Tag: JEMF

Loretta Lynn, RIP

We at the SFC were very sad to hear the news of Loretta Lynn’s death on October 4th.

To celebrate and remember the Queen of Country we wanted to highlight some items throughout the Southern Folklife Collection.

Loretta Lynn on the cover of the (Louisville) Courier-Journal & Times Magazine issue, June 1973. Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name Files Collection, #30005.

You can revisit Aaron Smithers’ post from 2013, featuring excerpts from an interview Lynn gave to Jack Bernhardt in 2001, which is part of the Jack Bernhardt Papers Collection (#20061).

SFC Spotlight: Jack Bernhardt Papers

The SFC holds a number of items related to Loretta Lynn so, in memory, here is a sampling of some of the photographs throughout our collection.

From the John Edwards Memorial Foundation Collection:

Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb: Portrait, circa 1965. John Edwards Memorial Foundation Collection, #20001.

From the Russell D. Barnard Country Music Magazine Photograph Collection:

Loretta Lynn and Ray Charles. Russell D. Barnard Country Music Magazine Photograph Collection, #20484.
Loretta Lynn in cockpit on flight back to Nashville. Russell D. Barnard Country Music Magazine Photograph Collection, #20484.
Loretta Lynn, 1960s. Russell D. Barnard Country Music Magazine Photograph Collection, #20484.
Loretta Lynn and band. Russell D. Barnard Country Music Magazine Photograph Collection, #20484.
Loretta Lynn and band, Austin City Limits taping, 1983. Russell D. Barnard Country Music Magazine Photograph Collection, #20484.

From the Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name Files Collection:

Postcard sent to Loretta Lynn Fan Club members, 1983. Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File Collection, #30005.
Postcard sent to Loretta Lynn Fan Club members, 1983. Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File Collection, #30005.

Also recommended is the Loretta Lynn episode of Tyler Mahan Coe’s Cocaine & Rhinestones podcast, focusing on “The Pill.”

And for something a little different, who could forget her visit to Sesame Street for this moving duet with Count.

Rest in peace to the Coal Miner’s Daughter.

Photo of the week: Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller

P673_JesseFuller_John Edwards Memorial Foundation Colleciton, SFC, UNC Chapel HillPromotional photo of the great Jesse “Lone Cat” Fuller from Manny Greenhill’s legendary Folklore Productions. Best known for his song “San Francisco Bay Blues,” Fuller was a renaissance man: appearing in silent films like The Thief of Baghdad, hoboeing cross-country, working in the California shipyards, and playing music. Fuller built his own bass accompaniment, the “fotdella,” and played harmonica and washboard along with his 12-string guitar to make himself a one-man jug band. Fuller died in 1976 in Oakland, California. The image is call no. p673 in the John Edwards Memorial Foundation Collection.

Photo and Folio of the Week: Eddy Arnold on stage, in person, and on screen

**click image to enlarge**

This photograph is fascinating as a document of concert goers in the late 1940s, however the band trailer for Eddy Arnold parked out front is what constantly piques my imagination. With the white wall tires and custom paint job, featuring a portrait of Arnold himself as well as the titles of his countless hit songs, I know I’d bee excited to see this barreling down the freeway with Arnold behind the wheel.
We are not sure in which city this photo was taken as there were countless Capitol Theatre’s across the United States, however, we do know Thunderhoof–starring Mary Stuart, Preston Williams, William Bishop, and of course, Thunderhoof as himself–appeared in theaters in 1948 when Eddy Arnold was at the peak of his 1st stage of Country music stardom.
Arnold recorded over 60 top ten hits for RCA throughout the 1940s, under a contract managed by the infamous Colonel Tom Parker.  In 1948 he had five songs in the top 10 simultaneously and Arnold held the number 1 spot for 40 weeks of that year.  Not sure how much merchandise artists sold on tour back then, but maybe had a few of these song folios, call no. FL-199 from the ever popular Southern Folklife Collection Song Folios, circa 1882-1983 (#30006) , on hand for fans.

Eddy Arnold’s Favorite Songs. Hill and Range Songs, Inc. New York, N.Y. 1948. 44 p. of music and illustrations.#30006, Series: “Song Folios, circa 1882-1983.” FL-199

“Just a Little Lovin'”
“Anytime”
“Bouquet of Roses”
“Molly Darling”
“Chained to a Memory”
“Detour”
“Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin”
“No Children Allowed”
“Dangerous Ground”
“Rose of the Alamo”
“At Least a Million Tears”
“Can’t Win, Can’t Place, Can’t Show”
“False Alarm”
“Who at My Door Is Standing?”
“He Knows”