It's tough being a Mom dog
Monday, March 27, 2023
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Rockabilly Rhythm In My Jesus Soul
I don’t sing about any of those sinful ways
Rockabilly gospel is the kind of music I play
I don’t expect that Jesus is my biggest fan
I just hope he will tolerate me all that he can
If Jesus sends me to Hell /for singing rockabilly
I’ll be real sorry for that
It would then be way too late/ for any kind of forgiveness
for this old rockabilly cat
But Jesus knows every heart/ of this I rightly know
I’ve got that rockabilly rhythm in my Jesus soul
That rockabilly beat /makes me want to move my feet
Just like in church when I’m moved to leave my seat
I’ll go out singing until /the good Lord decides
What he wants to do with/ this earthly sinner's hide
If Jesus sends me to Hell /for singing rockabilly
I’ll be real sorry for that
It would then be way too late/ for any kind of forgiveness
for this old rockabilly cat
But Jesus knows every heart/ of this I rightly know
I’ve got that rockabilly rhythm in my Jesus soul
That rockabilly beat makes me want to move my feet
Just like in church when I’m moved to leave my seat
I’ll go out singing until the good Lord decides
What he wants to do with this earthly sinner's hide
If Jesus sends me to Hell /for singing rockabilly
I’ll be real sorry for that
It would then be way too late /for any kind of forgiveness
for this old rockabilly cat
But Jesus knows every heart of this I rightly know
I’ve got that rockabilly rhythm in my Jesus soul
©Godot Boys Music (BMI) 2023
Words and music by Bryce Martin
Friday, March 24, 2023
Old pal, Mike Davenport
He thinks and dreams cars 24/7
07-19-2014 - Congratulations to Mike Davenport of Goodlettsville, TN and his Hugger Orange, 1969 Z-28, black interior, Chevrolet Camaro. He and his Camaro are our latest Maple Motors 'Show & Shine Award Winner''s. This is an original 312 mile Z-28, 302 ci, 4 speed car, no you didn't miss read that. Mike has owned this Camaro for about 14 years and she's an all original Trans-AM racing series car (never raced) purposely built so GM could compete the Camaro in this series. This is a factory show room model anyone could buy and just under $4000. The paint, gaskets, ram air you name it is original. It's a car restores dream and I want to thank Mike for taking time to get it out and come out for the evening. This one has wow factor all over it.
Rockabilly Heart
She wears a full skirt that has some swing
a girl-style pompadour is her latest thing
She's got kitty cat grace and a cat-eye face
She's a rockabilly girl rock, rockin' the place
Just the sight of her gives my poor heart a start
Then the past reminds me I'm not actin' smart
How can I forget the times she's torn me apart
The girl, she's got a rock, rock, rockabilly heart
She'll rock you with the rhythm of her charm
Show you off to all as you walk arm in arm
But give me a guitar and I'll sing for all to hear
Before I fall again it'll be a cold day in...
you know where
The sad part of it is it could me so nice
I don't mind saying maybe even paradise
But I've got to turn away, leave her alone
She's got a rockabilly heart made of stone
©Godot Boys Music (BMI) 2017
Words and music by Bryce Martin
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
THE YUM YUM ROOM IN 1968 BAKERSFIELD
It was a mystery to me, The Yum Yum Room. I had heard of the place. Few details. I dropped by to give it a gander. I walked in and there was this big room, a house living room with spare furniture. In the distance I could hear talk and music. There was no one in the room. I turned around and left. Odd place. I returned another time, expecting maybe something different. It was the same, except I had a stronger urge than before to continue on and see the Great Oz. I couldn't bring myself to do so. I felt like by entering that yonder room I would be entering the stage and I would be the focus of attention. The concept, whatever that might have been, stroked a tone of creepiness. I found out much later what that concept was. The Yum Yum Room was a discotheque. For me, it hadn't been a discotheque, since I never ventured into that nook.
Jimmy Bays, one half of the Sandra & Jimmy Bays Show, a staple of Bakersfield television, is generally credited with favoring the city with its first discotheque, a big hit already down in Hollywood. Jimmy, maybe Sandra, showing some keen business acumen by seeking and finding financial backers, found one in Peter Marshall, host of the popular TV game show Hollywood Squares. Marshall, in his book, The Original Hollywood Square, does not remember fondly his first, and probably only visit to his investment.
Jimmy and Sandra Bays
NOTE: I'm not sure "heavy metal, " as used by Peter Marshall in his book, was a descriptive phrase suitable for The Doors and their music, although Jim Morrison probably wouldn't have minded. The Doors are said to have been the band playing at the Yum Yum Room's grand opening. As one who witnessed the early incarnation of The Doors on Sunset Strip, some of their songs were annoying to the ears, at least from my ear point. That's the message I believe Marshall was getting across. -- Bryce
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Melissa Jean O'Neal and Eileen Sisk
Late July 2018 in meeting at Abiff Pub & Grill in Bon Aqua, Tenn. It was a planned get-together but Abiff was closed. So, we sat at the front where benches were located. Melissa was in for a short visit from her home in California. She was in Nashville and vicinity to speak with those who could tell her more about her grandmother, Bakersfield singer Jeanie O'Neal, who was murdered years ago in a still unsolved case.
The name, Abiff?... Highway 46 and Abiff Road is where the dinery was located.
Art by EileenMISTAKES TO LEARN BY -- MAYBE?
Writing for the Californian was not always a smooth process. In getting copy to print in a correct and prescribed manner, as expected always, there were obstacles that shouldn't have existed.
For example, when I used the common phrase “without portfolio” in its correct context a night copy editor apparently not familiar with the phrase saw fit to add the article “a" and it became in print as “without a portfolio.” I pictured that copy editor as being a young pimply sort ripe for grammatical correctness. That was prior to Internet and spell and grammar correcting programs. Another time I mentioned “Warner Bros. Records,” and I suspect it was a different copy editor who chose to convert “Bros.” To “Brothers.” It is “Warners Bros. Records.” That’s the actual name for the company. But, I guess you’d have to know that. I did and he/she didn’t. Another time I mentioned about a person being “a fount of knowledge.” With that usage, “fount” is short for “fountain.” I was saying the person in question could spew out a lot of stored knowledge. This time it was my editor, not an unknown to me night editor, who changed “fount” to “font.” I didn’t mind. They are interchangeable words meaning the same thing. At least he knew what he was doing, appropriate to his job. In addition to some editors, I was naive myself in any number of ways. I thought any miscue in spelling or grammar would be thought of by readers as mere typos, a slip of the fingers on the typewriter. I soon found that was not the case. The writer with the byline was the culprit. If my name was there, I did it. That was the painful reality. I must say I was bailed out on a few occasions by the careful eye of a copy editor. I can’t think of any examples however to present. There were some I’m sure. They’re just not as memorable.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Friday, March 17, 2023
Jesus, Spoken Here (Jesus, Sung Here)
A songwriter-singer to stardom he was bound
Back when rockabilly was roaring with a fierce sound
He had the pompadour and all the wild gyrations
Was a big hit in his time with the younger generation
Then one day all that wild behavior ended with him
His Pentecostal background from youth kicked in
Taught to him by his blind grandmother back when
She was a preacher who favored Jesus over sin
No more songs that diminished the teachings of the true Lord
It was a new train he was riding, and he welcomed all aboard
So, with any song you hear from him now the message is clear
Jesus, spoken here, Jesus sung here
If the name Jesus is not in the song, it’s not praising his glory
The life of Jesus is way more than just a wondrous story
His love and grace for you is your only salvation from Hell
Jesus, spoken here; Jesus, sung here; with Jesus I’ll dwell
© Godot Boys Music (BMI) 2023
Words and music by Bryce Martin
NOTE: Arlie Neaville is the person in this song.
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Girl From Eau Claire
Girl from Eau Claire
I see when she's not there
Not here I should say, with me
She's gone no more to be
Girl from Eau Claire
She landed me with a snare
A sharp pointed object with a hook
She had me with just that one look
Let me tell you how it all began
Then you won't be asking me again
It was an unclear day as I recall
Kids in the park were playing ball
I spied her sitting on a park bench in the fog
Sitting there all alone just like she belonged
Why I sat down next to her I don't know
That's how it all started that day ago
She's gone now as I have previously stated
Pardon if all the facts aren't properly related
Her memory will always be buried in my brain
Her face I should say is the image that remains
Those eyes that left me so paralyzed
Her hair as it swept across those eyes
Her skin so clear and so soft to the touch
The way she gathered her skirt in a bunch
But all of that is neither here nor there
I'm talking about the girl from Eau Claire
All the details aren't necessary to explain
The now is what remains
© Godot Boys Music (BMI) 2023
Words and music by Bryce Martin
Museum-Quality Odors To Match Blackboard Club Patrons
Some museums around the country have large size paintings and photographs on walls, and to create a realistic atmosphere for these images, smell is being introduced. Imagine that large portrait of General Custer and his soldiers being massacred by a bunch of highly addled Indians. Black powder, blood, horse smells, and whatever else can be drawn from the scene to fill the olfactory bowl. It is suggested that results are best if done with quick, short sniffs from both nostrils. I was thinking about that recently when I was looking at photos showing Bill Woods’ band and the dancing couples at the Blackboard Club (you say Cafe, I say Club) during the 50s and 60s and beyond with other bands. In which case the nose would be treated to a nice dose of oil, soil, hay, beer, sweat, leather, finger nail polish, lighter fluid, piss, tobacco (pouchfuls for roll-your-owns), cigarette smoke, fresh hung clothes (from clotheslines), perfumes for women (perhaps Hypnotique in the 50s, Rive Gauche in the 60s, and Diorilla in the 70s), cologne for guys (are you kidding? Maybe a last minute dousing of Old Spice or Aqua Velva). Why piss? Booze intake can create unsteady hands. -- Bryce
