Frisco Mabel Joy
Encyclopedia
Frisco Mabel Joy is the 1971 concept album
by Country
singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury
. This was the second of three albums Newbury recorded at Cinderella Sound. The album includes the original version of "An American Trilogy
", which Elvis Presley
later performed in his Las Vegas
shows with much success. "How Many Times (Must The Piper Be Paid For His Song)" is a dramatically re-imagined version of a song first released on Harlequin Melodies
, Newbury's RCA debut. Other standout tracks include "The Future's Not What It Used to Be", "Remember The Good", "Frisco Depot," and "How I Love Them Old Songs." The track "San Francisco Mabel Joy" was not initially part of the album, though it is included on some versions.
Frisco Mabel Joy was collected for CD issue on the eight-disc Mickey Newbury Collection
from Mountain Retreat, Newbury's own label in the mid-1990s, along with nine other Newbury albums from 1969-1981.
Billboard (North America)
Single
combined three Civil War
era songs from the Confederacy
("Dixie
"), the Union
("Battle Hymn of the Republic"), and African American
spirituals ("All My Trials
") into a powerful new recording. Newbury debuted the song in a 1970 live performance at the Bitter End West. Elvis Presley
made the song a part of his Las Vegas
shows in 1972, and his version was included on live albums Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden
(1972), Aloha From Hawaii: Via Satellite
(1973), Elvis: As Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis
(1974), and Elvis' 1972 documentary Elvis on Tour
. The song is largely associated with Presley's interpretation, though in execution it is substantively different than Newbury's original version. Manowar included the song on their 2002 album Warriors of the World
. Over 465 different versions of "An American Trilogy" have been recorded by different artists.
"Remember The Good" has been recorded by Eddy Arnold
, Roy Orbison
, Brook Benton
, and Glenn Yarbrough
, among others.
"Frisco Depot" was recorded by Waylon Jennings
in 1972 prior to his breakthrough Lonesome, On'ry and Mean
which included Newbury's "San Francisco Mabel Joy
". Jennings has also recorded this album's "Mobile Blue" and "You're Not My Same Sweet Baby". Robert Forster
included the song on his 1995 covers album I Had a New York Girlfriend
. The song has also been covered by Roberta Flack
and Ronny Cox
.
"How I Love Them Old Songs" has merited thirty six different cover versions including recordings by Gene Vincent
, Carol Channing
, Bill Monroe
, and Don Gibson
. Mickey Gilley
recorded the song on his 1975 album Movin' On, and it was recorded by Tompall Glaser
on his 1977 album The Wonder of It All.
Roger Miller
recorded "Swiss Cottage Place" prior to the release of the album. Ronnie Milsap
recorded a version of "The Future's Not What It Used To Be" in 1977.
In 2000 Peter Blackstock, the founder of No Depression
magazine, organized a multi-artist tribute that recreated the entire album titled Frisco Mabel Joy Revisited. Artists that participated in the recording include Dave Alvin
performing "Mobile Blue," Michael Fracasso
's "Remember The Good," and Kris Kristofferson
recording "San Francisco Mabel Joy".
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
by Country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury
Mickey Newbury
Mickey Newbury was an American songwriter, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
. This was the second of three albums Newbury recorded at Cinderella Sound. The album includes the original version of "An American Trilogy
An American Trilogy
"An American Trilogy" is a song arranged by country songwriter Mickey Newbury and made popular by Elvis Presley, who began including the song as part of his regular concert routine in the 1970s, thereby making the song a showstopper...
", which Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
later performed in his Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
shows with much success. "How Many Times (Must The Piper Be Paid For His Song)" is a dramatically re-imagined version of a song first released on Harlequin Melodies
Harlequin Melodies
Harlequin Melodies is the 1968 debut album by singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury. At the time, Newbury was a making an impact as an incredible and successful songwriter in Nashville, signed by Acuff-Rose Publishing, at one point he had four #1 hits on different charts for Eddy Arnold, Solomon Burke,...
, Newbury's RCA debut. Other standout tracks include "The Future's Not What It Used to Be", "Remember The Good", "Frisco Depot," and "How I Love Them Old Songs." The track "San Francisco Mabel Joy" was not initially part of the album, though it is included on some versions.
Frisco Mabel Joy was collected for CD issue on the eight-disc Mickey Newbury Collection
Mickey Newbury Collection
The Mickey Newbury Collection collects the ten albums Mickey Newbury released on three labels between 1969 and 1981 on an eight disc set. The set was released and is available through Mountain Retreat, a label run by Newbury and later Newbury's family...
from Mountain Retreat, Newbury's own label in the mid-1990s, along with nine other Newbury albums from 1969-1981.
Track listing
All songs written by Mickey Newbury unless otherwise noted.- "An American TrilogyAn American Trilogy"An American Trilogy" is a song arranged by country songwriter Mickey Newbury and made popular by Elvis Presley, who began including the song as part of his regular concert routine in the 1970s, thereby making the song a showstopper...
" (Newbury/traditional) - 4:50 - "How Many Times (Must the Piper Be Paid for His Song)" - 5:48
- "Interlude" - 1:44
- "The Future's Not What It Used to Be" - 4:14
- "Mobile Blue" - 2:48
- "Frisco Depot" - 3:38
- "You're Not My Same Sweet Baby" - 3:46
- "Interlude" - 1:05
- "Remember the Good" - 2:57
- "Swiss Cottage Place" - 3:10
- "How I Love Them Old Songs" - 5:30
- "San Francisco Mabel JoySan Francisco Mabel Joy"San Francisco Mabel Joy" is a song written by Mickey Newbury, and is one of Newbury's most notable songs, an opinion shared by the artist himself. The song first appeared on Newbury's 1969 concept album Looks Like Rain, a milestone album in the burgeoning songwriter movement in Nashville at the...
" - 5:17
Personnel
- Mickey NewburyMickey NewburyMickey Newbury was an American songwriter, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
- guitar, lead vocals - Dennis LindeDennis LindeDennis Linde was an American singer and songwriter whose work was primarily in country musicHe is best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley hit, "Burning Love"...
- guitar, background vocals - Charlie McCoyCharlie McCoyCharles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
- guitar, harmonica - Bobby Thompson - banjo, guitar
- Wayne Moss - guitar
- Weldon Myrick - steel guitar
- Beegie AdairBeegie AdairBeegie Adair is a jazz pianist. She studied piano at Western Kentucky University. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee where she did graduate work at Peabody College. She later went on to form the Beegie Adair Trio....
- keyboards - Jimmy Capps - guitar
- Jim Isbell - drums
- Buddy SpicherBuddy SpicherBuddy Spicher is an American fiddle player.Spicher started in the late 50s as part of the backing band for Audrey Williams, the widow of Hank Williams, later with Hank Snow, the Charles River Valley Boys....
- drums - Farrell Morris - percussion
- Bob Beckham
- John Harris
- John Moss
- Charles Navarro
- Walker Sill
Production
- Producer: Dennis Linde/Owsley Manier/Robert Rosemurgy
- Recording Engineer: Wayne Linde/Wayne Moss
- Art Direction: Robert L. Heimall
- Photography: Robert L. Heimall
- Liner Notes: unknown
Charts
AlbumBillboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Pop Albums | 58 |
Single
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "An American Trilogy" | Billboard Pop Singles | 26 |
Selected Cover Recordings
An American TrilogyAn American Trilogy
"An American Trilogy" is a song arranged by country songwriter Mickey Newbury and made popular by Elvis Presley, who began including the song as part of his regular concert routine in the 1970s, thereby making the song a showstopper...
combined three Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
era songs from the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
("Dixie
Dixie
Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States.- Origin of the name :According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins of this nickname remain obscure. According to A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles , by Mitford M...
"), the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
("Battle Hymn of the Republic"), and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
spirituals ("All My Trials
All My Trials
All My Trials was a folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, "Hush little baby, don't you cry./You know your mama's bound to die," because, as she explains,...
") into a powerful new recording. Newbury debuted the song in a 1970 live performance at the Bitter End West. Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
made the song a part of his Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
shows in 1972, and his version was included on live albums Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden
Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden
Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden is a live musical album recorded by Elvis Presley and released in June 1972 by RCA Records peaking on the charts in July 1972. Recorded at the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on Saturday June 10, 1972, the concert, and the subsequent album,...
(1972), Aloha From Hawaii: Via Satellite
Aloha from Hawaii: Via Satellite
Aloha from Hawaii: Via Satellite is a live concert album by Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records in February 1973 and peaked on the Billboard chart in the Spring of 1973. Despite the satellite innovation, the United States did not air the concert until April 4, 1973. Aloha from Hawaii went to...
(1973), Elvis: As Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis
Elvis: As Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis
Elvis: As Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis is an album of recordings by Elvis Presley released by RCA Records in 1974 and recorded on March 20, 1974, in front of a live audience at the Midsouth Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee, Presley's hometown. Elvis' home, Graceland, is pictured on the cover...
(1974), and Elvis' 1972 documentary Elvis on Tour
Elvis on Tour
Elvis on Tour is a Golden Globe Award-winning American musical documentary motion picture released by MGM in 1972. It was the thirty-third and final motion picture to star Elvis Presley before his death in 1977.-Background:...
. The song is largely associated with Presley's interpretation, though in execution it is substantively different than Newbury's original version. Manowar included the song on their 2002 album Warriors of the World
Warriors of the World
Warriors of the World is an album by metal band Manowar released on June 4, 2002. The song Nessun Dorma was dedicated to Adams' mother who had died earlier that year. Amongst its varied tracks are tributes to Wagner, Pavarotti and Elvis Presley...
. Over 465 different versions of "An American Trilogy" have been recorded by different artists.
"Remember The Good" has been recorded by Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, Brook Benton
Brook Benton
Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...
, and Glenn Yarbrough
Glenn Yarbrough
Glenn Yarbrough is an American folk singer. He was the lead singer with The Limeliters between 1959 and 1963, and had a prolific solo career, recording on various labels.-Biography:...
, among others.
"Frisco Depot" was recorded by Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
in 1972 prior to his breakthrough Lonesome, On'ry and Mean
Lonesome, On'ry and Mean
Lonesome, On'ry and Mean is an album by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1973. It was, after Good Hearted Woman and Ladies Love Outlaws, the third in a series of albums which were to establish Jennings as one of the most prominent representatives of the country movement, reaching #8 on...
which included Newbury's "San Francisco Mabel Joy
San Francisco Mabel Joy
"San Francisco Mabel Joy" is a song written by Mickey Newbury, and is one of Newbury's most notable songs, an opinion shared by the artist himself. The song first appeared on Newbury's 1969 concept album Looks Like Rain, a milestone album in the burgeoning songwriter movement in Nashville at the...
". Jennings has also recorded this album's "Mobile Blue" and "You're Not My Same Sweet Baby". Robert Forster
Robert Forster
Robert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...
included the song on his 1995 covers album I Had a New York Girlfriend
I Had a New York Girlfriend
I Had a New York Girlfriend is the third album by Robert Forster. It consists of cover versions.-Side one:# "Nature's Way" – 2:25# "Broken Hearted People" – 3:47# "Echo Beach" – 2:53...
. The song has also been covered by Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
and Ronny Cox
Ronny Cox
Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an American character actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Personal life:Cox, the third of five children, was born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, the son of Lounette and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy. He grew up in Portales, New Mexico...
.
"How I Love Them Old Songs" has merited thirty six different cover versions including recordings by Gene Vincent
Gene Vincent
Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
, Carol Channing
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination...
, Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
, and Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
. Mickey Gilley
Mickey Gilley
Mickey Leroy Gilley is an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as...
recorded the song on his 1975 album Movin' On, and it was recorded by Tompall Glaser
Tompall Glaser
Tompall Glaser is an American country music artist. Active since the 1950s, he has recorded both as a solo artist and with his brothers Chuck and Jim in the trio Tompall & the Glaser Brothers...
on his 1977 album The Wonder of It All.
Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
recorded "Swiss Cottage Place" prior to the release of the album. Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...
recorded a version of "The Future's Not What It Used To Be" in 1977.
In 2000 Peter Blackstock, the founder of No Depression
No Depression
No Depression may refer to:* No Depression , a bi-monthly roots and Americana music magazine and now a music website.* "No Depression in Heaven", a 1936 song popularized by the Carter Family...
magazine, organized a multi-artist tribute that recreated the entire album titled Frisco Mabel Joy Revisited. Artists that participated in the recording include Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin , is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been one of the leading proponents of 'roots' or 'American' music, bringing together elements of rock-and-roll, blues, rural and tejano music....
performing "Mobile Blue," Michael Fracasso
Michael Fracasso
Michael Fracasso is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas. His music spans country and rock as he sings in a high tenor that evokes the "high lonesome" sound of early country....
's "Remember The Good," and Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
recording "San Francisco Mabel Joy".