Does this week’s theme of TENNESSEE herald a series of “Theme Time Radio Hours” dedicated to different states of the union? Well, one expects there will be others, but I guess not many states can claim the kind of litany of songs which exist referencing Tennessee and parts therein. We shouldn’t expect a show dedicated to Rhode Island, for instance. But, on the other hand, maybe it’s best not to challenge the man behind the “Theme Time” microphone with his hundred-ton record collection.

Dylan tells us that this state is the birthplace of Tennessee Ernie Ford, Tennessee Williams, and Andrew Jackson, and that music is such an important part of the state’s heritage that they have five official state songs: My Homeland Tennessee, When It’s Iris Time In Tennessee, My Tennessee, Tennessee Waltz and Rocky Top. He said that we would hear at least one of those during the show, and indeed we ultimately did: an unconventional and stirring version of Tennessee Waltz by Sam Cooke.

But Bob kicked off the show with Shorty Long and Goodnight Cincinnati, Good Morning Tennessee. That would be the country music version of Shorty Long, not the Motown star. Dylan tells us that his given name was Amedeo Vanoni — or at least I think that’s what he said. Good tune.

Then it was Chuck Berry’s classic Memphis. Referencing the lyric of that song, Dylan said:

You know I called information the other day. You don’t even get a person anymore. You get some kind of a computer. I wonder what kind of song Chuck would have written now about this?

After playing John Hiatt and noting the great barbecue you can find in Memphis, Dylan provided his own recipe for barbecue sauce:

You take one cup of tomato sauce, one cup of vinegar, five tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, one tablespoon of butter, a half a small onion, a dash of black pepper, some cayenne pepper, one and a half teaspoons of salt, half a cup of water — mix it all together in a large pan. Bring it to a quick boil, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for ten minutes.

You can also figure out your own secret ingredients and dump it into the mix. I like about three fingers of Tennessee sippin’ whiskey.

Cue “my man” David Allan Coe’s Tennessee Whiskey.

Dylan later tells us of Coe’s checkered past and brushes with the law (or collisions, as the case may be).

He supposedly spent time on Death Row, for killing a fellow inmate who made advances to him. A Rolling Stone magazine reporter questioned Coe about this. His musical response was the song I’d Like To Kick The Shit Out Of You. Whatever happened, he was paroled in nineteen and sixty-seven, and called himself Davey Coe, the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, performing in a mask and driving a hearse. He wrote Johnny Paycheck’s big hit Take This Job and Shove It, and other songs such as Jack Daniels If You Please, Now I Lay Me Down To Cheat, and Divers Do It Deeper.

Just a thought: two things that seem to appeal to Dylan when providing these bios are (1) how the artists died (where applicable) and (2) how the artists may have found a kind of redemption in their music. (And very redeeming song titles there from Coe.)

Dylan introduced that Sam Cooke record via an email from “Peter Guralnick,” whom he tells to “keep writing.” Guralnick has written a book on Sam Cooke.

“Here’s one for music lovers everywhere — make you drop your teeth!” is the intro to Hank Williams’ Tennessee Border. Dylan tells us that Arrested Development “updated the Sly and the Family Stone sound” before playing their tune, titled — of-course — Tennessee.

Bob reads some dialogue from Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, in honor of Tennessee Williams; what he calls “Burl Ives’ famous speech where Big Daddy lays down the law, ‘Mendacity! What do you know about mendacity? I could write a book on it …’”

Bob tells us that Rufus Thomas will “brook no mendacity” before playing Memphis Train. Thomas, he tells us later, started out with the Rabbits’ Foot Minstrels, playing medicine shows way back in the nineteen thirties.

Lavern Baker is “one of the great singers of the rock and roll era or any era,” Dylan says, before playing Hey Memphis, “kind of an answer record to Little Sister, a song about Elvis Presley, or as she calls him, ‘Memphis.’” The next song is also about Elvis Aaron: Link Davis and the rollicking Trucker From Tennessee. (A theme within a theme.) Dylan gives a “shout-out to all our truck driving friends” listening to XM Radio.

Hoople is an English term for a person on their knees, repenting from their sins. Here’s Mott The Hoople. This song was written by their lead singer Ian Hunter, a story about being on the road and realizing they left their guitars behind. They put this embarrassing song to music, and put it out on their album, “Mott.” Here’s Mott The Hoople, going All The Way To Memphis.

Dylan lets King Curtis serve up some Memphis Soul Stew, mighty rich indeed, before Carl Perkins’ tribute to that “ol’ hillbilly way” of making music in Tennessee.

Dylan closes with a full reading of Tennessee’s state poem, written by Vice-Admiral William Porter Lawrence, “def poet from the state of Tennessee.”

Oh Tennesee, my Tennessee
What love and pride I feel for thee.
You proud ole state, the volunteer,
Your proud traditions I hold dear.

I revere your heroes
Who bravely fought our country’s foes.
Renowned statesmen, so wise and strong,
Who served our country well and long.

I thrill at thoughts of mountains grand;
Rolling green hills and fertile farm land;
Earth rich with stone, mineral and ore;
Forests dense and wild flowers galore;

Powerful rivers that bring us light;
Deep lakes with fish and fowl in flight;
Thriving cities and industries;
Fine schools and universities;

Strong folks of pioneer descent,
Simple, honest, and reverent.
Beauty and hospitality
Are the hallmarks of Tennessee.

And o’er the world as I may roam,
No place exceeds my boyhood home.
And oh how much I long to see
My native land, my Tennessee.

Though Dylan didn’t mention it, the magic of the internet will inform you that: “This poem was composed by William Lawrence, in his head, while held in solitary confinement in a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. During the Vietnam War, Lawrence spent almost six years as a prisoner of war (POW) at the infamous Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton).”

How ’bout that?

Next week’s theme is MOON. Tough one.

Playlist:

Shorty Long - Goodnight Cincinnati, Good Morning Tennessee
Memphis - Chuck Berry
John Hiatt - Memphis In The Meantime
David Allan Coe - Tennessee Whiskey
Memphis Slim - Memphis Slim USA
Sam Cooke - Tennessee Waltz
The Lovin’ Spoonful - Nashville Cats
Hank Williams - Tennessee Border
Arrested Development - Tennessee
(Dylan reads from “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof”)
Rufus Thomas - Memphis Train
Jerry Lee Lewis - Night Train To Memphis
Lavern Baker - Hey Memphis
(Billy Vera talks about Lavern Baker)
Link Davis - Trucker From Tennessee
Mott The Hoople - All The Way To Memphis
King Curtis - Memphis Soul Stew
Carl Perkins - Tennessee
(Dylan reads the state poem of Tennessee by William Porter Lawrence)

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