Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

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Open thread

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Heard this great song on the excellent local radio show Rejuvenation. I can’t find anything about the woman who sings it, Ruby Falls, except that she’s black (this is a country song). It’s a great song (with a good title given one of our catch phrases here) and I wonder if anyone here knows anything about Ruby Falls.

Also goes to show everything sounds better with steel guitar.

What are the songs that best use steel guitar, in your opinion? I call dibs on “Torn and Frayed” of course.

Or talk about whatever.

Reader Interactions

130Comments

  3. 3.

    Ben Franklin

    Bill Maher spent a grand total of 5 minutes interviewing Assange last night. JA managed to get a few words in for Bradley Manning, however.

    54 countries (including Sweden) cooperated with CIA in rendition program.
    pg 61
    http://www.opensocietyfoundati…..120205.pdf

  6. 6.

    MikeJ

    I like the Gram Parsons->Emmylou Harris->Daniel Lanois arc. Alt country before there was alt country that sounds an awful lot like old timey.

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne

    In-laws were safely gotten to the airport, as far as I know. A fun time was had by all this week, though (as reported below) I managed to come down with a cold yesterday.

    It was a bit chilly for So Cal this week, even for winter, but sunny and 60s was a big improvement over Chicago’s snow and freezing temperatures, so the in-laws were happy.

  9. 9.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    I’m meh on steel guitar. Dobro is better and bottleneck on a National is even better than that.

  12. 12.

    gbear

    ‘Parade’ by Joe Henry has a wonderful steel guitar part. I can’t find a YouTube for it, but it’s the last song on the album ‘Trampoline’ (my fave Joe Henry album by far).

  15. 15.

    Quaker in a Basement

    The Byrds’ take on “You Ain’t Going Nowhere”; Also, once saw David Lindley live shredding the intro to Mercury Blues on pedal steel.

  16. 16.

    WereBear

    Can’t comment on the central question: the house guitar expert, Mr WayofCats, is taking a nap.

    I am doing my best to pretend I am snowed in, though in the Frozen North, 9 inches of snow barely qualifies.

    However, it’s a great day for movies, kitty cuddling, and sea salt caramels. Yes, if you come by I will give you one.

    FYI:

    Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is awesome film noir, even though it starts in a strip mall.

    That led to Miller’s Crossing which also has Albert Finney in it. I see a pattern developing.

  18. 18.

    WereBear

    @Yutsano: I adore Patsy Cline. What a voice, what a heart.

    I just dumped my online accounting program, Wave, because an end of the year revamp was like sending Daniel Craig off to the salon for a pedicure and getting back Baron Harkonnen from Dune.

    Completely borked. I can’t even download the data, as I could have before the “upgrade” because that went down the tubes, too. It’s been two months and they haven’t fixed it yet. They are dead to me.

    If anyone has a thought on Mint.com, Kashoo, Quickbooks, please share! I have a Mac, but even if I didn’t, I’m not impressed with desktop-based systems, since Intuit announced they aren’t going to bother for much longer…

  19. 19.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Quaker in a Basement: I saw Lindley do that live as well; I suspect it was the same very early 1980s tour.

    OT, but still musical, I’m using this as another opportunity to direct folks (who might not have heard it) to one of the best TVZ covers, featuring a pretty good guitar player – and he can sing too.

  20. 20.

    Kathleen

    @danielx: I saw him and his band live. What an experience it was. They seamlessly channeled Hendrix, The Allman Brothers, country, blues and gospel.

  21. 21.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @WereBear: I clicked the link. Your Winter Carnival looks like a lot of fun. Interesting to see all the Doonesbury collectible buttons.

  23. 23.

    2liberal

    Ruby Falls is a 145-foot high underground waterfall located within Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States.

    HOpe this helps.

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    Destiny as dogma.

    “This bill is very idiosyncratic and strange”

    As succinct a description as any of a proposal in Missouri that takes a ‘when you abhor the science, redefine the terms of science’ stance.

  26. 26.

    Larkspur

    Open Thread Part:

    It’s a sunny, cool day here north of San Francisco, no ‘pocalypsi of any sort thus far. I stopped at my beloved local library this morning and was at the book checkout counter when the librarian said hello, how are you, to someone behind me, who remarked on what a lovely day it was. “The sunshine is so pleasant, and all of the wildflowers are starting to bloom on the hillsides. It’s so beautiful. If only someone could get rid of Obama….”

    I was gathering my books and turned to look at her. She was even older than I am (!) like maybe 70s, with big blue eyes and shiny Mitch McConnell skin, though more weathered. I was in a good mood and I could tell right off she was a crank. So I said to her, just to have some fun, “You know, I’d rather get rid of the acacia trees.” She looked at me questioningly. “The acacia trees, they’re blooming now. I’m allergic.”

    “Oh, acacias. Yes, they are blooming,” she said vaguely. “They’re nice.”

    “No, they’re not,” I said. “They make me sneeze. Obama doesn’t make me sneeze.”

    The woman thought about this distractedly (while the librarian laughed), then got back to business. “No, we need to get rid of Obama. I’m telling you, in five or six years it’s going to be so bad you’ll wish you were dead.”

    I started to leave and I smiled at her and said “Nah, maybe not, I don’t think so.” As I was going out the door she called after me. “Well, I hope you are,” she said.

    I honestly don’t think she meant “I hope you’re dead”. I think she was just a little muddled and meant “I hope it’s exactly like I predict and that in five or six years you will in fact wish you were dead, and then I will be able to say I told you so”.

    But it was all okay because I was still in a good mood, and there was a basset hound sitting outside in a patch of dappled sunlight, waiting for her people to finish up in the library, and I said hello, and she immediately rolled over for a tummy rub. Every dog is a therapy dog, you know?

    Steel Guitar Part: Hmm, I have to go check out that Ruby Falls link now.

  27. 27.

    General Stuck

    Unlike Obama’s drone program, there is not the slightest doubt that torture is illegal, always, every time. And waterboarding has long since been included as a means of torture.

    This is the extension of malignant hubris that gave us 8 years of lawlessness and evil that was the Bush administration.

    Torture Memo Author, Now a Federal Judge, Still Justifying Torture

    Obscene, and the only thing worse is the American public couldn’t and wouldn’t stomach what should be done here. I got to believe that this is sticking in Obama’s craw, despite the lack of national support for some way dealing with what happened, and that now, the perpetraters are weaving their crimes into the fabric of the American judicial system. What a fucking country.

    Jay Bybee — who signed off on waterboarding as a Justice Department lawyer — ruled last week that the government should be immune from liability for torture.

  29. 29.

    j

    “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Wilson.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_n-E55_okY

    (Really, it’s Leon Russel taking on a country / western persona for his early 1970s album of country music called “Hank Wilson’s Back”. The cover just showed him from the back while he is wearing a silk cowboy shirt.

    http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://991.com/newGallery/Leon-Russell-Hank-Wilsons-Back-436814.jpg&imgrefurl=http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid%3D436814&h=486&w=500&sz=92&tbnid=tVs6lQ5txWxFzM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=99&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhank%2Bwilson%27s%2Bback%2Bpicture%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=hank+wilson%27s+back+picture&usg=__YYv0uvDpJfAkZtv8QSsropn1l70=&docid=JQ8G9yFxBA0HhM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=h9AWUYPOM-nlyQGx1YHYDQ&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAA&dur=1146

    And, of course, any Dead song with Gerry on the pedal steel.

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    A link to “Torn and Frayed” on the thread following the “Wrong em, Boyo” thread. Woohoo.

    This one has a nice subtle steel guitar twang to it.

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    @NotMax: Mr Battin looks like he is just one wetsuit away from a massive gay scandal. Someone should start a Grindr search.

  35. 35.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Doug Galt, not a steel guitar classic, but, as long we are vaguely on the topic of the country music and the Stones, this is worth a listen.

  36. 36.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Doug Galt, not a steel guitar classic, but, as long we are vaguely on the topic of the country music and the Stones, this is worth a listen.

  38. 38.

    JCT

    “Understand your man” – Johnny Cash. One of my favorites, I’m pretty sure that Don Helms played the steeler on that one.

  40. 40.

    catclub

    @WereBear: Well, those websites that consolidate all your financial information (i.e account names, numbers and passwords) scare the bejeebers out of me.
    How the heck else can they summarize all your finances?

    They do store all those records with “state of the art encryption”, but they make an awfully tempting target.

    I keep the summary of all in my head.

  42. 42.

    Ben Franklin

    I’ve heard of moderation, but not moderation deletion.

    Dougie? WordPress is what, a moderator?

  45. 45.

    max

    Three years ago we had about three feet of snow. (That was when I figured out the trick for shoveling snow. Shovel when it starts, shovel some more later and so on. Avoids the heart attack.) Today, not so much: sunny and cold. Hope the stuff melts quickly, Bostonians!

    max
    [‘Well, that was a fairly lousy week.’]

  46. 46.

    MikeJ

    @Raven: Speaking of Athens, Lambchop was Vic Chesnutt’s backing band for a while there, and they had a buncha steel guitar.

  47. 47.

    Raven

    Named my second dog after NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE – HENRY J Garcia on steel.

    Ev’ry year along about this time it all goes dry
    There’s nothing round for love or money
    That’ll get you high
    Henry got pissed off and said he’d run to Mexico
    To see if he could come back holdin’
    Twenty keys of gold

    Now the road to Acapulco is very hard indeed
    And it isn’t any better if you haven’t any weed
    Henry’s driving hard and straight
    On twisty mountain roads
    There’s fifty people waiting back
    At home for Henry’s load

  53. 53.

    MikeJ

    @Raven: I’ve never seen Lambchop live, but I did see Chesnutt at the 40 Watt.

    Lambchop played on The Salesman and Bernadette, and last year’s Lambchop album Mr. M is dedicated to/about him.

  55. 55.

    MikeJ

    @Raven: Wow. I’d never seen him except in the chair.

    Are there other people in that pic I should recognize? That’s got to be right around 1980, which was right around REM/ Guadalcanal Diary/Pylon/etc time. Hell, that almost looks like Bill Berry on accordion, but that’s mostly the black vest I think.

  56. 56.

    Suffern Ace

    @NotMax: a hypothesis is “unpopular minority opinion”. I can’t even figure out what they mean by destiny. Is Darth Vader teaching? Or are they actually going to start teaching biblical prophesy in school.

  57. 57.

    WereBear

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: I have been making do with spreadsheets, since I’m just selling cat toys. But I’ve reached a natural limit there, especially since I have limited time to do everything.

    My research has indicated Cloud Accounting is the wave of the future. It makes sense from a developer point of view, because instead of trying to make tricky things work on any PC made of who-knows-what parts, they put one copy online on a server they control, and all they have to worry about is the most popular browsers.

    Also, the Quicken version for Mac is a shadow of what it should be; they don’t want to bother. So I’m not going to give them any money.

  60. 60.

    Raven

    @MikeJ: Brian Cook upper left in the brown sweater, he was in Time Toy and a great friend of all the REM blokes. Nathan is the long haired dude on the right, Men in Trees if memory serves. I think Phyllis who is now married to Jeff Walls Guadlacanal and Hillbilly (actually she played bottom for Hillbilly).

  64. 64.

    Nancy B

    I recall reading somewhere (a Blue Gal-affiliated blog, I think) that a switch goes off in your brain around 35 and you go, “Damn, I really like pedal steel guitar.” I’m quite keen on those in “Something on Your Mind” by Karen Dalton & “Mouth Canyon” by Gastr del Sol.

  67. 67.

    Raven

    @MikeJ: Yes and they interview Cookie on top of the parking deck. That’s where he says he hopes he isn’t delivering pizza’s in 20 years. He now manages the downtown DePalma’s. He’s a really great guy.

    oops, it’s Bryan

  70. 70.

    lamh35

    Well furniture supposed to be delivered between 5-8 today. Which me they’ll call & say they close at 7:45. Ugh. Wanted my sofa ready to plop down in time for that Toni Braxton Lifetime movie tonight. Oh well.
    Ugh, I was supposed to be at Endymion parade tonight. Damnit!

  73. 73.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Raven: Better a week too soon than a day too late is my motto. Though were right on the edge with Django last fall. It’s never easy.

  74. 74.

    Southern Beale

    Ruby Falls, outside of Chattanooga Tennessee, is a giant underground waterfall. It’s also a super-cheesy roadside attraction. You go underground and they turn all the lights off and play the theme from Space Odyssey and at that “ta-da” moment they turn a red light on the waterfall. Ruby, see?!

    I’d say your singer is from Tennessee.

  77. 77.

    Raven

    @Raven:

    So when you carve my tombstone honey ,
    Don’t worry about no name
    Just say he come with a Georgia wind
    And left with the ( or : a ) morning rain
    But he could play a fiddle ,
    Make a dobro ring
    Make a guitar sparkle
    Like that early morning rain
    Yeah , a man came by here today
    He wanted to paint my barn
    He painted
    “See rock City – Us Highway 41 “

  78. 78.

    handsmile

    @Ben Franklin: , @General Stuck:

    Thanks to both of you for those links. It appears, however, that on an early Saturday evening, neither story can overcome the apparent awesomeness of steel guitar.

    Ben Franklin: the link in your comment #3 above seems to be borked. This recent Guardian article on the matter contains a link (fourth paragraph) to the Open Society report.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/05/cia-rendition-help-european-leaders?intcmp=239

    General Stuck: A grotesque decision. Can only hope that Andrew Cohen’s postscript that this decision should be reviewed en banc by 11 judges of the 9th Circuit will come to pass.

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @General Stuck: @handsmile: I don’t see how Bybee could hear a case like that. He should have recused himself. This, of course, is entirely independent of the fucking travesty of him being on the bench in the first place.

  85. 85.

    catclub

    @Nancy B: It was around that age that for me a switch went off that said: “Hey, the Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites are amazing.”

    and it went from there.

  87. 87.

    handsmile

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’s good to have your professional judgment on the matter of Bybee’s recusal. As a mere interested amateur, it seems starkly apparent to me.

    Not that President Obama doesn’t already have a daunting to-do list, but I certainly hope that more effort will be expended by his administration on filling the vacancies within the federal judiciary. It is my understanding that the recent Reid-McConnell filibuster compromise will help to dislodge Senate GOP obstruction of such nominations/appointments.

  88. 88.

    TriassicSands

    Also goes to show everything sounds better with steel guitar.

    Yes, it’s hard to deny that Mahler’s 2nd Symphony (Resurrection) or Beethoven’s 3rd (Eroica) would be greatly improved by not just one steel guitar, but an entire steel guitar section. I just don’t know what Gustav and Ludwig were thinking when they failed to include the steel guitar (said to be Bach’s favorite instrument) in their sadly incomplete and wholly inadequate compositions.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @handsmile: I tend to be fairly strict in my view of recusal. I can’t see how, since his professional and personal reputation is so closely aligned with the torture question, he could possibly be seen an appropriate person to hear this case.

  91. 91.

    Mike in NC

    For a disturbing look at some of the 1%ers, check out some very fucked up people in the documentary “The Queen of Versailles”. They helped Dubya get his gig in DC, also too.

  92. 92.

    melissa

    Raven,

    Hoorah for Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airman. I haven’t listerned in ages. You made me get out my old CD.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    @TriassicSands:

    Bach sounds pretty damn good on steel guitar. In fact, just about anything that was written for a lute or harpsichord sounds just as good if you use a steel guitar because the tone is so similar.

    Don’t be such a fucking snob.

  95. 95.

    TG Chicago

    Re: Ruby Falls song — Interesting five measure phrase for the chorus. Actually, the first line gets four measures, then the rest get five. Then they solo over the five measure bit.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    What’s funny is that professional musicians tend to have very broad tastes (which is why Aretha Franklin was able to sing “Nessun Dorma” at the last minute at the Grammys one year). It’s the music fans who tend to have very narrow interests and get very upset at any attempt at a crossover.

    ETA: Which reminds me of a funny/sad story about Judy Garland — when she was a child star at MGM, she was so well-known for singing jazz that her tutor was surprised to find out she loved classical music. Judy explained that she liked classical better, “but everyone says the money’s in jazz.” Given the divergent careers of Garland and her rival Deanna Durbin, it’s hard to say “everyone” was wrong.

  107. 107.

    TriassicSands

    @Mnemosyne:

    Jeebus, Mnemosyne, you need to lighten up. I love the steel guitar, but I also enjoy poking fun at silly exaggerations like everything sounds better with steel guitar, especially since subjective taste makes such a statement just one more opinion in a universe of opinions. You take yourself too seriously and your apparent lack of humor seems pretty unpleasant. If you don’t like something I write, fine, complain, criticize, whine, whatever, but please drop the act as the universal arbiter of taste and rectitude. It’s tedious. Not every statement is worth picking a fight over.

  111. 111.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    I’ll leave the rest of the musical squabblers to their bunfights; I’ve got to go downtown and do sound for this guy (who is bringing some pedal steel, making it all the more apropos:) http://www.kentizzard.com/

  114. 114.

    TriassicSands

    @Mnemosyne:

    If you think my comment reflected a lack of respect and affection for music other that classical you’re just suffering some pretty severe delusions. But then, you’re whole argument is based on groundless assumptions. The reason I chose classical music as a counterexample is because neither Mahler nor Beethoven could have written music for an instrument that did not yet exist. I don’t doubt one or both (or perhaps neither) might have enjoyed hearing their music played on a steel guitar or even a banjo.

    This is a really boring exchange — pointless and manufactured as so many of BJ’s spats are. Why don’t you ignore me, and I will gladly ignore you.

  115. 115.

    Mnemosyne

    @TriassicSands:

    This is a really boring exchange — pointless and manufactured as so many of BJ’s spats are.

    Here’s an idea — try to bring something other than knee-jerk contrarianism to a thread and maybe the conversations would be a little more interesting. If people say “A,” that doesn’t mean you automatically have to say “B” and then get all pissy when people point out that “B” doesn’t actually disprove “A.”

  122. 122.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: In my view, Bach would have toured the college bar circuit in a rusted-out van if that were the way musician did their thing in his day. And Purcell would have been all over hip-hop like a mofo.

  124. 124.

    cckids

    @WereBear: Do you make your own sea salt caramels? I’ve been wanting to, but most of the recipes I find are for chocolate caramels. Not that those don’t sound good, but not what I’m looking for right now. I’m just not sure what type of recipe to go for.

    Thanks!

  127. 127.

    divF

    @Raven:

    Ah, but there was West Virginia Creeper, Bobby Black, Ernie Hagar – how to choose ?

    Last time Bill Kirchen played here at the Freight and Salvage, he got a lot of his old bandmates who are in the bay area to sit in, including Bobby Black. He’s starting to have a little trouble getting around, but once he sat down at the pedal steel, he was just fine. Anyway, pretty much anything off of “Hot Licks, Cold Steel, Truckers’ Favorites”.

    Also, the Lucky Oceans’ era Asleep at the Wheel. There was a virtuoso pedal steel piece they used to open their live shows with, I think it was Buddy Emmons’ “Four Wheel Drive” – *very* uptempo. I felt like I had to be scraped off my chair after it was over.

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