3 Chords & the Truth: Enraptured

While Harold Camping and his Family Radio devotees have been preparing to be caught up to Jesus in the sky today, I've been working on this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth, just in case.

I sincerely hope you find the program . . . enrapturing.

And if I'm still around, and you're still around, come Sunday we'll have us some fun.

And if I'm still around, and you're still around, and the Rapture-ready folks aren't anymore come Sunday, next week's edition of the Big Show will be broadcast via the facilities of KYFR, 920 on your AM dial, Shenandoah, Iowa.

Being that Mr. Camping and Family Radio won't have any use of KYFR anymore, we will be returning that frequency to rock 'n' roll for the duration.


I'VE EVEN got a slogan: "Rock around the clock while the world goes to pot." That's because Jimmy Buffett already took "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw?"

It's not like we'd have anything to lose, being that eternal doom already awaited.

Anyway, enjoy the show . . . for whatever time we all have left.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there (or not). Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Dark and stormy

Fortunately, this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth is better than the weather around these parts.

Indeed, it was a dark and stormy night.

And -- again, fortunately -- the Big Show this week also is better than Edward Bulwer-Lytton's infamous prose. But on the other hand, this pretty much covers it; just substitute Omaha for London:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

COME TO think of it, scratch the part about "fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps." We've had electricity in these parts for several years now.

Aye, it was a dark and stormy missive your Mighty Favog labored to extract from the well-worn keyboard -- its shift key reduced to a "Sh" key, resisting the repeated demands of the author's right pinky that it peaceably submit.

Yet the show went on, as indeed it had to go on.

Though the watery tempest raged outside the studio, 3 Chords & the Truth was undaunted. The music played, and life went on.

The storms called for unconditional surrender, but the Big Show would not yield.

The music played -- alas! -- and life went on.

AND YOU likely will find it all quite enjoyable. Unlike this purple prose.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Here's to the music!

A 3 Chords & the Truth musical toast:

Through the Internet and into the ears,
Look out brain, the Big Show is here!
With music and other stuff that's hard to describe,
Its entertainment value is hard to deride!

So here's 3 Chords & the Truth, for better or worse,
It's like a drink that you'd rather not nurse!
And here's to you, you dear, loyal listener,
We guarantee it's better than French kissing your sister!

So listen long and listen often,
The show's not bad, with minimal coughin'!
Raise your glass and button your parka,
The show's as smooth as K&B vodka!

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: As I was saying. . . .

Now, where were we?

Last I remember, I was mentioning something along the lines of "the missus is sick as a dog and I ain't feeling so hot myself. Let's curl up under something warm, grab a hot cuppa tea, put on 3 Chords & the Truth and make the world go away."

That was a month ago. For much of that month's time, I was feeling something short "ain't feeling so hot myself." A bad case of influenza -- sounds classier than "the flu" -- that smoothly transitions into bronchitis (they shared a single set of coughing fits) will do that to you.

BUT THAT was then, and this is now.

I'm back, the coughing fits are under control for the most part, and I can put together a whole extra-good episode of 3 Chords & the Truth now without having to stop in the middle of a sentence to cough up a lung. I've decided to celebrate the occasion with a big show on the Big Show.

So, once again, where were we?

As I recall, I had introduced you to the exquisite music of a fine Omaha act, Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies.

This week, It's True!

What's true?

It's true that It's True, led by the astoundingly talented Adam Hawkins, just might be the best thing going here in Seattle on the Missouri. Why are all the best bands unsigned anymore, and why is it so hard to lay hands on actual CDs from them?

I guess that's why God invented iTunes.

ANYWAY, we'll have a couple of gems from It's True on the show this week, along with lots and lots of other gems from. . . . Hang on. That would just ruin the joy of discovery for you, wouldn't it?

Well, I'll tell you what. You just go up to the 3 Chords & the Truth audio player at the top of the blog, sit back, grab a cold something and indulge yourself. Or you can just download the finest music this side of Council Bluffs right here.

Come to think of it, I think I'll do the same. While not coughing . . . too much.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: At least there's this

The world has gone to s***, Japan has been laid to waste, thousands of American politicians have yet to be exiled to Siberia, the missus is sick as a dog and I ain't feeling so hot myself.

Let's curl up under something warm, grab a hot cuppa tea, put on 3 Chords & the Truth and make the world go away.

(Timi Yuro, 1963. Eddy Arnold, 1965.)

That's all I can think of to do right now. Maybe that's all we can do right now -- not give up on joy, embrace the music and put on the Big Show. Y'know?

ANYWAY, we have another fine episode for you this week, full of tasty nuggets of pop, alt, jazz, rock, indie and New Wave goodness. Not sure what more to say about it than that.

We got vintage LPs from the 1960s to play. We got local Omaha artists you don't know about but should.

We got the '50s. We got the '70s. We got the '80s, '90s and uh-ohs.

It's the Big Show, so you know we got it all. Is this 300 words, teacher?

WELL, it's good enough for government work. But the show is much, much better than government work. If you don't believe your Mighty Favog, give it a listen and hear for yourself.

Gotta go. Gotta curl up under something. Gotta let the music take me away from what ails us.

Why don't you do that, too?

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Winning is a way of life

Click it, listen and win!

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. For the win! Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: (402) 3-CHORDS

Starting this week, you have to dial 10 digits to listen to 3 Chords & the Truth.

Frankly, we've run out of numbers in the 402 area code, driven no doubt by the world's desire to come to Omaha, by God, Nebraska, pick up a phone and "reach out and touch someone." Someone, of course, being the Big Show.

What else could it be?

Anyway, because of the extreme popularity of 3 Chords & the Truth -- and musical programming such as this week's ode to the telephone -- Nebraska's 402 area code is all full up. Thus, we welcome our new number to dial by -- 531.

THE NEW area code will be rolled out inside the existing 402 area, with new phone lines getting the 531 designation starting in about a month. But as of . . . right now, we're all 10-digit dialers around these parts.

And without a doubt, this fast-fingered, extra-digited sign that we've arrived -- that eastern Nebraska is big-time now -- can be laid at the World Wide Webbed feet of the Big Show.

You can thank me later.


OH . . . what the hay. Thank me now by clicking where you need to click, listening to the podcast, then getting all your friends and family to do the same.

Because I'm aiming at a new goal for my neck of the telecommunications woods -- 13-digit dialing.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

(Click.)

3 Chords & the Truth: The war on suck

DEATH TO SUCK!

Join the revolution.

Claim the power.

Stand up for your rights. And stand with 3 Chords & the Truth in the revolt against suckage.

No longer will we tolerate sucky music (as if we ever did here). No longer will we tolerate those who tolerate sucky music.

We will take to the streets, and we will raise our digital players high, and will will crank the Big Show the hell up. And a world o' suck will not be able to withstand it.

REMEMBER, you are the musical change you have been waiting for. Don't suck, and don't mess around with them what do.

Music for the people!

Down with suck!

Long live the revolution!

Death to the suck mongers!

The eclectic, united, will never be defeated!

Musical diversity now!

End cultural hegemony of the corporate reactionaries!

IT'S 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Doo WHACK a doo

It's been a long week, and another big episode of the Big Show is in the can.

You might have to whack it on the side a time or two, like this old radio of mine, but it should play just fine after you do. Such is life at 3 Chords & the Truth.

The Big Show is a classic, and it's an adventure, but sometimes you just have tuf gi9b itioe oasf j a sheporuj odwpd kd -- WHAP! -- you just have to give it a sharp rap on the top of the cabinet when it aioDUY DWEPIE Kopejf wpqoie jfdu r acct ewoip u -- WHAP! -- starts to act up.

THEN YOU'LL be good to go.

Really.

I promise.

Is there anything more I need to say about this week's episode of 3 )PUEd ipoidsdixm mp3oi2urdfpxocr31209 nm wskqjdalmd qoiu02p o 3rp00234pirpo3 -- WHAP! -- 3 Chords & the Truth, your bastion of good music and eclectic playlists on the Internets?

I didn't think so. Carry on.

Download.

Listen.

Ebnoyw dk Engoo -- WHAP!

Enjoy.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be theefkj e3wlw -- WHAP! -- there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: All teary eyed

It would be a cryin' shame if you bypassed this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth.

I would imagine many tears would be shed once you found out what you missed on the Big Show -- and you would find out. I'd make sure of that.

I know where you live.

As you might have deduced, tears is the theme of our first big set on the Big Show. Tears, tears and more tears.

WE GOT folks denying them, attributing them to the Almighty, eradicating them from Earth, drowning in them and counting them. It's a veritable weep-a-thon.

Or not.

Frankly, I can't imagine anybody crying over this particular 3 Chords & the Truth, unless it's tears of joy we're talkin' about. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Cross my heart and hope to cry.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Ripples

We start out this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth with a little Gram Parsons -- "Cash on the Barrelhead" off of his "Grievous Angel" album.

It's a classic. It's also a cover version of a little something Charlie and Ira Louvin did years before. The Louvin Brothers made an impression on young Gram Parsons.

And Gram Parsons would carry the word. Carry it into the Byrds, onto their albums, and then onto his own. Of course, all that also makes its way onto the Big Show.

Ripples. The music of the Louvin Brothers -- of Charlie Louvin, who died this week at 83 -- splashed into our cultural consciousness in the early 1940s, really made waves in the '50s, and stuck around on the charts into the '60s.

Ripples. They rocked the Everly Brothers' musical boat. The Everlys rocked the Beatles'. The Beatles' rocked everybody's.

Ripples. The Louvin Brothers were Elvis Presley's favorite country act.


RIPPLES. Those high harmonies ignited a fierce love of the same in young Emmylou Harris' heart.

Ripples. They keep going out from a long time past . . . from a couple of brothers growing up in north Alabama. They keep rocking somebody's world. Somebody carries the word, and the word -- the sweet harmonies of a long ago song -- inspires yet another generation, one unseen in 1955.

Ripples. That's what 3 Chords & the Truth is all about this time -- ripples of the musical kind..

Elvis, the Everlys, Emmylou, Gram, the Byrds, the Beach Boys, Elvis Costello and on and on and on and on. Ripples.

Join us this week on the Big Show, and we'll float -- and rock -- your boat. All to the sweet sound of perfect harmony.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

Did you know?

Know what?

Know that you can embed the Big Show on your blog or something if you really, really like it.

The things people think of on the Internets.



THAT IS ALL. Above, you'll find the latest episode, which I call "Heck of a Job." You can read about it here.

As always, it's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all.

Be there.

Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Is America singing?

Here's something to think about this week on 3 Chords & the Truth:

Once upon a time, Walt Whitman could write this -- I Hear America Singing:

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

I THINK, when you distill all that besets up on this Independence Day of 2010, it comes down to this one thing.

We're having trouble remembering the tune.

The tune that America was singing.

Anyway, that's what's on my mind for this holiday edition of the Big Show. Your mileage may vary.

There's some other stuff -- amazing stuff -- in there as well this week, so you really don't want to miss what we're up to as you go about whatever it is you're up to for the Fourth.

IT'S 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Singing in tongues

Diese Woche auf 3 Chords & die Wahrheit, könnte man sagen, dass wir mit einem musikalischen Turmbau zu Babel.

Musik aus aller Welt, die alle durch die Jahrzehnte, die alle in verschiedenen Sprachen. Nur nicht Englisch ist.

Das ist so ziemlich das Spiel für das erste Drittel des Big Show -- und es ist ein guter. Du wirst sehen. . . oder vielmehr zu hören. Einfach zuhören, OK?

Es ist 3 Chords & die Wahrheit, euch alle. Seien Sie dabei. Aloha.


QUESTA SETTIMANA il 3 Chords & la Verità, si potrebbe dire che siamo dotate di una torre di Babele musicale.

Musica da tutto il mondo, tutto attraverso i decenni, tutti in lingue diverse. Solo, non in inglese.

Questo è esattamente il piano di gioco per il primo terzo del Big Show -- ed è un buon compromesso. Vedrai. . . o, meglio, sentire. Basta ascoltare, OK?

Si tratta di 3 Chords & la Verità, tutti voi. Essere lì. Aloha.


3和音＆真実の今週場合は、我々はバベルの音楽の塔を備えていると言うかもしれない。

音楽は世界中から、すべての数十年を通じて、すべての異なる舌インチ英語だけはありません。

それはかなり最初のビッグショーの3分の1のためのゲームプランだ - そしてそれは良いものだ。やってみなよ。 。 。というか、聞いています。ただ、[OK]を聞く？

それが3和音＆真実である場合、すべての。そこにいなさい。アロハ。


DENNA VECKA på 3 Chords & Sanningen kan man säga vi featuring en musikalisk Babels torn.

Musik från hela världen, alla genom årtionden, alla i olika språk. Bara inte engelska.

Det är ganska mycket i spelet planen för första tredjedelen av Big Show - och det är en bra en. Du kommer att se. . . eller snarare höra. Lyssna bara, okej?

Det är 3 Chords & Sanningen, ni alla. Vara där. Aloha.


THII WEEH ahh 3 Chorr & th' Truu, yuh miiiiii aay weeh featurin' uh musicuh tow'r uh Baabuh.

Musiih fra aah ov'r th' whurr, aw throughtha decaay, aw 'n diff'uhh tuhh. Jus' naah En'liih.

Thaah pre'ih muuh th' gaah plaah fuh th' fuuhh thir' th' Biih Show -- an' iih a guuh 'n. Yuh seen . . . uh, raath'heah. Juuh liih, OKaaaaaaay?

Iih 3 Chorr & th' Trooh, y'aah. Be th'aa. 'Looha.


ESTA SEMANA, el 3 de Acordes y la Verdad, se podría decir que estamos con una torre de Babel musical.

Música de todo el mundo, a lo largo de las décadas, todos en lenguas diferentes. Simplemente no Inglés.

Eso es más o menos el plan de juego para el primer tercio del Big Show -- y es una buena idea. Ya lo verás. . . o, mejor dicho, oír. Sólo escucha, ¿OK?

Está a 3 Acordes y la Verdad, a todos. Estar allí. Aloha.


CETTE SEMAINE sur les 3 Accords et la Vérité, vous pourriez dire que nous sommes dotées d'une tour de Babel musicale.

Musique de partout dans le monde, tout au long des décennies, le tout dans des langues différentes. Juste pas l'anglais.

C'est à peu près le plan de match pour le premier tiers du Grand Spectacle -- et c'est une bonne chose. Vous verrez. . . ou, plutôt, d'entendre. Il suffit d'écouter, OK?

Il est 3 Accords et la Vérité, à vous tous. Soyez là. Aloha.


THIS WEEK on 3 Chords & the Truth, you might say we're featuring a musical tower of Babel.

Music from all over the world, all through the decades, all in different tongues. Just not English.

That's pretty much the game plan for the first third of the Big Show -- and it's a good one. You'll see . . . or, rather, hear. Just listen, OK?

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: A cautionary tale

The following cautionary tale is brought to you by the Internet's finest music podcast, 3 Chords & the Truth.

Ready? Here you go:

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

SO SAD. So sad. It seems to me the quality of poor Eleanor's dream could have been enhanced by regular downloading of the Big Show.

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

WHERE DO all the lonely people come from? Obviously from that bitter and antisocial place where 3 Chords & the Truth is not a weekly part of one's life.

That prospect is depressing enough to turn anybody into a sad hermit.

Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

HELLO? FATHER? Nobody is listening to your sermons because they're booorrrrrrriiinnng! Really, if you listened to 3 Chords & the Truth, you'd be much happier, and I am sure there's scientific research somewhere pointing out that listening to good music increases the effectiveness of sermon writing 110 percent.

Get with the program, Fadda! Listen to the Big Show and quit being such a prig.

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

YEAH, YEAH, YEAH . . . been over all that. Yadda yadda yadda.

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

WELL, that's just sadder than hell. And such a waste, too.

It could have been avoided with something as simple as a weekly dose of 3 Chords & the Truth. Proven effective in combating the boredom that causes priggishness, a leading cause of loneliness.

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

UH HUH, uh huh. Yeah, yeah. Heard that, haven't we? Move along, nothing new here. Just listen to the Big Show, and all will be well.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Just being

The theme of this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth is being.

There.

It's as simple as that. Just being. No big message, no overriding machination to the conglomeration . . . just being.

EXISTING in the moment. Taking life -- and the Big Show -- as it comes, and enjoying the moment.

It's the Memorial Day weekend, and it seems to me that Memorial Day, and all it stands for, is as good a time as any to just be. And be content. And grateful.

But mainly just being. There.

I mean, I'm no Chance the Gardener -- well, maybe I'm kind of close to Chance the Gardener, except that nobody listens to me -- but that's what I have to say as we ease on into summer. With 3 Chords & the Truth . . . and the music.

And as we're just being there -- and here.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Just a little bit loony

We're all just a little bit crazy, aren't we?

Well, not all of us are over-the-top tormented like Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett (God rest his soul) was three-plus decades ago when the Band released Barrett-inspired songs like "Brain Damage" -- featured this week on 3 Chords & the Truth -- and "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," et al. But we all are at least a little bit "eccentric," aren't we?

I mean, how boring would life be if we weren't?

Take my wife, for example. . . . You wouldn't believe h




ON SECOND THOUGHT, my lovely bride is perfect in every way. Sometimes, she feigns imperfection or eccentricity, but that is solely a ruse to make me feel less conspicuously inadequate as a human being.

I am flawed. I am unworthy.

And if you're like me, I have just the set for you this week on the Big Show. Because we're all "Crazy as a Loon."

Or something like that -- except for my wife. Whom I love.

WE'LL ALSO spend a lot of time this week strolling through the history of rock 'n' roll (and all the flavors of rock, too) . . . at least a little bit. Lots of fun this week on 3 Chords & the Truth.

And that's about all I have to say about that. To say any more would just give the whole thing away, and that would be no fun.

It's the Big Show, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Les affaires de coeur

Frankie Valli did it first.

You'll hear someone completely different doing "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" this week on 3 Chords & the Truth. Who is it? You'll have to listen to find out.

ABOVE, we see Valli performing his big solo hit on the Mike Douglas Show way back in the day. If you don't know who Mike Douglas was, it's like this: Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin were Oprah before Oprah was Oprah.

But that's not important now.

The big thing you need to know about this week's episode of the Big Show is that we have a little bit of everything for your musical exploration -- and for this week's musical exploration of affairs of the heart. Some of these things don't turn out so well.

Fortunately, more do.

And I'd like to think 3 Chords & the Truth turned out pretty well itself this time around. It usually does.

On the other hand, I guess you have to be the judge of that. If you agree that the Big Show is big-time good, tell everyone you know.

If you disagree . . . shhhhhhhhhhh, it's a secret.

The show is 3 Chords & the Truth, and it's giving you 90 minutes of great music right here every week. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Make the rain go away

It's a rainy night in Omaha. And I think it's raining all over the world.

Hey, I can steal from Brook Benton as well as anyone.

If it's going to insist on storming, however, at least I picked a fine mess of music this week to help me weather the weather. And whether the weather is sunny or wet wherever you find the Big Show this week, I bet you'll find the tunage pleasant as well.

THAT'S WHAT 3 Chords & the Truth is all about. The tunes . . . and expanding our musical horizons.

For instance, you're not going to find that many shows -- either on the air or on the Internet -- where you'll be catapulted from blues-rock to classic country to indie pop to jazz standards. All this in a mere 90 minutes.

It's worth tuning in just to see how we do it without giving you whiplash.

But that's 3 Chords & the Truth for you -- a downloadable adventure every week. Even when it's not storming outside.

Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Refuge from the suck

As I write this, Hurricane Ike is giving the Texas coastline a good thrashing. God knows what's happening to poor Galveston.

God knows what's about to happen to the price of a gallon of gas for the foreseeable future.

MEANWHILE, the Republicans have restarted the culture wars -- because, frankly, that was the only way they could win -- and the far left of the Democratic Party has taken the bait. Enthusiastically.

And observant Catholics like me hear "We hate you. We really hate you." (And, by the way, I am the last New Deal Democrat standing.)

The Republicans, of course, are counting on that. Because that's the only way they can win this year. Did I mention that?

Back to the storm front, my Louisiana hometown is still a shambles from Hurricane Gustav a couple of weeks back, and my mother only has electricity to half of her house. Go figure.

Up here in Nebraska, it's been raining all week . . . and God knows what we're going to be paying for a gallon of gas in a few days. (You can't mention that one too much. All God's chillin need gas. Or for the city to instantly build a decent mass-transit system.)

TIMES ARE TOUGH; times are ugly, and they're getting uglier.

There's only one thing for us to do in times like these: Crank it up! That's where this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth comes in.

In the impersonal and the abstract, you might hate my guts, and I damn well may have had it with you -- and the politicians might be clapping with glee at the spectacle -- but it seems to me there's one thing we can agree on.

That would be good music. Again, that's where this week's edition of the Big Show comes in.

Good music. Diverse music. "Oh my God, he can't be as big an effing redneck as I thought" music.

And -- Whadda you know? -- if you're hip to the cool sounds, too, you might not be half bad yourself. (God, I sound like I'm sporting a pocket protector or something. Geez!)

I GUESS THAT'S what this week's 3 Chords & the Truth ultimately is about. Unity through a shared quest for sweet diversion from a world o' suck.

Works for me. How about you?

It's 3 Chords & the Truth. Be there.

Aloha.