Bowling For Dollars....

[Rexer25]

What is ES holding, and why is he so dang happy about it? (not that I begrudge his little rodent glee)

I hope it's not a power tool.

rec

[TheConfessor]

Awesome!

The details are getting amazing.

What are the letters on the ball for? SOTS?

On the old board I was SakeOfTheSong

I did not know this, or if I did, I had forgotten. And if I forgot, then I probably also forget mentioning that both of these names are the titles of songs by Townes Van Zandt. I saw him perform several times in the 70s and 80s. Something tells me that maybe we had this conversation before.

[ToLiveIsToFly]

Awesome!

The details are getting amazing.

What are the letters on the ball for? SOTS?

On the old board I was SakeOfTheSong

I did not know this, or if I did, I had forgotten. And if I forgot, then I probably also forget mentioning that both of these names are the titles of songs by Townes Van Zandt. I saw him perform several times in the 70s and 80s. Something tells me that maybe we had this conversation before.

I had a couple of short conversations with you about TVZ before. They were prompted by a LS quoting from "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)", which you pointed out was a ripoff of "If I Needed You". I have David Allan Coe's greatest hits (mostly because I like his version of "Never Even Called Me By My Name"), and so I've heard that song a bunch of times. I always point out that DAC is a racist and an asshole when his name comes up in LS, but I was embarrassed that I never noticed that the two songs sound practically identical. You mentioned having seen him in concert and I mentioned that I was very jealous. (Incidentally, to bring it back to bowling, most weeks someone plays "If That Ain't Country" on league nights. A much higher proportion of the bowlers than I would have ever expected can sing along to that song. Except one particular line that no one sings.)

I came by my fandom late; he was already dead. His cover of "Dead Flowers" on the Big Lebowski soundtrack was the first thing that made me decide to look into him. I'd heard a couple of covers of his songs, by Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris, and of course Merle & Willie. But when I listened to HIM, I got hooked quickly and I stayed hooked.

Nothing I've watched on a tv screen has ever made me sadder than "Be Here to Love Me" the documentary that came out a few years ago; I realize the artist who produces greatness even though his personal life is such a mess is a cliche, but watching real footage of him throwing his life away broke my heart.

I assumed you knew where ToLiveIsToFly came from and just chose not to bring it up, that if you saw me on the old board, you similarly knew where SakeOfTheSong came from.

Unless you thought I was referring to the Cowboy Junkies' version of the former song (which I've also had for years, but never really listened to - I mostly have that CD for the song John Prine sings on).

Cornell Hurd, Townes... you inspire quite a bit of musical jealousy in me.

Since you're obviously a fan, and I ask everybody who I meet who is (which happens seldom), there are two recordings I'd love to track down. I'm not expecting it, but:

Steve Earle's "The Unrepentant" on "I Feel Alright" lists TVZ as the composer. You don't know where I could find a copy of Townes singing it, do you?
I used to have a CD of a radio interview he did. He plays a few songs and talks about how he composed them - Blaise's Blues (though I guess it's probably Blaze), Marie, The Hole and If I Needed You. Apparently he wrote If I Needed You in his sleep while he was high on cough syrup, and "Lady's with me now" was originally "She lowed like a cow". Lost it in a move. If you knew where I could find a replacement for THAT, I'd be extremely grateful.

[TheConfessor]

On the old board I was SakeOfTheSong

I did not know this, or if I did, I had forgotten. And if I forgot, then I probably also forget mentioning that both of these names are the titles of songs by Townes Van Zandt. I saw him perform several times in the 70s and 80s. Something tells me that maybe we had this conversation before.

I had a couple of short conversations with you about TVZ before. They were prompted by a LS quoting from "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)", which you pointed out was a ripoff of "If I Needed You". I have David Allan Coe's greatest hits (mostly because I like his version of "Never Even Called Me By My Name"), and so I've heard that song a bunch of times. I always point out that DAC is a racist and an asshole when his name comes up in LS, but I was embarrassed that I never noticed that the two songs sound practically identical. You mentioned having seen him in concert and I mentioned that I was very jealous. (Incidentally, to bring it back to bowling, most weeks someone plays "If That Ain't Country" on league nights. A much higher proportion of the bowlers than I would have ever expected can sing along to that song. Except one particular line that no one sings.)

I came by my fandom late; he was already dead. His cover of "Dead Flowers" on the Big Lebowski soundtrack was the first thing that made me decide to look into him. I'd heard a couple of covers of his songs, by Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris, and of course Merle & Willie. But when I listened to HIM, I got hooked quickly and I stayed hooked.

Nothing I've watched on a tv screen has ever made me sadder than "Be Here to Love Me" the documentary that came out a few years ago; I realize the artist who produces greatness even though his personal life is such a mess is a cliche, but watching real footage of him throwing his life away broke my heart.

I assumed you knew where ToLiveIsToFly came from and just chose not to bring it up, that if you saw me on the old board, you similarly knew where SakeOfTheSong came from.

Unless you thought I was referring to the Cowboy Junkies' version of the former song (which I've also had for years, but never really listened to - I mostly have that CD for the song John Prine sings on).

Cornell Hurd, Townes... you inspire quite a bit of musical jealousy in me.

Since you're obviously a fan, and I ask everybody who I meet who is (which happens seldom), there are two recordings I'd love to track down. I'm not expecting it, but:

Steve Earle's "The Unrepentant" on "I Feel Alright" lists TVZ as the composer. You don't know where I could find a copy of Townes singing it, do you?
I used to have a CD of a radio interview he did. He plays a few songs and talks about how he composed them - Blaise's Blues (though I guess it's probably Blaze), Marie, The Hole and If I Needed You. Apparently he wrote If I Needed You in his sleep while he was high on cough syrup, and "Lady's with me now" was originally "She lowed like a cow". Lost it in a move. If you knew where I could find a replacement for THAT, I'd be extremely grateful.

The only TVZ recordings I have are a few old LPs, but they're mainstream stuff that is readily available. Other than my advantage of having seen him in person, you probably know more about him than I do. I still haven't seen that documentary, but I've heard lots of good things about it, so I need to. Off the top of my head, maybe the best contact for specialized recordings and info about Townes would be his son, J. T. Van Zandt. I'm not sure if he lives in Austin or not, but he occasionally plays around here. Of course, with the extensive cult following Townes has, he probably has to limit how much he's willing to talk to strangers about his father. In case you're not familiar with J.T., here's a video and an interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmbxOr2mA80
http://www.lonestarmusic.com/townes.asp
The video was shot at Threadgill's restaurant, during South By Southwest (SXSW) two years ago at the annual ice cream party fundraiser hosted by Roky Erickson, seminal leader of the 1960s psychedelic 13th Floor Elevators, who is a legend in the local music pantheon along with TVZ, SRV, Doug Sahm, et al. Threadgill's is within a mile of my house. Next week brings the return of SXSW to Austin, which means about 3000 (literally) bands will descend on Austin from around the world, hoping to be discovered. It's a total sensory overload, even if you're not a registered attendee and don't go to the officially sanctioned events. You'd have to be curled up in a cave to avoid seeing and hearing any music that week. So that's always fun. Somewhere in that mass of humanity is probably someone who knows exactly where to find those lost TVZ recordings.

I've seen David Allan Coe a time or two long ago, but I've managed to reach this point in my life without becoming familiar "If That Ain't Country." I just checked YouTube and a few lyrics sites, and I don't think I've been missing much. There appear to be several different versions of the song. I think I found the line that you deemed most offensive.

I've probably mentioned before that I met Steve Goodman a few times and had a couple of nice conversations with him. It's hard to imagine him associating with the likes of David Allan Coe, but I guess he didn't have much control over who chose to record the songs he wrote.

[kayrharris]

What is ES holding, and why is he so dang happy about it? (not that I begrudge his little rodent glee)

The answer to that question can be found in this thread.....

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15196

lb13

oh, that ES - he's too cute to be a perv. Let's call it healthy curiousity.

Fran, sweetie, never call ES cute. It's a rule. Just trying to help you.

[kayrharris]

I must admit, ES, this is another classic! Your work just gets better and better.

[TheConfessor]

Steve Earle's "The Unrepentant" on "I Feel Alright" lists TVZ as the composer. You don't know where I could find a copy of Townes singing it, do you?

I wonder if that might be a misattribution. I poked around various internet sites and they consistently referred to it as being written by Earle. I couldn't find anything that linked it to TVZ.

[Estonut]

I've probably mentioned before that I met Steve Goodman a few times and had a couple of nice conversations with him. It's hard to imagine him associating with the likes of David Allan Coe, but I guess he didn't have much control over who chose to record the songs he wrote.

I never saw Steve Goodman perform in person, let alone met him, but, based on his friends who played at his tribute concert in Irvine, CA, he must have been a helluva guy. All these stars there, and the thing I most remember from the show was Martin Mull getting so smashed that he could no longer host the show and was carried/dragged off the stage mid-babble. IIRC, this show was in 1986.

[TheConfessor]

I've probably mentioned before that I met Steve Goodman a few times and had a couple of nice conversations with him. It's hard to imagine him associating with the likes of David Allan Coe, but I guess he didn't have much control over who chose to record the songs he wrote.

I never saw Steve Goodman perform in person, let alone met him, but, based on his friends who played at his tribute concert in Irvine, CA, he must have been a helluva guy. All these stars there, and the thing I most remember from the show was Martin Mull getting so smashed that he could no longer host the show and was carried/dragged off the stage mid-babble. IIRC, this show was in 1986.

I didn't realize Steve Goodman has already been gone for 25 years. Time flies. That's a great lineup for ten bucks, even at 1986 prices. I think I've seen each of those performers individually, with the possible exception of J.D. Souther.

[Jeemie]

The only other nitpick I would make- ES' depiction of the bowling alley is complete with the old-fashioned light projector for the scoring- the kind where you used transparent flimsies for scorecards and wrote on them with grease pencils.

Hasn't just about every bowling alley in the country gone to electronic scoring by now?

[ToLiveIsToFly]

The only other nitpick I would make- ES' depiction of the bowling alley is complete with the old-fashioned light projector for the scoring- the kind where you used transparent flimsies for scorecards and wrote on them with grease pencils.

Hasn't just about every bowling alley in the country gone to electronic scoring by now?

This is true. And neither alley I bowl in (the league I'm in on Tuesday nights, the one I'm a sub in on Thursday nights, where I shot 205-167-135 tonight) has those telescore projectors. Man, I miss them. Thursday nights is the ultramodern league where they keep score for you. Tuesday night league is an 8-lane house where they never even got telescores. You keep score by hand right there at the scoring table.

I figure they average out to what's in the picture so I'm fine with it.

[littlebeast13]

The only other nitpick I would make- ES' depiction of the bowling alley is complete with the old-fashioned light projector for the scoring- the kind where you used transparent flimsies for scorecards and wrote on them with grease pencils.

Hasn't just about every bowling alley in the country gone to electronic scoring by now?

Now jeemie, which method do you think I prefered? The old projector, or the &#@* electronic pussified scoring machine?

I have a lot of influence over ES's work....

lb13

[ToLiveIsToFly]

The only other nitpick I would make- ES' depiction of the bowling alley is complete with the old-fashioned light projector for the scoring- the kind where you used transparent flimsies for scorecards and wrote on them with grease pencils.

Hasn't just about every bowling alley in the country gone to electronic scoring by now?

Now jeemie, which method do you think I prefered? The old projector, or the &#@* electronic pussified scoring machine?

I have a lot of influence over ES's work....

lb13

Pussified is right. And how the hell do you cheat on those things?

[Bob Juch]

I've probably mentioned before that I met Steve Goodman a few times and had a couple of nice conversations with him. It's hard to imagine him associating with the likes of David Allan Coe, but I guess he didn't have much control over who chose to record the songs he wrote.

I never saw Steve Goodman perform in person, let alone met him, but, based on his friends who played at his tribute concert in Irvine, CA, he must have been a helluva guy. All these stars there, and the thing I most remember from the show was Martin Mull getting so smashed that he could no longer host the show and was carried/dragged off the stage mid-babble. IIRC, this show was in 1986.

I saw and met Steve in the late '70s in Palo Alto, CA. KFAT radio had been playing his stuff for years before and finally got him as part of a show.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

It's not everybody who still likes someone who's got a restraining order out against him in six states . . .

Pretty amazing mangy fuzzface. . .

I love it when you sweet talk me like that, Sprotsie! Sweet talk usually precedes scritches.....

Good grief! Do I gotta draw YOU a picture, as my dear sainted mother, who also loathed rodents, usta say?

That is NOT sweet talk! That is "Stay away from me!" talk.

If I could draw, I'd start working on my "Stay away from me!" picture.

As for scritches, there will be none. Not now. Not ever. NEVER!!!

Classic stalker behavior!!!

[ulysses5019]

I love it when you sweet talk me like that, Sprotsie! Sweet talk usually precedes scritches.....

Good grief! Do I gotta draw YOU a picture, as my dear sainted mother, who also loathed rodents, usta say?

That is NOT sweet talk! That is "Stay away from me!" talk.

If I could draw, I'd start working on my "Stay away from me!" picture.

As for scritches, there will be none. Not now. Not ever. NEVER!!!

Classic stalker behavior!!!

I think it's a cry for help. I think a visit to Scritchers Anonymous is in order.

[Jeemie]

The only other nitpick I would make- ES' depiction of the bowling alley is complete with the old-fashioned light projector for the scoring- the kind where you used transparent flimsies for scorecards and wrote on them with grease pencils.

Hasn't just about every bowling alley in the country gone to electronic scoring by now?

Now jeemie, which method do you think I prefered? The old projector, or the &#@* electronic pussified scoring machine?

I have a lot of influence over ES's work....

lb13

Pussified is right. And how the hell do you cheat on those things?

Same way you cheated before.

You CAN change the scores on the electronic machines, you know- juts make sure no one's looking when you do it!