For nøyaktig ett år siden fylte vår gode venn Otis Gibbs 50 år. Dagen feiret han ved å spille inn den aldeles utsøkte platen Mount Renraw hjemme i sin egen stue. 

Det har blitt en tradisjon her på Dust of Daylight å feire bursdagen hans med en video, og idag kan vi by på låten “Sputnik Monroe” fra Mount Renraw.

Og går alt som planlagt, så får vi besøk av vår venn fra Wanamaker, Indiana mai/juni… 

Vi lar Otis selv fortelle om låten: 

This is the story of how a professional wrestler fought to desegregate a Memphis auditorium. Sputnik Monroe was a “bad guy” or “heel” who wrestled in Memphis in the late 1950s. It was his job to make wrestling fans hate him so much, that they would lay down their hard earned money to see him get beat by the “good guy.”

He was so good at his job, that thousands of people paid to see him wrestle every Monday night at Ellis Auditorium. When he wasn’t wrestling, he was hanging out with his friends in the cafes on Beale Street. Sputnik was one of the few white people that you’d find on Beale Street and his friends were all black. He was often arrested for the crime of being a white person who would dare to drink in public with a black person.

This was scandalous at the time. When his day in court arrived, he was the first white person in Memphis to be represented by (his friend) a black lawyer. This was even more scandalous. It became common knowledge among the African American community of Memphis that Sputnik Monroe was alright. When his black friends came to see him wrestle, they were forced to sit in the balcony, while the whites sat in the good seats down below.

When Sputnik entered the ring, a huge round of cheers would rain down from the balcony. This would make the white folks hate him even more. Sputnik one day confronted the promoters and told them that he would refuse to wrestle unless they allowed his black friends to sit anywhere they wanted.

The promoters realized that Sputnik was making them a ton of money, so they gave in to his demands. This lead to the very first desegregated sporting event in the southern part of the United States.

All of that because a professional wrestler was willing to take a principled stand. Imagine what the rest of us might be capable of.

I think more people should know about Sputnik Monroe, so I wrote this song. Please share this with anyone who might be interested. I need your help to get the word out.
Thanks for giving a damn,
-Otis

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Jeg mener at livet er for kort til å høre på dårlig musikk. Og vil heller anbefale GOD musikk, og har som mål å anmelde musikk jeg LIKER, istedenfor å skrive slakteanmeldelser for å få ut innestengt aggresjon over egen utilstrekkelighet. Noenlunde fast plass på spillelista: Elvis, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Reckless Kelly, The Rainmakers, American Aquarium, Sons of Bill, Lars Winnerbäck, Tom Petty, Todd Snider, Son Volt, Ryan Adams, Drive-By Truckers... Topp 3 på spillelista: Bob Dylan, Elvis, Lars Winnerbäck. Faller alltid tilbake på disse når jeg går lei av å prøve å finne diamantene i kullbingen. Noen favorittskiver: Son Volt - Trace Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks Neil Young - Ragged Glory Lars Winnerbäck - Södermarken Chip Robinson - Mylow Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights Paul Simon - Graceland Drive-By Truckers - Dirty South Ryan Adams - 48Hours The Backsliders - Throwin' Rocks At The Moon

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