Ronnie McDowell was the leading voice of musical sorrow when Elvis Presley died in 1977. He has been watching girls go by, praising older women, and having his bad reputation ruined ever since.
The King Is Gone was McDowell's first smash hit released shortly after Presley passed away too young. The track sold more than five million records for its heartfelt lament from a true fan. McDowell had a voice and a look similar to Presley's, and his crooning style touched country and pop audiences alike just like his hero. When Dick Clark produced a movie about Elvis starring Kurt Russell, it was McDowell who sang all the Elvis songs for the soundtrack, and he has done that for three other film projects over the years.
McDowell easily transcended the Elvis connection, however. He pushed more than a dozen of his own songs up the country charts in the '70s, '80s and '90s. Two of them got to number one. He also made close friends with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and especially Conway Twitty who took him under his powerful wing throughout McDowell's formative years in Nashville.
One of the lessons Twitty conveyed most deeply was the need to tour. Take the music on the road. Meet the fans on their own ground. That's what McDowell is doing right now in northern B.C. He plays Prince George on Sunday night at the Civic Centre. He called the Citizen just inside cell range north of the Pine Pass in the Northern Rockies on his way to Fort St. John for a gig there Thursday night.
"I'm not just saying this," he stressed, "but I've been to every state in the USA, including Alaska, and I've been all over Canada, but this place of yours around here is some of the most beautiful in the world. It's gorgeous. It's up there with Hawaii as one of the most awe-inspiring place I've ever seen."
This from a man who knows scenes. He is a visual artist as much as a musical one. His paintings have hints of Norman Rockwell, with a deft knack for capturing scenes of Americana, some touching and some funny. George Jones was the butt of a joke in one acrylic-on-canvas depiction. McDowell coloured the country legend getting pulled over by the police while driving a John Deer lawn tractor. But the joke was a kind one prearranged by Jones's wife Nancy, who helped McDowell present it to Jones on Christmas Day in 2009.
McDowell talked like a teenager gushes about a first car when he disclosed that he'd been commissioned by the Disney corporation for three paintings per year over the next five years, all on the strength of a scene he painted as close to historically accurate as he could get of a young, broke Walt Disney boarding the California Ltd. train for a desperate venture west towards his dreams of working in the film industry. Ahead of Walt walks Steamboat Willie, aka Mickey Mouse, also boarding the train. It was entitled The Journey Begins and was the first in a McDowell series now underway.
But the singer-songwriter has not painted over his music career, and he took gentle exception to an opinion editorial released this past week by another country star with a long hit parade, Collin Raye. Raye was, in short, giving the current state of country music a scathing review for being weak of vocal quality and thin on lyrical arts.
"I'm sure Colin has a point, but I do hear great stuff out there," said McDowell, who has recently penned tunes for George Strait, Tim McGraw and Jimmy Buffett. He keeps his ear to the radio for the latest pop to old-time rockabilly.
"In fact, I think my favourite artist right now is Bruno Mars. If you aren't into Bruno Mars, there's something wrong with you," he laughed. "But what he's doing is incorporate Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Sam Cook, infusing all these wonderful backgrounds. And Michel Buble is another one who does that. He has Sinatra wrapped all around him." He also tipped his hat to chanteuse Colbie Caillat for being the most under-appreciated of the modern pop set.
Forging modern perspectives out of the musical lessons of history is what keeps art alive, according to McDowell's philosophy, which is why he maintains close relations with Elvis collaborators The Jordanaires, Millie Kirkham, D.J. Fontana and others steeped in that golden age of American music. It's what moves you forward, in the recording studiio or out on the road, even when you're not struggling to make a name for yourself anymore.
"I just have to keep busy doing stuff. If I stop working I'll die," he said. "I take care of myself. You have to eat right, exercise, keep stress out of your life, and do what you love."
He'll demonstrate in person this Sunday at the Civic Centre. Tickets are available at the door for the 8 p.m. performance.
