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| This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen magazine #102 (October / November 2002). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription. |
Letters to the Editor
Curses
While I agree with a lot of what Mark Jones had to say in his view of Dirty Linen [Letters, #101], you should be commended for publishing a very critical take on what your magazine is all about. I too, grow tired of seeing cover stories about an accordion band from Yemen (lol). I realize that it is folk & world music that you cover. But, gee, it would be nice to see more stories about the artists he mentioned, along with David Bromberg, John Martyn, Jim Kweskin, Nick Drake and so on. How 'bout a story about the Muscle Shoals rhythm section? A definitive piece on Will the Circle be Unbroken album? A series about bluegrass music? A cover story about Arhoolie Records? Articles about John Hammond, the Siegel-Schwall Band, Ian & Sylvia, John Fahey or Mickey Newbury? A lengthy article about Lightnin' Hopkins or other rural (read country) blues greats? Gosh, Paul, the list goes on and on. I always read/peruse the latest copy of Dirty Linen from cover to cover the day I receive my new issue — and then curse myself that I have to wait two more months before your next offering. I love what you guys do, by and large, and I always find your publication informative and entertaining. I guess if I had any other "complaints," it is that often times in the past, I'd read a great review about a band and then not have any luck in obtaining a copy of the CD itself. Thanks again for not being above criticism from your readers. We love you and want to see you continue to improve as the best folk music magazine in the world!
— Clyde Cripe (via email)
[Articles on John Martyn, Nick Drake, Chris Strachwitz and Arhoolie Records, John Hammond, and numerous bluegrass performers have appeared in past issues. — Ed.]
echo in here
I cannot help but echo Mark Jones' letter to you as printed in issue #101. There are many of us who couldn't care less about Tret Fure's love life (nor her line of clothing — what was that all about, eh?); indeed, her biography as it appeared in DL is as pretentious as her music. Many of us don't care at all about Krishna Das' existence, Annie Humphrey's imprisoned husband or Bruce Cockburn's love for the Christian religion. Dirty Linen used to be about music; now, sadly, it is about poor feature writing and advertising. Is it possible that issue #101 covered live performances on one page????? Summer doldrums indeed! In an attempt to bring you back to your roots, I offer my own field recordings of natural and unnatural acts in the cow sheds of Israel circa 1969-1974 in addition to my eponymous first CD, "Wretched Excesses."
P.S. Please shoot the person in charge of the alien spawn that attach themselves to every photo of artists whose work you review. I don't understand a single one.
— Steven Sager (Campton, NH)
(via email)
1,000 typos
Let me say how much I enjoy the magazine, and that I have gotten a lot of information from it. I especially enjoyed the last issue, #101, August/September 2002, with its review of the new release by Patty Griffin, 1,000 Kisses. However, I would like to point out a few errors in Jeffery Lindholm's review.
The accordion player on the recording is Michael Ramos, not Michael Ramon as written in the review. Apart from the simple justice in getting his name correct, he is the person who encouraged her to record the lush track, "Mil Besos," and worked with her on her Spanish diction. This is the title track of the CD, as "Mil Besos" is Spanish for "1,000 Kisses." He is playing accordion and keyboards in her band on her tour supporting the release.
The part on the song, "Long Ride Home" is puzzling. It says that a harmony vocal is added by someone else on the words "all alone," and that these are the only two words with a harmony vocal on the CD. To start, the words "all alone" are not used in the lyrics — they actually are "on the long ride home" and I guess the first three words are what he is referring to in this statement. Secondly, the harmony starts on the words "Forty years" and continues on for a few lines after this. Finally, is it not worth mentioning that the somebody else providing the harmony is none other than Emmylou Harris, who is an admirer of Patty Griffin, and has recorded at least one of her songs?
Again, this is a great review, marred by a few small but important errors. Be sure to catch her on tour — she is a great performer to see live.
Badgers? We don' need no steeenkin' badgers!
I have been either a subscriber or bought your magazine in stores since issue 15. While I never fail to enjoy reading each issue from cover to cover backwards, I feel it is finally time to register a complaint. Since issue 20, I started waiting for an article on badgers. I was certain that it would happen; so certain, in fact, that just before issue 31, I went out and bought a hat for the occasion. By the time that issue 44 rolled around, I began to give up hope, and thought that perhaps all of the interviews and reviews might be some sort of coverup for the lack of badger interviews and/or articles. Then, without warning, it finally happened: issue 60 gave me the distinct impression that the magazine had become aware of the situation. I was even assured, in a conversation with Hunter Thompson, that an all-badger issue was about to be mailed out shortly. A number of years passed until it dawned on me that Dirty Linen had no intention of running the badger feature. Several failed attempts at phone conversations (which resulted in explosive, embarrassing arguments) with the editor, and a handful of hastily written, unsigned letters promising a column devoted to stoats, proved to me, that, were it not for Cathy Lesurf's intervention in the matter, the magazine might, in fact, never have issued a single word about badgers. It now appears, thankfully, that this is about to change. I have always been under the impression that, while Dirty Linen is one of the most informative folk music magazines around, it would certainly serve its readership better by reducing the number of articles on folk and world music (and musicians), and becoming a more current and leading-edge source for news on members of the weasel family. While some will be disappointed by the change, many more will be overjoyed and relieved to see this finally happen. With issue 101, this gradual change can be seen, and while it may still be some months away, I have been told that a featurette on otters will be the first of many to come!
