Faron Young and Marty Robbins newsletter — 11 February 2009
MARTY ROBBINS AT THE DAYTONA 500
February brings NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race. Marty Robbins ran that race in 1973 and 1975 and was a broadcast commentator in 1976. He described the first race as follows: “I was gonna pass the guy on the inside, and coming off the fourth turn there’s a bad hump, and I had dropped back about three or four feet, just out of sight of the corner of his eye. And when you hit that hump, it kind of throws you to the left maybe a foot or two. You’re probably doin’ a hundred seventy-five maybe, comin’ out of there. I was going a little too fast to be down in that lower lane, see. Well, he didn’t see it, and it wouldn’t have made any difference if he had seen me, because that hump just automatically throws you over there; you’re just ready for it when it happens. But when he did, he just barely touched the front end of my car, and got me completely out of control, and up against the wall going backwards. I sang in a higher key for three or four weeks after that.”
DEWEY MARTIN
When I saw the Washington Post obituary headline, “Drummer/Singer Helped Found Buffalo Springfield,” I thought, “Oh, no, it can’t be Dewey Martin.” But it was. He died 2 February in Los Angeles, at age 68. The obituary did not mention that his first job upon arriving in Nashville from Canada was as Faron Young’s drummer.
LETTERS
Les Leverett checks in to say, “Thanks again, Diane, for posting these interesting stories. I haven’t written you a note in several months. Hope the new year is good to you and yours.”
Tom Lipscombe writes from Canada, “Thanks for your newsletter which we have posted on the Alabama Talk Line Forum: http://pub3.bravenet.com/forum/243824250/fetch/770406/. I think that it is a great idea to produce your Faron book in audio format. This will be a great help for the visually impaired, and those suffering from Dyslexia. Will you be doing the reading yourself?
Response: No, it will be professionally done. I’m still considering whether to go forward with the idea.
Travis McCauley sends this advice: “In your last newsletter you had mentioned that you were thinking about getting your Faron Young Biography put into an audio format. You were worried that the audio book version might not get much demand. Please do consider putting your book into an audio format. I know that it would get a lot of interest. I myself am totally blind and the only way I can read books is either in Braille, audio, or electronic format. You might also check into getting your book put onto Talking Book, a service that puts books into audio format for those who cannot read standard print such as myself. Here is a website you can go to to learn more about them: www.loc.gov/nls. If this doesn’t work, let me know and I can get you in contact with someone who could help you a great deal. Thank you so much for your time and all you do to keep traditional country music alive.”
Mike O’Neill adds, “The biggest market for books on tapes is for long distance truck drivers. Your books would be of interest to them; many big names like Bill O’Reilly record their books on tape.”
Red Moore says, “Faron did like to drink a little 🙂 My guitar player told me when he went to Nashville to visit his son who went to school there on a wrestling scholarship that they would party with Faron and when it was over Faron would jump on Scooter’s back and ride him to the motel room… Probably the kid coming out in him…”
Ray “QUACKER” Emmett writes, “I remember being at Elmo’s club and all the Deputies got honorary Deputy cards. I still have mine. I also remember being at the Four Seasons in Denver. Packed the place every time.”
INTERVIEW
Today is the day my telephone interview with Don McCauley is being broadcast on The Authors Show: http://www.wnbnetworkwest.com/WnbAuthorsShow.html. Since I haven’t heard it yet, I hope I won’t be sorry for telling you.