Riding in the back of my parents’ Buick, my dad told me that a concert they had attended at the fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta had been recorded for an album. As he shoved the eight-track into the dash, my brother and I arm-wrestled to determine who got to lay flat in the “back dashboard” and who had to stay in the seats.
Ain’t good for nothing
but put a man six feet in a ho-o-ole!
The definition of Southern rock at the time wrote a song about gun control. The definition of redneck excess wrote a song about the scourge of drugs. As the eight-track clicked to the next sector, I realized that lyrics were sending a social message. None of this was earth-shattering, nor does Lynyrd Skynyrd really relate to this week’s podcast theme. But songs often appeal to fans in completely different “camps.” People who otherwise have no common ground and probably would not like each other frequently own overlapping record collections. Just look around the room at a Drive-By Truckers show, and you will see what I mean.
Songwriters like Kinky Friedman — who was recently on Dirty Roots Radio — share their views that do not neatly fit a box. Pauline Andres of France covers Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens on the International Americana Music Show. Also in this week’s collection, you can hear the Eagles of Death Metal’s cover of Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer” on Best Radio You Never Heard, in memory of those who were murdered in France and in honor of the survivors. As many roots music fans now know, Julian Dorio of the Whigs was drumming for that band on tour. Music fans across the world have come together in support of the victims and their families.
Peace be with us.
