Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCL--Jessi Colter: I'm Not Lisa

 Once again, my memory failed me a bit this week.  I thought I was going to be featuring a minor hit from the seventies, but as I was doing my half-assed research I learned that it was a much bigger hit than I had remembered.  Not only that, though the artist was most known for being a country performer, I thought the song was more of a pop ballad...wrong again.  Go get 'em next week, Tiger!

Jessi Colter (birth name Miriam Johnson) was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1943, and after graduating from high school she began singing in local clubs.  Shortly thereafter she met and married rock and roll guitar legend Duane Eddy and began touring with him and writing songs before they divorced in 1968.  She soon met country music legend Waylon Jennings who helped her garner a recording contract with RCA as well as becoming her second husband.  Colter had several hits through the seventies and was one of the few women in the outlaw country movement, but her career slowed considerably in the eighties as she chose to help Jennings through his drug abuse and medical problems.  After his death in 2002, Colter turned back to performing and has remained active since.  For her career, Colter has released eleven studio albums (the latest in 2017), and twenty-six singles (with one top ten pop single, and two top ten country singles).  Colter is also the mother of country music star Shooter Jennings, who has had several hits of his own.

Fun Fact (or not):  Stevie Nicks originally wrote the song "Leather and Lace" for an album of duets from Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings, but when she heard rumors of their impending divorce (they eventually stayed together), she decided to keep the song for herself and released it as a single with Don Henley.  The song ended up being a top ten hit, but was never recorded by Colter and Jennings.

"I'm Not Lisa" was first released as a single in 1975, and after having considerable success was added to her second album, the cleverly titled I'm Jessi Colter.  The song reached #4 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Hot Country Singles chart.  The album was the most successful of her career, hitting #50 on the pop LP chart and #4 on the country LP chart.

"I'm Not Lisa" opens with Colter tapping individual piano keys almost as a lullaby, before telling her tale of a woman in love with a man who's still in love with a woman who left him (the lyrics leave it somewhat ambiguous as to whether it's death or another man) and trying to convince him that unlike Lisa, she's here to stay.  The music, the lyrics, and the instrumentation (there's some nice steel guitar about halfway through) are all sparse, which allows Colter's vocals--which are haunting--to carry the heartbreak of a woman who doesn't want her love to be forsaken for a ghost.  "I'm Not Lisa" is truly one of the better country ballads ever recorded, in no small part thanks to a wrenching vocal performance from Jessi Colter.

Lyric Sheet:  "I'm not Lisa, my name is Julie/Lisa left you years ago..."

Enjoy:

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Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LV--Waylon Jennings: Luckenbach, Texas

This week, I'm going for my shit-kicker cred....

Imagine that you're Buddy Holly's bass player (and that Holly has helped you record a couple of your own tunes), you're on tour in wintry Iowa, and Holly decides to charter a plane to Minnesota to beat the frosty conditions on the tour bus.  The plane has room for three passengers, and you're scheduled to be one of the three.  But, for altruistic reasons you decide to give your spot to one J,P, Richardson, a.k.a. The Big Bopper, because he has the flu.  Hours later the plane goes down killing all aboard, and goes down in music history as the day the music died.  Where do you suppose life takes you from there?

If you're Waylon Jennings, you go on to be one of the leaders of the Outlaw Country movement and eventually a Country Music Hall of Famer.

In the aftermath of the plane crash, Jennings went back to being a DJ for a time before returning to recording in the late 60's.  Inspired by what Dylan/The Beatles/The Stones were doing with rock music, Jennings (along with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash) began to bring both a return to country music's roots as well as a harder edge to the songs inspiring what later became known as Outlaw Country.  Jennings would have a nice ride through the late 70's (including having a #1 country single of the years as well as winning numerous awards), but the remainder of his career would find him battling and eventually conquering cocaine addiction and never again quite reaching the heights he attained during the early years of his career.  Still, at the time of his death in 2002 he'd had 54 albums (11 #1's) and 96 singles (16 #1's) that charted over the course of his career.

Released on his Ol' Waylon LP in 1977, "Luckenbach, Texas" would go on to be the country single of the year and the biggest hit of Jennings' career.  For the record, Jennings himself admitted to hating the song and never once having been to Luckenbach (he did eventually play there in 1997).  Also for the record, from what I can tell Luckenbach is little more than a hole in the wall 50 miles north of San Antonio with a music venue that occasionally features some name performers--i.e., Austin City Limits it ain't.  It does, however, have a much better country music feel to it than say, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Be that as it may, "Luckenbach, Texas" is still one hell of a song.  I'm not much of a country music expert (and a middling fan at best), but I know greatness when I hear it (e.g., Patsy Cline's "Crazy" or George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today") and this tune is certainly graced with it.  Led by Jennings' remarkable baritone, it's the story of a couple whose fame has caused them more than a little pain and the singer's heartfelt request to get back to the simple life of love and good music (hear, hear!).  It references the music of Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hank Williams, and Mickey Newbury all the while a steel guitar, a soft drum, and a bass provide the ever yearning background music.  The song closes with one more version of the chorus, this time with Jennings and his good friend Willie Nelson sharing the vocals, convinced that when you're listening to good music "there ain't nobody feeling no pain."  And I can tell you it's certainly worked a time or two for me.

Truer words and all that:  "I don't need my name in the marquee lights/ I got my song and I got you with me tonight...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee