Date News Posted: October 7, 2002

Well it’s four in the morning and a good time to write in peace, the old west is quiet, the freeways are still, the burglars have finished their work and hopefully all those that stayed late at their local bar made it home OK.

We have a lot to write about this morning, most, pretty good, some not to good so let’s start with that first; we’ll call it “Do You Believe This”

With a heart as big as the state he was born in, Alabama, Country Classic Super Star Freddie Hart was issued a citation this past week, for speeding? No, for not wearing his seat belts? No, jay walking? No, well what for then? For Feeding The Birds.

We have forgotten how many times over the years we have mentioned that Freddie and I have gotten together for a trip to the country feed store to pick up anywhere from three to five hundred pounds of bird seed.  For the past fifteen years, maybe longer, Freddie has been feeding birds twice a day at his home in Burbank, California.

Freddie’s house where he has lived for many years in Burbank sides up to an alley. This past week when he went out at the usual time one morning to feed them he heard a knock on his fence, it was the police, they told him they had been by several times trying to catch him in the act of feeding the birds.

They also told him that they trapped some of the birds he was feeding and killed them and words to the effect I guess that those birds were not wanted in the city of Burbank and if I had my guess I would say that bird that was unwanted was a pigeon, granted too many pigeons gathering in one place “can” make a mess but too many homeless people gathering in the cold night air under the overpasses in Los Angeles make a mess also and they don’t trap and kill them or they don’t trap and kill the ravens that gather on the golf course behind our house either, and remember some years ago when the wolves or fox’s or whatever they were got to be a pain in Wyoming or Montana, they trapped them and took them to where they could run free and let them loose.

They say some birds carry diseases, they (whoever “they” are) could be right but I read the paper as much as the next guy and I have yet to see where a pigeon has caused anyone to die or even get sick for that matter, which reminds me, this will be read in places all over the world and as a favor to Freddie if you see in your local paper where a bird has killed or made a citizen sick please send the article to us and this matter will be closed forever.

And, don’t you think even if it was wrong to feed birds that the police could have walked up to the front door and said, Mr. Hart, we understand you have been feeding birds in your backyard, Burbank has a ordinance against that and we would like for you to quit.

It would have hurt Freddie to have to quit feeding those little birds as he calls them but he would have understood and that would have been the end of it. Doesn’t that make more sense they driving up and down an alley trying to catch a bird feeder and wasting the tax payers time and money even more, and wouldn’t it have been more of the right thing to do to just issue him a verbal warning instead of a citation for him to have to go to court and probably have to pay a fine for doing something good.

Between Freddie Hart who like me is a Marine, my brother who spent 20 years in the Navy which totals up to about thirty-two years between us in serving our country and are proud of it and in a nutshell it can all be said in Freddie’s song “I Wouldn’t Trade America For The World”.

But we have got some laws that suck folks.

Country Music is alive and well in many places in Texas, Ed Parker sends us his fan club news, that man is on the road from one end of Texas to the other playing night clubs, grand openings, oprys, where ever they need Country Music well Heeeeer’s Ed, and being an ex-sheriff it has been said that he holds his audiences captive, but his weapon now days is a guitar not his old six shooter.

And from Ft. Worth comes Jim Eaves who is recording pure Country on his label both Country and Gospel that is, and even though most of the great pure country radio stations of the 50’s and 60’s have went by the way side, some great little gospel stations have popped up and are doing a great job of playing both known and unknown gospel artist music, In fact on the back of the Renfro Valley news paper they show a list that covers the whole back half of their paper that carries the Renfro Valley Gospel shows.

Jim took a break between 65 and 94 to become a Ft. Worth Texas fire fighter so when it came to New York and 9-11 Jim knew the feeling of what those fireman felt and wasted no time in recording a song that Lawton Williams had written called “Bring My Daddy Home”.

Lawton Williams of course helped to put our Indiana friend Bobby Helms on the map with “Fraulein” that one sold about two point eight trainloads of wax and didn’t do to bad on the Gene Watson hit of “Farewell Party”.

So with Jimmy Eaves surrounding himself with great writers and great friends like Lawton, and Frankie Miller who recorded one of the all time classics called “Blackland Farmer” things are looking good.

Jimmy Eaves and Frankie Miller would really love to hear from you, if you are a just a fan of pure country music or a radio station that would like a copy of anyone of their CDs, Country-Gospel or both and pictures and bios with more information then take a minute and write Jimmy Eaves, 412 Green Leaf St.>>Ft. Worth, Texas 76107 or call them at 817-335-9954 or maybe a fax to 817-336-3231. Jimmy and Frankie will be on line pretty soon if not already and they will be happy to give you that email address when you write or call.
 

And from Nashville one of our all time favorites Hugh X. Lewis (Make that Colonel Hugh X.) has several pretty new CDs, doing a heap of TV guest spots and a feature role in a new movie called “Summer Of Courage”.

One song I never failed to play every single night on my radio show in Mojave was Hugh X’s “All Heaven Broke Lose” in fact I still play it, it’s a great song.

Hugh also has a new gospel album that can be had called “Stand Up And Be Counted” he has CDs with some of his great classics on them he has bios to bring back some memories about him you may have forgotten, he has some great 8X10s that you might be able to talk him out of, Shucks, if you are making a new movie and need a good lookin’ Colonel type guy to be apart of it he can handle that also, he’s a man for all reasons.

So, if you play the real stuff on your radio station then you need some Hugh X. Lewis CDs, here’s how to get um> write Hugh X. Lewis, Talent Trek Agency>2021 21^st. Ave. South>Nashville 37313 or call if you like>615-270-0010.

Tell them we sent you, they’ll say, who the h—is he.
 

Our old friend Hi Busse called us a few years ago and said, hey, I’m doing a song and story show called “Song And Story” and I said to HI, what a great name for a song and story show, how long did it take you to think that one up and old Hi said something like “Kiss My ---“ I loved that man, I said well, what do you want, he said Billy Walker’s “Cross The Brazos At Waco” I said yep, as a matter of fact I have a brand new untouched by human hands 45 of that sucker, he said well how much and when can you send it, I said well normally it’s 19.95>BUT WAIT> by ordering early like you have it’s free to friends, he said give me your correct address I am sending someone over to have you locked up, I sent it, he put it on his show along with the story part (which was good) because you can not have a song and story show with out both of those elements, other wise you would just have to call your show “Song”

But this morning this song and story show is about “The Tall Texan” Billy Walker, this past week Billy’s executive officer (Mrs. Walker) sent us along with a great picture and some stories two CDs on Billy now these are not what you would call good, they are what you would call “Outstanding” on a scale of one to ten these are elevens.

Now all CDs that say Greatest Hits are not always just that, they may have made the charts some you wonder why and others you think why not but then every ones taste is different that’s why we don’t all like buttermilk with Jell-O in it or a pea nut butter sandwich with cabbage on it. But that is the reason when they made that little CD remote control they put the word “skip” on it, a function I did not use on this CD.

BUT, I did hit repeat on several of these songs, one of um was “He Sang The Songs About El Paso” which doesn’t take a lot of thinkin’ to know who or what that one is about and of course “Cross The Brazos” and “Funny How Time Slips Away” and seventeen of the others, wait a minute, 17 and 3 is 20 I guess I punched them all up to keep on playing.

Do you remember when they used to make country records with just the right amount of music on it, that 13 background singers were not repeating every thing the singer just said, that the pickers were not trying to out pick the other pickers and the drums were not the lead instrument and nobody gave a rats peetootie what the label was as long as the music was good, well if you checked yes to all the above then that’s a BINGO and that’s what you’ll have on this Billy Walker album, none of the above.

This is a great album.

Christmas is coming up, so if you still got an old Daddy or an old Momma who’s shoes now have holes in them from walkin’ the streets and country roads and who’s fingers are black from ink looking through so called mail order magazines for true country music and unless you plan to wire the cemetery like I am for country music when they or I die then you need to do them a good deed and order this CD before it’s to late.

Someday soon your own little son or daughter may ask you, Daddy where’s Grandpa, and you can hold your head up and be proud when you say, he’s up there son listing to Billy Walker CDs and your son hopefully crying will say, you never told me Daddy, that Grandpa was up in heaven, and you can say, he never made it that far son, he’s up in Kansas.

This week instead of ordering a bag off the TV that will let you suck the air outa your shorts order a Billy Walker 20 Golden Hits CD for Grandpa and one for your self.

TALL TEXAN RECORDS  

 P.O.Box  618

Hendersonville, TN 37077     

Phone 615-822-4100

Someday Grandpa will make it farther then Kansas, then it will be to late.
 

What’s happening with the Roy Rogers group I am not quite sure, first I read that IRS was after more money from Museum holdings:

Then Roy Jr. and family were going to move the Museum to Branson, which if they do that I hope they get there before every one leaves.

Now we read that a roofing and painting company has bought Roy’s old ranch and plans are in the making to turn it into an old west town.

The good part is, people past fifty or sixty are saying hey!! That’s great, the sad part is as bad as I hate to admit it the old west is all but over, if you stand on a corner and take people as they come 9 out of 10 won’t even have a clue to who Roy Rogers was, sure there were three or four hundred people at Roy’s funeral from this part of Southern California, and even if they went once to see the ranch, how many times are they going to keep coming back?

They have just spent a million dollars on re-building main street at the old Gene Autry Melody Ranch, people go but there ain’t nobody a standin’ in line, but the good part about that ranch is, it is close enough to Hollywood that they probably won’t need any tourist to keep it afloat anyway, they tell me they are or have been shooting a new Lone Ranger movie there, and from what I have been told, the people that own it have now and have always had money so they can always turn it back into a desert

For those of us who still remember Soda Pop and Saturdays and Eddie Dean then you don’t have a lot of choices left to re-live those days, the best one I would say would be the “Westerns Channel” on dish TV where Walter Brennan is still Sheriff in a little Texas town where Tim McCoy is out roundin’ up bad dudes, The Lone Ranger is still cleaning up his part of the old west and Gene Autry is back in the saddle again.
 

Not long ago we helped Walter Jr. get some pictures and other things together to give the production company that was filming the reunion of the “Real McCoy’s” in which his father was the star, the company did a great job in putting it all together.

Showing up for the show and coming in from his home in Vegas was Tony Martinez, probably better known to his McCoy fans as “Pepino” the little farm hand that kept the ranch running and Grandpa a friend to talk to out in the barn.

Walter Jr. who also appeared on that show several times said Tony and everyone else that worked that show were all just wonderful people and that he was sorry to hear of the passing of Tony, (Tony (Pepino Garcia) Martinez) was 82.
 

Backward-turn-Backward oh time in your flight>
KPOK Portland, Oregon 1975

The number one song was>>>>>>> Freddie Fender & Before the Next Teardrop Falls

The number seven song was one of my favorite Kenny Price songs (which I would like to have a copy of was>>>>>Easy Look on RCA

Number thirteen was Red Steagall and Someone Cares For You.

And number twenty-five, Merle Haggard and Always Wanting You

And back a little farther to 1962

Was a real memory maker when Cliff Crofford wrote a story about a real person and Walter Brennan cut the record about an old share cropper by the name of Rivers, and radio stations around the world that still play the classics of country music, still play “Old Rivers”.

 Cal Smith has set dates for the next hundred years (give or take a few) to appear on the Midnight Jamboree (The Ernest Tubb Theater) in Nashville on the first Saturday of September. This last show in Sept. Cal worked to a standing room only crowd, so what that tells me is if you plan to be in Nashville around that time next year you need to be there early if you plan to get in, I don’t know if they do the show on a first come basics or sell tickets, which ever way if you are going you need to check it out way ahead of time.

In life that seemed to be one of Ernest favorite things, his show at his own place every Saturday night after the Opry, he had the best guest in the world on that show and packed that old record shop full of fans.

Anyone that has any good stories about Cousin Herb Henson, it would sure be nice of you to send them to his little granddaughter who is trying to put together a good story on him and learn more about him from some of his old friends, every one has stories to tell about people they have met and if you knew Herb then I am sure you have one to so why not share it with this little girl.

If you get up around Wichita, KS check out 1070 AM or 101.3 FM KFDI and give a listen to Johnny Western, I don’t know what his air time is, we think it is sometime in the evening Johnny is one of the good guys that would love to hear from you

So before we say goodnight we want to thank Billy and Bettie Walker, Jimmy Eaves, Frankie Miller, Hugh X. Lewis and Wayne Rogers for all the CDs, pictures and bios and to Walter Brennan Jr. for the great art posters on his Father.

It’s been a great day.

And, we’ll see ye later, but just in case we don’t, take care of yourself

 Don Bradley