July 3, 2010 Happy 234th America!

Happy birthday America! The 4th of July weekend is here. Big parade today and the kids and I plan on finding a shady spot along the parade route probably on Bowdon Street. I have made my annual trek across to the fireworks stores in Cleburne County. Those two fireworks stores across I-20 from each other do a land office business this time of year. We went last year and there were people with grocery store shopping carts rolling out all kinds of fireworks. You can fit our purchases in a 10 pound flour sack. Do you remember when some flour companies had 25 pound sacks of flour that came with a free dish towel? I remember on Porter Wagoner's Saturday afternoon television show with Dolly Parton and Porter shilling Breeze laundry detergent referred to by my grandmother as "washing powder". Boxes of Breeze contained a towel. The larger the box you bought the bigger the towel. Porter Wagoner is the reason my grandmother bought Black Draught, Solstice, and Cardui "the women's tonic." Porter was a great pitchman because he'd always do a recitation towards the end of his show with a sincerety that really came through the television screen. I first met the late star of the Grand Ole Opry at a Shoney's in Nashville. He was a genuinely nice fellow who loved his fans. I first met Dolly Parton at a reception and listening party at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead in 1982. She was on my radio show several times over the years and always referred to me at "Rutabegger Jones". George Jones did the same thing.

I am on this Country music thing in this week's column as we celebrate America today and I can't think of but two musical art forms that are actually truly American. Country music's seeds were planted in the reels and folk songs of Scotland, Ireland and England. Jazz roots came from African rhythms and melodies. The first American pop star was Louis Armstrong. Just my opinion and I could be wrong. My Uncle Henry introduced me to Country music by playing vintage RCA Victor 78 RPM records of Jimmie Rogers the "singing breakman." Jimmie Rogers' music was a mix of Country, Folk, and Blues. Uncle Henry loved "T For Texas" and "Blue Yodel #9." I did radio in Asheville, North Carolina where Jimmie Rogers did his first radio performances over WWNC. He also drove a cab and worked as a police officer I was told by a fellow who was a running buddy of the "Father of Country music." Frank was an elderly gentleman in his 80s who ran a news stand that I frequented before I went on the air to host the night show on W S K Y. "Like his song said, I can get more women than a passenger train can haul, is the truth about ole Jimmie" Frank told me once with a wink.Jimmie Rogers went over the mountains to Bristol, Tennessee to record with A. P., Sara, and Maybelle Carter. The Bristol Sessions cd is one of my all time favorite pieces of recorded American music. Jimmie Rogers was the first inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Jimmie Rogers and his wife were credited for the discovery of Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb, two pioneering giants in Country music. The most successful group in the history of Country music was Alabama. Lead singer Randy Owen is a dear friend and I am asking you all to keep him in your prayers as he revealed a few weeks ago that he is being treated for prostate cancer. Driving around town I see that Tallapoosa has about as many places to get a tattoo as to buy groceries. The Piggly Wiggly is where I pick up my Tallapoosa Journal every Saturday morning. Tallapoosa's new coffee shop has as good a cup of java as you can find on Peachtree Street in Buckhead. Lipham's Department Store is where you can still get a pair of Lee jeans and Georgia Boot Company products. Bettye Lipham always has a smile and a kind word for everybody who walks in the door. Mary Tollison and Charles Thompson are two of the most talented artists that I've ever met. Tallapoosa should take great pride in these two citizens. Charles built a rock garden on his property back in the 1960s and people would pull off Highway 100 and get their Kodak Instamatics out to snap a picture of his beautiful creation. I bought a couple of tomato plants last month and am hoping that the jar of Hellman's Mayonaise and some "loaf bread" as my grandmother called it will have some red ripe company sometime this month. Today it will be fireworks, hot dogs, watermelon, and a parade. It is great to be living in the U.S.A. Celebrate living in the greatest nation on Earth.

Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a member of the administrative faculty at Kennesaw State University. Contact him via email at rhubarbjones@aol.com or professorrhubarb@gmail.com or at P. O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa, GA 30176