12. "I Still Miss Someone"
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1959 Johnny Cash
MARTINA: "This came up as a result of the musicians and me sitting around throwing out ideas for songs. I wasn't really attached to any one version of the song, so we kind of gave it our own twist. This is one of the few on which we strayed from the original. As I was singing the song I thought how great Dolly would sound on it. I was thrilled when she agreed to do it. Watching her sing in the vocal booth was something I'll never forget. She sings everything with her heart and soul."
This is considered one of the great, classic Johnny Cash compositions. The melody came from Johnny's nephew Roy Cash Jr. Johnny penned the striking, spare, heart-touching lyrics. "I Still Miss Someone" made its debut in 1959 on the star's first Columbia Records LP, The Fabulous Johnny Cash. He also sang it on the landmark Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison LP of 1968. Although loved by millions and recorded by more than 60 artists, "I Still Miss Someone" has never been a hit country single. Dolly Parton sings harmony on Martina's version of the song.
Johnny Cash - Country Music Hall of Fame 1980
Johnny Cash - Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 1992
Dolly Parton - Country Music Hall of Fame 1999
13. "Heartaches by the Number"
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#2 1959 Ray Price
#1 1959 Guy Mitchell
MARTINA: "My dad has sung 'Heartaches by the Number' ever since I can remember. That was always part of the set list and he would sing it every Saturday night. So it was exciting for me to be able to put it on this album. Dwight seemed a natural choice for the harmony vocal. He did a great job and added cool character to it."
Ray Price was so impressed with Charlie Walker's hit "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" that he tracked down its then-unknown songwriter. Ray telephoned Harlan Howard at the factory that employed him to ask if he had any other songs that good. The thrilled Harlan sent Ray "Heartaches By the Number." It became Howard's biggest hit as a songwriter. It topped the country charts for Ray Price and was also a big pop hit for Guy Mitchell. After it was a success in 1959 the future "Mr. Songwriter" quit his California job and moved to Nashville in the summer of 1960.
Ray Price - Country Music Hall of Fame 1996
Harlan Howard - Country Music Hall of Fame 1997
14. "Satin Sheets"
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#1 1973 Jeanne Pruett
MARTINA: "I tended to shy away from songs that I had sung growing up. I think it's because I felt like, 'I've already done that.' This was an exception. I did sing 'Satin Sheets' all the time in my dad's band as a kid, so it is part of my personal history. For this version we tried to stay very close to the original, right down to the background vocal parts."
Minneapolis factory worker John Volinkaty had never written a song before he got the idea for "Satin Sheets" while grocery shopping. He mailed a tape of it to Jeanne Pruett, and she actually listened to the unsolicited song. She polished it, but took no songwriting credit. After she recorded it, the record company told her it was "too country." So she cut up little squares of satin and promoted it herself by sending them with notes to disc jockeys. The result was a No. 1 hit in 1973. Jeanne is one of Martina's fellow Opry cast members. Martina sang "Satin Sheets" as one of her numbers as a girl in her family's country band in Kansas.
Jeanne Pruett - Grand Ole Opry 1973
15. "Thanks A Lot"
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#3 1963 Ernest Tubb
MARTINA: "When you listen to Ernest Tubb sing this, it sounds like it hardly has any range at all. He sings it so easily but it actually has quite a wide range. This is one of the songs where you can hear how much fun the band was having in the studio. I like the tongue-in-cheek quality of the lyric. You can tell the break-up hurts, but maybe not that much! It has a sauciness about it that I really like."
Ernest Tubb was one of the founders of the hard-hitting country style that became known as honky-tonk music. The tall Texan ranked among country's top-10 hit makers in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1963, "Thanks a Lot" became the last of his incredible 58 top-10 hits. Two years later, Tubb was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. A peppy version of "Thanks a Lot" became a pop hit for Brenda Lee in 1965. The song has also been recorded by Johnny Cash, Billy Parker, Ricky Van Shelton and Hank Williams Jr.
Ernest Tubb - Country Music Hall of Fame 1965
Brenda Lee - Country Music Hall of Fame 1997
Brenda Lee - Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 2002
