Lester and Earl's Cabin on the Hill

01-25-10... Thought control is key to individual destiny, and one sure-fire way to keep negatives like anger or jealousy from taking over and ruining your mood is to substitute. For example, if you hear about something stupid that Rush Limbaugh said, think instead of something sweet, like donuts, or of how Homer Simpson so dearly loves donuts... or, you could think of this melody which was first put to record in 1928 by the Carter Family. Wildwood Flower


















01-27-10... Practice makes perfect. Simplicity itself, and applicable to both thought and action.

Here's another song about a train. Steam engine, of course, as the rhythmic chugging of steam-powered drive train powers the tempo, motion and emotion of Jimmy Dickens and his version of Fireball Mail.





01-29-10... At age 18, Bolivar Lee Shook jumped a freight train, but in jumping off he broke his leg, crippling him for life. Unable to do manual labor of worth, he turned to music, learned piano and taught it. He also composed songs of his own. You can see where this is headed... had he not injured himself, he probably would never have written this classic, first published in 1943 and made famous by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys when they recorded it in 1959.

Turns out it was their first chart-topper, and despite all the great songs we know by Flatt & Scruggs, this one remained on the charts longer than any of them. Another milestone, it is the first song in which they used five-part harmonies, and did so quite admirably, I might add. See... or hear... what you think. Cabin on the Hill

Hear two-minute mp3 audio samples of these three songs HERE