Steve Martin Plays The Opry…And Not For Laughs
Written by: Rich
On 04-02-2009
at 1:32 pm
I had this friend of mine who always use to say, no matter where he saw me, “Boy, they’ll let anybody in here!” There are a lot of situations where many have said it…and even a few meant it. I imagine there are many who feel the same way about yesterday’s announcement that Steve Martin, the comedian, will hit the stage of the Grand Ole Opry on May 30th. “What the..?” as another good friend of mine often used to say. Well, it’s not as far a leap as you might think.
In case you hadn’t heard, Martin released his first music CD last month. It’s a bluegrass album called
The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo and his performance at the Opry next month will be part of a promotional tour that has truly taken on a life of its own – much like the CD itself; very much like Steve Martin himself. This guy’s a real chameleon and
still amazes me. He started out his career in the late ’60s as a writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. By the ’70s he had established himself as, perhaps, the top comedian of his time (and a top comedian of all time) with his catch phrases, like “Excuuuuse me!” and “I’m a wild and crazy guy!”, becoming permanent parts of our vocabulary. He hosted Saturday Night Live and was a regular on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and, before long, moved right into movies like it was so natural that neither he nor his fans batted an eye. With over 7 dozen writing and acting credits to his name, most of them wildly popular
and comedy-based (The Jerk; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; The Three Amigos!; Father Of The Bride), it’s not hard to see why someone would do a double take about either the CD or the Opry performance.
When
The Crow was released last month, being a fan of
bluegrass myself, I had to download it and listen. Not that I was necessarily expecting a train-wreck, but I had to admit, it was really good. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. Steve let us peek into the musical corners of his mind periodically back when he was doing stand up. It was not at all uncommon for him to bring his banjo on stage with him…right along side the fake “arrow-through-the-head” gag and those long, cylindrical balloons for making odd “animal” shapes. And without warning he’d break into a little bluegrass-infused interlude between jokes to the delight of the crowd – who always seemed to applaud. But to take the big step of a professional
music CD is altogether different — and Martin comes through in spades. But don’t take my word for it…listen to the legendary and country talent that surrounds this project:
Earl Scruggs appears on the song “Daddy Played The Banjo” (one of my favorites);
Vince Gill and
Dolly Parton blend beautifully on “Pretty Flowers”; and the album itself was produced by John McEuen, a member of the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who is a lifelong friend as well. And that’s not to mention that in 2001, Martin joined Scruggs on a remake recording of
Foggy Mountain Breakdown, which went on to win a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Steve Martin is no Earl Scruggs or Don Reno (and doesn’t pretend to be either), but his passion and talent shines through clearly. All 15 songs on the CD are original Steve Martin compositions that, after “45 years in the making” finally see the light of day in a polished form that makes us all sit up and realize that at 63 years old, Martin can still stun audiences, not to mention his fans. So I suppose, with all that Opry power behind the making of this album, it’s not really a surprise that Steve Martin will play his banjo on Nashville’s legendary stage (minus the arrow and balloons, right?). Right or wrong? Like it or not? I’ll leave that for you to decide. But I believe this time, it won’t be the sound of roaring laughter that meets Steve Martin, but the sound of thunderous applause.
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