I love these early Tennessee mornings, a little cloudy, covering the sunrise, cool and very quiet this new day. Early morning, just like this was the time when I first arrived in Nashville, in October, 1962, with my meager supply of stuff, to start my new life. And when I arrived, to seek my fortune in music, I found a whole 'nuther world of musicians, living just beneath the surface of "The Athens Of The South", as the local royalty of the city liked to describe their town, in those days.
And that is how it was when an Ozark boy came home to Tennessee, 51 years ago, with his 1959 DeSoto full of the essentials of a new life. An Inventory: 5 pair of socks, 6 pair of pretty fair underwear, 4 pair of Levi's, 5 shirts, my pair of Tony Lama's, my Dopp Kit of toilet articles and my J45 Gibson guitar. And when I got here, I found a core of new arrivals that were in the same financial shape I was in, living in small rooms around Music Row, 5 to 8 people, sleeping on floors, hungry as I was, but starting out in this thing called “music biz” with calm dedication. Songwriters and singers, musicians and soon to be hit producers...drawn to a city that would become known as "Music City", as the city fathers decided there might be money in those hillbilly folks after all.
Glenn Sutton, when he got here, lived in his car for awhile, parked in a parking lot behind the music offices of Music Row. Others, just camped at whatever friendly space they could find. A waitress named Sue, with an apartment near Music Row, had a who's who of songwriters and singers on her floor, such as Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller, where many hits were being written. At least, when I got here, I had a couch to sleep on at Jimmy Gateley’s house, and then a real bed at Mom Upchurch’s boarding house for pickers.
I have found that about every 20 years, Nashville does a turnover of talent. The 40's and 50's were the core group, Ernest, Roy, Bill, Minnie, Red, Hank and the others that were the original country music foundation, for all that was to come after. These historic artists were tasked with building a business out of something that before that had been freely given, on front porches and under shade trees, just musicians and singers getting together and making music for the love of it. George Hays, The Solemn Od Judge, father of the Grand Ole Opry, said he got his idea for the Opry in the Ozarks, when he went to Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, as a young reporter for a Memphis paper, to cover some event. His host invited him to go with him to a cabin in the woods where the local people had moved their furniture out of the house and set up for a music event, fiddle and guitar, dancing most of the night away, and having so much fun that in later life, Hays decided to take that same spirit of music and uninhibited fun to stage and radio, which finally became the Grand Ole Opry. Originally the Opry featured string bands like the Possum Hunters and the Fruit Jar Drinkers, and Sam and Kirk McGee From Sunny Tennessee, but Uncle Dave Macon and Roy Acuff and The Smoky Mountain Boys changed all that, with vocalists becoming the featured attractions.
So, the 60's and 70's, which was my generation of new kids, already had heroes and roll models to follow, as we took the business of music to new areas.
The 80's saw a new group come to the forefront, and it coincided with the startup of CMT and music video. These new artists took to that new window of opportunity, kicked the window out and made it a door. It was an exciting time for me to have been a part of that music revolution, during my tenure at CMT.
So, when I arrived in 1962, I found the established artists welcoming and supporting, willing to teach a new kid the ropes of this business of music. That is how it should be, after all each generation has their own slant on music, and if they can do it and make it stick, then more power to them.
So, that leaves our Classic Music that we all made and carried across the World to new audiences, in the years when our generation had the stage. By staying true to our music, and not trying to change it, we have category of our own...Classic Country, and many of the Artists of that day are still practicing their art and thrilling audiences around the globe. Radio may have pretty well closed us out, but the fans of the classic artists still support the music and keep it alive and well.
It's been a good life that I forged out of music, a traveling minstrel going from town to town, new audiences and new friends to be made. So, sometimes when I put one of my old songs on my Facebook page, it is just to remember and revisit that time in the studio, when the very best musicians and background vocalists, songwriters and producers let me be a part of something special.
Stan
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