Do white people suck?

What in the hell is going on? The new administration’s hostility to Black people, gay people, women, and just about any minority you can think of is palpable. It is moving to dismantle all the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the country – not just governmentally, but in the private sector as well. Any and every racial justice program is facing termination. I expected a lot of hateful action and petty behavior from Trump’s people, but this is ridiculous, granular in its approach to detail, going out of its way to incarcerate, humiliate, abuse, and torture individuals it doesn’t like without due process.

What in the world makes white people think that their grip on reality is threatened by the existence of people unlike them?

The achievements of these minorities are being scrubbed from government websites. Books about minority issues and contributions have been removed from military libraries. Censorship is stifling free speech at universities, in the media, at our workplaces, and it is only a matter of time before we will be warned not to express ourselves freely in public. That’s how dictators do.

What is the motivation? First, let’s remember that only 30 percent of the American electorate voted these Nazis in. 30 percent of you didn’t vote. THIRTY PERCENT. So much for civics. Of those who did vote, a slight majority favored the fascists, and put them in power.

Now this third of our nation, the part that’s vengeful and prejudiced, is in the driver’s seat. Remember, there is another third of the country that opposes what is happening, and is just now getting its head around a plan of action to ensure that people are treated decently. So there is hope.

But it’s such a LOT of hate out there. The pent-up anger and resentment of white supremacists is real. What is it based on? It’s based on pure, stark, unreasoning fear. They have a “replacement theory” which states that minorities are flooding the country in a conscious and concerted effort to outnumber the white inhabitants of the U.S. A. To which I say: so? And to what end? I was raised on the concept that America is the great melting pot – not one that pours its matter into identical molds, but one that allows us to work together while retaining our unique qualities and sharing them with others.

The knuckleheads are afraid that, if for some reason more non-white people lived here, there would be retribution. That white people would be treated in the way they’ve treated minorities down the centuries here – that they’d be killed, oppressed, locked up, and beaten in their turn. Because they can’t imagine people being different from them, of having higher moral standards than that.

President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” The Trump administration is gleefully trying to restore the separation of the races, the suppression of the other, and the forcing of ideological conformity all down the line. It’s trying to ship us back to a so-called golden age that never existed, one in which everyone but straight white males didn’t count. There is a desperate edge to all the administration’s actions, a blind lashing out that’s creating damage and havoc.

One thing we do know about white people is that, when they threatened, they get violent. They are experts at killing other people and taking their stuff. That’s the principle this country was founded on! And since we have more guns than anyone, look for the last vestiges of restraint to flake away, bringing us back to the days of the Wild West. Look for self-appointed armed militias to spring up and terrorize the populace. Look for it and keep looking – the institutions we thought would guard us from this did not do their job, and the mainstream media is in the hands of the powerful. We have to work together and keep each other informed in order to coordinate action to change the dreadful state of affairs we are in.

And, hey, what would we do if we had to lean on only white culture? Square dancing, spelling bees, quilting, country music, hymns, pie-eating contests? Will we all wear gingham? Imagine the culture as a Lawrence Welk broadcast, repeated over and over, forever. No thank you. I need the whole culture, the full spectrum. I want to hear from Black artists, women artists, gay artists, Muslim artists, Albanian-American artists, I don’t care. We need the collision of identities and ideas. That, and not conformity, obedience, and suppression, is the hallmark of America’s greatness.

So do white people suck? They do when they feel cornered.

NRR Project: Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings (1936-1937)

 

NRR Project: The Complete Recordings

Robert Johnson

Recorded 1936 - 1937

It is arguable that this gentleman was the most influential American musician of the 20^th century. He only lived to the age of 27. He only recorded 29 songs. Yet he laid down the blues in a magisterial manner, such that everyone who came after him looked to him and his renditions of classic tunes for inspiration, and as building blocks that took them to new levels in rock and jazz.

First I must point you to the excellent essay by Ed Komara at the National Recording Registry on this topic. It outlines what little is known of Johnson’s life (1911-1937) – how he practiced determinedly, until he gained a facility with a guitar that was unmatched. (A legend rose that he sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads to get the gift of music.) He toured, he recorded sporadically. Finally he me his death under suspicious circumstances (it is rumored he was poisoned by a jealous husband).

Johnson’s songs are an amalgamation of the usual blues topics – sex and the lack of it, traveling, drinking, salvation and the lack of it. What makes his accomplishment so great is his endless facility. His guitar work is compelling and ever-changing, with intricate fingerwork and strongly underlined chords. Listening to multiple takes of some of his songs, it is remarkable to note that he embellishes and supports the song in a completely different and original way each time. His tenor vocals are raw and heartfelt. At his most despairing, the effect on the listener is riveting and unearthly. Combined with his virtuosity, it is music that still makes a great impact.

In 1961, an LP was made of some of Johnson’s songs, and though obscure it got passed around among blues aficionados, in America and in England, which resulted in covers by bands such as the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. “Stop Breaking Down,” “Love in Vain,” “Dust My Broom,” “Sweet Home Chicago”, all these songs have resonated down the decades and still influence the music we listen to today.

When this work was collected, preserved, and presented in close to pristine condition by Sony/Columbia in 1990, it was a big deal. Everyone ran out and got copies of the work of this obscure bluesman from the 1930s, digging deeply into his music, discussing it, playing it. Just as it should be.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: One O’Clock Jump.

Fight the power

 

We elected a dictator. We are living under an autocracy.

It’s far too late to clutch our pearls and bemoan the sad state into which our country has fallen. We do not have luxury of being victims. Reprehensible people have taken over our government, aided and abetted by our enemies. These fascists are destroying all that makes America great, starting with eliminating this country as a beacon of freedom for immigrants round the world.

Things will not magically get better. I fully expect martial law to be declared at some point, if the populace proves not to be OK with the changes coming their way. Already this government is suspending civil liberties, censoring language, and attempting to control the culture. The sadistic ideologues and the simple garden-variety assholes control the presidency, the Congress, and the courts. Aid programs to the poor and disadvantaged around the world have been cut. Many, many people are going to die as a result of this administration.

And you know what? They don’t care. You don’t matter. They have pretty much confessed that they see anyone not in collusion with them as non-people, “non-player characters” who can be disposed of much like animals or inanimate objects. They plan to destroy our social welfare system and “cull the herd” of those who are determined to be unproductive or worse, undesirable members of this right-wing white-ass Christian patriarchal society they're trying to force down our throats.

So what can we do? I have heard from a lot of folks whose plan it is to tune out and mind their own business for the foreseeable future, to disconnect from an unpleasant reality. It feels like a heavy burden, but we must remain present, cognizant and involved. Silence is compliance, which is why I wrote this in the first place.

Fortunately, the Constitution is still in effect. We still have the right to speak out, and to peacefully demonstrate for redress of grievances. Non-violent civil disobedience is a great tool for battling these stupid and destructive bastards.

Keep speaking out. Share information. Participate in marches and boycotts. Above all, preserve your integrity.

If you are Muslim, you are safe with me.

If you are Black, you are safe with me.

If you are LGBTQ+, you are safe with me.

If you are an immigrant, you are safe with me.

If you are a woman, you are safe with me.

If you are among the disenfranchised, you are safe with me.

Remember, 49 per cent of us did not want this to happen. We are not helpless, and we have the mechanisms in place to create positive change. Any number of bad things can happen, but we do have hope and determination. Yours for truth, justice, and mercy. No kings.

NRR Project: 'Wabash Cannon Ball' (1936)

 

NRR Project: ‘Wabash Cannon Ball’

Roy Acuff and His Crazy Tennesseans

Recorded Oct. 21, 1936

2:48

“Wabash Cannon Ball” is a folk song with origins in the 19^th century. It describes an imaginary train, dotted with hoboes, moving serenely across the landscape. The upbeat, rollicking tune is easy to sing and remember – but it became an American standard thanks to Roy Acuff.

Acuff was a singer and a fiddler, and with his backing band of Crazy Tennesseans, he crafted a major hit with this 1936 recording. At the time, country music was still considered a backwoods, primitive affair, fit only for hillbillies and the lower classes. Acuff, soon to be dubbed “The King of Country Music,” was a consummate showman, and this and other of his hits became country-music standards.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: the complete recordings of Robert Johnson.

NRR Project: 'La Chicharronera' (1936)

 

NRR Project: ‘La Chicharronera’

Narciso Martinez and Santiago Almeida

Recorded Oct. 21, 1936

2:40

I could not do better than Hector Saldana’s excellent essay on this piece, which you can read here.

This music, called conjunto, was a hybridization of European instruments and musical forms, and Mexican rhythm and content. These lively songs were popular with the working poor. In south Texas, artists sprung up and crafted this music in all kinds of social situations, developing a repertoire that would looked on later as a golden age of musical creativity.

Narcisco Martinez, known as the Hurricane of the Valley, was a master of the button accordion. His accompanist, Santiago Almeida, wielded a guitar-like instrument called a bajo sexto. Together they created a propulsive, tuneful sound that would expand and develop rapidly in the decades to come.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: Wabash Cannonball.

NRR Project: 'Gang Busters' (1935)

 

NRR Project: ‘Gang Busters’

Broadcast of July 20, 1935

30 min.

“Gang Busters was the noisiest show on the air,” writes the great old-time radio historian John Dunning in his definitive On the Air. It definitely started out with a bang – a literal bang, followed by breaking glass, machine-gun fire, a police siren, and the marching tread of prisoners. Gang Busters was serious about crime. (Thus the phrase “come on like gangbusters.”)

The show was the creation, and professional rebirth, of its producer Phillips H. Lord. He began his career in radio as Seth Parker in 1929. In it, he portrayed a gentle and wise New Englander dispensing piety and gentle humor, mixing hymn-singing and cracker-barrel philosophy. At first immensely popular, a set of scandals later sabotaged Lord’s career and the show.

Lord planned his comeback. He sought to tell stories of the FBI, and in 1935 started his true-crime series under the title of G-Men. In this, he had the early cooperation of J. Edgar Hoover, head of the organization. Beginning with the story of the killing of John Dillinger, G-Men ran on for a year, until excessive FBI interference led Lord to change the show’s name to Gang Busters, and its focus on true crimes reported from across the nation.

The most important angle of the show was its avowed authenticity. These weren’t made-up stories, they were “authentic police case histories.” The show’s narrator would interview a law officer “by proxy” (meaning an actor portrayed the officer) about the crime, and the show would segue into the tale of the law-breakers.

The criminals were easy to identify – they used slang and contractions. (All law officers portrayed were well-spoken and grammatically correct.) Out of their sleazy minds would hatch a scheme to get rich quick by felonious means, and quickly they would set to work. Soon also would the law get wind of their activities, and move swiftly and decisively to arrest them.

Justice was always served on Gang Busters. Additionally, the show would broadcast special alerts at the end of the show – bulletins identifying criminal suspects, and calling for listeners to keep an eye out for them (several criminal were evidently apprehended due to the efforts of listeners).

Lord was back in business. The show ran for a healthy 22 years, and influenced all the crime shows that followed it.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: La Chicharronera.

NRR Project: Met Opera, 'Tristan und Isolde' (1935)

 

NRR Project: ‘Tristan und Isolde’

Metropolitan Opera, New York

Broadcast of March 9, 1935

Featuring Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior

3 hours, 16 min.

The Metropolitan Opera in New York was founded in 1883. It has been broadcasting live over the radio since Christmas Day, 1931.

This kind of advocacy is important. When I was young, I tuned into the Met because it was free; we didn’t have money for cultural pursuits. Gradually, I got turned on to opera, and became a huge fan. I still listen in.

At the time, it was a bold move – “giving away” a performance over the air. However, the Met sought to reverse the downturn in audience attendance caused by the Great Depression, and the promotional value of these broadcasts was immense. Initially, only selected acts were broadcast. Starting March 11, 1933, complete operas were broadcast, and after some more time, the weekly broadcasts during the opera season settled down to Saturday morning on the schedule.

Amazingly, this tradition continues today, nearly a century after its inception. Saturday mornings are still the province of this program, which is now heard on all manner of networks and individual affiliate. For 20 weeks a year, you can experience the best in opera, both the standard repertoire and new works.

Of course, a key part of the appeal of the Met’s Saturday matinee broadcasts is that they are live. There is nothing as exciting as live performances; as a listener there’s the feeling that anything can happen. (I have been listening to them for 40-odd years, and haven’t encountered any disasters or foul-ups yet.) The consistent high quality of the broadcasts, which includes expert commentary, interviews, and special features, means that people across the country and now indeed around the world can enjoy and learn more about this art form.

Opera is often derided for being too elitist, or too difficult. Yet a long-running series like the Met’s is proof that there is an audience for it out there. One hundred and fifty ago, the opera was for the masses – everyone could enjoy it on the level of which they were capable, and did. It’s simply music, drama, dance, and art mixed together into a fanciful and moving multidisplinary experience. When it’s done right, it’s overwhelmingly entertaining.

This broadcast, all three-plus hours of it, is a remarkable listen – even in mono, singers and orchestra come through in a clear and balanced way. Whether you will like this performance depend really on whether you like Wagner, which I don’t. I can still appreciate, however, the glorious singing of soprano Kirsten Flagstad as Isolde and the great heldentenor Lauritz Melchoir as Tristan.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: Gang Busters.