As I write and read about political and musical matters I am always learning something new. Here are two things I just learned about at 72!
What counting slaves as 3/5 of a person in the Constitution really meant!
The first political thing I learned came via the book Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Livitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.. I just finished the book.a few days ago. It’s really a terrific read. It’s a book anyone who’s concerned about the future of our country should read. I’ll write more about it later,
However, now I just want to discuss what counting slaves as 3/5 of a person really accomplished for the southern states. It’s the first time anyone really explained the effect of that action to me!
The counting of slaves as 3/5 of a person meant that for every 5 slaves a plantain owner had they counted as three people for representation in the House of Representatives. As a result even though New York had a larger white population than Virginia, when you added the slave population in Virginia to their total they received a larger number of representatives! Overall the net effect is that the southern states representation was 25% greater than the more populated Northern states.
So once again Southern states benefited from owning slaves, while the slaves suffered! And yes Southerners should feel guilt about that!
The Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) by the Doors Came From Where?
The musical thing I learned was the origin of The Doors song “Alabama Song”.
I wasn’t a big Doors fan back in the day. However, I have heard “Alabama Song” countless times on the radio.Additionally, the song is on their Absolutely Live album . I didn’t know it was on their debut album The Doors, until I bought the album at Goodwill last year. It’s side.1 track 5, if you care.
Anyway last night, when I was writing The Folk Revival post,I discovered that Dave Van Ronk and the Chad Mitchell Trio had covered the song. And did so well before The Doors debut album!
Later I found out more about the “Alabama Song” at Wikipedia….
The “Alabama Song”—also known as “Moon of Alabama”, “Moon over Alabama”, and “Whisky Bar”—is an English version of a song written by Bertolt Brecht and translated from German by his close collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in 1925 and set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play Little Mahagonny. It was reused for the 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny……More at Wikipedia
Who knew! Not me! You can find out more about The Doors Version of “Alabama Song” at Wikipedia
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” landedo The Doors a Contract
I also learned that it was their cover of “The Alabama Song that landed them a contract here’s how that came about
From Medium…
.….When they began a months-long gig at Hollywood’s Whisky a Go Go in May 1966, the Doors were still without a record deal. Their unpredictable, drugged-out live shows scared off many label executives. Jac Holzman of Elektra eventually signed the Doors, but not before attending a few shows with his top producer, Paul Rothchild. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek told Rockmine that one song especially convinced Holzman.
“It did take him one or two times before he was convinced that the band was worthy of being an Elektra Records recording artist . . . they had Love, they had Paul Butterfield . . .
“I guess what did it for him was when he heard the ‘Whisky Bar,’ when he heard the ‘Alabama Song,’ he thought, “Oh, these guys are okay, they have some historical sense about them.’” Read More at Medium
Here are four versions of the “Alabama Song” (The Doors win hands down! Don’y you think?
