R.I.P. Eddy Arnold

I don't know about everyone else, but I get asked "what kind of music do you like" a lot. My standard answer is boring...I like just about everything, with a couple exceptions. One music genre I cannot abide country music from the late 1960's-early 1970's. It's just way too whiny and all that "Stand By Your Man" crap makes my skin crawl. Except for the version done by the Blues Brothers. And believe me when I tell you I know whereof I speak; whenever PopPop was around it was just about all we heard. A couple I babysat for listened to nothing else.

Not that PopPop had no musical taste - he still adores anything Benny Goodman, and I learned of Ben Colder (think country music's Weird Al a decade or more earlier - Fifteen Beers Ago is pure genius) because of an album he bought in one of the Dakota's. Or maybe Montana. I'd bet big money he has no idea that Sheb Wooley was Ben Colder. The Outlaw Josie Wales, anyone? But pretty much anything not big band or country escaped him entirely.

This morning, one of his favorites passed away. Eddy Arnold, just days shy of 90 years old, died at a care facility near Nashville. His wife of 66 years, Sally, had died in March, and in the same month, Arnold fell outside his home, injuring his hip. He had many hit songs, but one of my favorites was Come Live with Me and Be My Love. Had I ever had a proper wedding, that would have been the song playing when I walked down the aisle.

Either that or NIN's Closer.

RIP Eddy Arnold.

Not meaning to be a tease, let me tell you a bit about Ben Colder. He is Sheb Wooley's alter ego...yes, that Sheb Wooley, of Purple People Eater fame. Sheb was in many movies as well.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Ben Colder. It helps to know the original country hits he parodized (if that isn't a real word, it should be). Fifteen Years Ago was a #1 hit in 1970 for Conway Twitty, and then Ben got hold of it and recorded Fifteen Beers Ago - an improvement, imho. Fifteen Beers Ago is the only song anyone could ever get me to sing in a karaoke bar. Trust me when I say that me not singing at all is a blessing to everyone.