p1cklebaron

[p1cklebaron]

Tuesday Showcase #6

Club Ebony, Indianola, Mississippi

B.B. King’s hometown joint, Club Ebony was built after World War II by local John Jones and his wife Josephine before eventually passing into the hands of Mary Shepherd, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Jook.” The centerpiece of Indianola’s black nightlife, Club Ebony nabbed artists from the “chitlin’ circuit” — everyone from Howlin’ Wolf to Ray Charles to James Brown to Ike Turner. When Shepherd retired in 2008, B.B. King stepped in and bought the place to preserve it. Every year, at his homecoming celebration in July, King finishes the celebrations by performing a set at Club Ebony.

[p1cklebaron]

Case of the Mondays #6

Short Alcohol Sayings

“I am more afraid of alcohol than of all the bullets of the enemy.” —Stonewall Jackson

“I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” —Winston Churchill

“A drunk man never tells a lie.” —Unknown

“Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.”

“An alcoholic is someone you don’t like who drinks as much as you do.”

“Don’t drink and drive, you might hit a bump and spill your drink.”

“You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.”

“Stay busy, get plenty of exercises, and don’t drink too much. Then again, don’t drink too little.”

“Time is never wasted when you’re wasted all the time.”

“One reason I don’t drink is that I want to know when I am having a good time.”

“A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine, except that on a day without sunshine you can still get drunk.”

“I stopped drinking, but only when I sleep.”

“This is one of the disadvantages of wine: it makes a man mistake words for thought.”

“Cigarettes and coffee: an alcoholic’s best friend !!!!”

“When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they always worked for me.”

“The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.”

“Cocaine is gods way of telling you that you make too much money.”

“I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.”

“A man who exposes himself when he is intoxicated has not the art of getting drunk.”

“Reality is a crutch for people who can’t handle drugs.”

“There is a devil in every berry of the grape.”

“A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory.”

“I drink to forget I drink.”

“I would take a bomb, but I can’t stand the noise.”

“Better belly burst than good liquor be lost.”

“Prohibition may be a disputed theory, but none can say that it doesn’t hold water.”

“The first glass is for myself, the second for my friends, the third for good humor, and the forth for my enemies.”

“Alcohol is necessary for a man so that he can have a good opinion of himself, undisturbed be the facts.”

“Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.”

“The whole world is about three drinks behind.”

“I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.”

“I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains.” —William Shakespeare

“Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity.” —Sammy Davis, Jr.

“Alcohol aint the answer but it makes you forget the question!” —Unknown

“Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.” —Kinky Friedman

“The only honest people in the world are small children and drunk people.” —Unknown

“When I drink, I think; and when I think, I drink.” —Francois Rabelais

“This alcohol could never change the truth.” —Unknown

“I don’t know of any issues associated with alcohol before the flight.” —Ellen Ochoa

“Lips that touch liquor touch other lips quicker.” —Unknown

“All is fair in love and beer.” —Kurt Pardis

“May what goes down not come back up again.” —Unknown

“Alcohol kills slowly. Good, I’m in no hurry.” —Coluche

“Drunkenness is temporary suicide.” —Bertrand Russell

“It’s easy to be drunk when it’s hard to be sober.” —Unknown

“Reality is an illusion created by a lack of alcohol.” —N.F. Simpson

“A drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts.” —Unknown

“A man’s true character comes out when he’s drunk.” —Charlie Chaplin

“I cook with wine, Sometimes I even add it to the food.” —W.C Fields

“I drink to make other people more interesting.” —Ernest Hemingway

“Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness.” —Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“Good friends make the world go round, but good beer makes the room go round.” —Unknown

“They speak of my drinking, but never think of my thirst.” —Scottish Proverb

“It’s true, alcohol kills people. But how many are born because of it?” —Unknown

[p1cklebaron]

Sunday Sip n' Sauce #5

Lynchburg Lemonade with Jack Daniel's

The Lynchburg lemonade is named after Lynchburg, Tennessee, hometown of the Jack Daniel's Distillery. It is one of the most popular mixed drinks and the Tennessee whiskey's signature cocktail. While the official recipe is a little more complicated than mixing whiskey and lemonade, it's still very easy and perfect for a lazy summer afternoon or a backyard barbecue.

To mix up an authentic Lynchburg lemonade, you will need just four ingredients, a tall glass, and some ice. The featured ingredient is, of course, the famous Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, and this is by far one of the best drinks for it. There is something magical about the whiskey's smoky sweetness in this tart, sparkling mixed drink. After one taste, you'll realize why it's long been a favorite.

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces Tennessee whiskey 1 ounce triple sec 1 ounce lemon juice 4 ounces lemon-lime soda Lemon slices, for garnish

Neck Bone's and Rice

When I was growing up on Sunday's my grandmother would cook Neck bones and Rice with Collard greens and cornbread.  It was one of the best meals of the week.

I always enjoyed my grandmothers cooking. And over the years I have been handed down her recipes. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Neck Bones and Rice Recipe Ingredients:

2 to 3 lbs of fresh pork neck bones, rinsed and cleaned 1/3 cup of cooking oil 2 cups of rice (brown or white) make sure you don't use minute rice 2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 1/2 teaspoon peppercorn or black pepper 6 cups of water 1 medium onion sliced (yellow or white) 4 stems of green onions chopped 1 1/2 tablespoons cumin 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Cooking Utensils:

1 large boiling pot with a lid or dutch oven

Directions: 1. In the large pot heat oil, then add neck bones and Worcestershire sauce. Brown neck bones until they are no longer pink, about 5 to 10 minutes. 2. Once neck bones brown, add sliced onions, green onions, dry spices and stir.  3. Add water to pot and bring to a boil, cover pot with a tight fitting lid and simmer on low for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours stir only once about an hour into cooking. 4. After cooking time, skim fat off the top. Then add rice and replace tight fitting lid. Simmer 15 more mins and turn off heat, stir once, the replace lid. Wait 15 more minutes to let rice set and then serve and eat.

Tips: - You can also cook the rice separate and reduce the water to 5 cups on the neck bones. - If you cook the rice separate you can plate the rice and put the neck bones over the rice.  - Pork neck bones and rice go great with cornbread, and collard greens. Fresh collard greens are better, but if you can not find them at the store you can buy a can and add 2 pieces of bacon to them to add flavor. This neck bones and rice recipe serves about 4 to 6 people.

[p1cklebaron]

Saturday Show n' Shine #5

Hauk Machines Rat Rod Beer Tanker

[p1cklebaron]

Friday Nite Shakedown #5

The Atomic Bitchwax - Scorpio

Jungle Jim Smith - Death and Whiskey

[p1cklebaron]

Throwback Thursday #5

Arthur "Blind" Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934) was one of the most prolific male blues artists of the 1920s, and one of the most skilled guitarists of all time, yet today details about his life and times are even scarcer than his records.  He turned up in Chicago, recorded one-hundred-and-twenty-some-odd sides, both solo and as an accompanist, then disappeared from sight of the prying eyes of history.  Even among his contemporaries, Blind Blake seemed to be something of an enigma, though they universally hailed his musical abilities.  With all the mystery surrounding Blake, all that is certainly clear is that his virtuosity was second-to-none.

Arthur Blake, misidentified by some sources—including Blind Willie McTell—as Arthur Phelps, was born, reportedly, in 1896.  Paramount’s 1927 Book of Blues stated that he hailed from “Jacksonville, in sunny Florida,” but his death certificate placed his birth in Newport News, Virginia.  Either way, it is probable that Florida served as his home for a large portion of his life.  Whether or not he was born blind is also the subject of speculation; the aforementioned Book of Blues suggested as much, but some have proposed that he was born sighted, but or developed his condition later in life (perhaps as a result of some bad bootleg).  Purportedly on the recommendation of a Florida record dealer, Blake traveled to Chicago and made his recording debut for Paramount Records in July of 1926, accompanying singer Leola B. Wilson, and cut his first solo record a month later: “Early Morning Blues” and “West Coast Blues” appearing on Paramount 12387.  He was noted for his ability to play a guitar like a piano, capable of producing intricate fingerpicked ragtime melodies with a Charleston rhythm—exemplified in such pieces as his tour de force “Blind Arthur’s Breakdown” (Paramount 12892)—and indeed he was also a skilled pianist, though he only demonstrated that ability on one recording: “Let Your Love Come Down”, accompanying Bertha Henderson.  Alongside Blind Lemon Jefferson and Papa Charlie Jackson, Blake became one of the most successful male blues artists on Paramount’s roster, and he collaborated periodically with other artists such as Gus Cannon on titles like “Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home” and “My Money Never Runs Out” (Paramount 12588 and 12604), Charlie Spand on the stomping boogie-woogie “Hastings St.” (Paramount 12863), Charlie Jackson on “Papa Charlie and Blind Blake Talk About It” (Paramount 12911), and jazz clarinetist Johnny Dodds on several sides including “C.C. Pill Blues” (Paramount 12634).  Blake concluded his recording career with “Champagne Charlie is My Name” and “Depression’s Gone from Me Blues”, the latter set to the popular melody of “Sitting On Top of the World”, recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin around June of 1932 and released on Paramount 13137.  To add further mystery, there is question as to whether the performer of “Champagne Charlie is My Name” actually is Blake at all, or some unknown artist masquerading under his name (personally, I’m under the impression that it probably is Blake, though it is below his usual quality; maybe he was hitting the bottle that day).  Not long after that last session, Paramount Records folded, and Blake never recorded again.  He remained in Wisconsin in the 1930s, living in Brewer’s Hill in Milwaukee with his wife Beatrice, though he was unable to find work during the hard times of the Great Depression.  Blake fell ill with pneumonia in 1933 and died from complications of tuberculosis on December 1, 1934.

Blind Blake’s virtuoso ragtime guitar playing served as a major influence on subsequent generations of blues guitarists, particularly on the style of blues playing that has since come to be associated with the Piedmont, and he exerted a direct influence on more than a few prominent musicians hailing from that region, including Blind Boy Fuller, Josh White, and Buddy Moss, as well as—directly and indirectly—on countless other musicians from around the United States, and even abroad, in the decades since.  Renowned guitarist Rev. Blind Gary Davis drew considerable inspiration from Blake, and once mused that he “ain’t never heard anybody on a record yet beat Blind Blake on guitar.  [He liked] Blake because he plays right sporty.”  In later years, Gus Cannon later recalled that Blake “could see more with his blind eyes than [Cannon] with [his] two good ones.”  Georgia Tom Dorsey remembered Blake as “a good worker and a nice fellow to get along with.”  Race records executive J. Mayo Williams stated that Blake “liked to get drunk and fight.”

Paramount 12565 was recorded in Chicago, Illinois, in November and October of 1927, respectively.  It also appeared on Broadway 5053 under the pseudonym “Blind George Martin”.  On side “A”, Blake is accompanied on banjo by Gus Cannon, who was recording for Paramount at the time as “Banjo Joe”, and in fact it is Cannon’s first recording.  Alas, the record is afflicted by a condition endemic to these Paramounts; though not in particularly poor condition and the music is mostly clear and undistorted, poor pressing quality and decades of less-than-optimal storage have resulted in a high level of surface noise behind the music.  To make things worse, both sides were recorded at a rather low volume.  As such, both sides are most assuredly audible (and even enjoyable to my desensitized ears), but I apologize for not being able to offer better quality sound.

First, Blake sings the medicine show favorite “He’s in the Jail House Now”, later popularized by Jimmie Rodgers’ two landmark recordings, though I would consider Blake’s version here to be the definitive.  Other notable versions of the vaudeville staple were recorded by Whistler’s Jug Band in 1924, Earl McDonald’s Louisville Jug Band in 1927, Jim Jackson in 1928, Boyd Senter’s Senterpedes in 1929, the Memphis Jug Band and Bill Bruner, the latter of which drew both on Rodgers and Blake’s versions, in 1930, Eliot Everett’s Orchestra in 1932, and Billy Mitchell in 1936, not counting outright copies of Rodgers’ rendition by the likes of Gene Autry and Frankie Marvin, and the song remains popular on the roots music scene today, with performances by such artists as Dom Flemons and Pokey LaFarge.

[p1cklebaron]

What is Wednesday #5

Diddley bow

The diddley bow is a single-stringed American instrument which influenced the development of the blues sound. It consists of a single string of baling wire tensioned between two nails on a board over a glass bottle, which is used both as a bridge and as a means to magnify the instrument's sound.

[p1cklebaron]

Tuesday Showcase #5

A Night At Red's Juke Joint In The Mississippi Delta Is A True Blues Experience

If you're in Clarksdale, Mississippi, home of the Delta blues, everybody says you have to go to Red's juke joint. The hole-in-the-wall club is the real deal. It's just a small room, a few tables and a fridge full of beer. Red lights are strung around a low ceiling. On the night we visit, octogenarian Leo "Bud" Welch plays in the center of the room, hunched over a sparkly, hot pink, electric guitar. Red Paden, the owner, sits out front, surveying from behind the bar.

"The blues is my heritage. I come up on that," says Paden. "Blues is something to do with the trials and tribulations that you go through. And when you can get out there and sing about it, you know, it makes the day go by quicker."

Our colleague Melissa Block has been on a road trip around the country for her series Our Land. She's bringing us stories about communities, how where you live shapes your identity. Her latest trip took her to the Mississippi Delta, where a big part of that identity is blues music.

MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE: If you're in Clarksdale, Miss., home of the Delta blues, everybody says you have to go to Red's Juke Joint. Tonight, it's Leo Bud Welch playing. Come on. Let's go.

LEO WELCH: (Singing unintelligibly).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Oh, yeah.

WELCH: (Singing) After while.

BLOCK: Red's Blues Club is the real deal - a small room, a few tables, a fridge full of beer, red lights strung around a low ceiling. Leo Bud Welch sits hunched over a sparkly, hot-pink electric guitar.

WELCH: (Playing guitar).

(APPLAUSE)

RED PADEN: Leo Bud Welch - he's 85 years old. And, by far, I think he's the baddest, real blues man out there now.

BLOCK: That's the owner of Red's Juke Joint, Red Paden.

PADEN: We're just hanging out, having a conversation right about now.

BLOCK: Red is burly with dark glasses, a ball cap, salt-and-pepper beard.

PADEN: Blues is my heritage. You know, I come up on that. You know, there's really not any money in it and stuff. I do it because I like it and stuff, you know?

BLOCK: The Mississippi Delta gave us blues legends Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Charley Patton, Son House - he was born just a couple miles away from where this club is now.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CLARKSDALE MOAN")

SON HOUSE: (Singing) Clarksdale, Miss., - always going to be my home.

BLOCK: Red Paden points to the photos pinned up on the walls of his club, photos of the bluesmen. And they're pretty much all men who've played here.

PADEN: That's the Wolfman, Robert Wolfman Belfour. Lazy Lester up there - T-Model Ford, The Ladies Man.

BLOCK: There are a few young faces on the walls. But, mostly, these are old-timers.

PADEN: This is Cadillac John here. He's 90. He played that mule-train blues. And when he's gone, everything's gone.

BLOCK: Red Paden grew up here in the Delta. He remembers the first juke joint he went to as a kid, dirt floor out in the countryside.

PADEN: Everybody would make food, make their own beer and stuff, their own liquor. You know, they made homemade guitars and homemade drums - you know, stuff like that there. And it was a community thing, you know?

BLOCK: These days, jobs have fled the Mississippi Delta. And towns like Clarksdale are hurting. Blues tourism is one solution. Red's draws blues fans from all over.

PADEN: You name it - they're coming from there - Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Philippines, Japan, China.

BLOCK: The night we're at Reds, it's a small crowd - tourists mostly - spellbound as they listen to octogenarian blues man Leo Bud Welch.

WELCH: (Singing) Oh, mother - Lord, let me ride.

PADEN: Blues has something to do with the trials and tribulations that you go through. And when you can get out there and sing about it and stuff, you know, it makes the day go by quicker.

BLOCK: That's Red Paden, juke-joint owner and, despite the blues, an optimist.

PADEN: Every day I get up is it's a beautiful day to me. Can you dig it? You open your eyes and look around. Damn, I made it another day. I can go do what I want - and feeling good, too. You can get up and do what you want to do.

WELCH: (Singing) Want to lay out all night long.

BLOCK: Melissa Block, NPR News, at Red's Juke Joint in Clarksdale, Miss.

WELCH: (Singing) (Unintelligible). Want to lay out all night long.

[p1cklebaron]

Case of the Monday's #5

A Glass Half Empty

Have you ever wondered where you can't get a drink in the United States? Well here's a list of dry areas by U.S. state detailing all of the counties / parishes / boroughs / municipalities in the United States of America that ban the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Map showing dry (red),  wet (blue), and mixed (yellow) counties/parishes/boroughs in the United States as of May 2019.

English (en): Laws regarding the control of alcohol in the United States by County Wet counties Moist or semi-dry counties (mixed according to city or alcohol type, for instance) Dry counties No data.

[p1cklebaron]

Sunday Sip n' Sauce #4

Sweet Potato Pie

INGREDIENTS For the Pie Crust1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 4 tablespoons of leaf lard cut into various small pieces pea to walnut size 4 tablespoons good quality butter, cut into various small pieces pea to walnut size 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 3-4 Tablespoons of ice water All-purpose flour for dusting For the Sweet potato Filling2 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 1 3/4 pounds) 1/2 cup white sugar 2 large eggs lightly whisked 1/4 cup half-and-half or heavy cream 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 7 tablespoons unsalted butter melted 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar Kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS For the Pie Crust: Combine all dough ingredients except the ice water in a large bowl. With clean hands, blend the mixture together until it looks like coarse meal with some lumps in it. Sprinkle ice water over mixture and stir lightly with a fork. Squeeze a handful of dough together. If it doesn't keep together, add a bit more water. Form the dough into a disk about 5 inches across. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour. Once chilled, take out the disk and put it on a well floured board. Sprinkle some flour onto the top of the disk. Thump the disk with your rolling pin several times. Turn it over and thump the other side. Sprinkle more flour onto the top of the crust if needed to keep the pin from sticking and roll the crust out from the center in all directions. When it is an inch or so larger than your pie pan, fold the dough over the top of the pin and lay it in the pie pan carefully. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Blind bake the pie dough for 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. For the Sweet potato Filling Bring a large pot of lightly water to a boil over high heat. Add sweet potatoes and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, 20-25 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Transfer sweet potatoes to food processor and mix to form a very smooth purée. Measure purée, then return 2 1/2 cups to food processor (reserve any remaining purée for another use). Add granulated sugar, eggs, half-and-half, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter and brown sugar. Mix until smooth. Spread filling into prepared pie shell, smoothing the top. Add any excess crust decorations on top. Place pie pan on a baking sheet and place in oven. Bake until crust is lightly golden and filling is almost set with a slight jiggle in center, about 1 hour. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

[p1cklebaron]

Saturday Show n’ Shine #4

Even in Black and White, these beauties shine.

[p1cklebaron]

Friday Nite Shakedown #4

The Boogie Patrol

Travelling across the Rockies from Alberta, the Boogie Patrol will be bringing there fresh, contemporary blues style to the Festival. Guided by vocalist and harmonica player Dan Shinnan, the group inspires audiences with its unique blend of blues, rock, soul, and funk. Buddy Guy’s guitarist, Ric Hall, says, “Boogie Patrol is off the hook…they’re on fire!” Making this Canadian group an act festival goers will not want to miss out on.

[p1cklebaron]

Throwback Thursday #4

Willie Dixon “the poet laureate of the blues” and “the father of modern Chicago Blues.”

Willie Dixon has been called “the poet laureate of the blues” and “the father of modern Chicago Blues.” He was indisputably the pre-eminent blues songwriter of his era, credited with writing more than 500 songs by the end of his life. Moreover, Dixon is a towering figure in the history and creation of Chicago Blues on other fronts. While on staff at Chess Records, Dixon produced, arranged, and played bass on sessions for Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Litter Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and others. In no small way, he served as a crucial link between the blues and rock ‘n roll. Born in 1915 in Vicksburg, MS, Dixon began rhyming, singing and writing songs in his youth. He was exposed to a varity of music – gospel, blues, country & western – which served as the seeds for the symbiotic music he would later make in Chicago. Moving to the city in 1936, he had a bried career as a boxer and then skirmished with the U.S. Army, refusing induction on the grounds he was a conscientious objector. His early forays on the Chicago music scene included stints with The Five Breezes, The Four Jumps of Jive and The Big Three Trio, all of which made records. The Big Three Trio, in particular, are noteworthy for having brought harmony singing to the blues. Dixon really found his niche at Chess, where he was allowed to develop as a recording artist, session musician, in-house songwriter and staff musician beginning in 1951. Some of the now classic songs he wrote for other during his lengthy tenure at Chess include “Hoochie Coochie Man”, “I’m Ready” and “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (Muddy Waters); “Back Door Man”, “Spoonful” and “I Ain’t Superstitious” (Howlin’ Wolf); “My Babe” (Little Walter); and “Wang Dang Doodle” (Koko Taylor). Though he didn’t write for Chuck Berry, Dixon played bass on most of his early records. For a few years in the late 50’s, he also wrote for and worked with artists on the crosstown Cobra label, including such fledgling bluesmen as Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Magic Sam.

Dixon returned to Chess in 1959, and the 60’s saw the full flowering of his talents there. In addition to writing and producing some of his greatest works during that decade, he recorded a series of albums in a duet format with Memphis Slim on the Folkways, Verve and Battles labels. His first album as a solo artist, Willie’s Blues, appeared on the Bluesville label in 1960. In his capacity as a staff producer at Chess, he wouldn’t get around to releasing a follow-up album under his own name until I Am the Blues appeared on Columbia Records in 1970. Albums followed from him at more regular intervals in subsequent years, culminating in the 1988 release of Hidden Charms, which won Dixon a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Recording.

In his later years, Willie Dixon became a tireless ambassador of the blues and a vocal advocate for its practitioners, founding the Blues Heaven Foundation. The organization works to preserve the blues’ legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past. Speaking with the simple eloquence that was a hallmark of his songs, Dixon put it like this: “The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It’s better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues.”

Willie Dixon published his autobiography, I Am the Blues, in 1989 – a year after Chess Records released Willie Dixon: The Chess Box, a two-disc set that included Dixon’s greatest songs as performed by the artists who made them famous – Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Lowell Fulson and Dixon, himself.

[p1cklebaron]

What is it Wednesday #4

The Gob Iron, the Tin Sandwich, the Mouth Organ

The harmonica is a free reed instrument; this means that sound is generated as air flows past a thin strip of material and makes it vibrate producing sound. Air pressure is usually generated by breathing or blowing into a hole, cane or pipe. The air flows over one side of the reed, creating an area of low pressure and causing the reed to flex towards the opposite side. The frame enclosing the reed is built so that when it flexes it blocks the air flow, reducing the low pressure area and allowing the reed to bend back.

The harmonica is known to have different names like the Gob Iron, the Tin Sandwich, the Mouth Organ but most commonly the harp, probably because of its mechanism being so similar to the Jew’s harp, which consists of a single reed mounted on a frame that is plucked to create a note that resonates in the player’s mouth.

The first free reed instruments were invented in the Ancient Far East and were not known in the West until quite recently.

Among these ancient instruments there is the khaen of Laos; which consists of various pipes bound together in a set of rows, very much like a pan pipe, or the shēng of China and the shō of Japan, which are more of a group of tubes, traditionally inserted into a hollow dried fruit like a gourd, which nowadays is made of steel. (see Illustration x)

These traditional instruments have survived to modern times and are currently used in social music and courtship rituals, and the sheng is still one of the instruments used in Chinese opera.

The metal free reeds system used in the khaen and sheng is thought to be the ancestor of the reeds used in harmonicas in the present.

The shēng was brought to Russia at the end of the 18th century. It seems it inspired a lot of devices in the early 19th century, which was the foundation for the development of the more modern free reeds.

A Czech organ builder named Franz Kirschnek fashioned a new kind of free reed to be used in organ pipes. He might have just adapted an earlier model of free reed or he actually come up with the idea completely independently.

Harmonicas, as we know them today

When we talk about the harmonica as we know it today, it is hard to determine exactly who the inventor was. There were no factories at the time, and it was a case of individual artisans who were trying out new ideas.

At the time, many people tried to construct instruments with free reeds in Vienna, Paris, London, and America, so it’s not clear who might have been the first but credit does go to a young German by the name of Friedrich Buschmann, who later on was also known to invent the concertina. He was a clockmaker, and around 1816 he devised an object used as a piano tuner and called it “mundaeoline”, which is German means “mouth harp.”

[p1cklebaron]

Tuesday Showcase #4

Mississipi Juke Joints

The origins of the term juke or jook remain uncertain. Some scholars have speculated that the word derives from an African word, juga, meaning “bad” or “wicked,” while others believe juke comes from juice, often used to describe early electric guitars and music players (juice boxes). Whatever the term’s origins, juke joints remain important spaces for blues musicians and audiences.

In 1934 Zora Neale Hurston wrote that “musically speaking, the Jook is the most important place in America.” Spatially speaking, juke joints are difficult to define, because they are a conceptual space rather than a template. The earliest juke joints were defined by the live blues music played there, whether the site was an abandoned sharecropper shack, an open field, or someone’s home.

Juke joints are never built; rather, they appropriate previous spaces. The buildings adapted for juke joints have different layouts and definitions, but juke joints carry certain elements that redefine the previous space. Almost all contemporary juke joints contain a bar of some sort (even if it consists only of a few cases of beer and a garbage can full of ice), a pool table, a stage area, seats for patrons, and colorful decorations. The interior walls often are roughly painted with scenes of celebration (people drinking, dancing, and singing) or with idyllic pictures of paradise (palm trees and islands). Celebratory decorations of various kinds adorn the walls—Happy Birthday signs, Christmas lights, confetti and tinsel. Juke joints need only the lowest common denominators of celebration, relying on basic decorations and design elements like the bar to establish itself.

The malleability of juke joints developed out of the subversive nature of early blues music itself. During slavery, African Americans were not permitted to gather; in some cases, dancing and singing also were not allowed. Despite these constraints, music played an important role in the development of the African American community. As blues music gained popularity in the Jim Crow South, juke joints became safe places for African Americans to gather without white supervision. The basic principles that kept juke joints covert during segregation have become the defining elements of juke joints since that time.

Juke joints are not simply a rural phenomenon, although even in towns and cities they tend to serve an established community. Unlike a club or bar, patrons at a particular juke joint tend to know each other. This lack of anonymity was certainly necessary to ensure safety under Jim Crow and remains a fundamental principle of modern juke joints. Certain elements that are a given for other businesses are often lacking at juke joints, such as set hours of operation or public phone numbers. Instead, juke joints tend to run when musicians are available to play, with notice of a performance spreading through community networks rather than via official advertising. News of a performance depends on the path of information already established within a given community, reaffirming the familiarity of the crowd that attends a particular juke joint. As a result, some prior knowledge of the juke’s existence and possible operating hours is required. This does not mean newcomers are not allowed: those who are willing to talk to local citizens about attending juke joints will most often be welcome. While juke joints tend to serve a specific core group of people, they are not private functions. Patrons must often pay to enter, and liquor and food are frequently sold. Still, juke joints tend not to be moneymaking endeavors for the proprietors, and almost all proprietors hold full-time jobs. Unlike a party, juke patrons pay for food and drinks, and musicians are paid—albeit minimally—from the money raised. In Mississippi and much of the rest of the South, proprietors are supposed to purchase juke joint licenses from the state.

Defining a juke joint has less to do with the decoration or style of the space and more to do with the interaction between the crowd and the music. Live music is no longer an absolute, as many juke joints employ deejays or house jukeboxes, but the lack of anonymity among the crowd at a juke joint remains one of the elements that distinguishes it from a club. Juke joints are a function of blues, and the physical spaces mimic the metaphorical in many ways. The call-and-response nature of blues, for example, can be seen in the interaction required of juke joints. Unlike clubs or bars, juke joints rely on an atmosphere of familiarity among the patrons, proprietors, and musicians. The communal nature of blues music also imprints the space. Just as any given blues tune can have an infinite number of lyrics or chords, particular design or decorative principles do not bind the spaces.

[p1cklebaron]

Case of the Monday's #4

The term “speakeasy” did not originate during Prohibition.

It came from the two-word phrase “speak easy,” coined by American journalist Samuel Hudson back in 1889. Hudson, in his 1909 book Pennsylvania and Its Public Men, recalled that while in Pittsburgh in 1889, a new city liquor licensing law reduced the number of taverns there to only 96. That encouraged a rise in illegal bars all over town. Hudson asked Tim O’Leary, a local Democratic Party politician, to show him one. O’Leary explained that an elderly Irish widow who sold illegal beer and whiskey once warned her patrons, in her brogue, to “spake asy, now, the police are at the dure.” So, Hudson said, “Spake asy” became the moniker for the hundreds of unlicensed taverns in Pittsburgh. When Hudson returned home to Philadelphia, he wrote a column about the “speak easy” in the daily newspaper, The Item. “It is I who brought to Philadelphia and popularized the term ‘speak easy’ as applied to illicit liquor joints,” Hudson boasted in his book, published 11 years before Prohibition. “The term had an instantaneous success, being taken up by the people and police, and it has been in universal use ever since.”

[p1cklebaron]

Sunday Sip n' Sauce #3

Southern Hush Puppies

Every Southerner knows there is no better side to a plate of fried shrimp than a basket of hush puppies. In fact, you’ll even find them at some of our favorite barbecue joints. Serve these two-bite, deep-fried nuggets with reddish-brown spots (from the cornmeal) plain or smother them in butter or dunk them in cocktail sauce, comeback sauce, malt vinegar mignonette, or buttermilk ranch herb sauce.Over the years, the Southern Living Test Kitchen has developed multiple twists on the traditional recipe, from crab cakes to shrimp and okra hush puppies. We even tested making an all-cornmeal version that was good – but nothing like the iconic way to make hush puppies. No matter what hush puppies are mde of, the truth is that the really good hush puppies are never soggy or greasy. And while Southerners all have their favorite tasty twists, nothing will ever beat the classic.Hush puppies are made from a six-ingredient batter, which includes cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and sugar. They are dropped– and you want them to be fully submerged–by spoonfuls into a pot filled with piping hot oil to cook. When it comes to the pot, our Test Kitchen likes to fry them in either a 6-qt. Dutch oven or a deep cast-iron skillet. And when it comes to the spoon, use a soup spoon or a 1 tablespoon-measure ice cream scoop. Deep fry them on each side for about three minutes, flipping them over with a slotted spoon or frying utensil. Once golden brown, transport the nuggets to a paper towel. Make them by the dozen and serve them immediately.