STMcC’s Vote On '2019, July 1st: Battle Of The Bands' (BOTB) - Or, Waylon Jennings Versus Hank "Bocephus" Williams Jr. - And The Final Tally:
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First and foremost, I want to thank All Y'all who took the time to visit, listen and vote. I enjoyed the Battle and the banter, even though it wasn't much of a "battle" at all.
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The contest took place HERE, and it featured an "America / American" theme in honor of the 4th Of July. Our two contestants were the 'Outlaw Country' stars Waylon Jennings (song: 'America') and his buddy Hank "Bocephus" Williams Jr. (song: 'The American Way').
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I mentioned in the blog bit that my all-time #1 favorite Country artist is Waylon, and my all-time #2 favorite Country artist is Bocephus. I'll bet that led many of you to think that I'd be casting my own vote for the former, but, nope! Wrong again, Fishface! This is one of those rare times when I'd actually side with my #2 favorite over Mr. #1.
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Frankly, I find Waylon's song 'America' to be a bit too preachy and almost self-righteous sounding. (Not nearly as self-righteous as 'Give A Damn' by Spanky & Our Gang, but still a bit much for my tastes.) I don't hate the song, but I don't love it, either.
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'The American Way' by Bocephus, however, I find amusing. I dig the funny "in your face" lyrics... I dig the mention of "Nudie boots", and that line about Hank's "horse" - Hoo-Wee & Hoot Gibson!
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But, as is often the case, my audience didn't agree with my opinion, and the voting tally ended up like this:
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Waylon Jennings = 10 votes
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Hank "Bocephus" Williams Jr. = 5 votes
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I almost hesitate to say this but... it looks like Sikike Phteven has sobered up and is starting to get the hang of this BOTB bote predictin' game. He was right for a second consecutive time and has evened up his record at 2-2.
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I wanna leave you with two videos you may find fun / interesting. This first one is of Waylon & Bocephus (who were actually good friends) collaborating on a song about Hank's pa, Hank Williams Sr. It's titled 'THE CONVERSATION', and Waylon's wife, Jessi Colter, makes a cameo appearance at the end, pretending to be a waitress:
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The Conversation - Waylon & Bocephus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csONW-zWFqs
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This next video is about... well, the title says it all. And below the embedded video is a copy of some remarks I left in that video's comment section over at YouTube. I hope you enjoy the video; I hope you read my remarks about the Waylon Jennings concert I attended; and I hope to see you all here again for my July 15th Battle Of The Bands installment. Happy Trails to you until we meet again!
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British Rock Guitarist Analyzes
Waylon Jennings' Live Ad Lib In 1975!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOq9cjXO208
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STMcC (aka D-FensDogG) said:
I've seen A LOT of concerts in my life - Bruce Springsteen a few times, Blue Oyster Cult and Thin Lizzy a couple of times, Bob Seger, and just too many to mention. All of them in their primes.
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Waylon Jennings I saw 4 times at 3 different venues, and I loved every show. But that first one is still my #1 favorite concert of all time. It was probably 1989 or maybe '90, and Waylon was playing in some really small Country nightclub in the L.A. area. It was literally "standing room only" and my girlfriend and I had to stand for the whole show. But the place was so small that we were only about 10-20 feet from the stage. Waylon was Ha-Ha-Halarious! He was telling these really funny stories between songs and I was thinking: "Wow! This is two shows in one: The ultimate classic Outlaw Country artist AND a first-rate comedian for the price of one!"
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Standing near me was some drunken idiot who kept yelling out stupid stuff and was saying how he "did time with Merle Haggard". And when Waylon got tired of it, he pointed at the guy from the stage, looked him dead in the eyes and said, "YOU!! Shut up!" And, yeah, the guy didn't make a peep for the rest of the show! (I guess "doing time" with Merle Haggard only affords you just so much courage.)
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To this day, that was the most memorable concert I ever attended. The stories Waylon told about when he and Johnny Cash were doing drugs together made me GOL! (Guffaw-Out-Loud!) Waylon always told different stories at the 4 concerts I saw. But the one thing he DID tell each and every audience was that he personally hated the song 'Luckenbach, Texas' and the ONLY reason he was going to play it was because he knew we (the audience) wanted to hear it.
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Hey there Stephen!
ReplyDeleteThose concerts sure do sound like they were good ones. I used to be envious of others who got to see the good concerts. But then as I get older, the less I like dealing with 'people' and concerts are just to 'people-ly' for me any more. I also find that I lack the attention span that it takes to stand in line waiting to be seated. I'd much rather catch a video online than have to deal with all those peoples.
The one part of missed concerts that I miss is the story-telling. As Dave Grohl explains his concerts - by hour 3, you never know what will happen.
After this week of what seems to be an extra long weekend, I'm not sure that I'm ready to get back into the grind. But I gotta - still have to come up with something for my next battle.
Have a good one!
~MMQE
MMQE ~
DeleteI am with you entirely! I literally can't even remember the last concert I went to. It was probably circa 1992 or '93. Possibly Brenda Lee or Huey Lewis & The Newts.
At my age now, I feel I've seen enough concerts and I generally try to avoid crowded places. For instance, I LOVE going up to Virginia City (the Old West mining town in Nevada), which is only a 30-minute drive from me. But I always check their Events Calendar first to make sure it's not some whoopy-doo-day, making it extra crowded (like Civil War Day, or Gunslinger Day, or Loose Saloon Girls Day, etc. ;^)
Now that I'm starting a new full-time job today (in about 2 hours), after 7 and a half months of being an unemployed bum, bloggin' and responding to blog comments is about to get a lot tougher.
Have a terrific week, Mary!
'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'
>>...Now that I'm starting a new full-time job today
DeleteI'm confident that you will find your new rhythm again soon.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. We're off to an... interesting... start.
Delete~ D-FensDogG
'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'
Musical divide, my foot! We both like Hank Jr., and we both voted for him!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the story about Waylon. I probably should stop "giving you the business." You don't have many readers doing so, hence it seems almost an obligation to stir things up and poke at you.
I still really like concerts, but I do hate the crowd element. I just saw Third Eye Blind about 10 days ago... or "10 Days Late" (a little 3EB humor) and still see a concert a month, on average. All kinds of stuff except rap and country. And it stinks when the concerts are general admission only, which means no assigned seat and most likely NO SEATS at all. At this point I want to sit down and listen. So,I like avoiding crowds. Except on "Loose Saloon Girls Day." That should be the exception.
Hope your first week back at the grind goes well, Brother!
SIXGUN McITCHYFINGER ~
Delete>>... Musical divide, my foot! We both like Hank Jr., and we both voted for him!
Nuts! Even a broken squirrel finds a blind clock twice a day.
Of course, I have heard of Third Eye Blind but never heard any of their recordings (that I know of). I thought about listening to something by them at YouTube, but first I Googled the band's name. I saw that they hail from San Francisco, and then I saw a photograph of the band members, and then I said "Nyet!" to listening to them at YT. (Judging a book by the cover? You betchum, Red Ryder!)
Yeah, Loose Saloon Girls Day is about the only time I'm willing to strive to overcome my aversion to crowds and take a chance.
After about 500 concerts, it dawned on me that 99.5% of them are all about the same, and that's when I started to lose 99.5% of my interest in concerts. Today, I can't think of any living singer / musician that I would go out of my way to see.
The first week back at the grind has been... interesting.
~ D-FensDogG
'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'
I think the outcome of this match was as it should have been. I didn't think Waylon's song was "too preachy", but then I guess I like some preachin' some of the time if it's about the right things.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to an arena concert since the eighties, but I've been to a few auditorium venues which I prefer because of the seating and the intimacy. These days, unless they're free and not much hassle, you're not going to find me at a concert.
Lee
LEE ~
Delete>>... I think the outcome of this match was as it should have been.
I'm not really surprised you feel that way, seeing as how you voted for Waylon. I don't think that sentence of yours is telling me something I couldn't have figgered out on my own, without the help of Sikike Phteven.
;^)
As far as I can remember, I think the last concert I saw at a large venue may have actually been "Bocephus" at The Greek Theatre in L.A., circa 1992.
These days (years), I'd much rather pour myself a tumbler of George Dickel #12 whiskey and play the artist's compact disc. Much more relaxing than being surrounded by a bunch of people I don't know and don't *want* to know.
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
Aha, the first concert I ever saw was The Cars at the SFO Cow Palace. I later saw Rush play at the Cow Palace - not a lot of party people, rather poindexters who cared about instrumentation. What the heck - get the drum solo over with already.
ReplyDeleteHank goes down! Frazier goes down! Frazier goes down! Hillary is up 10 points, 8 points, 4, 123 Hillary goes down! Hillary goes down. My goodness, I never tire of videos of 70's heavyweight bouts nor 2016 election results coming in to several news stations.
And, by cracky, I never tire of America.
McBRUHTHUH DOGG ~
DeleteHa! I've seen The Cars in concert, too. They were opening for... Bob Seger(?) in... 1970-something at "The Fabulous Forum"(?) I remember it was a strange bill and that The Cars came out dressed completely in black and played every song note-for-note like they were recorded on the albums. I thought they may have been the most boring live band I ever saw. (Dylan was a fairly close second.)
Rush - yeah, I'll leave Rush for the poindexters. I never could stand them. And if I want to hear some dude squealing like a pig, I'll watch 'Deliverance' before I'll listen to Geddy Lee of Rush.
By cracky, those 2016 election results coming in were some fun! That was a great, exciting night. Sadly, the underdog winner of that bout has not come even close to living up to my expectations, and I will not be voting for him again. But, still, that was one thrilling roller-coaster of a night in November of 2016!
~ McStephen
'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'
McBrothuhMan, Aha, I think we saw the same Kinkos copies concert. The Cars did sound exactly like their albums and they just stood in the same places while they played... although there may have been a red blazer or two with the skinny black ties. I do have a fond memory of the concert because it was the first time I got drunk. Festival seating thus folks sitting in line for hours. People were cool and let you join your friends who sat in line without saying, "No cuts." A multi-hour party before the concert started. In particular we showed up in a van around noon and played football in the parking lot. I was drunk, the qb threw me a pass right near the numbers (a regular t-shirt - I hadn't been to a concert before thus didn't have a t-shirt with concert information on it to show everyone I went to the concert) and it bounced off my hands. The qb looked confused and someone said to him to mollify him, "He has no hands." Why do I note this so many years later? Because I can't forget it! I don't remember nor care who opened for The Cars... I can't get in a time machine and make the catch!
DeleteI hear you the one and only Rush song I like is Spirit Of Radio which must have a good melody and message to rise above Geddy Lee's nails on chalkboard like Richard Dreyfus did in Jaws. Okay, I tried and can't match your Deliverance analogy - hahahaha. If I was in a car on the freeway and someone put in a Rush CD, I would open the door and jump out... and and and...
(Seeing "1500 new troops" to the middle east is heartbreaking. Perpetual).
Best wishes,
Ramblin'Man
Having read the other posts on your job, and betcha the commute is better than before, cheers and congratulations on your new life chapter.
McDogG ~
Delete>>... The Cars did sound exactly like their albums and they just stood in the same places while they played
YES, that TOO! They just stood in one spot the whole concert and never really moved anything other than the body part necessary to move in order to play their instruments. I think I saw them before they graduated to that most exciting piece of stage apparel - the "red blazer". I remember them as being dressed entirely in black (the Electronic Pop version of that other boring dude in black, Johnny Cash). And they were undoubtedly the most unexciting live act I ever saw. (At least Dylan played many of his songs with vastly different arrangements, so it wasn't like just staying home and listening to Dylan's records.)
But "CHEERS!" to that concert being your first "Laminated" experience. (Cranium invented that expression in The Bay Street years of 'The League Of Soul Crusaders'. He came staggering in the door once and someone yelled out, "Cranium's drunk!" And Cranium replied, "Boys, I'm not drunk. I'm LAMINATED!!" ...And he was, too!)
Hey, Bruhthuh, have no regrets about the dropped pass. We've all dropped passes. We've all MADE passes that women have dropped. We've all failed to pass "Go", neglecting to collecting $200. We've all dropped the ball too early in the evening and passed out. Anyone who never failed, never really played it full-tilt, damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!
For me, the ONLY Rush song that I can almost - *ALMOST!* - stand is 'Tom Sawyer', but that's probably because I'm a huge Mark Twain fan. Sadly, the song still includes Geddy "Ned Beatty" Lee's pig-squealing. How any [Link> "Confident Heterosexual" male can listen to, and enjoy, Geddy Lee's squealing is way, Way, WAY beyond my ability to fathom.
The new job is going to be a real challenge, that I am not at all sure I am up to meeting. I truly *want* to do this - to show that I *CAN* do it - but I'm going to need A LOT of Help from Christ Yeshua and His Dad in order to do it. I just did 4 days of training and I am utterly wiped-out. I didn't even do my normal workout tonight; I just went straight to the (90-proof) bottle of George Dickel.
~ McPhteven
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
HA!-HA!
DeleteDon't tell me - lemme guess: You're back to believing in The Great Musical Divide again! amiright?
>>... Being EXTREMELY confident, and being more heterosexual than you light-stepping poofters
Methinks thou doth protest too much.
McBrother Sixgun, it's 2019. Divorce your "beard" and come on out - the water's fine now, and I've never yet banned a rainbow flag-waver from any of my blogs.
;^D
(To quote General Poohregard...) "But no, but no, but no!" Seriously now, I did *NOT* say that men who enjoy listening to that squealing pig in Rush were gay. I simply said that I cannot fathom how heterosexual males can listen to him. And that's true. I don't understand that. However, I don't doubt your heterosexuality nor Alex Cavanaugh's heterosexuality. But you guys are a mystery to me.
To be fair, I just came from YT where I listened to Rush's 'Spirit Of Radio'. And - NOPE! - nothing about my opinion was altered. Some Rock journalist once referred to Geddy Lee as sounding like "Donald Duck singing after inhaling helium". I've said he sounds like Ned Beatty squealing like a pig. But truthfully, he sounds like he was recorded at 33 1/3rd and then played back at 45 rpm.
Now, suddenly, for the first time ever, I find myself wondering what a Rush LP played back at 45 rpm would sound like. Would it be so high-pitched that only dogs and bats would be able to hear it?
~ Phteven
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
Mr Sixgun,
DeleteWhy are you thinking about wrestling instead of basketball and thinking that the Ultimate Warrior sold his body to Brock Lesnar for one night. Why are you even thinking about that.
"light-stepping poofters." It's called pigeon toed to pivot much better from the top of the feet. I never did nor never will understand why people walk on their heels with their toes far apart.
Who is better -- Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. Please post what you wrote in your bluebook and I'll grade it. No footnotes nor sources please, I'm a very busy man.
Cheers and you're funny. Looking forward to another post,
G Dogg
McBruthaMan,
DeleteI stick to beer because it's healthy. Wine makes people fall down. Hard booze, no, having grown up in western New York where people had cases of gin in the basement - you read that right, cases of gin.. is passe.
Another thing about The Cars is that they never spoke a word. No "Hello City!" "I heard City likes to rock!" nor "This is a song from our new album." The Police's musicianship rivals Rush... ~10 years ago, The Police's music didn't seem to age well... but in recent years has grown on me again.
- "That's your opinion."
That's right, I'm the one who said it.
People may name them "new wave"... which is really a catch-all phrase for anything that wasn't arena rock. I saw them at Day On The Green at the Oakland Coliseum with, jeesh, 50+ thousand people.. and didn't buy a t-shirt to show people I was there. Not because I didn't want people to know I was there, just didn't want to shell out $25 for a $5 t-shirt. Around the same time, had season tickets to the Oakland Invaders (USFL).. the hydrox cookies to the Raiders' Oreos.
Cheers with beer,
G-Dogg
BRUHTHUH McDOGG ~
DeleteThat's right! All the members of The Cars were mute. Not a word was spoken, that I can recall.
B-O-R-I-N-G-!
I actually saw The Police in 1978 on that postage stamp they called a "stage" at the Whisky-A-Go-Go. 'Roxanne' was just *beginning* to get a little airplay, exclusively on the "semi-underground" L.A. radio station KROQ. Half the people at the Whisky didn't even know who The Police were. They just turned out to see live music that night and it just happened to be some unknown band called The Police.
L.A. was "the pLAce" to be back then if one was young and cool. So much to do on every single night of the week.
Beer be my favorite, but beer just makes me feel sluggish. It's the Mojito and the Margarita (and a little Whiskey at times for the sake of variety) that send me to my own private island.
:^D
~ McStephen
I love "The Conversation." One of the things I really love about Waylon (and Jr and Willie) is his sense of humor. They are stars, but still seem to take enjoyment out of life, themselves, and being in front of an audience. Waylon can sure play, can't he?
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to many concerts. Two I think, lol. Never seem to have time and money both - but I really think its about the crowds. I can get claustrophobic shopping in Walmart, lol. My kids have been to several Floater and AfterShock concerts though. They always get down in the Mosh pit. NO THANK YOU! Well, it might be worth getting crushed if Sully Erna dribbles some sweat on me though. Have to think about that one.
WILD THING ~
DeleteI dig Waylon & Bocephus so much that I kind of hated to pit them AGAINST each other in BOTB. But I like the fact that I could bring them back together again in the Results post with 'The Conversation'. I dig that song, too!
You are so right about the Outlaw Country artists having a sense of humor in their music. Waylon was so funny on stage, and Bocephus has some songs that have literally made me laugh-out-loud.
Ha! I'd rather shop at Walmart than go to a concert these days (which isn't to say I'm a fan of Walmart, though).
Hokey-Smoke!
"Floater"?
"AfterShock"?
"Sully Erna"?
I've never even heard of these names before now. (I guess, like Pete Townshend, I didn't die before I got old!!)
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'