Lou Barlow’s Good Things: “Hee Haw”

Lo-fi legend Lou Barlow has played in three of the most influential indie bands of the last quarter century: Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh and the Folk Implosion. And while he’s still recording and touring with the reunited Dinosaur (whose Farm was released this summer), his main concern these days is his solo career. Goodnight Unknown (Merge), Barlow’s second album under his own name and the follow-up to 2005’s Emoh, is his best collection of songs in a decade and features guests including Dale Crover (Melvins) and Lisa Germano. Barlow also recently joined Lara Meyerratken in Ben Lee’s new incarnation of Noise Addict, which released It Was Never About The Audience for free last month. Barlow (backed by the Missingmen) is opening for Dinosaur throughout October and part of November. As if that double duty wasn’t enough, Barlow will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.

Barlow: I grew up watching Hee Haw. I was three in 1969, and that’s when Hee Haw started. We sang the songs: “Where, Oh Where, Are You Tonight?” “Doom Despair And Agony On Me.” It did turn into a cheesy shadow of its cheesy self eventually. People tend to roll their eyes when it’s mentioned, but the first, say, five seasons are whacked-out amazing. They meant Hee Haw to be a rural version of Laugh-In, and it’s 100 times funnier. (It was produced by Canadians!). The music is incredible and mostly live: George Jones, Tammy Wynette (she looks suicidal!), Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, etc. My favorites are a post-breakup George and Tammy co-hosting: awkward. Great backing bands with slick suits and incredible gear. Buck Owens And The Buckaroos were the house band, and they are the best. They influenced the Beatles, the Ventures. They played with no emotion whatsoever. Like Devo. Seriously. The show’s humor is weird and often incomprehensible, some of the recurring guests speak with Southern accents so thick you’d need subtitles. What could’ve seemed like a sanitized version of hillbilly culture then comes off as gritty now. I hear half the cast was fucked up on drugs and alcohol when they were filming, and it shows! The obese lulu roman is “saved” now and preaches the dangers of addiction. Look into her eyes in a 1971 episode and see her pupils swimming in intoxicants. (I can’t even begin to describe Junior Samples; watching him struggle to read cue cards while other cast members laugh is agonizing. Not only is the poor man loaded, he can’t actually read.) I bought what was advertised as “the complete Hee Haw DVD collection,” which was totally untrue. It’s a 10-disc skim of nearly 20 seasons, but there’s enough of the first few years to keep me happy. I’d love to have every single episode of seasons one through five, and if you know anyone who’s got ’em, write me lou@loobiecore.com. Video after the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNOg-9YiEKU