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My favorite things Alabama
1. Popular music. Emmylou Harris is from Birmingham and I like her albums with Gram Parsons. "The New Soft Shoe" is an excellent song. While I appreciate Nat King Cole in the abstract I never choose to put it on. Lionel Richie has a nice voice but the sound is too bland for my taste.
2. Painter: The early Howard Finster is excellent, although he churned out weak material for a long time later on.
3. Jazz: Lionel Hampton is the obvious choice, but I will pick Sun Ra, who is a musical god of sorts for me. Jazz in Silhouette is the best place to start, although it does not communicate the overall diversity of his work. He remains an underrated musical figure.
4. Country music: Hank Williams. Even if you hate country music you should buy the two CDs of his collected works. I also love Shelby Lynne; start with I am Shelby Lynne.
5. Bluegrass: The Louvin Brothers. Tragic Songs of Life is one of my favorite albums as it has a deeply scary and tragic feel; again you can love it even if you hate country and bluegrass. Do you know the song "The Great Atomic Power"?
6. Writer: I can't make my way through To Kill a Mockingbird. Who else is there? Wasn't one of Charles Barkley's books funny? I've never finished a Tobias Wolff novel, too stilted. Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King were very good writers, though they don't quite fit the category. Same for James Agee. Truman Capote would be an easy pick except I don't enjoy his books. Zora Neale Hurston was born in the state though I am inclined to classify her under "Florida."
7. Quilters: From Gee's Bend, Alabama, there is an entire tradition. The traveling exhibits of these works are excellent.
8. Gospel: Blind Boys of Alabama. They transfer better to disc than do a lot of gospel groups.
9. Song, about: Don't go there.
10. Movie, shot in. Close Encounters of the Third Kind. As for "Movie, set in" here is a worrying list. Maybe I'll go with Fried Green Tomatoes, although the book is supposed to be better and more open about the sexuality of the main characters.
The bottom line: There are some major stars here and I haven't even mentioned the famous athletes.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on July 17, 2009 at 03:42 AM in The Arts | Permalink
Comments
what's your favorite ex-investment bank from alabama?
Posted by: babar at Jul 17, 2009 4:10:58 AM
Tyler,
What's the point of these lists, I mean, other than the Aspergery pleasures of making up pointless lists?
Posted by: Steve Sailer at Jul 17, 2009 4:51:30 AM
Writer: What about Ace Atkins?
Posted by: Billy at Jul 17, 2009 4:57:55 AM
Tyler, you just gained so many points with me for your Man from Saturn rec. After Jazz in Silhouette your readers need to listen to Lanquidity and then Angels and Demons at Play.
Posted by: Paul Gowder at Jul 17, 2009 5:15:32 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Writers_from_Alabama
Posted by: ogmb at Jul 17, 2009 5:35:25 AM
Tyler, anyone who can get through Paul Samuelson (let alone other econ writers who are worse writers) and says he can't get through "To Kill A Mockingbird" either 1) isn't trying, at all, or 2) is making a rhetorical point that seems pretty weak. It's an important and worthwhile book. Give it another shot.
Posted by: Tom at Jul 17, 2009 6:23:22 AM
Tyler, anyone who can get through Paul Samuelson (let alone other econ writers who are worse writers) and says he can't get through "To Kill A Mockingbird" either 1) isn't trying, at all, or 2) is making a rhetorical point that seems pretty weak. It's an important and worthwhile book. Give it another shot.
Posted by: Tom at Jul 17, 2009 6:30:12 AM
Steve,
What's the point of anything?
Posted by: josh at Jul 17, 2009 7:44:39 AM
My Cousin Vinny is set in Alabama and is quite entertaining.
Posted by: josh at Jul 17, 2009 7:48:24 AM
Fitzgerald has a connection to Alabama -- stationed there, wife from there.
Posted by: michael at Jul 17, 2009 8:01:46 AM
If you like Emmylou Harris and Shelby Lynne, you must like Shelby's sister, Allison Moorer, right? I mean, right?
Also, the Drive-by Truckers are simply amazing. (In a show of Alabama solidarity, they had Allison open on one of their tours. Here is a joke they told: What's the difference between a tornado and a redhead from Alabama? Absolutely nothing, they'll both take your trailer eventually.)
Posted by: Will at Jul 17, 2009 8:11:19 AM
Or at least tell us why you can't make it through To Kill a Mockingbird. Honestly, your infuriating rhetorical style drives me away from this blog almost as much as the content draws me back.
Posted by: Anon at Jul 17, 2009 8:16:30 AM
second that on drive by truckers.
Posted by: charlie at Jul 17, 2009 8:27:07 AM
Finster was from Alabama but Georgia may have a stronger claim to him as an artist. I do take your point about early Finster.
Posted by: Frank at Jul 17, 2009 8:58:25 AM
I've never finished a Tobias Wolff novel either, but the short stories and non-fiction memoirs he's most noted for are superb.
Posted by: Duncan at Jul 17, 2009 9:01:31 AM
"Or at least tell us why you can't make it through To Kill a Mockingbird. Honestly, your infuriating rhetorical style drives me away from this blog almost as much as the content draws me back."
I'd wager there are more people (like me) who are kept away from this blog somewhat by the snobbish bleating about how awful it is that someone doesn't like something a commenter thinks is reallllly important.
Posted by: MPO at Jul 17, 2009 9:12:43 AM
Sorry Steve but I quite enjoy this part of marginal revolution. You see, I saw a Sun Ra exhibit at a modern museum in the Bowery weeks back. I couldnt remember his name for the life of me, until Tyler brought him up. Now, Im listening to the opening track off jazz in silhouette on youtube.
Tyler should make these "state culture" posts into a book. I know Id read it.
Posted by: John Pertz at Jul 17, 2009 9:28:03 AM
My personal goal is to see, for better or worse, what has come out of a particular state. It forces me to rethink what the state is really about or really good at (or not). Another goal is to receive all the cultural recommendations which pop up in the comments; I pursue a pretty high percentage of these; for instance I just bought the CD by Shelby Lynne's sister on Amazon.
Steve classifies too, although not by state...
Posted by: Tyler Cowen at Jul 17, 2009 9:40:19 AM
Jazz in Silhouette is fantastic, but you should move on and get SPACE IS THE PLACE.
Posted by: Fabio Rojas at Jul 17, 2009 9:54:11 AM
As far as athletes, you could form an impressive list of just baseball players from just Mobile: Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, and Willie McCovey.
Willie Mays and Ozzie Smith were also born in Mobile although they grew up elsewhere.
Posted by: Dirk at Jul 17, 2009 9:55:12 AM
What about some Alabama food?
Also, check out Uncle Tupelo's version of "Great Atomic Power."
Posted by: JAS at Jul 17, 2009 9:56:51 AM
Songs other than the obvious one:
Neil Young - Alabama
Randy Newman - Birmingham
John Prine - Angel from Montgomery
many (Parish & Perkins) - The Stars Fell on Alabama
many (Brecht & Weill) - Alabama Song (Show Me the Way to the Next Whiskey Bar)
Posted by: johnshade at Jul 17, 2009 10:01:55 AM
I just don't understand all the "sexuality" stuff. Sure, maybe it's interesting for people who think people from Alabama are repressed, or whatever. But, I'd bet they just keep it in doors and are probably gettin' their groove on while people are discussing the latest Lars von Trier film at the coffee house.
Posted by: Andrew at Jul 17, 2009 10:06:34 AM
What about the category favorite Nationalist Libertarians Who Preach Monetary Apocalypse? I'm pretty sure there are some in Auburn, AL.
Posted by: Bob Murphy at Jul 17, 2009 10:07:06 AM
When I think of Close Encounters of the Third Kind I think of Devils Tower, not Alabama.
Posted by: Jake at Jul 17, 2009 10:07:38 AM
