Colorful Saucy Brain Language!

I hope you do not object to colorful saucy language! If you do, it is not my fault if you "click" on this, which is nothing but something Kelly Hogan has written for Magnet Magazine. She's writing about stuff over there a lot! Such stuff as HEE HAW. I am inviting you to go walk around in Hogan's brain. IF YOU DARE!

Search Me

Search terms that people are using right now to find this "blog": "girls of Hee Haw" and "the embarrassing non sequitur of death" (!). All right!

Sad Roundup

Seems that over the past weeks I have been drawn to a number of obituaries. I haven't troubled you, because the "blog" likes to avoid sad things, as you know. But we could think of this as celebrating accomplishments. Also, they are beginning to stack up, these obituaries, and that's a bad feeling. One of the creators of HEE HAW died. Also, Margaret Ann Rich, a songwriter so beloved by Kelly Hogan that Kelly had planned at one time (if I am remembering correctly) to record an entire album of her work. FOOD ARTS and FOOD & WINE founder Michael Batterberry passed away. He was an eloquent and elegant and worldly gentleman with a commanding voice. I was once on a panel with him at the Southern Foodways Symposium, and he outclassed me in every conceivable way yet somehow made me feel comfortable enough to carry on - as I say, a true gentleman. And Bobby Hebb! I mention Bobby Hebb in my "lost novel" SHUT UP, UGLY, which is unimportant. He wrote and performed one of my favorite 45s, "Sunny." I can't find a clip of him performing the song live on youtube, but live covers are easy to find because everybody covered that great song, including Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. You know your song is good when Stevie Wonder AND Marvin Gaye cover it. PLUS James Brown (see for yourself). On youtube, you can see Ella Fitzgerald and Tom Jones performing a duet of it... that's pretty close to a novelty rendition, though (I blame the arrangement, not the great Ella, who acquits herself with gusto under the circumstances - forced to sit in a rocking chair and banter about it, for example!). Dusty Springfield does a respectable job. And there are many many clips of people doing "Sunny" in the privacy of their homes. Why not? But do yourself a big favor and get the original recording by Mr. Hebb if you don't have it. And if you don't, why don't you? You're crazy!

Volcanic Hee Haw

Of course this is the special day when we set aside some time to think about HEE HAW. I was happy upon receiving my brand new issue of THE BELIEVER to read an article involving HEE HAW by Entertainment Weekly editor Ken Tucker. Tucker argues (and I agree!) that the "much derided" show "deserves a lot more credibility, even for its vaudeville sketches (the volcanic comic performances of Gailard Sartain merit their own essay)." Yes, Sartain is great. But there was another volcanic comedian on HEE HAW, a guy named Don Harron, who inhabited a character named Charlie Farquharson (pictured). He deserves an essay, too! He didn't fit in with the rest of the HEE HAW gang. In fact, I don't recall him mingling with the rest of the HEE HAW gang. I think they mostly isolated him in the weird room with chickens seen above. He was like a beatnik! I don't know, at the time Charlie Farquharson made me think of a beatnik, which was thrilling. Maybe now his comedy would be called "alternative" or "experimental," and by "now" I mean 20 years ago, where all my phrases come from. I am going to look for a youtube clip of him. If it's not there below, don't worry. The Grand Ole Opry seems to own the HEE HAW clips, and they get taken down as fast as I can put them up. Or it could also mean that I didn't find just the right clip to show you. Or maybe I took a nap instead! I don't know what it means. I don't know everything there is to know! Speaking of the Grand Ole Opry, I was reading about Minnie Pearl on the "internet" the other day, which is what I do. Did you know that Minnie Pearl and Pee Wee Herman were the best of friends? I came across this interview where he speaks fondly and warmly of the gracious welcome he received from Minnie's friends when she took him to the Grand Ole Opry as her guest. PS, I see on the "internet" that Don Harron/Charlie Farquharson was Canadian! No wonder he didn't fit in with the HEE HAW gang. WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT HIM ON THE FOURTH OF JULY? PPS: Says youtube, "No videos matching Charlie Farquharson Hee Haw were found." So I can't confirm that he was actually as volcanic as I seem to recall. But you can watch him doing an Ottawa PSA about "assistive devices" for senior citizens if you want. But don't.

Eef!

My smart student and I were discussing the art of the hambone yesterday, a term into which I erroneously lumped the vocal accompaniment, which I discovered today is its own separate thing called "eefing" or "eephing," or sometimes, excitingly, "eeefing" or "eeephing," that's right, with three E's. Jimmy Riddle, champion eefer, says in this audio recording that it used to be called hoodling before, I don't know, all the modern kids started to call it eefing. I went back for a "link" to last Thanksgiving, when naturally I put up a youtube video from HEE HAW on the "blog," but I discovered it had been removed by the Grand Ole Opry. But don't worry, folks, there is still plenty of eefing on the "internet," despite the sinister machinations of the Grand Ole Opry. I should have known that the great WFMU beat me to it anyway, using the same deleted clip, but supplementing it with many others and piling on the MP3s. All the eefing you could ever want, or at least a good start. Lots of pictures, too, including this non-random illustration. Most of the information I find on the "internet" refers to eefing as a white Appalachian tradition, but there are plenty of African-American examples, and I think the connection should be explored. Get on it, somebody! The piece that my student and I were originally discussing, "Old Aunt Dinah" (attributed to a performer named "Butterboy"), appears on a Lomax field recording called "Black Texicans."

The So-Called "Internet"

If you "click" on the James Purdy "link" in the previous "post," you will be taken to another "post" with another "link," promising passage to an "interesting 'web' site" about Mr. Purdy. This is a lie! It was true when I first "posted it. But now when you "click" on the place where the interesting "web" site used to be you will find a generic spot that has been gutted of content. You may recall that something similar occurred with the "web" site where (as I swore, and as was true at the time) you could send an email DIRECTLY TO HEE HAW STAR ROY CLARK. I used to think the "internet" was forever. But now I see that it crumbles and falls like everything else. Marcus Aurelius was right! To try to make things up to you a little, I will "link" to a "wikipedia" article about James Purdy. Remember (as I know from the one "wikipedia" article featuring a subject I know something about), "wikipedia" is usually wrong (although it seems that someone has gone in and fixed most or all of the problems with that aforementioned article, so it could be the case that I have no idea what I'm talking about). But one nice thing about the Purdy "wikipedia" article is that it "links" you to a place where you can see an anonymous letter written by James Purdy (according to "wikipedia" he has been writing anonymous letters his whole life, almost). When you "click" here, on the anonymous letter, please be aware that the site has "pop-up" ads, just like that Christopher Smart poem I "linked" you to so long ago. I guess if it is good enough for Christopher Smart, it is good enough for James Purdy. My kind of guys!

Update

If you "click" on the name "Pete Barbutti" in that most recent "post," then "click" on "Roy Clark" in the "Pete Barbutti" "post," it used to be that you could actually contact Hee Haw's Roy Clark via email. But now his "web" site seems to be "down," replaced with something "generic." I thought you'd want to know! I'm not pulling the wool over your eyes! Sometimes things change, even on our modern "web" that we enjoy today!

McNeil's Movie Korner: The Glorious Return

Reports of its demise having been greatly exaggerated, we find ourselves graced with another installment of McNeil's Movie Korner. Today Mr. McNeil would like to call our attention to FOR THOSE WHO THINK YOUNG, the film from which that beloved YouTube clip was culled. Mr. McNeil points out that the cast boasts the daughters of both Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. We would add, with Mr. McNeil's indulgence, that it also contains not one but TWO Gilligan's Island castaways as well as highbrow cinema darling Ellen Burstyn... and perhaps most intriguingly, Woody Woodbury as Uncle Woody. We are not familiar with Mr. Woodbury or his work, though we notice he was a policeman in the Jerry Lewis film HARDLY WORKING during the same year he appeared as "himself" on HEE HAW. Who else can say that? Not many, wagers the "blog"!

"Blog"dex (Sept 27-Oct 24, 2006)

While the "blog" staff regroups to bring you a better, more dignified and decorous "blog," we leave you with a full "blog" index - or "'blog'dex," as we call it in "blogging" circles, with which you may amuse yourself in the meantime. #: 13 Mile Oyster Company * A: A Cappella Books - 1, 2 * Kobo Abe * Jamie Allen * Linda Anderson * anonymous friend(s) - 1, 2 * Aquaman * Archie comics - 1, 2, 3 * The Awesome Glass Bricks of Mystery B: "Barry B." * Beetle Bailey * Samuel Beckett * Aimee Bender * Billy's Boots * Tom Bissell - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 * Black Canary * C: Captain Marvel * Changing Hands Book Store * Mark Childress - 1, 2, 3 * clogging - 1, 2 * Conan the Barbarian - 1, 2 * Cyclops (superhero) - 1, 2 * Cyclops (mythical beast) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 D: Deathlok - 1, 2 * Leslie Delassus * Charles Dickens * donuts - 1, 2, 3, 4 * Dream Girl - 1, 2 * E: Clint Eastwood * John T. Edge * Pia Z. Ehrhardt - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 F: Fellini * Freddy Fender * F. Scott Fitzgerald * Dave Foley* Tom Franklin - 1, 2, 3 * The Fun Factory * Nick Fury * G: G.I. Joe * William Gay * Gilmore Girls - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 * Godard * Green Acres 1, 2 * Green Arrow H: Ray Harryhausen - 1, 2 * Jason Headley 1, 2 * Hee Haw * hobbits * Eli Horowitz 1, 2 * Hupcap City I: Invisible Girl * Eugene Ionesco - 1, 2 * Iron Fist J: Dean Jones * James Joyce * Tom Junod K: Jamie Kornegay - 1, 2, 3 * Kelly Kornegay - 1, 2 * Jack Kirby L: The Lee Brothers * Legion of Superheroes - 1, 2, 3 * Dennis Lehane * Janet Leigh * Lemuria * Jerry Lewis - 1, 2, 3, 4 * Little Dot M: MacAdam/Cage Publishing - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 * MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" - 1, 2 * Matt Madden * Veronica Mars * Dean Martin * Jeff McNeil - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9, 10 * Mekons * The Metal Men * Mr. Fantastic * Mike Mitchell * Alvy Moore * Lorrie Moore * THE MYSTERIOUS SECRET OF THE VALUABLE TREASURE - 1, 2 N: Nightcrawler * O: Jimmy Olsen * Phil Oppenheim - 1, 2, 3, 4 * Kent Osborne - 1, 2, 3 P: paragraph breaks, problem with * Peanuts (comic strip) - 1, 2 * The Phantom Hitchhiker * Salvador Plascencia * Popeye, * Proust R: Richie Rich - 1, 2, 3 * Don Rickles * Rome - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 * Roy of the Rovers * Jim Ruland * Salman Rushdie S: Sad Sack * George Saunders - 1, 2, 3 * Shazam (see Captain Marvel) * Silver Surfer * sister, my - 1, 2 * soccer - 1, 2, 3, 4 * Southern Foodways Symposium 1, 2, 3, 4 * Spider-Man - 1, 2 * Square Books * Wesley Stace * Theresa Starkey - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 * Brenda Starr * Amanda Stern - 1, 2, 3 * "String Bean" * Superman - 1, 2 * T: Tiger and Scorcher * Dick Tracy * Turnrow Book Company - 1, 2, 3 W: Eugene Walter - 1, 2 * Ashley Warlick - 1, 2 * West Indies salad * James Whorton, Jr. - 1, 2 * Wonder Woman * Mary Worth Y: Caroline Young - 1, 2, 3 * YOUR BODY IS CHANGING - 1, 2 Z: Karen Spears Zacharias

Rock Bottom

Admitting I have a problem is the first step. One painful day at a time, I will see to it that there are no more "posts" about HONG KONG PHOOEY, THE HAIR BEAR BUNCH, THE BANANA SPLITS or any other Hanna-Barbera abomination on this "blog." Not even THE FUNKY PHANTOM (right). With the help of my caring family, I can do this thing. Max Fleischer and E.C. Segar, yes. Samuel Beckett (left) and Madame Bovary, yes. Jelly donuts, Jerry Lewis, and Hee Haw, yes. Hanna-Barbera, no. There are standards in this world, by God, and I mean to get me some.

Bob Hope, Hee Haw, Ice Cream, French Literature Among "Blog" Reforms

I haven't "blogged" about Bob Hope yet, but I just know I'm going to. And with the recent spike in insights on Hee Haw, we have to face the facts. It's time to revise the obsolete mission statement that has been holding back the "blog" from achieving its full potential. Recent lay-offs and restructuring at the Pendarvis Building, while devastating personally, have opened up a new world of possibilities. Expect big changes at the "blog"!

Good Parenting

Intrigued by a recent "posting," the parents of all-American boy Jeff McNeil wrote in to ask if Roy Clark is still alive. Not only is he alive, you can contact him! We're only too happy to help. That's what "blogs" are for! I may have to scrap the mission statement and start over from scratch, because Hee Haw is not mentioned anywhere in it. Jerry Lewis is, however. Which brings us to the second part of the communication we recently enjoyed with the McNeil family. It seems as if Jeff's daughter Kelsey is in trouble for a minor infraction. Her punishment? Watching CRACKING UP with Dad. It just may prove to be the defining moment of her life.

And His Buckaroos

I want to recommend a muscial recorded LP album CD entitled RUBY AND OTHER BLUEGRASS SPECIALS, by Buck Owens and His Buckaroos. "Blog" Buddy Barry B. and I were just discussing the other day how for years we tended to think of Mr. Owens dismissively, as the funny Hee Haw man. We were idiots! RUBY is not a typical Owens album. It's an odd hybrid... not true bluegrass, not typical Bakersfield sound. What is it? I don't know. Listen to "I Know You're Married, But I Love You Still," with its creepy medieval-sounding harmonies. Yes, it's similar to the falsetto you hear on a lot of Owens recordings, but put to eerier purpose. If I weren't just a "blog" poser, or "bloser" (long O sound) as I call it in my special language of "blogging," I would know how to "download" that particular song here, or "upload" it, or something, so you could hear it. But I can't. I found the CD on the Sundazed label. They seem to put out all kinds of good stuff.

The History of "Blogging"

Hey, remember a guy named String Bean on the HEE HAW show? Of course you don't! What is WRONG with you young people today in your world of fast cars and computers? String Bean would say "I have a letter right here, close to my heart," and he'd pull it out of his BACK POCKET! Then he would read a supposed letter from home, full of musings. In many ways, String Bean was the original "blogger." Speaking of letters and musings and "bloggings," I'm afraid I went a little "blog" crazy yesterday and buried an exciting dispatch from Rome beneath an avalanche of other urgent thoughts. Dispatches from Rome are a vital new feature of the "blog" and I didn't want you to miss it. Here's today's "blogging" tip: Check your favorite "blog" often! You might miss something and then you'll be sorry.