Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7, 2011

DEAR JERRY: Probably because I didn't move to Texas until long after my years in school, I thought the Texas State Song was “Beautiful, Beautiful Texas.”

To my embarrassment, I mentioned this in the company of native Texans, who promptly corrected me.

Turns out the Official State Song is something called “Texas, My Texas,” which I have never heard.

Is it more common for State Songs to be familiar to the general population, or to be mostly unknown?
—Lara Horne, Amarillo, Texas

DEAR LARA: Probably 85% of the State Songs are unfamiliar to most folks outside that state. With some exceptions (Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, etc.), I doubt that even half of U.S. residents can accurately name their own State Song.

Along those lines, the correct title of your State Song is “Texas, Our Texas.”

Time has come to review all of the State Songs or Anthems, which should not be confused with tunes officially or unofficially designated as: Historical Song; March; Cantata; Folk Song; Ballad; Hymn; Rock Song; Waltz; Ode; Polka; Bilingual Song; etc., etc.

Some states have more than one Official State Song (Tennessee has eight), and one state (New Jersey) has none (but I'm working on that).


Alabama: “Alabama”
Alaska: “Alaska's Flag”
Arizona: “The Arizona March Song”; “Arizona” (a.k.a. “I Love You, Arizona”)
Arkansas: “Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me)”; “Oh, Arkansas”
California: “I Love You, California”
Colorado: “Where the Columbines Grow”; “Rocky Mountain High”
Connecticut: “Yankee Doodle”
Delaware: “Our Delaware”
Florida: “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)”; “Florida (Where the Saw Grass Meets the Sky)”
Georgia: “Georgia on My Mind”
Hawaii: “Hawaii'i Pono'i”
Idaho: “Here We Have Idaho”
Illinois: “Illinois”
Indiana: “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away”
Iowa: “The Song of Iowa”
Kansas: “Home on the Range”
Kentucky: “My Old Kentucky Home”
Louisiana “Give Me Louisiana”; “You Are My Sunshine”
Maine: “State of Maine Song”
Maryland: “Maryland, My Maryland”
Massachusetts: “All Hail to Massachusetts”; “The Spirit of Massachusetts”
Michigan: “My Michigan”
Minnesota: “Hail Minnesota”
Mississippi: “Go, Mississippi”
Missouri: “Missouri Waltz”
Montana: “Montana”
Nebraska: “Beautiful Nebraska”
Nevada: “Home Means Nevada”
New Hampshire: “Old New Hampshire”
New Jersey: Okay, it's time for them to get with the program. N.J. has never chosen a State Song, so I'll pick one for them. Absolutely perfect in every way is “New Jersey USA,” and one great version is by Danny and the Juniors. The Bureau of Tourism could not have written a better anthem for the Garden State. Listen to “New Jersey USA.”
New Mexico: “O Fair New Mexico”; “Land of Enchantment”
New York: “I Love New York”
North Carolina: “The Old North State”
North Dakota: “North Dakota Hymn”
Ohio: “Beautiful Ohio”
Oklahoma: “Oklahoma”
Oregon: “Oregon, My Oregon”
Pennsylvania: “Pennsylvania”
Rhode Island: “Rhode Island, It's for Me”
South Carolina: “Carolina”; “South Carolina on My Mind”
South Dakota: “Hail! South Dakota”
Tennessee: “My Homeland, Tennessee”; When It's Iris Time in Tennessee”; “My Tennessee”; “The Tennessee Waltz”; “Rocky Top”; “Tennessee”; “The Pride of Tennessee”; “Smoky Mountain Rain”
Texas: “Texas, Our Texas”
Utah: “Utah, This Is the Place”
Vermont: “These Green Mountains” (state name not mentioned)
Virginia: “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” (emeritus)
Washington: “Washington, My Home”
West Virginia: “The West Virginia Hills”; “This Is My West Virginia”; “West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home”
Wisconsin: “On, Wisconsin!”
Wyoming: “Wyoming”


IZ ZAT SO? Though in the minority, several of the State Songs were quite popular. With brief notes, they are:

Colorado: “Rocky Mountain High” (Written and sung by John Denver, a Top 10 hit in 1973)

Connecticut: “Yankee Doodle” (The first of many hits for turn-of-the-century ragtime banjo star, Vess Ossman. Connecticut is not mentioned in the lyrics)

Georgia: “Georgia on My Mind” (A No. 1 hit for Ray Charles in 1960, but first popularized by Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra (1931), and Mildred Bailey (1932)

Kansas: “Home on the Range” (Western standard that became a hit in 1933 for that famous cowboy, Bing Crosby. No state is referenced in the lyrics.)

Kentucky: “My Old Kentucky Home” (Neither Romanian Alma Gluck nor Canadian Harry MacDonough ever called Kentucky home, but both recorded this tune early in the 20th century)

Louisiana: “You Are My Sunshine” (Successfully recorded in early '40s by Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, Wayne King, and future Louisiana governor, Jimmie Davis. A Top 10 hit in 1962 for Ray Charles. Though the song makes no mention of Louisiana or any state, is does provide useful weather information)

Ohio: “Beautiful Ohio” (A best-seller by Henry Burr, and a half-dozen others, circa-1919.)

Oklahoma: “Oklahoma” (Sensational theme of the 1943 Broadway musical. A ready-made State Song.)

Tennessee: “The Tennessee Waltz” (Countless recordings exist of this multi-million-seller, with the best-known being by Patti Page in 1950); “Rocky Top” (Bluegrass hit in 1968 for the Osborne Brothers, and in 1970 for Lynn Anderson); “Smoky Mountain Rain” (No. 1 C&W hit in 1980 for Ronnie Milsap)

Virginia: “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” (As with “My Old Kentucky Home,” Romanian opera star, Alma Gluck, sings of a land she never called home)

Wisconsin: “On, Wisconsin!” (This march became a hit in 1915 for Prince's Orchestra. Two versions exist, one to inspire the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team, another to honor the “grand old Badger State”)



Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net   Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com

All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.

Copyright 2011 Osborne Enterprises- Reprinted By Exclusive Permission





Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

Beatles Autographed Single Sells for Big Bucks On eBay

An autographed Beatles' single "Please Please Me" on the Red Parlophone label recently (November 14th) sold on Ebay on for about $12,720.00. This rarity was signed on the A-side by George Harrison and John Lennon while signatures from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were on the B-side of the record, "Ask Me Why."

Beatles experts believe that there were only three occasions when the band sat down together for an autograph session. The seller lists these three occasions as: Oct. 6, 1962 the day after "Love Me Do" was released at Dawson’s Music Shop, Jan. 24, 1963 at Brian Epstein’s NEMS Record Store, two weeks after "Please Please Me" was released and lastly Dec. 14, 1963 at the Beatles London Fan Club Convention.

This single is believed to have been signed on the second of these occasions, a day that began with the Fab Four making an appearance at NEMS central Liverpool store. They autographed copies of the single and gave a brief acoustic performance on the stairs.

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Interview: Nils Lofgren Talks About His New Album, His On-Line Guitar School and the Evils of Dog Fighting

Nils Lofgren has had one of the most diversified careers of the rock era. Over his 43 years in the business, he has played with the likes of Neil Young on his album After the Gold Rush and as a member of Crazy Horse, Ringo Starr as a two-time member of the All-Starr Band and, for the last 27 years, as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band. On top of that, he has worked on numerous other projects including his original group, Grin, and on a long series of solo recordings.

VVN Music had the honor of talking to Nils on a variety of subjects including his new album, Old School, his on-line guitar school and his activity in researching and speaking out on the subject of dog fighting. He and his wife, Amy, are Acclaimed Ambassadors of the Best Friends Animal Society of Kanab, Utah.

Read more at our friends at vintagevinylnews.com

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Dinosaur Jr. (re-)releasing first three albums on cassette

Dinosaur Jr. are set to reissue their first three albums - 1985's Dinosaur, 1987's You're Living All Over Me, and 1988's Bug - on cassette tape. Originally released on cassette and vinyl via Homestead and SST Records, the three albums were reissued on vinyl last month via Jagjaguwar. Now, in conjunction with Dinosaur Jr.'s upcoming West Coast tour, Joyful Noise is producing a one-time release of 500 hand-numbered copies. They cassettes will be packaged in a custom-built, screen-printed wooden box , featuring the classic Dinosaur Jr. "monster" artwork. The individual cassettes are manufactured on high-quality chrome tape with purple, black, and white shells. Each are individually wrapped with 8 panel original artwork.


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great article in a local Bakersfield College (California) newspaper, hail vinyl!

Local record store keeps vinyl alive

Nate Perez

In this day and age when people are more likely to download music rather than buy it, Ronald Ramirez makes his living selling music, predominantly vinyl.

If you thought records were no longer relevant, think again.

Going Underground Records, located downtown at 1822 G St., has been in business for ten years

Read the rest at therip.com

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sign of the times

Music Lovers, Prepare to Say Goodbye to the CD

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

You had to know that the CD wasn't going to last forever.

We've seen 78s, vinyl, 8-track tape, and (for the most part) cassettes come and go. Why should the pre-recorded music CD be any different?

Side-Line Music Magazine turned heads last week when it reported that the major record labels plan to abandon the CD by the end of next year -- if not sooner.

The online music magazine didn't get a single music company to go on the record with its bold claim, though it later updated its story to point out that several label employees did approach the magazine to confirm that plans do exist to nix the compact disc.

If the article is accurate, we'll be down to simply limited-edition CD releases restricted to the top-selling artists after 2012.

Read the rest at dailyfinance.com

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album cover art of the day:

FESTER Reveal Cover Art For New Album

Norwegian pioneers in blackened death metal, Fester have revealed the cover art and track listing for their forthcoming new album, 'A Celebration Of Death'. The band's first offering of new material in 17 years, 'A Celebration Of Death' will be out in early 2012 through Abyss Records. The cover for 'A Celebration Of Death' was painted by artist Eliran Kantor (Testament, Sodom, Atheist, Sigh, Anacrusis). The rest of the layout was done by Joce of Industrie Chimere Noire (Portal, Ghäst, Total Holocaust).

For more information, please visit: myspace.com/festernorway














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not sure why the band did this, most of us know how a gatefold record opens and what it looks like :O)

MASTODON: 'The Hunter' 180-Gram Vinyl Edition Unboxing Video



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lovely cover art

Attack Attack Reveal Cover Art

Columbus, OH’s Attack Attack! have recently revealed the album title, cover art and release date for the band’s long awaited new release on Rise Records. 'This Means War' will be available everywhere on January 17, 2012. A headline tour kicks off January 26th in Columbus.


















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c'mon coop!

Alice Cooper Hosts UK TV Game Show

Alice Cooper recently took a turn hosting the UK TV comedy game show “Never Mind The Buzzcocks.” With its pop music theme, the show is currently without a host, so snags folks like Alice to drop in on the action to liven things up.

“Never Mind The Buzzcocks” stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The BBC show plays on the names of the Sex Pistols’ "Never Mind The Bollocks" album and the pop punk band Buzzcocks. "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" is currently in its 15th year.

Alice is on tour across Europe in support of “Welcome 2 My Nightmare,” the sequel to his classic 1975 concept album.



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this from our friends at vinylcollective.com

Alkaline Trio “Crimson” 2XLP

Cobraside has found a few copies of each of the colors for their pressing of Alkaline Trio’s, Crimson 2XLP, which are available now. The pressing was limited to a total of 1,000 copies over four colors; Green, Blue, White and Grey. Shop Radio Cast has a few of each of these colors in stock now.

Order Your Copy Before They Are Gone!










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Insound.com Top Sellers

1. The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone (Reissue) PRE-ORDER
2. Tennis - Origins PRE-ORDER
3. Real Estate - Days
4. Beach Boys - The SMiLE Sessions
5. Atlas Sound - Parallax
6. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation
7. Angels & Airwaves - Love Part One & Part Two (Deluxe Edition) PRE-ORDER
8. Guided by Voices - Doughnut For A Snowman PRE-ORDER
9. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
10. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming


buy it at insound!


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GRIMEY'S BEST SELLERS 11/07 - 11/13, 2011

Top 25 Vinyl:

1. Ty Segall - Spiders 7"
2. Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
3. The Features - The Wilderness
4. The Beach Boys - The SMiLE Sessions
5. Atlas Sound - Parallax
6. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
7. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
8. Noel Gallagher - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
9. James Blake - James Blake
10. She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas
11. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
12. Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
13. Wilco - The Whole Love
14. Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground
15. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - He Said I Can 7"
16. The Bees (Band Of Bees) - Every Step's A Yes
17. Various - The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
18. Kurt Vile - So Outta Reach EP
19. Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now
20. JEFF The Brotherhood - Whatever I Want 7"
21. PUJOL - Nasty Brutish & Short
22. Hands Off Cuba - Volumes Of Sobering Liquids
23. Black Belles - Black Belles
24. Owen - Ghost Town
25. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced

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and in music history for november 16th:

In 1959, after topping the US chart with "Come Softly To Me" the previous April, The Fleetwoods enjoyed their second number one song with "Mr. Blue."

Also in 1959, the original Broadway production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music," starring Mary Martin, Theodore Bikel, Kurt Kasznar, Marion Marlowe, Patricia Neway, and Kathy Dunn, opened at New York's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre for 1443 performances. And now you can find the soundtrack in every goodwill bin across the land.....

On this date in 1960, in Nashville, Patsy Cline recorded "I Fall To Pieces," after Brenda Lee turned it down for being "too country."

In 1963, the brother and sister team of Nino Tempo and April Stevens hit the top of the Billboard chart with "Deep Purple," a song that they recorded in just two takes. In the UK, it reached #27.





The Animals recorded "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" in 1964.
The Animals' lead singer Eric Burdon would later say of the song, "It was never considered pop material, but it somehow got passed on to us and we fell in love with it immediately." The Animals gave it one of their trademark R&B-unto-rock workups, speeding up the tempo and starting off with a memorable electric guitar-and-organ doubled riff from Hilton Valentine and Alan Price, that was picked out and expanded from an element that originally appeared in the Simone recording's outro. This riff immediately led into Burdon's trademark deep, impassioned vocal line:

Baby, do you understand me now?
If sometimes, you see that I'm mad ...
Don't you know no one alive can always be an angel,
When everything goes wrong, you see some bad. (group harmony)
But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good: (just Burdon)
Oh Lord! Please don't let me be misunderstood ...

The single was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at #315 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.



In 1968, B.J. Thomas' "Hooked On A Feeling" was released. It will enter the Billboard chart in December and climb to #5, but was not a hit in the UK.

In 1968, Hugo Montenegro was at #1 in the UK singles chart with “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” from the soundtrack of the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western film. It was the first instrumental #1 since 1963.

In 1970, Anne Murray's "Snowbird" was certified Gold. Some sources would have us believe that she was the first Canadian recording artist to receive a Gold Record. She was not. By this date, Canada's Guess Who, for example, had already received Gold Records for three of their singles: "These Eyes," "Laughing" and "American Woman."

In 1973, John Lennon released the album "Mind Games" in the UK, exactly two weeks after it was issued in North America.

In 1974, John Lennon had his only solo, number one hit in the US during his lifetime when "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" hit the top. In his homeland, it could do no better than #36. His girl friend, May Pang, would later recall that John got the inspiration for the song when he saw TV evangelist Reverend Ike utter the phrase "Let me tell you guys, it doesn't matter, it's whatever gets you through the night."

In 1978, at New York's Madison Square Garden, a concert by Queen featured a row of semi-nude, over-weight women on bicycles to promote the band's current single, "Fat-Bottomed Girls."

In 1979, Paul McCartney released the holiday single "Wonderful Christmastime." Because he wrote, published, and played all the instruments on this recording, McCartney's royalties add up. Including royalties from cover versions, it is estimated that Paul McCartney makes $400,000 per year from this song, which puts its cumulative earnings in excess of $15 million.

In 1980, R&B singer (Ace Of Spade) O.V. Wright died of heart failure at age 41.

In 1982, Men At Work started a 15-week run at #1 on the US album chart with their debut album, 'Business As Usual,' which went on to sell over five million copies in the US.

In 1988, Stan Love, former Beach Boys manager and brother of lead singer Mike Love, was sentenced to five years probation after being convicted of embezzling more than $300,000 from the band.

In 1992, Ronnie Bond, drummer with The Troggs, passed away at the age of 52. Bond and company scored the 1966 US #1 and UK #2 single with “Wild Thing” and a 1966 UK #1 in “With A Girl Like You.”

In 1996, the Beatles became the first artists to have three #1 albums in the same year when their "Anthology 3" hit the top of the American album chart.

In 1998, bass singer J.D. Sumner of the gospel vocal groups the Blackwood Brothers and the Stamps Quartet died at the age of 73. For six years, Sumner held the Guiness World Record for singing the lowest bass note. J.D. and the Stamps toured and recorded with Elvis Presley from November 1971 until Presley's death in 1977.

In 2001, a six-minute recording of a Beatles interview bought for $5 at a flea market, sold for $10,400 at an online auction to a U.S. bidder identified only as "an avid record and music memorabilia collector."

In 2002, a Texas billionaire paid the Rolling Stones almost $7 million to play his 60th birthday party.

In 2004, rap artist Ol' Dirty Bastard (real name Russell Jones) collapsed and died at a Manhattan recording studio in New York aged 35. A spokesman for his record company said the rapper had complained of chest pains. By the time paramedics reached him, he was dead. ODB was a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s.

In 2006, 'Queen's Greatest Hits' was declared the most popular album of all time in Britain, having sold almost 5.5 million units. The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" came in second.

In 2010, the Beatles' catalog was released on iTunes.

birthday wishes go out to (among others): Winfred Lovett (Manhattans) (68), Chi Coltrane (63), Mark Orr (Kentucky Headhunters) (62), Josh Silver (Type O Negative) (49), Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver) (45), Christian Lorenz (Rammstein) (45), Pattie Santos (It's a Beautiful Day) (62)