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Praetorium Honoris

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Bluegrass and My Favorite Movie

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It was some years back, back when Blockbuster and other video emporiums were still thriving concerns, when the progeny and I went down to pick out a movie or two to spend a Saturday night. Every now and again we'd see a film we'd never heard of, sometimes those films would have a big name or two in them.

Now I don't give two craps about a man's politics, his sexual preferences, or any of that nonsense. If the fellow can act, if he can entertain me for a couple of hours, well, I'll put a buck or two in his pocket.

I know that some of those Hollywood types have some odd ideas about how this country should be run. Some could say the same of me (at heart I'm a bit of a monarchist, as long as I get to be the monarch, otherwise, you can color me a small "R" republican).

Anyhoo, that one night (like I said, a while back but still in this century, post-Air Force as it were) we brought home a couple of movies. One big time movie and this gem -

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At the end, all I could say was, "Brilliant."

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is my favorite movie of all time. Really, I'm serious. Yes, I love me some big historic epics, and those films based on some of my favorite books (The Hunt For Red October springs to mind), but this one is, hands down, my favorite. I've watched it multiple times and I never tire of it.

The story is great, the acting is superb, and damn it, there's just something in that film which really appeals to me down at some gut level.

Maybe it's the music?



Yeah, favorite song (of all time) right there. Just ask The Missus Herself, she swears that I listen to one version or another of that tune every damned day. Sometimes (okay, usually) more than once. That Dan Tyminski fella sure can sing. He's a fellow Vermonter for whatever that's worth. No matter the politics of my home state, those green hills of home will ever be in my blood. Always.

So, at one point I asked myself if it was just the music from the film that I liked, or did that extend to most bluegrass tunes?

Well, I gotta confess, I loves me some bluegrass. Speaking of fellows who can carry a tune, I like this guy too. A lot...



That was some mighty fine a pickin' and a singin'!



30 comments:

  1. Always see the image of the cow on the floating roof when I think of this movie.

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  2. When I hear Bluegrass, I can feel my IQ drop...it is usually a temporary thing, I love me some Bluegrass too.

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    1. Joeh, when I hear bluegrass I can feel my blood pressure drop. ;) We are coming up on another IMBA https://ibma.org/ here in Raleigh- best event the city has ever had. Picking & Grinning on nearly every street corner in downtown.

      OBWAT is one of the Cohn Brothers best movies.

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    2. Joe, I'm with Ron, blood pressure goes down and I get all peaceful and not a bit nostalgic.

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    3. And if I die in Raleigh at least I will die free...

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    4. Sarge, couldn't agree more with your musical selection. I'd also offer the Del McCoury Band's paean to classic British motorcycles and red headed girls - '1952 Vincent Black Lightning'. At first glance it wouldn't appear to be Bluegrass but Del's a legend. Just has to make you commence to grinnin'.

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    5. Now I have another quest over at YouTube!

      Oh my but that's some fine old timey music!

      Red hair and black leather!

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  3. I live deep in the Appalachian mountains of NC. It took me 45 years of wishing to make it happen and now that I'm here I'll never leave. Nothing stirs my Scotts Irish roots like these mountains and local Bluegrass music.

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  4. Thanks for the post.

    Paul L. Quandt

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  5. "Damn, we're in a tight spot!" :)

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  6. A nice evolution of Bluegrass is found in the musical stylings of Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. Old time steel guitar, cigar box guitar, washboard, etc. And the videos are fun to watch, too. Check them out. (Hey, flaming washboard is a unique stage trick...)

    And as one who used Dippity-Do as a young-one, I would be interested in some Dapper Dan.

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    1. And with that, it's off to YouTube!

      (So these days you'd be a Dapper Dan man?)

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    2. Well, of course, being a dapper man I'd use Dapper Dan!

      And you'll spend a lot of time on Yousetoobs looking up that band (and the very special Reverend Peyton and his one string shotgun guitar. No, really, look it up. And wait for the percussive moment.)

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    3. Oh dear, I have a new time waster.

      Favorite so far? This one.

      Damn but that is some foot stompin' music!

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  7. A story as old as mankind. An archetype you might say. And who's better than Allison Krauss and Union Station?

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  8. I love "Wagon Wheel", although I prefer the Old Crow Medicine Show version; it irks, me, however, that they got the directions partly wrong. You'd think Ketch Secor would know better, being a Southerner. Consequently, I annoy the hell out of folks when I sing it "...but he's a-heading west to the Cumberland Gap from Johnson City, Tennessee..."
    Yes, I'm a bit picky; and although I'm a redneck & a hillbilly, my degree is in engineering.
    --Tennessee Budd

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    1. I like the Old Crow Medicine Show's version as well. I do believe Ketch wrote that based on some partial Dylan lyrics from a recording session when Dylan was doing the soundtrack for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (great music in that film too).

      Hey, when you're trained as an engineer, you can't help but be picky!

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  9. It's even better that Leather Blondes in Bondage?

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  10. It was quite a surprise when Hooty and the Blowfish went on hiatus so Darius could do his country work. But that voice works no matter what the genre!

    /
    LJ

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  11. It is one of my favorite movies. I bought the soundtrack while in Kingston, CA on business because they had it before it showed up in California where I lived at the time. Every bit of that movie is gold.

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