Vince Gill Salutes Bakersfield
Vince Gill hosted a media event in his home studio in Nashville. The reason was to talk about his latest album, “Bakersfield,” a collaboration with steel guitar player and longtime friend Paul Franklin. The ten-song collection is a tribute to two of the most famous residents of that California town: Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. The album is available July 30th.
The conversation began with how Vince and Paul decided which Merle & Buck songs to record: (V) You couldn’t go wrong, no matter which songs you picked. The ones that would lean best towards guitar and steel. Then you want diversity. There were deal-breakers, like Together Again. We started doing that with Time Jumpers. People went nuts, so that was the first one. I Can’t Be Myself was another. One good prison song, couple shuffles, and away we went. (Paul) I Can’t Be Myself was a #1 record, but fewer people know it. Merle continues to write brilliant songs. He may go beyond Hank Williams, because Hank wasn’t around as long. (Vince) Couple songs in Buck’s catalog neither of us knew: But I Do and He Don’t Deserve You Anymore. They were perfect for Paul. These records never had a lot of solos. It would just be an intro or turnaround. So we took solos to play what those great musicians played. We loved the musicians as much as Buck & Merle. When I produced the LeAnn Rimes record, we did I Can’t Be Myself, but she didn’t want the solo. So I got to make the version I wanted to make here. (Paul) If you’re going to do a collaboration between a musician and singer, this is the perfect vehicle. We know how to salute the styles without trying to copy and become second best. (Vince) You know someone who can do a note for note rip off of El Paso, Grady Martin’s solo. It’s another thing to do it the first time. We don’t think we’ve exceeded what Buck & Merle did, we’re saying thank you. 
Looking around Vince’s studio, you can’t help but notice several bookshelves filled with Grammy awards. Room for another Grammy for this album? (Vince) Nothing would please me more. I could lie to say I didn’t mind that I didn’t win the last two times. I got my head kicked in by Taylor Swift, I’m still smarting from that. The people who say it’s nice to be nominated are lying through their teeth. Competitive, I don’t want everyone to win. I think the reason I got my head kicked in on the golf course was they were better golfers, and it inspires me to do better.
Why now? (Paul) I’m 59. I’m getting too old. (Vince) We’re both eligible for discounts everywhere we eat. Now works out for the right reason. I’d never done a duet record. Hundreds of people I’ve sung with, but never did a real duet record. Made sense to do one with a musician. Doing one with Paul honors what I was first, which was as a musician.
Why Bakersfield? (Paul) When we decided to do the record, that’s the music that inspired us. Along with my pedal steel, I got a Buck Owens record to help me learn. I’d try to copy Buck’s records. I lived in Detroit, he lived in Oklahoma, and he was doing the same thing with Don Rich’s guitar. (Vince) For me I think that era is the best. The writing, the songs, that era is the best. We happened to be that age. We missed Hank Williams. He died before us. My dad had a reunion in 67 based on Hee Haw. Everybody was a character. My dad was Roy Clark because he played the banjo. I watched them. I played Buckaroo. That was one of my first performances as a kid. Way too much is made about the Bakersfield sound. They were Okie transplants. Same with Nashville. (Paul) The Bakersfield sound is more business and marketing. They asked Buck who was his favorite singer, and he said George Jones. Everybody listened to everyone. Like when Willie left Nashville for Texas. For me, they were the Beatles. Seeing Buck in Detroit, it was like 4th of July. All these cameras going off, that was my first rock concert. That’s what they did for country music.
Tie in with Hall of Fame exhibit? I wish, would have been great to have this album a year ago. I wanted to keep Paul playing music with me. We played Monday nights, so I heard a James Burton & Ralph Mooney record that helped define so many records. This would be a great way to revisit it. I’m not a fan of instrumental records. Instrumental can’t hold my attention. I want to hear a story, a conversation. So that was the last part of the puzzle. It’s still an instrumental record, but I sang the words.
Have you reached out to Merle: (Vince) Paul came up with a great idea. He asked Merle to write the liner notes. (Paul) He got it. You can tell he really listened to it. He saw the musical side of it. Then he comments on what a great musician Buck Owens was. Two thumbs up from the west coast. (Vince) For me, the most important thing to convey was how much reverence and respect I have for you. He’s been a huge part of what I’ve tried to do, a huge mentor, talk about building the house, he’s a great teacher.
Conversation with instruments. (Paul) It’s rare when it happens. It happened with Buck & Don Rich. We played together on When I Call Your Name. Vince knew he inspired me. He plays guitar like a steel player. When you play an instrument, you learn from everyone else, and then you want to play differently. So it’s a conversation. He loves steel so much that it works. (Vince) You’ll see that in Together Again, it’s call & response. I wait until he’s finished. It’s all about listening. Anybody can play a million notes, but it’s rare to have camaraderie.
Hard to leave the studio? (Vince) I’m always steeped in this period. With this stuff, it seems like part of my DNA. It’s not labored upon. We played and it felt right. The thing we strive for is the subtleties. Only a handful will notice, but I do it for me. I can never allow myself to think like the masses. I’ll notice every note. I want every nuance to be significant. If I leave it, and it’s not as good as I’ve got, I’ve done myself a disservice. (Paul) Because we’ve played this music, the great thing is as musicians you learn to create within the styles of the genre. Having met Ralph Moony, he wanted to be James Burton. And James was trying to be Ralph. I had to play a steel part that wasn’t on the original. That’s where it came from.
First meeting? (Vince) If I had known the history of the band he was in, I would never have got on that bus. He played with Mel Tillis. They were wild. So many great stories. Paul was playing with Mel and I did a bluegrass album with the fiddler in Mel’s band. After that I moved to Nashville, and he played on just about everything I did. (Paul) It was a fun band. We listened to music a lot. Vince was introduced to me first as a guitar player. Then I heard him sing. We hung around together, and didn’t do anything bad.
The Bottle Let Me Down: (Vince) You couldn’t have a better song to play the steel guitar on. Great drinking song, I wanted to do it because of my love of Emmy Lou. There’s a reason for all of this. Her first record had this song on it. Those records were as important for me as Merle’s and Buck’s records. When I heard Emmy’s records, that’s where I wanted to head. I met Emmy when I moved to LA in 1976. Years later, I was playing with Pure Prairie League at Red Rocks. Emmy came out and sang with me. Merle was playing nearby, so we went there. That’s the first time I saw Merle live. I got to hear my hero in a honky tonk. We went on the bus. It was also the demise on my first marriage, because she didn’t take my wife on the bus. Emmy introduced me, and he knew my name, because his wife had cut one of my songs. After that, we all drank, and Emmy pulled me in her limo (again leaving my ex-wife outside) and says to me: “You have to know how important this music is.” I was smart enough to listen. You learn more by listening than you do by yappin.’
Tour? (Vince) Yeah! I have a date in Bakersfield in October. Paul’s gonna go. (Paul) We’re doing a date on the 27th at the Opry. (Vince) He wants his own bus.
What other projects? (Vince) The possibilities are endless. The passing of Jones makes it even more obvious. With him being gone it makes it more important it is to stick up for this music. I have a lot of artistry inside myself, and I have to be that too. I can’t just do other artists, but if I do, I want to do it with Paul.
Category: NEWS
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
