Saturday, October 12, 2013

SONGS THAT TELL A STORY #5: The legendary "RINGO" by LORNE GREENE, 1964


Albie's Note: Right in the middle of the widespread Beatlemania of 1964, this odd-ball western tale was a #1 Billboard pop hit!  Lorne Greene, a Canadian-born Jewish Shakespearean actor-- at the time riding high as the patriarch of TV's BONANZA-- gave a dead-on reading of this tale of friendship versus law and order that still makes a cool listen even today.  Maybe it helped that the word "RINGO" was selling high at the time too... ;)

As a weird added note, I always thought Bruce Springsteen's "HIGHWAY PATROLMAN" was a sort of a modern version, even if "the boss" only did it sub-consciously. 

The montage video from YOUTUBE below is pretty entertaining too... enjoy:

 
 
RINGO
[words and music by Don Robertson and Hal Blair]

 
He lay face down in the desert sand
Clutching his six-gun in his hand
Shot from behind, I thought he was dead
But under his heart was an ounce of lead
But a spark still burned so I used my knife
And late that night I saved the life of Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo . . .)

I nursed him till the danger passed
The days went by, he mended fast
Then from dawn till setting sun
He practiced with that deadly gun
And hour on hour I watched in awe
No human being could match the draw of Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo... )

One day we rode the mountain crest
And I went east and he went west
I took to law and wore a star
While he spread terror near and far
With lead and blood he gained such fame
All throught the West they feared the name of Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo... )

I knew someday I'd face the test
Which one of us would be the best
And sure enough the word came down
That he was holed up in the town
I left the posse out in the street
And I went in alone to meet Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo... )

They said my speed was next to none
But my lightning draw had just begun
When I heard a blast that stung my wrist
The gun went flying from my fist
And I was looking down the bore
Of the deadly .44 of Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo... )

They say that was the only time
That anyone had seen him smile
He slowly lowered his gun and then
He said to me "We're even, friend"
And so at last I understood
That there was still a spark of good in Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo... )

I blocked the path of his retreat
He turned and stepped into the street
A dozen guns spit fire and lead
A moment later, he lay dead
The town began to shout and cheer
Nowhere was there shed a tear for Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo... )

The story spread throughout the land
That I had beaten Ringo's hand
And it was just the years, they say
That made me put my guns away
But on his grave they can't explain
The tarnished star above the name of Ringo

(Ringo... Ringo... )
(Ringo... Ringo... )


 
PEACE
 

Great Guest Article: "Christian Zionism—The Real Story" by ELWOOD MCQUAID

Christian Zionism—The Real Story

 
By: Elwood McQuaid

Albie's Note: The heat is on you if you still dare to be a Christian supporting the State Of Israel-- and of course this shouldn't be a surprise to any Bible-reading believer-- it is just the way of a world that flatly refuses to believe and live by some "book" they can't control.  The media increasingly pressures against any kind of "two-state" solution to the Israeli/Palestinian dilemma [itself a ludicrous comprise in some interpretations.] The current anti-Israel offensive touts a "single state" that, of course, conveniently eliminates Israel in favor of a "Palestinian fiefdom" allowing a smattering of Jews to remain as a disenfranchised minority.  In light of all this, I present this article by Evangelical writer Elwood McQuaid.

You may as well know I agree with every word written here.



Adli Sadeq, the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to India, has been quoted as saying both the terrorist Hamas organization and Fatah, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, utterly reject Israel’s right to exist:
They [Israelis] have a common mistake, or misconception by which they fool themselves, assuming that Fatah accepts them and recognizes the right of their state to exist, and that it is Hamas alone that loathes them and does not recognize the right of this state to exist. They ignore the fact that this state, based on a fabricated [Zionist] enterprise, never had any shred of a right to exist.
Strange though it may seem, facsimiles of Sadeq’s declaration are showing up across the United States. At the “One State Conference” held in March at Harvard, anti- Israel academic elites and their acolytes declared Israel’s right to life null and void. Professor Susan M. Akram of Boston University’s School of Law articulated the essence of the hatefest:
Israel’s claim of a state on the basis of exclusive and discriminatory rights to Jews, has never been juridically recognized. In other words, the concept of the Jewish people as a national entity with extraterritorial claims has never been recognized under international law.
Closer to home for Zionist Christians were remarks made at the 2012 National Penn Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Conference held at the University of Pennsylvania. Among the bevy of radical speakers was the Reverend Grayland Hagler, a Protestant minister and firebrand activist known for rallying anti- Israel elements to “stand up together until we dismantle the State of Israel.” With such a predisposition to Israel’s destruction, it is not surprising he told a questioner, “One of the things I am constantly doing is trying to disengage Christians from Hebrew Scriptures.”

Facts About Zionist Christians

Technically, anyone who believes God’s promises to the Jewish people are irrevocable is a biblical Zionist. Furthermore, you cannot disengage the "Hebrew Scriptures" from the rest of the Bible. The Old and New Testaments compose a unit with unbreakable continuity—which is why Christian Zionists believe the following regarding Jewish rights:

Biblically.

It is beyond dispute that, if you accept the integrity of biblical revelation, you cannot deny Israel’s central role in the scheme of things. When, for instance, God calls His promise of a land for the children of Abraham through Isaac “everlasting” (Gen. 17:7–8), He means EVERLASTING! When He promises to bless those who bless Israel (12:1–3), He means precisely that! When He promises Israel will survive even under the most adverse circumstances (Ezek. 11:16–17; Rom. 11:2), there is no rational alternative for a believer thinking otherwise.

The Bible says the Jewish people would return to their ancient land and experience a national resurrection (Jer. 32:37–41); and, against all odds, that promise is now a reality. What God says, He means. And if these promises are reduced to allegories, myths, and old wives’ tales, faith collapses—and we are without hope.

Historically.

To argue, as revisionists do, that there has never been an appreciable Jewish presence in the Middle East, that there were no Jewish Temples on Mount Moriah, or that the Holocaust was a Jewish contrivance is hardly worthy of serious comment. The stones cry out, and their message certifies the facts of both Jewish and world history.

Morally.

In view of centuries of dispersions and persecutions, deprivation, and slaughter, it is incomprehensible to argue the Jewish people do not have a right to their homeland. With at least 50 Muslim majority countries in the world, to rant against one Jewish country is beyond reprehensible; it is morally criminal.

Legally.

Those who love to hate Israel and congratulate themselves on motivating crusaders to dismantle the Jewish state’s so-called "apartheid" occupation forces have inoculated themselves with a heaping dose of willful ignorance. Israel is a legal member of the international community. Witness the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the San Remo Conference of 1920, the UN Partition Plan of 1947. Astonishingly, accusations that the Jewish people STOLE “Palestine,” at best a never-has-been national entity, carry more weight in the world than the certified credentials of the Jewish state. It is beyond ludicrous!

Behind such twisted politics is ONE ancient, debilitating malignancy: Anti-Semitism. Call Christian Zionists what you will, but they will never be associated with hatred of the Jewish people or denial of the Jewish right to the Land of Israel.

AMEN!
 
 

PEACE

Monday, October 7, 2013

BIG AL's JOVIAL JUKEBOX #19: "American Music" by THE BLASTERS, 1980

Albie's Note:  This one speaks for itself...

God bless the USA, God bless THE BLASTERS!  What would my '80s have been like without them??  I shudder to think...

Add caption

This song was first found on their classic  1980 debut album. The clip below is from the very first FARM AID benefit concert September 22, 1985.... and you better know young Albie was watching riveted at the U of A campus in Tucson AZ on the dorm TV that very night...


AMERICAN MUSIC
Words and Music by Dave Alvin



Well, a U.S. soldier boy on leave in West-Berlin
No music there that rocks, just a thousand violins
They wanna hear some American music, American music
They wanna hear that sound right from the U.S.A.

Well, it can be sweet and lovely, it can be hard and mean
One thing's for sure, it's always on the beam
They wanna hear some American music, American music
They wanna hear that sound right from the U.S.A.

It's a howl from the desert, a scream from the slums
The Mississippi rollin' to the beat of the drums
They wanna hear some American music, American music
They wanna hear that sound right from the U.S.A.

We got the Louisiana Boogie and the Delta Blues
We got Country, Swing and Rockabilly, too
We got Jazz, Country-Western and Chicago Blues
It's the greatest music that you ever knew

It's American music, it's American music, it's American music
It's the greatest sound right from the U.S.A.

Well, a US soldier boy has to stop right in his tracks
When he hears that crazy beat, he turns and doubles back
Because they're playing American music, American music
The whole world digs that sound from the
U.S.A!



Dave Alvin in the 1980s


PEACE
 

Saturday, October 5, 2013

HYMN TIME #14 : "Peace Prayer Of St. Francis" by John Michael Talbot


Albie's Note: Although I am no Roman Catholic, I like the famous Peace Prayer attributed to St. Francis Of Assisi. [1181-1226] It eloquently prays for God to use the individual Christian to spread His Peace in a fallen world... I sure can't find any problem with that!

Here is the prayer set to music by the great Catholic singer/songwriter John Michael Talbot [born 1954] back in-- I believe-- 1980.  It is one of my all-time favorite Christian songs. Talbot used to come do free concerts at my college [John Brown University, Siloam Springs ARK] back in the 1980s and he would always play this.  Great memories.


 
 
 
PEACE
 

Friday, October 4, 2013

BIG AL's JOVIAL JUKEBOX #18 JOSIE KREUZER "Ain't Got A Thing" 1997





Back about 10 years or so ago, during my massive "rockabilly mid-life crisis" period, I bought a great 1997 CD by Josie Kreuzer entitled HOT ROD GIRL.  It remains one of my all-time favorite albums.  Josie, who recorded a couple more albums and then disappeared, was a great songwriter and the album was filled with well-performed original material, but my favorite song on it was this cover of an old Sonny Burgess single originally recorded on the SUN label back in 1957.  Burgess was an unusually smooth rockabilly cat who is pretty hard to cover legitimately, but I think Josie, as backed by the great San Diego trio HOT ROD LINCOLN, pulled it off...

Behold: the great  "Ain't Got A Thing":



Well I got a car, ain't got no gas
I got a check, but it won't cash
I got a man, he ain't got no class...


Well I got a guitar, ain't got no strings
I got ten fingers, ain't got no ring
I got a man, ain't got a thing...


Well I got a stove, ain't got no heat
I got some drums, but ain't got no beat
I got a man, but he ain't so sweet...

I got two feet, ain't got no shoes
I got a wagon, ain't got no mules
I got a man, but he ain't so true...


I got a piano, ain't got no keys
I got a cracker, ain't got no cheese
I got a man, but he climbs trees...



 
 


 

PEACE

IN MEMORIAM: CHUCK SMITH [1927-2013]

Just about a month ago I blogged a mini-sermon by Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith called "Exploits!" [Read it HERE if you like.]  I said in the header that he was one of my true heroes in the Christian Faith and I meant it.  Yesterday old Chuck passed from this mortal coil and into an eternity with The Christ he loved and preached for over 70 years.  I got a chance to go and see him in person in Tucson back in 2011. I don't often say these kinds of things about mere men, but the man had a spiritual presence you could almost feel. It was an amazing service.  He will be missed.

Lord, do it again!



HERE IS A TRIBUTE PRINTED YESTERDAY 
ON CHRISTIANITY TODAY'S SITE:

Chuck Smith, the evangelical pastor whose outreach to hippies in the 1960s helped transform worship styles in American Christianity and fueled the rise of the Calvary Chapel movement, died Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, after a battle with lung cancer. He was 86.
Diagnosed in 2011, Smith continued to preach and oversee administration at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (California), where he'd been pastor since 1965. In 2012, he established a 21-member leadership council to oversee the Calvary Church Association, a fellowship of some 1,600 like-minded congregations in the United States and abroad.
Smith was known for expository preaching as he worked his way through the entire Bible, unpacking texts from Genesis through Revelation and offering commentary along the way.
Yet it was his openness to new cultural styles, including laid-back music and funky fashions of California's early surfer scene, that helped him reach young idealists and inspire a trend toward seeker-sensitive congregations.
"He led a movement that translated traditional conservative Bible-based Christianity to a large segment of the baby boom generation's counterculture," says Brad Christerson, a Biola University sociologist who studies charismatic churches in California. "His impact can be seen in every church service that has electric guitar-driven worship, hip casually-dressed pastors, and 40-minute sermons consisting of verse-by-verse Bible expositions peppered with pop-culture references and counterculture slang."
Born to a Bible-quoting mother and a salesman father who became a zealous convert in midlife, Smith grew up in Southern California, where he witnessed to the Gospel from a young age.
After Bible college training and a stint as a traveling evangelist, he sought a niche in Pentecostalism by pastoring several Church of the Foursquare Gospel congregations. But he confesses in Chuck Smith: A Memoir of Grace: "I just never succeeded" in that denominational environment.
He found his groove in the 1960s, when many evangelicals were frowning on the wild outfits, long hair and psychedelic music that were all the rage among young adults. One seminal moment came during his early days at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, where old guard trustees posted a sign in their renovated sanctuary: "no bare feet allowed." Smith tore it down with a promise to reach young souls for Christ, even it meant throwing out new pews and carpeting and bringing in steel folding chairs.
"Lifestyle issues and morality issues were things that he would expect Christ would clean up in these folks lives," said Larry Eskridge, associate director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College. "But the informality of these folks and the music they were fond of – he was willing to let that slide quite a bit."
Smith never became a hippie, Eskridge said. But he nonetheless won a following as a non-judgmental father figure by welcoming a blend of pop music, poetry and aspiration to live like Jesus. Together with hippie Lonnie Frisbee, Smith helped propel the Jesus People Movement, with its embrace of Christ's teachings and disavowal of institutional church trappings.
Smith also pioneered translations of Gospel teachings into 20th-century pop art forms. In 1971, he launched Maranatha! Music, a pioneering record label designed to promote the "Jesus music" that his young followers were producing on the California coast.
Ministries born in the 1960s and 70s grew into a distribution empire. By 2013, Smith's radio and television programs were airing in more than 350 cities around the world. The Word for Today, a publishing program begun in 1978, now packages Smith's messages through books for adults and children, DVDs, CDs and other channels.
"From age 50 on up would be his larger fan base," said Word for Today General Manager Mark Rich. But Smith's easy-to-understand messages keep attracting followers from other demographics, Rich says, because "Pastor Chuck has always been able to relate to the younger crowd and to children."
Never a denominational man, Smith forged a different type of fellowship among congregations as word of his success spread. Calvary Chapels, concentrated largely in coastal population centers, reflect Smith's preferences for authoritative male pastors, expository preaching and openness to contemporary music. What Eskridge describes as "restrained exuberance" in worship has spread from Costa Mesa to Calvary Chapels on the East Coast and beyond.
Some in other Protestant groups now look to Smith as a role model, whose methods have become the stuff of seminary workshops.
"Chuck Smith is one of my heroes," said Kurt Frederickson, a church vitality expert who invokes Smith's work when he trains pastors in Fuller Theological Seminary's doctor of ministry program. "He's able to read the culture and to see a group of people who've been marginalized by the institutional church and say, 'these people too should be cared for'…. So he opens up his arms."
In Smith's absence, the Leadership Council of the Calvary Chapel Association will continue to govern the fellowship's affairs.
Early today, Evangelist Greg Laurie posted on his blog, "I am so sorry to tell all of you that our friend, pastor Chuck Smith, has died." At age 19, Laurie began ministry under Chuck Smith's leadership. Laurie is the founding pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.


PEACE