Various Artists - Oklahoma Rising (2006)

Published by sybercope | Filed under Rock

The Oklahoma Centennial Commission has released “Oklahoma Rising,” a limited edition two-disc set celebrating the state’s rich musical heritage. “Oklahoma Rising” features a blend of classic and contemporary Oklahoma artists from all genres. The once-in-a-lifetime CD collection includes 46 songs by 43 Oklahoma recording artists and groups. The first disc, called “A Unique History,” highlights celebrated musicians from the state’s earlier days including Gene Autry, Chet Baker, Patti Page, Charlie Christian, BJ Thomas, Leon Russell and Leona Mitchell. The second disc, aptly named “An Extraordinary Future,” celebrates many of Oklahoma’s current stars and up-and-comers, including The All American Rejects, Brooks and Dunn, Katrina Elam, The Tractors, Sandi Patty and The Flaming Lips.

Norman native Vince Gill didn’t think twice when he was asked to contribute a song to a CD commemorating Oklahoma’s centennial, especially when he learned who he’d be working with. “The opportunity to write a song with Jimmy Webb … it’s not going to take you very long to answer that question,” said Gill, in a phone interview.

Gill and Webb, author of the classic country song “The Highwayman,” wrote the song “Oklahoma Rising,” the title track of the two CD-set of 46 songs, that encompasses works from artists ranging from Gill to Garth Brooks, Gene Autry to the All-American Rejects, from Charlie Christian and Wanda Jackson to the Flaming Lips. It’s a hell of a cross-section of Oklahoma’s vibrant history in music. “It’s a collection of music that you will never see again in this exact format,” said Jeff Gwaltney, executive producer for the project.

The idea started around May 2005 when he got a call from Gill’s camp and Tim DuBois, who used to run Arista Records and Universal South, Gwaltney said. They wanted the producer to work his connections for the centennial compilation. Gwaltney managed to wrangle permission from the various record labels to use the songs of the bands he wanted on the CDs.

It’s a set you won’t find in any music store. Gwaltney had to agree to keep the CD out of the stores in exchange for using the music. So, the set is available at area Arvest banks, Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn locations, Gwaltney said. Money from sales will benefit Habitat for Humanity, he said.
“It’ll be up to Oklahomans to decide how many of these are sold and how many people in Oklahoma are helped via Habitat for Humanity,” Gwaltney said.

Watching Gill and Webb write “Oklahoma Rising” was something special, Gwaltney said, and the result was a sweeping song featuring Indian flutes and chants from Gill’s friend, Bill Miller. “The song is a tribute to Oklahoma’s history”, Gill said. He wrote the melody for the song while Webb, an Elk City native, wrote most of the lyrics. “I was a little fearful that people were going to assume this was a new state song. But talking to Jimmy, he assured me, ‘No, all it is is just to celebrate 100 years,’ ” said Gill, winner of 17 Grammys during his nearly 30-year career. “Nobody’s trying to replace Rodgers and Hammerstein.”

There’s no Broadway anywhere near “Oklahoma Rising.” The song starts off with the lilt of a flute in the background, followed by chants from Miller and then a horn section. The chants carry over to Gill, who sings in his bluegrass- steeped tenor: “We’re Oklahoma rising/ Brighter than a star/Stand up and sing about her/Let the world know who we are.” A guitar kicks in on “are” and Gill paints a sweeping picture of a land run and prairie schooners while hinting at the state’s future.

Webb’s lyrics also touch on the Dust Bowl as well as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which took the lives of 168 Oklahomans, Gill said. “In the days and weeks following the bombing, Oklahomans came through as generous, brave, noble people,” Webb said. “The whole country had to bow in deference to that. In our heartland we showed that we have a great state and a great reservoir of courage. It made me proud to be an Oklahoman.” Writing the song was pretty daunting, Gill admitted. That anything could daunt Gill is saying something, since Gill recently released a four CDlong studio album, “These Days,” that just went platinum.

That’s 43 songs of new original material recorded in just over a year, folks. “It’s like trying to write Christmas music, you know?” said the 49-year-old father of five. “You sit down, you start talking about jingle bells and chestnuts and all this other stuff, and you go, ‘Gosh, it’s been done so much better so long ago. What’re you doing, you know?’ “I think Jimmy just did a great job of capturing so much of what’s gone on. Not only in reference to the earliest days, but the Dust Bowl days, the bombing, the things that we faced as a state. And, he just did a brilliant job of making it not sound like a commercial.”

Tracklist:

DISC ONE: A Unique History

01. Back In The Saddle Again - Gene Autry
02. Mockin’ Bird Hill - Patti Page
03. Mister Five By Five - Jimmy Rushing
04. Look For The Silver Lining - Chet Baker
05. Wheel Of Fortune - Kay Starr
06. Seven Come Eleven-Benny Goodman feat Charlie Christian
07. Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Claude Williams
08. Green Dolphin St-Barney Kessell (Ray Brown/Shelly Manne)
09. Let’s Have A Party - Wanda Jackson
10. The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
11. Oklahoma Hills - Hank Thompson
12. Paper Roses - Anita Bryant
13. Yesterday When I Was Young - Roy Clark
14. Help Me Make It Through The Night - Sammi Smith
15. Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On - Mel McDaniel
16. King Of The Road - Roger Miller
17. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head - B.J. Thomas
18. Joy To The World - Hoyt Axton
19. A Song For You - Leon Russell
20. Classical Gas - Mason Williams
21. By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Jimmy Webb
22. Oklahoma Stomp - Byron Berline
23. Great Is Thy Faithfulness - Leona Mitchell
24. This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie


DISC TWO: An Extraordinary Future

01. Oklahoma Rising - Jimmy Webb & Vince Gill
02. Much Too Young (Too Feel This Damn Old) - Garth Brooks
03. How Do You Like Me Now - Toby Keith
04. My Sister - Reba McEntire
05. When I Call Your Name - Vince Gill
06. Boot Scootin’ Boogie - Brooks & Dunn
07. I’ll Still Be Loving You - Restless Heart
08. Prayin’ For Daylight - Rascal Flatts
09. Inside Your Heaven - Carrie Underwood
10. Pickup Man - Joe Diffie
11. Someone Else’s Star - Bryan White
12. Oklahoma Swing - Vince Gill & Reba McEntire
13. Austin - Blake Shelton
14. No End In Sight - Katrina Elam
15. Baby Likes To Rock It - The Tractors
16. Oklahoma Dust - The Notorious Cherry Bombs
17. Swing Swing - The All-Ameican Rejects
18. Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips
19. Girl In 14G - Kristin Chenoweth
20. Mmmbop - Hanson
21. America The Beautiful - Sandi Patty

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