Stu Smith, 1936-2009
My dad passed away on Christmas Eve. He was a great guy who always got the most out of life. He loved his old sailboat and his old cabin in the north woods (even though it lacked indoor plumbing). He also loved a cold beer and a good tune.
To honor his memory I decided to resurrect this blog and post a few of his favorite songs here. Those of you who have spent time with Stu will remember hearing many of them on the boat, by the barbecue, or at the cabin. Some of them I've enjoyed my whole life (thanks to him).
Lyle Lovett - If I Had A Boat (buy). My dad loved every kind of boat from canoes to freighters and spent as much time as he could near the water. This was one of his favorite boat songs.
Jimmy Buffett - Son Of A Son Of A Sailor (buy). Another regular tune heard on Smith family sailboat rides. Almost always with beer in hand.
The Country Gentlemen - Fox On The Run (buy). My dad's favorite style of music was bluegrass, so naturally I learned this one at a young age.
The Osborne Brothers - Rocky Top (buy). You can't have one without the other (at least you couldn't in our house growing up).
Lucinda Williams - Crescent City (buy). "Everybody's had a few." I know that feeling. So did my dad. My dad enjoyed having fun with family and friends at our favorite spots. Giving this album to my dad was probably my most successful music recommendation ever. He really loved it.
Tom T. Hall - The Little Lady Preacher (buy). My dad was a clever guy. So it's no surprise he was a big Tom T. Hall fan. He really liked the funny ending to this one.
Bill Monroe - I'm Going Back To Old Kentucky (buy). You can't be a bluegrass fan without playing a lot of Bill Monroe, which my dad did frequently.
The Stanley Brothers - Rank Strangers (buy). Another one of my dad's favorite bluegrass songs.
Glen Campbell - Gentle On My Mind (buy). This was a huge hit back in the 1960's when my sister and I came into my dad's life. The songwriter, John Hartford, with his love of life (and boats), reminds me of my dad.
Gordon Lightfoot - Christian Island (buy). This song about enjoying a quiet time on a sailboat in the Summer on Georgian Bay. This one best captures my dad's general attitude towards life. He usually liked the mood he was in, especially on his sailboat (at least when the wind was cooperating).
John Denver - Country Roads (live) (buy). If he wasn't on a boat, then my dad wanted to be on a two-track country road.
Willie Nelson - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (buy). Finally, here's a song from one of my dad's favorite artists that was used in one of his favorite movies.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
For my dad
Friday, August 15, 2008
Writer's Block: Shel Silverstein - Updated
Shel Silverstein was a modern-day renaissance man. Among his many accomplishments, he was (1) a frequent contributor to Playboy magazine during its glory days, (2) a noted author and illustrator of children's books, and (3) both a singer and an illustrious songwriter.
You know a lot of his songs, but you may not realize that Shel Silverstein wrote all of them them. His three most famous compositions are The Cover Of The Rolling Stone by Dr. Hook, A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash, and The Unicorn by just about every "Irish" band on St. Patrick's Day.
Dr. Hook – The Cover Of The Rolling Stone (buy)
Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue (buy)
Duly enshrined as a member of the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Hall of Fame, Silverstein was responsible for authoring scores of excellent country songs, including these three:
Loretta Lynn - One's On The Way (buy)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Once More With Feeling (buy)
Tompall Glaser – Put Another Log on the Fire (Male Chauvinist National Anthem) (buy)
Heck, he even wrote a Gordon Lightfoot song:
Gordon Lightfoot - On Susan's Floor (buy)
Earlier this year, Water Records re-released three of Shel's albums: Hairy Jazz, Inside Folk Songs, and Boy Named Sue And His Other Country Songs. All of them are very entertaining.
Shel Silverstein - Ragged But Right (buy) (This one is credited to George Jones, but Shel gives it a good interpretation.)
Shel Silverstein - The Unicorn (buy)
Shel Silverstein - Boy Named Sue (buy)
The one thing I love best about Shel Silverstein's work is great sense of humor. For more information, check out ShelSilverstein.com
UPDATE!
Robert from Reno just sent over this great Silverstein song that tell's about the boy named Sue from the absentee father's perspective:
Shel Silverstein - The Father Of A Boy Named Sue
And thanks to Matt, we have yet another:
Shel Silverstein - A Front Row Ticket To See Old Johnny Play.
Thanks guys!
