3 Chords & the Truth: No. 1 in the heart of . . . something

When life has become a slog and the world around you is in turmoil, sometimes you just need to self-medicate . . . with music.

This may or may not preclude self-medicating with other things. It's that kind of year.

This week on the Big Show, we're self-medicating with a lot of hit records -- and records that, in your Mighty Favog's humble opinion, should have been hit records. Or bigger hit records.

It beats crawling into a dark corner with a bottle. Which, again, may or may not preclude also crawling into a dark corner with a bottle. Because 2020.

But for right now, you can try coping by listening to the hits and shoulda-been-hits on this here edition of 3 Chords & the Truth.

I guess that covers it. So give it a listen and escape the suck for a while.

That is all.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The Now Sound?

The Now Sound?

This week, not so much. The newest selection is from 21 years ago. Old happens.

No, this edition of the Big Show is the "then sound," with music from wildly varying genres and several different "thens." Frankly, I like it that way. Increasingly, "now" is not something to which a sane man wishes to aspire.

"Now," we're at one another's throats. We as an American nation . . . aren't. We are as divided as we've been since Vietnam, and maybe since Fort Sumter. "Now," we are dry kindling, and we have a president splashing gasoline around and lighting matches.

TO "NOW" -- especially at the end of this particular Week of Pending Impeachment and Ongoing Denial and Excuse-Making -- 3 Chords & the Truth says "F*** that s***."

Pardon my pessimism and rejection of "now" this week. I came down with a nasty cold amid recording this week's edition of the Big Show, and I may have just had a toddy with orange juice, lemon juice, honey, Tabasco sauce . . . and three shots of grocery store bourbon.

If I can't get well soon, at least I won't care. But you have to endure my dark bluntness amid the damned fine music. Which definitely isn't "now."

It's from "then," when folks hated each other a bit less and hoped for the future a bit more. Good night and good luck.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The endless-winter blues

Donald Trump is autographing bibles in Alabama.

Well, of course he is. Hell has been frozen over for some time now -- and so has Omaha, by God, Nebraska.

Pardon us at 3 Chords & the Truth for being sick and tired of this crap. Winter. Ecclesiastical Lent piled on top of zeitgeist Lent. Winter. A world gone mad. Winter. . . .

You get the drift. Both kinds.

This week on the Big Show, we're muddling through and making the best of things. It's all anyone can do.

YEP, we got the good music, we're hanging onto it tight, and that will have to suffice.

I regret that my Seasonal Affective Disorder prevents me from elucidating further. My bad.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The best sound. The greatest sound.

This show is the Miracle of Modern Sound.

The 3 Chords & the Truth, I guess I speak well. You know, we turned away thousands of people. They never say I'm a great speaker. Why the hell do so many people listen?

Why -- I don't think -- it's true, why do they come? Why? Why, oh why, do they listen to the Big Show? It's got to be something. I guess they like my policy -- maybe my policy. No, it's true. Have you ever noticed, you never hear that -- you never hear that. You never hear it.

I mean, there's got to be a reason. I have broken more Elton John records, he seems to have a lot of records and we beat -- and I, by the way, I don't have a musical instrument.

I don't have a guitar or an organ. No organ.

Elton has an organ and lots of other people help him. You know we've broken a lot of records. We've broken virtually every record because you know, look, I only need this space on the Internets. They need much more room for basketball, for hockey, for all the sports. They need a lot of room.

WE DON'T NEED IT. We have people in that space, so we break all these records. But really we do it without, like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical, the mouth, and hopefully the brain attached to the mouth, right?

The brain, more important than the mouth is the brain. The brain is much more important.

But they -- Do you ever notice? -- do you ever hear something, they say -- you know we had a case last week we were in a great place in Wisconsin? And we had a tremendous crowd and we have like the choice of a 22,000 seat arena and in retrospect, we would have packed it and they would have sent away thousands of people.

But the people said to me, very innocent people, they were great. But I hadn't met them. I said why didn't you -- they -- they filled up a 7,000 seat arena, walked away thousands of people, like over 20. and we would have filled -- and I said why didn't you use the bigger arena?

He said, sir, we knew that if you had five vacant seats, empty seats -- see vacant just because I was in the womp womp womp, I'll say use that term. If you had five empty seats, they would say the Mighty Favog was unable to fill the arena. And I said, you know what, you're right.

And I plagiarize the best people. The most unbelievable people. You wouldn't believe -- but they did.

SO . . . and you've been a great American crowd, the greatest crowd . . . almost as good at Putin's crowds . . . Putin has the best crowds because they do what he says . . . but you people are what's gonna Make America Great Again maybe . . . but we'll see.

Anyway, it's 3 Chords & the Truth. Be there.  Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Sick of the 2000s

Fire up the Tom Snyder videotapes, hand me a colortini and make the postmodern world go away.

I'll take the economy size Box o' 1980s, and you can keep the change. Oh . . . before you go, can you take this box of 2010 out to the dumpster for me? Thanks.

Well, that pretty much sums up the thrust of my thinking as 3 Chords & the Truth reappears after a week off. Last week, I tried to actually get back to the 1980s -- and 145 pounds -- but it didn't work out.

SO . . . here we are, making do with a sublime '80s New Wavish set, and then sprinkling in some other vintage deliciousness for good measure. I hope it meets with your pop-culture approval.

At any rate, this week, the Big Show is the place to go to forget how outraged you are at . . . everybody. It's the place to go to forget radio consisting of 10 bad songs in a row with no actual human being within earshot.

It's the place to go to forget radio consisting of 10 bad songs in a row with no actual human being within earshot.

It's the place to go to forget radio consisting of 10 bad songs in a row with no actual human being within earshot.

It's the place to go to forget radio consisting of 10 bad songs in a row with no actual human being within earshot.

It's the place to go to forget radio consisting of 10 bad songs in a row with no actual human being within earshot.

-- FATAL ERROR ON HARD DISK 0. PRESS F1 TO CONTINUE --

SORRY . . . the automation computer went on the fritz. The budget for live program hosts disappeared in 'o8. Fixed it as fast as I could.

See, I told you the 2000s suck.

Which is why we're, to a large extent, ditching them on 3 Chords and the Truth this week.

And when we need to, we can go hide out there for a while. Join me, won't you?

Where I'm going -- where the Big Show is going -- Tom Snyder still lives. He's still interviewing original punks amid a cloud of smoke.

No one has heard of Rush Limbaugh. Lady Gaga hasn't been born yet. And a tea party is what genteel ladies have on a lazy afternoon. There are better times out there, if only in the memories of old farts like myself.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Listen or else!

You heard me.

Listen to this week's episode of 3 Chords & the Truth -- it's right here -- or Tony Hayward gets it.

I'm serious.

Really, I'll do it! Listen to this week's episode of the Big Show, or the CEO of BP gets it. And then we'll throw what's left of him into the oil slick.

I mean it!

C'mon, people. Listen to the show.

WHY WON'T you listen to the show?

What?

Oh.

I'm not messing with you people anymore. Either listen to 3 Chords & the Truth -- which really is a fine show this week and every week -- or we let Tony Hayward, CEO of British Polluters, go home to London unscathed!

He'll make it back without a scratch on him. Unless you listen to the program right now.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Blues and grace

This week on the Big Show:

can be quite

and even give us reason to be But through it all -- if we look -- we just might discover

That, in a musical sense, is some of what we cover this week on 3 Chords & the Truth.

Well, that and some good ol' rockabilly (and fusion-y prog rock, too).

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Old school

I came to do an old-school rock 'n' roll show on the Internets, and all I got was this lousy straightjacket.

The Thorazine was kind of nice, though.

You can't say 3 Chords & the Truth isn't, er . . . eventful. But I guess that's just the way we roll at the Big Show.

WELL, ACTUALLY, right now I'm being rolled down a bright corridor strapped to a gurney. My new friend Nurse Ratched is being kind enough to post this for me with her laptop.

But when you go old school, things do get "eventful." And you also can get 33 songs in a mere 90 minutes of show time.

Though I may have gotten carried away . . . before I was carried away.

AUNTIE EM! AUNTIE EM! AND TOTO, TOO!!!

Ow! Who gave me . . . a . . . shot?

I'm getting sleep . . . y . . . now. It's 3 Chords & the Truth . . . y'all. Beeeeeeeee there. Aaaaaaalohaaa . . . .

3 Chords & the Truth: Dial up the music

Tired.

Hit the wall.

Motivation took a vacation, leaving the rest of me behind.

But I still had to crank out an episode of 3 Chords & the Truth. Just great.

Ah, screw it. I just phoned it in this week. Deal.

EVEN THOUGH I phoned the Big Show (Medium-Sized Show?) in, the music still is pretty decent . . . probably. Whatever. Hope you like country. Then again, it's all the same to me.

'Cause I just phoned it in.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. (Or not . . . like I care this week.) Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Who are we now?

Sometimes, you stumble upon stuff.

Sometimes, it can get you to thinking hard.

And, sometimes, you just have to stop and wonder "Who am I?"

Last spring's Baton Rouge High senior video (above) was something I stumbled upon this week. And it ended with something that hit home:

Remember, this is who we were.

Who will we become?

THIRTY YEARS of memories came flooding back. Thirty years ago, I was where last semester's seniors were. And the same questions were on our minds, too.

Thirty years on, I wonder.

Who was I?

Who did I become?

Indeed, who did we all become? Sounds like a theme for a set on 3 Chords & the Truth, the show where we're not afraid to look at such things. In a musical manner, of course.

It's the Big Show, and you can find it here. And here. And at the upper right-hand corner of the blog.

3 Chords & the Truth. Be there. Aloha.

AND Bob Meyers . . . rest in peace, buddy.

3 Chords & the Truth: My name is Mudd

A show like this can mean only one thing: My name is gonna be Mudd.

C'mon, I reference freakin' Hee-Haw, for pity's sake! I even assume people will remember the show . . . and Junior Samples' hilarious bits selling used cars. That number again: BR-549.

And then on 3 Chords & the Truth, we go on to play stuff by the band that took its name from Samples' Hee-Haw bits -- BR5-49.

IT'S NOT flippin' brain surgery. I am an idiot. I have outed myself as a gol-darned redneck. I had relatives who lived in the country.

In trailers.

Some still do.

And, oh, what's the point . . . I mean, what the hell. The Big Show is gonna end up being the no-show. OK, you want some truth with your three chords?

I'll give you truth. Whether or not you can handle it is another question.

I drink Schlitz . . . PBR is kind of pricey.

There. I've gone and done it now. My credibility is toast. I don't care.

So, if you care about as damn little as I do, give 3 Chords & the Truth a listen this week. It's the Big Show. Be there. Aloha.

HEY, Y'ALL! Watch thi. . . .

3 Chords & the Truth: Real. Good. Real good.

This is the Sex Pistols, back in the glory days. Only on 3 Chords & the Truth could the Sex Pistols somehow coexist with Ernest Tubb.

BOTH ARE REAL. Both are good. As far as we're concerned on 3 Chords & the Truth, both are real good.

I think that tells you all you need to know about this week's episode of the Big Show. In fact, I think that tells you all you need to know about any episode of our little program.

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

Oh . . . what the Buck. This is cool.

Man, I miss stuff like this. You can take the boy out of the 1960s -- and the South -- but. . . .

I especially like the part where the director thinks "We got us this fancy new zoom lens and, by God, we're 'a gonna use that sucker. Outlandishly."

3 Chords & the Truth: Falling for September

Mrs. Favog and I love September.

September starts with the Labor Day weekend and a trip to the Nebraska State Fair, rolls right into college football, then glides into the first signs of nippy weather and -- finally -- segues into October with those autumn leaves.

SEPTEMBER IS a month of hustle and bustle, new beginnings for schoolkids and old memories for former schoolkids. September brings out the comfortable old sweatshirts and ushers in the realization that Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't that far off.

We at 3 Chords & the Truth love fall . . . and we love September. September is something to celebrate, particularly in the Midwest. In the Midwest, September is the month that's juuuuuust right.

That's one of the joys of living on the civilized edge of the barely tamed Great Plains. September becomes a celebration -- sort of like a monthlong meteorological Carnival season before the strict and unforgiving Lent of winter on the prairie.

Really, you haven't lived till you've experienced 25 below zero the week before Christmas. Or until it's so cold that yours is the last car running . . . until your battery cable gets so brittle it snaps. And your fingers still get frostbitten through your thick insulated gloves.

Nebraska isn't a place for sissies. But we'll always have September.

And this week on the Big Show, that's what we celebrate -- September. And fall . . . both the seasonal and arse-over-head varieties.

We at 3 Chords & the Truth are funny that way.

Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: It's about the journey

I usually like to surprise people with what I play on 3 Chords & the Truth.

SOMETIMES, THOUGH, I just like to throw up the week's playlist to demonstrate that the Big Show ain't exactly what folks are used to nowadays -- at least not when it comes to radio . . . or even to most webcasts or podcasts.

3 Chords & the Truth is not about a format, and it's not about a subculture or a niche. What it's about is the music. Good music. And good music can come from a lot of places, just as righteous mixes can cover a hell of a lot of musical ground in one set.

When it comes to this show -- like they say, whomever "they" might be -- we're all about the wonder of the journey. The actual destination is lagniappe.

So, that being said, here's this week's playlist:

Must Get Out
Maroon 5 (Songs About Jane)
2003

Your Heart Is Breaking Down
Choo Choo (Choo Choo)
2008

Should I Cry (alternate take)
Jackie De Shannon (The Definitive Collection)
1964

Six Days on The Road
Dave Dudley (Country USA - 1963)
1963

Straight Eight
Spencer Bohren (Born in a Biscayne)
1984

Boris the Spider
The Who (My Generation -- The Very Best of the Who)
1966

Real Love
Cretones (Thin Red Line)
1980

Lost in the Supermarket
The Clash (London Calling)
1979

You're Lost Little Girl
The Doors (Strange Days)
1967

Innocence Lost
Steve Taylor (I Predict 1990)
1987

Lost My Mind
Matthew Sweet (100% Fun)
1995

Departure / Ride My See-Saw
The Moody Blues (In Search of the Lost Chord)
1968

Handshake Drugs
Wilco (A Ghost Is Born)
2004

Brightly Wound
Eisley (Room Noises)
2005

Sole Salvation
English Beat (Special Beat Service)
1982

I Do
J. Geils Band (Monkey Island)
1977

Easy Does It
Count Basie & His Orchestra (The Essential Count Basie, Vol. 2)
1940

Do You Love Me
The Contours (The Classic Rhythm & Blues Collection: 1958-1963)
1962

Baby Workout
Jackie Wilson (The Classic Rhythm & Blues Collection: 1958-1963)
1963

I Saw Her Standing There
Beatles (Meet The Beatles!)
1964

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
The Silkie (British Invasion Gold)
1965

Everything Gonna Be Everything
Don Covay (See-Saw)
1966

She May Call You Up Tonight
The Left Banke (There's Gonna Be A Storm - The Complete Recordings 1966-1969)
1967

Frankenstein
New York Dolls (New York Dolls)
1973

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Down a country road

This week on 3 Chords & the Truth, we're going to be thumbing our way down that folk highway, and then take a side trip down a country road.

Either way you go, you'll find some of the greatest music America -- and the world -- ever has produced.

FOR ME, country music wasn't an instant-gratification kind of thing. Growing up in the Deep South in the 1960s and '70s, it was, to a large extent, the background music of my young life, but it wasn't my background music of choice. That would have been The Who, the Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Preston, the Meters, Irma Thomas and Al Green.

And even the Carpenters . . . and (ahem) the Partridge Family.

Country music was the background music of my life in the sense that I couldn't avoid it. It was the music the Old Man listened to on the radio -- and you moved the AM dial away from WYNK, WSLG or WLBI at substantial risk to life and limb.

Same deal with the Porter Wagoner Show on television every Saturday afternoon.

I yearned for "that g**damn hippie music," as the Old Man referred to my generation's soundtrack. But I also ended up knowing the likes of Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and "pretty Miss Norma Jean." One of my favorites -- albeit something of an ambivalent favorite -- was "Country" Charley Pride.

And if you don't know that it's C-H-A-R-L-E-Y instead of C-H-A-R-L-I-E, you're a damn pretender, son.

BACK THEN, however, there were two sides to life: yours . . . and your parents'. The existential question of one's young existence -- Which side are you on? -- required exactly no thought.

Whatsoever.

It's a funny thing. Though the question was simple, all kinds of stuff got mixed up in it that really had no business there. The Beatles vs. Porter Wagoner is not a fundamental question of good and evil.

"It's a big world out there," we young'uns constantly told ourselves. Our actions and our prejudices, however, betrayed our lack of believe in our own party line.

In fact, while "Which side are you on?" was -- and is -- the central question in any of our lives, we stupidly applied it to all the wrong areas. And not at all to the Right Area.

Then again, neither did our parents, by and large.

It is possible, and even quite healthy, to like both the Sex Pistols and Ernest Tubb. It's likewise possible to associate with, and even like, both Democrats and Republicans. Squares and hippies both have their virtues . . . and their vices.

The world is big. It's our hearts and minds that tend to be small.

Too small, as a matter of fact, to apprehend exactly how cosmically huge a question is "Which side are you on?"

THAT, IN A NUTSHELL, is what the Big Show happens to be about this week. 3 Chords & the Truth: It's the show where we ask the big questions and where, this week, we're playing all four kinds of music.

Rock . . . and roll. Not to mention country . . . and western.

Be there. Aloha.