Song Of The Day 8/28/2014: Barefoot Jerry - "Hospitality Song"

Southern Rock Week: Wayne Moss is a quiet Nashville legend. He built world-famous Cinderella Studios in Nashville in 1960 and has run the place for over 50 years. In music business years that's around 612. Cinderella has two studios, B & C. There's no "A" because "Moss says he's never seen a Studio A 'that had any soul. Elvis had the choice of RCA's A or B. He chose B.'" Moss played the main guitar riffs in Roy Orbison's "Oh! Pretty Woman" and Bob Dylan's "I Want You." His list of session credits is -- it's sick, that's what it is, just plain sick: Porter Wagoner, The Monkees, Charley Pride, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Kris Krist-- oh, forget it, if I drop any more names I'm going to have to bust out my home version of Hollywood Squares. The guy's led a full and fulfilling life, is what I'm trying to say.

Barefoot Jerry was Moss' outlet as a songwriter. Their debut album Southern Delight was way more ambitious than you'd expect a session musician and engineer's efforts to be, although maybe I'm underestimating session musicians in saying that. Certainly a lot of its broad musical scope comes from Moss' experience working with such a wide range of styles to begin with. It's impressively adventurous for anybody of the time, resonantly populist in its beliefs. "Hospitality Song" leads off Southern Delights with one of the most welcoming moods you can put at the top of an album -- and then it quickly switches into stark, clear-eyed, almost wistful realization: "We've got children to bring through the raging times / We'll find strength in each other / With real trust in one another." Wow, I just came here for the beer, but that doesn't sound half-bad.