Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts

Saturday, February 16, 2019

3 Chords & the Truth: Emergency to nowhere

  
Emergencies are bustin' out all over, and we have our own here at 3 Chords & the Truth.

God help us all.

Due to the crises facing us here and nationally, I shan't take much time to describe this week's edition of the Big Show. There are bigger fish to fry.

Of course, we don't actually know much about the ramifications of the emergency at hand, except that we damn well have one . . . and that it will severely impact the 3C&T way of life. We here at the program will continue to play fine music so that we remain calm and carry on.

THE IMPORTANT thing to remember is (insert word salad here).

And that's why it is so crucial that we have such an outlet as the Big Show to purvey the finest in eclectic, classic and progressive programming to the greater community and the world -- especially as we face these difficult times.

Etcetera, etcetera, blah bla-blah bla-blah blah blah.

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


Saturday, February 09, 2019

3 Chords & the Truth: Fill 'er up with Ethyl


We got a '48 Buick with the feather-touch steering.

We got a tankful of Ethyl.

We got a fistful of Green Stamps.

It's dark, and 3 Chords & the Truth is wearing sunglasses.

Hit it.

That's right. This week, the Big Show hits the road.

Sure, the road in this case only may be in our mind's ear . . . but in times like these, you take what you can get. Am I right?

SO, IT'S ONE for my baby, and one more for Ethyl. What? You don't know Ethyl? Look her up; she's probably listed in the Google book.

Let's get started -- it's a long, long road.

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


Saturday, February 02, 2019

3 Chords & the Truth: Pop a top

In a studio in Omaha,
We assembled a defeated old fart
From somewhere in the South . . .
To bring you this message
From the last working brain cells
All over the world . . .

It's the real thing. Beer.

I'd like to buy the world a home
and furnish it with love
grow apple trees and honey bees
and snow white turtle doves.

I'd like to each the world to sing -- in perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a beer and keep it company.

That's the real thing.

I'd like to each the world to sing -- in perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a beer and keep it company.
That's the real thing. Beer.

And the Big Show.

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


Saturday, January 26, 2019

3 Chords & the Truth: No, this ain't ordinary


It's the glory of, the power of "No."

In Washington, it can make bullies fold like a newspaper. Here, it can banish the stale and the ordinary -- "No, we're not doing what we're supposed to do. No, we're gonna do something way beyond the ordinary."

And then the "nos" lead to yesses. "Yes, this is something that will blow your mind."

"Yes, 3 Chords & the Truth is something that's extraordinary."

"Yes, we're throwing away all the labels."

"Yes, we recognize only two kinds of music -- good and bad."

AND THEN,  and then . . .  we're right back to another "no." No . . . the bad, we don't mess with.

That's the glory of, that's the power of the Big Show. Dig it?

I knew that you would.

See, that's the story of this here little podcast. We embrace the power of "no." And that's a great big "YES!" for you.

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



Saturday, January 19, 2019

3 Chords & the Truth: Plumb out of clever


This is your head.

This is your head when it's plumb out of clever.

This is your head when you embrace the void, and just play some s*** and call it . . . good, actually.

That's where we are today on this, the latest episode of 3 Chords & the Truth. We're absolutely, positively out of cutesy, clever or anything vaguely resembling thematic.

You know what, though? That's OK. As it turns out, the Big Show doesn't particularly need cutesy, clever or thematic. What it needs is good music, and that we got plenty of.

OH . . . we also got this nifty picture of a vacuum tube from a 1928 RCA Radiola 18. That's a radio -- remember those?

After 91 years, it still works fine. I seriously doubt your big-screen TV, your laptop, your smartphone . . . or your government will still be functional in nine decades.

Hell, your government isn't functional now. But I digress.

The show. Music. Good. Getting by without big theme or cleverness. Check.

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



Friday, January 18, 2019

It's magi-sounda-what?


Don't know what to make of 3 Chords & the Truth?

That's OK. Sometimes, neither do I. Then again, that's kind of the point of the whole thing.

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

Saturday, January 12, 2019

3 Chords & the Truth: All in all . . . .


All in all, we're just another brick in the wall.

Or another bollard in the steel-slat, fencey-wally thing to keep the brown people out.

As we post this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth, a quarter of the U.S. government still is flat-lined because Someone wants his big, beautiful border wall, and Congress won't fund it. Some 800,000 federal employees aren't being paid . . . whether they've been furloughed or are being forced into "essential personnel" involuntary servitude.

Slave labor is real, people. Still.

It's another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into.

OR, IN THE topical Big Show universe in which your Mighty Favog produces this particular podcast, it's (as is regularly said in the Omaha, by God, Nebraska studios as a show theme percolates its way into reality), "Another week, another clusterf*** we have to address."

Well, let's just say that 3 Chords & the Truth endeavors to make America's national clusterf***s as entertaining as possible. And dat's da name of dat toon.

Yeah. Amusing and thought-provoking clusterf***s. Such is life these days in these here United States. And on this here program.

You can be assured that this latest cock-up is being made the most of. Dangling preposition and all.

I personally think it's well worth a listen. But that's just me. You're welcome to agree, however.

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


Monday, January 07, 2019

One speaker + 10 watts = HOLY CRAP!

OK, so I have this 1957 Realistic tuner and amplifier. Vacuum-tube city, don't you know?

There's also a 1952 Webcor record changer, a Bluetooth receiver, a little utility mixer . . . and a Gough speaker enclosure built from plans sold by Welsh speaker-designer Jabez Gough in 1961. I've been highly impressed at the sound this cabinet gets out of a single 8-inch driver. Now I'm doubly impressed now that I've replaced the Electro-Voice Wolverine LT-8 triaxial speaker with an older (and heavier) E-V SP8B coaxial driver.

YOU'D THINK a two-way driver would be a bit of a drop-off from the three-way. In this case, you'd be wrong. The difference was marked, and for the better. That SP8B sings in that Gough enclosure -- good high end, great midrange presence and deep bass that's just the right amount of low end.

All this from one 8-inch two-way speaker that was a "starter driver" for your average late-1950s "hi-fi nut" building his own speaker system. Go figure.

For me, though, it just sounds like my childhood . . . only in mono and probably a bit better than the 1962 Magnavox Stereo Theatre that defined "good sound" for a budding Baby Boomer audio geek.

I am sure a smartphone and earbuds serve a purpose. Actually, one good purpose my iPhone often serves is feeding Internet radio to the mid-century audio extravaganza.

I likewise am sure earbuds or "smart speakers" serve a purpose, whatever the hell that might be. Really, I'm sure they're just fine.

But, by God, they ain't this.

Friday, December 21, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: Dude! Merry Christmas!


If you don't listen to a 3 Chords & the Truth Christmas -- that's the big Yuletide Blowout Edition of the Big Show -- Santa Claus is going to shove a lump of coal down your Fruit of the Looms and set it alight.

And Buddy the Elf is gonna laaaaaaaugh and laaaaaaaugh and laugh.

Have a blessed Christmas, now, y'all, y'hear?

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


Tuesday, December 18, 2018

My day in almost-dead formats


It's been this kind of day at the studio here in Omaha, by God, Nebraska.
The anachronism is great in this one. May the anachronism be with you.
While I'm eyeball deep in this kind of thing, maybe you can be listening to the
3 Chords & the Truth sort of thing. Just a suggestion.





















Friday, December 14, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: We bring the magic


There's magic in the air -- it's almost Christmas, then there's the magic of the radio. On the Internet.

On a podcast that remembers the magic of radio and the magic of those Christmases of long-ago youthful exuberance.

On this edition of 3 Chords & the Truth, we remember the magic. We bring the magic. You just listen and see . . . hear . . . whatever. Magic and a couple of curveballs -- how's that for a description of this week's show?

This week's Big Show.

Geez, how many ways can we say "It's great!" It's like being in junior high and trying to hit that magic 500-word benchmark for an in-class essay. Junior high . . . when we were young and exuberant.

But not about in-class 500-word essays. Yuck.

Well, the show's magic, we're simply having a wonderful Christmastime, and I've officially run out of literary bovine fertilizer. This, my friend, will have to do.

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


Saturday, December 08, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: The Then Sound?


We may do more than speak anachronism around here.

This week on the Big Show, the closest we actually come to "the NOW sound" is a new record from someone who's been in the music biz as long as I've been alive. Note: That's a looooooonng time.

Otherwise, we have some 78s, some old LPs and some 45s that go back to the genesis of the format. Which was at least a couple of generations removed from how folks get their music now.

At least.

WE SPEAK anachronism -- hell, we live anachronism around here -- because apart from liking it, there seems to be less and less percentage in the present. And sometimes you just need a reprieve from it.

OK, 3 Chords & the Truth needs frequent reprieves from the present . . . the eternal NOW. Give us some good, old-fashioned Then now and again. And again. And again.

Anachronism, c'est nous.

Embrace anachronism. It's good.

AND, while I'm thinking of it, the tasty Christmas tunes continues apace this week on the program as we try to make the season bright. And hot chocolate, pepperminty, candy cane-y.

So it's ho-ho-ho . . . and on with the show.

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




Saturday, December 01, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: Gettin' in the spirit


The last of the Thanksgiving turkey has gone into a sandwich. It's cold outside, and we're waiting on the snow. Christmas is around the corner, and I may have had a drink or two.

You would even say I glow . . . it glows. Something glows.

Happy ho-ho-ho to you, pally.

Where was I?

Oh, yeah. The latest edition of 3 Chords & the Truth. Well, this is it.

The show is back after a Thanksgiving break, and we're trying to get in the holiday spirit -- such as it is these days. The Big Show will do its best, which your Mighty Favog is confident is on display with this present episode.

It's festive. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Ho, ho, ho. Listen to the show.

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

Pour me another martini, will ya, Jackson? (Thud.)


Saturday, November 17, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: Can this thing do 88?


Fire up the flux capacitor, and call me Marty McFly.

We're blowin' this pop stand.

To paraphrase a great legal mind who's married to a world-class White House bullshitter, 2018 is a shitshow inside a dumpster fire . . . and I can't see how 2019 is gonna be any better. So here's what we're going to do.

We've put in a call to Doc Brown, we're gonna get in this here DeLorean . . . and we're gonna put the pedal to the metal.

The Big Show is gonna go back in time.

IT'S WHAT one might call a no-brainer. Even if one has to wear a crew cut (with Butch wax, of course) and Ernie Douglas eyeglasses. If you're under 45, you may have to Google "Ernie Douglas."

Do it now. Where 3 Chords & the Truth is going, Google hasn't been invented yet. Neither has the Internet.

Hop in. The motor's running, the road is straight, and I'm about to stomp the accelerator.

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


Saturday, November 10, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: We all know better


This week is all about the "& the Truth" part of 3 Chords & the Truth.

As in, truth exists.

As in, we know certain basic things and, truth be told, we always have. Unless you were raised by wolves -- and, sadly, "wolves" is a distinct possibility for some -- your mama taught you what's what by the time you were 5 years old. Maybe 8 if you were a slow learner.

So, amid the fine music this week, the Big Show also is all about getting back in touch with what your conscience could have told you -- us -- if you -- we -- hadn't been telling it to shut the f*** up all these years. Getting back in touch with what you knew all along.

Getting back in touch with what you already know . . . and then acting on it.


Holding your ground.

Fighting the good fight.

For as long as necessary.

Until truth one day comes back in fashion.

THAT'S AN important thing to reacquaint oneself with especially if you reside, as about half of us do, somewhere behind enemy lines.

Oh . . . did I mention that this week's show is, as usual, filled with great music, expertly arranged?

If I didn't, it is. Naturally.

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


Saturday, October 27, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: Yes, sir! Couldn't be better!


It's great!

What's great? Everything!

Everything is great again in America, and everything is great here at 3 Chords & the Truth! Everything is going so phenomenally -- never has anything been so phenomenal -- that we may even add a fourth chord!

America is great again! The Big Show is great again! If America and the show were any greater, we'd be whistling Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah out our . . . well, we'd be whistling.

IS THIS a great country, or what?

Oh . . . one more thing. Please don't blow us up.

That is all. Because we're just great!

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


Saturday, October 20, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: Warm and comfy


The Big Show is warm and comfy like glowing vacuum tubes and sweet, sweet music from your hi-fi on a chilly autumn's evening.

I admit that's a nerd's vision of warm and comfortable, but work with me here.

What we can say that everybody can get his warm and fuzzies around is that 3 Chords & the Truth will make you feel all good inside as your troubles -- and the nasty, ugly world outside -- just melts away. At least for an hour and 30 minutes.

LONGER if you binge listen to every episode on the Big Show audio repository.

As usual, this week's show is an exemplary one . . . and we're confident you'll enjoy the eclectic heck out of it. And that, friend, is just about all there is to say.

Except for this . . . .

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



Saturday, October 13, 2018

3 Chords & the Truth: Doing what we do


With a little luck, we won't piss off QAnon this week.

That's something that happened last week. Your Mighty Favog said something unfavorable toward the president, etc., and so forth on the Big Show, and . . . well . . . life has gotten weird in these Disunited States.

To the best of my remembering, this week's 3 Chords & the Truth is a relative bastion of sweetness and light -- OK . . . it's merely the normal amount of snark and silliness -- so we should be spared the Two-Minute Hates and the demands to shut up. Or not.

As I said, sh*t's gotten weird across the land.

Perhaps this episode of the finest music podcast on the Internets just will offend regular-strength conspiracy theorists, not the extra-strength, supersized ones. Look! Black helicopters!

ANYWAY . . .  we're here to talk about the music we're playing this week, right?

Well, we have some of this, a fair smattering of that, and you can't overlook the other thing that's on the Big Show this week. It's all very, very good.

For one thing, we have both country and  a set where we funk our way back to the 1940s. Then there's some stuff right out of left field.

Oh, crap. I said "left field." I sense some people getting pissed at the mere mention of Not Right. I swear to God, sh*t's weird these days. So very, very weird.

Listen, I'm trying not to get into trouble here. So maybe I should quit while I'm behind and just say something like "Listen to 3 Chords & the Truth. It's good." Yeah, I think I'll just do that.

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