The Oxford American Book of Great Music Writing

Introduction: Rage Against the Machine

★ Blues: Dept. of R.L. Burnside Authenticity Be Damned! by Will Blythe (2003) 229 Why I Wear My Mojo Hand by Robert Palmer (1996) 234 Walking After Midnight by Sven Birkerts (1998) 236 Homage to a Juke Joint by Beth Ann Fennelly (2006) 241 ★ Rock & Roll II Captain Beefheart by Mark Richard (1998) 247 The Sex Pistols by Mark Binelli (1998) 251 ★ R&B: Dept. of Al Green Raw and Born Again by Jeff Sharlet (2005) 259 Only His Voice Made Us Feel This Way by Susan Straight (2005) 263 ★ Dept. of Elvis Bill Haney by Tom Graves (1996) 269 ★ Rock & Roll/Pop III R.E.M. by Elizabeth Wurtzel (1993) 285 Bobbie Gentry by Ron Carlson (1998) 293 x THE OXFORD AMERICAN 1SMIRNOFF_pages.qxd 8/27/08 10:43 AM Page x Randy Newman by Anthony Walton (2000) 296 1967 (a poem) by Billy Collins (2005) 301 Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ by Chris Bachelder (2006) 304 ★ Jazz II King Pleasure by Michael Perry (2003) 313 Bob Dorough by Paul Reyes (2007) 318 ★ Blues II Hunting for Old Records: A True Story by R. Crumb (1996) 337 Portrait of the Artist as an Aging Lightnin’ Hopkins Enthusiast by Joe Sacco (2005) 338 ★ Rockabilly II Carl Perkins (an interview) by Joseph G. Tidwell III (1996) 343 Dale Hawkins by Lauren Wilcox (2005) 349 ★ Playing Notes from the Underground (Twang Tour) by Marty Stuart (1998) 359 Lucinda Williams (as told to) Marc Woodworth (1996) 365 BOOK OF GREAT MUSIC WRITING xi 1SMIRNOFF_pages.qxd 8/27/08 10:43 AM Page xi Guitar Lessons by Steve Yarbrough (1996) 371 ★ Classical/Avant-Garde Moondog by Daniel Alarcón (2005) 381 A Love Set to Music by P. Revess (1996) 385 At the Young Composer’s Concert (a poem) by Donald Justice (2000) 387 ★ Playing II The Song of a Sad Café by Don Asher (2000) 391 Banjo by Steve Martin (1999) 402 The Most Human Sound by Rosanne Cash (1996) 407 Contributors 411 Credits 421 xii THE OXFORD AMERICAN 1SMIRNOFF_pages.qxd 8/27/08 10:43 AM Page xii Acknowledgments If the phrase “it takes a village” weren’t copyrighted, we’d use it here. First and foremost, we thank the writers and artists—including the ones deserving inclusion in this book, but not here simply because of space limitations. We thank all of them, not only for their mountain-moving talent, but for their soul-stirring generosity.Forexample,mostofthecontributorstothisbookdonatedtheirfees back to The Oxford American (our small, nonprofit magazine recently suffered a hard-hittingembezzlement).Thattouchesusdeeply.So,yes,firstandforemost, we thank our writers and artists, past and present (and future). They are beautiful , lovely, magnetic creatures, without whom. . . . We also thank the musicians who inspired our Southern Music issues, and these pieces, and, again, without whom....WethankPresidentLuHardinforhisvisionandgoodfaith,whichmade it possible for us to call the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) and Conway, Arkansas, our beloved home, without whom and without which. . . . We thank current OA staffers (Carol Ann, Ray, Paul, Kish, Jessi, Beri, Micah, Bre, Meazle, Matt, Kathleen, Jimmy, Wythe, Cristen) and past staffers. Y’all kick behind!Andwithouty’all....Wethanktheeagle-eyedandultra-talentedProject Leader of this book: Katherine “Daisy” Whitworth, without whom. . . . We thank irrepressible Bre Schrader and her amazing Team of UCA Students for their immensecontributions—ChaseBridges,SeanCavender,TraciGoodson,Rachel Gunter,KellyHelfrich,CherylKillough,KerryKrell,MikeMcCuan,MadiMorgan, Julie Storing, Nathan Turbeville, Bonnie Ward, Scott Wray, and Letia Wyatt— without whom. . . . We thank our sublime readers for their enthusiastic support of OA music coverage. We also thank our readers for—let’s be frank—our very existence, without which. . . . We thank the astute publishing team at the xiii 1SMIRNOFF_pages.qxd 8/27/08 10:43 AM Page xiii UniversityofArkansasPress(andMarshall,ouroh-so-smoothdesigner)forwantingtodothisbook ....Wethankanearlierbenefactor,JohnGrisham,formaking it possible for us to get this far, without whom. . . . (For the record: Though John grew up in the town of Black Oak, Arkansas, he was not, contrary to persistent rumor,theoriginaldrummerinthebandofthatname.)WethankourwiseBoard of Directors (Lu, Warwick, Rex, Bill, and Alan), our donors, our advertisers and retailers, and everyone else along the way who believed in The Oxford American and in one fashion or another encouraged us, probably much more than they realized. . . . Becausewe’vebeenblessed,thereisnowaytonameeveryoneherebutwithout them, we were, and we are, nothing. We mean every word of this. Finally,theeditorwouldliketoinsertapersonalacknowledgment:Tohisfellow staffers, past and present, for everything. To his father who told him: Find somethinginlifethatyoulovedoinganddoit.AndtoC.A.F.,J...