Unsigned518 presents: Marty Wendell's 60th Anniversary Special

[00:00:01] Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73. He loves park rock music. Finding the 37 on the beach guitar with a short whip radio back. His motherfucking Andy scolding. Look at motherfucker. Cause here he comes, Andy wearing his orange hat. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Welcome to Unsigned 518. I'm here with Marty Wendelle. How's it going? [00:00:32] Speaker C: Very good, Andy, and I do appreciate you asking me to come by today. [00:00:36] Speaker B: Yeah, and I appreciate you being here. And, you know, I've been a fan, you know, even though this show is only a couple years old, I was in radio for many years, and going back about 20 years or so, I did the local music show on EQX. And kind of that's when I found, like, the Albany scene and the music out here. So, like, I've literally known of your name since like 2002 or three. So for me personally, I'm like a little bit like, wow, Marty Wendell's sitting in a, sitting in my studio, and we're talking shop about music. [00:01:14] Speaker C: Well, it's great to do because believe it or not, this is my 60th year, so it's good you're getting it in. [00:01:24] Speaker B: So, you know, speaking of 60th year, you have so many, like, events and things, and you brought me so much of your music, which I appreciate. But I guess before we get to that, if you wanted to kind of tell the folks a little bit about your story, someone who may not be as familiar with Marty Wendell and your storied past and how many people you've worked with, you know what I mean? How many legends, like worldwide names that you've worked with. [00:01:55] Speaker C: So I guess, yes, I've been very fortunate to go back to the beginning would be probably the late forties in my home. The old Philco radio was what brought the world to us, and the main thing that it brought to us was music. And back then, there was no genre. So you would hear on the radio in the same, you know, ten minutes. You might hear Hank Williams, Perry Como, and a pokeband. I mean, they just played music. But the wonderful thing I think about that was it exposed me to a lot of different kinds of music. And then mid fifties is when we started hearing the artists from Sun Records. And my mom brought home the first album that Johnny Cash put out on sun, their first album called Hot and Blue Guitar. And I was mesmerized by that album and got an old guitar somewhat in tune and got an Alfred's chord book. And that's where it all started until I could figure out how to play those songs. And she was one of his first fans. And one of the treasures I have is some of the handwritten notes that he'd write to my mother to let her know where he was going to play. This is before he had a fan club or any organization that was doing this kind of stuff. And thankfully, it was through that connection he connected her with his sister Reba. And when I was early in college, she connected my mom with a talent agent in New York City who worked out of that famous brill building. His name was Jerry Tyffer. And so when I talked to Jerry, he said, oh, yeah, you got to meet John. And he said, I'm the guy that can make it happen. And he did. So 63 was the first time I met him. And he handed me a GIBSON B 20 512 string guitar and said, son, play me one of your songs. Of course you can imagine, right? And you're talking what level of angst. The guy I've heard since 1956, you know, and I never played a twelve string, so that added even more. And I did play him something, but to this day, it was just a blur. And he played me then a few songs that he had recorded but weren't released. And after probably three or four songs, Jerry comes back in. He says, john, they've introduced you three times out there. And of course, he had to go quick. And then the next year, Jerry connected with John again, and that time he had the whole troupe. Well, June Carter and the Statler brothers. And it was quite a magical night. And Tex Ritter was the other one on the show. I don't know if you ever remember him from the old cowboy movies. [00:04:53] Speaker B: I'm familiar with the name. [00:04:55] Speaker C: His son was John Ritter, who was three's company's company. [00:04:59] Speaker B: And his grandkid is Jason Ritter, who's also an actor. [00:05:03] Speaker C: Yep. [00:05:03] Speaker B: Okay. Wow. [00:05:04] Speaker C: So anyway, I got to meet a lot of people that night, including Pete Seeger, who came in at halftime. And John says, pete, you never go anywhere without the banjo. He said, go get it. He said, you're open in the second half. Pete just. He did. And he did, I think, four or five songs. And so I did, actually. And then I got to meet him later when some friends of mine let him use their property for one of his sloop concerts. Oh, wow. Little connection there. And the other person, of course, was one of the statler brothers, Lou DeWitt. And at that time, they were hoping to get a contract. Johnny was trying to get him on Columbia, which he did. And Lou had written this song, and, like, nobody's really paying much attention. They were just starting with Johnny Cash. Nobody knew who the statler brothers were at that point. And he said, I've got this song. Would you like to hear it? And, you know, I was starting to get into songwriting. Oh, yeah? Yeah. So we set off in a corner. He played me flowers on the wall, which became a million seller and knocked a couple Beatles songs down on the charts when it was on its run. So I heard that song long before it ever was recorded. So I've had a lot of great experiences like that. And then in 68, I had my first single, hey, hey, mama. And there's two versions on that commemorative album, and that got a lot of airplay, especially in New England, northern New York, Vermont, the mid atlantic states. And it was because that was doing so well. In 68, I got to be an opening act. And that was the tour when John was promoting an album called Live at Folsom Prison. [00:06:55] Speaker B: Yeah, I've heard of it. [00:06:56] Speaker C: You've heard of that? So a little bit of interface with history. It would have been great to be on any show with him, but that was the time when he really catapulted from a well known singer to a superstar. And then he got the tv show, and, I mean, things went big for John. [00:07:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And my whole life, I was born in 73, so Johnny Cash was a superstar. Like, I've known him as nothing other than. So, like, even just to hear you refer to him as John is like. Is a lot for, like, my small brain to write. You know, I'm like, when he's talking about John, he's talking about Johnny Cash. You know, like. And I have a bunch of old Johnny cash vinyls out in the room. Like, I still have. [00:07:50] Speaker C: I do, too. [00:07:51] Speaker B: Those are from, like, you know, my. My grandmother and my parents, like, pass them down. I still have those records. And it's wild for me to hear you talking about him. [00:08:03] Speaker C: And he always called me Martin. And on rock and roll days, which is an album we did as a celebration of the music of Sun Records, we have some classics on there and some originals, and I add in an extra track called teardrops of gold. And the interesting thing of that, and the whole explanation is on the record, so you'll hear it again. But one night, I had a dream, and I usually don't even pay attention or even remember dreams, but on the dream, we were up north in Thurmond, and I was putting a shirt on in the bus to go out on stage. My son is opening the show, the door opens, and Johnny Cash comes up the steps and it wasn't the big, vibrant Johnny Cash everybody thinks of. It was the old, ill and frail Johnny Cash. And he said, martin, he said, I want you to do something for me. I kind of. What? He says, I need you to write a song called teardrops of gold. Will you do it? And I said, yes. Yes, I'll try to. He got back off the bus, and of course, that's when I woke up. And the first thing I did was jump out of bed, go to my office and write that title down, because I knew if I went back to sleep, I probably never would have remembered it. And so a while later, I found the slip of paper on my desk, and I said, oh, it was just a silly dream. But, gee, I did tell him I'd write this. I sat down and put the song together, and it is on the album there, and it's one that seems to be well liked when we do it in concert. [00:09:48] Speaker B: Yeah. And if Johnny Cash tells you to write a song, even if it's in your dream, I think you have to. [00:09:55] Speaker C: And it was such a great title. Yeah, I don't think that's something I would have really thought of. [00:10:03] Speaker B: When was it? When you got your own record contract and were putting stuff out? What year was that? [00:10:09] Speaker C: Around 68 was the. We had released hey, hey, mama, the year before, a different version. And then I got picked up by Ferris Records, which was owned by a guy in Brooklyn called Tom Wild. And Tom wanted to recut it, and that's the one that got the airplay. So that really kind of started things for me. I think back to that year, a lot of great things happened. We did our first tour, I was with Connie Smith the night before Johnny cash. So, you know, it seemed like things were really starting to percolate for me. [00:10:52] Speaker B: And when, like, back then, you know, because obviously, a lot of my listeners are musicians themselves, local musicians, unsigned musicians. And just to give a glimpse of what it was like back then, a record label. What kind of control did they have over what you were putting out and when you were putting out? [00:11:15] Speaker C: Well, when I started with the singles, it was kind of a one shot deal at that point. We'll do this and, you know. Yeah. See what happens. And it really was fortunate that, you know, the response was good. And then my dad and I did a lot of barnstorming. If you ever saw the movie about Loretta Lynn, coal miners, daughter, husband, the theater used to barnstorm the radio stations. That's exactly what we did. We went all over the northeast, and back then, of course, you show up at a radio station, you've got a record, they'd invite you in, they'd play the record, they'd interview you. You try that today, and they call security. [00:12:03] Speaker B: Even today, like, chances are nobody's even gonna listen to it if you send it to them. And that to me is wild that you would be selling, going to a radio station being like, I have a record that I made. And they'd be, let's hear. [00:12:17] Speaker C: Because back then, and just a whole different way of doing business than what happens now. For many years in this area, I did annual festivals, which was all day, many act kind of shows. And when we started out, WGNA, which was the big country station, they were our partner, and they'd send DJ's out to MC. And then the first hour and a half, we'd broadcast and say, oh, you're going to hear these people, they're coming back, come out. And one year at Washington County Fairground, we had over 1500 people because we had that kind of promotion. And then when the kind of corporate companies bought them out, they didn't want nothing to do with homegrown music, looked at as low brow. And so at my festival, they could have their banners and bumper stickers and, you know, shake hands with people that was helping them and their promotion was helping us. So it's a much different thing. And then back, I think it was 92 93. Our special guest that year was William Lee golden, who was the guy with the beard from the Oak Ridge boys. He was doing a solo tour with his sons. And we went and said, you know, could we get a package of spots? So you promote this and whatever. And they gave us their price. And I said, the only way we're doing this is if for the two weeks before the festival, you play William Lee golden on your station. So people remember all his great hits. Thank God for kids and all this. Oh, we can't do that. He's not on the top 20. We didn't do the deal. [00:14:10] Speaker B: Wow. [00:14:11] Speaker C: And there's a guy that won Grammys, country music association awards, just about anything in country music you could do, and he wasn't good enough to be played on their station. [00:14:23] Speaker B: It's like just such a numbers game. Absolutely realized like the draw that he could have had, you know, like, yeah, and that's disheartening. And I love to hear stories of, you know, and I even prefaced it like, kind of like, tell me how much control they have of what you put out. And then I'm like, oh, wait, they were things were a lot better. Like, yeah, they weren't. You know, maybe they were. [00:14:46] Speaker C: Yeah. And in 87, Lou DeWitt, I talked about him earlier that wrote flowers on the wall. He did a solo tour. He had had Crohn's disease, and that's when he left the statlers, but he had some remission, and he started doing some shows. So we were raising money at Round Lake Auditorium, and he came up and was our, you know, featured act for just the expenses, because he knew we were trying to do something good up there and put on a fantastic show. And that's the interesting thing. The name people I've worked with, honestly, have been the easiest, the friendliest. Carl Perkins was so good to me. He was kind and humble. Look at the influence he had on the Beatles and so many other, and he just thought, you know, I'm just a guy that plays guitar. He didn't think of himself as anything extraordinary, and that's the way they all were. June Carter, you would think you knew her all your life, you know, just the bubbliest nice person. So many of these people, and it was, you know, to me, a great experience because, you know, they were the people that always were easy to work with, where sometimes some of the more regional artists and everything complain, complain, complain, you know, and these people could come in and do a professional show and whatever. Whatever you had. They were happy. They were nice people. They just wanted to play music. And I think that's the whole story of Sun Records. Poor boys who wanted to play music. And so many of my heroes did their first recording there, you know, Johnny, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, people like BB King, Rufus Thomas. It was an amazing stable. They had that Sam Phillips, you know, found all of this great talent. And in 2002, I had the honor of going down and recording in that studio, and that was an amazing experience. [00:16:57] Speaker B: That's. I mean, just to be in the room, you know what I mean? Not even to be, like, utilizing it, but just even to be like, I'm going to walk into this room and stand in the room for a couple minutes and then leave would be, for me, would be enough, you know, but to go in there and record, that's got to be. [00:17:11] Speaker C: And really, the only difference, they put in the photos of some of the greats that have, but still the same old tiles that Sam put up on the ceiling and walls. So even though they had the digital ability in the control room, in the studio itself, very little has changed. [00:17:30] Speaker B: That's great. So at this point, we do want to certainly talk about some of the things that you have coming up for the 60th anniversary, like the events and all that. But I think right now we should maybe play a Marty Wendell song. What do you think? [00:17:45] Speaker C: That sounds like a plan. [00:17:47] Speaker B: Which one you got for us? [00:17:49] Speaker C: Maybe we'll go to the most recent album, Risky Business. And the song that's been kind of the breakout on this album is called like a ghost. And on that album, my guest artist is Lindsey Scruggs. She's a grandchild of the great Earl Scruggs. And, of course, the album was produced by another grandchild, Chris Scruggs. So Chris plays with Marty Stewart. He's one of the superlatives, and he produced this record for me. And the idea of the album is actually to create kind of what we think a country album could be today. Probably a lot different than what you hear on country radio, but still hopefully contemporary enough, but very rooted in traditional country music. [00:18:33] Speaker B: All right, so let's hear like a ghost, Marty Wendell, and we'll be right back. [00:18:45] Speaker D: The morning sun beats down like flames of fire burning down the warehouse in my mind? Where I have stored the heartache, hurt and pain. [00:19:07] Speaker B: I? [00:19:07] Speaker D: Making me the man no one can find? I'm just like a ghost? Down on the coast? Hiding in the sand? I'm just like a ghost? Making a toast with a drink in my hand? [00:19:26] Speaker A: In my hand? [00:19:28] Speaker D: This disappearing act ain't what I planned? Everything that once made sense is gone? Like a thousand shattered pieces on the floor? There's no way to move ahead and carry on? So I'll remain invisible for sure? I'm just like a ghost down on the coast? Hiding in the sand? I'm just like a ghost? Making a toast with a drink in my hand? This disappearing act ain't what I planned? I don't see redemption in the cardinal of the hand that I've been dealt? To try to play? The time has come to fold and take the loss? Cause I realized I threw it all away? I'm just like a ghost? Down on the coast? Hiding in the sandheen like a ghost? Making a toast with a drink in my hand? [00:21:20] Speaker A: In my hand? [00:21:22] Speaker D: This disappearing act ain't what I am? This disappearing act ain't what I am. [00:21:46] Speaker B: All right, that was like a ghost. Marty Wendell. And so this year is your 60th year performing professionally, and I'm sure you have a lot of things lined up to celebrate it. So I guess what do you got planned for the year? [00:22:03] Speaker C: We have our regular summer tour season, but with some very special shows added in. We're going to do a special show at Cafe Lena in Saratoga on July 13, an anniversary show that will be joined by the Blue Billies and Greg bucking. And Greg and I are going to recreate my most recent single, which is a duet with Christian Parker. We recreated the Dylan cash duet of girl from the north country. So we're going to do that and a couple other Dylan songs to pay tribute to Bob, who not only being one of the greatest songwriters, but he began his career essentially right on that stage at Cafe Lena, was one of the earliest places he played, coming up from New York City. So that'll be very special. Then in July, we go to Johnstown, the band shell. We're going to have Lucas Garrett as our special guest. A lot of people know Lucas. And then the 31st, the little theater on the farm, which is right here in Fort Edward up the road. And then we'll have another big 60th anniversary show at the Linda in Albany. I did my 50th show there. And our guest for that show will be Jim Gaudet and the Railroad boys, plus Carolyn Shapiro. So that's going to be another night of some really great music. And then on the 17 August, we're going to be at the Cosmic Americana festival in Greenwich, along with Laura Lee, the Brule county bad boys, cuff knots and Christine Elise. And then the next day, we'll be at the Strand Theater in Hudson Falls. And our guests for that show will be Heather Richards and the Blue billies. So those are going to be some very, very special shows. We'll be doing things right into October. [00:24:02] Speaker B: And if somebody wanted more information on those, is there a way that they can? [00:24:06] Speaker C: There is. The simple way to find where we are supposed to be is martywendle.com. and the list of shows is right there. And if anything is added or subtracted, we'll note it there so that you would know that we're going to be there, hopefully. But we're very excited about some of the special shows and some of the artists that we enjoy working with. That'll make it even better for us. [00:24:34] Speaker B: Yeah, and that'll be great. I'm really, like I said, excited to have you here. And, you know, I know there's stuff coming up this year, but I just wanted to maybe pick your brain on maybe some more older store, you know, like the sun record stuff for, like, is there any, is there any more interesting stories from back in those days that you want to tell me? Because I don't know if you noticed, like, the schoolboy look at my face, like, when you're telling me these stories. [00:24:59] Speaker C: One of the stories I tell about the recording session at sun, the guy that produced it was James lot. He has done a lot of production. Well, he's retired now, but he had done a lot there. He worked with Billy Swan a lot. James showed me as we went in the studio, this x on the floor, and he said, that's where Elvis always stood. He said, you want me to set the mic there? I said, no, that's Elvis's foot. I didn't want to do it. And of course, speaking of Billy Swan, who was one of the great underrated artists, Billy's daughter Planet joined me for the session and did a duet with me on one of my original songs. So that also was a really enjoyable opportunity to work with someone like that. And then we spent a lot of time on Beale street. And Beale street is, of course, the home of the blues. And the music was phenomenal. And so when I got home, I challenged myself. I never tried to write a blues song, so I did. And we included this in the rock and roll Days album, the one that's the celebration of son, and it's called the fleabag blues. So that's a little different. But we have a lot of fun with it at the live shows. [00:26:18] Speaker B: You know, before we go, is there another song that you want to play for the folks? [00:26:22] Speaker C: Well, they might enjoy hearing what we did with girl from the north country. And then all of our other albums are available at the concerts and also on most of the digital platforms. If you buy music on Spotify, Apple Music, a ton of stuff on YouTube. So if you're a digital person, we hopefully have you covered. And if you're like me, old school, and you like something in your hand, come out to one of the concerts and we'll have all the albums you can use. [00:26:56] Speaker B: All right, so let's hear a girl from the north country, and we'll be right back to wrap it up. [00:27:14] Speaker E: If you're traveling to the north country fair where the wind's hit headed on the borderline remember me to one who lives there for she once was a true love of mine. [00:27:46] Speaker D: See for me that her hair's hanging down it curls and falls all down her breast. [00:28:02] Speaker E: See. [00:28:03] Speaker D: For me that her hair's hanging down that's the way I remember her best. [00:28:18] Speaker E: If you go where the snowflakes fall when the rivers freeze and summer ends please see for me if she's wearing a coat so low to keep her from the howling wind well, if you're traveling in the north country fair? Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline? Please say hello to one who lives there? Cause she once wants a true love of mine? Well, if you're traveling in the north country? There where the wind sit heavy on the borderline? Remember me? To one who lives there? For she once was a true love of mine? [00:30:15] Speaker D: True love of mine? [00:30:17] Speaker E: A true love of mine? [00:30:19] Speaker D: True love of mine? [00:30:21] Speaker E: A true love of mine? [00:30:23] Speaker D: True love of mine? [00:30:26] Speaker E: True love of mine? She once was a true love of mine? [00:30:37] Speaker B: That was girl from the north country. And, Marty, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your day. And coming up, it was really a pleasure to have someone of your stature who's worked with legends, people that I heard in my house from the time I was born. Johnny Cash records might be the first music that I ever heard. It's just been a real pleasure. Before we go, is there anything else that you wanted to add? [00:31:07] Speaker C: Well, I guess the only two things I would add is that I hope people will come out to these special shows and the concerts. This year being 60 years, we're enjoying doing this. But on one of my albums, I wrote a song called winding down on the real good Run album, and it's facing the fact the road doesn't go on forever. So, you know, I may not be able to do this forever, but we'd sure like you to come out this year and celebrate this special year, and I guarantee you'll have a lot of fun. And then later this year, we've also got another new album in the works. It'll be called Telecaster Cowboy. So on our facebook page and our website will keep you informed when that new material is available. Some very exciting songs. And I want to thank you for offering me an opportunity to be part of your 518 unsigned. And there's a lot of people for me to thank, which would probably be another whole show. But specifically, I have to thank my family. My son is my band leader, and he's produced a lot of the albums, and I really probably couldn't be on the road without the support he gives me. But everybody, my wife, my kids, my grandkids, my grandkids do roadie and lights, and so everybody's involved. And I have to thank so many of those artists who have encouraged me, people like Chris Christofferson telling me to keep writing songs. It just, you know, things I never expected. The last two albums made Grammy runs, and here these albums were in contention with people like Alison Krauss and Sheryl Crow and Bruce Springsteen and who didn't get the Grammy either. And all honesty, I never expected to get it. But just to have my album in that mix, I have to be so thankful for the things that have happened like that. I thank wext and radio, Radio X in the area here that do give us a venue to get music in front of people's ears, and commercial radio doesn't do that. But thankfully, we have these other resources, and I thank all the people that do come out to the shows and that do buy the music. That's why we do it. You write songs that hopefully people will enjoy, and that's what makes it worthwhile. [00:33:54] Speaker B: Well, again, thank you for coming out. That is Marty Wendell. I am Andy Scullen. This is unsigned 518. We'll see you on the road. Unsigned 518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullen. New episodes are available every week wherever you stream podcasts. If you'd like to help support the show, please like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a [email protected]. unsigned 518 if you would like to advertise on the show, send me an email at Unsigned five one eight mail.com and to be a guest on the show, reach out to me through Instagram Unsigned 518, take care of one another and I'll see you next week.