"Rednecks", Randy Newman

So I decided to take a double dip with Mr. Newman if only because this was likely the first song I heard on the radio where I thought to myself "but that's the N-Word; you are not even supposed to say that word LET ALONE put it in Popular Contemporary" (I would have seen it in fiction prior to that, of course; Huck Finn springs to mind).

Well, I got a hold of the lyrics and sorted out about Lester Maddox and also this "cage" in the various Northern cities, and learned something about character in song, POV, and how a songwriter could, conceivably, use "racist" language in such a way that it was attacking racism (don't recall any of that running around on the ol' Amplitude Modulation). And, of course, both the North and South take hits here (no reason to be smug, Yankee).

From his 1973 album Good Old Boys; I probably heard it for the first time right before Short People came out. (Oh, and Marie from the previous post is on that same record.)

"College men from LSU/went in dumb, come out dumb, too..."

Rednecks.

IBL:mm

"Marie", Randy Newman

Because he is just so fucking good. I was certainly aware of him before Short People (more on that in the next post), but it wasn't until later that I realized the impact of what he could do. If there is a song sadder than this one I'm not sure what it is. Probably another Randy Newman song...

"And I don't listen to a word you say/when you're in trouble I turn away..."

Marie.

IBL:mm

"Dreaming My Dreams", Waylon

Not too much needs to be said about Waylon, though it's hard to believe he's been gone nearly ten years. He is one of our absolute favorites, and I think one of the greatest voices we have. I chose the title track of his 1975 album because the arrangement is so spare and his voice really stands out.

Written by Allen Reynolds, of whom I know very little.

Dreaming My Dreams...

IBL:mm

Tevye We Hardly Knew Ye

When I was maybe 13 my mother took me to see Fiddler on the Roof in Los Angeles. Now, this was a big, big deal. We lived in Orange County and we NEVER went to Los Angeles; all I knew was that L.A. was "dangerous", it was unlikely I'd ever lay eyes on Dodger Stadium (certainly not for a night game!), and you had to be EXTREMELY careful and always alert if and when you got anywhere near the place (this from my father who, to be fair, lived in Los Angeles for years and years). At any rate, my mom and I got in the car late morning one Sunday, drove to Los Angeles from La Habra (about 45 minutes), had lunch someplace and then went to the theater for the matinee (and I know it wasn't the Pantages, but I'm not sure which theater it was; I just ran a cursory Google search and didn't find anything - Dave Stein? Garth?).

As it turned out, NOT ONLY was there no matinee that day (the box office was closed, no people around at all), but the marquee was ignorant of the antics of Tevye and his family - Fiddler on the Roof wasn't even PLAYING; instead, the current production was Your Arms to Short to Box With God, an all-Black musical that imdb describes as "a soaring celebration in song and dance". Which it may well be, but I never saw it.

We drove back to the safety of Orange County, my mother and I did, and if you've noticed this thing about me, that I often call ahead even if we are meeting at a bar that we ARE ABSOLUTELY DEAD CERTAIN WILL BE OPEN; or if I'm running down to get something at the pet store or whatever - well, impetus thine name is Mrs. Murray.

IBL:mm

Knapp's Lounge, Tacoma, Evening of October 12th (In Which I Buy a Drink for Terry)

Those of you who avidly follow this blog ( wait for it ... har) might recall that back on August 3rd or 4th I told the story of a gentleman named Terry who played me a bunch of Badfinger on the juke box at Knapp's here in Tacoma. After the first two songs he got up, said good evening, and left; then three more came on - he had played them just for me. I said to Danielle, "I'm buying that guy a drink the next time we see him in here."

Well let's close the loop on this heartwarming tale of human bonding, shall we? Diet Coke and bourbon? Robin, put that on my tab!

Cheers, Terry...

IBL:mm

In the 3rd Grade, I Discuss Art w/ Elizabeth Hiatt (a Movie - "Days of Wine and Roses", Starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick)

As I've been thinking back on all these songs from my youth, another memory sprang to mind. I was in 3rd grade at Our Lady of Guadalupe Elementary School in La Habra, California; Mrs. Borchardt was the teacher, as I recall. Now, I read a lot of books and saw a lot of movies as a kid that were not necessarily kids' fare (the novel Ice Station Zebra in 2nd grade stands out in particular). So one night I went home from school, I was either 10 or 11, I guess, and watched Days of Wine and Roses with at least my mother and possibly my father, too, though I don't recall him being in the room. I do recall being so traumatized by the film that I don't believe I've seen it since (I likely need to remedy that).

The next day at school I still couldn't get the movie off my mind, and desperately wanted to talk to somebody about it. So I went to a classmate, Elizabeth Hiatt - I don't know now why I thought she was the best bet - and asked if there was any chance she'd seen Days of Wine and Roses the night before. She had. And I remember being so RELIEVED; there was somebody who'd seen it, somebody I could talk to about it. Now, I have no idea what we said about the movie, no recollection at all, but I do know that was probably the first conversation I ever had with another person about art - to see some piece of art that effected you and find another person whom it also effected and then to talk about it.

So, Liz Hiatt, from across the years - cheers to you.

IBL:mm

IBL Travels to Outlaw Country (In Which I Re-Post Something From Yesterday Because I Now Realize It Should Have Its Own Personal Venue)

I felt this was important enough to have its own post, not to be buried in the Tom Russell post of yesterday. So this will be a repeat for some (as in word for word, cut and paste, etc.) -



So my evolving (har redux) musical tastes have lead me to Sirius Satellite Radio and, in particular, a station owned by Miami Steve Van Zandt called Outlaw Country. The thing about this station that makes me pretty much ecstatic every time I turn it on is that, first of all, they paint with the Outlaw Brush (IBL tm) very broadly (especially depending on the DJ), so I hear everything from Social Distortion to Lynyrd Skynyrd to polka music; Jimmie Rodgers to Loretta Lynn to the Bobby Fuller Four. Plus, of course, there's plenty of Waylon, Willie, Johnny, Merle, Kris, Shaver, Coe and all three Hanks; PLUS there's plenty of twang ta boot. And the DJs are often musicians (Steve Earle, Shooter Jennings, Elizabeth Cook) or producers (Don Was, Cowboy Jack Clement), so there is also insight as to the making of the music (both in and out of the studio), who was influencing whom, and just general Outlaw Country history.

Then, this - often I have heard country music dismissed as "hillbilly" or "hick", and likely there is a fair amount of music out there that fits this label. But very little of it is played on Outlaw Country (and, again, they are not playing strictly country music; I believe they think of it as a kind of "Americana"). But, nonetheless, there are endless intelligent, thoughtful songs by a variety of songwriters in a variety of genres, plus just some real fucking good country music, rock and roll, rock (yes, I think these are two different genres), folk, blue grass, Tejano, etc.

IBL:mm