Click on title to link to an interesting discussion on National Public Radio's (NPR)"On Point" talk show, September 21, 2009, hosted by Tom Ashbrook about General Stanley McChrystal's 'private' report, as summarized by Bob Woodward's story in the "Washington Post", asking for more troops in Afghanistan
Markin comment:
The guests included Daniel Ellsberg, a governmental opposition voice of the Vietnam era and 'leaker' of "The Pentagon Papers", Lawrence Wilkerson a severe governmental critical of the Bush II Iraq War while deputy to the State Department's Colin Powell, and George Packer of "The New Yorker" magazine and a knowledgeable source about the inner workings of the current American Afghan war policy. They painted a grim picture of the future, at best. That, however is not our problem. Our problem is to get people into the streets under the banner of -"Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan (And Iraq)!. The way things are quickly coming to a head we had better get to it fast.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
*Our Tasks Today In Opposition To Obama's Afghan War Policy-To The Streets!
Click on title to link to my blog entry, dated September 3, 2009, that includes commentary on the "united front" and the Joseph Seymour article mentioned below. Forward in opposition to the warmonger-in-chief Barack Obama.
Recently I have been asked by a couple of young concerned people, by not means yet radicals, about the nature of the tasks for revolutionaries, radicals, and the occasional good-hearted left liberal in the fight against the Obama Afghan war policy in particular, and the struggle against capitalism and imperialism in general. Needless to say, today, September 22, 2009 the forces mentioned above are minuscule, as Obama and his operation still have plenty of political capital to expend with elements, like the youth, minorities and working people, that we need to reach in this country. That is not to my liking but it is reality, and should be recognized as such.
That said, I have staked out a position on the Obama Afghan war policy that is the only fairly clear cut pole of attraction that can be offered by leftists today to the emerging, if naïve, left opposition to the Obama administration. We, today, have no leverage on health care, the immigration question, the regulation of financial markets, the fight to save the working class from further immiseration, or a number of other issues that cry out for solution. I have bet, and that bet, unfortunately for the working class youth in the military that will be the cannon fodder for actions ahead, seems to be a winning one, that Obama has decided, as least in the foreign policy arena, to stake his place in history on a successful outcome in Afghanistan.
In the not distant past I posted an entry from the “Young Spartacus” pages of the Trotskyist newspaper, “Workers Vanguard” concerning the application of the “united front”.(See link) In that issue one of the leaders of the Spartacist League in the United States, Joseph Seymour, had an article, based on a talk he had given at an educational, about the history of the “united front” in the international Leninist movement, especially targeting the various controversies in the early Congresses of the Communist International (Comintern). The key point for today’s commentary is that the Comintern spent some time on just the kind of situation we are confronted with today, a lack of an independent working class party and the need to set out current tasks accordingly.
Seymour, in his talk, noted that the early Comintern directives indicated three separate and mainly distinct stages, for lack of a better word, of communist political work. They are: propaganda, which he encapsulated as presenting many complex ideas to a few people, basically cadre formation; agitation, where a few ideas are used to animate some mass action, basically struggling to win on a few demands; and, party formation, where the struggle for power is realistically placed on the agenda.
We are, and here I agree with Seymour, at that propaganda stage, for most of our day to day tasks. But here I want to make an exception for the Obama Afghan war policy because, frankly, it is our only serious leverage today to break people, particularly the young, from capitalist politics. Thus we need to fight to get back to the streets, where believe it or not, the issues of war and peace are ultimately decided. And emblazoned in bright red on those banners that we should fill the streets with- Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan (And Iraq Too)! That is the easy part. On the others, we shall see.
Recently I have been asked by a couple of young concerned people, by not means yet radicals, about the nature of the tasks for revolutionaries, radicals, and the occasional good-hearted left liberal in the fight against the Obama Afghan war policy in particular, and the struggle against capitalism and imperialism in general. Needless to say, today, September 22, 2009 the forces mentioned above are minuscule, as Obama and his operation still have plenty of political capital to expend with elements, like the youth, minorities and working people, that we need to reach in this country. That is not to my liking but it is reality, and should be recognized as such.
That said, I have staked out a position on the Obama Afghan war policy that is the only fairly clear cut pole of attraction that can be offered by leftists today to the emerging, if naïve, left opposition to the Obama administration. We, today, have no leverage on health care, the immigration question, the regulation of financial markets, the fight to save the working class from further immiseration, or a number of other issues that cry out for solution. I have bet, and that bet, unfortunately for the working class youth in the military that will be the cannon fodder for actions ahead, seems to be a winning one, that Obama has decided, as least in the foreign policy arena, to stake his place in history on a successful outcome in Afghanistan.
In the not distant past I posted an entry from the “Young Spartacus” pages of the Trotskyist newspaper, “Workers Vanguard” concerning the application of the “united front”.(See link) In that issue one of the leaders of the Spartacist League in the United States, Joseph Seymour, had an article, based on a talk he had given at an educational, about the history of the “united front” in the international Leninist movement, especially targeting the various controversies in the early Congresses of the Communist International (Comintern). The key point for today’s commentary is that the Comintern spent some time on just the kind of situation we are confronted with today, a lack of an independent working class party and the need to set out current tasks accordingly.
Seymour, in his talk, noted that the early Comintern directives indicated three separate and mainly distinct stages, for lack of a better word, of communist political work. They are: propaganda, which he encapsulated as presenting many complex ideas to a few people, basically cadre formation; agitation, where a few ideas are used to animate some mass action, basically struggling to win on a few demands; and, party formation, where the struggle for power is realistically placed on the agenda.
We are, and here I agree with Seymour, at that propaganda stage, for most of our day to day tasks. But here I want to make an exception for the Obama Afghan war policy because, frankly, it is our only serious leverage today to break people, particularly the young, from capitalist politics. Thus we need to fight to get back to the streets, where believe it or not, the issues of war and peace are ultimately decided. And emblazoned in bright red on those banners that we should fill the streets with- Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan (And Iraq Too)! That is the easy part. On the others, we shall see.
*Miss (Ms.) Rhythm Is In The House- The R&B Of Miss Ruth Brown
Click On Title To Link To YouTube’s Film Clip Of Ruth Brown Doing "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean". Wow!
CD Review
Ruth Brown, Miss Rhythm (Greatest Hits And More), 2CD Set, Ruth Brown, Atlantic Records, 1989
Okay, I have spent a fair amount of time tracing the roots of rock and roll back to the early 1950s and the heyday of rhythm and blues. And of course part of that process required a look, a serious look, at the pivotal roles of the likes of black male R&B performers like Big Joe Turner, Ike Turner and Little Milton. Those are some of the key forces that drove the sound. Unlike the early blues, however, where black female singers dominated the charts and the flow of where the music was heading women were not as prominent in the link between R&B and the emergence of rock and rock as a national (and later international) musical genre. But they were there. And the black (and proud) female singer under review here, Ruth Brown, rightly known under the moniker "Miss Rhythm", was right there along with Dinah Washington and Lavern Baker to sing up a storm. Thanks, gals.
The name Ruth Brown has come up a number of times in this space when talking about 1950's blues, R&B and rock. However, those occasions have usually been as a "talking head" commentator in documentaries like Martin Scorsese's multi-part PBS blues series of 2003. And the tale Miss Brown had to tell about the background to her performing career was not pretty concerning the segregated dance halls, second-rate accommodations and other intolerable conditions that black musicians, great and small, male and female had to work under. Despite that, she still had a few crossover hits and got those white teenagers jumping. That doesn't make up for the indignities she suffered, nothing will, but she has to know that in her prime she had that thing- "Miss Rhythm, indeed!"
Some of this material on this 2CD set sounds as fresh today as when it was first recorded. Others, as is the nature of such compilations, are either gimmicky, second-rate or both. Here are some of the fresh sounds that highlight Miss Brown's talent; "So Long", "Be Anything", "5-10-15 Hours", "Daddy Daddy" and "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (Wow, on this last one). From Disc One. From Disc Two; "Why Me', "This Little Girl's Gone Rocking", "Somebody Touch Me" and "Don't Deceive Me".
"This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'"
I wrote my mom a letter
And this is what I said
Well-a, well-a, well-a, well-a
I washed all the dishes
And I did a lot more
I even bought the dinner
At the grocery store
Now, Mom, you'll find
The key next door cause
This little girl's gone rocking
I left some biscuits for the pup
I put fresh water in his cup
And now I'm off
I'm gonna live it up cause
This little girl's gone rocking
Well, I'm be home about
Twelve tonight and not a
Minute, minute, minute later
Don't forget the front door lock
That's all for now
I'll see you later, mater
You'll find these things
That you wanted done
I'm off to meet that special one
Boy, oh, boy, will we have fun
Cause this little girl's gone rocking
Well, I'm be home about
Twelve tonight and not a
Minute, minute, minute later
Don't forget the front door lock
That's all for now
I'll see you later, mater
You'll find these things
That you wanted done
I'm off to meet that special one
Boy, oh, boy, will we have fun
Cause this little girl's gone rocking
Yeah, this little girl's gone rocking.....
"(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean"
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama he treats me badly
Makes me love him madly
Mama he takes my money
Makes me call him honey
Mama he can't be trusted
He makes me so disgusted
All of my friends they don't understand
What's the matter with this man
I tell you mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama this man is lazy
Almost drives me crazy
Mama he makes me squeeze him
Still my squeezes don't please him
Mama my heart is aching
I believe it's breaking
I've stood all that I can stand
What's the matter with this man?
I tell you Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
CD Review
Ruth Brown, Miss Rhythm (Greatest Hits And More), 2CD Set, Ruth Brown, Atlantic Records, 1989
Okay, I have spent a fair amount of time tracing the roots of rock and roll back to the early 1950s and the heyday of rhythm and blues. And of course part of that process required a look, a serious look, at the pivotal roles of the likes of black male R&B performers like Big Joe Turner, Ike Turner and Little Milton. Those are some of the key forces that drove the sound. Unlike the early blues, however, where black female singers dominated the charts and the flow of where the music was heading women were not as prominent in the link between R&B and the emergence of rock and rock as a national (and later international) musical genre. But they were there. And the black (and proud) female singer under review here, Ruth Brown, rightly known under the moniker "Miss Rhythm", was right there along with Dinah Washington and Lavern Baker to sing up a storm. Thanks, gals.
The name Ruth Brown has come up a number of times in this space when talking about 1950's blues, R&B and rock. However, those occasions have usually been as a "talking head" commentator in documentaries like Martin Scorsese's multi-part PBS blues series of 2003. And the tale Miss Brown had to tell about the background to her performing career was not pretty concerning the segregated dance halls, second-rate accommodations and other intolerable conditions that black musicians, great and small, male and female had to work under. Despite that, she still had a few crossover hits and got those white teenagers jumping. That doesn't make up for the indignities she suffered, nothing will, but she has to know that in her prime she had that thing- "Miss Rhythm, indeed!"
Some of this material on this 2CD set sounds as fresh today as when it was first recorded. Others, as is the nature of such compilations, are either gimmicky, second-rate or both. Here are some of the fresh sounds that highlight Miss Brown's talent; "So Long", "Be Anything", "5-10-15 Hours", "Daddy Daddy" and "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (Wow, on this last one). From Disc One. From Disc Two; "Why Me', "This Little Girl's Gone Rocking", "Somebody Touch Me" and "Don't Deceive Me".
"This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'"
I wrote my mom a letter
And this is what I said
Well-a, well-a, well-a, well-a
I washed all the dishes
And I did a lot more
I even bought the dinner
At the grocery store
Now, Mom, you'll find
The key next door cause
This little girl's gone rocking
I left some biscuits for the pup
I put fresh water in his cup
And now I'm off
I'm gonna live it up cause
This little girl's gone rocking
Well, I'm be home about
Twelve tonight and not a
Minute, minute, minute later
Don't forget the front door lock
That's all for now
I'll see you later, mater
You'll find these things
That you wanted done
I'm off to meet that special one
Boy, oh, boy, will we have fun
Cause this little girl's gone rocking
Well, I'm be home about
Twelve tonight and not a
Minute, minute, minute later
Don't forget the front door lock
That's all for now
I'll see you later, mater
You'll find these things
That you wanted done
I'm off to meet that special one
Boy, oh, boy, will we have fun
Cause this little girl's gone rocking
Yeah, this little girl's gone rocking.....
"(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean"
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama he treats me badly
Makes me love him madly
Mama he takes my money
Makes me call him honey
Mama he can't be trusted
He makes me so disgusted
All of my friends they don't understand
What's the matter with this man
I tell you mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama this man is lazy
Almost drives me crazy
Mama he makes me squeeze him
Still my squeezes don't please him
Mama my heart is aching
I believe it's breaking
I've stood all that I can stand
What's the matter with this man?
I tell you Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Monday, September 21, 2009
***Just An Old Country Boy- Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline”
Click On Title To Link To Bob Dylan And Johnny Cash Doing Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country”
CD Review
Nashville Skyline, Bob Dylan, Columbia Records, 1969
In trying to get a handle on reviewing the long musical career of Bob Dylan I have worked under the general outline that his early work constituted one segment, his various ‘bootleg’ and ‘basement’ materials a second and the later post -1990s stuff a third. The album under review, “Nashville Skyline” falls under that first category. The work of this period is reviewed here under the sign of the following paragraph:
“In a review of Bob Dylan’s “The Freewheeling Bob Dylan” elsewhere in this space I noted:
In reviewing Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic album “Bringing All Back Home” (you know, the one where he went electric) I mentioned that it seemed hard to believe now that both as to the performer as well as to what was being attempted that anyone would take umbrage at a performer using an electric guitar to tell a folk story (or any story for that matter). I further pointed out that it is not necessary to go into all the details of what or what did not happen with Pete Seeger at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 to know that one should be glad, glad as hell, that Bob Dylan continued to listen to his own drummer and carry on a career based on electronic music.”
That said, originally I was not “glad as hell” when I first heard “Nashville Skyline”. I had no problem with Dylan protest songs like “Blowing In The Wind”. (In fact, those were the songs that first drew me to his work.) Nor did his turn to the electric guitar and to more personal, inward songs like “Desolation Row”. However, at the time of this album, I thought he had sold out to Nashville. Well, we are all wiser now and so that initial scorn has turned into at least partial delight.
A couple of things have contributed to that re-evaluation. First, seeing Dylan as part of the New York folk milieu of the early 1960’s hid the fact that he was raised in rural Hibbing, Minnesota (and influenced by the country sounds he picked up there in his youth). So while the Grand Ole Opry would be “square” to an urbanite like me it was the bill of fare for Dylan and others out there in the hinterlands. Secondly, it took me a long while to realize that Bob Dylan was deeply immersed and interested in knowing about and understanding the so-called American Songbook. If that is one’s frame of reference then country music has to be part of one’s musical repertoire. What really made the me shift though was hearing a ‘basement’ tape recording of Dylan in his hide out days in the mid-1960s (along with The Band) doing a hard to hear but incredible version of the country classic “I Forgot To Remember To Forget”. A lot of country artists cut their teeth on recording this one; virtually all have to take a back seat to Dylan on it. Including Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. Who would have thought?
Needless to say the duo with Johnny Cash on Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” stands up against the test of time. As do “Lay Lady Lay” and “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”. The others you can judge for yourselves.
*******
Girl of the North Country Lyrics
Girl From the North Country
If you're travelin' in the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
For she once was a true love of mine.
If you go when the snowflakes storm,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends,
Please see she has a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howlin' winds.
Please see if her hair hangs long,
If it rolls and flows all down her breast.
Please see for me if her hair's hanging long,
For that's the way I remember her best.
I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all.
Many times I've often prayed
In the darkness of my night,
In the brightness of my day.
So if you're travelin' the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
For she once was a true love of mine.
CD Review
Nashville Skyline, Bob Dylan, Columbia Records, 1969
In trying to get a handle on reviewing the long musical career of Bob Dylan I have worked under the general outline that his early work constituted one segment, his various ‘bootleg’ and ‘basement’ materials a second and the later post -1990s stuff a third. The album under review, “Nashville Skyline” falls under that first category. The work of this period is reviewed here under the sign of the following paragraph:
“In a review of Bob Dylan’s “The Freewheeling Bob Dylan” elsewhere in this space I noted:
In reviewing Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic album “Bringing All Back Home” (you know, the one where he went electric) I mentioned that it seemed hard to believe now that both as to the performer as well as to what was being attempted that anyone would take umbrage at a performer using an electric guitar to tell a folk story (or any story for that matter). I further pointed out that it is not necessary to go into all the details of what or what did not happen with Pete Seeger at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 to know that one should be glad, glad as hell, that Bob Dylan continued to listen to his own drummer and carry on a career based on electronic music.”
That said, originally I was not “glad as hell” when I first heard “Nashville Skyline”. I had no problem with Dylan protest songs like “Blowing In The Wind”. (In fact, those were the songs that first drew me to his work.) Nor did his turn to the electric guitar and to more personal, inward songs like “Desolation Row”. However, at the time of this album, I thought he had sold out to Nashville. Well, we are all wiser now and so that initial scorn has turned into at least partial delight.
A couple of things have contributed to that re-evaluation. First, seeing Dylan as part of the New York folk milieu of the early 1960’s hid the fact that he was raised in rural Hibbing, Minnesota (and influenced by the country sounds he picked up there in his youth). So while the Grand Ole Opry would be “square” to an urbanite like me it was the bill of fare for Dylan and others out there in the hinterlands. Secondly, it took me a long while to realize that Bob Dylan was deeply immersed and interested in knowing about and understanding the so-called American Songbook. If that is one’s frame of reference then country music has to be part of one’s musical repertoire. What really made the me shift though was hearing a ‘basement’ tape recording of Dylan in his hide out days in the mid-1960s (along with The Band) doing a hard to hear but incredible version of the country classic “I Forgot To Remember To Forget”. A lot of country artists cut their teeth on recording this one; virtually all have to take a back seat to Dylan on it. Including Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. Who would have thought?
Needless to say the duo with Johnny Cash on Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” stands up against the test of time. As do “Lay Lady Lay” and “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”. The others you can judge for yourselves.
*******
Girl of the North Country Lyrics
Girl From the North Country
If you're travelin' in the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
For she once was a true love of mine.
If you go when the snowflakes storm,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends,
Please see she has a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howlin' winds.
Please see if her hair hangs long,
If it rolls and flows all down her breast.
Please see for me if her hair's hanging long,
For that's the way I remember her best.
I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all.
Many times I've often prayed
In the darkness of my night,
In the brightness of my day.
So if you're travelin' the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
For she once was a true love of mine.
*From The Austin City Outer Limits- The Music Of Doug Sahm
Click On Title To Link To YouTube’s Film Clip Of Doug Sahm On "Live From Austin City Limits"
CD Review
Doug Sahm & Friends: The Best Of The Atlantic Sessions, Doug Sahm, Bob Dylan, Dr. John and other artists, Atlanta Records, 1992
One of the things that keeps occurring when one is, as I am, tracing in my own eclectic way, some of the roots music of the `American Songbook' is that once familiar names from the distant past keep cropping up in odd ways. Take the artist under review, Doug Sahm, as an example. I knew of his name from 1960's British invasion rock group Sir Douglas Quintet (Go figure, for a Texas boy, but that is the way things went in those helter-skelter days) and, later, from the edges of the Texas-driven "country outlaws" movement of the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and the like.
However the impetus for this review of Sahm' music is due to a recent interview of Professor Douglas Brinkley (now at Rice University, I believe). Brinkley was talking about the nuts and bolts of his interview of the legendary Bob Dylan for "Rolling Stone" magazine on a National Public Radio talk show. In the course of that interview Professor Brinkley mentioned that the reclusive Dylan missed the companionship of his old time friend, the late Doug Sahm. That set off one alarm. Additionally, Professor Brinkley is well known to this reviewer as a long time friend of the late "Gonzo journalist", Hunter S. Thompson. That combination was enough to get me to this CD.
Like many others, when one is looking for the work of an older artist the best place to start is with some "greatest hits" compilation and that, in effect, is what is being reviewed here. Over the long haul Sahm was associated, broadly, with the Tex-Mex and Texas blues music that came roaring out of his state over the past few decades, particularly out of Austin. That sound, and the seemingly obligatory nod to the free-wheeling 1960's hard rock styles, dominates this well-produced album originally issued by well-regarded Atlantic Records in 1973. There is a virtual who's who of Tex-Mex and Texas blues musicians backing Sahms up (and the great New Orleans bluesman, Dr. John). Plus, as a bonus, Dylan doing his "Wallflower" with Sahm. Additionally, there is a nice booklet of liner notes showing the cast of characters on this CD in sunnier times. After listening to this CD one can now understand why Dylan missed his old friend.
*******
Doug Sahm Is Anybody Going To San Antone by Dave Kirby
Glen Martin
Doug Sahm vocals/guitar/fiddle
Bob Dylan background vocals
Charlie Owens steel guitar
Flaco Jimenez accordion
George Raines drums
Jack Barber bass
Augie Meyers keyboards
Ken Kosek fiddle
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E7 A
Rain dripping off the brim of my hat it sure looks cold today
D E7 A
Here I am walkin down Sixty Six wish she hadn't done me this way
D E7 A
Sleeping under a table in a roadside park a man could wake up dead
A D E7 A
But it sure seems warmer than it did sleeping in our king size bed
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E A
Wind whippin down the neck of my shirt like I aint got nothin on
A D E7 A
But I'd rather fight the wind and rain than what I was fightin at home
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her.
SOLO
A D E7 A
Yonder comes a truck with the U.S. mail people writin letters back
home
A D E7 A
Well Tommorrow she'll want me back again and I'll be just as gone
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
CD Review
Doug Sahm & Friends: The Best Of The Atlantic Sessions, Doug Sahm, Bob Dylan, Dr. John and other artists, Atlanta Records, 1992
One of the things that keeps occurring when one is, as I am, tracing in my own eclectic way, some of the roots music of the `American Songbook' is that once familiar names from the distant past keep cropping up in odd ways. Take the artist under review, Doug Sahm, as an example. I knew of his name from 1960's British invasion rock group Sir Douglas Quintet (Go figure, for a Texas boy, but that is the way things went in those helter-skelter days) and, later, from the edges of the Texas-driven "country outlaws" movement of the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and the like.
However the impetus for this review of Sahm' music is due to a recent interview of Professor Douglas Brinkley (now at Rice University, I believe). Brinkley was talking about the nuts and bolts of his interview of the legendary Bob Dylan for "Rolling Stone" magazine on a National Public Radio talk show. In the course of that interview Professor Brinkley mentioned that the reclusive Dylan missed the companionship of his old time friend, the late Doug Sahm. That set off one alarm. Additionally, Professor Brinkley is well known to this reviewer as a long time friend of the late "Gonzo journalist", Hunter S. Thompson. That combination was enough to get me to this CD.
Like many others, when one is looking for the work of an older artist the best place to start is with some "greatest hits" compilation and that, in effect, is what is being reviewed here. Over the long haul Sahm was associated, broadly, with the Tex-Mex and Texas blues music that came roaring out of his state over the past few decades, particularly out of Austin. That sound, and the seemingly obligatory nod to the free-wheeling 1960's hard rock styles, dominates this well-produced album originally issued by well-regarded Atlantic Records in 1973. There is a virtual who's who of Tex-Mex and Texas blues musicians backing Sahms up (and the great New Orleans bluesman, Dr. John). Plus, as a bonus, Dylan doing his "Wallflower" with Sahm. Additionally, there is a nice booklet of liner notes showing the cast of characters on this CD in sunnier times. After listening to this CD one can now understand why Dylan missed his old friend.
*******
Doug Sahm Is Anybody Going To San Antone by Dave Kirby
Glen Martin
Doug Sahm vocals/guitar/fiddle
Bob Dylan background vocals
Charlie Owens steel guitar
Flaco Jimenez accordion
George Raines drums
Jack Barber bass
Augie Meyers keyboards
Ken Kosek fiddle
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E7 A
Rain dripping off the brim of my hat it sure looks cold today
D E7 A
Here I am walkin down Sixty Six wish she hadn't done me this way
D E7 A
Sleeping under a table in a roadside park a man could wake up dead
A D E7 A
But it sure seems warmer than it did sleeping in our king size bed
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E A
Wind whippin down the neck of my shirt like I aint got nothin on
A D E7 A
But I'd rather fight the wind and rain than what I was fightin at home
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her.
SOLO
A D E7 A
Yonder comes a truck with the U.S. mail people writin letters back
home
A D E7 A
Well Tommorrow she'll want me back again and I'll be just as gone
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
*Waist Deep In The "Big Poppy"- Once Again, It's McChrystal Clear- More Boots Needed For Obama's Afghan War Policy- TROOPS OUT NOW!
Click on title to link to Bob Woodward's "Washington Post" article, dated September 21, 2009, concerning Obama's chief Afghan commander on the ground, General Stanley ("Search and destroy, and let god sort it out")McChrystal's 'private' sixty-six page report 'begging' for more boots on the ground.
Markin comment:
After a quick search through my archives of late I have noticed that I have been bringing up the subject of Obama's Afghan war policy more and more. Obviously that frequency has become necessary as the political and military situation in Afghanistan gets more desperate and the American military commanders, headed by the chief reporter on this report, General Stanley McChrystal (see, I can be 'civilized' and not use my nickname above for him at every opportunity), keep trying to 'fix' the thing with more troops. That is, however, their problem.
Our problem, and it is one that I have addressed before, is to stop the bastards in their tracks. I have been something of a Cassandra on this issue of Afghanistan since Obama's election. I have no special insight into his mind, the workings of his administration, or of the military's. However, this I know. When Obama stated in his pre-election speeches and 'debates' that America was fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong place (in Iraq) and the real focus should be Af-Pak then upon his election I started shifting my emphasis(although we still fight under the banner of immediate unconditional withdrawal of ALL U.S./Allied troops from Iraq, as well). I believe that it was not more than a few days after his election that the first rumblings of the Obama February troop escalations started to circulate. Make no mistake-this is Obama's signature war-signed, sealed and delivered. I would hope that no one, at least no self-respecting leftist, would bet me that the latest troop requests were NOT going to be granted.
Notwithstanding that future, take heart. From our anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist perspective this "failed policy-in-waiting" is, if nothing else, unless we can otherwise stop it, unfortunately unlikely at present, a "teachable" moment. I note the growing dissatisfaction with the Obama Afghan War policy, particularly among the left wing of his own Democratic party. They are, however, still somewhat 'smitten' with the man and his "charms", political and otherwise so the opposition is merely tepid and confused at this point. But, as a glance at "The Daily Kos", the left bourgeois political junkies' 'haven', confirms there are rumblings in that empire.
Okay, so our tasks are? Well, for starters, the 8th anniversary of the American occupation in Afghanistan is coming up and we should get out on the streets, yes the streets, to build a physical public presence against this war policy. Most of the political talk that I have heard has come from academics who, more in sorrow than anger, want to direct Obamian American foreign policy elsewhere. Or have enough of a sense of history to know that this one is a 'loser'. Let's make it a loser in our own way- out to the streets. Our battle cry- Obama-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan (and Iraq too!)
******
Every once in a while (more frequently than I would like but today seems like a very appropriate time) old Pete Seeger's song about his World War II adventures that served as a parable for President Lyndon Johnson and his constant Vietnam escalations, "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy” just seems appropriate. This is one of those occasions. Just switch "Big Poppy" for "Big Muddy" and you will have it just about right.
"Waist Deep In The Big Muddy"-Pete Seeger
It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.
We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.
Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!
Markin comment:
After a quick search through my archives of late I have noticed that I have been bringing up the subject of Obama's Afghan war policy more and more. Obviously that frequency has become necessary as the political and military situation in Afghanistan gets more desperate and the American military commanders, headed by the chief reporter on this report, General Stanley McChrystal (see, I can be 'civilized' and not use my nickname above for him at every opportunity), keep trying to 'fix' the thing with more troops. That is, however, their problem.
Our problem, and it is one that I have addressed before, is to stop the bastards in their tracks. I have been something of a Cassandra on this issue of Afghanistan since Obama's election. I have no special insight into his mind, the workings of his administration, or of the military's. However, this I know. When Obama stated in his pre-election speeches and 'debates' that America was fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong place (in Iraq) and the real focus should be Af-Pak then upon his election I started shifting my emphasis(although we still fight under the banner of immediate unconditional withdrawal of ALL U.S./Allied troops from Iraq, as well). I believe that it was not more than a few days after his election that the first rumblings of the Obama February troop escalations started to circulate. Make no mistake-this is Obama's signature war-signed, sealed and delivered. I would hope that no one, at least no self-respecting leftist, would bet me that the latest troop requests were NOT going to be granted.
Notwithstanding that future, take heart. From our anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist perspective this "failed policy-in-waiting" is, if nothing else, unless we can otherwise stop it, unfortunately unlikely at present, a "teachable" moment. I note the growing dissatisfaction with the Obama Afghan War policy, particularly among the left wing of his own Democratic party. They are, however, still somewhat 'smitten' with the man and his "charms", political and otherwise so the opposition is merely tepid and confused at this point. But, as a glance at "The Daily Kos", the left bourgeois political junkies' 'haven', confirms there are rumblings in that empire.
Okay, so our tasks are? Well, for starters, the 8th anniversary of the American occupation in Afghanistan is coming up and we should get out on the streets, yes the streets, to build a physical public presence against this war policy. Most of the political talk that I have heard has come from academics who, more in sorrow than anger, want to direct Obamian American foreign policy elsewhere. Or have enough of a sense of history to know that this one is a 'loser'. Let's make it a loser in our own way- out to the streets. Our battle cry- Obama-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan (and Iraq too!)
******
Every once in a while (more frequently than I would like but today seems like a very appropriate time) old Pete Seeger's song about his World War II adventures that served as a parable for President Lyndon Johnson and his constant Vietnam escalations, "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy” just seems appropriate. This is one of those occasions. Just switch "Big Poppy" for "Big Muddy" and you will have it just about right.
"Waist Deep In The Big Muddy"-Pete Seeger
It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.
We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.
Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!
*From The Austin City Outer Limits- An Encore-The Music Of Doug Sahm
Click On Title To Link To YouTube’s Film Clip Of Doug Sahm On "Live From Austin City Limits"
DVD Review
Doug Sahm: Live From Austin, Tx, Doug Sahm (1975), New West Productions, 2007
Most of the following is from a review of a CD, "Doug Sahm and Friends". Except for a list of the song selections the points made there apply here to this DVD as well.
"One of the things that keeps occurring when one is, as I am, tracing in my own eclectic way, some of the roots music of the `American Songbook' is that once familiar names from the distant past keep cropping up in odd ways. Take the artist under review, Doug Sahm, as an example. I knew of his name from 1960's British invasion rock group Sir Douglas Quintet (Go figure, for a Texas boy, but that is the way things went in those helter-skelter days) and, later, from the edges of the Texas-driven "country outlaws" movement of the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and the like.
However the impetus for this review of Sahm' music is due to a recent interview of Professor Douglas Brinkley (now at Rice University, I believe). Brinkley was talking about the nuts and bolts of his interview of the legendary Bob Dylan for "Rolling Stone" magazine on a National Public Radio talk show. In the course of that interview Professor Brinkley mentioned that the reclusive Dylan missed the companionship of his old time friend, the late Doug Sahm. That set off one alarm. Additionally, Professor Brinkley is well known to this reviewer as a long time friend of the late "Gonzo journalist", Hunter S. Thompson. That combination was enough to get me to this CD.
Like many others, when one is looking for the work of an older artist the best place to start is with some "greatest hits" compilation and that, in effect, is what is being reviewed here. Over the long haul Sahm was associated, broadly, with the Tex-Mex and Texas blues music that came roaring out of his state over the past few decades, particularly out of Austin. That sound, and the seemingly obligatory nod to the free-wheeling 1960's hard rock styles, dominates this well-produced album originally issued by well-regarded Atlantic Records in 1973. There is a virtual who's who of Tex-Mex and Texas blues musicians backing Sahm up (and the great New Orleans bluesman, Dr. John). Plus, as a bonus, Dylan doing his "Wallflower" with Sahm. Additionally, there is a nice booklet of liner notes showing the cast of characters on this CD in sunnier times. After listening to this CD one can now understand why Dylan missed his old friend".
And off of this DVD you can understand why Dylan would have been attracted to Sahm's gravelly-voiced, rough-hewed song style as seen in the "Mendocino" and "She's A Mover" set. Also a nice version of "Stormy Monday", a song that fits his style very well. Here is the kicker though. A lot of times when I am 'watching' music DVDs I am on the computer, or something. I was doing the same here when all of a sudden Doug started doing a version of Elvis Presley's "One Night With You". I jumped up to watch that. Wow. Yes, indeed, I can very definitely understand Dylan's sense of loss.
*******
Doug Sahm Is Anybody Going To San Antone by Dave Kirby
Glen Martin
Doug Sahm vocals/guitar/fiddle
Bob Dylan background vocals
Charlie Owens steel guitar
Flaco Jimenez accordion
George Raines drums
Jack Barber bass
Augie Meyers keyboards
Ken Kosek fiddle
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E7 A
Rain dripping off the brim of my hat it sure looks cold today
D E7 A
Here I am walkin down Sixty Six wish she hadn't done me this way
D E7 A
Sleeping under a table in a roadside park a man could wake up dead
A D E7 A
But it sure seems warmer than it did sleeping in our king size bed
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E A
Wind whippin down the neck of my shirt like I aint got nothin on
A D E7 A
But I'd rather fight the wind and rain than what I was fightin at home
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her.
SOLO
A D E7 A
Yonder comes a truck with the U.S. mail people writin letters back
home
A D E7 A
Well Tommorrow she'll want me back again and I'll be just as gone
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
DVD Review
Doug Sahm: Live From Austin, Tx, Doug Sahm (1975), New West Productions, 2007
Most of the following is from a review of a CD, "Doug Sahm and Friends". Except for a list of the song selections the points made there apply here to this DVD as well.
"One of the things that keeps occurring when one is, as I am, tracing in my own eclectic way, some of the roots music of the `American Songbook' is that once familiar names from the distant past keep cropping up in odd ways. Take the artist under review, Doug Sahm, as an example. I knew of his name from 1960's British invasion rock group Sir Douglas Quintet (Go figure, for a Texas boy, but that is the way things went in those helter-skelter days) and, later, from the edges of the Texas-driven "country outlaws" movement of the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and the like.
However the impetus for this review of Sahm' music is due to a recent interview of Professor Douglas Brinkley (now at Rice University, I believe). Brinkley was talking about the nuts and bolts of his interview of the legendary Bob Dylan for "Rolling Stone" magazine on a National Public Radio talk show. In the course of that interview Professor Brinkley mentioned that the reclusive Dylan missed the companionship of his old time friend, the late Doug Sahm. That set off one alarm. Additionally, Professor Brinkley is well known to this reviewer as a long time friend of the late "Gonzo journalist", Hunter S. Thompson. That combination was enough to get me to this CD.
Like many others, when one is looking for the work of an older artist the best place to start is with some "greatest hits" compilation and that, in effect, is what is being reviewed here. Over the long haul Sahm was associated, broadly, with the Tex-Mex and Texas blues music that came roaring out of his state over the past few decades, particularly out of Austin. That sound, and the seemingly obligatory nod to the free-wheeling 1960's hard rock styles, dominates this well-produced album originally issued by well-regarded Atlantic Records in 1973. There is a virtual who's who of Tex-Mex and Texas blues musicians backing Sahm up (and the great New Orleans bluesman, Dr. John). Plus, as a bonus, Dylan doing his "Wallflower" with Sahm. Additionally, there is a nice booklet of liner notes showing the cast of characters on this CD in sunnier times. After listening to this CD one can now understand why Dylan missed his old friend".
And off of this DVD you can understand why Dylan would have been attracted to Sahm's gravelly-voiced, rough-hewed song style as seen in the "Mendocino" and "She's A Mover" set. Also a nice version of "Stormy Monday", a song that fits his style very well. Here is the kicker though. A lot of times when I am 'watching' music DVDs I am on the computer, or something. I was doing the same here when all of a sudden Doug started doing a version of Elvis Presley's "One Night With You". I jumped up to watch that. Wow. Yes, indeed, I can very definitely understand Dylan's sense of loss.
*******
Doug Sahm Is Anybody Going To San Antone by Dave Kirby
Glen Martin
Doug Sahm vocals/guitar/fiddle
Bob Dylan background vocals
Charlie Owens steel guitar
Flaco Jimenez accordion
George Raines drums
Jack Barber bass
Augie Meyers keyboards
Ken Kosek fiddle
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E7 A
Rain dripping off the brim of my hat it sure looks cold today
D E7 A
Here I am walkin down Sixty Six wish she hadn't done me this way
D E7 A
Sleeping under a table in a roadside park a man could wake up dead
A D E7 A
But it sure seems warmer than it did sleeping in our king size bed
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
A D E7 A A D E7 A
A D E A
Wind whippin down the neck of my shirt like I aint got nothin on
A D E7 A
But I'd rather fight the wind and rain than what I was fightin at home
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her.
SOLO
A D E7 A
Yonder comes a truck with the U.S. mail people writin letters back
home
A D E7 A
Well Tommorrow she'll want me back again and I'll be just as gone
A D E7 A
Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona
D E7 A
Any place is all right as long as I can forget I've ever known her
Sunday, September 20, 2009
*Labor's Untold Story- The "Red Scare" In The Trade Unions After World War II
Click on title to link to basic information about the red scare in the American trade unions immediately after World War II. Needless to say, this is one subject that will receive much fuller coverage later as this series evolves.
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Labor's Untold Story-Labor's World War II "No Strike" Pledge
Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for World War II on the homefront (America) thta contains some information about labor. More,much more on this subject later.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
*Labor's Untold Story-The Other Side In The Class War- The House Un-American Activities Committee,( HUAC, First Version)
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of history of The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
*Labor's Untold Story- The Other Side In The Class War- The American Liberty League
Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for another anti-labor organization from the past- The American Liberty League. These groups have their modern counterparts so beware, especially if the class struggle heats up in the near future. Blackwater-tye organizations do not limit themsleves to just kicking around the natives in other countries on behalf of American imperialism. They are more than happy to scab on our labor movement as well.
Every month is labor history month.
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Every month is labor history month.
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Friday, September 18, 2009
*Labor's Untold Story- The Unemployed Councils In Washington State In The 1930s- A Case Study
Click on title to link to site that discusses the history of the unemployed councils in Washington state in the 1930s. This is merely a taste of what is available on this subject. The unemployed councils actually drove much of the early work in the great Toledo Auto-Lite Strike of 1934. More on this later as I get better sources. Needless to say the fate of the unemployed is a current (in 2009) pressing issue which a look a history can cast a light on.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Labor's Untold Story- The Trade Union Unity League (TUUL) And "Red" Unions
Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for the Trade Union Unity League, the American Communist Party's successor organization to the William Z. Foster's Trade Union Educational League (TUEL) during the infamous Stalinist "third period" policy of the Communist International.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
*Labor's Untold Story-The Hard Struggle to Organize Ford Motor Company
Click on title to link to "Socialist Action" entry for a look at the organizing of black workers at the Ford River Rouge automobile factory. River Rouge at one time could be considered the equivalent of the famous Putilov metalworks factory in Petrograd as a vanguard "hot bed" of militant labor. Sadly, those days are long gone.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
*Labor's Untold Story- In The Sunnier Days Of The Militant Labor Movement- The Great Flint Michigan GM Sitdown Strike Of 1936
Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for the famous Flint auto plant sit-down strikes that did much to organize the automobile industry back in the days. This is one event that I will be covering in more depth at a later time. It is, after all, one thing to have a walk-out strike and encircle the factory it is quite another to occupy the factory itself. That puts the question of the private ownership of the means of production point blank.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Every Month Is Labor History Month
This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!
As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
*It's Official- The 'Boss' Military Man Needs More Troops For Obama's Afghan War-Our Reply- Troops Out Now!
Click on title to link to my blog entry of September 4, 2009 on National Public Radio's report on September 1, 2009 of the musings of Afghan top commander, General Stanley McChrystal, about (another) future troop escalation in Afghanistan.
And then, less than two weeks later Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, shows up, hat in hands, at the Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing asking for just such additional troops. Hey, these guys are good and work fast when they want something.
As I stated in that September 4th entry and will repeat here- "Well,boys and girls, the time for Obamian illusions is over. It is time to settle up. The streets are not for dreaming now. Get the poster boards, the old bed sheets, magic markers, paint and cell phones ready. "Obama-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan ((Iraq And Pakistan Too!)"
And then, less than two weeks later Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, shows up, hat in hands, at the Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing asking for just such additional troops. Hey, these guys are good and work fast when they want something.
As I stated in that September 4th entry and will repeat here- "Well,boys and girls, the time for Obamian illusions is over. It is time to settle up. The streets are not for dreaming now. Get the poster boards, the old bed sheets, magic markers, paint and cell phones ready. "Obama-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan ((Iraq And Pakistan Too!)"
*An Inside Look At The Great Passiac And Gastonia Textile Strikes Of The 1920s- Organizer Vera Weisbord's View-In Honor Of Crystal "Norma Rae" Sutton
Click on title to link to the Albert & Vera Weibord Internet Archives. These two communist organizers from the 1920's, as the archive entries detail, were intimately involved in both the Passiac and Gastonia strikes. For another, later perspective on the political evolution of this pair check out American Communist Party and American Trotskyist Party founder James P. Cannon's views in the early 1930s on the Jame P. Cannon Internet Archives.
This is a repost of a March 2007 review in this space placed here today to show the long, long hard struggle to organize, north and south, the now, for the most part, long gone from America textile mills. In honor of Crystal Lee "Norma Rae" Sutton.
BOOK REVIEW
A RADICAL LIFE, VERA BUCH WEISBORD, INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS,
1977
MARCH IS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
The history of labor struggles in the United States in the 1920's, which is the most informative part of the book under review, looked a lot like the state of labor struggles today-not much, although there was then, as now a crying need to fight back against the decades old capitalist onslaught against labor. Nevertheless during the 1920’s period of labor's ebb there were a couple of important labor strikes that, as usual, involved radicals, especially members of the American Communist Party (hereafter, CP) that had emerged from the underground after the Palmer Raids and deportations of the post World War I period. Those struggles, the great Passaic, New Jersey strike of 1926 and the heroic Gastonia, North Carolina strike of 1929 detailed here by one of the key leaders, Vera Buch Weisbord, centrally involved women workers in the textile trades, then as now, some of the most hazardous, low paying and stupefying work around. Thus an added impetus for trade union militants to read this book today is to better understand the arduous task of organizing international struggles where women form the backbone of the factory labor force such as in East Asia and Mexico.
As in many such memoirs the author here has her own ax to grind, and she unfailingly names names of those who did not measure up to the eclectic political wisdom that she and her husband and political partner Albert put forth over the years when they were politically active. Thus the early part of the book concerning early Communist trade union policy is where the value of the book lies. Three critical points can be gleaned from her work; the narrowness of the early Communist trade union policy of exclusively ‘boring from within’ the established and organized labor movement; the fatally-flawed ‘dual union’ fetishism of the Stalinist ‘third period’ where Communist trade union policy was essentially to go it alone and create ‘red’ dual unions and eschew united front work; and, the question that presses on every militant today concerning the ability and advisability of doing so-called 'mass' work by small left-wing propaganda groups.
James P. Cannon, an early leader of the CP and its 'trade unionist' wing along with William Z. Foster and others, acknowledged that Albert Weisbord was an exceptional mass trade union organizer. That is high praise indeed coming from an old Wobblie who knew his trade union leaders. He was then, and later as a leader of the American Trotskyist movement, in a position to also know the limits of the Weisbords as political leaders. And there is the rub. Much of Weisbord’s achievement came as a result of his excellent work in the 1926 Passaic textile strike where he, with his future companion and wife Vera, led a hard fought effort to organize the woefully underpaid and exploited women textile workers. Weisbord, basically on his own hook, formed an independent union of the largely unorganized women textile works and led them out on one of the important strikes of the 1920's, despite constant efforts on the part of the central labor bureaucracy to sabotage those efforts as "communist" dominated. However, in order to keep the strike going as it was dying in isolation the CP agreed to remove Weisbord as central leader at the request of that bureaucracy and give the leadership to the tradition union leadership that ultimately settled the strike on very unfavorable terms.
That a communist organization would sacrifice one of its own while caving in to reactionary trade unionists is only understandable if one understands that in this the CP trade union policy, under William Z. Foster's influence, was one of ‘boring from within’ the organized trade union movement. Thus, its sell-out of its leader, and there are no other words for it, was the steep price that it paid to keep in step with the central labor bureaucracy. The fact that important and decisive sections of the American work force in the 1920's were unorganized or poorly organized and needed to be organized independently did not enter the CP’s political horizon at that time.
Another critical, if more bloody, strike occurred in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1929 and there again Communists with Vera playing a key early role led the way. That an urban- based radical party could gain a hearing from rural Southern black and white workers, including a fair share of women workers, tells a hell of a lot about the times and how bad the conditions were there. For a number of reasons, including a police frame-up of the leadership of the strike, this struggle also went down to defeat. By 1929, however, the CP was knee-deep in its' third period' immediate capitalism crisis theory and did not call for the desperately needed united front work that might have saved the strike. The CP's argument at the time was a far cry from its earlier position of ‘boring with in’- now all other labor formations were inherently reformist and therefore not part of the labor movement.
As a youth doing trade union work I was for a short time impressed by 'third period' Stalinism. However, it did not take long to realize that immediate capitalist gloom and doom crisis theory is not the way to organize workers for the long haul. On a more empirical level any gains that the CP made among workers during this period, especially gaining an important small core of black workers was gained in spite of their flawed policies. A few scattered and isolated 'red' unions that, moreover, negotiated some awful contracts in order to keep influence in the unions they controlled did not make a revolutionary mass trade union movement.
As part of the internal turmoil inside the CP during the late 1920’s the Weisbords were part of an international communist right-wing Bukharin-led faction that during the process of the Stalinization of the American CP was purged by the Communist International in Moscow. Thus the pair were left in the political wilderness in America, but not for long. They were in seemingly constant and never-ending contact with groups to the CP's left and right and spent some time around James P. Cannon's Trotskyist Communist League of America (CLA) before eventually drifting into political oblivion later in the 1930's.
The central conflict with the CLA was over the question of ‘mass’ work by small communist propaganda groups. Coming off their CP experiences where they had led masses of workers under the guidance of a small mass party the Weisbords continued to seek to implement that perspective even though ‘mass’ work by a small propaganda group is usually either fake 'paper' work or tends to destroy the real goal of such a group - the cohesion of a cadre that can lead ‘real’ struggles when they come up.
Here is a case where the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Yes, the CLA wandered in the political wilderness in the early 1930's but by 1934 it was in a position to lead the great Minneapolis Teamsters strikes, which put it on the political map. The CLA then was able to gather other left non-Stalinist forces and by the end of the decade had became a small mass party, the Socialist Workers Party, with plenty of trade union supporters and a fair share of mass work. And the Weisbords? Nada. Nevertheless, read this book, even if at times you have to read between the lines, to learn more about an important part of American labor history, an important part of early Communist Party history and a chapter in the history of the women workers movement.
This is a repost of a March 2007 review in this space placed here today to show the long, long hard struggle to organize, north and south, the now, for the most part, long gone from America textile mills. In honor of Crystal Lee "Norma Rae" Sutton.
BOOK REVIEW
A RADICAL LIFE, VERA BUCH WEISBORD, INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS,
1977
MARCH IS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
The history of labor struggles in the United States in the 1920's, which is the most informative part of the book under review, looked a lot like the state of labor struggles today-not much, although there was then, as now a crying need to fight back against the decades old capitalist onslaught against labor. Nevertheless during the 1920’s period of labor's ebb there were a couple of important labor strikes that, as usual, involved radicals, especially members of the American Communist Party (hereafter, CP) that had emerged from the underground after the Palmer Raids and deportations of the post World War I period. Those struggles, the great Passaic, New Jersey strike of 1926 and the heroic Gastonia, North Carolina strike of 1929 detailed here by one of the key leaders, Vera Buch Weisbord, centrally involved women workers in the textile trades, then as now, some of the most hazardous, low paying and stupefying work around. Thus an added impetus for trade union militants to read this book today is to better understand the arduous task of organizing international struggles where women form the backbone of the factory labor force such as in East Asia and Mexico.
As in many such memoirs the author here has her own ax to grind, and she unfailingly names names of those who did not measure up to the eclectic political wisdom that she and her husband and political partner Albert put forth over the years when they were politically active. Thus the early part of the book concerning early Communist trade union policy is where the value of the book lies. Three critical points can be gleaned from her work; the narrowness of the early Communist trade union policy of exclusively ‘boring from within’ the established and organized labor movement; the fatally-flawed ‘dual union’ fetishism of the Stalinist ‘third period’ where Communist trade union policy was essentially to go it alone and create ‘red’ dual unions and eschew united front work; and, the question that presses on every militant today concerning the ability and advisability of doing so-called 'mass' work by small left-wing propaganda groups.
James P. Cannon, an early leader of the CP and its 'trade unionist' wing along with William Z. Foster and others, acknowledged that Albert Weisbord was an exceptional mass trade union organizer. That is high praise indeed coming from an old Wobblie who knew his trade union leaders. He was then, and later as a leader of the American Trotskyist movement, in a position to also know the limits of the Weisbords as political leaders. And there is the rub. Much of Weisbord’s achievement came as a result of his excellent work in the 1926 Passaic textile strike where he, with his future companion and wife Vera, led a hard fought effort to organize the woefully underpaid and exploited women textile workers. Weisbord, basically on his own hook, formed an independent union of the largely unorganized women textile works and led them out on one of the important strikes of the 1920's, despite constant efforts on the part of the central labor bureaucracy to sabotage those efforts as "communist" dominated. However, in order to keep the strike going as it was dying in isolation the CP agreed to remove Weisbord as central leader at the request of that bureaucracy and give the leadership to the tradition union leadership that ultimately settled the strike on very unfavorable terms.
That a communist organization would sacrifice one of its own while caving in to reactionary trade unionists is only understandable if one understands that in this the CP trade union policy, under William Z. Foster's influence, was one of ‘boring from within’ the organized trade union movement. Thus, its sell-out of its leader, and there are no other words for it, was the steep price that it paid to keep in step with the central labor bureaucracy. The fact that important and decisive sections of the American work force in the 1920's were unorganized or poorly organized and needed to be organized independently did not enter the CP’s political horizon at that time.
Another critical, if more bloody, strike occurred in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1929 and there again Communists with Vera playing a key early role led the way. That an urban- based radical party could gain a hearing from rural Southern black and white workers, including a fair share of women workers, tells a hell of a lot about the times and how bad the conditions were there. For a number of reasons, including a police frame-up of the leadership of the strike, this struggle also went down to defeat. By 1929, however, the CP was knee-deep in its' third period' immediate capitalism crisis theory and did not call for the desperately needed united front work that might have saved the strike. The CP's argument at the time was a far cry from its earlier position of ‘boring with in’- now all other labor formations were inherently reformist and therefore not part of the labor movement.
As a youth doing trade union work I was for a short time impressed by 'third period' Stalinism. However, it did not take long to realize that immediate capitalist gloom and doom crisis theory is not the way to organize workers for the long haul. On a more empirical level any gains that the CP made among workers during this period, especially gaining an important small core of black workers was gained in spite of their flawed policies. A few scattered and isolated 'red' unions that, moreover, negotiated some awful contracts in order to keep influence in the unions they controlled did not make a revolutionary mass trade union movement.
As part of the internal turmoil inside the CP during the late 1920’s the Weisbords were part of an international communist right-wing Bukharin-led faction that during the process of the Stalinization of the American CP was purged by the Communist International in Moscow. Thus the pair were left in the political wilderness in America, but not for long. They were in seemingly constant and never-ending contact with groups to the CP's left and right and spent some time around James P. Cannon's Trotskyist Communist League of America (CLA) before eventually drifting into political oblivion later in the 1930's.
The central conflict with the CLA was over the question of ‘mass’ work by small communist propaganda groups. Coming off their CP experiences where they had led masses of workers under the guidance of a small mass party the Weisbords continued to seek to implement that perspective even though ‘mass’ work by a small propaganda group is usually either fake 'paper' work or tends to destroy the real goal of such a group - the cohesion of a cadre that can lead ‘real’ struggles when they come up.
Here is a case where the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Yes, the CLA wandered in the political wilderness in the early 1930's but by 1934 it was in a position to lead the great Minneapolis Teamsters strikes, which put it on the political map. The CLA then was able to gather other left non-Stalinist forces and by the end of the decade had became a small mass party, the Socialist Workers Party, with plenty of trade union supporters and a fair share of mass work. And the Weisbords? Nada. Nevertheless, read this book, even if at times you have to read between the lines, to learn more about an important part of American labor history, an important part of early Communist Party history and a chapter in the history of the women workers movement.
*Labor’s Told Story-Partially- The Film “Norma Rae”
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger performing our labor anthem, "Solidarity Forever". In honor of Crystal Lee Sutton.
DVD Review
Norma Rae, starring Sally Field, Ron Liebman, directed by Martin Ritt, 1973
On the face of it today a story about an impoverished, hard-nosed widowed woman trying to support several children working in a southern textile mill and who seeks to unionize the plant against one of the major textile companies might rate a documentary or docu-drama treatment but, perhaps not much else. The demographics and the audience would probably not be there for such a commercial endeavor, Sally Field or no Sally Field. That says more about the state of the organized labor movement in this country, the dramatic decline in union membership, the lack of recent successful major union organizing drives, the “globalization” of industry that has de-industrialized America and the attenuation of links between the old trade union movement forged in the class battles of the 1930s and 1940s and their grandchildren, today’s youth.
Back in 1973, however, this film was a hit not only because of the well-done performances by Sally Field, as that down-troddened but spirited woman turned effective union organizer and Ron Liebman, as the northern union organizer called in to advice (?) Norma Rae. 1950s “red scare” black-listed writer Martin Ritt, who directed this film, also deserves kudos for not overburdening the film with unnecessary sentimentality. The times then thus were not out of joint for such an effort. The residue of 1960s radicalism and pro-working class sentiments still hung in the air. Moreover, the times were just becoming ripe for serious films about the trials and tribulations of women, especially working women and their problems, under the sign of the burgeoning women’s movement.
Of courser this particular review is posted here today because, unfortunately, the real-life model for the character of Norma Rae, Crystal Lee Sutton, has just passed away in North Carolina at the age of 68. I will finish up here by quoting a remark that I made in another space about her passing that also reflects on the highlight dramatically tense moment in the film:
“No labor militant, or even just a simple friend of the international labor movement could do anything but cheer at that moment in "Norma Rae", based on the actual experience of Crystal Lee Sutton, when Sally Field silently holds up a handmade sign that said "Union"- and everyone downs tools. Such events are the stuff not just of labor legend, but under the right circumstances revolution. Farewell, Sister.” I need say no more.
Solidarity Forever
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever!
For the union makes us strong
When the union's inspiration
through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater
anywhere beneath the sun.
Yet what force on earth is weaker
than the feeble strength of one?
But the union makes us strong.
They have taken untold millions
that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle
not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power;
gain our freedom when we learn
That the Union makes us strong.
In our hands is placed a power
greater than their hoarded gold;
Greater than the might of armies,
magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world
from the ashes of the old
For the Union makes us strong.
This labor anthem was written in 1915 by IWW songwriter and union organizer Ralph Chaplin using the music of Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic. These song lyrics are those sung by Joe Glazer, Educational Director of the United Rubber Workers, from the recording Songs of Work and Freedom, (Washington Records WR460)
DVD Review
Norma Rae, starring Sally Field, Ron Liebman, directed by Martin Ritt, 1973
On the face of it today a story about an impoverished, hard-nosed widowed woman trying to support several children working in a southern textile mill and who seeks to unionize the plant against one of the major textile companies might rate a documentary or docu-drama treatment but, perhaps not much else. The demographics and the audience would probably not be there for such a commercial endeavor, Sally Field or no Sally Field. That says more about the state of the organized labor movement in this country, the dramatic decline in union membership, the lack of recent successful major union organizing drives, the “globalization” of industry that has de-industrialized America and the attenuation of links between the old trade union movement forged in the class battles of the 1930s and 1940s and their grandchildren, today’s youth.
Back in 1973, however, this film was a hit not only because of the well-done performances by Sally Field, as that down-troddened but spirited woman turned effective union organizer and Ron Liebman, as the northern union organizer called in to advice (?) Norma Rae. 1950s “red scare” black-listed writer Martin Ritt, who directed this film, also deserves kudos for not overburdening the film with unnecessary sentimentality. The times then thus were not out of joint for such an effort. The residue of 1960s radicalism and pro-working class sentiments still hung in the air. Moreover, the times were just becoming ripe for serious films about the trials and tribulations of women, especially working women and their problems, under the sign of the burgeoning women’s movement.
Of courser this particular review is posted here today because, unfortunately, the real-life model for the character of Norma Rae, Crystal Lee Sutton, has just passed away in North Carolina at the age of 68. I will finish up here by quoting a remark that I made in another space about her passing that also reflects on the highlight dramatically tense moment in the film:
“No labor militant, or even just a simple friend of the international labor movement could do anything but cheer at that moment in "Norma Rae", based on the actual experience of Crystal Lee Sutton, when Sally Field silently holds up a handmade sign that said "Union"- and everyone downs tools. Such events are the stuff not just of labor legend, but under the right circumstances revolution. Farewell, Sister.” I need say no more.
Solidarity Forever
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever!
For the union makes us strong
When the union's inspiration
through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater
anywhere beneath the sun.
Yet what force on earth is weaker
than the feeble strength of one?
But the union makes us strong.
They have taken untold millions
that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle
not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power;
gain our freedom when we learn
That the Union makes us strong.
In our hands is placed a power
greater than their hoarded gold;
Greater than the might of armies,
magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world
from the ashes of the old
For the Union makes us strong.
This labor anthem was written in 1915 by IWW songwriter and union organizer Ralph Chaplin using the music of Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic. These song lyrics are those sung by Joe Glazer, Educational Director of the United Rubber Workers, from the recording Songs of Work and Freedom, (Washington Records WR460)
*Labor's Told Story-Partially- Crytsal Lee Sutton The Model For The Film "Norma Rae" Has Passed Away
Click on title to link to the "New York Times" obituary for Crystal Lee Sutton, the model for the commerical film about the trials and tribulations of union organizing in the American South, organizing in the long embattled runaway textile industry and being a woman organizer starring Sally Field, "Norma Rae".
Markin comment:
No labor militant, or even just a simple friend of the international labor movement could do anything but cheer at that moment in "Norma Rae", based on the actual experience of Crystal Lee Sutton, when Sally Field silently holds up a handmade sign that said "Union"- and everyone downs tools. Such events are the stuff not just of labor legend, but under the right circumstances revolution. Farewell, Sister.
Markin comment:
No labor militant, or even just a simple friend of the international labor movement could do anything but cheer at that moment in "Norma Rae", based on the actual experience of Crystal Lee Sutton, when Sally Field silently holds up a handmade sign that said "Union"- and everyone downs tools. Such events are the stuff not just of labor legend, but under the right circumstances revolution. Farewell, Sister.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
*I Hear The Voice Of My Arky Angel-Once Again, The Music Of Iris Dement
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Iris DeMent performing "Our Town". Every once in a while I NEED to hear that voice, especially her "These Hills" and "After You've Gone". Today is one of those days
CD REVIEW
Infamous Angel, Iris Dement, Rounder Records, 1992
Frankly, and I admit this publicly for the first time in this space, I love Ms. Iris Dement. Not personally, of course, but through her voice, her lyrics and her musical presence. This ‘confession’ may seem rather startling coming from a reviewer who is as likely here to go on and on about Bolsheviks, ‘Che’, Leon Trotsky, high communist theory and the like. Especially, as well given Ms. Dement’s seemingly simple quasi- religious themes and commitment to paying homage to her rural background in song. All such discrepancies though go out the window here. Why?
Well, for one, this old radical got a lump in his throat the first time he heard “These Hills”. Okay, that happens sometimes-once- but why did he have the same reaction on the fifth and twelfth hearings? Explain that. I can easily enough. If, on the very, very remotest chance, there is a heaven then I know one of the choir members. Enough said. By the way give a listen to “Sweet Forgiveness” and “After You’ve Gone” (with that great line about 'knowing' every line in her man's face. Then you too will be in love with Ms. Iris Dement. Iris, here is my proposal. If you get tired of fishing the U.P., or wherever, with Mr. Greg Brown, get bored with his endless twaddle about old Iowa farms or going on and on about Grannma's cellar just whistle. Better yet just yodel like you did on “Jimmie Rodgers Going Home” on that “Driftless” CD.
INFAMOUS ANGEL (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
Last night before I went to sleep my knees dropped to the floor
I turned me eyes up to the sky and I prayed "Please help me, Lord,
you know I've sowed my wild oats and now the fun's all gone"
and then I heard these tender words
and I put them in my song:
"Infamous Angel come on home
to someone who loves you and knows you needed to roam
Grab your things, a ticket's waiting at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home"
I heard heaven's choir rejoicing as the tears broke from my eyes
and all at once it lifted the weight from my past life
I found a pen and I left a note on the dresser drawer
"Infamous Angel, she don't live here anymore"
Infamous Angel come on home
to someone who loves you and knows you needed to roam
Grab your things, a ticket's waiting at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home
Then I hurried out the back door as quickly as I could
I went flying down two flights of stairs 'til on the street I stood
and there I took that final look at my old neighbourhood
Then I ran down the street proclaiming "Angel gone for good"
Infamous Angel going home
to someone who loves her and knows she needed to roam
She grabbed her things and claimed the ticket at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home
Infamous Angel, Destination: Home
SWEET FORGIVENESS (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
Sweet forgiveness, that's what you give to me
when you hold me close and you say "That's all over"
You don't go looking back,
you don't hold the cards to stack,
you mean what you say.
Sweet forgiveness, you help me see
I'm not near as bad as I sometimes appear to be
When you hold me close and say
"That's all over, and I still love you"
There's no way that I could make up for those angry words I said
Sometimes it gets to hurting and the pain goes to my head
Sweet forgiveness, dear God above
I say we all deserve a taste of this kind of love
Someone who'll hold our hand,
and whisper "I understand, and I still love you"
AFTER YOU'RE GONE (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
There'll be laughter even after you're gone
I'll find reasons to face that empty dawn
'cause I've memorized each line in your face
and not even death can ever erase the story they tell to me
I'll miss you, oh how I'll miss you
I'll dream of you and I'll cry a million tears
but the sorrow will pass and the one thing that will last
is the love that you've given to me
There'll be laughter even after you're gone
I'll find reason and I'll face that empty dawn
'cause I've memorized each line in your face
and not even death could ever erase the story they tell to me
MAMA'S OPRY (Iris DeMent)
[note: harmony vocals provided by Emmylou Harris]
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
She grew up plain and simple in a farming town
Her daddy played the fiddle and use to do the calling
when they had hoedowns
She said the neighbors would come
and they'd move all my grandma's furniture 'round
and there'd be twenty or more there on the old wooden floor
dancing to a country sound
The Carters and Jimmy Rodgers played her favourite songs
and on Saturday nights there was a radio show
and she would sing along
and I'll never forget her face when she revealed to me
that she'd dreamed about singing at The Grand Ol' Opry
Her eyes, oh how they sparkled when she sang those songs
While she was hanging the clothes on the line
I was a kid just a humming along
Well, I'd be playing in the grass,
to her what might've seemed obliviously
but there ain't no doubt about it, she sure made her mark on me
She played old gospel records on the phonograph
She turned them up loud and we'd sing along
but those days have passed
Just now that I am older it occurs to me
that I was singing in the grandest opry
And we sang Sweet Rose of Sharon, Abide With Me
'til I ride The Gospel Ship to Heaven's Jubilee
and In That Great Triumphant Morning my soul will be free
and My Burdens Will Be Lifted when my Saviour's face I see
So I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World below
but I know He'll Pilot Me 'til it comes time to go
Oh, nothing on this earth is half as dear to me
as the sound of my Mama's Opry
And we sang Sweet Rose of Sharon, Abide With Me
'til I ride The Gospel Ship to Heaven's Jubilee
and In That Great Triumphant Morning my soul will be free
and My Burdens Will Be Lifted when my Saviour's face I see
So I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World below
but I know He'll Pilot Me 'til it comes time to go
Oh, nothing on this earth is half as dear to me
as the sound of my Mama's Opry
HIGHER GROUND (Iris DeMent)
[note: lead vocal by Flora Mae DeMent, backing vocals by "The Infamous Angel Choir" (Iris, etc.)]
Traditional, public domain
[Spoken intro by Iris: "No voice has inspired me more than my mother's. She showed me that music is a pathway to higher ground".]
I'm pressing on the upward way
New heights I'm gaining every day
Still praying as I'm onward bound
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
My heart has no desire to stay
where doubts arise and fears dismay
Though some may dwell where these abound
my prayer, my aim, is higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
I want to scale the utmost heights
and catch a gleam of glory bright
but still I'll pray 'til heaven I've found
Lord, lead me on to higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
CD REVIEW
Infamous Angel, Iris Dement, Rounder Records, 1992
Frankly, and I admit this publicly for the first time in this space, I love Ms. Iris Dement. Not personally, of course, but through her voice, her lyrics and her musical presence. This ‘confession’ may seem rather startling coming from a reviewer who is as likely here to go on and on about Bolsheviks, ‘Che’, Leon Trotsky, high communist theory and the like. Especially, as well given Ms. Dement’s seemingly simple quasi- religious themes and commitment to paying homage to her rural background in song. All such discrepancies though go out the window here. Why?
Well, for one, this old radical got a lump in his throat the first time he heard “These Hills”. Okay, that happens sometimes-once- but why did he have the same reaction on the fifth and twelfth hearings? Explain that. I can easily enough. If, on the very, very remotest chance, there is a heaven then I know one of the choir members. Enough said. By the way give a listen to “Sweet Forgiveness” and “After You’ve Gone” (with that great line about 'knowing' every line in her man's face. Then you too will be in love with Ms. Iris Dement. Iris, here is my proposal. If you get tired of fishing the U.P., or wherever, with Mr. Greg Brown, get bored with his endless twaddle about old Iowa farms or going on and on about Grannma's cellar just whistle. Better yet just yodel like you did on “Jimmie Rodgers Going Home” on that “Driftless” CD.
INFAMOUS ANGEL (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
Last night before I went to sleep my knees dropped to the floor
I turned me eyes up to the sky and I prayed "Please help me, Lord,
you know I've sowed my wild oats and now the fun's all gone"
and then I heard these tender words
and I put them in my song:
"Infamous Angel come on home
to someone who loves you and knows you needed to roam
Grab your things, a ticket's waiting at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home"
I heard heaven's choir rejoicing as the tears broke from my eyes
and all at once it lifted the weight from my past life
I found a pen and I left a note on the dresser drawer
"Infamous Angel, she don't live here anymore"
Infamous Angel come on home
to someone who loves you and knows you needed to roam
Grab your things, a ticket's waiting at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home
Then I hurried out the back door as quickly as I could
I went flying down two flights of stairs 'til on the street I stood
and there I took that final look at my old neighbourhood
Then I ran down the street proclaiming "Angel gone for good"
Infamous Angel going home
to someone who loves her and knows she needed to roam
She grabbed her things and claimed the ticket at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home
Infamous Angel, Destination: Home
SWEET FORGIVENESS (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
Sweet forgiveness, that's what you give to me
when you hold me close and you say "That's all over"
You don't go looking back,
you don't hold the cards to stack,
you mean what you say.
Sweet forgiveness, you help me see
I'm not near as bad as I sometimes appear to be
When you hold me close and say
"That's all over, and I still love you"
There's no way that I could make up for those angry words I said
Sometimes it gets to hurting and the pain goes to my head
Sweet forgiveness, dear God above
I say we all deserve a taste of this kind of love
Someone who'll hold our hand,
and whisper "I understand, and I still love you"
AFTER YOU'RE GONE (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
There'll be laughter even after you're gone
I'll find reasons to face that empty dawn
'cause I've memorized each line in your face
and not even death can ever erase the story they tell to me
I'll miss you, oh how I'll miss you
I'll dream of you and I'll cry a million tears
but the sorrow will pass and the one thing that will last
is the love that you've given to me
There'll be laughter even after you're gone
I'll find reason and I'll face that empty dawn
'cause I've memorized each line in your face
and not even death could ever erase the story they tell to me
MAMA'S OPRY (Iris DeMent)
[note: harmony vocals provided by Emmylou Harris]
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP
She grew up plain and simple in a farming town
Her daddy played the fiddle and use to do the calling
when they had hoedowns
She said the neighbors would come
and they'd move all my grandma's furniture 'round
and there'd be twenty or more there on the old wooden floor
dancing to a country sound
The Carters and Jimmy Rodgers played her favourite songs
and on Saturday nights there was a radio show
and she would sing along
and I'll never forget her face when she revealed to me
that she'd dreamed about singing at The Grand Ol' Opry
Her eyes, oh how they sparkled when she sang those songs
While she was hanging the clothes on the line
I was a kid just a humming along
Well, I'd be playing in the grass,
to her what might've seemed obliviously
but there ain't no doubt about it, she sure made her mark on me
She played old gospel records on the phonograph
She turned them up loud and we'd sing along
but those days have passed
Just now that I am older it occurs to me
that I was singing in the grandest opry
And we sang Sweet Rose of Sharon, Abide With Me
'til I ride The Gospel Ship to Heaven's Jubilee
and In That Great Triumphant Morning my soul will be free
and My Burdens Will Be Lifted when my Saviour's face I see
So I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World below
but I know He'll Pilot Me 'til it comes time to go
Oh, nothing on this earth is half as dear to me
as the sound of my Mama's Opry
And we sang Sweet Rose of Sharon, Abide With Me
'til I ride The Gospel Ship to Heaven's Jubilee
and In That Great Triumphant Morning my soul will be free
and My Burdens Will Be Lifted when my Saviour's face I see
So I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World below
but I know He'll Pilot Me 'til it comes time to go
Oh, nothing on this earth is half as dear to me
as the sound of my Mama's Opry
HIGHER GROUND (Iris DeMent)
[note: lead vocal by Flora Mae DeMent, backing vocals by "The Infamous Angel Choir" (Iris, etc.)]
Traditional, public domain
[Spoken intro by Iris: "No voice has inspired me more than my mother's. She showed me that music is a pathway to higher ground".]
I'm pressing on the upward way
New heights I'm gaining every day
Still praying as I'm onward bound
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
My heart has no desire to stay
where doubts arise and fears dismay
Though some may dwell where these abound
my prayer, my aim, is higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
I want to scale the utmost heights
and catch a gleam of glory bright
but still I'll pray 'til heaven I've found
Lord, lead me on to higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground
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