Let the Good Times Roll

2004-04-08 Diversions

Let the Good Times Roll

The blur of 43 screaming stock cars storming around the Talladega Superspeedway returns for Alabama’s annual 200-mph spring rites with the Aaron’s Rent 499 on Sunday, April 25. The 2004 NASCAR season is the first under new race series sponsor Nextel after longtime patron Winston threw in the towel, largely due to limits on tobacco advertising.

For the uninitiated, Talladega Superspeedway is a sight to behold. The massive stretch of acreage is the equivalent of 10 Legion Fields hosts nearly 150,000 fans twice yearly. Though it has lost some of its redneck luster over the years, the hayseeds still flock to the speedway like ants to honeybun crumbs. The influx of Yankees to NASCAR racing, however, has brought a new set of manners to the rough-knuckled sport that was born and bred in Dixie: Confederate flags have been replaced by banners proclaiming favorite drivers, and women no longer flash their breasts (thanks, Yankees).

But the race cars are still fast, the crashes are frequent, and, thanks to the tight restrictions placed on coolers brought into the speedway following the September 11 attacks, ice-cold beer is now sold for a shamelessly exploitative price at the concession stands on Sunday. Call 877-462-3342 or visit www.talladegasuperspeedway.com for more information. &

Motorcycles Return to Barber Track

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2004-05-06 Diversions

Motorcycles Return to Barber Track

The AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship returns to the Barber Motorsports Park on May 14 through 16.

By Ed Reynolds

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Praised by racing experts as “the Augusta National of motor racing circuits” for its lush 700-acre forest whose centerpiece is one of the most technically challenging race tracks in the world (Formula One Grand Prix, Indy 500, and 24-Hour of LeMans racing legend Dan Gurney helped design the course), the Barber Motorsports Park gears up for its first high-profile event of the 2004 season. The AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship will take place at the 2.3-mile twisting road circuit May 14 through 16. Attendance at last year’s AMA event was an impressive 48,000 for the weekend, as motorcycle enthusiasts from across the country trekked to Barber’s, where they lined up their cross-country bikes around the track in a dazzling array of chrome and sheer mechanical beauty. And those weren’t even the ones racing.




The AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship returns to the Barber Motorsports Park on May 14 through 16. (click for larger version)

The number of patrons forced the Barber facility to extend parking a mile from the track to a field next to Interstate 20, where the Leeds school system loaned school buses to serve as shuttles to transport spectators into the racing facility. The elderly women driving the buses looked less than pleased about pulling extra Sunday afternoon duty (which was not considered overtime, according to one grumpy driver), but they did offer a quick smile and “thank you” each time a dollar bill was dropped into the tip jar each maintained at the front of her bus.

One irresistible attraction for the tens of thousands invading Barber Motorsports Park in May is the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, home to 750 motorcycles—the largest collection in the world. The museum also houses the most revered assortment of Lotus race cars on earth. The manufacturer’s latest creation, the 2005 Lotus Elise, a sleek automobile billed by Road and Track magazine as the “finest sports car on the planet” was unveiled at the Barber track in March, The racing facility is currently in negotiations to bring the MotoGP, the number-one motorcycle series in the world, to Barber in 2005. The worldwide racing circuit has not staged a United States Grand Prix in a decade, and if George Barber can lure the motorcycle equivalent of Formula One Grand Prix automobile racing to Birmingham, his already well-heeled reputation in the international racing community may reach legendary status. For more information call, 956-6693 or visit www.barbermotorsports.com. &

All-American Soap Box Derby

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2004-03-25 Diversions

All-American Soap Box Derby

By Ed Reynolds

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On March 27, the city of Troy will host Alabama’s only officially sanctioned All-American Soap Box Derby, featuring boys and girls ages 9 to 16 competing for a trip to the national finals in Akron, Ohio, in August. In 1933, the first All-American Soap Box Derby, also known as the “Gravity Grand Prix,” was staged when 362 competitors showed up with homemade cars constructed from orange crates, little red wagons, and baby buggies to see who could reach the bottom of a death-defying hill in Dayton, Ohio, first. Over the years ingenious drivers have resorted to anything to gain an advantage. In 1945, one enterprising kid smeared not only his car but also his face with graphite to reduce wind resistance. As he sped to victory, the crowd of some 30,000 chanted, “Al Jolson, Al Jolson.” For more information, call 334-566-4970. &

The Set List — 2004-03-25

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2004-03-25 Music

The Set List

By J.R. Taylor, Ed Reynolds

Shades Mountain Air featuring Glenn Tolbert
Shades Mountain Air is a local bluegrass/gospel combo led by Gary Furr, pastor of Vestavia Hills Baptist Church and a former guitar student of local bluegrass picker Glenn Tolbert. The group will be joined by Tolbert for an evening of bluegrass standards and mournful gospel favorites. Tolbert, who currently teaches guitar to employees at U.S. Steel in Fairfield, is looking forward to performing some of the more tragic sacred tunes. Anyone who has heard him sing can testify that Tolbert’s nasal tenor is tailor-made for such distressingly hopeless songs. He’s particularly fond of a funeral number called “Who Will Sing for Me?,” a lonely lament that prompts Tolbert to reflect on his many years of performing, and, ultimately, the day he is laid to rest. He’s so moved by the lyrics he can’t resist reciting a verse during a recent telephone conversation: “Oft I sing for my friends, when death’s cold hand I see. When I reach my journey’s end, who will sing one song for me? When crowds gather round and look down on me, will they turn and walk away? Or will they sing just one song for me?” (Tuesday, March 30, Moonlight Music Café, 8 p.m. $8.) —Ed ReynoldsThe Marshall Tucker Band
No band better epitomized Southern rock during the late 1970s than The Marshall Tucker Band. It was the era of the “extended jam,” when the most endearing route to an audience’s heart was an eternal guitar solo, song after song. Marshall Tucker’s contribution to the genre was the lightning fast, bare-picking thumb of guitarist Toy Caldwell, who soared through jazzed-up country leads that seemed to go on forever. Caldwell doesn’t play those long solos anymore because he’s dead, just like his brother Tommy, with whom he started the group in 1972. Singer Doug Gray is the lone original member remaining in the band. His belting vocals will no doubt create nostalgia for those nights when Tucker classics like “Can’t You See,” “Take the Highway,” “Fire on the Mountain,” and “24 Hours at a Time” filled Boutwell Auditorium’s rafters, right along with the aroma of dope. (Friday, April 2, The Yellow Rose. $15.) —E.R.

Lonestar/Jimmy Wayne
We’re coming up on 10 years of Lonestar, meaning that they’ve outlasted their contemporaries in *NSync. They were much cuter back when they all dressed like the Cowboy from the Village People, though. Sometimes, you should just ignore Q”ueer Eye for the Straight Guy”‘s Carson Kressley. So, let’s see . . . boy band comparison, made fun of their clothes . . . oh, yeah, they actually remade Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis” into the kind of manly street version that made Cher’s version sound, in comparison, like it was sung by Bob Dylan.

But, of course, Lonestar’s greatest sin is that they give guys such as Steve Earle and Elvis Costello the chance to bitch and whine about the country scene. But those guys are just envious that they’re not as handsome as opening act Jimmy Wayne, who believes his rough childhood allows him to sound really manly as he pleads with you to love him. (Friday, April 2, Alabama Theatre, 8 p.m. $39.50.) —J.R. Taylor



	The Marshall Tucker Band (click for larger version)

Slipknot/Fear Factory
I prefer bands patterned after the film 2000 Maniacs rather than Neon Maniacs, but you can’t help what those suburban kids once stumbled across on cable back in the early-’90s. At least it’s easy to believe that the members of Slipknot could also be killed by water. They bring some nice hooks to their plundering of death metal. And you have to go see them live, because you’ll feel stupid cranking them up in your car stereo anytime before 3 a.m.

Fear Factory, however, is an unjustly overlooked act that probably gave Slipknot the idea of toning down the ambition and upping the wardrobe. They’re (mostly) back after a very short break-up, more than likely spurred by the realization that few musicians share their commitment to finding beauty among the “possessed demon” vocal sound of which death metal bands are so fond. (Friday, April 2, Sloss Furnaces, 7:30 p.m. $29.50) —J.R. Taylor

Amy Rigby
Nobody had a bigger audience to tap than Amy Rigby in the mid-’90s, as her albums Diary of a Mod Housewife and Middlescence examined the plight of aging hipsters torn between the lure of traditional happiness and the restraints of a fabulous lifestyle. The suddenly single mom didn’t have to revamp her style, either, since she’d spent the ’80s as a pioneering urban-country popster. Rigby simply had to grow into the shambles that she once adored. A move to Nashville, however, has reduced her to being great only on every third song. Until the Wheels Fall Off managed to be one of last year’s best albums, but she’s clearly outgrown the Americana handbook. Rigby is still underrated as a vocalist, though, and her sharp wordplay remains more honest than clever. (Saturday, April 3, Moonlight Music Cafe, 8 p.m. $10.) —J.R. Taylor

Emerson Hart (of Tonic)
Well, the billing is certainly a good way to teach people the name of the lead singer of Tonic. That band was so faceless that nobody even noticed when they attempted a big sell-out with their Head On Straight album in 2002. Emerson Hart had already relocated to Nashville, too, which is usually a move made by songwriters who age more gracefully—like, you know, Seals & Crofts. Anyway, Tonic is still a band, and remain best known for forgettable ballads that bask in big rock settings. Those songs touched many people, and $5 is certainly a reasonable price to hear how those tunes sound better in stripped-down versions. (Tuesday, April 6, The Nick, 8 p.m. $5.) —J.R. Taylor

Kate Campbell
Her narrow view of the South guides Kate Campbell’s assurances that you are truly, truly stupid—unless, of course, you’re in her audience, in which case you are assured that you’re nearly as fabulous as Kate Campbell. Why, you can even watch her marvel at just how pathetic people are with their miserable little dreams. This former Samford University student doesn’t like how Birmingham looks, either, but who cares? Campbell’s the kind of woman who’ll show up in your living room and complain about how your Bible isn’t dusty enough. One of her recent lousy albums is called Monuments, and has tombstones for sale on the cover. (Thursday, April 8, Workplay, 8 p.m. $20.) —J.R. Taylor &

BIR Racing Season Opens

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2004-03-25 Diversions

BIR Racing Season Opens

By Ed Reynolds

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Race fans at BIR (click for larger version)

Behind the Milwaukee Mile, Birmingham International Raceway (BIR) located at the Alabama State Fairgrounds, is the second oldest active automobile racing facility in America. Originally built as a horse-racing track in the late 19th century, BIR began hosting car races in 1914. But it wasn’t until the Chevrolet brothers introduced their new “Frontenac,” a car designed to race on short dirt tracks, at the 1925 state fair that racing fever truly caught on in Birmingham. By the 1950s, Indianapolis-style open-wheel racing began making regular stops at BIR, featuring stars such as Tony Bettenhausen and A. J. Foyt. Fireball Roberts won the first NASCAR event at BIR in 1958. The track was paved in 1962 and eventually became the official home of NASCAR’s legendary Alabama Gang: Red Farmer, Neil Bonnett, and Bobby, Donnie, and Davey Allison. Perhaps the track’s greatest moment was the evening that racer Nero Steptoe won a 25-lap race after losing a wheel on the third lap. BIR begins its racing season April 2. For more information, call 781-2471 or visit www.bhamraceway.com for details. &

City and County at Odds on Animal Control

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2004-03-25 News

City and County at Odds on Animal Control

By Ed Reynolds

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Two years ago, the National Animal Control Association (NACA) reviewed Birmingham Jefferson County Animal Control (BJC Animal Control). The NACA evaluation determined that there was no independent auditing of BJC Animal Control; some impounded animals lacked medical attention; a surprisingly large number of animals were left dead in their cages at the impoundment facility; dogs and puppies remained in their cages during cleaning (which included spraying the area with bleach and chemicals); there was “very poor” sanitation of feline living quarters; and some animals were euthanized with intercardiac injections (directly into the heart) without being sedated first. NACA also discovered that euthanasia had been conducted in the holding area in the presence of other animals (and in view of visitors to the facility on at least one occasion). BJC Animal Control had also failed to verify that euthanized animals were actually dead. According to BJC Animal Control Director Steve Smith, management addressed each problem and implemented new procedures.

The Birmingham/Jefferson County animal control contract, which has been held by Smith since 1997, expired September 2002, and has been extended since then on a temporary basis while several versions of the Request For Proposal (RFP), which details qualifications for bidders, have been considered. The city of Birmingham, which is responsible for nearly three-quarters of the funding, and Jefferson County, which oversees the contract, have been in disagreement over contract details. The Jefferson County Commission sent out updated RFP versions for prospective bidders on March 12.

Birmingham City Councilor Valerie Abbott, who presented a resolution approved by the City Council in July 2003 that sought to include council input in the selection and approval process for the animal control provider, expressed frustration that the council was not included when the RFP was initially drafted, especially because Birmingham currently has the major financial stake in the animal control contract. BJC Animal Control budget projections for Fiscal Year 2003 (based on 2001 and 2002 budget reports) stated that Birmingham paid approximately $733,000 for animal control services, while Jefferson County paid $327,000.

Though some City Council recommendations were eventually included, Abbott remained disturbed by “the very, very short time frame [four-weeks] currently in place for prospective bidders to bid on the animal control contract.” The councilor explained, “That’s still insufficient time for people to put together proposals, get copies of all the applicable state, county, and local laws that apply . . . Normally you would allow months, not weeks, for someone to put together a proposal.” [The RFP had been listed on the Jefferson County Commission's web site for eight weeks prior to being sent out to prospective bidders.] Abbott also complained that a sufficient audit has not been performed on BJC Animal Control. “We’ve never had a central audit. We’ve asked for one, and what we got was a budget,” she said of a March 20, 2003, financial evaluation by Mann, Poarch, Miller, & Key, P.C. “The county somehow thinks that everyone in the city of Birmingham is asleep at the wheel. They sent over this budget and said it was an audit . . . It was totally meaningless,” said Abbott. “We have no way of knowing how much of the money that the current vendor gets is profit, and how much actually goes to providing animal control. [BJC Animal Control is a "for-profit" organization, which is uncommon for an animal control provider, according to the 2001 NACA evaluation.] “The whole idea of doing a new RFP is to get some new proposals. If you’re not going to request proposals from somebody besides the guy you already have, what’s the point? And especially if you’re not going to audit the current vendor to find whether he is being a good steward of the taxpayers’ dollars,” the councilor added.

On Sunday, March 14, the Birmingham News reported that the city and county had reached agreement on the bid specifications for the new contract RFP that was sent out March 12. “[That] might be stretching it a little bit,” said Mayor Kincaid of the reported accord between the two entities. Noting that the city had requested that the issuance of bid proposals be delayed, Kincaid added, “It is my personal feeling that we are not getting our money’s worth.” The Mayor would not rule out the possibility that Birmingham may decide to contract animal control without the County Commission’s involvement. Kincaid said that the county should have given the city more input into the contract, considering that the city contributes the majority of the funding. “That has been a sore spot,” said the Mayor. “We might have had a little bit better dialogue.”

Councilor Valerie Abbott was more direct in her criticism of the County Commission’s lack of consideration for the city of Birmingham. “I am just absolutely appalled at the behavior of the people at the county,” said Abbott, who also acknowledged that Birmingham may undertake animal control independent of the county. “We certainly don’t think we’re getting good service now. And with the attitude of the people at the county, there’s not really any incentive for us to continue to partner with them, because I don’t consider them to be very good partners . . . They’re awfully arrogant and high-handed. That just seems to be the way that they do business.” &

Steve Forbert

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City Stages 2004 City Stages

Steve Forbert

By Ed Reynolds

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“Could I have a receipt for that . . . Thank you,” Steve Forbert politely asks a toll booth operator every 10 or so minutes during a mid-day telephone interview as he drives on the Garden State Parkway. He’s currently on the road doing shows to plug his latest CD, Just Like There’s Nothing To It, with Nashville duo Stacey Earle (singer Steve Earle’s sister) and Mark Stuart as his backing group. He first made a name for himself with his hit “Romeo’s Tune” after moving to New York City, where he was something of an anomaly, playing his folk-oriented tunes at legendary punk bar CBGB while opening for groups like The Talking Heads and The Ramones. Forbert’s a pretty forthright guy, and doesn’t mince words when he thinks he’s being fed what he feels are standard interview questions.




(click for larger version)

Black & White: You turn 50 this year, don’t you?

Steve Forbert: Well, man, you don’t mess around [laughs]. You cut to the quick. Yeah, that’s true, that’s true. That would be December.

We’re the same age, and I was curious if you were in the same pop AM radio world I was as a kid, bubble-gum music and stuff like that?

“I’d heard Patti Smith, I’d heard The Ramones when I went to New York in the ’80s, but it didn’t make me think I should get a weird haircut or spit on the audience and expect them to spit on me. I always liked that folk rock thing . . .”

Yeah, you know, when you’re young, you’re not very judgmental anyway. You’re pretty open. If it was Louis Armstrong, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, or the Blues Magoos, it really didn’t matter to me. You can listen to it now, and with rare exceptions, it’s pretty good stuff.

It really is good stuff. I still listen to Herman’s Hermits.

Herman’s Hermits was an excellent band. When I met Garry Tallent [bass player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band who produced several of Forbert's records], and we started working together, that’s one thing we had in common. I said, “I don’t care what anybody says, Herman’s Hermits was a good band.” And he said, “I saw them at the Convention Center in Asbury Park in ’66, they were great!” So from there on out, we had a good time.

There’s been a surge in the number of singer/songwriters in the past decade that tend to sound the same. Do you agree?

Well, I do. Lucinda Williams was certainly a blast. She was unique. But Lucinda is my age. There are a lot of factors to that. I could go on all afternoon about it. You know, what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Is what people hear on the radio encouraging them to make more music like what they hear on the radio? Or is it just that their roots don’t go back any further than Nirvana or Shawn Mullins? But you know music is gonna change. You can’t expect it to stay the same; it changed every decade in the 20th century. You had your big band era, and then rock ‘n’ roll blew that off the blackboard. Rock ‘n’ roll turned into rock . . . I try to work really hard to craft my songs. I think if you listen to a lot of music, you kinda have a better chance of doing something original because you hit something and you go, “Oh well, that’s been done,” or “No, America did that or Grand Funk Railroad did that.” You search hard to find something that will stand up against all the stuff you’ve heard.

There’s a lot more do-it-yourself home recording these days.

Yeah, but that might be some of the reason you hear a lot of the stuff that’s same-y . . . If somebody wants to make a record, that’s fine. And those people can press you up some CDs; you can get 500 or you can get a thousand . . . so if that floats your boat. You know, everybody has a right to pick up a canvas and paint a picture. And it’s a good thing that everybody has the ability to make themselves a CD and put it in the car and listen to it and see what they think. And that’s fine. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that . . . but when I came up [laughs], there were probably two recording studios in Mississippi, and we’d heard of one in Dothan, Alabama, so we drove over there to see if we could get started there. Before you could even see the inside of a recording studio, you had to be way down the road. You had to have a local following, you had to at least know somebody. And that kind of weeded it out, really. Any of the major record companies, you had to get past an A&R guy that could probably arrange a horn section and produce a record. So there’s another factor.

Has songwriting gotten any easier for you since you’ve been doing it for 25 years?

No, nothing’s gotten easier. It’s harder, the songs take longer, you’ve got more distractions.

Have you got another 25 years in you?

I might, but I wouldn’t go past that. You’ve got some people that are still doing it. Merle Haggard . . . I’ve got a friend that saw him recently and said that he was in complete control and had a lot of spontaneity, and that’s encouraging.

When you recorded “Romeo’s Tune,” did you feel yourself trying to write a hit for a certain market?

I wrote it about a girl in Meridian, but I didn’t want to put it on Alive on Arrival [it ended up on his second record, 1979′s Jackrabbit Slim] because that record was obviously taking shape as the story of coming to the city and trying to adjust and leaving the South. So I wanted to wait. When we recorded “Romeo’s Tune,” a number of people had heard me play it and said, “Yeah, that’s gonna work for you.” So we recorded it three times until we got it to where we thought, “Yeah, okay, that sounds like a hit record.” So I was definitely trying and aware of it, but I didn’t write the song in that regard. I just wrote this song about this girl I had fallen for in Meridian [laughs]. We did work on it to make sure we got a happening version.

You’ve got a song about Rick Danko on your new CD. Were y’all pals?

Yeah, now I don’t want to exaggerate that. We did shows together, and I hung out with him sometimes when I would visit Woodstock for the weekend, just for fun. Woodstock is not much bigger than Butler, Alabama. So you’re gonna run into Rick ’cause he was a party animal. He was just a wonderful guy. It’d make you feel really great to meet Rick Danko, and then the next time you’d see him he’d be the same friendly guy. And I’ve met a lot of people who had the same story to tell. People loved him. And I wrote the song pretty much right after he died.

Tell me why you’re drawn to The Band.

Well, I feel like you’re asking me that question for your paper and not yourself . . . ‘Cause you know, it’s a curious hybrid of a lot of things. It’s obviously rock ‘n’ roll. They have paid so many dues; they have so much knowledge. You know, Levon Helms thinks Garth Hudson is a musical genius. Dylan said that Robbie Robertson was the only guitar player who didn’t affect his digestive system or something. You might remember that weird quote. They had so much talent. I could go on for an hour. It was a time when yet another group of people kind of took all the ingredients out there in American music and made something new out of it, just like Elvis had done and Jimmie Rodgers had done.

O.K., here’s one for me. I’m going to see Del McCoury tomorrow night and was curious to know what you thought about the problems McCoury had with Steve Earle’s cursing on stage, which reportedly ended a European tour the two were doing together.

I side with Del. There may be a place for that, but it’s not in what they’re trying to do. And then Steve just doggedly kept it up even after it had became an issue. It’s just not necessary . . . Tell Del I said hi [laughs].

Did you fit in with the punks and new wave crowd when you first moved to New York?

Yeah, I had a ball. It was good. I got to do a lot of watching. They’d put me on for 30 or 40 minutes, and it didn’t disturb anybody’s equipment. I was playing solo, and then I could sit back and watch The Talking Heads as a trio. It was interesting. It was exciting, but we didn’t know it would be, like, legendary. It was only in the last couple of years that it became history, you know? People ask me, “Why did you play that music in New York in the ’80s?” That’s what I wanted to do, that’s where I was coming from. I’d heard Patti Smith, I’d heard The Ramones when I went up there, but it didn’t make me think I should get a weird haircut or spit on the audience and expect them to spit on me. I always liked that folk rock thing, and then when Gram Parsons came along, he just reinforced it and threw in the country thing . . . The Ramones and I had the same manager. I always seemed to encounter them when they were all four together [laughs]. It was kinda like walking into a cartoon strip. And they were very honest, very frank people. They didn’t mess around. &

Steve Forbert performs at the Blockbuster stage on Saturday, June 19, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Chomping at the Bit

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2004-03-11 News

Chomping at the Bit

Milton McGregor promises to bring horse racing back to Birmingham, but video gambling has to be part of the deal.

By Ed Reynolds

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The electronic marquee in the middle of the blighted infield at the Birmingham Race Course repeatedly flashed an ironic message: Action Capital of the South. Yet the horse track that encircles the smaller greyhound racing oval is almost completely overgrown by weeds. There’s probably more action on Fourth Avenue North in downtown Birmingham, if one knows where to look. But give Alabama gambling magnate Milton McGregor a gold star for persistence. For several years, McGregor has been Indian-wrestling with state legislators in an attempt to get electronic gaming machines into the Birmingham track.

On February 25, McGregor lured the media to his Birmingham Race Course with the return of live horse racing as bait. McGregor hopes that the prestige and allure of horse racing, not to mention his pledge to kick in $35 to $40 million in improvements as a “facelift” for the facility, will knock down the legislative wall between him and video gambling at the track. Live horse racing ended at the Birmingham facility in 1995. Approximately 3,000 video gaming machines, if allowed, are expected to generate up to $3.5 million; money which can ensure that quality horse races (with minimum purses of $80,000 each day) can be staged at the Birmingham track. McGregor’s goal is to have the horses running by the spring of 2005.

Featured at the press conference were video clips of testimonies from people who had won small fortunes on video gambling. An elderly woman appeared on screen, the excitement in her voice impossible to conceal. “One day I had seven jackpots in one day!” she shouted. “Seven jackpots, $33,000!”

McGregor repeatedly stated that the point of the media gathering was to announce plans to return “quality horse racing” to the state, and not to complain about unregulated Native American casinos operating in Alabama without paying state taxes. Nonetheless, during the next 10 minutes McGregor referenced the video gambling operated by the Poarch Creek Indian tribe several times. “I’m not opposed to Native Americans in any shape, form, or fashion. I’m opposed to being treated differently,” he complained. Insisting that he was only advocating the same kind of gaming for his facilities available to the Poarch Creek tribe, McGregor insisted that his focus was to pay his portion. “I’d never be in a position where I wouldn’t pay my fair share of taxes,” he said, adding that “Native Americans have all forms of machine gambling . . . But this is not about gaming, it’s a tax issue.” He insisted that horse racing would have to be “subsidized” with gaming machines—without that there would be no horse racing.

McGregor noted the difficulty in competing with 32 casinos (in Mississippi), four Native American casinos (in Alabama), and the Tennessee, Florida, and Georgia lotteries. The longer he talked, his references to “Native Americans” eventually evolved into intimations to “Indians.” When asked if he’d like to see a referendum on gaming machines, McGregor responded, “I’d prefer no election [referendum] at all. I’d prefer doing what the Indians do now. They didn’t have an election.”

Jockey Shane Sellers, one of the nation’s top riders who currently races out of the Fairgrounds horse track in New Orleans, also addressed the gathering. According to a press kit distributed by Ballard Advertising, whose address is listed on the packet as the same as that of the Birmingham Race Course, Sellers is a “big NASCAR fan and Dale Earnhardt fan” who has released a music CD featuring his composition “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Earnhardt.” The jockey, who has 13 Kentucky Derby mounts to his credit, told the media throng that “on-track gaming has been the biggest boost to the racing industry” and has allowed jockeys such as himself to return to Louisiana to make their living. Sellers concluded with a glance in McGregor’s direction as he softly said, “God bless you, Mr. McGregor.”

Outside, a dozen or so men who look like they’ve been out of luck for years milled around the gate at the entrance of the race track at 10:30 a.m., waiting for simulcast betting from other horse and dog tracks around the nation to begin. When asked if any in the group were excited about the prospect of live horse racing returning to Alabama, they collectively shrugged their shoulders and returned to studying their racing tip sheets. Maybe this will be the day their $33,000 jackpot comes in. And maybe these guys were the ones who jockey Shane Sellers should have asked God to bless. Because without them, Milton McGregor might not have amassed the fortune with which he has lined his expensive suits. &

All-American Jewboy

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2004-03-11 Features

All-American Jewboy

Author, humorist, beatnik, and professional hanger-on Kinky Friedman takes his show on the road to promote his new book.

By Ed Reynolds

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Penning a variety of oddball country songs that celebrate his life as the world’s most famous Jewish cowboy (“Ride ‘em Jewboy,” “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore,” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed”), Kinky Friedman has been making records with his band, The Texas Jewboys, since the early 1970s. His most fondly remembered tune is “The Ballad of Charles Whitman,” an ode to the Texas architectural student who killed 16 people from a tower at the University of Texas in 1966. Friedman has also written 17 dark comedy thriller novels that feature himself and dozens of famous friends as characters. He loves animals; has a wealth of pals that includes President Bush, former President Clinton, Willie Nelson, Robert Duval, and Bob Dylan; and is currently considering a run for governor of Texas. “I have no skeletons in my closet,” Friedman readily admits. “The bones are all bleaching down at the beach.” He’s already designed his bumper sticker: He Ain’t Kinky. He’s My Governor.

Friedman currently has two new books he’s peddling, The Prisoner of Vandam Street and Curse of the Missing Puppet Head. He will sign copies of his novels at Alabama Booksmith on Thursday, March 18, and then deliver a lecture of sorts at the Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall at the Alys Stephens Center later that evening. As to whether or not he’ll read excerpts from his novels, tell jokes, give a stump speech, or sing, we have no idea. Neither does Friedman.



Author Kinky Friedman relaxes with a few of his buddies in Texas. (click for larger version)

B&W: Ever been to Alabama before?

Kinky: Yeah, the Jewboys played with B.J. Thomas in 1973 in Dothan. I played with the Rolling Thunder Revue in Mobile . . . I know the most famous man from Alabama—Jim Nabors. He’s a pretty good American, a funny guy. I just saw him last month in Hawaii. He was telling me that he went to this dinner given by an Asian friend of his in Hawaii. And when he showed up, he was the only white guy there. Everybody else was Oriental. So they sat Jim at the table, and the guy to his left looks like a guy from his health club. So Jim turns to the guy and says (with a Gomer Pyle inflection), “What actually do you do?” So the man says, “I’m the president of South Korea [laughs].” And then Jim says, “Well, I knew that, what else do you like to do?” That’s my Jim Nabors story.

B&W: Your publicist said that you were in Vietnam recently.

Kinky: Yes, just got back a week ago. I was visiting my sister, who’s head of the American Red Cross in Hanoi . . . It’s a beautiful, magical place, 80 million people. No Starbucks, no McDonalds, nothing like that . . . They love Americans.

Friedman is currently thinking about running for Governor of Texas. He’s already designed his bumper sticker: He Ain’t Kinky. He’s My Governor.

B&W: Were you in the Vietnam War?

Kinky: No, I was in the Peace Corps in Borneo, where I worked for several years as an agricultural extension worker helping people who have been farming successfully for more than 2,000 years.

B&W: Have you seen The Passion of the Christ yet?

Kinky: No, but you know, it’s doing pretty well. It might make a pretty good book!

B&W: Did it strike you as odd when Bob Dylan became a born-again Christian?

Kinky: Yeah . . . but actually, not with Bob. Bob says that art should not reflect a culture, it should subvert it. And he’ll try anything. So that’s one thing he tried.

B&W: Were you tempted to follow him?

Kinky: No. And it’s funny, because I’m not a very religious Jew at all. I’m not a practicing Jew, or as many people have commented, if I am, I need to practice a little bit more. I’m just a Jew in terms of the trouble-making aspect of the Jewishness, which is something that probably started with Jesus and Moses and descended all the way down to Groucho Marx, Karl Marx, Lenny Bruce.

B&W: I guess you’ve heard about our Ten Commandments judge here in Alabama.

Kinky: Roy Moore? He sounds like my kind of boy. The kind of man we need in my campaign for governor of Texas in 2006. The current governor has a hell of a lot of Gray Davis potential. I’d like to get the politicians out of politics. I’m a writer of fiction who tells the truth . . . George W. and Bill Clinton are fans of mine. I promise not to kiss any babies, I’ll just kiss their mothers. During the Friedman administration I’ll probably be spending most of my time in Vegas.

B&W: If you were elected president, would you free Tommy Chong? [Chong is currently serving a nine-month sentence for his affiliation with a company selling bongs featuring his autograph on the Internet.]

Kinky: President? That’s too hard a job. Too much work. I just want to be Texas governor . . . But I would certainly free him if I was. I’ll put in a good word with George next time I see him, because that’s ridiculous. Really ridiculous . . . I urinated next to Donald Rumsfeld a few months ago in Washington. I told him that he was not the most famous person I’ve ever urinated next to. That was Groucho Marx. But he was very nice.

B&W: Groucho or Rumsfeld?

Kinky: Rumsfeld. Groucho was not very nice. It was toward the end of his life.

B&W: How was sleeping at the White House?

Kinky: It was great. Laura is terrific. She was really my friend before I ever met George. I’ll tell you, it’s a looser ship than was run by Hillary Clinton, as far as smoking goes and things like that. You wouldn’t think so, but the Bushes are much looser about it. With the Clintons, you couldn’t smoke a cigarette or cigar anywhere.

B&W: Did you sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom?

Kinky: No, I visited the Lincoln Bedroom. I bounced on the bed a little bit. I was in a family compound on the third floor. When I visited the White House when the Clintons were there, Bill tried to get me a movie deal. That was very sweet of him. He brought in whatever the hell this woman’s name is who’s head of Paramount. He sat me next to her and she tells me during the meal, “The President says your books are great and that they’d make great movies. But who do you see playing Kinky?” I told her I see Lionel Ritchie. And negotiations broke down from there. But Bill tried.

B&W: Tell me about your animal rescue efforts on your ranch.

Kinky: It’s our fifth year and there are more than 500 animals that we’ve adopted out by this time. All kinds of abused and stray animals. We’re a “never kill” sanctuary. It’s really been great. If I’m elected governor, I’ll make this a “no kill” state . . . for animals, not criminals.

B&W: Does that mean you’ll put an end to hunting?

Kinky: No . . . Well, I might, but I’m not going to campaign that way. And of course you know my views on abortion: I’m not pro-choice and I’m not pro-life, I’m pro-football!

B&W: Did you ever cross paths with Gram Parsons?

Kinky: No, I didn’t, but I’m a great admirer of his. And I’ve always said that I’d rather be a dead Gram Parsons than a live Tim McGraw . . .

B&W: You’re a dead ringer for Warren Oates in the photo Don Imus took for the back of The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover.

Kinky: I take that as a great compliment. Imus and I met at the bottom of both of our lives. [Imus makes no secret that he had a serious cocaine habit at one point in his life.] I met him when we did a show together at the Bottom Line [famous New York City nightclub]. He’s a sick f**k.

B&W: What prompted you to switch from singing to writing?

Kinky: Desperation. I was in New York doing a lot of Peruvian marching powder, and pretty broke and playing the Lone Star Café once a week. I took a twirl on the writing—Greenwich Killing Time [Friedman's first novel]. I think about 25 publishers passed on the manuscript, and by that time, of course, we knew we had a pretty hot property [laughs]. And sure enough. So now this is about the 17th book that I’ve turned out . . . uhh, I mean ‘carefully crafted.’ I write on a typewriter. I’m getting a little tired of the characters, so I’m killing them off in the new book. Number 18 will be the end of the Kinkster. It’s called Ten Little New Yorkers. Unless we hear the great acclaim from the literary world that we must bring the Kinkster back, we’ll let him rest in peace.

B&W: You often cast your famous friends as characters in your novels. Anyone you haven’t cast that you’d like to?

Kinky: Bill Clinton, he wants to be a cameo character. He’s read all the books. I just don’t know how to work him in. Maybe I can work him into this last one. Now George . . . I’ve been told by a number of the press that I’m the President’s favorite author, but, of course, I always like to point out that he’s not that voracious a reader [laughs]. But Bill Clinton was.

B&W: Do you think that George sometimes gets a bad rap from your liberal friends?

Kinky: Yes, absolutely. I think he’s a smart guy. And I think that as far as foreign policy goes, I’m pretty much in agreement with him. On domestic policy, I’m pretty much not in agreement with him. I’m not a John Ashcroft fan.

B&W: Do you approve of gay marriage?

Kinky: Yeah, sure, why not? Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other. What the hell. Probably most of the people who vote for me are gonna be homosexuals anyway.

B&W: Are you still a vegetarian?

Kinky: No, I jettisoned that some time ago. I got rid of that. Probably not a good campaign quality to have here in Texas . . . I’m good for three minutes of superficial charm. So if I work a house quickly, people love me.

B&W: Did you ever consider yourself a hippie?

Kinky: No I didn’t, I always considered myself a beatnik.

B&W: Do you miss the ’60s?

Kinky: I missed them when they were happening. I was in the Peace Corps, and I wasn’t around. Probably saved my life. Maybe not. You gotta find what you like and let it kill you.

B&W: Do you remember where you were when Charles Whitman started shooting people from the tower at the University of Texas?

Kinky: Sure I do. I was at the camp for boys and girls that my parents ran here at our ranch. Yeah, that was quite an amazing thing. And that’s probably one of my better songs. That may be one of my better efforts [laughs extensively].

B&W: That was in 1966, and I was 11 years old and . . .

Kinky: You were jumping rope in a schoolyard, and I was selling dope in a schoolyard.

B&W: Did you ever play the Grand Ole Opry?

Kinky: Yeah, of course. Played it in ’73. Played it a couple of times, actually. We had Dobie Gray on with us. Billy Swan and the Jewboys were with me. After we performed, Reverend Jimmy Snow, Hank Snow’s son, introduced me as the first full-blooded Jew to ever appear on the Grand Ole Opry. The crowd went wild. &

Kinky Friedman will sign copies of his latest novels at Alabama Booksmith at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 18. Call 870-4242 for details. He will give a “lecture” at the Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall at the Alys Stephens Center at 7 p.m. Admission is $34. For more information, call 975-2787 .

City Hall — NUSA Rears Its Ugly Head

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2004-02-26 City Hall

NUSA Rears Its Ugly Head

By Ed Reynolds

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In what has become a controversial rite of passage for many of Birmingham’s neighborhood leaders, the Birmingham City Council voted at the February 17 meeting to approve funding to send 250 neighborhood officers to the annual Neighborhoods USA Conference (NUSA), scheduled for May 26 through 29 in Hollywood, Florida. Last year’s conference in Chattanooga sparked heated debate when the City Council approved spending $150,000 to send 226 representatives—reportedly a much larger number than other participating cities routinely send—to the four-day symposium.

This year, as much as $198,000 will be taken from neighborhood spending allocations to once again finance a NUSA trip. Some on the council are irate that tax dollars will be wasted while residents complain about flooding, abandoned buildings, and an alarming crime rate.

Though faced with a $16 million deficit in fiscal year 2004, city officials continue to toss money around like Mardi Gras beads.

As is so often the case, the grandstanding Councilor Bert Miller was surprisingly candid about why he supports the conference expenditure. While praising neighborhood leaders for outstanding performance in general, Miller made no bones about his motivation as a NUSA cheerleader: “We’re sitting here beating up on our neighborhood people that put us in office, and I’m not going to do that,” Miller said. “I’ve got more sense than that. Let’s support the people who’ve supported us. In a year and a half we’re going right back to these same people to try to hold these [council] seats again. And these people will not forget this day. I support y’all 100 percent!”

Councilor Carol Reynolds, who is adamantly opposed to the expenditure, complained that she had received e-mail from all over the country expressing disgust with the behavior of some Birmingham attendees at last year’s conference. “I cannot support $49,000 a day to go to a conference with the history of representation that has occurred. We have projects that you should be using these dollars for, and this is frivolous!” Perhaps in response to Miller’s confession that he was supporting the delegation in order to ensure his re-election to the council, Reynolds noted that less than one-half of one percent of Birmingham voters participated in neighborhood officer elections.

Miller, who is no stranger to hurling accusations of racism at any who would disagree with him, resorted to a cheap shot in response to Reynolds’ accounts of misconduct. “I hope this is not divided along racial lines about saying our people don’t know how to act, because our people know how to act. I’m very offended by that.” Reynolds vehemently objected, as did Councilor Elias Hendricks, who also acknowledged receiving similar e-mail complaints about some representatives’ behavior, which included, among other undisclosed grievances, fish frys held on hotel balconies in violation of hotel regulations.

Mayor Bernard Kincaid, whose office recommended the conference expenditure, increased the funding of each neighborhood from $3,000 to $10,000 during his first term. Neighborhoods are required to spend at least $7,000 of their yearly allocation on capital projects, defined by state law as “anything that has a shelf life of 10 years or more,” according to Kincaid. Most neighborhoods spend the bulk of their unearmarked money for neighborhood “Fun Days,” local festivals that usually include food and carnival rides. [Reynolds and others on the council have been critical of this type of neighborhood spending as well.] Citing the fact that neighborhood officers serve on a volunteer basis, the Mayor defended the conference workshops and the fact that neighborhood leaders are interacting with other people from other cities. Kincaid described the conference as a “bargain for the city” in maintaining the neighborhoods’ function as “an extension of government.”

Though faced with a $16 million deficit in fiscal year 2004, city officials continue to toss money around like Mardi Gras beads. According to the NUSA web site (www.nusa.org/history.htm), among the activities offered to NUSA attendees at the 1995 NUSA Conference in Birmingham was a junket to the Birmingham Race Course. How betting on dogs soothes the fears of neighborhood residents preoccupied with blight and declining property values remains a mystery. At last year’s conference in Chattanooga, prospective Birmingham mayoral candidates held receptions to entertain neighborhood leaders. Being courted by those who approve the funds to finance such conference trips should give pause to neighborhood officials traveling on the city’s dime. &