i useta like spaghetti
after a terrific life course center conference on friday, jukka and i wandered over to the cabooze to hear a li'l live music. the opener was eddie spaghetti of the supersuckers, slinging an acoustic this tour and accompanied by the capable jordan shapiro on sg and pedal steel. i've long enjoyed mr. spaghetti's sneaky-smart songwriting and over-the-top/tongue-in-cheek/born-with-a-tail persona. five or six songs into this set, however, his misogyny got the best of me.
it wasn't just one song or his cutesy album covers, either, so i couldn't attribute it to singing in character. the hate just kept on comin' -- in slow, clear, unplugged fashion. how could we pump fist to words like this?
it wasn't just one song or his cutesy album covers, either, so i couldn't attribute it to singing in character. the hate just kept on comin' -- in slow, clear, unplugged fashion. how could we pump fist to words like this?
doublewide:
Got a beat up car up on blocks in my yard, got a beat up wife that i hit too hard
cocaine blues (blame johnny for this one):
I can't forget the day I shot that bad b*ch down
pretty f*ed up:
Ah she used to be pretty/But now she's just pretty f*ed up
c'mon, eddie. you're a grown man and a gifted writer. i know you can tell at least one heartbreak and pain story without invoking domestic violence. in fact, i'm betting you could write stonger solo stuff than john doe, dave alvin, and mike ness -- they all fronted rip-roaring bands too.
shooter jennings was the headliner. his set was a jumble of genres but mr. jennings has fine taste in bandmates, arena-rock moves, and his father's voice and sensibility. his thundering intro music also cleansed the palate between sets: tina turner's wah-heavy and ubersexy 1975 version of whole lotta love.
i'd like to believe that eddie spaghetti caught the irony here -- juxtaposing his domestic violence-themed set with one of tina turner's first solo outings. more likely, i suppose, he was ranting backstage about how ike got a bum rap.
c'mon, eddie. you're a grown man and a gifted writer. i know you can tell at least one heartbreak and pain story without invoking domestic violence. in fact, i'm betting you could write stonger solo stuff than john doe, dave alvin, and mike ness -- they all fronted rip-roaring bands too.
shooter jennings was the headliner. his set was a jumble of genres but mr. jennings has fine taste in bandmates, arena-rock moves, and his father's voice and sensibility. his thundering intro music also cleansed the palate between sets: tina turner's wah-heavy and ubersexy 1975 version of whole lotta love.
i'd like to believe that eddie spaghetti caught the irony here -- juxtaposing his domestic violence-themed set with one of tina turner's first solo outings. more likely, i suppose, he was ranting backstage about how ike got a bum rap.
posted by christopher uggen @ 12:01 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
You think this one-dimensional joke of a roots guy could write stronger stuff than Dave Alvin? Fightin' words, Dr. Uggen. (I'd defend Doe, but his solo output has been mostly disappointing.)
I know folks who like the Supersuckers quite a bit, but they've always been too jokey for me.
hmmm, with lyrics like that I thinque I would have walked out.;)
dave and sarah, your points are well taken. i'm just saying that he's got the chops to aim a little higher.
Cocaine blues, is misogyny the message? Its a song about an outlaw right? The NWA of its day?
hey travis, it was all about context. i can listen to cocaine blues in isolation, but every freakin' song this guy sang was violently anti-woman. if he's looking for a cash cover, he have tackled i walk the line or ring of fire, just to mix things up a bit.
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