3 Chords & the Truth

3 Chords & the Truth: What the Buck

Revolution 21 — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:42:37 GMT

Listen, y'all. It's been a tough week. The country's on the brink. And then there's that financial meltdown thing, too. I don't know about you (though I suspect maybe I do, a little), but my brain is full. I'M CRANKY, and I'm wondering what the hell is going on nowadays. Not only that, but I just got stitches out of my back, I have a sinus infection, I'm on antibiotics and I can't have a beer -- even though I really could use a cold one right now. So when it came time to do this week's episode of 3 Chords & the Truth, I just said "What the Buck." "What the Buck" will set you free. SO THAT'S THE DEAL with the Big Show -- I'm just saying "What the Buck," having a little mindless fun and trying not to make my brain -- or yours -- hurt any more than it already is. What. The. Buck. It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords and the Truth: Br0 c4n U 5p4r3 4 d1m3?

Revolution 21 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:35:19 GMT

The waiting is the hardest part. At least that's what Tom Petty thinks. But that's what I'm doing here in the 3 Chords & the Truth studio, and that's what you're doing wherever. We're waiting for the end of the world . . . at least the world as we've known it. FINANCIALLY, we're in a real pickle now. The "experts" say only Congress -- and an infusion of your tax money -- can save us now. Or, more precisely, save Wall Street, which is supposed to, in turn, save us. From what, we're not sure. Maybe we're waiting for the pols to save us from another Great Depression, whatever that might look like in the 21st century. Perhaps it's just from a nasty recession. Some folks have had it with the greedheads in finance and government, and they say, "Screw 'em all, being on the abyss!" Be careful what you ask for. You may get it. "It," in this case, may be the Mother of All Noses Cut Off to Spite Faces. HELL, I'm no prognosticator. I was expecting the stock market to tank Friday; it was up 120 points. But I think simple logic (and accounting) dictates that even if the politicians pull our butts out of the crack, America still will face a reckoning -- maybe now, maybe later. I don't think the "American Dream," at least as we now define it, is sustainable. Even if our revolving credit holds out, the oil supply won't forever. And a change is gonna come. That's what this week's show is all about -- and you knew I would get around to the show eventually, yes? This week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth is about hitting the wall . . . it's about hard times and hard limits. It's about being a lot poorer, and it's about redefining what it means to be rich. Wealth without cash, as it were. THIS WEEK, the Big Show is all about being broke, and being broken. It's about the love of money and the pitfalls thereof. It's about what comes next, after the fall. It's about revolution, victory, peace and love. And the show, as always, is about damn fine music, put together in a unique manner. It's 3 Chords & the Truth. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords and the Truth: 1971 . . . and 2001

Revolution 21 — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:06:53 GMT

I'm sitting here in Room 222, waiting for Pete Dixon's American History class to get over with so I can do my air shift at KWWH, the voice of Walt Whitman High. Maybe, if I have a little time, I'll drop by Miss Johnson's class to say hi. I know she's an English teacher and all, but she's still a totally groovy chick. Anyway, my show is on during lunch period, so I know I'll have a big audience. I can't wait to play the new Grass Roots and J.J. Cale records . . . the J.J. Cale thing will be enough to straighten out Bernie's white-boy 'fro. I mean, it's really far out, man! OH, HANG ON for a sec. . . . Jason! What's happenin', man? Groovy! Later, man! Right on, bro! Anyway, man, I was going to play more acid rock, but I don't want to push Mr. Kauffman's buttons too much, you know? Yeah, he's kind of a square, but he's a square who can shut me down. I guess sometimes you got no choice but to play by The Man's rules. It'll be different in college, man. There, we can organize to fight the Establishment oppression. Well, gotta run. Catch me in a bit on 3 Chords & the Truth . . . straight talk and cool music, right here on KWWH. It's the grooviest show on the radio! Be there. Aloha. P.S.: I wonder what people will be playing in 30 years? I don't know why I was thinking of that -- like, I just was, man.

3 Chords and the Truth: Refuge from the suck

Revolution 21 — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:40:58 GMT

As I write this, Hurricane Ike is giving the Texas coastline a good thrashing. God knows what's happening to poor Galveston. God knows what's about to happen to the price of a gallon of gas for the foreseeable future. MEANWHILE, the Republicans have restarted the culture wars -- because, frankly, that was the only way they could win -- and the far left of the Democratic Party has taken the bait. Enthusiastically. And observant Catholics like me hear "We hate you. We really hate you." (And, by the way, I am the last New Deal Democrat standing.) The Republicans, of course, are counting on that. Because that's the only way they can win this year. Did I mention that? Back to the storm front, my Louisiana hometown is still a shambles from Hurricane Gustav a couple of weeks back, and my mother only has electricity to half of her house. Go figure. Up here in Nebraska, it's been raining all week . . . and God knows what we're going to be paying for a gallon of gas in a few days. (You can't mention that one too much. All God's chillin need gas. Or for the city to instantly build a decent mass-transit system.) TIMES ARE TOUGH; times are ugly, and they're getting uglier. There's only one thing for us to do in times like these: Crank it up! That's where this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth comes in. In the impersonal and the abstract, you might hate my guts, and I damn well may have had it with you -- and the politicians might be clapping with glee at the spectacle -- but it seems to me there's one thing we can agree on. That would be good music. Again, that's where this week's edition of the Big Show comes in. Good music. Diverse music. "Oh my God, he can't be as big an effing redneck as I thought" music. And -- Whadda you know? -- if you're hip to the cool sounds, too, you might not be half bad yourself. (God, I sound like I'm sporting a pocket protector or something. Geez!) I GUESS THAT'S what this week's 3 Chords & the Truth ultimately is about. Unity through a shared quest for sweet diversion from a world o' suck. Works for me. How about you? It's 3 Chords & the Truth. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords and the Truth: Falling for September

Revolution 21 — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:21:18 GMT

Mrs. Favog and I love September. September starts with the Labor Day weekend and a trip to the Nebraska State Fair, rolls right into college football, then glides into the first signs of nippy weather and -- finally -- segues into October with those autumn leaves. SEPTEMBER IS a month of hustle and bustle, new beginnings for schoolkids and old memories for former schoolkids. September brings out the comfortable old sweatshirts and ushers in the realization that Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't that far off. We at 3 Chords & the Truth love fall . . . and we love September. September is something to celebrate, particularly in the Midwest. In the Midwest, September is the month that's juuuuuust right. That's one of the joys of living on the civilized edge of the barely tamed Great Plains. September becomes a celebration -- sort of like a monthlong meteorological Carnival season before the strict and unforgiving Lent of winter on the prairie. Really, you haven't lived till you've experienced 25 below zero the week before Christmas. Or until it's so cold that yours is the last car running . . . until your battery cable gets so brittle it snaps. And your fingers still get frostbitten through your thick insulated gloves. Nebraska isn't a place for sissies. But we'll always have September. And this week on the Big Show, that's what we celebrate -- September. And fall . . . both the seasonal and arse-over-head varieties. We at 3 Chords & the Truth are funny that way. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords and the Truth: It's about the journey

Revolution 21 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:25:19 GMT

I usually like to surprise people with what I play on 3 Chords & the Truth. SOMETIMES, THOUGH, I just like to throw up the week's playlist to demonstrate that the Big Show ain't exactly what folks are used to nowadays -- at least not when it comes to radio . . . or even to most webcasts or podcasts. 3 Chords & the Truth is not about a format, and it's not about a subculture or a niche. What it's about is the music. Good music. And good music can come from a lot of places, just as righteous mixes can cover a hell of a lot of musical ground in one set. When it comes to this show -- like they say, whomever "they" might be -- we're all about the wonder of the journey. The actual destination is lagniappe. So, that being said, here's this week's playlist: Must Get Out Maroon 5 (Songs About Jane) 2003 Your Heart Is Breaking Down Choo Choo (Choo Choo) 2008 Should I Cry (alternate take) Jackie De Shannon (The Definitive Collection) 1964 Six Days on The Road Dave Dudley (Country USA - 1963) 1963 Straight Eight Spencer Bohren (Born in a Biscayne) 1984 Boris the Spider The Who (My Generation -- The Very Best of the Who) 1966 Real Love Cretones (Thin Red Line) 1980 Lost in the Supermarket The Clash (London Calling) 1979 You're Lost Little Girl The Doors (Strange Days) 1967 Innocence Lost Steve Taylor (I Predict 1990) 1987 Lost My Mind Matthew Sweet (100% Fun) 1995 Departure / Ride My See-Saw The Moody Blues (In Search of the Lost Chord) 1968 Handshake Drugs Wilco (A Ghost Is Born) 2004 Brightly Wound Eisley (Room Noises) 2005 Sole Salvation English Beat (Special Beat Service) 1982 I Do J. Geils Band (Monkey Island) 1977 Easy Does It Count Basie & His Orchestra (The Essential Count Basie, Vol. 2) 1940 Do You Love Me The Contours (The Classic Rhythm & Blues Collection: 1958-1963) 1962 Baby Workout Jackie Wilson (The Classic Rhythm & Blues Collection: 1958-1963) 1963 I Saw Her Standing There Beatles (Meet The Beatles!) 1964 You've Got To Hide Your Love Away The Silkie (British Invasion Gold) 1965 Everything Gonna Be Everything Don Covay (See-Saw) 1966 She May Call You Up Tonight The Left Banke (There's Gonna Be A Storm - The Complete Recordings 1966-1969) 1967 Frankenstein New York Dolls (New York Dolls) 1973 IT'S 3 Chords & the Truth. Be there. Aloha.

Four Songs: Yesterday Once More

Revolution 21 — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:40:41 GMT

This week on Four Songs: five songs. It was necessary, one of the songs is by John Denver, and a "make good" was in order. IN MY DEFENSE, I didn't pick the music. That was done according to what was hot with the record-buying public . . . in April 1975. Unfortunately, John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" was big back then. Unsurprisingly, I would have picked differently. But they don't let 14-year-old kids program Top-40 radio stations, and that's how old I was when this episode of Four Songs was done. Live. Through the facilities of the Big 91, WLCS radio in Baton Rouge, La. In all its amplitude-modulated glory. And glorious it was. So glorious that I was sitting at the kitchen table, early the morning of April 17, 1975, with my portable reel-to-reel tape recorder patched into the earphone jack of my clock radio to preserve a piece of WLCS forever. It was a Thursday. Gary King was the morning man. WLCS was one of Baton Rouge's two Top-40 blowtorches. Radio 13 -- WIBR -- was the other. 'IBR had some great jocks, and a friend of mine even was a part-timer there when I was in high school . . . but I was an 'LCS man. No offense to WIBR. Of course, by 1976, I was firmly in the camp of Loose Radio (WFMF during its album-oriented rock salad days). But I'll always love Double-U ELLLLLLL CEE Ess . . . even though it died in 1983, a few months after I married a KOIL woman from Omaha. And if you're under, say, 30, you're not getting this conversation at all, are you? LET ME EXPLAIN. Once upon a time, there was this thing called radio -- AM radio -- and we listened to it on "transistors," which were like iPods, only affordable. And better. An iPod only can bring you the few hundred songs you load into it after illegally downloading them off the Internet or legally buying them on iTunes. But a transistor radio, that could bring you the world, baby. All for free. And without the threat of a lawsuit by the music cops. The world first came to my bedroom on a transistor radio tuned to WLCS. I also could tune in the whole wide world on WIBR, or maybe WTIX in New Orleans -- and sometimes KAAY through the ether from Little Rock at night -- but I mostly dug those rhythm and blues . . . and rock 'n' roll . . . and countrypolitan . . . and a bit of ring-a-ding-ding, too, on the Big 91. What it was, was the breadth of American popular culture at my fingertips. And British Invasion, too. Never was education so fun. I turned on the radio just to listen to some tunes, and I found myself under the spell of a thousand different tutors -- friendly voices from morning to overnight -- playing for me the breadth of musical expression . . . or at least the musical expression that charted well. It is because of 'LCS, 'IBR, 'TIX (and later, 'FMF) that this Catholic Boy has catholic tastes. Your iPod is cool and all, but it can't do that. SEE, THE DEAL IS that I can't repay the debt I owe to WLCS, for one. I can't repay the debt I owe to Gary King, that friendly morning voice on this episode of Four Songs. For a spell there, King's was the voice I woke up to, got ready for school to and ate breakfast to. He played the hits and told me what the weather was outside, and Gene Perry gave the news at the top and bottom of the hour. Back in the day, radio was a well-rounded affair. King's also was the friendly voice that answered the studio line when an awkward teen-ager in junior-high hell would call to request a song. And his was the friendly voice that would take time to chat for a bit when that kid -- or his mother -- sometimes thought he had nothing better to do . . . like put on a morning show. I didn't know it then, and Gary King (real name: Gary Cox) probably didn't know it, either, but what he was doing was being Christ, in a sense, to a lonely kid and his -- come to think of it -- lonely mother. I shudder to think what one of today's "morning zoo" shows would do with rich material like me and Mama. That is, if they answered the studio line at all. Via the AM airwaves, I made a human connection with WLCS and Gary King. I needed that. We all need that. And you can't get that from your iPod, though some of us will try to give it, because you have to work with what you have. BEFORE APRIL 1975 was done, Gary King was gone. He originally was from Kentucky, and one day the call came from WAKY, the Top-40 powerhouse in Louisville that Gary grew up listening to. On his last show, Gary's ending bit was "convincing" Gene Perry that he could catch a bullet in his teeth if the newsman would just help him out on the gun end. It didn't work as planned . . . which means it worked perfectly in radio's "theater of the mind." I think I shed a tear or two. And a couple of years later, I was learning the ropes at WBRH, Baton Rouge High's student-run FM station. And 33 years later -- after various pit stops on the air and hot off the press -- here we are at Revolution 21, trying to figure out what "radio" will be in this new millennium . . . right here on the Internet. Thanks, Gary. I can't repay you in full, but maybe this will make a nice down payment.

On dem first day of Christmas . . .

Revolution 21 — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:52:40 GMT

Here's another special audio presentation: A bit of nostalgia recorded off the TV in the early '70s in Baton Rouge. I remembered this recording when I heard of the death of Jules d'Hemecourt, a journalism professor when I was in school at LSU . . . and the man behind "The Cajun 12 Days of Christmas" when he was news director at Channel 33 in Baton Rouge. This must have been recorded by me, off the air, sometime around Christmas 1973. Maybe '74. D'Hemecourt, who also was the Channel 33 news anchor at the time, introduces the recording on a holiday newscast. Back in the day. Enjoy.

The tale of the tape

Revolution 21 — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:33:55 GMT

Here's a special audio presentation -- don't worry, the podcast will post as usual Friday -- from Revolution 21. I thought you just might want to hear this . . . a ghost in the machine, as it were. What it is, is a recording of legendary Alabama radio host Joe Rumore from Oct. 28, 1949 on WVOK, Birmingham. And it's an extraordinary look back 58 years across the tidal wave of change and cultural revolution that radically transformed America. It's a look at who we used to be, and at a kinder, more gentle and humane era of broadcasting that -- to today's ears -- sounds like a just-received transmission across many light-years of interstellar space from a star system far, far away. You can read more about it on "Revolution 21's Blog for the People" at http://revolution-21.blogspot.com/2007/03/way-we-were-1949.html. Enjoy.