Remembering Hawkshaw

Saturday Night Jamboree Pays Tribute To Huntington Native, Grand Ole Opry Star

By: DAVE LAVENDER - The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- The hardwood floor creaks in the old Harveytown Elementary School gym when you walk across.

And you have to walk across when you hear the voice.

The thick maple-syrup-rich baritone gallops out with "eleven and a half yards of personality," echoing through the empty auditorium.

"Now don't forget me little darling while I'm growing old and gray/Just a little thought before I'm going far away/I'll be waiting on the hillside where the wild red roses grow/On the sunny side of the mountain where the rippling waters fall."

"Sunny Side of the Mountain," the signature song of the late great Huntington native and Grand Ole Opry star Harold "Hawkshaw" Hawkins, plays on at his old elementary school gym, where the Museum of Radio and Technology is now housed and where a display case honors Hawkins' country music career.

"By chance, someone brought in some of his records a few weeks ago," said Dwight Smith, one of the volunteers who runs the museum, which also sells old records. "I copied it onto CD so we could have it here to play. When I mention him, a lot of people have heard of him, but a lot didn't know he was from here and didn't know he went to school here."

More folks may know after next Saturday when the memory of Hawkins rides again on radio as the Dawg's Saturday Night Jamboree pays tribute to Hawkins, Adams County, Ohio, native Lloyd "Cowboy" Copas and Patsy Cline, who all perished together in a plane crash March 5, 1963.

Relatives of Cline Crew Bring Plane To Airport For Viewing On Anniversary

Shawn French

Patsy Cline fans enjoyed a full day of events Saturday, March 5, the 42nd anniversary of the fatal plane crash. Activities began at from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Benton County Airport. A plane similar to the one that Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes were flying in was available for the people to see, along with tables of Patsy Cline memorabilia and facts about the crash.

The event was planned by country singer/song writer Marty Stewart, although his schedule did not allow him to attend, and business partner Scott Mills.

Stuart and Mills were in Benton County on January 10 to visit the crash site and to tour the area to gather information for a book that is being written by Stuart about Patsy Cline, Country Legends.

“Marty and I thought it would be good to do something,” said Mills. “So we began organizing this event. We hope that it will be a yearly thing and that it will keep getting bigger and better.”

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is currently in production on a new documentary on "The Kings and Queens of Country Music." The documentary will, of course, prominently feature Patsy Cline.

At the request of a BBC Producer, I made available to them my copy of the book "Singing Girl of the Shenandoah Valley" for use as reference material for the production. A courier was dispatched to pick up the book for shipment to England, with return to the US scheduled for the end of March.

Charlie Dick has been interviewed for the documentary. As soon as I learn more information, and a scheduled airdate for those able to pick up the BBC, I will post it.

• Martha Carson (Singer/Songwriter, Biggest Hit was "Satisfied")


• Leslie Wilburn (Music Executive/Musician, Brother to Doyle & Teddy)


• Merle Kilgore (Singer/Songwriter, Manager of Hank Williams, Jr.)


• Sammi Smith (Singer, Biggest Hit was "Help Me Make It Through The Night")


• Goldie Hill (Singer, wife of Carl Smith)

Country Hall of Fame Adds Category

By: JEANNE ANNE NAUJECK
Staff Writer

Contemporary country artists will be considered for induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, beginning this year.

The Country Music Association, which inducts country stars into the hall at the rate of two a year, is raising that to three by adding a category for those artists who achieved stardom from 1975 to the present.

That means artists such as Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Shania Twain, Reba McEntire and Alan Jackson could become members of the exclusive club while they are still performing.

It could also reduce the backlog of artists waiting to be considered for induction.

This year, two people were to be selected — one whose career "achieved national prominence before World War II" and one for the period between World War II and 1975. The new category will add a performer who achieved stardom anytime from 1975 to the present.

The pre-WWII category will rotate every three years. Next year, that category will shift to honor a recording and/or touring musician active before 1980. In 2007 it will be reserved for a non-performer, and in 2008 it will revert to a pre-WWII artist.

Patsy Cline Festival Planned

02/16/05

The first annual Patsy Cline Memorial Festival will be held in Camden on March 5. This event will be the 42nd anniversary of the tragic plane crash that took the lives of Grand Ole Opry stars Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and their pilot Randy Hughes. Their small plane went down just outside the city limits of Camden in Benton County on March 5, 1963. The concert will be held at Birdies (formerly the Camden Country Club),next to the Magic Valley Golf Course on Eva Road.

Unlike other sing-alike festivals held by the Chamber, this event has come about as a result of the recent January 10 visit of Grand Ole Opry Star Marty Stuart, W.S. Holland and promoter Scott Mills. The group of musicians and friends traveled to Camden to visit the crash site.

"We kicked around the idea of having a concert and we all thought it was a great idea," says Mills who said the first concert will come out of his own pocket. "We hope it will be a lead off to many others that will raise funds to build up the memorial site."

Kodiak Fiber Artists Fall To Pieces In Show

DAILY MIRROR STAFF

Liz Mitchell played it by ear to supply Kodiak visual artists with inspiration for the February exhibit at Fly-By Coffee and Goods.

Patsy Cline's hit “I Fall To Pieces” has long been a favorite with the fiber artist, so she suggested it as a theme when asking for submissions to the exhibit she organized.

“I just wanted to see what they could come up with,” Mitchell said. “I wanted something that was Valentine-ish.”

The show highlights fiber arts and “assemblage,” which Mitchell explains as a fancy way of saying “collage.”

The thematic suggestion worked for Natasha Zahn Pristas, who contributed two works. She planned to create a watercolor, her favored medium, but then found a cassette cover showing the country singer.

Pristas thinks of her assemblage piece “Patsy ReCline” as a “paper doll for adults.” She combined the cassette cover with magazine cutouts and fringe.

“And then I've attached it all with copper wire, so she's moveable,” said Pristas, who found a way to emphasize the Valentine mood. “She's wearing a heart on her sleeve.”

Sale Could Open Historic Recording Studio To Public

By: JEANNE ANNE NAUJECK
Staff Writer

One of the most significant studios in Nashville's country music history might live again.

Known as the "Quonset Hut" and tucked inside what became Columbia Studios on 16th Avenue, it was home to some of the most famous musical recordings that launched the rise of country music in the 1950s.

The office complex is for sale by its most recent owner, Sony Music Nashville, opening an opportunity for a buyer to restore the hut in the old Columbia building for either public tours or live recordings.

"Two parties have already expressed interest in putting the studio back into use, not just for their own use but also for the public," said Ira Blonder, with The Blonder Group, who is listing the building.

"They would try to allow it to be included on tours and also allow third-party usage so somebody could record in the studio where Patsy (Cline), or George (Jones) or Bob Dylan did. It's just exciting."

Hut's Recording Days Hold Historic Musical Moments

By: PETER COOPER
Staff Writer

Improvised studio produced No. 1 hits for almost 30 years

Music Row wasn't a row at all in 1956 when little Brenda Lee stared up at the building where she was about to make her first recordings.

"It was weird-looking to me," remembered Lee, now a member of the country and rock 'n' roll halls of fame. The place was a Quonset hut built for producer Owen Bradley and his guitar-slinging brother, Harold, and the structure's odd curves were disconcerting to the 11-year-old.

"It was strange on the outside," she said. "But once I was inside it was so intimate and the sound was so great. That room was magic, and those walls have memories."

Lee would record classics including I'm Sorry and Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree in that room, which opened in 1955 as "Bradley Film and Recording Studios" but quickly became known to musicians and music fans simply as the Quonset Hut.

A major factor in the development of Nashville's music industry, the Hut was the spot where Patsy Cline recorded Crazy; where George Jones sang He Stopped Loving Her Today; where Bob Dylan recorded his Blonde on Blonde, Nashville Skyline and John Wesley Harding albums; where Loretta Lynn made her first Nashville recording; where Ray Price committed his famously influential 4/4 country shuffle songs to tape; where Marty Robbins, Charlie Rich, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette and other luminaries raised their voices in song and altered the course of American popular music.

Principal Photography Begins In Los Angeles On CRAZY, An Independent Feature Film Inspired By the Life of Legendary Guitarist Hank Garland

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- CRAZY, an independent feature film inspired by the life of legendary guitarist Hank Garland, began principal photography in Los Angeles on January 13 under the Favored Nations production banner; Ray Scherr and Steve Vai are executive producers. The film marks the directorial debut for Rick Bieber, following his prominent career as a producer on such acclaimed features as Flatliners, Made In America, and Radio Flyer. CRAZY stars Waylon Payne and Ali Larter as Hank and Evelyn Garland.

Co-written by Rick Bieber, Jason Ehlers and Brent Boyd, CRAZY is an original screenplay -- from a story by Bieber -- based on the remarkable life of Hank Garland, who just passed away last December 27. The making of CRAZY was spearheaded by executive producer Ray Scherr, who met Hank Garland and his family almost a decade ago. Garland was involved throughout the film's development, and the entire production team regrets that he didn't live to see it realized.

Hank Garland joined the Grand Ole Opry at 15 and rose to fame in the early 1950s as Nashville's premiere session guitarist. His immense, innovative talents grace the timeless recordings of music icons including Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, and Patsy Cline. In 1961, he startled the music world by jumping genres from country and pop to jazz with the release of Jazz Winds From A New Direction, a tour de force that to this day is considered an all-time classic jazz album. Later that same year, a crippling, near-fatal auto accident cut short his extraordinary ascent. CRAZY's narrative is driven by Garland's stunning artistic triumphs and dramatic personal travails, and his passionate and stormy relationship with his wife Evelyn.

Singer/Writer Marty Stuart Visits Crash Site, Landmarks; Collects Data For Book

Emily Hatcher

If you were out and about in Benton County on Monday, January 10, you may have passed right by Grand Ole Opry Star Marty Stuart. That’s right Stuart was here in Benton County, along with W. S. Holland, Johnny Cash’s former drummer, and Lee Roy Troy, former banjo player on Hee Haw, and with friend and business partner Scott Mills.

Stuart had lunch at Pa-Paw’s Sportsman Quick Stop Market and Deli on Eva Road. Word got around town fast, because Pa-Paw’s Market owner Jackie Kenniston said the place filled up when he was there. Stuart told Kenniston a friend had told him about Pa-Paw’s Bar-B-Q and he had to try it. Stuart also told Kenniston he had traveled to Benton County to visit the Patsy Cline Memorial. Kenniston said Stuart was very nice and she got his autograph and had her picture taken with him.

Another project Stuart is a part of, and the reason he was visiting Benton County, is a book he and Mills are putting together about Patsy Cline.

Sony’s Space For Sale

By: Chris Lewis, clewis@nashvillecitypaper.com
January 12, 2005

A historic Music Row building that once housed the famous recording studio of Owen Bradley and has long been the headquarters office of Sony Music Nashville has been put on the market.

The move follows the merger of Sony and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) in August and signals the shift of Sony’s label operations this spring into the BMG Entertainment Complex at 1400 18th Ave. S.

Located at 34 Music Square East, the 23,443-square-foot building was listed this week by real estate brokers The Blonder Group of Brentwood and CRESA Partners of Memphis.

“We’ll definitely have an offering price, but we’ve not yet determined that,” Ira Blonder of The Blonder Group said.

The property was last appraised four years ago at $2.08 million by the Davidson County Office of the Assessor.