I am delighted to report that the January/February 2014 of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
is out this week and features my 24th appearance in that fine
periodical. Even better, it marks my third chance to grace the cover (and what a perfect illustration it is!). "Devil Chased The Wolf Away" is a short story but the
history of how it came to exist is a long story, so you might want to fortify yourself with a cup of coffee or something. I'll wait.
Ready? Okay, here goes.
About
fifteen years ago I attended a concert by a man who had been considered
a master musician. The problem was he was long past his prime, and it
showed. He was confused and his playing was clumsy.
That
would have been bad enough, but worse was the fact that his
accompanyist, the man who had been driving him from show to show, was
clearly fed up, and was rude and disrespectful. This made the show
quite unpleasant.
And as I watched it, being the person I am, I found myself thinking: is there a story here? A crime story?
By
the time the show was over I had invented Cleve Penny, an over-the-hill
old-time fiddler from Kentucky. His tale, "Snake In The Sweetgrass,"
appeared in the December 2003 issue of Hitchcock's.
I
thought it was my best story and some people seemed to agree. Several
urged me to write about Cleve again, but I didn't want to. I was afraid
that what seemed magical the first time might turn out to be just
slight of hand the next time around. Besides, if I kept dragging my old
guy around from stage to stage, wasn't I being like that accompanyist?
So I made up my mind not to write a sequel to "Snake."
Then Bruce Molsky came to town.
Now, I must immediately explain that Molsky is not
over the hill. He is king of the mountain, and can play old-time
guitar, banjo or fiddle as well as anybody. This video should prove my
point. (And he can sing while he plays the fiddle, which is just plain cheating.)
But a few years ago Molsky performed here with a
brother and sister act, only one of whom was old enough to drive, and
watching him interact with those talented youngsters I had a sudden
thought: wouldn't it be fun to have Cleve Penny work with some children?
I
thought it would. Not long before this my family had visited Chicago
for the first time, which included a pilgrimage to the Old Town School of Folk Music. The School was founded in 1957 and has been offering
lessons, concerts, and jams ever since.
So
I invented the Cornheim School of Folk Music, and installed Cleve Penny as guest Artist in Residence. Then I gave the school a problem
and invited Cleve to take his unique approach to solving it.
But
I had another problem. "Devil" is in some ways a direct result of the
events in "Snake." Cleve's actions in the second story are heavily
influenced by what he did in the first. I can't assume that everyone
who reads "Devil" will have read "Snake," much less remember it a decade
later. So how do I slip in the backstory? I actually got into an
interesting discussion on this subject with mystery writer Neil
Schofield and wrote about it at Criminal Brief.
I think I licked that problem, but Linda Landrigan, editor of Hitchcock's, offered
an even better solution. As I said last week, you can download a free podcast of "Snake." I highly recommend you read/listen to it before you
dig into "Devil." You will enjoy them both more that way.
I
think I'm done with Cleve Penny now, and he can settle into a
well-deserved retirement. But I have learned to never say never.
A long time ago, Robert Benchley wrote the following about his most famous piece, "The Treasurer's Report:" I
have inflicted it on the public in every conceivable way except over the
radio and dropping it from airplanes. (And as proof, here is a short, hilarious movie version.)
I
am thinking about that because this autumn is seeing my own work
coming at the public from a variety of directions. Not to worry; the phase
will pass and by December I will sink back into obscurity. But let's go
over the details of my temporary onslaught.
As I wrote last time, September marked my first appearance in an e-book
anthology. I am sure by now you have all run out (or run your cursor
over) to buy a copy of Malfeasance Occasional: Girl Trouble. Right?
I am happy to inform you you won't have to spend any money for this next feature (although I do like dark chocolate if you're thinking of a gift). This one is a freebie.
Linda Landrigan, who edits Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, suggested doing a podcast of my story "Snake in the Sweetgrass," which appeared in the December 2003 issue of AHMM. And if it isn't up now here it should be by next week.
She
sent me the recorder they use and after much diligent practice I was
able to record the story with only three mistakes. And that was the
best I could do. Three different mistakes every time. (It wasn't like I
consistently tripped over the same tongue-twisting phrase, alas.)
Linda assures me they can clean that up.
But here is
the cool part. My story is about an elderly Kentucky fiddler
and the title refers to a traditional fiddle piece that is his personal
signature tune. It seemed logical to include a recording of that tune
in the podcast.
The problem with that is that I made up the name. There is no such tune.
No biggie. My daughter, Susan Weiner, is a fine composer so she created a
tune that matched the description in the story. And then, extra
special treat, my wife Terri Weiner recorded it on the fiddle.
So
it is a real family operation and I recommend it highly. But if that
isn't enough to entice you to give it a listen, here is a bonus. Remember, I said this is a media blitz.
The January/February issue of Hitchcock's comes out November 4 and I am thrilled to report that the cover story is "Devil Chased The Wolf Away," a sequel to "Snake." And while you can read "Devil" without experiencing "Snake" you will
definitely enjoy them more if you read (or listen to) "Snake" first.
And next Wednesday I will explain how "Devil" came to be written, much to my surprise.
Last March, I wrote a post about the “Failure of the 13th Juror” in which I discussed the trial of three men and a young woman who carjacked and murdered a young couple in 2007. In 2009, all four were tried and found guilty. However, the original trial judge (whom I called Judge P) was later discovered to have been using two parolees in his charge to obtain pain pills. Consequently, he was removed from the case and a new judge (whom I called Judge G) was appointed.
Over the prosecutor’s objections, Judge G granted new trials to the three men without holding a hearing, ruling that Judge P’s conduct was enough to warrant new trials. The State Appeals Court ordered him to hold hearings. He refused. So, he was removed and a new judge (I call him Judge T) was appointed.
The prosecutor agreed that Judge P had been under the influence of something during the trial of the young woman. She was granted a new trial and again was found guilty of facilitation in the rape and killing of the female victim and sentenced to 35 years.
As for the third male, the prosecutors had argued that, although he did not participate in the crimes, he benefited from them when he used the car to run errands and stayed in the house where the young woman was raped and murdered. Judge T, acting as the 13th juror, concluded that there was no forensic evidence connecting him to the carjacking and murders and granted him a new trial.
The second male, the leader’s young brother who was sentenced to life in prison, wanted a new trial because he was beaten up in prison. Since forensic evidence connected him to the crimes, Judge T denied his request.
The ringleader’s argument for a new trial is the most interesting. His defense team argued that the jurors were influenced by religion when they convicted him. One of the jurors admitted that after dinner one night he got permission from the court staff, picked up his guitar, and began singing Christian songs. The other jurors joined in. They also read Bible verses. Since DNA tied the ringleader to the crimes, Judge T also denied his request for a new trial.
Jurors are not supposed to discuss the case outside of the jury room. I guess the defense felt that singing gospel songs and reading the Bible could be interpreted as discussing the case. I’m not sure how, but it might be possible.
Another twist to the case: the previous two judges allowed relatives to wear buttons showing pictures of two victims and sit where the jurors could see the buttons. Judge T nixed that bit of theater. The relatives must sit two or three rows back from the front bench if they choose to display the buttons.
Should singing and Bible reading during jurors’ down time be prohibited because it could influence their decision?
***
And yet another twist: The original judge, Judge P, was found guilty of misconduct in state court, dismissed from the bench, and allowed to keep his pension. The Justice Department stepped in and tried him for misprision of a felony, i.e, lying to other judges and officials to keep his drug-supplying mistress connected to her supply network. He was found guilty and sentenced to six months and loss of his pension. His defense team filed a motion to allow him to remain free pending an appeal of the conviction. However, Judge P later changed his mind and decided to do the time. His appeal could take a year or more, and he’ll be free by the time it is completed. Still, he wants it to go forward because he could get a new trial or dismissal, even though he will have already paid the price for his actions.
Well, I guess six months in the prison of his choice, humiliation, and loss of pension could be considered a high price to pay for breaking laws he was sworn to uphold. Were the scales of justice truly balanced in his case?
When I was 14 years old (an unbelievable 50 years ago) a friend of mine and I were spending an otherwise boring evening pawing through my parents’ LP records, which were collected in a dusty rack in the knotty-pined basement of our suburban St. Louis home. My friend pulled an abnormally small record from the stack. It was a record I had been ignoring for years.
The cover cried out cheapness – a flimsy cardboard sleeve featuring a drawing of a small man, sporting devil’s horns and tail, seated in front of a stylized piano keyboard. Red flames ringed the borders of the album. The title was Songs by Tom Lehrer.
“This,” my friend opined knowingly (since he had already discovered the record in his parents' collection), “is an awesome album.”
We positioned the 10 inch vinyl record on the nearby turntable, turned up the volume, and laughed for thirty minutes straight. Afterwards, tears still in my eyes, I took the album upstairs where my parents were watching Ed Sullivan, oblivious to the merriment that had transpired below.
“I didn’t know we had this record,’ I said, holding out the album toward my father.
In unison the blood drained from my parents’ faces. My mother stared, aghast, at my father. “You weren’t supposed to,” my father stammered, reaching for the album cover, which by the next morning had been relegated by my parents to a more secure hiding place.
* * * * * * * * *
Every once in a while I get lucky on SleuthSayers. My every other Tuesday rolls up on a “winner.” So far I have drawn New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and November 22nd – each of which readily suggests themes for an article. And today, though a bit more obscure, is another such winning Tuesday. I can't really make today's article into something about mysteries, or crime, though it does, at base, have a lot to do with clever writing.
Today professor, satirist, and sporadic performer Thomas Andrew Lehrer celebrates his 85th birthday.
So, what was it about that little record that fifty years ago both sent my 14 year old friend and me into gales of laughter while turning my parents ashen when confronted with the fact that we had discovered it in their collection? One does not have to listen long to Mr. Lehrer’s 1953 collection of songs to understand both reactions. Here, for example, is one of those songs -- My Home Town:
More to come on the musical front, but let’s pause first for a little backstory on one of the greatest satirists of our age.
Tom Lehrer, born this day in 1928, is famous for three record albums released between 1953 and 1965. (While more than three albums show up in various catalogs, do not be fooled – the differences reflect only whether the songs were recorded in a studio or before a live audience. Any way you slice it, there basically are only three albums of songs.) Not only is the list of songs small, by his own count Tom Lehrer also performed a grand total of only 109 concerts. As Lehrer observed in a 2010 interview, writing “37 songs in 20 years is hardly what I would call a career.” But what songs!
It is true that Tom Lehrer apparently never saw himself as a composer or entertainer. His principal career was mathematics professor. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard in 1946, went on to earn a master’s degree in mathematics and worked toward, but never completed, his doctorate. He earned his living teaching mathematics at Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, and in later years at the University of California, Santa Cruz. (At Santa Cruz he taught an introductory mathematics class for Bachelor of Arts students that he referred to as “Math for Tenors.”) If we were to ignore his musical contributions, Mr. Lehrer’s published works would consist of pretty thin and dry stuff – he co-authored Random Walks with Restraining Barrier as Applied to the Biased Binary Counter, which appeared in a 1958 issue of the Journal of the Society for Industrial Applied Mathematics, and The Distribution of the Number of Locally Maximal Elements in a Random Sample, published in 1957 in the Annals of Mathematical Statistics. Obviously it is not in honor of these works that we are assembled here today.
It was while studying mathematics at Harvard in the1940s that Lehrer began to compose humorous songs. Trained as a child on the piano, his self-accompanied renditions of his compositions rapidly gained a following among the Harvard student body. Inspired by this success, Lehrer self-funded an LP album – that one with the red flames at the top of the article, the one my father had not quite hidden well enough.
Slowly, but steadily, Tom Lehrer was discovered. As an example, Lehrer performed his songs sporadically in nightclubs in the 1950s, and while playing Boston in October of 1954 a young writer named Isaac Asimov wandered in to listen. Asimov promptly became a fan, and the evening proved memorable enough that it is recounted in Asimov’s autobiography In Joy Still Felt. The song Lehrer reportedly was playing as Asimov entered the nightclub was I Got it from Sally, which over the years morphed into I Got it from Agnes. During the course of the song it became obvious to the audience, including Asimov, as he recounts in his autobiography, that the “it” was a sexually transmitted disease, and that the ways that “it” was acquired grew increasingly, shall we say, less normative as the song progressed. Asimov wrote "I haven't gone to nightclubs often, but of all the times I have gone, it was on this occasion that I had by far the best time." Although, as Asimov marvelled, the song contains no word that standing alone would have been unacceptable to a 1954 listener, in its entirety the piece was nonetheless deemed too over the edge to be included in either of Lehrer’s early albums.
But that does not stop us here at SleuthSayers – in all its glory, here is Tom Lehrer singing I Got it from Agnes.
No further albums were forthcoming, and by all appearances in the late 1950s Tom Lehrer had left satire behind and was concentrating on his day job at Harvard. Then along came an NBC series: That Was the Week That Was.
There are those in my generation who still hold cherished memories of TW3 (as it was known to its sadly few fans). Satire, it is said, closes on Saturday night. TW3, NBC’s experiment in live satire, lasted a scant one and a half seasons, finally expiring on a Tuesday. While it was around it offered a weekly live send-up of the notable news stories of the previous seven days. If you don’t remember this gem, or if you are too young to have been there, the show was sort of a Daily Show, but done in a variety format. Reportedly Professor Lehrer tuned in, liked what he saw, and, upon listening to its musical odes to the events of the week, thought to himself “I could do that.” He began submitting songs to the show. The first one accepted, performed live on TW3 (if memory serves) by Broadway performer Stanley Grover, commemorated National Brotherhood Week.
The songs written for TW3 provided the fodder for Tom Lehrer’s third, and final, album – That Was the Year That Was, recorded live at San Francisco's famous Hungry I, and released in 1965. The album not only contains all of the TW3 songs as performed by Tom Lehrer, it offers the original versions of those songs without the dampening (and damning) revisions made by nervous NBC censors. Fueled by the success of his TW3 songs Tom Lehrer toured briefly in 1965 and 1966. There were several other short tours, but by 1972 Tom Lehrer had once again largely stepped back from the public eye.
Explaining his disdain for touring Lehrer has observed “if you have already gone to Cincinnati, there is really no reason to go on to Cleveland.” There is also an urban legend that Tom Lehrer retired from performing after Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, explaining that the event rendered satire forevermore obsolete.
Nevertheless Tom Lehrer again re-emerged, at least vicariously, in 1981, thanks to the efforts of Sir Cameron Macintosh, the Broadway producer extraordinaire later known for producing Cats, Les Miz, Phantom of the Opera, Lady Saigon and Mary Poppins. Macintosh decided that the world needed a revival of Lehrer’s mischievous musings, and took it upon himself to accomplish this.
Tomfoolery, Macintosh's theatrical revue of Lehrer’s works, was fashioned along the lines of Jacque Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris -- the show is a musical revue, without story, presented in a cabaret setting. The revue played in various cities across the United States – I saw a production at Washington’s Arena Stage in 1982 – and played off Broadway for 120 performances. It featured songs from Tom Lehrer’s three albums, as well as some additional songs he wrote for the PBS children’s television series The Electric Company.
Thereafter, other than some re-issues of his albums, notably a nice newly re-engineered 2010 offering, The Tom Lehrer Collection (highly recommended, purchase it here), that has pretty much been it. What nevertheless has fueled the fire and kept Professor Lehrer popular all of these intervening years? Certainly not his formal reviews. The following are included, tongue in cheek, on his album covers:
• "Mr. Lehrer's muse is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste." New York Times
• "More desperate than amusing" — New York Herald Tribune
• "He seldom has any point to make except obvious ones" — The Christian Science Monitor
• "Plays the piano acceptably" — The Oakland Tribune
In a 2010 interview Lehrer reflected on the continued vitality of his satiric works. He noted at the time that what he tried to do in his pieces was to use internal rhymes and clever word play so as to produce songs that one not only would want to listen to, but would want to listen to over and over again. It certainly has worked for me over the last 50 years. And why do the songs, with all of their dark humor, continue to resonate, more than 60 years after many of them were written? Again, in the words of Tom Lehrer: “if you predict the worst, you are likely to be hailed as a prophet.”
All of that said, the truly amazing thing about Lehrer’s songs is how well they do in fact (even if darkly) continue to resonate.
A new Pope faced with issues of reform in the Catholic Church? Time for The Vatican Rag.
The Supreme Court re-examining provisions of the Voting Rights Act? Lets listen, once again, to Dixie.
Scandal in the ranks of the Boy Scouts? That calls for Be Prepared.
Harvard unimaginably wins the first round in March Madness? Fight Fiercely, Harvard! (Okay, its about football but you'll get the picture!)
My favorite professor did emerge from the ivy covered halls at least one last time, in 1998, when, after 25 years he agreed to perform in London at a gala tribute to Sir Cameron Macintosh. As we are poised to enter yet another spring, what could be more appropriate than this?
Tom Lehrer has famously observed that "[i]f, after hearing my songs, just one human
being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to
strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while.” Sorry, but it's not going to happen. We are too busy, even after all of these years, laughing.
My thirteen-year-old grandson
Aeden has been reading a book entitled Awesome
about little things that create awesome moments, including such events as surprise
doughnuts for breakfast and rain stopping right before the ball game.One
of Aeden’s awesome times was taking his
guitar to school and playing a song for his girlfriend. This led to his
teacher arranging for him to perform at one of the local nursing homes.
Aside
from the usual awesome moments in most everyone’s life like the births of
children and grandchildren, weddings (and divorces for some of us), I discovered
that a lot of my awesome times have related to music.Trust me, I’ll relate this blog to mysteries
and writing before I finish.I’m headed there.
These
are some awesome musical moments in my life, not necessarily in order of
importance nor in chronological order.
Young Johnny Cash
1.When?Two AM
Where?I’m reading in bed
What?My then twelve-year-old younger son comes
into my room holding one of those cheap, ten-minute cassette tapes we recorded
song demos on before CDs.I also sometimes recorded songs I really liked from the radio on them.My son, who was definitely
not a country music fan at the time, hands the unlabeled cassette to me and says, “You need
to get rid of everyone who’s recording your demos and get this guy to sing them
all.He’s great!”My
son had “discovered” Johnny Cash. BTW, the first time I saw Johnny
Cash perform live was when my dad took me to see him before I was ten.
His opening act was the then unknown Elvis Presley.
Tina Turner, at 70 years old
2.When?Six PM
Where?
I’m in the kitchen cooking dinner
What?My older son, a young teenager at the time,
runs into the kitchen.“Quick Mama,
come quick.Remember when I asked you to
name your favorite female singer when you were growing up and you said Tina
Turner.A new singer is using her name.”Into the den we go where I see Tina Turner on
MTV singing her latest release, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”
“That’s
the same woman as the one I
used to go see when I was a teenager,” I tell him. He didn't believe it
until I took him to see Tina in Columbia and she did "Proud Mary." His
first three concerts were Tina and Bob Seger with me and Led Zeplin with
his friends.
3.When?Years before, when I was twelve (but I looked
sixteen)
Where?
A Big Boy restaurant in Hyattsville, Maryland
Young Bobby Rydell
What?This cute boy, about
sixteen, comes over to where my
cousin
Melanie and I are eating hamburgers.He starts
talking and gives us two passes to a sock hop that night. (That shows how long
ago it was. Have you even heard of sock hops?)Cute Boy tells us he’s performing that night.Oh,
yeah, like I believe that.
Mel and I go to the sock hop. Sure enough, Cute Boy
is on stage.
Introduced as Bobby Rydell, he sits with us after his set, and dances with me—first
boy I ever danced with.He was about
sixteen so if you’re good in math (heck!even if you’re sorry in math) you can
figure my age, but hold on. This story gets better.
The main act comes on stage and it’s Ray
Charles!He introduces
a song that, “is new. We're cutting it next week." I saw and heard
Ray Charles do "What'd I Say?" before it was recorded.
The only thing better than a live performance
by Ray Charles was to have my son
playing saxophone with him.
4.When?Years and years later when my younger son is
twenty years old and attending Furman University on a music scholarship.
Where?Concert hall in Spartanburg, SC
What?Younger son is on stage playing first chair
tenor sax with Ray Charles and a full orchestra. He's been told by "that music director who must have come straight from Las Vegas or New York because he ticked off the
first chair tenor saxophonist who walked out of rehearsal, and now I’m first
chair” that he will play an improvised solo in one of the songs.That night my son nailed that saxophone
improv.On the way home, he says, “Did
it sound okay? I’d never heard that song before.”
It was “I Got a Woman.”I felt soooooo
old.
5.When?After my divorce, before sons were grown
Where?A nightclub in Myrtle Beach, SC
What?The first time I dance to a song I wrote played by a band I'm not associated with.
6.When?A couple of years later, five AM
Where? Home, in bed
What?
Randall Hylton, a superb performer
who wrote over two hundred songs recorded by major country and bluegrass
entertainers, calls to say, “Thank you” for the article about him that I’d had
published in Bluegrass Unlimited and
asks me if I’d like to write his press releases and design his promo
material.Out of that grows a friendship
and working relationship that results in Randall, who penned so many great
songs, telling me that my words “stand up and walk.You should write a book.”I did, and then I wrote another one Hey Diddle, Diddle, THE CORPSE & THE
FIDDLE which was dedicated to Randall as well as having a character who
imitates him in the book.
7.When?Many trips
Where?Star Recording Studio, Miller’s Creek, North
Carolina
What?Gene Holdway records the Waiting at the Station CD of
original bluegrass gospel
Gene and I wrote together.Then, this year,
Gene releases Train Whistle which has
six songs I wrote or co-wrote.
8.When? Before Gene or Randall
Where?Columbia, SC
What? First
time my group, Frantastix, performs live
9.When? After Frantastix
Where?Nashville, TN
What?Sammy B’s (I understand
it’s closed now)
Hanging
out with the publisher of one of my songs.(Harlan Howard took one of
Mickey Newberry (wrote "What Condition My
Condition Was In" and put together "American Trilogy" for
Elvis. I had dinner with him when he came to speak about
song-writing in Columbia.), Randy Owen, Dewayne Blackwell,
and David Frizzell
mine,
too, but by then, he was too old to hang out. We never got a cut on the
song, but it sure was exciting when he called me.)I’m drinking O’Doul’s and on this day the real music people are drinking
tequila. (No, Liz, I don’t have a problem with alcohol, but my diabetes does.) We’re joined by several songwriters including
the adorable white-haired Dewayne Blackwell who wrote “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino” and
“Friends in Low Places.”A totally
delightful afternoon during which I tell the story of my son
performing with Ray Charles because the songwriter mentioned that he’d always
wanted to see Ray Charles perform live but never had.I
also learn that the man who co-wrote the Garth Brooks hit also wrote
"Mr. Blue" and the old rock song “Little Red Riding Hood, You Sure Are
Lookin’ Good.”Later, it gave me
pleasure every time I heard that song used in the car commercial because I knew
that fine fellow was making money.I get
that same feeling now when I see the car commercial with Johnny Cash singing
“That Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog.”
10. When? Before any of the above Where? Nashville What?
Many trips with my parents as a child as guests of Hank Snow ("I'm
Moving On") at the Ryman Auditorium, including the night they
introduced a first time singer named Loretta Lynn.
The list of memorable awesome moments goes on
and on.There are equal numbers of
awesome writing moments, including holding that first published book in my
hands like it was made of gold and some unique book signings I’ll describe
another time, but I promised to wrap these music notes around to writing.I’ve made up my mind.I’m going to Killer Nashville in 2013…might
make it to Albany also, but definitely Nashville.Hope to see you there.
I am delighted to report that the January/February 2014 of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
is out this week and features my 24th appearance in that fine
periodical. Even better, it marks my third chance to grace the cover (and what a perfect illustration it is!). "Devil Chased The Wolf Away" is a short story but the
history of how it came to exist is a long story, so you might want to fortify yourself with a cup of coffee or something. I'll wait.
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