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posted: 2007-07-22

By Michael Corcoran
Wednesday, January 23, 2008

In his first television interview following a stay in rehab, country singer Joe Nichols credits “If I Could Only Fly,” written by Austinite Blaze Foley and recorded by Merle Haggard, with giving him strength in his time of need. “I couldn’t think of anything to write, I couldn’t play anything… but this song kept repeating over and over in my mind,” Nichols told Country Music Television in an interview which will air Saturday at noon. “It’s the only song I could get through.” Nichols recorded “If I Could Only Fly” as a duet with Lee Ann Womack on his current album “Real Things.”

Foley was shot to death on Feb. 1, 1989 by the son of a friend. For more details on the case and the murder trial, which ended in acquittal, read the linked article.

posted: 2008-01-29

As customary, the album includes the cover of a country classic. This time around it's "If I Could Only Fly," the Blaze Foley composition Merle Haggard made famous. Nichols says he learned the song from a "$1.99 DVD" his guitar player bought at Wal-Mart.

"[We] watched it on the bus for several nights," he says. "I thought it was one of the better songs [Haggard] did in his set -- one of the best ones I'd never heard. So we started working on it. We worked it up live, and it came off really good. So we went back into the studio, and I asked if I could cut the song." Lee Ann Womack accompanies him on the album version.

posted: 2008-01-29

Living in the Woods in a Tree....a word from the author, Sybil Rosen
Current mood: focused
Category: Writing and Poetry

Living in the Woods in a Tree is an intimate glimpse of Blaze Foley's life and death, as seen through the eyes of the woman for whom he wrote his most widely-celebrated song, If I Could Only Fly. Written by Sybil Rosen, the memoir will be published by the University of North Texas Press in the Fall of 2008, as the second offering in their new series "Lives of Musicians" (the first being a biography of Blaze's running mate, Townes Van Zandt ). In a work that is by turns comic, romantic, philosophical and tragic, the award-winning childrens - novelist and playwright traces her efforts to reclaim a discarded past with Blaze.

When the urgency of a sudden collision with Foley's haunting ghost compels her to unearth, and at last confront, the years they spent together, Rosen is drawn to recreate their bygone paradise in a tree house in rural Georgia and their far-flung travels beyond. Welding past to present, she struggles to make peace with the memory of a young and promising Blaze, in contrast to her present-day discovery of the martyred outcast he would become. Through Blaze's love letters, photographs, drawings and lyrics, Rosen weaves a firsthand account of his transformation from reticent hippie musician to legendary singer/songwriter, in the process coming to realize his ongoing and profound impact on her life - creatively, emotionally, and ultimately, spiritually.

by Sybil Rosen

posted: 2008-01-29

Joe Nichols is the third major artist to record "If I Could Only Fly", Blaze Foley's best known song to date. This song will be on Joe Nichols new release, "Real Things", August 21st.

Thank you Joe.

There are more songs yet to make known to the public. That's why we are here, to promote the catalog of great songs written by Blaze Foley. If I Could Only Fly is only one of Blaze's best songs.

So far, two other songs have been recorded by other artists, which include "Clay Pigeons" by John Prine on his 2005 release, "Fair & Square". John does a great job on the song. 2003 release by Lyle Lovett, he recorded "Election Day" on his album "My Baby Don't Tolerate", which is also done very well.

posted: 2007-08-06