Faron Young and Marty Robbins Newsletter — 21 March 2012
E-BOOK UPDATE
The University of Illinois Press reports that its E-book contract is nearing the final signature stage, with a current target date of June for Kindle, Nook, etc. It might be sooner, depending on the vendor’s turnaround time. My Faron and Marty books are both on the priority list for going live.
MARTY ROBBINS BOOK RELEASE EVENTS
Saturday, March 31– 12:30 at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. I will briefly talk about Twentieth Century Drifter, and Joe Babcock is organizing the music show. In addition to him and Jim Glaser and Ronny Robbins, we are expecting to see Bobby Braddock, Jeff Chandler, Okie Jones, Earl White, and Buddy Rogers, plus others. The show will be followed by a book signing at 2:00.
Wednesday, March 28 — I will be a guest on the Eddie Stubbs show on WSM Radio at 8:00 PM.
On Saturday, March 17, Marty Robbins music played all afternoon at A SHOT OF JAVA in Glendale, Arizona. I talked briefly about Marty’s birthplace and childhood. Quite a few people acquired copies ofTwentieth Century Drifter. Thanks to Lisa Dowd for hosting us, Jo Wenger and Tom Robinson for setting up the event, and Lloyd Lovato for providing the music. And thanks to everyone who came. Welcome to the new subscribers to this newsletter.
LETTERS
John Morris writes from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, “It is sure great to get your news letter again. Thanks to Maurice I got to look at the new CD set with 8 classic albums by Faron. It is the same Capitol material packaged again. I sure wish Bear Family would do a Mercury set or maybe Hux could do more Mercury titles like Some Kind Of A Woman and A Man And His Music. They might think of doing all the Mercury material and then they could do some Charlie Louvin albums. Now that would be great. Keep up the great work and all the best.”
Jack McDougall says, “Looking forward to your book on Marty Robbins. I really enjoyed the Faron Young life story it was very well written. I would very much like to see a book about Webb Pierce as he was so much involved with both Faron Young and Marty Robbins and he has been so neglected over the years considering he was the top country singer in the fifties. Thank you again for the opportunité of reading these books of two of my favourite country singers.”
Mona Vanek says, “Thanks for another interesting newsletter. I’m reading and thoroughly enjoying your fine book. Even though our friendship makes me biased towards you, I’m proud to say, ‘Congratulations, Marty Robbins biography is exceptionally well written.’ ”
Edie Aderhold writes, “Thanks so much for your quick reply to me about your Marty Robbins biography. Can hardly wait to get it & start reading. I’ve already warned my hubby so he can get his meals elsewhere. I will probably hold the book in one hand & cook with the other one. That’s kinda what I did when I was reading the Faron Young biography. Thanks again for your good books.”
Tom Barton says, “I reread bits and pieces of the book each day or so… Today, I ran across the piece about Marty and Bob Hinkle doing the movie Country Music. I got to see the movie when it ran in theaters and have often watched to see if it might get re-released on DVD. Actually, if Hinkle has access to the original film/tapes, it would be great to see Marty do his entire Opry show. I had the privilege of seeing him on the Opry several times…he was always electrifying in that venue. The one that stands out the most, though, was the night when he first sang ‘El Paso City.’ I had not heard it before, and I remember his voice just soaring through the Opry House. The crowd just roared.”
Mike Johns says, “I read your recent newsletter and I am glad to see you have had terrific responses from Nashville and fans alike. Looks like you have put together a busy schedule for the book and I am happy for you. You deserve it. I am a huge fan of Jim Glaser and his brothers. Wish I could be there to meet him. Good luck and have fun. My book order will be in the mail tomorrow, can’t wait to read it.”
SIDEMAN SIDEBAR
I’ll make an exception in this sidebar by talking about a sideman who is no longer alive. Bill Johnson played steel guitar with Marty Robbins for most of the period from 1960 through 1974. I gave Bill a dedication in Twentieth Century Drifter because he’d been such a great help in my early research. This 2008 photo was recently sent to me by his friend, Regina Broach. Bill moved from Nashville to Alabama to care for his ailing mother, shortly before I first contacted him, and he unexpectedly died there in 2009.