Fraulein

Blog bud Buck at Exile in Portales has a post up today that stirred up some old memories. His post featured an ad for used BMW's which included a photo of a provocative young blonde. The ad was in English but the young Fraulein had a distinctly German or Bavarian look. Which got me thinking. About "Fraulein." The song.

First a little history. You've all heard of the "Nashville Sound." To refresh your thinker (mine needs that quite a bit lately), here's Wikipedia:

With country's youth market and radio clout disappearing, Nashville began mixing pop music elements into country productions to attract the adult audience. The Nashville sound was pioneered by staff at RCA Records and Columbia Records in Nashville, Tennessee, including manager Steve Sholes, record producers Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley, and Bob Ferguson, and recording engineer Bill Porter. They invented the form by replacing elements of the popular honky tonk style (fiddles, steel guitar, nasal lead vocals) with "smooth" elements from 1950s pop music (string sections, background vocals, crooning lead vocals), and using "slick" production, and pop music structures. The producers relied on a small group of studio musicians known as the Nashville A-Team, whose quick adaptability and creative input made them vital to the hit-making process. In 1960, Time magazine reported that Nashville had "nosed out Hollywood as the nation's second biggest (after New York) record-producing center."

The Nashville Sound later morphed into what was called "Countrypolitan," which magnified the pop elements even more.

When I was in my early and mid teens I listened to country music on the radio (WSM of course) while working on model cars. (They were wooden models for the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild contest, a future blog subject.)  One song in particular I remember from that time period was "Fraulein," sung by the great Bobby Helms. If you think you've never heard anything by him, think again. You hear him every Christmas singing "Jingle Bell Rock."

The song also has meaning to me because I associate it with my wife, Joyce. We were in a first year German class together when we met, and she was the only female in the class. When the old, one-armed Professor (educated at Heidelberg University), called on her, he simply said, "Fraulein."

I'm posting two versions of "Fraulein." The first one by Helms, his first single by the way, from 1957. With its fiddles, honky tonk-beer joint style, and Helms' nasal delivery, this record has the more traditional country music sound that emanated from Nashville in the early 50's.

The other version is by a Perry Como voiced singer named Roy Drusky and was recorded in 1970. Drusky was pretty well known in the 1960s and 1970s. Drusky's smooth baritone made him a natural in the Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan era.

I actually like both of these versions of the song.

First Bobby Helms sings "Fraulein" in that older, honky tonk style.



Roy Drusky's smoother, countrypolitan version.

XF5F: Blackhawks' Grumman Skyrocket

Andy my boy, you are a smart young whippersnapper. That funny looking plane is a Grumman Skyrocket as you said in your comment. Here's another pic from a blogger named Murdoc along with his comment about the aerial beast.

Murdoc's comment: "Nicknamed by some the “Skyrocket”, this experimental Cat never reached production. However, fans of the comic book series Blackhawk will be familiar with it, as the fictional squadron flew them for decades."

Looking at the plane, you might guess that it's unusual design caused flight problems; that was not the case. Here's a quotation from a pilot who tested the XF5F against the F2A, F4F, XF4U, XFL-1, P-39, P-40, and British Hurricane and Spitfire:

"I remember testing against XF4U in a climb to 10,000'... I pulled away from the Corsair so fast I thought he was having engine trouble. F5F was a carrier pilot's dream ... opposite- rotating props eliminated all torque, and you had no engine in front to look around to see the LSO (Landing Signal Officer). Analysis of all data favored F5F, and Spitfire came in a distant second."


However, the navy decided on the tough little F4F Wildcat and Grumman never produced the Skyrocket.

But in the fantasy land of late 1940's and 1950's comics these odd looking planes flew on for years as the main mode of transportation for the character Blackhawk's crew.

Oh boy, Blackhawk. What a comic. When I was ten, in 1950, I remember getting a couple of these in a trade with a boy named Frank who lived on Greenland Avenue. I think I gave him a couple of Iron Jaws in exchange. They were great comic books for a ten year old. If I had those comics (the Iron Jaw and the Blackhawks) now, I could probably add a room to my house.

What's This?



The Dead Return

It's been awhile. Got some Deep Elem Blues.

Once I Knew A Preacher, Preached The Bible Thru And Thru
He Went Down To Deep Elem, Now His Preaching Days Are Thru

Dynamite: Vandy Wins!

I just read in the Nashville's City Paper that Vandy beat Ole Miss in Oxford, 28-14. Before they won today, the 'Dores had lost ten straight conference games. Man, we've got a real winning streak going now. Vandy has an open date next week and then faces UConn next week. We'll crush 'em. Here's "Dynamite," the Vandy fight song:



"Win or lose, the fates will choose." So that's it. It's not that Vandy's teams haven't been quite as good as those other brutes in the SEC, it's just that fate's been against us all these long years. I understand and accept that. I really do. I'm also a Cubs fan.

Nashville Lower Broad Tour, Part I

Sorry I haven't posted since Tuesday. It's been a busy week here in the Hollow.

On Monday, I rode with Joyce uptown to drop off her car at the Body shop to get it repaired. On Tuesday we made a short trip to Murfreesboro to pick up something Joyce's brother's wife had given her and we stopped off at Lower Broad on the way back for a quick tour. More on that below. Then on Wednesday I returned to the doctor for a checkup. He adjusted my coumadin level, said I was doing okay and sent me on my merry way. Afterward we ate at Ruby's Cafe in Hendersonville, our favorite Meat and Three.

Now, as to the whys and the wherefores of the body shop excursion... Back on Saturday Joyce was involved in a crash in the Publix grocery parking lot. She wasn't hurt, thank goodness, just shook up pretty bad, and still trembling like a leaf when she got home. She was driving straight down the lane toward the store when she was "T" boned by a guy cutting across the parking lot. The crash damaged the bottom of the driver door slightly, the back door, and the back fender panel. Thankfully, the other driver was gracious and admitted fault and his insurance is taking care of it. Three panels: $5500. Here's a pic of our car (note: you can click on any pic in this post to make it bigger):

I thought we might get a Yugo rental but instead we got a Chevy Impala. Not bad.

Like I said, on Tuesday after getting our rental we stopped off on Lower Broad in downtown Nashville and pretended to be tourists for about 45 minutes. It was fun and Joyce got some good shots even though the weather was overcast. I'll be showing some more of these photos over the next few days. I can do a pretty quick post that way when I making my morning blog rounds and then get to work on cleaning up the mystery novel, which I hope is going out next week sometime.

We dropped the car off, got the rental, and headed downtown. Here's a pic or two I took from the car. First, as we crossed the railroad bridge, we passed the old Union Station, built in 1900 as the city's main train depot. In recent years the depot was restored and turned into an upscale Wyndam Grand Hotel. But in 1956 at the age of 16, I caught L&N's  "Hummingbird" at Union Station and rode it to Cincinatti and then from there I went on another train to Detroit. It was my first "solo" like that and will be the subject of a post sometime in the future.

Here's another pic driving on Broadway headed downhill toward what people refer to as Lower Broad. In the 60's and 70's it was a mess, drunks on the street, porn theaters, etc., but the city cleaned it up and it's a big tourist attraction now. The tower you can barely see at the right of the pic is on top of the Bridgestone Arena. I'll show more of it in a later post. Right now, I'll just say the "Stone" is where the Predators play hockey.

After paying an exorbitant fee, we parked our car on 5th Avenue. Here's a closer view of the building you may have noticed in the previous photo. We locals call it "The Bat Building." I think you can see why.

We walked down 5th and took in the grandeur of the Mother Church of Country Music, the "world famous Ryman Auditorium," as the Opry announcers like to say. I'll stop today with this shot and continue the tour in a day or two. There'll be more shots of the Ryman, plus Tootsie's and other Lower Broad hot spots. Happy trails!

Shortnin' Bread

My banjo pickin' buddy Ed lives up on the Ridge and I hoped to find a little "Salty Dog" to start his day. But the pickin's on the Tube of You were slim. So how 'bout a little Shortnin' Bread instead. Made with Martha White, naturally.

Fotch dat dough fum the kitchin-shed
Rake de coals out hot an' red
Putt on de oven an' putt on de led,
Mammy's gwineter cook som short'nin' bread.
 

Set Me Free, Somewhere in the Middle of Montana

Last Fall, my buddy George decided to leave life in the big city and head for Montana. George came back and got Lady Sara this summer and they're both up there in Big Sky Country preparing for winter. Here's a pic George posted on his blog (and a link to same) recently.

For a retired academic, old George sure looks like he knows what he's doing with that Stihl. Happy trails George and Sara, and stack that firewood high. Here's a song that you've probably heard many times; the most appropriate line: "Turn me loose, set me free, somewhere in Montana."

Browning and Browning, Inc.

Browning and Browning. Now there's a company I would like to have worked for. It exists only in my imagination of course, but still having the two fellows I'm discussing today as my bosses would have been most interesting...

Over the 40 years I spent in academia, I developed a taste for some, not all, poetry. One of the poets I came to admire was Robert Browning (1812-1889) an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. He had a famous romatic relationship with a woman poet (Elizabeth Barrett) who later became his wife (not the second Browning in my title btw). There's a lot of info about him all over the Google, so I won't pick any specific article to link to.

In a dramatic monologue, which is like a long speech lifted from a play script, a single character speaks. Browning had skill as a writer and as a psychologist and so these monologues are like portraits that reveal a person's true character through his or her language whether they intend to or not. One of Browning's most famous dramatic monologues (and my favorite) is "My Last Duchess" in which an Italian Duke, who's speaking to an emissary of the family of a young girl he may marry, reveals himself to be a jealous monster who murdered his last wife. The wife in question, his last Duchess, was a quite young, innocent girl with a bright and cheerful disposition. Here's a quotation from that famous monologue.

She had
A heart--how shall I say?--too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, 'twas all one! My favor at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace--all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least....Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt
Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together.

Now I ask you, what kind of guy is jealous of the attention his wife pays to the sunset or a white mule? Let's hope the emissary from the family of the girl he's now considering marrying rushes back
and warns them that the Duke is a jealous monster who murdered his last wife.

The second Browning in the imaginary company in my title refers to John Moses Browning (1855-1926), said by the Wiki to be "the world's most prolific firearms inventor." Most of his designs were so successful that they've been "manufactured by other companies, Winchester, Colt, Remington, Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium, and Miroku."

Browning's most famous pistol design is arguably the M1911 (although I'm sure others might argue for the famous Browning Hi Power). Wiki says the M1911 "is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, and recoil-operated handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It was designed by John M. Browning, and was the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985, and is still carried by some U.S. forces. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Its formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original Model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam era. In total, the United States procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols in military contracts during its service life."
 

The innocent young wife in "My Last Duchess" is a fictional character of course, and she lived before John Moses Browning's time, but had she packed a 1911 45 caliber, Robert Browning might have written a different poem, one entitled "My Last Duke."

Two Brownings. Browning and Browning, Inc. Like I said, it would have been an interesting company to work for. They could get after you with either poetic rhetoric or ammo.

Wanna Burn Something?

Ground Zero

On this the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, CNN, reports that 70% of all Americans oppose the mosque planned for Ground Zero. The breakdown of the percentage of those opposed to the structure includes 54% of Democrats, 82% of Republicans, and 70% of independents.

Victor Davis Hanson says Imam Rauf, the mosque project's sponsor,

claims he is for free expression, even when it so obviously offends tens of millions of Americans; but he has no problem criticizing the Danish cartoonists for their supposedly unnecessary and gratuitously offensive drawings. In a variety of ways, he has praised the Iranian Revolution, whose end result is horrific violence against women, homosexuals, democrats, and dissidents of any stripe, whether novelists abroad or reformers at home. Others have pointed out that there is no reason to believe the ecumenical Ground Zero Islamic complex will introduce gender or sexual parity into its protocols in the American tradition that Rauf keeps invoking.

The respected Thomas Sowell says

The proposed mosque near where the World Trade Center was attacked and destroyed, along with thousands of American lives, would be a 15-story middle finger to America....
Our betters are telling us that we need to be more "tolerant" and more "sensitive" to the feelings of Muslims. But if we are supposed to be sensitive to Muslims, why are Muslims not supposed to be sensitive to the feelings of millions of Americans, for whom 9/11 was the biggest national trauma since Pearl Harbor?...

There is no question that Muslims have a right to build a mosque where they chose to. The real question is why they chose that particular location, in a country that covers more than 3 million square miles.

If we all did everything that we have a legal right to do, we could not even survive as individuals, much less as a society. So the question is whether those who are planning a Ground Zero mosque want to be part of American society or just to see how much they can get away with in American society?

Can anyone in his right mind believe that this was intended to show solidarity with Americans, rather than solidarity with those who attacked America? Does anyone imagine that the Middle East nations, including Iran, from whom financial contributions will be solicited, want to promote reconciliation between Americans and Muslims?...
There are people for whom moral preening has become a way of life. They are out in force denouncing critics of the Ground Zero mosque....

They think the United States is somehow on trial, and needs to prove itself to others by bending over backwards. But bending over backwards does not win friends. It loses respect, including self-respect.

September 11, 2001