The Rock & Roll Three-Way: Old Motel Rooms, Beer Runs & Cotton Fields
I’ve never been to Texarkana, TX, but i hear it’s nice. Well, that’s not true. I haven’t heard it was nice, but I have heard a few things, though.
Texarkana must brew up some of the best suds on Earth, for one. Seriously. Why the hell else would Bandit and Cledus risk life, limb and a lifetime’s worth of speeding violations to get locked into a “hot pursuit” just to race there for a case or two of the stuff?
I also hear that Texarkana is only a mile or so from Louisiana’s lush fields of cotton. Actually, it is pretty dang close to Arkansas, too. I guess that makes sense; the three parts of it’s names honors all three of the states it is in or borders (Tex-Arkan-Na). Who says our forefathers weren’t crafty?
Seems as though Texarkana has an old motel room that can cure a goddamn lonely love better than some old plane ride. Apparently, if that room is taken, doubling down on a couple shots of hooch will do just nicely.
It sounds like Texarkana is a special place, eh? Well, whether or not it truly is, it was special enough to be name dropped in three damn good ditties. Shit, being the N.H. Yankee that I am, I had never even heard of Texarkana until I heard it in a song or two or…get ready for it…THREE! Yes, folks, good old Texarkana, TX is the subject of this instalment of The Rock & Roll Three-Way.
I was on a shuffle-a-thon on iTunes one day when I heard Texarkana mentioned three times in three different songs. Was it a sign? Did I have some kind of freakish M.Night Shyamalan connection to Texarkana? Was Texarkana calling out to me?!? Should I up and go to Texarkana to find out why it beckons!?!
No. The only magic being weaved that day was the digital wizardry of Steve Job’s best developers. My love hate relationship with the shuffle runs deep. I’m an album man. The shuffle and the album don’t mix (ok, bad pun, I know). That being said, without the shuffle pulling out three disperate songs I would never been triangulated right smack dab on 33.4337, -94.0437.
Mind you, this incident happened about five years ago. Since then, I have been chomping at the bit just waiting for some random stranger, in a random bar, to ask the random question: “Name three songs that have Texarkana in them”.
(Cue the shit-eating grin straight into the camera)
Oh, what a moment that would have been. Alas, it did not happen. Instead, I decided to turn that chance happening into a choice offering of three great songs that all give a hearty shout-out to Texarkana, TX.
East Bound and Down – Jerry Reed
“Them boys is thirsty in Atlanta and there’s beer in Texarkana and we’ll bring it back no matter what it takes”.
Jerry Reed was a rascal, wasn’t he. Yeah…”rascal” is the right way to describe the guitar pickin’ southern boy. If you are not familiar with his work and his place in “good ol’boy” country music, you should. One of my fave rave Jerry Reed songs is a bit of a signature tune for him, “Guitar Man“. Shit, Elvis liked that one well enough to cover it himself.
Aside from being a geetar man, Jerry was also an actor…limited range, maybe, but not everyone gets to play an iconic role. Jerry co-starred as “Cledus” in Smokey and the Bandit. He also wrote the hit theme song for it, “East Bound and Down”. You could say that Texarkana had a bit of a starring role in the film, too. I recommend his best of, “When You’re Hot…“
A lot of people think Waylon Jennings wrote and performed this. Nope. He did the theme for “The Dukes of Hazzard“.
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Cotton Fields – CCR
“It was down in Louisiana, just about a mile from Texarkana, in those old cotton fields back home”.
Huddie Ledbetter (“Leadbelly”) wrote this song. He plays a pretty inspired version himself. Actually, lots of people have covered this classic: Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, The Beach Boys and, as posted below, CCR. I like the CCR version. It has a foot stomping, dosey-do, moonshine passin’ feel to it. In fact, I thought it was their song until I saw a documentary on the Beach Boys. In the docco, Al Jardinde was talking about how he brought this Ledbelly song to the rest of the “Boys” to try out (Hey Al, trying to gain cred with the music community by playing some black guy’s song was sooo Pat Boone of you).
If you are feeling a bit adventurous, have a listen to Elton John’s version. It is a Frankenstein’s monster of parts CCR version, Beach Boys version and an overplayed xmas carol. I bet you two bails of cotton that Bernie taupin is kicking himself for not writing this one.
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Goddamn Lonely Love – The Drive-By Truckers
“You can come to me by plane, but that wouldn’t be the same as that old motel room in Texarkana was”.
This song is on one of my fave rave albums of the 00′s by one of my fave rave bands of the 00′s, The Drive-By Truckers. It was written and sung by then band member, Jason Isbell. He’s since moved on to slay ‘em with his own outfit the 400 Unit (now that link was crafty, if I do say so myself).
It was shame when he left the DBTs. They have done very well with the two albums since he left the band, but he was the secret ingredient while he was there. Check out the bow-down albums he contributed heavily to: The Dirty South and Decoration Day.
(I’m going to see the Jason Isbell-less DBTs here in London on Sunday night)
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So there you have it: The Rock & Roll Three-Way, Texarkana style: 1 > Jerry Reed, “East Bound and Down” 2 >> CCR, “Cotton Fields” 3 >>> The Drive-By Truckers, “Goddman Lonely Love”.
