Brookswords

A Heartbeat and a Guitar

 I just learned an entire book about "Bitter Tears", Johnny Cash's 1964 concept album that centered on the plight of Native Americans, came out a few years ago, with cover art by Shephard Fairey, the artist who did the famous Obama Hope poster. The story behind this album is captivating. As one writer says, "In 1963, Johnny Cash released one of the biggest hits of his career with the trumpeting, propulsive 'Ring of Fire'. But he followed up with his most obscure and controversial effort: the 1964 folk-protest album called “Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.”

Here's a summary from Amazon:

"With his highly personal early 1960s work, Johnny Cash had been trying the patience of the Columbia brass, who were less than thrilled with his commercial performance. When "Ring of Fire" topped the country charts in 1963, it allowed him to continue the many ambitious concept albums-history lessons close to his heart. The eight songs on 1964's Bitter Tears are sung from the point of view of the American Indian (still the accepted term in 1964), and together they form a potent work that is both deeply real and highly spiritual. With assistance from co-composer Peter LaFarge, Cash offers an  earnest, solemn portrait of Native Americans that examines a variety of issues through a range of  viewpoints and contained in unadorned musical settings. Cash actually took out full-page ads daring radio programmers to play "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," but all of the material hits home, from LaFarge's defiant "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" to Johnny Horton's mournful, spooky "The Vanishing Race."

Here's "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" performed by Cash shortly after the album's release on Pete Seeger's public TV show. One note -- Cash was in the middle of drug addiction & is clearly stoned out of his head. I'm kind of surprised Seeger had him on the program in that condition -- but his show, Rainbow Quest, was usually populated by little-known folk singers, so Cash must have been quite a catch.  And he does sing the song well & true.

After Johnny Cash cleaned up his act, here is another performance of the same song, with added lyrics, on his successful TV show. He sang it as part of a recurring segment of his program called "Ride This Train" -- within which Cash was now, on  TV, giving "history lessons close to his heart".  6 years after the Seeger clip -- and looking 10 years younger -- Cash frames the song with an extensive prologue and epilog (containing a short version of "Ira Hayes"), creating a more searing indictment of the treatment of Native Americans.

The Man in Black

It was Johnny Cash's birthday yesterday. Here is one of my favorite Youtube clips, filmed when he came out against the Vietnam war before a college audience in 1971. The students are respectful & quiet at the beginning, then erupt in applause as it's clear he's against the war. Note the smiling, yet tear-filled, woman near the end.  As the old Irish ballad says, 'Johnny, we hardly knew ya'. He receives a standing ovation.  

Welcome to the Wild World of Teabonics

It appears that a number of signs have been spotted at Tea Party rallies that suggest that these groups have a way with words. A very creative way, that is. President Obama, according to various protest signs that have been photographed and can be viewed here, wants to ignore the constution, force socilism on are country, mortage our daugters' future, and turn us into Gemany. But, by keeping infromed from Fox News, resisance can grow, and we can repeel Congress, kick out bad polititions and impeah Obama. (Oh, and Obama also wants alliens to cross the boarder and never learn the English langaguage.)

This isn't a new phenomenon, however; check out this photo from 'o8--at an anti-Obama protest before he moved into the White House.

(My apologies if this post has driven your spell check crazy!)    

Demon...Sheep?

Things are getting strange here in California, with the sudden appearance of a very bizarre political attack ad. It has been variously described as the wildest, worst, and weirdest political ad ever. Supposedly about a wolf in sheep's clothing, towards the end of the ad you seem someone crawling away, in dress shoes covered by a blanket. That ain't no wolf.

Strangely enough, a few years back there was a movie about demonic sheep, a parody of bad b-movies. It was actually pretty funny; I wrote about here a few years ago here.

Here is the 'demon sheep' ad, which seems like a parody, followed by my favorite real parody of political attack ads.

Obama's Mojo -- It's Back!

Barack Obama got his mojo back with his masterful repartee with the House Republicans last Friday, calling them out as the intransigent putzs that they are. However, to paraphrase the great Muddy Waters, I'm afraid he got his mojo working but it just won't work on them.

Wife Power!

The Ku Klux Klan comes to town. How to respond? To ignore their racist rants seems somehow wrong.  But staging a protest only plays into the hands of these knuckleheads. Heavily caffeinated Klansters & protesters are arrested, & the media shows up to chronicle the whole ugly mess.

Finally a fitting -- and admittedly absurd -- response to a Nazi/Klan white supremacist rally at Knoxville, South Carolina.  The ARA  (Anti-Racist Action) 'clown posse' showed up at the rally, pretending to support these idiots --- and the KKK rally was transformed into a nice example of performance art comedy, while the Klansters became even more unhinged than usual:

Alex Linder the lead organizer of the rally kicked off events by rushing the clowns in a fit of rage, and was promptly arrested by 4 Knoxville police officers who dropped him to the ground when he resisted and dragged him off past the red shiny shoes of the clowns.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled “Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.

The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. “Ohhhhh…” the women clowns said. “Now we understand…”, “WIFE POWER!” they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting “WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!”

Police, rather than hauling some protesters to jail as usual, happily escorted them away.

The cops stopped the clowns and counter protesters. “Hey, do you want an escort” an African-American police officer on a motorcycle asked. “Yes” a clown replied. “We are walking to Market Square in the center of town to celebrate.”

The police officers got in front of the now anti racist parade and blocked the entire road for the march through the heart of Knoxville.   

The Man In Black

Johnny Cash came came out against the Vietnam war before a college audience in 1971.  The students are respectful & quiet at the beginning, then erupt in applause as it's clear he's against the war. Note the smiling, yet tear-filled woman near the end.  As the old Irish song says, 'Johnny, we hardly knew ya'. He receives a standing ovation.

 

Colin Powell, Barack Obama

Colin Powell prefaced his endorsement of Barack Obama with a powerful denunciation of the Islamophobia the Republican party seems sadly willing to inflame in the final weeks of the McCain-Palin flameout. Responding to his own Republican party's willingness to encourage rumors that Obama is a Muslim, Powell notes that the correct answer is that Obama is Christian; but then he goes on to state the right answer--"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no, that's not America."

Crazy McCain Rally Lady

It's a strange sight these days seeing John McCain, in the final weeks of his ten year quest for the Presidency, fending off wing nuts in his own audience. But it's also weirdly appropriate; these crackpots are only responding, like Pavlov's dogs, to the red meat of the McCain campaign--which is trying to scare the country out of voting for Obama. Here's a clip of the now infamous 'Crazy McCain Rally Lady', followed by SNL's take. SNL should really be paying the McCain-Palin ticket these days; their ratings have shot up due to all the rich material they've been feasting on lately.

Enough food metaphors. Cue the videos.

Against All Odds

Against all odds, an improbable challenger faced up to and defeated a foe considered an 'inevitable victor', bound to win, born to win.  I'm talking, of course, about the New York Giants defeat of the New England Patriots.  And I'm also talking about  Barack Obama's looming defeat of the Hillary Clinton juggernaut.