Stewart Voegtlin
Music Reviewer
n hopes of distracting flash and dime-store romanticism, Stewart Voegtlin has delineated his station in life more than once as consisting in “a writer based in the southern United States that oscillates between hubris and despair; flirting often with half-witted art and pure unadulterated swill.” Usually, this works magnificently. Less sexy is the hard fact of doubling as an editor and a reporter for a small weekly newspaper in middle Georgia, which enforces his enjoyment of time off with great fervor.
As far as music goes, Voegtlin holds the early output of ZZ Top and Joe Walsh in the highest of regard, but loathes “Top 10 lists” and their like. He is, however, quick to pencil in a formidable list of American Triumphs:
All Time Top 10
Melville, Herman, Pierre; Or, The Ambiguities [1852]
Redrock Ginger Ale [1885]
James, William, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature [1902]
Ives, Charles, Universe Symphony [1915]
Boggs, Dock, “Sugar Baby” [1927]
Fresh Air Barbecue, Jackson, GA. [1929]
Marx Brothers, Monkey Business [1931]
Fields, W.C., The Bank Dick [1940]
Wild Turkey, 101 proof Bourbon [1940]
Gaddis, William, The Recognitions [1955]
Coltrane, John, “Ole” from Ole [1961]
Conrad, Tony, Four Violins [1964]
Ayler, Albert, Spiritual Unity [1964]
Gass, William H., Omensetter’s Luck [1966]
Stooges, The, “We Will Fall,” from The Stooges [1969]
Fahey, John, “Jesus Is A Dying Bedmaker” from America [1971]
Taylor, Cecil, Silent Tongues [1974]
Mayles Brothers, Grey Gardens [1975]
Bishop, Elizabeth, “In the Waiting Room” from Geography III [1976]
Barris, Chuck, “The Gong Show” [1976-‘78]
Feldman, Morton, For Philip Guston [1984]
Butthole Surfers’ “Lady Sniff” from Psychic…Powerless…Another Man’s Sac [1985]
McCarthy, Cormac, Blood Meridian, Or The Evening Redness In The West [1985]
Melvins, The, “Eye Flys” from Gluey Porch Treatments [1986]
Slayer, Reign in Blood [1986]
Earth, Extra-Capsular Extraction [1991]
Borbetomagus, “Bathed in the Blood of the Lamb” from Experience the Magic [1992]
Brunettii, Ivan, Schizo Nos. 1 & 2 [1995-‘96]
Gaffney, Eric, “Cecilia Chime in Melee” from Sebadoh’s Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock [1992]
No-Neck Blues Band, Sticks & Stones … [2001]
Provenza, Paul, The Aristocrats [2005]
Redrock Ginger Ale [1885]
James, William, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature [1902]
Ives, Charles, Universe Symphony [1915]
Boggs, Dock, “Sugar Baby” [1927]
Fresh Air Barbecue, Jackson, GA. [1929]
Marx Brothers, Monkey Business [1931]
Fields, W.C., The Bank Dick [1940]
Wild Turkey, 101 proof Bourbon [1940]
Gaddis, William, The Recognitions [1955]
Coltrane, John, “Ole” from Ole [1961]
Conrad, Tony, Four Violins [1964]
Ayler, Albert, Spiritual Unity [1964]
Gass, William H., Omensetter’s Luck [1966]
Stooges, The, “We Will Fall,” from The Stooges [1969]
Fahey, John, “Jesus Is A Dying Bedmaker” from America [1971]
Taylor, Cecil, Silent Tongues [1974]
Mayles Brothers, Grey Gardens [1975]
Bishop, Elizabeth, “In the Waiting Room” from Geography III [1976]
Barris, Chuck, “The Gong Show” [1976-‘78]
Feldman, Morton, For Philip Guston [1984]
Butthole Surfers’ “Lady Sniff” from Psychic…Powerless…Another Man’s Sac [1985]
McCarthy, Cormac, Blood Meridian, Or The Evening Redness In The West [1985]
Melvins, The, “Eye Flys” from Gluey Porch Treatments [1986]
Slayer, Reign in Blood [1986]
Earth, Extra-Capsular Extraction [1991]
Borbetomagus, “Bathed in the Blood of the Lamb” from Experience the Magic [1992]
Brunettii, Ivan, Schizo Nos. 1 & 2 [1995-‘96]
Gaffney, Eric, “Cecilia Chime in Melee” from Sebadoh’s Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock [1992]
No-Neck Blues Band, Sticks & Stones … [2001]
Provenza, Paul, The Aristocrats [2005]
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