Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Blues Singer's Woman Permitted To Tell Her Side
Ida Mae Dobbs, longtime woman of Blind Willie "Skipbone" Jackson,Sent me a letter to respond to charges levied against her by the legendary Delta blues singer.
"Despite what Mr. Jackson would have you believe, I am not an evil-hearted woman who will not let him be. I repeat: I am not an evil-hearted woman who will not let him be. To the contrary, my lovin' is so sweet, it tastes just like the apple off the tree. I was also accused of causing him pain and breaking his heart by calling out another man's name, I categorically deny treating him in a low-down manner.
"He say he send for his baby, but I don't come around, He say he sends for his baby, but I don't come around. Well, the truth is, I do come, but he is out messing with every gal in town. He compared me to a dresser because he say someone is always going through my drawers.
"My drawers have not been gone through by any man but Blind Willie "Skipbone" Jackson," Dobbs said. "Neither Slim McGee nor Melvin Brown has ever been in my drawers. Nor has Sonny 'Spoonthumb' Perkins, nor any of those other no-good jokers down by the railroad tracks. My policy has always been to keep my drawers closed to everyone but Mr. Jackson, as I am his woman and would never treat him so unkind."
“He say I open with my sweet-potato-pie distribution, my pie is available only to Blind Willie “Skipbone Jackson. I do not give out my sweet potato pie arbitrarily, as I am not the sort of no-good doney who engage in such behavi0r. Only one man can taste my sweet potato pie, and I believe I have made it perfectly clear to him who that man is. The same thing with my biscuits, which cain’t be buttered except by him.”
“He always say I be running around town with other men, ain’t no truth to it. He treat me so bad. One time he got me arrested for attempted homicide. In 1998, I had to call the ambulance on him. He rushed to the hospital and nearly died on me. He drunk nearly a coffee cup full of gasoline. Said I tried to by him by serving him a glass of gas when he when he asked for water. If I did that it was an accident."
Dobbs describes herself, a short-dress, big-legged woman from Coahoma County, said it is not she but Jackson who should be forced to defend himself. According to Dobbs, Jackson frequently has devilment on his mind, staying up until all hours of the night rolling dice and drinking smokestack lightning.
"Six nights out of seven, he goes off and gets his swerve on while I sit at home by myself. Then he comes knocking on my door at 4 a.m., expecting me to rock him until his back no longer has any bone," Dobbs said. "Is that any way for a man to treat his woman? I don't want to, but if he keeps doing me wrong like this, I am going to take my lovin' and give it to another man."
Added Dobbs: "Skipbone Jackson is going to be the death of me."
Dobbs said that until she receives an apology from Jackson and a full retraction of all accusations, he will not be given any grinding.
"Mr. Jackson says that I stay out all night and that I'm not talking right. He says he has rambling on his mind as a result of my treating him so unkind. He says I want every downtown man I meet and says they shouldn't even let me on the street," Dobbs said. "Well, I refuse to allow my name to be dragged through the mud like this any longer. Unless my man puts an end to these unfair attacks on my character, I will neither rock nor roll him to the break of dawn. I am through with his low-down ways."
(from The Onion 9/16/98)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Tonight Will Be Fine
Teddy Thompson sings a Leonard Cohen song. And he does it very well, in my opinion.
"Tonight Will Be Fine"
"Embed" denied by YouTube contributor
"Tonight Will Be Fine"
"Embed" denied by YouTube contributor
Saturday, November 8, 2008
My Hometown
Bruce Springsteen — One of his more poignant songs. Some truth in it... for lots of folks.
So, now you wanna sing da Blues?
Subject: How To Become a Blues Musician — as it was told to me.
1. Most Blues always begin, "Woke up this mornin'..."
2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."
3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like a bulldog and she weigh 500 pound."
4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch - ain't no way out.
5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.
8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is.
9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting's wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass
Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses
11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.
12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues?
Yes, if:
a. you older than dirt
b. you blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied
No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund
13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.
14. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. nasty black coffee
The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple or Slim Fast
15. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken down cot.
You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.
16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
18. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit:
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus a fruit, Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example:
Blind Lime Jefferson,
Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or
Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")
20. I don't care how tragic your life — if you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues.
21. People with the Blues eat barbecue, corn bread, beans, and their last meal.
22. Good blues instruments: guitar, slide trombone, saxophone, trumpet, and harmonica.
23. Bad blues instruments: everything else, especially the oboe, French horn, and viola.
24. You got the blues if you have lumbago or a bad back. You don't have the blues if you have mental disorder ending in "syndrome."
25. Black Jack is a good blues game. Keno is not a good blues game.
26. Blues jobs include working on the railroad, picking cotton,musician, or just got fired.
27. Blues animals include the junkyard dog and mule (not donkey).
28. Epitaph on a blues musician's tombstone: "I didn't wake up this morning"
1. Most Blues always begin, "Woke up this mornin'..."
2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."
3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like a bulldog and she weigh 500 pound."
4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch - ain't no way out.
5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.
8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is.
9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting's wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass
Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses
11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.
12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues?
Yes, if:
a. you older than dirt
b. you blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied
No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund
13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.
14. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. nasty black coffee
The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple or Slim Fast
15. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken down cot.
You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.
16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
18. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit:
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus a fruit, Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example:
Blind Lime Jefferson,
Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or
Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")
20. I don't care how tragic your life — if you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues.
21. People with the Blues eat barbecue, corn bread, beans, and their last meal.
22. Good blues instruments: guitar, slide trombone, saxophone, trumpet, and harmonica.
23. Bad blues instruments: everything else, especially the oboe, French horn, and viola.
24. You got the blues if you have lumbago or a bad back. You don't have the blues if you have mental disorder ending in "syndrome."
25. Black Jack is a good blues game. Keno is not a good blues game.
26. Blues jobs include working on the railroad, picking cotton,musician, or just got fired.
27. Blues animals include the junkyard dog and mule (not donkey).
28. Epitaph on a blues musician's tombstone: "I didn't wake up this morning"
Rake
By Townes Van Zandt — One of my favorites. TVZ's music sort of speaks to life "en el otro lado."
"Well, many of the songs, they aren't sad, they're hopeless."
—Townes Van Zandt, after being asked why he only wrote sad songs.
About Townes Van Zandt
And, if you're really interested
"Well, many of the songs, they aren't sad, they're hopeless."
—Townes Van Zandt, after being asked why he only wrote sad songs.
About Townes Van Zandt
And, if you're really interested
Friday, November 7, 2008
Short, Short, Short Story II
Where do I find these things?
A Brave New World
Already eight years old and, still, he'd never even tried the closet door. Too scared. He'd been told not to. Now he stood before the forbidden oak door again, staring. But with courage this time. Recklessness perhaps.
He tentatively reached out a hand. It was unlocked! The door creaked open.
It was a door to another world. Not darkness, but light. Bright sunshine. He stepped through. Sweet air, birds singing, warmth and color embraced him on all sides. It was the magical world he'd dreamed of.
A paradise he enjoyed for two minutes, until they returned and shoved him back inside the closet.
A Brave New World
Already eight years old and, still, he'd never even tried the closet door. Too scared. He'd been told not to. Now he stood before the forbidden oak door again, staring. But with courage this time. Recklessness perhaps.
He tentatively reached out a hand. It was unlocked! The door creaked open.
It was a door to another world. Not darkness, but light. Bright sunshine. He stepped through. Sweet air, birds singing, warmth and color embraced him on all sides. It was the magical world he'd dreamed of.
A paradise he enjoyed for two minutes, until they returned and shoved him back inside the closet.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Three By Leonard Cohen
A favorite poet, singer, song writer. Maybe an acquired taste?
"I'm Your Man"
Poem — a word song, actually.
"A Thousand kisses deep".
"The Letters"
"I'm Your Man"
Poem — a word song, actually.
"A Thousand kisses deep".
"The Letters"
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sarah Silverman humor
My favorite Sarah Silverman jokes:
"I drank and smoked during pregnancy and then I read the pamphlet and called my mom and said, 'Don't bother to knit the sleeves.' "
"I never got attention from guys, and then the old story, I got the braces off ... my legs."
"My friend said, 'You have to read this book; it's a page turner. I said, '”Well, I know how books work."
“My friend was told by her doctor that she was morbidly obese ... as if she doesn't have enough on her plate.”
"Women reach their sexual peak after 35 years ... men after four minutes."
"I've always wanted to own a maternity shop. I'd call it:” We're Fucked!"
"I drank and smoked during pregnancy and then I read the pamphlet and called my mom and said, 'Don't bother to knit the sleeves.' "
"I never got attention from guys, and then the old story, I got the braces off ... my legs."
"My friend said, 'You have to read this book; it's a page turner. I said, '”Well, I know how books work."
“My friend was told by her doctor that she was morbidly obese ... as if she doesn't have enough on her plate.”
"Women reach their sexual peak after 35 years ... men after four minutes."
"I've always wanted to own a maternity shop. I'd call it:” We're Fucked!"