A Milestone for Women: "Once a Day" by Connie Smith

I'm sorry, guys.  I offer my deepest, heartfelt apologies for my inexplicable absence these past few weeks.  I'm not quite sure how time got so far away from me but I'm thinking that if I blow these next few blog posts out of the water this whole fiasco will be forgivable in time.  Ok, here we go :)

You know that paid program that advertises a box set of country songs from the '50s and '60s and plays like 24 hours a day?  It draws you in by showing up as "Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and more" on your TV guide and you click on it excitedly thinking that it is a TV special on their lives or their music, only to find that it is actually just an advertisement (let's just pretend like I'm not the only one who gets fooled into clicking on paid programs).

Look familiar?

          Even though half of me had this unjustified resentment toward the program, the other half really wanted the CDs they were advertising.  Lo and behold, my wonderful parents bought me the set for my birthday and I discovered some amazing country music.  One of my favorite songs in the collection is "Once a Day" by Connie Smith.  The song stuck out to me because of the uniquely country lyrics in the chorus ("The only time I wish you weren't gone is once a day, everyday, all day long"); they are quirky, clever, and sad.  What more could you want in a country song?

I didn't realize until later how important this song is to the history of country music.  It was written for Connie by Whisperin' Bill Anderson, a legendary songwriter who has written modern hits such as "Give It Away" for George Strait and "Whiskey Lullaby" for Brad Paisley and Allison Kraus, and was the first ever debut single by a female to reach No.1.  Pretty impressive stuff.  For 48 years it also held the record for the country record with the most weeks spent at No.1 (for a female).  Taylor Swift broke this record last December when "We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together" stayed at the No.1 position one week longer than "Once a Day" (Whether or not "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" should even be considered a country song is a discussion for a different day, I suppose).

Remember, we're talking about 1964 here.  Record companies still didn't totally buy the idea that women could be just as successful as men and women had to fight hard for respect in the music industry.  "Once a Day" was influential in breaking down these boundaries and helped pave the way for the female singers we love today.                        

  

  

Country Music's Favorite Couple: "Better in the Long Run" by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert

This morning I woke up to my local country station and heard some super exciting news.  MIRANDA LAMBERT IS PREGNANT!  I shot up in bed and turned up the station only to hear them follow up this announcement by saying that there is some speculation over the legitimacy of these claims.  They then said that the true announcement should be 'Miranda Lambert might be pregnant'.

Well, dagum.

After a quick google search, I concluded that Miranda isn't pregnant, yet the mystery continued when I stopped into Target and saw Blake and Miranda smiling on a big old magazine with the caption "Baby Bliss" under their beautiful faces.

It seems like rumors of these two expecting a kid have been randomly showing up every other month since they got married and I really don't know what to believe this time round.  However, regardless of whether or not they're going to have a baby soon, I think everyone can agree that these two are perfect together in almost every way.  They look adorable together but even more importantly, they sound great together.

Awww

I have to say, I'm surprised by how few Blake/Miranda duets there are considering that they must have jam sessions, like, all the time.  Now, of course I'm not saying that they never sing together.  They'll sing background vocals on each other's songs, like Miranda does for Blake in his cover of "Home" and who could forget their great live performance of "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" way back in 2005.  But they've only officially recorded two duets in the studio and, unsurprisingly, they are fantastic!

They recorded "Draggin' The River" in 2010 (before they were married) for Blake's album "All About Tonight", a very light-hearted song that is slightly reminiscent to Johnny Cash and June Carter's playful duet,  "Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man".  But the real magic comes from their 2011 performance of "Better in the Long Run".  It's one of those songs that you want to listen to again as soon as you finish it the first time and their voices blend perfectly.  Surprisingly, neither Blake nor Miranda, two exceptional songwriters, didn't write the song.  It was actually written by Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum (yes, the attractive one) and Ashley Monroe of the Pistol Annies (ADD Moment:  I would LOVE to hear Charles and Ashely sing this song together) .  Regardless of who wrote it, Blake and Miranda make it their own and pour their hearts into this song.  Hmmm could this possibly be Miranda's next single??