South Park Studios has expanded their video offerings, and last night I found the clip from “Christian Rock Hard” that I said was one of my favorites. Disclaimer: Cartman takes the Lord’s name in vain and causes at least one fan’s ears to bleed.
Previously, I wrote about the world of Christian pop culture and about what happens when a Christian musician loses their faith.
Faith + 1 first album goes myrrh Read More »
CRAPONNE SUR ARZON, France (JTA)—Think Jews and country music and you’ll probably come up with Kinky Friedman, the cigar-chomping frontman of the iconoclastic Texas Jewboys, who is also a humorist, mystery novelist and failed but flamboyant candidate for Texas governor.
The real Jewish king of country music, however, is Ray Benson, the nine-time Grammy-winning leader of the country western swing band Asleep at the Wheel.
At 6-foot-7, Ray Benson has been described as a “Jewish giant” and “the biggest Jew in country.”
He literally and figuratively towers over the stage in a Stetson and fancy tooled boots, with a grizzled beard and long, thinning hair pulled back in a pony tail.
“I saw miles and miles of Texas, all the stars up in the sky,” he sings in his deep, mellow baritone. “I saw miles and miles of Texas, gonna live here ‘til I die.”
Now 57, Benson was born in Philadelphia but has lived in Austin for 35 years. He talks with a twang, plays golf with Willie Nelson, has recorded more than 30 albums and was named Texas Musician of the Year in 2004.
By his own estimate, he is the only Jewish singing star in the country western scene.
“Kinky’s not a country western singer—he’s Kinky!” Benson laughed during a conversation with JTA this summer at the annual Country Rendez-vous festival in south-central France, where Asleep at the Wheel wound up a five-nation European tour.
Unlike Friedman, however, who makes playing with stereotypes part of his in-your-face persona, Benson has—until now—kept his religious identity out of the limelight.
“I didn’t want to be known as a Jewish country western singer; I wanted to be known as a country western singer who happens to be Jewish,” he said.
“You don’t usually tell your religion or politics on stage,” he added. “For years, because I’m 6’7” and people don’t think Jews are tall, and because I guess I don’t look like the stereotype Jew, most people don’t known I’m Jewish.”
Benson got his musical start as a child in suburban Philadelphia, where he grew up in a Reform Jewish home. He and his sister put together a folk group, and he was only 11 when he played his first professional gig.
“In those days, if you’re a Jewish kid, you go to school, you go to college or you enter your parents’ business,” Benson said. “So, I obviously chose a different path.”
Benson founded Asleep at the Wheel in 1970 along with several friends, including his former Philadelphia schoolmate Lucky Oceans, a pedal steel guitar player born Ruben Gosfield, who now lives in Australia.
The band based itself in West Virginia and California before moving to Austin in 1973. Over the decades, Benson has remained the anchor of the group, while some 90 musicians have moved in and out of its line-up.
On the road much of the year, the band has criss-crossed the nation, playing everywhere from down-home dance halls to the White House—they were, in fact, scheduled to perform there on Sept. 11, 2001.
Asleep at the Wheel has played at inauguration parties for Presidents Bush and Clinton and expect to play for whomever is elected in November. Earlier this year, they played at an Austin fund-raiser for Barack Obama where the Democratic presidential nominee joined them onstage for a chorus.
In the 1970s, when the band first started touring, Benson recalled, country music was a “southern, conservative, Christian, white domain—period,” and he repeatedly came up against offhand prejudice and ignorance about Jews and Judaism.
He cites as an example a member of Tammy Wynette’s entourage, who blamed “the Jews in New York” for failing to promote her career, and had a hard time believing Benson when he told him he was Jewish. Then there’s the wife of a musician who had never heard of Judaism as a religion.
“I asked her what she thought a Jew was, and she said, ‘Someone who’s cheap,’ ” Benson recalled.
“So the stereotypes are there, and they’re still there,” he said.
“I always felt myself to be an ambassador,” he added. “I’m not a great practicing Jew on a daily basis, but I’m Jewish. And so I try to bring to them that we’re just people.”
Recently, for the first time, Benson started doing this publicly, making explicit reference to his Jewish identity on stage.
The revelation comes as part of “A Ride With Bob,” a musical that Benson co-wrote, based on the life of Benson’s musical hero, the Western Swing pioneer Bob Wills, who died in 1975.
Benson stars in the play, along with members of Asleep at the Wheel. Since its premiere in 2005, it has played to audiences all over Texas and elsewhere, including a sell-out performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
The premise is an imagined conversation between Benson and Wills. In it, Wills asks Benson how “a Jewish boy from Philadelphia” can play western swing music. Benson responds: “The same way that a white, hayseed hillbilly from the West Texas panhandle” can play, as Wills did, blues and jazz.
“Basically in this play I confront the issue, and I let the cat out of the bag—hey, I’m Jewish and happen to be the leader of the ‘modern kings of western swing,’” Benson said.
“In the context of the play I was able to reveal this and also give it context,” he added.
The point he wanted to make, he said, is that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what your religion or background is in terms of music, art or other creative endeavors. What’s important, he said, “is what’s in your heart or what’s in your mind or what’s in your talent.”
Asleep at the Wheel: ‘Route 66’ (live)
Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel): The biggest Jew in country music [VIDEO] Read More »
NEW YORK (JTA) — Courtesy of Diwon, the artist formerly known as DJ Handler and otherwise known as the executive director of Modular Moods and Shemspeed.com, comes this fresh mix of pop, hip-hop, electronica and . . . Yiddish?
We spoke to “That Yemenite Kid” and asked him what’s up with this unusual release.
JTA: As an artist and producer you’ve focused on highlighting Sephardic and Yemenite Jewish music as an alternative to what some see as the Ashkenazic domination of the Jewish cultural scene. With that in mind, what’s a nice Yemenite kid like you doing in a Yiddishe place like this?
Diwon: I’m half-Yemenite. My other side is Ashkenaz. That is the side that came out here. Don’t forget, I started a klezmer punk band in college called Juez. So this really isn’t too far out for me. I think just because of the recent change of my artist name from DJ Handler to Diwon and some of the press around the music, now I’m seen as very Yemenite and the past is sort of washed over. I’m definitely more passionate about the Yemenite music I’m making because I feel that there has already been a big Yiddish and klezmer music revival.
At the same time, I don’t know of any Yiddish mixtapes that have ever been made — you know, Yiddish through the eyes of a street mixtape DJ. It was a challenge to take the source material flip it over my own beats and remixes and then throw in some of my friends who are fusing Yiddish with electronic music and what not. Plus that Andrew sisters “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen” is so hot. I DJ it in clubs all the time. That in itself was almost reason enough to create this mixtape.
JTA: I notice you have some Hebrew language stuff in there as well. That’s going to make the Yiddishists angry . . .
Diwon: Ha! I don’t know. I guess some controversy is good.
There is a lot of great classic Yiddish music out there that, beyond revivals from Golem and Socalled, most young Jews today are completely unfamiliar with.
Click for streaming audio
JTA: Do you see any potential for the reinvigoration of Yiddish music as anything more than a novelty for this generation?
Diwon: I could see why people would say that Socalled is a novelty, but you could argue the music isn’t a novelty because he grew up listening to Yiddish records and this is how he makes Yiddish music — as opposed to say, an artist who put one Yiddish thing on their non-Yiddish album, as a novelty.
It’s a tough question to answer since most artists fuse different elements and genres and influences into their compositions. I don’t think that it’s novelty if an artist fuses their tradition into their music if it’s done in a sincere way and not with a smirk.
JTA: But what about for the consumer? So let’s say your doing Yemenite music isn’t a novelty, it’s an expression of your identity, but for the average music consumer, it’s a novelty. Take Matisyahu for example. Did non-Jews buy his album because he’s a great reggae artist, or because he’s an amusement?
Diwon: I think it depends on the consumer. One who isn’t that familiar with the tradition might buy it as novelty. But someone who knows the music and likes Yiddish or Yemenite music will buy it to expand their collection and for them its not necessarily a novelty purchase.
I know non-Jews who bought Matisyahu’s record because they like reggae. But then there are tons that probably bought it off the hype that was fueled by the novelty of it all. But I don’t think any of that matters. If he had put out one record and then went to making regular, non-Jewish reggae, I think it would be different. People would say “what a fake” and “what kind of marketing stunt is this?” But the fact is this is his true expression. He tours the world playing it and he is onto his third record, making it. It’s obvious that he doesn’t view it as a novelty. And the fact that he is still successful at it shows that it’s definitely more than a novelty. That and maybe the fact that he doesn’t wear a suit and a black hat anymore.
JTA: How’s the Jewish music scene holding up in light of the current economic downturn? Is your label, Modular Moods, surviving, thriving, dying?
Diwon: Well stateside we’re still alright. It’s a bit harder when I tour internationally, but no matter what I’m still going to grind and get as much good music out there as possible. If only to cheer up the people who are down due to the economy.
JTA: Well, giving away free music helps!
Diwon: Yeah, well music is basically free nowadays anyway, so why try and front? I feel like I give 75% of my music out for free and use the other 25% to fund it all and survive.
JTA: So what can we expect from Modular Moods in the coming months?
Diwon: Don’t miss the Sephardic Music Festival this Chanukah in NYC, the Shemspeed 40 Days 40 Nights Tour of college campuses in February, and a slew of new songs and albums unlike anything people have ever heard. We ain’t gonna stop now.
MUSIC: ‘That Yemenite Kid’ Diwon makes a mix tape — in Yiddish Read More »
All these months the Republican Jewish apparatchik have been telling me that Palestinians favor Barack Obama over John McCain in the U.S. presidential election. Al-Jazeera reported that Palestinians were phone-banking for Obama, and at one point the Democratic nominee was given the Hamas stamp of approval, though that was withdrawn after Obama’s speech to AIPAC. And then there was that poll that showed Israelis preferred McCain.
Israeli support reversed in July to Obama and now, surprisingly, it appears Palestinians prefer McCain too. Look at this info from the Palestinian Center for Publican Opinion and its director Nabil Kukali:
the most significant finding the poll results unveiled is that a substantial rate of the Palestinian public (33.5 %) are at present in favor of Mr. John McCain, the candidate of the US Republicans, as the coming President of the United States of America, whilst Mr. Barack Obama, the candidate of the Democratic Party, scored (27.7 %). (30.4 %) of the Palestinians said they “favor neither of them” and (8.3 %) declined to answer.
Dr. Kukali indicated in his comments on these results that the modest support for Mr. Barack Obama could be attributed to his previous declarations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that agitated among the Palestinians a feeling of discontent as he said that “the City of Jerusalem should remain the capital of Israel and must be kept unified. And the right of the Palestinians to re-claim Jerusalem should be left to the negotiations between the two conflict parties”. “Mr. Obama emphasized thereby the legitimate right of Israel to annex the whole city”, Dr. Kukali said.
I don’t buy that explanation. McCain has been portrayed from day one as a career defender of Israel and a leader whose foreign policy would remain deeply committed to protecting her. I can’t imagine that lingering sentiments over what Obama said at AIPAC, which he retreated from the next day, could really have overshadowed that. Something else is at play here, but I don’t know what.
(Hat tip: Jewlicious)
Poll: Palestinians prefer McCain Read More »
NEW YORK (JTA)—In the world according to the comedy writers at “Saturday Night Live,” the pyramid of complicity in the current financial crisis runs like this:
On the bottom are poor and minority homeowners victimized by predatory lending. Next come condo-flipping yuppies out for a quick buck. They’re followed by rapacious bankers who cashed out before the economy crumbled. And on top are billionaire financiers who pocketed the government bailout and quickly moved it offshore.
In the SNL imagination, the top two categories seemingly are populated by Jews.
In a skit broadcast Saturday night, barely a day after Congress authorized a massive bailout of the ailing financial industry, the jokesters at SNL conjured a post-vote news conference in Washington featuring these four categories of characters.
Playing the part of the rapacious bankers were ” title=”Main Street, Wall Street, Jew Street”>Main Street, Wall Street, Jew Street’
Daniel Cohen, who works in investment banking at JPMorgan Chase, said he has neither seen nor heard anything worth getting worked up about regarding fears that anti-Semitism could be a consequence of the financial crisis.
“I don’t think it’s ever crossed my mind, to be honest,” Cohen said.
While global crises of all stripes historically have drawn out fringe elements eager to scapegoat Jews, the prominence of Jews in the financial industry—and the conspicuously Jewish names adorning many of the nation’s top investment banks—have given the conspiracy theorists an unusually rich trove of ammunition and many Jews a cause for anxiety.
“As we witnessed after 9/11, whenever there is trouble or uncertainty in the economy or world events, Jews become the scapegoats, and ugly anti-Semitic canards are given new life,” said Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League.
Last week, the ADL reported a “dramatic surge” in anti-Semitic Internet postings related to the economy. The group said the Internet chatter is not limited to neo-Nazi and white supremacist sites, but has spread to mainstream Web sites such as Yahoo! and AOL, where “hundreds” of anti-Semitic messages have flooded financial discussion boards.
Bill Cunningham, a popular conservative radio host, told JTA he had received two or three calls in the past few weeks from listeners who mentioned Jewish control of the banking system.
“I’ve been on the radio 25 years,” said Cunningham, who is nationally syndicated. “I had not heard that until this money crisis began.”
While such sentiments occasionally find public platforms, the locus of anti-Jewish agitation—and its most articulate and virulent expression—is found on known anti-Semitic and white supremacist Web sites such as the Vanguard News Network and Overthrow.com, a Web site published by the American National Socialist Workers Party.
Writers on these sites lay responsibility for the crisis squarely at the feet of Jewish bankers and Zionists. They allege that Jewish government officials, notably U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, supported a congressional bailout to help their co-religionists on Wall Street. A Frank character also was featured on the “Saturday Night Live” skit.
Some posts also have taken aim at Congress for taking off over Rosh Hashanah, which fell last week amid marathon negotiations on the bailout. The bill eventually was passed late last Friday.
“Look at how they are portraying these people who are staying up late in the capitol to pass this 700 billion dollar bailout,” wrote one commenter on a forum of the Vanguard News Network. “They’re makin it look like they’re ‘workin hard’, ‘takin action’, ‘reaching a solution’ … Yeah, they are probably sittin around eating crumpets while the Jews are driving away with truck loads of hundred dollar bills.”
Another commenter on the site wrote that “jew monsters” are seeking to bankrupt the entire planet.
“It’s really more like vampires sucking a corpse dry,” wrote the commenter, identified on the site as Sgruber. “Jews are destroyers. They aren’t after their own long-range advantage. Long-range they want the earth plunged into a Dark Ages of endless poverty. This is why the jews must be killed. They are rats eating the grain and the brain of the world.”
Unlike the white supremacist sites, most of the anti-Jewish sentiment on well-trafficked mainstream Web sites are confined to mostly unmoderated message areas hosted by Yahoo! and Google. Many are replete with spelling and grammatical errors, and are heavy on name calling.
The ADL praised such sites for doing their best to delete anti-Semitic messages, though it cautioned that due to the volume and the free-for-all-nature of the Internet, comprehensive policing is nearly impossible.
Deborah Lauter, who heads the ADL’s civil rights division, said that Yahoo! saw a significant decrease in anti-Semitic material following the release of the ADL report on Oct. 3.
“While we can’t know for certain the exact reason for the decrease, we suspect it is due to action by Yahoo rather than any increased restraint by Finance Message Board members,” Lauter wrote in an e-mail to JTA. “New problematic posts are almost non-existent and the majority problematic material posted since early September has been deleted.”
Will Wall Street crisis spur anti-Semitism? Read More »
Seriously, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. This installment from the pre-fall-fundamentalist Christians of the Netherlands.
Naked celebrants abandoned plans to hold a second service after media coverage of their first mass, held in a nudist park during the summer, led to a flood of threatening phone calls and emails from more orthodox Christians.
“I don’t understand what all the fuss is about,” said a spokesman for the Gan Eden or Garden of Eden group.
“We are just a group of Christians and we want to hold a church service.”
OK, seriously, what is wrong with that first sentence? More orthodox Christians … You mean, everybody beside the wacky Christian naturists.
I hope these naturists aren’t Catholic. It would be really awkward having to genuflect.
(Hat tip: Friendly Atheist)
Christian pre-fall-fundamentalists celebrate naked mass Read More »
I just came across two blog posts that suggest
Church Norris
Mike Huckabee is no longer the populist proponent of a new evangelical dialogue.
When campaigning in the Republican primary, Huck definitely went overboard in promoting himself as Jesus’ pick for president and in saying that we need to “change the Constitution” for God. But he also added poverty, education and the environment to his agenda. There was hope this was joining the chorus of diversity on the evangelical political spectrum.
Now, though, Mark Silk writes that now Huckabee, who got a show on Fox News (I wouldn’t know), is rallying soldiers in war against the bailout, and Dan Gilgoff of God-o-Meter reports that Huck has returned to the red-meat Republican issues:
That big-tent Huck seems to be in much shorter supply now. An email the Arkansas governor just sent out soliciting donations for his political action committee—whose beneficiaries include John McCain and Sarah Palin—asks fors $5 for each of these five red meat issues:
1. Protection of Human Life 2. Traditional Marriage 3. Tax policy that doesn’t punish people for working, but rewards them 4. 2nd amendment rights 5. Supreme Court and Federal Court judge selection
Has Mike Huckabee lost his way? Read More »