Country Showdown

 May 20, 2024

   As bad as things seem these days, I'm here to tell you that in the Sixties it was just as bad, if not worse. One big difference, though, is we mostly duked it out on vinyl.

Country Showdown

    Jukebox Politics Sixties Style.

"There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear. There's a man with a gun over there, tellin' me I got to beware. . ."

"I read about some squirrely guy who claims he just don't believe in fightin,' an' I wonder just how long the rest of us can count on bein' free. They love our milk an' honey, but they preach about some other way of livin', when they're runnin' down my country, hoss, they're walkin' on the fightin' side of me."

Redneck Mothers

"And it's up against the wall, redneck mother. A mother who has raised her son so well. He's 34 and drinkin' in a honkytonk. Just kickin' hippie's asses and raisin' hell."

"We want War! Give us more War!!"

"We don't make a party out of lovin', we like holdin' hands and pitchin' wood. We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy, like the hippies out in San Francisco do. . ."

"No stop signs, speed limit, nobody's gonna slow me down. Like a wheel gonna spin it, nobody's gonna mess me around. . .Hey, mama, look at me, I'm on the way to the Promised Land, I'm on the Highway to Hell. . ."

Highway to Hellers Sans Sunscreen

   And, of course, it wasn't all angst and seriousness.

"Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy and I feel like lovin' you. . ."

"Rock's not dead. It just goes to bed at a more reasonable hour."

—Creem, the rock music magazine in an ad to revive the publication

Remembering The Late, Great Frederick Nolan

May 20, 2024

   Someone kicked up this old blog entry from twenty years ago on the back end of our trip to Spain to visit Tommy who was going to school in Valencia, Spain. We took a car trip to Almeria where the Spaghetti Westerns were filmed and also up to Alhambra and further up to Toledo and back to Cuenca and Madrid. Here we are on the way home when Kathy almost got arrested. 

January 2, 2004
Kathy and I got home last night at midnite. Deena is still in Spain and will return on Sunday. She and Tomboy wanted to spend New Year’s Eve in Valencia (having seen first hand how the Spanish party, they are probably still going at it).

Frederick Nolan

(1931-2022)

Kathy and I flew from Valencia into Heathrow on New Year’s Eve and were picked up by author and friend Frederick Nolan in his classic, old style Mercedes. There were a couple of odd things: first, it was 3:30 in the afternoon and it was dark (I mean nine at night kind of dark) and second, someone had ripped out his “petrol controls” and glued them onto the wrong side of the dash. Now everyone knows that Brits drive on the left, but until you actually see the phenom it’s quite unsettling. Against my better judgement I got in on the driver’s side (American) and sat there as Fred motored out into the gloomy darkness on the freakin’ wrong side of the road! Even more unsettling, was the fact that everyone else was coming at us from the other wrong side. In England, a right turn is the dangerous one, the left one a piece of cake. Like the Spanish, the Brits also love the traffic circle and have even added a second layer to some of them to make it more interesting. Fred tried to explain to me the nuiance of the outer and inner rings as we shot through one of these like some upside down dancer in a murky mirror, but it was beyond me. Besides I had to fight the overwhelming urge to grab the steering wheel and get the beast over to the right side of the road.

Got to Fred and Heidi’s cozy and historic home tucked into the vast, lush and very wet English countryside of Chalfont St. Giles (not to be mistaken for Chalfont St. Peters, or something like that, which is nearby).

Like Spain, England is steeped in history and it oozes from every nook and cranny. Not far from Fred and Heidi’s is a barn made with the wood from the Mayflower. Yes, the boat, not the moving company. Ozzie Osborn flipped his ATV just over yonder hillock and Four Weddings And A Funeral used the neighboring Georgian-historic-style town which looks exactly like Williamsburg, but it’s the real deal.

We had tea at about four in the English tradition complete with silver tray, dainty cups and a crackling fire in the fireplace. A sumptuous dinner followed at seven, complete with vegetables from Heidi’s garden. Over wine and more wine, we solved most of the World’s problems.

Speaking of which, the papers are quite feisty over there. When Bush made his secret trip to Iraq over Thanksgiving, the Independent (Fred’s fave broadsheet) ran this headline: THE TURKEY HAS LANDED.

The next morning, Fred got us to Heathrow, Terminal 4 at 11 and that’s when everything fell apart. As we checked in, the British Airlines agent told us our luggage was not on our flight and we needed to go to terminal 1 to pick it up and bring it back. We thought this was odd, considering the distance (it’s fifteen minutes by car to the other terminals because they built terminal 4 on the other side of the runway). Well, we descended into the bowels of the earth (actually it was lighter down there than it was on the surface), got on a train, made it to terminal 1, found Iberia airlines, made the changes with forty minutes to spare, but when we tried to go back we ended up in downtown London and flat-out missed our flight. In the ensuing melee, Kathy came this close to getting arrested exactly like Adam Sandler in Anger Management, but that’s a story for tomorrow. I need to take a nap.

“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.”
—Peter Ustinov

Maynard Dixon In The Cross Lighting Blind Lemon Jefferson In The Cross Hatching

 May 19, 2024

   Sometimes I am sitting with Kathy watching TV and I see this.

Maynard Cross Lighting #2

   Other times, I am at band practice and I see this:

Blind Lemon Jefferson

by R. Crumb

   Thanks to my Razz band mate "Rooster" Rob Mathiasch for gifting me the excellent book, "R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country." So dang cool. And, it's going to come in handy at the show on Friday when I do a partial list of the all time greats: Jaybird Coleman, Peg Leg Howell, "Dock" Boggs, Al Hopkins and his Buckle Busters, Frank Blevins and his Tar Heel Rattlers, Hoyt Ming and his Pep Steppers, Uncle Dave Macon and his Fruit-Jar Drinkers, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers.

Gid Tanner Sans Any Skillet Lickers

Of course, you know his famous song. . .

"Ya Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Around"

—By Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers

A Machete In Mexico And Kate's Odd Travels With Doc Holliday

 May 18, 2024

   A machete scabbard on a Free's saddle.

Daily Whip Out: "Mickey Free's Saddle" 

   Allegedly from the sketchbook of "Freddy" Remington, circa 1888, done for the graphic novel version of the search for the Apache Kid, 2008.

Well, was it?

   I had fun with this whimsical Sam Elliott illustration which ran in True West magazine a couple years ago.

Unpacking The Doc & Kate at Gillette Mystery

   As I related yesterday, Doc Holliday's feisty paramour, Kate, told a story, late in life, about how the two of them traveled from Prescott as far as Gillette, where she decided she had enough of the Earps and was going to go on to Globe and Doc, she claimed, continued on to Tombstone. She implies they split at this location. The problem with this story is, based on the maps of the day, there really isn't a route from Gillette to Globe, except by continuing on to Phoenix. So, the two of them would have ridden together to Phoenix and then she would have gone east to Superior and Globe, while Doc would have continued south to Tucson and then out to Tombstone. It is possible to go from Globe to Tombstone, but it all seems odd. She makes it pretty clear they split at Gillette. 

   Here is an excellent map by Tom Jonas showing various stage and military routes, with Gillette at the bottom, as they existed in 1880.

Military and Stage Routes To And From Prescott

   And, here is an excerpt from Stuart Rosebrook's thesis on travel from Prescott to Phoenix:

   "In Prescott, in 1880, the Southern Pacific Stage left every day at 5 in the morning arriving in Phoenix about 30 hours later. The road was a rough cut, following the natural contours of the landscape and travel on it was always an adventure. The stage would stop along the route for fresh horses, water and food. When travelers arrived in Phoenix in 1880 the would disembark at M.L Peralta's, a wholesale and retail store at the corner of Washington and Central. The stage passengers, covered and choked with dust, thirsty and hungry, bones and bodies sore and aching, were glad just to be alive. Before leaving Phoenix on the return stage at 7 in the morning, the traveler could stay at the Maricopa Hotel, have a drink, smoke a cigar, throw the dice at the Tiger Saloon, eat fresh oysters at any time of day or night at the Chop House restaurant, and buy a new suit at Peralta's."

—Arizona Gazette, Nov 1, 1880; Nov 2, 1880; Nov 6, 1880; Nov 19, 1880; Jan. 3, 1881. 

   It's also interesting to note that in 1880 Phoenix had a population of 2,453.

   The bigger problem with Kate's story is that not only did Doc not go to Tombstone at that time, but he in fact took a stage from Prescott back to Las Vegas, New Mexico—a 536 mile, 86 hour excursion!—to settle up on a debt and support a friend in jail. 

   Then Doc came back to Prescott by the same stage line and shows up in the May 1880 census, and then several months after that he finally goes to Tombstone arriving in September of that year.

   So, what to make of the Kate story? She definitely was with Doc in Prescott and she did go to Globe, while he eventually ended up in Tombstone, where they got back together briefly at Fly's Boarding House and she was there on October 26, 1881. Perhaps unravelling this weird traveling is as simple as Kate left Doc and went to Globe and the Gillette episode was misremembered, or happened at a different time? Or, she in fact stayed there one time and thought it might enhance her story?

Daily Whip Out:

"Doc Even More Enhanced"

"Frankly, I wouldn't trust that woman any farther than I could throw her."

—Old Dentist Saying

Big Nose Kate And Doc Holliday

 May 17, 2024

   Nice walk this morning. Still cool out. Did have one set back.

"You go on, I'm pooped" 

(this is a joke, Uno runs circles around me)

     Came back to the studio. Couldn't leave well enough alone.

Daily Tweaked Whip Out:

"Doc Refined"

   We're still wrestling with Doc and Kate splitting up at Gillette sometime in 1880. Here's how she remembered it late in life.

"Doc and I stayed in Prescott. In a short time Doc received a letter from Wyatt Earp stating that Tombstone was very lively and that Doc could do well there as there was no dentist there. A few days after the arrival of this letter, we started out together. I didn't go to Tombstone. I said to Doc, 'If you are going to tie yourself to the Earp Brothers, go to it. I am going to Globe.' He said, 'All right, I will be in Globe in a few days too. I don't think I will like it in Tombstone anyway.' We got as far as Jillet [Gillette] together and had to stay over night (where the old Tip Top mills used to be). We had a time to find accommodations. There was no rooming house or any thing like it there. At last we went to the Superintendent, a Mr. Webber. He gave us a bed in his office. It was good bed too. There was a store there, and we had a kind of a breakfast next morning. We started out again : Doc to Tombstone and I to Globe. I didn't hear from Doc for some time. At last I received a letter telling me how well he was doing and asked me to visit him. I went on that visit, stayed three days also called on Mrs. Wyatt."

—Kate Cummings

   Lots to unpack here, but I'm done for the day. Analysis tomorrow.

"You're a Daisy if you do."

—Doc Holliday

Doc In Hell And Pre-Show Doubt

 May 16, 2024

   Eight days out. Who is ready?

Cody at Cryin' Coyote BBQ, that's who!

   Kathy and I met Carole and John Glenn at the Cryin' Coyote for lunch and I brought the owner, Cody, some Bozecards for the show and a poster which he proudly put up on his bulletin board. Great food and great seeing Carole.

   Freak storm blew in this morning over the Seven Sisters.

Storm Over The True West Bunkhouse

   We got maybe 15 drops.

   Meanwhile took a swing at Doc's grainy photograph from Prescott. Wanted to flesh him out a bit.

Daily Whip Out: "Doc In Hell"

   I can do better. Going to put a faro table in front of him. Gots to get him green!

   Sometimes the most perverse things make me happy. Take this ad that The Scottsdale Museum of the West ran in Cowboys & Indians.

   Yes, they ran our True West logo in their ad. This just tickles me to no end. By the way, the Tom Gilleon show is worth seeing. The guy is pushing the boundaries of art, especially Western Art.

"The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize."

—Robert Hughes

The Original Zane Brothers

 May 15, 2024

    I grew up with some very zany guys and it may surprise you to know that a good, solid portion of them hailed from the Hualapai tribe at Peach Springs (along with one Mojave, a cat named Moon). And, I am telling you, those guys were a laugh riot.

   As the story goes, the Zane goes way back. 

Daily Whip Out: "The Original Zane Brothers"

("Tootie" Alvarado, Squibe Whataname and Boxlip Darell, Sr., Truxton Canyon, Arizona Territory, 1897)

   When I was growing up, nobody would talk about these three ne'er-do-wells and with good reason. The Elders of the Hualapai Tribe disowned Squibe, the downtown coalition of Mohave County Hispanics In Business scrubbed Tootie's name off of their charter and everyone in Mohave County pretended they never knew Boxlip Darell Senior, or Junior. Personally, I loved them all because they sure knew how to make serious people everywhere really, really nervous.  

"When in doubt, go for the gag."

—Old Vaquero Saying 

Ten Days to Show Time, Baby!

 May 14, 2024

   We're ten days out from possibly the biggest show of my career. Yes, this 66 Kids Road Show in Prescott on May 24th, could be bigger than the legendary talent show at MCUHS in 1964 (we ended up at the State Fair Teen Pavilion in Phoenix!). Bigger than Rusty Petry's birthday party in 1965 (don't ask!), and, perhaps, a smidge bigger than that Saint Paddy's Day Parade float on Central Avenue in 1986 (78,000 people spread out over 23 city blocks).

New Year's Eve, Girl's Gym, MCUHS, 1964

(that's Ernie Dollarhide doing the Pony,

in the tan pants, mid-right)

   Meanwhile, here's a long story, a tad shorter: I recently did a Daily Whip Out based on a photo I took 22 years ago of a Native American friend, Flint Carney. I found it, about a month ago, while cleaning the garage and thought it had potential, so I scanned it and printed it out on my nifty Canon printer and then I painted over it and made a new background and gave the hat a taller crown. I posted it online and sent it to a guy I know who is currently out on tour and yesterday I got this back from him. 

   Okay, that works.

   Speaking of things that mystify, I just got a request: Are my art pieces available as NFT? Apparently that stands for Non-Fungible Tokens: "A non-fungible token is a digital identifier recorded in the blockchain. It cannot be copied, substituted, or changed. Non-fungible tokens validate the authenticity and ownership of a digital asset. Essentially, a non-fungible token is proof of ownership. This type of certificate is digital and cannot be altered due to the nature of blockchains."

   This is the craziest thing I have heard of in a long, long time. It's not real, but you own it on blockchain.

"In my day, you could walk into a store with $25 and walk out with six porterhouse steaks, two chickens, a case of beer, five bottles of wine, two loaves of bread and a gallon of milk. Can't do that today. Too many flippin' cameras."

—Tony Ventura

Cowboy Spirit With A Microphone Beat to Death

 May 13, 2024

   Our podcast engineer Stan Hustad wants a drawing of a cowboy using an old school microphone to use as a logo. Here's some rough sketches I came up with this morning for him to peruse.

Daily Whip Outs: "Cowboy Spirit Sketches"

   Then I tried a crazy version. . .

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Cowboy Spirit With A Microphone"

   Then Dan The Man took one of the sketches and did this. . .

Daily Dan the Man Whip Out:

"Cowboy Spirit Rough Layout"

   So, then I did a tighter version of that. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"Tighter Cowboy Spirit"

   So, Dan put that together like this. . .

Dan The Man's Final On Cowboy Spirit Logo

   And then Stan said, "What if we did something completely different? And I said, you mean something like this?

Daily Whip Out:

"Completely Different Cowboy Spirit"

   And then Dan The Man said. . .Okay, send me a high res version, which I did, then he came up with this. . .

Completely Different Cowboy Spirit Logo

And then, I said, okay, that was fun, but I'm done!

"Okay, I think we may have beat that to death."

—My Inner Artist Voice

Doc In Prescott The Gary Roberts Version

 May 12, 2024

   If you have been following along, we have some important, new information about Doc Holliday in Prescott, thanks to Brad Courtney and D. Sue Kissel. This new research will be covered in the next issue of The Tombstone Epitaph and also in True West magazine.

   In addition to this, I also queried the foremost expert on Doc Holliday, Gary Roberts, and he just responded and here is what he has to say:

   "Bob, You've got the chronology about right.  I say 'about right' because most of the dates are approximate.  Unfortunately, Kate didn't help much.  Her details are not very specific and sometimes are off by a few days or incorrect.  In the Mazzanovich version of her recollection, she said that when the Earp party left Las Vegas, New Mexico, for Prescott, Victorio's Warm Springs Apaches were raiding, and they camped for two days 'near the Zuni village close to the Arizona line.'  She said little else about the trip, but the travel was probably pretty slow for them.  It appears that they traveled in two wagons.  Jim and Bessie Earp had one wagon, and Wyatt and Mattie the other.  Kate said that she and Doc traveled in Wyatt's wagon.  It is probable that the party also had a small string of horses.  

   "On October 17, 1879, the Prescott Weekly Miner published a lengthy ad announcing the opening of the Star Line by John A. Walsh of Prescott, following a route from Prescott to Camp Verde, Beaver Head, Pine Spring, Brigham City, St. Joseph, Little Colorado, Horsehead Crossing, Fort Wingate, and 'intermediate places' to Santa Fe.'  The ad reported that passengers and express would travel from Prescott to Santa Fe in four days.  Walsh claimed his route was two days shorter than previous routes.  It also indicated that it would connect to points east at Las Vegas, 'via the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe' railroad which had reached Las Vegas.  The ad also claimed that the fare was $50 cheaper than any other route east.  It is possible that the Earps became aware of this route (given their familiarity with the Santa Fe railroad and Wells Fargo traffic) and the fact that Kate mentioned the Zuni village, which I assume was the Zuni Pueblo at Gallup and near Fort Wingate.  But it is safe to say that the Earps had joined Virgil in Prescott by mid or late October.  The Star Line is most likely the route Doc took when he returned to Las Vegas after Kate went to Gillette.

   "Kate seemed to think, based on her various writings, that when they split up at Gillette, Doc went to Tombstone.  She seems to have been unaware of Doc's return to Las Vegas.  She did mention the letter that Doc received from Wyatt asking him to come to Tombstone.  She obviously had left by the time Doc returned from Las Vegas and moved into the boarding house.  This supports the idea that Doc took Kate to Gillette sometime during the winter of 1879-80.  I'm working on this, hoping I can narrow it down somehow.  The fact that Kate said that her reason for going to Globe was the hold that Wyatt had on Doc is troubling, though.  

   "Doc was back in Las Vegas by early March, 1880, to settle affairs.  He arrived in time for J. J. Webb's trial, took care of a couple of legal matters and had a non-lethal encounter with Charles Wright before heading back to Prescott in May 1880.   Doc did not rush to Tombstone to join Wyatt Earp.  He lingered in Prescott through the summer and made his move to Tombstone in September.  He may actually have been recruited to join other Dodge Citians, including Bat Masterson and Luke Short, who had become involved in a local conflict with rival gamblers called 'the Slopers.'  Three weeks after he arrived, he was already involved in the conflict with one of the Slopers' leader, Johnny Tyler."

—Gary L. Roberts, author of "Doc Holliday: The Life & Legend"

   Meanwhile, here's my take on the Slopers.

"If God will let me live long enough, he will see me."

—Doc Holliday, responding to Kate's message that Ike Clanton has been looking for him on October 26, 1881

BBB Monoprint:

"The Doctor Will See You Now"

Marshall Trimble Comes Up With More Stories And Amy Gauthier Saves The Day

 May 11, 2024

   I just emailed Marshall Trimble and told him to start finding some new stories to tell, or, start making up some new ones. Why? Because Dan The Man already sent me this mock up for volume III!

    Here is Marshall's reply: "That's quite a cover. Reminds me of Crystal La Tush, a waitress at the 66 Cafe.  I still have a bunch stored up but I can always come up with more."

    And, to think we haven't even premiered the second volume. . .

   But never fear, you can pick up your copy right here.

   Meanwhile, on the Kid front.

"Billy at Midnight On The Deadliest Street

In America"

(framed by Oktam "Aka" Jumaniyozov)

   This is just one of a pack of new Billy the Kid artwork that will be in The Resurrection of the Ellis Store Art Show on July 12, in Lincoln, New Mexico. Come see the new Kids and come see Amy, the savior of the historic site.

Amy Gauthier

" Come for the charm, stay for the Charmer."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Beach Time Bingocito

 May 10, 2024

   With regret, we had to leave our private beach this morning, but not before Uno caught a couple Zs in front of our house sign.

Uno Catches A Couple Zs at Casita Calypsito

   Drove into town and filled up with Pemex gasoline in Rocky Point which cost $84 for a tank of gas.

   But hey, it was full serve.

   We also took the time to refind a groovy little joint that Thomas Charles found several years ago—pre-Pandemic—and there it was, tucked away.

Tacos El Grillo in Rocky Point

Worth the drive all by itself!

   Wish I could say the trip was all fun, but Uno did get kicked out of a resort.

Uno After Being 86'd from a nearby

Beach Resort for "appetizer tray vandalism"

   Those trays were unattended and I was distracted by typical Zonie behavior.

   On the way back we passed this abandoned way station. 

Uno Yucking It Up With Way Station

Collapse In Background

   Man, these failed, collapsing buildings intrigue me. What secrets they must hold. The hopes and dreams shattered by lack of income, or what?

"Whatever it is you're seeking won't come in the form you're expecting."

—Haruki Murakami

Street Tacos vs. Siesta Tiempo vs. Sombreros Central

 May 9, 2024

   A routine has taken hold of us at Playa Dorada and it goes like this. A walk on the deserted beach in the morning.

Low Tide Running Room

   At low tide, it's probably 100 yards to the water and this gives a certain dog a little running room. Bringing along a green tennis ball probably doesn't hurt anything.

Green Tennis Ball Keep Away Anyone?

   In the early afternoon, when the tide comes up, we drive in to Rocky Point for some street tacos.

Street Tacos A La Carte

   Of course I always look in the store windows hoping to find a shop full of sombreros like these.

Sugarloaf Central

   But, alas, in forty years of searching I haven't found that place yet, but hope springs eternal.

High Tide

   Then it's back out to the VRBO where we celebrate the tide going out with this little ritual.

El Tiempo por Siesta Es Todo El Tiempo

(It's Nap Time All The Time!)

   All this vegging does me a world of good. This afternoon, I thought of two new story ideas between naps.

"If you want a new idea, read an old book."

—Ivan Pavlov

Uno Mexican Bandito

 May 8, 2024

   Another quiet day at the beach, which is still very abandoned. Met two dogs and two people in a mile and a half walk up the beach. Here is the view last night on our walk.

Sunset on Playa Dorado

   This morning, we were out for a walk on same said beach when a Federale stopped us and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but that dog is too handsome to be on the beach." When I protested we were the only ones on the beach, El Jefe arrested me and put me in the Hoosegow (Kingman slang for the Spanish term Juzgado, which means "court of justice"). One thing for certain was it was clearly a dark jail. That night Uno broke me out of the hoosegow and he's been on the run ever since.

"El Bandito Uno"

created by the Madman Rob Mathiash,

a guitar player in the new and improved

Razz Rand

   Some of the above may have been enhanced for humor purposes.

   If you've noticed how erratic most services are today, you might be inspired by Kathy Sue's latest mantra which is to say to every service worker she encounters: "Thanks for showing up for work."

   Yes, it's getting a little sloppy out there.

   And, finally, in case we have been unaware just how far things have deteriorated:

"What [will] a newspaper movie look like today? A bunch of individuals at their apartments, surrounded by sad houseplants, using Slack."

—Mike Isikoff, investigative reporter at Yahoo