The Open Mind Of...

John D. Loudermilk - More Than He'll Have To Give
John D. Loudermilk - Brown Girl
John D. Loudermilk - Bad News
John D. Loudermilk - The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian

About a year ago when I first wrote about John D. Loudermilk, under perhaps my most creative post-title, Being John Loudermilk, I didn't have access to all the tunes I wanted for the post. Now, thanks to my mates at The Omni Recording Corporation -- who are busy reissuing some of the more socially conscious Nashville stars of yesteryear, I do.

Loudermilk is, first and foremost, a skilled songwriter and today's selection of songs, with the probable exception of 'Bad News', are all based on real situations. In the liner notes to 1969's The Open Mind of John D. Loudermilk, Loudermilk states that he has "dedicated his life to reaching into the contemporary thinking of the man on the street", from that album, both 'More Than He'll Have To Give' and 'Brown Girl' are fine examples of that.

'More Than He'll Have To Give' tells of a young couple living together in an apartment paid for by the girl's sugar daddy. As well as having a nice melody the production and arrangements on this tune are particularly sweet.

'Brown Girl' is a story Loudermilk recalls from his home town of Durham, North Carolina, about a mixed race relationship in antiquated times. This style of storytelling is basically folk but the instrumentation is too rich to be classed as such.

One of my favourite parts of 'Brown Girl' is Loudermilk's easy, warm and natural laughter, a feature that's also present on 'Bad News'. Originally recorded by Loudermilk in 1963, 'Bad News' sounds like it could've been written for Johnny Cash so it's no surprise that he had a hit with it in '64. Like many Loudermilk songs 'Bad News' has been covered many times since then.

Having previously posted two other versions of 'The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian' it's nice to put up this one, sang by the man who wrote it after he spent time listening to the stories of Cherokee Indians.

The Omni Recording Corporation