Southern culture or guilty pleasures?

G'Ville.com ^ | June 22. 2006

[stainlessbanner]

No matter. Scene suggests the best in Southern songs, books and fried food
Is Southern culture on the skids?

We think not.

In fact, with wrastlin' in Newberry this weekend and that artsy-fartsy Hippodrome State Theatre rompin' through Starke and gettin' all jiggy in single-wides, there never has been a better time to revel in the gritty guilty pleasures of the blue-collar South, even if your collar is white, starched, sweaty or splattered with strawberry jelly tossed by youngins chowin' down on frosted, generic-brand breakfast pastry treats (or "Pop-Tarts" brand pastry rectangles for special occasions).

So you want some Southern-fried culture? Best place to start is with some travelin' tunes, Southern-dipped pages and batter-dipped eats. Order up!

MUSIC

TRAVELIN' TUNES (OR DANCEHALL DITTIES RIPE FOR DOWNLOADIN')

• "Drop Kick Me, Jesus," Bobby Bare. Sample lyrics: "Drop kick me, Jesus . . . Straight through the heart of them righteous uprights" and "I've got the will, Lord, if you've got the toe."
  
  
• "Ramblin' Man," Allman Brothers Band. Sample lyric: "And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus/Rollin' down Highway 41."
  
  
• "Gimme Three Steps," Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sample lyric: "I was cutting the rug/Down at a place called the jug/With a girl named Linda Lu/When in walked a man/With a gun in his hand/And he was looking for you know who."
  
  
• "Doublewide," Southern Culture on the Skids.
  
  
• "My South," Drew Copeland. Scene staff comment: "The barefoot Sister Hazel member they call Copey released this ode to barbecue, sweet tea and Southern footwear on his 2004 solo album 'No Regrets.' Funky, plunky and perfect for family picnics or roadhouse brawls. The CD also contains a sentimental ode to Gainesville called 'A Little Like Heaven,' which mentions kissin' on Paynes Prairie."
  -Dave Schlenker
  
  
• "If That Ain't Country," David Allan Coe. Staff comment: "Thirteen kids. A bunch of dogs. A house full of chickens and a yard full of hogs. This hilarious song pokes fun at every country stereotype, right down to the 'mosquiters' (which sound a lot bigger and grosser than mosquitoes). But if you're still laughing when Coe talks about his momma crying after Junior goes to jail, you're a jerk."
  -Amy Reinink
  
  
• "Folsom Prison Blues," live version, Johnny Cash.
  
  
• "Down at the Twist and Shout," Mary Chapin Carpenter. Scene staff comment: "A hoedown that makes even the most dance-impaired harbor fantasies they can two-step with the best of them."
  -Gary Kirkland
  
  
• "White Trash Wedding," Dixie Chicks. Sample lyric: "Baby's on its way/Baby's on its way/Say I do and kiss me quick cause baby's on its way."
  
  
• "Queen of My Double Wide Trailer," Sammy Kershaw. Sample lyric: "Times she's run off and I've got to trail her/Dang her black heart and her pretty red neck."
  
  
• "Gator Country," Molly Hatchet. Sample lyric: "There's a gator in the bushes, he's calling my name."
  
  
• "Trashy Women," Confederate Railroad. Scene staff comment: "They never played this at my junior prom, but, to this day, it is the first song that comes to mind when I recall that night. That, and my date's blue eye shadow."
  -Dave Schlenker
  
  
• "Redneck Woman," Gretchen Wilson. Sample lyric: "I keep my Christmas lights on, on my front porch all year long/And I know all the words to every Charlie Daniels song."
  
  
• "Elvis is Everywhere," Mojo Nixon. Sample lyric: "And Elvis is in Joan Rivers/But he's trying to get out, man!/He's trying to get out!/Listen up Joanie Baby."
  
  
• "Redneck Yacht Club," Craig Morgan. Staff comment: "Add this song to your iPod playlist for when you're having your own party at the lake shore or the coast to spread the summer vibe with a hillbilly flavor."
  -Lisa Thomas
  
  
• "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," Kenny Chesney.
  
  
• "Redneck, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer," Johnny Russell.
  
  
• "Act Naturally." Scene staff comment: "Whether you remember it with Buck Owens or Ringo, it's just a good Southern sing-along."
  -Gary Kirkland

FOOD

IT'S BATTER IN GAINESVILLE
When it comes to Southern Fried, I head for Juniors, the soul food restaurant next to the North Main Street Publix. The Juniors (there are three chefs all named Junior) fry up what is for my money the best fried chicken in Gainesville.

And if it's fried pork chops you want, the Juniors have them, too. Add some great mac and cheese, some killer collard greens and a hunk of sweet potato pie, and you've got my idea of the quintessential Southern meal.

- David Carlson, Sun dining critic

PAGES

CLASSIC SOUTHERN READING

• "Gone With the Wind," Margaret Mitchell
  
• "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee
  
• "Their Eyes Were Watching God," Zora Neale Hurston
  
• "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"; "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Mark Twain
  
• "Cross Creek," Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
  
• "A Land Remembered," Patrick Smith
  
• "The Hawk is Dying," Harry Crews - or, for that matter, ANYTHING by Gainesville's beloved and delightfully disturbed blood-and-grits Crews
  
  CLASSIC SOUTHERN-FRIED READIN'
  
  
• "The Distinctive Book of Redneck Baby Names," Linda Barth
  
• "How to Speak Southern," Steve Mitchell
  
• "The Original Road Kill Cookbook," Buck Peterson
  
• "White Trash Etiquette," Verne Edstrom
  
• "Uncle Handsome's Redneck Poetry: The Road Less Graveled," Brent Holmes
  -Sarah L. Stewart

[stainlessbanner]

A few changes:

Remove Dixie Chicks from list

Replace Rawling's "Cross Creek" with "The Creek" by TJ Glisson (hey was a born-native, not a Yankee! - this is the authentic and humorous account.)

[stainlessbanner]

Dixie Ping!

[johnny7]

"Redneck, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer,"

Haven't heard that'n in a'while!

[proudofthesouth]

I can give up chocolate and sugar but never, EVER Southern fried foods!

[righthand man]

Remove Dixie Chicks from list

Dixie Ping!

[Condor 63]

No Drive By Truckers? There's a damn shame.

Personally I'd go for David Allan Coe's Jack Daniels If You Please over If That Ain't Country and Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama over Gimme Three Steps....

but what does a dumb cracker like me know anyways? :-)

Anything by Mojo Nixon could have made the list. LOL

[w_over_w]

Hey SB, thanks for the ping. We're goin' to Atlanta in late Sept. for a conference. Lookin' forward to some Southern hospitality and hopefully some good fried okra.

[CTOCS]

I'm sorry, but the music list won't be complete without C.W. McCall's "Convoy".

[stainlessbanner]

Enjoy your visit to Hotlanta. Stop by Kennesaw Battlefield and see the earthworks if you get a chance. There is a good little path to walk up to it.

[groanup]

Don't forget Cyclorama:

http://www.webguide.com/cyclorama.html

[Mamzelle]

How long's it been since you were in Atlanta? It's not quite the same these days.

[w_over_w]

Thank's for the link on Kennesaw and Cyclorama. . . will have to brush up on that battle to better appreciate the hallowed ground.

I haven't been to Atlanta since '85 and am sure it's changed in both growth and "big city" attitude. Still, if I can get cheese grits each morning and find some good fried okra it'll go in the win column. ;^)

[Mamzelle]

Well, let me know how you find it. If you have any trouble finding good food...there's always Clayton and Rabun and Toccoa...my favorite part of joja anyway.

[groanup]

For cheese grits I go to the Waffle House, fried okra is best homemade. For really good food in Atlanta:

http://www.thevarsity.com/menu.php

[stainlessbanner]

Varsity is a good place for a greasy burger-burger. I like Ray's on the muddy River and Houston's (ask for the mashed taters!).

[stainlessbanner]

Know any BBQ places in the area?

[groanup]

Know any BBQ places in the area?

Harold's near the Federal Pen is about the best in Atlanta. Mahlear's??? in Fayetteville. Joe's??? at the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Ashford Dunwoody (an old black woman yells "hot, mild or mixed" and you get a huge scoop of bbq, brunswick stew and peach cobbler for five bucks). DON'T go to Smokey Bones unless you want franchise BBQ. Sprayberry's off I-85 near Newnan is worth the drive. And ANY sidewalk rib peddler or church parking lot on Sunday as long as the epicurean is old Atlanta, black and uses coca cola in the recipe.

[groanup]

Houston's is damn good but has gotten expensive and the wait is horrendous. I use it a lot for client lunches. Don't know Ray's but I've always thought of it as a more formal type situation.

[RebelBanker]

Thanks for the ping!

I agree with removing the Dixie Chicks, but I would replace thei song with Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar" or Cledus T.Judd's "I Love NASCAR."

[LibertarianInExile]

You know what else is missing from this reading list?