Country Roads, Take Me Home

Growing up, my dad always listened to country music and found little value in other musical genres. We were not allowed to watch MTV at my house growing. Us kids however amended that rule to our liking by adding "while dad is at home" to the MTV restriction. Dad never owned any albums or tapes. The only country I ever heard was what played from the radio he would turn on while working in the garage. These were the days before CMT and TNN. Perhaps if I had heard some more country sounds growing up, I would have come to appreciate country music much earlier in life. As it was, I did not discover Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Charley Pride until I was well into my twenties. Perhaps if my dad and I had spent a little more time together growing up, some of these artists would have been appreciated by me sooner.



My foray into the sounds of classic country came by accident. I was watching the movie Breakdown starring Kurt Russell and heard a song playing in the background when he enters the diner. I found out that it was “Burgers and Fries” by Charley Pride. I soon owned my first country CD, Charley Pride’s Greatest Hits, and many more would follow. Through BMG Music club, I would soon own the greatest hits of Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty. However, things would not progress further for a few more years.



Around 2005, Chattanooga was blessed with a radio station called "The Legend". Oh what wonderful sounds were suddenly coming from the radio! I was now being exposed to more obscure artists that had remained hidden for far too long. Singers like Tom T. Hall, Waylon Jennings, Mel Street and John Conley were quickly discovered and enjoyed immensely through the sounds of radio and newly discovered Limewire. These songs would find their way into my films and onto my Ipod. I even attended a Loretta Lynn concert at the Tivoli in 2009.




Well friends, my love of classic country finally found its limit last night. While browsing the library catalog, I found two Hee Haw DVDs. The DVD of the pilot episode advertised performances by Loretta Lynn and Charley Pride. I popped in the DVD last night and oh was I shocked. I suddenly knew why country music has such a bad reputation. The overly corny jokes of Hee Haw would offend the intelligence of a person at most any age. Sure, some were cute and I even laughed at a few. But how many times is a fence hitting somebody in the butt supposed to be funny? These jokes made the stars of the show, pretty big names in country music, look like a bunch of blooming fools. I could see where non-country fans would associate the music with backwoods folks of low intellect.



I am going to watch the second DVD but I don't expect a huge improvement compared to what I saw last night. On another note, I can remember as a child flipping channels and suddenly finding joy at what I thought was a cartoon on at an odd hour, only to find out it was the animated Hee-Haw donkey they show between sketches. The same thing happened more than once on a Saturday afternoon as Soul Train came on. I would hope that some cartoon straggler was being aired in the afternoon, only to soon see a bunch of people dancing to songs I did not know.



Hee-Haw had some country greats as guest stars, but their classic performances aren't enticing enough to sit through silly jokes, plastic cornstalks and a defective fence.

Grandpa Jones: "I've been thinking about flying again."
Roy Clark: "You've been flying before Grandpa?"
Grandpa Jones: "No, but I've thought about it before."

Key twangy banjo music.......

Turn off the DVD.