| A trainwreck in a Nudie suit, Guy Terrifico was largely conceived as an amalgam of many singer-songwriters who rejected Nashville’s slick country-politan sound and established a rawer take on country in the early ’70s. Here are Guy’s biggest inspirations:
· Kris Kristofferson – First hit it big in the late ’60s as a songwriter with "Me and Bobby McGee" and "For the Good Times." Nashville types didn’t think he’d make it as a singer given Kristofferson’s rough voice, but he became an icon anyway. Also shtupped Streisand in the ’77 version of A Star Is Born.
· Gram Parsons – Went from studying theology at Harvard to fathering country-rock. The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo and the Rolling Stones’ "Honkytonk Woman" are inconceivable without his influence. Fatally overdosed on morphine and tequila in 1973, only to have his body dug up by his road manager and cremated near Joshua Tree.
· Willie Nelson – Another songwriter turned singer (he wrote "Crazy" for Patsy Cline), he made outlaw country’s first masterpiece in 1975’s The Red Headed Stranger. Hates taxes and loves the chronic.
· Waylon Jennings – The biggest renegade of the lot. Duetted with Willie on 1978’s immortal "Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys." Died in 2002, missing the chance to talk about Terrifico. At least he didn’t have to see what Hollywood did to The Dukes of Hazzard (he was the show’s original narrator).
· Townes Van Zandt – The prettiness of his haunting country-folk tunes belied a very rough lifestyle. Covered by Tindersticks and Cowboy Junkies (with whom he toured). Died in 1997 and lionized in the 2004 documentary, Be Here to Love Me – also featured in 1981’s Heartworn Highways, another big influence on Guy’s story.
· David Allan Coe – Recent tourmate of Kid Rock. Michael Mabbott decries his recent novelty fare as "full-on racist shit," but Kristofferson urged him to check out Coe’s early works. "There are a bunch of songs that are as good as anybody’s," says Mabbott. |
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