Merle Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are “Sixteen Tons”, “Re-Enlistment Blues” and “Dark as a Dungeon”. However, it is his masterly guitar playing and his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky for which he is best known today. “Travis picking”, a syncopated style of fingerpicking, is named after him. (More from Wikipedia)
Speaking of true oldies, there is also another great 1947 hit song by Tex Williams (co-written by Merle Travis) called “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (that Cigarette)”. The chorus goes: “Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette / Puff, puff, puff, and if you smoke yourself to death / Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate / That you hate to make him wait / But you just gotta have another cigarette.” Phil Harris – best known for his comedic talents and voiceover work these days, if at all – also had a hit with the song in 1947.
(March 2013)
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This would be a good time to relate my recent purchase of a one-of-a-kind, three-disc album called Will the Circle be Unbroken (1972). Unlike nearly all of the other rock and country collaborations that I know about, in this case the rockers hand the keys off to country music legends and let them drive. Ostensibly (or even technically) a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, Wikipedia calls the album a “collaboration from many famous bluegrass and country-western players, including Roy Acuff, ‘Mother’ Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis, Pete ‘Oswald’ Kirby, Norman Blake, Jimmy Martin, and others. It also introduced fiddler Vassar Clements to a wider audience.”
(February 2015)
