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Arlo & Bert, 1992Twenty years ago, armed with a cheap cassette recorder, I sat on the front steps of the legendary church (immortalized in "Alice's Restaurant Masacree") with Arlo Guthrie. He talked about the Sixties, the Beatles, his dad and Pete Seeger, and how the spirit of Woodstock changed the world. Here is a preview of the audio interview coming in June ....;)
PHOTO CREDIT: Evan McGrew for Off The Record MagazineIn the summer of 1984 a friend gave me a tape with Undercover's self-titled debut on side one, and their second album, God Rules, on the other. I was hooked immediately.
As I finished high school and entered college, my personal faith began to deepen, and to make room for questions, doubts, and grace in the world. Interestingly, the guys in Undercover were maturing and also leaving behind the simplicity of their early lyrics. Today, I listen to those early Undercover albums with fondness and joy, and though I no longer believe in their simplistic and legalist-easy-answers lyrics, I am thankful that those albums came along in my life when they did. Neither Ojo nor I are the same as we were almost thirty years ago (thankfully!). While I still consider myself a Christian, Ojo, on the other hand, is an agnostic.
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Click to enlarge photo.My friend Heather McCormick, whom I met while I was a youth minister in Henderson, Kentucky, in 2002, reads "Of Plane Fares and Providence" (from Psychic Pancakes & Communion Pizza) -- an ode to her late husband, Pat.
EXCERPT:
Rahab could very well have run a thriving business in New Orleans, and no doubt many a Baptist minister would have tried to save her soul, until the visits cost some of them their marriages and their churches. ... We're not told exactly why the spies sent to Jericho ended up at Rahab's place (perhaps they were aspiring young Baptist preachers), but as it turns out, it was the Madam who did the saving. And for that, James applies the stamp of grace upon the memory of Rahab and mentions her in passing as another example of righteousness through faith and works.
Daniel BaileySinger/songwriter Daniel Bailey reads "A Tale of a Man-Date" from Bert's book Elvis, Willie, Jesus & Me. Click below to listen and hear Daniel tell about when he and Bert went to see Arlo Guthrie in concert, and they encountered Jesus looking for a room.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 12:01PM