Black Country Celebrated At Country Music Hall Of Fame & Museum

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Pictured (L–R): CMHOFM’s Michael Gray, Blanco Brown, Hubby Jenkins, The War and Treaty’s Tanya Trotter and Michael Trotter, Miko Marks, Darius Rucker, Cowboy Troy, Tony Jackson, Wendy Moten, Barrence Whitfield, Rissi Palmer, CMHOFM’s Lisa Purcell and Shannon Sanders. Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Black country staged a triumphant event at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Tuesday (June 18).

10 artists raised their voices at the CMA Theater to salute the release of From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music. This is a CD boxed set of Black country recordings that is being updated and revived by the institution via Warner Music Nashville this summer. The new version will contain new essays as well as a new fourth CD. Many of the artists who performed at the museum’s venue are featured on the set’s fourth CD. Music by some of the others was on the original, three-CD collection. This project updates that landmark release, compiling Black country music up to 1988.

The commemorating show for the updated From Where I Stand was co-produced by “Color Me Country” Founder Rissi Palmer and Grammy-winning bandleader Shannon Sanders. Palmer kicked things off with a jubilant performance of “Country Girl,” preceded by a vivid historical video of Hall of Fame member DeFord Bailey.

“We’re going to celebrate tonight!” Palmer said to the sold-out audience. She favored the crowd with “Bad Case of the Blues,” to honor Linda Martel, one of the collection’s featured stars. “This is a very historic and significant night of music,” Palmer continued. “It’s more than just music tonight. We are honoring the ancestors.”

Former Carolina Chocolate Drops banjo player Hubby Jenkins saluted Black, old-time, string-band music artists Frank Patterson and Nathan Frasier, who are also represented on From Where I Stand. Barrence Whitfield sang “Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul” to honor Stoney Edwards. He also sang Merle Haggard’s song of interracial love “Irma Jackson.”  Wendy Moten received the night’s first standing ovation after she performed a soul-saturated version of “Release Me.” The country standard’s original Black version by Esther Phillips is on the boxed set. Moten also performed a simmering version of Tammy Wynette’s “Til I Get It Right.”

“Normally, I feel like the only raison in the rice pudding; so this is new,” said Tony Jackson about the event. He sang “The Grand Tour,” represented on the original album by Aaron Neville. Jackson also added his own “I Didn’t Wake Up This Morning” to the evening’s entertainment. Miko Marks took the stage with a spirited rendition of “It Feels Good,” then drew a standing ovation for her version of “Misty Blue.” On the album, that country classic is represented by Dorothy Moore’s hit 1976 version. Good-time country “hick hop” artist Cowboy Troy delighted the room with his 2005 hit “I Play Chicken With the Train,” which drew another standing ovation.

Blanco Brown rocked out with a highly entertaining version of his hit “The Git Up,” highlighted by his instrumental solo, playing the spoons. The War And Treaty revived the Ray Charles hit “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” which was a Don Gibson/Kitty Wells/Conway Twitty/Sammi Smith country evergreen. The duo then sang “Yesterday’s Burn,” drawing another standing ovation.

Hootie & The Blowfish pop/rock star Darius Rucker has become contemporary country’s leading Black artist with seven No. 1 smashes. He sang his career-launching “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.” Rucker also saluted his forefather, Charley Pride, with “Kiss an Angel Good Morning.” Next, he brought the entire crowd to its feet with his 11-time Platinum hit “Wagon Wheel.” Rucker recalled the night he joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry. “Jimmy Dickens drew me aside and said, ‘Don’t ever let them tell you that you don’t belong [as a Black country artist].'” He then summoned all 10 artists back to the stage for the Hall’s anthem “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” with Sanders guiding the band and the massed singers to the evening’s climax.

The new version of the boxed set will also be available as an online experience, consisting of this concert, educational lesson plans and more, via countrymusichalloffame.org.

Robert K Oermann
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