Pulphead, Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan

This book has been receiving a great deal of press over the last few weeks. With write ups in magazines including The New Yorker a case has been made that this collection proves the vitality of the modern day essayist is very strong.

I cannot disagree. I love essays. I love the New Yorker. What makes the New Yorker so strong to me is that you can have articles where you learn about banannas and apples which my children enjoying reiviewing with me, to indepth political writing, commentary by some of the best in the business and some of the best writers in the world such as Roger Angel, Ian Frazier and Malcolm Gladwell just to name a few.

John J Sullivan does not write for The New Yorker. He writes or has written for GQ, The Oxford American and others. He writes...magnigicently.

This collection of essays might be the strongest thing I will read all year.

A review of the essays is as follows.

Upon This Rock finds Sullivan visiting a Christian Rock festival. While he disdains the term Christian Rock and finds the performers of it often a shill to crass marketing strategies Sullivan finds that as much as he would like to be cynical about those attending the festival he cannot be. He finds little to criticize and much to compliment, albeit in a manner that makes one think of how fond we are of people who believe in something and gain from it, something that we ourselves cannot make the leap to belive.

Feet in Smoke tells he personal story of his older brother Werth is electrocuted from a mike stand when singing in his rock band. He miracuously lives, Sullivan documents the month he spent at his brothers side while his brain was rewiring itself. It is funny and yet not mean funny as he talks of a nurse stating wouldn't it be great if his brother stayed in the innocent disoriented state he was in and he was humbled to admit he felt that too.

An Essay for Mr Andrew Lytle tells of his time at Swannee College when he was the live in companion of the great Southern writer Andrew Lytle.

At a Shelter tells of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Getting Down to What's Really Real explores what happens to some of your favorite stars of MTV's the Real World when their time on the air is over.

Two essays about famous figures, one about Micheal Jackson shortly after his death, one about the ever on the comeback trail Axl Rose. They both are funny and personally told with the Rose story being a true keeper.

American Grotesque takes a meanandering look at the health care battle and how it affects deep into the spine of the American culture of haves and have nots.

Two stories are of a naturalist bent. Sullivan writes about An Eccentric Naturalist named Constantine Rafinesque who was busy in America in the first half of the nineteenth century. Eccentric and Crazy yes. Genius would be another word. In Unnamed Caves Sullivan explores the caves of the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, their history and their discoveries in the last one hundred years and what it all means.

In Unknown Bards the writer explores the not exactly booming business, but very dedicated group of folks who troll looking for soul, rhythem and blues..i.e black music from the first half of the twentieth century. Most of these performers you have never heard or heard of but it is said and Sullivan agrees that listening to some of this music will be a life changing experience.

Sullivan writes a story about meeting Bunny Wailer, the last of the Bob Marley wailers and along the way explores Jamaica and the Rasta movement.

Perhaps the weakest story is Violence of the Lambs. This is a story about the changing behaviors of animal species, the effects of global warming and as we learn near the end much of the story is farcical though Sullivan maintains many of the animal attack incidents written are real.

Lastly Sullivan tells of the experience of living in Peyton's house. Peyton being a character on the television show One Tree Hill. His house, before being purchased by him, had been used for external and internal scenes on the show and to help meet the mortgage he decides to continue the practice. He takes us through that experience, the benefits and his eventual dissatisfaction with it.

Reading this book is like reading a great issue of your favorite literary magazine with an issue dedicted to articles by your favorite colulmnist, essayist or whatever you choose to call him.

Sullivan's writing is fantastic. This is a must read.

Love in Vain by Robert Johnson and the Rolling Stones

My son took a Music Survey course his freshman year in high school to meet his Fine Arts Requirement. While it was mostly a fluff course he did actually learn quite a bit about various musicians from the early twentieth century.

For those who do not know Robert Johnson had an enormous impact on rock and roll. Listening to early Led Zeppelin the question could be asked why that level of plagarism was not talked about even more.

The Rolling Stones released Let It Bleed and on that great album released Love in Vain. This is a great song. In reading John J Sullivan's collection of essays I read one on collectors and searchers of early American soul music, from the first half of the last century. Love in Vain was a song Robert Johnson recorded but even he modified the words from an earlier verse.

Music is meant to be plagarized if not openly, at least in spirit. If you hear something and like it it will influence what and how you play.

Robert Johnson is believed to have died at 27. Truly he was the first member of the rock and roll 27 club. Anyone doing even a modest trace through the rock and roll record will know that his influence was larger than anyone has ever truly acknowledged.

Four Strong Winds by Neil Young

This song appeared on the Comes a Time album. I first heard this...today...on the way to taking the kids to school. Love the Sirius.

Can anyone sing in the range Neil Young does. Listening to this song reminded me how much I hope to see him in concert and how great it would be were he to play Bangor. Neil Young is a legend and as such many of his songs that you have never heard are better than most you have heard over and over on the radio.

This song proves that.

Out Here in the Middle by James McMurtry

I have a well documented affection for the music of James McMurtry. Indeed it could be said that it was James McMurtry that brought me to Americana and Outlaw country. I think he may be as good a songwriter as there is today.

Today picking my daughter up from play practice this song came up on The Outlaw Radio and I told her that I was sorry she could not flip to 20 on 20...not with Brother James on the radio.

This song , touches me. McMurtry writes about the Middle as being flyover country. What he knows or should know however by his popularity in places like the Bangor Maine area is that the Middle is everywhere except of course where it is not.

For me when Brother Jim talks about the ghost of William Jennings Bryan preaches every night he has me sold. Find another song writer this side of Bob Dylan that might be able to put that reference in a song in a meaningful way.

This is a great song, by a great songwriter, a great performer. Did I say great enough. Call me a big fan.

Brian Williams on David Letterman

I write about my man crush on Brian Williams everytime he makes an appearnace on Fallon or Letterman but I am going to do it again tonight. Appearing as the only guest on Dave tonight Williams was on his game. Simply put this man is funny, not just funny but with a sense of wry humor that never fails to make me laugh.

Tonight Dave made him do his Regis Philbin impression. Perhaps he is so funny because of the contrast between serious newsman and what he does with Dave. That said he is a smart and funny man. For me his appearnces on Dave or Fallon are Must See TV

Young and Wild and Free by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa featuring Bruno Mars

I will give rappers credit. They collaberate better than rock and roll artists. This song which appears on a soundtrack album called Mac and Devin go to High School, though I am not sure this is a real movie.

My middle son has been playing this all the time. Listening to the words it is hard to embrace. So what we get drunk, so what we smoke weed. Roll one, Smoke one seems to be the theme.

So I listened to this today on Spotify. This song sends a bad message. It has bad language and is all about drug use. It is awful.

It is also incredibly and I mean incredibly addictive and enjoyable. If I were a 16 year old kid out with my friends this is the song that would be on the radio. It is not even a debate. It is catchy, it has a great rhythem and yes here is a news flash kids like songs about drinking and smoking. Even those like my kids who do not do these things.

I should also talk about a song on the same album I listened to today called I Get Lifted. Soaking up the breeze, smoking on this tree, and then with a back chorus of some female soul singers with I Get Lifted. If it is possible this song might be even more catchy than the song above.

Look this whole album is all about weed and smoking dope. This is not a good thing. One thing we must face is that as long as artists can make music this catchy with riffs like this kids are going to be influenced.

Now my worry is that it is on the radio. I do not think songs with drug refences and that need bleeps every three words should be on the radio. Teenagers will find these on Spotify if they wish, but so many of the Top 40 listeners are junior high or less. They do not need the music that is on this radio.

As parents we can always control some of what our kids listen to. I played this with my son tonight. He knows I do not endorse the message. It does not good however to be hypocritical and pretend this music, much like Lil Wayne is not incredibly strong. Can the message be ignored and the beat enjoyed. I am hoping it can be.

These are great songs. There is no denying it.

The Essential David Allan Coe

Since I have put Sirius XM in my truck I have found that one of the channels that I enjoy the most is Outlaw country. One of the artists often featured is David Allan Coe. I have heard the name before but was not knowledgable about what he sang.

David Allen Coe was one of the members of the original outlaw country group. Not with the stature of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson indeed but he certainly seems to have been a member of the following.

Today I heard a song by him called You Never Even Called Me By Name. This song has much to offer the country fan. With several verses the most important would be one that speaks about Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride and Merle Haggard with a catchy chorus. Perhaps what seperates this song the most however is the last verse, a very self aware verse where Coe speaks about the writer of the song and his telling him that it was not the best country song in the world as it missed some country cliches such as Momma, Trains, Prison, Trucks and Being Drunk. As one might imagine the writer added a verse which included those items and Coe was happy to sing the new verse for us.

Is this silly. Yes. It still is an acknowlegement of what country music used to be and what many of us still enjoy.

I came home and looked him up on Spotify and listened to this album. The first of these songs is entitled The Ride and I realized that I had heard this as well on Outlaw country. Another very good song telling of a ghost encounter with Hank Williams the original.

Yes perhaps a few too many songs are written about beer but this is not literature and there are no pretensions. It is what it is. And it is very good at what it is.


On Willie, Waylon and Me Coe takes us through his life of listening to sixties and seventies country rock. The Burritos, Roger Mcguin and the Byrds, and the Eagles and even tips his hat to true rock icons such as The Beatles, The Stones and Janis. It is an effective song.

More country even is Long Haired Redneck and perhaps most country of all is If That Ain't Country in which he talks about a rural upbringing with cliches like a hard working mama and cars in the yard. It is not a sad song though it is a song that tells with pride where he comes from. If Coe really comes from this background I do not know, what I do know is there are many who have been from that place in their youth and a song that does not aplogize for it but tells of it with pride must have appeal to many folks not written about in Rolling Stone.

David Allen Coe is a fine singer. He also knows exactly who he is. That is something to be valud and indeed even cherished.