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The Songs of the South
Topic Started: Feb 21 2015, 02:47 PM (1,703 Views)
Mobson
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In a promising three-part series on BBC2 this evening at 9pm, the American comedian Russell D Hunter hits the road between North Carolina and New Orleans sampling songs of the South, and the musical traditions to be found enroute...

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rumbaba
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Yes, looks great. I love N,awlins and I enjoyed Memphis, top class music. Dunno if you`ve been to the Crescent City Mobs but there is great food and cocktails. I do a mean sazerac.
Edited by rumbaba, Feb 21 2015, 05:44 PM.
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Caro

Not New Orleans, or Memphis, and not the alternative (I call any music alternative if I haven't heard of the artist and it sounds a bit bluesy!) music you like, rumbaba. But I was hearing from my kitchen the radio in our bedroom which gets put on in the morning and rarely turned off till bedtime, and it was playing music I could tell I liked. Turned out that in a series of Texan music they were playing an hour of Roy Orbison from 11 till midnight, so that was a most pleasant way to end the evening. (Not perhaps for my husband who might have preferred sleeping; I think he did anyway.) I suppose Orbison is my favourite singer, but as you know my tastes don't extend to classical or blues or jazz or anything that might be considered excellent music or music thsat requires a bit of work from the listener.
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rumbaba
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Blues is very basic music Caro ( only 5 and a bit notes in the scale :) ) . A standard 12 bar blues is just three chords, in a very familiar sequence. The lyrics tend to be very straighforward too: I feel bad because I'm poor or nobody loves me or I'm in jail or whatever. Some jazz and classical music might require a bit of effort but the blues is visceral: you don't think about it, you feel it RUMBABA
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rumbaba
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An interesting comment from RDH, in the interview in Radio Times, that he felt 'uncomfortable' during the filming of this series.
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Mobson
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In what context did he say that Rum...

Haven't watched it yet.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02j94nr/reginald-d-hunters-songs-of-the-south-1-tennessee-and-kentucky

Reg explores the sounds of Alabama & Georgia next Saturday and in the final film the following Saturday entitled Mississippi - Louisiana, Reg embarks on a Mississippi adventure from Memphis to New Orleans...

Extras:

11 clips from the whole series ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02j93lq/clips

BBC Playlists - Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/playlists/zzzzf2
Edited by Mobson, Feb 24 2015, 01:26 PM.
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rumbaba
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I think he felt uncomfortable `as a black man` in some of these places
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Mobson
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Haven't watched the first ep yet, but really enjoyed the second leg of Reg's journey from Alabama to Georgia where he must have lost those inhibitions because he was chilled yet articulate...So many rich pickin's...from the scenery to the songs starting with Elvis's Dixieland whilst he (Reg not Elvis!) walks among the cottonfields... it's certainly got many enthusing over at POV, including May-Cee/ May-Day...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02j952b/reginald-d-hunters-songs-of-the-south-2-alabama-and-georgia

Muscle Shoals where Rick Hall's Fame studios were blending black & white sounds together whilst the South was burning down...Clarence Carter's Patches; the Five Blind Boys of Alabama 'spreading the word of God' and the Alan Carr lookalike Paul Janeway, whose mother wouldn't let him listen to anything except gospel music and a little bit of soul...hence he sang in the style of Otis Redding! Visiting his neighbourhood church definitely had a special resonance for him, as he said that way of celebrating and singing gospel was a dying out...

One of the best bits was Reg sitting in the garden of Tony Joe White, nickname the Swamp Fox, talking about creating his song Rainy Night In Georgia when on days when it rained he didn't drive his truck, just played his guitar..."that 'rainy' surprised me so" and "165 artists who have cut it" (so far) say TJW.

The Athens/REM piece was interesting as I'm a fan of their early music; good to see how Martin Luther King is remembered - a whole 4-block area, including his birth house, has been designated a (urban) national park...I liked with way Reg spends time with people, asking questions and listening; loved the sequence with Arrested Development as they sing Everyday People leaning against his wonderful red Cadillac Colorado and then Speech takes a ride with him whilst explaining southern music in relation to the music of the East, ie New York and the Bronx..he finishes off talking to superstar Ludacris in Atlanta...Brilliant programme, expertly presented by Reginald D Hunter...

Btw, Arrested Development were just here in the UK...they were on Clive Anderson's Radio 4 programme Loose Ends two Saturdays back where they sang live... Everyday People and Mr Wendal...they were gigging in Kent that night, then Koko, London, Concorde Brighton and Marble Factory Bristol...they'll be appearing at the Wireless Festival, Finsbury Park in July. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02kgl6c
Edited by Mobson, Mar 4 2015, 09:37 PM.
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rumbaba
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Looking forward to Memphis/New Orleans, it's what I know about, especially New Orleans (only been to Memphis once) . The other stuff was interesting but I don't fancy Nashville as a place to visit. I'm bit of a wuss though, haven't been to Treme, I like to stay within the quarter at night. I think he interviews Dr John, which is generally a waste of time, cos you don't get any sense out of him, love the music though. My 'must dos' in New Orleans are always to to see Charmaine Neville performing at Snug Harbour http://www.snugjazz.com/ and dinner or lunch at Mr B's Bistro. http://www.mrbsbistro.com/menus.php
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Mobson
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Just booked, or rather someone else has, for us to go see Arrested Development at Finsbury Park on Sunday 5th July after I mentioned their UK tour...principally want to see Clean Bandit - tho' Jesse J is also playing, co-headlined by David Guetta and Nicki Minaj on the closing night... http://www.wirelessfestival.co.uk/lineup/artists
Edited by Mobson, Mar 4 2015, 12:28 PM.
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Mobson
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Btw, Rum looking on RDH's official website for live gigs, I see he's coming your way, to the Assembly Hall Theatre, on 30th April in "THE MAN WHO ATTEMPTED TO DO AS MUCH AS SUCH" ... http://www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk/reginald-d-hunter-2
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rumbaba
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You would be amazed who comes, we get all the comedy guys; Michael McIntyre, Kevin Bridges, usually at the Trinty, very small, where they polish their act before they take it on tour. You never see tTrinity theatre mentioned on the tour info though. I think RDH's is a 'proper' gig. The McIntyre gig carried a 'warning' that he 'may be using notes'. Must rehearse it somewhere I guess. It's close enough to London for them to get to easily and far enough away for the main reviewers not to come I suppose.
Edited by rumbaba, Mar 4 2015, 03:45 PM.
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Mobson
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Yes ...this is a 'proper' tour of 42 dates...starting in Basingstoke going all over the England, a couple of dates in Wales - St David's Hall Cardiff and Port Talbot - and after the two penultimate dates at London's Apollo, it ends in Brighton....
Edited by Mobson, Mar 4 2015, 05:56 PM.
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Mobson
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Caro
Feb 21 2015, 09:12 PM
I suppose Orbison is my favourite singer, but as you know my tastes don't extend to classical or blues or jazz or anything that might be considered excellent music or music thsat requires a bit of work from the listener.
I met Roy Orbison once...oh yes I really did! In the most bizarre of circumstances...It was in the late sixties, travelling up to the Lake District with my new husband, an American friend (& his then girlfriend) once an actor in Hollywood, then a famous jewellery designer - we stopped off at a service station enroute and parked next to this black limo...there in the back was Roy wearing his black shades and draped in a black cloak, eating cold Heinz baked beans from a can! My friend knew him and they talked briefly whilst I stood by feeling more than a little embarrassed...not for me but for him!
Edited by Mobson, Mar 5 2015, 12:25 PM.
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rumbaba
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It has to be true, nobody would make that up <laugh>
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Mobson
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Yep!...really true...imagine my American friend, a bold'n'brash white, younger version of Reginald D Hunter and Roy, how he looked in the late sixties, and there you have it!
Edited by Mobson, Mar 5 2015, 01:02 PM.
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waiting4atickle
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Mobson
Mar 5 2015, 10:33 AM
...there in the back was Roy wearing his black shades and draped in a black cloak, eating cold Heinz baked beans from a can! My friend knew him and they talked briefly whilst I stood by feeling more than a little embarrassed...not for me but for him!

There's nothing embarrassing about eating cold Heinz baked beans from a tin - as long as he was using a spoon.

Edited by waiting4atickle, Mar 5 2015, 10:57 PM.
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Mobson
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Not in public! <cool>
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rumbaba
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With a toothpick
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Mobson
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Last episode of Reg coming up in ten...
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rumbaba
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Great final episode and told the truth about what happened to Beale Street. This series had the right amount of grit to make a pearl. It wasn't an air-brushed travelogue but wasn't a misery fest either, it struck the right balance for me. <ok>
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Mobson
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I watched about the first five minutes and then got involved in a lengthy facetime session with my friends in the States so will watch in full on i-player...I see from the pov board though that RH may have hinted at the end that there is a second series coming up. If that's true, I wonder what can possibly beat this excellent series... <applause>
Edited by Mobson, Mar 8 2015, 12:05 PM.
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