Count:ry 71 Nashville Scene By KIP KIRBY week. (These "stars" were Diana Goodson and play L.A.'s Forum with Kenny Rogers on New writing an "advice column" for a Knoxville time: "In fact, I almost can't stop writing to do Mark Barnett.) Year's Eve? newspaper, in which he offers his insight into anything else these days." Since she is a fine Anybody watching a recent Sunday night edi- Gene Watson appears in 101 markets on We hear that Alabama got stuck in an eleva- everything from marriage to the government.... songwriter on her own, expect more originals on tion of CBS -TV's "Entertainment This Week" "Country Top 20," singing, among other things, tor in Knoxville with 20 female fans not long During a recent visit to Nashville, Slim Whitman her upcoming Elektra LP. caught an interesting exchange between Willie Hank Williams Jr.'s newest No. 1 hit, "All My ago that the elevator remained stuck for dropped by the Grand Ole Opry to see his friend Just When You Thought You'd Seen Them All. Nelson and one of the show's hosts. The inter- -and Rowdy Friends." almost an hour. David Houston. ... Singer David Heavener ... comes another awards show. This one is view apparently took place in Nashville when Loretta Lynn just zips around the tv dial Sylvia is a guest on "The Dean Martin Christ- showcased a two- nighter at the Lone Star not called "International Country Music Awards Willie was in town for DJ Week activities, and the these days. To promote her forthcoming tv spe- mas Special" which will air in mid -December. long ago. In Manhattan? Nope, in Louisville, Ky. Gala," and will be sponsored by Mick Lloyd, gen- conversation centered on his rumored new label. cial, Loretta appeared on "Today," "Good Morn- ... A bit of trivia behind Joe Sun's first Elektra This Lone Star has 500 seats... eral manager of Little Giant Records (and the Sure enough, Nelson confirmed that he plans to ing America" and the "Tomorrow" show within single, "Silent Night." Seems it was Sun's To promote Helen Cornelius's new single, Music City Song Festival), and Ralph Murphy, revive Lone Star Records, and also mentioned the space of two days. Her candor and charm mother, visiting the singer from Minnesota, who "Love Never Comes Easy," the singer visited the president of Picalic Music in Nashville. No de- that he and Waylon Jennings have been in the appeared to win over the hosts of all three pro- supplied Joe with the second verse's words be- Nashville trades with personalized "Pick of the tails have been set yet; stay tuned. studio working on a new grams, especially Tom Snyder, who looked fasci- fore he went into the studio to cut it. How did Litter" .tote bags and T- shirts. That's not all, PolyGram Records in Nashville hosted a pre- album together with pro nated by Loretta's accounts of her "ESP" expe- she have all the words? Why, in the church bul- though: inside the tote bags were tiny kittens miere of the film "The Pursuit Of D.B. Cooper." ducer Chips Roman (who riences and her reaction to the first three letin she just happened to have with her in her donated by a local pet shop as being the best of The film's soundtrack includes cuts by Waylon built Willie's own record- screenings she ever saw of "Coal Miner's Daugh- purse... their litter. In a brief interview with Scene, Jennings, Jessi Cotter, the Marshall Tucker Band ing studio in Austin this ter." Speaking of Loretta, isn't she scheduled to "Hee Haw" comedian Archie Campbell is now Helen said that she has been writing all the and Rita Coolidge. year). When the interviewer asked Nelson what label he thought the LP would be released on, the singer winked broadly into the camera and replied, "I don't know exactly what has to be done before this thing gets re- leased, but CBS and RCA being the nice folks they are, I'm sure it'll work out fine." Which means, no doubt, the Willie /Waylon project won't be out on Lone Star -but beyond that, it's anyone's guess how the labels' respective legal departments will arrange it. Speaking of intriguing studio projects, Kenny Rogers is in the midst of one now. Rogers' next Liberty album will feature five different produc- ers, each scheduled to do two cuts. Tapped for FOUND the occasion are Larry Butler, Brent Maher and Randy Goodrum (all based in Nashville), and Val Garay and Lionel Richie (in Los Angeles). Butler, HOLLYWOOD Eldecal CDELUXE of course, used to be Kenny's fulltime producer; Maher and Goodrum produce Dottie West; and Garay scored big this year with Kim Carnes. Richie produced Rogers' current album, "Share NOW AVAILABLE IN ALBUM, 8 -TRACK OR CASSETTE Your Love." According to Ken Kragen, the singer's manager, the project was Kenny's idea mas CHARLES BROWN c°rylerry christ $aby ?'LEASEGOME `HOME TOR from the beginning. It definitely shows his de- GHARLES ROWN GHRISTMAS sire to grow and expand musically, which in this case, doesn't appear to hurt his career one bit, as he continues to make friends at the top of both country and pop charts. An update on the recently- reported Captain Midnight story in this column has a happy end- ing. Not only did WUSW -FM put the Captain back on the air, the station has made him its music director! Says a pleased Midnight, "All .4.1 they told me was, 'Don't go overboard, and don't .K.,. 1.11117,.1.11..0401 ».1.1,>..1.,... YKnc!.a IOW. .Ew [M get berserk with the music.' " (So far as we can LLosw. a". .. .,... ®:.`ov1";a" « tell from occasional drive -time monitoring of the 11 . a m.1. 1..C,.L.iNai.".M.gm. fl.liM) q[-11Ig walnut Ion OK MUM Wnf [f1gSIXa .1.1.,,1111. W... Captain's air shift, he hasn't.) Though he admits ,qy" .1.,..6 ,.,, .41..r.....« .1516,41.. 0117 that nailing himself into the studio control room OF- to protest what he viewed as WUSW's imminent 16 ALL TIME CHRISTMAS FAVORITES 16 ALL TIME CHRISTMAS FAVORITES fall into "formalization" may not have been K 5018 - Various Artists K 5019 - with Special Guest Bill Doggett right, Midnight still believes he made his point that way. Judging from the tremendous re- sponse his suspension drew from listeners and industry personnel, he does indeed seem to li have accomplished his goal! cue" ve,r4sy c).a, Paying tribute to one of its greats, the city of Nashville has renamed one of Music Row's (King 5405) Please Come Home For Christmas (CHARLES BROWN) (Federal 12439) I Hear Jingle Bells (FREDDY KING) streets "Roy Acuff Place." The street sign for the Christmas Comes But Once A Year (AMOS MI LBURN) Christmas Tears (FREDDY KING) tiny two -block area bearing Acuff's name was (Hollywood 1021) Merry Christmas Baby (CHARLES BROWN) (GG 816) Gee Whiz (It's Christmas) (CARLA THOMAS) unveiled at a special dedication ceremony by Sleighride (LLOYD GREEN) All I Want For Christmas Is You (CARLA THOMAS) Nashville mayor Richard Fulton last week. (Hollywood 1022) The Original Lonesome Christmas (GG 814) Christmas Time's A Comin' (MAC WISEMAN) No doubt a new single which should be arriv- (Part One & Part Two) LOWELL FULSON Nuttin' For Christmas (JOE WARD) ing on programmers' desks about now will stir up some controversy. The record's titled "Let's Give The King A Rest," and was cut by a young singer named Jimmy Angel, who has more than ALSO AVAILABLE FROM GUSTO - - - -- a passing resemblance himself to Presley and attended the same high school in Memphis. An- gel's theory is that Elvis should be remembered for his music, not for the reported excesses which marred his later years. On the record, which was rush -pressed for release, are the Jor- danaires and D.1. Fontana, original members of Presley's onstage retinue. Opryland U.SA. set its own attendance record this season when it totaled a hefty 2,249,992 visitors to the Nashville theme park. According to Opryland's manager, Julio Pier - paoli, music played a big part in this escalation; the park staged the Orange Bowl halftime show for New Year's Day 1981, and hosted an NBC network tv special called "Opryland's Night of Stars & Futurestars," two of which were fea- SD 1040 GT 0076 tured on Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" show last Call Us TOLL - FREE: 1 - 800 - 251 - 1539 Young Movie Call For Prices And Complete Christmas Catalog NASHVILLE -MCA artist Faron BILL FITZGERALD - - -- JENELL HOLLAND - - -- LEE TRIMBLE - - -- JOHN MILLILLO Young will be featured in a singing GUSTO RECORDS -- 1900 Elm Hill Pike -- Nashville, TN 37210 and speaking role in the movie "Country Crossover," based on the life of country-rock singer Buddy Knox. Filmed in Dallas, the project is set for a January release. www.americanradiohistory.com.