THEY DON'T WRITE THE SONGS
by Bryce Martin


The artwork for Rick Beziat's "Encore" article in the current issue of the Nashville Scene is great (May 20). Beziat writes a fun piece about the more memorable concerts held in Nashville during the 1960s and 1970s. I especially liked seeing the old ticket stubs and posters, many of them rare.

I was disappointed though right off the bat when the first song title was written as "Down in the Boon Docks." This is "Music City," and as such I would expect an editor (I reckon the Scene has them) to correct it to "Down in the Boondocks." That is the title of the song, you know.

Then comes "I Can't Stop Lovin' You." Sure, country people tend to drop every "g" they meet head on. But, give Don Gibson credit on this classy song; he didn't do it in title or in his vocal rendition.

Rufus Thomas did let his "g's" thud to the dance floor on his classic song, but the title is dictionary correct. It's "Walking the Dog" and not "Walkin' the Dog." The title of a Rolling Stones smash is "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Just citing it as "Satisfaction" is okay the second time around, but not the first. Bobby "Boris" Pickett did his best Boris Karloff impression to pull off "Monster Mash." It is not "The Monster Mash."

In fairness, The Tennessean is not any better. Just recently columnist Gail Kerr became the 4,192nd writer at her daily newspaper to refer to Porter Wagoner as Porter Waggoner.

Maybe it is like my old friend Leon always says when I bring up such things, "Nobody cares anymore." Sounds like a song title to me.

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