Matthew L. Swayne - Ghosts of Country Music: Tales of Haunted Honky Tonks & Legendary Spectres

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Ghosts of Country Music: Tales of Haunted Honky-Tonks & Legendary Spectres 2017 by Matthew L. Swayne.

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First e-book edition 2017

E-book ISBN: 9780738751726

Cover art: Dominick Finelle, The July Group

Cover design: Kevin R. Brown

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Swayne, Matthew L., author.

Title: Ghosts of country music : tales of haunted honky-tonks & legendary

spectres / Matthew L. Swayne.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications,

[2017] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016044787 (print) | LCCN 2016051567 (ebook) (print) |

LCCN 2016051567 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738748634 | ISBN 9780738751726

(ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Haunted places. | Honky-tonk musicians. | Ghosts.

Classification: LCC BF1461.S925 2017 (print) | LCC BF1461 (ebook) | DDC

133.1--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016044787

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

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Llewellyn Publications

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Manufactured in the United States of America

Dedication

Dedicated to my wife, Janice, who, over the past few years, was accidentally butt-dialed by a paranormal researcher on location, had her sleep disrupted dozens of times so that I could participate in radio shows at some God-forsaken hour, waited patiently at book signings, and withstood dozens of other inconveniences and annoyances without a complaint. Well, maybe not exactly without a complaint, but definitely far fewer complaints than I deserved.

Contents

: The Ghosts of Country Musicians

: Hank Williams: The Lonesome Travelers Haunted Trail

: Johnny Cash: The Man in Blacks Colorful Paranormal Legacy

: Roy Acuff: The King of Country Music Wont Abdicate His Musical Throne

: Patsy Cline: Haunting Voice, Haunted Life

: Loretta Lynn: The Coal Miners Daughters Rich Supernatural Vein

: Elvis Presley: Hound-Dogged by Hauntings

: Mindy McCready: Of Angels, Demons, Ghosts, and Curses

: J. Bernard Ricks: Country Musics Major Medium

: Haunted Country Places

: Haunted Concert Venues and Music Halls

: Country Spirits: Bars, Clubs, Taverns, and Honky-Tonks

: Supernatural Studios and Record Company Headquarters

: Record Shops That Are Paranormal Hot Spots

: Freaky Frequencies: Ghosts of Country Radio Stations

: Haunted Country Hotels

: Miscellaneous
Haunted Country Places

: Ozark Spook Lights: Bransons Big Lights

: Brown Mountain Lights: Songs Pay Tribute to the Mountains Wandering Spirit

: Fiddlers Rock: You Have to Have a Ghostly Fiddle Player in the Band

: Folsom Prison: Prisoners Eternally Singing the Blues

: Preston Castle: The Reformatory Ghost Story

: Witch Dance and Lyric Theater: Elviss Hometown Haunts

: Haunted Jukeboxes: Just Press B-Scared

: Haunted Tour Bus: Whisperin Bill Anderson Rides with the Moanin Ghost

: Musical Spirits and the Ultimate Question

Introduction

For decades, people who have known and loved country music will tell you that there is something special about their music. Some say that the magic of country music arises from its purity and from the hearts and souls of countrys singers and musicians. They create the spirit of the music that moves these fans like no other art form could.

Country music arose outside of the concrete jungles and factory yards, beyond the shadows of skyscrapers and shopping centers. Country musicians rarely attended prestigious music schools or took formal lessons in music theorythey felt the music instinctively. And their lives were immersed in music. When country music was just beginning to form out of the spiritual and popular styles of the day, music and dance was one of the primary forms of entertainment. It was played at parties and get-togethers. But it was more than just a form of entertainment. Most folk and country musicians, whether consciously or subconsciously, recognize music is transcendental. It playedand playsa central role in worship services, for instance. Music rang out when people woke up, it surrounded them when they worked. They sang at happy occasions; they sang at sad events. They sang when loved ones died.

Of course, genetics may have played a role. The music that soared above the hills of Appalachia and echoed through the hollows has a texture that represented the Irish and Scottish roots of the folks who settled that rugged land. It was in their blood and in their bones. You might say it was in the souls of those people, too.

Eventually, these songs reached the ears of city people, who might not have known anything about the spirit-soothing nature of music but knew a thing or two about turning music into money. Citiesincluding Nashville, Knoxville, and Bristol, Tennessee; Branson, Missouri; and Shreveport, Louisianabecame music hubs, distributing the sweet, lonesome sounds of what was starting to be referred to as country and western music to places across the nation and around the world.

Theres something else that traveled along with the twang of the banjos and strum of the guitars, something that proved country music was spirit-filled in more ways than one. Stories of spirits and ghosts came right along with the music: tales of witches and witch dances, and stories of ghost riders and demonic honky-tonkers. As some of the great practitioners of country music shuffled off both the musical and mortal stage, fans, friends, and family began to offer their own accounts of encounters with the spirits of these singers and pickers.

This wasnt a surprise for me. While researching my previous book, Haunted Rock & Roll , I realized that spirituality and rock music are deeply connected and this connection often reflects the culture of its musicians and fans. But it goes beyond rock music. Music in itself is a spiritual act, one that involves every part of the musician and fans beingbody, mind, heart, and spirit.