3 Chords & the Truth: It happens

We live in a world crumbling under the weight of "It happens." 

Case in point: COVID. Other case in point: Trump. 

And, like, when when you start to dig out from under "It happens" -- when you've finally gotten fully vaccinated against the 'rona, for example and you're ready to reengage with the world, such as it is . . . "It happens." Again. 

You find you've forgotten your social graces. This being around people thing is kind of awkward. 

It happens. 

Well, bucko, 3 Chords & the Truth happens, too. I guess that's something, right? 

I said "Right?" 

I mean, I didn't forget how to do the Big Show over the past year and change. At least, I don't think I did. 

I guess that's for you to judge. Right here, right now.

Just don't forget your social graces. 

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.

Make America Cringeworthy Again

(Baton Rouge) Morning Advocate, April 30, 1965

This is the America the troglodyte caucus would like us to be again. The one where the ad men drank too much firewater on the job and illustrated for us all, 56 years later, the concept of institutional racism.

Or, as they themselves might have put in the caption, "This makum red man and paleface say 'Ugh!'"

The past is an unfailingly wonderful place only in the privileged memories of certain white folk.

3 Chords & the Truth: Listening on the corner

It's long been a cliché, the group of misunderstood teenagers passing the time by standing on the street corner and singing in perfect harmony. 

There, they are discovered, taken to the recording studio, make a hit record, then find fame, girls, a turbulent lifestyle and drugs.

Our corner is a bit different here at 3 Chords & the Truth. 

FOR ONE THING, over there is Emerson, Lake and Palmer with a crapload of electronic gear.

Pete Townshend is across the way smashing his guitar on the sidewalk.

On the other corner, Herb Alpert is playing some mean trumpet between taking calls regarding some record-label business.

Paul Mauriat is looking for a corner big enough for a full orchestra and string section.

And you don't want to know what the New Wavers are doing.

Pretty interesting corner here on the Big Show. 

If I were you, I'd stick around to listen. You never know what you're going to hear next.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The BIG Show

This week's edition of the Big Show is indeed a BIG show.

You might think you know where the music is going this week, but you'd be wrong. Surprise is a way of life on 3 Chords & the Truth. 

Now, I could tell you some of the twists and turns of this particular episode, but then I'd have to kill you. It is far safer for all involved to just find out when you find out.

That, of course, is achieved by listening. So get to it, OK?

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Lent everlasting

We're at the end of another season of Lent smack in the middle of a seeming everlasting season of Lent -- and the 'rona. 

That, at least, is how it seems here at the Big Show. I'm guessing it feels pretty much the same way at your place.

Understandably, and also given that it's late on Good Friday as we post this episode of the program, it's pretty much a Lenten kind of 3 Chords & the Truth this week. That doesn't mean it's not an excellent edition of the show . . . just kinda dialed back and thoughtful. As is fitting on the most solemn day of the Christian calendar. 

Did I mention that dialed back absolutely, positively can be great? I wouldn't want to underemphasize that. Besides, reflection is good for the soul.

That's probably what I should be doing right now instead of giving you the hard sell. For a podcast that, frankly, should be able to sell itself. So I'll shut up . . . for Lent. 

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Classing the joint up

I sit here in the studio listening to Juan Garcia Esquivel at ear-splitting volume, because that's what the hell I do. I love this stuff . . . but that's probably the next edition of the Big Show.

Mrs. Favog loves the "space age" of space age bachelor pad music. She's highly suspicious of the "bachelor pad" part.

Her husband turns 60 on Wednesday, so I'm not sure how much she has to worry about on that front. 

None of that, however, tells you much about this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth as we continue classing up Omaha, as we have since 2008.

Well, I'll tell you. Now that I'm a certain age, I just don't care. I do what I want -- like that wasn't already the case -- and this particular program is about as eclectic as it gets. We have a bit of everything (almost), and it's quite the ride. Strap in. 

Heck, we even have what Lawrence Welk once called "a modern spiritual." Poor Lawrence. He was neither hip nor happening, and certainly not "now." 

As I said,  it's a hell of an episode of the Big Show. 

And that's all I have to say about that. Now on to getting the first vaccine jab -- yay! -- and turning a certain age. Old age is gonna be lit. 

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

3 Chords & the Truth: We got the beat

We got the beat.

We got all the colors of the rainbow. 

We got the music. 

We 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. And we still hangin' in there and holdin' out against the 'rona. While we're waiting on the miracle vaccine jab, we'll just play some really good music for you.

Truly, it's been a terrible year since the world stopped last March. The Big Show has done what we could to make it a little less intolerable, because what else can you do that doesn't involve curling up into a little ball under the covers?

Now there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and if we don't do stupid things and if we keep masking up for a bit longer, there's every chance that light won't just be the 'Rona Blossom Special. All you have to do is keep calm and listen to the music. Right here.

It'll take the edge off.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The point of it all

Somewhere, there's a point to this show.

Maybe the music is the point to 3 Chords & the Truth. (OK, obviously the music is the point to the show.) But beyond that, I mean, for this week's tunefest. 

You discuss. I'll wait. 

OK, THIS WEEK I guess the point to the Big Show is whatever you want it to be. I'm open-minded that way.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Stereo rock

I pity those who never  got the chance to be inspired by the radio -- at least inspired to do something other than storm the Capitol. 

I suppose this is yet another step down the road to old farthood, the compulsion to tell the young'uns how much better it was back when we were whippersnappers. Some of that is, undeniably, bullshit. The thing about how special radio once was -- especially that brief moment where freeform radio shined -- definitely is not.

This week, I find myself thinking of my first encounters with enlightenment, my early forays into subversion of the constipated world The Man desperately was trying to foist upon my young self all those years ago. And remembering lying in bed out at our camp in south Louisiana, which was within the range of the glorious FM signal of Rampart 102 in New Orleans, WWL-FM.

Rampart 102, named for the street where the good music lived, was a middle finger in the face of The Man. Kind of fittingly, it was owned by the Jesuits back then. And it played what my parents would call "hippie music," which was what they called it when they were in a good mood. What they called it when they weren't would make them, if they were still with us, MAGAs of the Year. 

I'D LIKE to think 3 Chords & the Truth carries the torch today for that lost moment in time -- the subversive moment, not the reactionary one. The reactionaries today have no problem carrying their own torches. Literally.

If you'd like to authentically relive the 1971 experience of kids like me, surreptitiously listening to The Music of Which Your Parents Would Not Approve, the music that would get your ass labeled an Enemy of Right Thinkin' (say this in your head with a Southern accent), you'll listen to the Big Show late at night, in bed, under the covers, with an earphone to hide your inner subversiveness from the agents of repression. 

For the full glory of the music, however, I recommend a good stereo system or listening through good headphones -- not crappy earbuds. 

And remember the days when listening to the radio -- listening to the FM radio -- could be an enlightening experience, a chance to connect with that late-night radio host, sitting with an audio board and a couple of turntables in a darkened studio somewhere in the ether, through the music. It was a supremely human thing.

It's Rampart 102 . . . er . . . 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Thaw is not a four-letter word

The sun is shining (for now), the temperature is above freezing, and life could be worse here in Omaha, by God, Nebraska. 

Like, you could be Ted Cruz right now.

Or . . . you could be totally ignorant of the best music on the Internets. That would be 3 Chords & the Truth.

Well, we have another stellar program for you this week, and your Mighty Favog is going to take you on a couple of musical journeys. You're gonna want to stick around for those.

And that's about all you need to know about this week's edition of the Big Show. Yep, c'est tout.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The deep freeze

The weather here in the upper Midwest is fitting, I think.

It's a meteorological manifestation of the times in which we live. Frigid. Harsh. Bleak. Potentially deadly.

The difference between America's sociopolitical weather and that chronicled by the weather forecaster is this -- meteorologically, we know that spring will come in a matter of weeks. Yes, baby, it's cold outside, but it's as warm as we can make it in here -- on 3 Chords & the Truth.

So, put on your warm sweatpants, your fuzzy slippers and maybe a wool cap, too, and wrap up in a toasty blanket after getting a warm cup of something. Then put on this here episode of the Big Show and enjoy the music as we wait on spring.

Whenever it may come.

Oh . . . and you really want to hear how we get from Ray Conniff to The Clash. Sometimes, you just have to do something difficult just to see whether it can be done.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Zap!

Blame it on the Jewish space lasers.

This show . . . the problems with the United States of Qmerica . . . that bald spot on the top of your head . . . wildfires . . . that we have a congresswoman who believes in Jewish space lasers -- take your pick, or take all of the preceding.

Howard Walowitz going up to the International Space Station? Coincidence? I think not.

There are two types of people who listen to 3 Chords & the Truth: Those who have been zapped by the Jewish space laser . . . and those who will be zapped by the Jewish space laser. Qmerica is the land of zaportunity.

So, while you're waiting to get baked like a nice brisket by a beam from low earth orbit, we have some nice music for you this week on the Big Show. Some really nice tunes, and a nice musical journey in the middle of the program.

Because you only live once, and then you get zapped.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Alo . . . ZORRRRRRRRRRRCH!

3 Chords & the Truth: Too colorful?

This week on the Big Show,  we have a lot of cool music and a little straight talk.

There also may be a joke about public radio. Excuse me a second; I have to take a phone call.

Um hmm. Um hmm. Yes. Um hmm. Well, it was all in good f. . . .

Um hmm. Um hmm. I'm sorry you feel that way. Um hmm. Well . . . I think that's a bit of an overreaction.

Um hmm. Um hmm. No! Not that! A "Car Talk" marathon! C'mon! The one guy has been dead for years!

Um hmm. What? Surely you're not serious about a Tibetan throat singing retrospective. Complete liner notes for every selection?

Listen, what can I do to make things right?

Um hmm. Um hmm. OK, I think I can do that. Goodbye. 

IT SEEMS there's one more thing I have to do before we move ahead with this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth. Just a sec.

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

I will not make fun of public radio again. 

I will not make fun of public radio again.  

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Well, THAT was close

Your Mighty Favog is back after an extended holiday break . . . who am I kidding?

It was a friggin’ sanity break. Let us just say it’s been a month, in the “Holy crap!” sense of the phrase.

You thought it was over with the election, didn’t you? But now we — after four horrible years — have a president not named Trump, one who shows all the signs of being competent, a normal human being . . . and not a deranged fascist. For that, 3 Chords & the Truth gives thanks.

We got here. But it was close. We got here, but only after multiple attempts to subvert the election, invalidate tens of millions of votes and — finally — overthrow Congress and torch the constitution in the name of despotism and white supremacy. Oh . . . and another impeachment for Donald, this time for ncitement of a deadly insurrection.

LIKE I SAID, it’s been a month. And through it all, the ‘rona still rages, and the body count now is well north of 400 thousand. And some still don’t think the virus is a real thing. And we safely can say that at least a third of the American population is stone-cold fascist with a deeply perverted sense of what it means to be an American. Or who is allowed to be fully American.

Yep, it’s been a month. Can’t say that too much, because it seems too unreal. Maybe that’s because we haven’t been paying enough attention the past couple of decades or so.

And here we are in this terribly broken country, still stalked equally by hatred and disease. We got rid of a wannabe despot but despotism remains a mortal threat — just like the coronavirus. Just like the lies too many of us accept as the gospel truth.

Joe Biden is president, and Donald Trump has reaped the whirlwind. The immediate threat has passed, but the larger threat remains. We have so much work to do.

Now, let's listen to some good music on the Big Show.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: A socially distant Christmas

Well . . . it's been a year. 

And this year, it'll be a Christmas -- just not the one we'd all hoped for. 

There's nothing we can do about the year 2020 has been, but there's lots we can do about the kind of Christmas this one will be. No, it's not the one we'd dreamed of -- but we certainly can make the best of the one we've got. 

Maybe -- just maybe -- it will be special in its own pandemic-y manner. We at 3 Chords & the Truth are doing our best in the effort. And this is our Christmas gift to you, wherever you might be and however you plan to muddle through somehow. 

AFTER ALL, the Savior whose birthday we celebrate now in the bleak midwinter was born in a manger, surrounded by livestock, had nothing but swaddling clothes  . . . and soon had to flee into exile with his parents. Despite social distancing, incompetent and pernicious political leaders, and the 'rona stalking us all, we will muddle through. 

Somehow. 

Perhaps, we'll even triumph. Just like Jesus -- despite everything.

That's our Christmas wish for you here at the Big Show. 

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Listen to the Big Show. It's good.

It's coming up on Christmas, and all I want Papa Noël to bring me is . . . something to say.

Of all the things 2020 has taken from us, something useful to say that hasn't already been said over and over again is the latest loss for me. In this age of COVID and Trump, you do what you can -- try to keep spirits up -- but sooner or later, you start running out of gas.

Obviously, 3 Chords & the Truth is still going, but my words are. . . are . . . are . . . are. . . .

I got nothin'. Just listen to the Big Show. It's good.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: The Late Show

Now that America has completed the Thanksgiving national 'rona superspreading event, we eagerly careen toward the Christmas national 'rona superspreading event. 

So, just in time for the most festive time of the year, it will not be festive at all for millions of our American countrymen. Some of the darkest days of our history will coincide with the darkness of winter. 

This is enough to cause many an otherwise sane and confident person to curl up beneath a mountain of blankets in the dark of night, afraid for the future and despairing for the present. Amid the dark, cold night, we seek a little light -- even if it's the dial light of your old radio . . . or, as the case may be, the light of your smartphone's screen. 

3 Chords & the Truth can't do much to fix what ails us during this dark December, but it can keep you company in the night. We can play music that might, for a moment or three, make you forget and bring a little joy.

And starting with this week's edition of the Big Show, we can bring you a little Christmas, right this very minute. Really, don't we need all the Christmas we can safely get right now? 

That, friend, pretty much sums up this week's program -- a little comfort and light in the cold, dark night. It's something we all need to grab a hold of as often as we can, especially when it comes in the form of really good music.

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Turkey for two

'Twas the week before Thanksgiving and all through the land,
Creatures were gathering, the ‘rona be damned,
The Trumpers fanned their lies and wild theories with care,
They still thought that from Biden they’d be spared.

The president was in the crapper, fuming on Twitter,
While visions of a prison cell made him quite bitter.
And in our houses that we dare not leave,
Came visions of Rudy that we couldn’t believe.

Hair dye streaking down his face with the sweat,
Surely, we thought, they’d fetch the net.
But, no, the clown car ran into a post,
And democracy started to look quite like a ghost.

I THOUGHT of the demons hijacking elections could muster,
And wondered how grievous might be this cluster.
History tells me these things cause wars to be fought,
That countries, for some, can be sold and bought.

Dead men’s ghosts warn nobility is sparse,
That tragedy is repeated often as farce.
And the dye’s still running down old Rudy’s face,
While Mad King Donald’s still riling his base.

Whom COVID won’t kill, cult leaders still can,
The life of a nation slips through fingers like sand.
Then I swear I heard a federal judge laugh,
Pondering clown-car filings that were one big gaffe.

Said he, “Farce is not sparse, and clusters pass muster,
“But God, these jerks are a nuclear disaster!”
In Trump’s head, it’s quite bad that fever dreams dance,
“But must he send me a lawyer with his hand down his pants?”

Then the wife yelled at me, “Turn the damn TV off!
“Thanksgiving’s coming up, and is that a cough?
“It’s a shred of normality of which I’m desirous,
“I can’t deal with nuts when the air’s filled with virus.”

So I’ll do my best to send warm wishes to you,
That and one question: Can you buy a turkey for two?

 

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

3 Chords & the Truth: Save America

I’m guessing you might have expected a Halloween show on 3 Chords & the Truth this week, being this is Halloween day as we record the program. Sorry about that . . . frankly, I find life is scary enough without adding ghouls, ghosts, goblins and zombies to the mix.

I mean, c’mon, Tuesday is Election Day here in these Disunited States of America, and if the outside chance of four more years of Donald Trump doesn’t scare the hell out of you, you’re probably still shivering after the president’s freezing-cold superspreader event here a few days ago and are being told by medical authorities to quarantine yourself for 14 days.

Halloween, hell. Don’t know about you, but I’m scared you-know-whatless as we wait to see whether Uncle Joe wins and we earn an outside shot at putting America back together . . . or everything goes horribly-er wrong, and the country as we knew it ceases to exist, and democracy here dies the most deranged death the world has ever seen.



Come Tuesday, life will go on — maybe — in a fashion close to what used to be normal, or life as we knew it will end, and the untenable will be the new normal. And we who love the idea of the United States — who love the idea that is the United States — will have some awful choices to make.



The untenable — the unacceptable — is just that.

STILL, even if everything goes as right as rain this coming week — and would you really count on that, this being 2020 and all — those of us who love the messy, idealistic, not-yet-lived-up-to idea of the United States still have to internalize the reality that 40 percent or so of our fellow Americans have no idea about the American idea — our national creed. That all men — all people — were created equal, “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”



We still must grapple with the reality that 40 percent of Americans are OK with fascism. With ripping refugee children from the arms of refugee parents.

With putting refugees in cages. With putting children in cages.

 

We must wrap our minds around 40 percent of Americans being OK with the president’s blatant racism and bigotry. With his cuddling up to despots and sanctioning their interference in American public life.

With a shambolic and corrupt administration of our national affairs. With a thoroughly corrupt administration which subverts and corrupts everything that comes too close to it.

 

We have gone to war with countries over less. Now we are what we had professed to abhor. After all, we elected what we once professed to abhor . . . and we conceivably might do it again. 



And — conceivably — our present cold civil war well might turn hot in the coming days, weeks or months. As if our criminal mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t killed enough Americans — roughly 230,000 as I speak. And we’re not half done with the dying at this rate, with the pandemic going into a wintertime frenzy.

 

Some 40 percent of our fellow citizens are fine with that. Fine enough with it to vote for it. Don’t ask me why; I have no good answer.

 

MAYBE we who try to live — imperfectly, as it turns out — our American creed . . . and remember, America is a creed, not blood and soil . . . maybe someday we will be able to forgive our brothers and sisters. But we won’t — we can’t — forget.



Assuming we have the chance. 



If you can vote but haven’t voted yet . . . do it. Vote. The world as we know it depends on it.

Now that I’ve had my say, I’ll let the music have its say as we seek to save America.

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