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Readin'/Livin': New York Times: Delta Dawn

There was an excellent article in yesterday's New York Times by Dave Gardetta about Mobile, Alabama and how the city is evolving. It's accompanied by some beautiful and telling photography by Katherine Wolkoff. Check it out here...

Posted in Readin', Livin'

Tags: southern, americana, southern culture, south, american, alabama, mobile,

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Music: Johnny Cash - One Piece At A Time

You know they built that car - the one from "One Piece At A Time." They built her for Johnny Cash. The song was written as an homage of sorts to the Detroit auto workers who built Cadillacs, but could never afford to purchase one. Wayne Kemp wrote it. He played lead guitar for George Jones and wrote a buncha great tunes, including "I'm The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised" for Johnny Paycheck. According to blogger Ted Baylis, Bruce Fitzpatrick, (standing far right in the pic) owner of Abernathy Auto Parts and Hilltop Auto Salvage in Nashville, TN, was asked by the promoters of the song to build the vehicle for international promotion. Bruce had all the different models of Cadillac mentioned in the song when it was released, and built a Cadillac using the song as a model. The car was presented to Cash in April of 1976.

We stumbled upon a video Johnny did for that thing - and well, maybe a video wasn't quite the right thing to do at that point. Starts out real cool with a performance, and then at about the 45 second mark, the home movie clips start. I don't know what 'ol Johnny was on but he's shakin' it on the hood like a gal in a Sir-Mix-Alot video. But man, he's still Johnny freakin' Cash. As for the car, they had her parked out in front of the House of Cash (check out Steve Menke's great Johnny Cash site) for a few weeks way back when, wonder where she is now.

Posted in Music

Tags: country music, southern music, hillbilly music, johnny cash, southern culture, hillbilly, culture, one piece at a time, cadillac, johnny paycheck, redneck culture,

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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'

Tags: southern, redneck, southern culture, southern art, fishing, helter skeletons, fish skeleton art, fish mounts, bass fishing, fish mounting,

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Music: Dolly Parton - Jolene

The iconic Dolly Parton doin' a little talk up and then performin' "Jolene" Live in London.

In case ya don't know: (Wiki)
"Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is a Grammy Award-winning country music singer/songwriter, composer, author, actress and philanthropist. To date, she remains The Most Successful Female Country Artist In History, with 25 number-one singles (a record for a female country artist) and 42 top-10 country albums (a record for any country artist). Her 1967 hit "Dumb Blonde" caught Porter Wagoner's ear, and he hired Parton to appear on his television show, where their duet numbers became famous. By the time her "Jolene" reached number one in 1974, Parton's fame had overshadowed the boss', and she had struck out on her own, though still recording duets with him. Dolly has sold over 155 million records.

During the mid-'70s, she established herself as a country superstar, crossing over into the pop mainstream in the early '80s, when she began singing pop as well as country. In the early '80s, she also began appearing in movies, most notably the hit 9 to 5. She dominated the charts for most of the '80's and into the mid '90s before she was blindsided by the "new country revolution". Even with no outlet for her music, she trudged on and continued to release albums. She experienced a rebirth of sorts with more bluegrass and acoustic flavored renderings in the late '90s and early '00s. She's known for her distinctive mountain soprano, sometimes bawdy humor, flamboyant dress sense, and her large bosom."

Visit her website. She's got a new site comin' this year, but you can link to her other sites. The intro's a hoot.