2003 JULY 3 #184
Dick Jenkins - It's About Time
Back in the mid-1970s, a Memphis DJ named Dick Withers cooked up a foolproof plan to alleviate America's growing racial tensions. Withers, a well-intentioned white man, would solve the problem by making a record in which he would describe the hardships blacks faced in America, enumerate the ways in which their presence in society has enhanced our national culture, and name those blacks all of them either athletes or entertainers -- who've been a credit to their race. Recording under the name Dick Jenkins, Withers then layered his recitation over the strains (and I do mean strains) of a gospel choir wailing on "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic." The completed track brings new meaning to the word "patronizing."
- Phil Milstein, http://www.aspma.com
TT-3:47 / 4.3MB / 160kbps 44.1khz