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Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
Live free or die!
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March 16, 2004
Luck of the Irish
I'm pleased to note from my referrer logs that an MSN search for "leprachaun's story about pot of gold" brings back for the #1 result my review of the classic musical Finian's Rainbow, Fred Astaire's last starring musical role.
posted by Al at 3/16/2004 11:34:00 PM
March 15, 2004
Roy Clark's 71st birthday
Roy Clark was born March 15, 1933. Happy 71st birthday, Roy!
He's had a pretty good career, but really doesn't get the respect he deserves as a musician. He was the king fish hot picker for the whole run of Hee Haw, which put him front and center as the most prominent picker in country music during the last generation of real country.
Anything with strings he can make sing- a guitar, a banjo, whatever. For one of your best examples of hardcore Roy Clark pickin' get up on "Malaguena."
Curiously, a lot of his biggest and best actual hit singles on country radio were ballad type material with no hotshot guitar, which was theoretically his strong suite. He didn't even write most of them. Nonetheless, somebody wrote him some classic tunes.
"Yesterday When I Was Young" is a beautiful song of middle aged regret, haunting- probably his best song. "Right or Left at Oak Street" ain't far behind.
"Thank God and Greyhound" rates pretty high as a song as well. You just can't argue against that very articulate sigh of relief.
Also note his participation in the underappreciated Hee Haw Gospel Quartet with, among others, Grandpa Jones. There are a couple of albums of them floating around, and well worth a listen if you have any interest at all in country gospel.
Special shout out here for a really curious novelty song called "Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka." He is essentially making a comical plea for a country music/Lawrence Welk polka alliance against the hippies. It's a real hoot, and actually a very good piece of songcraft.
Here are a few especially outstanding highlights that you NEED to hear:
Yesterday When I Was Young
Thank God and Greyhound
Right or Left at Oak Street
The Tips of My Fingers
Malaguena [one especially hot Spanish guitar showcase]
Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka
I Never Picked Cotton
Come Live with Me
Honeymoon Feeling
Turn Your Radio On [Hee Haw Gospel Quartet]Labels: country_music
posted by Al at 3/15/2004 08:50:00 PM
Spanish security
Blog buddy Mike Kole as it happens was in Spain and riding their trains within the last couple months. He has a couple of good columns at his Kole Hard Facts of Life blog about his and the wife's recent experiences as passengers on those trains- and possible implications for how we might improve security on their and our commercial trains. He has thoughts broke down into several smaller posts, so look up and down from this one main one.
posted by Al at 3/15/2004 03:14:00 PM
Sly Stone turns 60
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE PHOTO GALLERY
Born in Dallas on March 15, 1944, Sylvester Stewart aka Sly Stone has a big birthday. Happy #60, Sly!
Sly's principle achievement is turning funk into high art and pop at the same time. He took the recent rhythmic and stylistic innovations of James Brown and applied them to superior pop song craft, and state of the art record making.
He had better melodies than JB, and generally far more interesting lyrics. Sly was about something.
 Sly was also John the Baptist to the messiah of pop known as Prince. Certainly Sly was the closest working model to the art/funk/pop model that Prince has worked so brilliantly in so many directions.
Stewart himself had a narrow window of creative productivity cut short by some sort of emotional/drug breakdown. Sort of the black Brian Wilson that way. Hey, they both survived.
He's gotten to be 60 though, and see his work from 35 years ago still reverberating throughout the culture. After all, he wrote and recorded...
Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
Everyday People
Family Affair
Sing a Simple Song
Stand!
Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey
Dance to the Music
(You Caught Me) Smilin'
You Can Make It If You Try
I Want to Take You Higher
...and they can't take that away from him.
posted by Al at 3/15/2004 11:37:00 AM
March 14, 2004
I is a highly rated intellectual type.
Albert Einstein was born 125 years ago today in Germany, March 14, 1879. His name is now the very symbol of highest level human intelligence. Some smart dude is an Einstein. He received a noble prize in 1921.
He is best known for his general theory of relativity, symbolized a E=mc2 or "Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared."
Knowing this proves that I too am really smart. Indeed, I is a highly rated intellectual type person. Did I mention that I have a sixth grade degree, and that I'm going to become brain surgeon- or perhaps a Hollywood playboy?
Anyhow, I figured his birthday deserved at least as much notice as, say, Courtney Love's latest arrest, or J Lo's latest boyfriend.
posted by Al at 3/14/2004 11:23:00 PM
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