Live from Madison: The Music of Vietnam

post from MAL Contends . . . on 08 November 2010 01:01:39 PM. © MAL Contends . . .

- ?We Gotta Get Out of This Place? -

? Next Stop Is Vietnam : The War on Record, 1961?2008

3?Day Symposium ?
November 18?20, 2010
Madison, Wisconsin

In summer 2010, Bear Family Records released ?? Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War on Record, 1961?2008,? a 13 disc, 300+ song collection of music about the Vietnam War. Including songs from all genres and political viewpoints, this set is the definitive audio document of the Vietnam War. A review by ccmusic.com calls it, ?An entire college course masquerading as a boxed set?that look[s] at the Vietnam conflict?s impact on American society.?

In honor of this landmark achievement, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and other community partners will host a 3?day symposium November 18?20 to focus on the critical role that music played during the Vietnam era. All of the events are FREE and open to the public.

Presented in partnership by the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, the University of Wisconsin?Madison Integrated Liberal Studies Program, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Wisconsin Public Television, and the Monona Terrace and Convention Center. This event is part of the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin?Madison.

Interested in purchasing ??Next Stop Vietnam : The War on Record, 1961?2008"? The Bear Family Records boxed set, ??Next Stop Vietnam: The War on Record, 1961?2008,? is available for pre-order from the Wisconsin Veterans Museum gift store at a discounted price of $250 (retail: $289). If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this limited-edition set, please contact store manager Greg Lawson at (608) 261-0535 or gregory.lawson@dva.state.wi.us.

Distant Drums, Sky Pilots, and Green Berets: The Music of the Vietnam Era

Thursday, November 18, 2010 ? 7:00 p.m.

Hugo Keesing, Adjunct Associate Professor (Retired), University of Maryland ; Curator, ??Next Stop Is Vietnam : The War on Record?

For six decades, popular music has provided a unique perspective on the Vietnam War, its aftermath and its lasting legacies. With examples drawn from pop, folk, R&B, rock, soul, spoken word, comedy, reggae, rap, metal and more, Dr. Keesing will show that Vietnam has been the topic of every musical style of the past 50 years. In addition to several dozen well-known commercial hits by artists such as Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Marvin Gaye and Bruce Springsteen, there are more than 3,000 recordings by lesser known singers that provide a new but essential understanding of the war. Many of those songs were recorded by "in-country" soldiers or Vietnam vets. Join musicologist Hugo Keesing for this special presentation featuring images and sound samples from Bear Family Records? "...Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War on Record: 1961?2008.?

?I Believe I'm Gonna Make It?: A Conversation About Southern Music and the Vietnam War

Friday, November 19, 2010 ? Noon

Charles Hughes, PhD Candidate in History, University of Wisconsin?Madison ; 2010?2011 Smithsonian Institution Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow

Bill C. Malone, Professor Emeritus of History, Tulane University ; Host, ?Back to the Country,? WORT-FM; Internationally Recognized ?Dean? of Country Music Historians

Jeff Kollath, Curator of Programs and Exhibitions, Wisconsin Veterans Museum ; Moderator

The Vietnam War coincided with a particularly fertile time in Southern music, as recordings from country to soul to rock changed the national culture in significant ways. At the same time, Southern society grappled with significant changes in racial and class politics, changes that were often expressed through the music. The Vietnam War played a crucial part in, and contributed to, both the musical and societal changes. At this event, Charles Hughes and Bill C. Malone, along with moderator Jeff Kollath, will discuss these issues, and play selections from a variety of genres to illustrate the connections and complexities of the music, the people and the times.

?Does Anybody Know I?m Here??: Black Music and the Black Experience in Vietnam

Friday, November 19, 2010 ? 3:00 p.m.
Monona Terrace and Convention Center, Theater ? 1 John Nolen Drive

William Bell, Stax Records Artist and Songwriter; Veteran, 25th Infantry Division (1962?63); released three songs about the Vietnam War in the late 1960s

Art Flowers, Clerk, 1st Logistical Command (Long Binh); Novelist, Poet, and Associate Professor of English and Textual Studies, Syracuse University

Clyde Stubblefield, World Renowned Drummer; accompanied James Brown during his band?s famous 1968 tour of Vietnam

Lauren Onkey, PhD, Vice President of Education and Public Programs, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Moderator

The culture of the Civil Rights and Black Power era played a critical role in shaping the black experience in Vietnam , increasing cultural awareness and arousing suspicion of America ?s motives in Vietnam . Music was a constant source of inspiration and escape for black soldiers during the war, from the soothing sounds of Motown to the hard driving funk of James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone, and all points in between. Join us for this special panel discussion, featuring musicians and grunts alike, all of whom have been shaped in some way by the Vietnam War, and how, after four decades, how their Vietnam experience continues to influence their lives and careers.

Soldier, Singer, and Guitar Slinger: Acoustic and Folk Music During the Vietnam Era

Saturday, November 20, 2010 ? Noon

Lem Genovese, Clerk, HQ Co., 214th Combat Aviation Battalion; ?In Country? and Postwar Musician

Marty Heuer, Aviation Officer, 174th AHC, 14th CAB, 341st AD, 165th CAG; Founding Member of High-Priced Help and Three Majors and Minor

Jim Walktendonk, Dog Handler, 89th Military Police Brigade; Singer-Songwriter of ?The Claymore Polka?

Hugo Keesing, Curator, ??Next Stop Is Vietnam : The War on Record?; Moderator

As much as popular music broadcasted over Armed Forces Radio, 45s played on the PX jukebox, and LPs and cassettes played in the field meant to those serving in Vietnam , the company?s resident guitar player was equally important. Acoustic renditions of popular songs, or their war-appropriate send-ups, provided welcome respite from the tragedy and banality of war. Join our panel as they discuss the popularity of acoustic music during the war, the performance of formal songs on base, and writing songs about the Vietnam experience.

?We Gotta Get Out of This Place?: Music and the Vietnam Experience

Saturday, November 20, 2010 ? 2:00 p.m.

Doug Bradley, Reporter, USARV; Author

Craig Werner, Professor of Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin?Madison

?We Gotta Get Out of This Place,? the forthcoming book by Bradley and Werner, tells the story of the Vietnam War through the music-based memories of those who served. Authors Doug Bradley, who was in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971, and Craig Werner, a prize-winning music writer and member of the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, weave a tapestry of voices set against the cacophony of the popular music of the 1960s and 1970s. From "Chain of Fools and "Fortunate Son" to "Purple Haze" and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," their work shows how soldiers used music to form bonds, express their feelings, and hold on to the humanity the world was trying to take away. Join us for this informal discussion of the music of the war, relive the weekend, and share your favorite songs and memories from the Vietnam Era.

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-of-vietnam.html

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What Would Jesus Do

post from Talking Points Memo on 08 November 2010 01:01:34 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Not sure this terribly surprises me. But a new poll shows that Christians are much more opposed to the Park51 (aka 'Ground Zero Mosque') project than Muslims (14%), atheists/agnostics (32%) or Jews (43%). Again, not sure that's terribly surprising. [...]

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Suspended

post from Talking Points Memo on 08 November 2010 01:01:34 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Michigan Assistant AG now suspended over attacking gay Univ Michigan student on his blog. [...]

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Sneak Preview

post from Talking Points Memo on 08 November 2010 01:01:34 PM. © Talking Points Memo

What's coming in fmr. Pres. Bush's interview tonight on NBC. The Libby Pardon, Bombing Syria And A Fetus In A Jar.[...]

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Gig's Up

post from Talking Points Memo on 08 November 2010 01:01:34 PM. © Talking Points Memo

GOP House candidate Ed Martin finally concedes to Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) in the mostly suburban St. Louis MO-03.[...]

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Olbermann to return to Phil Griffin's MSNBC after
'appropriate punishment': Is this a network or a preschool

post from Crooks and Liars on 08 November 2010 01:00:22 PM. © Crooks and Liars

So Phil Griffin, the MSNBC boss who suspended Keith Olbermann last week for the horrendous crime of donating to Democrats, issued the following statement announcing Olbermann's return tomorrow:

After several days of deliberation and discussion, I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night's program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy. We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night.

"Appropriate punishment"? WTF? Is MSNBC a news network, or Phil Griffin's little red schoolhouse? What kind of professionals are these bozos?

Any wagers on whether Griffin punished Larry Kudlow for his donations, or Patrick Buchanan? Both of them made donations after NBC's policy came down in 2007.

As karoli pointed out, the looming acquisition of NBC by Comcast probably played a role in this. What seems most likely is that Griffin, anticipating the company's new conservative ownership, made this move in hopes of currying favor with the new bosses.

Instead, he created a fiasco that gave the entire network a black eye. If the new bosses are smart businessmen before they're political ideologues, Griffin will be gone with the first few days of the Comcast takeover. Serves him right.

UPDATE: From Popeater, citing anonymous sources:

"Keith is furious about the way this has all been handled and insisted that MSNBC bosses apologize to him before he would agree to return," a network insider tells me. "Keith sees himself as the star of MSNBC, the person who put them on the map and discovered fellow network anchors Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell. To be treated like this by the network he helped shape, he considers disgusting."
MSNBC employees follow ethics guidelines barring them from making political contributions. After Olbermann's "indefinite suspension without pay," it appears those rules may see some revision.
"In addition to an apology, Keith is demanding that the rules be changed," an executive tells me. "Keith thinks it's unfair that FOX News anchors can make contributions and support candidates and he can't. It's his money that he has earned, he should be allowed to do whatever he wants with it. What sort of country do we live in where an actor can trash a hotel room with an escort and drugs and Keith can't donate money to people running for office he believes in? It makes no sense. If they think they can slap Keith's wrist and have him to return a few days later like nothing happened, they are wrong. They picked the wrong guy."

Read The Full Article:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/olbermann-return-phil-griffins-msnbc

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It's All Right, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

post from DownWithTyranny! on 08 November 2010 01:00:17 PM. © DownWithTyranny!

God bless Lady Gaga, but if you're too young to have ever gotten into Bob Dylan, he had a good line or two in some old song from 1964: "...he not busy being born, is busy dying,"-- something that always stuck with me, even among verses like--

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

and

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despite their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platforms ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God Bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

You know, it's a swell song. Why not just listen to the whole thing, albeit a live performance, before YouTube deletes it:

video details and more

So what brings me back over 4 decades... when I could be catching up with something more indicative of the times we live in from Justin Bieber? It was that line that stuck with me about busy being born or busy dying. And it popped into my head when I was trying to figure out what would happen with the progressive agenda now that The Republicans have seized the one progressivish piece of the government. Sure, Democrats still have the Executive branch and the Senate but, let's me real, both have been bastions of conservatism for the past two years. Don't get me wrong; conservatism is better than the destructive, incoherent reactionary claptrap that is today's Republican Party. But is that all there is? A choice between conservatism and reactionary claptrap? Neither bespeaks business of being born. That would be progressivism-- and there was a bit of that alive in the House. A bit. Gone now.

The inherently conservative nature of the Senate-- it was, after all designed that way-- and the inherently conservative nature of the presidency (apparently Obama was designed that way too), has been, literally, frustrating for progressives in the past two years. And now we have to look to their conservatism to protect us from the radical reactionary nature of the mob that's taking over? Will Obama ally himself with conservatives among the reactionaries to move forward with the essentially conservative platform he's been eager to pass all along-- like "reforming" Social Security and more "free" trade? Will the new political power nexus see Obama working with an essentially conservative Senate and kindred spirits among the Wall Street-owned Republicans, while progressives in the Senate-- there are a few-- and in the House howl in the wind?

Raúl Grijalva was reelected in 2008 in a landslide-- 124,304 to 64,425. This year Grijalva squeaked to a hard fought victory 72,059 to 65,894. Looks like all the Republicans from 2008 turned up this year-- and some brought their friends-- while more than 40,000 of Grijalva's voters didn't bother to vote. Raúl is the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He's all about fighting for ordinary working families against the encroachments of the powerful unbridled special interests. Let's keep in the back of our minds it's a tough row to how: the percentage of the national wealth held by the top 1% has gone from 9% in 1976 to 28.9% in 2007. That's a trend that cannot sustain... well, neither a middle class nor a democracy. Grijalva's fighting that tide, that very well-funded tide. Obama isn't. And neither is the Senate.

A couple days ago Ryan Grim looked at one way this is playing out policy-wise already: Grijalva Vows To Defend Public Education From White House-GOP Alliance. Expect a lot more reporting like that over the next couple of years.

A key element of President Obama's post-midterm agenda is already coming under fire from House progressives worried that the president will attempt to rehabilitate himself with a triangulation strategy modeled after President Clinton's gutting of welfare in 1996.

On Thursday morning, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was asked on the radio/TV/Internet news hour Democracy Now! whether it was his sense that Obama hopes to make education his welfare reform.

"That's my sense and also my concern, to be quite honest," said Grijalva, who narrowly won reelection in his Tucson-based district. "We had an opportunity to reauthorize elementary and secondary education. We didn't do that. Now we go back to a session in which the Republicans are going to control the Education and Labor Committee, of which I'm a member."

Grijalva said that large parts of Education Secretary Arne Duncan's education efforts had already been rejected by Democrats. "Arne Duncan's four prescriptions for fixing public schools, which were essentially to privatize, close them... we rejected them as a caucus on that committee," Grijalva said.
Grijalva's opposition, however, could galvanize Obama if he decides that voters were telling him to oppose his base and work with Republicans to go after teachers unions, the element of organized labor that it is now acceptable for liberals to dismiss.

Grijalva, though, said that progressives would organize around a defense of public education. "When 80 to 90 percent of the kids going to school in this country are coming from urban and poor communities, this is a time we invest in public education. So yes, I see that as a place where people are going to look for a common agenda between Republicans and the White House, but I also see it, as it could be for public education, a very, very slippery slope. We have to be very cautious and very protective of public education as one of the agenda items."

My pal Roland works as a public school teacher in an inner city school system. Even before the election he told me the African-American women who make up the majority of the teachers in his school feel they made a terrible mistake by not backing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Too late!

video details and more

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Bill Maher: The right and the left aren't equally
crazy

And finally, New Rule, if you're going to have a rally where hundreds of thousands of people show up, you might as well go ahead and make it about something. With all due respect to my friends Jon and Stephen, it seems to me that if you truly wanted to come down on the side of restoring sanity and reason, you'd side with the sane and the reasonable, and not try to pretend that the insanity is equally distributed in both parties.

Keith Olbermann is right, when he says he's not the equivalent of Glenn Beck. One reports facts, the other one is very close to playing with his poop.

And the big mistake of modern media has been this notion of balance for balance's sake, that the left is just as violent and cruel as the right, that unions are just as powerful as corporations, that reverse racism is just as damaging as racism. There's a difference between a mad man, and a madman.

Now, getting over 200,000 people to come to a liberal rally is a great achievement, and gave me hope. And what I really loved about it was that it was twice the size of the Glenn Beck crowd on the Mall in August! Although it weighed the same.
But the message of the rally, as I heard it, was that if the media would just stop giving voice to the crazies on both sides, then maybe we could restore sanity. It was all non-partisan, and urged cooperation with the moderates on the other side, forgetting that Obama tried that, and found out there are no moderates on the other side.

When Jon announced his rally, he said that the national conversation is dominated by people on the right who believe Obama's a socialist, and people on the left who believe 9/11 was an inside job. But I can't name any Democratic leaders who think 9/11 was an inside job. But Republican leaders who think Obama's a socialist? All of them! McCain, Boehner, Cantor, Palin, all of them! It's now official Republican dogma, like tax cuts pay for themselves, and gay men just haven't met the right woman.

As another example of both sides using overheated rhetoric, Jon cited the right equating Obama with Hitler, and the left calling Bush a war criminal. Except thinking Obama is like Hitler is utterly unfounded, but thinking Bush is a war criminal? That's the opinion of General Anthony Taguba, who headed the Army's investigation into Abu Ghraib.

You see, Republicans keep staking out a position that is further and further right, and then demand Democrats meet them in the middle, which is now not the middle anymore. That's the reason health care reform is so watered down; it's Bob Dole's old plan from 1994. Same thing with cap-and-trade; it was the first President Bush's plan to deal with carbon emissions. Now the Republican plan for climate change is to claim it's a hoax.

But it's not. I know that because I've lived in L.A. since '83, and there's been a change in the city: I can see it now. All of us who live out here have had that experience. Oh look, there's a mountain there! Government, led by liberal Democrats, passed laws which changed the air I breathe for the better. OK, I'm for them! And not for the party that is, as we speak, plotting to abolish the EPA. And I don't need to pretend that both sides have a point here. And I don't care what left or right commentators say about it; I only care what climate scientists say about it.

Two opposing sides don't necessarily have two compelling arguments. Martin Luther King spoke on that Mall in the capitol, and he didn't say, "Remember folks, those Southern sheriffs with the fire hoses and the German shepherds, they have a point too!" No, he said, "I have a dream, they have a nightmare!" This isn't Team Edward and Team Jacob. Liberals, like the ones on that field, must stand up and be counted, and not pretend that we're as mean or greedy or short-sighted or just plain batshit as they are. And if that's too polarizing for you, and you still want to reach across the aisle and hold hands and sing with someone on the right, try church!

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ft-arent-equally.html

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GOP Rep. Bachus: ‘Sarah Palin Cost Us
Control Of The Senate’

After Republicans failed to take control of the Senate in last week’s election, losing key races in Colorado, Nevada, and elsewhere, “a bloc of prominent senators and operatives said party purists like Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) had foolishly pushed nominees too conservative to win in politically competitive states.” While most party insiders were reluctant to call out DeMint or Palin by name to reporters, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) did not mince words. Quoted in the Shelby County Reporter yesterday, Bachus — who will likely play a key role in the new Congress as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee — laid the blame for GOP’s Senate loss squarely at the feet of momma grizzly Palin and the tea party movement:

?The Senate would be Republican today except for states (in which Palin endorsed candidates) like Christine O?Donnell in Delaware,? Bachus said. ?Sarah Palin cost us control of the Senate.?
He said Tea Party candidates did well in U.S. House races, but in the U.S. Senate races, ?They didn?t do well at all.?

Bachus is by no means a liberal and his comments reflect a growing rift within the conservative movement about how much ideological purity should guide the GOP’s agenda. Bachus and his colleagues will soon vote on whom to elect as the House GOP Conference chairman, a race highlights this rift and — like the GOP primaries last Spring which Bachus referenced — pits an establishment pick against a Palin-backed insurgent in Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Michele Bachmann (R-MN).

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/08/bachus-slams-palin/

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