COUNTRY MUSIC MEMORIES

Country music is not only an element of our rich past but ardently transcends itself to present and future generations.

COUNTRY MUSIC STARS OF COLUMBIA RECORDS

TAYLOR SMITH & SMITH USA FACTORY MARK

Fortunately there are some youth of today who have a real heart and soul who can still relate to the simple things in life. To be in touch with the inner-self, the emotions of love and caring about someone else other than the self, being able to understand and care about what happens to your neighbor or even a stranger - are all components and elements that go into really good country music. It's not all "ye haw and yip pi do".

Granted many songs were beer guzzling songs but there was real soul in the true essence of country song. It brought out the real inner emotion of people. If you were not a song writer and were a listener, some of those songs were so intense that they would certainly let you get in touch with your self and inner emotions. Many times they got you over the heart break of a relation that was coming to an end or had ended. Now was the time to realize that you had to pick up the pieces and move on and try to learn about what went wrong and the next time you would try to make everything right. 

I have always found people who really loved good country music really had allot of real heart and soul and seemed allot less selfish than some people who like aggressive music. Mental tranquility seems to abound more amongst country musicians and its listeners than allot of other different music on the edge of insanity which don't seem to exhibit tranquility. Aggressive music creates an aggressive society where many people don't care about anything anymore other than making money to the detriment of others.

Much music of today's society seems to be chaotic and enhance an aggressive selfish society where everything seems to aim toward self with no real emotion about others nor the world in which we live. Then we wonder what has gone wrong that we have fear about our environment, fear about our children and so much fear about where our society is heading. Music is a powerful thing! It is one of the most easiest ways of perforating societal value judgments upon large segments of a population. Isn't good music supposed to make people think and feel and formulate positive energy in and around them? Around them - meaning the world?

I am sure those of you who are Country & Western Music Buffs will remember Wilma Lee, Stoney Cooper and daughter Caroyl Lee whose band name was The Clinch Mountain Clan. Known well for their blue-grass music, we bring to you this wonderful piece of memorabilia which is a portrait plate which illustrates all three of them. STARS OF COLUMBIA RECORDS which was manufactured  by Taylor Smith & Taylor of Chester, West Virginia. The plate is marked on the back Bel-Ar Pottery, hand painted, 22 Kt. Gold # 3618. It measures 8” Diameter.
Portraits of Country and Western singers, especially blue grass performers, are fairly scarce and seldom seen on pottery or porcelain items; and are considered very collectible.

Through research we found that in 1950 the Coopers and their band, The Clinch Mountain Clan, were named “the most authentic mountain singing group in the United States” by the music library of Harvard University.
According to verbal sources, these plates were sold at their concerts as souvenirs of their live performances. For more information click on link.