Wonderful gallery of board track photos

 

Famed racer Jimmy Murphy won a 1920 race at the Fresno board track.A Photobucket user who goes by the handle carl44s has posted a wonderful gallery of photos documenting the board racetracks that popped up throughout the United States in the early 1900s.

If you've never heard of board tracks, they were just that: racetracks constructed entirely of wood. The picture above shows how the tracks were constructed, and others at the carl44s gallery show steep banking (such as this one from Beverly Hills and this one at Atlantic City). Some were more than one mile long. Just think of the wood involved in the construction.

Check out the steep banking on the board track at Charlotte that opened in 1924.High maintanenance costs and fire were the big reasons these super-fast tracks didn't last very long. I recall seeing some footage in which a carpenter was trying to repair a section of track during a race, sticking his head above the track, then ducking back underneath as cars passed.

If you have a bit of money, I highly recommend Dick Wallen's book "Board Track Guts Gold & Glory." It's now out of print, so used copies cost more than the original price but it's the best racing book I've ever read, and on a subject most people know little or nothing about.

RIP, Don Kirschner

Here's a nice "Soundcheck" tribute to the legacy of the late Don Kirschner, the music impresario best known for his weekly late-night "Rock Concert" TV program. Kirschner also was the brains behind The Monkees, whose mammoth success no doubt funded "Rock Concert," which was a one-of-a-kind experience at the time.

For many teens growing up in the 1970s, "Rock Concert" was the only program to air real live rock performances, as opposed to the lip syncing on "American Bandstand" or afternoon talk shows. As "Soundcheck," notes, "Rock Concert's" decadelong run came to an end just as MTV was debuting.

My favorite "Rock Concert" was an experimental show with so-called new wave bands The Cars, The Records, Suicide and another act or two I can't remember. The show was also memorable for having no Kirschner introductions at all; not sure if that was a contractual requirement of the bands or Kirschner stepping aside because he had no clue about this "new wave."

I've searched periodically for a recording of that concert but have come up empty. Anyone know of a copy available for sale?

Legendary punker's tribute to Bakersfield

I've been listening to a preview copy of Social Distortion's "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes" and am growing to like the bluesy ballad, "Bakersfield," among about a half-dozen other songs.

I first heard "Bakersfield" in the 2009 live version above when the tale of a lovelorn trucker stuck "a million miles away" from his girl was a work in progress. The studio version of "Bakersfield" is polished and focused but Social D leader Mike Ness has trimmed some of the lyrics that were in the live version, including the reference to Buck Owens:

So I asked myself
What do you suppose ol' Buck Owens would have done in this situation?
And it came to me clear as a bell
He would have gone in house and grabbed that old guitar
And he would have wrote another love song
But not just another love song, people
I'm talking about the love song
The love song of all times
The kind of song that makes a grown man want to break down and cry like a little baby

"Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes," which hits stores Tuesday, visits common Social D themes: loneliness, elusive women, outlaw lifestyles.

Things open with the fiery rockabilly instrumental "Road Zombie," then dive into "California (Hustle and Flow)," a swinging rocker that sounds like an "Exile on Mainstreet" outtake. Gospel-style female backing singers mashed with Social D is an odd mix here -- Ness just seems to be trying too hard to add a bit of flash to his core sound.

The female backing vocals click, however, deeper into the album on the driving rocker "Can't Take It With You."  Other highlights include "Gimme the Sweet and Lowdown," which is classic Social Distortion; and "Diamond in the Rough," a slow-paced rocker featuring some nice guitar breaks. David Hidalgo Jr., son of the legendary Los Lobos star, plays drums, but adds nothing memorable.  

There are a few clunkers, including "Far Side of Nowhere" and the nondescript bluesy rocker "Machine Gun Blues."

"Hard Times and Nursery Crimes" falls short of Social D's best, but given the band's seven-year break between studio recordings this better-than-average punk-tinged rock is like catching up with an old friend.