I always try to be as accurate as possible in my blogs when it comes to facts. I give my opinions more often than not, but I try to not let them bleed into the facts. It is also never my intentions to try to ’start shit’ or stir controversy, but just like with the Shooter vs. Shelton Hank III blog, it was my intention to put all the accurate information out there to dispel rumors and set the record straight.
Well when making sure I was right about the progression Neil Young’s song “Are You Ready For The Country” that ended up morphing into Shooter’s “Put the ‘O’ Back in Country,” I found a fact that I left out of the last blog, and it is a very important one.
Enter Carlene Carter. Daughter of June Carter Cash. Granddaughter of the mother of country music, Maybelle Carter. Stepdaughter of the one and only Johnny Cash.
Carlene Carter was a wild child to say the least. And when she grew up, she became a wild woman. Sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll is probably the best way to describe it. You might even could say she was the first Hellbetty. Growing up in a house with Johnny Cash, you know she would have some demons to fight, and with Carter blood, you know she would be involved in music.
She never strayed too far from country, but she also liked rock n’ roll. After putting out a couple of albums, she fell into the post punk music scene in the UK, and married 80’s music star Nick Lowe , who gave us the snoozer Top 40 hit “Cruel to be Kind.” But Carlene danced to the beat of her own drum. She openly criticized Nashville as being closed-minded, too traditional, and a machine, and that is why she ended up in London, where she felt less restricted and found more similarly-minded people to collaborate with. She also had a foul mouth, and loved to pepper her music and performances with elements of sex. Sounds like my kind of girl.
Check this out, and listen to that undeniable, Carter accent:
Maybe the boys have the balls and she’s got the bat, but you got to have balls the size of church bells to put a flippin’ trombone in your band.
You make think that video is cheesy, but understand it is the early 80’s. We’re all playing Pac-Man and wearing parachute pants, and Carlene’s dropping F-bombs on stage.
At times Carlene Carter’s lifestyle got too much for her, and she would return to her roots, or tow the Nashville line as best she could. She left Nick Lowe back in the land of tea and scrumpets, and for a period she joined the famous Carter Family ensemble. She felt it was her birth right and obligation. There she is second on the left with the autoharp:
The big “hit” she had was “I Fell in Love” in 1990. At the time Nashville considered this “Raunchy.”
Yeah, I wasn’t particularly impressed either.
Carlene Carter never lasted long towing the line though. She would hang out with rockers more than honky-tonkers, people like Elvis Costello and the bass player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Howie Epstein, who produced all of Carlene’s early 90’s records.
Hanging out with Epstein and eventually getting engaged to him is where Carlene fell into heroin addiction, and running from warrants in New Mexico and facing judges and probation in California. A few of you might remember Howie Epstein died of heroin overdose in 2003. Before and after the death, Carlene was in and out of hiding from the media, her family, and the law. She finally emerged last year, and put out an album, Stronger
that a lot of people whose opinions I respect say this is her best album ever.You may be wondering why I’m telling you all of this stuff about Carlene Carter, and what the hell it has to do with Hank III and Shooter Jennings. Well because in 1979 at a show at the “Bottom Line” in New York, while wearing a very skimpy skirt and shaking her stuff for a pretty edgy crowd, Carlene Carter introduced her song “Swamp Meat Rag” with the quote: “If this doesn’t put the cunt back in country, I don’t know what will.”
This quote became Playboy Magazine’s Quote of the Year for 1979, and was memorialized in this Playboy cartoon:
At the time she had no idea June Carter and Johnny Cash were in the audience, and apparently they were horrified.
So does this mean that Hank III ripped of Carlene Carter? HELL NO. Without question, when Hank III came up with the lyrics for “Dick in Dixie” there is no doubt in my mind that that it was purely generated in his own mind, and he deserves 100% credit for that. Carlene didn’t say anything about putting the “Dick in Dixie” and seeing the anger that Hank III has for Shooter over the matter, there is no doubt in my mind Hank III’s thought behind those lyrics was ORIGINAL.
So does this mean that that Shooter Jennings did not rip off Hank III? Well, maybe, but not necessarily. I have seen some notations in places where Shooter is given credit for coming up with the title for his album Put the O Back in Country to the Carlene Carter quote, but he has never defended himself on this point in any interview I’ve read about it, and furthermore, he could’ve just used the quote to try to cover his tracks. Though certainly Carlene could’ve been the generation of that album title instead of Hank III. We will probably never know for sure.
As I said in the last blog, I am not a Shooter fan, though I am not opposed to anything he does short of ripping people off, which he very well may do. And I think my Hank III loyalties are pretty well documented. If you think my intention is to somehow bad mouth Hank III, you can quite honestly FUCK OFF! I will go to my fucking grave defending Hank III, faults and all, because I believe in the man. I also believe in telling the truth and being as factual as I can in my blogs, and if I left this information out, I wouldn’t be telling the whole story, which would’ve been unfair to everyone.
And as for all the personal stories that came up about Shooter in the comments of the previous blog, about half the stories were bad, and the other half were good. And I believe them all. I think Shooter can be a nice guy and an asshole, like we all can, and again, I think we should let history judge them.
But I challenge ANYONE to find a story out there where they met Shelton face to face, and he was an asshole to them without provocation. And that, along with the many other magnanimous things Hank III does like refusing to use his name to sell out, showing tremendous respect to the traditions of country music, and fighting against those who would steal our culture for financial gain, is why when it comes to Shooter vs. Shelton, in my opinion, the case is closed.
Tags: Bottom Line, Carlene Carter, Dick in Dixie, Elvis Costello, Hank III, heroin, Howie Epstein, Johnny Cash, London, Maybelle Carter, New York, Nick Lowe, Playboy, Playboy Magazine, Put the O Back in Country, Shooter Jennings, Tom Petty, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
February 21st, 2009 at 8:13 pm
hank three sure sounded and looked like hank sr. on his first album. don’t tell me he didn’t rip off grandpa…hd
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:02 am
Yea, i think the point is really mute honestly. I think it comes down to honest jealousy more than anything. I love both artist, but for Hank III to say Shooter uses his dad’s legacy to make his music, that is hypocritical given the fact Hank obv. uses the name Hank. and to your point about the progression of “are you ready…” compared to “put the o’ back” that’s obvious an homage to his father. every artist has influence. so chord progressions and such can be found multiple times over and over again.
December 12th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
HANK WILLIAMS III
the best !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 4th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Shooter May or may not be a cock smoker along with the rest of his band…I always seem to jump into things to quickly…Im Only 19,i was brought on waylon and all the greats so i figured hell i might as well follow the blood line but shooter jennings is a regular prick…I sttod outside his bus for 2 hours just so he could come out and say hi and bye to us..ive been to numerous III shows its the greatest experience ill have a country fan ive never seen a show that afterwards he doesnt stand adn greet and actually conversate with his fans no matter how drunk the person or how senceless the topic may be hell shoot the shit with you…Shelton Hank III is country music his word is gold to me but i made my decision long before i read this blog fuck shooter jennings his daddy shouldve beat his ass acouple times…The show fuckin sucked to…fuckin college kids…
March 26th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
I saw and spoke with Shooter last night. I’m glad I didn’t ask him if he was going to see Hank at the Roxy tonight. I had no knowledge of this rift at all. I will say that I have seen both Shooter and III live and both were amazing live. As far as selling out, however, Shelton left Buzzkill and took up the Hank moniker because he had to make money to pay his child support. Sorry, friend, but that is selling out. He may be true to himself as Hank III, but he didn’t become Hank III until he had to. Shooter has always been Shooter regardless of the style of music he’s playing.
Oh…and the whole O’ in country bit? It’s not original. Neither of them came up with it and I dare say neither did Carlene Carter. Live in Nashville for awhile and you’ll hear all kinds of cliches that make their way into people’s songs.
June 14th, 2010 at 6:18 am
I met Shelton. He wasnt an asshole to me, but he sure as hell wasnt nice. He was strung out…very…strung out.
July 6th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
@ Leslie, Shelton is the way he is… there is not a musician out there that is on the road doing shows that aint on something, expecailly when they start a tour on the 1st of the month and end the tour on the 30th and they cover places in Canada and the US.. Take a look at his last tour and research the miles he covered and think about the fact that he does shows that last 2 to 4 hours at a time and then he meet and greets afterwards then hits the road to get to the next show the next night that is 3 to 4 hounded miles away… @ Barky Hank III has all ways been Hank III… as far as you saying he sold out well when is says he will not sell out he means he will not sell out to todays Pop country… He did not mean that he would never Bank on the name HANK… however he has made his own way and is not riding the coat tails of his Granddad and his Dad.. People need to take a look at the man Shelton is look past the drugs and alcohol (which is in the 3 Hanks Nature) and see the real man that Shelton is. He is a shy workaholic who says it himself and you can look it up on his personal Myspace page under Shelton Hank Williams III and see that he says he Aint the Best but He aint the worst… As far as this whole Shooter Vs Shelton thing goes, I like both there music however I prefer Shelton over Shooter because Hank III is more easier to relate to if you are in the working class in the south…
July 7th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
@ Leslie I forgot to mention that sometimes Shelton seems to be strung out and he is not he suffers from ADD and also has a nerves personality he is very fidgety, he gets that from his grandmother Ms. Audrey’s family.
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:13 am
III never rode coat-tails? Right. Three Hanks?