My friend John reports Sheyrl Crow and Lance Armstrong were sited in the Kennett, Missouri, Wal-Mart yesterday (Wednesday). Those two could be anywhere on the planet for the holiday. I love that Ms. Crow goes back to our little town and that Mr. Armstrong goes with her.
Musicologist, Barbeque God and Good Friend Terry McVey has been recognized by the Missouri Bar for “outstanding legal service.” Terry was presented with a Pro Bono Publico Award (no connection to Irish rock singer) for outstanding pro bono service to indigent or low-income persons in need of legal assistance. These awards are presented to three persons a year–one each from St. Louis and Kansas City and outstate Missouri. This is the first time the award has been given to an attorney in the Bootheel.
The annual Fall Festival Parade will kick off the Delta Fair on Monday. The parade is a rich part of the history of my family. In 1951 my father rode through the streets of Kennett in a wheelbarrow, pushed by a man wearing a skunk costume.
I can claim no such honor but on several occasions I co-anchored broadcasts of the parade. Gigantic, expensive farm implements. The Adelphian Club float. The Hayti Marching Band. The Poplar Bluff Shriners on their tiny motorcycles. It taxed my humble talents to even begin to describe the spectacle.
I broadcast many parades during my dozen years at KBOA. The Senath Christmas Parade. The Hornversville Watermelon Festival Parade. I was there for them all, droning on… mustering up more excitement than these sad little caravans deserved. You’d have thought I was in prime-time at the Rose Parade. My first Delta Fair Parade was in 1972 and I interviewed Jack McDaniel and Bill Walsh, the two Kennett businessmen responsible for organizing the event. I called my friend John last night and he said Jack and Bill are still in charge of the parade. Sweet Jesus, is there anything I care about that much?
As a general rule, you couldn’t get me to a baby shower at gun-point. But I’m thinking Helen’s (at the Kennett’s Jones Park Pavilian) might have been fun. Photo by Special Correspondent Terry McVey.
The Reverend Slick returned to Kennett last night to infuse new life into my good friend Viretta.
You can skip this post if you’re not from Kennett. If you are, and 50+, perhaps you can help me ID some of the people in this photograph. I can only get a handful. Front row (seated): Terry Reeder, Steve Mays. Second row: Karen McAlister (?), Larry Cowgill, Jim Henson, Unknown3, Gene Overall, Unknown4, Mike French. Third row: Unknown5, Unknown6, Unknown7, Mary Talbert, Buddy Shivley, Mike Neeley. You can help me fill in the blanks at stevemays@gmail.com
“Steve, if my memory serves me correctly, you and tom colvin use to play characters when you both were at KBOA. what were they? I just remember when I was little going to a picnic of some sort on the front lawn of the radio station and one or both of you being dressed in drag? Have I lost my mind? thanks, Eric Raspberry, former Kenneth resident”
No, Eric, you haven’t lost your mind. During the Early Days I made many sacrifices for my art, including dressing in drag. I don’t recall Tom Colvin stooping so low but that was due, in part, to the challenge of finding nice things in his size.
I’m not ready to give up on the video from Slick Ballinger’s recent Kennett appearance. In the meantime, you can download and listen to the audio. The first four songs are from the first set and (I think) the sound is better. The last five are from the second set and it sounds like the PA was little hot. This was recorded on my video camera so it basically sucks. But if you’ve never heard His Slickness… you might not even notice. I’d like to think they were recording this out of the sound system but have no way of knowing.
Sorry I can’t provide the names of the songs but I’m hoping one of Slick’s Rangers will ID them and I’ll update this post. Mother Sexton insists there are not a lot of good recordings of Slick online, which is difficult to imagine, but she would know. One more thing… it was difficult to cut the End Zone sets into individual songs. Reverend Slick and the Soul Blues Boyz slid seamlessly from one tune to the next. If I guessed wrong, let me know and I’ll repost.
Song# 1 [6 meg – 14 min]
Song #2 [7 meg – 17 min]
Song #3 [6 meg – 16 min]
Song #4 [5 meg – 11 min]
Song #5 [2 meg – 6 min]
Song #6 [4 meg – 10 min]
Song #7 [4 meg – 10 min]
Song #8 [4 meg – 10 min]
Song #9 [3 meg – 7 min]
Daniel “Slick” Ballinger’s story is literally the stuff of movies. Young white boy travels to the Mississippi Delta to live with –and learn from– aging blues legend. Barb and I drove to Kennett this weekend to hear him play. He and two sidemen (Terry “Harmonica” Bean and drummer Kenny Kimbrough) did two one-hour sets at a local bar called The End Zone. I grew up in Kennett and don’t ever remember paying a ten dollar cover charge but The End Zone was packed. The back story on Slick is worth a read and the best place to start is Tweed’s Blues. Tweed maintains the semi-official Slick Ballinger page there. (Be sure to read the Como Chronicles.)
I won’t waste a lot of words trying to capture the Slick Ballinger Experience. Like all such moments, you had to be there. If you pressed me for a word to describe Slick’s performance, I’d have to go with “intense.” I shot some video under what has to be the worst conditions imaginable. Check back in a couple of days. If I got anything usable, I’ll post it.
I don’t know how Slick learned to play a guitar like that in less than twenty years. And I can’t imagine where that kind of passion comes from in one so young. Uber-fan Viretta says some of the old timers back in Mississippi think Slick is the reincarnation of Robert Johnson (doesn’t the screenplay practically write itself?).
We ran into Slick, Kenney and Terry the next morning at McCormick’s. They were fueling up on biscuits and gravy before hitting the road to Chicago where they’re performing at a Sara Lee corporate function. Slick doesn’t have a record deal and apparently doesn’t want one. Sounds like all of his bookings are word of mouth. After watching him perform, it’s hard not believe I’ll see him again…with a Grammy in his hand. But that won’t make his music any better. And those who know him say it won’t make him any happier. If you’ll give me one more word to describe Daniel “Slick” Ballinger, I’ll go with “authentic.”
[Note to Viretta and Nancy: You were right.]
From the Kennett Chamber of Commerce website: “Nine-time Grammy award winner Sheryl Crow will return home to serve as the keynote speaker at the 58th Annual Kennett Chamber of Commerce Banquet. The banquet will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 12th, at the American Legion Building in Kennett. Tickets for the event are $25 per person for Chamber members and $35 per person for non-Chamber members. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Chamber office at 573-888-5828. The deadline to purchase tickets is March 15th. The meal will be prepared by Simply Delicious Catering Service.” Can that possibly be a coincidence?
