Records don’t get much better than this.  I love this album so much that I own it on three different formats.  Roger Miller of Mission Of Burma creates intricate drum patterns that he lays distorted power pop songs onto.  The songs themselves are pretty concise, soft industrial beat clicks off, Mick Ronson flavored guitars carve out the structure, then perfect weirdo pop vocals.  The highlight of the CD is the dedication to far-out guitar explorations, which now I can see where Kurt Cobain may have gleaned a bit.  Interestingly, there is also a cover of Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” that predates Nirvana’s cover by a few years.  Despite the concept album like feel and singularity of the vision  behind Whamon Express the album never gets old and it  has the endless playability of something like “The Wall” or “Tommy”.  The only issue I have with this is how quiet the CD was recorded, but considering it came out on SST you just kind of expect fidelity issues like that.

00231.0000 KING OF THE ROAD

Music and Words: Roger Miller

Link to Lyrics and Chords
Link to Roger Miller’s Performance

Trailer for sale or rent; rooms to let-fifty cents;
No phone, no pool, no pets-I ain’t got no cigarettes.
Ah but two hours of pushing broom buys an 8 by 12 four bit room.
I’m a man of means by no means–King of the road.

Third boxcar, midnight train, destination-Bangor, Maine;
Old worn-out suit and shoes; I don’t pay no union dues.
I smoke old stogies I have found–short but not too big around.
I’m a man of means by no means–King of the road.

I know every engineer on every train,
All of their children and all of their names.
And every handout in every town,
And every lock that ain’t locked when no one’s around.
(Trailer for sale, etc.)

Twilight, Chapter 18: Go Ask Alice, I Think She’ll Know (Assuming Your Question Is About The Weather)

A Summary, Which Gets Hijacked In The Middle.

We’re getting close to the end of this wreck, and barely anything has happened. Fellas (and ladies), you don’t want this conversation to happen to you whilst in bed:

“We’re close to the end!”
“But barely anything has happened!”

Of course, if your conversation starts “We’re close to the end!” maybe you want to rethink your lines. I dunno. Just a thought.

So some other vampires are showing up at the baseball game. Are they from the vampire squad that prefers to use a Designated Hitter? We’ll see!

“They were dressed in the ordinary gear of backpackers: jeans and casual button-down shirts…” Real backpackers don’t wear jeans. They wear expensive fabrics picked especial from expensive stores to let everyone know They Are Outdoorspeople.

One of the vampires has orange hair. Bella calls this a “startling shade of red.” The trees outside my window are green, which is a startling shade of blue.

Their eyes are burgundy, which, of course, is a startling shade of indigo.

So it turns out these new vampires have been hunting around the place since Ontario. They get around, I guess.

Carlisle tries to pass Bella off as a vampire while he and the new vamps dither about with stupid hunting range crap, but the wind thwarts his plans.

Aeolus:
I blow and breeze and wisp and sneeze,
And thwart your plans with greatest ease.

Cut that out, Aeolus. You’ll get me talking in verse.

Laurent-the-new-vampire:
I sniff an air most foul and pungent!
‘Tis well, me thinks, that you did hide this girl.
‘Neath guise of death (tho’ death averred) she passed,
Though even you, vampires strange and queer
Cannot hide her who does not wash or bathe.

Carlisle:
She might not bathe, this smelly Mary-Sue,
The sniff of her rankles and burns the nose.
But she is ours – tho’ we be not hers -
(she is as weak as malodrously she smells).

Emmett:
Though it is strange, she is quite human.
(tho’ hue she lacks, and man she wants in bed).

Dammit, Aeolus….

Laurent: Alright, no chick-hunting. Got it. We’ll stay out of your range. No killin’ Bella inside your hunting range.

Edward: HOLY CRAP LET’S GET BELLA FAR AWAY! OUTSIDE OUR HUNTING RANGE!

What the crap kind of sense does this make?

-They get to the Jeep-

Edward: *chucks Bella in the backseat*. Emmett, strap Bella in her chair. I honor her as an adult woman by letting her buckle her own damn seatbelt, clearly.

Jeep: Zoom!

Bella: So… where we headed? Whataburger, maybe? Trying to catch the drive-thru before it closes?

Everyone: Ignores Bella.

Wait, this was an option? Just ignoring her?

Bella: WHINE!

Edward: Well THAT’S annoying. We’re taking you far away. Like I said, it’s a GOOD PLAN. Don’t judge me!

There’s a little series of lines here I’m going to quote. Tell me how it’s not really, really, inappropriate, whether we’re talking about beatin’ or kidnappin’.

“And Emmett secured my hands in his steely grasp.
‘No! Edward! You can’t do this!’
‘I have to, Bella, now please be quiet.’
‘…Charlie will call the FBI! They’ll be all over your family…’
‘Calm down, Bella.’ His voice was cold. ‘We’ve been there before.’”

He’s a super-creep, super-creep… he’s super-creepy!

Alice: Hey, yo. Maybe we want to talk this over, yeah? Maybe this is a bad plan?

Edward: YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! YOU ARE WOMAN! WOMAN DUMB.

Alice: Pull over. “There was a ring of authority in it”…. which had no effect.

Apparently one of these new vampires is some sort of “tracker.” MAYBE HE CAN TRACK A PLOT, AMIRITE?

And this tracker wants Bella because she’s super-special for some reason. Obviously. Were you expecting even a contrived reason? Oh, you’ve obviously learned so little from us over the past few hundred pages.

Emmett: Um, maybe the tracker’ll kill her dad?

Alice: Yeah, that’d suck. How about we look at some options.

Edward: NO OPTIONS. NO SLEEP TILL BROOKYLN.

Bella: I’m not leaving Charlie!

Edward: You’ll do what I say, bitch. Except in the actual book, he just ignores her entirely. Edward, you see, Knows What’s Best.

Emmett: Let’s take her back. She’s real annoying.

Edward: B-b-but the tracker! We’d have to kill him! Let’s run away!

Emmett: Killin’s fine.

Edward: B-b-but… there’s a GIRL with him. Girls are icky.

Emmett: Killin’s fine.

Alice: There’s another plan, maybe?

Edward: NO OTHER PLANS!

Bella: I have a plan!

Edward: No one wants to hear your dumb plan.

Bella’s Plan: Is not so bad.

Emmett: That plan was not so bad! I’m surprised, cause let’s face it, she’s dumber than a box of lightbulbs, but… not so bad.

Alice: Yeah, I see this working.

Well, that should about wrap it up for this plan. Wait, does this vision involve weather? No? And Alice says it’ll work fine? Yep, plan doomed.

Edward: Ok, we’ll go home. Pack the first things your hands touch.

Bella: But I don’t WANT to bring the doorknob, lightswitch and toilet!

Edward: BRING THEM!

Bella: Alright, alright, take it easy, Captain Von Yellingheim.

Edward: So then what?

Bella: *complicated plan that involves Jasper, Alice and Bella roadtrip to Phoenix.

Edward: Babes, if you get hurt in Phoenix, I’m going to make you regret the day you ever got hurt. Don’t MAKE me tell you twice. Cause you’ll regret the day I ever told you twice. Don’t MAKE me tell you four times.

Soooo maybe we can expect some Vampire Kerouac action next time. Probably not. Also, Edward is an angry coward.  Tune in next time, where we will presumably see Bella stumble from the house like Steve Martin in The Jerk, carrying everything her hands touched.

A Critique, Which Has A Trailer For Sale Or Rent.

Chapter 18: The Hunt We have approximately fifty pages left to turn this into a developed plot. Remember the Plot Train? This is the part where it’s hurtling towards the end of the tracks over gigantic chasm. Perhaps pushing a DeLorean. At any rate, it ain’t makin’ any more stops, buster, so you’d best assume that the bottom of that Chasm is Bangor, Maine. (Eh? Eh? Roger Miller? Anyone? Anyone? http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/miller-roger/king-of-the-road-1164.html)

Page 178

“The man in front was easily the most beautiful…” and the most beautiful are always the leaders, right? I mean, who would follow an ugly dude?

“…his skin olive-toned beneath the usual pallor…” like wax paper over Mufaletta filling? That’s… that’s kind of disgusting… just a waste of a good mufaletta. Aren’t you going to eat that?

“…her chaotic hair quivering in the slight breeze…” that’s when I realized they were antennae.

“The second male hovered unobtrusively behind them… his light brown hair and regular features nondescript.” But I needed a wanted third character, so I just stuck in whatever and hoped nobody noticed how freakin’ lazy I was.

“[Their eyes were]… a deep burgundy color that was disturbing and sinister.” ‘Cause, you know, just ‘red’, that would be pretty normal, but burgundy-eyed people? I have the feeling they are Up to No Good!

“The tense atmosphere had slowly subsided into casual conversation; I guessed that Jasper was using his peculiar gift to control the situation.” Because one certainly couldn’t have had this conversation in a pleasant manner without vampire magic. Way to go Jasper! You are the vampiric equivalent of guacamole and beer. Makin’ everyone feel all welcome.

Page 179

“‘What’s your hunting range?’ Laurent casually inquired.” ‘Well, you can usually smell it pretty good, I make new rounds to pee on trees every Sunday’. My goodness, we’re just slaughtering independent verbs all over the place. If only we could withdraw the verbs across the Delaware, perhaps they could make a comeback after winter?

“Edward stayed tensed like a lion in front of me.” Like a lioness. Lions, generally speaking, aren’t terribly tense. Lionesses, however, do most of the hunting, so they tend to get tense as shit. Lions do tend to make really funny noises, though, when they’re about to fight other lions, though, which is maybe what’s been going on with all this growling and hair-prickling.

I wanted to see what it looked like when a lion was about to pounce. This didn’t help, but it was a lot of drama, and all the action was crammed into the end, and you get the analogy I’m sure).

Page 180

“James glanced in disbelief and aggravation at Laurent and exchanged another brief look with Victoria, whose eyes still flickered edgily from face to face.” I’d say ’show, don’t tell’, except everyone’s eyes are moving so much that they probably can’t see. It’s like a chameleon convention over here, eyes just pointin’ every-which-way and doin’ whatever they please. Eyes don’t have no responsibility at all ’round here. Man, these eyes need to get a job, and stop foolin’ around all the time.

Bella get slung over Edward’s back and carried like a small child or monkey for perhaps the hundredth time. She literally travels like your luggage. I sure hope she flies Southwest, because that’d be such a deal.

“I kept my head down, but my eyes, wide with fright, wouldn’t close. They plunged through the now-black forest like wraiths.” Or like golfballs, if you threw them really hard into a woodland area by the green. (Bella’s eyes are now capable of independent movement outside of her head. Previously, I thought it was a vampiric power, but alas, it had turned out to be Bad Writing).

“Edward barely slowed as he flung me in the backseat.” In a way I would come to recognize as love.

“‘We have to get you away from here — far away — now.’” Wait… okay, so new vampires show up, you get several reassurances from their leader that they’ll leave any human in your hunting range alone, and that they don’t really need to feed right now anyway, and your solution is to immediately take Bella out of your hunting range? Let’s say you can’t trust these vampires (oh my, am I having premonition? Maybe I’m like Alice! Sweet, I’m useless!) and they’re going to come after Bella anyway. You’re going to flee your base of operations, that you presumably know well and where your power is consolidated, what’s more where her family is and where you have the diplomatic upper hand, in order to do what? Other than flee like cowards, or perhaps more like small fluffy super-[friends]-powered unicorn bunnies? It could be an odd bid for independence by these downtrodden characters, getting the heroine killed so that perhaps the series can’t continue. AHA, FOOLISH REBELS, IF ONLY IT COULD BE DONE.

“‘Charlie will call the FBI! They’ll be all over your family —Carlisle and Esme [in case you forgot who they were]! They’ll have to leave! Hide forever!’ ‘Calm down Bella.’ His voice was cold, ‘We’ve been there before.’” Wait… how many young white women have you kidnapped…er, I mean, ‘fallen in love with’, Edward? Interesting fact, that is nonetheless useless to know, the FBI was consolidated in Edward’s lifetime. Formed in 1908. Yep, good ol’ Teddy Roosevelt, man of men, did it. In an odd coincidence, their first real cast had to the with a ‘white slave traffic act’… Sooooo, awkward moment, anyone?

“I struggled violently with total futility.” ‘My life is a dark room. One…big… dark… room.’ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/quotes)

Page 181

“‘He’s a tracker, Alice, did you -see- that? He’s a tracker!’” ‘He tracks! Do you get it! He follows things! Tracks them! Stalks them! It’s like he’s some kind of -predator-! Like a -lioness-!’

“‘…he wants her, Alice — -her- specifically…’” Ohhhh, so that’s how you’re going to short cut more character development and create sudden dramatic tension, by having her mind-reading boyfriend inform us of the other character’s intentions, which her super-special, irresistible, twat-unicorn blood has caused. Regular episodes of Scooby-Doo had more thrilling plot development than this. (I have never heard of any twat-unicorns, though for some reason I’m sure it could happen. I mean, usually they’re just kind of pacific, horse-things, but it’d be fun to meet one that’s just kind of a bastard for no reason). We’ve also reached the part in the plot train where all kinds of people are showing up and shooting at us and riding horses and trying to stop our DeLorean. Why is this happening? I don’t recall; it just does.

“‘Charlie! You can’t leave him there!…’” Wow… I must give Bella credit here, as she is actually showing concern for another character. Way to hop off the Wheaties box and develop some dimensions, there, Bella!

Bella, strapped into her child safety harness in the back, throws her tantrum while the grown-up vampires talk it out. While she is actually trying to assert herself, it’s about as effective as a little temper tantrum, and everyone ignores her. Seriously? -Everyone- in this scene is a dick.

“‘We’d have to kill him.’ Emmett didn’t seem upset by the idea, ‘That’s an option.’” Heehee, I’m glad I can still like Emmett.

Err….actually, it’s the men in the car that are talking it out. As Alice tries the quiet, battered housewife approach, Edward consistently ignores her and Bella together, then yells at both of them when they proffer opinions. Bella offers a decent plan for escape. Worlds both literary and actual register surprise. For some reason, Poorcharacterizationberg is one of the stops on the way to the chasm and we’ve picked up some doppleganger whose trying to replace Bella. We shall not be fooled! Bella neither thinks of other nor comes up with good plans! Quick! Kick her off the train or she’ll stop the DeLorean!

“Emmett’s surprise was definitely an insult.” Because Emmett’s with us, dopppleganger!

“‘Emmett?’ I asked, looking pointedly at my hands. ‘Oh, sorry,’ he let me loose.” Oh, yeah, shit… details of the situation, paying attention to what’s going on… sorry, the author was off somewhere… probably took a bathroom break, stared into the sun for a while. This whole section was written by her cat. Now she’s back.

“Whatever his problem with Alice, he didn’t doubt her now.” I don’t see why not. Should you get Flood Insurance? Ask Alice. How about protection from hail damage? Alice is your girl. Will I die tomorrow? ‘I dunno, from my perspective in my vision, all I could see was trees and a pretty birdie.’

Page 183

“‘Bella, please just do this my way, just this once,’ he said between clenched teeth.” Unlike all those other times when I heaved you over my shoulder and took you where I wanted to go, or frightened you to bits by running/driving/talking/moving too fast while taking you with me, or all those times I crushed you into a ball and made you give in to my demands, or used my coma-inducing breath on you, or informed you of my decisions and how superior they were to your own, or convinced you to let me stalk you because what could you do about it, anyway. GOD, IT’S ALWAYS BELLA, BELLA, BELLA AROUND HERE!

“‘Yes, she is,’ Alice agreed.” …with entirely unwarranted confidence.

“The logic was working on him.” ‘Maybe I should try this ‘logic’ again in the future…. naw, just kidding. It’s hard.’ -Logic-: Weakness of vampires the world over.

“‘And you’ll make it look like that’s a ruse, obviously. He’ll know that we’ll know that he’s listening. He’ll never believe I’m actually going where I say I am going.’” Mostly because all it takes is a sniff and few minutes of listening to lose all faith Bella could come up with any sort of viable plan. “But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the [path] in front of me.’ (I don’t think it’s necessary, but still: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes)

“‘I’m quite old enough to get my own place.’” Noooo, now, there should be a ‘not’ in there somewhere.

“‘I kind of like it.’ Emmett was thinking about cornering James, no doubt.” I persist in liking Emmett, because so far, all of his plans involve facing the problem and tearing it limb from limb. This is the way the predators -should- think.

“I was right.” Inexplicably. (That’s proper adverb use).

Page 184

“‘If you let anything happen to yourself —anything at all— I’m holding you personally responsible.’” If you get hurt, baby, Imma beat the shit out of you, get it? It’s like a joke, only nobody laughs.

New vampires: Mostly polite
Carlisle: deceptively cool, still
Esme: …Creepier.
Jasper: Chips and Dip
Rosalie: Happily uninvolved
Alice: Useless, but snarly
Emmett: Not a coward
Edward: Douche, and now, a cowardly douche.

Just to make sure we’re still following along kids: Remember 170-some pages of Edward being dangerous, and vampires being supposedly scary, and werewolves really hating their guts, and everyone being super-strong, super-cool, and super-attractive? Yeah? Well, remember, the best way to enforce that is to have the old werewolf back down from teenage girl about dating a vampire, having the vampires play the lamest game of baseball ever, and then having ALL SEVEN OF YOUR SUPER-STRONG VAMPIRES BACK DOWN FROM A FIGHT WITH THREE OTHER VAMPIRES, and make sure that’s it’s not even entirely clear that there is no other solution than abandoning your home and fleeing cross-country. BECAUSE THAT IS RESPECTABLE. SCREW YOU, PLOT TRAIN, YOU HAVE MADE EVERYTHING LAMER. And you’re late, but that’s normal for trains.

OUR DELOREAN IS NEVER GOING TO GO 88 MILES AN HOUR AND ITS ALL BECAUSE OF VAMPIRES!

Hey y’all-

I just wanted to post a few thoughts today.

1. 38-year-old dudes should watch out playing too much volleyball. Soreness will follow.

The sight of the pain at Chihlee School in BanCiao

2. Add in a few extra calories everyday and you will have to add in a few inches to your waist size.

Sweet-n-sour pork at Shacks in Taichung

3. Roger Miller was a songwriting genius.

4. I miss hanging with my family and friends on a fairly regular basis.

Me and my Grandpa back in the early 90s. Family reunion.

5. I like grilled-cheese sandwiches. (See #2 above).

6. My guitar is not getting enough attention from me these days.

7. I may own a dog someday. I may not. It’s open…

8. I do not like fake people who act like they love Jesus but really just use Him as a cover to love theirself (is that even a word?).

9. I like a good laugh.

10. I like to trust the people in my life. Trust is huge with me.

Why the thoughts? Not sure….just thinking in a typing, blog sort-of-way….

Thoughts?

Uncle Jeff

Wonderful news!

An essay on Hank Williams is featured as one of 216 in a new history of American literature from Harvard University Press. The ‘ A New Literary History of America’ was edited by Greil Marcus who is a well known writer on popular music topics, and Werner Sollars a professor at Harvard. They were assisted by a 12 member advisory board. The history covers the period from 1507  to 2008. Three other popular music figures are covered as well, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, and Billie Holiday, as well as early Jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton.

The essay focussing on Hank Williams is called ‘The Song in Country Music’. It is written by Dave Hickey, a noted arts and culture critic  and a Professor of English at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Hickey has written for major American magazines such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Harpers. He has been profiled and interviewed in a number of major newspapers such as the New York Times. He has  written several books including  ‘Air Guitar’, an examination of  23 love songs.

Hickey’s essay examines Hank Williams’ influence on later song writers.

I tackled this topic in an earlier post in which I discussed the Hank Williams’ rock masterpiece ‘Hey Good Lookin’ and the  influence of Hank Williams’ attitude and language on later  rock songwriters such as Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry. It’s here.

Among song writers  quoted by Hickey are Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, Harlan Howard, and Waylon Jennings. They speak in detail about the specific elements of Hank’s work and specific passages that  inspired, and more importantly taught them about song writing. Maud Newton has an excerpt from the essay in her review here.

This is an emotional moving day for Hank Williams’ fans. Indeed it is one of the most significant events in the Hank Williams’ story. He truly is immortal now.

That is not a slight on one of my all time favorite bands* but the title of their latest release. On it they cover Roger Miller’s masterful “Not In Nottingham” (from Robin Hood), Randy Newman’s “I Will Go Sailing No More” (from Toy Story) as well as other great music from The House of Mouse. (And to think I scooped Mrs. CollateralDamage – who writes the Disney focused blog Broke Hoedown – on this. WOOT!)

This is not the first time that “Just Another Band from East LA” has done the Mouse. On the great compilation Stay Awake they performed “I Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book, which was recorded for the movie by the great Louis Prima (and is included on LLGD). I bought Stay Awake on vinyl back in the day (1988) and highly recommend getting the CD. It also has Sun Ra (!!!) doing “Pink Elephants On Parade” and Tom Waits’ version of “Heigh Ho (Dwarf’s Marching Song).”

Stay Awake was one of several odd and wonderful compilations that came out around then. The other one I have is “Lost In The Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill” (1985). While it does have Sting doing “Mack The Knife” this is more than balanced out by the other tracks including Lou Reed’s “September Song,” Stan Ridgeway (of Wall of Voodoo) does a sublime and terrifying version of “Canon Song,” Marianne Faithfull’s exquisitely ragged “Ballad of the Soldier’s Wife,” Todd Rundgren doing “Call From The Grave,” and many other great ones. It’s out of print, which is a shame, and used copies are selling for $23 and up. C’mon over to my house and I’ll play it for you for free.

*In the ‘80s when people would refer to U2 as The Greatest Band In The World all I could ever think (and sometimes said) was “Did Los Lobos breakup?”

Luke still counts Anne Murray’s Animal Crackers and Kimya Dawson’s Tire Swing as his all time faves, but he is expanding his repetoire regularly, and has added a few more songs to his playlist.

Roger Miller’s All Time Greatest Hits: Tom’s grandmother used to listen to Roger Miller and he randomly pulled up a performance of  ”Chug-A-Lug” on YouTube one day. Luke loved it, so we moved onto “Dang Me,” “Do-Wacka-Do” and of course “King of the Road.” “Chug-A-Lug,” the inappropriate teenage drinking song, is by far Luke’s favorite, once again totally defeating the purpose of playing him old-fashioned, wholesome songs, but whatev. It’s catchy.

Bob Dylan’s “Meet Me In The Morning” : A while ago, I won an Away We Go Soundtrack from TwitterMoms. While most of the songs don’t catch Luke’s attention, “Meet Me In The Morning” made him sit up, smile, and bounce, bounce, bounce. Which is a little strange since it’s not all that poppy, but lots of people like Bob Dylan and I guess Luke’s just one of them. He’s totally cooler than me!

Old Timey Piano Music: One night we took Luke to a quaint little German-themed ice cream parlor, which was a little cruel since he couldn’t eat any of the giant gooey sundaes the rest of us were enjoying. Fortunately, the dining area included a player piano. One quarter bought two fun and frisky songs that had Luke happily grooving in his high chair, distracted from the junk food we were denying him. He liked it so much I began to wonder if he frequented Old West saloons in a past life (he does seem the type).  Too bad 1) neither Tom nor I play the piano and 2) a player piano is bit out of our price range at the moment, but our trusty local library has a decent music section and next time I will definitely scouring the CD racks for some piano ragtime albums.

Also, I am dying to post video of Luke’s new dancing skills. He just started moving to the music one day (instead of just not crying anymore) and it’s so cute! I won’t be able to get it online until I get back to my Mac next week – you should be full of eager anticipation until then!

We talked for way too long for it to be able to fit into one of my “Cellars by Starlight” columns, but let it be known that the guys in Birdsongs — Roger Miller, Rick Scott, Michael Bierylo, and Erik Lindgren (Ken Field opted out, since he’s being replaced by Miller in this summer’s touring lineup) — make for great conversation inside empty pubs on turbulent, stormy afternoons. They trash-talked, discussed collaborations with Micheal Stipe and Timbaland, and went down a list way too long to print of weird shows they’ve played in the past, including opening for Mission of Burma, the guy from Throbbing Gristle, South Carolina garage rock bands on their home turf (“We thought we were fucked for sure” says Miller), and more.

From the article:
“People liked Birdsongs shows more than they liked Burma ones,” Miller remembers. “Burma shows were notorious for being completely misunderstood and irritating, but Birdsongs was so obviously outside of the mold that it was easier to assimilate.”

Miller, Lindgren, and Scott flaunted reckless minimalism and a gleeful, aggressive use of every knob on whatever stone-age effects boxes they could find. The results suggest the missing link in among Terry Riley, the Residents, and Battles. Everything was fair game: some of the drum-machine breakdowns on Cycads would sound at home on Purple Rain; others sound like John Zorn doing prog-metal.

To everyone’s surprise, it worked.

Link to the whole thing at the Boston Phoenix here.

“Listen to the jingle – The rumble and the roar – As she glides along the woodlands – Through the hills and by the shore – Hear the mighty rush of her engine – Hear those lonesome hobo’s call – Traveling through the jungle – On the Wabash Cannonball”….. A classic verse  from “Wabash Cannonball”, originally a hit by the legendary Roy Acuff in 1936, covered by countless others over the years.

There is a certain fascination with trains, steel rails and the life of “trainman” … engineer, conductor, gandy dancer, etc. – A free spirit and a hard worker. This compilation of over 300 train songs is by no means complete, but gives an incredible selection of railroad and train related songs covering a huge genre range. You’ll notice a lot of bluegrass and old-time country songs here ranging from 60-80 years back mixed in with some modern day techno, punk, metal, hip hop and Euro-pop. And somewhere in between there is Big Band, jazz, swing, folk, reggae, showtunes, TV series themes, disco, rock, pop and modern country. Some relate to trains indifferent ways from the coal  mine workers mixed with travelers and hobos. Several don’t have the word(s) train, locomotive, engines, railcars, boxcars, express, brakeman, rails, spike, etc in the title but have lines within the song suggesting rail travel. Others use the terms such as “Train in Vain” and “Train of Thought” as terms of thinking or action instead of the true sense of the subject matter. Enough said … Enjoy

1. 3:10 To Yuma – Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention)
2. 5:15 – The Who
3. 500 Miles – Kingston Trio/Peter Paul & Mary/Bobby Bare
4. Ain’t No Brakeman – John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
5. All Night Train – Allman Brothers Band
6. Amtrak (Ain’t Comin’ Back) – Billy Joe Shaver
7. Amtrak Is For Lovers – Houston Calls
8. Another Town Another Train – ABBA
9. Another Train Coming – Kim Weston
10. At The Station – Joe Walsh
11. B & O Blues – Big Joe Turner
12. Baby Likes To Rock It (Like A Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train) – The Tractors
13. Ballad Of Jesse James – Marty Robbins/Kingston Trio/Grandpa Jones/Michael Martin Murphy
14. Ballad of John Henry – Jimmy Dean
15. Big Black Train – Flatt & Scruggs
16. Big Freight Train Carry Me Home – Boxcar Willie
17. Big Railroad Blues – Grateful Dead
18. Big Rock Candy Mountain – Harry McClintock/Burl Ives
19. Big Steel Rail – Gordon Lightfoot
20. Big Train From Memphis – John Fogerty
21. Blue Railroad Train – Doc Watson
22. Blue Train – Johnny Cash
23. Blue Water Line – The Brothers Four
24. Boxcar Blues – Boxcar Willie
25. Boxcar Willie – Roy Acuff
26. Boxcars – Joe Ely
27. Boxcar’s My Home – Boxcar Willie/Willie Nelson
28. Brakeman’s Blues – Jimmie Rodgers
29. Canadian Pacific – Gordon Lightfoot/George Hamilton IV
30. Canadian Railroad Trilogy – Gordon Lightfoot
31. Cannonball – The Carter Family
32. Cannonball Blues – Utah Phillips/Grandpa Jones
33. Cannonball Rag – Doc Watson
34. Casey Jones – Grateful Dead
35. Casey Jones – Johnny Cash
36. Chattanooga Choo Choo – The Andrew Sisters/Glenn Miller/Cab Calloway
37. Chicken Train – Ozark Mountain Daredevils
38. Choo Choo Ch’boogie – Asleep At The Wheel/Stanley Brothers
    
39. City of New Orleans – Arlo Guthrie/Willie Nelson
40. C’mon On Ride That Train – Quad City DJ’s
41. Conjunction Junction – Schoolhouse Rock (TV segments)
42. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
43. Daddy Was A Railroad Man – Boxcar Willie
44. Daddy, What’s A Train – Utah Phillips/John Denver
45. Daybreak Express – Duke Ellington
46. Desperadoes Waiting For A Train – The Highwaymen
47. Devil’s Train – Roy Acuff
48. Dixie Flyer – Randy Newman
49. Do The Choo-Choo – Archie Bell & The Drells
50. Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
51. Down By The Station – The Four Preps
52. Downbound Train – Bruce Springsteen
53. Downtown Train – Tom Waits/Rod Stewart
54. Drill Ye Tarriers Drill – The Easy Riders
55. Driver 8 – REM
56. Driving The Last Spike – Genesis
57. Drug Train – Social Distortion
58. Early Morning Rain – Gordon Lightfoot/Peter Paul & Mary
59. Eastbound Train – Flatt & Scruggs
60. Engine Engine Number Nine – Roger Miller
61. Engine Number Nine – The Deftones
62. Engine Number Nine – Starlight Express Soundtrack
63. Engine Of Love – Starlight Express Soundtrack
64. Express – B.T. Express
65. Fast Express – Stanley Brothers
66. Fast Freight – Kingston Trio
67. Fast Moving Night Train – Grandpa Jones
68. Fast Train – April Wine
69. Fireball Mail – Roy Acuff/Flatt & Scruggs
70. Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
71. Freedom Train – James Carr
72. Freight Train Blues – Jimmy Dean/Bob Dylan/Boxcar Willie
73. Freight Train Boogie – Red Foley/Doc Watson
74. Freight Train Comin’ – Metallica
75. Friendship Train – The Temptations
76. Full Throttle – Kottonmouth Kings
77. The Gambler – Kenny Rogers
78. Georgia On A Fast Train – Billy Joe Shaver/Johnny Cash
79. Get Back On The Train – Phish
80. Get Down Off The Train – The Isley Brothers
81. Ghetto Train – Luther Ingram
82. Ghost Train – Counting Crows/Bee Gees/Marc Cohn
83. Ghost Train – Gorillaz
84. Glendale Train – New Riders of The Purple Sage
85. Go Go Train – Freda Payne
86. Gone Darker – Electrelane
87. Gone Dead Train – Crazy Horse/Randy Newman
88. Gospel Train – The Wright Brothers
89. Graveyard Train – Creedence Clearwater Revival
90. Hear My Train A Comin’ – Jimi Hendrix
91. Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow – Roger Whittaker
92. Heart Like A Locomotive – Paul Butterfield Blues Band
93. Heartbreak Express – Dolly Parton
94. Hellbound Train – Savoy Brown
95. Here Comes The Freedom Train – Merle Haggard
96. Here Comes The Train – Solomon Burke
97. Hey Porter – Johnny Cash
98. High Speed Train – REM
99. Hobo Bill’s Last Ride – Hank Snow/Jimmie Rodgers/Merle Haggard
100. Hobo Heaven – Boxcar Willie
101. Hobo’s Lullaby – Woody Guthrie
102. Hobo’s Meditation – Jimmie Rodgers
103. Hobo You Can’t Ride This Train – Louis Armstrong
104. Hot Rails To Hell – Blue Oyster Cult
105. Homeward Bound – Simon & Garfunkel
106. I Love The Sound Of A Whistle – Boxcar Willie
107. I’m A Train – Albert Hammond
108. I’m Leaving On That Late Train – Solomon Burke
109. I’m On Fire – Bruce Springsteen
110. I’ve Been Working On The Railroad – Pete Seeger/Mitch Miller & His Gang
111. I’ve Got A Thing About Trains – Johnny Cash
112. If Love Was A Train – Michelle Shocked
113. Into You Like A Train – Psychedelic Furs
114. It Takes A Long Train (With A Red Caboose) – Bing Crosby/Peggy Lee
115. It Takes A Lot To Laugh (It Takes A Train To Cry) – Bob Dylan/Grateful Dead
116. Jenny Dreamed Of Trains – Sweethearts Of The Rodeo
117. John Henry – Merle Travis
118. Jump That Train – Foghat
119. Jumping Someone Else’s Train – The Cure
120. Just Another Whistle Stop – The Band
121. Just Like This Train – Joni Mitchell
122. Keep On Rollin’ Down The Line – Boxcar Willie
123. King Of The Road – Roger Miller
124. Lafayette Railroad – Little Feat
125. Last Train – Peter Rowan/Graham Central Station
126. Last Train For Glory – Arlo Guthrie
127. Last Train Home – Lost Prophets
128. Last Train Home (instrumental) – Pat Metheny Group
129. Last Train To Clarksville – The Monkees
130. Last Train To Heaven – Boxcar Willie
131. Last Train To London – Electric Light Orchestra
132. Last Train To Loveland – Eddie Hinton
133. Last Train To San Fernando – Johnny Duncan
134. Last Train To Transcentral – KLF
135. Legend Of John Henry – Johnny Cash
136. Let Me Ride The Southbound – Rex Allen
137. Let The Train Whistle Blow – Johnny Cash
138. The Letter – Box Tops/Joe Cocker
139. Life’s Railway To Heaven – Carter Family/Patsy Cline/Amazing Rhythm Aces
140. Linin’ Track – Leadbelly/Taj Mahal
141. The Loco-Motion – Little Eva
142. The Loco-Motion – Grand Funk Railroad
143. Locomotive – Motorhead
144. Locomotive – Sawyer Brown
145. Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull
146. Locomotive Man – Johnny Cash
147. Lonesome Whistle – Hank Williams/Stonewall Jackson/Johnny Cash
148. Long Black Train – Josh Turner
149. Long Train – Guy Davis
150. Long Train Runnin’ – Doobie Brothers
151. Long Twin Silver Line – Bob Seger
152. Lost Train Blues – Woody Guthrie
153. Love Train – O’Jays
154. Love’s Train – Con Funk Shun
155. Lynnville Train – Robert Earl Keen
156. Marrakesh Express – Crosby Stills Nash & Young
157. Me & Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin/Kris Kristofferson
158. Medicine Train – The Cult
159. Memphis Flyer – Neil Diamond
160. Memphis Train – Rufus Thomas
161. The Metro – Berlin
162. Midnight Flyer – Osbourne Brothers/The Eagles
163. Midnight Special – Leadbelly/Joe Glazer
164. Midnight Special – Creedence Clearwater Revival
165. Midnight Train To Georgia – Gladys Knight & The Pips
166. Moose Turd Pie – Utah Philips
167. Morning Train – Peter Paul & Mary
168. Morning Train (Nine To Five) – Sheena Easton
169. Movin’ On – Hank Snow
170. The MTA – Kingston Trio
171. Mule Train – Tennessee Ernie Ford
172. My Baby Thinks He’s A Train – Roseanne Cash
173. Mystery Train – Elvis Presley/Ronnie Hawkins
174. Mystery Train – Bob Welch/Flying Burrito Brothers
175. New Train – John Prine
176. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down – Joan Baez/The Band
177. Night Train – James Brown/Bobby Womack
178. Night Train – Guns N Roses
179. Night Train To Memphis – Roy Acuff/Jerry Lee Lewis/Grandpa Jones
180. Nine Hundred Miles – Woody Guthrie/New Christy Minstrels
181. Nine Pound Hammer – Bill Monroe/Merle Travis/Chet Atkins
182. Nine Pound Hammer – Beau Brummels/Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
183. Nobody Takes The Train Anymore – Holly Dunn
184. Old Iron Trail – Boxcar Willie
185. Old Train – Tony Rice Unit
186. On The Atchison Topeka & The Santa Fe – The Andrew Sisters/Bing Crosby/Judy Garland
187. On The Atchison Topeka & The Santa Fe – Johnny Mercer/Tommy Dorsey
188. On The Train – Janis Ian
189. One More Ride – Hank Snow/Johnny Cash
190. One Toke Over The Line – Brewer & Shipley
191. Orange Blossom Special – Johnny Cash/Charlie Daniels Band
192. Orange Blossom Special – Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys/Flatt & Scruggs
193. Party Train – Gap Band
194. Passage To Bangkok – Rush
195. Passin’ Train – Sawyer Brown
196. Peace Train – Cat Stevens
197. Petticoat Junction (TV Show Theme) – Flatt & Scruggs
198. The Polar Express (Movie Soundtrack) – Tom Hanks
199. Promised Land – Elvis Presley
200. Put Me On A Train Back To Texas – Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
201. Queen Of The Rails – Utah Phillips
202. The Rail Song – Adrian Belew
203. Railroad Blues – Beastie Boys
204. A Railroad Bum – Jim Reeves
205. Railroad Lady – Jimmy Buffett
206. Railroad Man – The Eels
207. The Railroad Song – Jim Croce
208. Railroad Song – Lynyrd Skynyrd
209. Ramblin’ On My Mind – John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers/Eric Clapton
210. Ramblin Blues – Robert Johnson
211. Ride The Train – Alabama
212. Ride This Train – Mel McDaniel
213. Riding That Midnight Train – Doc Watson/Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
214. Rock Island Line – Lonnie Donegan/Leadbelly/Johnny Horton
215. Rock Island Line – Johnny Cash/Carl Perkins/Kingston Trio
216. Roundhouse Blues – Moby Grape
217. RR Express – Rose Royce
218. Runaway Train – Elton John/Eric Clapton
219. Runaway Train – Soul Asylum
220. Same Train Different Time – Jimmy Rogers
221. She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain – Tex Ritter/Pete Seeger
222. Silver Train – Rolling Stones
223. Silverton Train – C.W. McCall
224. Slow Train – Staple Singers
225. Slow Train Comin’ – Bob Dylan
226. Soul Train – Mary Wells/The Manhattans
227. Soul Train Theme (TV Show Theme) – Soul Train Gang
228. Soul Train ‘93 (Know You Like To Dance) – Naughty By Nature
229. Soul Train’s A Comin’ – O’Bryan
230. Southbound Train – David Crosby & Graham Nash
231. Southbound Train – Travis Tritt
232. Southern Pacific – Neil Young
233. Spanish Train – Chris DeBurgh
234. Spell Of A Train – Riccochet
235. Stop This Train – John Mayer
236. Starlight On The Rails – Flatt & Scruggs/Utah Phillips
237. Station To Station – David Bowie
238. Steel Rails – Allison Krauss
239. Stop That Train – The Wailers
240. Strangers On A Train – New Riders Of The Purple Sage
241. Streamlined Cannonball – Roy Acuff/Doc Watson
242. Take The ‘A’ Train – Duke Ellington
243. Take The ‘A’ Train – Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
244. Taking Care Of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive
245. Tennessee Central Number Nine – Roy Acuff
246. Texas Silver Zephyr – Red Steagall
247. Texas 1947 – Johnny Cash/Guy Clark
248. That Memphis Train – Grandpa Jones
249. That Old Train Whistle – Smothers Brothers
250. That Train – Jerry Butler
251. This Train – Woody Guthrie
252. This Train – Augie March
253. This Train Don’t Stop Here Anymore – Elton John
254. This Train Revisted – Indigo Girls
255. Throw Mama From The Train – Patti Page
256. Ticket To Ride – The Beatles/The Carpenters
257. Tons Of Steel – Grateful Dead
258. Train – Goldfrapp
259. Train 45 – Stanley Brothers
260. Train A-Travelin’ – Bob Dylan
261. Train From Kansas City – Shangri-Las
262. Train Hoppin’ – Jack Johnson
263. Train In The Distance – Paul Simon
264. Train In The Hollow – The County Gentlemen
265. Train In Vain – The Clash
266. Train Keep On Movin’ – The 5th Dimension
267. Train Kept-A-Rollin’ – Aerosmith/The Yardbirds
268. Train Leaves Here This Morning – The Eagles
269. Train Long Suffering – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
270. Train Of Consequences – Megadeth
271. Train Of Love – Willie Hutch/Johnny Cash
272. Train Of Love – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
273. Train Of Thought – Cher
274. Train’ Round The Bend – The Velvet Underground
275. Train Song – Tom Waits/Gram Parsons/Phish
276. Train Songs – Tom T. Hall
277. Train Train – Dolly Parton/Blackfoot
278. Train Whistle Blues – Hank Snow/Jimmie Rodgers
279. Train Wreck – Sarah McLachlan
280. Trains – Ian Anderson/Al Stewart
281. Trains, Boats & Planes – Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas
282. Trains Make Me Lonesome – George Strait
283. Trains Tracks & Travel – Hank Snow
284. Trainwreck Of Emotion – Lorrie Morgan
285. Trans-Europe Express – Kraftwerk
286. TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) – MFSB/The Three Degrees
287. TSOP 2000 – Dr. Freeze & Samson
288. Two Trains Running – Paul Butterfield Blues Band/Little Feat
289. Up On Soul Train – The Waters/The Whispers
290. Wabash Cannonball – Roy Acuff/Carter Family/Doc Watson/Utah Phillips
291. Wabash Cannonball – Johnny Cash/The Limeliters/Chet Atkins
292. Waiting At The Station – Aaron Neville
293. Waiting For A Train – Roy Acuff/Hank Snow/Jimmie Rodgers
294. Waiting For A Train – Jerry Lee Lewis/Johnny Cash/Jim Reeves
295. Walking Down A Railroad Line – Woody Guthrie
296. Westbound Train – Dennis Brown
297. When The Golden Train Comes Down – Sons Of The Pioneers
298. Whistle Stop – Louis Prima
299. White Freightliner Blues – Steve Earle
300. Will There Be Any Freight Trains In Heaven – Jimmy Rogers/Merle Haggard
301. Wreck Of The Old ’97 – Woody Guthrie/Hank Snow/Flatt & Scruggs
302. Wreck Of The Old ‘97 – Johnny Cash/Boxcar Willie
303. Zion Train – Bob Marley & The Wailers

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original image : marc7654

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

Like sands through the proverbial, this show is a collection of tunes around that harsh mistress called “time” …

*be smooched*
laShirl and mr. Kenneth

DOWNLOAD .mp3 (14mb) | STREAM via realplayer.

If you need the player, download here

Perhaps you’re looking for some of the past shows? Click on the Archives link above, the Recent Posts or a bunch of mp3 versions can be found HERE

Legendary Nashville Guitarist Ray Edenton

Nashville studio guitarist Ray Edenton is a legend of the rhythm guitar. His guitar was an important ingredient of the so called classic “Nashville Sound”.

He created this timeless sound together with among others guitarist Harold Bradley, drummer Buddy Harman, and bass player Bob Moore.

Ray Edenton’s playing gave a defining edge to immortal songs like Crazy (Patsy Cline), Some Day’s Are Diamonds (John Denver), Till I Get It Right (Tammy Wynette), Chug a Lug (Roger Miller) or Wake Up Little Susie (Everly Brothers).

Now the Ray Edenton Website is online. It includes a short biography and there’s a wonderful collection of songs.

See also: Ray Edenton And The Secret Of His Nashville Guitar Tuning

Okay, I know you know the song by Allman Brothers (really it is “Lord, I was born a rambling man…” but I, like so many others misspeak the lyrics).  I don’t know if I like the words, but the first line is good.

In fact, I like a lots of traveling songs: Sailing by Christopher Cross, Country Roads by John Denver, Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips, King of the Road by Roger Miller, Get your Kicks on Route 66 by Nat King Cole, Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, and my favorite of all time Up, Up and Away by The 5th Dimension.

I have been blessed to travel to many places of the world and I love to see new places and people.  During the earlier years of my life, my life could have been summed up by the movie title, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”. As a family, the wife and kids and I would always be on the road somewhere.  We loved camping, getting in the car, going for “night rides’. [That brings back so many wonderful memories.]

I was born in Belgium and my first experience was traveling back to the U.S. on a boat [maybe it is the sea and waves that splashed me with the travel bug].

Since then, I have owned 15 cars, lived in various places around the country, cruised, trained, bused, trucked, flew…even on time when I was in Cuba I went around on an ox cart being pulled by an ox named “Pelafina”.  That’s another story for another day.

I traveled on the backs of bicycles, sailed in kayaks…all getting from one adventure to another.  My adventures climbing mountains, sleeping under the stars in the Sinai desert, taking a ferry from Greece to the backside of Italy, and many other exciting excursions have been a blessing from God.  Not boastful, but blessed. WOW!

Early in my travel days I was asked, “Why do you travel?  Are you trying to escape something?  Real men settle down and don’t travel as much and they stay at home more.”

“Hmmm!”, I thought.  “I love traveling.  I love adventure.  I love inviting my children and wife to be a part of that journey.  I love to be on the journey by myself also.  I am not escaping anything. I’m discovering!”

Throughout the Bible, there were so many travelers…people on a journey (Adam and Eve, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, The children of Israel, the kings, the prophets, Jesus, Paul and so many others.  In fact, the Christian journey is about traveling and moving from this early home and this plane of existence to another.

But, I have noticed that early in life it is about moving out and as I have gotten older, I have more a sense of moving closer to home.  I still love to travel about and see new vistas, but I am seeing them through a different set of lenses.

Still even now I can truly affirm with this renewed sense of expectancy in traveling, I’m not escaping, I’m discovering. It’s just that I am discovering things about home that I really enjoy and that I have missed.

Last Saturday I attended Split/Signal, an event of silent films scored live. The venue was The Center for the Arts at the Armory, a recently created art space in a former armory on Highland Ave in Somerville. It was my first time visiting the Armory and I think they did a good job with the huge space. I liked the light pouring from the windows, but it was not such a good thing for the 7pm starting time as light found its way on the projection screen…

The musicians participating in the event composed original music for the silent shorts and overall the result was very good. There was also free snacks, beer and wine. The servers went around dressed as cigarette girls, carrying the glasses in trays. After trying to block the sun coming in from the high window, the event was off to a good start.

The first short film was by Jon Cianfrani and the score was done by the duo Mike Dunkley & Todd Brozman; the used their laptops to provide the electronic music score, and it was very good. Then it was time for Black Yodel’s music and Michael Maraden’s short. I liked the compact music. After that we saw Dado Ramadani’s short with ambient mostly music played by Arms & Sleepers, and right after that Devil Music provided the soundtrack for an animated Barrett Films short. Caspian was much better than I thought they would be and I liked Bryan Deblasio’s film. Roger Miller (of the Mission of Burma) composed a very fitting score for Handcranked Productions short full of scenes of american ruins; I really liked it, both visually and acoustically. The next band on was Cul De Sac with music for VJ Dziga’s film. The event ended with music by the Books and film by Rich Remsberg. They played a longer set than the others, and they were good too.

I read some complaints about the time forthe change of set up that the bands needed between acts, but I didn’t find it excessive. It gave you some time to seek more wine or beer, or go to the loo and receive compliments for the dress you were wearing (btw I liked the nice touch of mints in the women’s bathroom), or talk about the previous act, or walk around.

I was pleasantly surprised with the superb quality of sound. And I found the event to be well produced and it was something different. It’s not too common, I think, to see “silent films scored live” these days, and I totally appreciate the idea and the implementation. I was really happy I attended. I hope the Armory hosts more cool events like this, and Split / Signal put together their next project pretty soon. 

UPDATE: See more photos here

Lookin' at the Books' performance preview

Be sure to head over to Bostonist tomorrow for a review of Split/Signal at the Center for Arts at the Armory in Somerville. The show paired eight musical acts – including The Books, Cul De Sac, Roger Miller (from Mission of Burma), Caspian, Arms & Sleepers – with eight filmmaking teams to produce an entire evening of filmed scenes-meet-live musical performances. You’ll have to read my review when it’s out to see what I think, but I did (and certainly continue to) enjoy the idea of approaching audiences with entirely different methods of art in unusual formats with a range of musical acts… Not unlike, say, much of the thoughts behind emo artists, right down to the very idea of pairing the harshness attributed to hardcore with the idea of introverted and ambiguous lyrics about hard-to-comprehend concepts in life…

…ok, I’ll stop… for now…