Bobby Bare Album of Shel Silverstein Songs Rises From The Ashes
Can you believe they recorded this in the 1970s?
Like the Phoenix from ancient Greek folklore, which gains new life by rising from the ashes of the creature that was before him, Bobby Bare’s album Great American Saturday Night, with all songs written by Shel Silverstein, has come alive after 42 years of living in a record company vault.
While the album that was recorded in 1978 didn’t necessarily disintegrate into ashes, it did disappear from the memories of everyone except Bobby Bare, who knew the songs were timeless.
“I had one album left on my contract with RCA so Shel and I got together and we did this one,” Bare tells Sounds Like Nashville in his familiar drawl. “Columbia Records had already told me they wanted me to come over there, and Chet was gone from RCA. I turned the album in to Jerry Bradley and he told me if I left RCA the album would never see the light of day.
“So I left RCA and went to Columbia and they were true to their word – it never came out. Then a few years ago all those labels merged. One day I was talking to the people at Columbia and I said, ‘You know I have an album that I recorded back in the ‘70’s for RCA and it was never released.’ So they went looking for it and found it, and now it’s finally going to be released.”
Silverstein was a master at writing concept albums, always a mix of stories of unforgettable characters that run the full range of emotions. On this album, Bare remembers, they wanted to do a song about one of American’s great traditions, going out on the town on Saturday night.
True to his reputation, Silverstein turned in a group of songs that still conjure up a raucous Saturday night, from a the love story of a “Red-Neck Hippie Romance” to the loneliness in “Painting Her Fingernails” and “Goodnight Little Houseplant.” Then there is the poignancy of “Livin’ Legend” and “Me and Jimmie Rogers” and the hilarity of “They Won’t Let Us Show It At The Beach” and “Whiplash Will.”
“Shel writes all the songs specifically for the album. He writes the concept and then he reaches down in his pocket and comes up with the songs that fit that concept,” Bare explains how the album came together after they decided what it would be about. “We tied it all together the dialogue between each songs and it all fit together.”
The kicker to the album was the live feel. As Bobby explains, “We got all our friends on Music Row (in Nashville) and had them come over to the studio and we played the album and recorded their responses to it. We recorded in RCA Studio B with a lot of booze and a party atmosphere. I think Waylon (Jennings) was there, and Dr. Hook, and we had a good time.”
This wasn’t the first concept album Bare did with Silverstein. Back in the 70’s the singer had the idea that he wanted to do a concept album, and he approached some of the biggest songwriters at the time like Harlan Howard, Hank Cochran and Red Lane, and none of them were interested in working on it.
“I was at a party at Harlan’s house the Saturday of CMA week, and Shel was there. Now I knew of his songs but we had never met before. I was frustrated that somebody didn’t jump on my idea about a concept album and I was talking to Shel about it. Monday morning he called my office and said ‘I’ve got your album.’ I asked when I could hear it and he said, ‘How about this afternoon?’”
Silverstein flew to Nashville and proceeded to play the songs for Bare. “When he sang ‘The Winner’ I had to make him stop I was laughing so hard. Before he was even finished singing all the songs I told him I wanted to do it … the songs were so great and the people in the songs were so vivid.”
Bare went into the studio with the “A” musicians of the day and recorded “The Winner” and “Maria Laveau.” He played it for RCA execs and they told him to do it. The result was Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies. Hits from that album included “Marie Leveau” and “Daddy What If,” a duet with his son, Bobby Jr.
“Shel always showed up when we were recording. His spirit in the studio was unbelievable. Shel was the cheerleader; he was so much fun. He would show up and it was great, lots of laughs.”
Bare ended up cutting more than 100 songs written by Silverstein, during that time becoming good friends with him. He never tired of his friend’s wonderful talent for writing a song or his children’s books, or even his cartoons that he produced for Playboy magazine early in his career. Bare even recorded one of those books, The Giving Tree, one of Silverstein’s most popular books, on his Singin’ in the Kitchen album. Other Silverstein books include A Light In The Attic, A Giraffe and a Half and Falling Up.
“I loved his songs before I knew who he was,” Bare says. “Years ago he wrote ‘The Unicorn’ for the Irish Rovers. And he wrote ‘Time’ — the first time I heard that was probably back in the late 50s, when I heard Burl Ives do it on black and white television. Burl Ives was a great actor but he was actually a folk singer. I thought ‘Time’ was the greatest song I ever heard, and it was probably 15 years later before I met Shel. Chet introduced me to him and gave me an acetate of songs of his songs. I think I recorded ‘Sylvia’s Mother’ before I met him.”
In trying to describe what made Silverstein such a good songwriter, Bare said simply, “Shel was brilliant. He had a mind that was so fast and he was very aware. All great songwriters are bright and aware, but Shel even more so. He gets an idea for a song and he’s off and running.”
Bare never co-wrote anything with Silverstein. The closest he came was having Silverstein and Fred Koller help him finish a song he was already writing, “When Hippies Get Older the Hair on Their Shoulders Turn Grey.”
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“Shel was so brilliant — maybe I just thought what can I add to a song that he can’t?” Bare mused. “I came up with some ideas, but he always wrote the song.”
Several singles have been released from “American Saturday Night,” including “Livin’ Legend,” “The Day All The Yes Men Said No” and the title cut. His latest single is “They Won’t Let Us Show It At The Beach.” The album releases today (April 17).
Bare is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and is part of the “Outlaws & Armadillos” exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The Ohio native has won numerous awards, including GRAMMYs. He was reinstated as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2018.
