Whipping Post
Back in the old punk rock days (or I suppose it was the post-punk days, in my case) people in the crowd at shows used to jokingly yell "Whipping Post!" or "Freebird!" in between numbers. We all got the ironic joke. Of course, our integrity-filled heroes on stage would never stoop to such self-indulgent ten to twenty minute guitar jams. Ha, ha, ha. I always laughed a little uneasily, because I always secretly liked "Freebird" and "Whipping Post," even when I wasn't supposed to. I bet a lot of those bands did, too.
It took me years to realize it was "okay" to like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Gun Club. And, yeah, I know, I know, I know, many punks were reacting against the decadent, homophobic, racist taint that poisoned some fans of classic guitar rock —high school jock bullies, fr'instance. It's a complex matter, obviously. I'm not entirely sure members of Skynyrd weren't racists, or at least bigots. I'd like to think not Ronnie Van Zant, but who knows? The Allmans were likely not racists. They were a blues band and had a black drummer, Jai Johanny Johanson who would have stomped someone's ass, I'd be willing to bet. All speculation, of course.
Anyway, I'm getting off the point here (there is a point?). One can still hear cries of "Freebird!" at indieish rock shows, although I'm not certain that the criers have ever heard the song. I can think of two recent examples: Iron and Wine and Jim White. People "ironically" yelled out "Freebird!" only to have their heroes respond, "Hey, I like that song." Both dudes are from Florida, the home of Skynyrd, by the way. I think it would be great to hear somebody like these guys do "Freebird" or "Whipping Post."
Why am I bringing this up, anyway? Because I bought a used vinyl copy of the Allman's "Live at the Fillmore East" only to find out that my two disc set was half "Live at the Fillmore East" and one disc of a twofer consisting of their first two studio albums called "Beginnings" (thanks for the info, Big Game James). Check your record labels closely, kids!
Switching gears, I just finished a novel by Alicia Erian called "Towelhead." It's about an in the throes of puberty thirteen year-old half-Lebanese, half-Irish girl who goes to live with her very strict Lebanese father in Texas at the beginning of the first Gulf War. A coming-of-age social comedy about a good girl who makes a lot of bad decisions. Laugh out loud funny (as they say), as well as very upsetting at points. Definitely not a PC novel. An impressive novelistic debut. One of the most impressive things to me about the narrative is that Erian manages to consistently maintain the thirteen year-old's p.o.v. of just wanting to be special, and then relating the disasterous results with deadpan factuality. Still, there's redemption at the conclusion that doesn't feel forced. Alan Ball (creator of "Six Feet Under") has optioned it to make a film. He'd be the man to do it.
My bus book for the moment is "The Inimitable Jeeves," by PG Wodehouse. I've been slowly working my way through the major Wodehouse novels and collections, savoring them, as one would a relaxing whiskey. What ho!
My bedside reading has been David Herbert Donald's "Lincoln." The book manages to humanize and historically contexualize Lincoln as an ambitious but politically savvy president. Sure, he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, but it only "freed" slaves in the southern states, not the border states that were still part of the Union during the Civil War—he didn't want them to jump to the Convederacy. Lincoln hated slavery but didn't necessarily think that blacks were equal to whites. He favored repatriating them back to Africa, even though that was obviously a ridiculous, impractical solution. It took Lincoln a long time to admit that the Civil War was about slavery, if he ever fully admitted that...
It took me years to realize it was "okay" to like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Gun Club. And, yeah, I know, I know, I know, many punks were reacting against the decadent, homophobic, racist taint that poisoned some fans of classic guitar rock —high school jock bullies, fr'instance. It's a complex matter, obviously. I'm not entirely sure members of Skynyrd weren't racists, or at least bigots. I'd like to think not Ronnie Van Zant, but who knows? The Allmans were likely not racists. They were a blues band and had a black drummer, Jai Johanny Johanson who would have stomped someone's ass, I'd be willing to bet. All speculation, of course.
Anyway, I'm getting off the point here (there is a point?). One can still hear cries of "Freebird!" at indieish rock shows, although I'm not certain that the criers have ever heard the song. I can think of two recent examples: Iron and Wine and Jim White. People "ironically" yelled out "Freebird!" only to have their heroes respond, "Hey, I like that song." Both dudes are from Florida, the home of Skynyrd, by the way. I think it would be great to hear somebody like these guys do "Freebird" or "Whipping Post."
Why am I bringing this up, anyway? Because I bought a used vinyl copy of the Allman's "Live at the Fillmore East" only to find out that my two disc set was half "Live at the Fillmore East" and one disc of a twofer consisting of their first two studio albums called "Beginnings" (thanks for the info, Big Game James). Check your record labels closely, kids!
Switching gears, I just finished a novel by Alicia Erian called "Towelhead." It's about an in the throes of puberty thirteen year-old half-Lebanese, half-Irish girl who goes to live with her very strict Lebanese father in Texas at the beginning of the first Gulf War. A coming-of-age social comedy about a good girl who makes a lot of bad decisions. Laugh out loud funny (as they say), as well as very upsetting at points. Definitely not a PC novel. An impressive novelistic debut. One of the most impressive things to me about the narrative is that Erian manages to consistently maintain the thirteen year-old's p.o.v. of just wanting to be special, and then relating the disasterous results with deadpan factuality. Still, there's redemption at the conclusion that doesn't feel forced. Alan Ball (creator of "Six Feet Under") has optioned it to make a film. He'd be the man to do it.
My bus book for the moment is "The Inimitable Jeeves," by PG Wodehouse. I've been slowly working my way through the major Wodehouse novels and collections, savoring them, as one would a relaxing whiskey. What ho!
My bedside reading has been David Herbert Donald's "Lincoln." The book manages to humanize and historically contexualize Lincoln as an ambitious but politically savvy president. Sure, he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, but it only "freed" slaves in the southern states, not the border states that were still part of the Union during the Civil War—he didn't want them to jump to the Convederacy. Lincoln hated slavery but didn't necessarily think that blacks were equal to whites. He favored repatriating them back to Africa, even though that was obviously a ridiculous, impractical solution. It took Lincoln a long time to admit that the Civil War was about slavery, if he ever fully admitted that...
posted by ken at 1:03 PM
