by Julie Carter
Storms never last, do they baby? That is a lyric that is
very likely tickling your memory banks. The lyrics belongs to Waylon Jennings
and Jessie Coulter. But the memories are mine.
There are many ways to take nostalgic trips through the
recesses of your mind. Some work faster and better than others, but it's a
journey we all need to take from time to time. Flipping through old photo
albums is a surefire way to bring back flashes of the past when people were
younger, thinner, and married to somebody else.
I also think there is something better for the journey than
being faced with pictorial proof of how different things are now. That vehicle
is music.
Music is a venue of travel into yesteryear that seems to
evoke more emotion and less reality than old photos. An old familiar melody has
a way of quickly reaching inside our hearts and souls and touching feelings
that, long ago, were pushed behind us as we dove headlong into life.
Lyrics might tell a story that was your story and in doing
so, they speak for you. A song might bring recall of parents dancing in the
kitchen to the melody as it played on the radio or at an old country dance that
gathered people from the countryside to socialize in hard times.
So many of mine come with memories of my dad sitting in his
chair with a guitar in his hands and yodeling on his mind.
 |
| Julie's dad, George Baker, while serving in Korea |
Musical memories are never better than when they are shared
remembrances. They don't have to be specific but memories of an era can bring
people to common ground. People that didn't share directly in your life 30-40
years ago, very likely heard the same music you did.
Circumstances may vary but the emotions that erupt do not. Nothing
will turn back the hands of time like an evening with some heart-tugging,
boot-scootin', make-me-think-I-can-sing music to put you over the top. I
had a friend that once said, “now that’s music you can fall in love to.”
When the fiddle bow strikes, the guitar strings hum and
melodic voices fall into a lyrical tour of fine old country music, today ceases
to exist. For a space of time, the room becomes a world of its own in a place a
long time ago. Whether you are swaying to Lefty Frizzell's "Waltz of
the Angels" or hearing the alluring Bob Wills' "Faded Love,"
something begins to happen to your heart.
Traveling down the melody lane, you arrive at a place in the
recesses of your mind that everyone should visit. Whether it is the lyrics, the
melody or both, something begins to chip away at the shellacked veneer that
day-to-day living paints over us for survival.
The musical map carries you forward through decades of
"classic country" that becomes a slide show of loving, laughing,
crying, and dying. Waylon's words are immortal in many lives and certainly in
mine.
“Storms never last do
they baby. Bad times all pass with the wind. Your hand in mine stills the
thunder. And you make the sun want to shine.”
I'm very glad I got the chance for him to remind me of that.
Now I’m reminding you.
Julie, armed with an
arsenal of memories, can be reached for comment at jcarternm@gmail.com
Storms never last do they baby
Bad times all pass with the winds
Your hand in mine stills the thunder
You make the sun want to shine
Oh, I have followed you down so many roads baby
I picked wild flowers and sung you soft sad songs
And every road we took God knows our search was for the truth
And the storm brewing now won't be the last
Storms never last do they baby
Bad times all pass with the winds
Your hand in mine stills the thunder
You make the sun want to shine
Storms never last do they baby
Bad times all pass with the winds
Your hand in mine stills the thunder
You make the sun want to shine
Storms never last do they baby
https://youtu.be/WtOrSdcArDI?list=RDWtOrSdcArDI
Jennings was born in Littlefield, Texas, and dropped out of high school to become a DJ at the age of 15. He moved to Lubbock and became close friends with Buddy Holly, who was also his musical mentor. Holly taught Jennings how to play guitar and bass, and encouraged him to become a writer and singer. Jennings left radio to record for Brunswick Records in 1957, with his first record produced by Holly himself. When Holly needed a new bass player for the Crickets in 1959, he called Jennings, who took the gig. On February 3rd, Jennings gave up his seat on a small private plane that was scheduled to carry himself, Holly, and Ritchie Valens to the next gig. The other star on the tour, the Big Bopper, had the flu, so Jennings infamously let him take his seat on the four-seater plane, which ended up crashing and tragically killing all three stars.
Jennings re-emerged in the 1960s as a country star with the help of Chet Atkins, who signed him to RCA Records. Jennings would remain there for over a decade, and in the 1970s, he develop the "outlaw" country persona, which also included friends Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Bobby Bare, and others.
In 1969, he met and married a budding country singer named Mirriam Johnson. For the previous seven years, she had worked and toured with her first husband, rock 'n' roll pioneer Duane Eddy. Jennings encouraged her to write and record, and produced her first records for Capitol. By then, she also adopted the "outlaw" persona, and changed her name to Jessi Colter, chosen because she was actually a descendent of a desperado whose last name was Colter, a one-time member of the Jesse James Gang. Jennings and Colter remained married until Jennings' untimely death in 2002 from diabetes.
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