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The wandering Idiots often frustrate their family and friends by stubbornly refusing to have an itinerary. It takes a mighty incentive to make them actually arrive at a certain spot on a certain day. Silver City, New Mexico provides one of those rare exceptions.
The Idiots don’t have grandchildren, but they are lucky to have friends who allow them to borrow some occasionally. They altered their very loose itinerary so they could get to Silver City by October 30 to attend “Famous Persons Day” at Guadalupe Montessori School to see their borrowed kids as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Harriet Tubman.
As much as they like Silver City, it is not the amenities that bring them back year after year… it is the opportunity to be honorary Aunt Cheela and Uncle Jim to two wonderful girls… and their parental units are OK, too!
The Idiots don’t want to violate the privacy of their extended family, so details will not be featured. But they can’t help sharing a few photos. It should be obvious why the Idiots can’t miss a year in Silver City.
(BTW - In the birthday cake picture, Idiot He does not have a big zit on his forehead. That is a sticker that reads "Open Here." When the girls asked him about it, he told them it is very important to always keep an open mind...)
Entertainment in Silver City is somewhat limited. It isn’t large enough to draw A-list performers. But the Idiots got to take the girls to a concert by William Florian who was a lead performer with the New Christy Minstrels in the 1970s.
The New Christy Minstrels were a controversial group for an odd reason. The Old Folkies… like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger carried a tradition of populist communism from the Depression era into the Fifties, the next generation took those Leftie sentiments into the Civil Rights and Anti-war movements. When Peter, Paul, and Mary sang Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and Pete Seeger’s “If I Had a Hammer” at the March on Washington they cemented the image of Folk Music as a force in the Progressive movement.
Thus the controversial nature of the New Christy Minstrels. Founded by lead singer Ricky Sparks in 1961, TNCM was a group of ten singers specifically designed to entertain with rousing folk-like songs about rambling and gambling and lost loves – without offending anyone by having any political content or opinions. They had a string of hits including “Green Green” and “Today” and their clean-cut looks and non-political sound made them the darlings of television.
“Real” folk musicians hated them. They were universally condemned for their overt commitment to commercializing folk music. Nonetheless, for much of the past 50+ years, there has been some form of The New Christy Minstrels touring and performing rousing, if benign, “folk-like” music.
Probably the greatest legacy of TNCM is its alumni. Over 300 singers have been members over the years, all of them talented and some of them destined to be stars. The list includes Barry McGuire (who later wrote and recorded the very-political “Eve of Destruction”), Karen Black (more famous as a Hollywood actress), Gene Clark (The Byrds), Terry Anne Meeuwsen (Miss America and 700 Club host), and Kenny Rogers (The First Edition and a long history of musical hits and acting) and numerous other working musicians.
One such alumnus is William (Bill) Florian. A struggling musician in the early 70s – playing birthday parties and pizza parlors with his siser, he landed a spot singing the leads left vacant when founder Randy Sparks left the group. Florian now travels the county in his RV, performing his celebration of sing-along oldies “Those Were The Days” for small and medium audiences.
The Idiots thoroughly embarrassed their girls by singing along enthusiastically with all the songs. The audience was mostly gray-haired folks, so Florian gave the girls (seated in the front row) a lot of attention and one of them even got on stage for the final encore. Sure – it was “Folk-lite”… but how can the heart not rise into the throat as one enters into the echoed harmonies of “California Dreamin’”? It was a great nostalgia-binge for the Idiots on the eve of Idiot He’s 65th birthday.
What fun you two DO manage to have! I'd have been right there singing along with you, had I stowed away on "The Beast". We have been doing a history series on American Musical theatre, in which there was a segment on the original Christie Minstrels, who performed during the late 1800's It finally explained why this group was the NEW Christies. Phyllis
Jim, you brought back some great memories! As I am sure I have mentioned before ,in the 60's we always had a houseful of teenagers and the New Christie Minstrals were favorites, including all the songs you mentioned. That music is still the greatest! I never get tired of it. Do you remember "They're Rioting In Africa'? The words apply today!! The last line was "And I don't like anybody very much' It always made me laugh. Thank you, Idiots, you are a delight!!
and Phyllis... I read about Christy's Minstrels aka the Christy Minstrels... founded by Edwin Christy in the early 1840s in Buffalo, New York. They were hugely successful - and guilty of a multitude of sins. They popularized "the minstrel show" - a mixture of comedy and music in three acts performed by white men in blackface. The "humor" was typically based on the ignorance/naivety/stupidity of the "Negro" characters. This lamentable form of "entertainment" caught on and was replicated all over America. In fact, many of the original Christy group ended up in minstrel groups in Britain after the group broke up, carrying this particular brand of racism to Europe.
I'd like to say the minstrel show died out after the Civil War and emancipation - but I remember, as a small boy (putting the event in the early 1950s) I attended a minstrel show put on by my small town Lions Club - with my father as one of the performers in blackface. It was highly entertaining... and helped plant the seeds of racism firmly in my little head. Not that I didn't have other equally offensive sources... on TV we enjoyed "Amos and Andy" - stereotypical racist humor. At least these were real African-American actors rather than whites in blackface. The original Amos and Andy on radio was performed by white actors.
And rosemarie - thanks for the memories. I loved the song you reference... the Merry Minuet performed by the Kingston Trio. It was written by Sheldon Harnick, who went on to greater fame as half of the duo Harnick/Bock who wrote a series of popular Broadway musicals, including Fiddler on the Roof in 1964. Reading the lyrics, t's amazing how little has changed in 60 years...
The Merry Minuet
They're rioting in Africa
They're starving in Spain
There's hurricanes in Florida
and Texas needs rain
The whole world is festering
with unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans
The Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yugoslavs
South Africans hate the Dutch
And I don't like anybody very much
But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud
for man's been endowed
With a mushroom shaped cloud
And we know for certain
that some lovely day
someone will set the spark off
And we will all be blown away
They're rioting in Africa
There's strife in Iran
What nature doesn't do to us
will be done by our fellow man
Happy Belated Birthday!! Sure glad you had your special family there to help you celebrate! The little pixies are sure growing up fast and to share with them a new adventure! Awesome.
karma 'Happy Toes' (kHT)
The Goddess is Alive and Magic is Afoot!!!!
I'm just a simple housewife.
Thank you, Idiots, you are a delight!!