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11 Facts About “He Stopped Loving Her Today”

One of the best parts of the recent Ken Burns series Country Music was not even a part of the broadcast. One of the extras that was edited out of the final version of the series was a detailed segment about “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the George Jones classic that many consider the greatest country song of all time.

The segment features stories from many of the people behind the song. Unfortunately, George Jones passed away in 2013, but we get the story from songwriters Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman as well as from producer Billy Sherrill and others. Below are 11 things we learned about “He Stopped Loving Her Today.

1. “One of the songwriters had a reputation for killing off characters in his songs. Songwriter Bobby Braddock started writing the song and then took it to Curly Putman for help in finishing the song. Putman was known for writing songs where someone dies, such as “Green, Green Grass of Home.”

2. The song took a long time to write. Braddock and Putman started working together during the Spring of 1977, then took a break. They finished the first version of the song in Fall of 1977.

3. Braddock initially was not too impressed with the song or the character. When they finished the song, Braddock wrote in his journal that on a scale of one to ten, the song was a seven. One thing he never liked about the song was that the main character was not a good role model because he could never move on.

4. Someone recorded the song before George Jones. Johnny Russell recorded the song for two different labels, but it was never released.

5. The song as originally written revealed the main character’s death too early. Braddock and Putman wrote the song with the chorus about the character being dead occurring after the first verse.

6. Producer Billy Sherrill got the songwriters to change the song. Producer Billy Sherrill had Braddock and Putman rewrite the song to move the disclosure of the character’s death until nearer the end. And he also got them to add a verse about the woman coming to the funeral.

7. George Jones initially did not like the song and kept singing the wrong music. During early recording sessions, Jones kept singing the song to the music of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”

8. The song took a long time to record. Between the recording of Jones’s opening line of the song and the recording of his final words, nearly a year had passed. The takes were never right, and then one day Jones came in and said he had it figured out. And then he nailed the recording.

9. The recording gave the producer goosebumps. When Jones finally recorded the spoken recitation, it gave Billy Sherrill goosebumps.

10. Backing vocalist Millie Kirkham knew what the song needed. Vocalist Millie Kirkham was known for her ability to hit extremely high notes, and Sherrill originally planned for her to sing really high on the song. But she realized that the song needed something more subtle, so she forwent her trademark high notes and did something more moving and haunting, stunning everyone in the recording session.

11. The song was song of the year for two years. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” won the Country Music Awards Song of the Year for 1980 and for 1981. And it also helped Jones win his first Male Vocalist of the Year award.

And that’s the Story Behind the Song.

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They Placed a Wreath Upon His Door: George Jones RIP

Etta James: “Almost Persuaded” (Song of the Day)

John Prine and Susan Tedeschi: “Color of the Blues”

Which “Beer Run” Song Came First?

3 a.m. Albums: Elvis Presley’s “The Jungle Room Sessions”

The First Farm Aid

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John Prine and Susan Tedeschi: “Color of the Blues”

Color of the Blues

We recently reported on John Prine’s upcoming album of duets For Better, For Worse and his duet with Iris DeMent on “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out.” Now, you may listen to another track on the album, “Color of the Blues.”

Susan Tedeschi joins Prine on the song. Check out their recording of “Color of the Blues,” which is played over a promotional video for the album.

The song about a lover’s letter on blue paper was written by George Jones and Lawton Williams. Jones released his original version of “Color of the Blues” on January 15, 1958.

Below is the original version by Jones.

Jones recorded the song more than once, and artists such as Loretta Lynn and Elvis Costello have covered it.

Prine’s album For Better, Or Worse features duets with women artists such as Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack, Holly Williams, and Alison Krauss. It hits stores and the Internet on September 30, 2016.

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Which “Beer Run” Song Came First?

There are two songs called “Beer Run” that are very similar. Did the George Jones and Garth Brooks version steal from Todd Snider’s “Beer Run”?

Singer-songwriter Todd Snider tells a funny story about his song “Beer Run” and how his song may or may not have been co-opted by other songwriters. A song with a similar title as Snider’s song was later recorded by Garth Brooks and George Jones.

Having heard both songs, I initially thought the George Jones and Garth Brooks song was a cover of the Todd Snider song. But it is a different song.

Todd Snider’s “Beer Run”

First, check out Todd Snider’s “Beer Run.” Snider’s song appeared on his 2001 album New Connection, and a live version of the song appears on his 2002 CD Near Truths and Hotel Rooms.

This Todd Snider version is from March 2007, with Snider performing at Front Porch House Concerts in Boulder Colorado.

The Garth Brooks and George Jones “Beer Run”

In 2001, Garth Brooks and George Jones recorded their version of the song called “Beer Run.” The Garth Brooks song appeared on Brooks’s 2001 album Scarecrow, and it was written by Kent Blazy, Kim Williams, Amanda Williams, Keith Anderson, and George Ducas.

Like Snider’s song, the Garth Brooks one uses spelling of the phrase (“B double E double are you in” [get it? r-u-n]) in the chorus.

And here is George Jones joining Garth Brooks singing “Beer Run”:

Even though George Jones is one of the greatest singers of all-time, the Todd Snider song “Beer Run” is much superior to the other version, at least in my estimation.

Todd Snider’s Response

But what does Snider think about the rip-off of his song? In the video below, after telling the funny story of the two songs, Snider shows how he can play the same game.

Thus, Snider sings “his” new song that just happens to have a similar title to “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” one of Garth Brooks’s recordings that Brooks wrote with Kent Blazy (one of the “Beer Run” songwriters). The video is from the same March 2007 Colorado performance as above.

Although at one point, both sides thought the other side stole “Beer Run,” they eventually agreed to assume they both were written independently. Snider did later have a brief encounter with Blazy about the song.

But Snider has no animosity toward Garth Brooks. The superstar treated Snider well when he planned to use one of Snider’s songs for his Chris Gaines project.

Which “Beer Run” do you prefer? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Picture Show Online Tribute to John Prine

11 Facts About “He Stopped Loving Her Today”

John Prine and Susan Tedeschi: “Color of the Blues”

3 a.m. Albums: Elvis Presley’s “The Jungle Room Sessions”

The First Farm Aid

He said his name, Bojangles

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3 a.m. Albums: Elvis Presley’s “The Jungle Room Sessions”

Our series “3 a.m. Albums” examines albums that are perfect for those nights when you cannot sleep due to sadness, loneliness, or despair. Today we consider Elvis Presley’s “The Jungle Room Sessions” (and “Way Down in the Jungle Room”) a collection of songs from Presley’s final recording sessions.

Elvis Last Recording Just for the circumstances surrounding Elvis Presley’s recording of The Jungle Room Sessions (2000), the album constitutes the perfect “3 a.m. album.” The songs on The Jungle Room Sessions come from Presley’s final two studio recording sessions on February 2-7 and on October 29-30, 1976 in the late night and early morning hours. Presley was emotionally and physically drained, no longer wanting to go outside his home at Graceland even as he worked hard to fulfill his obligations for concerts booked by Colonel Tom Parker.

Because of Presley’s reluctance to leave Graceland, RCA brought a studio to him, setting up recording equipment in Presley’s famed “Jungle Room,” the den at the back of Graceland behind the kitchen. Although the room was not built for recording, Nashville engineer Brian Christian helped figure out how to adapt the room in ways such as draping the walls with heavy blankets to dampen the acoustics. Considering the obstacles, the music that came out of these sessions sounds fantastic.

The music from these sessions may be found on two similar releases from Sony’s Follow That Dream (FTD) specialty Elvis label. The Jungle Room Sessions from 2000 features outtakes from the sessions. FTD later released Way Down in the Jungle Room in 2013 as a two-CD set that includes both the masters and various outtakes. I own and love both of these releases, which are somewhat duplicative, with some differences. Either one makes for great three a.m. listening.

The masters from these Jungle Room sessions produced the final two official albums of Elvis’s career: From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976) and Moody Blue (1977). The Jungle Room Sessions and Way Down in the Jungle Room compile unreleased songs from these recording sessions that according to Ernst Jorgensen’s Elvis Presley: A Life in Music, generally started after 9:00 p.m. and went all through the night. A more recent

And it is these gems and alternate takes — sometimes stripped down, sometimes featuring false starts and comments by Presley — where Presley through his beautiful voice sacrifices his own anguish to help heal yours. As his weakened body gives his lifeblood to each song, you find a close companion in the night. Allmusic describes the Jungle Room Sessions album as “one of the most revealing and emotionally draining releases ever issued by Elvis. Hear it and weep.”

The Jungle Room Sessions generally follows the order in which the songs were recorded, beginning with “Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall.” This recording includes some opening conversation by Elvis and two short takes before getting to the complete fifth take of the song. The missteps and chatter draw you into the sessions, so you feel you are sitting with Elvis and the band in the middle of the night in Graceland, or maybe they are with you wherever you are.

Other songs include a nice take on “The Last Farewell,” “Moody Blue,” “Danny Boy,” and “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” Another highlight is “She Thinks I Still Care,” a George Jones classic that was written by written by Dickey Lee and Steve Duffy.

The collection of songs also includes alternate takes on “Hurt,” a song where in Presley’s cries of anguish Greil Marcus found an “apocalyptic attack.” Similarly, Dave Marsh wrote, “If [Presley] felt the way he sounded, the wonder isn’t that he only had a year left to live but that he managed to survive that long.” This alternate take matches that description.

Finally, the Jungle Room Sessions album ends with the rocking “Fire Down Below.” But you no longer hear Presley on this track, except for a brief clip of Presley singing “America” after the track ends. The instrumental recording for “Fire Down Below” was made for Presley to later add his vocals. But he died before he got the chance to do that.

“Fire Down Below” is a fitting way to end the album, with the listener missing Presley, wondering what he might have done with the music, a track that sounds more like a sunrise than a 3 a.m. song.

Check out other albums in our series “3 a.m. Albums.” The Jungle Room Sessions and Way Down in the Jungle Room appeara on Graceland’s special collector label Follow That Dream and are available through Graceland’s official store. What is your favorite 3 a.m. album? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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The First Farm Aid

On September 22, 1985, the first “Farm Aid” was held in Champaign, Illinois. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp organized the benefit concert for struggling American farmers. Performers at that concert included a broad range of performers, including Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Hoyt Axton, Don Henley, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Billy Joel, Waylon Jennings, John Denver, Loretta Lynn, Joni Mitchell, Charley Pride, Sammy Hagar, George Jones, and Lou Reed.

Reportedly, the idea for Farm Aid began when Bob Dylan played at Live Aid earlier in the year in July and suggested some of the money from that concert should go to American farmers. While some — including Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof — were upset that Dylan exploited the stage of a worldwide televised concert in support of African famine relief to focus on Americans, other artists used the comment as inspiration for the Farm Aid concert. And Farm Aid benefit concerts continue to this day.

That September 22 in 1985, the performers did not know that the work would continue for decades. But they joyously sang and played to try to give something back. Below is one of the performances that day in Illinois, featuring Willie Nelson, Arlo Guthrie, and Dottie West singing “City of New Orleans.”

What is your favorite Farm Aid performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.