| Straight
from the holler.
by "Buck" November 9, 2006 I get really irate when Jeff does an update that involves music. You see, the boss and I see eye-to-eye on many things, our politics, our TV shows, our restaurants, even our favorite brand of mustard. However, when it comes to music our tastes are about as closely aligned as Mother Teresa and Divine Brown. When Jeff is on a music rant, it’s very likely I’ll not read the update—it just distresses me to hear him go on and on about a group that I’ve never heard of….like The Beautiful South. I’m sorry—I’m not very cultured in those genres of music. However, I figured I’d toss in a music update of my own. Do you associate moments in life with the song that was playing at the time? I do. Here are some of those historic times that are recalled in song. The first time my dad and I ever went to deer camp together I recall hearing The Judds singing a song called “Grandpa”. I’m reminded of that event every time I hear the song. The first time I was ever in a car wreck, “Stairway to Heaven” was playing on the radio. Fortunately, I wasn’t driving. The first time I was officially drunk-off-my-ass, the only song I can remember playing was Hank Williams Jr. singing “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound.” I remember this because I was singing along at the top of my lungs and WAYYYYY off key. The first time I got laid, I very clearly remember Bon Jovi belting out “You Give Love a Bad Name.” Funny, I can remember that and I can remember the girl’s name was Courtney…but to this day never learned her last name and never saw her again. Hey! I recall my first day at a job where I actually was paid to be there and had tax deductions and all that shit, Skynyrd was playing “Sweet Home Alabama.” I was working as a mechanic’s assistant I suppose. I changed oil and did simple shit in this ancient garage and handed wrenches and Dr. Peppers to the 125 year old chief mechanic as he attempted to rebuild engines. I’m fairly certain, despite no formal training, I could have rebuilt an engine better than he. You know, you really shouldn’t have parts left over when you’ve reassembled the modern, combustion engine. Didn’t seem to bother him though, and he was in charge—so I remained silent. During my heyday in the 80’s I listened to some of the biggest rock bands of the day. I was partial to AC/DC, but also enjoyed Motley Crue, Van Halen, Poison, etc…lots of hair bands. However, I was much more in tune with Hank Williams Jr. I’m pretty sure he was responsible for my near wasted youth. I attended at least a dozen Hank Jr. shows in the 1980’s. You never knew which Hank would show up. I saw him at an outdoor concert at the Starwood Amphitheatre in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1989. He was on a twin-bill with the Charlie Daniels Band. That ranks as one of the most rocking shows I’ve ever attended. We were passing the jar of shine that day, let me tell ya! Then in 1990 I saw him—or went to see him in Bristol, Tennessee at Viking Hall. The fucker never showed up and people were burning his t-shirts in the parking lot. It was a near riot. I saw him in Morgantown at the WVU Coliseum in 1992 or ’93 and he was horrible. He was drunk, not that it was a shock, but it was the first time it had a negative effect on the show. He stumbled onto stage, slurred his speech, and changed the words to all of the songs—some of them he completely forgot the lyrics and just stared into space. I literally went to sleep during the show—back in the day that would have NEVER happened. During his day, Hank was known to have rowdy shows and equally rowdy crowds. I served as a bouncer for a couple of the shows he played in Knoxville during my college days. It was like a free ticket to beat the shit out of people. I enjoyed the exercise and there was no shortage of assholes asking for an ass kickin’. My wife tells me however, she went to one of his concerts in Morgantown in the late 1980’s. At one point during the opening act, the spotlights flashed to the top of the WVU Coliseum which was only about half-full. There at the top of the seats was a guy’s bare ass and he was putting the pipe to some girl with her legs high in the air. Hank came out later and said something like, “Guess ya’ll already had one show out here!” I later found out that guy was an ROTC student at the university and had already completed the very difficult Army Ranger school. He was all set to have a commission as a Captain when he left WVU. The incident cost him his entire Army career…WOW!! I hope that was one fine piece of ass—he sure paid for it. Buck Out |
