Music With a History

     Okay, I'm not a Boomer, but you might mistake me for one when it comes to my music tastes. You know - "Today's music is crap!"  I freely admit that I am firmly stuck in the 1980s, the last decade of great music, but I think I have a pretty varied musical palate. I love funk; Prince is my all-time favorite musician, and I love George Clinton, The Time, and others. I like classic country like Dolly Parton, George Jones, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn. I love the British New Wave synth-pop of the 1980s. I like a little rap and a little punk. However, for the most part, "Today's music is crap." I can't stand today's Top 40 and most popular music. In the car, I listen to talk radio, audiobooks, of Amazon Music playlists.

    There are few artists today that I enjoy, mainly Adele, Emeli Sande, and Janelle Monae, but I have discovered three albums this year that made me very happy, and I can't stop playing them..

        Two of the albums are from the lead singers of two of my favorite 1980s bands. Remember Scandal, fronted by Patty Smyth? They had a couple of hits like "The Warrior" and "Goodbye to You".

Then Patty Smyth married tennis superstar John McEnroe and had a family. She recorded her  last solo album in 1992. In 2020, almost thirty years later, she's back. She's more mature and seasoned as a vocalist, and the songs on the album are great. It's so great to have her back. Here's one of the new songs.

    Fee Waybill is the the lead singer of the Tubes. You might know them from their biggest hit, one of my favorite 80s songs, "She's a Beauty", with the very suggestive video (Of course, I was a sheltered kid, so the suggestions went entirely over my head.)  They really didn't have a lot of radio or MTV play because they were known for being quite sexual on stage, and they kind of had an underground reputation.

    Fee Waybill has released a couple of solo albums in the past couple of decades, but this year, I discovered his newest, Fee Waybill Rides Again. Just take a look at that face on the cover. This man's has led a long, hard rock and roll life, and it shows, His voice and the songs on this album also show it. It's one of the best rock albums I've heard in a long,  long time. The Tubes were about to embark on a big anniversary tour just as COVID hit. I'm really hoping they get it going again. I would love to see them live. Here's a song from Waybill's new album.

    And then there's Yola. WOW!  She's a black British COUNTRY singer/songwriter, and I've totally gone head over heels for her music. If you know the history of music, you know that country music has black roots. The banjo is an African instrument. Early country music was heavily influenced by black spiritual and gospel music and pioneering black musicians, but the fact is that there have been few black faces in mainstream country music.  We recently lost the acknowledged first black country star, Charley Pride , who opened doors, but not many followed him through. It's slowly changing. Darius Rucker is at the top of the country charts now, and Rhiannon Giddens is a superstar in the Americana music world and has made it her mission to make people aware of country music's black roots. But then there's Yola. What a voice!  She reminds me of Tina Turner in some ways, but she can sing it all, and her songs are brilliant. Her music is rock, soul, country, pop - everything. She is definitely deserving of superstardom, and I look forward to seeing her on tour. Here's a taste.

Van Gogh Alive!

     What an experience!

     The Salvador Dali Museum is located in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Opening in1982, the Dali was built as the home of the Dali collection owned by A. Reynolds and Eleanor Morse. The Morses started collecting in the 1940s, and they became close personal friends of the artist and his wife.  It is one of my favorite museums. The museum's collection is first-rate, and it has mounted many outstanding exhibits over the years, but the Van Gogh Alive exhibit, running through April 11, 2021, is definitely one of the most spectacular and creative  exhibits I've ever seen in a museum. ( https://thedali.org/ )

    Van Gogh Alive ( https://grande-experiences.com/van-gogh-alive/ ) is a traveling, multisensory experience that allows the visitor to explore the work and life experiences of Vincent Van Gogh during the period 1880 to 1890 in Arles, Saint Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise France, the locations where he created many of his timeless masterpieces.  Synchronized to a powerful classical score, more than 3,000 Van Gogh works, details of works, and supplemental videos at an enormous scale   that fills giant screens, walls, columns, ceilings and even the floor. The visitor is immersed in the works.

    

    At the Dali, the exhibit is presented in three galleries, two smaller and more intimate space and one large space. Images are projected all around you.  While there are no actual physical works on display, the projections are such high quality that you "see" the texture that Van Gogh is famous for. It seems that the paint strokes have depth and thickness. Meanwhile, there is a fabulous musical score that is so perfect that it adds so much to the experience. It is not frivolous background. Other than the music, there is dead silence because the visitors are awestruck. Everywhere you look, there is something new to see. The paintings are brought to life in a way that Vincent Van Gogh could never have imagined, and it evoked more emotions in me than any other art experience. 

    The Dali is the exhibit's first American stop, and the exhibit will run through April 11, 2021. Advanced tickets are required, and they sell out fast. We are already planning future visit(s). If it comes close to your city, go see it.

Take a Walk!

     When you are in a new city, and you're a history buff, how do you get your history? At ground level, of course. Take a walking tour; learn history, meet new people, and get some exercise, all at the same time.

    Walking tours can be found in every city. How do you find one? Google it. Check to see if the city has a visitors bureau location or webpage. Discount sites like Groupon, Local Flavor, and Travelzoo also list tours. Tripadvisor is a great source, too. If you're staying in an Airbnb, you can find experiences listed. If you're staying in a hotel, ask the concierge or look for brochures in the lobby. Also check with local museums. The Tampa Bay History Center runs several walking tours, and we've done two so far.

    My wife and I love doing walking history tours and walking food tours in cities that we visit. On a walking tour, you're part of a small group of interested and interesting people, and you're guided by a person who is excited to share his or her town's history with you.  On a food tour, you have the added benefit of tasting some great food at several restaurant stops along the way. 

    Tours are usually 2-3 hours long, easy walking, with lots of steps. Sometimes your guide might be in costume or in character, like the great Freedom Trail tour we took in Boston, when we had "Prince Hall" leading the way. Sometimes you just get an interesting local character, like Larry from Holy City Tours in Charleston, who told us all about the "naughty women" of Charleston's history.

Larry, Charleston                                      Prince Hall, Boston

    Walking tours are the only way you can get a close-up look at architectural details and historical markers you would probably miss otherwise. These pictures are from our most recent walking tours in Tampa, a general history tour and a Black history tour.  They were both very fun and educational. Did you know, for example, that Tampa Florida was called the Harlem of the South because of the thriving Black business and arts community? Tampa was a major stop on the "chitlin' circuit", the network of theaters where Black performers played for enthusiastic Black audiences. Greats like Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, and numerous Jazz greats made regular trips through Tampa. On the general history tour, we learned that Tampa was a hotbed of organized crime activity. ( So much so that I think the Tampa Bay History Center should create a walking tour dedicated to organized crime.)

   We have done some great food tours on our travels, and I'm already looking at a few offerings for future tours. In Ybor City (old Tampa), we had the best Cuban sandwich ever and saw cigars being made by hand like they were made there over a hundred years ago. In Philadelphia, we sampled a great Philly cheese steak (from a mom and pop neighborhood place, not one of the tourist traps), and we found out what a tomato pie was (basically a cheese pizza, sorry Philadelphians).

    
    If you're not a foodie, or even if you're not a huge history buff, there is probably a walking tour in every city that will strike your fancy. There are ghost tours, murder tours, scandal tours, etc. Go ahead and check it out. I bet your own city has a tour or two, and you can learn some neat local history, and when you travel, look for tours in your destination city.  They're fun and educational, and they give you great ideas for places to explore and places to eat at on your own.

Pod People

 

    Are you a pod person?  Do you listen to podcasts? Do you have your own podcast?  It seems that every other person is a podcaster these days, and every celebrity, comedian, and author is a podcaster. I've been slow to embrace podcasts, but I have found a few that interest me. I listen when I'm reading my bike in the morning or walking or driving.  Here are a few recommendations.

    I really started listening to the podcasts of two of my favorite people.  Mike Rowe (Who doesn't love Mike Rowe?) started doing The Way I Heard It a couple of years ago.  His stories are a great entry into podcasts because they're short, interesting, and witty.  Some might even call them pithy.  They average about 10 minutes each, and the stories are very reminiscent of The Rest of the Story by legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey. (If you're 40 or under, you probably have to look him up.) Each story is an interesting and/or funny story about some famous person or event.  However, Rowe doesn't reveal the subject of the story until the end, and it's almost always a surprise, or a story you've never heard before.  He also published a collection of the stories in 2019. ( https://mikerowe.com/podcast/ )

    Mo Rocca has been all over our television sets for years now, first on The Daily Show, then as the host of several different series, and as regular correspondent on CBS Sunday Morning.  I have always loved his shows and interviews, and he has a real interest in history.  Many of his CBS Sunday Morning pieces are about U.S. Presidents, and I used several when teaching American history. His podcast grew out of his CBS Sunday Morning pieces. They are well-researched shows about famous people or things that have passed, and he thinks that they deserve some more attention. Each podcast is a pleasure to listen to. He also published a collection of his pieces in 2019. ( https://www.mobituaries.com/the-podcast/ )

       Both of these podcasts are great and easy-listening and cover a broad range of topics. However, it looks like one of the most popular genres of podcasts is true crime.  The podcast is an ideal medium in which to explore crimes in great detail and from several angles, sometimes seeking answers to puzzling questions, or sometimes just raising even more questions.

    This morning, I just finished episode 10 of 12 of In the Red Clay, set in and around Winder Georgia from the late 1960s to about 2000. It is the story of Billy Sunday Birt, perhaps the most dangerous man to ever live in Georgia. He was a bank robber, arsonist, and professional hitman who was responsible for at least 50 crimes, including dozens of murders.  He also was the founder of the "Dixie Mafia", an organization that controlled moonshining, drugs, and other criminal enterprises throughout the southeastern United States for decades. The creator and narrator of the podcast first heard about Birt when he went to Winder, Georgia to work as a member of the crew of an HBO series that was being filmed there at the time.  This is one of the most compelling stories that I've ever heard.  No writer in Hollywood or writer of fiction could possibly write a story that was more interesting. Birt was born poor. His father died when Birt was young, and Birt's mother and siblings lost the small family farm. He had a severe speech impediment which made it difficult for most people to understand him. He didn't have any education or prospects to speak of. Then, as an adult, he became the most "respected", mostly feared, and richest man in north Georgia. On one hand, he was known as a loving family man, who had soft spots in his heart for children and animals. On the other hand, he was a cold-blooded killer.  This is a great story, told so well, and told mostly by Birt's son Stony, who grew up absolutely idolizing his father. (https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/in-the-red-clay/ ).

    Buried Truths is a podcast that grew out of a class at Emory University.  Hank Kilbanoff taught classes on unsolved crimes in Georgia. The class, which began in 2011, allows students to take an in-depth look at racially motivated murders that went unpunished in the Jim Crow South. It mixes journalism with history and African American studies, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Magazine. The professor and his students investigate each case through records and interviews, and their findings are presented in the podcast.  The first season told the story of the murder of Isaiah Nixon, a black man murdered for voting in 1948 in Alston Georgia, a town about twenty miles from my hometown of Vidalia. These are compelling stories that deserve to be told. ( https://www.npr.org/podcasts/577471834/buried-truths )

    The Red Note is a podcast about the Mexican gangs that operate with impunity on the U.S. - Mexican border. In recent years, hundreds of women have disappeared and have been tortured and murdered and forced into sex slavery. This podcast, narrated by a Mexican investigative reporter who is now on the run because of threats against her life. It's a frightening story. ( https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/the-red-note/ )

    

Cooking Your History

     My wife and I both love to cook (and eat), and we're often able to combine our passions for food and history. There are many ways to do this. You can seek out and sample various restaurants of various cultures. In many cities, there are annual cultural festivals, and food usually plays a big part of them.  Bookstores have aisles of cookbooks focusing on particular places and times.  And, like us, you may enjoy hands-on cooking classes.

    Try Googling cooking classes and see what turns up.  You may find local private chefs who come to your home and prepare a class/gathering for you and your friends, or you may find classes offered in stores.  In Atlanta, there are several Cooks Warehouse stores where we have attended several classes and demonstrations. In Tampa, our new metro home, there is a store called Rolling Pin Emporium.  Cooks Warehouse and Rolling Pin are higher end kitchen supply stores.  If you have ever thought about needing a particular kitchen gadget, or even if you've never thought about it, they probably sell it.  Besides selling kitchen gadgets and pots and pans, they have functioning kitchens to which they invite local and celebrity chefs to lead classes, usually after store hours.  If you pick a hands-on class, you and your classmates (usually a small number like 10-16) prepare a menu created by the chef, under the supervision of the chef and the store's volunteer kitchen aides. You learn cooking styles, tricks, and menus, and you get to eat a meal which you helped prepare at the end of the night. If you choose a demonstration class, you will probably see a local or national celebrity chef and the kitchen volunteers prepare a dinner menu, usually from their just-published cookbook.  Along the way, the chef tells stories and answers questions, and in the end, you have a delicious meal.

    In Atlanta, we took several classes including Cajun, Persian, and Indian menus, and we also took several classes with Chef Christy Seelye-King. ( https://askchefchristy.com/ ) Chef Christy is a culinary historian who has studied various cultures and periods. She then creates menus based on her research and then leads classes, usually in costume.  We did a Viking Mead Hall class with her, as well as classes on African and Irish cooking. We learned a lot, had great food, and had  a great time in each class.

    Stores like Cooks Warehouse and Rolling Pin also attract nationally know chefs and cookbook authors on book tours. They stop in and do demonstration classes.  We've met two of the most respected southern chefs around in demonstrations. We met Nathalie Dupree last fall at Cooks Warehouse and Virginia Willis last week at Rolling Pin. Both women were incredibly gracious, funny, and friendly taking time to tell great stories, talk to everyone and sign books and take pictures. To top it off, attendees got to et great meals that they prepared. How many people can see that they got to eat the cooking of tv food personalities they've watched for years?

    My wife and I are such foodies that we will also attend book talks by our favorites, even when they're not serving food. Whenever they have just-published cookbooks, chefs hit the book tour, just like other authors. At the Atlanta History Center, we attended talks by and met Sean Brock, another highly respected southern chef, and Carla Hall, Top Chef contestant, Chew co-host, Food Network personality, and southern chef (notice a theme?).  We got signed books, heard great stories, and got to meet them. (If you ever get the chance to meet Carla Hall, do it. She is incredibly sweet, funny, and personable, just like she appears on tv. 

    Book festivals usually have chefs appearing as well. At the Savannah Book Festival a couple of years ago, we met another Top Chef contestant Ed Lee, when he was talking about his excellent book, Buttermilk Graffiti.

    Get out there and eat your history! Search for opportunities in your area to explore, learn, and enjoy.

Cracker Country

     Do you know how the phrases Florida Cracker or Georgia Cracker came into being?  The phrases refer to early Georgia and Florida pioneers who started rounding up and herding the cattle that were descended from the first cattle brought to North America by the Spaniards in the 1500s and 1600s. Over time, some cattle escaped or were abandoned, and they bore many generations of feral cattle. When white settlers moved into Georgia and Florida, they re-domesticated the cattle. By the 1800s, these men were called cow hunters, because they had to venture into unsettled land to catch the cattle. They were also called Crackers because of the sound made by one of their most often used herding tools, the bullwhip.     

    Today, at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, there is a great living history experience called Cracker Country.  ( http://www.crackercountry.org/ )  Cracker Country is a rural Florida living history museum, founded with the purpose of preserving Florida's rural heritage.  Its mission, first and foremost is education, so it is not open to public everyday. During the normal school year, it is open for school field trips and for homeschoolers, and it is open to the public for the duration of the Florida State Fair in February.  There are also a few weekend and evening programs that are open to the general public during the year.

        Like other historic villages, structures have been moved to Cracker Country from all over Florida, including a train depot, a school, a church, a couple of farm houses, and the childhood home of a former Florida governor. Docents and living history interpreters are on hand to tell the history of each structure and to answer questions. You can watch as interpreters work metal in the blacksmith shop, weave, make candles, make butter, wash laundry, or perform other activities of farm life in rural 1890s Florida.  

    Every day, more and more people move to Florida, many from urban areas in the North. Cracker Country is more necessary every day to ensure that this important part of Florida history is not forgotten.