"Settle down far from town get me a pirogue And I'll catch all the fish in the bayou..." --Hank Williams "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" The writer Jim Harrison once ate 144 oysters in one sitting. That's twelve dozen, if you're wondering. Harrison's book The Raw and the...
“She could be a Miss Nevada but would rather play poker…” --Raylan Givens Elmore Leonard died in 2013. Raylan counts as Leonard’s last novel. U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens first appeared in Leonard’s books Pronto (1993) and Riding the Gap (1995). In 2001, Leonard wrote...
Released in 2001, The Man Who Wasn’t There was written and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen. The noir film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, James Gandolfini and Tony Shalhoub. The plot revolves around barber Ed Crane (Thornton) and his...
“They weren’t going to run me out of Hollywood. I was Hollywood, what was left of it.” –Nick Belane Pulp counts as Charles Bukowski’s last book. Published before Bukowski’s death in early 1994, Pulp is a Los Angeles detective story revolving around the 55-year-old...
Eggleston captures an essence of the 1970s in these pages. The vintage cars alone evoke time travel. The Outlands contain revelatory images of Memphis environs such as gas stations, barber shops, barbecue joints, abandoned storefronts, nightclubs, beer signs, drive-ins, billiard parlors, churches, cemeteries, bus stations, rural highways, shotgun shacks, liquor stores as well as his wife, children, friends and strangers. The Outlands contains pure magic and counts as this writer’s favorite Eggleston collection.
Americana at its finest. Memories. This rare scene renders stories handed down through generations. The antique fire truck is awesome. The red Dodge looks rather sleek. Pollen and dust cover everything amid allergy season. The old barn was surrounded by pine trees...
Recorded from Mexico to Dublin, Daniel Lanois’ album Shine highlights his underrated songwriting ability. Lanois production credits include Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris and Robbie Robertson as well as much session work and a plethora of...
In Stephanie Stuckey’s new book Unstuck: Rebirth of an American Icon, she tells the compelling story of resurrecting her family’s venerable roadside business, Stuckey’s. “You’ve never even run a lemonade stand. What makes you think you can run the family business?”...
Charles Bukowski recorded this reading to a live audience in April 1980 at The Sweetwater in Redondo Beach, California. On Hostage, Bukowski reads his poetry for an hour. It’s great to hear his voice in front of an audience–in the moment. This recording is vintage...
“For a long time I’ve been trying to get a tight fix on these Black Crowes, some kind of handle. I mean what the hell’s going on here? Rock and roll, yes, with plenty of R & B, yes. Along with some country and western of the Gram Parsons persuasion; and maybe even an occasional soul bite. All to be expected of course, in a band generally thought of having replaced the Rolling Stones.