2020. We covered a few in the style of Red Simpson on We Gotta Lotta Truckin’ To Do and on A Bakersfield Half-Dozen we took a stab at Roll,Truck, Roll. I won’t play it on the air but I’ll share a serviceable live version of Roll, Truck, Roll by Sean Burns & Lost Country here:
I’ll ask you separate the art from the artist to recognize that despite his flaws as a human being, Jerry Lee Lewis could very well be the greatest Rock ’n Roller of all-time and among the Top 5-10 Country music singers to ever live. They called him The Killer, and for good reason. I’ve been a fan for as long as I can remember. No one covers Hank Williams like Jerry Lee did and I’ll never forget the first time I heard his take of Hank’s You Win Again. It was playing during the closing credits of a film thats title escapes me, but in that moment I was mesmerised by The Killer and remain so every time I press play on the record or a live video. Here’s a couple versions from different era’s of Jerry Lee Lewis doing You Win Again.
As I mentioned on the program, along with Leavin’ On Your Mind, She Thinks I Still Care is about as close to uncoverable as it gets. With that said, there are exceptions to every rule and as we heard on Episode 016, Merle Haggard doing She Thinks I Still Care is rather stunning. BUT… it is - and will always be - a George Jones song in my heart and mind:
It was nice to deliver a trio of Ian Tyson covers on this episode. Colter Wall breathing life and exposing a new audience to The Coyote and The Cowboy is commendable. And my not-so guilty pleasure, Crystal Gayle did a beautiful version of Ian’s, Someday Soon that I was pleased to share. Of course, I had to include Corb Lund. Ian was a mentor but more importantly a true friend to Corb. I love playing MC Horses with Lund; always makes me a little emotional. Here’s the two of them doing it live together in 2013:
EPISODE 017
I broke my own rule by not opening the show with a trademark honky-tonk/country shuffle but Girl On A Billboard is such a bitchin’ cut that I think we can overlook my indiscretion. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any live videos from the 60’s of Del Reeves doing this one with the same spunk the studio version offers so we’re going to Brian Sklar’s former No. 1 West TV program for this version. I should mention, there are a TON of videos from this TV show online and some really, really great ones. Canadian legends and Nashville stars alike; some on the way up, some on the way down. Once you get past the questionable attire of the band you’ll hear some incredible musicianship performing beautiful country music songs. Like this here:
Myrna Lorrie is a true Canadian Country legend. During her early career years as a teenager, she was recognized as one of the brightest talents on Canada’s country music scene and was also one of Canadian country music’s first international stars. Her first single, ‘Are You Mine’, a duet with fellow Canadian Buddy DeVal, was a #6 hit on the Billboard Country Charts in 1955. The classic song, co-written with her mentor and manager, Don Grashey, was simultaneously a Top 10 chart hit in the USA by duet partners, Ginny Wright and Tom Tall, and by Red Sovine and Goldie Hill. See what I mean about the cover songs?! The song has since been covered by numerous duet partners. In the years that followed, Lorrie toured North America, appeared on the Grand Ole Opry with Hank Snow, had a string of hits throughout the 1960s and became a country music television star in Canada, co-hosting the TV series, “Countrytime”. She received the 1970 and 1971 Juno Award for ‘Best Female Country Singer’ and the 1977 Big Country Award for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Female Singer’. Her comeback album, released in 1990 entitled, ‘Blue Blue Me’ led to a series of concert appearances across Canada. Myrna Lorrie was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame at the 1996 Canadian Country Music Association Awards, back when the CCMA recognized artists who made significant contributions to actual country music. I’ve got no love for that organization but Myrna Lorrie is among some of the early, well-deserved inductees whose peers the association ignores in present day. I’ve got a pair of clips for you here; one from the mid-60’s and then another which comes from the No. 1 West television program.
Between working the door or doing sound, performing or attending gigs at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, I’ve seen literally hundreds of shows there. Perhaps the best one remains a September 2017 performance by Vancouver’s, Petunia & The Vipers. Petunia is an interesting character, to say the least and his band is a revolving cast with folks coming and going and what seems like new faces making the scene rather regularly. Regardless of the situation, with rare exception, Petunia surrounds himself with extremely high-quality musicians. I’m really liking this new single, Billy The Kid. Here’s the video for it and I’ll include a live performance of the group as well for those of you who haven’t had the privilege of catching them in the act.
I maintain my stance that the finest Honky-Tonk band going today are The Country Side of Harmonica Sam. The Swedish quintet is unapologetic in their desire to execute the early-mid 1960’s Honky-Tonk/Country sound. And they do it about as perfectly as you can. I’m a huge fan of this band and have been for many years. Whether it’s classic covers, songs friends have written, or ones penned by members of the band, The Country Side of Harmonica Sam are bang-on in their approach to the era and style they aim to (re)produce. Just look at this… no headphones, reasonable volume, the band standing closely together in a circle and playing beautiful country music. What a dream.
That’ll do it for now, friends. Thanks for reading and for tuning in. Follow along with the program on IG & FB @bootsandsaddleshow
As always, if you have any comments, questions, requests or complaints, don’t be shy. Email: bootsandsaddleshow@gmail.com and find me on IG & FB @seanburnsmusic
Have a great weekend. We’ll chat later.
SB -