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It Couldn’t Have Been Any Better
Though perhaps little remembered today, the country music duo of Johnny Duncan and Janie Fricke were a staple of late 1970s and early 1980s country radio. It was then, as a kid growing up in the great West Texas city of El Paso, that I developed an appreciation for that particular musical genre which would never abate.
The ballads of Duncan and Fricke were often a bit on the seamy side, so I didn’t truly begin to understand what they were singing about until my teenage years, but when I did, I appreciated them even more.
Here they are performing “It Couldn’t Have Been Any Better” on a 1977 episode of Pop! Goes the Country:
Today, forty years later, their infectious joy still shines through their music. It can’t help but put me in a good mood while feeling down.
Regrettably, Johnny Duncan is no longer with us, having passed away in 2006 after a bout with cancer. Janie Fricke, however, is still performing at 69 years young.
Perhaps we all have idealized remembrances of our youth, when life seemed simpler, happier, and free from the day-to-day drudgery and stresses of adulthood. Are there any songs that take you back?
Published in Culture
I was 16, driving my first car (with bench seats), when Paradise by the Dashboard Light was released.
That’s when “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through.”
Love should be easy. Too bad it ain’t.
“How cow, I think he’s gonna make it!”
My favorite country music cheatin’ song:
I treated myself to some old CDs for my b-day in Dec and rediscovered this joyful song. Could we get much higher, could we get much lighter, navigator to heaven?
Now instead of me alone in my 1970 Dodge Dart with the JVC boom box strapped in the passenger seat blasting, it’s me in my 2006 Odyssey (great car, by the way, I love my power) filled with tadpoles singing along.
The Devil Went Down To Georgia. My best friend and I loved that song when we were 7 or 8? 9 or 10? Can’t remember the exact year, but we were crazy about that song. :)
Have always loved Janie Fricke, since my late 70s high school days. Her “You Don’t Know Love” is typical great country heartache.
I love distinctive voices, and hers you know in an instant.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, House of the Rising Sun by The Animals, The Doors. All of them take me right back to high school. I loved high school! I didn’t love the rock music after the Beatles as much as he pre-Beatles era before 1964. I love 1950s rock best of all, and I loved the 80s because it reminded me of the 50s music. Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Richie Valenz, Elvis, and The Big Bopper. I love all that.
I also love the pre-Beatles girl groups: The Ronettes, The Crystals , Martha and the Vandellas etc
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons had some great hits back in ’75:
Stone Poneys.
Nobody ever says ‘Stone Poneys.’
Just sounds like a nice happy love song until you get to “and you’re my best friend’s girl”!
Fox on the Run takes me back and I see it’s featured in the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
Oh, what a night!
Amen, Mike. While I don’t fault new pop-country for chasing the same commercialization that the rest of the music industry has made protocol for success — it pains me more to see the most sincere, story-telling American music genre use the cheap themes of Pop music.
Loving these posts.
Thanks!
A Knoxville band!
One of the most hilarious country songs ever:
Put Another Log on the Fire Tompall Glaser
Put another log on the fire
Cook me up some bacon and some beans
And go out to the car and change the tire
Wash my socks and sew my old blue jeans
Come on, baby, you can fill my pipe
And then go fetch my slippers
And boil me up another pot of tea
Then put another log on the fire, babe
And come and tell me why you’re leaving me
Now don’t I let you wash the car on Sunday?
Don’t I warn you when you’re gettin fat?
Ain’t I gonna take you fishin’ with me someday?
Well, a man can’t love a woman more than that
Ain’t I always nice to your kid sister?
Don’t I take her driving every night?
So, sit here at my feet ’cause I like you when you’re sweet
And you know it ain’t feminine to fight
Swooon! That song reminds me of every school dance! And a certain amount of groping.
Am I right?! Am I right!? They just don’t write or sing music like this today!
(Edit:) This quote under the Youtube.
OOPS. Thanks Judge!
If you’re going to highlight the Everly Brothers, then you should play the Everly Brothers.
That was my favorite!
Great, great music. You could sing along, slap your knees. It was fun. Like I say: They just don’t make music like this anymore.
Just three more likes needed for the Main Feed!
Another favorite The Big Bopper (killed in the plane crash with Richie Valens and Buddy Holly):
I once spent a month living in Chantilly, Virginia.
BTW, if you like those guys, you’ll love the Buddy Holly Museum in Lubbock.
Haha! Love this line:
Ain’t I always nice to your kid sister?
Don’t I take her driving every night?
The funniest country music song I ever heard was one performed live on The Tonight Show by Doc Severinsen back in 1989: “If You Knew Susie Like I Knew Susie, Here is the Name of a Very Good Clinic”
Music is the food of love.