Stonewall Jackson: Bildrechte: Columbia Records. Foto: Don Cravens
One of the most beautiful train songs in country music is Smoke Along The Track from Stonewall Jackson. If you look up who wrote the 1959 hit, you’ll find the name Alan Rose. However, as with many country songs, the author credited is not the actual originator of the song. “Smoke Along The Track” was probably written almost entirely by Hank Williams’ steel player Don Helms – in his former employer’s Cadillac. and Don Helms can also be heard on the successful recording on the steel guitar.
Stonewall Jackson – Smoke Along The Track: Single
If you are not a country music insider, you will definitely be surprised about the name of the singer: Stonewall Jackson – stone wall is not only a more or less bizarre first name for German ears. It helps to know that Stonewall was the nickname of the legendary Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson and that he got his name because he and his men held up like a wall to attackers during a Civil War battle. As for country singer Stonewall Jackson, Stonewall was actually his first name. His father believed the family to be descendants of the general and therefore gave the son this historically charged name.
Born in 1932 North Carolina Jackson’s childhood and adolescence took a tragic turn with the early death of his father in rural Georgia, when the new husband of his semi-Seminolean mother, Stonewall, continually abused Jackson over the next few years. At 14 Jackson fled to his grandmother, soon joined the army and finally ended up in Nashville in 1956/57. Originally he just wanted to get a songwriter contract there. He got that too when Wesley Rose him stante pede for Acuff & Rose contracted. And Rose then had the young man, still in his farm work overalls, audition for the executives at the Grand Ole Opry, who also impressed Jackson. So he was promptly hired here, even though he didn’t have a record deal. A highly unique event in country music history. Only after Ernest Tubb took him under his wing did Jackson join as a recording artist in 1958 Columbia under contract.
After initial difficulties, Jackson landed his first hit with “Life To Go” in the same year. Some may also know the song in the version by George Jones. And he is still the sole author of the song today. However, if you look at the genesis of the piece, Jones’ authorship is not that clear either: There are three distinct stories in which George Jones tells how he wrote the song. The original title and story of the song could have come about as follows: Jones and Jackson were on tour together in Texas and played a prison show. There, someone asked an elderly prisoner when he was coming out. He shook his head and said dryly, “I still got life to go.” Stonewall Jackson later emphasized: “I wrote most of it, but George finished it. I gave him the writer’s credit.” Since Jones was always in the charts anyway, the deal was that Jones would get the writer’s credit and Jackson would be the first to record the song and land the hit. Jones then recorded his version earlier, but it wasn’t actually released until after Jackson had landed the hit. One has to assume that the truth lies somewhere in between. One thing is certain, as Stonewall Jackson always emphasized, that he outdid Jones this one time, because his interpretation actually gets more under the skin than that of the exceptional singer.
Stonewall Jackson – Life To Go: Single
Stonewall Jackson’s biggest hits, such as his number one success “Waterloo”, identical to the ABBA classic only in name, are rather simple and somewhat dumb pop hits. “BJ The DJ” also seems a bit old-fashioned today, not only because of the supposedly suggestive title, but also because of the relatively pompous tragic story told, while Jackson’s hits from the second row like “I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water”, “Don’t Be Angry” or of course the plain “Why I Am Walkin'” have aged well and are invariably great.
Stonewall Jackson – Why I’m Walkin‘: Single
In Jackson’s work there are also songs with irritating content, which one notices that his label liked to pair tightly conservative content with a singer whose name embodied patriotism and conservatism right through to the reactionary. A good example is Harlan Howard’s 1966 The Minute Men (Are Turning In Their Graves), in which anti-Vietnam War protesters are denied their Americanness.
Between 1958 and 1973, Jackson’s 44 singles hit the Billboard Country Chart. 18 alone were top 20 hits. Like all country stars, Stonewall Jackson has struggled with diminishing success over the years. In 1973 he lost his contract with Columbia in a dispute. The recordings at MGM and other record companies were no longer successful. In 1979 he recorded his album on the Nashville indie label Little Darlin’ Bad Ass on. Sneers might take this record as a pandering to outlaw country à la Johnny Paycheck, and the titles of some songs as unintentionally funny. At the same time, you can’t call this album a successful commercial comeback, but you can call it an artistically successful one, because it contains so many cool drinking songs that you can almost call it a concept album.
Even though Jackson ran out of new hits, in later years he played live regularly and joined the Grand Ole Opry on. But in 2006, the country world took notice when the pugnacious Jackson, after more than 50 years of membership, sued the world’s oldest regular live radio show for $20 million for age discrimination. It really went against the grain for him that the Opry was getting rid of its ancestors. You don’t want gray hair on stage or in the audience, Jackson said. He is seeking $10 million in damages and that the country music institution pay a $10 million fine. Since 1998, his performances have been more and more restricted until he was wanted out completely. He would have been told he was too old and too country. Eventually, the dispute was settled out of court in 2008, and Stonewall Jackson remained a proud member of the Opry – ultimately for a full 65 years. He performed there for the last time in 2010.
In 2012 he came back for a few songs Marty Stuarts Late Night Jam back from retirement. He also insisted on attending the George Jones Memorial Concert in 2013 after the death of his friend Ryman Auditorium to perform again. Most recently, the honky-tonker suffered from vascular dementia. Finally, Jackson passed away on December 4, 2021 at the age of 89.
R.I.P Stonewall Jackson
The Dynamic Stonewall Jackson: Das Album
title: The Dynamic Stonewall Jackson
Artists: Stonewall Jackson
release date: 31. December 1959
Label: Columbia Records
formats: CD & Digital
Tracks: 12
duration: 32 minutes
Genre: Traditional Country
tracklist: (The Dynamic Stonewall Jackson)
01. Waterloo
02. Smoke Along The Tracks
03. Life To Go
04. Run
05. The Carpet On The Floor
06. Man Has Cried
07. Uncle Sam And Big John Bull
08. Mary Don’t You Weep
09. Ward Of Broken Hearts
10. Why I’m Walkin‘
11. Let’s Call It A Day
12. Black Sheep