If you want to ruin your woman, take her to Birmingham.
Had I heard this line from Willie Barner’s 1927 tune, “If You Want a Good Woman – Get One Long and Tall”, prior to moving to the Magic City, I might have fought harder to stay put in South Carolina. Then again, such a lyric might imply that there’s some fun to be had here in Birmingham, so perhaps I’m in just the right place after all.
It had been ages since I’d stepped in to my favorite 2nd Avenue coffee shop, and I popped in for just a few brief minutes. (Seven, to be exact – one to stand in line and order, four to wait as my press steeped, and another two for casual “hi” and “hello” offerings to all those familiar faces I wish I got to see more often.)
As my receipt was printing, my eyes caught a flash of bright red. A book, a little bitty book, wearing the words “Thirty Birmingham Songs” on the cover. This I had to have. So for less George Washingtons than I laid down for my latte, I acquired this pocket-sized guide to “Birmingham’s ultimate playlist”.
Burgin Matthews, local writer and teacher, compiled the list of songs that “capture a broad sweep of Birmingham’s unique story and sound”. From Gene Autry to Sammi Smith, John Coltrane to Lynyrd Skynrd, the Drive-By Truckers to the infamous Erskine Hawkins, this is a book any music lover/Birmingham enthusiast must add to their collection.
To find out where you can get your own copy (’cause I’m not lending mine out, no way, no how), simple email the author himself: burgin@ladymuleskinnerpress.com.
I’ll leave it at that, and I’ll leave you with this:
