He was a singer, he was a songwriter, and along with his companion Richard Bowden, he was one of the crucial prolific and beloved parody artists in nation music. No one coined him the “Bizarre Al of Nation Music” in his time, however that doesn’t imply he didn’t deserve it. He was Sandy Pinkard, and his legacy was making nation music followers snort.
There was a critical aspect to Sandy Pinkard as nicely, and that might be exceptional sufficient to mark Pinkard’s passing on July twenty sixth on the age of 78. As a songwriter with out his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek, he co-wrote songs just like the #1 hit for Mel Tillis, “Coca Cola Cowboy,” David Frizzell & Shelly West’s #1 duet “You’re The Cause God Made Oklahoma” that went on to win the 1981 ACM Tune of the 12 months, the #1 music “Blessed Are the Believers” for Anne Murray in 1981, and Vern Gosdin’s #1 “I Can Inform By The Approach You Dance.”
Born James Sanford Pinkard Jr. on January 16, 1947, in Abbeville, Louisiana, Sandy joined the Air Pressure when he was youthful, and served within the Vietnam Warfare. When he returned to the states, Pinkard needed to pursue being a rustic singer, however didn’t have a lot luck convincing a label to take an opportunity on him. That’s when he turned to songwriting, which received his foot within the door of the music. However as soon as of us in Nashville knew his title, he discovered a manner he may stand up on stage and entertain in any case: comedy.
Together with his singing and writing companion Richard Bowden, they shaped the comedy duo Pinkard & Bowden in 1984. Initially from Linden, Texas, Bowden had been a childhood pal of Don Henley, and performed with Henley in quite a few bands earlier than the formation of The Eagles. Musician and report government Jim Ed Norman launched Pinkard and Bowden, they usually started writing songs collectively.
Although the duo had unique comedy songs as nicely like “I Lobster However By no means Flounder,” parody songs is what grew to become the duo’s signature. Signed to Warner Bros. Information, they launched 5 albums between 1985 and 1993, and launched 12 singles, together with 5 that made the charts. Simply trying by means of the titles of a few of their parody songs is sufficient for amusing.
- “Mama She’s Lazy” (“Mama He’s Loopy” – The Judds)
- “She Thinks I Steal Vehicles” (“She Thinks I Nonetheless Care” – George Jones)
- “Drivin’ My Spouse Away” (“Drivin’ My Life Away – Eddie Rabbitt)
- “Blue Hairs Driving in My Lane” (“Blue Eyes Crying within the Rain” Willie Nelson)
- “Delta Dawg” (“Delta Daybreak” – Tanya Tucker)
- “Assist Me Make It Via the Yard” (“Assist Me Make It Via The Night time” – Sammi Smith)
- “Libyan on a Jet Airplane” (“Leaving on a Jet Airplane” – John Denver)
- “Any individual Achieved Any individual’s Tune Flawed” (One other Any individual Achieved Any individual Flawed Tune – B.J. Thomas)
- “Associates in Crawl Areas” (“Associates in Low Locations” – Garth Brooks)
- ….and plenty of extra
Pinkard & Bowen albums like Writers in Disguise and Cousins, Cattle, and Different Love Tales grew to become cult favorites. However like so many catalogs in nation music, most of their music stays out-of-print, and troublesome to inconceivable to search out on streaming companies, at the least in full type. The duo beloved to select on the nation music business, together with of their music “Music Trade,” which was a parody of “Islands within the Stream.”
The duo additionally had the excellence of being one of many first nation music acts with specific content material warnings on a few of their albums. Although a few of their materials was household pleasant (certainly one of their albums was named PG-13), they typically received profane and lewd. Their parody of Garth’s “Associates in Low Locations” (“Associates in Crawl Areas”) was about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. They have been in the end banned from TNN.
Sandy Pinkard had been residing in Kingwood, West Virginia, the place he handed away at his residence.
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