Truck stop cooking, “re-Kindled” (recipe included!)

The All-American Truck Stop Cookbook by Jim Clark, Ken Beck & Les Kerr

It was a surprise to me when a friend told me she had added The All-American Truck Stop Cookbook to her Kindle library. It had been a treat for me to join Jim Clark and Ken Beck in writing the cookbook, originally published in 2002. We never dreamed then that technology would give new life to the fun stories and filling recipes we gathered over a decade later.

The book includes over 200 dishes you can prepare from truck stops flung far and wide. From the Arctic Circle (yes, you can park your rig at the Coldfoot Truck Stop in Alaska) to the Deep South (“Roger that coffee,” at Uncle Pete’s Truck Stop in Lebanon, Tennessee), these dishes fill drivers’ tanks and keep them between the ditches. In between recipes, there are stories from waitresses, drivers, overnight radio announcers and various truck stop characters.

There’s the waitress in Mississippi who recalled when country music legend George Jones’ bus drove off without him after stopping for fuel and food, the driver not realizing “N0-show Jones” was in the men’s room.

And then the time(s) overnight trucking radio hosts not only got requests for songs but to deliver marriage proposals over the air as eighteen-wheelers carried romantic drivers and cargo of all kinds through the night.

What about the belief held by many that the food must be good at a truck stop because there are so many trucks parked outside? Turns out that all started not because of the quality of the food but the space needed to park big rigs. Parking was first, and then the drivers demanded that the food improve.

At New Orleans Maple Leaf Bar, last year. I gathered some truck stop recipes on the way from Nashville to play here in 2002

Gathering the recipes and stories was fun for me because, as a traveling musician, I made sure to eat at truck stops while I was on the way to perform in New Orleans, Jackson, Mississippi, Mobile, Alabama and other places. When I could meet the managers, I would ask for a recipe and a story. It was a book project that broadened my cultural horizons, as well as my waistline!

Trucker’s Connection w/cover story by Les Kerr

Since 1990, I have written articles for many trucking publications, including Trucker’s Connection and Tennessee Trucking News. During that time, I have observed how high-technology has become standard equipment in trucking. Now, thanks to Kindle, it’s keeping our stories and recipes on the road, as well.

Ten-four, good buddies and here’s a sample for you from Uncle Pete’s Truck Stop. Enjoy!

Uncle Pete’s Barbecued Catfish

4 cups barbecue sauce

1 tablespoon lemon pepper

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1 scant teaspoon garlic powder

12 catfish filets

In a bowl, mix the sauce and seasonings well. In a gallon-sized sealable, plastic food bag, marinate three 5-ounce catfish to 1 cup of sauce. Grill. And don’t forget to tip your waitress.

View & download The All-American Truck Stop Cookbook Kindle edition here.

Learn More about Les at www.leskerr.com

Text and photos copyright 2013.

New Orleans in print

Les Kerr’s New Orleans Set, a tribute album to the Crescent City

Followers of my music and this blog know how much I have always loved New Orleans. From family vacations when we lived in Jackson, Mississippi to later living just down Highway 90 (or I-10) in Pascagoula and Mobile, I grew up well within range of the spell the city casts upon so many. As I wrote in a song called Below the Level of the Sea, “Her rhythm and her blues are part of me.”

As sure as it causes you to sweat in the summer on Decatur Street, New Orleans’ humidity carries the French Quarter’s history in an almost tangible manner. I never tire of learning about how this city became “New Orleans” and these three books may be of interest if you’re a fan of that seductive city.

Good reads about New Orleans

The World that Made New Orleans by Ned Sublette

This is a history book of the most interesting kind, going back to the 1600s to the first explorers up until 1819. The impact of what happened then is relevant now musically and culturally. The author explores the influence of slaves coming in from Africa via the Caribbean and the impact that what is now Haiti and what was and still is Cuba had on New Orleans.

Changes made in New Orleans as a Spanish colony (where everyone still spoke French) in the second half of the 1700s, such as sidewalks and architecture, were significant. It was a surprise to me that St. Charles Avenue was named after Spanish King Carlos IV. Frenchmen Street got its name because it is where the second Spanish governor executed the former French colonists who had run the first Spanish governor off to Havana. Think about that the next time you’re in Snug Harbor (626 Frenchmen St.) listening to Charmaine Neville rocking with her great band!

Dixie Bohemia by John Shelton Reed

William Faulkner and artist William Spratling shared a French Quarter apartment in the 1920s. The aspiring writer and the cartoonist wrote an amusing little book about friends and acquaintances called Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles. Among the ironies of the book (which included Faulkner’s text and Spratling’s drawings) is that only two of its subjects were “Creoles.” The term originally applied only to colonists or descendants of colonists. Faulkner’s contemporaries were described with affectionate send-ups in the small book.

One of my favorite French Quarter restaurants, also frequented by the 1920s “Dixie Bohemians”

The author of Dixie Bohemia uses the Faulkner/Spratling book as a roadmap of the 20^thCentury Bohemian period of the French Quarter and includes a great step-by-step progression applicable to any area deemed “bohemian” from start to finish. In a nutshell, the “bohemian” neighborhood starts as a slum only affordable to starving artists. Then, as others take notice, begin to improve it and encourage people to move there, the original inhabitants are priced out and must leave to find more affordable accommodations.

If you have read Faulkner’s Mosquitoes, you’ll recall a scene involving a boat trip on Lake Ponchartrain throwing the characters together in a small space. There was such a boat trip with Faulkner and his friends and readers (including the subjects themselves) later argued about which character was which real person. Oddly devoid of many musical references, especially since this was the “Jazz Age” in a city known as the “cradle of Jazz,” the book stands out because it focuses on the non-music interests of the principals.

Rhythm & Blues in New Orleans by John Broven

Originally published in 1978, this book may seem dated to those who only know the contemporary New Orleans music scene. The Neville brothers (with a small “b”) were all there but had not become the powerhouse funk unit that made the capital “B” necessary. Henry Roland “Roy” Byrd, whom the world knew as “Professor Longhair,” was still alive. Within the previous two decades, incredible rock and roll standards like Sea Cruise, Mother In Law and Iko Iko had come from New Orleans and swept the nation and were still within fresh memory (and radio airplay). I remember well walking on Bourbon Street by the Crazy Korner where Clarence “Frogman” Henry (who made national hits for Chess Records) held forth in the mid-seventies.

Always a thrill to play a great independent record store still thriving, Louisiana Music Factory, Decatur St., New Orleans

What strikes me as an armchair musicologist and fan of music in general is the detailed history of how those records were made. The impact of mom and pop record stores and studios, as well as the long-vanished regional hit, cannot be understated. When national record companies started taking notice of New Orleans, Fats Domino took what he called rhythm and blues across America.

At the time the book was published, the author was still amazed at how little the music of New Orleans was appreciated by the outside world. Since the 1980s, that has been changing. The movie The Big Easy, the cable series Treme and other media have had a big impact. The flooding after Hurricane Katrina helped scatter New Orleans culture, music, cuisine and musicians around the world.

So let these books take you on a trip to the New Orleans of your choice and please comment below about what you may be reading about “The City that Care Forgot.” You can also click the image of my New Orleans Set CD above to sample or download songs I was inspired to write about New Orleans.

Text and photos copyright 2009, 2013 by Les Kerr.

Les Kerr not a candidate

Les Kerr’s non-campaign publicity photo

Nashville, TN – In the wake of actress Ashley Judd’s announcement that she will not run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Mitch McConnell (R-KY), songwriter Les Kerr has also announced that he will not be a candidate in that, or any other, political race. Kerr said his decision was based on consideration of his family, fans, career and the need to care for his recently injured beagle, Creole Belle.

Kerr’s injured beagle, Creole Belle

“It was with much thought and deliberation that I came to this decision,” said the songwriter. “However, I believe that I can serve my fans and all United States citizens better by continuing to write and perform the music I call ‘Hillbilly Blues Caribbean Rock and Roll.’”

Kerr said that he also believes not running will be a benefit to his long-term career goals and, hence, greater mankind.

“All songwriters, entertainers, authors and other creative people know that substance is crucial to success,” Kerr said. “It is also true that publicity is essential and I believe that if my non-candidacy can generate a fraction of the attention that Ashley Judd’s did, my career will, indeed, receive a boost. If that holds true, I will be able to deliver more Hillbilly Blues Caribbean Rock and Roll to those who really need it.”

Kerr thanks non-campaign volunteers

Les Kerr lives true calling instead of running for office

“I would like to thank all of my non-supporters in my non-candidacy for their non-dedication, non-commitment and non-willingness to annoy people with yard signs and bumper stickers on my non-behalf,” the non-candidate said. “I believe we successfully mounted this non-race without a trace of negativity. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Future plans for the songwriter and performer include, well, songwriting and performing, as well as recording and releasing new material.

Les Kerr non-bumper sticker for non-campaign

Visit Les Kerr’s non-campaign web site here. Les Kerr’s non-campaign music is available on line at I-Tunes and the very cool BeachFrontRadio.com.

Photos and text copyright 2013 Les Kerr.

Pickin’ for American Pickers

Performers sing behind this antique motorcycle.

When I walked into Nashville’s Antique Archaeology store to perform for the first time, I felt as if I were walking into an episode of American Pickers, the History Channel TV series. Makes perfect sense. Antique Archaeology is one of the retail outlets for the items hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz travel the country “picking,” with guidance on where to look from the trusty Danielle Colby Cushman. It is only fitting that the Nashville store is located in the home of the old Marathon Motor Works, an automobile manufacturer that produced cars in the building from 1910-1914. Some of the items in Antique Archaeology date back that far and then some.

It is also fitting that in the Nashville location, now a viable tourist destination, live music

Les Kerr at Antique Archaeology. Photo: Alan Whitman

can be found on weekends. I have been fortunate enough to perform in this unique venue and sing to the people doing the “shuffle and look; shuffle and look,” through the store. Scores of people from all over the country come through and see the very things on display that they have seen Mike and Frank barter, haggle, negotiate and seal with a handshake (and cash) to acquire. As a devoted viewer, I have seen items in the store that were “picked” during the previous night’s episode, like a giant coin-operated duck that kids would have ridden years ago outside a dime store (remember when things cost a dime?).

It’s one of the most unusual settings I have ever played. The stage area is right

I remember using these “antiques!”

behind a vintage motorcycle and next to some antique microphones.

Me singing into a now “antique” microphone, 1972,

I hardly ever think about my own age but those microphones cause me to ponder it. They look familiar to me because they are similar to the ones still in use when I first performed in the Pascagoula High School auditorium in 1972. Now they’re antiques.

Bearing that in mind, I make it a point not to play too many old songs. I don’t want to get sold as an antique!

Click photos to enlarge images.

Les Kerr’s music is availble for download at I-Tunes, Amazon, Beachfrontradio.com and other internet sites. Visit Les Kerr’s web site at www.leskerr.com

Text and photos copyright 2013 by Les Kerr.

To do: 1-meet Jimmy Dean. 2-do laundry.

The view from the balcony of my apartment after a snowfall.

The apartment I rented when I moved to Nashville in 1987 was high on a hill in a complex surrounded by beautiful trees. I was fortunate because mine was on the hill side of the highest point in the complex. When the leaves were just right in the fall, the view was spectacular. I lived there until I got married in 1993 and have fond memories of that period.

Early one evening, when I was carrying my laundry across the driveway behind my building to the place where several washing machines and dryers were provided, I stopped to let a big, black limousine pass. But it didn’t pass. It stopped right in front of me. The back door opened and out stepped country music legend Jimmy Dean. I dropped my laundry basket full of dirty clothes. There, beside his limousine, stood the man who had given the world one of the best selling records of all time, Big Bad John. There, beside my dirty clothes stood a young songwriter in awe. I, in my worn-out boat shoes and blue jeans, and he, in his perfectly tailored black western suit and shiny cowboy boots, were within two feet of each other. His fiancée, country singer Donna Meade, lived in the apartment that backed up to mine. He had come to pick her up for a date. I had met Donna not too long before this chance encounter with her soon-to-be husband. Had she been with us, I told myself, she would have certainly introduced us. But since she was still in her apartment, I seized the opportunity myself.

“Mr. Dean?” I said as I extended my hand.

“Yes, sir, and who might you be?” he answered.

I told him my name and how much I admired him. He politely thanked me for remembering his music. I said I really loved Big Bad John but when I was a kid, the flip-side of that forty-five was the one I went around the house singing. It was an upbeat novelty tune called I Won’t Go Huntin’ With You Jake (But I’ll Go Chasin’ Women).

Jimmy Dean’s face lit up when I mentioned the flip-side of his biggest hit. He flashed a wide grin, let out a loud spontaneous laugh and said, “Son, you won’t believe it but the fellow that wrote that song about chasin’ women wrote some of the biggest gospel songs ever recorded.” The songwriter he mentioned was Stuart Hamblen whose compositions include It Is No Secret (What God Can Do), Known Only To Him and Dear Lord, My Shepherd. And I Won’t Go Huntin’ With You Jake (But I’ll Go Chasin’ Women).

Mr. Dean and I chatted about music for a few minutes and he wished me well in my own career. He was the perfect gentleman during our moments together in the driveway and I’ll always remember how friendly he was. I’ll never forget that genuine smile he showed when I mentioned my preferred song.

Jimmy Dean knocked on Donna Meade’s door and I picked up my dirty clothes and went to the laundry room. I lived on the top of a big hill but right then, it qualified as Cloud 9. A childhood hero had lived up to my expectation of being like the person he had described in Big Bad John – a big, big man.

Text and photos ©2013 Les Kerr. Learn More about Les at www.leskerr.com

Elvis ate here…almost

Tickets from the three times I saw Elvis in Mobile and the show in Memphis he never got to play

The first time I remember hearing about Decatur, Alabama was when Elvis Presley played the Mobile Municipal Auditorium in Mobile, Alabama on September 14, 1970. I was a thirteen year old rabidly star-struck Elvis fan. My parents took my buddy Monty Childress and me from Pascagoula, Mississippi, where we lived then, to Mobile to see him perform. As he introduced his band, Elvis made sure to mention that Charlie Hodge, “the guy that gives me my water and scarves and sings harmony with me,” was from Decatur.

Mobile is a long way from Decatur. According to Google, it’s a distance of 337 miles and the trip takes five hours and one minute by automobile. I’ll bet many drivers shave off that “one minute,” but it’s still a long ride in a car. Despite the distance, Elvis, ever the entertainer, correctly assumed any mention of Alabama would get a good reaction from the Mobile audience. When he introduced Hodge and referred to Decatur, the crowd erupted in applause. When Elvis recalled playing the Gulf State Fair in Mobile in the 1950s, he got an even bigger response.

Fast forward forty-three years (ouch!). With my Bayou Band, I had the good fortune of performing in Charlie Hodge’s hometown at the beautiful Princess Theatre. Note to self: add “performed in the hometown of one of Elvis Presley’s band members” to resume.

Burgers fit for a king

With my friend Dr. Randy Cross at the Princess Theatre, Decatur, AL

When I learned that Elvis had eaten at C.F.Penn Hamburgers, not far from the theater, my friend and Decatur resident Dr. Randy Cross and I made it a mission to dine where burgers were served to the King of Rock and Roll.

C.F. Penn is a dandy place. In business since 1939, it is well-known to burger connoisseurs in North Alabama and beyond. Randy parked the car out front and we went in to dine where Elvis had once eaten. We ordered cheeseburgers that were ready in record time and got them and sat in a booth. We asked the waitress who said she had worked at Penn for forty years if she saw Elvis when he came in for his burger.

C.F. Penn Hamburgers, Decatur, AL

“He didn’t actually come in,” she said, and my heart sank. “Charlie Hodge came in and got some hamburgers to go and told us that Elvis was outside waiting for them in the car.”

Well, how were Randy and I expected to react to a revelation like that? We ate our burgers and surmised that Elvis must have at least enjoyed his Penn burger, even if he didn’t come inside to eat it. We also congratulated ourselves on the fact that we had done something Elvis did not achieve – eating inside C.F. Penn Hamburgers.

When Randy and I “left the building,” we stood in several parking places in front of the restaurant so we could say that we probably stood where Elvis might have been waiting for Charlie Hodge to bring him the burger that we assume he enjoyed.

That night during our show, I mentioned that I had been to C.F. Penn and got a big round of applause. After I returned to Nashville, Randy, who teaches at Calhoun Community College, reported to me that one of his students ate at C.F. Penn because I had mentioned

This cheeseburger was fantastic!

it on stage. Well, I’m not Elvis but I did actually eat inside C.F. Penn Hamburgers. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

Click here for the Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History of C.F. Penn Hamburgers.

Click here to hear music performed by Les Kerr & The Bayou Band at the Princess Theatre during the Fat Tuesday Tour, 2013.

Text and photos copyright 2013 Les Kerr.

New Orleans Set

The original Camellia Grill on Carrollton Ave. was the inspiration for my first New Orleans song.

Since this blog is called “Liner Notes,” occasionally I include liner notes from my own albums. The notes from New Orleans Set are found below but first, here’s how that CD came to be. In 2008, I wrote a song about Creole- and New Orleans-influenced food called Smile Upon Your Soul. It dawned on me that I had written songs about New Orleans periodically for twenty-five years. This was never by design but by the pure inspiration of a city that has always been seductive to me. New Orleans has spoken to writers, poets, musicians, artists and generations of people who do not use any of those terms to describe themselves. Like other lifelong friends, the city never changes and, yet, she constantly evolves at the same time.

So as I fine-tuned Smile Upon Your Soul, I decided to produce a CD with many of my

New Orleans Set

songs about the Crescent City and a couple of others for a little “lagniappe.” Carnival season is underway and Mardi Gras is around the corner so here are the liner notes to New Orleans Set.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

New Orleans Set Liner Notes:

New Orleans is a source of inspiration for me as a songwriter and perspiration for me as a

The Maple Leaf Bar – a New Orleans music venue and hangout for poets.

human.  From the Maple Leaf Bar to the Monteleone Hotel; from the Garden District to the Marigny; from the Mississippi to Magazine and beyond, New Orleans and its people have welcomed me, cheered me up, shown me the blues and helped me pay some dues.

These songs have come from my lifelong love affair with the city and my friends there.

Growing up so close to New Orleans in Mississippi, I can’t remember when the city was not a part of my life.  These songs span a twenty-five year period, beginning with The Camellia Grill in 1983 right up to Smile Upon Your Soul, in 2008.

Shrimp po’ boy at the original Acme Oyster House. Yeah, you’ right it was good!

Another song well-worth mentioning is Pray for New Orleans.  Jim Sparks approached me with his great idea in 1999 and that’s when we wrote it, six years before Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Coast and flooded the Crescent City.  Everyone from that part of the country knew it was always a matter of when, not if, a storm like that would come.

Mackinac Blues and Tourist in a Rental Car are not about New Orleans but I always play them when I perform there.  Besides, New Orleans has its share of tourists in rental cars, too!

Thanks for listening and to the musicians who brought these tunes to life.  Catch you ‘round the Quarter,

Leslie

Click here to listen to song samples from New Orleans Set on I-Tunes. For video of Les performing at the Louisiana Music Factory in the French Quarter, click here.

Text and photos copyright 2013 Les Kerr.