Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum II

I thought I’d finish sharing a few more photographs from our trip to Nashville from the CMHFM.

Although, I’m better with putting artists with their songs than when I started blogging almost 14 years ago, there’s still room for improvement and while I did not recognize Webb Pierce by name I certainly know one of his biggest hits, In The Jailhouse Now. The honky tonk singer, songwriter, and guitarist charted more number one hits in the 1950s than any other country artist during that decade. An interesting tidbit I learned was his iconic “Teenage Boogie” was recorded by T. Rex in 1974 as “I Love to Boogie“.  The British band did not credit Pierce as the author but the lead singer, Marc Bolan. 

Don’t you just dig Nudie’s Mobile?  This is one of 18 customized vehicles by the late Nudie Cohen, an Ukrainian-American tailor who used silver-dollar-studded dashboards, pistol door handles, and longhorn steer horns as hood ornaments in his car designs.  It’s so outrageous it just made me smile.  

Imagine my surprise to see a display belonging to the late Monkees band member, Michael Nesmith.  The flamboyantly embellished suit, Stetson hat, and cowboy boots were designed by Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors (Nudie Cohen). Nesmith wore it in the The Monkees’ final production on NBC in 1969, 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee.  The question still hung in my head, what’s Nesmith’s connection to country music? .   The blurry text below the memorabilia mentions he wrote country rock hits Different Drum for the Stone Poneys with Linda Ronstadt and Some of Shelly’s Blue for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  Post-Monkees era, Nesmith formed the First National Band releasing three highly regarded country rock albums between June 1970 and May 1971, as well as three more solo  albums by the end of 1973. The band had moderate commercial success according to Wiki and from there I learned Nesmith’s second single with FNB hit #21 on the Billboard Chart, #17 on Cashbox, and # 4 in Canada. The Gibson guitar in the showcase above, he used with the FNB as well as on his solo albums.  I can’t say for sure that I recognize the song, but maybe you do.

The band had three other songs Silver Moon, Nevada Fighter, and Propinquity that charted but didn’t do quite as well as Joanne.  

I didn’t take a lot of time as you probably figured out to read each exhibit, so I snapped pictures of the most interesting things to me. Another puzzler was Elton John’s Rocket Man suit.  Subconsciously, I picked up on the similarities of some of the costumes.  John’s suit is another Nudie’s Rodeo Tailor design originally made for Chris Ethridge of the Flying Burrito Brothers. Elton John bought the suit for Bernie Taupin’s wedding in which he was Taupin’s man in March 1971.  It’s also seen on the 45-rmp picture sleeve of Elton’s 1972 hit, “Rocket Man”.  John sold the suit at a  charitable auction and its whereabout was unknown until a family member to the late Etheridge obtained it in 2023. The Etheridge family asked that the suit be turned over to museum where it could be together again with its Flying Burrito Brothers’ counterparts.

Either I forgot or didn’t know the Eagles got their start with Linda Rhonstadt.  Like many of the songs revisited while composing today’s post the Eagles’ early style is one that I loved but I never thought about it being associated with country. My brain only perceived two genres when I was younger. It could only be country the twangy stuff or rock n roll, anything that didn’t fit the twangy category. Now it all makes sense.  One of the Eagles greatest hit songs Desperado was popularized by Linda’s cover and it was so cool to see the sheet music on display!

East Los Angeles band, Los Lobos gained notoriety in the 80s with their Tex-Mex vibe recorded on the La Bama Soundtrack.  Interestingly, they area also labeled as country-rock and perhaps when I have more time I can delve deeper into their YouTube channel to see which songs fit into this genre. 

While I reviewing my photographs, I couldn’t put my finger on the group, The Blasters.  This California based band has a rockabilly sound and it worked really well in Quentin Tarantino Dusk Till Dawn movie, with their song Dark Night which I did recognize.   

Owen Bradley was one of the orchestrators of the Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly in the 50s and 60s.  He worked with some big names. A sample of the recording stars he produced were country legends Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Conway Tweet, as well as rock singers Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent.  His most notable credits include Cline’s hit songs: “Crazy”, “I Fall to Pieces”, and “Walking After Midnight”. Also, he was asked to direct the movie soundtracks for Coal Miner’s Daughter (Loretta Lynn) and Sweet Dreams (Patsy Cline). 

The Rotunda is the room with the phrase, WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN,  and it’s where new Hall of Famers are announced. On the walls hung plagues of all the members inducted.  I don’t know how to describe it, except to say a beautiful feeling washed over me when I entered this place. I knew it was somehow special.  On this day, Patty Lovelace, Bob McDill, and Tanya Tucker were named as new newly elected members.  

In my last photo is the Studio B shuttle.  Next time, I’ll share our tour of the historic studio where many well known artists like Elvis Presley recorded their hit songs. 

I appreciate that you taking time to stroll through the CMHFM and listening to some music picks along the way.  I can’t say this enough, you don’t have to be a country music fan to enjoy the exhibits and the history.  It’s been a lot of fun digging up info on today’s content. 

Tomorrow I’ll have two posts. First one is last week’s Hold Me Thrill Me BOTB reveal, then followed with my weekly TAD contribution. I hope you’ll join me.  Have a wonderful day!  X💋X💋, Cathy

I’m linking with Sandee and her Wordless Wednesday community!