Monday, March 18, 2024

Willie B. Rude? Well, Will He?

 March 18, 2024

   Why no one has taken advantage of this incredible, but real name in Western storytelling, I have no idea. But, that is about to change.

Daily Whip Out: "William B. Rude"


One Rude Dude Gets His Due

   Yes, his given name was William B. Rude and he hailed from Tennessee, came west and barely survived Death Valley, then ended up in Green Valley, Arizona, fought off 100 Apaches in a mesquite grove, or, was it 30? Either way, he was, One Rude Dude.

   His story coming soon.


Arizona The Beautiful

"There's a fine balance between obsessing about your craft and being there for your family. It's akin to walking a tightrope. Your legs are shaky, and you're trying to find your center. Whenever you lean too far in one direction, you correct your course and end up over leaning in the other direction. So you correct by leaning the other way again. That's the dance. You can't achieve greatness by walking a straight line."

— Kobe Bryant

Daily Whip Out:
"Bass Reeves Plows Through The Darkness"

"There is nothing more entertaining, more satisfying, nothing more rich and deep, than truth."

—Ellen Burstyn

Sunday, March 17, 2024

A Goodbye Cloud From The Cloud Master Edmundo Segundo

 March 17, 2024

   Today we attended a memorial service for our friend Ed Mell down at the Scottsdale Museum of the West. One of the speakers, Christine Atwell Ford, said the master cloud painter is now on the other side of the clouds he painted so well. And, she added, we needed to watch the sky tonight and see if he might send a dramatic cloud formation back to us as a sign off?


Ed Mell on the roof of my studio last year
(1942-2024)

   As Kathy Sue and I motored home on Scottsdale Road we talked about our friend and as we were nearing the Carefree Highway, we spotted this tsunami surfer wave cloud forming in the west. Kathy shot this right out the window.

Edmundo Segundo Sign Off Cloud?

   In all my years on the desert I have never seen a cloud quite like this. So, in conclusion, I believe this is a sign-off cloud and the clever bastard is just showing off now. Riding a cloud like a wave, daring us to follow.

An Ed Mell original gifted to me last year.

"Damn, that Dude could paint clouds!"

—Anyone who ever looked at an Ed Mell skyscape

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Thanks to Al Harper Billy the Kid Has His Day at Old Tucson

 March 16, 2024

   Last weekend we had a great celebration at Old Tucson when we presented our True Westerner Award to Al Harper in the Grand Hotel Saloon. 

Al Harper receives the True Westerner Award
for 2024

   Not only has Al Harper saved multiple historic railroads with his American Heritage Railways company, he recently took on the role of saving Old Tucson which had not only fallen on hard times, but when the pandemic hit, sat vacant for two whole years, while the Sonoran Desert reclaimed more than a few of the buildings. Not only has Al's crew stabilized the physical buildings in the town, they are hell bent on getting movies back to the location for film shoots. And at the award ceremony Al laid out his ambitious plans.

  Afterwards, Al had his theatrical group do their original stage play on Billy the Kid. I wish I could say I was excited about this, but, I am probably the wrong guy to show any stage show about Billy the Kid. Especially if it involves singing! The problem is I have been studying the Kid so long it pains me to watch most Kid shows. I bailed on the recent Netflix Billy the Kid series after fifteen minutes. The Antrims are in a wagon traversing Kansas and in the background are snow-covered mountain vistas?! In Canada!! Spare me!

   Anyway, I was front and center at the main table and I had to endure this show with some grace and empathy. So I steeled myself and as the lights dimmed, I saw this.

Billy the Kid
(Daniel Gilmore) 

Photo by Natalie Eleftheriadis

   Holy Guacamole, this Kid is right on the money! The bibbed shirt, the sweater, the bashed in hat, the sneer! Okay, the tie down might not be totally accurate, but everything else is incredibly on the money. Most portrayals of Billy have actors that are too large for the role (Kristofferson, Kilmer, Newman) but Gilmore is compact and wiry with a great big voice. Perfect!

   The show moved quickly and covered the entire Lincoln County War and the demise of the Kid in 30 minutes flat. Here I am at the head table reacting to this marvelous show.

Al Harper and I applaud a very fine show

   So, thanks to Al, I tracked down the writer and director of the show and asked him how he managed to produce such a fine piece of work. Here is what he told me:

   "Normally what's expected of the content created for western experience at Old Tucson has been more in the vein of historically traditional melodrama and cancan, lighter family fare. But for my money I really felt we could do something a little different and, hopefully, more impactful.

   "When I started reading about Billy, I was hooked. I found that the more I read, I came to not only genuinely care about him, but quickly developed a sense of rage at the way he was maligned by history. For whatever he did in life, at the end of the day, this was actually a whip smart, kind, sharp as they come person, on his own from way too young, just trying to survive. Can we really fault him for his transgressions when he was at such odds with the world from such a young age, with so little guidance? I've heard it expressed in first hand accounts many times that under different circumstances, Billy would have been a successful and upstanding member of any community. The vast majority of those who knew him, loved him. No one so well loved by so many is really a villain.
   "He was a kid. And I don't mean that in the way the word was perceived when it became his nickname. I mean he was actually a kid, barely an adult, when killed. A child who lost his Mother too young and came of age in circumstances no kid should have to face. If I was in his shoes, and I watched the only adult (Tunstall) who ever showed me a lick of guidance and favor gunned down in cold blood for bogus reasons, I would take the same path Billy took.
   "I cannot fault him. So it's the injustice of it all that inspired me, really. I felt morally compelled to tell his story.
   "And my aim was never to paint him as a perfect hero, because he wasn't. But he was a good person. He felt pain, empathy, regret...he did not want to kill most of the people he killed, but did so out of necessity. As I wrote at the end of the show, 'History tends to cast memories in black and white, but Billy, he was a lot of gray area.'
   "History puts him in a class of outlaws with whom he does not belong. He was not the greedy, cold blooded killer that contemporaries like Jesse James were. I looked at this as an opportunity to paint him more closely to the person I believe he actually was. (I did take a few small narrative liberties, but consider it retaliation against some of the lies history told. 
   "The pendulum of truth has swung too far in one direction for too long, so I thought it reasonable to let it swing just a little further past center to make up for the long imbalance.) I feel it's important to tell the stories of people who can't speak for themselves anymore, especially when much of their truth was silenced in life.
   "Another thing worth mentioning about this project: Our parent company has a vested interest in the preservation of American Heritage. However small a piece, Billy is part of that heritage, and I feel that telling a story with the purpose of setting the record straight or shining a more truthful light on history is both a noble venture, and very much in step with our values as a company. 
   "The hardest part about this whole thing has been telling this story in 30 minutes. In my dream scenario, we expand this to a full length show and offer it to a larger audience in the future. I'd love the chance to tell the whole story."
—Ken Korpi


   At the end of the day, I think Bonney nailed the problem.

"There's no money in it."

—Billy the Kid

Friday, March 15, 2024

Duck Walking Down Through History

 March 15, 2024

   When I am looking at old images from the Southwest frontier I am often struck with how modern they appear to be. Case in point.

Daily Whip Out:

"Duck Walking Mariachi On Canal Street

In Nogales, Sonora"

(circa 1902)


   The designation of DWO is an indication that I have tweaked the image, ever so slightly, to make my point. Here is the original photo:


   But still, it's a pretty convincing point, don't you think? Of course, this is the guy who invented the duck walk in our country.

Chuck Berry's Duck Walk

(reversed to show the similarity)

   As for the history of the instruments these two Sonoran street musicians are playing, here is what the foremost border musician-historian tells me:

   "One of these high-hatted fellow is playing an
harpa grande, a thirty two string diatonic harp usually made of cedar. Historically the harpist played the bass line with his left hand and the melody with the right. The other fellow is playing a guitarrón (big guitar) which provides bass in mariachi ensembles. There are smaller harps (about the size of Irish harps) favored in Sonora by Yaqui groups. Remember, all of this is violin driven music. Indigenous Mexicans were, and are, very musical. In the 16th century they were introduced to European string instruments including the harp. Guitar and violins were not quite invented yet, but guitar like instruments and violin like instruments were. Harps are central to Jarocho music in eastern (think Vera Cruz) Mexico. Big concert mariachis are using harps more often as sound equipment has improved."

—Greg Scott, Nogales, Arizona

   All of the above is true, some of my part—the DWO—is leaned on, which only goes to prove. . .

"The only thing new in this world, is the history you don't know."

—Harry Truman

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Dusty Enough For Ya Alice?

 March 14, 2024

   I was thinking about all the crazy guys I have known who actually made something of themselves. Here are some cats who were starting out when I was.

The Cortez High School Earwigs, 1964

      Of course, we all know what happened to the preacher's son, Vincent Furnier (middle).

   Another mild obsession of mine is, well, you know. . .

Daily Whip Out: "From Out of The Dust"

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Rider"

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Storm Rolling"

   I know what you're thinking.

Dusty Enough For Ya?

   Okay, one more.

Dusty Springfield

      Okay, I lied.

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Devil Apache"

   Yes, Apaches were very superstitious about dust devils and hated getting caught up in them. And, yes, Vince Furnier from Cortez High School took on the stage name Alice Cooper.

"Willie B. Rude? Well, will he?"

—Old Historian Name Joke from an upcoming Classic Gunfight

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

It's Coming: The Diary of A Daily Whip Out

 March 13, 2024

   Still digging out from the mucho events of last weekend.

The Casa Molina Boys

   Me and The Boys—Dr. John Langellier, me and Stuart Rosebrook—at Casa Molina on North Campbell in Tucson last Thursday night. When it comes to history and the problems in the current culture, we solved some life, I tell you.

   Great to be back in the studio. Gave a go at a couple boards lying around. Thought I could improve them.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"The Mexicali Stud In A Dust Storm"

   After being chased through the pouring rain and trudging through innumerable soggy slews after the failed Northfield, Minnesota bank raid by the James-Younger Gang, Cole Younger was captured and it turned out he had 11 wounds, including a bullet that lodged near his right eye. When they inspected and dressed his wounds in Madelia, Minnesota and they took his shoes off, well, because of the constant slog, all his toenails fell off.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Cole Younger Sheds His Toenails"


Diary of A Daily Whip Out

   I'm developing a series of videos with a Go Pro on my head, so you can finally see the development—from scratch to completion—of a Daily Whip Out, like the ones above. One warning: there may be some swearing involved.

Daily Whip Out Logo

"You know what's kind of cool? Realizing you're not cool and being cool with it."

—G-Paw Ha ha

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Apache Standoff

 March 12, 2024

   Had a great weekend. A few highlights.

The Giant Cowskull at Amado

   Both Stuart and I ordered new custom hats at a legendary haberdashery on North Campbell.

Hat Crazy Amigos @ Arizona Hatters

   We had dinner at El Corral on River Road on Friday night with three of our best writers and solved some of the biggest challenges we have before us in the publishing world.

El Corral Neon

   Back to Amado and researching the William B. Rude vs. Apache dustup. Were there 100 Apaches, or were there 30? Here's what I believe.

Somewhere about here the fight happened.

   And, after a few hours walking where they walked it was time for refreshment.

Tres Hombres de Bacanora, Sonora

   And, finally. . .

Five Takeaways From The Tucson

Festival of Books

1. People want new stories. I heard from several readers that the Tom Mix cover story was a welcome relief from the same ol' same ol'.

2. "The Old West" is an anachronism and should be banished from our vocabulary. It sounded accurate a half century ago, but now it's just old because it is, well, old.

3. We need to expand our coverage into the 1950s and probably beyond. When I was a kid the Western frontier we celebrate was a half century in the past, now the 1950s era is a half century away and it's time to move the needle.

4. We need rollicking stories. People are sick and tired of the angst and whining. We need to stay away from the overly scholarly—read that gender and racially divisive subjects. Enough already.

5. We need more levity, i.e. humor. Many readers told me they love Truth Be Known and quite a few told me it is their favorite department. Enough griping already. Le't laugh and let's have some fun!

"Have more than you show, speak less than you know."
—William Shakespeare