Music: Hank Williams - The Daddy of American Music
The clip above is from Honky Tonk Blues - The Story Of Hank Williams.
From Wiki: Hank Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who has become an icon of country music and one of the most influential musicians and songwriters of the 20th century. A leading pioneer of the honky tonk style, he had numerous hit records, and his charismatic performances and succinct compositions increased his fame. His songbook is one of the backbones of country music, and several of his songs are pop standards as well. He has been covered in a range of pop, gospel, blues and rock styles. His death at the age of twenty-nine helped fuel his legend. More...
And here's a link to an interestin' article from the New York Times last Sunday. Enjoy.
Posted in Music
Comments (2) [Posted by Rooster] Print Email This
Music/Livin': Sad Day at Southern Brand
Jerry Reed has passed on.
To me Jerry Reed's music has a joy and energy that's rarely been matched. And he seemed like such a fun lovin' fella, I couldn't help but smile every time I'd come across a clip of the "hairy-legged, guitar-pickin' man." To this day, I start bouncin' and kickin' and gigglin' whenever "Amos Moses" or "She got the goldmine, I got the shaft" comes on.
Mentored and urged to play more guitar in his unique finger-picking style by the great Chet Atkins, Jerry was that rare cat who could do it all and seemed to make everything seem effortless, from acting to great guitar to writing great songs, Jerry's magic came at you like it was the most natural thing in the world. A redneck renaissance man.
I remember watching him act with Burt Reynolds in W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings, and get directed by Burt as a real bad guy in Gator. He was a laugh riot in The Waterboy with Adam Sandler. And he was great in a flick Dom Deluise directed where he played a cop (Hot Stuff - theme song by who else? Jerry Reed), and I loved him with Robin Williams in the comedy The Survivors as a crook.
Musically, just like with acting, he made it all look easy. From the funk-country-- (did he invent that? I think he did!) that drives When You're Hot You're Hot, to the country boogie jump of East Bound & Down (From Smokey and the Bandit where he was redneck-unforgetable as Cletus Snow - The Snowman)
He wrote Guitar Man and then played on it when it was recorded by the King, as well as U.S. Male at the same session.
Amos Moses is swamp-boggie-country-glam - I mean this cat from Alabama could do it all. The wiki entry is linked here. This man was more than just a sum of his achievements, wide and varied. He was 100 percent an American Original. Got a long way to go but a short time to get there. RIP wild man.
Comments (1) [Posted by Coop] Print Email This
Music/Livin': Been Caught Surfin’ - Checkin’ out the websites of the Country Music Legends
Waylon.Dot Com - Say it out loud. Kinda rolls off yer lips don't it? Waylon's website is real good. Seems like they dug out the ol' family album, raiding it for pictures and puttin' 'em on the website, saying: "come on in friends - this way into our lives". The galleries alone are incredible. Album Covers, Showbills, every single album Waylon ever made -- (and that's alotta albums) plus a gallery of his Backstage Passes (just about the best darn backstage passes ever made.)
The site is goooood loooookin'. It feels like it was made by yer techie redneck uncle, the one who storms into Radio Shack and doesn't wanna be bothered by them guys in the knit ties with the cross pens and - he just goes right to the transistors and the radar detectors.
The best thing about it is the 'family' feel to it. You can click over to home-style info on Shooter. You can check out every darn record cover Jessi Colter ever made (Further proof that she is the foxiest woman ever to grace country music). There's a link over to the WaylonPedia, which is like a wiki but with a beard, if you can imagine such a thing. It gets a 'lil confusing there, with links to waylonandwillie.com that actually lead to Waylon's old site-- but no worries, ya'll can figure it out. The 'Outlaw Connection' link takes you to Waylon friendly sites and in the 'Store' section you can buy a Waylon flyin' W guitar pick and bumper sticker (but not a Flyin W T-shirt -- what's goin' on with that?). The Waylon dubya is waayy cooler than the Van Halen logo (obviously Weezer thought it was great as well). But hands down, my favorite thing on the site is the shot of Waylon and Buddy Holly from one of those old photo booths. Waylon was in Buddy's second group of Crickets after the original guys left. He took Waylon under his wing and showed him the ropes. That pic is priceless.
Another outlaw's site worth it's weight in whiskey is Willie's, willienelson.com. Willie is selling live music wristbands. You can carry the whole concert he did in Monroe LA, on 10.25.07 or Huntsvillie Al from 11/01/07 in a wristband that houses a USB memory stick containing a whole Willie show. Say you go to a concert and you liked it so much you wanna take it home with ya? Well straight off the soundboard here comes the show on one of them 'lil cause-y rubber wrist bands, like Lance Armstrong or Bono wear, 'cept this money goes to the charity known as the Redheaded Stranger (a worthy cause). The wristband is full up with the show you just saw (or the show you missed--- there's a bunch of dates available on the site). Very interesting item and very weird too.
Johnnycash.com has got a little more of a commercial vibe to it. But it's nice, very nice. The merchandise is top notch. They've got a onesie with "I Crawl the Line" written on it. C'mon! That's great stuff. For those of ya'll without rugrats, a onesie is one of those tiny wraslin' outfits they make for babies. Like the ones Jerry "The King" Lawler wore, but without them Lane Bryant-style leggings. They also got Johnny Cash radio which pops up the second you get on the site. Bill Miller hosts it and does a fine job of taking you through the career of the Man in Black. It's deep in content, it's got tons of design and thought to it and my favorite part of it is the Bio section. The site keeps opening windows, which is a little inconvenient, but it's worth it for stuff like this. Just click on the 60s or the 70s and you'll dive into the most detailed description of Cash's career imaginable. The site uses real pretty fonts and the "Cash" typefaces are top notch although it's a lil bit difficult to navigate through.
George Jones? That's next week. What's that? Merle Haggard? Ol' Merle's site is under construction. But when it's read, I'm ready too.
Comments (1) [Posted by Coop] Print Email This
Livin': Helter Skeletons
We wandered across what might just be the coolest way ever to mount that 'ol five pound bass you been stalkin'. That is of course if ya ever land him. Grant, Eric and Brian over at Helter Skeletons will "skeletonize" your catch and mount it in glass with a nice mahogany shadowbox. They also have a bunch you can choose from if you're the kind of fisherman that I am, and only bring home a sunburn and a hangover.
Here's the lowdown from their site:
"Helter Skeletons Limited specializes in marine skeletal art work. We travel the globe in search of innovative art and new techniques to present the skeletons to our customers. Not only do we create skeletal mounts of our customers' fish, but we can also create a range of products and designs to meet their every need. Our work may be found in galleries, museums, logos, clothing designs, movies, tattoos, boats, and vehicle wraps. Bring us your idea and we will deliver you custom skeletal art to benefit your lifestyle or business." Continue Reading...
Posted in Livin'
Comments (0) [Posted by Skinny Earl] Print Email This
Livin': Mabe In America - Tom Mabe’s New Show on CMT
If ya don't already know about Tom Mabe, well it's about time ya did - his CDs, where he pranks telemarketers, are damn-near workin' man classics. But he's more than a prank phone call guy, he's a workin' comedian. He's got a blog on CMT.com, and he's got a new TV show fixin' to air on CMT as well. The clip above has been viewed over two and a hlaf million times on youtube. It's classic! (except for the goobers laughin' it up over the tape!) Here's a bit from his blog:
"Wow, I almost gave up! I’ve been in this industry since I was a teenager. I’ve been paying my dues for so long I was about ready to ask for a refund! Finally a show. And a good one at that! Here’s the journey, a lot of people know my work butdon’t know it was me that did it. I have several prank phone call CDs, Revenge on the Telemarketers round one and two, A Wake Up Call For Telemarketers and my latest CD that shares the same name as the show Mabe In America.
I guess the most famous call would be the Murder Scene Call, where I tell a telemarketer from Littleton, Co. that I was homicide detective and he was a suspect. Me and my best friend Jimbo have been producing CDs and video pranks since we were teens (4 years ago). After about 20 million views on youtube and 12 years of doing radio, networks started to pay attention again. I had two other pilots on other networks but had people from out west telling me how a guy from Kentucky should talk. “I’m from Kentucky, let me just talk!!!” OK, I was younger and just didn’t have the skills to deal with those Hollywood types." Read on here...
CMT has a contest goin' on where they're givin' away $10 Gas Cards to folks who watch his new show but don't laugh. They're callin' it "The $10,000 Laugh Guarantee. According to Andy Holeman over at CMT, “I think we will be hard pressed to find 1,000 people who don’t agree this show is hilarious, but considering the cost of gas, I don’t think we’ll have a problem finding people who overlook the ‘honor system’ for a little help at the gas pump.”
“It’s a sad day when your car’s Blue Book value doubles with a full tank of super unleaded,” says host Tom Mabe, commenting on the rising cost of gasoline. “Won’t be long before NASCAR adds a carpool lane!”
The show, Mabe in America, which gets started on the 4th of July at 9:30 pm and runs again throughout the weekend, has Tom and his gang wreaking havoc on loud cell-phone talkers and blue-tooth users, as well as reactions to incompetent doctors and lazy-ass ambulance drivers.
Mabe's a Southern guy who makes a livin' delivering jokes about junk-email, bad customer service, high gas prices and anything else that ticks off Americans. They've called him the “troubleshooter-troublemaker”.
You wanna split a gut - take a listen to this bit below - Tom gives a guy selling cemetary plots a hard time, and this fella --- well, you gotta hear it for yourself.
He's over at www.MabeinAmerica.cmt.com.
Posted in Livin'
Comments (0) [Posted by Coop] Print Email This