about a week ago i ordered some cds from the february sale at bloodshot records. i got them on valentine’s day. here’s what i got:
- * the virginian – neko case and her boyfriends (bloodshot)
- * furnace room lullaby – neko case and her boyfriends (bloodshot)
- * 13 hillbilly giants – robbie fulks (bloodshot)
- * hope is a thing with feathers – trailer bride (bloodshot)
- * hard headed woman: a celebration of wanda jackson – various (bloodshot)
i’m not sure if i’ll like the neko case cds or not, and i picked up the trailer bride cd from hearing one song — but at $6 per cd, why not? i mostly picked up the wanda jackson cd for the wayne hancock version of “let’s have a party” on it, although i like wanda jackson’s music.
speaking of valentine’s day…eh. i wasn’t in particularly good spirits. i got close to watching eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and communing with the spirits, but i ended up going over to the potts.
yesterday i made a spur of the moment decision. i bought a ticket to see a ride with bob at the grand 1894 opera house in galveston at 8pm. i made the decision around 5:30pm. i bought my ticket online, took a shower, got dressed, and drove down to galveston. the weather was pretty bad, but i made it about 30 minutes before showtime. the opera house is really nice. they renovated it starting in the late 70’s i think. i had a decent seat. i ended up sitting next to an older guy who was pretty cool. we talked about old country music, Texas, our german-Texan roots (he was also of mid-1800’s german immigration heritage), etc. the average age was definitely older, but it was cool being in a place with so many people who know who bob wills is, like him, and know his songs. the play was pretty good. i already knew most of the stories they told about his life, but it was nice to hear good live versions of some of his music and see some of it played out on the stage. there was a 13 year old girl fiddle player and a 17 year old boy fiddle player in the show, and both of them were really good. (i think my brother and i may have seen them in san marcos a year or two ago…whenever we went to the western swing festival there.) when i left after the show, it must have been storming because the streets were somewhat flooded. but i made it home okay.
i guess this would be an appropriate time to mention a while back i got the second bear family bob wills box set, faded love. it covers 1947-1973. 13 cds and 1 dvd. i have a heck of a lot of bob wills music now. which isn’t a bad thing at all.
today i met the potts at the half price books in rice village. of course, i couldn’t help but look through the cds…and buy some…
- * selmasongs – bjork (elektra)
- * vespertine – bjork (elektra)
- * violator – depeche mode (sire/reprise)
- * from western swing to rock – bill haley (proper)
- * the boogie man – john lee hooker (proper)
- * louisiana hayride story – various (proper)
from there i was compelled to wander over to the yankee candle shop and see what candles they had on sale during their president’s day weekend sale. i had limited carrying capability since i was on my motorcycle, but i went ahead and bought two medium size candles anyway: canary island banana, and shortbread cookie.
“you can hear the grand ol’ opry in nashville tennessee.
it’s the home of country music, on that we all agree.
but when you cross that ol’ red river, hoss, that just don’t mean a thing —
’cause once you’re down in Texas, bob wills is still the king”
–waylon jennings “bob wills is still the king”
any song that can use the word “hoss” and not sound hokey must be good. and the lines above are that much more poignant knowing the story behind bob wills and the first time he and the Texas playboys performed on the grand ol’ opry. drums were verboten at the time. bob wasn’t excited about that, but they capitulated by telling him they could set them up behind the curtain where they wouldn’t be seen but could be heard. as show time was approaching, bob said the heck with that and had them pull the drums out on stage. it caused quite an uproar. but bob and the playboys wowed the audience, and their look and sound helped divert the direction of country music. at least that’s the way i’ve heard it.