Podcasts about hatfields

It's the first Monday in May, and the Met Gala isn't the only drama worth dissecting. We're covering Gaga's record-breaking Brazil performance and a string of celebrity family feuds—from the Beckhams to the Richards sisters and beyond. Also on deck: Kentucky Derby takes, Cowboy Carter ticket manifestations, and wondering… is it weird to fake a British accent for an entire season of Vanderpump Villa?⏱ Timestamps:Yappin' about ‘The Met Gala' (0:17)KB's Pop Culture whiplash rant (8:05)Tan's Pop Culture whiplash rant (9:18)Kentucky kids on the Kentucky Derby (11:07)Vanderpump Villa Recap -Hulu (11:50)Can I ask you a question? (14:13)Another Simple Favor on Amazon Prime (17:10)Olivia, Aurora and Sophia Culpo's silly sissy drama (19:50)Sibling Drama (24:48)The Hatfields and McCoys (29:38)The Richards Sisters Squabble (30:19)Beckham Family feud? (33:11)How long should a family feud last? (35:16)THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING / RATING & REVIEWING!! Make sure to follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ KB's personal IG: ⁠⁠@Cunningham_gram⁠⁠ & don't forget to follow our ⁠⁠YouTube channel⁠

Gareth Williams, MD of Hatfields Motor Group joins us again, in the second instalment of his two part interview. With the changes in Jaguar in recent years, Gareth and his team have had to adapt, he elaborates on  their new focus and their aims for the future.   Also, as Hatfields now offer Omoda & Jeacoo, Gareth is well placed to discuss with us, the future of established brands compared to the offering from China. Then finally, we look at electric vehicles and the opportunities they offer now and beyond. Here are the highlights: {00:47} Changes in Jaguar  {05:50} New Focus {12:12} Chinese Brands {21:09} Forward thinking {24:13} Don't say it, do it {26:50} The opportunities electric vehicles offer {39:36} You can't have responsibility without authority About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words ‘real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

Send us a textDuring this 161 year rivalry, the figurehead Lê emperor watches helplessly as two prominent families who helped reclaim the throne from the Mạc usurpers vie for power. A prelude to the later division of Vietnam in the 20th century, the two halves of Vietnam (at the time Đại Việt or Great Viet) would continue to march forward, or in the case of the Nguyễn, march south, into history until the Tây Sơn uprising. Who was the winner amongst these cousins? Let's hash it out.

Don Wildman uncovers a British plot to assassinate George Washington, investigates the bizarre trial of a rooster that hatched an egg and examines America's most notorious family feud. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you were to think of the quintessential family feud that first thought for most Americans is the Hatfields and McCoys.  Two families whose fame is solely based on hating each other.  While their feud is famous, the actual details of it are not.  Most of us only know that McCoys hate Hatfields and Hatfields hate McCoys, not why that might be the case.  The podcast this week dives into the feud, what started it, what happed during its height, and what eventually became of it. Spoiler alert... they get along ok these days.

Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia.   Today is Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. Rural Development grants fund broadband expansion in three West Virginia counties…the New River Gorge's Grandview area lives up to its name…and a WVDNR official shares how discarded real Christmas trees are recycled as habitat for fish…on today's daily304. #1 – From METRO NEWS – Residents in three West Virginia counties will soon have access to expanded broadband internet service thanks to a pair of USDA Rural Development grants. The $30 million grant offered through the Rural Development RECONNECT program will expand the service in Nicholas, Hardy, and Hampshire counties, serving more than 7,000 individuals. The Nicholas County project was granted to the Nicholas County Commission and CityNet will serve as the internet service provider. Hardy Telecommunication was the successful applicant and will be the ISP for the Hardy and Hampshire County project. “They know what they're doing and I think they'll be able to expand the access to high speed internet in these communities in a reasonable time frame,” said Ryan Thorn, state director of the U.S.D.A. Rural Development Authority. Read more: https://wvmetronews.com/2025/01/15/usda-program-allocates-30-million-for-broadband-expansion/   #2 – From WV EXPLORER – Perched more than 1,400 feet above the New River, the panoramic overlooks of the New River Gorge at Grandview offer views of the world-famous gorge at its widest and deepest. The rock outcrops, shaded by rhododendron, highlight why Grandview is one of West Virginia's must-see attractions and a crown-jewel of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The main overlook is wheelchair accessible and several hiking trails of varying difficulty wind through the area, offering scenic views. The park includes several playgrounds and picnic areas, and camping is available at Little Beaver State Park, about a 10-minute drive away. Nearby, the 1200-seat Cliffside Amphitheatre hosts the summer outdoor dramas “Hatfields and McCoys” and “Honey in the Rock.”  Check out wvtourism.com to learn more about the area and plan your Almost Heaven getaway. Read more: https://wvexplorer.com/2025/01/12/grandview-overlooks-new-river-gorge-widest-deepest/   #3 – From WV PUBLIC – With the holiday season come and gone, thousands of Christmas trees will be mulched or taken to the landfill. A program from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources aims to give our old decorations new life in local lakes and reservoirs.  Dustin Smith, fisheries biologist with the DNR, talks about the program and why old Christmas trees might be the perfect place for anglers to look for their next catch. “It's just an easy opportunity to use something which is going to be thrown away. But we can utilize them in some of our reservoirs, specifically to add woody habitat,” he said. This year the WVDNR operated two Christmas tree dropoff locations -- one in the northern part of the state and one in the southern part -- and Smith says he anticipates that will continue next holiday season. Read more: https://wvpublic.org/christmas-trees-get-second-life-as-fish-habitats/   Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304. The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo.  That's all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.  

It's time to play Family Feud! In the ninth episode of Season 8 of The Mystery Files with The Feud of The Hatfields and The McCoys! Please give us a follow or subscribe to keep up with every episode! Please rate us 5 stars and review us on your preferred podcast streaming service, it really helps! Follow us on Instagram: @TheMysteryFiles_ Merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-mystery-files-podcast/ Produced by Logan LaMaster, Tiffany Walker, and Benjamin Volk. Edited by Tiffany Walker Theme Music by Benjamin Volk linktree.com/themysteryfiles --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/themysteryfiles/support

  Move over, Hatfields and McCoys—America's got a new feud to gawk at. Except this time, there are no moonshine stills, shotgun standoffs, or Appalachian drama. Sadly for Democrats, this is the modern age, where political pettiness is played out on camera; with forced applause and awkward grins as the soundtrack. The players? Joe and Jill Biden vs. Kamala Harris and her “Second Gentleman” (because nothing says modern marriage like giving your husband a title that sounds like a rejected superhero name). The scene? The Kennedy Center Honors, where the Bidens pulled a move so cold Frosty the Snowman had to put on a sweater. Newsbreak https://www.newsbreak.com/share/3708714498817-the-bidens-ignore-harris-and-her-husband-at-kennedy-center-honors-event?s=a3&share_destination_id=MTk0ODc1NzU2LTE3MzM4Njk0MDYzMzA=&pd=0DBg5MN1&hl=en_US&send_time=1733869406&actBtn=bottomBar&_f=app_share&trans_data=%7B%22platform%22%3A1%2C%22cv%22%3A%2224.48.0%22%2C%22languages%22%3A%22en%22%7D&sep=ns_foryou_model_exp_24q4-v9%2Cns_foryou_blend_exp_24q4-v1%2Cns_foryou_rank_exp_24q4-v8%2Cns_local_strategy_24q4_exp-v7%2Cns_foryou_recall_exp_24q4-v8%2Cns_push_exp_rt_bucketv12-v6: "President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden gave a cold shoulder to Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, as they entered the 47th Kennedy Center Honors to an applauding crowd. The president and first lady were seen on video not making eye contact or acknowledging the vice president and her husband as they walked past them and waved alongside them. The vice president and second gentleman remained effusive and applauded the Bidens during the standing ovation despite the first couple ignoring them." First of all, can we take a moment to appreciate the power of passive aggression? The Bidens basically perfected the art of the social snub. No glares, no side comments—just pure, unadulterated “I don't see you, Kamala” energy. That takes skill, or maybe just years of marriage practice. Still, when Joe and Jill Biden were announced, Kamala and hubby clapped like trained seals. Nevertheless, let's hit rewind. This tension didn't start at the Kennedy Center. It's been brewing since at least Veteran's Day, when Jill Biden gave Kamala the cold shoulder so sharp it could've sliced through steel. What's the beef? The plot to get rid of Joe. During the period where Democrats contemplated dumping Joe Biden, Harris quietly circled the Oval Office like a hawk eyeing a wounded rabbit. Everybody knows that she had been "read in" on the coup conspiracy". Remember, this partnership wasn't exactly built on a solid foundation of trust and camaraderie. Biden and Harris weren't teammates; they were co-workers forced into the same cubicle. And just like in any dysfunctional office, one person inevitably starts plotting their takeover the moment the boss trips over his own shoelaces—metaphorically or otherwise. Kamala's mistake? She forgot to be subtle. Harris was to Brutus as Biden was to Caesar. And on the https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/21/politics/fec-biden-harris-campaign-account/index.html, Harris lured Biden into the chambers and it was knives out. This feud isn't just personal—it's deeply ironic. These two were supposed to be the ultimate DEI power couple, the living embodiment of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” And yet, their partnership has ended not with a bang but with a whimper—followed by a very public cold shoulder. DEI brought them together; meritocracy is tearing them apart. And let's not ignore the racial subtext here. If a Republican president had pulled this move on a Black female VP, the media would be spinning like a carnival ride. But with Joe Biden? Crickets. If anyone's keeping score at home, this is the same Joe Biden who gave Hunter a free pass on more crimes than your average Bond villain. But Kamala? She's not getting so much as a sympathy hug. So what's next for these two? The Bidens are on their way out, with Joe clutching his “most pardons handed out to family members” trophy. Kamala, meanwhile, is back to being a political punchline, waiting for someone—anyone—to take her seriously. As for the Second Gentleman? Let's just hope Doug has a good therapist on speed dial. The irony is almost poetic. Two political climbers brought together by convenience, undone by their own egos. It's like watching a reality TV show where everyone loses. In the end, the Biden-Harris feud won't go down in history like the Hatfields and McCoys. There won't be ballads sung or documentaries made. But for now, it's the perfect blend of comedy and tragedy to keep us entertained—until the next scandal comes along.  Subscribers and BSC I did my first podcast for Subscribers and I must say it is one of my best. Thanks Bill for reminding me that we needed to kick that off. Talk about a special broadcast. Only 14 people will get to hear it. But it's 14 of the finest people on the planet. I had a BLAST putting that together for you. For members of The Back Stage Club, get ahold of me, and we will make the broadcast available to you as well. I will do at least one of those every couple of weeks (minimum), and on BSC, we post things as we develop them. They come more in batches, but I will work on more consistency there too. I have observations from Japan, Mexico, and soon to be Thailand along with pictures and videos. Also, I found the video I made with Justice Thomas, so expect me to post that soon.     We Saved the Republic: The Fragile Triumph Over Chaos The last election preserved the constitutional republic we hold dear, narrowly steering the nation away from the precipice of destruction. Over the past 16 years, Democrats have spent 12 tearing at the fabric of the nation, creating cultural and political divides so wide that chaos seemed inevitable. A Harris presidency would have only accelerated this unraveling. Thankfully, we avoided that scenario. But the specter of such leadership reminds us how close we came to disaster. A Nation at Rest—or at Least at Pause Despite the dire warnings from the left, America hasn't plunged into chaos since Trump's return to the political arena. Recent events suggest a marked shift in the national climate. Consider Daniel Penny's recent exoneration—a moment that could have ignited protests led by Black Lives Matter. Yet, the country remained calm, unmoved by the provocations that once would have led to streets filled with unrest. This shift raises an interesting question: Are we finally moving past the endless state of cultural panic? Can figures like Darren Wilson reclaim their careers in law enforcement, or could Derek Chauvin see his conviction re-evaluated under a new climate of fairness? Perhaps, just perhaps, white America can finally lower the metaphorical "RED ALERT."Democracy vs. Republic: Are They What They Seem? According to a https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/05/14/more-than-half-of-countries-are-democratic/, as of 2017, 57% of the world's nations were considered democracies. But does this mean democracy is flourishing? By that measure, it may seem like global democracy is at a modern-day high. Yet, appearances can be deceiving. Many of these so-called democracies lack the principles that Americans associate with the term. Pew writes: Concern has been growing for the past several years about the https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Howe-28-4.pdf, and there is considerable https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/04/29/many-across-the-globe-are-dissatisfied-with-how-democracy-is-working/ with how democracy is working in practice. But public support for democratic ideals https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/04/29/many-across-the-globe-are-dissatisfied-with-how-democracy-is-working/, and by one measure, global democracy is at or near a modern-day high. As of the end of 2017, 96 out of 167 countries with populations of at least 500,000 (57%) were democracies of some kind, and only 21 (13%) were autocracies. Nearly four dozen other countries – 46, or 28% – exhibited elements of both democracy and autocracy. Broadly speaking, the share of democracies among the world's governments has been on an upward trend since the mid-1970s, and now sits just shy of its post-World War II record (58% in 2016). The totalitarian policies implemented during COVID-19 tell a different story. Lockdowns, mandatory vaccinations, and open-border policies—policies largely rejected by the people—showed how easily governments could abandon democratic ideals for autocratic actions.The Rise of Nationalism Across the globe, we're seeing a growing backlash. Immigration policies that once welcomed refugees have now become gateways for young, war-aged men aiming to establish caliphates within foreign nations. But the tides are turning. Countries are beginning to reclaim their national identities. Deportations of radicals have started, albeit slowly. Citizens demand leaders who prioritize cultural preservation over globalist agendas.  France has a long-standing history of legislation restricting Islamic clothing. In 2004, France banned religious Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-kevin-jackson-show--2896352/support.

[SEGMENT 1-1[ DEI Divorce: Biden-Harris   Move over, Hatfields and McCoys—America's got a new feud to gawk at. Except this time, there are no moonshine stills, shotgun standoffs, or Appalachian drama. Sadly for Democrats, this is the modern age, where political pettiness is played out on camera; with forced applause and awkward grins as the soundtrack. The players? Joe and Jill Biden vs. Kamala Harris and her “Second Gentleman” (because nothing says modern marriage like giving your husband a title that sounds like a rejected superhero name). The scene? The Kennedy Center Honors, where the Bidens pulled a move so cold Frosty the Snowman had to put on a sweater. Newsbreak reported: "President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden gave a cold shoulder to Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, as they entered the 47th Kennedy Center Honors to an applauding crowd. The president and first lady were seen on video not making eye contact or acknowledging the vice president and her husband as they walked past them and waved alongside them. The vice president and second gentleman remained effusive and applauded the Bidens during the standing ovation despite the first couple ignoring them." First of all, can we take a moment to appreciate the power of passive aggression? The Bidens basically perfected the art of the social snub. No glares, no side comments—just pure, unadulterated “I don't see you, Kamala” energy. That takes skill, or maybe just years of marriage practice. Still, when Joe and Jill Biden were announced, Kamala and hubby clapped like trained seals. Nevertheless, let's hit rewind. This tension didn't start at the Kennedy Center. It's been brewing since at least Veteran's Day, when Jill Biden gave Kamala the cold shoulder so sharp it could've sliced through steel. What's the beef? The plot to get rid of Joe. During the period where Democrats contemplated dumping Joe Biden, Harris quietly circled the Oval Office like a hawk eyeing a wounded rabbit. Everybody knows that she had been "read in" on the coup conspiracy". Remember, this partnership wasn't exactly built on a solid foundation of trust and camaraderie. Biden and Harris weren't teammates; they were co-workers forced into the same cubicle. And just like in any dysfunctional office, one person inevitably starts plotting their takeover the moment the boss trips over his own shoelaces—metaphorically or otherwise. Kamala's mistake? She forgot to be subtle. Harris was to Brutus as Biden was to Caesar. And on the Ides of July, Harris lured Biden into the chambers and it was knives out. This feud isn't just personal—it's deeply ironic. These two were supposed to be the ultimate DEI power couple, the living embodiment of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” [SEGMENT 1-2] Democracy on the rise? Subscribers and BSC I did my first podcast for Subscribers and I must say it is one of my best. Thanks Bill for reminding me that we needed to kick that off. Talk about a special broadcast. Only 14 people will get to hear it. But it's 14 of the finest people on the planet. I had a BLAST putting that together for you. For members of The Back Stage Club, get ahold of me, and we will make the broadcast available to you as well. I will do at least one of those every couple of weeks (minimum), and on BSC, we post things as we develop them. They come more in batches, but I will work on more consistency there too. I have observations from Japan, Mexico, and soon to be Thailand along with pictures and videos. Also, I found the video I made with Justice Thomas, so expect me to post that soon.     We Saved the Republic: The Fragile Triumph Over Chaos The last election preserved the constitutional republic we hold dear, narrowly steering the nation away from the precipice of destruction. Over the past 16 years, Democrats have spent 12 tearing at the fabric of the nation, creating cultural and political divides so wide that chaos seemed inevitable. A Harris presidency would have only accelerated this unraveling. Thankfully, we avoided that scenario. But the specter of such leadership reminds us how close we came to disaster. A Nation at Rest—or at Least at Pause Despite the dire warnings from the left, America hasn't plunged into chaos since Trump's return to the political arena. Recent events suggest a marked shift in the national climate. Consider Daniel Penny's recent exoneration—a moment that could have ignited protests led by Black Lives Matter. Yet, the country remained calm, unmoved by the provocations that once would have led to streets filled with unrest. This shift raises an interesting question: Are we finally moving past the endless state of cultural panic? Can figures like Darren Wilson reclaim their careers in law enforcement, or could Derek Chauvin see his conviction re-evaluated under a new climate of fairness? Perhaps, just perhaps, white America can finally lower the metaphorical "RED ALERT."Democracy vs. Republic: Are They What They Seem? According to a Pew Research report, as of 2017, 57% of the world's nations were considered democracies. But does this mean democracy is flourishing? By that measure, it may seem like global democracy is at a modern-day high. Yet, appearances can be deceiving. Many of these so-called democracies lack the principles that Americans associate with the term.   [SEGMENT 1-3] FBI at J6 1 J6 is unraveling for the Left. A Capitol Comedy: The FBI's J6 Revelations Newly revealed testimony confirms what skeptics of the January 6 narrative have long suspected: the FBI's involvement wasn't just passive oversight but an active participation, complete with paid informants and undercover agents. According to disclosures during congressional hearings, there were so many FBI confidential human sources (CHS) at the Capitol that the agency had to “poll” its offices afterward to figure out how many were on-site. The cherry on top? At least three of these informants were specifically directed to attend by their handlers.. If this sounds like the punchline to a poorly executed spy thriller, that's because it is. The Numbers Game: More Agents than We're Told? The FBI claims only three informants were actively encouraged to attend. But as a former Capitol Police chief has testified, there were at least 18 undercover FBI agents mingling in the crowd, in addition to an estimated 20 undercover operatives from the Department of Homeland Security. Defense attorneys in Proud Boys trials also revealed that eight CHSs had infiltrated their group, and at least one was physically inside the Capitol during the breach​. This raises the question: if we were told it was a spontaneous “insurrection,” why did federal agencies embed dozens of operatives in advance? Was this infiltration an attempt to mitigate violence—or to stoke it? FBI operations, including infiltrating groups or rallies, typically require meticulous planning and oversight. [SEGMENT 1-4] FBI at J6 2   [X] SB – Kamala Harris on J6 [X] SB – Paid protester on J6 [X] SB – Congressman speaks on the number of agents at J6   The FBI's focus on January 6 highlights a troubling pattern. While the bureau assigns agents to monitor political rallies, it seems conspicuously less effective at preventing other, more tangible threats. We've seen this pattern before—mass shooters who were already on FBI watchlists, an open southern border exploited by known terrorists, and even whistleblowers within the agency alleging systemic dysfunction​ If the FBI's resources were deployed to prevent violence, they failed spectacularly. If the goal was to justify the post-election crackdown on Trump supporters, well, they've done a bang-up job.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-kevin-jackson-show--2896352/support.

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Join us as Round Guy Radio brings you an exhilarating coverage of Junior Varsity basketball, featuring the much-anticipated game between the Sigourney Savages and the Keota Eagles. Broadcasting live from Keota, the episode kicks off with the special Jen Fagan, your neighbor's insurance agent pregame show, setting the stage for what promises to be a thrilling encounter reminiscent of the Hatfields and McCoys rivalry. Special guest and game player, Billy Kindred, discusses his standout performance from the previous night and provides insider knowledge on the athletes to watch from both competing teams. Witness new emerging talents and seasoned players as they battle it out on the court, delivering an intense and nail-biting game. Capped with expert insights and dynamic commentary, this episode delves deep into the strategies and standout performances, offering an entertaining and comprehensive overview of the night’s unforgettable JV basketball action.

Gather ‘round the whiskey barrel tonight as the Bros welcome special guests DeAnn and Danny Taylor, a dynamic duo with roots so deep in family history they make the Hatfields and McCoys look like casual acquaintances. We'll dig into their legacy of construction projects that leave no septic unturned and farming ventures that might make a vegan weep into their soy latte. It's site work, dozer work, and possibly twerking work!.From glyphosate debates to machinery costs so high they feel like a metaphorical prison shower moment, we're diving deep into the dirty side of agriculture. Is artificial intelligence ready to plow the fields? Will chem-trails finally get the attention they deserve? And who's really behind this whole “changing weather patterns” nonsense anyway—Mother Nature or the global deep state? Toss in the Savage Bros' existential ponderings about why humans can't make water (is it divine intervention or just God's ultimate flex?), and you've got an episode packed tighter than a green tractor's repair bill. Cheers to good whiskey and bad decisions!

Hatfields and McCoys. Lakers and Celtics. GIF versus GIF. The rivalries of our time are always storied. One of the biggest seems to be cooling, however. AMD and Intel have announced a new partnership aimed at countering the surge of ARM-based designs. The companies are trying to standardize aspects of the x86 instruction set in order to make it easier for ISVs to write code that runs on both Intel and AMD chips without a fragmented code base that reduces performance and encourages developers to move to a more unified architecture like ARM. This and more on this week's Gestalt IT Rundown. Time Stamps: 0:00 - Welcome to the Rundown 1:41 - Platform9 Launches Private Cloud Director 5:45 - xAI Builds The Biggest AI Supercomputer 9:53 - Evading Sanctions for Profit 15:34 - Satya Nadella Takes Pay Cut for Security Issues 19:06 - OpenAI in Talks with Broadcom for Custom Chips 24:13 - Salt Typhoon Sweeps Up Political Audio 28:40 - AMD and Intel Reach Historic Partnership 41:08 - The Weeks Ahead 44:34 - Thanks for Watching Hosts: Tom Hollingsworth: https://www.twitter.com/NetworkingNerd Stephen Foskett: https://www.twitter.com/SFoskett Follow Gestalt IT Website: https://www.GestaltIT.com/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/GestaltIT LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/Gestalt-IT #Rundown, #PrivateCloud, #AISuperComputer, #CyberSecurity, @Platform9Sys, @xAI, @AMD, @Intel, @IntelBusiness, @Microsoft, @NVIDIA, @SFoskett, @NetworkingNerd, @TheFuturumGroup, @TechstrongTV, @GestaltIT, @TechFieldDay, #CFD21, #AIFD5,

This episode of Scandal Water contains adult themes and descriptions of violence. Listener discretion is advised. It's widely considered to be the longest and most infamous family feud in American history, providing the inspiration for everything from a popular game show to a Bugs Bunny cartoon and a Pigeon Forge dinner show.  But how much of what we believe to be true about the legendary Hatfield and McCoy family feud is actually myth– or even false impressions created by the media?   That's just one of the many questions we explore in this fascinating episode.  Was it really the notorious hog incident that started the family feud? Were Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy truly the star-crossed lovers they've been made out to be, and if so, what happened with their romance? What exactly transpired during the brutal New Year's Day Massacre? And just how accurate is the 2012 miniseries starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton? Join us as we discuss all this and so much more! The show is also available on your favorite podcast app and the Scandal Water Podcast YouTube channel.  MID-ROLL AD: If you'd like to hear the absolutely riveting tale of how descendants of the McCoy family, Fred and Shelia McCoy, became modern-day bounty hunters, head on over to  BuymeaCoffee.com/scandalwaterpod and become a member.  You can support Scandal Water Podcast by rating, reviewing, and subscribing to the show. Even better, by visiting scandalwaterpodcast.com, and becoming a member on Buy Me a Coffee, you will receive perks and access to bonus content. #Kentucky #HatfieldandMcCoy #Feud #FamilyFeud #FamousFeud #TheHogIncident #StolenPig #LooneyToons #MerryMelodies #KevinCostner #BillPaxton #DevilAnseHatfield #RandallMcCoy #RandolphMcCoy #FredandSheilaMcCoy #WestVirginia #AnnGotlib #InOurOwnBackYardAgain #October #truecrime #truecrimecommunity #truecrimepodcast #crime #podcast #truecrimeaddict #truecrimejunkie #truecrimeobsessed #truecrimefan #history #criminal #podcasting

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Send Kris and Rob a Text Message!The Hatfields and the McCoys: A Tale of Blood, Betrayal, and VengeanceThe roots of the Hatfield-McCoy feud trace back to the Civil War era. Both families were large, influential, and fiercely loyal to their kin. The Hatfields, led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, resided in West Virginia, while the McCoys, headed by Randolph "Randall" McCoy, lived across the Tug Fork River in Kentucky. Despite their geographical proximity, the families held deep-seated differences that would eventually ignite a full-blown conflict.The Catalyst: A Pig and a MurderThe first major spark in the feud came in 1878 over a seemingly trivial matter—a pig. Floyd Hatfield, a cousin of Devil Anse, was accused by Randolph McCoy of stealing a hog. The case went to trial, with Bill Staton, a relative of both families, testifying in favor of the Hatfields. The jury, composed mainly of Hatfields, ruled in Floyd's favor, further inflaming the McCoys' sense of injustice.Tensions escalated in 1882 when three of Randolph McCoy's sons—Tolbert, Pharmer, and Bud—were involved in a drunken brawl with two of Devil Anse's brothers, Ellison and Elias Hatfield. The fight ended with the McCoy brothers brutally stabbing and shooting Ellison. While Ellison lay dying, the Hatfields captured the McCoy brothers and executed them in retaliation after Ellison succumbed to his injuries.Bloodshed and Legal BattlesThe feud reached its peak during the 1880s, marked by a series of violent confrontations and legal disputes. In 1888, the Hatfields launched a deadly raid on Randolph McCoy's home, killing two of his children and severely injuring his wife. This event, known as the New Year's Day Massacre, horrified the nation and prompted intervention from the state governments and the press.Authorities from Kentucky and West Virginia struggled to maintain control, and the feud drew national attention. Numerous trials ensued, with members of both families being arrested, tried, and even executed for their crimes. The most notable of these trials was that of "Cotton Top" Mounts, a Hatfield relative who was convicted and hanged for his involvement in the New Year's Day Massacre.The End of an EraBy the early 1890s, the feud had begun to wane. The relentless violence had taken its toll, and both families faced increased pressure from law enforcement and public opinion. In 1891, Devil Anse Hatfield, weary of the bloodshed, negotiated a truce with Randolph McCoy. The peace was tenuous, but it marked the end of the most violent chapter in the feud's history.Legacy of the FeudThe Hatfield-McCoy feud left a lasting legacy on American culture, symbolizing the destructive power of familial loyalty and vengeance. The story has been retold in countless books, films, and television shows, capturing the imagination of generations.Subscribe and Stay TunedFor more gripping true crime stories, subscribe to Hitched 2 Homicide. Follow us on Instagram, join our YouTube channel, and become a part of our community on Facebook. Your support helps us continue to bring you the stories that matter, told with the respect and dedication Support the Show.JOIN THE HITCHED 2 HOMICIDE IN-LAWS AND OUTLAWSSTART KRIS CALVERT'S BOOKS TODAY FOR FREEH2H WEBSITEH2H on TWITTERH2H on INSTA

BOATS THIS WEEK (AUG 5-11,2024) — This week's events from historical movies starts with Monday's 719th anniversary (August 5th, 1305) of William Wallace's (Mel Gibson) capture shown in the movie 'Braveheart.' In the History Channel's dramatic miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys", we'll see how it portrays the feud between their two families turning to bloodshed for the first time on August 7th, 1882. It was also on August 7th, but in the year 1974, that Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) became the only person in history to ever walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. We'll learn about that from the 2015 Robert Zemeckis film "The Walk." Finally, we'll learn about President Nixon's (Frank Langella) resignation from August 8th, 1974 as it was shown in the Ron Howard film "Frost/Nixon." And last but certainly not least, our 'based on a true story' movie from this week in history is the comedy-drama from August 7th, 2009 "Julie & Julia." Until next time, here's where you can continue the story. Events from This Week in History Monday, August 5th: Braveheart | BOATS #45  Wednesday, August 7th: Hatfields & McCoys Wednesday, August 7th: The Walk Thursday, August 8th: Frost/Nixon | BOATS #4 Birthdays from This Week in History Monday, August 5th: Neil Armstrong in First Man | BOATS #144 Wednesday, August 7th: Mata Hari in Mata Hari | BOATS #74 Sunday, August 10th: Herbert Hoover in The Day the Bubble Burst A Historical Movie Released This Week in History Wednesday, August 7th: Julie & Julia Mentioned in this episode Frost/Nixon: President Nixon's resignation address Julie & Julia: Julie Powell's book Julie & Julia: Julia Child's book Did you enjoy this episode? Get the BOATS email newsletter Leave a comment Support our sponsors Unlock ad-free episodes Note: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/338 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Avengers Academy winds down, the writers decided to do something fun and interesting. A good old fashion, fun chill book. Not and AvX, more of a chillax book. Using sport to do some fun goofiness. Now, this could be a book about rivals beating each other up or continuing a tale of violence and revenge, but it is not. It is just some kids playing a game. But what about those real historical rivalries? What about the people that really hated each other? The English and the French hated each other on an epic scale. From 1100 to 1800 they were almost constantly at war with each other. I know that there was real reasons for the animosity, but I truly believe that it came down to cooking styles. I have heard that chefs hold grudges. If you are into hard rock, you might know this one. Kerry King vs. Robb Flynn. Machine Head got a career boost in the mid-'90s when they landed the opening slot on a few of Slayer's tours. But by 2001, Slayer frontman Kerry King had soured on Machine Head, calling them "sell-outs" who were "responsible for rap-metal.   Being a Pink Floyd Fan, I am well aware of this one. Artistic differences drove a wedge between Roger Waters and David Gilmour during the recording of their classic album “The Wall" in 1979. Waters, who viewed himself as the creative force behind the band's success, became increasingly disdainful of his fellow band members, whom he deemed musically inferior. There may be no American feud more famous than that of the Hatfields and McCoys. The feud is said to have begun during the Civil War. The Hatfields from West Virginia sided with the Confederacy while Kentucky's McCoy family remained pro-Union. Though a Hatfield may have killed a McCoy during the war, the feud really heated up in 1878. when an argument over the ownership of a pig ended with yet another death. Power is a fiery fuse when it comes to inciting a feud, especially the fascinating historical feud between the Medici and Pazzi families. In 15th-century Florence, no family was as powerful as the Medici family. While the Pazzis probably weren't the only other family to feel threatened by Medici power, they were the only ones to do anything about it. You think the Game of Thrones was something, what about the Yorks versus the Lancasters. Today, a monarch's line of inheritance is understood and accepted enough that a feud would be extremely unlikely. However, that wasn't the case in 15th century England. When King Henry VI, a Lancastrian, proved to be an unstable monarch, his York cousins launched a plot to overtake the throne. Feuds will occur, and we will see them in books. Just not in this one. We also have some merchandise over at Redbubble. We have a couple of nifty shirts for sale. https://www.redbubble.com/people/jeffrickpresent/?asc=u   Check out some of our pictures at this website:  https://jeffandrickpresent.wordpress.com/2024/06/14/avengers-academy-38-crosstown-rivals/   You can also subscribe and listen to us on YouTube!  Our show supports the Hero Initiative, Helping Comic Creators in Need.  http://www.heroinitiative.org/ Eighties Action by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3703-eighties-action License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journey Of The Brave by Sascha Ende Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12233-journey-of-the-brave License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Symbolism_Today on The BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour: Unveiling the Scars: History's Dark Chapters and Their Echoes in Our Lives Join Grandpa Bill as we delve into a thought-provoking exploration of America's darker historical events. We'll examine how these chapters resonate with each other, and how understanding the past can empower us to create a brighter future. We'll explore themes of societal fractures, the power of forgiveness, and the importance of building a more just and peaceful world. #AmericanHistory, #HealingfromthePast, #HolisticWellbeing, #GrandpaBill ,#BHSKKHHH, Grandpa Bill Today Asks: Beyond the Hatfields & McCoys: Can you think of another dark chapter in American history that resonates with the themes of revenge or societal division? Share your thoughts and how it might connect to the present day. Breaking the Cycle: In your own life, have you ever encountered a situation where forgiveness or letting go was a challenge? How did you navigate it, and what did you learn? Call to Action: Share your thoughts and experiences! Leave a voicemail message for Grandpa Bill at The BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour Voicemail Message Board and your voice might be included on a future episode! Let's keep the conversation going and learn from each other. Holistic Health Secrets and Life-Sales Strategies with Grandpa Bill Nourish Your Soul, Boost Your Business: The BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour Experience Website: https://www.7kmetals.com/grandpabill YouTube: Bill Holt@billholt8792 Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/bill.sales.524 Social Media:https://www.instagram.com/bradybrodyboy12/ Voicemail Message Board: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bhsales BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour Retired holistic health enthusiast, Grandpa Bill, shares his wisdom and experiences in the realms of health, wealth, and well-being. Join Grandpa Bill on his journey of holistic health and personal growth. With over 45 years of experience in the industry, he has a wealth of knowledge to share on topics ranging from nutrition and supplements, to meditation and spirituality. In his retirement, Grandpa Bill is dedicated to sharing his insights and helping others to achieve their full potential. He is an intuitive thinker, humorist, star seed, poetry fan, with a passion for history and coins. Hosted by Grandpa Bill, 45 year career now retired Disclaimer:This podcast site content is provided for informational purposes only, and does not intend to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Virtual Mall JOIN US EVERY TUESDAY AT 6PM. EST.  Seth Leaf Pruzansky Freedom Snap-⁠https://freedomsnap.org/Seth/⁠ https://www.imawakenowwhat.com/ BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Virtual Mall Patriot Supply Link:  ⁠⁠⁠https://mypatriotsupply.com/?rfsn=5615494.137cb6⁠⁠⁠ Health Ranger Link: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.healthrangerstore.com/?⁠⁠rfsn=301296.96452b2&utm_source=HR_Affiliate&utm_campaign=14708&utm_affiliate=301296⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healer.com⁠⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.HealerCBD.com/?ref=11⁠⁠ Tim Doyle Path to Oneness-https://thepathtooneness.com/  Byron Athene -https://byronathene.com/ Isabella Thor,NLP-https://isabellathor.com/ Seth Leaf Pruzansky Freedom Snap-⁠https://freedomsnap.org/Seth/⁠ https://www.imawakenowwhat.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bhsales/message

GDP Script/ Top Stories for June 21st  Publish Date:  June 21st              From the Ingles Studio Welcome to the Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. Today is Friday, June 21st and Happy 44th Birthday to actor Chris Pratt. ***06.21.24 – BIRTHDAY – CHRIS PRATT*** I'm Bruce Jenkins and here are your top stories presented by Gwinnett KIA Mall of Georgia. Two Men Arrested as Gwinnett Police Shut Down Illegal Casino Kevin Costner: 'Horizon' Saga Is a Four-Movie 'Film Novel' About The American west Cyberbullying Common in the World of Online Gaming All of this and more is coming up on the Gwinnett Daily Post podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen daily and subscribe! Break 1: MOG   STORY 1: Two Men Arrested as Gwinnett Police Shut Down Illegal Casino On June 18, Gwinnett County Police Department conducted a raid on Sosa's Billiards located at 6070 S. Norcross Tucker Road in unincorporated Norcross. This operation followed a year-long investigation initiated after a traffic stop where the occupant revealed visiting a local "casino." Undercover officers confirmed illegal gambling activities at the establishment. Steven Bae Kim, the owner, and Seth Ryan Abernathy, an employee, were arrested for charges related to commercial gambling. Eight others were also arrested for gambling offenses. The raid resulted in the seizure of drugs and cash. GCPD encourages anyone with information to contact detectives at 770-513-5300 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 404-577-8477. STORY 2: Kevin Costner: ‘Horizon' Saga Is a Four-Movie ‘Film Novel' About The American West Kevin Costner's affinity for westerns spans decades, starting with his role in "Silverado" in 1985 and culminating in his Academy Award-winning film "Dances With Wolves." He has revisited the genre in notable projects like "Hatfields and McCoys" and "Yellowstone," which reflect his fascination with the lawless drama of the frontier. Now, Costner returns to his passion with "Horizon: An American Saga," a four-film series he directs and stars in, chronicling the westward expansion during and after the Civil War. Costner emphasizes that each film in the series tells a complete story while advancing a larger narrative, avoiding cliffhangers. He views the cinematic scale as essential for portraying the vast landscapes and epic journeys integral to the western genre, aiming to create a timeless saga that explores themes of survival, community, and the pursuit of dreams amidst historical upheaval. STORY 3: Cyberbullying Common in the World of Online Gaming A recent study reveals pervasive cyberbullying and sexual harassment in professional video gaming and online gaming. Approximately 96% of players reported experiencing online abuse within the last year. Women and professional players are particularly frequent targets of this abuse. The study underscores the widespread nature of these issues within the gaming community, highlighting significant challenges that players face in maintaining a safe and inclusive online environment. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info. We'll be right back Break 2: TOM WAGES   STORY 4: Looking for Weight Loss? Go Nuts A new review suggests that adding nuts to a calorie-cutting diet can enhance weight loss efforts. People who incorporated 1.5 to 3 ounces of nuts daily lost an additional 3 to 16 pounds compared to those who did not include nuts in their diet. This finding underscores the potential benefits of nuts in aiding weight loss, highlighting them as a beneficial addition to dietary strategies aimed at shedding pounds. STORY 5: GET OUT THERE: 5 things to do this weekend in Gwinnett County—June 21-23 Completely Unchained Tribute Concert When: Saturday at 7 p.m. Where: Buford Community Center Concert Lawn Get ready for an authentic Van Halen tribute. Gates open at 6 p.m.   Fridays-N-Duluth When: Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. Where: Duluth Town Green Enjoy local cuisine and live entertainment at the Festival Center Stage and Parsons Alley.   Norcross Summer Concert Series When: Friday at 7:30 p.m. Where: Thrasher Park, Norcross Listen to Still Swingin' and support the CAN-Do Food Drive by donating canned goods.   Duluth Farmers Market When: Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Where: Duluth Town Green Shop for local produce, baked goods, and handmade items while enjoying live music and activities for kids.   Jazz In The Alley When: Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Where: Betty Mauldin Park, Norcross Relax to smooth jazz under the stars, with food trucks available for treats. We'll be back in a moment   Break 3: INGLES 6   STORY 6: ‘Summer at the Rock' is Back at Stone Mountain Park Stone Mountain Park's "Summer at the Rock" offers families a vibrant array of interactive attractions, entertainment, and outdoor activities until July 28. A highlight is the "Music Across America Drone & Light Show," featuring 250 drones creating intricate patterns synchronized with music, complemented by flame cannons, lasers, and a fireworks finale. The park also hosts "Puppy Pals Presents: The Dog Days of Summer," a dog show by Wesley Williams and rescue dogs performing tricks. New this year is the "Adventure Outpost at the Waterfront," offering kayak and paddleboard rentals, pontoon boat tours, and rock climbing. Daily attractions include "Dinosaur Explore," "SkyHike," the Summit Skyride, and more. Ticket details are available at stonemountainpark.com. STORY 7: 10,000 Maniacs and Drivin N Cryin Performing in Suwanee in August Suwanee's 20th annual August Concert will feature 10,000 Maniacs and Drivin N Cryin on August 10 at Suwanee Town Center Park. Despite Natalie Merchant's absence since 1993, Mary Ramsey continues as vocalist alongside founding members Jerome Augustyniak, Dennis Drew, Steven Gustafson, and John Lombardo. New members Joe Rozler and Ben Medina round out the lineup. Originating from Jamestown, NY, 10,000 Maniacs is known for hits like “Like the Weather” and “These Are Days.” Local favorite Drivin N Cryin will also perform their hits such as “Straight To Hell” and “Honesuckle Blue.” Suwanee officials promise more details soon. We'll have final thoughts after this.   Break 4: INGLES 7 Signoff – Thanks again for hanging out with us on today's Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at gwinnettdailypost.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network   Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com  www.wagesfuneralhome.com www.kiamallofga.com   #NewsPodcast #CurrentEvents #TopHeadlines #BreakingNews #PodcastDiscussion #PodcastNews #InDepthAnalysis #NewsAnalysis #PodcastTrending #WorldNews #LocalNews #GlobalNews #PodcastInsights #NewsBrief #PodcastUpdate #NewsRoundup #WeeklyNews #DailyNews #PodcastInterviews #HotTopics #PodcastOpinions #InvestigativeJournalism #BehindTheHeadlines #PodcastMedia #NewsStories #PodcastReports #JournalismMatters #PodcastPerspectives #NewsCommentary #PodcastListeners #NewsPodcastCommunity #NewsSource #PodcastCuration #WorldAffairs #PodcastUpdates #AudioNews #PodcastJournalism #EmergingStories #NewsFlash #PodcastConversationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 127: HATFIELDS & McCOYS / SHEN YUN . . Happy Wednesday, Queerdos! Are you ready to fight?! Cause we've got a couple of pugnacious stories for your ears this week. . . First, in our True Crime Story, Kevin takes us to the History Hut to give us a lesson about America's most famous feud. . . Next, in our Spoopy Tale, Edie tells us all about a touring stage spectacular that's got everything: music, dance, and anti-communist fervor. . . So count your hogs, practice your qi-gong, and get ready for this week's show. Let's dive in! . . True Crime starts at 00:10:10 Spoopy Tale starts at 00:56:43 Source notes: www.creepyinqueeriespod.com Follow on Instagram: @CreepyInQueeriesPod Send Us an Email: creepyinqueeriespod@gmail.com Listen on Youtube: Creepy InQueeries Pod Follow on Facebook: @CreepyInQueeriesPod

We also had drinks with a war monger https://medium.com/@vincenicholas_77176/so-you-wanna-buy-a-conflict-free-laptop-in-this-economy-54c0c2c4d14b

The Hatfields and McCoys learn to stop feudin', start forgivin' and love each other in this hillbilly tale based on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:43-48. “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.“ NLT‬‬ (originally aired 2/14/20) #kids, #storiesforkids, #jesuschrist, #christianpodcastsforkids, #loveoneanother, #loveoneanotherasIhavelovedyou, #bedtimestoriesforkids, #christiankids, #christlikecharacter, #familydevotions, #drivetimedevotions, #carridestories, #biblelessonsforkids, #fishbytesforkids, #fishbytes4kids, #fishbites4kids, #fishbitesforkids, #ronandcarriewebb, #roncarriewebb

Today, we're continuing the Canada Binge with a crazy story from Nova Scotia. We extended the Canada Binge by one more week before we get to Willie Pickton. This week, we're covering the Marriotts and Melvins feud. Its Canada's modern day drug fueled version of the Hatfields and McCoys. The 2 families were both drug dealers, and they didn't like each other. That's basically it, although the story is crazy, and its directly tied to the Quebec Biker War. It ends with most of the key players either dead or in prison. These families have been compared to the real life Trailer Park Boys, which is actually filmed in Nova Scotia. Joining us on this episode is Morgan Rector of Human Monsters. He was a great guest, and he provided insight on some of the geography of the story. So, join us, and get ready because next week, we'll be doing Willie Pickton part 1...If I don't find another crazy Canadian story. Human Monsters YouTube Page And, listen wherever you get your podcasts Links to the Human Monsters episode that Bill was on Apple YouTube Instagram Facebook Twitter(X) YouTube Website

Please share, rate, and review … Follow us on all social media platforms @dimesinthedozen   On this week's session of The Bird and The Bear … Our hosts, Sammy Ray and Daryl Lazer, have a little political palooza as they discuss the 2024 Primaries, Nikki Haley's campaign status, the Tik Tok ban, the uncommitted vote, Joe Biden's SOTU speech, Israel's assault on Gaza, The GOPs response to the SOTU, and finally, the border crisis … Let's sort through it together!   (0:00) - The session opens with our hosts discussing the results of Super Tuesday and Nikki Haley suspending her campaign - “Individuality is so valued that you assimilate to a group to protect this idea of individuality that you think you have and hold” (12:00) - Our hosts go on a tangent about the United States Congress possibly passing a Tik Tok ban - “When's the last time 81% of them agreed on f**king anything? Like, that's the biggest sign that it should probably stick around” (26:28) - Our hosts wrap up their thoughts on Nikki Haley with some theories on who she'll support for President - “Trumpians aren't reasonable people … So, they're not going to look at your politics with reason and any type of like, intellectual fervor” (32:42) - Our hosts discuss how the uncommitted votes are impacting the primaries and how it's a powerful tool helping Americans bring attention to the call for a ceasefire in Gaza - “The thing I would like to see the most is for him to do something regardless of how it affects his votes” (41:16) - Our hosts react to Joe Biden's recent State of The Union (SOTU) address - “I do like Biden's ability to deal with hecklers … When f**kin, Majorie Taylor Face Mask, is up there screaming whatever the f**k she's screaming in her whack a** outfit” (49:56) - Our hosts react to Joe Biden getting caught on a “hot mic” just moments after the SOTU address discussing what to do about the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu - “He wants the people at home to hear it, not the people in the room to hear it, and that's what's under handed about it … Sure, you said it, but say it with your f**kin chest to the room! You're the commander-in-chief!” (58:53) - Our hosts tangent into a debate over who truly holds the rights to the land that Israel is currently occupying - “Fine, it's the Hatfields and McCoys but guess what, the Hatfields were backed by the U.S. government” (1:08:32) - Our hosts react to the GOP's response to the SOTU given by Alabama state senator, Katie Britt - “More serious conversations happened in random contexts rather then they did in some ceremonial event around the kitchen table” (1:19:04) - Our hosts wrap up the session with a discussion about the battle over border policy between Joe Biden and Donald Trump - “We just want reasonable actionable solutions to these problems that we are being told are there but … I don't know anyone who's been a victim of migrant crime”

Jon and Kurt decide to put their differences aside for a moment and delve into the world of famous rivalries. They find emblematic rivals in different categories: history, politics, fiction, business, sports, music, etc. Sometimes the foes just want to best the other no matter what and, other times, the world benefits from the output generated by the competition (e.g., “Let it Be” is a gazillion times better than “Silly Love Songs”). So, lay down your sword, respect your opponent,  and take a listen. 

Our gues Herbie Dotson talks about his article "Remnants of the Devil" which appears in the Nov/Dec 2023 issue of American Digger magazine. The real life drama and the legend of "Devil Anse" Hatfield capture the imagination of all who know the story the Hatfields and McCoys.Please visit our sponsors:American Digger Magazine: https://americandigger.com/Garrett Metal Detectors: https://garrett.com/welcomeHistory Seekers Metal Detectors: https://historyseekers.net/The Ring Finders: https://theringfinders.com/Eureka Treasure Hunters Club: https://www.eurekathc.org/Laclede County Treasure Trackers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011045908968273

This week the boys venture deep into Appalachian History - beginning the story of one of the most notoriously famous feuds in American folklore, the contentious tale of The Hatfields and The McCoys.

Episode 170 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at "Astral Weeks", the early solo career of Van Morrison, and the death of Bert Berns.  Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-minute bonus episode available, on "Stoned Soul Picnic" by Laura Nyro. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Errata At one point I, ridiculously, misspeak the name of Charles Mingus' classic album. Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is not about dinner ladies. Also, I say Warren Smith Jr is on "Slim Slow Slider" when I meant to say Richard Davis (Smith is credited in some sources, but I only hear acoustic guitar, bass, and soprano sax on the finished track). Resources As usual, I've created Mixcloud playlists, with full versions of all the songs excerpted in this episode. As there are so many Van Morrison songs in this episode, the Mixcloud is split into three parts, one, two, and three. The information about Bert Berns comes from Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues by Joel Selvin. I've used several biographies of Van Morrison. Van Morrison: Into the Music by Ritchie Yorke is so sycophantic towards Morrison that the word “hagiography” would be, if anything, an understatement. Van Morrison: No Surrender by Johnny Rogan, on the other hand, is the kind of book that talks in the introduction about how the author has had to avoid discussing certain topics because of legal threats from the subject. Howard deWitt's Van Morrison: Astral Weeks to Stardom is over-thorough in the way some self-published books are, while Clinton Heylin's Can You Feel the Silence? is probably the best single volume on the artist. Information on Woodstock comes from Small Town Talk by Barney Hoskyns. Ryan Walsh's Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 is about more than Astral Weeks, but does cover Morrison's period in and around Boston in more detail than anything else. The album Astral Weeks is worth hearing in its entirety. Not all of the music on The Authorized Bang Collection is as listenable, but it's the most complete collection available of everything Morrison recorded for Bang. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before we start, a quick warning -- this episode contains discussion of organised crime activity, and of sudden death. It also contains excerpts of songs which hint at attraction to underage girls and discuss terminal illness. If those subjects might upset you, you might want to read the transcript rather than listen to the episode. Anyway, on with the show. Van Morrison could have been the co-writer of "Piece of My Heart". Bert Berns was one of the great collaborators in the music business, and almost every hit he ever had was co-written, and he was always on the lookout for new collaborators, and in 1967 he was once again working with Van Morrison, who he'd worked with a couple of years earlier when Morrison was still the lead singer of Them. Towards the beginning of 1967 he had come up with a chorus, but no verse. He had the hook, "Take another little piece of my heart" -- Berns was writing a lot of songs with "heart" in the title at the time -- and wanted Morrison to come up with a verse to go with it. Van Morrison declined. He wasn't interested in writing pop songs, or in collaborating with other writers, and so Berns turned to one of his regular collaborators, Jerry Ragavoy, and it was Ragavoy who added the verses to one of the biggest successes of Berns' career: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Piece of My Heart"] The story of how Van Morrison came to make the album that's often considered his masterpiece is intimately tied up with the story we've been telling in the background for several episodes now, the story of Atlantic Records' sale to Warners, and the story of Bert Berns' departure from Atlantic. For that reason, some parts of the story I'm about to tell will be familiar to those of you who've been paying close attention to the earlier episodes, but as always I'm going to take you from there to somewhere we've never been before. In 1962, Bert Berns was a moderately successful songwriter, who had written or co-written songs for many artists, especially for artists on Atlantic Records. He'd written songs for Atlantic artists like LaVern Baker, and when Atlantic's top pop producers Leiber and Stoller started to distance themselves from the label in the early sixties, he had moved into production as well, writing and producing Solomon Burke's big hit "Cry to Me": [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "Cry to Me"] He was the producer and writer or co-writer of most of Burke's hits from that point forward, but at first he was still a freelance producer, and also produced records for Scepter Records, like the Isley Brothers' version of "Twist and Shout", another song he'd co-written, that one with Phil Medley. And as a jobbing songwriter, of course his songs were picked up by other producers, so Leiber and Stoller produced a version of his song "Tell Him" for the Exciters on United Artists: [Excerpt: The Exciters, "Tell Him"] Berns did freelance work for Leiber and Stoller as well as the other people he was working for. For example, when their former protege Phil Spector released his hit version of "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah", they got Berns to come up with a knockoff arrangement of "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?", released as by Baby Jane and the Rockabyes, with a production credit "Produced by Leiber and Stoller, directed by Bert Berns": [Excerpt: Baby Jane and the Rockabyes, "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?"] And when Leiber and Stoller stopped producing work for United Artists, Berns took over some of the artists they'd been producing for the label, like Marv Johnson, as well as producing his own new artists, like Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, who had been discovered by Berns' friend Jerry Ragovoy, with whom he co-wrote their "Cry Baby": [Excerpt: Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, "Cry Baby"] Berns was an inveterate collaborator. He was one of the few people to get co-writing credits with Leiber and Stoller, and he would collaborate seemingly with everyone who spoke to him for five minutes. He would also routinely reuse material, cutting the same songs time and again with different artists, knowing that a song must be a hit for *someone*. One of his closest collaborators was Jerry Wexler, who also became one of his best friends, even though one of their earliest interactions had been when Wexler had supervised Phil Spector's production of Berns' "Twist and Shout" for the Top Notes, a record that Berns had thought had butchered the song. Berns was, in his deepest bones, a record man. Listening to the records that Berns made, there's a strong continuity in everything he does. There's a love there of simplicity -- almost none of his records have more than three chords. He loved Latin sounds and rhythms -- a love he shared with other people working in Brill Building R&B at the time, like Leiber and Stoller and Spector -- and great voices in emotional distress. There's a reason that the records he produced for Solomon Burke were the first R&B records to be labelled "soul". Berns was one of those people for whom feel and commercial success are inextricable. He was an artist -- the records he made were powerfully expressive -- but he was an artist for whom the biggest validation was *getting a hit*. Only a small proportion of the records he made became hits, but enough did that in the early sixties he was a name that could be spoken of in the same breath as Leiber and Stoller, Spector, and Bacharach and David. And Atlantic needed a record man. The only people producing hits for the label at this point were Leiber and Stoller, and they were in the process of stopping doing freelance work and setting up their own label, Red Bird, as we talked about in the episode on the Shangri-Las. And anyway, they wanted more money than they were getting, and Jerry Wexler was never very keen on producers wanting money that could have gone to the record label. Wexler decided to sign Bert Berns up as a staff producer for Atlantic towards the end of 1963, and by May 1964 it was paying off. Atlantic hadn't been having hits, and now Berns had four tracks he wrote and produced for Atlantic on the Hot One Hundred, of which the highest charting was "My Girl Sloopy" by the Vibrations: [Excerpt: The Vibrations, "My Girl Sloopy"] Even higher on the charts though was the Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout". That record, indeed, had been successful enough in the UK that Berns had already made exploratory trips to the UK and produced records for Dick Rowe at Decca, a partnership we heard about in the episode on "Here Comes the Night". Berns had made partnerships there which would have vast repercussions for the music industry in both countries, and one of them was with the arranger Mike Leander, who was the uncredited arranger for the Drifters session for "Under the Boardwalk", a song written by Artie Resnick and Kenny Young and produced by Berns, recorded the day after the group's lead singer Rudy Lewis died of an overdose: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Under the Boardwalk"] Berns was making hits on a regular basis by mid-1964, and the income from the label's new success allowed Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers to buy out their other partners -- Ahmet Ertegun's old dentist, who had put up some of the initial money, and Miriam Bienstock, the ex-wife of their initial partner Herb Abramson, who'd got Abramson's share in the company after the divorce, and who was now married to Freddie Bienstock of Hill and Range publishing. Wexler and the Erteguns now owned the whole label. Berns also made regular trips to the UK to keep up his work with British musicians, and in one of those trips, as we heard in the episode on "Here Comes the Night", he produced several tracks for the group Them, including that track, written by Berns: [Excerpt: Them, "Here Comes the Night"] And a song written by the group's lead singer Van Morrison, "Gloria": [Excerpt: Them, "Gloria"] But Berns hadn't done much other work with them, because he had a new project. Part of the reason that Wexler and the Erteguns had gained total control of Atlantic was because, in a move pushed primarily by Wexler, they were looking at selling it. They'd already tried to merge with Leiber and Stoller's Red Bird Records, but lost the opportunity after a disastrous meeting, but they were in negotiations with several other labels, negotiations which would take another couple of years to bear fruit. But they weren't planning on getting out of the record business altogether. Whatever deal they made, they'd remain with Atlantic, but they were also planning on starting another label. Bert Berns had seen how successful Leiber and Stoller were with Red Bird, and wanted something similar. Wexler and the Erteguns didn't want to lose their one hit-maker, so they came up with an offer that would benefit all of them. Berns' publishing contract had just ended, so they would set up a new publishing company, WEB IV, named after the initials Wexler, Ertegun, and Berns, and the fact that there were four of them. Berns would own fifty percent of that, and the other three would own the other half. And they were going to start up a new label, with seventeen thousand dollars of the Atlantic partners' money. That label would be called Bang -- for Bert, Ahmet, Neshui, and Gerald -- and would be a separate company from Atlantic, so not affected by any sale. Berns would continue as a staff producer for Atlantic for now, but he'd have "his own" label, which he'd have a proper share in, and whether he was making hits for Atlantic or Bang, his partners would have a share of the profits. The first two records on Bang were "Shake and Jerk" by Billy Lamont, a track that they licensed from elsewhere and which didn't do much, and a more interesting track co-written by Berns. Bob Feldman, Richard Gottehrer, and Jerry Goldstein were Brill Building songwriters who had become known for writing "My Boyfriend's Back", a hit for the Angels, a couple of years earlier: [Excerpt: The Angels, "My Boyfriend's Back"] With the British invasion, the three of them had decided to create their own foreign beat group. As they couldn't do British accents, they pretended to be Australian, and as the Strangeloves -- named after the Stanley Kubrick film Dr  Strangelove -- they released one flop single. They cut another single, a version of "Bo Diddley", but the label they released their initial record through didn't want it. They then took the record to Atlantic, where Jerry Wexler said that they weren't interested in releasing some white men singing "Bo Diddley". But Ahmet Ertegun suggested they bring the track to Bert Berns to see what he thought. Berns pointed out that if they changed the lyrics and melody, but kept the same backing track, they could claim the copyright in the resulting song themselves. He worked with them on a new lyric, inspired by the novel Candy, a satirical pornographic novel co-written by Terry Southern, who had also co-written the screenplay to Dr Strangelove. Berns supervised some guitar overdubs, and the result went to number eleven: [Excerpt: The Strangeloves, "I Want Candy"] Berns had two other songs on the hot one hundred when that charted, too -- Them's version of "Here Comes the Night", and the version of Van McCoy's song "Baby I'm Yours" he'd produced for Barbara Lewis. Three records on the charts on three different labels. But despite the sheer number of charting records he'd had, he'd never had a number one, until the Strangeloves went on tour. Before the tour they'd cut a version of "My Girl Sloopy" for their album -- Berns always liked to reuse material -- and they started performing the song on the tour. The Dave Clark Five, who they were supporting, told them it sounded like a hit and they were going to do their own version when they got home. Feldman, Gottehrer, and Goldstein decided *they* might as well have the hit with it as anyone else. Rather than put it out as a Strangeloves record -- their own record was still rising up the charts, and there's no reason to be your own competition -- they decided to get a group of teenage musicians who supported them on the last date of the tour to sing new vocals to the backing track from the Strangeloves album. The group had been called Rick and the Raiders, but they argued so much that the Strangeloves nicknamed them the Hatfields and the McCoys, and when their version of "My Girl Sloopy", retitled "Hang on Sloopy", came out, it was under the band name The McCoys: [Excerpt: The McCoys, "Hang on Sloopy"] Berns was becoming a major success, and with major success in the New York music industry in the 1960s came Mafia involvement. We've talked a fair bit about Morris Levy's connection with the mob in many previous episodes, but mob influence was utterly pervasive throughout the New York part of the industry, and so for example Richard Gottehrer of the Strangeloves used to call Sonny Franzese of the Colombo crime family "Uncle John", they were so close. Franzese was big in the record business too, even after his conviction for bank robbery. Berns, unlike many of the other people in the industry, had no scruples at all about hanging out with Mafiosi. indeed his best friend in the mid sixties was Tommy Eboli, a member of the Genovese crime family who had been in the mob since the twenties, starting out working for "Lucky" Luciano. Berns was not himself a violent man, as far as anyone can tell, but he liked the glamour of hanging out with organised crime figures, and they liked hanging out with someone who was making so many hit records. And so while Leiber and Stoller, for example, ended up selling Red Bird Records to George Goldner for a single dollar in order to get away from the Mafiosi who were slowly muscling in on the label, Berns had no problems at all in keeping his own label going. Indeed, he would soon be doing so without the involvement of Atlantic Records. Berns' final work for Atlantic was in June 1966, when he cut a song he had co-written with Jeff Barry for the Drifters, inspired by the woman who would soon become Atlantic's biggest star: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Aretha"] The way Berns told the story in public, there was no real bad blood between him, Wexler, and the Erteguns -- he'd just decided to go his own way, and he said “I will always be grateful to them for the help they've given me in getting Bang started,” The way Berns' wife would later tell the story, Jerry Wexler had suggested that rather than Berns owning fifty percent of Web IV, they should start to split everything four ways, and she had been horrified by this suggestion, kicked up a stink about it, and Wexler had then said that either Berns needed to buy the other three out, or quit and give them everything, and demanded Berns pay them three hundred thousand dollars. According to other people, Berns decided he wanted one hundred percent control of Web IV, and raised a breach of contract lawsuit against Atlantic, over the usual royalty non-payments that were endemic in the industry at that point. When Atlantic decided to fight the lawsuit rather than settle, Berns' mob friends got involved and threatened to break the legs of Wexler's fourteen-year-old daughter, and the mob ended up with full control of Bang records, while Berns had full control of his publishing company. Given later events, and in particular given the way Wexler talked about Berns until the day he died, with a vitriol that he never used about any of the other people he had business disputes with, it seems likely to me that the latter story is closer to the truth than the former. But most people involved weren't talking about the details of what went on, and so Berns still retained his relationships with many of the people in the business, not least of them Jeff Barry, so when Barry and Ellie Greenwich had a new potential star, it was Berns they thought to bring him to, even though the artist was white and Berns had recently given an interview saying that he wanted to work with more Black artists, because white artists simply didn't have soul. Barry and Greenwich's marriage was breaking up at the time, but they were still working together professionally, as we discussed in the episode on "River Deep, Mountain High", and they had been the main production team at Red Bird. But with Red Bird in terminal decline, they turned elsewhere when they found a potential major star after Greenwich was asked to sing backing vocals on one of his songwriting demos. They'd signed the new songwriter, Neil Diamond, to Leiber and Stoller's company Trio Music at first, but they soon started up their own company, Tallyrand Music, and signed Diamond to that, giving Diamond fifty percent of the company and keeping twenty-five percent each for themselves, and placed one of his songs with Jay and the Americans in 1965: [Excerpt: Jay and the Americans, "Sunday and Me"] That record made the top twenty, and had established Diamond as a songwriter, but he was still not a major performer -- he'd released one flop single on Columbia Records before meeting Barry and Greenwich. But they thought he had something, and Bert Berns agreed. Diamond was signed to Bang records, and Berns had a series of pre-production meetings with Barry and Greenwich before they took Diamond into the studio -- Barry and Greenwich were going to produce Diamond for Bang, as they had previously produced tracks for Red Bird, but they were going to shape the records according to Berns' aesthetic. The first single released from Diamond's first session, "Solitary Man", only made number fifty-five, but it was the first thing Diamond had recorded to make the Hot One Hundred at all: [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Solitary Man"] The second single, though, was much more Bert Berns' sort of thing -- a three-chord song that sounded like it could have been written by Berns himself, especially after Barry and Greenwich had added the Latin-style horns that Berns loved so much. Indeed according to some sources, Berns did make a songwriting suggestion -- Diamond's song had apparently been called "Money Money", and Berns had thought that was a ridiculous title, and suggested calling it "Cherry Cherry" instead: [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Cherry Cherry"] That became Diamond's first top ten hit. While Greenwich had been the one who had discovered Diamond, and Barry and Greenwich were the credited producers on all Diamond's records  as a result, Diamond soon found himself collaborating far more with Barry than with Greenwich, so for example the first number one he wrote, for the Monkees rather than himself, ended up having its production just credited to Barry. That record used a backing track recorded in New York by the same set of musicians used on most Bang records, like Al Gorgoni on lead guitar and Russ Savakus on bass: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "I'm a Believer"] Neil Diamond was becoming a solid hit-maker, but he started rubbing up badly against Berns. Berns wanted hits and only hits, and Diamond thought of himself as a serious artist. The crisis came when two songs were under contention for Diamond's next single in late 1967, after he'd had a whole run of hits for the label. The song Diamond wanted to release, "Shilo", was deeply personal to him: [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Shilo"] But Bert Berns had other ideas. "Shilo" didn't sound like a hit, and he knew a hit when he heard one. No, the clear next single, the only choice, was "Kentucky Woman": [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Kentucky Woman"] But Berns tried to compromise as best he could. Diamond's contract was up for renewal, and you don't want to lose someone who has had, as Diamond had at that point, five top twenty hits in a row, and who was also writing songs like "I'm a Believer" and "Red Red Wine". He told Diamond that he'd let "Shilo" come out as a single if Diamond signed an extension to his contract. Diamond said that not only was he not going to do that, he'd taken legal advice and discovered that there were problems with his contract which let him record for other labels -- the word "exclusive" had been missed out of the text, among other things. He wasn't going to be recording for Bang at all any more. The lawsuits over this would stretch out for a decade, and Diamond would eventually win, but the first few months were very, very difficult for Diamond. When he played the Bitter End, a club in New York, stink bombs were thrown into the audience. The Bitter End's manager was assaulted and severely beaten. Diamond moved his wife and child out of Manhattan, borrowed a gun, and after his last business meeting with Berns was heard talking about how he needed to contact the District Attorney and hire a bodyguard. Of the many threats that were issued against Diamond, though, the least disturbing was probably the threat Berns made to Diamond's career. Berns pointed out to Diamond in no uncertain terms that he didn't need Diamond anyway -- he already had someone he could replace Diamond with, another white male solo singer with a guitar who could churn out guaranteed hits. He had Van Morrison: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] When we left Van Morrison, Them had just split up due to the problems they had been having with their management team. Indeed, the problems Morrison was having with his managers seem curiously similar to the issues that Diamond was having with Bert Berns -- something that could possibly have been a warning sign to everyone involved, if any of them had known the full details of everyone else's situation. Sadly for all of them, none of them did. Them had had some early singles success, notably with the tracks Berns had produced for them, but Morrison's opinion of their second album, Them Again, was less than complimentary, and in general that album is mostly only remembered for the version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", which is one of those cover versions that inspires subsequent covers more than the original ever did: [Excerpt: Them, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"] Them had toured the US around the time of the release of that album, but that tour had been a disaster. The group had gained a reputation for incredible live shows, including performances at the Whisky A-Go-Go with the Doors and Captain Beefheart as their support acts, but during the tour Van Morrison had decided that Phil Solomon, the group's manager, was getting too much money -- Morrison had agreed to do the tour on a salary, rather than a percentage, but the tour had been more successful than he'd expected, and Solomon was making a great deal of money off the tour, money that Morrison believed rightfully belonged to him. The group started collecting the money directly from promoters, and got into legal trouble with Solomon as a result. The tour ended with the group having ten thousand dollars that Solomon believed -- quite possibly correctly -- that he was owed. Various gangsters whose acquaintance the group had made offered to have the problem taken care of, but they decided instead to come to a legal agreement -- they would keep the money, and in return Solomon, whose production company the group were signed to, would get to keep all future royalties from the Them tracks. This probably seemed a good idea at the time, when the idea of records earning royalties for sixty or more years into the future seemed ridiculous, but Morrison in particular came to regret the decision bitterly. The group played one final gig when they got back to Belfast, but then split up, though a version of the group led by the bass player Alan Henderson continued performing for a few years to no success. Morrison put together a band that played a handful of gigs under the name Them Again, with little success, but he already had his eyes set on a return to the US. In Morrison's eyes, Bert Berns had been the only person in the music industry who had really understood him, and the two worked well together. He had also fallen in love with an American woman, Janet Planet, and wanted to find some way to be with her. As Morrison said later “I had a couple of other offers but I thought this was the best one, seeing as I wanted to come to America anyway. I can't remember the exact details of the deal. It wasn't really that spectacular, money-wise, I don't think. But it was pretty hard to refuse from the point of view that I really respected Bert as a producer. I'd rather have worked with Bert than some other guy with a bigger record company. From that angle, it was spectacular because Bert was somebody that I wanted to work with.” There's little evidence that Morrison did have other offers -- he was already getting a reputation as someone who it was difficult to work with -- but he and Berns had a mutual respect, and on January the ninth, 1967, he signed a contract with Bang records. That contract has come in for a lot of criticism over the years, but it was actually, *by the standards in operation in the music business in 1967*, a reasonably fair one. The contract provided that, for a $2,500 a year advance, Bang would record twelve sides in the first year, with an option for up to fifty more that year, and options for up to four more years on the same terms. Bang had the full ownership of the masters and the right to do what they wanted with them. According to at least one biographer, Morrison added clauses requiring Bang to actually record the twelve sides a year, and to put out at least three singles and one album per year while the contract was in operation. He also added one other clause which seems telling -- "Company agrees that Company will not make any reference to the name THEM on phonograph records, or in advertising copy in connection with the recording of Artist." Morrison was, at first, extremely happy with Berns. The problems started with their first session: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl (takes 1-6)"] When Morrison had played the songs he was working on for Berns, Berns had remarked that they sounded great with just Morrison and his guitar, so Morrison was surprised when he got into the studio to find the whole standard New York session crew there -- the same group of session players who were playing for everyone from the Monkees to Laura Nyro, from Neil Diamond to the Shangri-Las -- along with the Sweet Inspirations to provide backing vocals. As he described it later "This fellow Bert, he made it the way he wanted to, and I accepted that he was producing it... I'd write a song and bring it into the group and we'd sit there and bash it around and that's all it was -- they weren't playing the songs, they were just playing whatever it was. They'd say 'OK, we got drums so let's put drums on it,' and they weren't thinking about the song, all they were thinking about was putting drums on it... But it was my song, and I had to watch it go down." The first song they cut was "Brown-Eyed Girl", a song which Morrison has said was originally a calypso, and was originally titled "Brown-skinned Girl", though he's differed in interviews as to whether Berns changed the lyric or if he just decided to sing it differently without thinking about it in the session. Berns turned "Brown-Eyed Girl" into a hit single, because that was what he tended to do with songs, and the result sounds a lot like the kind of record that Bang were releasing for Neil Diamond: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] Morrison has, in later years, expressed his distaste for what was done to the song, and in particular he's said that the backing vocal part by the Sweet Inspirations was added by Berns and he disliked it: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] Morrison has been very dismissive of "Brown-Eyed Girl" over the years, but he seems not to have disliked it at the time, and the song itself is one that has stood the test of time, and is often pointed to by other songwriters as a great example of the writer's craft. I remember reading one interview with Randy Newman -- sadly, while I thought it was in Paul Zollo's "Songwriters on Songwriting" I just checked that and it's not, so I can't quote it precisely -- in which he says that he often points to the line "behind the stadium with you" as a perfect piece of writing, because it's such a strangely specific detail that it convinces you that it actually happened, and that means you implicitly believe the rest of the song. Though it should be made very clear here that Morrison has always said, over and over again, that nothing in his songs is based directly on his own experiences, and that they're all products of his imagination and composites of people he's known. This is very important to note before we go any further, because "Brown-Eyed Girl" is one of many songs from this period in Morrison's career which imply that their narrator has an attraction to underage girls -- in this case he remembers "making love in the green grass" in the distant past, while he also says "saw you just the other day, my how you have grown", and that particular combination is not perhaps one that should be dwelt on too closely. But there is of course a very big difference between a songwriter treating a subject as something that is worth thinking about in the course of a song and writing about their own lives, and that can be seen on one of the other songs that Morrison recorded in these sessions, "T.B. Sheets": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "T.B. Sheets"] It seems very unlikely indeed that Van Morrison actually had a lover die of tuberculosis, as the lover in the song does, and while a lot of people seem convinced that it's autobiographical, simply because of the intensity of the performance (Morrison apparently broke down in tears after recording it), nobody has ever found anyone in Morrison's life who fits the story in the song, and he's always ridiculed such suggestions. What is true though is that "T.B. Sheets" is evidence against another claim that Morrison has made in the past - that on these initial sessions the eight songs recorded were meant to be the A and B sides of four singles and there was no plan of making an album. It is simply not plausible at all to suggest that "T.B. Sheets" -- a slow blues about terminal illness, that lasts nearly ten minutes -- was ever intended as a single. It wouldn't have even come close to fitting on one side of a forty-five. It was also presumably at this time that Berns brought up the topic of "Piece of My Heart". When Berns signed Erma Franklin, it was as a way of getting at Jerry Wexler, who had gone from being his closest friend to someone he wasn't on speaking terms with, by signing the sister of his new signing Aretha. Morrison, of course, didn't co-write it -- he'd already decided that he didn't play well with others -- but it's tempting to think about how the song might have been different had Morrison written it. The song in some ways seems a message to Wexler -- haven't you had enough from me already? -- but it's also notable how many songs Berns was writing with the word "heart" in the chorus, given that Berns knew he was on borrowed time from his own heart condition. As an example, around the same time he and Jerry Ragavoy co-wrote "Piece of My Heart", they also co-wrote another song, "Heart Be Still", a flagrant lift from "Peace Be Still" by Aretha Franklin's old mentor Rev. James Cleveland, which they cut with Lorraine Ellison: [Excerpt: Lorraine Ellison, "Heart Be Still"] Berns' heart condition had got much worse as a result of the stress from splitting with Atlantic, and he had started talking about maybe getting open-heart surgery, though that was still very new and experimental. One wonders how he must have felt listening to Morrison singing about watching someone slowly dying. Morrison has since had nothing but negative things to say about the sessions in March 1967, but at the time he seemed happy. He returned to Belfast almost straight away after the sessions, on the understanding that he'd be back in the US if "Brown-Eyed Girl" was a success. He wrote to Janet Planet in San Francisco telling her to listen to the radio -- she'd know if she heard "Brown-Eyed Girl" that he would be back on his way to see her. She soon did hear the song, and he was soon back in the US: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] By August, "Brown-Eyed Girl" had become a substantial hit, making the top ten, and Morrison was back in the States. He was starting to get less happy with Berns though. Bang had put out the eight tracks he'd recorded in March as an album, titled Blowin' Your Mind, and Morrison thought that the crass pseudo-psychedelia of the title, liner notes, and cover was very inappropriate -- Morrison has never been a heavy user of any drugs other than alcohol, and didn't particularly want to be associated with them. He also seems to have not realised that every track he recorded in those initial sessions would be on the album, which many people have called one of the great one-sided albums of all time -- side A, with "Brown-Eyed Girl", "He Ain't Give You None" and the extended "T.B. Sheets" tends to get far more love than side B, with five much lesser songs on it. Berns held a party for Morrison on a cruise around Manhattan, but it didn't go well -- when the performer Tiny Tim tried to get on board, Carmine "Wassel" DeNoia, a mobster friend of Berns' who was Berns' partner in a studio they'd managed to get from Atlantic as part of the settlement when Berns left, was so offended by Tim's long hair and effeminate voice and mannerisms that he threw him overboard into the harbour. DeNoia was meant to be Morrison's manager in the US, working with Berns, but he and Morrison didn't get on at all -- at one point DeNoia smashed Morrison's acoustic guitar over his head, and only later regretted the damage he'd done to a nice guitar. And Morrison and Berns weren't getting on either. Morrison went back into the studio to record four more songs for a follow-up to "Brown-Eyed Girl", but there was again a misunderstanding. Morrison thought he'd been promised that this time he could do his songs the way he wanted, but Berns was just frustrated that he wasn't coming up with another "Brown-Eyed Girl", but was instead coming up with slow songs about trans women. Berns overdubbed party noises and soul backing vocals onto "Madame George", possibly in an attempt to copy the Beach Boys' Party! album with its similar feel, but it was never going to be a "Barbara Ann": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Madame George (Bang version)"] In the end, Berns released one of the filler tracks from Blowin' Your Mind, "Ro Ro Rosey", as the next single, and it flopped. On December the twenty-ninth, Berns had a meeting with Neil Diamond, the meeting after which Diamond decided he needed to get a bodyguard. After that, he had a screaming row over the phone with Van Morrison, which made Berns ill with stress. The next day, he died of a heart attack. Berns' widow Ilene, who had only just given birth to a baby a couple of weeks earlier, would always blame Morrison for pushing her husband over the edge. Neither Van Morrison nor Jerry Wexler went to the funeral, but Neil Diamond did -- he went to try to persuade Ilene to let him out of his contract now Berns was dead. According to Janet Planet later, "We were at the hotel when we learned that Bert had died. We were just mortified, because things had been going really badly, and Van felt really bad, because I guess they'd parted having had some big fight or something... Even though he did love Bert, it was a strange relationship that lived and died in the studio... I remember we didn't go to the funeral, which probably was a mistake... I think [Van] had a really bad feeling about what was going to happen." But Morrison has later mostly talked about the more practical concerns that came up, which were largely the same as the ones Neil Diamond had, saying in 1997 "I'd signed a contract with Bert Berns for management, production, agency and record company,  publishing, the whole lot -- which was professional suicide as any lawyer will tell you now... Then the whole thing blew up. Bert Berns died and I was left broke." This was the same mistake, essentially, that he'd made with Phil Solomon, and in order to get out of it, it turned out he was going to have to do much the same for a third time.  But it was the experience with Berns specifically that traumatised Morrison enough that twenty-five years later he would still be writing songs about it, like "Big Time Operators": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Big Time Operators"] The option to renew Morrison's contracts with Berns' companies came on the ninth of January 1968, less than two weeks after Berns' death. After his death, Berns' share of ownership in his companies had passed to his widow, who was in a quandary. She had two young children, one of whom was only a few weeks old, and she needed an income after their father had died. She was also not well disposed at all towards Morrison, who she blamed for causing her husband's death. By all accounts the amazing thing is that Berns lived as long as he did given his heart condition and the state of medical science at the time, but it's easy to understand her thinking. She wanted nothing to do with Morrison, and wanted to punish him. On the other hand, her late husband's silent partners didn't want to let their cash cow go. And so Morrison came under a huge amount of pressure in very different directions. From one side, Carmine DiNoia was determined to make more money off Morrison, and Morrison has since talked about signing further contracts at this point with a gun literally to his head, and his hotel room being shot up. But on the other side, Ilene Berns wanted to destroy Morrison's career altogether. She found out that Bert Berns hadn't got Morrison the proper work permits and reported him to the immigration authorities. Morrison came very close to being deported, but in the end he managed to escape deportation by marrying Janet Planet. The newly-married couple moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to get away from New York and the mobsters, and to try to figure out the next steps in Morrison's career. Morrison started putting together a band, which he called The Van Morrison Controversy, and working on new songs. One of his earliest connections in Massachusetts was the lead singer of a band called the Hallucinations, who he met in a bar where he was trying to get a gig: [Excerpt: The Hallucinations, "Messin' With the Kid"] The Hallucinations' lead singer was called Peter Wolf, and would much later go on to become well-known as the singer with the J. Geils Band. He and Morrison became acquaintances, and later became closer friends when they realised they had another connection -- Wolf had a late-night radio show under the name Woofa Goofa, and he'd been receiving anonymous requests for obscure blues records from a fan of the show. Morrison had been the one sending in the requests, not realising his acquaintance was the DJ. Before he got his own band together, Morrison actually guested with the Hallucinations at one show they did in May 1968, supporting John Lee Hooker. The Hallucinations had been performing "Gloria" since Them's single had come out, and they invited Morrison to join them to perform it on stage. According to Wolf, Morrison was very drunk and ranted in cod-Japanese for thirty-five minutes, and tried to sing a different song while the band played "Gloria". The audience were apparently unimpressed, even though Wolf shouted at them “Don't you know who this man is? He wrote the song!” But in truth, Morrison was sick of "Gloria" and his earlier work, and was trying to push his music in a new direction. He would later talk about having had an epiphany after hearing one particular track on the radio: [Excerpt: The Band, "I Shall Be Released"] Like almost every musician in 1968, Morrison was hit like a lightning bolt by Music From Big Pink, and he decided that he needed to turn his music in the same direction. He started writing the song "Brand New Day", which would later appear on his album Moondance, inspired by the music on the album. The Van Morrison Controversy started out as a fairly straightforward rock band, with guitarist John Sheldon, bass player Tom Kielbania, and drummer Joey Bebo. Sheldon was a novice, though his first guitar teacher was the singer James Taylor, but the other two were students at Berklee, and very serious musicians. Morrison seems to have had various managers involved in rapid succession in 1968, including one who was himself a mobster, and another who was only known as Frank, but one of these managers advanced enough money that the musicians got paid every gig. These musicians were all interested in kinds of music other than just straight rock music, and as well as rehearsing up Morrison's hits and his new songs, they would also jam with him on songs from all sorts of other genres, particularly jazz and blues. The band worked up the song that would become "Domino" based on Sheldon jamming on a Bo Diddley riff, and another time the group were rehearsing a Grant Green jazz piece, "Lazy Afternoon": [Excerpt: Grant Green, "Lazy Afternoon"] Morrison started messing with the melody, and that became his classic song "Moondance": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Moondance"] No recordings of this electric lineup of the group are known to exist, though the backing musicians remember going to a recording studio called Ace recordings at one point and cutting some demos, which don't seem to circulate. Ace was a small studio which, according to all the published sources I've read, was best known for creating song poems, though it was a minor studio even in the song-poem world. For those who don't know, song poems were essentially a con aimed at wannabe songwriters who knew nothing about the business -- companies would advertise you too could become a successful, rich, songwriter if you sent in your "song poems", because anyone who knew the term "lyric" could be presumed to know too much about the music business to be useful. When people sent in their lyrics, they'd then be charged a fee to have them put out on their very own record -- with tracks made more or less on a conveyor belt with quick head arrangements, sung by session singers who were just handed a lyric sheet and told to get on with it. And thus were created such classics prized by collectors as "I Like Yellow Things", "Jimmy Carter Says 'Yes'", and "Listen Mister Hat". Obviously, for the most part these song poems did not lead to the customers becoming the next Ira Gershwin, but oddly even though Ace recordings is not one of the better-known song poem studios, it seems to have produced an actual hit song poem -- one that I don't think has ever before been identified as such until I made a connection, hence me going on this little tangent. Because in researching this episode I noticed something about its co-owner, Milton Yakus', main claim to fame. He co-wrote the song "Old Cape Cod", and to quote that song's Wikipedia page "The nucleus of the song was a poem written by Boston-area housewife Claire Rothrock, for whom Cape Cod was a favorite vacation spot. "Old Cape Cod" and its derivatives would be Rothrock's sole evident songwriting credit. She brought her poem to Ace Studios, a Boston recording studio owned by Milton Yakus, who adapted the poem into the song's lyrics." And while Yakus had written other songs, including songs for Patti Page who had the hit with "Old Cape Cod", apparently Page recorded that song after Rothrock brought her the demo after a gig, rather than getting it through any formal channels. It sounds to me like the massive hit and classic of the American songbook "Old Cape Cod" started life as a song-poem -- and if you're familiar with the form, it fits the genre perfectly: [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Old Cape Cod"] The studio was not the classiest of places, even if you discount the song-poems. Its main source of income was from cutting private records with mobsters' wives and mistresses singing (and dealing with the problems that came along when those records weren't successful) and it also had a sideline in bugging people's cars to see if their spouses were cheating, though Milton Yakus' son Shelly, who got his start at his dad's studio, later became one of the most respected recording engineers in the industry -- and indeed had already worked as assistant engineer on Music From Big Pink. And there was actually another distant connection to Morrison's new favourite band on these sessions. For some reason -- reports differ -- Bebo wasn't considered suitable for the session, and in his place was the one-handed drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton, who had played with the Barbarians, who'd had a minor hit with "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?" a couple of years earlier: [Excerpt: The Barbarians, "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?"] A later Barbarians single, in early 1966, had featured Moulty telling his life story, punctuated by the kind of three-chord chorus that would have been at home on a Bert Berns single: [Excerpt: The Barbarians, "Moulty"] But while that record was credited to the Barbarians, Moulton was the only Barbarian on the track, with the instruments and backing vocals instead being provided by Levon and the Hawks. Shortly after the Ace sessions, the Van Morrison Controversy fell apart, though nobody seems to know why. Depending on which musician's story you listen to, either Morrison had a dream that he should get rid of all electric instruments and only use acoustic players, or there was talk of a record deal but the musicians weren't good enough, or the money from the mysterious manager (who may or may not have been the one who was a mobster) ran out. Bebo went back to university, and Sheldon left soon after, though Sheldon would remain in the music business in one form or another. His most prominent credit has been writing a couple of songs for his old friend James Taylor, including the song "Bittersweet" on Taylor's platinum-selling best-of, on which Sheldon also played guitar: [Excerpt: James Taylor, "Bittersweet"] Morrison and Kielbania continued for a while as a duo, with Morrison on acoustic guitar and Kielbania on double bass, but they were making very different music. Morrison's biggest influence at this point, other than The Band, was King Pleasure, a jazz singer who sang in the vocalese style we've talked about before -- the style where singers would sing lyrics to melodies that had previously been improvised by jazz musicians: [Excerpt: King Pleasure, "Moody's Mood for Love"] Morrison and Kielbania soon decided that to make the more improvisatory music they were interested in playing, they wanted another musician who could play solos. They ended up with John Payne, a jazz flute and saxophone player whose biggest inspiration was Charles Lloyd. This new lineup of the Van Morrison Controversy -- acoustic guitar, double bass, and jazz flute -- kept gigging around Boston, though the sound they were creating was hardly what the audiences coming to see the man who'd had that "Brown-Eyed Girl" hit the year before would have expected -- even when they did "Brown-Eyed Girl", as the one live recording of that line-up, made by Peter Wolf, shows: [Excerpt: The Van Morrison Controversy, "Brown-Eyed Girl (live in Boston 1968)"] That new style, with melodic bass underpinning freely extemporising jazz flute and soulful vocals, would become the basis of the album that to this day is usually considered Morrison's best. But before that could happen, there was the matter of the contracts to be sorted out. Warner-Reprise Records were definitely interested. Warners had spent the last few years buying up smaller companies like Atlantic, Autumn Records, and Reprise, and the label was building a reputation as the major label that would give artists the space and funding they needed to make the music they wanted to make. Idiosyncratic artists with difficult reputations (deserved or otherwise), like Neil Young, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, the Grateful Dead, and Joni Mitchell, had all found homes on the label, which was soon also to start distributing Frank Zappa, the Beach Boys, and Captain Beefheart. A surly artist who wants to make mystical acoustic songs with jazz flute accompaniment was nothing unusual for them, and once Joe Smith, the man who had signed the Grateful Dead, was pointed in Morrison's direction by Andy Wickham, an A&R man working for the label, everyone knew that Morrison would be a perfect fit. But Morrison was still under contract to Bang records and Web IV, and those contracts said, among other things, that any other label that negotiated with Morrison would be held liable for breach of contract. Warners didn't want to show their interest in Morrison, because a major label wanting to sign him would cause Bang to raise the price of buying him out of his contract. Instead they got an independent production company to sign him, with a nod-and-wink understanding that they would then license the records to Warners. The company they chose was Inherit Productions, the production arm of Schwaid-Merenstein, a management company set up by Bob Schwaid, who had previously worked in Warners' publishing department, and record producer Lewis Merenstein. Merenstein came to another demo session at Ace Recordings, where he fell in love with the new music that Morrison was playing, and determined he would do everything in his power to make the record into the masterpiece it deserved to be. He and Morrison were, at least at this point, on exactly the same page, and bonded over their mutual love of King Pleasure. Morrison signed to Schwaid-Merenstein, just as he had with Bert Berns and before him Phil Solomon, for management, record production, and publishing. Schwaid-Merenstein were funded by Warners, and would license any recordings they made to Warners, once the contractual situation had been sorted out. The first thing to do was to negotiate the release from Web IV, the publishing company owned by Ilene Berns. Schwaid negotiated that, and Morrison got released on four conditions -- he had to make a substantial payment to Web IV, if he released a single within a year he had to give Web IV the publishing, any album he released in the next year had to contain at least two songs published by Web IV, and he had to give Web IV at least thirty-six new songs to publish within the next year. The first two conditions were no problem at all -- Warners had the money to buy the contract out, and Merenstein's plans for the first album didn't involve a single anyway. It wouldn't be too much of a hardship to include a couple of Web IV-published tracks on the album -- Morrison had written two songs, "Beside You" and "Madame George", that had already been published and that he was regularly including in his live sets. As for the thirty-six new songs... well, that all depended on what you called a song, didn't it? [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Ring Worm"] Morrison went into a recording studio and recorded thirty-one ostensible songs, most of them lasting one minute to within a few seconds either way, in which he strummed one or two chords and spoke-sang whatever words came into his head -- for example one song, "Here Comes Dumb George", just consists of the words "Here Comes Dumb George" repeated over and over. Some of the 'songs', like "Twist and Shake" and "Hang on Groovy", are parodying Bert Berns' songwriting style; others, like "Waiting for My Royalty Check", "Blowin' Your Nose", and "Nose in Your Blow", are attacks on Bang's business practices. Several of the songs, like "Hold on George", "Here Comes Dumb George", "Dum Dum George", and "Goodbye George" are about a man called George who seems to have come to Boston to try and fail to make a record with Morrison. And “Want a Danish” is about wanting a Danish pastry. But in truth, this description is still making these "songs" sound more coherent than they are. The whole recording is of no musical merit whatsoever, and has absolutely nothing in it which could be considered to have any commercial potential at all. Which is of course the point -- just to show utter contempt to Ilene Berns and her company. The other problem that needed to be solved was Bang Records itself, which was now largely under the control of the mob. That was solved by Joe Smith. As Smith told the story "A friend of mine who knew some people said I could buy the contract for $20,000. I had to meet somebody in a warehouse on the third floor on Ninth Avenue in New York. I walked up there with twenty thousand-dollar bills -- and I was terrified. I was terrified I was going to give them the money, get a belt on the head and still not wind up with the contract. And there were two guys in the room. They looked out of central casting -- a big wide guy and  a tall, thin guy. They were wearing suits and hats and stuff. I said 'I'm here with the money. You got the contract?' I remember I took that contract and ran out the door and jumped from the third floor to the second floor, and almost broke my leg to get on the street, where I could get a cab and put the contract in a safe place back at Warner Brothers." But the problem was solved, and Lewis Merenstein could get to work translating the music he'd heard Morrison playing into a record. He decided that Kielbania and Payne were not suitable for the kind of recording he wanted -- though they were welcome to attend the sessions in case the musicians had any questions about the songs, and thus they would get session pay. Kielbania was, at first, upset by this, but he soon changed his mind when he realised who Merenstein was bringing in to replace him on bass for the session. Richard Davis, the bass player -- who sadly died two months ago as I write this -- would later go on to play on many classic rock records by people like Bruce Springsteen and Laura Nyro, largely as a result of his work for Morrison, but at the time he was known as one of the great jazz bass players, most notably having played on Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch: [Excerpt: Eric Dolphy, "Hat and Beard"] Kielbania could see the wisdom of getting in one of the truly great players for the album, and he was happy to show Davis the parts he'd been playing on the songs live, which Davis could then embellish -- Davis later always denied this, but it's obvious when listening to the live recordings that Kielbania played on before these sessions that Davis is playing very similar lines. Warren Smith Jr, the vibraphone player, had played with great jazz musicians like Charles Mingus and Herbie Mann, as well as backing Lloyd Price, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. Connie Kay, the drummer, was the drummer for the Modern Jazz Quartet and had also played sessions with everyone from Ruth Brown to Miles Davis. And Jay Berliner, the guitarist, had played on records like Charles Mingus' classic The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady: [Excerpt: Charles Mingus: "Mode D - Trio and Group Dancers, Mode F - Single Solos & Group Dance"] There was also a flute player whose name nobody now remembers. Although all of these musicians were jobbing session musicians -- Berliner came to the first session for the album that became Astral Weeks straight from a session recording a jingle for Pringles potato chips -- they were all very capable of taking a simple song and using it as an opportunity for jazz improvisation. And that was what Merenstein asked them to do. The songs that Morrison was writing were lyrically oblique, but structurally they were very simple -- surprisingly so when one is used to listening to the finished album. Most of the songs were, harmonically, variants of the standard blues and R&B changes that Morrison was used to playing. "Cyprus Avenue" and "The Way Young Lovers Do", for example, are both basically twelve-bar blueses -- neither is *exactly* a standard twelve-bar blues, but both are close enough that they can be considered to fit the form. Other than what Kielbania and Payne showed the musicians, they received no guidance from Morrison, who came in, ran through the songs once for them, and then headed to the vocal booth. None of the musicians had much memory of Morrison at all -- Jay Berliner said “This little guy walks in, past everybody, disappears into the vocal booth, and almost never comes out, even on the playbacks, he stayed in there." While Richard Davis later said “Well, I was with three of my favorite fellas to play with, so that's what made it beautiful. We were not concerned with Van at all, he never spoke to us.” The sound of the basic tracks on Astral Weeks is not the sound of a single auteur, as one might expect given its reputation, it's the sound of extremely good jazz musicians improvising based on the instructions given by Lewis Merenstein, who was trying to capture the feeling he'd got from listening to Morrison's live performances and demos. And because these were extremely good musicians, the album was recorded extremely quickly. In the first session, they cut four songs. Two of those were songs that Morrison was contractually obliged to record because of his agreement with Web IV -- "Beside You" and "Madame George", two songs that Bert Berns had produced, now in radically different versions: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Madame George"] The third song, "Cyprus Avenue", is the song that has caused most controversy over the years, as it's another of the songs that Morrison wrote around this time that relate to a sexual or romantic interest in underage girls. In this case, the reasoning might have been as simple as that the song is a blues, and Morrison may have been thinking about a tradition of lyrics like this in blues songs like "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl". Whatever the cause though, the lyrics have, to put it mildly, not aged well at all: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Cyprus Avenue"] That song would be his standard set-closer for live performances for much of the seventies. For the fourth and final song, though, they chose to record what would become the title track for the album, "Astral Weeks", a song that was a lot more elliptical, and which seems in part to be about Morrison's longing for Janet Planet from afar, but also about memories of childhood, and also one of the first songs to bring in Morrison's fascination with the occult and spirituality,  something that would be a recurring theme throughout his work, as the song was partly inspired by paintings by a friend of Morrison's which suggested to him the concept of astral travel: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Astral Weeks"] Morrison had a fascination with the idea of astral travel, as he had apparently had several out-of-body experiences as a child, and wanted to find some kind of explanation for them. Most of the songs on the album came, by Morrison's own account, as a kind of automatic writing, coming through him rather than being consciously written, and there's a fascination throughout with, to use the phrase from "Madame George", "childhood visions". The song is also one of the first songs in Morrison's repertoire to deliberately namecheck one of his idols, something else he would do often in future, when he talks about "talking to Huddie Leadbelly". "Astral Weeks" was a song that Morrison had been performing live for some time, and Payne had always enjoyed doing it. Unlike Kielbania he had no compunction about insisting that he was good enough to play on the record, and he eventually persuaded the session flute player to let him borrow his instrument, and Payne was allowed to play on the track: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Astral Weeks"] Or at least that's how the story is usually told -- Payne is usually credited for playing on "Madame George" too, even though everyone agrees that "Astral Weeks" was the last song of the night, but people's memories can fade over time. Either way, Payne's interplay with Jay Berliner on the guitar became such a strong point of the track that there was no question of bringing the unknown session player back -- Payne was going to be the woodwind player for the rest of the album: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Astral Weeks"] There was then a six-day break between sessions, during which time Payne and Kielbania went to get initiated into Scientology -- a religion with which Morrison himself would experiment a little over a decade later -- though they soon decided that it wasn't worth the cost of the courses they'd have to take, and gave up on the idea the same week. The next session didn't go so well. Jay Berliner was unavailable, and so Barry Kornfeld, a folkie who played with people like Dave Van Ronk, was brought in to replace him. Kornfeld was perfectly decent in the role, but they'd also brought in a string section, with the idea of recording some of the songs which needed string parts live. But the string players they brought in were incapable of improvising, coming from a classical rather than jazz tradition, and the only track that got used on the finished album was "The Way Young Lovers Do", by far the most conventional song on the album, a three-minute soul ballad structured as a waltz twelve-bar blues, where the strings are essentially playing the same parts that a horn section would play on a record by someone like Solomon Burke: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "The Way Young Lovers Do"] It was decided that any string or horn parts on the rest of the album would just be done as overdubs. It was two weeks before the next and final session for the album, and that featured the return of Jay Berliner on guitar. The session started with "Sweet Thing" and "Ballerina", two songs that Morrison had been playing live for some time, and which were cut in relatively quick order.  They then made attempts at two more songs that didn't get very far, "Royalty", and "Going Around With Jesse James", before Morrison, stuck for something to record, pulled out a new lyric he'd never performed live, "Slim Slow Slider". The whole band ran through the song once, but then Merenstein decided to pare the arrangement down to just Morrison, Payne (on soprano sax rather than on flute), and Warren Smith Jr: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Slim Slow Slider"] That track was the only one where, after the recording, Merenstein didn't compliment the performance, remaining silent instead – Payne said “Maybe everyone was just tired, or maybe they were moved by it.” It seems likely it was the latter. The track eventually got chosen as the final track of the album, because Merenstein felt that it didn't fit conceptually with anything else -- and it's definitely a more negative track than the oth

This is it, the final episode for October and the final Pumpkinhead episode! On a new Terrible Terror Podcast I'm taking a look at the last Sci-Fi channel original Pumpkinhead movie with Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud! How did the fight between the Hatfields and McCoys really happen? Who is the most kink friendly? Is Pumpkinhead really Joe from down the street? Come and check out a new episode to find out with the longest of this month's reviews!If you can donate: https://www.kidsrockcancer.org/Terrible Terror:Facebook: https://facebook.com/terribleterrorpodcastInstagram: https://instagram.com/terribleterrorpodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/t00lbertYouTube: Terrible Terror PodcastTwitch: https://twitch.tv/terribleterrorsCheck out the Terrible Terror Store On TeePublic! The new Corn Tree design is now available:http://tee.pub/lic/e7et5lQSSbw

Welcome back to Destructo Discourse: Origins! This week, we're covering episodes 94-96 of the original hit anime, Dragon Ball. The matches leading up to the final bout commence at the World Martial Arts Tournament as both friendships and loyalties begin to waver. Join us as we and grab the romance (and twist), witness the Hatfields and the McCoys of punching, and watch out for the chair bones.Your hosts this week are:Jayson, Matt, MelissaYou can also check out Tyler's other podcasts,What The FolklorePiece Meal

From the Ballad of Ye and the Kardashians to the Hatfields and the McCoys, there are a million ways to get justice wrong. Straight is the road and narrow is the gate: in this final installment of the cardinal virtues series, Spencer discusses justice at the macro level, not as a collection of prohibitions but as a law of love. Sign up for my mailing list: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check out my book, How to Save the West: https://a.co/d/2uukAV3

Studio Soundtracks takes listeners behind the scenes of how music is crafted for film and television by hearing directly from composers, songwriters and music professionals in the Entertainment Industry. Listen to inspiring conversations about composition and hear works from Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar-winning film scores on the show. ARIEL MARX An Emmy- nominated composer and multi-instrumentalist, Ariel Marx draws from many genres and often combines orchestral and rare instruments with electronics to create unique worlds of sound. Her scores have premiered in films at Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Tribeca, Woodstock, Criterion Channel, as well as films and shows on Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, FX, HBO, Mubi, Discovery+ and more. She is a member of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy, and is a Sundance Film Music and Sound Design Lab alumn. Some of Ariel's most recent projects include Disney+/ABC series A Small Light , Neon's Sanctuary, UCP/Peacock's A Friend of the Family, UCP/Hulu's Candy (ranked number 3 in Indiewire's Best TV scores of 2022), and FX/Hulu's American Horror Stories. Her other works for film and television also include Utopia's Shiva Baby, HBO's The Tale, Shudder's Birth/Rebirth, Magnolia's Next Exit, Discovery+'s Rebel Hearts, Amazon's Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer, FX/Hulu's Children of the Underground, and Good Deed Entertainments To Dust, among others. As a solo artist, Ariel recently released her solo album Luthier with Node Records. TONY MORALES EMMY-nominated composer Tony Morales is known for his sweeping symphonic scores and textural cinematic sound for feature films and television. His orchestral compositions range from dramas and crime thrillers to documentaries, comedies, and animation. His work includes countless hours of music for television on shows such as Amazon Prime's Reacher, Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico on CNN and the NBC heist thriller The Endgame. His latest project is Netflix's Fubar, a spy action comedy series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his live-action television debut. Morales has composed music for several documentaries including the Eva Longoria directed feature documentary La Guerra Civil which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival which he was EMMY-nominated for “Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)” this year. He also wrote the music for 30 For 30's The Dominican Dream which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and tells the story of young immigrant Felipe Lopez, the “Dominican Michael Jordan”. Morales earned a Primetime EMMY nomination for the mini-series Hatfields & McCoys (co-composed with John Debney). He is also known for his score on all three seasons of Disney's Elena Of Avalor for which he received multiple Daytime EMMY nominations as well as an Annie Award nomination. For the music of Elena he mixed various Latin music genres, as well as instrumentation, with the traditional Disney orchestral sound. Tony has collaborated on several projects writing additional music for titles such as Iron Man 3, Fast Five, The Change-Up and Now You See Me. Born in Southern California, Morales grew up all over the US and now resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters.

In this episode, we'll learn about historical events that happened this week in history as they were depicted in Hatfields & McCoys, The Walk, and Frost/Nixon. Did you enjoy this episode? Find everything at: https://links.boatspodcast.com/267 Leave a comment: https://links.boatspodcast.com/comment Learn more about BOATS This Week: https://links.boatspodcast.com/thisweek Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join me for a long overdue episode with my friend Denis Stefan. Denis is from Romania and has been an actor over there since the early 2000s. Through acting he found horses and he's become a true horseman, spending the last 15 years training, instructing and doing exhibitions. He's done stunts for the movies and trains horses and people from his home base, giving clinics throughout Europe. He was a bounty hunter killed by Kevin Costner in "The Hatfields and McCoys". He has spent quality time training one on one with Lajos Kassai, the world famous Hungarian bowyer.As Denis has already done some movies in the US, and has done others that are internationally known, you may well have seen some of his work. Denis is the kind of guy that we'd all enjoy spending an evening with around a fire with a nice whiskey and a cigar. We hope you find this one entertaining and enlightening as we talk about movies, movie horses, his time learning about horseback archery and just what is humanly possible with a bow on a horse, as well as many other stories from his life.https://www.instagram.com/denis.stefan.oficial/

Time for a lesson on one of the most iconic family feuds in history!   Abby is joined by Hatfield family descendent Amber Bishop, and McCoy family descendent Courtney McCoy-DeProspero for a lesson about the historic feud between the two families.   Amber and Courtney look back into history to explain the context of the bitter rivalry between their two families. The duo also explains how blood ties and local politics brought the familial dispute all the way to the Supreme Court. Later, Amber and Courtney discuss how legal tensions between them still exist today, and what it would take for the two families to forgive one another. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Pax try not to break out into a blood feud when they delve into the History Channel mini-series Hatfields & McCoys starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton.

Podcast links and notes ___________________ Checkout the NEW website ⁠MikeyPodcast.com⁠ Nominate The Mikey Podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Remember vote best Afternoon Drive Radio, Best Rock Radio Station, Best Talk Radio Station And be sure to tell everyone to vote!!   Tap to Connect with me on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Personal ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Personal ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the show and grab some merch ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ Save 20% at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HigherElevation.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with promo code MIKEY Need help accessing this podcast? Tap this ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HELP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ______________________ Freedom, Schmeedom: The Battle for Defining the Term in American Politics YO! Today I'm going to talk about everyone's favorite topic - politics! Specifically, I'll be discussing the ongoing battle to define the term 'freedom' in American politics. Democrats are accusing Republicans of trying to restrict personal freedoms, while Republicans claim they're protecting real freedom by standing against vaccine mandates, censorship, and indoctrination in schools. And if that wasn't enough drama for you, Tucker Carlson got fired recently! Oh boy, I'll definitely be getting into the theories about why that happened. The Dems are painting the Republicans' pro-freedom efforts as a personal attack on freedoms. How original! Republicans claim they're actually preserving personal freedom. Oh, the irony. Democrats seem to be winning the PR battle, despite Republicans' actual efforts to protect freedom. Tucker Carlson's firing exposes the deep ideological rifts in American politics. It's like the Hatfields and McCoys, but with suits and ties. Why did Tucker get the boot? Was it his views on Ukraine? His sexism? Or maybe it was just his religious faith that got him kicked to the curb. Let's not forget the $787.5 million settlement against Fox News over their election coverage and Tucker's role in it. Yikes. Abby Grossberg's harassment allegations against Carlson - is anyone really surprised? Oh, and let's not forget about Rupert Murdoch's thoughts on Tucker's religious beliefs. That's totally relevant, right? What does Tucker Carlson think about Ukraine? And how does that relate to his Fox News departure? We're dying to know. Is Tucker Carlson going to join OAN or Newsmax? Tune in next time to find out! Well, it looks like the battle to define freedom in American politics is far from over. And with newscasters getting fired left and right, it's getting harder and harder to know who to trust. Here's a list of fired newscasters to prove it: Tucker Carlson, Dan Rather, Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Megyn Kelly, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer... the list goes on. So, who do we trust? Beats us! But one thing's for sure - it's definitely not the news. #freedomdebate #TuckerCarlson #politicaltheater #trustworthynews #Newscaster #themikeypodcast

The most iconic family feud in American history begins in the heart of southern Appalachia. Tensions rise during the years before the Civil War, and then an attack near the end of the war raises the stakes to a fatal level. At that point, there is no turning back.Buy us a coffeeDiscord Chat Support the show

The Platform episode 457 features a mix by Gelo from New York City! An open format DJ that also runs Good Times Productions, he's been in the industry for over a decade. His main residency at Hatfields in Queens just closed its doors, so if you're in New York booking DJs and like what you hear, hit him up on his socials below. Check out my Patreon page to get a full look at the track lists from each show and even download my top tracks of week and more. Be sure to check out the second mix this week by Tommy G right after this one. Turn it up and enjoy the latest by Gelo right here, on The Platform! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/djdexmke Web: www.goodtimesdjnyc.com GTP: https://linktr.ee/GoodTimesProductions IG: https://www.instagram.com/imthaaadj/

A former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, Anton Gunn says building relationships with the other side during that era sometimes resembled “the Hatfields and McCoys.” By answering three fundamental questions, however, he found common ground — and knowing those asks can help you become a more effective leader, too. Discover what the author, speaker and Fortune 500 consultant calls the biggest keys to leading your business from a presidential point of view.

This week Angeline tells us of the many different feuds within the rock band Fleetwood Mac.  Then Josh comes having researched his own family feud with the Hatfields and McCoys.Be sure to follow us on all social media @icbympodcast.  If you have any questions or would like to leave us a comment, please visit our website www.icbympodcast.com

Tori covers the Tower of London and she regrets her life choices due to the sheer size of this story. A bunch of history, beheadings, and ghosts, this historic keep has seen it all. Also, there's ravens, nine exactly. Krys covers the Hatfields and the McCoys and their epic family feud which has been ingrained on the American psyche!Our sources: hrp.org.uk, britannica.com, britainexpress.com, history.com, authenticvacations.com, walks.com, londonwalkingtours.co.uk, hauntedrooms.co.uk,  Our theme music: “Danse Macabre - Busy Strings" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Support our show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/trendylobotomypodcast Find us at FB/Instagram @TrendyLobotomyPod and at Twitter @TrendyPod as well as our blog trendylobotomypodcast.blogspot.com Support the show

Police dogs, cactus, and fallout. Are we the Hatfields or the McCoys? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/light-me-at-5/message

We'll be posting new audio episodes soon, but new videos are up on our YouTube Channel. Go check them out right now and like and subscribe.  Also, go follow us on Tik Tok before we go to war with China. Here's an episode from our six month anniversary show. To celebrate, we brought in our good friend Jeff Lyons (@usedwigs on Twitter, Junk Miles with Chip and Jeff) and quizzed him on some of our favorite facts from previous episodes. Find out if the Hatfields and McCoys really did fight over an NFT and what romantic dinner entrée makes Jeff want to vomit. 

In the latter part of the 19th century feuds were common across remote parts of Appalachia, the most well-known of which was the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. They weren't the only feudists, though. In Rowan County, Kentucky at that time two families, the Martins and the Tollivers, were engaged in a bloody … Continue reading "The Winking Corpse"

When you say "feud" anywhere in America, what comes to most folks' minds are the names "Hatfield" and "McCoy." That notorious feud has been the stuff of legend not just in Appalachia but all across America as well.But that feud eventually burnt itself out. So what happened to Devil Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy after that? Well, for one thing, did you know that Devil Anse Hatfield went on the vaudeville circuit early in the twentieth century? Today we tell you that story and more about the Hatfields and McCoys after the end of their famous feud. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Audacy, Goodpods, Audible, or on your favorite podcast app.

During today's conversation on Back Porch Theology we're going to explore the miraculously cohesive band of brothers Jesus chose to be His disciples, and how they modeled unity not uniformity. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a group of men in the Ancient Near East who were more diametrically opposed with regards to cultural views and societal norms. The Hatfields and McCoys might've had more things in common than the original twelve! And in light of Jesus intentionally choosing exactly a dozen raggamuffins to follow Him – which many scholars say is a nod to the orginal twelve tribes – we're heading back to the Old Testament today too to highlight a hapax legomenon (which means a word or expression that's only used once in a linguistic context or entire text) that pretty much proves the adage, “God doesn't always call those who are equipped, but He always equips those He calls!” So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you're driving or hollowing out a decorative gourd, of course – and come hang out on the porch with Alli, Dr. Howard and me! Back Porch Theology is sponsored in part by Operation Christmas Child. Pack a shoebox! Learn more by clicking here.

Will Smith's boring apology to Chris Rock, Disney's racist Rapunzel, RIP Bill Russell, Alex Jones' bankruptcy, Drew Crime stories, Joe Biden v. COVID II, and songwriter Matt Farley joins us after his Kris Jenner song goes viral.RIP to underrated Bill Russell. RIP to Star Trek's Uhura.Some generational warfare to start the show. Millennials are making a ton of money now.Will Smith finally apologizes to Chris Rock in the longest boringly way possible.Charles Barkley defends LIV Golf as 'selective moral outrage'.We check in with the world's most prolific songwriter, Matt Farley, as those damn Kardashians used one of his songs in a viral TikTok. Check out all of Motern Media's fantastic songs.The lead singer of Smash Mouth wanted to fight the entire crowd at the Taste of Fort Collins.Johnny Depp's art prints sold out in hours and landed him $3.6M.Scientists claim they can help bald men... again. Shri Thanedar has the head of hair every guy wants.Drew tried to scoop Karl and WATP by listening to the Chad Cast, but he accidentally ran into a different Chadcast.Taylor Swift is the CO2 polluter of the year. One of her Swifties tried to defend her on Twitter by concocting an easily provable lie.Spain is trying to lock Shakira up in prison for 8 years, but they really just want their tax money.Some exciting Euro Soccer racktion today. You can draw your own conclusions about the teeth.Liz Cambage is the most high maintenance WNBA player possibly ever.Brittney Griner is still on the trade block. Elon Musk weighs in because needs attention.There is an absolutely disturbing video making the rounds of a Russian soldier cutting off a Ukranian soldier's genitalia, placing them in/near the guy's mouth, and then shooting him in the head.US Politricks: Joe Biden has COVID again. Biden vs Trump already sounds nauseating. Donald Trump endorses Tudor Dixon. The WaPo feels Big Gretch is ready for the presidency.World Politricks: Vladimir Putin is using his left arm to masturbate these days. Nancy Pelosi's trip to Asia has really angered China.Jesse Jackson has entered the Sesame Place debacle and has demands.Disney has their own racist characters now.A 22-year-old was pulverized by a helicopter blade while on vacation in Greece.Alex Jones claims he's broke. He has retained Fotis Dulos' lawyer.Drew Crime: The Rhoden & Wagner families are the modern day Hatfields & McCoys. The honeymoon murder in Fiji. A Microsoft executive murder mystery. New info on the Dan Markel murder.Social media is dumb, but we're on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Drew and Mike Show, Marc Fellhauer, Trudi Daniels and BranDon).