“The Charlie Rymer Golf Show” Season 2, Episode 6: Country Music Singer-Songwriter Jamey Johnson

Charlie Rymer (00:14):

I’m at the Barefoot Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Today we’re hanging on the Greg Norman course and my guest today, he is country music singer and songwriter, the incredibly talented Jamey Johnson. I’m Charlie Rymer, and this is Riding With Rymer.

It ain’t going to get no better than that. Jamey Johnson, come get in this cart. We got to get out on that golf course.

Jamey Johnson (01:22):

Woo. You got a long day ahead of you.

Charlie Rymer (01:25):

We going to talk a little life, a little country music, a little golf. We might tell a few lies. It’s going to be a perfect day.

Jamey Johnson (01:31):

Some of it’ll be true.

Charlie Rymer (01:34):

Whatever you do, don’t touch this. I hear that’s a horn.

Jamey Johnson (01:37):

Yeah.

Charlie Rymer (01:37):

So I got to ask you, what’s a badonkadonk?

Jamey Johnson (01:46):

That’s a very good question. I wish I were uniquely qualified to provide the definition. Randy Houser and Dallas Davidson and I had met over at the bar where we had a buddy of ours, Rob Hatch, was bartending. Can’t remember if it was Dallas. I think it was probably Randy. He looked out there and said honky tonk badonkadonk and me and Dallas were on either side of him, and all three of us being songwriters we knew a hit song title when we heard one. Me and Dallas both said, “Hell, I’m in. Put me on that one.”

Charlie Rymer (02:24):

There you go.

Jamey Johnson (02:25):

It’s not exactly the greatest country song of my career, but it made my kid laugh.

Charlie Rymer (02:31):

When you write a song, are you in like a commercial studio? Are you in a basement or are you on a back of a bus? Can you do it anywhere? How does that work?

Jamey Johnson (02:41):

There’s no particular magic in it. I mean the magic is in the mind more so than in the room. It doesn’t hurt to have a good room, but I don’t think the song cares. I think it’s coming one way or the other.

Charlie Rymer (02:52):

One way or the other.

Jamey Johnson (02:53):

Or it’s not.

Charlie Rymer (02:55):

All right. We’ll get to see that driver now. I’ve heard you hit it about 300, 400 yards.

Jamey Johnson (03:02):

Well, I took some lessons from John Daily, but don’t hold that against him.

Charlie Rymer (03:06):

I won’t. Man, we got straightaway hole here. It ought to be good for you. I know you’re working a lot right now. You’re out on the road some with Randy Houser?

Jamey Johnson (03:17):

We’re doing some acoustic dates.

Charlie Rymer (03:19):

I love acoustic shows.

Jamey Johnson (03:21):

I love them too, especially with him because it kind of takes us both back to early days of our career.

Charlie Rymer (03:28):

It’s called Cadillac Country Tour.

Jamey Johnson (03:31):

So my first record that I ever put out was called, They called Me Country. Yeah, and so Houser’s first record he put out was called, They called me Cadillac. So we put them together. We got the Country Cadillac Tour.

Charlie Rymer (03:44):

I love it. Let’s see you stripe this right down the middle.

Jamey Johnson (03:47):

Everything I’ve been hitting lately has been going straight left, so I’ve been aiming at them trees down the right side.

Charlie Rymer (03:52):

It makes sense.

Jamey Johnson (03:53):

Yeah. We’ll see how it works. Oh, there’s snap, crackle, and pop.

Charlie Rymer (04:04):

Man, that’s some speed right there. John Daly be proud of that one. There you go. Oh, that looks good. Ah, that’s close to the hole. Just had to get you warmed up a little bit. Man, these greens are in good shape.

Jamey Johnson (04:27):

Yeah, they are. They’re beautiful.

Charlie Rymer (04:33):

Yeah. Had to use all the hole. That one will be very dramatic for the camera. I got to tell you, this is my all-time favorite country song is George Strait’s 51st number one, Give It Away. I just, when that song starts, the hair stand up on my arm talk, talking about, because it, you know what? It moves me. It hits me in my chest. Can you walk me through how that Give It Away was born?

Jamey Johnson (05:02):

That one’s special for me. That song put my career on the map in a lot of ways. I’d been dropped off of RCA. I was in the middle of a divorce and just kind of in a dark place. I know a lot of people have been there, but sat down to write with Buddy Cannon and Bill Anderson, and all I had was that title, and I didn’t even know what I intended to do with it. I just riffed off an idea and said, I don’t know, something like she was storming through the house that day. I could tell she was leaving and I thought, she’ll be back. But she turned around and said, “Hey, all this stuff here, just give it away.”

Jamey Johnson (05:52):

That was just kind of a broad stroke outline of what I thought a verse might play out like. But Bill Anderson said, Well, how about what if we did a recitation? What if you just did exactly what you just said? It is one of those things that in a writing room, you have to be open to everybody else’s suggestions. There’s no way in hell I would’ve ever wrote a song with a recitation if not for Bill Anderson. So fast forward, and I wasn’t thinking about that song for nothing. I’m out there trying to tour and finish my gigs, and I’m doing this without a label. Irv Woolsey called me up one day and he said, “I played your song for George and he’s fixing to go in and cut it.” I just about did a back flip on the phone, and I had to ask him. I said, “What song did you play?” He said, “Give It Away.” And I went, “Huh.”

Jamey Johnson (06:51):

So George recorded that song and a buzz started around my career again in Nashville that I hadn’t felt in a while. When that song came out, it really got a lot of people’s attention. I started working on another record.

Charlie Rymer (07:10):

Which was meant to be, wasn’t it?

Jamey Johnson (07:12):

Yeah. Well, I owe a lot to George for recording that song and keeping me from falling through the cracks.

Charlie Rymer (07:21):

All right, I got a par three for you with a view.

Jamey Johnson (07:23):

All right.

Charlie Rymer (07:25):

We’re going to hit this ball right in the water. You’ve already figured out you’re going to hit it in the water. Let me get you a yardage here.

Jamey Johnson (07:32):

All right.

Charlie Rymer (07:33):

I’m going to say we got a 160-yard shot for you.

Jamey Johnson (07:41):

All right.

Charlie Rymer (07:41):

What’s that little three quarter nine iron? Man, what a pretty hole. You going to hit over there, or you going to hit over here between these tees?

Jamey Johnson (07:52):

Grab me a little nugget of tee right there.

Charlie Rymer (07:53):

Oh, free tee.

Jamey Johnson (07:55):

That’s right. Borrowed.

Charlie Rymer (07:57):

I’m not above stealing sporting equipment off of the course.

Jamey Johnson (08:02):

Looks like we got a little wind going to the left.

Charlie Rymer (08:05):

Yeah, you better aim this out to the right. You better sling it a little bit.

Jamey Johnson (08:08):

Aim?

Charlie Rymer (08:09):

Get you a nice power draw.

Jamey Johnson (08:11):

When did we start aiming?

Charlie Rymer (08:16):

You got a solid.

Jamey Johnson (08:19):

I don’t know if that’s in a bunker or not. Let’s go find out.

Charlie Rymer (08:21):

You got the right distance. That’s not bad. It’s a lot better than I thought you’d do.

Jamey Johnson (08:24):

Well, thanks.

Charlie Rymer (08:28):

All right. So you’re just a little left of the green here and yeah, a little unorthodox with your short game. What are you going to do for us?

Jamey Johnson (08:35):

Friend of mine taught me you can take his four iron and use it like a putter, and so that’s how I tend to play some of these shots where it’s going from this rough over to the green. At least my outcome’s a little more predictable this way. I think it’s probably going to break a little bit to the right.

Charlie Rymer (08:51):

Yeah, it’s going to have about five, six feet of right in it at least.

Jamey Johnson (08:58):

Hopefully it’ll just stop over there somewhere.

Charlie Rymer (09:00):

That’s not bad. That’s not bad at all. Come on. We can make that.

Jamey Johnson (09:02):

I do a lot worse with that chipper though. Be expecting that pretty putt. Now we could be here a while.

Charlie Rymer (09:09):

We don’t have to make them all.

Jamey Johnson (09:14):

Yeah, that’s right.

Charlie Rymer (09:16):

I think you got this one. Left edge. Well, all I can say …

Jamey Johnson (09:24):

Yeah.

Charlie Rymer (09:24):

… is I’m glad you sing for a living.

Jamey Johnson (09:26):

Me too. I can three puff anywhere.

Charlie Rymer (09:31):

Tell me about the special relationship you had with Merle Haggard.

Jamey Johnson (09:37):

Man, well, obviously I was a fan. I don’t know what it was. There was something about Merle I needed for him not just to have met me. I needed him to know who the hell I was. It was a privilege to get to spend time with Merle, and it’s a privilege that only Merle could have granted. When I met Merle, we immediately became good friends and we told all kinds of jokes. We laughed a lot. He told stories about this and that, and I tried to absorb him as much as I could. He was more than a mentor. He was a friend, and that’s something that I cherished. When he passed away, he told the promoters he wanted me to take his spot. He was booked to do a bunch of shows with Willie. He asked that I take his spot on those shows.

Charlie Rymer (10:30):

Finish out the tour.

Jamey Johnson (10:31):

So what we did, I just started inviting every artist friend I had to come be a part of that with us. And we got visits from Lee Ann Womack, Chris Stapleton, and his wife Morgan, and Ryan Bingham and several other artists on that tour. But that whole set, all we did was Merle Haggard songs. It was a healing time for us, but it was also a healing time for everybody who had bought those tickets thinking they were going to come see Merle. And so my whole set became a tribute to Merle.

Charlie Rymer (11:09):

Well, Jamey, sadly, our cameras, they weren’t rolling when you hit this spectacular second shot into the par five 18, Here we are, the Norman course at Barefoot and just eight inches from the hole for your eagle. Can you finish off the day strong with an eagle?

Jamey Johnson (11:24):

Well, thanks to all your putting advice, I think I’ve got this down.

Charlie Rymer (11:27):

Let’s see it.

Jamey Johnson (11:28):

I think I’ve got it.

Charlie Rymer (11:29):

Come on, Jamey, you can do this.

Jamey Johnson (11:31):

I’ve got the ball lined up with the line going right.

Charlie Rymer (11:34):

It’s perfect. It’s your day.

Jamey Johnson (11:36):

Get my feet all set.

Charlie Rymer (11:41):

I’m going to give you that for birdie. Very nice birdie.

Jamey Johnson (11:44):

I’m going to stick to guitar.

Charlie Rymer (11:46):

You stick to guitar. But he had a great time. Thank you so much for coming and being on the show.

Jamey Johnson (11:50):

I had a great day. Thank you for having me.

Charlie Rymer (11:52):

I look forward to spending some more time with you in the future.

Jamey Johnson (11:54):

It’s going to take a lot.

Charlie Rymer (11:57):

We’ll do it. Be safe out there on the road, brother.

Jamey Johnson (11:59):

You too.

Charlie Rymer (11:59):

I sure am lucky to get to talk with so many awesome people in this game I love. I’ve got more in store for you so don’t click that clicker. Nothing beats golf in Myrtle Beach. I’m showing off and playing some of our best courses all while giving you some advice for your game. This is Charlie’s Golf Tips.

Charlie Rymer (12:40):

Welcome back to the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Now normally this is a happy show, but I’m going to show you something really sad. Come on and check this out. Fried egg. That’s really intimidating, isn’t it? But it shouldn’t be. Three things to remember when you hit a shot like this. Number one, put the ball up in your stance a little bit. Number two, keep your club face square. Number three, don’t be afraid to hinge your wrist and hit hard as you can down into the sand driving the club in behind a ball.

Charlie Rymer (13:19):

Yeah. Now we’re back to being a happy show. I got myself in a pretty tough situation here, all sitting down in the rough a little bit. I got a big bunker. I got to carry. Green’s sitting up high above me. But guess what, folks? I’m not going to freak out because I know how to hit this shot. It’s just like hitting a bunker shot. All I’m going to do is get my club face wide open and I’m going to intentionally hit this shot fat just like you’re hitting it out of the bunker. This ball will ride out of this grass. Come in nice, high and soft, no big deal. Comes in nice and soft. Give that a shot, might work for you.

Charlie Rymer (14:03):

All this golf makes me hungry. So let me show you around one of my favorite 19 holes in Myrtle Beach. So I’m smack dab in the middle of the seafood capital of South Carolina. This is the MarshWalk at Murrells Inlet. Here’s what we got here, a half a mile, eight restaurants, all connected by this really cool boardwalk. I’ve only got one problem with this situation right here where I’m standing. It’s only two and a half miles from my house. That ain’t so good for the diet.

Charlie Rymer (14:43):

One of my favorite things in Myrtle Beach is the Dead Dog Saloon. So there’s a reason they call this place the Dead Dog Saloon. Come on, I got something special to show you. So my wife and I, we’re dog people. We’ve got two golden retrievers, Buzzy and Gunner. One of the things that hits us hard when we come here to the Dead Dog Saloon, they’ve got this amazing tradition where folks can bring a photo of their dog that’s passed away and put them up on the wall. Check this out, Ralph, Cody, Alby, what a really cool way to pay tribute to a lost member of your family.

Charlie Rymer (15:38):

All right, thanks, Miranda. So this is one of the greatest delicacies known to man. Fresh Atlantic shrimp, fried, tossed in buffalo sauce, served with a little blue cheese on the side. If you like great views, great food, a friendly staff, live music nightly, and oh by the way, they’re open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes I just come over here and hang out all day.

Charlie Rymer (16:08):

Now I’m headed to the course, but I forgot my clubs. I guess I’ll just have to make friends, and I think I know how to do that time. Now for Ambush Trivia. I’m at the spectacular Caledonia Golf and Fish Club and there are some unsuspecting golfers out on the course right now that are about to have a chance to win a little.

Charlie Rymer (16:48):

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What’s up guys? How y’all doing?

Speaker 4 (16:58):

Good.

Charlie Rymer (16:59):

I’m Charlie. Y’all ready to play golf trivia? How you doing?

Speaker 4 (17:02):

Good. How you doing?

Charlie Rymer (17:03):

Nice to see you.

Speaker 4 (17:03):

Nice to see you too. I’m off to a good start today.

Speaker 5 (17:06):

Oh yeah. We’re doing all right. I’ve been worse. I’ve done better.

Charlie Rymer (17:09):

Okay, so I’m going to see if I can get you started a little bit better. We got a little something for you here. We got five questions. You got to get four of them, right? It’s a group effort.

Speaker 4 (17:19):

Can get my phone in and Google it?

Charlie Rymer (17:20):

Nope. You can’t do anything. You guys ready? This is on the history of golf. Oh, some of these are easy, but a few of them are pretty hard. where was the sport of golf first invented?

Speaker 4 (17:33):

I’m going to say Scotland.

Speaker 5 (17:35):

Scotland.

Speaker 6 (17:37):

England.

Charlie Rymer (17:38):

We’re going with a committee. Scotland.

Speaker 6 (17:41):

You looked at me so I figured I’d give you some else for there.

Charlie Rymer (17:46):

I will mess with you on this. The word caddie comes from which European language like French, Spanish, Texan, you know those? What do you think? Which European language did it come from? Like French, Spanish.

Speaker 5 (18:02):

I’m going to say French.

Speaker 4 (18:02):

I’m going to go with French.

Charlie Rymer (18:04):

Good answer right there. The root word is [foreign language 00:18:10].

Speaker 4 (18:11):

[Foreign language 00:18:11].

Charlie Rymer (18:11):

Yeah. [foreign language 00:18:12]. Okay. This one gets a little trickier. Finish this sentence. Fill in the blank. Golf is one of the only two sports that have been played on. Think exotic. Really exotic.

Speaker 5 (18:28):

Island.

Charlie Rymer (18:30):

More exotic than that.

Speaker 4 (18:31):

I was going to say the moon, but only one has been played on the moon.

Charlie Rymer (18:34):

Moon. Winner. Winner, Winner, winner. Okay. All right, what material? The first golf balls. What were they made of?

Speaker 4 (18:41):

Oh, I think they were leather. You got all that.

Charlie Rymer (18:49):

You grow with the old, we would’ve accepted wood as well. Leather good. Okay. This is the one that’s going to get you. In what century was the game of golf first played?

Speaker 5 (19:02):

Are you sure about that?

Speaker 4 (19:05):

I’m going to say the 1600s.

Speaker 5 (19:06):

You have 16 or 15.

Speaker 4 (19:07):

1500s or 1600s.

Charlie Rymer (19:10):

Golf was first played in the 15th century. You got that wrong. But the good news is we got a little something for you guys. Thank you very much. Great job. You got four out of five, right? We got a little something for you.

Speaker 4 (19:21):

Thank you, sir.

Charlie Rymer (19:21):

All right, thank you. Oh, we got, this is the fist bump. We do the bump shake. Here we go. Bump, do the elbows bump elbow. Appreciate it guys.

Speaker 6 (19:30):

Thank you.

Charlie Rymer (19:31):

Thank you. All right. Y’all have a great day. Thanks for your time.

Speaker 6 (19:33):

You the same, do appreciate it.

Charlie Rymer (19:35):

All right. Take care. Appreciate it. We need to go to one more break, but I won’t leave you for long.

Dustin Johnson (19:55):

Welcome back to the … what’s your show called?

Charlie Rymer (20:00):

It’s the Charlie Rymer Golf Show.

Dustin Johnson (20:03):

Is that the best you could come up with?

Charlie Rymer (20:06):

Yeah. Yeah. I still think that Charlie Rymer Golf Show is a pretty good name. Anyway, next, we’ve got some incredible drone footage of one of the most beautiful holes in South Carolina. Scratch that. The world. Right after this shot of the Grand Strand that is. Feast your eyes on the 18th hole at the True Blue Golf Club right down the road in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Well, it’s the end of another full day. Let’s grab a sweet tea and unwind by the water.

Charlie Rymer (21:15):

For as long as I can remember, golf has been a part of my life. Even now with my playing days, a distant memory, it’s a big part of who I am. Quite simply, golf has created relationships for me that would not have happened otherwise. For that, I’m forever grateful. Hope you’ve enjoyed the Charlie Rymer Golf Show and keep it in the fairway, folks. You got some balls?

Jamey Johnson (21:46):

I got a couple.

Charlie Rymer (21:49):

You got a tee?

Jamey Johnson (21:50):

Let’s see here.

Charlie Rymer (21:52):

We going to have to do that all over again.

Jamey Johnson (21:55):

What happened?

Charlie Rymer (21:55):

You didn’t have your ready.

Jamey Johnson (21:59):

Man. I don’t what to say about that.

Charlie Rymer (22:05):

Don’t worry about it.

Jamey Johnson (22:06):

I’ve never been one to golf well under pressure.

Charlie Rymer (22:11):

All right, here we come. We decide to put our bathing suits on.

Jamey Johnson (22:15):

Yeah. Be sure and get all this now. We’re starting a boy band.

Charlie Rymer (22:23):

That’s good. That’s good.