Norebang Night

Karaoke? No - Rebang!

Actually, the term would be divided "nore-bang" (노래방), literally "singing room," and pronounced "norae-bahng," but you have to allow me my puns! As you might expect, a norebang is the Korean equivalent of the Japanese karaoke (except, of course, better than karaoke).

The photo above shows me and my wife posing as one of our children takes the picture of us in a shadowy corner of a singing room we visited Thursday evening. There are other photos from the same evening, but this is the only one in which I'm clearly looking at the camera.

My voice generally isn't very strong, so I often can't perform so well, but I sang to everyone's satisfaction that night. I started with "Born to Be Wild" (by Stefan Wolf, according to the credits!), and I did so well that my wife praised me for getting it just right. I followed that up with a soulful rendition of "Your Cheating Heart" (Hank Williams) and a remarkably touching "Stand By Your Man" (Tammy Wynette), then finished with a competent cover of "One More Cup of Coffee for the Road" (Bob Dylan). Such were my solo performances. But when I tried to accompany my wife on "City of Stars," I botched that one good and proper.

Every good thing must end . . .

"You can take Salem out of the country, but . . .

Google Images

. . . you can't take the country out of Salem!"

Whether in the country or out of it, Salem refreshes your taste . . . if I might splice together two Salem ads.

Here's the country jingle.

I recall the "out of the country" ad especially well because my hometown of Salem, Arkansas had a great basketball team around that time, so when we went to the state tournament, some of our opponent's fans sang that song against us.

And has anyone else noticed that the ad's jingle pauses after "but" - as though the line were: "You can take Salem out of the country butt . . ."

Matthew Charles Miller: Musician

Matthew Charles Miller Music

My half-brother Matthew Miller plays his own brand of spiritually inspired outlaw country music, and it's pretty good! He gave me a CD of his recent songs, the album titled Split Decision, a pun on his divorce, and these songs are really good. But he hasn't yet set up a website where you can purchase his music, though he does have a Facebook site, so I don't know how you can hear his songs. There may be some videos on YouTube or his Facebook site if you poke around.

But I've even given him permission to use my own perfect country song, which you all, of course, remember:

Day Breakin'

Oh, all night, I been out drankin',
now mah head's as thick as clay,
So I 'spec' mah woman's waitin'
with some high-tone words tuh say,
But I'd need uhn extra drank
tuh help me face that judgement day!
--an' another shot uh whiskey
jus' might warsh mah sins away.

Oh, the mornin' light is growin',
but mah head fades more like dusk,
An' mah wife could blast mah lies
away like wind'll blast a husk,
Yeh, the judgement that's a-waitin'
can be swift an' sure an' brusque
--so, jus' one more shot uh whiskey,
save mah soul from gettin' cussed.

Oh, the crack uh dawn is creakin'
an' mah min' could crack in two
At the thought uh whut that scornful
woman's scorchin' speech can do
--She got words as sharp as arrows,
an' she aims each one so true!
--yet uhn extra shot uh whiskey
save me on this rendevous.

Oh, the sun is fully risen,
an' it burns mah eyes like mace,
Hence mah wife is surely wearin'
now her godforsaken face,
So I'll need a further drank
afore I step into that place!
--an' uhn added shot uh whiskey
jus' may brang mah soul tuh grace.

Yeh, all night, I been out drankin,
thus mah head's as thick as clay,
So I 'spec' mah woman's waitin',
got them high-tone words tuh say,
Sure I need that extra drank
tuh help me on this judgement day!
--now, that partin' shot uh whiskey,
may it warsh mah sins away.

Horace Jeffery Hodges
Copyright 1994

He plays this song well, and when he sings it, the song sounds serious as hell . . .

Kenya play that country sound . . .

Sir Elvis
Country Music
Kenya
Will Swanson

As I said only two days ago, "I learn something new every day." Well, to be frank, I'm not sure I learned anything new yesterday, but I did learn something new the day after yesterday . . . which I believe we call "today," though if I rightly recall, it was called "tomorrow" back then. Time. Who can understand it?

But enough metaphysics. What did I learn today? I learned there is something called "Kenyan country music." Meaning American country music played by Kenyans. In Kenya! According to Isma'il Kushkush, "Country Music Finds a Home Far From Home, in Kenya" (NYT, July 1, 2015), and here it is:

Sir Elvis, dressed in a yellow and black plaid shirt, jeans, boots and a black cowboy hat, tuned his guitar under the wooden roof and neon beer advertisements of the Reminisce Bar and Restaurant. With a signal to the band, he began singing . . . in a purring baritone . . . . This would not be an unusual sight for Nashville or just about any country tavern in the United States. Except this was not East Texas, but Nairobi in East Africa, where American country music has a surprisingly robust, and growing, following.

How did this happen?

"I grew up with it, and my parents loved country," said Elvis Otieno, 37, who has become perhaps the best-known Kenyan country performer. Sir Elvis, as he is known onstage, was born the year Elvis Presley died, and was named after him by parents who were big fans of the King.

That reminds me of something Charley Pride said about growing up listening to country music and never thinking that it might be just white folks' music. Like Pride, Kenyans listen to all kinds of American music:

But it is country music that has a strong hold. Country songs are regularly played on the radio. The Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation has a weekly radio show, "Sundowner," that often features country, while a private television station, 3 Stones, broadcasts a program called "Strings of Country." Reminisce and the Galileo Lounge here have weekly gigs, and the first country music fair in Kenya, the Boots and Hats Country Festival, took place in March [and] . . . . Kenyan country singers are writing their own music about love and longing, in an American twang.

I was used to Charley Pride singing great country music, but I still was surprised to learn that the country genre had Japanese fans. I discovered that fact in Berkeley, in the latter 1980s, when several Japanese girls appeared as dinner guests in the house where I lived on Alcatraz Avenue. During the after-dinner conversation, I happened to mention Hank Williams, and one of the girls became excited and cried out that she loved country music. How did this happen?

American country music has found audiences around the world, introduced by American soldiers to Japan, Korea, Thailand and Germany, and through Hollywood movies. Particularly devoted fan bases have grown in unexpected places like Australia, Jamaica and South Africa . . . . In Kenya, country music's popularity dates to the 1940s and crosses classes, but is especially pronounced in the central highlands, the country's farm belt. Many of the fans are over 50, but a younger generation who grew up listening to their parents' music also tune in.

But how did country music reach Kenya?

European settlers, mostly British, transported the music here during Kenya's colonial era, which ended in 1963. "We took it up from them," John Obongo, the host of "Sundowner," said of the Europeans . . . . Kenyans, Mr. Kimotho said, "can identify with the stories in the songs." A type of music called Mugithi, a genre developed in central Kenya and traditionally sung with guitar accompaniment in the Kikuyu language, has a country feel, giving its listeners an affinity for modern American country music.

I can imagine the affinity the Kenyans feel because of Mugithi, but did the British really carry country music to Kenya?

Dylan and Cash and the Nashville Cats

Art by Jon Langford

I'm blogging about this exhibit that opened last Friday because I like both Dylan and Cash - and because I like the above image by artist and musician Jon Langford. You can read about this era when rock and country 'first' met in Alan Light's "'Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats,' an Unlikely Alliance of Rock and Country" (NYT, March 27, 2015):

The era is documented in "Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City," an ambitious exhibition that opened this week at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The show points to three primary forces behind the migration to the Music Row studios: Bob Dylan's journey here to record the "Blonde on Blonde" album in 1966; the ABC television series "The Johnny Cash Show," which filmed at the Ryman Auditorium from 1969 until 1971; and an extraordinary group of session musicians informally known as the "Nashville Cats," who played in one form or fashion on virtually all of these recordings, including albums by Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Linda Ronstadt, Simon and Garfunkel, and three of the four Beatles.

Yet, some people still think Country Music is limited to rednecks and hillbillies! Of course, I did use to watch a lot of Porter Wagoner back in my hillbilly days.

Well, get back, honky cat . . .

Cousin Bill's Home-Cooked Meal -- It's a Blast!

Cousin Bill's Meal-In-A-Box

Cousin Bill recently lived the bachelor life while his wife Cheryl was briefly away, and he reports back on his great culinary success in fending for himself in a wifeless kitchen:

Cheryl bought one "easy fixer" for me, a "Marie Callender" beef pot pie, leaving me with specific written instructions on the necessary defrost . . . followed by the oven baking and how to use the oven. The instructions (preheat, oven time and temp) were promptly misplaced, so I decided on using the microwave, and if I'd done maybe one thing right, that might've worked. I didn't. I opened the door for a sneak peak at the four minute mark -- and dang, things were bubbling (boiling) . . . juices overflowing the plate . . . no problem, just a simple transfer to a bowl, right? I transferred, hit another one minute setting, and within thirty five seconds hear a minor explosion -- most of Ms Callender's finest was deposited on the microwave's ceiling and wall. Using a fork and several paper towels as scrapers I returned most of the fixings to the bowl and decided I'd better cease while ahead. The empty spot in the bowl got filled with cottage cheese and toast. Really, it wasn't bad, 'cept, the dough was pale and doughy, the meat and veggies a bit chewy, but all edible when wrapped inside the toast.

By putting this online, I hope I haven't given terrorists any new ideas on bomb-making. On the other hand, this bomb-plot boxed pot did go off prematurely . . . no seventy-two raisins for any Islamist terrorists following Cousin Bill's method!

Anyway, kudos for surviving! Now go seek out that missing wife, Billy-Boy!

Lyin' Eyes

An Otherwise Pretty Dark Place

Kang Mi Jin, reporting for Daily NK, says that the "North Sees [a] Mixed Response to [the] Execution" of Jang Sung Taek (December 13, 2013):

News of Jang Sung Taek's execution has been met with mixed responses from ordinary North Koreans, one of Daily NK's sources has revealed.

The source, located in North Korea's Yangkang Province, told Daily NK on the 13th that, "Word of the execution is spreading rapidly throughout the country. Most people are openly critical of Jang, saying, 'He got the punishment he deserved,' and, 'How could he be so traitorous after receiving the love of the General (Kim Jong Il)?'"

However, she went on, "Their eyes and way of speaking seem to tell you that they don't really believe what they are saying."

They just can't hide their lying eyes, so these tricky circumstances call for some almost entirely inappropriate music!

Charley Pride Sings "Roll On Mississippi"

Charley Pride, 1981
Wikipedia

Like most 'white' folks who grew up in America's backwoods regions of the Sixties and Seventies, I loved Charley Pride's voice on country music radio long before I realized he was African-American! Finding out was a surprise, though it only whetted my interest.

But I lost contact with country music for a while, so I missed his 1981 hit, "Roll On Mississippi" -- written by Rhonda Kye Fleming and Dennis W. Morgan -- until 1986, when I heard it on the radio while I was staying in Fribourg, Switzerland. Here are the lyrics (or listen here as you follow along):

Walking along, whistling a song,
bare foot and fancy free
A big riverboat, passing us by, she's headed for New Orleans
There she goes, disappearing around a bend
Roll on Mississippi, you make me feel like a child again

Cool river breeze, like peppermint leaves, the taste of it takes me back
Chewing on a straw, torn overalls,
Cane pole and old straw hat,
Muddy river, just like a long lost friend
Roll on Mississippi, you make me feel like a child again

Roll on Mississippi, big river roll
You're the childhood dream, I grew up on
Roll on Mississippi, carry me home
Now I can see I've been away too long
Roll on, Mississippi, roll on

When the world's spinning round, too fast for me,
I need a place to dream
So I come to your banks, I sit in your shade,
And relive the memories
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Roll on Mississippi, you make me feel like a child again

Roll on Mississippi, big river roll
You're the childhood dream that I grew up on
Roll on Mississippi, carry me home
Now I can see I've been away too long
Roll on, Mississippi,

Roll on, Mississippi, roll on
Roll on, Mississippi, roll on
Roll on, Mississippi, roll on

Ah, nostalgia, that magic of country music. I didn't grow up along the Mississippi, but that great river defined the eastern border of Arkansas, and I always identified with the hillbilly Huck Finn and his Big River adventures.

And my family crossed that river last night on their way to the Ozarks . . .

David Lynn Jones and a Few Other Old Hillbillies Singing Recently

David Lynn Jones
Benefit Concert
Highland, Arkansas
You Tube

I haven't posted for a while on David Lynn Jones because I've been waiting for his comeback album, but one of this blog's readers who also listens to David Lynn, a Canadian man by the name of Larry Saidman, recently notified me of a benefit concert that David Lynn played in not long ago at a place just down the road from my Ozark hometown of Salem, Arkansas, namely, in Highland, Arkansas, which is also just up the hill from David Lynn's current home in the Spring River valley town of Hardy, Arkansas:

I just found two new postings of David Lynn Jones on You Tube. both from Jan 11, 2012, a "Benefit in Highland Ark". One song is "Amazing Grace" with other performers also singing. The other is a song I've never head before . . . title is probably "Every Once In A While".

That old favorite Amazing Grace is a lot fun to watch, for some of the performers take turns singing, and I liked that video better at first, but the other one grows on a fellow with the watching. Here is my transcription of the lyrics to Every Once in a While:

Every once in a while,
When reminded of you,
I could not see the sky,
I'm reminded your eyes
Are the same shade.
So I never look up,
Well, that's not exactly true,
Every once in a while,
I still do.

Every once in a while,
When my time is good,
I might be passing by,
Just happen to drive
Through our old hood.
I never go by your house,
Well, that's not exactly true,
Every once in a while,
I still do.

When the wind blows
Or the sun shows
A shadow on the ground,
When the birds sing
Or the night brings
Your old memory around,
I must be getting better,
I hardly ever think of you,
But every once in a while,
I still do.

Every once in a while,
When the moon is just right,
I promised myself
If somebody else
Is holding you tight,
That I'd never feel like a fool,
Well, that's not exactly true,
Every once in a while,
I still do.

When the wind blows
Or the sun shows
A shadow on the ground,
When the birds sing
Or the night brings
Your old memory around,
I must be getting better,
I hardly ever think of you,
But every once in a while,
I still do

Yes, every once in a while,
I still do . . .

I know some of those lines aren't right, so if some youngster with better ears than mine can listen and offer corrections, I'll be much obliged and do the same for you when my ears get younger again.

Meanwhile, I'll keep waiting for David Lynn's comeback album, which ought to arrive sometime before the parousia . . .

Speaking of "Backslider's Wine" . . .

Vernon Oxford

You Tube

. . . here's Vernon Oxford's version of Michael Martin Murphey's barroom lament:

Backslider's Wine

As the rain ruins my alibi,
I'm down to telling you my troubled mind.
It's not the sun-bright path
That bade me leave my home.
It's that fine Backslider's Wine.

My momma sings out in my memory.
Son, don't drink no red-eyed shine.
Fight for your rights
But just don't fight the past,
And do not drink Backslider's Wine.

I took myself to be a strong and loving soul
Till I found myself,
Face down on a barroom floor,
Crying o God what has become of me.
I dare not drink Backslider's Wine no more.

My momma sings out in my memory.
Son, don't drink no red-eyed shine.
Fight for your rights
But just don't fight the past.
Please don't drink Backslider's Wine.

And please don't drink Backslider's Wine.

This a bit different from my memory of the version sung by Jerry Jeff Walker, which I heard 35 years ago and loved but cannot locate on You Tube. I'm particularly uncertain of the line "But just don't fight the past," specifically "the past," which might be "the path" or even "to pass," and I'd appreciate any correction from some attuned soul with better ears than mine. But whatever the precise version, I reckon I can accept this honky-tonk one by Vernon Oxford since the fellow was born in the Arkansas Ozark town of Rogers.

Besides, I don't even know if Walker sings it like Murphey originally meant it . . .

Frozen Ozark Waterfall

November 2011

Photo by Tim Ernst
Available at Tim Ernst Poster Prints

Ozark weather must be turning cold, at least in pockets of higher altitude in the Boston Mountain region if this image above photographed and posted by Tim Ernst can be believed, and I believe it can since he doesn't do photoshopping. Note the blue glow at the top of the frozen falls. This indicates light from above refracting down through the ice. My use of "waterfall" and "falls" is perhaps not quite correct since this can't be much of a drop, not more than a few feet, I estimate. Your judgment may differ (and should differ, as I now learn from Cousin Bill, for this falls has a twenty-five-foot drop, roughly eight meters!). Anyway, I post it this cold morning in Seoul because I'm feeling a bit homesick . . . as the video to these lyrics will reveal if you click on the title:

Ozark Mountain Jubilee
Recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys
Written by Scott Anders and Roger Murrah

I hear the rooster crowing
It's a frosty morning
I can almost see the sign
Going so fast I can't stop
I'm just a stone's throw from Little Rock
Heading for the Missouri line

Don't need a map to get there
You can get there from anywhere
When you're going in your head
I can see the arms outreaching
Just like the day I was leaving
It's been oh so many years

Let me get on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line
Take my time
And see all I can see
Fiddler rosin up your bow
We'll have our own
Ozark Mountain Jubilee

If I can't be a favorite son
I'll be the prodigal one
Cause I been gone too long
Oh how the years have flown by
Oh how I realize
How much of me is gone

Let me get on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line
Take my time
And see all I can see
Fiddler rosin up your bow
We'll have our own
Ozark Mountain Jubilee

Ozark Mountain Jubilee . . .

Nostalgia, I suppose, is the label to apply to these feelings, but I try not to be self-indulgent. I just want to remind myself of where I come from . . .

Jerry Jeff Walker: "Little Bird"

Jerry Jeff Walker

(Image from Wikipedia)

Back in my own outlaw days, I listened to the outlaw country musicians -- Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and, among others, the lesser-known Jerry Jeff Walker, whom most of you might know only because of his song "Mr. Bojangles."

Walker's real name is Ronald Clyde Crosby, and he was born upstate from New York City in Oneonta during the Second World War (specifically, March 16, 1942). He first got into folk music, like Bob Dylan, and I believe that they knew each other during their time in Greenwich Village in the mid-1960s -- for one of Dylan's early albums has a version of Walker's "Bojangles." He got interested in jazz in the late 1960s and moved away from folk music, eventually settling on a jazz-influenced country sound, and he came to associate himself with the aforementioned country outlaws in Austin, Texas, where he began making music in the 1970s. That's about the same time that I moved to Texas to attend Baylor University, only 90 miles from Austin, and began to listen to Walker.

I've not listened to him much in many years, but I still love his old songs, especially an obscure one from his 1973 Viva Terlingua album titled "Little Bird" that I used to play again and again on dreary, rainy days in Waco, Texas. Walker's got one of the naturally most melodic, rich voices that you'll ever hear -- just to listen to him talk is a treat -- and he does a wonderful job with this song. Open up a second browser, come to the Gypsy Scholar site again, click on this "Little Bird" link, and listen as you follow along with the words:

Little Bird

A little bird come sit upon my windowsill,
Sat there through the falling rain.
As I watched that little bird upon my windowsill,
I saw my thoughts of you go by again.

Picture of my face, reflected on the pane,
Is it tears, or is it rain?

Remember how we talked before we said goodbye,
Too young to know the world outside our door?
We laughed and said that love was free, birds that fly the winds,
Rainy day made me think of you once more.

Picture of my face, reflected on the pane,
Is it tears, or is it rain?

No regrets about the past, see how young we were.
The world was love, and time was but a thought.
But many things go many ways, and many times but once,
Till your life is past, and your love is but a thought.

Picture of my face, reflected on the pane,
Is it tears, or is it rain?

So as my thoughts go tumbling back, I wonder how you look.
I wonder if you’ve seen that little bird.
I wonder if he’s sat upon your windowsill.
I wonder if you’ll ever hear these words.

Picture of my face, reflected on the pane,
Is it tears, or is it rain?

Is it tears, or is it rain?

I love that image of the face reflected on a window pane, the rain dripping down the glass like tears, and the even more subtle wordplay as you listen and hear "reflected on the pane" become "reflected on the pain." Walker's a clever lyricist.

And he's still around, making music . . .

David Lynn Jones 'Sighting'

One of my friends from high school was Ron Irby. His roots were from my part of the Ozarks, but he grew up for some of his youth in Indiana before his family returned to the Ozarks. He and I used to ride around in his car on Fulton County's unpaved back roads, discussing Bob Dylan's songs and what that singer's obscure lyrics meant. I don't recall if we ever figured them out, but even if the philosophical implications had been resolved, little would have been achieved, as Wittgenstein might say.

Anyway -- to make a long story short -- Ron's older brother Richard has finally also moved into the Ozarks, sometime in the past few years, and writes for the local Area Wide News and possibly other media. Yesterday, he sent me notice of a performance by David Lynn Jones, among other musicians. I was glad to hear this, for Jones had been in poor physical health for a while and depressed over problems caused by a criminal who'd somehow stolen Jone's identity -- and was thus not making much music. But all that seems to be behind him now, for Richard writes:

I'm enclosing a story and some photos regarding a major David Lynn Jones "sighting". He seemed in good physical and mental state and ready to rock. The good news is, Ron Helm and Jerry Bone are working with Lynn on a comeback album.

Bone had mentioned this to me some time back, and I believe that I passed it along as a rumor since I wasn't sure that I should announce it as fact, but Richard says to go ahead now. Here, also, are the three photos, the first showing Jones in center stage, with a lanky Jerry Bone in the background:


I don't recognize the big man in the baseball cap. The next photo again put Jones center stage, with Bone in the background again, the top of his head just visible:


Here's the third photograph, with Jones again center stage, but all the other musicians are equally visible:


I recognize Bone, of course, but not the others. Perhaps some knowledgeable Fulton County local could take the trouble to name them all?

Anyway, Jones was taking part in a memorial service for Gene Cooper, a local musician from Oxford, Arkansas, a small town some 13 miles south of my hometown, Salem. Richard sent a column -- "Fans, Friends and Musicians Remember Gene Cooper" -- that he'd written for some local publication, perhaps the aforementioned Area Wide News, but he didn't directly say. Here's what Richard related about Jones:

[Also present was] David Lynn Jones, a Fulton County native who hit the big time in the 80's as a songwriter and performer. An energized Jones showed he was ready for a comeback, after years out of the spotlight.

"This isn't about us," said Jones from the stage. "This is about Gene Cooper. I love this man as much as one can love another."

Jones recounted how Cooper hired him as his guitarist at age 18.

"He is the reason I got into this business," said Jones. "He gave me a job and I made some money. Sometimes. No matter how little I made, Gene probably took less because he always had a big heart."

I remember Gene Cooper. He used to play music over at Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas, another small town nearby, about 14 miles to the east of Salem, my hometown. I didn't know the man personally, nor did he know me -- we were of different generations -- but I might as well also say good bye:

"Good bye, Gene."

And, thanks again to Gene, though now in his passing, we once more have Jones . . .

David Lynn Jones: "Lonely Town"

"Lonely Town"

David Lynn Jones

(Image from You Tube)

Recently, the musician Jamie Denton left a message in a comment to one of my posts on David Lynn Jones, informing readers of a few new videos with Jones playing:

Jamie Denton here again. For all of you Facebookers out there Jerry Bone has been posting some really nice stuff that includes David Lynn Jones songs and a recent video of David Lynn Jones sitting in with Jerry's band! These are a must see and listen if you are a fan! I've posted some of them on my Facebook page. You can find my page under James Denton instead of Jamie. I'm easy to find. I'm holding a left handed stratocaster in my hands. And I'm pretty sure my page isn't private. Thought y'all might enjoy the info.

I promised to alert readers to this, but Jamie didn't offer any links, and I couldn't find the videos. Readers are welcome to try. Here's Denton's Facebook site. And here's the Facebook site for Jerry Bone. Bone also has a My Space homepage.

If any readers have more luck than I, share it with the rest of us. Meanwhile, I've linked to an old David Lynn Jones number, a jazzed-up, saxy country tune from Wood, Wind and Stone (1990), Lonely Town, and I've typed the lyrics below. If readers notice any mistakes in my transcription, let me know, and I'll correct the errors:

Lonely Town

Well, it's another hot night down on lonely street,
where those jaded hearts are pounding to the only beat
they know
dancing slow

That old jukebox is singing for its nickles and dimes.
I said, "Play that sad one one more time."
It played, "Misery Loves Company"

That old neon Romeo is out on the floor,
dancing with a girl that's heard it all before,
but she don't mind --
she knows true love is hard to find.

Down in lonely town.
Down in lonely town.
Down in lonely town where the broken-hearted come to
cry for each other,
try to find that old feeling again
with some brand-new lover.

Well, there's a lady in a corner at a table for two.
An old Black Label will help her make it through
the night,
just another night.

So, I made my request in my best barroom charm.
She said, "I guess one dance wouldn't do me no harm."
We was both wondering
if she'd be lying in my arms in the morning.

But there's a good woman waiting for me at home.
She sits by the window, stares at the phone.
She knows all about being alone.

Down in lonely town.
Down in lonely town.
Down in lonely town, where the broken-hearted come to
cry for each other,
try to find that old feeling again
with some brand-new lover

Down in lonely town.
Oh, if you're looking for me,
you can find me in lonely town.
You know where I'll be.
You can find me in lonely town.
Oh, if you're looking for me,
you can find me in lonely town.
You know where I'll be.
You can find me in lonely town.
Down in lonely town.

Jones has the Ozarks in his voice and a country beat to the song, but a jazzy quality to the music, courtesy of the saxophone, I reckon. The song itself is probably about some West Plains barroom that had a jukebox with Porter Waggoner's "Misery Loves Company," because that's the sort of place in Missouri that we headed for to get out of our dry Northern Arkansas counties and enjoy some good whiskey to sip on, some slow music to dance to, and some fast women to dance with. None of these details matter to the song, of course, which stands on its own.

And I understand that Jones is working on some music these days, but I still don't know when it's going to be produced and on the market for his fans . . .

Korean Multiculturalism: "Tuts My Barreh"

"Tuts My Barreh"

It's radical!

(Image from You Tube)

I have never been one to shy away from controversy over what I consider the dangers of radical multiculturalism and have therefore long cautioned Koreans not to make the same mistake that Europeans have made in rushing headlong toward some putative multicultural utopia only to find themselves in a dystopian reality, but I will always be the first to admit that I have been wrong . . . and I have indeed been wrong.

From my polymathic friend Malcolm Pollack comes this rich linguistic evidence that even radical multiculturalism can work as an unknown young Korean man sings with gay abandon what seems to be a complex multilingual mix titled "Tuts My Barreh." The video can be viewed on You Tube, which also includes the lyrics as subtitles, and I've gone to the trouble to type them up for my readers' pleasure:

Tuts My Barreh

OyeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEay

I know that you bean waiting for me, I'm weighing too
Inma inaiinasin I be a lump on you
I know you cop dat fever for me hundrentu
Bo I know dat fir sem my temperentthru

If there's a camel up a hill
Then it's Gong Li with me when I do I do
If there's a camel up a hill
Then its asbestos flaygon you too you too
Coz if you run your mother break a bottle sicker run day boo
I will hunt chu down
Coz baby I'm up in my beegees like a windy interview
But dis is prry vee bit two in eye

Tuts my barreh
Pull me on the flow
Wrestle me around
Play it wit some more
Tuts my barreh
Throw me on the bay
I juss wanna mek yu fill like yu never dee
Tuts my barreh
Rape me in my thighs
Uh around your way
Just a little taze
Tuts my barreh
Know you love my cock
Come on a give me water dessert

Bo you can poo me on yolakka branoo eye-tee
I'll honk you berra tara den my favorite cheese
I want you to caress me like a tropical priest
A flororo with you in the caribbean se

If there's a camel up a hill
Then it's Gong Li with me when I do I do
If there's a camel up a hill
Then its asbestos flaygon you too you too
Coz if you run your mother break a bottle sicker run day boo
I will hunt chu damn
Coz baby I'm up in my beegees like a windy interview
But dis is prry v bit two in eye

Tuts my barreh
Pull me on the flow
Wrestle me around
Play it wit some more
Tuts my barreh
Throw me on duh bay
I juss wanna mek yu fill like yu never dee
Tuts my barreh
Rape me in my thighs
Uh around your way
Just a little taze
Tuts my barreh
Know you love my cock
Come on a give me water dessert

Don't you like a teddybear
You won, wanna go Norway?
In the labor luxury
Boys just turn to me
You wanna run for nothing bo
I will give you plankton

Tuts my barREH!
Pull me on the flow
Lesson me around
Play it wit some more
Tuts my barreh
Throw me on the bay
I juss wanna mek yu fill like yu never dee
Tuts my barreh
Rape me in my thighs
Araranyo way
Just a little Tay
Tuts my barreh
Know you love my cock
Come on a give me water dessert

And toss meh

oyEe oyEe oyEe oyEe oyEe a a a a a
ohyEe ohyEe ohyEe ohyEe ohyEe ohyEe
a A a A a
hoOOOooOOoo hoo hoo babeh
oooooOOOOOooOOo oo oo tuts my
aaaaAAaaaAaa aah aahh uhaughh

Come on and give me water dessERt!

hoo!
hooooooohohoOho ohooho ahuh

Now I may be no credentialed judge of musical ability, but I'll go out on a limb and say that this music video reveals a young man with enough raw musical talent to rival the vocal skills of Paul Potts or Susan Boyle.

I anticipate this video soon to go viral.

"River of Love"

T-Bone Burnett

"River of Love"

(Image from Wikipedia)

A couple of days ago, I linked to a video of Sam Phillips singing T-Bone Burnett's "River of Love," a song that I first heard around 1987. I vividly recall the moment because I was back from Switzerland and had dropped by to see my friend Rachel Satory (now Saavedra) and her boyfriend, who were living in Berkeley at the time (and live still in the Bay Area as a married couple). I was just getting ready to take up the study of Greek and Coptic in the ill-considered aim of becoming a scholar in religious studies, so I could talk to them of nothing but Gnostic texts that I had at the time read only in translation.

They listened politely, perhaps even with some mild interest, then put on a CD of T-Bone Burnett singing his 1986 "River of Love," which instantly captured my full attention, but I didn't listen to it again for 22 years, though I never forgot the song and even recalled some of the lyrics from time to time. The words and tune came back to me two days ago as I was blogging about my family canoeing down Norfork River. I had canoed that river with my estranged father and his new wife when I was about 16, so that would have been around 1973, and the image of life flowing like a river formed in my mind as I looked at the recent photos of my wife, kids, and kinfolk floating down that same stream.

Anyway, here's a video of T-Bone Burnett singing "River of Love," and if you open two browsers, you can follow along to the lyrics below:

There's a river of love that runs through all times.
But there's a river of tears that flows through our eyes.
It starts when a heart is broken in two
By the thief of belief in anything that's true.
But there's a river of love that runs through all times.

There's a river of love that runs through all times.
But there's a river of grief that flows through our lives.
We fight through the night for freedom as it fades
Into a jail where we fail every time we make a break.
But there's a river of love that runs through all times.

I had to run before I knew how to crawl.
The first step was hard, but I've had trouble with them all.
But now the night grows darker and the day grows dim
'Cause I know I never will see you again.
And I almost made you happy.

There's a river of love that runs through all times.
But there's a river of fire that burns with no light.
The flame is the pain of dreams gone up in smoke
From the lies we deny and we breathe them 'til we choke.
But there's a river of love that runs through all times.

That was from his 1986 album, T-Bone Burnett, but the most heart-wrenching interpretation of "River of Love" was the one by T-Bone's then-wife, Sam Phillips, which I linked to in my post two days ago, because she seemed to be singing from heartfelt experience and even looks as though she's about to break into tears a couple of times. That was in 1988, as she was making the transition from a Christian recording artist under her name Leslie Ann Phillips to a more secular singer going by the name "Sam" Phillips, so I wonder if there was some degree of intense inner turmoil connected to that whole scene. Watch her performance youself, and see what you think about this. Listen not just to her voice but also to the background bar noise of glasses clinking and people talking and note how all that noise fades away in the emotion of the moment as customers begin to focus on Phillips, her voice, and her face.

For those interested, here are the websites of T-Bone and of Phillips -- and for more on the latter, here's Phillips doing a "Tiny Desk Concert" for NPR.

David Lynn Jones: "Livin' in the Promised Land"

David Lynn Jones

Gradually Regaining His Focus

"Livin' in the Promised Land"

(Image from You Tube)

Some readers will recall that I announced an upcoming performance by David Lynn Jones in West Plains, Missouri scheduled for last June 13th, 2009 at a memorial concert organized by Jamie Denton in honor of the recently deceased but renowned blues harmonica player Mark Sallings. Well, as I noted, the performance took place, and somebody video-taped part of it and posted a clip of David Lynn Jones to You Tube.

David Lynn sang three songs, finishing up with a request that he sing "Livin' in the Promised Land," which he did even though he said that he doesn't usually do this on guitar -- to my surprise! -- and he began somewhat roughly, searching for the right note with his voice but finding it and growing in strength as he sang:

Livin' in the Promise Land

Give us your tired and weak
And we will make them strong
Bring us your foreign songs
And we will sing along
Leave us your broken dreams
We'll give them time to mend
There's still a lot of love
Livin' in the Promised Land

Livin' in the Promised Land
Our dreams are made of steel
The prayer of every man
Is to know how freedom realy feels
There is a winding road
Across the shifting sand
Still room for everyone
Livin' in the Promised Land

So we came from the distant isles
Nameless woman, faithless child
Like a bad dream
Till there was no room at all
No place to run, and no place to fall
Give us your daily bread
We have no shoes to wear
No place to call our home
Only this cross to bear
We are the multitudes
Lord, lend us a helping hand
Is there no love anymore
Livin' in the Promised Land

Livin' in the Promised Land
Our dreams are made of steel
The prayer of every man
Is to know how freedom really feels
There is a winding road
Across the shifting sand
Still room for everyone
Livin' in the Promised Land
Livin' in the Promised Land

The man ended powerfully. I then discovered some other recently posted video clips of David Lynn Jones on You Tube, such as "Bonnie Jean" and "Tonight in America."

And as long as we're on a country kick, let's listen to the Osborne Brothers good old "Rocky Top," which I loved as a kid. And even -- to many folks' great astonishment -- that excellent instrumental, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," played by (among others) Earl Scruggs and Steve Martin.

Yes, Steve Martin, who has perfected the clawhammer technique of banjo playing. Listen to him on the medly "Loch Lomond . . . Sally Anne."

David Lynn Jones: June 13th Performance in West Plains

David Lynn Jones

and

Illa Jones

Not from the concert.

(Image from Lady Jamie's My Space)

You see above one of the most recent photographs of David Lynn Jones, which I've borrowed from the website of a certain "Jamie," a lady who lives in Spring Lake, Arkansas . . . which I assume is not far from Cave City, Arkansas, where David Lynn currently lives. I hope that she doesn't mind my borrowing this photo, for it's 'stolen' in a good cause. Kind of like Robin Hood . . .

I suppose that the image itself ain't 'zackly politically correct, what with David Lynn smoking a cancer stick, but it's real, and the man is back. Yes, back . . . or at least on his long-delayed comeback. Here's what was posted about one month ago by a different "Jamie," a fellow in West Plains, Missouri by the name of "Jamie Denton" (cf. My Space link with loud country music):

Hi, my name's Jamie and I'm putting on a benefit concert for the late Mark Sallings, who was a member of David Lynn's band, and David Lynn Jones is scheduled to appear on June 13th (a Saturday night) at the avenue theatre in West Plains MO. Tickets go on sale June the 1st at 10 a.m. at West Plains Music Store, and range from 10.00 to 25.00. We would love to have all of Lynn's fans out to see him.

The concert for Mark Sallings mentioned in the above comment will be June 13th 2009, at the Avenue Theatre in West Plains, MO. I just wanted to confirm this is a 2009 date!

I checked this out with Jerry Bone (link with softer, blues-style music), who knew of the event but couldn't with certainty confirm it, so I asked around but couldn't get any firm information. Nevertheless, the concert did take place, as I have just yesterday learned, and David Lynn Jones did in fact appear, as Jamie Denton has now confirmed:

Hi, this is Jamie Denton once again, and I wanted everyone to know that David Lynn Jones did perform in West Plains on the 13th, and his set was awsome. He did 3 songs -- 2 new ones, and "Living in the Promiseland" -- I hope some of your readers made it to the show. It was a real treat to hear Jones singing again!

I imagine that it was a treat. I don't know that any of my regular readers made the concert, but I am happy to receive any and all reports on the performance. I'm gratified to hear that David Lynn not only sang his number 1 song from the late 80s but also performed two new ones!

I hope that a tape has been made and will be cleared to listen to on You Tube or on David Lynn's My Space site. Meanwhile, here are some links to remind us of why we love David Lynn's voice and songs:

High Ridin' Heros

When Times Were Good and You Were Mine

Bonnie Jean (Little Sister)

Here in My Heart

That last link, David Lynn's My Space site, includes a message from Craig, a fellow musician who seems to have been at the West Plains concert, for he says, in a message dated June 15th, 2009 (3:14 a.m.), "Great set last night. Enjoyed visiting with you." I infer that Craig was referring to the June 13th concert in mentioning "last night" even though he happened to be posting at a point when June 14th had stretched into June 15th. At any rate, that bit by Craig about David Lynn's "Great set" sounds good -- and probably refers to "Living in the Promiseland" along with the two new songs that Jamie mentioned. I expect that we'll soon be hearing more from David Lynn.

In the meantime, here are a couple more reports about the West Plains concert that have posted while I was writing this blog entry. Jamie Denton writes again to tell us:

I'm sure there will be a follow up with some of the local newspapers! And Dennis Crider, former West Plains Quill photographer took pics of all the artists, so I'll keep you informed, when these come available. As for a recording, we weren't able to get that all set up, but who knows -- someone may have snuck in a recorder. They always do! So I'd keep my eyes open for that too just in case!

And an anonymous comment comes from one who attended the concert and seems to know David Lynn quite well:

I attended the concert in West Plains, Mo. Saturday evening and agree with Jamie that David Lynn had a tremendous performance. I told him that it may have been the best that I had heard him sing. He was extremely gratified with the great reception and response he received. The quality of the sound with his acoustic style revealed the vintage David Lynn. I updated him on the great following and support he has received on Gypsy Scholar. You can expect to hear more from David Lynn in the future as he makes a few changes.

More people seem to be reading this blog than I had realized. I'm glad that it has provided a forum for various people who appreciate the music of David Lynn Jones. From my site meter, I've not only seen folks from Canada and Australia logging on to one or another of my blog entries on Jones, I've even seen someone from Russia searching for a Jones CD and ending up here . . . though not leaving a message.

I'd therefore suggest that David Lynn Jones still has a sizeable fan base waiting for him to return.

David Lynn Jones to play in West Plains on June 13, 2009?

David Lynn Jones

- First from Right -
2006 Americana Music Conference and Awards
Wayne, Chip Taylor, Steve Popovich, Steve Popovich, Jr., and David Lynn Jones
- From Left to Right -
(Image by Michael Buffalo Smith)

I'm re-using this photograph of David Lynn Jones from 2006 . . . although I have found two more recent images on a MySpace site hosted by a lady named "Jamie" who lives in Spring Lake, Arkansas. I learned of this site from another lady, "Di," who also has a MySpace site and lives in Clarksburg, Tennessee.

Both Jamie and Di are David Lynn Jones fans, and I reckon that I am, too, even though I possess only one CD, a bootleg copy of a gospel tape that Jones made back around 1999 in his Bexar studio but never produced. I came into possession of this CD because my nephew was dating Jones's daughter a couple of years later and . . . well, the story gets complicated. The shortest story is that I grew up in Jones's part of the Ozarks and have some personal connections through family and friends.

For the benefit of those who run across this blog entry but don't know who Jones is or why I'm talking about him (or who don't know who I am either), just do a search on this blog for "David Lynn Jones," and you'll find out about him (and about me). You can also listen to Jones singing "Here In My Heart" at his own MySpace account, or go to You Tube and enjoy "High Riding Heros," "When Times Were Good and You Were Mine," and "Bonnie Jean (Little Sister)."

Now for the more recent news. A man named "Jamie Denton," who lives in West Plains, Missouri and also has a My Space site, has left a couple of comments on one of my blog entries on David Lynn Jones and tells us the following:

Hi, my name's Jamie and I'm putting on a benefit concert for the late Mark Sallings, who was a member of David Lynn's band, and David Lynn Jones is scheduled to appear on June 13th (a Saturday night) at the avenue theatre in West Plains MO. Tickets go on sale June the 1st at 10 a.m. at West Plains Music Store, and range from 10.00 to 25.00. We would love to have all of Lynn's fans out to see him.

The concert for Mark Sallings mentioned in the above comment will be June 13th 2009, at the Avenue Theatre in West Plains, MO. I just wanted to confirm this is a 2009 date!

Although West Plains, Missouri is only about 30 miles from my hometown of Salem, Arkansas, it's halfway around the world from Seoul, South Korea, where I currently live, so I won't be able to make the concert, but if anyone reading my blog lives close enough to attend and gets to hear Jones play, let us know the details.

I don't know Mr. Denton personally, but I've checked with bass musician Jerry Bone to find out more. Jerry tells me that he's aware of the planned concert but cannot be there himself because his son is graduating from college in Chicago at the same time.

For those who want to know details, Mr. Denton has posted more information at his MySpace site on "The Ozarks Homecoming Concert in Memory of Mark Sallings of the Famous Unknowns."

Sunday Mornin' Sing-Along

Old Time Radio

(Image from You Tube)

I ain't no Mitch Miller and ain't got no bouncing ball, but if you open two browsers to this Gypsy Scholar blog and use one to link to "My Religion's Not Old-Fashioned" at You Tube, you can sing along this fine Sunday mornin' with Hank Snow performing that '53 golden oldie country gospel tune written by Stuart Hamblen:

There's but one real religion that redeems a sinner's soul.
It's as timeless as the ages, and it never will grow old.
My Lord gave the key to Thomas, "I'm the way, the truth, the life,"
and the way has never changed since he spoke the word that night.

My religion's not old-fashioned, but it's real genuine,
two and two make four today as it did in my Lord's time.
Modern days don't make a difference; you can't alter truth or time.
My religion's not old-fashioned, but it's real genuine.

In this world of wild confusion, we are often led astray.
When we hear the word "old fashioned" as men speak of God today.
My Lord doesn't deal in fashions, He's more timeless than the seas,
and His words still hold the power as they did at Galilee.

My religion's not old fashioned, but it's real genuine.
Two and two make four today as it did in my Lord's time.
Modern days don't make a difference; you can't alter truth or time.
My religion's not old fashioned, but it's real genuine.

Some are prone to take the Bible and dilute the words of Christ.
They admit He came here one time but will never make it twice.
Be not tempted by those prophets; he said such men would arise.
There is darkness in their teaching, but there's light through Jesus Christ.

My religion's not old fashioned, but it's real genuine.
Two and two make four today as it did in my Lord's time
Modern days don't make a difference, you can't alter truth or time.
My religion's not old fashioned, but it's real genuine.

Country music's a broader genre than some folks realize, and it has long attracted an international audience and drawn recording artists from all over the world. This gospel country song may have been written by the Texan Carl Stuart Hamblen, but it was sung by Hank Snow, a Canadian from Nova Scotia whose trademark 'auctioneer' song "I've Been Everywhere" was originally written by the Australian country singer and songwriter Geoff Mack in 1959 and used a lot of Australian place names. The Australian country singer Lucky Starr made Mack's original song a hit in 1962, and that same year, Mack rewrote it for Hank Snow and an American audience using US place names.

In short, country music gets around, and this Sunday morning, it's gotten around to Gypsy Scholar, so I reckon that it's been everywhere, man.