When Clarence Thomas Wrote To George Jones

npr Music ^ | April 26, 2013 | Melissa Block

[don-o]

It turns out, Justice Thomas is a big Possum fan. "I can't begin to tell how good it made me feel to receive your letters," he writes. "I have listened to your music for over a decade. The lyrics so often captured just how I felt. As you can imagine, I have had occasion to feel the blues. But, I have also been blessed with so much more happiness and good fortune."

Then, the famously reticent Justice Thomas reveals an intriguing personal anecdote:

"You may be interested to know that I used one of your songs to allay the concerns of my bride's mother. Prior to our wedding, she expressed some concern about this being my second marriage. "

[don-o]

[JimRed]

NPR, haters of Justice Thomas and probably of country music as well, actually speaks nicely of both? Perhaps there is still hope in this world!

[autumnraine]

Well, country music is the white people blues. Both sides can relate to each other.

[sportutegrl]

As you can imagine, I have had occasion to feel the blues.

I heard a black comedian say once that, "Country music is blues for white people."

[autumnraine]

Because I drive around all day for my job, and talk radio on the weekends is ridiculously boring (four hour show on MORTGAGES??? REALLY?), I end up listening to NPR a good deal. I like the quiz shows and Prairie Home Companion. NPR is actually seeming to TRY to be more in the middle.

[don-o]

At the risk of (again) having my conservative cred questioned, I will opine that there is some good stuff in npr. I found this while browsing in “Fresh Air.” I find the hostess of that show to be a very good interviewer. On Roe v Wade Day this year she did a remarkable interview wit ha pro lifer.

That being said, should the FedGov be subsidizing any form of broadcast communication? No.

I participate in a shape note singing group. A couple of years ago, we sang on the local npr station on a locally produced live music show. I contribute a small amount of my money because I think it is the right thing to do.

[MachIV]

In spite of Garrison Keeler’s leftward bent, I also enjoy Prairie Home Companion. It’s irony to me a show about conservative midwesterners(yeah, I know about how Minnesotans vote) is hosted by a hard lefty. Didn’t he recently retire?

[autumnraine]

Not sure. But yes, he bends left. I can handle it as long as he doesn’t snap that direction, LOL.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I KNEW I liked George Jones.

[andy58-in-nh]

"I put a golden band on the right left hand this time,
And the right left hand put a golden band on mine.
When our hair is snowy white,
Time will prove I'm right.
I put a golden band on the right left hand this time"

How sweet is that?

[JimRed]

I participate in a shape note singing group.

What is shape note singing? With my old Windows setup I'd have just minimized this screen, put in a search for "shape note singing", and found out for myself. But this new Windows 8 is darned near incomprehensible to me.

[Daveinyork]

Nothing but the best at taxpayer expense.

[luvbach1]

My opinion: George Jones is the greatest country singer in history. Justice Thomas is a good judge of Jones’ talent.

[don-o]

http://www.freerepublic.com/~dono/

There’s some linkage

[don-o]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoGc0By3rfs&list=UU74ICj22PYUvZb6lXSxDWcQ&index=5

One of my favorite shape note vids shows many of my singing friends

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He had some help. Read this:

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_george_jones_stopped/

Billy Sherrill in particular. Sherrill thought “He Stopped Loving Her Today” was an 8 with the potential to be an 11. He certainly worked hard to get it over the line.

We all need help and Jones was lucky to have Sherrill as a producer and lucky to have Nancy as his fourth (and final) wife. The right left hand, indeed.

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Funny thing is, these days an awful lot of blues musicians (at least under the age of 65) are white.

[smalltownslick]

No lesser light than the great Bobby Blue Bland ssid “Merle Haggard is a blues singer.” All the greats know each other. Truly opposite sides of the same coin.

[smalltownslick]

I don’t want to go there. I can’t stand Billy Sherrill. Every record he ever produced had all the same elements. He had a horrible habit of taking people who already had their own identity and taking them into his fold And he did make a few good songs for George, as he did make a few good songs for Charlie Rich, and a few good songs for.....But that was the way he worked. He would take that one great song, and with every succeeding release, water it down just a bit...I just don’t like Billy Sherrill at all.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I don't like the trend that country music took between 1975 and the present, and if Billy Sherrill is partly to blame, it is not to his credit. But He Stopped Loving Her Today truly is a masterpiece. If you listen to George Jones playing it in concert, it's a fine song, but not the studio gem that Billy Sherrill produced. The undisputed contribution of Sherrill is the timing of the lyrics, the subtle way is dawns on the listener that this cat is dead. The device of placing the spoken narration just where he did was nothing short of brilliant, just as the audience is taking in the circumstances.

I will, quite frankly, defer to you superior knowledge. But this one song is something that all involved should be proud of. To get back on topic, that one letter is something Clarence Thomas and George Jones both should be proud. One for having the good manners and thoughtfulness to write it, the other for occasioning it.