Max Stalling

Last night we went to hear Max Stalling, whose honkytonk sound is deeply rooted in the genre's tradition. Stalling is the only touring musician I know of to have learned to play guitar after finishing graduate school. In grad school, this tall drink of water studied food science, which requires one to have a knowledge of biochemistry, chemical engineering, and microbiology. He is clearly a sharp fellow.

Here in the town where the genre was invented, Stalling played very credible Western Swing, and his steel player was pitch perfect. Of all the songs Stalling played, the one that touched me the most was "Mockingbird." The title truly drills into the essence of the song in ways that a more obvious titular choice would not. Below is a link to the studio version of "Mockingbird."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adLT06w7XHQ 

T. Cullen Davis

All right, so I can't help but comment on the "affluenza" case. Justice was not and will not be served, but that is nothing new. Those of us who were conscious in the seventies probably remember T. Cullen Davis, who was the wealthiest man in America ever to be tried for murder. Despite the fact that three eyewitnesses claimed to have seen him pull the trigger, he was acquitted. Yes, the scales of justice were clearly weighted down by his millions. Davis now lives in Colleyville, an affluent suburb of Fort Worth.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/blood-will-sell/

 

Reflections on Affluenza

For many of us in Texas, the word "affluenza" entered our lexicon in the past few months. While I will not pontificate, wax political, or even comment on the case that introduced the word to many of us, I will share Sam Baker's song, "Odessa," which I think is an interesting take on the theme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b_D78dlCNE 

Texas State Plant for Breakfast

January 23rd, which is today, is the 21st anniversary of the naming of the prickly pear cactus as the Texas State Plant. The reason the prickly pear was chosen over, say, the ocotillo and milkweed, is outlined in 1995's House Concurrent Resolution No. 44:

"Rugged, versatile, and beautiful, the prickly pear cactus has made numerous contributions to the landscape, cuisine, and character of the Lone Star State, and its unusual status as both a vegetable and a fruit make it singularly qualified to represent the indomitable and unique Texas spirit as an official state symbol."

Out of sheer coincidence, this morning's breakfast was none other than Nopales con Huevo. Yes, indeed, we had prickly pear and eggs for breakfast. The recipe I used to cook the Texas state plant comes from Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico. If I may digress, Kennedy's work is so highly regarded in Mexico that she was named a member of the Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor the Mexican government awards a foreigner. Anyway, I recommend topping this fine dish with cotija cheese and perhaps a splash or two of Valentina hot sauce. Here is a link to the Nopales con Huevo recipe:

https://books.google.com/books?id=gzsGAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=nopales+con+huevo+kennedy&source=bl&ots=ZrZHIR-WMd&sig=KGuctgcFQjNTxiYotlqpHWsHaQU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi20dexr8DKAhVD92MKHQnpCCAQ6AEIOTAH#v=onepage&q=nopales%20con%20huevo%20kennedy&f=false

Steve Earle: Mercenary Song

Contrary to popular belief, Steve Earle was not born with a long gray beard. Through the wonders of youtube.com, it is possible to see Steve Earle, a fresh-faced lad of perhaps twenty, playing "Mercenary Song" at a party at Guy Clark's house in late 1975 or early 1976. The footage was captured for the film "Heartworn Highways."

"Mercenary Song," according to Earle, was written while he was employed at Sirocco's Pizza in Austin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHE1dM4hYCw 

Fort Worth Stock Show

When I was a kid, my parents took me to the stock show every year. I loved putting on my cowboy hat and boots and going over to Will Rogers to see the livestock on a cold January day. Seeing the cattle, horses, sheep, and poultry was always fun. I also enjoyed wasting a little bit of my dad's hard-earned money on the midway. Carnies have to make a living, too.

At the rodeo, I remember seeing Larry Mahan, the famous bull rider, and I was absolutely transfixed by Red Stegall, the country and western singer, when he played there in what must have been 1977. The picture below is one like many, many others, but it is an image that is ingrained in my mind, those exciting first moments of the rodeo.

This year is the 120th stock show. To give it some perspective, I think that it is interesting to note that in 1909 Quanah Parker, along with forty Comanche and Kiowa braves, led the parade. While in Fort Worth, the warriors stayed in teepees not far from Cowtown Coliseum. Anyone interested in an in-depth study of the stock show's history can read Clay Reynolds' A Hundred Years of Heroes: A History of the Southwest Exposition and Livestock Show (TCU Press: 1995).

Here is the link: http://www.tamupress.com/product/Hundred-Years-of-Heroes,2268.aspx

Here is a link to the stock show website.

http://www.fwssr.com/ 

Finally, here is a link to "Cows Around" by Corb Lund, a Canadian country artist who played in Fort Worth on Fourth of July weekend, straight from a show at the Calgary Stampede. The song is pretty hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKoYT4febHM

Lightnin' Hopkins

Lightnin' Hopkins was a legendary country blues player. In my mind, Hopkins' "Bring Me My Shotgun" is one of the best blues songs out there- bar none. And talk about bona fides. When he was eight years old, he met Blind Lemon Jefferson and later accompanied Blind Lemon at church gatherings.

In the forties he recorded with Alladin out in L.A., where he enjoyed the success of a national R & B hit.
Then, in the fifties, Lightnin' recorded at SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston, a place where legends such as George Jones and Willie Nelson also cut albums. In the sixties, Hopkins even recorded an album with some members of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Austin's answer to Pink Floyd.

Houston folks perhaps remember Lightnin' Hopkins from the Jester Lounge, a place where Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, K.D. Lang, and numerous other up-and-coming musicians used to play. Here is a picture of Lightnin' Hopkins and Townes Van Zandt taken by John Lomax III.

   

Here is a vintage video of Lightnin' Hopkins that focuses a great deal on his hands, a real treat for the guitar pickers among us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlC89NJg94w 

A History of Fort Worth in Black and White

Yesterday I attended Dr. Richard Selcer's launch for his new book, A History of Fort Worth in Black and White, at the Fort Worth Public Library. The 600 page volume fills an important place in the city's history that has largely gone unnoticed. During the book talk, Dr. Selcer discussed Martin Luther King's 1959 visit to Fort Worth; the success of businessman "Gooseneck Bill" McDonald; and the visits of a widely-known evangelist by the name of "Sin Killer" Griffin who in the early 1900s preached to both blacks and whites under the same tent.

Dr. Selcer also discussed the fact that whites that rode on "Blacks Only" streetcars were sometimes arrested for breaking Jim Crow laws. He then explained how segregation was gradually ended in public school at a rate of two grade levels at a time with high school not integrated until the late 1960s. While the book does an admirable job of covering 165 years of history, it must also be understood that it is, to my knowledge, the first book focused on Fort Worth's African-American community. There is still history to be written, and I hope that this book serves as a catalyst for future research.

I greatly appreciate Dr. Selcer giving us another extremely informational book to put on the shelf.

http://untpress.unt.edu/catalog/3660 

Here is the link to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article that includes a map of where MLK stayed while in Fort Worth.

http://www.wfaa.com/story/features/2015/01/18/memories-fading-mlks-fort-worth-visit-landmarks-remain/21967285/

Taco Cleanse

After weeks of dining on holiday fare, folks often feel bloated and take desperate dietary measures. Well, four taco scientists from Austin have released a book that might not necessarily make anyone lose weight, but I imagine it will produce a laugh or two. According to one UK weight loss site, fifteen minutes of laughing burns ten to forty calories. That's worth something.

Here is the link to the taco cleanse:

http://tacocleanse.com/ 

Black Eyed Peas: Calcutta Style (with Bacon)

Happy New Year, y'all! Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is a fine southern tradition.  The origin story I was told as a child was that when Sherman marched through the south, the only crop he did not burn was the black-eyed pea, which he thought was used to feed hogs, so he let it be. Southerners then were thankful that they had something to eat on New Year's Day.  As it turns out, the story was concocted by a black-eyed pea company decades ago to... drum roll.... sell more black-eyed peas. The most likely story is that the black-eyed pea tradition was brought to Georgia by Sephardic Jews in 1733.

This morning while cooking my annual pot of good luck, I discovered that I had no ground cumin. Being a person with a strong affinity for Tex-Mex cuisine, my black-eyed pea recipe tends to look a lot like my black bean recipe, which includes a generous amount of ground cumin (comino molido). Before you know it, I was digging in our box of Indian spices, among the cardamom, star anise, and kalongi seed, and within moments this year's black-eyed peas had become a hybrid Indian recipe with a slab of bacon. Yes, I added black cumin seed and turmeric to the recipe, and my black-eyed peas now have a Tex-Mex-Indian fusion groove. And quite honestly, it is a pot of gold. Hurray for Calcutta-style black-eyed peas!

And, for an interesting aside, here's a picture of Kali, from whose temple Calcutta derives its name.