Stacy's E-mail

Sure, it’s schmaltzy, but when 14-year-old Mayo, Kentucky picking-and-singing farm girl Jordan Leigh Young’s mother responded to an Early Show request for its “Magic Moments” segment, explaining that the Dolly Parton fan had missed an opportunity to meet her idol last year when Parton toured the bluegrass state, Early Show producers were happy to arrange a meeting.

In mid-January, 2007 Young and her mother, Cheryl were invited to New York for what was billed as a taping to decide the winner from among a group of finalists. While mother and daughter waited in a Times Square hotel’s presidential suite, Dolly “interrupted” the pre-interview by squealing “Jordan, this is your magic moment.”

Parton was in New York anyway, so what the heck. Still, whether for the benefit of the cameras or not, Dolly took remarkable interest in putting her fan at ease and in actually showing more interest in Jordan than in using the exposure shot for ego-tripping purposes, the duo's duets of Jolene and Applejack notwithstanding.

The surprise visit aired on The Early Show February 26th, but Louisville Courier-Journal readers knew about it a day earlier thanks to Byron Crawford’s article.

Streaming Audio Coming Soon To Country Music Report!

John Jay Hooker has recruited Metro Councilman Ludye Wallace to sponsor legislation that would name the Music Row Roundabout in Buddy Killen’s memory.

Since many of Music Row’s often drunk drivers (and even some of its sober tourists) have yet to figure out how to navigate the Roundabout, perhaps “Ludye on duty” might want to consider renaming the Roundabout the “Killen Field,” and renaming Musica after Buddy, as a means of deflecting lingering criticism of the inanimate nude dancers.

The posturing continues in the Sara Evans versus Craig Schelske divorce filing, which is surprising now that Clinical Psychologist Dr. Jay Woodman

is on board, but not so surprising, what with Williamson County Chancery Court Judge Robert E. Lee Davies presiding.

Craig didn’t like the parenting plan Sara filed February 6th, as evinced by the Schelske legal team’s Valentine’s Day Answer filed in response to Evans’ plan.

With Sara now claiming, through Motions filed February 23rd, that, as stated in a February 12th letter from Craig’s attorney to hers, Schelske refuses to agree to Evans’ parenting plan and that he won’t even participate in court-ordered mediation unless Sara first fires JOHN HOLLINS, SR. as her attorney and clears Craig’s name by appearing on TV and retracting the allegations Sara made in her October, 2006 divorce petition, Schelske, through his own attorney, is denying that he threatened Evans, though he is balking at mediation until Sara retracts some of her venomous statements.

Sara says (through her attorneys’ motions, she, Craig and the attorneys remain under a gag order) that Lee should Order a mediator and set mediation and trial dates.  Davies will attempt to be fair to Craig regarding Schelske’s request to buy time.  But, ultimately, fan of celebrity justice that Lee is, what Sara wants Sara gets.

Thanks to Amanda Virgillito for the invitation to attend the media night/opening night (Tuesday, March 6th) performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the Tony Award-winning musical comedy featuring “a hilarious glimpse of puberty, competition and life through the eyes of six young people.

”Audience members will have the opportunity to ‘audition’ for the show prior to each performance, and the ‘casting director’ will select up to four people for each performance.”

The shows run March 6th-11th at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's [Andrew] Jackson Hall.

Didya know that Lorrie Morgan was once engaged to Billy Don Burns?

Hank Williams, Jr. knew that Shelby County District Attorney General William L. Gibbons was not going to pursue Holly Hornbeak's assault charge against Hank before Williams announced plans to divorce Bocephus’ fourth wife, Mary Jane.  Hornbeak had no idea what she was in for until push came to shove (though she got a taste of what was in store when the “extortion” allegation became public).

To paraphrase a George Jones lyric, if the discovery phase won’t kill you, the depositions phase will.

There was enough dirty laundry on both sides to make this one a draw. Hornbeak’s mistake was to make it a criminal rather than civil court matter, the burden of proof being higher in criminal court, especially when the state has to assume it.   A career politician will just not be persuaded to take a case to court unless s/he is sure s/he can win and Hornbeak’s case was never air-tight.

FEBRUARY 26, 2007

Richard McGhee, of Lake City, Minnesota, writes in the StarTribune’s February 24th “Letter of the Day,” that he was “an avid country music fan as little as five years ago and over the last few years have completely stopped listening to country music radio and television; and have stopped buying country CDs. The treatment of the Dixie Chicks by Nashville and country music radio was the final straw that caused me to abandon that genre.

”Just think of all the commercial messages I have not heard over the years as a result of their narrow-minded treatment of the Dixie Chicks. The powers that be in country music need to 'wake up, and make up' with the Chicks for their own good, instead of kissing up to the ultra-conservative bunch who don't understand what freedom of speech means."

On a related note, I’ll have some more to say shortly about Michael Medved’s taking on Chicks’ defender Edward Morris, but first I want to make sure Medved’s people are not speaking for him.

From the e-mailbag (and reprinted, with permission): “Hi Stacy. Love the Country Music Report! I wish I had seen your website before my 3rd edition of is released on March 15th, I would have put your site in my book. How To See and Meet the Country Music Stars.

"”I'll get it in on the next printing!  I'll send you a copy of my book when its available.

”I'm still constantly updating my website which is to include links to other websites and I'll definitely include your site.  Anyway, take care and keep on doing what you do best! Keeping Music Row in line!...

"Sincerely, Ray Dobbs, author."

Thanks, Ray. I’ll look forward to reading your book.

As far as this being your first time to read Stacy's Music Row Report, the

Country Music Association and the Country Music Foundation would like to to keep it a big secret, despite the fact that I’ve been around longer than any of the country-music “experts” to whom they refer authors, broadcasters and writers.

If that sounds narcissistic, it's backed up by the history and scholarship, as well as all sorts of factual information one cares to cite, including the fact that the CMF’s Country Music Hall of Fame gift shop sells virtually any country-music book you’d care to name- from the most popular to the most obscure titles- yet the gift shop refuses to stock my books.

Years ago, I donated a copy of each of my books to that time to the CMF’s library- and have repeatedly offered to donate my entire 35-year collection of interview tapes, original photos (many unpublished) and other country-music memorabilia, but the 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization- which receives its tax exemption because it supposedly exists to make such materials available to researchers and those interested in preserving and promoting country music, as it continues to do its snow job on the IRS- isn’t interested.

FEBRUARY 23, 2007

Thanks to McGuckin Entertainment PR's Jill McGuckin and Heidi Labensart for the invitation to attend the February 21st edition of Americana Tonight at Douglas Corner, featuring the “unique sounds and songwriting talents of The Ginn Sisters and Kara Grainger."

Don’t you hate it when you hear a song on the radio, you’d like to know who’s singing it and the “air personality” doesn’t tell you?

If so, Midomi is for you!

Just sing or hum the tune and Midomi’s artificial intelligence will help you find it. (If you don’t have a microphone, you can listen to clips that others have uploaded to Midomi.com.)

FEBRUARY 21, 2007

Thanks to Jawbone Press Publicist Kevin Beketti for sending me a copy of

Norwegian Author/Rock Historian Christopher Hjort’s new book,

The oversized 352-page paperback includes a foreward by John Mayall, one of the scores of musicians (led by principals Eric, John, Peter Green and Mick Taylor) chronicled through key events from the period beginning (in February, 1965) when Clapton left The Yardbirds to when Clapton left

Derek & the Dominoes (in December, 1970).

Readers will appreciate the day-by-day calendar approach to some of the most important events of the covered period of rock music, as well as the updates on featured artists and indices to concert locations, recording sessions and radio & TV appearances of those years.

I am awaiting a reply to my note to CBS News re: its sloppy research of 60 Minutes' Kenny Chesney profile airing February 16th.

For example, Producer John Hamblin knew, or should have known, that the statement put in Anderson Cooper's mouth that Kenny “didn’t get noticed much” (nationally) until he recorded She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy was hogwash. (60… correspondents are little more than the show’s eye candy/hood ornaments. Segment producers do the heavy lifting.)

The truth is that “…Tractor…” was a novelty song. There wasn’t even a #1 party for the song since it wasn’t THAT big a hit. (The single peaked at #11 in Billboard and #10 in Radio & Records.)

Truth be told, national and international mainstream media didn’t know, let alone care, about Kenny until Horseygate. In short, Kenny was infamous before he was famous, however revisionists with short memories want to rewrite country-music history!

Charity Cars, Inc. President and CEO Brian Menzies takes exception to a recent item in this Report (below): With his permission, Brian’s response is printed here just as he wrote it: “Stacy, I would like to educate you about our organization 1-800-Charity Cars. 1-800-Charity Cars is the first and ONLY national non-profit that provides donated vehicles absolutely free to struggling families.

”Although it is true Charity Navigator rates our org 2 stars one must understand that unlike other non-profits, our organization competes with for-profit NASDAQ traded car dealers for available car donations so understandably our fundraising costs are greater thereby garnering us a lower score on CN's rating system. CN is just a non-profit org themselves and they have a rather weak rating sytem that they have designed out of the ether so their opinion is of little value.

”As to executive compensation, it might interest you to know that 1-800-Charity Cars CEO salary is one of the lowest in the industry with most executives earning well in excess of seven figures.

”Stacy, if you research the car-donation business you will learn that 99% of the car-donation programs one finds on the Internet, radio, tv or newspaper are for-profit car-dealers administering the program for one or more charities. A study in California found that when a for-profit car dealer is involved in the car-donation program only an average of 10-30% of the revenue generated reached the non-profit.

”1-800-Charity Cars handles the entire process internally so 100% of the revenue goes to our organization. Additionally, when we provide a vehicle to a sruggling family, the donor is able to deduct the full "fair market value" of the vehicle rather than the sales price at auction.

"Mindy McCready is a wonderful person and has graciously offered her assistance to our organization and should be praised for her work on behalf of the disadvantaged.”

Asked to update Charity Navigator’s 2005 information, Brian says he made the “same salary $295. our revenue went up a few million-$8.7 mill. 3.4% of total revenue. Competitors CEO salary runs 15% of revenues.”

”Our 2006 IRS 990 has been filed with the IRS since January 2007. Non-profit CEO pay is based on comparable entities in the non-profit and for-profit arena. Additionally, if you look at Charity Navigators 2004 IRS 990 you will note that their CEO pay was & $97,000 with $218,000 in total revenue which is appx 44%! they fail to list their CEO's salary on their 2005 IRS 990. www.guidestar.org So much for the watchdogs... Regards, Brian.”

No word at this writing from the Johnny Cash camp over the controversy stemming from what some say is a section of Newberry award-winning author SUSAN PATRON’s book, The Higher Power of Lucky they deem inappropriate for young readers.

The “offending” paragraphs of the book in question read: “The question of Short Sammy's dog's scrotum settled into one certain brain crevice as she picked her way among the weedy bushes of the dry wash. Even though Lucky could ask Short Sammy almost anything and he wouldn't mind, she could never ask about the story of Roy, since she had overheard it. If she asked about Roy, then he would know that she'd been eavesdropping at the anonymous twelve-step meetings.

”Scrotum sounded to Lucky like something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much. It sounded medical and secret, but also important, and Lucky was glad she was a girl and would never have such an aspect as a scrotum to her own body. Deep inside she thought she would be interested in seeing an actual scrotum. But at the same time -- and this is where Lucky's brain was very complicated -- she definitely did not want to see one."

While some would suggest that the female author “has balls,” the irony of the prudish objection is that the uptight adults are reacting to a grammatically and anatomically-correct noun, not to a vulgarism. It all is reminiscent of the joke about the toddler who wants to know where he came from: The father doesn’t know how to respond, but after he ends the “birds and bees” discussion, Jacob is still flustered. Why? His friend, Jackie came from Birmingham, “But where do I come from?”

This too, is much ado about nothing. If anyone is worried about a child’s sexualization, based simply on these passages, the calm, collected response is to give any kid who asks the dictionary definition the rest of us learned in biology. It’s guaranteed to put young ones to sleep.

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

Some observations and predictions about the Hank Williams, Jr. and Terri Clark divorce filings: After being named “Tennessean of the Year” by the

Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame February 16th, an award previously bestowed upon Vince Gill (1995), Roy Acuff (1989), Conway Twitty (1984) and Barbara Mandrell (1982), among others, Hank bowed out of the Friday night ceremony due to “some family circumstances.”

In a prepared statement issued Friday evening, Hank takes no responsibility for the failure of his fourth marriage. Indeed, Williams says the split occurred on “one of the toughest days of my life” due to “my family” having lived “with the pain of  Mary Jane's addiction over the last several years.”

Hank adds “I have exhausted all efforts in the rehabilitation process… Today, I've decided for the sake of my children to create a healthier home environment during their formative years.”

One wonders what Hank and Mary Jane’s children, Katie, 14 (born October 21, 1992), and Sam, 9 (born May 30, 1997), think of Hank’s plans, but my guess is that Mary Jane will not go quietly, unless the big bucks can be negotiated

Let’s hope Mary Jane doesn’t go tit-for-tat with Hank’s allegations. If she brings up his legal troubles of the past year and troubles dating back to Williams’ 1974 suicide attempt in what could be a very public proceeding, things will get uglier quickly. (Look for a petition to have documents in this case, perhaps including the ground for the divorce, put under seal.)

On the other hand, having already exited his responsibilities as Terri Clark’s tour manager, Greg Kaczor does not appear to be preparing to write some tell-all book. Of course, it would be quite a book: Consider that the couple knew each other for a decade, were married only 17 months and not only did Terri wear a wedding gown (presumably replacing her usual cowgirl hat with a veil), following her four-month engagement to Greg, she proclaimed “We’re soulmates…. There’s no secrets between us. We’ve seen each other at our best and worst. It almost feels like we’ve been married for 10 years already.”

So what do Rockin’ Randall Hank and Terri have in common beside the obvious? Both of the statements issued in their names contained the obligatory language requesting privacy at this difficult time.

The betting here is that, after the initial speculation, Terri and Greg will receive such consideration while Mary Jane and Hank will have to get a gag order, as well a sealing of documents, to deflect attention away from what will otherwise be played out as one of country-music’s latest scandals.

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

Kudos to Matt Lauer for getting Keith Urban to explain during a February 16th interview why Urban’s latest trip to rehab should bring better results than Keith’s first stay. (Urban attributed his latest success to time and timing; his latest stint was far longer than the first and he’s at a point in his life where he’s more receptive to change. )

Lauer’s lapses, however, included his letting Keith get away with “I can’t quantify it, because it’s not a sound byte,” as an answer to Matt’s question about the specific nature of what brought Urban’s return to rehab.  The interview was long enough to accommodate a frank answer and Matt would have had the go-ahead to expand the segment if needed to get such a scoop.

Likewise, Lauer did not pick up on potential trouble ahead as Keith referred to “harm” that came to him (rather than that resulting from Urban’s own choices) and let Keith get away with his hackneyed description of substance abuse as “a disease.”

This is not the language of the successfully-rehabilitated person who accepts responsibility.

It has always amused me that those who wouldn’t know

Howard K. Stern from Howard K. Smith profess to know all about Kenny Chesney's sexual history and preferences.

This is the same audience the Chesney camp and Anderson Cooper are

are hoping will believe that Cooper’s “exclusive” sweeps month interview with Kenny (airing February 18th) represents Chesney’s first public proclamation that Kenny is heterosexual.

If you understand that Kenny foot the bill for press releases issued in his name that long ago included that information, that’s the first step toward analyzing the pre-negotiated, formulaic interview that, advance copies confirm, really reveals nothing new about Chesney.

While the piece suggests the rumors about Kenny being gay began following the Chesweger annulment, those rumors, as I documented in this report months ago, go back decades before, at least as far back as Kenny’s ETSU days and Chesney addressed them indirectly, as he revealed himself to be supposedly all-man, if not husband material, in at least one skin magazine article.

Given the rumors about Cooper’s sexual orientation, that Anderson intentionally did not address in his memoir Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster and Survival, he was the perfect choice for the Kenny commercial- uh interview: “I’ll ask the 'tough' questions I really don’t want answers to and, when you protest too much in your 'honest' answer, I’ll simply go on to the next question on another subject or parrot your press releases' superlative description of your appeal.  I’ll accept your 'quip' about the only fraudulent aspect of your annulment and won’t press you on the specific nature of your marital problems (the general subject of which you agreed to address), nor why you didn’t just get a fairly quick and comparatively-painless divorce.”

Thanks to Kiva, Pip and The Press House's "Head Honcho”  (that’s the title on her business card) Dawn Kamerling for sending me a copy of Heather Greene's Five Dollar Dress.  (Heather records for Judy Collins' Wildflower Records label.)

Thanks also to Alimah Boyd for sending me a copy of MIRIAM SAMET SMITH’s book, A Different View of World War II.   A Depression baby, Miriam saw WWII through the eyes of a Jewish American child who knew about (legal) discrimination against Jews in New York- but not about the extermination of Jews in Germany.  Miriam was a witness to real attacks on her country by both the Nazis and the Japanese (including balloons the Japanese sent to her homeland with about 9,000 bombs attached).

Born in New Jersey, Miriam found that U-boats were not limited to our Atlantic coastal waters, they could be found on Florida’s western coast, where Miriam’s family moved due a sister’s illness.  A Texas Women’s University graduate, who has taught English as a second language and subjects ranging from piano to the Bible, you might remember Miriam from her appearance in the movie, Nashville. (That’s Miriam playing the accordion!)

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Richelle Rene Wright, that’s Chely Wright to you, may have sued Waller, Landsden, Dortch & Davis and one of the Nashville law firm’s partners, litigator Paul S. Davidson, in Davidson County Circuit Court December 7, 2006, claiming negligent representation in Wright’s suit against Hollywood talent agent Gilbert A. Cabot, but that didn’t stop the Gaylord (Entertainment) Gang from recruiting Davidson, and Waller, Landsden…’s other legal eagle, Jason D. Fisher, Esquire as its legal team, charged with filing an 11-page response to Stonewall Jackson's lawsuit against Gaylord, Pete Fisher and the Grand Ole Opry in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee and otherwise serving as the Gang-sters' defense team.

Gaylord cited 11 separate defenses in its Response to Jackson’s charges of age discrimination, retaliation and breach of contract, the eighth, 10th and 11th being of special interest: In the eighth defense, “Gaylord and Fisher deny that Jackson’s claims have any merit or that they caused him any loss or damage, but nonetheless they would be entitled to a setoff against any recovery by Jackson that must be reduced by any amount of money he received from any alternative source.” (In other words, Gaylord and Pete are doing some swift double-talking: They deny Stonewall’s accusations, but say that if the jury sees through the Gang’s defense, any monetary damages the court awards Stonewall that Gaylord would otherwise have to shell out must be reduced by the amount, if any, Jackson made moonlighting.)

Gaylord’s 10th defense states that “Gaylord and Fisher deny that they had any intent to discriminate or retaliate against Jackson in any way, but for the sake of preserving their legal rights, they reserve the right to rely upon a mixed motive defense.”

Once again, doubletalk is the order of the day, since, if the Gang chooses a mixed motive defense, it is admitting to “partial discrimination” against Stonewall in order to limit the money it must pay Jackson for discriminating against him.

In their 11th defense, “Gaylord and Fisher object to Jackson’s Complaint because it fails to comply with Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a ‘short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’  Jackson’s claims are neither short nor plain, nor do they entitle him to any relief. Jackson’s Complaint was designed for an improper purpose, to make public his grievances against the Opry and to damage the Opry in an attempt to advance his own career…”

Whether Stonewall’s Complaint is or is not short and/or plain is in the eye of the beholder, but how Jackson could (hope) to advance his career by attempting to damage the Opry doesn’t make any sense. This bit of blaming the victim, if Jackson is indeed the victim he makes himself out to be, is not supported in the Gang's not-so-brief brief.

Still, the Gang doesn’t miss a beat in its Response, as when it states that Gaylord and Pete “deny that Fisher can be served at One Gaylord Drive.” (That's Gaylord’s Corporate Headquarters’ street address. Pete’s Opry office is nearby at 2802 Opryland Drive, to be specific.)

A key to the amount of research the Gang is doing can be found in another statement in the Response, indicating that while Stonewall has been an Opry member since 1956, during “a period of time from 1965 through 1969 he was denied the privilege of calling himself an Opry member, because he had failed to make the necessary number of appearances.”

Meanwhile, as the Response contends that Stonewall remains an Opry member, Jackson tells his fans: “Pete Fisher claims that I bad mouths (sic) the Grand Ole Opry in his interview. I love the Opry, it gave me my break. There is no way I would ever say anything bad about the grand old Opry. I love country music and all my fans.

”One way you can help is spread the word. There is a suit against the Grand Ole Opry for 20,000,000 dollars. The first amount that came out was the wrong figure. Pass this on to as many people you can Thank you with all my heart for you support.”

Stonewall’s My Space Web site lists his friends as George Jones, Rhonda Vincent, Vince Gill, Larry the Cable Guy, Jim Lauderdale, Ray Griff, Cowboy Crush, Hank Williams, and Ernest Tubb.  Giving Williams and Tubb passes, for obvious reasons, it remains to be seen how many of his “friends” above Stonewall will want/be able to count on as character witnesses.  I’m not aware of any of them publicly offering Wall their support, which is perfectly consistent with the adage, “If you want a friend on Music Row, buy a dog.”

Stonewall’s appearance before Judge Wiliam J. Haynes, Jr. and Magistrate Judge E. Clifton Knowles won’t be the first Jackson family trip to court: Stonewall Jackson, Jr. (A/K/A Turp) was a defendant in a Giles County, Tennessee Civil Rights Act violation case filed in Y2K.

Turp was also a character witness in a 2005 Davidson County Criminal Court Case that resulted in Kelly Michael Pickett's initial conviction on 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor (a Class E felony). Turp testified that he’d known Kelly for about 17 years and that that Pickett had worked for Jackson’s construction company about four years.

Turp added that he’d never seen Kelly exhibit any improper sexual behavior, that Kelly had never lied to him, that Kelly was dependable, trustworthy, that he didn’t think Kelly posed a threat to young children. Jackson also testified that Pickett told him he didn’t do anything wrong, that he had been wrongly accused by a friend, that he’d seen some child porn websites on the Internet and that he was going to turn the names of those sites over to the police.

Back to the Chely Wright case: The same day (December 13, 2006) that Wright served Paul Davidson and Waller, Landsden… with summonses, Chely voluntarily filed for a partial dismissal without prejudice, meaning that her attorney, H. Anthony Duncan, could reserve the right to file a lawsuit at a later time.

Following a December 20th Motion for a scheduling Order, and an Answer and Countercomplaint filed by the Defendants January 11, 2007, on January 24th Chely filed an Amended Notice to her December 13th filing.

On January 25th a Motion was filed (and subsequently granted) to set a court date of March 9, 2007, along with Chely’s request that the Court strike the Answer and Countercomplaint. (Duncan filed an exhibit and memorandum in support of the Motion.)

After February 23, no more filings will be allowed without Judge Thomas Brothers’ approval.

Mindy McCready, who volunteers her services as the national spokesperson for the Longwood, Florida-based Charity Cars, Inc.,  returns to the Sunshine State’s tornado-devastated Lake County February 15th to present area residents with the keys to donated vehicles

.

The 1-800 Charity Cars organization, as the 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization bills itself, primarily provides working vehicles to victims of domestic violence through its “100% not-for profit charity car donation program.”

However, Charity Navigator gives Charity Cars, Inc. an overall rating of only two (needs improvement) out of a possible (coveted) four (exceptional) stars, its efficiency rating alone garnering it zero (exceptionally poor/performs far below industry standards and below nearly all charities in its cause) stars. Mindy might also want to consider that, according to Charity Cars, Inc.’s 2005 tax return (the latest 990s available), its president and CEO, BRIAN MENZIES received an annual salary of $291,923 representing 4.66% of the organization’s overall expenses.

FEBRUARY 14, 2007

Sara Evans' parenting plan, submitted February 6th to the Williamson County Chancery Court, proposes that as the fittest of the two divorcing parents, and the breadwinner, she be allowed to make decisions on her children’s behalf.

The filing also indicates that Sara doesn’t know if Craig Schelske has a job, though she annually grosses $1,218,216.

About the only thing Sara and Craig can agree on is that Dr. Jay Woodman, a clinical psychologist, will meet with them in order to iron out custody issues, including visitation.

FEBRUARY 9, 2007

Sammy Kershaw's famous refrain may be “I want my money back,” but now Sammy’s on the deadbeat end of his album/title song of the same name: Kershaw’s ex-wife, Kim is among 24 creditors, including Sammy’s attorney, Paul Jennings, the IRS, Sammy’s fan club, the Kaplan, Louisiana-based Sammy Kershaw Foundation of Acadiana and Sammy himself listed in a Chapter 13 (reorganizational) bankruptcy petition Jennings filed on Kershaw's behalf with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Tennessee February 6th.

FEBRUARY 8, 2007

Thanks to Amanda Virgilllito for the invitation to attend the media night/opening night (February 6th) performance of The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands a belated birthday gift/production running through February 11th at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s [Andrew] Jackson Hall.

While the revue is not endorsed by the families of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dean Martin, the flawless performances of British actors Stephen Triffitt (Frank) and Nigel Casey (Dean), Uncle Sam’s own David Hayes (Sammy), not to mention those of Emily Hawgood, Andrea Wingelaar and Giselle Wright (as the big band backup-singing Burelli Sisters), as well as a 15-piece orchestra, make it hard to understand why.

”Bread,” or the lack thereof, may be the way the deceased icons would have put it, but, needless to say, the Sinatra, Martin and Davis families should certainly benefit from renewed interest in their loved ones as a result of the performances I first saw a glimpse of during a recent PBS pledge drive.

(If you’re looking for a country-music connection, perhaps it is that the organized chaos of the Grand Ole Opry, that shocks first-time visitors, comes to mind when reviewing the precision of the Rat Pack revue’s choreography.

These guys and dolls make the singing and dance sequences, coupled with the split-seond timing of their musical comedy "interruptions," appear so effortless!)

The full ‘60s Rat Pack (the original group of hipsters was formed a decade earlier by Bogey and named by Bacall) experience would have included my favorite non-singing member (Peter Lawford), more than a mention of

Joey Bishop and some acknowledgement of the resident “broads,” (notably  Shirley MacLaine and Angie Dickinson), but better, in the show business tradition, to leave audiences wanting more…

I loved it! Don’t miss this one, if you’re in Nashville. But, if you must, be at Jackson Hall March 6-11th when, Amanda informs me, 32 Nashville/Nashville area residents will appear in a production Billy Gilman would love: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the Tony Award-winning musical comedy featuring “a hilarious glimpse of puberty, competition and life through the eyes of six young people.

”Audience members will have the opportunity to ‘audition’ for the show prior to each performance, and the ‘casting director’ will select up to four people for each performance.”

Now, if Amanda can just bring Jersey Boys to TPAC…

Column's congratulations to East Midlands Report Reader/SAGA Country (1066 FM in the UK) Presenter Tim Rogers! Tim, a 30-year broadcasting veteran, received the Country Music Association International Country Broadcasters Award in London February 5th.

Some who opposed the Metro Council’s February 6th final approval of a proposal designating English as Nashville's official language believe adoption of the policy will hurt tourism. Officials of the Country Music Foundation and the Country Music Association have refused comment.

Renasant Corp., a Tupelo, Misssissippi bank, has acquired Capital Bank & Trust’s parent company Capital Bancor. . The acquisition is a big deal for the respective companies’ shareholders in general and one in particular: Bob Doyle, whose 5.58 per cent investment of his Garth Brooks lottery "jackpot” is now worth $7.4 million!

FEBRUARY 7, 2007

It has been said that losing a child is among life’s most debilitating stresses.

Several parents on Music Row who, due in large part to fame-driven self-absorption, do not know how to parent, have lost children and therefore have lost their kids unnecessarily.

Of course, as the bar is lowered in terms of defining what is and what is not an accident, a disease, socially and morally acceptable behavior, etc., the extent of parental responsibility and control, it could be argued, is up for grabs. Where does personal responsibility kick in (the age of maturity being tied legally solely to the age of majority)?

Re: the death of Jeffrey Steele's son, Alex LeVasseur, I have two questions: Should a 13-year-old (who is not by any contemporary societal stretch, contrary to the Jewish law of bar mitzvah, to be considered “a man”), in celebration of any occasion-or not, be given a gift worth several thousands of dollars? Should his parents, already grieving a terrible loss, face legal consequences?

For those who don’t know, had Alex lived, following the boy’s losing control, January 28th, and being thrown, from his 2006 Honda TRX500FA ATV, into a ditch while trying to negotiate a curve as he drove south on Franklin’s Lavender Road, LeVasseur would have been charged with a Class B misdemeanor for driving without a license.  Were Alex to have been convicted (ATVs are not be driven on public roads), he would have been fined up to $500 and/or been sentenced to six months in jail.

Of course, Alex may have received a break- juvenile detention, if that- since celebrity justice is practiced as sport in Williamson County where, one of its biggest practitioners/enablers (Dottie West,  George Jones, Tom T. Hall, etc.), Sheriff Ricky Headley, no stranger to this Report, is making national news following the county’s 43-year-old Singing Sheriff’s January 31st arrest by Nashville police officers and the TBI on charges of illegally receiving drugs from Nashville’s Brooks Pharmacy without a prescription.   Headley is charged with obtaining Lortab and Soma (scheduled drugs) by fraud, which is a felony, and Cataflam (a legend drug) by fraud, which is a misdemeanor.

Ricky, who has been fighting cancer for the last 15 months, as well as back pain, has crusaded against drugs, arguing that law enforcement officials who abuse the public trust should receive three times the punishment of others. He may not be the only prominent figure to be fingered, with pharmacy officials already charged and with others yet to be arrested as the investigation continues.

February marks BearManor Media's publication of Author/Report reader John O'Dowd's Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story.

Those familiar with the Warner Brothers studio and star systems will remember Barbara, whom John describes as “a beautiful, talented and very promising young actress at WB Studios in the 1950s (where she earned $10,000 a week), until her extremely volatile personal life short-circuited her career and sent her plummeting into oblivion.

”Tabloids of the day gleefully told of her appearances before a Federal Grand Jury in the shooting death of a drug dealer-turned-FBI informant and of her attempts to blackmail such stars as Bob Hope and Guy Madison by threatening to expose her alleged affairs with them.   After losing custody of her nine-year old son, John Lee Payton, in 1956 to her ex-husband, an Air Force colonel, Barbara slid into an abyss of degradation where she wallowed for the next decade.  There were knifings and beatings, an alleged porn film in the early 1960s, frequent bouts of homelessness on the Sunset Strip, and arrests for passing bad checks, public drunkenness, shoplifting, drunk and disorderly conduct, and prostitution.

”Only ten years after her costarring role in the James Cagney crime film, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Barbara was living on Hollywood's Skid Row, and it was there that she was found lying near death beneath a garbage dumpster in February, 1967. Afterwards, Barbara was taken to her parents' home in San Diego where she died the following May of heart and liver failure at 39."

John’s 500-page biography details Payton’s personal life and career and includes many photographs, among them rare, family photos published for the first time.   O’Dowd’s is not the first book on Barbara, but, John advises,”Barbara's son, John Lee Payton, now 59, has read the entire book and he is so satisfied with the way I've documented his mother's life he has written the book's Foreword… In my opinion, there has never been a country song that has been written yet that can match the sadness of Barbara's life. It's almost unbelievable when you think of all she went through, but I have tried hard to document her life fairly, and hopefully, with some sensitivity and respect, too.”

Paul Petersen, discussing young performers, made an statement about them that could easily apply to country stars: Paul suggests that child actors “are paid a great deal of money to lie about their feelings and speak other people’s words. And, when you are really good at that, as most of us were, the potential for disastrous consequences is compounded by the type of image you’ve projected.”

Speaking of Petersen and Nashville’s NBC affiliate, WSMV, when “the channel 4 news” ran an NBC story featuring Paul, I called to ask if WSMV had any control over NBC’s supering of Petersen’s name (which was misspelled when the story aired on Channel 4), as a correction might want to be made before subsequent airings. (Local newscasts within the same day are notoriously repetitious.)

The producer wondered why it was necessary to make a change from “Peterson” since “some people spell it that way.”

Another victory for the Gaylord Gang's’s legal team which ought to give

Stonewall Jackson pause: When Ray Frazier (A/K/A Kevin O’Neal) was found dead in a Nashville hotel room January 27th it was said that WSM-FM’s former program director died of a variety of “undisclosed illnesses” (he had a history of heart disease, diabetes, etc.).

To these I would add stress, since, though reports have not mentioned it, following Ray/Kevin’s suing the Gang-sters a couple of years ago, the case ended last year with an Agreed Order and Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice. This meant that Kevin/Ray was barred from bringing an action on the same claim involving Frazier’’s/O’Neal’s being fired by Gaylord because of his health.

Memo to Frank Lindeberg: Please clean up your computer,

© 2007 -FEBRUARY 1, 2007

Read the puff pieces and the hatchet jobs, then come to the source for the real deal!!!

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