A real slice of prime Country ham for you today, and a record I find it impossible to listen to without hearing Lurleen Lumpkin squealing in my ear.
Nancy Jo Garton, who scored a minor radio hit with her cover of Big Blue Diamonds in 1975 (actually the flip side of I Like What I Got), drawls out this tortuous ballad about a couple battling against poverty in their two-room hovel, one pair of shoes between them, nothing to drink but water in such a fashion that I can't help thinking that the authors of the yellow-skinned songstresses one big hit Your Wife Don't Understand You, But I Do must have heard this first.
I'm sure there are nuances that are passing me by, but to me it sounds exactly like every other depressing Country record I've heard over the years. God, life must be tough in Redneckville.
There's not a lot else I can tell you about this: Nancy Jo seems to have had a short-lived career in the music industry, recording a few sides and at least one album (with the equally unknown Ken Holiday - who produced this cut - titled, with a huge amount of originality, Ken Holiday and Nancy Jo Garton) for Nashville outfit G-Bar between 1975 and 1978 before vanishing into obscurity.
Nancy Jo's career as a Country minstrel may have been short and to have born little fruit, but it does seem that Ken and Nancy Jo managed alright for themselves, as a Ken and Nancy Jo Garton (if we assume that Holiday was nowt but a stage name) now own and run the G Bar Ranch (come on, that has to be more than a coincidence!) in Depew, Oklahoma.
It's immensely satisfying to know that, even if the couple in this horrible record didn't make it, Ken and Nancy Jo did. And good luck to them!
Life must be sweet, indeed for you as judge & jury to some of mankinds struggling musical artists, my amigo. When folks go through all the hassels of writing, performing & arranging the recording for these songs, you have to bamblast thier final product. REDNECKVILLE is a special place, only the enlightened can appreciate. Someday, when God shines the the unveiled truth upon you, I'll have furthur chats with you.
ReplyDeleteTucum Ty
Somebody please get my good 'ol buddy Tucum Ty a spellchecker! Unless he meant all those typos as some sort of "REDNECKVILLE" slang.
ReplyDelete"bamblast": don't know what that means, but it could make a good name for a heavy metal band!
The word, I believe is 'lambast'.
ReplyDeleteAs an atheist I doubt that god will be shining anything upon me in the near future, so I guess my chat with Ty will have to wait
Nancy Jo's niece Ashley Ghazal has her own music career:
ReplyDeletehttp://barnsdalltimes.com/http:/barnsdalltimes.com/news/a-heart-for-art
Thanks for that Graham - and for your stellar work in finding all of these YouTube links
DeleteYour snarky negativism is pretty lame. At least you admit you don't know anything about the genre, but if that's the case, why bother commenting on it at all? I "get" that your whole schtick is trashing stuff that seems "weird" and trying to sound clever, but frankly, that seems like a pretty unworthy pastime. Easy to criticize what you don't understand.
ReplyDeleteKen and Nancy’s grandson CJ Garton is following in their shoes. Know all of them well. Good people and full of talent!!! Went to school with CJ’s mother. Check CJ Garton out on YouTube.
ReplyDelete