Wilson’s Gold Star Studio is now located in Topanga Canyon.
Farming Posts
The Eddie Hinton-Donnie Fritts Classic: “Breakfast in Bed”
She's hurt you again, I can tell Oh, I know that look so well." -Hinton/Fritts The Muscle Shoals songwriting team Eddie Hinton and Donnie Fritts wrote "Breakfast in Bed" for Dusty Springfield. The tune appeared on Springfield's iconic 1969 album Dusty in Memphis. My...
Rest in Peace: Master Songwriter & Rhythm King Steve Cropper: The 2008 James Calemine Interview
I just heard Steve Cropper died. This phone interview transpired in 2008, when I worked for Swampland.com. The full interview can be read in Insured Beyond The Grave. I met Cropper years later on Sea Island, Georgia. He was a southern gentleman of the highest order,...
Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany
In desperate need of comedy this morning, I pulled a Charles Portis book off the shelf. I turned to a story in Escape Velocity about Portis trying to stop smoking. I craved a brief respite from grim news, looming deadlines, and eerie realities. Portis provided—as always–a much needed laugh.
The Black Crowes: Amorica (2025 Deluxe Edition)
Chris Robinson sings what he knows about:
“To my lowdown downtown money waster
Your saving grace was that I liked to taste ya
But your flower is spoiled
Too easy to make ya
You got a .38 and your book of revelation
I got a .44 and a load of temptation.”
Queen of the Okefenokee
“Everything is okey-doke in the Okefenokee.” --Jerry Reed Lydia Smith did not scare easy. She stood 6’6 feet tall and always carried a Smith & Wesson pistol. Born in 1864, Lydia grew up poor on Cowhouse Island in the Okefenokee Swamp. She eventually built an...
The Dead Towns of Georgia
The Dead Towns of Georgia certifies a brutal life in wild country…
Herman Hitson: Let The Gods Sing
"Music soothes the savage beast. It has no color. That's where I saw God." --Herman Hitson Herman Hitson, born in 1943, counts as another gifted musician on the esteemed Music Maker Foundation roster. Hitson spent his childhood in Ocilla, Georgia. Later, his family...
Buick Roadmaster
Essence of old America right here when the cars weren't run on computers. You had to turn the radio dial yourself to find a station instead of some new-fangled digital system. Manufacturing began in the 1930s for the Buick Roadmaster. The Roadmaster parked in the...
Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits by Barney Hoskyns
Lowside of The Road: A Life of Tom Waits by Barney Hoskyns In 2009, I interviewed Barney Hoskyns after his book Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits was published. ... “Take an eye for an eye Tooth for a tooth Just like it says in the Bible Never leave a trace or...