Skeeter Davis (1931-2004)
Sunday September 19, 2004 – 9:53 pm
We lost the great Skeeter Davis yesterday. She influenced and inspired me more than any other country artist I can think of; I’m sure I have more of her albums than any other single artist. I loved her and looked up to her in so many ways I can’t even express it right now… suffice it to say I will deeply mourn her loss, just like all her other fans all over the world. Goodbye Skeeter, we’ll miss you…
September 19th, 2004 at 11:19 pm
At the show on Friday, I didn’t want to sing one of my own songs for soundcheck. I did a Skeeter Davis song instead. The song was… "Give Me Death". :-( I had no idea she was even sick, I just picked it for no particular reason. waaahhhh!!!
September 20th, 2004 at 8:44 am
According to a posting on Porter Wagoner’s message board:
Visitation:
Tuesday Sept 21, 2004 from 3 to 8 PM
Williamson Memorial Funeral Home & Gardens
3009 Columbia Ave., Franklin, TN
794-2289
Services:
1 PM Wednesday Sept. 22, 2004
Ryman Auditorium
September 20th, 2004 at 9:52 am
good morning, people!
i’m sad to say that the only sDavis song i know is "End of the World." it also happens to be quite-possibly the most heart-breakingly beautiful song *ever*. i would like to hear more of her music / are there particular collections or a period of her work i should be looking for? thanks.
September 20th, 2004 at 3:33 pm
My favorite album of hers is probably Blueberry Hill. As with most classic country, IMO the best stuff of hers is the oldest — End of the World came out in 1962 I think, I would start from there and go backwards to her Davis Sisters material which is wonderful — there’s a compilation on Bear Family of Davis Sisters stuff, called "Memories". The Essential Skeeter Davis is a comp of her solo material, you can’t go wrong with that. My first exposure to her was "The End of the World" same as you. Listen to her harmonies on that and on so many of her other tunes like "Optimistic", "Saving My Love", "Where I Ought To Be”… the next time you hear me singing harmonies over myself, remember Skeeter’s the one who taught me how! I was trying to explain to Matthew last night what a huge influence she had on me when I was learning to play music and write songs — he came up with the phrase "formative idol" and that’s exactly right. Skeeter Davis plus Karen Carpenter plus Liz Fraser equals Edith Frost? Well — not exactly, but that’s about as close as I can get to explaining how it is I learned how to do whatever it is that I do. My old nickname in high school was Skeeter too…! Not because of her but still, it’s another kinship thing I should probably mention. I’m so sad she’s gone, I feel like I lost a member of my own family, or a part of myself. :-(
September 20th, 2004 at 3:59 pm
wow, thanks for the information! and i *love* Karen Carpenter / for me, she was the Billie Holiday of 70’s radio. Elizabeth Fraser i’m not so clear on, but i *think* she once did a cover of "Song to the Siren."
September 21st, 2004 at 1:34 am
is there any Skeeter loveliness on your rock for kids mix? i just saw you on the site for that…nice cover art! sheila did one, too - along with some more sordid characters…
thanks for sharing the tips on what to look for in Miz Davis’s oevre.
September 21st, 2004 at 1:39 am
Well, that tracklist is supposed to be a secret, but the answer is yes, of course! heheh.
September 21st, 2004 at 12:39 pm
I think that "The End of the World" was the first song I heard that made me realize that music could move me emotionally in ways that The King, and Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly and all the great rock ‘n roll music up ’til that time (pre-Beatles 1962-3) rarely did. I didn’t even know it was country music since it was played on Top Forty AM radio in 1962. I just thought it was THE BEST depairingly sad song, that I remember listening to on a transistor radio with an earplug under my covers late on a school night when I should have been asleep. People who, like myself, don’t write and/or sing/play music can only write or talk about it and compare it. But trying to write words about music is like trying to [fill-in-the-blank-with-you-most-impossible- comparison], but it’s all we non-musicians can do, besides making endless, obscure mixtapes/CDs late into the night, long past bedtime.
It makes perfect sense that she’d be one of your "formative idols" - when can we hope to hear your cover version of that song? A whole album of covers of your favorite formativeidols favorites.
September 21st, 2004 at 2:10 pm
Clay maybe you’re looking for the phrase "writing about music is like "dancing about architecture". I have heard it variously attributed to Miles Davis, Elvis Costello, and others.
September 21st, 2004 at 3:08 pm
yes, that’s the best analogy I’ve heard yet!
September 23rd, 2004 at 9:22 am
> I have heard it variously attributed to Miles Davis, Elvis Costello, and others.
Not to mention Laurie Anderson and Brian Eno. But I swear the first time I heard that, it came from Martin Mull…
December 6th, 2004 at 10:57 am
thanks to your education, edith, picked up "Let Me Get Close to You" and "I can’t Believe that It’s Over" yesterday at Sound Exchange in Houston for a buck each. a little chewed up, but they play, and my wife enjoyed them, too! now how about Jim Reeves, yes or no?