Music for Grownups: Country Duets on YouTube
By: Richard Gehr | Source: AARP.org | 2008-09-04
Richard Gehr is a veteran music critic based in New York City. His reviews for AARP.org appear every Tuesday; his columns on Thursdays.
From infatuation to divorce, from break-ups to make-ups, country music's greatest male-female duos can distill an entire relationship down to a few teary verses and catchy choruses. Want to play country couples counselor? Start with nine passionate classics—all preserved on YouTube.
Dolly Parton's pure mountain voice found its dazzling complement in older partner Porter Wagoner's nudie suits of many colors. The intriguingly mismatched pair kept listeners guessing about their strictly musical relationship for years, thanks to tunes like their poignant 1968 hit, "Holding on to Nothin'," which they performed more than once on Porter's long-running TV show.
George Jones knew how to keep a cheating song fresh. Country's baddest bad boy was likely married to Tammy Wynette when he and Melba Montgomery reprised their 1963 home-wrecking hit, "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds," on TV, as a steel guitar gently wept in the background.
Following mutual marital misfires, June Carter and Johnny Cash—probably country's healthiest couple over the long haul—remained hitched for 35 years until death did them part. Here they are in 1969, the year after their marriage, kicking up their heels and seemingly having the time of their lives as they sing Lee Hazelwood's "Jackson."
Jessi Colter also had a benign effect on fellow country outlaw Waylon Jennings, whom she reportedly helped kick a serious drug habit. The couple sounds angelic—with Waylon appearing particularly tender—while singing Jennings’ "Storms Never Last." Following Jennings’ death in 2002, Colter's career enjoyed a nice uptick with the 2006 release of her underappreciated "Out of the Ashes."
Earthy Loretta Lynn and puffy-haired Conway Twitty were the most successful country couple of the early 1970s, yet their chemistry always seemed strangely chaste. Check out their 1972 TV version of Freddie Hart's smooth hit, "Easy Loving," and see if you don't agree.
Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra share a gothic moment in this creepy yet magnificent 1967 black-and-white TV rendition of "Summer Wine." They were never romantically involved. In fact, Hazelwood was nearly 40 when he instructed the 25-year-old Sinatra to sing "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," in the style of "a 14-year-old girl who goes with truck drivers."
Little footage exists of tragic country-rock legend Gram Parsons, who died of a drug overdose at age 27, in 1973. Fortunately, the magic of Parsons's musical partnership with Emmylou Harris transcends the low-production values of the film that captured them singing "Big Mouth Blues" to a raucous Texas crowd.
According to Roseanne Cash, the 1988 video of "It's Such a Small World," which she made with former husband Rodney Crowell, embarrassed their children greatly. It's a pretty decent song, though, so it might have something to do with the hair. Crowell went on to write more pointedly political tunes, as on his new album, "Sex & Gasoline."
Relationships rarely end up in such a gorgeous shambles as that conjured up by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in "Please Read the Letter." The rock god and pop-bluegrass queen let their unique brand of mystic mountain music shine during a 2007 Tennessee performance.
Dolly Parton's pure mountain voice found its dazzling complement in older partner Porter Wagoner's nudie suits of many colors. The intriguingly mismatched pair kept listeners guessing about their strictly musical relationship for years, thanks to tunes like their poignant 1968 hit, "Holding on to Nothin'," which they performed more than once on Porter's long-running TV show.
George Jones knew how to keep a cheating song fresh. Country's baddest bad boy was likely married to Tammy Wynette when he and Melba Montgomery reprised their 1963 home-wrecking hit, "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds," on TV, as a steel guitar gently wept in the background.
Following mutual marital misfires, June Carter and Johnny Cash—probably country's healthiest couple over the long haul—remained hitched for 35 years until death did them part. Here they are in 1969, the year after their marriage, kicking up their heels and seemingly having the time of their lives as they sing Lee Hazelwood's "Jackson."
Jessi Colter also had a benign effect on fellow country outlaw Waylon Jennings, whom she reportedly helped kick a serious drug habit. The couple sounds angelic—with Waylon appearing particularly tender—while singing Jennings’ "Storms Never Last." Following Jennings’ death in 2002, Colter's career enjoyed a nice uptick with the 2006 release of her underappreciated "Out of the Ashes."
Earthy Loretta Lynn and puffy-haired Conway Twitty were the most successful country couple of the early 1970s, yet their chemistry always seemed strangely chaste. Check out their 1972 TV version of Freddie Hart's smooth hit, "Easy Loving," and see if you don't agree.
Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra share a gothic moment in this creepy yet magnificent 1967 black-and-white TV rendition of "Summer Wine." They were never romantically involved. In fact, Hazelwood was nearly 40 when he instructed the 25-year-old Sinatra to sing "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," in the style of "a 14-year-old girl who goes with truck drivers."
Little footage exists of tragic country-rock legend Gram Parsons, who died of a drug overdose at age 27, in 1973. Fortunately, the magic of Parsons's musical partnership with Emmylou Harris transcends the low-production values of the film that captured them singing "Big Mouth Blues" to a raucous Texas crowd.
According to Roseanne Cash, the 1988 video of "It's Such a Small World," which she made with former husband Rodney Crowell, embarrassed their children greatly. It's a pretty decent song, though, so it might have something to do with the hair. Crowell went on to write more pointedly political tunes, as on his new album, "Sex & Gasoline."
Relationships rarely end up in such a gorgeous shambles as that conjured up by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in "Please Read the Letter." The rock god and pop-bluegrass queen let their unique brand of mystic mountain music shine during a 2007 Tennessee performance.
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