Finally, the fifth selected track for this mythical Desert Island Discs (with a twist) series and one that a took a time for its legacy to seal. Putting a date on coming across this 1997 release is a little tricky as Sara Evans was one of many country artists checked out in the aftermath of discovering the Dixie Chicks music in 2004. I am not even sure which discovery came first, the track or the famous quote from Harlan Howard summing up country music (in my book anyway, not literally). I'll probably date it around 2005-2006 with the album of the same name likely to have been downloaded from emusic at that time.
The song quickly became a firm favourite, but it was still far from legacy status. The first move securing that was a decision to launch a music blog in January 2012, one that was founded to cover live music which by now was a firm fixture in the gig diary. I had previously toiled with a few sporting blogs, but none had really taken off. While seeking a name, thoughts turned to the famous Harlan Howard quote, or from another angle - a popular and very good Sara Evans song. Amazingly, this name had been taken on the blogger platform, so the only way forward was to add UK to the name, which at least reflected the side of the pond the blog was from.
The rest is now history. Three Chords and the Truth UK went onto run for eight years, comprising of around a 1000 original-word reviews and accruing over half a million page views (give or take the odd Russian spammer). There was a brief rumour of its demise earlier this year, but they were unfounded and it is has burst back into life. The phrase, or cliche, still brings a smile to the face, whether seeing it scrawled on the walls of Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame, on the pop up site at the UK's Long Road Festival or in the title of music recorded by Chase Rice and Van Morrison, and even multiple lyric inclusions such as American Aquarium's 'Crooked + Straight'.
But the biggest smile is when I play the Sara Evans' song or check out the video recorded at the British Country Music Awards in the '90s. Wow that was a fine guest in those days. So alongside the other four choices that make up the Desert Island Discs (with a twist) series, Three Chords and the Truth by Sara Evans can stand proud with its pivotal status and legacy intact. At least in the mind of yours truly.
A recap of the five songs that are cemented in history and would be worthy of Desert Island Discs inclusion, in chronological order of discovery are:
Time for Action - Secret Affair
Man in the Corner Shop - The Jam
Barbarism Begins at Home - The Smiths
Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
Three Chords and the Truth - Sara Evans