3 Chords & the Truth: America today

We find ourselves living in the Age of Disunity. Now, more than ever, the mother's milk of politics is bullshit.

This applies much more to some political parties than others. Boy, does it.

Listen, I watched all of Donald Trump's historically weird acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, otherwise known as Nuremberg for Dummies. That über über gathering in Milwaukee was notable among American political conventions for the placard handouts that got right to the point -- "MASS DEPORTATION NOW."

Sieg heil, y'all.

THIS IS the American milieu from which 3 Chords & the Truth emerges every week. You sometimes wonder whether doing this thing, amid this level of ugly, every week amounts to whistling past a national graveyard.

Oh, yeah. Some 20-year-old nutter attempted to assassinate Trump last week. So there's that.

I absolutely cannot wait for what lies ahead . . . said no one ever the past few years.

Then we have the Democrats trying to force a diminished and doddering Joe Biden off the ballot. The niceties disappear when the stakes are existential, and losing may be death.

Ready for some music yet?

Ready or not, here it is, and it's damn good. As usual. In times like these, you have to keep on keepin' on -- until you can't. We'll keep the eclectic wonderfulness of the Big Show coming . . . until we can't.

It's that kind of America right now.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Really? What the hell?

If you know, you know.

First, I ain't young. I started in radio -- long before the Internet and 3 Chords & the Truth -- during the age of cartridge machines, big studio consoles with round knobs, turntables and reel-to-reel tape decks. Editing was done with a grease pencil and razor blade. The computer was the Heathkit they built in electronics class, which was where it stayed.

And the thing about being Not Young is that I've seen some things. And I remember most of them.

SECOND, I ain't never seen what I'm seeing now. Enter the 2024 presidential race -- 81-year-old Joe Biden, who's had a pretty damn good run as president vs. 78-year-old Donald Trump, an adjudicated rapist, convicted felon, federal defendant, Georgia defendant, word-salad aficionado, and all-around reprobate.

And the felonious reprobate, running on a flat-out authoritarian platform, is winning. I was born in the Deep South in 1961. What we'll get under a second Trump Administration, I've seen. It was called Jim Crow. It was horrific.

No wonder that I felt the need to bang my head on this week's edition of the Big Show.

I am old enough to have seen a lot of good music. This is it. Trust me.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Xanax, take me away!

If you can't laugh, you'll end up sticking your head in the oven.

Yeah, I watched the presidential debate pitting a bad debater who's lost a step . . . and a pathological liar who aspires to be Short-Bus Hitler. Couple that with a thoroughly broken journalistic infrastructure (I'm looking at you, CNN), and if cannabis were legal in this state, I'd be snarfing pot gummies like Raisinettes in a freakin' movie theater.

Thus, the importance of good music on 3 Chords & the Truth . . . and the ability to laugh at this s***.

I'm hoping I achieved the good-music and humor goals on this week's edition of the Big Show. I am betting heavily that you are, too.

Well, I guess you'll just have to see, now, won't you?

This has to work. I have an electric oven. Ouch.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Baby, it's you

Here's to you.

After all, without you, we at 3 Chords & the Truth are talking to ourselves and playing records for the wind.

So, musically, that's where we're starting on the show this week. But that's not where we're going to end. There is lots to love -- as usual -- about yet another episode of the Big Show. I mean, we're talking some seriously good music, intelligently presented.

Thank a seriously massive music library.

And that's about all I have to say about that. If you know, you know. If you don't -- yet -- this is as good a time as any to find out. You can thank me later.

With that said. . . .

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The Big (click) Big (click) Big (click)

A fair portion of the music we play on the Big Show falls into one of two categories -- stuff that's even (crackle) (pop) older than your Mighty Favog, and various records that (click) that (click) that (click) that (click) that (click) that (WRRRROOOOP!) are almost that old.

That's the beauty of 3 Chords & the Truth. That you'd be extremely hard pressed to tell that was the case, that is.

You see, your genial host works magic to make sure that's the case, to make sure even the oldest, scratchiest, snap-crackle-and-poppiest records get new life through audio science. Now, don't go getting a big head . . . you may or may not deserve it.

But the music does. The music deserves to sound just the way it did when it was new. And it deserves to make a good first impression (or 200th impression), so you'll fall in love with it, too (or fall in love with it all over again).

IS THE Brand X program on the radio -- or on the Internet -- all about love? Probably not. That right there is what makes the Big Show different . . . and better.

Sometimes, you just can't do that with a compact disc or download. Sometimes, if you already own the vinyl, why pay again to get the digital? And sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do. We're not fanatics here, after all.

I wasn't sure what new to say about this week's episode, being that all of them are pretty decent. So, I just thought I needed to say this. So I did.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Sound advice

I favor playing music just the way it was supposed to sound when it came out.

I also have a soft spot for the high-fidelity miracle devices of my youth, like 1950s and '60s record changers. No, a mid-1960s LP is not going to sound as good as a well-recorded and mastered CD, but it's (first) going to sound the way it did when it was made, and (second) is going to be a hell of a lot more fun.

This is the kind of thing that makes music such an enjoyable obsession, especially for geeks like me who do shows like 3 Chords & the Truth.

AND THEN comes somebody like Jason Aldean to f*** everything up. Bad bro-country music (as if there were a good kind) with a deeply stupid, deeply bigoted, deeply deplorable message. The boy has both kinds of music -- shitty and hateful.

The music video for "Try That in a Small Town," by the way, is even worse. It manages to feature a Tennessee courthouse noted for a lynching that took place there. We won't be linking to any of it.

On the bright side, your Mighty Favog has a solution for shitty music by hateful people. We don't play it on the Big Show. At all. The farthest we'll "go there" is to warn you of its existence.

Consider yourself warned. And here's some more sound advice that has nothing to do with sound: Don't be a peckerwood who thinks it's some sort of a virtue to parade your hatefulness and ignorance for the whole world to see.

That is all. That is enough.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Beware the flying monkeys

New this week in the culture-war bunker, far behind America's Ironic Curtain: A flying monkey warning.

Now that Donald Trump has been indicted on federal charges of the conspiracy and Espionage Act variety, we at 3 Chords & the Truth are hunkered down here in Red America, waiting for the disgraced former president and future felon to unleash his flying monkeys upon us all. Trust me -- there's no more disturbing sight than flying monkeys in red MAGA hats.

Still, the show must go on. And go on, it will.

Given that much of what the former prez says sounded much better in the original German, the Big Show will feature some music . . . in the original German. Which sounds fine to me, being that it features none of the original Nazi.

Unlike most of what we hear here behind the Ironic Curtain, which is much like the old Iron Curtain.  Here in the former United States, though, it's incongruent with the "freedom" and "liberty" blather favored by the flying-monkey crowd.

Anyway, just because we hunker in the bunker, it doesn't mean we can't crank out program after program featuring the best music mix on the Internets. After all, the proof is in the listening. Which you should begin about now.

So, that's about it for another introductory missive for yet another show. There's only one thing left to be said.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Hearing ghosts

I'm hearing ghosts. At least it seems that way.

Of course, what you hear in a program like 3 Chords & the Truth depends on the context. The context of these times we live in has me hearing ghosts in the music.

Ghosts of times past. Ghosts of our past selves. Ghosts of those who've passed. Ghosts of normality. Ghosts of a country and world that seem long gone.

Good ghosts, evil ghosts. Ghosts all.

I hear ghosts. Perhaps you will, too.

I'LL TELL YOU now what I'll tell you during this week's edition of the Big Show -- the ghosts I hear in the music, hear in my mind . . . they feel like being at the end of your life and looking back at what was, and you're regretful, wistful. You regret what you -- we -- have come to, You regret the opportunities that were passed by.

You regret the things that were done but shouldn't have been. You wonder what the actual f***.

The ghosts often provoke nostalgia. Nostalgia can be a blessing. It also can be a curse.

Yeah, this week, I'm playing -- and hearing -- ghosts, and it's not even Halloween. They hearken me toward better times and remind me of worse, and the worse remind me of today in these disunited and dysfunctional United States.

And that's the way it is, May 12, 2023. I'm your Mighty Favog, reporting from 79 Wistful Vista.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Nix the sandals at Mardi Gras

I'll take "What not to wear to Mardi Gras for $500, Ken."

"Unless you're exceptionally careful where you step in the French Quarter during Carnival season, wearing these will get you a bad case of pissmanurevomit toes."

"What are sandals?"

"Correct! You have control of the board."

AAAAAAND THAT'S HOW we're gonna roll this week on 3 Chords & the Truth. Make sure to wear washable, closed-toe footwear -- and a course of antibiotics might be a good idea, too. Mind the gutters.

This week, we pay tribute to the last gasp of hedonism before Lent -- and, perhaps, a nasty social disease -- and we do it with a bunch of great music, almost all thematically fitting for the occasion. And again, mind the gutters . . . especially on Bourbon Street.

Of course, we at the Big Show are not averse to passing a good time, but we do take heed of the perils of overdoing things. Which makes for more interesting music making, actually. After all, your host, your Mighty Favog, did earn a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State.

His liver, meantime, was awarded a Ph.D.

I think you're up to speed by now, so I'll leave you to it. Listen and learn, friend . . . listen and learn. And beware of tourists from the Midwest. They're the worst.

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

Really, mind the gutters.

3 Chords & the Truth: Merry C-c-c-christmas!

The ground is white
The chill is up
We've got some ice
Fell on my duff

Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime

Big Show's still on
The music's here
That only comes
This time of year

Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime

A stack of records do their thing
Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding
B-brrr brrr brrr brrr brrrrrrrrrr
C . . . c . . . c . . . c . . . c . . . cold
Sh-shiv-shiv-shiv-shiv-er

SIMPLY having a frostbitten Christmastime
We're simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime

The wool hat's out
Inside the house
Layers won't let
My arms go down

Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime

But the stack of records do their thing
I've been waiting all year long
Ding dong, doo wop
Ding dong, doo wop
Ding dong, doo wop
Ding dong, doo wop

The ground is white
The chill is up
We've got some ice
Fell on my duff

We're simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime
Simply having a frostbitten Christmastime

Ho-ho, ho-ho
Ho-ho-ho wonderful Christmastime

IT'S 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. The extra-large, family-size Christmas edition of 3 Chords & the Truth. Be there. Alo-ho-ho-ho-ha.

3 Chords & the Truth: College rock

I remember skinny ties, legal beer at 18, doing the Pogo . . . and college radio.

I remember when college radio was a force of nature. Driving the musical narrative. Making commercial radio look ever so lame.

I remember a time before commercial radio started making itself look lame. 

I REMEMBER college radio with real DJs behind real microphones, all through the night. Playing real records, before CDs -- much less computer automation -- was a thing.

I remember. 

And so does this edition of 3 Chords & the Truth. 

This week, we're going back to the 1980s . . . and the 1970s, with a couple of side trips to the '60s and '50s. College radio was a little freewheeling back then. 

What we do on the Big Show owes almost everything to the glory days of college radio . . . and what we learned in high-school radio, too. We just kick it up a notch for the online age. 

So join your Mighty Favog as he relives a bit of those days when he was young . . . and pogoing. It's gonna be quite the journey. 

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Ralph-tastic

If a clod like Ralph appreciates good music expertly curated . . . I expect that you'll be copacetic with everything, right? 

I said right? 

Now that we're clear on everything, we're good to go with another Big Show, which is a very very very fine show, with one dog in the yard, tunes used to be so hard . . . now everything is easy 'cause of you. And the 3 Chords & the Truth mascot, Ralph . . . who is  a clod, which isn't an insult but a fact, in the earthiest of manners. 

But he has a nice smile. Don't you think Ralph has a nice smile? 

And Ralph thinks this week's edition of the program is especially mud-tacular. (We're pretty sure that's a good thing.) 

So be like Ralph. Listen to the Big Show. 

And, yes, we've had a lot of rain here recently.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Going all the way

 

Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it.

 

Let's do it. Let's listen to 3 Chords & the Truth.

What the hell did you think your Mighty Favog was talking about?

After all, the Big Show IS everybody's favorite freeform musical phantasmagoria. Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall's, skipper.

But first, listen to the show. You'll be glad you did.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: I fall to pieces

I turned on the Internet stream of my high-school radio station this morning just in time to hear the DJ mention that this spring, they're kicking off WBRH's 45th anniversary celebration.

Wut?

I was there then. I can tell you what the first record was. I was a junior in Radio I.

In 1977.

Forty-five years ago.

S***.  

IT ALSO HAPPENS that I have a birthday coming up in a few days. It would appear that I'm no longer 18, much less 16.

It would appear that I'm 45 years older than 16.

S***.

That would explain that when I walk by, I fall to pieces. A little help here . . . I've fallen, and I can't get up.

Well,  that kind of sets the scene for this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth. Expect some music from when I was 61 years younger than I am now . . . and 39 years younger . . . and 47 years younger . . . and 51 years younger . . . and you get the gist here.

IT'S MY PARTY, and I'll play what the hell I want to. Fortunately for you, it's all good. Every bit of it. That's what we've all come to expect of the Big Show. 

And that's a very good thing. It was a very good year. All of 'em. 

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

3 Chords & the Truth: You've gotta warm up to it

It could be that you're listening to the Big Show and thinking "What the f***???" 

If you are,  maybe you've gotta warm up to it. And -- maybe -- once you've warmed up to it, you'll be hooked. Maybe you'll look forward to not looking forward to what you figure will be playing next on the show. 

Maybe you'll be hooked on being surprised. A lot. 

Maybe you'll find that you're the type who likes shows like 3 Chords & the Truth, which is like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get next.

IN FACT, there's at least a couple of those moments on this very episode. Really, you'll be surprised -- pleasantly so, one hopes.

Like the time when I go from. . . . Hang on. If I give it away, you won't be surprised, now, will you?

That was close.

So I guess you'll have to just listen to yet another stellar installment of this here program and be waylaid all over again. Because that's what we do.

Yes, indeed.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Well, I don't know about that

It's a colossal phantasmagoria this week, coming to you live -- recorded to hard drive -- from the www.revolution21.org apocalypse bunker here in Omaha, by God, Nebraska. 

Well, I don't know about that. 

But this episode of 3 Chords & the Truth may be a colossal something. You be the judge.

I mean, there's some wild sh . . . uh, some wild things going on. Mushroom hunting is a tricky thing, and I may have picked the wrong batch. Is what I'm sayin'. 

And, well, I don't know about that. 

It's all this week on the Big Show. 

Teacher, does this have to be 500 words? Because I'm done.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Listen to the music

If you listen to the music this week on the 3 Chords & the Truth, I'll be your Dixie chicken. S'wonderful. 

We can go hear the Sultans of Swing, and we'll do the Tripe Face Boogie. I'll speak easy, and you'll be utterly bewitched. 

That's how it goes on the Big Show today. Heck, yesterday, too. I mean, life is just a bowl of cherries -- except when it's not. 

Does that sound good to you? C'mon, talk to me.

I'll be around, at least until the real thing comes along. Or until I head to Woodstock . . . or somewhere.

Well, I hear the trumpets blow, so it's time for me to fly. So listen. You'll love it. You may even get a bad case of the love-itis.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Carried by the music

some days, you're chasing your morning coffee with a can of jolt cola. 

other days, you make jeb bush look high energy. 

this week on 3 Chords & the Truth, welcome your low-energy mighty favog. be thankful i could manage punctuation, at least. 

i was going to say something clever about this week's edition of the Big Show -- look, capital letters! and more punctuation! -- but i just spent the last on my energy on random capital letters and punctuation. 

well, crap. 

i suppose the music will have to suffice in the absence of my . . . personality. you buys your ticket; you gets the ride. and how.

this is e.e. favog, signing off. i'm gonna take a nap. 

it's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. be there. aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Operator, get me Internet

Listen, I'm trying to just phone in the program this week, but Ernestine kept wanting me to feed the pay phone with quarters. 

Wait. What's this "cell" thing you keep talking about? Smart what? I phone? 

No, I not a telephone. I am Mighty Favog. What the hell is wrong with y'all?

Anyway, you have Ernestine the Telephone Operator to thank for having a reasonably engaging and well curated edition of 3 Chords & the Truth this week. Otherwise. . . .

So. There's a pretty good show. 'Nuff said.

Hey, just because I couldn't phone in the Big Show this week, it doesn't mean I can't just phone in the description of it. Peace . . . out. 

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Those were the days

Those were the days, my friend. We thought they'd never end.

But they did.

The virus saw to that -- the end of what passed for normal life. Of course, there have been those who think the virus didn't apply to them and insisted on normality. A certain percentage will not make that mistake again . . . or any other mistake, for that matter.

But what does that have to do with 3 Chords & the Truth? 

FOR ONE THING, it's sort of why there wasn't one last week. I got the second Moderna vaccine, and (at least for me) it's true what they say: It kicked my butt for a couple of days. And you know what? I've never felt so good about feeling bad. 

Now I'm counting down the last handful of days until peak immunity. And freedom, or what passes for freedom as the COVID pandemic endures, in large part because too many Americans refuse to get vaccinated.

We think we'll sing and dance forever and a day.

I don't know what to do with that. 

So, I guess all of that has influenced this week's edition of the Big Show. The lost past and an uncertain future. The relentless tick tock of racing to vaccinate an obstinate public as the virus continues to mutate. 

All this mess kinda does make you want to turn back that clock up on the wall, doesn't it? Turn it back to the day. 

Back when we could live the life we choose. When we could fight and never lose. 

Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days. 

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