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Wednesday 13 February 2019

State of the Union - Arkansas



George writes

Week 6. Researching this state for a long time…...getting desperate, might have to include a song by the bloke from Long Branch, New Jersey…...listened to all five minutes twenty seconds……………..it’s not getting included.

I’ve listened to a right load of old nonsense trying to find ONE song that references this damned state in the title.

  • Lee Ann Dorsey - A little time past Little Rock. The worst kind of bland country music.
  • Said The Whale - Jesse, AR.  Started off as a nothing pop song but had an almost prog. rock change of direction part way through, then reverted to bland nothingness.
  • Don Williams, turned out his song about the Arkansas River referenced Oklahoma, and it was nonsense anyway
But thankfully Glen Campbell can supply a song. Not “Delight, Arkansas”,  not “Arkansas”, where he rhymes “opportunity” with “do to me”, and laments ever having to leave his home state, but  Arkansas Farmboy



Al Green was born in Arkansas. But did he think to write a song about it? Obviously not otherwise it would be here.




And even more  thankfully the second son of Carrie Cloverlee was born in Kingsland, Arkansas, and wrote and performed a song called Arkansas Lovin’ Man in 1972



That’s Arkansas, home of the World Championship Duck Calling contest. Here’s a thirty-two minute clip of the 2017 contest. I think the contestants get 90 seconds of duck calling each. I listened to all of number one, started on the second one but it sounded the same, skipped ahead to number six…..which sounded the same.





And  that’s Arkansas, whose town of Alma is the world spinach capital.


More next week. Will any other state be less inspiring?

CC writes
I was going to post Arkansas Traveler by Michelle Shocked but reading between the lines I think that George secretly wants this

Bruce Springsteen -Mary Queen of Arkansas


6 comments:

  1. It wasn't easy but I resisted this reference from the Billy Ray Cirus classic Acky Breaky Heart

    You can tell your mom I moved to Arkansas

    ReplyDelete
  2. 5 minutes 20 seconds. That's dedication, George.

    I have it on loop.

    Besides that...

    Tony Joe White - They Caught The Devil And Put Him In Jail In Eudora, Arkansas

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKiEQ7i1_Io

    I've been listening to a lot of TJW lately.

    Also...

    Bobby Womack - Arkansas State Prison

    Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Arkansas Coal

    George Strait - Arkansas Dave

    Ha Ha Tonka - Arkansas (How can you at least not give that a try? They're called Ha Ha Tonka, for Bob's sake!)

    Ashley McBryde - Arkansas

    Gossip - Arkansas Heat

    Finally, there was a 70s (I think) Southern rock band called Black Oak Arkansas. For some reason I have a greatest hits compilation of theirs. Not bad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, and I think we should have a weekly mention for Delaware by Perry Como. This week, the lyric would be...

    Too bad that Arkan saw, boy...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rol mentions '70s band Black Oak Arkansas. I saw them at Sheffield City Hall in 1974 supporting Black Sabbath. My recollection of them is that they were dreadful yet he seems to reckon their Greatest Hits alb wasn't too bad. Whilst checking the date for this Sheffield gig I came across this post on a local forum for Sheff City Hall gigs
    "I saw Sabbath supported by Black Oak Arkansas (around 74) Black Oak had released their High On The Hog album and were far the better of the two bands. They were simply awesome (I've heard a few folks say the same). We walked out halfway through the Sabbath set and went to the Albert for a couple o' pints"
    Maybe I'm confusing BOA with some other band but how memories get distorted down the years? Bloody hell I've had to add Black Oak's Greatest Hits to my wants list now (YouTube in modern money) Thanks for that!

    ReplyDelete