Chris Hillman, multi-talented co-founder of The Byrds & the Flying Burrito Brothers, one of the seminal figures in LA's country/folk-rock sound, had this to say about the 1970s in the book Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighborhood by Michael Walker (2006): "The whole decade I find is a complete waste in all facets of American culture. There were some good things, don't get me wrong. But that wasn't a good time for me. I lost a lot of people [including Gram Parsons, who overdosed in 1973]."
Things have not improved, from Hillman's point of view: "Look at what we're dealing with now - the end game: American Idol." You can hear more of Chris's opinions on Internet radio this Wednesday, September 29. Hillman is scheduled to appear by telephone on Bill Malone's Back to the Country show on WORT (89.9 FM - Madison, WI), where I volunteer. Bill tells me that Chris Hillman should be on the air around 11:00 a.m. You can hear it anywhere in the world via the Web at: www.wort-fm.org (listen live or via Archive). Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Bill Malone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Malone. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Next Stop: Vietnam!
This morning the wise & warm country-music expert Bill Malone hosted one of his best shows ever on WORT-FM, a 3-hour special on Vietnam-era country & folk music. You can hear it via a link at www.wort-fm.org (click on Archive & search for Back to the Country, Sept. 15th).
His guest was UW professor & Vietnam veteran Doug Bradley, who culled excerpts from a new 13-CD UW Archives collection, The Next Stop Is Vietnam: 1961-2008 (available from the cool German label Bear Family Records, see www.bear-family.de). The boxed set includes North Vietnamese pro-surrender propaganda broadcasts by Hanoi Hannah as well as American pro-war propaganda by Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger.
Here are a few of highlights from the show, which ranged from the ridiculous ("Goodbye High School, Hello Vietnam") to the sublime (Jimmy Webb's gorgeous "Galveston" - popularized by Glen Campbell):
* Johnny Cash's "Singing in Vietnam Talking Blues" - a tale of his eye-opening trip with June Carter to entertain U.S. combat troops, featuring a support-the-troops message with a protest spirit (the last word of the song is "peace").
* Merle Haggard's "Fightin' Side of Me" & "Okie from Muskogee" - Merle once admitted to an interviewer that he was more ambivalent about the counterculture than the latter song's lyrics suggest, noting "The only place I didn't smoke [pot] was in Muskogee." Lefty folkie Phil Ochs picked up on the redneck satire, performing "Okie" & praising Haggard on his weird Gunfight at Carnegie Hall (1970) live album.
* "Sam Stone" by John Prine, who'll probably perform it Friday (9/18) at the Overture Center in Madison. The chorus, from the junkie/vet's kid's perspective ["There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes / and Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose..."] always moves me.
* Several angry tunes by U.S. Vietnam veterans, including the defiant Agent Orange victim Jim Wachtendonk & compassionate bluesman Watermelon Slim.
We seem to live in the age of perpetual American warfare. Our nation's misadventure in Afghanistan feels a lot like Vietnam to me - 9 years & counting. Bring the troops home already!
His guest was UW professor & Vietnam veteran Doug Bradley, who culled excerpts from a new 13-CD UW Archives collection, The Next Stop Is Vietnam: 1961-2008 (available from the cool German label Bear Family Records, see www.bear-family.de). The boxed set includes North Vietnamese pro-surrender propaganda broadcasts by Hanoi Hannah as well as American pro-war propaganda by Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger.
Here are a few of highlights from the show, which ranged from the ridiculous ("Goodbye High School, Hello Vietnam") to the sublime (Jimmy Webb's gorgeous "Galveston" - popularized by Glen Campbell):
* Johnny Cash's "Singing in Vietnam Talking Blues" - a tale of his eye-opening trip with June Carter to entertain U.S. combat troops, featuring a support-the-troops message with a protest spirit (the last word of the song is "peace").
* Merle Haggard's "Fightin' Side of Me" & "Okie from Muskogee" - Merle once admitted to an interviewer that he was more ambivalent about the counterculture than the latter song's lyrics suggest, noting "The only place I didn't smoke [pot] was in Muskogee." Lefty folkie Phil Ochs picked up on the redneck satire, performing "Okie" & praising Haggard on his weird Gunfight at Carnegie Hall (1970) live album.
* "Sam Stone" by John Prine, who'll probably perform it Friday (9/18) at the Overture Center in Madison. The chorus, from the junkie/vet's kid's perspective ["There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes / and Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose..."] always moves me.
* Several angry tunes by U.S. Vietnam veterans, including the defiant Agent Orange victim Jim Wachtendonk & compassionate bluesman Watermelon Slim.
We seem to live in the age of perpetual American warfare. Our nation's misadventure in Afghanistan feels a lot like Vietnam to me - 9 years & counting. Bring the troops home already!
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