WEEKLY SOUTHERN ARTS
"Sometime the boogaloo 
  • Home
  • From The Publishers
  • Summer 1970 - Fishing with Alligators
  • The Fire-Starters
  • Jimi Hendrix Was The Roy Buchanan of Rock & Roll & Other Rural American Stories
  • Real Genius
  • Guns, Faith and Murder
  • A Blue World
  • Nova Explains
  • Satan's Jr. High
  • The Million Dollar Store
  • The People Who care
  • Jesus and The Red Words
  • Sniffing Out White Supremacy
  • Artistic Con-cepts
  • “The Word From The Streets”
  • A Voice from the Crowd
  • How a White-man Became a Black-man In Order To Find His Whiteness—His Alright-ness.
  • Camille Bertault: 2 Views of a Secret
  • Judy Garland - "Soul Singer"
  • Robert & Jimi and the Twenty Seven Blues
  • The Last Vestiges of Mueller’s Collusion Case Just Died...and Nobody Noticed
  • The Great Pretenders
  • Imagine
  • Me and Junior Parker
  • The Republican
  • "Kill The Pigs!!!"
  • "Another of Trump's Henchmen Falls!!!"
  • Saving ISIS, Killing America
  • Cyrus The Great Strikes Again
  • The Big Lie - "Fear Russia Love China"
  • “The Russians are Coming!” (again)
  • "Impeach This!"
  • “Trump Backs Turkey Down”
  • Congressman Elijah Cummings Died last night at the age of 68.
  • Sweet Home Chicago (The Obama Shakedown)
  • Blind as a Bat
  • "I cannot Tell a Lie"
  • If Only Obama Was Still President, Syria Would Be Swell
  • Impeachment Fever
  • The Ballad of Hunter & Joe
  • "God Will Do It!"
  • Jeffrey Epstein & The Mysterious Case of The Infinite Pedophile Monkeys
  • The World is Insane: pt 4095 - “What is Less Than Zero?”
  • The Magic Bullet and The Lonely Death of Jeffrey Epstein
  • The Facts about Illegal Immigration
  • Chicago
  • Liz Warren Hits The Road
  • Traitors & Lies
  • “If The World Was Fair”
  • "The Few, The proud, The Insane: The Democrats"
  • "GOD & UNCLE SAM"
  • A Minor Complaint
  • Murder in The Meantime
  • The 22-yr-old Bottle Blonde
  • “Jerry “The Toad” & other Sesame Street Lessons”
  • "Riffing in Tongues"
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence Revisited
  • The Few The Brave The FBI
  • Jesus and Liz Warren Want to Forgive You
  • The Witch Hunt Ends? Not Even Close.
  • Divine Guidance
  • The Crocodile & The Politician
  • Uncle Joe Apologizes
  • Why I Hate, Hate Crimes
  • It's Only a Matter of Time
  • Let It Rain
  • Dumb & Dumber
  • ....of Poets & Scientists
  • Goodbye Pork-Fried Rat
  • Hearing Duane Eddy
  • Is It Alright...To Be White?
  • "Hell is Real!!!"
  • Mauled by Reality
  • The Cult of The Secret Unknowing Marxist
  • Resist the Devil and He Will Flea
  • The Unwitting Socialist
  • Personal Stories
  • The Magula Report 2019
  • "The New Blood & The New Deal"
  • “The Wall"....and other, mostly silly conversations.
  • The War for the Soul of Mankind: “Stan Getz vs Eric Dolphy”
  • The "Others"
  • White Cracker-Ass Niggas
  • New York Gives The Thumbs Up To Mass Genocide
  • Rudy & Nat
  • A Close Shave With The Well-Intended Bigot
  • This is What Happens When My Favorite Band “The Mellow Herb” Comes To Town
  • The Hemispherical Brain Activity of a Wayward Somnambulist
  • Gun "Race With The Devil"
  • “Half Of All Millennials Think Barack Obama is More Important Than George Washington!!??”
  • "The Dow Posts The Biggest One Day Gain In History."
  • Good Morning Comrades
  • Sharks, Zombies & God
  • A Road Home
  • You're Getting Sleepy....Very Sleepy
  • Stupid People
  • Jezebel and Ahab Make a Comeback
  • Stevie Ray Vaughn: Derivitive Hack or Genius
  • Music & Reminiscence
  • “The Giant Facebook Id-Monster Attacks”
  • “Bullshit...it’s a Damned Invasion!”
  • Bobby-Jack
  • Lowell George searching for authenticity
  • For The Love of Krazy Kat
  • How I Came To Understand That Fighting The Power Was Useless. Unless...You Fight The Power By Giving Power to The Power To Fight The Power
  • Within the Lifetime Of The Average American...The U.S. Population Could Realistically Exceed That of China & India
  • The Problem of Blasphemy In a Secular Society
  • The Waitress and The Power
  • A Message From The Democrats After The 2018 Midterms
  • On This Day Before Election Day, These 5 Things Should Be Remembered As You Vote
  • A Lie Is As Good As The Truth....as long as it's a good lie
  • "Evil Republicans Suppress The Minority Vote"
  • The Enemy of Mankind
  • The Mob
  • Why Chinese Tariffs?
  • A Caravan To Nowhere
  • Ant Farm
  • “They’re Coming For Your Social Security!”
  • The Witchfinder Speaketh
  • Eating Sawdust & Voting Democrat
  • Muslims Kill Washington Post Journalist”...and other stories best left untold
  • Orwell's Nightmare
  • The Sobbing Walrus
  • A Telling Lie
  • Tribal Marxism
  • A Pimp and His Stable of Political Whores
  • "Evidence?.... I Don't Need No Damned Evidence!"
  • A Post Modern Lynching
  • Talkin’ Blues: A White Social Justice Warrior Meets a Bluesman
  • Pocahontas Wants To Impeach President Trump
  • A Belated Tip of The Hat To John McCain's Funeral
  • "Colin Kaepernick Fights The Power. My Brothers!"
  • Jack Ryan: Promoting Jihad & The Brotherhood of Man
  • Rediscovering Willie "The Fruitbat" Johnson
  • The Allegation
  • Message in a Bottle
  • A Coven of Witches
  • The Communist & The Exalted Cyclops
  • America vs Satanic Goat Worshipers
  • Forcing Transgender Penis Cakes on America
  • The Iidots Lament
  • Irritating Post: no. 529
  • Irritating Post: no. 642
  • My Brain is a Liar
  • My New Rap "Alligators"
  • Helpful Hints in Logic
  • The Unredacted News
  • A Loss of Composure
  • The Myth of Objective Fact Checkers
  • Surviving Politics
  • The Pit or The Pendulum
  • Do Not Forsake Me. Not For a Dollar. Not For a Dime.
  • Repeller of The Amorites
  • Sometimes I feel Like a Motherless Child...but only sometimes
  • Welcome To The Freakshow
  • Part One: The Monster Is Summoned
  • A Sideways Glance at Reality....
  • The Ballad of Trey Gowdy
  • Lies, Spies, and Thighs at The FBI
  • The Ballad of Charlie Crockett
  • Children in Cages
  • A Poem For Clifford Odets
  • Anthony Bourdain
  • Like Billy Eckstein Singing to an Empty Club at 1:00 AM on a Saturday Night in 1975.
  • A Letter From The Democratic National Committee
  • Bent
  • "There Were No Spies in The FBI and Other Fictional Tales"
  • The New Rules For Radicals
  • Blood In The Water
  • "3000 American Businesses Colluded with Russia For Profit"
  • I Spy (For The FBI)
  • Free Shit—and Bears
  • Cute Dog Videos
  • How The Press Aided and Abetted Terrorists
  • The Iran Deal Myth
  • The Scouts
  • Pinko Muthafuckas
  • Kelly Joe Phelps
  • Johnny Winter and, 1970
  • Happy Days Are Here Again
  • RAGe Against The Machine
  • Carlos and Buddy
    • How The Bird & Darwin Took Flight With a A7#9 Chord
  • Just a Few Glaring Examples Of Media Scummery
  • They Call it Stormy Monday
  • "I Gotta Take A Wiz" or, "How Starbucks Destroyed the World"
  • Who Needs War?
  • Why The Devil Don't Come Around No More
  • 2+2 Really Does = 4
  • The Tangled Web
  • Shadow Banning
  • What Changed?
  • Oblivious But Concerned
  • "Give Up!"
  • Jesus: The Spirit of Man and God That Illuminates The Darkness
  • Mickey Baker: Goin' To Kansas City
  • "Washington Saves America from Pot-smoking Mass Murderers"
  • Nontraditional Thoughts
  • Attack of The Trillion Dollar Omnibus Bill
  • Hearing Junior Wells “On Tap'' one more Time
  • Just Words
  • Muddy and Me
  • Racist Debtaes About Terrorsim
  • Fidel's Utopia
  • Unwitting Hypocrisy is The Best Kind of Hypocrisy
  • Excess Baggage
  • Excess Baggage pt. 2
  • Fake News Is The New Real News
  • The Death of Billy Graham and Manufacturing Consent
  • American Youth: The Rise of The New Media
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Talk About Slavery and Shit
  • Just Smoke
  • Monkey in a Box
  • How The Children of Sal and Dean Destroyed The World
  • On This Cold Winter's Morn
  • The Crime of the Century
  • Evidence: What The Hell Is It?
  • They Were Pissed: America, Jack Kerouac, and the Beats
  • Negotiating The Maze Of Life and a Blues Shuffle.
  • Everyone Is Hitler (In their own Way)
  • The Mystery of The Giant Balloon Shark
  • Subterfuge and Its Discontents
  • God Debunks Global Warming
  • Day Two: God Continues To Debunk Global Warming
  • Strzoking Russia
  • The Al Franken Effect. Or, How to Destroy America and Lose Elections
  • The Big Maybe
  • The News Apocalypse
  • The Guitarticle (Guitar article)
  • The Nation of Lucifer
  • Slurring Pocahontas
  • Why Everything Good Said About Net Neutrality is a Lie
  • .....and behold, The Cause of Your Demise Is Upon You
  • The Trans-boy That Cried Wolf
  • Believe Nothing
  • Donald Trump Blasts The Heads Off Of Tiny Woodland Creatures
  • The Problem of Hypocrites
  • Roy Moore: Serial Pervert
  • I'm So Frustrated
  • The Devil's Whisper
  • Science Can't Dance
  • You're Gonna Have To Serve Somebody
  • Louie C. K.
  • Common Sense
  • Hunting For Witches
  • Living in The Age of "tRump"
  • The Devil is a Hustler
  • The Skinny
  • Eric Dolphy
  • ISIS Rode in On a Donkey
  • "The Manafort Indictment"
  • The Truth About the Middle East
  • Dennis Budimer's "Alone Together" Revisited
  • The Halloween Edition
  • The 20th Century Was Groovy
  • The Salesman
  • The Dossier
  • Elmore James
  • Isle of The Poor
  • The Patriarchy is Alive and Well
  • Moving Napoleon
  • Guns and Guerrillas
  • Playing Four
  • Hollywood and Scumbags
  • Why Everything You Think, Is Wrong
  • Killing Yourself With Terrorism
  • Being Liberal
  • Laced With Hate
  • A Message From Occupy Democrats
  • A Taxing Dilemma
  • What Really Happened with Aid in Puerto Rico
  • Colin Kaepernick and Beyoncé are geniuses. Part 1
  • When the Levee Breaks
  • The Second Coming of Anthony Weiner
  • How to Never Lose a Fight
  • Creating Chaos out of Meaning
  • Crime and Punishment
  • The Man in the Mirror
  • Guitar Gods of the Sixties
  • Entopy: A Play in One Act
  • The Ragged Tale of a Poverty Stricken Economic Genius
  • The Dreamers
  • Hey There Georgy Girl
  • This Is Not a Defense of Joel Osteen. Or is it?
  • The Ballad of Poindexter Glockenspiel
  • The Big Dummy
  • More Florida in Pictures and Text
  • How Do I Hate Thee
  • Florida in Images and More Images
  • "How To Solve The Healthcare Crisis and Why It's So Damned Hard To Fix"
  • The Big Lie
  • The Demise of the West
  • “Good Times! Good Times! You know, we talkin’ bout Good Times!”
  • "Justice My Ass!"
  • Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
  • The Coming Apocalypse and How to Avoid it: a Historical/Biblical Perspective.
  • "Muthafuckin' Chains!"
  • Lies Our Father's Told Us
  • Poetry and Politics - a few mixed verses
  • The Inner Man
  • The Vampire and The Carpet Salesman
  • Comey Speaks!
  • A Word From Nostradamus about the Comey Hearings
  • The Towering Babble
  • Chain of Fools
  • I Got Ramblin' on My Mind
  • Telling Ourselves Stories
  • Shit! Make Me Wanna Holler!
  • Even More Reasons Why The Paris Accords are Total Horseshit.
  • When Life Imitates Satire
  • Jethro and Becky Sue Come To America
  • Random Apocrypha
  • Why The Paris Climate Accords Are Total Horseshit
  • Urban Stories
  • The Kingdom of God: a personal rant
  • Urban Week @ South Beach
  • Serpico Revisited
  • The Road To Surf-dumb. Or, is it The Road To Serfdom?
  • This is Not a Political Article
  • My Hometown
  • What Does This Mean?
  • We're All Fools Sometime
  • One Pill Makes You Larger
  • "What a Maroon!"
  • Secrets and Lies
  • A Tale of Wine and Murder
  • "White House Under Siege!"
  • The Amateur Narcissist
  • Like a Rock
  • The Greatest of Ally of a True Idiot is.....
  • How To Prove someone's a Witch
  • Jesus Was a Sly Dog
  • An Open Letter From The Democratic National Committee
  • The Power of Language
  • The Existential Croûton
  • Random Facebook Thoughts
  • A Play "The Poverty Racket"
  • The Demise of the 4th Estate
  • Love To Hate My Enemies
  • Feelings, Oh, Oh, Oh, Feelings
  • Art or Reality
  • The Prison Yard Blues
  • Who is Richard Spencer and Why Does He Matter?
  • __an excerpt from "The Power of Voltron "
  • A Plea From a Progressive
  • ANTIFA - The Anti Fascists, Fascists
  • Conspiracy Theory
  • 4 More Poems, 4 More Pictures
  • "Are You Freaking People Insane?"
  • 4 Pictures 4 Poems
  • The Ballad of Carlos Slim
  • Pretending What's in Your Head is True
  • The Cognitive Dissonance of a Faithful Democrat
  • The Human Snakepit
  • George Freeman - Unsung Master of the Jazz Guitar
  • The Price of Milk
  • Suspicious Minds
  • Bill O'Reilly Sexual Predator?
  • The New Soldier
  • Orwell Revisited
  • Larry Coryell - The Godfather is Dead
  • A Tiger Beat
  • South Florida - HOT & COOL
  • Jean Paul Sartre & the Existentialist Mojo
  • Culture Matters, Immigration Matters, Sharks Matter
  • Thomas Sowell
  • A Tree Falls In Central Park on a Gay Banker
  • Black Codes From The Underground
  • Does an Idiot know they're an Idiot?
  • A Poem for Pooh
  • It's All or Nothing Baby!
  • Racism is Alive and Well
  • "Shut the Hell Up!"
  • Jerry Seinfeld - Social Pariah
  • A Man Must Nurture His Pet Peeves
  • Not the Usual Immigration Article
  • Man Talk, with Donald Trump pt. 1
  • Man Talk, with Donald Trump pt. 2
  • The Bad Seed
  • Dogma Never Sleeps
  • Trump and Clinton Debate
  • Was Jesus a True Pacifist?
  • Brexit Was the Shot Heard Around the World
  • Obama, How Great Thou Art
  • War is Good
  • The Willful Ignorance of Intellectual Children
  • What about All Those Peacful Muslims?
  • Terror! What Terror?
  • Biff and Shorty Play The Blues
  • Forty Miles of Bad Road
  • How Obamacare Became the law of the land: And Other Fairytales for Adults
  • Genteel Republicans vs The Alt-Right
  • Should Drugs be Legal?
  • The Prophet Speaks
  • The Dream Sequence
  • Voting 3rd Party and the Moral Low-Ground
  • Sayonara America
  • What does Never Trump Mean?
  • Barack Obama is the Most Brilliant Man Ever to be President?
  • If God Created War, Does That Mean That War is Good?
  • Never Let Your Enemies Define You
  • Facebook, Science & Religion
  • Bullshit by the Numbers
  • Bullshit by the Numbers - part II
  • The Heated Quest for the "No Information Voter"
  • I Love The Dead
  • Those Who Lurk
  • Battered, Bruised and Beaten
  • Trump and Hitler
  • America in Black and White
  • Trans-Athletics
  • Playing a Rigged Game
  • Who was that Mass Murderer?
  • The Kidnappers
  • The Game
  • Terror in Nice: A Variation on a Theme
  • The Idiots Guide on How to Destory the World
  • Terror in France
  • A Fictional Conversation Between a Pastor and a Historian About the Bible
  • The Immoral Necessity for Scapegoats
  • Who Really Shot Those Eleven Cops? Was It Donald Trump?
  • Killer Cops and Cop Killers
  • Happy 4th of July
  • How Do You Cast Your Vote When You've Only Got a Few Bullets Left?
  • "Yes, She's a Lying Sack of Shit....but She's our Lying Sack of Shit."
  • All Apologies
  • Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up
  • Goodbye Scotty Moore
  • If a Bluebird Plays the Blues Why Can't it Play Free Jazz
  • Terror in Turkey
  • When David Slew Goliath
  • The Life & Death of a Global Fat Cat
  • Intentionally Censoring the News
  • The Brits Leave the EU
  • Chick, Christian, Roy & Kenny G
  • Who Really Committed Mass Murder in Orlando
  • The Tale of the Prince and the Shrew
  • A Dying Father's Last Father's Day
  • Mass Murdering, Terrorist's Father is Obama and Hillary's Best Friend
  • Why Cream still Matters 50 Years Later
  • Misguided Anger and Partisan Politics
  • The Deep Guilt of the Religious Left
  • Radical Islam! What Radical Islam?
  • Denial is a River in Egypt
  • A Response to all the Haters
  • Why Muhammad Ali was my Hero (in spite of being a Racist)
  • Why Trump Matters
  • The New Progressive Racism
  • A Tragedy in Cincinnati
  • The Evil that Men do (Women too.)
  • Differences? What Differences?
  • Racism Revisited
  • Battling Immigration Straw Men
  • Blood Quantum
  • Fighting Transgender Straw Men
  • Logical Fallacies about God and Money
  • Progressive Straw Men
  • Everybody is Robbing You Blind
  • On The Road To El Donaldo
  • Dear Mark: About Donald Trump
  • Identifying the Enemy
  • Why I Will Vote For Trump
  • I Totally Agree With Myself
  • Teaching Americans Where to Pee
  • Goodbye Lonnie Mack
  • Bernie Wants You To Pay His Fair Share
  • Bruce Springsteen vs. North Carolina
  • Mr. Smiley Is an Idiot
  • Why Does College Cost So Much?
  • Black Power and Bad Vibes At Whiteness History Month
  • How Facebook Showed Me That We're Doomed
  • Muslims kill Muslims by means of White People
  • The Slap
  • America Wants a 3rd Party Candidate
  • Jesus Loved Everybody
  • Call it what it is.
  • Belgium vs. Turkey. Which One is Worse?
  • Barack, Fidel and Che
  • How He Gonna Get His Money pt. 2
  • How He Gonna Get His Money
  • The Turn of The Screw
  • Dear America: Now, about Trump....
  • The Attack of the Anti Trumpers
  • Did You Know that America is Socialism....and boy, ain't it Swell
  • Trump - Prophet or Blowhard?
  • Black Lies Matter, All Lies Matter
  • The Donald and the Debate
  • Leonardo and The Bear
  • The Thunder Rolled and the "Trump" Blows em all to Hell
  • Fragmented Fairytails
  • Cars That Never Were but Should've Been, Part 6
  • Building The Perfect Beast
  • America: A Tale of Two Cities, Part 1
  • Uncle Bernie in New Hampshire
  • The Big L
  • The Diary of a Former Leftist
  • Free Speech not Hate Speech?
  • State of the Union
  • Losing My Religion
  • Don't Take Our Guns Away Until We Kill Those Honky Bastards
  • Bye Bye Europe
  • "Trump is a Racist!"
  • "Hell Yeah! I've Got Obama Care!
  • Trumponomics
  • Woman of the Year
  • Malicious Intent and the Art of the Microaggression
  • Muslim No-Go Zones - Myth or Reality?
  • Donald J. Trump and the Muslim Migration to America
  • There Is No God But Allah?
  • Roadhouse - The Reboot
  • Sometimes You Just Can't Win
  • A Few Thoughts Regarding Trump
  • Cars That Never Were But Should've Been, Part 5
  • You Can Have My Steering Wheel When You Pry It From Cold, Daed Hands
  • The Great Debate
  • Al, Thomas and Paul - Malthusians Then and Now
  • A Prophet Debates Global Warming and other retated Dogma
  • Memes, Scapegoats, Propaganda
  • Little Hillary and Her Monsters
  • A Prophecy for America
  • The Basketball Metaphor
  • Vladimir Putin: An American Hero
  • Little Things
  • The Democrats Debate
  • It's All Ablout da Benjamins
  • Remember When?
  • Mass Shooter
  • Cars That Never Were But Should've Been: Part 4
  • Should A Muslim Be President in America?
  • The Strange Case of Ahmed Mohamed
  • Debt and Other Devious Angels
  • Bernie Sanders is Caesar not Jesus
  • An inconvenient Truth
  • Who's really a Native American?
  • The Rebirth of the Silent Majority
  • Money That's What I Want!
  • The Syrian Crisis and the Memeing of America
  • Why Societies Have Generally Valued Men More than Women
  • The Problem of Evil
  • A few Thoughts on a Few Things
  • The Authentic pose of a Black White Man
  • Sweden: Socialist Utopia or Progressive Madhouse?
  • Why Dogs Matter
  • Guilty Until Proven Innocent
  • Was Jesus a Socialist?
  • "The Donald" A Man for the Ages
  • Harvesting the Wheat - or - Karma's a Real Bitch
  • Cecil The Lion
  • Cars That Never Were but Should’ve Been, Part 3
  • Secrets and Lies
  • Can Minorities Be Racist?
  • I Was Just Thinking....Hmm?
  • Iran Deal - Good or Bad?
  • Jihad or Not Jihad? That is the Question.
  • "Let's Do Lunch" with Planned Parenthood
  • America The Contemptible
  • Marriage, Bigotry and Cooties
  • The Things We Care About
  • The Simplicity of it All
  • A Dissenting Opinion
  • Cars That Should've Been, But Never Were: part II
  • Live Now, Pay Later
  • I Am, Whatever I Say I Am!
  • Bernie Sanders is the Dumbest Bastard on Earth
  • Cars That Never Were But Should've Been
  • Bruce Jenner
  • The Good Society
  • A Personal Jesus For My Own
  • Take a Ride on a Hell Bound Train
  • Requiem For a Car Show
  • Obama Channels Neville Chamberlain in Dealing with Iran
  • The Short Life of a Political Lemming
  • The Strongman
  • The Broken Window
  • The Selective Outrage of The Anti Israel Left
  • When the Blind Lead the Blind
  • Top Brass With Class
  • Living In A world On Fire
  • Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell
  • What The Hell Is Esotericism?
  • Unicorns, Free Healthcare and other Mythological Creatures
  • Heroes and Dunces
  • A Few Thoughts On a Few Things
  • The Return Of Super Fly
  • Should You Ever Bet On A dead Horse?
  • Money For Nothing
  • Across The Great Divide
  • Tom, Jerry, Eddie & Sydney
  • The Folly of Foibles
  • Who really killed Eric Garner?
  • The Art of The Sale
  • Political Bullshit and All That Jazz
  • Oh, The Horror of It All
  • To Torture or Not To Torture, That is The Question
  • Selective Justice
  • Executive Action
  • Give Us Your Tired, Poor and Ambitious
  • Johnny Winter, Ahhh-Yeahh!
  • Homeless and Transgender "Let My People Pee!"
  • Are We Insane? You Betcha!
  • Ebola and Racism
  • You're a Racist, Just Admit It!
  • To Discriminate or Not to Discriminate, That is the Question
  • The Life of an Imaginary Historian
  • Why Most Debates About The Minimum Wage are Bullshit
  • The Return of the Infinite Monkeys
  • Politically Correct Genocide
  • Language and the illusion of Meaning
  • Obama vs. Reagan
  • Is Barack Obama our Most Successful President Ever?
  • White Racism Black Racism
  • The Race
  • Should People Be Free to Discriminate?
  • Science, Religion and Brother Neil
  • Welcome To America
  • The Reincarnation of Jimmy Carter and the Return of Scarface
  • SCOTUS, Condoms and Collateral Damage
  • The American Dream
  • Attack of the Bloated Leeches or "Why Does the Economy Suck pt. II"
  • Why Does the Economy Suck?
  • Jaco Pastorius - A Passage in Time
  • How can we save the world, from people who want to save the world?
  • A Short Political rant: pt I
  • Jerry Reed, Tom Jones and the Original Guitar Heroes
  • Part Two: The Politics of the Eloi and the Morlock
  • Angel: part 7
  • Wayne Cochran "Going Back to Miami"
  • Blessed Assurances and other Iron Clad Guarantees
  • James Brown & the Art of the Indefinite Rhythm
  • If the Bible Say's it, I believe It!
  • Go For a Jog, Go to Jail
  • Life as Theatre and The Well-Intended Sociopath
  • Rory Gallagher & Taste
  • Utopia and the Militant Socialist
  • Matt Damon & the Teachers Union vs. the Capitalist Pigs
  • The Fight of the Century
  • The Last Damned Healthcare Article You'll Ever Need
  • The Gospel According to Mark
  • You Might Be an Idiot if.....
  • How To Interpret Political Speech and other Forms of Gibberish
  • Polygamy and the Search For Morality
  • The "Big" Gulp
  • When a Lie is the Truth and the Truth is a Lie
  • Jim Hall - The Subtle Radical
  • Making Deals With the Devil in Iran
  • Dennis and Mary
  • Thank You Lord For the Good Things You have Done
  • Excersise In Futility
  • Is Obama The Antichrist?
  • The Case for Limited Government (and that includes a limited military)
  • The Weekly Southern Blog
  • Angel: part VI
  • The Esoteric Agenda
  • Ted Bundy & The Hunt For The Devil
  • Things I wish the President Knew Pt. 3
  • Really Now, I'm Syria
  • What Will You Do?
  • Charlie & Clint: Dead & Deader
  • God Loves Me and Has a Plan For My Life...Right?
  • Trayvon & George : An American Hate Story
  • Is God's Grace Ecclesiastical White-out?
  • Jury Duty
  • The Left's Contradictory Love Affair With Gays & Muslims
  • Hee Haw and Grandma and Grandpa
  • Little Tommy & The Blues Kings
  • Gay Marriage: Part II
  • Kayaking "The Big Cypress" with Crocodlies
  • The Birth of The Jazz Guitarist
  • Running With The Bullshit In Pamplona
  • Divided By Abortion
  • Gay Marriage
  • Life on the Fault-line
  • Out of the Wild
  • A Generation Out Of Touch
  • Morning Faith with a Cup of Joe
  • For The Children
  • Made up Facts & True Beliefs
  • The Unforgettable - Nat 'King' Cole
  • Slavery Was Big Business....and It Still Is!
  • Garage Band - The 1960's
  • A Man's Best Friend is his Dogma
  • Voting With Our Private Parts
  • Investors of the World, Unite
  • Good Intentions...bad results
  • The Plural of "You"
  • How to Get God to Give You What You Want: Redux
  • We Have Not Yet Begun To Fight
  • Polls–Divination or Manipulation?
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   Johnny Winter, Ahhh-Yeahh!  

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Johnny Winter, Ahhh-Yeahh!

What an iconic name amongst guitar greats! Ever since the ‘60s and ‘70s, I have been a huge admirer of Mr. Winter, with his gravelly voice accompanying his foot-stomping, slide-blues playing on his National Steel Dobro guitar or his elevating, high-energy blues-rock coming off his Gibson Firebird.

If I had not seen his picture first in 1969, I would not have believed this guy was a white man upon hearing him the first time. White! Did I say white? Well that’s an understatement, because he was the true meaning of white, when considering one’s skin attributes. The man was an Albino, and that’s as white as you can get, my friend. But, don’t confuse the white with his music as it is often used—as if he had two left feet. No, this man had the soul of a black bluesman at his best and fingers that could fly.

He had a cool way of combining old black-style blues the likes of: Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Lead Belly, Blind Lemon, and John Lee Hooker, collectively, with the masterful fingering styles of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. He, correspondingly, used a plastic thumb pick and a two-finger technique that was thrown in with the added masterful flavors of his slide fitted on his pinky. This and the integration of the ’60s British blues boom, all combined, shaped the uniqueness of Johnny Winter’s approach to the blues.

Unique for sure! When you heard his guitar and/or his voice coming through the speakers, you knew right away, this was the one and only Johnny Winter and no one else. Not only was his playing style unique, but other things that shaped who he was, such as his amplifiers’ knob setting preference; in his own words, “everything on all the way, and all treble, no bass.” His guitar preferences; Gibson Firebird, Gibson Flying V or National Steel Dobro; although he used others throughout his life, the Stratocasters, Telecasters, Les Paul’s, etc., but the Firebird and Flying V and Dobro are always identified with Johnny Winter.

JW’s early ’70s arena rock was heavy on high-energy guitar riffs that came across like Lightnin’ Hopkins on steroids. He shifted back and forth from old country delta blues to that bursting electrifying guitar which oftentimes involved that kicking signature slide. To my ears and eyes, he truly was a blues/rock wunderkind.

The first time I heard Johnny Winter was in 1969, on the radio, and I was floored! I ran out immediately to purchase his first record, the 1969 self-titled LP, “Johnny Winter.” I was immediately captured, especially on his original cut “Dallas;” by the combination of fingerpicking on his Dobro National guitar and the slide. He truly was a singular voice as an acoustic slide player.

Rock bands of the time were also doing renditions of blues standards, such as Eric Clapton’s band, Cream, with their version of “Cross Roads” (Robert Johnson) or Led Zeppelin’s “You Shook Me” (Willie Dixon), yet Johnny Winter’s blues, such as “Dallas,” which he wrote, gave into more traditionalism, not only in his playing, but also in the addition of that Old South black man’s blues-graveled voice. No matter the approach, his blistering electric blues-rock, or his more traditional acoustic blues, JW was JW and no one else would ever match him on this.

So, I was hooked and could not stop playing the record, over and over again. I played it so much that, I have to admit, I got pretty darn good at emulating his gravelly voice; AHH-Yeahh. Ha-ha.

I could not wait for the release of his second record which came out very soon after his first. The second album was simply called, “Johnny Winter - Second Winter.”

Again, I was blown away, especially by his version of Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” or the opening cut "Memory Pain," and this one traveled into a more psychedelic blues-rock terrain. This record really showed a movement in him as his music was evolving towards the more rock-and-roll sounds he would go on to create. The original release, which I have, was a two LP disc, although there were only three sides recorded on them, the fourth was blank. It’s too bad he did not fill it with more, but there were plenty of records to follow.

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I have to say that I was never a big fan of posters, pictures or any other graphics regarding entertainers adorning my walls as did some of the people I knew, but, for some reason, I had in my possession a big portrait of JW which, to this day, I still do not remember how I obtained it, nor where it came from. But, contrary to my normal inclination, I took this portrait of him and framed it in an old-style, gold-metal frame, and yes, I adorned my wall with it, which I continued to do everywhere I moved for the next few years. I believe I still have it somewhere, perhaps buried amongst other memorabilia in my attic? I need to try and find it someday.

Now, as this was out of the ordinary for me to do, as I mentioned, due to not believing in this sort of nonsense, others, such as my musical friends who knew me well, thought this was definitely strange of me, for reasons relating to my rationality, yet their thinking made perfect sense. “Why do you have a Johnny Winter picture on the wall, and no drummers? Where are the pictures of drummers like John Bonham, Buddy Rich, etc? You are a drummer, not a guitarist!”

Well, how right they were, nevertheless, for some reason, I felt connected with this musician and what he brought—a fresh approach to the blues. To add, I have always been attracted to the guitar. I guess this stems from having played with my older brother who has been a guitarist for so many years. We both started around the same time and all we had was each other to play with in the very beginning, so I got very tuned in to having only that instrument playing along with me. In having been around it all of my life, I understand it very well, although I don’t play. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is what it is.

I mention that I have always been a big blues fan, well, for this I have to thank my father. He introduced my brother and me to the blues at a very young age. He was also a very big fan, obviously! My father was not a musician, as were my brother and I; however, he was a great big fan of music, especially jazz, blues and later, all types of rock. Two of his favorite rock musicians and/or groups were Hendrix and ZZ Top.

With that being said, I was little different than my friends growing up in that era; not only liking rock, I loved blues and jazz. When I heard JW’s first record it was as if, in some way, returning back in time to that Delta-style blues of old with a little breath of fresh air added in from the new times, which was very relatable for me.

In those days, FM radio was considered underground and not yet mainstream, as it is today. Today, those that didn’t live in the ’60s and ’70s have no clue as to what I am referring to here, for all they have ever known is FM, or what I like better now, Sirius Radio. Sirius Radio is not as commercialized as FM has now become. Sirius, for me, is in some ways returning back to the underground times of FM. Nonetheless, back then, it was AM radio that dominated the airwaves, but, once FM stations got their teeth in, they soared high. This is the reverse of today, with AM on the back end of the radio spectrum.

Whenever you could get FM back in the day, it usually came across later at night and, little by little, it crept up in popularity amongst our generation, for which I have to give a lot of credit to the FM radio DJs. They would be playing dual roles; a full-time gig on AM in the day and, at night, part-timing on FM and playing the LP ("Long play”) versions of songs. The same songs being played in the daytime on AM radio, but were shortened for air play (45 rpm) version; approximately two minutes and forty seconds. In doing this, they were cutting out most of what we would consider “the good stuff.” The original recordings of most songs would extend from four minutes to ten minutes or even longer; “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (Iron Butterfly) was one of the longest studio rock song recordings at the time, a little longer than 17 minutes and cut down to two minutes and 53 seconds for the 45 rpm version played on AM radio.

So FM radio became popular by playing these long versions of songs for which we kept our ears glued to the radio in excitement. As time went on, it became the norm and, eventually, FM ate up AM. The rest, as they say, is history. With the help of FM radio, the music scene, and its artists, became ever more popular, as this was a great platform for concert promotions.

One night while driving around with my friends and listening to the radio, I heard a promotion about “Johnny Winter And” (Shortened from what was originally to be called “Johnny Winter and The McCoys” due to his backup band being from the line up of the band “The McCoys.” “The McCoys” were Rick Derringer and his brother Randy Z (drummer), their family name being Zehringer, along with bassist Randy Jo Hobbs). “Johnny Winter And” were coming to town at the ever-popular concert venue known as “Pirates World.” This place was only a few minutes from my house so, since it was possible to participate every weekend, I took full advantage.

When the news came from the radio of JW’s coming, I thought, “Finally, I’ll get up close to see the man!” And, as he would say, “AHHH-YEAHH!”

This was 1970 and my friends and I were right up front in the “pit,” as we called it, waiting with anticipation for their entry. Have to mention that, by this time, they had replaced Randy Z on the drums with Bobby Caldwell, for which I was tremendously pleased. This guy played his butt off and, not to mention, had a great foot (bass drum foot action), of which I had become a big fan since John Bonham’s (Led Zeppelin) admission, bringing the bass drum to the front of playing due to his phenomenal foot work on a single bass drum.

The concert started and it was incredible, to say the least. Not a shred of disappointment throughout the concert. Johnny laid some new songs on us and those from his previous albums, too. I remember his rendition of Rick Derringer’s composition “Rock-n-Roll Hoochie Koo.” It rocked the house down for sure. When Rick Derringer released it on his own a couple of years later, it lacked the same intensity of JW’s version.

On this particular 1970 tour, they had been recording a live album of the tour with some recordings taken from two venues; The Capital Theater in New York and Pirates World in Diana, Florida. You could say this pre-dates my first nationally-released records with my own band (Viktim) a few years later, because, if you listen close, you may hear me as one of the few thousand other fans in the audience, ha-ha.

This album became huge and his popularity grew even more, but it soon would ring in dark times for Johnny Winter, as his momentum was throttled down hard as he sank into heroin addiction during the “Johnny Winter And” days. He did, however, seek treatment for his addiction and eventually recovered.

In 1972, friends and I went to a huge pop festival which had a diverse lineup from, “The Allman Brothers,” “John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra,” “Edgar Winter and White Trash” and others. Although it was a great mix, and was, for a musician like myself, a tasty smorgasbord, I really wanted to go and see “The Edgar Winter and White Trash” group. They had released a kicking combination of Funk, Blues, R&B, Rock & Roll and Gospel album that same year.

On the way to the concert, we heard on the radio from the DJ broadcasting that there was a rumor flying around that Johnny Winter was going to make a special appearance with Edgar’s group. To hear this made it more awesome to me, because, ever since we had heard of his entering a drug rehab, there was little news as to what was going to come out of JW, so this was very exciting. This would also be another first for us; “Johnny Winter And Live,” recorded at Pirates World 1970, and Johnny’s return to the stage, again in South Florida at the Hollywood Sportatorium’s outdoor pop concert event (actually located on the adjacent, long-gone “Miami-Hollywood Speedway Park”—a popular drag strip back in the day). Either JW loved this town of ours for allowing us to be part of his personal journey in life or we were being lavished with gifts from above!

It was a very hot summer South Florida day, especially when you were in the middle of nowhere, with wide open space and no shade, I mean it was hot! No worries, there were plenty of cold drinks and good smoke to keep us in form. From early afternoon to late night, thousands of fans such as me speared through one act after another with anticipation of the two major acts that day; Edgar Winter and White Trash and the Allman Brothers. Of course, by this time everyone at the concert had heard there was a possibility the certainty of Johnny’s return this night. (This is how riots can happen—a rumor becomes a sure thing.) In any case, we all waited with excitement and were only willing to accept just that; his arrival to that stage, there, that night, and nothing less!


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Ultimately Edgar’s group arrived on stage and performed, really sounding great. Roughly three songs in, and as you know, concert-going songs can be a lot lengthier than what you get on a record, yes, even longer than that of LP versions we were always delighted with on FM radio a couple of years earlier, people were screaming, “Where’s Johnny”?

With people screaming for Johnny, “Where is Johnny? We want Johnny.” so on and so forth, I figure that Edgar and the boys must have decided it was the proper time to make the announcement, “People keep asking me, ‘Where’s your brother, Johnny?’ “ (Fans go crazy, the anticipation of the next few words will decide the fate of tonight’s show; mayhem or exultation?) and, with the raising of Edgar’s right arm, he points to stage left, and out comes this tall, long-white-haired, skinny man as the thousands of people in the audience go wild and scream, “JOHNNY!!” Above them all, you could hear Johnny’s famous roar, “AHHHHYEAHHHH!!!”

And he did not disappoint—none whatsoever. This night Ronnie Montrose (Edgar’s guitarist), and an awesome guitar player, had to take a back seat to the man himself; John Dawson Winter III.

By 1973, Johnny Winter returned to the music scene and released a new album, “Still Alive and Well,” properly titled due to his battle with heroin addiction. The disc was a blend of blues and hard rock, as in the tradition of JW, and was well received. The title track was written by Rick Derringer, but, unfortunately, Derringer did not return on the road with him, nor did Bobby Caldwell.

A few years passed as I continued to buy JW’s records and go and see his concerts whenever I could. By now, I, too, was a fulltime musician and at most times when he was working, I was, as well. The difficulties of seeing him live became much harder, and so, I had to resort to listening to records or watching brief television appearances when possible.

1981 was a benchmark year for me and my band, Viktim. We had won a big band contest and, in so doing, we got the opportunity to open for a major act. There were other prizes, but the concert staging with a major act was important to us at that time, as this is what we were gearing ourselves for also; to be national recording artists with a good few years of concert touring and record sales, etc.

A couple weeks had passed when the contest promoters finally informed me of the date of the show in which we were to open for the major act. I asked, “Who will the major act be?”

The promoters responded, “None other than Johnny Winter.”

“Wait—wait a minute—did you just say Johnny Winter?”

“Yes! Don’t you want to play that show? Would you like another upcoming date instead?”

“No! Are you kidding? Don’t touch anything, this is great! Thanks, see you showtime.”

I hung up the phone and called my brother to inform him of the great news. By the way, the band Viktim with which I played back then, was a band my brother Rick (guitarist) and I had created, so not only did I have to tell him first before the other members, but, as a guitarist, he was also a big fan of JW.

Now here we are a few weeks later getting ready to share the stage with the man—Johnny Winter!

Showtime comes, we do our show, all is well and finally backstage I get to meet Johnny. Yeah, that’s right, I get to call him by his first name now, because we both get to be comrades for the night’s events.

We were introduced to each other and commenced a small conversation, with him thanking me for being a part of the night’s show and telling me how good we sounded and wishing us good luck in the future and hoped we could do this again in the coming years. It was not only great to be a part of this, but also to hear this man being somewhat humble towards us.

I have to say that when I met him, Johnny was a lot skinnier up close and personal. His hand, when we shook, was like holding onto a skeleton, cold and very bony. His albino, very white skin and hair, and his barely open eyes due to the light, for Albinos are very sensitive to it, made him seem frailer than when he was on stage. He also had a very soft spoken voice, contrary to that which you heard on stage, strong, forceful and gravelly.


So now my journey had made a full circle; a man and music I had cherished and followed throughout his concerts and records were now sharing the same stage with us—together as one.

As years have passed, I have had the pleasure of sharing many upon many a stage with other big musicians, but with only a couple of exceptions, little has come close to the pleasure of this experience.

It was a sad day when I heard the news of his passing a few weeks ago. The music world lost a great icon, yet, I thank God for his legacy, both the records that he left behind to remind us of his greatness and the many musicians who continue to be influenced by him. 


I am also thankful for the time I got to share the stage with a man I admired so much. He will surely be missed. Rest in Peace, Johnny…

Serge Dilorenzo

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