Blast from the Past

I did not become a big fan of country music until I was in college.  I used to watch Hee Haw every week growing up though.  I don't think it was by choice, but I do remember enjoying it, even though it was corny.  My mom loved Junior Samples.  CMT has a Hee Haw marathon on tonight.  They are showing episodes from various decades.  The one on now has not only Buck Owens who passed away recently, but also Conway Twitty (who died a while ago), John Anderson and Jerry Clower.  I remember in college a friend of mine said he was a huge Conway Twitty fan. Actually he said he was "the heat."  I thought he was joking, but then he pulled out a Conway Twitty tape and quickly convinced me otherwise.  I was skeptical, but eventually I became a fan, too.  It is futile to resist such songs as "Tight Fittin' Jeans,"  "Hello Darlin" and "I'd Love To Lay You Down."

Comments

[Paul Hooson]

I loved Hee Haw as well. It was like the country version of Laugh-in. I love the episode with John Anderson as well. I videotaped this episode some years ago when beta tapes were king. Today I'm a SVHS and DVD fan for saving shows I love.

John Anderson is one of the great voices of country music. He was originally hired to repair the roof of the Grand Ole Opry, but kept asking for a chance to perform onstage and really impressed everyone. He was given the chance and had two big episodes of popularity, one back around 1980 with a huge hit "Swingin'", and a few years later with "Money In The Bank" but has really faded with some real dud albums in later years. John Anderson likes mellow country, but was far better with more rock 'n' roll type country. His version of the old blues standard, "It's All Over Now", sure blows away The Roling Stones version. The searing guitar work is nothing short of awesome. It is the definative version of this song.

Jerry Clower was a great artist as well, the definitive clown prince of country for sure.

Conway Twitty had a great hit with his country remake of The Eagles' "Heartache Tonight". His signature deep voice really worked great with this song. The Eagles may have seemed country enough for some folks, but Conway Twitty managed to pull off a really great remake in my view.

I miss poor Buck Owens, the inventor of Bakersfield Sound in country music. He also wrote some great funny stuff as well. I loved his country parody version of "The Cover Of The Music City News", which was a parody of Playboy magazine cartoonist, Shel Silverstein's, "Cover Of The Rolling Stone". Buck Owens', "Act Naturally" was perfect for Ringo Starr, and one of his greatest songs ever.

The cornfield humor on Hee Haw was a real classic. Conan O''Brien used to lift this for some humor in his early years on NBC for laughs.

Thanks so much for bringing back some memories of this great TV show, Lorie.