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Second Time Around Loretta Lynn Shel Silverstein There was a time when it seemed as if the domestic turmoil of the '60s was concentrated in a cultural milieu that pitted music (and life) in Nashville against that of San Francisco. Country music was – when looked at like that, anyway – Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" and "Fightin' Side of Me"; rock, on the other hand, was the Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and Country Joe's "Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag." The formula – like most – was full of holes, one of which was carved out by Shel Silverstein, a Chicago-raised beatnik who became a celebrity in the early '60s as a cartoonist for Playboy. He was also a folk-oriented songwriter – his material was recorded early on by artists like Judy Collins, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and the Brothers Four – and he wrote and sometimes recorded excruciating children's poetry. Despite credentials that played well in Greenwich Village, Silverstein set out for Nashville in 1968, where he fell in with early "outlaw" figures like Kris Kristofferson and Bobby Bare. He wrote with both men – Kristofferson's version of "The Taker" and Bare's superb "Marie Lavaux" are included here – but also contributed songs to important figures like Tom T. Hall and Waylon Jennings. He wrote Johnny Cash's biggest hit, "A Boy Named Sue," and, in 1971, nailed the Nashville mainstream with a number one hit, Loretta Lynn's "One's on the Way" (all of the aforementioned songs except the latter are on The Best of Shel Silverstein). Silverstein's work was clearly tongue-in-cheek (including the huge early-'70s rock singles "Sylvia's Mother" and "Cover of the Rolling Stone," which he wrote for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) – tales of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. An argument could be made that he was making fun of the same folks who loved his work; if so, his targets could be found everywhere. "One's on the Way," which contrasts the life of jet-setting Liz Taylor and Jackie O with that of a pregnant, housebound Topeka housewife, fit Lynn's approach perfectly. It's the only Silverstein contribution on The Definitive Collection, but songs like "You Ain't Woman Enough (to Take my Man),"Fist City," "Trouble in Paradise," and "The Pill" fit the same mold. Connections aside, it's difficult to place Lynn's terrific work – 25 songs recorded between 1964 and 1976, many of which reached number one or two on the Billboard charts – next to Silverstein's quirky output. So I'm not going to do it. But both albums are worth hearing. (J.H. Tompkins) |
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