Down the Rabbit Hole (Again)

If you you’re reading this because I mentioned my blog on The Daily Flash, “hi” and welcome! Here’s another round of Down the Rabbit Hole, where I start with a bit of pop culture and see where it takes me.

I recently had the song below pop up on a streamer and was surprised how many of the lyrics I knew – even though I have heard it for a good thirty years. If you think “Country Boy (You’ve Got Your Feet in LA)” sounds a lot like Glen Campbell’s hit right before this one, the super smash “Rhinestone Cowboy,” you’re right.

Something about the little keyboard flourish at 1:24 reminded me of “The Partridge Family,” so I did some searching and legend Michael Omartian both arranged and played keys on “Country Boy” while also being a fill-in for Susan Dey/Laurie Partridge and her Wurlitzer on later Partridge Family stuff.

On earlier Partridge tunes, it was often Larry Knechtel and/or Mike Melvoin playing keyboards for Partridge Family hits. (Quick aside – Mike Melvoin is the father of Wendy Melvoin of several Prince bands as well as Wendy and Lisa.) Omartian, Knechtel, Daddy Melvoin, and Glen Campbell were all part of The Wrecking Crew, the pack of studio musicians who played on dozens of varied radio hits in the 1960s and 1970s. Knechtel played on everything from Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Waters to this one –  although he’s not any  of the “band” in the video.

And let’s wrap this up with another Dolly Parton song. She’s covered a lot of rock and roll records through the decades, but here’s one that works better than some of her more recent attempts. Give a listen to a bluegrassy spin on REO Speedwagon’s “Time for Me to Fly” from Dolly’s 1986 album “White Limozeen.”