WFMU's Beware of the Blog

RIP Elizabeth Clare Prophet (MP3s)

This Thursday Elizabeth Clare Prophet (aka Guru Ma), the former leader of the bizarre new age doomsday cult Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) aka The Summit Lighthouse, died at the age of 70 in a nursing home in Bozeman, Montana, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease since 1998. The Summit Lighthouse was started in 1958 by Mark Prophet in Washington, D.C. He later married Elizabeth, they moved it to Colorado, and she took over the leadership after Mark's death in 1973. Under the name Church Universal and Triumphant they eventually moved to California in 1976, and finally to Montana in 1986, where they bought a 12,000-acre ranch just north of Yellowstone Park. Being convinced that the end of the world was near, they built a 756-person underground bomb shelter in a pristine alpine meadow and stocked up on firearms. When everyone assembled in the bomb shelters on the date of the predicted apocalypse on March 15, 1990, nothing happened, and eventually CUT members started to lose faith in the prophetic abilities of Elizabeth Prophet, and left the church in droves.

News of the Dead: This Just In—Soldiers Die in U.S. Civil War

Deaths come in pairs, and sometimes it seems that News of the Dead does, too. In the past week there have been two stories about the remains of Civil War soldiers in this area.

First there was the ceremonial burial of the remains of a New York soldier who died at Antietam (Sept. 17, 1862—the bloodiest day of the war, with over 23,000 killed). A tourist at the battlefield found some bone fragments, uniform buttons, a belt buckle, and scraps of fabric about a year ago; the buttons identified the remains as being that of a soldier from one of the 24 New York regiments that fought that day. Government Scientists and Experts had a go and decided the soldier was between 17 and 19 years old when he died. That was about as much as they could figure out, so the bits and bones were put into a box inside a “period-appropriate” pine coffin and sent to the National Cemetery near Schuylerville. Civil War re-enactors stood guard over the coffin until it was buried last week on the 147^th anniversary of the battle. The grave marker says it’s an unknown soldier who died at Antietam. “We’re going to remember him as a hero,” says Donald E. Roy, the director of New York’s Military Forces Honor Guard (and a civilian)—although, of course, no one knows who the soldier was or what he really did.

Next was the story of John F. Wescott Jr., who was fooling around with findagrave.com and discovered that his great, great, great grandpa, Capt. Andrew W. Davis of the 8^th Infantry Regiment of New Jersey, was buried in an unmarked grave in Newark. Last Saturday the Wescotts got together and installed a marker from the Veterans Administration over the Captain, who died from the wound he got when he was shot in the leg at Gettysburg.

These two dead Civil War soldiers caught my attention because at the time I was reading This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, by Drew Gilpin Faust. Of course I was aware that the Civil War changed the way death was regarded in the U.S.—it furthered the development and use of embalming, for one thing. But Faust’s book explains how far-reaching the changes were. The slaughter brought about the Federal Government’s first foray into arranging its citizens’ personal lives, caused people to reject their religious beliefs, and resulted in both widespread sentimentality and cynicism. It launched a tentative move towards women’s rights, created big advances in the field of statistics, and made James Russell Lowell write bad poetry (and lots of people write atrocious songs). It caused people to fret about identifying and returning the remains of their dead—just like the box of bone bits in New York and the Captain’s grave in New Jersey. It’s a terrific book, well-researched and well-written, and I recommend it to you.

Thanks for reading my blogpost this time, and may God bless.

Pentecostal ZZ Top Impersonators (video)

Here is a very catchy song by WinterBand about the modern scourge of women talking in Church. The self-description reads "WinterBand is a father and son Christian rock/blues/metal band. We are Apostolic Pentecostal Acts 2:38 Christians." Take that, ZZ Top!

And if you wonder who the other two guys playing with Father and Son Winter are, here is another quote from their YouTube description: "Special thanks to Bobo on bass, Hayseed on guitar and especially the Dept of Corrections for allowing them to do this as part of work release."

Pneumershonic - The Mark of the Beast (video)

This is a shortened web version of Mark Jasper's documentary The Mark of the Beast about outsider musician Pneumershonic, grabbed from YouTube.

You can read more about Pneumershonic and download his album Frequencies of the Beast, in this earlier post of mine. If you want to obtain the DVD with the whole documentary, your best bet would be to contact Matt Jasper via the MySpace page.

My So-Called "Death"

I was feeling a little glum one day a few weeks ago, and I started moaning (via email) to DJ Kelly about how when I die nobody's gonna come to my funeral, etc. etc. boo-hoo-hoo, and this is what she replied:

Your fucking funeral would be so humongous that I shudder to think about how annoying it would be if you died. I would organize the memorial service, of course, and do my best to keep out spotlight-seeking mother-in-laws. There would be every WFMU person there, including some you hate, and rabid fans hoping to claw their names into your coffin. Your death would inspire copy-cat suicides by at least two Listeners. The mayor of your tiny Upstate town would declare a special moment of silence at the dog park, and Baxter would get a special little pallbearer’s outfit and sit on top of your coffin during the procession through town, howling in pain. I would go to the NY Times with a gun and force someone there to write an entire full-page obituary about you and your legacy, if only in order to make you turn over in your grave. Afterward, I would visit you at your gravesite on top of some sunny little hill on a peaceful slope somewhere in Westchester. And your headstone would be engraved with "May God Bless," with a picture of your face that you would never recognize.
 Don't die or I'll kill you.

I just want to point out that I do not "hate" anyone at WFMU. Certainly not.
Thanks for reading my funeral plans, and may God bless.

Bishop Perry Tillis and friends rock down to Electric Avenue, and take it higher

A few years ago WFMU's Sinners Crossroads host Kevin Nutt sent me the gift of a DVD with footage shot by Steve Grauberger of late electric gospel guitar great Bishop Perry Tillis, performing live in 1995 at the Savior Lord Jesus Pentacostal Lord Jesus Church down in Samson, Alabama. Assuming Kevin sent it knowing my penchant for raucous noise, I found it safe to say viewing this thing possibly holds its own up against your basic Throbbing Gristle/Whitehouse/SPK clips out there in terms of documenting some heavy and somewhat disorienting electric testifying. Where to even begin: the distortion, the broken snare, Tillis' steadfast choogle blending in to the vocal sheets of noise. Maybe it's just a case of the audio gain being high on the camera itself, but I'd like to think that in the room itself, this was one hell of a holy racket. See for yourself below as I've edited together and uploaded a few chunks to share. Supposedly a Tillis documentary by Tyler Bell is in the works, and we should also mention that Mississippi Records has recently put out an LP collection called In Times Like These culled from 72 hours of very raw cassette tapes, which also, as they say, is not for the faint of heart.

Onward, Christian Soldiers (video)

Manfred Mann vocalist Paul Jones covers the hymn Onward, Christian Soldiers. This clip is taken from the 1967 film Privilege by Peter Watkins, a pseudo-documentary set in near-future (i.e., the 70s) Britain, about a pop star whose career is controlled and manipulated by Church and State.

The Gods Are Here, and Maybe the Channelled Spirit of Sam Kinison

via Greg Baise/Stephen O'Malley

Nachum, Your JM in the AM Marathon Finale 2010 Musical Guest, In the Bag

via Henry Owings/sac71837's You Tube page.

For April Winchell (mp3s)

When I started getting into oddio, my friend Benari sent me a link to the 365 Days Project.  From there I found April Winchell.  And FMU after that.  And now I are riting for them!  (And since I'm sucking up, thanks to Derek at Here It Wow for getting me here)  April is where I first listened Little Markie and Little Marcy and cringed to Tiny Tot Calvin sing A Cowboy for Jesus.  April is the person that first introduced me to the phrase "CAUTION CHILDREN SINGING".  So let me thank her with not one christian child singing but a whole bunch of recently converted Korean christian children singing America The Beautiful with there adorable reversals of "r" and "l".

This comes off an album called Billy James Hargis' Korean Guys and Dolls.  I can find no real discrenable reason for this title.  Produced in 1970, It bears no relation whatsoever to to the stage show/movie.  In fact, there's not a single show tune on the album.  It's 60% hymns, 15% traditional Korean folks songs an 15% Americana.

Quick Quiz!  Here's the track list for side two in no particular order.  What I'm looking for is the last song on the album.  Bonus points if you get everything in the right order

How Great Thou Art
America The Beautiful
Blessed Assurance
My Jesus Thou Wilt
Battle Hymn of the Republic
He Hideth My Soul
Down in the Valley
In the Garden

I'm so tempted to post the answer tomorrow but that seems horribly unfair.  The answer is

Ashcroft and Bacon: Sizzlean

Austin artist and Poodle co-creator Ethan Persoff recently had a lively face to face with John Ashcroft when he infiltrated a thoughtful, measured event titled "Can OBAMA ... KEEP AMERICA Safe? An Evening With John Ashcroft". His tale is well worth the read, especially for this moment:

I decide to double my bet. I lean up. "Mr Ashcroft, I'm sorry and I know this is tacky. Thank you so much for the photo. But can I also have an autograph?" My arms outstretched with a paper and pen, John ejaculates, "I can do one better. Why don't I just sit down."

Who is this John Ashcroft, you ask? Well, besides being Bush's Attorney General he is also well known as the voice behind America's unofficial anthem "Let the Eagle Soar"* (listen to Bryce's luscious cover version). But before that, a young Missouri State Auditor teamed up with fellow state politician Max Bacon to form the gospel duo Ashcroft & Bacon.

Here are the songs from their vanity pressing "Truth, Volume One". More photos and liner notes available here.

Why Me, Lord | Reach Out to Jesus | Jesus Hold My Hand | The Broken Vessel | King Jesus | Unseen Hand | Didn't He Shine | I Find No Fault In Him | More About Jesus |We've Come This Far By Faith | Come Holy Spirit | Jesus Is Lord of All

* Oh yeah, and he's a hateful war monger who abhors civil liberties, champions an ever useless war on drugs, and approves of torture. Let's not forget that.

Children Of The Corny (mp3s)

What do you get when you cross monotheism with wayout synthesizers and stage mothers?  God’s Kids!

I’ve been advised by legal counsel that posting more than three of these songs might result in toxic levels of terminal cuteness for which I will be monetarily responsible for.  I’m not about to get sued over a God’s Kid.  Rather, I’m going to play the celestial bartender that gives you just enough that you’re drunk, but not drunk enough to get pulled over.

God's Kids - God's Kids

Cue the watery, funky syntesizer!  That Jesus was so funny and quirky!  And those kids are so adorable that I just wanna make sure they have the best time in Heaven that they possibly can!  I'm not sure but I listen to this (and the other songs) with the volume cranked and I was pretty sure I could hear the mother's in the background mouthing words along with their sweet little children.  But who, is that middle aged guy claiming he's a God's Kid, too.  I'm keeping an eye on him.

God's Kids - Jesus Loves

There's something theologically unsound about the opening line of this one: "Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose you and me to be his very own."  Given that the Creation Week paper work has never been released despite numerous FOI requests, we can't know if God pre-designed His course of action or just winged it.  Either way, if you're not thinking about cutting yourself mid-way through this, then you're a better person than I.

God's Kids - Won't Be's

Turn that frown upside-down, reader!  When you get up to Heaven (because, after all, you're a God's Kid too) nothing will ever suck again.  Ever.  And you'll learn that listing the good things in Heaven is better than listing all those icky Earthly things that will make your impending death such a relief - like teachers!  Or this song!  Why?  "'Cuz Jesus promised".

Ballad of the Skeletons (video)

A "clean" and abridged version of Allen Ginsberg's "Ballad of the Skeletons", with music by Paul McCartney, and video directed by Gus van Sant.

YouTube [link]:

After the death of Dr. King.... (MP3's)

I wish I had discovered this tape in time to post it last week, but I only listened to it for the first time within the past three or four days. I know nothing about it, except that it is from a reel to reel tape which I bought at least a year ago (it can take me awhile to get through things....), and that all of the tapes from this purchase that I've listened to so far - maybe 12 or 14 of them - have some connection to the  University of Notre Dame in the 1960's. Most were recorded there, or at events clearly sponsored by the University.

There have been lectures to seminary students about various subjects, in-service type lectures and question and answer sessions for newly married couples and new parents, even a couple of tapes featuring a symposium on Vatican II. Each tape was marked fairly accurately, often in some detail. I was looking forward to tape featuring a lecture on the teaching of sex education, given by someone named Susan Dick, but that one turned out to be so poorly recorded as to be unlistenable. 

The tape featured today was actually mislabeled. The box reads "Father Putz: Laity Comes of Age". I was not particularly looking forward to Father Putz' lecture, and I'm glad to say that's not what was on the tape.

Instead of that lecture, what this tape held was quite a bit more interesting, and to me at least, quite stunning. Here we have a priest discussing his experiences on the day of, and days after, the death of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., experiences which quickly led him to the decision to go to the funeral, an event which he also discusses. I can't quite put a handle on this man's accent (sometimes he sounds Swedish to me, at other times German), and I have no idea what his name might be, but I found this recording remarkable and completely irresistable. 

In particular, I'm taken with the speaker's recall of the reaction in middle America - or at least some of those who he came in contact with - within a day of Dr. King's death, which included everything from absolute lack of interest to what sounds like almost a feeling of "good riddance", but mostly a profound lack of understanding of what had just happened, on the part of the white people (including some clergy) whom he came in contact with, and the speaker's inability to and frustration with finding a way to point out the problems in their attitudes.

But rather than bring up more of the things that make this so special to me, I'll just provide the link and let you find your own meaning in it. I have provided the speaker's introduction as a short file (five minutes), in which he makes mention of some of the other events going on that day (including a lecture by Mayor Lindsey of New York). This track really doesn't add much to the story, but it might be interesting for some of you. The main track is the second one, and it runs about thirty minutes. There was a discussion on the tape, after this speech, but I found it to be not nearly as interesting as the story itself.

Please enjoy this, offered as my tribute to Dr. King, one week late:

Bob

1.) Unknown Speaker - Introduction (MP3)

2.) Unknown Speaker - After the Death of Martin Luther King (MP3)

Happy Life Day, One and All.

Thought it would be a good time to polish off this old chestnut. Happy Holidays!

Vote Kennedy / Satan in '60!

There've been a lot of Kennedys in the news lately, what with the Triborough Bridge being renamed for RFK, Teddy's ill health and now Caroline's gambit for Hillary's Senate seat. I know the bracing winds of change are all a-swirl, but the Hyannis Port horde sure do know how to hog the spotlight. Another Kennedy reference, and a rather bizarre one at that, came to my attention just the other day. I'd downloaded a collection of country gospel records on the old Loyal label out of Birmingham, Alabama, and, reviewing the track list, I spied a tune with a peculiar title and went to play it first. Now, unlike telling books from their covers, strange song titles almost always deliver exactly what you're hoping for—strange songs—and this number did so in spades. Here, give a listen:

Bill Franklin: Mr. K. and Mr. D. (MP3)

[I can't say for sure, but this Bill Franklin sounds a whole lot like a feller with the same name who sang "I Died All Over You" and "Slippin' Around With Jole Blon" with Bud Messner & the Skyline Boys for Abbey in 1950.]

UK Unveils Worse Musical/Cultural Weapon than Crazy Frog

And it will be in my head all weekend. Put a Donk On It.

(via Spotter/BCO).

Where's Neil?

I haven’t been to a movie in so long that I can’t remember the last one I went to. Borat, maybe? But last weekend Sluggo and I went with a friend to see W. Our friend hated it, but we thought it was okay. It wasn’t the serious documentary our friend apparently wanted it to be, and it wasn’t a point-at-the-monkey laugh riot either. I thought the music editing was brilliant, and I thought the complete absence of Neil Bush was bizarre. If all you knew about the Bush family came from this movie, you would not even know that Neil Bush exists, even though you would know about Marvin Bush, and who ever heard of him before? He never cost taxpayers $1 Billion by playing banker at the savings and loan.

I read in the Daily News that some white people may not vote for Barak Obama because they’re racists and don’t believe a black man is capable of straightening out the economy. But why not? It wasn’t black people who screwed it up. It was white Christian conservatives like George W. Bush who destroyed the entire world economy in just 8 years of unregulated “capitalism.” (And then, as soon as his white Christian conservative capitalist friends started losing money, he nationalized the banks.) It’s hard to see how a half-white Christian liberal could do any worse than that. And how come the Republicans have quit talking about how Sarah Palin’s husband is mixed-race? He’s, like, a quadra-mo or an Eski-roon or something. But you never hear about it anymore.

Today it came out that the Republican National Committee spent over $150,000 to make Palin and her family presentable for the campaign. I can’t believe they spent so much to put lipstick on that pig! They could have been using that money for Cindy McCain’s botox. Then there’s the investigation into how Palin fired the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner because he wouldn’t fire her estranged brother-in-law: The investigation committee determined that Palin had abused her power and broken ethics laws. So then she started announcing at all her rallies that she’s relieved to have been “cleared of all wrong-doing.” Somebody better tell the RNC to buy some more lipstick—they’ve got a lot to cover up.

Thanks for reading my blogpost this time, and may God bless.

The Pied Piper

Pssssst, Irwin... can you hear the sweet, sweet music? (RealAudio)

There's more than one false messiah out there.

The Charming, Grandfatherly Tenderness of Doyle Davidson (videos)

Pentecostal "mouthpiece of God" from Plano, Texas, Doyle Davidson.  Right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, isn't he?

This gentle and unassuming ol' boy triumphantly screams from the rooftops how much he loves his new wife, warmly offers kudos to a member of his congregation for that nice e-mail he sent and offers neighborly assistance to a younger congregant who looks as though he's getting ready to puke all over himself.  "The Devil and Doyle Davidson"?  Folks, the Devil is Doyle Davidson.