Tag: Sonny Curtis

Tin Pan South set for March 25-29 in Nashville

 in Festivals, Nashville music, Songwriters

tin pan 2014Tin Pan South, a wide-ranging and always rewarding songwriters festival,  has just announced its 2014 line-up. The festival, which features both songwriting legends and upcoming writers,  will run from March 25 through March 29 in Nashville.

The approximately 100 performing songwriters include Joe Don Rooney, Vince Gill,  Teddy Gentry,  Amy Grant and Jamie O’Neal, plus Songwriters Hall of Fame members Pat Alger, Mac Davis and Sonny Curtis.
We’re also pleased to see so many of our Nashville-based favorites in the mix, including Bill Lloyd, Sherrie Austin,  Jessi Alexander,  Jason White,   Barry Dean, Will Hoge, Tom Douglas,  Eric Brace, Jim Lauderdale, Bob DiPiero, Karen Staley  and Marcus Hummon.
For full details, visit Tin Pan South’s online home.
Follow Sun209 on Twitter at @Sun209com.

Sonny Curtis honored at the Country Music Hall of Fame

 in Nashville music, Reviews

Sonny Curtis, a first-generation rocker and a highly successful songwriter, was saluted at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville as part of its “Poets and Prophets” series today.
The program was a compelling reminder of the many talented contributors to contemporary music who are not household names, but should be. The warm and self-effacing Curtis has had an extraordinary career, playing and recording with Holly before the Crickets were formed, writing the classic “I Fought the Law” (famously covered by the Bobby Fuller Four and the Clash) and writing and performing the indelible theme to the Mary Tyler Moore show.
Curtis reflected on his childhood (“We were poor with three Os”) and his friendship with Holly (“I think we were friends before we met.”)
Shortly after Holly’s death, Curtis joined the Crickets as the new lead vocalist. The band needed a new song and he delivered “I Fought the Law.” He said he played it for Jerry Allison and Joe B. Mauldin and they said “Hey man, that’s good enough for this album.” Shrewd move.
Curtis said his vocals ended up on the Mary Tyler Moore show opening “Love is All Around” because he insisted on it, telling the producers they couldn’t use the song without him. “I wouldn’t do that today,” he laughed.

The Ultimate Songwriters’ Round, plus Lynn Anderson

 in Americana Music

Mac Davis and Bobby Braddock

By Ken Paulson

Songwriters in the round can have the feel of a poker game, particularly when someone plays a big hit. Sudenly, everyone is raising, playing their own hits.
That can make for a very entertaining evening, particularly when every songwriter has a hot hand.
On the final night of Tin Pan South, the round at the Bluebird Cafe was pretty astonishing. Bobby Braddock sang “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “Let’s Talk About Me,” and then his daughter Lauren stepped in for “D-I-V-O-R-C-E.”
Mac Davis did “Memories,” I Believe in Music” and “Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” apologizing for the misogynistic lyrics of the latter.
Sonny Curtis, a rock pioneer and member of the Crickets, did “Walk Right Back,” “The Straight Life” and “I Fought the Law,”
among other hits.
So how did Jim Weatherly keep pace with all of that? It helps when you’ve written big hits for Gladys Knight and can close with “Midnight Train to Georgia,” a song he originally recorded as “Midnight Plane to Houston.”
Before performing his biggest hit, Weatherly saluted Lynn Anderson, who once recorded “Midnight Train” and was sitting in the audience. She ended up singing along from her seat.
Only in Nashville.