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Mickey Newbury
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Mickey Newbury (May 19, 1940 - September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Milton Sim Newbury, Jr. in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, Mickey Newbury sang tenor in a moderately successful vocal group called The Embers. The group opened for several famous performers, such as Sam Cooke and Johnny Cash. Although Mickey tried to make a living off of his music by singing in clubs, he put his musical career on hold at age 19 when he joined the Air Force.
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Encyclopedia
Mickey Newbury (May 19, 1940 - September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Biography
Born Milton Sim Newbury, Jr. in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, Mickey Newbury sang tenor in a moderately successful vocal group called The Embers. The group opened for several famous performers, such as Sam Cooke and Johnny Cash. Although Mickey tried to make a living off of his music by singing in clubs, he put his musical career on hold at age 19 when he joined the Air Force. After four years in the military, Mickey again set his sights on making a living as a songwriter. Before long, he moved to Nashville and signed to the prestigious publishing company Acuff-Rose Music.
For a time, he was one of the most influential creative minds in Nashville and it's arguable that he was the first real "outlaw" of the Outlaw country movement of the 1970s. Ralph Emery referred to him as the first "hippie-cowboy" and along with Johnny Cash and Roger Miller, he was one of the first to rebel against the conventions of the Nashville music society. After being disappointed by the production methods used by Felton Jarvis on his debut album, Mickey got himself released from his contract with RCA and signed the first offer he received to comply with his condition that he could either produce his own albums or hire a producer of his choice. He went on to record three musically revolutionary albums in Wayne Moss's garage-turned-studio just outside of Nashville. The influence of the production methods can be heard in the albums Waylon Jennings went on to record in the 70s (with instrumentation highly unconventional for country music) and his poetically sophisticated style of songwriting was highly influential on Kris Kristofferson. It was Newbury who convinced Roger Miller to record Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby McGee", which went on to launch Kristofferson as country music's top songwriter. Newbury is also responsible for getting Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark to move to Nashville and pursue careers as songwriters. However, he had no desire to cash-in on the Outlaw movement.
In 1974, he moved to a house on the McKenzie River in Oregon with his wife, Susan, and new born son, Chris, where they welcomed three more children over the years. He recorded several albums throughout the 1970s for Elektra and ABC/Hickory, all of them critically praised, but financially unsuccessful. In 1980, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Although he spent much of the 1980s retired from performing and recording music, he returned both to recording and touring in the late 1980s and recorded several universally praised albums before he died of a prolonged battle with pulmonary fibrosis on September 29 2002.
Legacy
Newbury wrote many songs that would be recorded by singers and songwriters such as Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill Monroe, Hank Snow, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tammy Wynette, Ray Price, Don Gibson, Brenda Lee, Charlie Rich, Sammi Smith, Joan Baez, Tom Jones, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, BB King, Linda Ronstadt, and Bobby "Blue" Bland, among many others.
Although his songs have been recorded by hundreds of performers from a wide variety of musical genres, he is most remembered for his creation of "An American Trilogy", a medley that was recorded by many, including symphony orchestras, but most notably by Elvis Presley.
He is also often praised for simultaneously having four Top 10 singles on four different charts in the late 60s. Eddy Arnold had a #1 Country hit with "Here Comes the Rain, Baby", Andy Williams had a #1 Easy Listening hit with "Sweet Memories", Solomon Burke had a #1 Rhythm and Blues hit with "Time Is A Thief", and Kenny Rogers and the First Edition had a #5 Pop/Rock hit with "Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was In)."
Shortly before his death, Newbury was interviewed by John Kruth, who was writing a biography on Townes Van Zandt, where he stated "How many people have listened to my songs and thought, 'He must have a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a pistol in the other'. Well, I don't. I write my sadness." Newbury's best songs, such as "The Thirty-Third Of August," "The Future Is Not What It Used To Be," and "Just Dropped In" delve into the dark recesses of the human psyche. Like Van Zandt and Leonard Cohen, Newbury's music developed a strong, cult following who appreciated its honesty and identified with its disturbing subject manner.
“You’ve Always Got The Blues” was used as the soundtrack for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 8-part TV series, Stringer.
Selected list of songs
Newbury tribute albums (in order of release)
- Thirteen covers by as many artists make up the first Newbury tribute album, Frisco Mabel Joy Revisited.
- Cowboy Johnson included 12 covers on his 2004 tribute, A Grain of Sand.
- Toni Jolene Clay covered 15 Newbury songs, 11 on her 2005 album, Amen For Old Friends.
- Jonmark Stone & Marie Rhines covered 10 songs on their 2005 album, When I Heard Newbury Sing.
- Kacey Jones covers 15 songs on her 2006 tribute album, Kacey Jones Sings Mickey Newbury.
- Ronny Cox sings 12 Newbury songs on his 2007 album, How I love them old songs...
- Will Oldham covers "I Came Here to Hear the Music" on his 2007 album, Ask Forgiveness
Selected discography
- Harlequin Melodies - 1968
- Funny, Familiar, Forgotten, Feelings - 1968 (UK Release Only)
- It Looks Like Rain - 1969
- Frisco Mabel Joy - 1971
- Sings His Own - 1972
- Heaven Help The Child - 1973
- Live At Montezuma Hall - 1973
- I Came To Hear The Music - 1974
- Lovers - 1975
- Rusty Tracks - 1977
- His Eye Is On The Sparrow - 1978
- The Sailor - 1979
- After All These Years - 1981
- Sweet Memories - 1985
- In A New Age - 1988
- Best Of Mickey Newbury - 1991
- Nights When I Am Sane - 1994
- Lulled By The Moonlight - 1996
- Live In England - 1998
- It Might As Well Be The Moon - 1999
- Stories From The Silver Moon Cafe - 2000
- Winter Winds - 2002
- A Long Road Home - 2002
- Blue To This Day - 2003
External links
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