Saturday, April 22, 2017

The Original 'Almost Blue'

I dedicate this post to a country lawyer living the dream on the continent. Best of luck to Jonny Bottoms and the rest of the Ponderosa Aces as they begin to boot scoot their way across Europe. No, Jonny, 'Almost Blue' probably isn't considered country by your peers, but the original songs might just work for the fellas. Give my best to JC when you see him in Manchester.

Side 1
Hank Williams - "Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)?"
Patsy Cline - "Sweet Dreams"
Loretta Lynn - "Success"
The Flying Burrito Bros. - "I'm Your Toy"
Merle Haggard - "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down"
George Jones - "Brown to Blue"

Side 2
George Jones - "Good Year for the Roses"
Charlie Rich - "Sittin' and Thinkin'"
George Jones - "Colour of the Blues"
Emmylou Harris - "Too Far Gone"
Johnny Burnette Rock 'n' Roll Trio - "Honey Hush"
Gram Parsons - "How Much I Lied"

11 comments:

Charity Chic said...

Excellent stuff Brian
Never thought to dig out all the originals and put then together

The Swede said...

What a fine idea, I can't believe I've never thought to do it myself. Brilliant stuff. Thanks Brian.

Rol said...

Great post, Brian. I've loved that album for 30 years or so, yet some of the originals I don't think I've ever heard.

FurryBootsCityBoy said...

An album that wasn't welcomed by the hipsters of the music media, but I loved it because Elvis was allowing folk to discover a whole lot of great country acts. Bless his cotton socks.

Echorich said...

All the best for a great tour JTFL/Johnny Bottoms!!
Elvis Costello did a great service to his fans with Almost Blue. It could have been just a vanity project, but he took a lot of care in his interpretations on the album. It's the closer, How Much I've Lied, that I think he really shines on.
I went through a Gram Parsons phase - attempting to understand that period where Country and Rock & Roll intersected. His was the music that spoke the most to me from that crowd that included Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris.
Oh and I am of the school that believes Parsons wrote the tune to Wild Horses and Keith Richards appropriated it. Parsons never felt wronged it seems, but he deserves his due.

Swiss Adam said...

Good post Brian.

Johnny Bottoms said...

Oh, man! Thanks Brian and everyone! I am just waking in up in another dingy motel in Newcastle, heading down to Leicester, and looking at my regular sites. I obnoxiously wrote 3 comments on Brian's killer post over at JC's place abut the Sugarplastic -- did not suspect there was one with my name on it. It was an honor (an honour) meeting JC and, funnily enough, part of our conversation was whether my wife would kill me or not for suggesting we go up to Glasgow to meet the blogging crew. Wish I could thank you in person, Brian. Cheers -- this is brilliant.

George said...

As CC etc have said this is a great idea. ANd it makes for a much much (etc) better album than the EC version (the less said about that one the better......)

JC said...

Wonderful post Brian.

Jonny was deadly serious about coming to Glasgow this weekend. The fact that his wife was coming over to the UK to spend their 25th Anniversary together while the band were on tour was the reason I said he shouldn't!

Brian said...

I told Jonny more or less the same thing... don't push it when the experience has been so special.

Jez said...

Brian - this post is genius. That is all.