Ken Burns has a new documentary series on PBS this fall; it’s about
the history of country music. Burns has a way of telling a story that
makes those not interested in the topic suddenly very much so, without
affecting the enthusiasm of those who are already sold. He’s not
without controversy; while his work does not shy away from conflict, it
often desperately searches for reconciliation even when none is to be
found. Still, there’s a Ken Burns documentary for everyone. “Country
Music” may be the one for you.
It certainly is for Claude Webb
Jr. Claude has numerous family ties to the genre going back
generations; he wrote about them online. Claude’s cousin is a Nashville
songwriter with tunes on the albums of George Strait, and both sides of
his family have personal ties to well known figures in Country Music
history. Reading Claude’s posts finally got me off my butt; I gotta go
watch this thing. I’ve now seen all 8 episodes.
Episode 8 is my
personal favorite. “Don’’t Get Above Your Raisin’” explores the
industry in the early 1990s, when the music was experiencing a rebirth.
This era coincided with my time at Austin College in Sherman. The new
stuff was awfully good back then, and I just happened to be in a place
where it was thriving. My AC experience was in part defined by some of
the bands in Episode 8 who made an appearance at Calhoon’s in Denison.
According to Ken Burns, sales of country music nearly tripled between my
freshman and senior year at Austin College. Heck, somebody could
probably write a whole story about the bands that frequented Calhoon’s
in the early 1990s.
The Owens family were sharecroppers in
Sherman, TX when they left Grayson County for the fabled land of milk
and honey in 1937. 8-year old Sherman-born son Alvis came along. Alvis
preferred the name of the family mule “Buck,” and the nickname stuck.
The Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens would eventually land the Sherman
native in the Country Music Hall of Fame. The stretch of Highway 82
that runs through Sherman is now named the “Buck Owens Freeway,” and a
Buck Owens Music festival in Sherman is currently in the works. You can
catch Buck Owens in Episode 5.
Episode 6, “Will the Circle Be
Unbroken,” was maybe the best of the bunch; it is devoted to the Vietnam
War era. Country music is complicated in a way Rock ‘n Roll is not.
While Rock is the music of protest against the establishment, Country
is, well, both. Only country music could produce “The Pill” & “We
Shall Be Free” alongside “Okie From Muskogee” and “Stand by Your Man”
and not endure some type cognitive dissonance breakdown. Its music is a
place where people who love Willie Nelson’s politics can enjoy a Toby
Keith tune and vice versa, while celebrating when they both get together
and sing “Beer for my Horses.” Whoops, there I go, excessively
reconciling like Ken Burns.
This post, however, is about a different episode. Episode 2, “Hard Times,” has turned into a “Roo Tale.”
Americans turned to country music for solace during the hard times of
the Great Depression in the 1930s. The Carter Family, Bob Wills, and
Roy Acuff all came to prominence during this time. So did a fellow born
in Grayson County, TX named Gene Autry. Autry was a “Singing Cowboy”
during the decade, and Americans could not get enough of his songs or
movies. So great was the impact of the “Singing Cowboy” phenomenon that
others soon joined Autry in Hollywood to help satisfy demand. Roy
Rogers was one of Autry’s most famous contemporaries. Another Singing
Cowboy may be less known to you; his name was Smith (“Sikes”) Ballew.
Texas native Smith Ballew was an 18-year old kid when he decided to
enroll at Austin College as a freshman. At AC, his life was music.
Ballew was a member of the AC Glee Club. That was not enough. As a
student, Ballew formed his own Roo jazz band. He played the banjo, and
named his group “The Texajazzers.” A photo of the band appears in the
1921 AC Chromascope.
Ballew may have been friends with an
Austin College junior named Ray Morehart. Morehart was of the best
athletes to ever wear a Roo uniform and was an integral part of the 1927
New York Yankees. The 1927 Yankees, considered by some to be the best
baseball team in history, featured Hall of Fame slugger Lou Gehrig. For
6 weeks during the summer of 1927, Morehart batted in the nationally
known “Murderer’s Row” alongside Gehrig, the famous “Iron Horse.”
After Sherman, Ballew made his way to the East Coast and achieved a
good deal of fame and fortune during the Big Band era of the prosperous
1920s. Ballew’s band in New York produced hundreds of records, of which
he was often lead vocalist. One of Ballew’s orchestras even helped the
legendary Glenn Miller get his start. Although never as well known as
Miller, Ballew was considered a worthy contemporary.
The troubles
of the Depression hurt Big Band popularity in the 1930s; in its place
grew the nostalgia for a simpler, more independent hero. Gene Autry’s
Singing Cowboy movies were a hit across the nation, and other artists
were determined to join him. Smith Ballew was one of them. He gave up
the New York Big Band scene for good in 1933, and traveled to Hollywood.
Over the rest of the decade, Ballew would act and sing in nine
Westerns, always as a Cowboy and always singing.
In 1938,
Ballew landed his most famous role in a Western. He’d be playing lead
in “Rawhide,” co-starring Lou Gehrig as himself. In the movie, Gehrig
declares that he is through with baseball, and decides to pursue a life
as a cattle rancher out west. The former Yankee is soon confronted by a
gang of criminals engaged in a protection racket; he enlists the help
of local lawyer Larry Kimball (played by Smith Ballew) to take on the
bad guys and save the locals from their crimes. You’ll not be surprised
to learn given it is a 1930s Western: Gehrig and the Roo eventually
win.
The movie “Rawhide” is on youtube. Ballew sings three
Cowboy songs, and shows off the talents already known by Kangaroos back
in 1921. He also acts alongside with Gehrig, as they plot against their
adversaries. After a pool hall fight scene:
Gehrig: “Thanks for the help Mr….” Ballew: “Larry Kimball. You’re Lou Gehrig, aren’t you?” Gehrig: “Yeah, glad to know you.” Ballew: “I see you can fight as well as you can play baseball.”
“Rawhide” is haunting to watch. Gehrig looks great in the movie. He’s
fit, he’s active, and we know he is dying. The movie was filmed in
early 1938, a year when Gehrig’s performance on the diamond fell
dramatically. By 1939, he was struggling to run; after his diagnosis
with the disease that bears his name, Gehrig ended his consecutive game
streak at 2,130. On July 4th, 1939, he said goodbye to Yankee fans and
declared himself to be the “luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Two
years later, he was gone.
Ballew finished his run of Westerns in
1940, as a co-star alongside Gene Autry in “Gaucho Serenade.” One year
later, America entered World War 2. When it emerged from that
conflict, country music had changed once again. Gone was the love for
Singing Cowboys. In its place was the new sound emerging from the Grand
Ole Opry in Nashville, and the tunes of Hank Williams from Honky Tonks
throughout the South. You can catch that era in Episode 3. Ballew
eventually gave up Hollywood, and returned to his native Texas. He
passed in 1984.
Ken Burns documentaries are the stories of
America. “Country Music” is another fine edition, and I’m glad I
viewed. Austin College may not be a story of America, but Kangaroos are
always just below the surface like actors and actresses with small,
supporting roles. Smith Ballew is a great example. He’s not Glenn
Miller, but he influenced the Big Band leader. He’s not Gene Autry, but
he acted in Westerns alongside America’s most famous Cowboy. He’s not
Lou Gehrig, but he crossed paths with the legendary slugger during a
country music era highlighted by Ken Burns.
Thanks Claude, for reminding me to get off my butt and go watch.
