Since Morgan Wallen has a new album and he has a concert to promote it tonight for free in Nashville.    

He is promoting it for all the fans to check it out by streaming the show tonight at 8:30 Eastern.  Here is the details.

Since there are no tickets left cause you guys got ‘em so quick yesterday I wanted to make sure all of you had a chance to watch.. so we will be live streaming the free @BrdgstoneArena show on all my socials tonight at 7:30pm CT pic.twitter.com/zZy4uo7T3x

— morgan wallen (@MorganWallen) March 3, 2023

The saying, "That ain't country" is nothing new. It's been going on the 43 years I've been in country radio. Sometimes it's right on the money, and then there's times it's up for debate. For the next couple weeks, I'll feature artists that got a fair amount of play on country radio at one time, and we can decide if they were or were not.  Keep in mind when these artists were getting play, country was not the massive popular format it is today.  We needed real star power, and these artists helped supply it to give us a bit more street cred -  especially with young fans that we had a hard time attracting then. 

They are long gone from country radio as we are now the big dogs on the block with plenty of star power.  But these fringe acts were incredibly influential to our future stars.  After a few weeks we can decide, were they or weren't they? - Country!  This is Part 2  -    Were They Or Weren't They Part 1

Bob Seger

Even Bob Seger's band, The Silver Bullet Band sounded like a country band.  Seger in my mind is another underrated artist in his own format.  A blue collar Detroit native on the regular sang songs about the common man as we do in country and I always loved that. He got a lot of country play with Shame On The Moon and we were so cool.  But when you listen back to some of Seger's stuff like, Against The Wind, Fire Lake, Like A Rock, Still The Same, and a few others, they all have country-style arrangements and story lines that are as country sounding as many of today's country currents.  Also, his gem We've Got Tonight, was covered by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton and went number one country.  And I'm not so sure that Old Time Rock And Roll isn't one of the most popular songs ever  - it has been played at many country concerts as a cover.  Of course there was plenty of Seger that was way outside of our scope. In the end, many country fans still share the same kind of love for Seger -  as they do the Eagles.

 
Linda Ronstadt

One of the most incredible and versatile singers of most any kind of music, and that's exactly what she recorded in her amazing career. I feel she was the precursor to Trisha Yearwood in a more modern sense who did the same. I worked at many stations where we played a lot of Linda Ronstadt music.  Granted we did not play, You're No Good, but we did play, When Will I be Loved (#1), Blue Bayou (#2), Love Is a Rose (#5), I Can't Help It (#5) and a few others.  She was also a part of that incredible album with Dolly and Emmy Lou Harris, Trio, which is one of the best albums of any kind in the 1980's. And even tough her version of Poor, Poor Pitiful Me did not do well for her country, a few years later it did for Terri Clark who took it #1.  The incredible thing about her was she just recorded "music" and it found its way to various charts and fan bases.  She was gifted that way and everyone loved her.  In the end, another tough call, but she did have a lot of charting success with us.

Gordon Lightfoot

One of the most gifted songwriters you'll ever find anywhere, Gordon Lightfoot from Canada was another artist everyone liked. (He is one of Bob Dylans favorite songwriters).  He is also a good example of folk, pop, and country meeting and producing a very slick acoustic sound.  I feel that sound was his ticket to being played on country radio for a while.  NO, we did not play The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald, but we did play others in an attempt to create some familiar star power on the radio, and being fair, his sound for the most part did blend in with the pop country phase we were going through. Everyone knew Lightfoot and he enjoyed real success, with Sundown (#13 country) (one of my all-time favorite songs) , Carefree Highway, (top 30 country) and If You Could Read My Mind for us. All easy to listen to, all great songs, and all very popular.  Should be noted MANY of his songs charted very well on the Canadian Country Charts including a bunch of #1's. He also has 13 Juno Award wins and has been nominated for 29 - BTW he has as many Juno wins as Shania Twain. In the end was he?  For us - he wasn't real far away.

Big news out of Avon Lake! The Bald Eagle couple nesting near Redwood Elementary has laid a third egg confirmed via camera! This couple has been there several years now, and have birthed several eaglets. Let's hope they keep going!

Here is the link to the story:

https://fox8.com/news/bald-eagles-nesting-in-avon-lake-now-have-3-eggs/

There have been a lot of ticketing mishaps this year.  Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan, basically any big name has caused problems.  

I am not here to figure out the problem.  Those issues are way above me. (a few thoughts below)  I just want real fans to get the tickets...  There has been practices of releasing tickets directly to secondary seller sites... *cough Metallica*.  That isn't celebrating your fans, it is ripping them off.  

I don't think the bots and the scalpers are going to stop online.  It is just too easy to buy all the tickets online thru presales and general sales.  The only way to stop or at least help fans get the tickets in their hands... make it the person who buys the ticket, THEY and ONLY THEY HAVE TO USE IT!  On shows like Taylor Swift there is a waiting list till the end of time.  Person can't go they have to notify within a time frame and Refund the ticket price to that ticket holder with the next person on the list getting the open ticket.  Basically, lock out those just trying to make money off the artist and promoters.  (Especially this Morgan Wallen Show Free Ticket someone is going to make a lot of money.)

Some thoughts: The Airlines are not perfect.  But frequent flyers get pre-boarding screening, why not do that, go to a location and insure it is the ticket buyer.  At the airport you still get a ticket/gate check and a security check just like you do at a concert.  If it isn't you- you can't come in.  Yeah, entry to the show might be a nightmare, but the venue will make more money getting fans in early.  

I truly respect Morgan Wallen's decision playing a free show in Nashville.  I would have made it 1 ticket per person, but so be it.   IT IS HIS SHOW.  The show sold out for tonight (3/3) in just an hour+.  Tickets are already on ticket sites for well over a $1,000.  So here is a guy trying to celebrate his fans, promote the new album and people are still ruining it.  

This Trailer Thursday is very special, because I'm featuring the teaser that just came out today: Disney's Haunted Mansion! This one is brand new, and NOT the really bad Eddie Murphy one! It's special because The Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides in the Disney parks, so I'm really excited seeing all of the references in the teaser!

Check it out below:

Dierks Bentley is making the TV rounds with the release of his new album Gravel & Gold and on Tuesday, he made a stop at the TODAY Show to sing a couple new songs from the album and one of his classic tunes!

Wednesdays here now have a new feature that will run for the foreseeable future, The Forgotten Jukebox Series.  I will spotlight a big hit song - post 1980 - that you just don't hear anywhere anymore.  All of these songs were very popular at the time, in fact most were number ones, and they all are from great artists that you know and love.  Many times we still play a ton of songs from these stars, but for some reason these songs over time have fallen through the Country Music Cracks pretty much everywhere, and have sadly been lost.  But for now, they have a new and safe home in my basement in My Forgotten Jukebox.

This is not a countdown and there is no order, rhyme or reason, just toss a quarter in and punch in some numbers - every song it great!

H- 71

A Night To Remember  - Joe Diffie - 1999 - (Album - A Night To Remember)

The late Joe Diffie is an exceedingly underappreciated country star. Make no mistake he was a big star in a huge decade, as the original traditionalist music making mullet man breaking through in 1990.  I still love to hear him sing a country song and this song for me was his very best, off his impressive hit list.  Many of his songs were lighthearted and fun, but I really think he shined the brightest when he did real traditional stuff like this. This went to number six on the charts and should have been a number one, as it was one of the most played country songs on radio for 1999, and hit number 35 on the pop charts.  The fact you don't hear this song, or him much anymore is sad as we don't have many songs like this recorded right now.  The trend lately is to strike out in anger and that's fine. We don't hurt much these days, we get mad and get even in songs.  But hearing Diffie sing a real powerful hurtin' number like this is refreshing and reminds us of all the different kinds of country there is.  This will not be the only time we hear from Joe Diffie in this series.

Sunny and mid 60s. Wednesday was awesome for March 1st! It was nice enough I took an afternoon walk through the neighborhood down to get some ice cream at Strickland's.

I had a Turtle Sundae - it was delicious! What a nice day to get out and walk through the neighborhood and not have to wear a bunch of layers because it's so cold. Although to be honest, if it was that cold, I wouldn't go outside anyway! HAHA

Well Lainey is on a roll...  Bell Bottom Country has taken the world by storm...

I still have to find a pair of Ben-Bottoms as she heads to the area.

My Top 5 of Lainey...

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Honorable Mentions:

Since Lainey will be part of the Stoned Cold Country Album St. Patricks Day...

Beer In Mexico  - Kenny Chesney  -  2007

This is another number one song from Chesney and that's no surprise.  But what may stun you is this was the first song to go number one that he wrote solo.  I always thought the difference maker in this song was the skillful use of horns. This is a song that gets them out front and let's you enjoy the ride with them. Too many times when horns are used, the producers seem to try to bury them.  If you're using them  - use them!  This song zings along at a great pace.  BIM is a fantastic concert song for him and a song I will drive around the block to hear entirely if I'm too close to the house to not catch the whole thing.  Chesney was on such a roll at this time, this incredible song was the fifth single off his The Road And The Radio album. Think about that, a song this good having to wait for four other songs to clear before it gets on the charts.  We all love to hear Chesney party in a song, and this one certainly does!

Last Week #43