Tammy Wynette photo courtesy of tammywynette.com.

Albums. Concerts. Books. Movies.

Creating entertainment in all its forms is/was the central tenet of such major stars as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette, and numerous members of the Country Music Hall of Fame have had their names in the headlines in recent days for essentially doing what they do. Or for contemplating what they do and how they do it.

You can add Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Merle Haggard to that list. Here’s what country’s Hall of Famers have had on tap:

• The Man In Black’s American VI: Ain’t No Grave sold 54,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, bested only by Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now. American VI comes in at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200.

• The First Lady of Country Music apparently got French kissed by former Commander in Chief Ronald Reagan. In a new book, exerpted in The New York Times, Tammy’s hairdresser, Jan Smith, says the real First Lady was ticked off when the president “<em>kissed</em> Tammy!” “Ronald Reagan definitely had a thing for Tammy,” Jan adds. “After it was over, Tammy said to me, ‘Oh, my God, Jan, that was so embarrassing! He swabbed my tonsils!’ Well, Nancy Reagan got real out of joint about it.” The book, <em>Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen</em> by Jimmy McDonough, is officially released Thursday.

• Merle Haggard is less than thrilled with the advance of technology in the recording business. Even Hag used studio tech to his advantage: He did, after all, overdub voices and instruments on some of his key recordings. But he’s disgusted that Auto-Tune is used not just for spot repair but as a complete disguise for artists who aren’t as good as their singles might suggest. “[Producers] fix a person’s voice when it’s out of tune, and then they have to do it live when they can’t sing,” Merle told The Edmonton Journal. “I can’t stand it. Well, I don’t allow my music to be tampered with; it goes directly to tape with very little sweetening… I want it to be real so we can do it properly onstage.”

• Dolly Parton is writing her life story for some sort of visual medium. But she’s not sure which one. “I haven’t decided if it’s going to be for stage or film,” she told The Belfast Telegraph. “I’m still working on both, and at some point I may decide to do the whole story of my life as a musical in a movie!”

• Country Hall of Famer Vince Gill was a surprise guest at Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Eric Clapton’s concert in Nashville last weekend. Vince played guitar on four songs, including a solo on an unplugged version of “Layla.” Vince will take part in Eric’s Crossroads Guitar Festival June 26 in Chicago.

• Willie Nelson delivered a free, unannounced performance last weekend in Nevada. He sang “On The Road Again,” according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal, at the piano bar in the lobby of the Mandalay Bay.

ShareThis