Crook and Chase (November/December?)

Transcribed by Sherry

Crook and Chase did a feature on Chris Isaak on "Today's Country" on TNN. The show aired some time after the band's performance on 11/24/98 in Nashville and prior to Christmas, exact air date yet to bedetermined.

Lorianne Crook: Well, Chris Isaak is a name you probably recognize. You may have seen his videos on CMT's "Jammin' Country."

Charlie Chase: Or you may have seen his acting in "Silence of the Lambs" or "That Thing You Do." But Chris is one pop star who knows his country music. When his tour brought him to Music City, our Lisa Young took Chris to the Country Music Hall of Fame for a private tour. AND a little surprise.

Cut to a clip of performance at Ryman Auditorium: Chris is singingWicked Game.

Lisa Young in voice-over: His voice has been likened to Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley but inside this handsome rock �n roller beats the heart of a true country music fan.

During the voice-over, a clip of the Dark Moon video is shown, audio almost at zero.

Cut to interview with Chris. Chris wears his blue suit with sequins and is seated opposite of Lisa.

CI: My older brother played nothing but country western. I mean, I had an older brother ... he learned to play guitar and I heard Webb Pierce, Floyd Tilman, Ernest Tubb, Slim Whitman ... I mean, that was just .. I never heard anything BUT that. He listens to me play rock and roll and he says, "You're just playin' country, aren't you?" and I say "No, no, it's rock and roll."

Cut to outside of the C.M.H.F. Chris in voice-over: More music history than you want to shake a stick at -- unbelievable!

Cut to inside the CMHF. Chris has his back to the camera, looking at a display of two guitars. He reaches for the guitar on the left.

CI: Now which one is this ... this is a ... Voice of tour guide: This is Jimmie Rodger's Martin guitar that he played on the Bristol Sessions in 1926.

LY in voice-over: The day Chris played his first show at the legendary Ryman, he and his drummer, Kenney Dale Johnson, spent the afternoon touching history at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Cut to close-up clip of Chris strumming the other guitar from the display. He sings: It's too late for you to change, who do youtry-ay-ay?

Close-up of Kenney playing his colorful xylophone.

CI: You had that in your pocket, huh?

LY: And if playing Faron Young's guitar weren't enough, Chris actually met one of his childhood heroes, Opry star Stonewall Jackson, who brought along an old 45 for Chris' jukebox.

Cut to clip with Stonewall, who wears a black Calvin Klein tee under a blue western shirt.

CI: What's gonna be nice is, when I get back home ... I've got my older brother, Nick ... sometimes we play ... we do a duet of "Don't Be Angry," my older brother and I ... So when I get back I'll be sayin' "Yeah, I was hangin' around with Stonewall down there in Nashville...."

LY: And he'll have more than THAT to rub in after this impromptu duet:

Stonewall plays Chris' back and brown guitar while they sing, "Don't be angry with me darlin', if I fail to understand." Stonewall's voice is strong and Chris harmonizes well with it.

Cut to another part of the museum � a pink and ruffled dress wrapped in protective see-thru cover is shown.

CI: Man! That is a lot of sequins .... a LOT of sequins.

LY: Yeah, like he's one to be talking. You might have noticed that, in addition to his encyclopedic knowledge of vintage country, Chris' flashy stage wardrobe would make even Porter Waggoner jealous.

Cut to the show at the Ryman: Chris is singing I'm Not Sleepy.

LY: But Chris says they don't call it show business for nothing.

Cut back to Chris at the sit-down part of the interview.

CI: I've got to try to make myself separate from the audience �cause they see me loading my gear in and out. So if they see you bringing your amp on stage and setting it up yourself, it kind of takes all the glamor away. So if you wear sequins ... I thought there's a ... you're separated ... that's all that's separating me from the audience - a thin layer of sequins.

LY: Sometimes that's enough.

CI: Some people have talent - I have a thin layer of sequins.

Lorianne Crook: If you look that good in sequins, that's OK.

Charlie Chase: That's right! Hey, by the way, Stonewall was in the audience at Chris' Ryman show and during the encore Chris sang Don't Be Angry for the crowd.

LC: Well, if you'd like to hear more from Chris, his seventh album is in the stores now, it's titled Speak of the Devil.

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