The Carter Family name is one well known and well respected in the music world. Carlene, daughter of June Carter Cash and Carl Smith, was kind enough to chat with me about growing up in the Carter family music world and how it shaped her as a musician. When you’re growing up, what your parents do for a living shapes you. For Carlene, music was constantly a part of her life. Carlene says, “It was fun, it was different from my friends, it was a way of life. It wasn’t until I started school that I realized not everyone’s parents did that. Grandma (Maybelle), Mom, Helen and Anita would rehearse…
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Written By Women, Covered By Men
There are so many talented female songwriters out there. What’s interesting is that sometimes, a cover version of a song gets more notoriety than the original version. Here are some songs that were written by women and covered by men. There are many more songs than this playlist includes but this gives you a start to maybe start researching who wrote your favorite songs. “Running Up That Hill” (by Kate Bush) Placebo– Their cover of this song is extremely creepy. Kate Bush’s lyrics are a little unsettling anyway but Placebo’s version takes it to a whole new level. I’ve heard Placebo’s version in movie soundtracks and TV shows…
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A Few Reasons Why Dolly Parton Is a Total Badass
The theme for our playlist this month is “Men Covering Songs Written by Women.” When I heard this I immediately thought of “Back In The Good Old Days (When Times Was Bad) as done by one of the toughest men in the country music cannon, Merle Haggard. Legend has it that Haggard was inspired to pursue a life in music when he was a prisoner at San Quentin and saw Johnny Cash perform. His album “Mama Tried” contains the title song which boasts “I turned twenty one in prison doin life without parole.” Probably the toughest song on the album though is “Back in the Good Old Days” with it’s…
