The Steel Guitar Forum

I was half asleep with the TV on after midnight last night when I half-dreamed I heard Ralph Mooney's unmistakable steel tone on the airwaves. I opened my eyes to see and hear a Volkswagen Jetta commercial -- featuring Wynn Stewart's version of "Another Day, Another Dollar." Mooney sounded just like the King that he truly is.

So was it too good to be true and only a dream? Or has anyone else heard this Madison Avenue miracle?

That "high lonesome desert sound" never sounded any better.

I found the link here...I'm glad I wasn't dreaming:

http://www.popisms.com/TelevisionCommer ... tta-2.aspx

Too cool!

Love it!

In fact love it so much I forgive all those Jetta drivers that are predisposed to weaving in and out of traffic and cutting me off!

I'm hearing it here probably 3 or 4 times a day. I was like Mr. Fish the first time I heard it. Half asleep and thought I was dreaming.

The commercial is called "moonlighting" on youtube !

Russ Blake and I saw this on a Jet Blue flight back from Long Beach, and we were both slack-jawed!

Years ago, VW had ads that featured two consecutive tracks from the BEAT AT CINECITTA VOL. 1 compilation of groovy 60's/70's Italian soundtrack music, so the precedent for surprisingly hip music choices in their advertising is established in my mind, but I digress......

This is great! A commercial that I actually like.

I don't know how the marketing gurus came up with this, but I'm glad they did.

I don't usually care for ad's that use songs I really like in the them. In this case, I just like hearing the song anyway. The rhythm track has a percussion sound in it that I think Hag borrowed for Working Man Blues. I love the Moon, I picked up a collection of Warren Smith today that has Moon all over it from the early 60's.

Jeff Keyton wrote:The rhythm track has a percussion sound in it that I think Hag borrowed for Working Man Blues.

Sounds like the same glass ashtray, doesn't it?

Finally some real country music on TV!

I really love Ralph Mooney and every time I hear him I like him even more. He is a one-of-kind.

Any ideas as to who is getting the royalty checks?

Roual,
I've never played on anything that has made it to the national level like this one, so I'm no expert on residuals (I suspect Mr. Bovine or Mr. Franklin might know something about this subject). Residuals are a percentage of your initial union scale fee for the original session. The amount is paid out every 13 weeks the commercial runs and the AFM handles the payments. Given that this song was recorded in the late 50's for the Challenge label, it's possible that there were no union contracts involved, sad to say. Wynn Stewart wrote the song and his current publisher Sony/ATV's Nashville office (who also happen to own the master recordings for all the Wynn Stewart/ Challenge sides) most certainly made the licensing deal for this usage, so there there should be publishing money there somewhere for Wynn Stewart's heirs and possibly musicians residuals for the players as well. I hope and pray that King Mooney will see some mailbox money for this one. I heard it again yesterday....it's everywhere!

UPDATE: I was wrong; "Another Day" was a 1962 single for Wynn Stewart and reached #27 on the country charts.

I also heard the commerical Fish. I'm hoping for a trend !
Hook

I've never owned a Wynn Stuart record,Could someone recommend which one to get?Thanks

Hi Stu,
Long time, no see...I hope the Great Northwest is treating you well.
Get "The Very Best of Wynn Stewart 1958-62" at Amazon, which is some of the better Challenge stuff...these tracks now all come from the same well, licensed from Sony/ATV. "Wishful Thinking" is one of my all-time favorite country shuffles with that deep Bakersfield groove and Mooney playing some truly classic pedal steel. Money well-spent!
Steve Fishell

"Wishful Thinking" is one of my all-time favorite country shuffles

+1

Steve,Thanks I'll check it out,Somehow I'm still kickin'Hope you are well me Amigo!

The Holy Grail is of course the 10 CD Bear Family Box Set...stop by the Texas Musik booth at the big steel shows - ask for Juergen - & he'll most definitely be able to hook you up

Also - of course not Wynn - check out "Buck Owens Sings Harlan Howard" originally out on Capitol in I think 1961, but reissued by Sundazed - pure, unadulterated Moon ...his ride on "Heartaches For A Dime (approx 1:02" to 1:30") should be in the frigging Smithsonian!!! IMHO

Several years ago I spent an afternoon at a friend's house in Hamburg. He is an avid music collector, and he introduced me to the Bear Family Wynn Stewart box set. I put it on and couldn't stop listening to it, marveling at the genius of Ralph Mooney. The man did so much with so little in terms of the fancy equipment that we all seem to need nowadays. Tasteful, emotional, and elegant steel guitar mastery.

Exactly Tommy, it was all in his heart, not his equipment.

Just for kicks, why don't we all add this to our song list? I think the band I am in is going to.

Stu asked which Wynn Stewart to buy. My answer is simply: any and all of them. I've got all of Wynn's stuff and there is not a single one of them that is not a treasure. I do have favorites, though. Such as Angels Don't Lie, Fallin For You and others. Probably my least favorite was his biggest, Its Such A Pretty World Today. But I digress. Stu, you can't go wrong.