Winter ‘06
Southern Cultures volume 12, number 4: MUSIC
(with a free CD)
Front Porch
by Harry L. Watson
"Little about the South has meant more to southerners than their tunes."
Interview "Everything leads me back to the feeling of the blues."
B. B. King, 1974
by William R. Ferris
"I almost lost my life trying to save my guitar."
Legends King of the Hillbillies: Hank Williams
by Bland Simpson
"They stopped at a gas station in Andalusia, Alabama, and found a justice of the peace who had a Bible and the right forms to fill out and on top of that was sober."
Essays
"Where Is the Love?"
Racial Violence, Racial Healing, and Blues Communities
by Adam Gussow
"Does love have the power to heal our blues?"
"The South Got Something to Say"
Atlanta’s Dirty South and the Southernization of Hip-Hop America
by Darren E. Grem
"We got the feel of the blues, the togetherness of funk music, the conviction of gospel music, the energy of rock, and the improvisation of jazz."
"Just a Little Talk with Jesus"
Elvis Presley, Religious Music, and Southern Spirituality
by Charles Reagan Wilson
"Presley faced criticism from ministers about his lewd performances."
Features
Legends Blue Yodeler: Jimmie Rodgers
by Bland Simpson
"The Blue Yodeler’s first royalty came out to $27."
Mason-Dixon Lines Doc Watson on the Cicada Concert
poetry by R. T. Smith
"I wish they’d get tired of tuning and play."
South Polls Give Me That Old-Time Music . . . or Not
by Larry J. Griffin
"American popular culture would be unimaginable without the music created by the South's disfranchised, impoverished, and forgotten peoples."
Legends Dixie Dewdrop: Uncle Dave Macon
by Bland Simpson
"He left the shop stunned and went back and wrote in his diary: ‘Robbed in a New York barbershop--$7.50!’”
Upbeat Down South "A Blessing to People"
Dorsey Dixon and His Sacred Mission of Son
by Patrick Huber
"Songwriter and singer Dorsey Dixon was never supposed to live."
Not Forgotten Aiming for Fame and Riches
by John Shelton Reed
"I proudly sent the lyrics off to a friend with connections in the country-music business, asking him if he didn't agree that it was a natural-born hit."
Legends Wildwood Flowers: The Carter Family
by Bland Simpson
"They lit out over the bad roads, and the family car broke down in the middle of a stream."
The Special Music Issue CD Passed Down Things
compiled by Josh Guthman
About the Contributors
