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:: Burnin' Holes In The Eyes Of Abraham Lincoln ::

:: The Ballad Of Johnny Clyde ::

When I first held this platter in my hands, the title "Burnin' Holes In The Eyes of Abraham Lincoln" sounded horrifying. So I picked it up. Turns out it's not a song about historical torture fantasy at all, but rather a foot-tappin' ditty about being stood up at a bar. Now that I can relate to a little better. The other side, which I don't think I'd listened to before today, is a tale of forbidden, or at least frowned-upon, interracial love. Over 25 years before the release of Jungle Fever. I'm just sayin'. Anyway, "Burnin' Holes..." is one of my favorite 70's country songs ever, not only because the title is so memorable, but because the lyrics and the cadence with which they are delivered are so honkytonkalicious.

Backwoods-reared pianist Carl Mann hit the big time at the tender age of 16 when he and guitarist Eddie Bush reworked Nat King Cole's "Mona Lisa" into a rockabilly chart burner in 1959. While he never had another big one like that, he did forge a nice little career on Sun and other labels before retiring from music for a while to go back home and work at the family logging business in Tennessee. He's back playing music again, Rockabilly Gospel to be exact, and you can keep tabs on him at his website.


Tony

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