PHIL PARAMORE:
Let's talk a little bit about this song,"The Day Bear Bryant Died."
The first time I heard it, I have to tell you, I just sat there with my mouth open, couldn't help but hearken back to that era when he died. Oh, by the way, just a little background information.
I was a senior at Auburn. I was a sports columnist for the student newspaper at that time and actually got to write the Auburn perspective of Coach Bryant's death and the neatest thing to be the school that he wanted to beat the most. Yet on that day it was almost as if a pall fell over even the Auburn campus. The grief and the respect that this state had was really, I think shown in the outpouring of emotions as the funeral procession wound through near Birmingham. It was a gripping time in this state, wasn't it?
Buddy Buie: It certainly was a gripping time for me. I was up in Atlanta at Lake Lanier outside Atlanta. We were writing songs for an upcoming Atlanta Rhythm Section album and the procession...
Bear had died. This was in January of '83. Bear had just died and ,matter of fact, this was the day of the funeral procession and Keith Jackson with those dulcet tones, I mean, My Goodness! It gripped us.
Usually I tell...
Every time someone asks me to tell this story, I'll say, "I wanna explain something to you. It's a myth that songwriters write from pure emotion. Like you see a sunrise and write,"Oh, What A Beautiful Sunrise!"
It doesn't work that way. You get an idea and you form it but this one wasn't written that way. This was written from pure emotion. We just put away...
We had an upcoming deadline to cut a record but we started this song there because that brought tears to our eyes and like you said, you know, one of the lines in this song is "The nation cried!
Friend and foe alike!"
I'm glad you alluded to that. I know you being an Auburn man, that interests me.
It'd be like Shug Jordan. You know I had that same feeling with Shug.
Phil: Well, you know, I guess Coach Dye being so beloved at that time. He had just snapped a long nine game losing streak to Alabama yet had the consummate respect for Coach Bryant. He basically had gotten to where he was in the coaching profession because of Coach Bryant's tutelage and his influence and help with him in his career and he sort of imparted the message to the Auburn family, "Look, there's nothing good about this. We have lost a true legend and a guy who has been a major influence on me and I, in turn, have tried to impart that wisdom on this program and I building a foundation off what I learned from him so let's all be aware."
This guy was our most bitter rival and as you know Coach Bryant's staunchest axioms was,"Beat your opponent, help him up and respect him when the game is over." http://robertoreg.blogspot.com/2006_04_30_archive.html
Let's talk a little bit about this song,"The Day Bear Bryant Died."
The first time I heard it, I have to tell you, I just sat there with my mouth open, couldn't help but hearken back to that era when he died. Oh, by the way, just a little background information.
I was a senior at Auburn. I was a sports columnist for the student newspaper at that time and actually got to write the Auburn perspective of Coach Bryant's death and the neatest thing to be the school that he wanted to beat the most. Yet on that day it was almost as if a pall fell over even the Auburn campus. The grief and the respect that this state had was really, I think shown in the outpouring of emotions as the funeral procession wound through near Birmingham. It was a gripping time in this state, wasn't it?
Buddy Buie: It certainly was a gripping time for me. I was up in Atlanta at Lake Lanier outside Atlanta. We were writing songs for an upcoming Atlanta Rhythm Section album and the procession...
Bear had died. This was in January of '83. Bear had just died and ,matter of fact, this was the day of the funeral procession and Keith Jackson with those dulcet tones, I mean, My Goodness! It gripped us.
Usually I tell...
Every time someone asks me to tell this story, I'll say, "I wanna explain something to you. It's a myth that songwriters write from pure emotion. Like you see a sunrise and write,"Oh, What A Beautiful Sunrise!"
It doesn't work that way. You get an idea and you form it but this one wasn't written that way. This was written from pure emotion. We just put away...
We had an upcoming deadline to cut a record but we started this song there because that brought tears to our eyes and like you said, you know, one of the lines in this song is "The nation cried!
Friend and foe alike!"
I'm glad you alluded to that. I know you being an Auburn man, that interests me.
It'd be like Shug Jordan. You know I had that same feeling with Shug.
Phil: Well, you know, I guess Coach Dye being so beloved at that time. He had just snapped a long nine game losing streak to Alabama yet had the consummate respect for Coach Bryant. He basically had gotten to where he was in the coaching profession because of Coach Bryant's tutelage and his influence and help with him in his career and he sort of imparted the message to the Auburn family, "Look, there's nothing good about this. We have lost a true legend and a guy who has been a major influence on me and I, in turn, have tried to impart that wisdom on this program and I building a foundation off what I learned from him so let's all be aware."
This guy was our most bitter rival and as you know Coach Bryant's staunchest axioms was,"Beat your opponent, help him up and respect him when the game is over." http://robertoreg.blogspot.com/2006_04_30_archive.html
posted by robertoreg at 8:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home