Curtis Mayfield, Prophet of Soul

Curtis Mayfield

This one is personal. I've been magnetically drawn to the music of Curtis Mayfield since the first time I heard Super Fly. [I remember hearing "Pusherman" as a child and, having no concept of the words being used other than "mother" and "daddy," being intensely attracted to that circular, School House Rock-ish melody being hot potatoed between the instruments and vocals. I was a fan.] When I registered this blog, Curtis was one of the first topics I knew I would cover because even among music historians, discourse on Curtis' contribution to the general well-being of the Soul of the World typically revolves solely around Super Fly. This is misfortunate, as Curtis Mayfield made some of the most brutally realistic, cathartic, spiritually uplifting music this world has known or ever will - and you can dance to most of it...

Mark Cousins' "Story of Film" as Intro to Appreciation of Deceptive Art

Cinema is the most sophisticated and powerful art form. Literary composition, musical composition, photography, illustration, painting, sculpture, play-acting, dance, magick - all expressive mediums used by artists to affect an impact on our consciousness; each profoundly effective, when in the hands of Masters. The hierarchy of art forms could be and no doubt has been a subject of argument between scholars and drunken barroom acquaintances alike. What can not be disputed is that cinema integrates, totally, all other known forms of art. Further, film has danced before us the occult lie of art more blatantly than its precursors...

The 50 Best Songs by David Allan Coe

I have no delusions that this post will create such waves as my post on what happened to the David Allan Coe band. However, this blog was not initiated as a theater of war. Baby Black Widows is to be a compendium of things I consider important in life. I felt it would be naive of myself to expect to be able to have such a public outlet without first discussing the situation with my father. I'm hoping that this post can serve as a segue toward this site's intended purpose, as well as clarify some things about my feelings toward my father.

On the 8th, I expressed my dismay at so many DAC shows having been derailed by his complaining at not having received the recognition he felt he deserved. Let me be clear, he DOES deserve that recognition. David Allan Coe has done some amazing things in his career. Earlier in the year, in response to all those superficial "Best David Allan Coe Songs" lists made by the kind of people who listen to Greatest Hits albums, I posted a list on Facebook of my Top Fifty DAC Songs. I'm going to post that again here, using the extra space to offer added commentary.

This Is What Happened to the David Allan Coe Band, or: Becoming the Centre of the Universe

[Despite my clarifications within this article, many people seem to think I'm lambasting my father and criticising his career. That is not the case. I'm a bigger David Allan Coe fan than you are - hands down, no question. I've posted my Top 50 DAC songs. Click that link. You'll probably learn some things you don't know.]

Today is my birthday. I've been breathing for 29 years, of which this last has brought monumental change, the type that brings about reevaluation of those preceding. There is, though, one thing I am asked about every single day: why am I no longer playing guitar for the DAC band?

So this is what happened.