Compiled by Albie The Good, your average desert-dwelling, Bible-believing, Christian Beatnik and Incurable Bookworm... Thoughts about stuff... oh, and things too. :)
Albie's note: If you haven't managed to see it yet, I urge to check out the 2011 film 25 HILL, written, produced, and directed by its star Corbin Bernson. It's a great family film about the vanishing tradition of Soap Box Derby.
This sport actually once had a pretty strong Arizona connection, as Bisbee used to hold a major annual race until 1980, when a mother and son were tragically killed there in a freak accident. After that, i am told that the Bisbee course was deemed too steep for the competition. Although there is still a race there each summer, I am told it is nothing like the nation-wide competition it used to be. Bernson's film showcases the "last gasp" event still held anuually in Akron, Ohio.
Anyway, from HOT ROD KING COMICS #1 (Ziff-Davis, 1952), here is another cool tribute to the American Soap Box Derby... from the world of vintage comic books! [Sorry for the condition in spots.]
Albie's note: I like songs about things we can all relate to... songs that pay an interesting tribute to some formative things in all of our lives. This one is a great tribute to the late lamented American Transistor Radio [though, of course, it wasn't always American made!] by Country Singer Lionel Cartwright.
It's surprisingly hard to remind people-- even hardcore country fans-- of Lionel C. I say "surprisingly," because ol' Lionel actually had a pretty darn good run of chart success in the late '80s and early '90s: twelve charted singles, 2 Top 20's, 3 Top 10's, and 3 Top 5 hits, and one number one country song, "Leap of Faith."
It may be the fact that Cartwright's music was unbelievably clean and positive-- not a cheatin' or drankin' song among all those singles-- that has blocked him out of country fandom's collective memory [a similar thing seems to have happened to the legacies of Paul Overstreet and Holly Dunn, to name just two others.]
It's a shame because Cartwright was a really great talent. Proficient on mandolin, guitar, piano and fiddle, he wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of the songs he recorded, and had a fine distinctive singing voice. Wikipedia says he is now a worship pastor in Nashville and has recently recorded an independent album which he thinks is his best ever. Good for him!
I always appreciated this song and could relate to every last word of it. How many of us-- especially those of us with rural backgrounds-- had a transistor radio and listened to it every night under the covers? I know I did. The only part of this song that does NOT ring true for me is the part about tuning in the Grand Ol' Opry. I probably would have done that if I could have, but apparently historic Nashville station WSM-- the "Air Castle Of The South"-- had powered down by the time of my 1970s childhood and could not any longer be picked up in as far away as Arizona. Bummer.
But other than that it all rings perfectly true! Ball games [especially Dodger games from L.A.'s KNX], late night preachers, CCR and the Byrds, the EBS test, and the brassy tones of "The Star Spangled Banner"...
Yep... Check, check and double check! :)
So.... Enjoy this old video-- [complete with Lionel sportin' the early '90s obligatory "mullet"]-- and the lyrics to this great song-- a number 8 country hit from 1990-- co-written with song-writing legend Don Schlitz:
I had a six-transister when I was a kid Under my pillow, I kept it hid When the lights went out, and no one could see Over the airwaves, the world came to me I'd go through the stations 'til I found a game I knew how they played by the sounds of their names The sluggers hit homers, those pitchers threw smoke And I watched it all on my radio At the crack of the bat, I knew how far it'd go And I watched it all on my radio I watched it all on my radio When the ball game was over, the wrap-up complete I'd search through the static 'til I found a beat The Beatles and Creedence, The Stones and The Byrds You should have seen all the groups that I heard! And on Saturday night when the skies were all clear A station from Nashville sometimes would appear The steel guitars and soft southern twang The stars of the Grand Ole Opry would sing And I had a seat on the very front row And I watched it all on my radio I watched it all on my radio And right about midnight, some Preacher came on To tell me what's right, to tell me what's wrong And there was a test at the sound of the beep "It was only a test" the voice would repeat And the National Anthem would sing me to sleep I had a six-transister when I was a kid Under my pillow, I kept it hid When the lights went out, and no one could see Over the airwaves, the world came to me And I had a seat on the very front row And I watched it all on my radio I watched it all on my radio!
Picture at top: An actual Vintage "Six-transistor"
