Just a country song

[yuli]

Last night i decide to take a few-minutes break but fall asleep inspite of the country music program I have tuned into ( http://www.1.fm/Station/ccountry/Default.aspx ) running at regular volume. So some of the music drifts into my dreams, and first there is some slow Elvis and then there is some upbeat piece, a guy singing accompanied by bass and piano and the song ending with him singing something about "golden (m)ascot" and "college band". As i wake up i fondly recall that basss and piano sound and figure i check the program history of the channel to see what I might have heard there. But... looking for Elvis, I am surprised to see this long list of songs that have been played already - and which one is the one i remember hearing?

01:43 am Artist: Keith Urban Title: YOU'LL THINK OF ME
01:40 am Artist: Mickey Gilley Title: I Overlooked An Orchid
01:37 am Artist: Lionel Richie Title: Stuck On You
01:34 am Artist: Lefty Frizzell Title: If You've Got The Money I've Got The Time
01:31 am Artist: Foster & Lloyd Title: Faster and Louder
01:29 am Artist: Sgt. Barry Sadler Title: The Ballad Of The Green Berets
01:25 am Artist: Boy Howdy Title: They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore
01:21 am Artist: Hank Williams Jr Title: Man Of Steel
01:18 am Artist: Glen Campbell Title: Any Which Way You Can
01:14 am Artist: Collin Raye Title: Someone You Used To Know
01:12 am Artist: Elvis Presley Title: Love Me Tender

Well... Google to the rescue. But nothing useful comes up searching for "golden mascot" or "golden ascot" and "college band". Next Google and Youtube: going through the songs one by one I find out that the only one that has that upbeat feeling i recall as well as bass and piano accompaniment is "If You've Got The Money I've Got The Time". And there are lots of versions of it in Youtube! And I get sucked into checking them all out. Now, since I've taken notes, i figure i may as well share that treasure trove with the rest of the world now.

Lefty Frizzell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2x0fMszj58 - images: record / note: audio from an old record
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3KbMo45yzE - images: record player / note: audio from an old record
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYUr4wNdDZc - images: live performance on TV 1970 / note: somewhat poor audio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FquEEkL8B0 - images: movie / note: decent audio but lip synched

Cover versions:
Merle Haggard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-tsVMHuHrs - images: old time stage / note: decent audio but piano hard to hear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryh_wk2ba9g - images: old time stage / note: decent audio but piano hard to hear
Merle Haggard and David Frizzell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIIpqmamkgI - images: live performance / note: decent audio
David Frizzell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlthJTKU4rg - images: live performance / note: poor audio (bootleg)
George Jones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__xXNkt90tA - images: photo / note: decent audio
Willie Nelson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVphs8eP6c4 - images: record cover, etc. / note: played fast; decent audio; also harmonica solo; all-star
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z8_vZ_MiME - images: live performance / note: played fast; poor audio (bootleg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozffj8m-WrI - images: live performance / note: played fast; poor audio (bootleg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBfLCHPwhT4 - images: live performance / note: played fast; poor audio (bootleg)
Rick Wild:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_D5fPxEPr4 - images: live performance / note: played fast; very low audio level
Jo Stafford/Paul Westons Orchester:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRgHI3D8AQE - images: acoustic record player / note: prehistoric sound from an acoustic record player
Leon Russell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72n3mooTJh8 - images: record cover / note: played fast; decent audio; bluegrass-fusion version
Del McCoury:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLCmIfa_C2A - images: record cover / note: played fast; decent audio; bluegrass version
The Wilders:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbNqF_sLEXI - images: live performance / note: very low audio level

Oh... so much good stuff...

And what about that "golden (m)ascot"? That was most likely the phrase "all the night spots" - and the "college band"? Who knows - a sleeping brain plays lots of tricks... maybe it's something from one of the songs that followed but that I was not aware of. Edit: I must have heard the 1970 version in my sleep, since he sings there not "dance drink beer and wine" but "dance to the music band".

[yuli]

Music has its own way... I had noticed that song a few times before: something about "this bed of roses that i lay on" sung with very nice harmonies, but whenever it was being played I was busy doing something that quickly pushed the music into the background again. But by and by a meme of the kind "this is a really nice song" had built a nest in my brain, and today the song found me ready: as soon as i heard it i turned up the volume and really listened for the first time, and for the first time also heard the fine bass voice in there (bass sound tends to disappear when you turn the volume down to background level). Anyway, before they had sung through the first verse I had already googled the lyrics: something said very simply and very well, and the harmonies don't seem at all typical for country music. So more googling, and a good hour later (thanks to people who post good stuff to Youtube) i can say that the long retired band "The Statler Brothers" has just gotten a new fan. Their roots are in gospel music, from where they took the 4-voice harmonization into country, apparently to much acclaimed results. It's amazing how much good music there is in the world, and it's also amazing how little of it I know (well, that is perhaps only amazing to myself ).
I started at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brvSN9y-Ha8 and then found a very nice sounding set from their 2002 farewell concert at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EK7f_KndPc which led me into a long string of songs from the same concert (posted by the same person).
And finally i found a version that sounded like the one I had heard on the radio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AifXbzR4JMM - this seems to have been recorded a few decades before they did their farewell concert and their voices sound, of course, quite different on that recording - when it comes to this song i actually like the older version better (at that time they also still had their original tenor singer).
And it's not "this bed of roses" but "this bed of Rose's" - a fine and playful distinction.
Anyway... just posting this here in case someone else finds this useful...

EDIT: the old version that I had found seems to have been removed from Youtube, but i found several other recordings, among them a slower one (apparently later than 1980):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE000LFyuik
... and a few from the time the song was new:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yraN72VpOS8 (1970? - introduced by Johnny Cash)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntBYxf_vddg (1971 - introduced by Johnny Cash)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiz-ycwCkGI (1972)
(the 1972 version is perhaps my favourite among those - i generally like the older and slower performances more)