A tribute to the ad-lib storytelling art of radio great Jean Shepherd (fl. 1960s). One of his great 45-minute late-night monologues on WOR-AM/FM (Oct. 28, 1965) is here surgically slimmed to fit a half-hour program. Shepherd weaves together a humorous tale of grenade-replica cigarette lighters, the real George Washington, crime in reality vs. on "Route 66," and (the best part of the story) life in Covington, KY--the redneck quarter of Cincinnati, Ohio--in the 1950s.
Original Shepherd recording supplied by Radio Veronica (U.S.) & archived by A-Infos Radio Project--see Notes. Many thanks to both. New World Notes is produced for WWUH-FM, Public Alternative Radio at the University of Hartford. Feedback to kdowst at hotmail dot com.
Photos of Shepherd and Covington complement the story. View them in the newsletter or on the blog--http [colon] //newworldnotes.blogspot.com
Radio Veronica (U.S.) has restored, and made available for free download, fourteen complete (45-minute) Shepherd monologues, here-- http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Jean+Shepherd+Rewound. NWN #52 is taken from Program #2 in this series.
ADVICE: Two themes unify Shep's a loosely-constructed and seemingly highly digressive story (if I do say so myself). The first is ordnance (grenades, guns, ammunition, etc.). The second is that an event as it is experienced is seldom similar to the event as the media depict it.
Musician DONALD FAGEN (co-founder of Steely Dan) has written a subtle, complex, and very personal appreciation of Shepherd--who had played as large a role in Fagen's early adolescence as Mad magazine played in mine. This fine essay should interest anyone who used to be a bright, alienated suburban kid or who is interested in Jean Shepherd's spoken-word art. The essay is here-- http [colon] //www.slate.com/id/2207058/pagenum/all/#p2
SONG-- Hollywood Ramblers (?) with Jean Shepherd (vocal and kazoo), 'Sheik of Araby'
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SERIES OVERVIEW -- Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for. "Date recorded" = date of first scheduled broadcast.
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