| PART 6 YTN-So, you didn't have too much of that going on here? A lot of demonstrating, and rioting,etc.? JR-MmMm. This wasn't from personal experiences of mine, it was from what I was seeing on the news at that time. YTN-So, you feel, basically, that the political climate at that time was maybe more volatile, but even so...even though it's not so volatile today, you think it's gotten worse? (Racial tensions.) JR-I think so. Well, I mean, you can tell by all these militant groups you got...you got these groups all over...you know, they hate niggers...they're loadin' up with rifles...they've got boot camps for these militant groups, and such...they're building up all over the country. I believe there's gonna be some crap one of these days. YTN-Well, yeah...on a small scale, it's already happened a couple of times. It starts off with a "gun raid"...you know, and there it goes. But, you know, like I said...this was all before my time. I always just see the old videos of the demonstrations...like the Wallace deal over at the college, when he wouldn't let the girl get in, etc. JR-Well, like I said, none of it was around here. Jay Miller included. We didn't have...Hell, Jay helped more blacks than he did whites! I mean, of course, they made him a lot of money. YTN-Well, the majority of his musicians, at one time, were black. JR-Sure. Aw, man! He made a lot of money with the blues! You know...Gable? Guitar Gable, Lightnin' Slim...they was all good friends of mine. YTN-And, again, their attitude toward the whole thing? It was all in fun? JR-I've never heard one thing from those fellas. Never. YTN-Cause, you know, that was one of the things that J.D. Miller had said, that I commented about, on the site, was that the only trouble he ever seemed to have from it was not with blacks, but actually from other whites, who made a big issue out of it...those involved with the NAACP, ACLU (ironically enough.)...people suffering from what they call "white guilt", I'd say. You know, people that still carry so much guilt around for what their forefather's did that they can't even laugh, or joke, about it... even now. Because I, personally, don't even know any black fellas that have heard the stuff, and I was just really curious as to what their attitude had been about the whole thing. JR-Never had a kickback from any friend I ever had, and I know they knew I did this stuff. YTN-Okay. And at the time that these were released, were they considered 'novelty' records? And did you think of them as 'novelty' records? Because that's how they're often marketed, even today. I mean, I know you say you were joking...but did YOU think of them as novelty records, or as a serious musical contribution? JR-Well...yes and no. YTN-You know what I'm saying...did you think of them as something like a Weird Al Yankovic record, or did you consider it..."Hey. This is my...this represents my views", etc. JR-Well, yeah. It was a legitimate thing. I was speaking to the times. That's what was going on...like it, or not. That's why some of this stuff is my best stuff. This was the feeling of a lot of the white people. Well...I mean, you had people that didn't care for niggers around here, but we'd never had any kind of problems. But most of this stuff, when I wrote it...white people felt that, at that time. JR-And you know, that's something else I mentioned on my website, and I can only go by what I'm seeing...but your stuff is still selling 3-5 copies a week on E-Bay, with no sign of letting up, after all these years. Why do YOU think they're as popular, or more popular, now, than they were even then? JR-Because I think the racial tensions have gotten worse. |