More bad news....
I'm loving being back *lurking*, but I'm really beginning to hate all this bad news. Please pray, dance, ritualize, shout, drink - do whatever healing thang you do to help this guy get well. Not only is he a great guitar player, IMHO, but a good friend and sweet, sweet person. Thanks! Hey bluegrass fans: The word from the Boulder, Colorado area is that Hot Rize member Charles Sawtelle is in the hospital, locked in a terrible struggle with leukemia. It sounds pretty serious, from what I've heard. Healing vibes sent in the direction of Mr. Sawtelle sure could not hurt.
Re: Southern gospel
Howdy, David says: So maybe the SG tradition has changed into something I don't get or appreciate. Very possible. Well, I suppose it's just like every other form of music. It's always being tinkered with for better or worse. There are indeed practicioners of vacant and (how ironic) soulless performances in Southern Gospel, as there are similar performers in other forms. I'm blessed with a limited knowledge and vocabulary in Southern Gospel, so I don't tend to cross paths with every group and song that comes down the pike. Since my mom raised me on Elvis' work, I was naturally introduced to SG through J.D. Sumner, the Blackwoods, and others that were an influence on Mr. Presley. My mom would also mention these acts and play whatever copies of their music she may have had in her almost Elvis-exclusive record collection. A fun alternate universe game that we played: "What if Elvis had joined the Blackwoods or some other SG quartet?" I will say that at the age of 6, when I first got to see Elvis in concert, I was equally excited about the opportunity to hear J.D. Sumner that night. I wanted to see if his voice could really make my insides shake like mom said they would. (It did.) Whoops... veering back on topic for a moment... David: But anyway, what I meant, specifically, when I referred to someone getting it all down in a book before it's long gone I have hopes that the SGMA's establishment of a Hall of Fame will be the first step in recording that history. I intend to poke my nosy self around a bit to find out what's what on that front. David: the quartet tradition of the Blackwoods, Statesmen, Florida Boys (who I know are still going strong), LeFevres, rambos, Oak Ridge, Kingsmen, etc. Is that still around down there? Yes it is, quite happily. Though, granted, what I refer to as the "crying mama" family bands seem to have the upper hand right now, out of sheer force of numbers alone more than anything. But, that type of Southern Gospel is a legitimate tradition within SG in its own right. The quartet I am most familiar with is the Kingdom Heirs. They are essentially Dolly's "SG House Band" for Dollywood, operating as regular performers there during the park season, serving as ambassadors and hosts for visiting SG groups, etc. They have become one of the most popular features of the park's entertainment network, which has a good deal to do with the decision to site the SGMA's Hall of Fame on the park property. The Kingdom Heirs also appear quite a bit, I believe they actually host, on a syndicated TV show called "Southern Stage." The show is/was filmed at Dollywood's Celebrity Theater and features a good many of the best SG groups out there. The show airs/aired (I no longer have cable and don't know if it's still in production) on the Odyssey Channel, but I think it may show up on some other Christian-themed or family-themed networks in other parts of the country. David: Given what I like, Shane, do you think the annual national quartet convention would let me down or lift me up? Is it worth checking out? Actually, I'm of no help at all to you here. I've never had the pleasure of venturing out to the convention. (It is the one in Louisville, KY, isn't it?) I can say that Dollywood's Southern Gospel Jubilee in October should appeal to your tastes, though. I'll be sure to post a listing of performers when it becomes available. Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED] NPIMH: Elvis, "I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs"
Re: very long piece on Replacements and Covers (was fulks andcovers)
Jake--can I call ya Jake-- That's as good a dissection of the issue Dina's question raised as I've seen anywhere. And also something of an excellent defense of something which probably SHOULDN'T have needed to be defended--an audience's recation to what it herad, the way it heard it. Now, I'll wager (hope!) you won't feel generationally pressured or doubt my word if I say that, tho born in 1950, right dab in the middle of those years you corrcetly identify as core "boomer" -I think I was always enough of an ironic type not to fall into the sorts of traps you note many of about my age have. (At least, I've done a reasonable job of resisting the impulse.) I also happen to despise the word boomer--even moreso when used all smiley cuddley beaming with daisies by somebody who is of that post-war generation themselves BTW --and just want to note that damn few people my age have ever felt or had reason to feel that we're arrived at power let alone hegemony over much of anything. As many of us as there are, and as intimidating and annoying as the sheer fact of us must often seem, those sheer numbers have largely reduced the power of most of us as individuals--and even opportunities. But enough of that morose stuff. Part of the beauty of all this is that none of us at all have to abide by the reductive, too dismissive, and often media-constructed notions of who we're supposed to be based ond when (or where, BTW) we were born and raised. In many ways--a lot of us around here seem to avoid falling into sociological stereotypes--one of the charms of P2--with members from--what did that report just say--18 to 65? Thanks for some original thinking and unusually potent writing. This sort of stuff is what made Postcard2 BTW, even if it's almost forgotten now. Somehow iIt figures that Mr. Cantweell was one of those who got to see this stuff early. He's no opponent of "Really Long". Fortunately. Yet Sometimes I also just want to say about our "generations"--"to hell with all of 'em."There are real differences in experiences, of course--bu tas for these capital G Generations monumentalized in stone. sometimes, for the individual, I think they mean about as much as decadesdo --not so much in the larger scheme of things.. Ol' Barry M. Peeping out from behind the hegemonies.
Re: Don't! Squeeze (they're charmin')
A lot of the music Jerry defends makes me seriously cringe, but I'll defend the hell out of squeeze. Yeah they made some wretched some, both coming and going, but East Side Story in particular is a frigging brilliant record, one of the few great ones to come out around that time. Will Miner Denver, CO
Re: THE DRAGON'S ROAR (fwd)
At 12:31 PM 3/2/99 EST, you wrote: West Coast country and western and American roots music historian, critic and journalist JANA PENDRAGON has begun a new column, (blah,blah,blah) Not sure if it is or not, but it would make sense. To her credit, Jana's been the most tireless defender in print of LA country for years now, She's been contributing to the Twangzine as well. Still, I prefered geekboy Weiss's Cisco interview to her Cisco interview. I'm not sure if I've ever read much of a negative review by her. Hey, I'm guilty of this as well, the Ray Condo piece being an exception. But I will correct this error in the next issue, the semi-retirement issue of the Twangzine. But hey, she's helping give a push to Cisco. That's cool. Cisco is the greatest thing to hit country music since big hair, push up bras, and bigbreasted steelbellied homewrecking coeds who provide their own cocaine. taking comments, submissions, and hate mail now for the semi retirement issue of the Twangzine. Deadline is March 15. My departure of the USA is April 5th. My opinion is ( and it's the only one that counts) that this will be the best and edgiest issue yet. Jeff Wall http://www.twangzine.com The Webs least sucky music magazine 3421 Daisy Crescent - Va Beach, Va - 23456
Re: jerry curry vs. portland
I've been off in some "never-never land" and have not been reading P2 for awhile, but I woke up long enough to notice this: At 02:53 PM 3/2/99 -0800, Jerry wrote: ... Let's see, no traditional country scene, that's particularly disappointing when I read about the stuff Honky Tonk Confidential is doing. Small bluegrass community. Horrible radio. Perhaps our Low Power FM project will help ease that Jones. Yes, I knowmove back East, East Tennessee boy. I hear ya. I do like it here though and really wasn't trying to slag the entire scene at all. The sheer number of quality clubs never ceases to amaze. Need an acoustic, singer-songwriter place to hang on though. I'd prefer being neck deep in the Nashville or Austin scene than up here. Those scenes just offer more opportunity to enjoy the kind of music I really enjoy than Portland. I'm most certainly NOT knocking Portland for developing musical directions that differ from my own interests. It's a truly wonderful area (to visit...g). And to live. Well, Jerry, I think you're partly right. The Portland music scene excels in other areas than P2-ish type of music, IMHO. I do believe the good stuff is there -- you just have to dig for it. (And I haven't done a huge amount of digging, I admit.) There's not much traditional country here. (I can give you a names a couple of traditional country bar bands that are reasonably decent, if that would be of interest to you.) If you're bored with the alt country music, why not try Portland's jazz? I've been working at KMHD about once a week, and I've got to tell you that there's some really great jazz stuff out there in Portland. (For example: Stan Boch is probably the best trombone player you'll've ever heard. I love it when he's on the show!) Last week there was no Home Grown Jazz live show, but the week before, it was a great group, Groove Revelation, that blended jazz and rock into a rather fascinating sound. The week before that was the Portland State University Jazz Band, and they were great. If you're interested, check out the schedule at http://www4.kmhd.org/kmhd/music/specialty.html (The show plays at 4 PM on Saturdays on 89.1 FM, or they simultaneously broadcast it on the web site via streaming audio. I'll try not to make any serious audio boo-boos this week!) But for something more country-ish, I suggest you check out Dave Carter Tracy Grammer. I heard them at PSA (Portland Songwriters Association) and again 6 weeks ago at the Greg Brown concert in Corvallis. I'd say they're sort of country-singersongwriter-folk blend. IMHO, their faults are that some of Dave's songs are too "redneck," and sometimes, too "new age" (in subject matter). But they have a real nice acoustic sound and their voices blend wonderfully. Tracy plays fiddle, mandolin and more, and she has a beautiful voice; and Dave does banjo and guitar and has an OK voice. I've got their cd if you want to hear it... Back to hibernating... Lianne
Hank Williams III
Anybody seen a show lately? I'm going to see him Saturday. . . Linda
Re: Sunrise (was: RE: Playlist: The Boudin Barndance - 2/18/99)
Basically yeah--the Hayride tapes (and in no all THAT bad quality BTW)--are readily available on gray market discs, and somebody repackages them every year... Two around in stores now are from the UK--"Elvis Presley: The Legend Begins" has some 19 cuts. It adds early TV appearances and an interview. Another UK disc out at the moment combines the Louisiana Hayride tapes with a pretty decent collection of covers of Elvis songs. The other live show from this period--Sun years and very eraly RCA--is that Mississippi Farm Show appearance--which only is found on thhat otherwise strange "gold" Elvis box. Barry I recently lucked into a copy of a 1982 LP, "Elvis: The First Live Recordings." There are 5 recordings from the Hayride, all from 1955 and 1956 (obviously). Anyway, the songs are "Baby, Let's Play House," "Maybelline," "Tweedle Dee," "That's All Right (Mama)," and "Hound Dog." Perchance are these the same songs from Sunrise? This stuff isn't very well recorded, but it's muy historical and E sounds great. The only reason I'd buy sunrise is to hear early live stuff, but I ain't gonna get if I've already got it. Lance . . .
Covers: A Follow-up
Thanks, everyone for all the comments. Now I just want to be sure my understanding is correct. If you are a Hot New Country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit, you will probably be vilified for it. If you are an alt-country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit, you will probably be lauded for it. Not even mentioning the casual listeners who might be drawn into fandom for you because of it, even your most ardent fans will appreciate this cover even more than they do your own songs. Did I get it right? Dina
RE: Esther ???
Barry Mazor wrote Jamie's got that exactly right. Mrs. Hockestix and I actually saw Ms. Bolint open for Freakwater some months ago; you can see it made for an, uh, interesting evening. Esther's still a resident of the same East Village she sludged through to the dulcet tones of Screamin' Jay Hawkins in my old friend Mr. Jarmusch's picture. Her music was DEFINITELY in the stolen by gypsies vein--but wanted at times to have a sort of twang twinge...(There's a new genre for ya--Twinge)...Screamin Jay, unfortunately, did not attend. Barry M. Yes it all comes back to me now... The voice... I always thought she was talking about me when she was saying "he's my main man"... She put a spell on me... Well Thanks for the response. She is coming out with a record in the Spring I see. Thanks Thom Wodock No matter where I go it always looks the same
Re: Hank Williams III
Loved it, expect to hear a bunch of Hank Sr and Wayne Handcock songs.
Re: 1st half-ironic cover? (was sucking in the 70s)
On Tue, 2 Mar 1999, Ph. Barnard wrote: Carl starts a thread: what was the first known instance of the half-ironic cover In my mind, it was always the Byrd's version of "The Christian Life." I couldn't understand it any other way than as an ironic gesture at the time Well, the Byrds had sorta made a habit of doing tongue-in-cheek songs right from the start, like "Oh, Susannah" and that song from Dr. Strangelove. So it wasnt too far of a jump to an obscure Louvin Brothers song. I wish I could read Jake's piece on this. It seems to be that much of the irony lies in the listener. (And havent we been through this thread before?) When I first heard "March 16-20, 1992," the gospel tunes sounded ironic to me. And of course a song like "Warfare" still does, but UT's version of "Atomic Power" no longer does (especially since they left off the last verse). And I think that has a lot to do with my loosening up about the idea of a rock band doing a gospel song. Or maybe it's because as the years go by I doubt the ability of Jay Farrar to be ironic. Will Miner Denver, CO
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer (was Re: jerry curry vs. portland)
Lianne recommends.. But for something more country-ish, I suggest you check out Dave Carter Tracy Grammer. I heard them at PSA (Portland Songwriters Association) and again 6 weeks ago at the Greg Brown concert in Corvallis. I'd say they're sort of country-singersongwriter-folk blend. IMHO, their faults are that some of Dave's songs are too "redneck," and sometimes, too "new age" (in subject matter). But they have a real nice acoustic sound and their voices blend wonderfully. Tracy plays fiddle, mandolin and more, and she has a beautiful voice; and Dave does banjo and guitar and has an OK voice. I've got their cd if you want to hear it... I'm gonna second Lianne's recommendation on this duo. I first heard them at Kerrville last summer and they stole the show in the New Folk contest (and were New Folk Winners). They've won many songwriter awards before that and since then. I lobbied hard for them to be included when we selected the Folk Alliance showcases, and although they apparently were both sick last weekend, they showcased well and had people talking. They've got a couple records--the most recent was rated pretty highly by the people on the FolkDJ list in their year end wrap up. Randi.
