Monday, April 7, 2014

MEMORIES





During the 1950, when I was a teenager in Mississippi – and before television, I often listen to gospel music radio programs out of Memphis late at night.   That is when I first heard Windy Bagwell.

He was a gospel singer/comedian; and his routine I remember best was the story about a snake handling church in Tennessee

It is funny how something like this that has lain dormant in my id for decades can surface.  For some reason as you grow older you seem to recover memories long forgotten.  

I looked him up on YouTube and unbelievably found this clip. 

Anyway here is Windy Bagwell and the Rattle Snake Story:



And the spirit continues:



Most Christians are parrots and social conformist; but these guys are real believers.

the Ol'Buzzard



2 comments:

  1. How can we be perfectly sane about all else around us and do absolutely insane things in the name of religion?

    Ron

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  2. When I was in college, I took anthropology and spent a lot of time reading about snake handlers. There are a lot of tricks to the trade so to speak, but every once in a while, the magic just don't work. My wife knew Doc Watson and he introduced her and some of her New York folk singing friends to real authentic musicians up in the back hills...these guys all had rattle snake tails in their instrument cases...very important hoodoo! When I was a kid in Detroit, my radio was my link to other worlds. I listened to The Grand Ol Opry Show and Blues stations from Chicago...Radio used to be a gate way to other worlds, now it's all the Clear Channel and Rush Limbaugh....I listen to the radio at night when I go to bed here in France. It's still a pretty eclectic creative medium here. There's a DJ who has been around for years and on Friday nights, his program is live from Nashville, France! The best Country and Western with all the radio call signals from stations all over America...I still love to listen to the radio! It's still a magic gate way to other worlds to me.

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COMMENT: Ben Franklin said, "I imagine a man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false."