3 Chords & the Truth: Why can't Catholics rock?

You ever wonder what the deal is with Catholic radio, bubbie?

Like, when you turn on your local Catholic radio station and all you hear is talk . . . and you're kind of all talked out on Catholic talk . . . and what you'd really like is some tunes?

And then you finally get a bit of music on Pope FM (or AM) . . . and all you hear is another one of Marty Haugen's greatest fits . . . uh, hits . . . or maybe the California Praisins on EWTN's Catholic Jukebox, and that's giving you intestinal distress. What about then, bucko?

ISN'T THERE ROOM for Catholic folks just to be . . . normal? Isn't there a place for good music radio done by Catholics, as opposed to "Catholic Radio"?

Isn't it possible for ordinary things to be done well for the greater glory of God . . . and for the greater good of your musical sensibilities?

Is that what you're craving, Poopsie?

Well, here's where you go:

www.revolution21.org

Revolution 21 is the home of not only the Blog for the People, but also of 3 Chords & the Truth, the best 90 minutes of music radio since Corporate America pushed freeform "underground radio" off the FM airwaves.

What, Catholics can't do that, you say?

Well, why the hell not? I ask.

And you know what? "Freeform" is even better when we're both relatively sober.

Yes, it is.

You want to know what else? The new episode of 3 Chords & the Truth is up.

Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Favog & the Big Beat

Come with me and you will see,
All the music you can hear for free,

See and hear, hear and see,
It's got to be better than watching TV,

Agnes isn't English, but American, I'll bet,
Though English breaks in the middle of a set,

At least that's what Marianne did say,
And she wouldn't lie, at least not today,

Then there's the Doctor, and the Captain, and the Airplane on the show,
But watch out for the Prunes, or -- My! -- how you'll go!

Now, you might be tired of reading Favog's verse,
But trust me, my child, things could be worse!

So follow this link and you'll find the new show,
Or there's the player at the top o' the page, you know,

But before you accuse me of writing pure Dada,
I'll just implore you to Be there. Aloha!

3 Chords & the Truth: A no-show

Alas, there won't be a new episode of 3 Chords & the Truth this week.

I'm sick, I'm tired, and that has left me rather . . . sick and tired. So I'm punting on the Big Show for this week.

On the other hand, there is a boatload of 3C&T episodes in the embedded player over there on the right side of the page, and I'll bet you haven't listened to all of them . . . or most of them . . . or even any of them. If that's the case, it's your loss.

You don't know what you're missing. Really.

That . . . is all.

3 Chords & the Truth: Pretty jazzy, eh?

Back during America's previous era of stagflation -- otherwise known as the Carter Administration -- I was a teen-age disc jockey at WBRH, the FM voice of Baton Rouge Magnet High.

THE BEAUTY of working at what then was the city's only "educational" station (all 20 watts of it) was we programmed pretty much everything the commercial stations didn't. Like classical. And jazz. And progressive rock. And big band.

Once in a while, you might have an airshift that began with "Jazz Set," the name of our contemporary-jazz program, then gave way to the rock show ("Leisure Landing," named for the record store just off the LSU campus, and which provided new records every month) and finally ended up with an hour of big-band music before our broadcast day came to an end at 6 p.m.

IF YOU HAD "ears to hear," spending your time down at 90.1 on the FM dial could be quite the musical and cultural education.

Rock, most of us already liked. But discovering a growing love for jazz and, likewise, big-band jazz could be an eye-opener for a teen-ager. Realizing that you liked your parents' music could do a number on one's mind . . . not to mention wreck a few perfectly good prejudices.

What do you know? "Educational radio" actually was.

So think of this week's episode of 3 Chords & the Truth as an afternoon in the life of WBRH . . . back in the day. And realize that that's cool, because it's all good.

It's the Big Show, posted fresh every week for your eclectic listening enjoyment. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: This one's for Danny

This episode of 3 Chords & the Truth is for Danny -- Danny Federici, longtime sideman for Bruce Springsteen who lost his battle against melanoma Thursday. He was 58.

FEDERICI HAD BEEN a member of the E Street Band, playing keyboards and accordion, since 1973's "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle" LP -- and he'd played in various bands with the Boss since the late '60s. If you've heard his accordion solo on "4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)," you know you'll never forget it.

This episode of the Big Show, which will feature the music of Springsteen and the band, also is for the people -- the country -- he lovingly writes about. This episode of 3C&T is for the people who bust their butts chasing the promise America makes -- a promise that is looking more and more like mere national mythology -- but too often can't deliver on.

This episode is for the folks with piles of broken dreams, who wonder what went wrong as they soldier on against the odds.

This episode is for the E Street Band's America. God help us, every one.

3 Chords & the Truth: It ain't the same

What's the deal with this week's episode of 3 Chords & the Truth?

Perhaps these documentary segments shining a light inside WNEW-FM -- New York's late and legendary rock station -- as it was in 1982 will give you a clue:








BOY, IT WAS GOOD to see the late, great Scott Muni again, back in the day.

Download 3 Chords & the Truth here, or watch the show player pop up here.

3 Chords & the Truth: In the name of love

Forty years ago, I had no clue.

As a 7-year-old, I knew that a bad, bad thing had happened to an important man. I knew the man was dead. I knew people were rioting because he was dead.

BUT AS A Southern child growing up in a working-class, white and illiberal milieu, the only thing I knew about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was that he was not afforded the commonly benign label of "colored" and certainly not the formal moniker of "Negro" -- which you only heard on the TV and radio, anyway.

I had heard that he was something called a "communiss."

What I would find out later -- as I grew in knowledge and as my world grew in size and scope -- was that Martin Luther King Jr,. died not only so that African-Americans could be free in this "land of the free," but so that I might be free, too.

We may not be totally free yet, but we're getting there. And because one man obeyed his God all the way to his own Calvary, we -- all of us, black and white -- are a lot closer than we would be otherwise.

This week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth is dedicated to remembering and mourning what happened in Memphis, Tenn., four decades ago Friday. America is a much changed country for the assassinations of King and, a mere two months later, Sen. Robert Kennedy.

That change was a profoundly tragic one from which we've yet to recover. All these years later, the wounds still bleed.

But the Big Show also celebrates a momentous life -- and the profound difference it made in this country and in the world.

On this week's program, you won't hear me getting in the way of the music . . . or the message. Thus, I'll publish this week's playlist below.

Enjoy the show.

Say It (Over and Over Again)
John Coltrane Quartet
w/ McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass),
Elvin Jones (drums)
1962

It Feels Like Rain
Aaron Neville
1991

Help Us, Somebody
Chris Thomas
1990

The Sky Is Crying
Elmore James
1960

Keep On Pushing
Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions
1964

Redemption Song
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
2003

Memphis Blues Again
Bob Dylan
1966

Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Green Day
2004

Inner City Blues
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
2006

Don't Burn Baby
Sly & the Family Stone
1968

We Gotta Live Together
Jimi Hendrix
1970

Motherless Child
Hootie & the Blowfish
1994

Nothing Lasts
Matthew Sweet
1991

Faithful To Me (Reprise)
Jennifer Knapp
1997

Lay My Burden Down
(feat. Mavis Staples & the Dirty Dozen Brass Band)
Dr. John
2004

Forever Young
Joan Baez
1974

3 Chords & the Truth: Squiggles in the smoke

Inspired by the unveiling Friday of the oldest known sound recording -- dating back to 1860 -- I decided to record this week's episode of 3 Chords & the Truth with a phonautograph, just like the one French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville used to make those first "records" of sound so long ago.

ALL IT TOOK was a functioning phonautograph, "borrowed" from a museum, and 3,000 feet of soot-covered rag paper. What you hear on the Big Show this week emanates from only the finest scratchings onto the sooty medium, faithfully reproduced by a top-secret laboratory process.

I think it came out all right, if I do say so myself.

You be the judge. It's hip, it's now, it's happenin' . . . and it's historical, too.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, is what it is. Be there. Aloha.

Four Songs: Signing off

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I'm talking about the bite-sized offering from the Revolution 21 empire, Four Songs. Obviously, you had a different opinion.

And Four Songs is no more. The bottom line is that it didn't increase listenership. Thus, there's no point in continuing. So there you go.

The other audio offering from Revolution 21, 3 Chords & the Truth, will be sticking around. For now.

I'm doing a lot of reassessing nowadays. I had thought there was an opening for a "Catholic" media effort that was cultural in focus, rather than explicitly apologetic and rooted deep in the Catholic ghetto. Now I am not so sure, because I have come to believe that Christians -- particularly Catholics -- just don't "get it."

I don't think Christians, as a whole, grasp the importance of engaging the culture and trying to bend it -- even if it's just by a little -- via means other than voting for Republican shysters (How has that worked out for you so far?) and staging "sound-and-fury" protests and boycotts of all manner of infidel crapola.

Again, how's that working out for you?

Catholics and other Christians have become known primarily for what we're against. No one knows what we're for . . . including us, at least a lot of the time.

Trouble is, we say we serve a Savior who got Himself crucified for what he was for. Because of Who He said He was.

Well, Catholics, you can have your ghetto. Delude yourselves about the tremendous impact you've had on American culture . . . as everything you allege you stand for gets shoved further and further into the "lunatic-fringe" margins of American society.

Me, I'm going to keep trying to find a way to do what I do while maintaining a clear conscience. And I'm going to try to do it while being who and what I am. Above all, that would be Catholic.

And I don't know how that's going to work out.

3 Chords & the Truth: Money, honey?

Money.

What's it to us? Does it define us?

And who are we, then, if the economy goes in the crapper?

A musical monetary meditation, this week on 3 Chords & the Truth -- an audio service of Revolution 21.

Listen now or download for later. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Just playin' the tunes

Today on the Big Show, there are no big themes or intricate thematic sets of music.

Today on 3 Chords & the Truth, it's one of those shows where we just play the damn music and kick back. Because that's the kind of mood we're in aujourd'hui. D'accord? Bien.

As usual, though, the tunes are tasty and we cover a lot of territory on the continuum of good stuff. Yes, we do.

YOU'LL ALSO NOTE that your Mighty Favog has made some adjustments to the 3 Chords & the Truth formatics, giving an aural feel that's a lot closer to the spirit of the program and, we're hopeful, a lot less stereotypically "radio" in its sound.

After all, it's a new age of media, and new ages require new ways of thinking about how you do this mass communication thing. The rub, however, is unlearning what we old farts have learned over a lifetime.

More precisely, the problem is in unlearning the shopworn parts of what we old farts have learned over a lifetime and replacing them with fresh, yet substantive, new parts.

Or something like that.

Give the Big Show a listen, will you? And let us know what you think.

Be there. Aloha.

Four Songs: Stoned again

Bob Dylan sez:

Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good,
They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to go home.
Then they'll stone ya when you're there all alone.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.

Well, they'll stone ya when you're walkin' 'long the street.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to keep your seat.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' on the floor.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' to the door.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.

AND IT'S the God's honest truth.

This may have something to do with this week's episode of Four Songs, but I don't want to give it all away. Y'knowwhatImean, Vern?

So I guess you'll just have to download the bite-sized musical offering from the Revolution 21 empire and hear for yourself. OK?

Four Songs: Dynamic range, as it were

Human communication is all about dynamic range -- kind of like music.

And, like a badly mastered, overcompressed and severely squished (technical term, there) recording, it just doesn't sound right when everything we have to say to one another is via screaming.

YOU NEED dynamic range. In addition to the screams, you need the whispers, too.

Me, I come from a family that was a lot better at screaming than whispering. Not a good thing. Just like it's not so good when folks just can't let 'er rip now and again.

So that's what the theme of today's Four Songs is all about . . . from a whisper to a scream.

It's Four Songs, the bite-sized program of musical wonder from Revolution 21.

Cough. Here's the (sniffle) show. Achoo!

Sometimes, you got to suck it up. And offer it up.

Your suffering, that is. Trust that your suffering will be joined to Christ's suffering to make crooked lines straight . . . somehow.

The past week, I've felt like crap. Lethargic, even. I've felt bad enough that I couldn't muster the energy to do Four Songs this week.

But there comes a time when you just have to suck it up. I decided that if 3 Chords & the Truth were worth doing at all, it was worth doing even when I'd really rather just slump in the big blue chair and become a sniffling, coughing, snorting vidhead.

So here you go . . . this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth, which certainly must be the audio version of a viral video.

Cough.

3 Chords & the Truth: Them moods happen

Life is hard.

So sometimes you got to rock. Hard.

I'm in one of those moods. So sue me.

On the other hand, sometimes life can be pretty sweet. After all, we did just get done celebrating Valentine's Day and all that. So we can play around on the lush side of life, too, on 3 Chords & the Truth.

I guess what I'm saying here is that whetever mood you're in, we just might have it covered on this edition of the Big Show. Drop by, tune in and download now . . . won't you?

Really, I'll bet you've never heard anything like 3 Chords & the Truth. In a good way, naturellement.

Four Songs: Taking the week off

Four Songs is taking the week off.

Why? Because we can. And because I'm kind of tired. It's been one of those weeks.

We'll try concentrating on getting 3 Chords & the Truth out the door this week.

S'alright? S'alright.

3 Chords & the Truth: Here's the thing

OK, the direct sell.

Here's what's on 3 Chords & the Truth this week. This is the kind of stuff we play.

IF YOU LIKE THIS, you'll love the show. If you love the show . . . listen.

Is that direct enough? Here's the lineup:

Kentucky Rain
Elvis Presley (1970)

It Never Rains In Southern California
Albert Hammond (1972)

Another Rainy Day in New York City
Chicago (1976)

Louisiana Rain
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1979)

Tears of a Clown
English Beat (1980)

I Am Going Home
The Wailers (1963)

Ride Captain Ride
Blues Image (1970)

Slide
Goo Goo Dolls (1998)

A Child Like Grace
Michelle Shocked (1996)

Time Is a Healer
Eva Cassidy (1998)

Hang On To Your Ego
Beach Boys (1966)

Cruel to Be Kind
Nick Lowe (1979)

Girl of My Dreams
Bram Tchaikovsky (1979)

It's Over
Boz Scaggs (1976)

In a Car
Solid Jackson (1996)

Forget Myself
Elbow (2006)

Get Right with God
Lucinda Williams (2001)

Jesus Is God
Scarecrow & Tinmen (2000)

Jerusalem
Matisyahu (2006)

Romulus
Sufjan Stevens (2003)

Bohemian Rhapsody
Grey DeLisle (2005)

Mr. Tambourine Man
The Byrds (1965)

Four Songs: Dust for Lent

Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.

IT'S LENT, and that's one of two things the faithful might hear on Ash Wednesday as they receive ashes on their foreheads. The other would be "Repent, and believe in the Gospel!"

Dust. Ashes. Repentance. Mortality. Lent is not about warm fuzzies and attaboys. It confronts us with the reality of our fallen existence and ends by reminding us of The Way Out.

And the price Jesus paid to make it so.

So, this episode of Four Songs is about dust. And that's all I'm sayin'. It just seemed appropriate.

Download it now. You have to do something for Lent.

3 Chords & the Truth: The right spot

You've got to know when to pick your spots.

Like knowing when to play a song that makes a hell of a point -- and strongly so -- but that also will give some listeners of a "faith-based" program a royal case of the reds. That's what we're doing on this edition of 3 Chords & the Truth, because there's a point to be made.

I CALL IT "The Truth" half of 3 Chords & the Truth.

What is it? Not gonna tell you that, because that would just be a great big "spoiler," now, wouldn't it.

So what you're going to have to do is go here -- or just use the pod-O-matic player on this page -- and listen to the Big Show for yourself. I guarantee, it's worth your time.

And while you're at it, download 3C&T's bite-sized companion program, Four Songs. Both, especially this week, exemplify "music with a message."

Be there. Aloha.

Four Songs: Something to be against

The world, you know, would be a boring and homogeneous place if we all were for the same things . . . had all the same opinions. It would be terrible, I think, to have nothing to argue about.

BUT THERE ARE some things -- some attitudes -- that it's really important that we all be against. There are some people who ought to be marginalized, because they so proudly proclaim what is the absolute worst of us.

Not surprisingly, a lot of the time, odious ideas and malignant sentiments surface in the heat of political battles. It's happening now, and that is what this episode of Four Songs is all about.

Listen. And think.