thursday tracks: maurice sendak meets carole king

There once was a boy named Pierre, who only would say "I don't care". From Maurice Sendak's 1975 TV special, with the "Nutshell Library" stories set to music by Carole King. View it here.

Mountain View

A few months ago, an editor I work with told me about Mountain View, Arkansas, a town nestled deep in the Ozarks where people sit around an old courthouse square and play folk and bluegrass music into the wee hours of the morning. Last week, after attending a wedding in Springfield, Missouri, Jennifer and I decided to go there.

Rather than take the quickest roads, we chose a winding path through the rolling hills of Mark Twain national forest. On the way we saw a bunch of lovely old buildings, like the defunct Ledbetter filling station, the Hercules church and a rundown dance club called "Faye's Place." Faye, however, appeared to have hung up her dancing shoes, judging by the failing condition of her little blue building. A man sat idling in a pick-up truck while we took photos, and we wondered if maybe he was a jilted dance partner who parked there each day with the hopes that one day Faye would return.




Welcome to Mountain View

We made it to Mountain View with enough time to check out some flea markets, instrument stores and courtsquare itself. I got to try out an autoharp, and Jennifer tried out a rocking chair that was big enough for bigfoot. There were lots of people milling around, and already a few bluegrass jams and hootenannies were in session.

If you're planning to go to Mountain View, there are a few things you should know. First of all, it might as well be the 1950s there, based on the look and feel of the town. A sign on the way into town said "Mountain View: 3 miles ahead and 50 years behind." That seemed pretty accurate to me, but not at all a bad thing. Prices were low, people were friendly, and the chocolote phosphates and coke floats at the soda-fountain were mixed just right.

Secondly, Mountain View is located in a dry county, so you need to bring your own hooch. Dry though it is, Stone County does not necessarily equal stone sober. We saw plenty of people walking around with cups that might have contained beer or liquor, but the only thing getting hammered on the courthouse square that night was a dulcimer.

It's also not the most diverse place. You can buy confederate flags at a nearby general store, and you might see one sewn onto a leather jacket here and there. The people we met were very friendly, so I don't want to portray them as otherwise, but I'm not sure how welcome I would feel there if I weren't white.

Mirror Lake and the Old Mill

Before settling into the evening's jamborees, we took a short drive up to the Ozark National Forest and hiked around to a lake and springs. We followed another path below the waterfall until we saw a stone building that looked like it was the ruins of an old church. We climbed around the window openings and used them to frame a series of photographs.




Once we picked up the trail again, a sign overlooking the building we'd been climbing in said it was an old mill that had been partially deconstructed during World War II. The window ledge we'd been taking pictures on was where the water wheel used to be.

Just Pickin'

The most notable feature of Mountain View, of course, is the music. Everywhere you look, there's several groups of musicians gathered in a circle and picking on some tune or another. I heard Hank Williams songs, country standards, and one rather large woman with an American flag bandana belted out a whiskey-themed song with the refrain, "And I won't go home with a wild turkey like you."


The most pleasant and intimate session we watched took place in a gazebo in a small park off the main square. About four or five guys held the session together, with a few coming and going as the night went on.

My favorite individual song was an original by one of these men, a guitarist who sang a slow number about how he's tired of chasing rainbows, because rainbows are so hard to find. Jenn's favorite was the violinist, an elderly man who treated us to the sweetest and saddest melodies we'd hear all weekend. After about 11:30, while the rest of them strummed on, he quietly packed up his fiddle and walked off into the shadows with a quiet wave.

Bean Fest

The Mountain View residents were met were very welcoming, and one lady told us about all the area's special attractions, including the Folk Festival, the comedy shows, and the most interesting event of all: Bean Fest.

Bean Fest, she explained, is a giant baked bean and cornbread cookoff that draws people from all over the region to Courthouse Square. Giant tents are set up, people start baking beans that morning, and at noon a bell rings and everyone has a big baked bean feast.

The cookoff and awards for best baked beans are followed up by the annual Parade of Outhouses. Different businesses sponsor teams who build decorated or thematic outhouses, and then they line up these "people-powered potties" and have a race just south of the square. First place is awarded with the coveted golden toilet seat.

Parting Shots

Traveling through the Ozarks and walking through Mountain View was a refreshing experience. We heard a lot of great music, and none of the players came across as flashy or competitive. The people we met extended a folksy warmth and humor, like the guy at the general store who said his wife told him, "the only good years we have are the ones on our truck."

On the way back, the roads were full of church billboards with messages like, "His blood washes away what no soap can," and more pointed queries like, "Are you prepared to meet Jesus?" Dear Lord, I thought, not yet -- at least not between here and Yellville.


We did stop once at the Buffalo river, and after a half-hour I succeeded in skipping a rock all the way across (it's farther across than it looks). We also stopped in Springfield to visit Jess, Dave and Oliver The Ferret.

The apocalyptic church signs were complemented by the smoke from pasture fires, and by the time we reached the big city, the sky was all the way dark. I don't know when I'll get back to Mountain View, but I'm sure I'll go back there sometime. I should very much like to see a Parade of Outhouses before I die.

photos by Jennifer Brothers. To see more from this trip, click here.
for more information about Mountain View, go to ozarkgetaways.com

the world's smallest man

To tide you over until I get around to posting some new stuff, here's a video of dance sequences performed by Nelson de la Rosa, the recently deceased Dominican gentleman who stood all of 54 centimeters. Thanks to Brett for including this clip years ago on a VHS copy of Tenacious D and a live Weather Report performance.

restructuring

I've finally figured out a few things about how the new blogger works. Over the next day or two I will be making a number of changes, including adding categories of my own posts and links to other people's Web sites, music and comics. Check back in a day or two and I promise you'll find a more user-friendly page.