Getting some hard copy love from Yeti Magazine, which ran part of the Jim Dickinson oral history I did for the Voices of Civil Rights Oral History Project for AARP and the Library of Congress. Buy it for the cool cover alone. $12.
http://yetipublishing.com/
and from the Oxford American, whose December 2009 Southern Music issue features Arkansas and my reminiscence of Bongo Joe, the street musician who made Texas a more interesting place.
http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/issues/latest_issue/
OA did a Q&A with the issue's writers. Here's mine:
JOE NICK PATOSKI
Why is music important to you?
Music is better than any language or form of communication because it can move your body as well as your mind.
Please name the first recorded song that you ever truly loved and how old you were.
“Cool Water” by the Sons of the Pioneers followed by “Waterloo” by Homer and Jethro.
What song can’t you abide and why?
America’s “Horse With No Name” because the words are beyond dumb (“in the desert, you can remember your name, for there ain’t no one for to give you no shame”) even if they sound sorta like Neil Young.
What is your favorite line from a song?
“In the desert, you can remember your name….” and “It’s too late to stop now.”
Please name your favorite music-themed book.
DINO by Nick Tosches.
Please name your favorite music-themed movie.
PERFORMANCE (some twisted mofos behind that one).
Please name the most underrated album of all time.
TOGETHER AFTER FIVE by the Sir Douglas Quintet.
Please tell us of any interesting encounter you’ve had with a famous or semi-famous musician.
Sold two used records to Bob Dylan once while manning the counter of OK Records in Austin (the VERY BEST OF ERIC CLAPTON and WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH by the Mothers of Invention). I was not impressed with either selection, especially since I was spinning Buddy Holly on the sound system.
Please name an annoying cliché that can be found in too much music writing.
Any phrase with the word “Best.”
What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done at a music show or concert?
I’ve never been embarrassed at a concert because everyone is always making asses out of themselves at concerts. No way could I stand out. First beer I ever bought when I was sixteen was at a James Brown show in Fort Worth. Then again, I did try to yell a few times during the recording of JAMES BROWN LIVE in Dallas, 1968, but I have never been able to pick out my voice. And I guess I did embarrass myself when I was flown to KC to interview Jim Dandy of Black Oak Arkansas before a show at Arrowhead Stadium. The story got killed but I did charge a bottle of Jack Daniels to room service after I observed Ed Ward doing the same before a Willie Nelson picnic. The management didn’t like it.
