A great big Bakersfield Sound Underground GOOD DAY to you and yours!   It's February 18th and it's a big day at BSU.  There was a midnight release.  It was the Kick-ass Country Kick-off, in which Housewife Blues, the first track from, Kick-ass Country (ass, as in donkey) a brand new Dr BLT CD, was released.  The entire CD will eventually be available, in both digital and hard copy formats, but is being digitally released ,one song at a time.

Kick-ass Country/Housewife Blues

That was, to borrow from a song title of mine, Nu History.  More "nu history" will be created tonight on the beloved show, Bakersfield and Beyond, beginning at 6:40 pm tonight and streamable here:

Bakersfield and Beyond




Now for the news about the old history meeting the nu:  It's a brand new fictional interview series, and since it's officially BLACK (COUNTRY MUSIC) HISTORY MONTH here at BSU, a phenom of my own creation, the first interviewee will be Deford Bailey.  WIthout further ado, let me introduce Deford and our fictional interview: 

Dr BLT: Greetings from 2010!  How are you today, Deford?

Deford Bailey: I'm doing great, I don't know how you managed to reach me from there in the future, but I'm sure technology is quite advanced way up there in 2010. 

Dr. BLT: That's right.  The big secret is that I've discovered how to travel in time, which is a phenomenon that's even ahead of my time, but possible through the power of imagination.  I want to start this interview by saying what a distinct honor it is to interview you today.  You don't know this, but this is Black (Country Music) History month at my blog, Bakersfield Sound Underground, and you've been selected because you've had a profound impact on, not only the Bakersfield Sound, but also upon country music in general, and upon your African-American contemporaries---artists such as Ray Charles, Charley Pride and Darius Rucker, to name a few.  

Deford Bailey: Well, I'm not sure what a blog is, but I'm so happy that you picked a month to recognize us colored folk.  That's mighty honorable of you, Dr. BLT.  I'm quite familiar with Ray Charles...Charley Pride too, although I hadn't heard of that third fellow, Mr. Rucker that you mentioned.

Dr. BLT: Well, Darius Rucker's rise to country fame is quite a recent phenomenon, happening only over the past few years.  Before that, he was the frontman in a popular pop act from that rose to ascendency in the early to mid nineties.  That was after your time.  But each of these artist owe a great deal to you, who paved the way for them in so many ways.  Now I'm not saying that discrimination has been completely irradicated, but it was even more apparent, and blatant back in your day, wasn't it?

Deford Bailey:  That's right.  I was dismissed from the Grand Old Opry, even though I was the first solo star to perform on that show.  Of course the show was first called Barn Dance, and then the name was changed to Grand Ole Opry by the announcer, George D. Hay.  They said it was because I wouldn't learn any new songs.  I had good reason for taking that stand.  It was complicated, having to do with publishing rights, but some of my fans suspected that the decision to kick me off of the Opry had to do with racial prejudice.  I can't be sure, but I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt.  I enjoyed the time I was on the Opry and was grateful for that time. 

Dr.  BLT: Didn't they know you as the Harmonica Wizard? 

Deford Bailey: Yep, that's what they called me after they heard Pan-American Blues. 

Dr. BLT: You know, I just released a song called Housewife Blues, and if I can get my mp3-to-vinyl-time-travel-recording and delivery device to work I'm going to send you a copy.   I noticed that a lot of your songs had the word "blues" in the title.   In addition to Pan American Blues, you came out with Hesitation Blues, also in 1927, your breakout year.  Then, in 1928, you came out with Dixie Flyer Blues, Lost John Blues and Cow Cow Blues...

Deford Bailey: I did and I was proud of those.  Don't forget that in 1928, I also recorded and released Alcoholic Blues.  I used to say that music is like a disease, either you got it or you don't.  The same could be said for the blues.  If music is a disease, it's caused by the blues, and I felt the blues, deep in my heart and deep in my soul.  A lot of folks did, for various reasons, and I'm sure they still do.  Music let's them let out the blues. 

I missed the mother I never really remember possessing.  She died when I was just a year old.   That was 1900.  I understand you're a psychologist, and that was the year Freud came out with The Interpretation of Dreams.  I've had lots of dreams of my mother, and I could almost picture her face in those dreams.  Johnny Cash's music took a dark turn after he lost his brother.  Mine took a blue turn after I lost my mother.   Don't get me wrong, my aunt and uncle did a fine job of raising her, but there's something about losing a mother that eats away at a person. 

Dr. BLT: I'm sorry for that loss.  I also understand that you faced another major trial as a youngster.  You contracted polio at age 3.

Deford Bailey: That's right.  I guess that explains why I ended up reaching a grand height of 4 feet, 10 inches. 

Dr. BLT: Well, that didn't stop you from being a big man when it came to your influence on country music.

Deford Bailey: Well thank you, that's mighty kind of you.  But it was really by accident that I even had the opportunity to make a difference.  Well, accident, and a little of the right planning on my part.  One of the best decisions I made in my life was moving to Nashville in 1918.  Then fate stepped in, or luck, or whatever you want to call it, maybe it was God.  I wandered in to Dad's Auto Parts in 1925.  The owner just happened to be Fred "Pop" Exum.  He was going to launch a radio show on WDAD, a station that was very popular back in them days.  This other cat that was on the show, Dr. Humprey Bate brought me to WSM's Barn Dance, the show that would change it's name to the Grand Old Opry, and the rest was history.  I landed that gig, and before too long, I was touring with some of the stars I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I'd be touring with---Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, fellow Opry star Uncle Dave Macon, to name a few. 

Dr.  BLT: Yes, those were some pretty glorious years for you.  Didn't you also do a great immitation of train sounds?  I think Johnny Cash may have been influenced by that side of you. 

Deford Bailey: Well, I was kind of like a microphone.  I would pick up noises all around me, and I was drawn to the noise of the train.  Some of my most famous songs were actually incorporating the imitations of trains that I perfected over the years.  You hear that in both Pan-American Blues and in Dixie Flyer Blues. 

Dr. BLT: Well, you probably would make the beat-boxers of today green with envy.

Deford Bailey: The what?

Dr. BLT: Beat-boxers, then create different noises with their mouths and their bodies.  Your auditory cortex must be well developed and students in both my Neuropsychology of Learning Class and in my Cognitive Psychology class would undoubtedly appreciate this gift of yours.

As far as beat boxing is concerned, it's a relatively new phenomenon, at least in its present form, that wasn't around much back in your day.  If it was, there wasn't a name for it.  It seems that you may have been one of the originals who pioneered what is now known as beat boxing.

Well, the red light on my time-travel-machine is blinking, indicating that we're almost out of time.  I just wanted to wrap this up with an announcement that will be news to you, and it's great news.  In 2005, you were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Congratulations.  The Grand Opry, incidently, is still going on, thanks, in a great part, to your legacy. 

Deford Bailey:  Wow, you're causing me to tear up a bit.  I finally gave up on music as a profession and opened a shoeshine parlor.  It's good to know that I finally earned a place in music history.

Dr. BLT: Not only a place, but a grand and glorious place!  You are among the very greatest of the pioneers of country music.  Thank you. 

Deford Bailey: My pleasure, and say hi to Mike and Amanda from the Bakersfield and Beyond radio show if you would.

Dr. BLT: Mike and Amanda, how did you hear about them?

Deford Bailey: Well, that's my little secret!  Have a wonderful day!