To me, the Country Music of the 1980s will always stand as
some of the best of all time. And, though people tend to label the past with a
sense of tradition, it wasn’t always that way. You had names like Kenny Rogers,
Anne Murray, Alabama, and Earl Thomas Conley, who were hitting the radio with a
style of music that was very much cross-over styled in sound.
You also had Gary Morris.
A native of Fort Worth, Morris hit the scene in 1980 with the
single “Sweet Red Wine.” That Warner Brothers release led to future hits as “Headed
For A Heartache,” “Velvet Chains,” and “The Wind Beneath My Wings.” His amazing
vocal style earned him respect among fans, fellow artists, and critics alike.
Perhaps the most telling of his releases in demonstrating his vocal style was
on the 1986 number one record “100 % Chance Of Rain.” His music found a home on
TV’s Dallas, and he became a cast
member of the Dynasty spin off series
The Colbys. And, in the middle of all
of that glitz and glamour, the singer took what was one of the most interesting
musical U-Turns of all time.
In the summer of 1986, Morris released a cover of Jimmie
Rodgers’ 1950s classic “Honeycomb.” It was a departure from the major
productions that he had released to that point – as would the album that it was
taken from Plain Brown Wrapper.
Long before MTV made the acoustic movement “Cool,” Morris
decided to go the unplugged route with the record, which was his fifth studio
album for Warner Brothers. An amazing collection of classics, such as chilling
performance of “Today I Started Loving You Again” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could
Cry”, as well as some unforgettable new material, as well.
“Leave Me Lonely” and the title cut were huge hits at radio,
and his “Better Than The New” was one of the best songs that he ever recorded.
Almost thirty years later, the song still makes my eyes a little misty. There’s
a dynamic version of “Lovesick Blues” that has a little bit of a Sun Records
beat – and a cut on “Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues” that will leave you
speechless.
One of the reasons I put together this series is that while
critics often talk glowingly about records from this era by Willie or Emmylou –
there are other pieces of work that stand just as tall – and deserve to be
heard. Plain Brown Wrapper is one of
those albums. There’s simply not a bad note, a bad lyric, or anything
second-rate about it. And, the remarkable thing about the record is just how
painstakingly simple it was – even down to the stark album cover – which simply
added to its’ brilliance.
Plain Brown
Wrapper will be the featured album of the week on the September 16
edition of “Crazy Chucky’s Country Classic Corner,” which airs at 1pm on WNKX /
96.7 in Centerville, TN. The show is brought to you by Tennessee Properties.
