True Yarns Vol. 23: songs inspired by real events and people

TY23

My Man [Eagles] – Gram Parsons was not really an Eagles fan. He famously blew them off as ‘bubblegum’ just before he passed away in 1973.  He didn’t think they were country enough, even though they were being heralded as the ultimate country-rock players, a genre most historians agree Gram Parsons almost single-handedly invented.  There was always a tug-of-war in the Eagles, country vs. Rock ‘n’ roll.  Eventually, the rocker’s won. The two members of the band with the strongest country music credentials, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon, departed after Hotel California and One of These Nights respectively. Leadon had come to the Eagles originally after a short stint in the Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons pioneering band, during which he played on their second album, Burrito Deluxe (1970). My Man was written and sung by Leadon as a tribute to his hero. It was included on their 1974 On the Border album, though it was issued as a single only in the UK. 

Malcolm X [The Skatalites] ‘As the nation’s most visible proponent of Black Nationalism, Malcolm X’s challenge to the multiracial, nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King, Jr., helped set the tone for the ideological and tactical conflicts that took place within the black freedom struggle of the 1960s. Given Malcolm X’s abrasive criticism of King and his advocacy of racial separatism, it is not surprising that King rejected the occasional overtures from one of his fiercest critics. However, after Malcolm’s assassination in 1965, King wrote to his widow, Betty Shabazz: “While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had the great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem”.’ Malcolm X was gunned down in February 1965.  The Skatalites released this tribute later in the year based upon Sidewinder by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan released a year previous. 

Presidential Rag [Arlo Guthrie] Nice guy Arlo digs the knife into Richard Nixon a few months before he resigned in disgrace.  But with lines like, “Nobody elected your family/nobody elected your friends/no one voted your advisers/ and nobody wants the men”  this could not be more topical to this current moment. 

John Riley [Gráda] An Irish band singing about an Irishman stuck in the San Patricios who fought bravely in the Battle of Churobusco (1847) of the Spanish-American War. “This Mexican unit actually consisted of former American soldiers, mostly Irishmen, who had deserted in the face of anti-Irish sentiments in the old army, and wary of fighting a fellow Catholic nation. The San Patricios had made a name for themselves, fighting from Monterrey, Buena Vista, and Cerro Gordo. Knowing that defeat and capture meant almost certain death for desertion, the San Patricios kept fighting, tearing down the white flag of surrender that other Mexican troops tried to fly. Finally, they were subdued.” 

Ode to Olivia [Stella Parton] Dolly’s sister stands up for Olivia Newton-John whose early forays into the American music scene were criticized for not being “real country music”. A debate that will rage till the next meteor wipes us all clean off Earth. “The Country Music Association’s founding premise in 1958 was to keep country music pure; to prevent the infiltration of rock ‘n’ roll. When Olivia won Female Vocalist of the Year in 1974, she raised eyebrows and ruffled feathers. Look at the titleists either side of her winning year: Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton – Nashville Royalty. Olivia remains the only non-American to win the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year.  Heads of Nashville convened and formed the Association of Country Entertainers (ACE) in response, to lobby on behalf of traditional country artists. (It fell in a heap when John Denver won Entertainer of the Year the following year and Charlie Rich infamously burned the envelope with Denver’s name in it).”  The song is interesting primarily because Dolly was not an Olivia fan at the time. When Stella sang it for her Dolly begged her not to share with Porter Wagoner, her singing partner at the time, apparently because he would freak out! 

Vida Blue [Albert Jones] “Vida Blue burst onto the scene in major-league baseball as a fireballing left-hander for the Oakland A’s and served as one of the primary characters in the A’s streak of five division championships and three World Series championships. His career, which spanned from 1969 to 1986, would see high points, including the multiple World Series championships and outstanding pitching performances, as well as dark days, such as his suspension from the game for drug use and his involvement in one of the most publicized contract holdouts in the history of the game. In many ways, the ups and downs of Blue’s baseball career, both on and off of the field, reflected the times during which he played perhaps more than any other of his contemporaries.”  Soulman Albert Jones was a Detroit boy and no doubt loved his hometown Tigers but Blue so captured the American imagination in the early 70s a song such as this is a valuable historical milestone. The song was inspired by Vida Blue’s incredible performance in 1971, when he achieved a 24-8 record with a 1.82 ERA, making him the standout player that year. 

Lindy Comes to Town [Al Stewart] From Songfacts.com “Charles Lindbergh (1902-74) was an authentic American hero; he rose to fame after making the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris, but suffered personal tragedy when his baby son was kidnapped and murdered, a story that made worldwide headlines; German immigrant Bruno Hauptmann was tried, convicted and executed for the crime. Before the United States entered the Second World War, Lindbergh fought bitterly for the Isolationists, but after it was dragged in by the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, he dusted off his pilot’s wings and joined the conflict in the Pacific. Although Stewart has written many quite detailed biographical songs, this upbeat number focuses solely on Lindbergh’s epic 1927 flight in the Spirit of St Louis, a journey that took 33 1/2 hours and earned him the adulation of millions. It is an antidote to Woody Guthrie’s factually inaccurate “Lindbergh.”   

Letter to Linda [Tanya Tucker] A love letter to Linda Ronstadt from Tanya Tucker. 

Piney Brown Blues [Big Joe Turner] Written about a real/mythical (?) KC bartender and released in 1955.  But a blues singer named Columbus Perry assumed the name Piney Brown in the late 40s and so perhaps this song is inspired by him. Maybe Perry was a bartender too? He did spend time in KC trying to get established before moving East.  

Korea Blues [Clifford Blivens & The Johnny Otis Band] The Korean war never ended. And recently the Kim family leader has renounced all efforts and goals to peacefully reunify with the South. Its new chosen path is complete subjugation, by war if necessary. Expect more Blues from Korea in the future. 

Ford Econoline [Nancy Griffith] Inspired by the inspiring Rosalie Sorrells, American folk singer of Mormon roots who is way underappreciated.  See more about her on the final track of this edition. Of course, the Ford Econoline, “A Workhorse with a Legacy”, has also inspired millions of Americans to haul shit around. When I was 19, we had our eye on one to refurbish and drive down to Mexico. Por supuesto, nunca lo hicimos. 

Dixon Ticonderoga [The Carolyn Sills Combo] The combo sings a hymn to a revolutionary innovation of the modern world. 

18 Minute Gap [Rue Barclay] Most readers of this blog are of the age when another American Republican President got into trouble for his corrupt ways. Sadly, unlike these days when America is once again Great, Nixon had to pay the price. So unfair. A victim of leftist lunatics and vermin.  Want to know what was on those tapes? Want the full story of the tapes and a downloadable version of the 18.35 minutes of nothing? [Editor’s note: that last link is essential reading!] 

Simply Spalding Gray [Steve Forbert] Spalding Gray was an iconic New York downtown actor and writer. He is most known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theatre in the 1980s and 1990s. Theatre critics John Willis and Ben Hodges described his monologue work as “trenchant, personal narratives delivered on sparse, unadorned sets with a dry, WASP, quiet mania.” Gray became famous with his monologue Swimming to Cambodia, which was adapted into a film in 1987 by filmmaker Jonathan Demme. Other one-man shows by Gray that were captured on film include Monster in a Box, directed by Nick Broomfield, and Gray’s Anatomy, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Gray died in New York City, New York, of an apparent suicide in 2004.   

Sabra et chatila [Nass el Ghiwane] Another time. Another place. Same shit. The Sabra and Shatila massacre was a massacre of up to 3,500 Palestinian refugees by Israel’s proxy militia, the Phalange, during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. The horrific slaughter prompted outrage and condemnation around the world, with the United Nations General Assembly condemning it as “an act of genocide.”  British television called it the Lebanese war’s ‘darkest chapter’. 

From Little Things Big Things Grow [Kev Carmody & Paul Kelly] This song has become one of Australia’s informal national anthems. “[P]aying tribute to the Gurindji people, and becoming symbolic of the broader movement for Indigenous equality and land rights in Australia.” 

Tennessee Valley Authority [Chatham County Line] The Tennessee Valley Authority act of May 18, 1933, created the Tennessee Valley Authority to oversee the construction of dams to control flooding, improve navigation, and create cheap electric power in the Tennessee Valley basin. 

Sunbury 73 [Chris Wilson] The Sunbury Pop Festival was an annual Australian rock music festival held on a 620-acre (2.5 km²) private farm between Sunbury and Diggers Rest, Victoria, which was staged on the Australia Day (26 January) long weekend from 1972 to 1975. Check out Broderick Smith and Carson boogie-ing along as the audience does the usual festival things.  

Brigham Young [Rosalie Sorrells] Rosalie Sorrells was one of those American folk artists that insisted on ploughing her own path which was accomplished but largely un(der)recognised. To quote an oft-quoted quote from Elijah Wald, “She traveled around the country while raising five children. She drinks strong men under the table and is the first one up in the morning, bright and cheery and planning one of her famous dinners. And she can make the noisiest barroom crowd shut up and listen when she sings.”  See track 12 for Nancy Griffith’s tip of the hat to her.   Brigham Young, of course, was the charismatic elder of the Morman Church during its formative pioneering years in Utah.  Rosalie was not a Morman but wrote and sang a lot of songs about the community.