Going over Old School lesson plans, seeking the good stuff from back in the day, you realize how astoundingly different the times were. The nightly network news shows only took a half hour, and unlike the 24-hour pound-a-thons we have now, lawyers rarely made appearances. Sure there were legal issues, but if you wanted to see a lawyer on television, you tuned in to Perry Mason
The radio was another matter. The rock stations had fun with the law, and even fought it. Country stations averaged maybe four jail songs an hour. Beyond being sad and locked up, country stars made musical hay with songs about divorce, stolen trucks, and avoiding revenuers.
For this episode, we are using our one phone call to dial up some true legal entanglements. Warren Zevon has left the country; he needs three vital things to get back home. Shorty Long anticipates the judge. Moby Grape has other plans for that authority figure.
Clarence Carter reports from a hot Georgia courtroom. John Mayall has sage observations. Foul play makes Bobby Fuller a one-hit wonder. Vicki Young sings from a women’s prison.
Johnny Cash has gotten into trouble far beyond cocaine, Merle Haggard is on the run and the Flying Burrito Brothers have one last request. The Robins really aren’t looking forward to their sentences. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers and the Purple Gang and the whole cell block just want to dance to the Jailhouse Rock.
LAWYERS, GUNS, AND MONEY Warren Zevon (1978)
HERE COMES THE JUDGE Shorty Long (1968)
MURDER IN MY HEART FOR THE JUDGE Moby Grape (1968)
THE COURTROOM Clarence Carter (1971)
THE LAWS MUST CHANGE John Mayall (1971)
I FOUGHT THE LAW The Bobby Fuller Four (1966)
RIOT IN CELL BLOCK #9 Vicki Young (1954)
COCAINE BLUES Johnny Cash (1968)
I AM A LONESOME FUGITIVE Merle Haggard (1967)
SING ME BACK HOME The Flying Burrito Brothers (1973)
TEN DAYS IN JAIL The Robins (1954)
JAILHOUSE ROCK Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1957)
Share this post