By Ricky Swindle

Muffler Shop Musings

 

Howdy, friends!

The “George & Tammy” series on Showtime is going well in my opinion.

They are following the storyline to a T. George was no saint, and neither was Tammy, and any person with just a small bit of country music knowledge knows the lives they led. 

George always said “The only difference between a sinner and a saint is one is forgiven and the other one ain’t”.

The acting is superb. The sets, including Studio A in Nashville in that quonset hut where so many great acts were produced, caught my eye immediately.

Also captured on film is the side door of The Ryman that opens to an alley where all the honky tonks on Broadway are. 

My wife, before she stopped smoking (thank The Lord she finally did), would go out the backdoor of Robert’s Western World to have her puff and would visit with other Opry puffers puffing away, too. 

It was nothing to walk out back and see her laughing and puffing with all the Opry band members lined up in their Nudie suits getting their nicotine fix waiting on their turn to play.

We’ve enjoyed that town for years.

The only complaint I have about the movie production is the singing. They are not using George and Tammy’s voices for the songs, the actors are doing the singing. That happens often in documentaries because too many folks are standing in line waiting to be paid royalties if the original singers are used.

I’d hate for someone who never listened to country music to watch the show and wonder what the hype is all about with the vocals being mediocre at best.

So, if you are reading this article and may be interested in viewing the program, I’d suggest going to YouTube and listening to George sing The Grand Tour, The Door, or He Stopped Loving Her Today. 

And take a listen to Tammy singing Stand By Your Man, Apartment #9, or I Don’t Wanna Play House.

Tune into their harmonies as they sing together on Golden Rin, Take Me, Two Story House, or One. Then you will understand the lyrical magic shared between the two.

There’s more I’m waiting to see if they tell on the show. Are they going to tell about Tammy almost killing Burt Reynolds? After she and George split, she hooked up briefly with Burt. They said it was just a “friendship” but you know good and well as I do that pair was he’ing and she’ing.

Anyway, she had Ol’ Burt in her hot tub and commenced to spoon feeding him her homemade banana pudding. With the hot water and all that sugar mixing on Burt, he almost blew a gasket and they had to send an ambulance for him.

Old saying goes about good Country & Blues music, “When you’re happy, you enjoy the music. But when you’re sad, you understand the lyrics.”

There’s not a more true statement when it comes to the music of George Jones and Tammy Wynette.

Take care of yourself folks and Merry Christmas to you and yours from me and mine.