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Muy Fifí

Ersi Arvizu is "Muy Fifí" on Ry Cooder's latest CD, Chavez Ravine. I don't know why, but the song and the CD are not available on iTunes. You can hear a snippet here, and of course at Amazon. According to this review on Rootsworld, Cooder tracked down Arvizu, who had earlier sung with the groups The Sisters and El Chicano, in Arizona, where she was working as a Fedex driver.

Posted on September 24, 2005, in Heavy Rotation.

Hominy Murder Update

I'm way late in getting to this, but I wanted to post it anyway, especially since the actual details of Rebecca Clements' muder are so different than what I first made up on reading the early enigmatic account, which included the erroneous report that Clements was pregnant.

Clements, who was gunned down in cold blood as she waited tables in the Hominy, OK, Diner, was apparently murdered because of a real-estate dispute and a letter-to the-editor in the local newspaper. The man charged with her murder, Roy Westbrook, rented a house to Clements' sister and was having some disupte with his tenant.

Editor & Publisher talked to Ramona Brown, the general manager of the local newspaper, and got the story:

According to Brown, Westbrook spray-painted the phrase "get out" on a house rented by Clements' sister, who apparently owed Westbrook money. This prompted Clements to write the letter to the editor, which criticized prominent citizens for vandalism but did not mention Westbrook's name.

Once the letter was published, Westbrook, a prominent local citizen, appparently figured his best move was to head a pawn shop and buy a Glock. The full E&P story is here.

Posted on September 09, 2005, in Cross Country. Hominy Murder.

"She Asked Me Why. I Just Went On and Told Her"

Mississippi bluesman R. L. Burnside died a week ago Thursday, 9/1, at the age of 78. For the last dozen years or so, he recorded for Fat Possum, in Oxford. He was the real shit. Don't know him? Go listen (freely): "It's Bad You Know" and "Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down."

Here's the Guardian obit and an interview from 1999.

Take away my sin and give me grace.

Posted on September 09, 2005, in Mississippi.

links for 2005-09-08

• stevenberlinjohnson.com: Bush's Perfect Storm
  How Katrina brought the Bush Admin's incompetence home for all to see
  (tags: Bush Katrina)

Posted on September 07, 2005, in Delicious links.