Green Grass of Texas
| Green Grass of Texas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| The Texans | |
| publication | January 1961 |
| length | 2:18 |
| Genre (s) | Country |
| Author (s) |
Johnny Burnette , Dorsey Burnette |
| Publisher (s) | Lansdowne Music, Winston Music |
| Label | Infinity Records |
| Cover versions | |
| 1961 | Billy Vaughn |
| 1964 | The Jim Dandee's |
| 1965 | Jack Nitzsche |
Green Grass of Texas (German: The green grass of Texas ) is a predominantly instrumental country piece by the brothers Johnny and Dorsey Burnette , which was recorded in 1959 and was released in 1961 on Infinity Records under the artist name "The Texans". The melody of the minimalist composition consists of two motifs, which are formed from only five different tones. Green Grass of Texas reached number 100 on the American Billboard charts in March 1961 and was covered by Billy Vaughn , The Jim Dandee’s and Jack Nitzsche .
Emergence
After their rock 'n' roll trio broke up, Dorsey and Johnny Burnette moved to California in the fall of 1957, where they worked on the one hand as a songwriter, on the other hand as "Burnette Brothers" and released several records solo under their own names . In addition to the rockabilly songs of their Memphis era, there were pop songs and instrumental pieces attributable to country. In 1959 the brothers met for a recording session in the studio of the record company Enith International Productions . Johnny played the acoustic guitar, Dorsey took over the bass as usual. The Burnettes also hummed the background vocals. Other, unknown studio musicians can be heard on various percussion and string instruments. It is also not known who was responsible for the calls in the background and the handclaps . During the session, Green Grass of Texas and Bloody River created two original compositions, which are performed as instrumentals due to the restrained, textless vocal work of the brothers.
Musical structure
The original recording by Green Grass of Texas is set in 4/4 time in C major , while the accompanying sheet music suggests F major . The piece consists of two melody motifs that repeat and alternate, each lasting four bars. The piece begins with a softly played acoustic guitar with a reverb effect, which introduces the first theme and only seems to be approaching the microphone. By increasing the volume and adding additional string and percussion instruments, a crescendo is created , which only reaches full level after 40 seconds, i.e. when the motif is repeated for the sixth time.
This dynamic tension is resolved by the second motif on the subdominant F major . This is where the background vocals come in in the form of hums, that is, restrained, textless melisms on the vowel “u”. After a repetition, motif one follows four times, followed by another double insertion of the second motif. After the final five rounds of the first motif, the piece ends. In total, the title consists of 20 phrases of four bars each and the alternation 7 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 5.
The tone stock of the melody consists only of the first five tones of the C major scale C, D, E, F and G. The first motif traces this run over the prelude, but leaves out the F, which is only at the beginning of the second motif is introduced. The melody of the second motif is presented in two voices. The sustained, hummed melody of the second motif is contrasted in the first motif with percussions imitating the clatter of hooves and “Yippieh” calls. In terms of style, this draws attention to the cliché of the title Green Grass of Texas .
Publications
Norman Malkin and Jack Hoffman , the owners of Enith International, did not include the title in the catalogs of their ASCAP music publishers Lansdowne Music and Winston Music until January 30, 1961 , when they sent the recording together with Bloody River as B-side to CG Recording Corporation further licensed. There the producer Don Gallese and Larry Stith opened the single discography of the new sub-label Infinity Records with the Burnette-Instrumentals. Since both brothers were otherwise under contract, a different artist name had to be found for the publication. The choice fell on "The Texans" in memory of a recording for Hanover Records from 1958 under the name "The Kids from Texas". In Canada, the single was released on Zirkon Records 1040. Since the Burnette Brothers soon after switched to the collecting society BMI as songwriters , Malkin and Hoffman overwritten the songs on their newly founded BMI publishers Bloor Music and Hoffman House, which were responsible for further publications. Below is a sheet music edition in the design of the first edition on Infinity Records. A Belgian pressing was launched on Moonglow Records 5151 for the European market . Texas was replaced by Pandarosa in the title . Originally intended was the slightly different spelling Ponderosa , the name of a ranch from the Western series Bonanza . The BMI publishers were also taken into account when the recordings were licensed to the nationally operating label Vee-Jay Records in 1965 and released on record number 658.
Infinity INX-001
Original (ASCAP)
Infinity INX-001
DJ-Copy
Infinity INX-001
Re-Issue (BMI)
Zircon 1040
Canadian Edition
Moonglow 5151
Belgian edition
Vee-Jay 658
reissued 1965
Vee-Jay 658
DJ-Copy 1965
Since both authors had died after the first 28-year phase of American copyright had expired , their heirs were able to take over the majority of the repertoire for their own publishers. Thus the copyright was renewed on December 21, 1989 by Dorsey's widow Alberta and Johnny's widow Thurley for the next 42 years. Since then, the publishers “Ring-A-Ding Music” and “Johnny Burnette Music” have appeared as rights holders on newer publications.
The song did not appear on a regular album. It was not until 1978 that Zirkon released a compilation called Dorsey Burnette with the plate number 104 and also took into account the Texans sessions. This was followed in 1989 by the LP The Burnette Connection on Skyline 2011 and in 1999 by the Munich reissue label Hydra Records, the CD BCK27110 Rock and Roll Tonight . In Spain, the Burnette Brothers CD If You Want It Enough was released on the El Toro label under the number ETCD-1037. In 2003 the title finally came on the 9-CD box Train Kept A-Rollin '- Memphis to Hollywood: The Complete Recordings 1955–1964 , a complete edition by Johnny Burnette from Bear Family Records under the number BCD 16438. It Another retrospective followed with Six Classic Albums Plus Singles on Real Gone RGMCD070 in September 2013. The title is also included on themed samplers: The Chart Fizzlers series (German: Hitparadenversager) took the piece on the second edition of the series The Early 60’s (German: The early 60s). Marvis Records featured the song in the sixth edition of the Hey! Look What I Found (German: Hey Look what I found!) Under the plate number 4506th 2012 appeared Greengrass of Texas on the second edition of the series Complete Pop Instrumental Hits of the Sixties (German: Instrumental pop hits of the sixties completely) on the specially established label Complete 60s distributed by City Hall, followed in 2015 by the label sampler Guess Who? The Zirkon Records Story at One Day Music.
On February 3, 1962, the Burnette Brothers went into the studio again for an instrumental session. This resulted in a variation of Green Grass of Texas in addition to Lonely Island and Island Girl under circumstances that have not been handed down . Under the title Green Hills (German: Green Hills) the piece appeared as a B-side behind Lonely Island on Liberty Records under the number 55460. The studio guitarist Joe Osborn received author credits alongside Johnny and Dorsey. The release took place under the band name "The Shamrocks".
Cover versions
There are three known cover versions of the piece on the CD series Like What We Wrote Vol. 1-3. The Songs of Johnny and Dorsey Burnette documented by Hydra Records are:
The saxophonist and band leader Billy Vaughn covered the country song Orange Blossom Special in 1961 , which was released as a single by Dot Records and was in the charts at the same time as Green Grass of Texas . Building on this success, Dot put together an entire album with rearranged country songs under the title Orange Blossom Special and Wheels and the record number DLP 3366. The album tracks included the hit Wheels as well as Vaughn's version of Green Grass of Texas in stereo , which, however, does without the sound of two alto saxophones played in thirds, which is typical for this phase of the entertainer's work. The piece was released as the B-side of the single Dot 1532 together with the pop standard Are You Lonesome Tonight from the album. An alternative LP edition with an original cover by Christopher Whorf and the title Orange Blossom Special has the dot number 25366. In early 2012, Vaughn's recording was released on the double CD Orange Blossom Special and Wheels and Berlin Melody on Sepia Records . There is also a double CD called 50 Golden Greats of Unknown Origin that contains Green Grass of Texas .
In 1964 the Jim Dandee’s made a new recording for the Starcrest Records 6004 label distributed by Warner Brothers Records , which also got the Canadian edition under the number 6004. Starcrest ignored the change in publishing rights from ASCAP to BMI. The author of the B-side Loco-Motion is Barry De Vorzon , who wrote his number 11 hit Dreamin ' with Johnny Burnette in 1961 .
The songwriter and arranger Jack Nitzsche was signed to Reprise Records in 1965 and recorded a few singles. Including the single with the plate number 20337, on the Green Grass of Texas with the Nightwalker by Billy Strange was combined as a B-side and also appeared in a British and a German edition. Jack Nitzsche led the studio band when recording the arrangement by Jimmy Bowen , who also conducted the orchestra.
Billy Vaughn
single release
The Jim Dandee’s
American edition </>
The Jim Dandee’s
Canadian edition
Jack Nitzsche
American edition
Jack Nitzsche
British edition
Jack Nitzsche
German edition
Importance, Criticism, and Success
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Green Grass of Texas is one of a series of instrumental compositions by the Burnette Brothers from their post-rockabilly phase when Johnny and Dorsey embarked on successful solo careers with Liberty Records and Era Records , respectively . As "The Texans" they remained "faceless" when Green Grass of Texas was released . Under this band name, Ol 'Reb and Rockin' Johnny Home only appeared another single on Gothic Records 001.
Green Grass of Texas was the only title in the charts from this instrumental repertoire: On February 20, 1961, Billboard magazine announced it as "an attractive instrumental that contains guitars and calls and one or two places with a vocal group," the single occupied on March 27, 1961, for just one week, the 100th place on the Billboard leaderboard. Red Robinson and Peggy Hodgins described the release as a "huge success". In Vancouver , the Canadian edition on Zirkon Records reached number 21 on the local charts of the radio station CKWX in March 1961.
When the song entered the chart, Infinity bosses Don Gallese and Larry Stith, together with Dorsey Burnette , visited Johnny, who was in hospital for an emergency appendectomy , to give him a copy of the record. Two and a half months after the song was first published in February 1961, Johnny Burnette said in an interview that the publishers had finally seen the right time for a release, because “It was a hit that we were very proud of because we were back then had had some effort with the recording in the studio. "
On March 18, 1961, Billboard magazine advertised Billy Vaughn's album Orange Blossom Special and Wheels , counting Green Grass of Texas among the "standards", all of which were recorded in an "excellent manner" and opened up great sales potential for the record . The album reached number eleven on the charts in April 1961 and remained on the Billboard leaderboard for 43 weeks. That success earned the Burnettes $ 12,000 in songwriting royalties . The cover versions of Jim Dandee's and Jack Nitzsche were commercially unsuccessful.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Klaus Kettner: Rock and Roll Tonight with The Rock & Roll Trio. Johnny & Dorsey Burnette . Hydra Records, Munich 1999 (English, CD booklet from Hydra Records BCK 27110).
- ^ A b Marc Alesina, Gilles Vignal: 1959. In: The Johnny & Dorsey Burnette Discography. Retrieved February 4, 2012 (English / French).
- ↑ a b c Special Merit Spotlights. Strong sales potential . In: The Billboard . February 20, 1961, p. 31 .
- ^ A b c d Johnny Burnette, Dorsey Burnette: Green Grass of Texas . Bloor-Hoffman House Music Publishers, Hollywood, New York 1961 (sheet music edition).
- ↑ a b Public Catalog. Retrieved February 4, 2012 (title search).
- ^ A b c Colin Escott: Johnny Burnette. The Train Kept A-Rollin '. Memphis to Hollywood . Bear Family Records, Hambergen 2003 (American English, booklet of the 9-CD box BCD 16438).
- ^ Lynne Robin Green: The History of Lansdowne Music, Winston Music Publishers (ASCAP), Bloor Music Publishers, Hoffman House Music (BMI). In: LWBH Music Publishers. Retrieved March 4, 2012 .
- ^ Green Grass of Texas. (No longer available online.) In: BMI Repertoire. Formerly in the original ; accessed on March 4, 2012 (English). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e f Klaus Kettner, Tony Wilkinson: Like What We Wrote Vol. 1–3. The Songs of Johnny and Dorsey Burnette . Hydra Records, Munich (English, 2007–2010; CD booklets from the Hydra Records BCK 27134/27136/27138 series).
- ↑ a b Terry E. Gordon: Title Search Results for GREEN GRAS. In: Rockin 'Country Style. 2011, accessed January 4, 2012 .
- ↑ Orange Blossom Special & Wheels / Berlin Melody. (No longer available online.) In: Sepia Records. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013 ; accessed on October 13, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Joel Whitburn: US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 . Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 .
- ↑ Lee Cotten: Twist & Shout. The Golden Age of American Rock 'n Roll, Volume 3 . High Sierra Books, Sacramento 2002, ISBN 0-9646588-4-4 , pp. 156 f . (English).
- ↑ Red Robinson, Peggy Hodgins: Rockbound: rock 'n' roll encounters . Hancock House, Surrey 1983, ISBN 0-88839-162-5 , pp. 143 .
- ↑ CKWX Official Survey. The Fabulous Forty. Week of Mar. 18-25, 1961. Retrieved February 4, 2012 .
- ^ Spotlight Winner of the Week . In: The Billboard . March 18, 1961, p. 18 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Albums 1955-1996 . Record Research, Menomonee Falls 1996, pp. 813 .
