it's your birthday!

While planning a 4th of July post, I looked over what was relevant for the occasion and realized over the years I've pretty much already posted the best stuff. So, consider this a collection of highlights.

Jean Shepherd was an amazing storyteller, humorist, writer and radio host. His show ran on WOR in New York from 1956 until 1977. He's probably best known to modern day audiences for the film A Christmas Story.

Shepherd's account of a memorable Fourth of July, Ludlow Kissell & The Dago Bomb That Struck Back, was first published in Playboy magazine (the origin of the illustration above) and later as part of In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, a collection of Shep's short stories. Thanks to The Jean Shepherd Project, here's Jean's first reading of Ludlow Kissell, recorded live on WOR.

"What is there about a solid molar rattling explosion that sets the blood tingling and brings the roses to the cheeks? There are muddle headed souls who will tell you over and over that man is basically a peaceful and quiet creature, destined ultimately to while away his golden days strumming lutes, penning odes and watching birds. I have never yet witnessed the turtle preparing to ignite the portentous fuse of a cherry bomb. No - it remained for man to concoct black powder from the innocent elements of the Earth and ultimately to split the atom, all in pursuit of that healing bomb, that thundering report."

     Jean Shepherd: Ludlow Kissell & The Dago Bomb - 10MB


D. Boon sang about a Fourth of July spent drunk on a Mexican beach filled with white boy guilt, one of my favorite songs about the day.

The Minutemen: I Felt Like A Gringo - 3MB

Allen Ginsberg addresses the America he sees from looking in the television set.

Allen Ginsberg: America - 10MB

Get down without constrictions - isn't that what it's all about? Funkadelic recommends dancing your way to freedom.

Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove - 12MB

Happy Birthday, America.