Just a Little Bit of Magic in the Country Music

 Category: News/Obituary

Rusty Young has died.

The co-founder of the pioneering country-rock band Poco died on April 14 of a heart attack at his home in Davisville, Missouri.  

Norman Russell Young was born in California in 1946 and grew up in Colorado.  With a love for country music, he took up the pedal steel guitar and played in local bands.  A friend of his, who was also friends with the L.A.-based country-rock band Buffalo Springfield, invited Young to come to Los Angeles.

From there, Poco was born, and country-rock never had a better band. 

While the Eagles are held as "the" epitome of country-rock, in reality Poco's mixing the genres predated the Eagles by four years.  In fact, the Eagles obtained both of their bassists from Poco:  Randy Meisner was on the first Poco album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, but left in a dispute before the album was released.  (The painting of the dog on the cover shows where Meisner was supposed to be in the original artwork.)  Timothy B. Schmit replaced Meisner and stayed with Poco until Meisner left the Eagles in 1977, shortly after Poco's Indian Summer tour had concluded.  The Eagles grabbed Schmit, leaving Poco's future in doubt.

Young, who was by 1977 the only original member left (other notable former members include Jim Messina and Richie Furay), decided to retire the Poco name, and he and longtime member Paul Cotton would continue on as the Young-Cotton band.  Their record label, however, pushed them to keep the Poco name for the next album.

That album was 1978's Legend, which yielded Poco's hits "Crazy Love" and "Heart of the Night."  Both of those songs scraped the bottom of the Billboard country charts while being top 20 pop hits.

In 2013 Young was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.  That year he decided he'd had enough of the road, intending to retire and turn Poco's legacy over to Paul Cotton.  However, Cotton quit and Young's retirement was put on hold. 

"We've been together longer than we have with some of our wives," Young once said about the half-century of Poco's good-time music that was, while "rock," far more country than most of the stuff you'll hear on country radio today.

That opening line from the title song of Poco's first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, describes the history of Poco's music best:

There's just a little bit of magic in the country music we're playin'

So let's begin

We're takin' you back down home where folks are happy

Sitting pickin' and a-grinnin' casually

Rusty Young was 75.

Dates of Note in Country Music, April 16-30

 Category: News

(Hall of Fame members in bold on birth/death date, followed by hall[s] of fame in which they are enshrined and the year[s] enshrined.  CM=Country Music; BG=Bluegrass; NS=Nashville Songwriter; SG=Southern Gospel; StG=Steel Guitar; LAG=Lifetime Achievement Grammy; RR=country act also inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

April 16:

Dusty Springfield born in London, England, 1939 (died 1999). The legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer hit the country charts in 1962 as part of the Springfields with "Silver Threads and Golden Needles."

April 17:

Craig Anderson of Heartland born in Huntsville, Alabama, 1973 (now 47)

Eddie Cochran died in Bath, England (injuries from an April 16 car wreck), 1960 (was 21). The rockabilly pioneer co-wrote "Summertime Blues," which Alan Jackson covered in country.

Dorsey Dixon died in Plant City, Florida (heart attack), 1968 (was 70)

Hank Penny died in Camarillo, California (heart failure), 1992 (was 73)

Linda McCartney died in Tuscon, Arizona (breast cancer), 1998 (was 56). Linda and husband Sir Paul McCartney's band, Wings, hit the country charts in 1974 with "Sally G."

Glenn Sutton (NS 99) died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 2007 (was 69)
Randy Scruggs died in Nashville, Tennessee (short illness), 2018 (was 64)

April 18:

Walt Richmond of the Tractors born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1947 (now 72)

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown born in Vinton, Louisiana, 1924 (died 2005)
Curtis Potter born in Cross Plains, Texas, 1940 (died 2016)

Your blogger born in Louisville, Kentucky, 19(?!!??!) (not older than dirt but getting close)

Milton Brown died in Fort Worth, Texas (pneumonia resulting from injuries in an April 13 car wreck), 1936 (was 32)

April 19:

Jody Carver (StG 04) born in Brooklyn, New York, 1929 (now 92)
Bill Rice (NS 94) born in Datto, Arkansas, 1939 (now 82)

Gary Brewer born in Louisville, Kentucky, 1965 (now 56)

Bobby Russell (NS 94) born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1941 (died 1992)

Earl Bolick of the Blue Sky Boys died in Tucker, Georgia (unknown cause), 1998 (was 78)
Levon Helm died in New York, NY (throat cancer), 2012 (was 71)
The "National Barn Dance" debuted on WLS, Chicago, 1924

April 20:

Johnny Tillitson born in Jacksonville, Florida, 1939 (now 82)

Doyle Lawson (BG 12) born in Ford Town, Tennessee, 1944 (now 77)

Wade Hayes born in Bethel Acres, Oklahoma, 1969 (now 52)

Frank "Hylo" Brown born in River, Kentucky, 1922 (died 2003)

Benny Hill found dead in his London flat (coronary thrombosis), 1992 (was 68). The British comedian's Benny Hill Show featured Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax" as its theme song.

April 21:

Wade Mainer born in Buncombe, North Carolina, 1907 (died 2011)

Ira Louvin (CM 01, NS 79) born in Section, Alabama, 1924 (died 1965)

Carl Belew born in Salina, Oklahoma, 1931 (died 1990)
Paul Davis (NS 10) born in Meridian, Mississippi, 1948 (died 2008)
Neal Matthews Jr. (CM 01) died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 2000 (was 70)

April 22:

Pat Enright of the Nashville Bluegrass Band born in Huntington, Indiana, 1945 (now 76)

Cleve Francis born in Jennings, Louisiana, 1945 (now 76)

Larry Groce born in Dallas, Texas, 1948 (now 73). The Mountain Stage host had one charted record, 1977's "Junk Food Junkie," which was a minor country hit.

Reuben Gosfield of Asleep at the Wheel born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1951 (now 70)

Heath Wright of Ricochet born in Vian, Oklahoma, 1967 (now 54)
Glen Campbell (CM 05, LAG 12) born in Delight, Arkansas, 1936 (died 2017)
Ray Griff born in Vancouver, British Columbia, 1940 (died 2016)

Steve Sholes (CM 67) died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 1968 (was 57)

Felice Bryant (CM 91, NS 72) died in Nashville, Tennessee (cancer), 2003 (was 77)

Paul Davis (NS 10) died in Meridian, Mississippi (heart attack), 2008 (was 60)

Richard Nixon died in New York, New York (stroke), 1994 (was 81). The former president's political troubles were chronicled in Tom T. Hall's song "Watergate Blues." Nixon also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry during its first night at the Opry House in 1974.
Hazel Dickens (BG 17) died in Washington, DC (pneumonia), 2011 (was 85)

April 23:

Roland White of the Nashville Bluegrass Band born in Madawaska, Maine, 1938 (now 83)

Roy Orbison (NS 87, LAG 98) born in Vernon, Texas, 1936 (died 1988)
Kent Robbins (NS 98) born in Mayfield, Kentucky, 1947 (died 1997)

April 24:

Rebecca Lynn Howard born in Salyersville, Kentucky, 1979 (now 42)
Shirley Boone born in Chicago, Illinois, 1934 (died 2019). Pat Boone's wife was also the daughter of Red Foley.

Harry McClintock died in San Francisco, California (unknown cause), 1957 (was 74). His greatest success would come decades after his death when his recording of "Big Rock Candy Mountain" began the film O Brother, Where Art Thou.
Bobby Garrett (StG 95) died in Tyler, Texas (cancer), 1999 (was 64)

Bonnie Owens died in Bakersfield, California (Alzheimer's disease), 2006 (was 73)

Harold Reid of the Statler Brothers (CM 08) died in Stauton, Virginia (kidney failure), 2020 (was 80)

April 25:

Larry Robbins of the Johnson Mountain Boys (BG 20) born in Dickerson, Maryland, 1945 (now 76)

Karl Farr (CM 80) born in Rochelle, Texas, 1909 (died 1961)

Cliff Bruner born in Texas City, Texas, 1915 (died 2000)

Vassar Clements born in Kinard, South Carolina, 1928 (died 2005)

O.B. McClinton born in Senatobia, Mississippi, 1940 (died 1987)

The musical Big River opened on Broadway, 1985. It won a "Best Musical" Tony for songwriter Roger Miller, making him, to date, the only country performer to ever win a Tony Award.

April 26:

Duane Eddy born in Corning, New York, 1938 (now 82)

Fiddlin' Doc Roberts born in Richmond, Kentucky, 1897 (died 1978)

Cecil Null born in East War, West Virginia, 1927 (died 2001)
Johnny Mosby born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1933 (died 2018)

Tim Spencer (CM 80) died in Apple Valley, California (long illness), 1974 (was 65)

Wesley Rose (CM 86) died in Nashville, Tennessee (unknown cause), 1990 (was 72)
George Jones (CM 92, LAG 12) died in Nashville, Tennessee (respiratory failure), 2013 (was 81)

April 27:

Herb Pedersen of the Dillards and Desert Rose Band born in Berkley, California, 1944 (now 76)

Sydney Nathan (BG 06; RR 97) born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1904 (died 1968)
Maxine Brown of the Browns (CM 15) born in Campti, Louisiana, 1931 (died 2019)

Jimmie Skinner born in Blue Lick, Kentucky, 1909 (died 1979)

April 28:

Dale Potter born in Puxico, Missouri, 1929 (died 1996)

Tommy Caldwell of the Marshall Tucker Band died in Spartanburg, South Carolina (injuries from an April 21 car wreck), 1980 (was 30)

Ken Curtis died in Clovis, California (heart attack), 1991 (was 74). The Gunsmoke star was also a one-time member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

April 29:

Willie Nelson (CM 93, NS 73, LAG 00) born in Abbott, Texas, 1933 (now 88)
Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys (CM 15) born in Taylortown, Texas, 1943 (now 78)

Karen Brooks born in Dallas, Texas, 1954 (now 67)

Billy Mize born in Arkansas City, Kansas, 1929 (died 2017)

Eddie Noack born in Houston, Texas, 1930 (died 1978)
Wayne Secrest of Confederate Railroad born in Alton, Illinois, 1950 (died 2018)

Vern Gosdin died in Nashville, Tennessee (stroke), 2009 (was 74)
Kenny Roberts died in Alton, Massachusetts (natural causes), 2012 (was 85)

April 30:

Darrell McCall born in New Jasper, Ohio, 1940 (now 81)

Johnny Farina (StG 02) born in Brooklyn, New York, 1941 (now 80)

Robert Earl Reynolds of the Mavericks born in Kansas City, Missouri, 1962 (now 59)

Charles "Fuzzy" Owen born in Conway, Arkansas, 1929 (died 2020)

Johnny Horton born in Los Angeles, California, 1930 (died 1960)

Curly Chalker (StG 85) died in Hendersonville, Tennessee (brain cancer), 1998 (was 66)

WLS airs the final broadcast of the National Barn Dance, 1960, after 36 years on the air.