“But You Know I Love You” is another “sucks being on the road” song, but this time it’s not one by John Denver. It was written by Mike Settle, a member of the First Edition, along with Kenny Rogers. They recorded it first in 1969 and it became a hit for them. It was also covered by country music stars Bill Anderson and Dolly Parton (separately) and has since been covered by many more. Glad I’m not recording this in some lonely motel room on the road.

“Starwood in Aspen” is another song in John Denver’s extensive list of “sad to be on the road” compositions that started with “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” I don’t know if any other artist wrote more songs lamenting the traveling life–I could probably reel off a dozen titles here without thinking too hard. It’s a tough life, I’m sure, and I guess he was conflicted about it, but he certainly used his experience as a creative springboard.

“Cherokee Fiddle” was written and first recorded by Michael Martin Murphey and rose to #52 on the country charts and in 1980 Johnny Lee’s version was included on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack album. A later re-recording by Lee cracked the country top 10. The story is based on a fiddle player named “Scooter”; his real name was Dean Kirk. He was of Choctaw Indian and Irish descent and he worked as a professional musician and in his later years played at the train station in Silverton, Colorado (Wikipedia). Obviously, it could use some fiddling in the breaks, but since I didn’t have that I tried a little hammer-on/drone trick to try to at least evoke the feel of a country fiddle.

Shel Silverstein wrote “A Boy Named Sue” and sang it for Johnny Cash at a songwriters’ jam in Nashville. According to the Songfacts website, Johnny’s wife, June Carter, thought it would be a good one for Cash to do. He took a copy of the song with him and performed it for the first time ever while recording his “Live at San Quentin” album, reading the lyrics onstage as he sang it, and it became one of his biggest hits. You just never know.