By Michael McCall, Ron Wynn, and Jim Ridley
When Country Music Television (CMT) begins airing its weekly Western Beat With Billy Block program Sunday night, it’ll represent more than the TV debut of a live concert series that began as a grassroots Nashville club show. The program will be also providing a major national forum for Americana/alternative-country music.
That’s no small feat. These days, the media focus on a select number of prominent country music stars. But host Billy Block takes an open-ended approach, selecting artists for his show based on the quality of their music rather than on name recognition. At a time when even performers with radio hits can’t get booked onto TV, Block will be presenting little-known but high-quality performers such as Lonesome Bob and Phil Lee to millions of viewers.
While CMT deserves credit for taking a chance with such a program, the true champion here is the show’s indefatigable host. From early on, Block has worked to broaden the exposure of talented roots-music performers whose work falls outside the current commercial formulas.
The history of the concert series goes back to 1995, when Block, a drummer, moved to Nashville after spending a decade in Los Angeles. A Texas native, he had been the house drummer for Ronnie Mack’s Barndance, a similar program held each week at Los Angeles’ famed Palomino Club. He’d seen the benefits of providing a weekly gathering spot for Los Angeles’ country-rock scene; hoping to do the same in Nashville, he started Billy Block’s Western Beat Barndance, a title that later evolved into Billy Block’s Western Beat Roots Revival.
Starting at The Sutler, the program featured a lineup of several performers who were all given 20-minute sets. The event proved so popular that Block eventually moved to Zanies, then to Exit/In. Each move provided a larger stage and more seating; the audience, often thick with musicians, grew as well. Along the way, Block added a magazine, a radio program, and a Web site with live broadcasts. Earlier this year, CMT announced plans to begin a weekly series built around Block’s Western Beat program. Taping took place in March, with the cameras capturing the performers live onstage. Each show mixes a star with some name recognition along with lesser-known performers.
Sunday’s premiere, which airs at midnight and repeats at 11 p.m. Monday, features Trisha Yearwood, Charlie Robison, and Lonesome Bob. Future programs will feature Hal Ketchum, Eric Heatherly, and Joy Lynn White on July 9; Lee Roy Parnell, Kim Richey, and The Derailers on July 16; Joe Ely, Allison Moorer, and Walt Wilkins on July 23; Kathy Mattea, Phil Lee, and Victor Mecyssne on July 30. In August, the shows will feature Jason & the Scorchers, Ralph Stanley, Buddy and Julie Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Duane Jarvis, Tim Carroll, Kevin Gordon, Jamie Hartford, Jack Ingram, Robbie Fulks, Rhonda Vincent, and Big House.
—Michael McCall
Partly cloudy
Biography’s special on Sam Phillips, which aired on the A&E cable network June 18, was a masterful tribute to the great producer. Although crediting him with inventing rock ’n’ roll was a stretch, the numerous interviews and remembrances accurately chronicled Phillips’ place in American music history. The producers did an admirable job of blending rare footage, anecdotes, and interview segments, neither overdosing on minute details nor overlooking critical information.
The program also revived a controversy that has plagued Phillips for decades: Namely, when he discovered Elvis Presley, did he abandon the African American artists who helped get Sun Records started? Rufus Thomas, whose single “Bear Cat” was among the first hits Phillips’ label enjoyed, has long insisted that he and every other black artist on the Sun roster were shunted aside for Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others.
Phillips has always angrily debunked that notion, saying it didn’t make sense to try to compete with Atlantic, Chess, or other labels that were R&B specialists. During the special, Little Milton defended Phillips, saying it was a savvy business decision for Phillips to concentrate on white acts once they began reaping national success.
Phillips has also frequently denied that he ever made the famous statement that he could make a million dollars if he could “find a white boy who sang like a n——r.” Like the equally infamous alleged Elvis Presley interview of 1957, in which the singer reportedly flung racial slurs at Chuck Berry and Jackie Wilson, no evidence exists that Phillips made that exact statement. There remain those who claim to have heard it, just as there are people who claim they read Presley’s fabled interview in either Jet or Ebony. In Presley’s case, at least, biographer Peter Guralnick thoroughly searched every available archive and maintains the singer never made the racist statements attributed to him.
The only thing we can really glean from such controversies is that people often believe what they want to believe, no matter the real story. Sam Phillips was a legendary producer and gave many African American artists their start. Whatever happened once he met Elvis Presley and helped make him a star is open to interpretation, and it doesn’t diminish in the least what he did for Howlin’ Wolf, The Prisonaires, Roscoe Gordon, Little Junior Parker, Little Milton, and even Rufus Thomas.
—Ron Wynn
For Kim's sake
Ailing Nashville club booker Kim Webber should have no doubt now as to how highly she’s regarded. Kim Fest, the star-studded series of benefit shows held in her honor during the June 9 weekend at 12th & Porter, raised more than $13,000 toward expenses in her fight against multiple sclerosis. The shows were so packed that some patrons stood outside the building listening on the sidewalk. Those inside saw artists ranging from Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams to Peter Case and Bare Jr., with surprises including an appearance by Emmylou Harris (with Buddy and Julie Miller) and the presence of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings in Whiskeytown singer Ryan Adams’ backing band.
Apart from the music and the all-around good vibes, organizer Tommy Womack said the biggest thrill was finding one of his childhood heroes in the audience: Don Most, a.k.a. Happy Days’ Ralph Malph, who was in town promoting his film The Last Best Sunday at the Nashville Independent Film Festival. “He was a big part of my youth and a very nice fellow,” said Womack, who now holds hopes of meeting Ron “Horshack” Palillo when the next round of Kim Fests is held in August. In the meantime, you can still send donations for Webber’s medical fund to Kim Webber, c/o Tommy Womack, P.O. Box 41682, Nashville, TN 37204.
—Jim Ridley
Elliptical dispatches: Set your VCR for WSMV-Channel 4 11:30 p.m. this Friday, when Nashville’s Swan Dive performs its new single “Better to Fly” on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. The group’s self-titled CD came out recently on Compass Records, and their full-house show with a nine-piece band two weeks ago at 12th & Porter was a delight....
Elliptical dispatches: Set your VCR for WSMV-Channel 4 11:30 p.m. this Friday, when Nashville’s Swan Dive performs its new single “Better to Fly” on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. The group’s self-titled CD came out recently on Compass Records, and their full-house show with a nine-piece band two weeks ago at 12th & Porter was a delight....
