Jim Stacy, who created the cover art for Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance, is a man of many talents. A man with enough vision to produce a synthesis of two mighty forces: Star Wars and Rock 'n Roll. Jim once had a band called Grand Moff Tarkin. I'll let the pictures below and the aritcles here and here speak to the concept:
Unleash the dark side on your ass, indeed.
Oh, baby, that is one hot Leah. Anyway, you can see the genius of this conceptual art. Of course, born out of the artistic ooze that inhabits much of the South.
Such a brilliant idea won't stay pure for very long. Corporate America has a way of sniffing out great ideas, stealing them, then whoring them to ragged oblivion. Thus we have Gnarls Barkley (who stole then altered a native Alabamaians name) on the MTV Movie Awards. You must watch the video.
Jim should sue Gnarls! Then, after that, Lucas can sue them both... but that's not the point! Have you no shame, Corporate America? (Note: Tongue firmly planted in cheek)
Being a political junky, I love finding references to DBT in a political context. This was posted a while back on I speak dog: The Alabama Ass-Whuppin’, Juan Cole style:
if you listen to The Drive By Truckers live album, Alabama Ass Whuppin’, I believe it’s lead singer Patterson Hood that explains the origin of the term that is the title of this fine recording.Chris from the Yahoo Group was first out of the gate with the news that Paste had selected DBT as on of the top 100 best living song writers.
I don’t recall his definition exactly, but it’s something like “An Alabama Ass-whuppin’ is where not only do you get your ass beat, but the fella doing it makes you tell him when you’ve had enough AND apologize for having interrupted an otherwise fine and pleasant night of drinking. Example: ‘You had enough, goddamnit, or are you gonna get up again? Look what you did to my shirt, you sack of shit. Get up again, goddamnit…c’mon, shiteyes…’”
Jonah Goldberg has been learning that lesson all damn week. Juan Cole’s foot has to be getting sore from putting it up Jonah’s ass so early, so often, and so damn sincerely."
If you haven't already, you need to check DBT taper extraordinaire Sloan Simpson's new site Southern Shelther. I go there once a day to at least listen to a version of Goat. Lot's of other great bands to check out too.
Here a great old review I found while I was digging on the web:
Jack Sparks - The Other Side of Country - Where were you?:
February 9, 2004 08:06 AM
"Shut your mouth and get your ass on the plane. Yes, just shut your mouth and get your ass on the plane.Til next time!
The cocktail napkin in my back pocket contains the phrase, 'like an omelette that's too big.' There's a lot of onions, mushrooms, bacon, sausage, and cheese in The Drive By Truckers, and they're spread out all over the griddle. You find yourself repeating to yourself and out loud at their shows, 'you simply cannot make this shit up.' There aren't enough 3 guitar assaults with a shared whiskey bottle in the music world today. And, let me repeat that...The Drive By Truckers are a 3 guitar assault; there's no where in the club you can go without getting a melon full reverb.
Not only was the word 'fuck' used in all its forms--noun, verb, adverb, and adjective--during the evening, but the DBT's also played the album they've been recording in its entirety. Think about that; this little asshole of a club at Cedar and Riverside gets 3 hours of music featuring all your old DBT favorites, plus, the group has the guts to shotgun through about 12 new songs, without killing everybody's buzz. And, if you know anything, you know that Patterson Hood can't just write a song, he has to have a theme to go along with whatever he's doing, and we all love him for that. (Just read this and imagine heavy guitar chords being played 'softly' in the background) 'Back in the 70's in a small county in Southern Tennesee, Sheriff Buford Pusser fought a one-man battle against the Southern Mafia known as the 'Boys from Alabama' that was subsequently made into a shitty movie called 'Walking Tall,'....' Patterson, you had me at 'hello.' You simply cannot make this shit up."
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7 comments:
One thing: Gnarls Barkley isn't very corporate America, IMO, even with the huge hit they have right now. Can't speak for Cee Lo, but Dangermouse seems to do things on his own terms. (And both have roots in Athens as well!)
Hey Jayne,
That was a bit 'tongue-in-cheek' and more of a reference to MTV.
JPW
Oh, gotcha. Went right over my head :)
Good read though, as usual.
I was psyched to see the Truckers made Paste's list, but that excitement was tempered by the fact that a master like Guy Clark was not included. I am a big fan of Paste, but that list was inconclusive. In their defense, perhaps the idea was a bit ambitious.
No Guy Clarke, no Brent Best, and Joni Mitchell too fucking low. Fairly good list otherwise, though... glad you found all that Grand Moff Tarkin stuff I told ya about, 'cause SOMEbody needed to say SOMEthin'...
Townser: All Top Whatever lists are pure speculation. I think often times people are left off the list just to create a debate and some water cooler chat. Ambitious, indeed
Jenn! No Brent Best is a TON of crap. Gnarles should be served with papers any day now ;-P
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