Remember this wacky Nessman ramble from “Venus and The Man (s3e12, original air date 01/31/81)? It does make sense, though. LES (to Venus and Arnold): You know, I just can’t help noticing that both you gentlemen are black. VENUS: Oh God. LES: I’ve recently taken quite an interest in Negro culture. ARNOLD: Is that right. VENUS: Les… LES: You may not know this Arnold, but most of the few truly original contributions this country has made to society have come from Black Americans. Take, for instance, the language. Now I personally think it’s stagnating in England, but here in the U.S. it is vibrant and growing. And why? And why? ARNOLD: Why? LES: Black input, Arnold, that’s why! Then of course we have music. It’s not my favorite subject, but it’s one I can articulate. If the Beatles are the construct of modern music (and I use that word ‘construct’ incorrectly), surely they were given birth to by Elvis Presley. A giant, for sure, but a product of the black experience. Ergo (and I use that word correctly), blacks created modern music. Scratch an Allman Brother, and you have black. Scratch Billy Jo-el, and you have “Howling Wolf.” I could go on, but my mother is in town. Let’s just say that every white rock n’ roll musician working today should take half of his or her paycheck and mail it directly to Chuck Berry. At least that’s what I think. And I won’t even go into jazz.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 17:43:15 +0000
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