{"id":1307953,"date":"2019-04-07T04:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T10:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1804724"},"modified":"2019-04-07T04:00:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T10:00:11","slug":"10-bobby-bare-songs-essential-for-your-country-creds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/music-news\/10-bobby-bare-songs-essential-for-your-country-creds\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Bobby Bare Songs Essential for Your Country Creds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:ao:image:cmt.com:671154?width=1200&amp;height=675&amp;.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"byline\">by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/morrise\/\" title=\"Posts by Edward Morris\" rel=\"author\">Edward Morris<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\">42m ago<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/artists\/bobby-bare\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Bobby Bare<\/a>, you sense he pays more attention to the lyrics of the songs he records than he does to their melodies and rhythms. His choices are droll, wise and energized with vivid images and strong, relatable narratives. Adding to their impact are Bare\u2019s laidback persona and laconic, understated vocal delivery.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s face it: This guy\u2019s as cool as Dean Martin was.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s only fitting that on this, his 84th birthday (April 7), we look back over 10 of his most memorable records \u2014 the one\u2019s that helped propel him six years ago into the Country Music Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"listicle-container\">\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cThe All American Boy\u201d (1958, No. 2 pop, written by Bill Parsons, Orville Lunsford)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>This was Bare\u2019s first hit. Released under the name \u201cBill Parsons,\u201d it did not make the country charts, which is quite understandable since it\u2019s a talking blues number. It was inspired by and modeled on Elvis Presley\u2019s being drafted into the Army in 1958.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cDetroit City\u201d (1963, No. 6, Danny Dill, Mel Tillis)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>Bare hails from Ironton, Ohio on the West Virginia-Kentucky border, a hard-luck region that sent tens of thousands of its citizens north after World War II to seek work in such manufacturing hubs as Dayton, Cleveland and Detroit. All the loneliness and homesickness these immigrant \u201chillbillies\u201d endured seep through in this recording. It reached No. 18 on the pop charts and later netted Bare a Grammy for best country single.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201c500 Miles Away From Home\u201d (1963, No. 5, Bobby Bare, Charlie Williams, Hedy West)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>Here\u2019s another lyrical essay on homesickness and one that rode the wave of folk music that became so popular in the late 1950s and early \u201860s. In an era when long-distance phone calls were a luxury, interstate highways were rare and email nonexistent, 500 miles was a world away from family and the familiar. This re-working of Hedy West\u2019s re-working of even older fragments of folk songs rose to No. 10 pop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cFour Strong Winds\u201d (1964, No. 3, Ian Tyson)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>This was a Top 10 song in Canada in 1963 for the Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia, but it didn\u2019t make the U.S. Billboard charts until Bare released his slightly more uptempo country cover. The song falls into the \u201cdrifting lover\u2019 category in which a man\u2019s wanderlust is invariably more compelling than his love for any girl he romances on his travels: \u201cBut my good times all are gone \/ And I\u2019m bound for moving on \/ I\u2019ll look for you if I\u2019m ever back this way.\u201d Bare\u2019s version reached No. 60 on the pop rankings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cThe Streets of Baltimore\u201d (1966, No. 5, Tompall Glaser, Harlan Howard)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>Country = simplicity and good; city = complexity and evil. This was the equation for many early country songs, and it certainly holds true for this one. Here the husband gives in to his wife\u2019s entreaties to move where the bright lights are. And, at first, even he\u2019s charmed by them. But eventually, he comes home from his factory job \u201cwith every muscle sore\u201d only to have her \u201cdrag\u201d him through the streets of Baltimore. So he leaves her immersed in the nightlife and heads back to the farm alone. The city has done him in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201c(Margie\u2019s at) The Lincoln Park Inn\u201d (1969, No. 4, Tom T. Hall)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>A string section undergirds a scene of domestic harmony as the singer daydreams about the woman who waits for him at the local motel. Quite aware of the disconnect between what he seems to be and what he really is \u2014 an adulterer \u2014 the singer ends with the scene of his little son in bed and his wife baking cookies. However, he\u2019s conveniently \u201calmost out of cigarettes and Margie\u2019s at the Lincoln Park Inn.\u201d Some radio stations refused to program this song because it didn\u2019t overtly condemn the man\u2019s cheating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cDaddy What If\u201d (1973, No. 2, Shel Silverstein)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>Bobby Bare Jr., then four years old, poses a series of cosmic questions to his dad \u2014 What would happen if the sun stopped shining, the wind stopped blowing and the grass stopped growing? The father\u2019s answers are gentle and reassuring. Then comes the toughest question of all: What if he stopped loving his dad? The success of this single \u2014 which went No. 41 pop \u2014 set the stage for the 1974 album, <em>Bobby Bare and the Family Singin\u2019 in the Kitchen<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cMarie Laveau\u201d (1974, No. 1, Shel Silverstein)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>The message is clear: Don\u2019t mess around with voodoo queen Marie Laveau or you\u2019ll never leave the swamp where she practices her black arts. This is Bare\u2019s only No. 1 song. Originally recorded by Dr. Hook for the band\u2019s self-titled 1972 debut album, it was Bare\u2019s only song to attain No. 1.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cThe Winner\u201d (1976, No. 13, Shel Silverstein)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>This is a song about Pyrrhic victories. The singer of the song wants to pick a fight with the legendary Tiger Man McCool to see who\u2019s the tougher. But before the challenger can land his first lick, McCool takes him on a wound-by-wound tour of his own battered body to show what being a winner gets you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"heading-container\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">\u201cDropkick Me Jesus\u201d (1976, No. 17, Paul Craft)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"description-container\">\n<p>A tongue-in-cheek tribute to America\u2019s greatest passions \u2014 Christianity and football. Bare sings it with the seriousness of an evangelist who\u2019s picked a metaphor that runs away with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cThe gods have always smiled on me,\u201d Bare told the crowd of onlookers as he accepted his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Then with a twinkle, he added, \u201cI\u2019m just a singer \u2014 and ain\u2019t I something!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yes, he is.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n<div class=\"description\">Edward Morris is a veteran of country music journalism. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a frequent contributor to CMT.com.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1804724\/10-bobby-bare-songs-essential-for-your-country-creds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Edward Morris 42m ago With Bobby Bare, you sense he pays more attention to the lyrics of the songs he records than he does to their melodies and rhythms. His choices are droll, wise and energized with vivid images and strong, relatable narratives. Adding to their impact are Bare\u2019s laidback persona and laconic, understated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1307953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 03:48:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1307953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1307953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1307953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1307953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}