Author: Mr Bob Radio
May I have the envelope please…
This just in to the news room…
PRESS RELEASE
This just in – THAT SHOW and Mr. Bob Radio Pictures are pleased to announce that “Spaghetti and Western” has been officially selected for the 2020 Los Angeles International Film Festival – Indie Short Fest.
“Spaghetti and Western” starring Richard Knechtel playing his much-beloved character Slim Buck Two was written and directed by Rob McLean and filmed on location.
Thanks to production assistant Jawn Taylor and all of the crew at Channel 53 TV, That Show Films, Thatville Sound, Knechtel and McLean Film Score Company, and Mr. Bob Radio Pictures. A big thanks also go out to Achilles Stavrou and the Europa Restaurant for allowing us access to shoot the film’s pivotal scene. He also makes great pizza.
A screening will be announced shortly and the follow up “The Saga of the Sagebrush Serenade” will be released late spring of 2020.
COMING SOON TO A DRIVE-IN NEAR YOU!
You’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive – Happy New Year
Just before sunrise on a New Year’s Day over 50 years ago, a baby-blue Cadillac roared up to the Oak Hill, West Virginia hospital in the cold Appalachian darkness. The 17-year-old driver was scared. The 29-year-old passenger was dead.
At the wheel, Charles Carr, a college freshman. In the back, Hank Williams, a cowboy singer.
It was the final drive for the legend, but his music would become part of pop culture forever.
A few years back McLean came across a news story about the passing of Carr the man who drove Williams from Montgomery Alabama to Charleston West Virginia and then on to Canton Ohio for concert appearances. Due to bad weather, they got hung up in Knoxville causing them to miss the Charleston show but the promoter called demanding they make Canton on time. Hank was alive and looking sharp in his white cowboy boots, blue overcoat and white fedora when he climbed into the back of the Cadillac for the last time New Year’s Eve. Somewhere around Bristol Tennessee they stopped for gas and a quick stretch of the legs before Carr drove them on into the night. Stopping again at a service station in Oak Hill he found Williams unresponsive and made the last six miles to the Oak Hill hospital as fast as he could. But it was too late.
McLean found the story fascinating – not that Hank died in the back of a Cadillac on the way to a gig, the way we all want to go when it’s our time – but the tale of an unknown kid driving a man into the night and into eternity and thought there might be a song in it. He noodled away for a bit coming up with a couple of verses, a chorus or two and sent it off to Knechtel who loved the idea but hated the song. In no time at all Knechtel dashed off “Final Drive” a song not about Charles Carr but Hank William’s final drive. McLean immediately recognized the song had great potential even though he was thoroughly chagrined at Knechtel’s attitude – this was not the first time this had happened between McLean and Knechtel but that is a story for another time – and was disappointed that Charles Carr would remain in obscurity. However, he knew it would be the perfect song for country and western performer Slim Buck Two who coincidentally was signed to Knechtel and McLean’s record label.
(Editor’s note – McLean still has plans to tell the Charles Carr Story possibly as touring show using multimedia marionettes.)
So here it is – “Final Drive” performed live off the floor at Thatville Sound by Slim Buck Two and the Buckboards – Tyler Beckett on fiddle and Larry Becker on steel with G.I.Holm at the console and produced by Knechtel and Mclean for That Show Productions.
Happy New Year.
Knechtel – A Ramblin’ Man
There’s a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I’ll always be
Every stop I make, I’ll make a new friend
Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again.
Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.
Knechtel loves to amble and ramble. He doesn’t plan an itinerary. He doesn’t call up a travel agent. A GPS unit would be a waste of dashboard space because he prefers getting lost. And not being a big city type guy, you’ll usually find him travelling the blue highways. He is definitely one of those “it’s not the destination it’s the journey” kinda people. At any given moment, he and the wife will jump into their ’88 Dodge camper van named Georgia and just head off. On a recent expedition, they found themselves wandering the southern United States and decided to check out a couple of important music and cultural places of worship.
You can’t be a singer/songwriter without owing some debt to Hank Williams. He wrote maybe a hundred songs before he was 29. Died in the back of a Cadillac. On the way to a show. And they found a lyric he had been working on at the time on his death in the back seat of the Caddy. Legendary. Even if he had just written “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” he would be a giant. So, the Knechtel’s checked out the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery Alabama to pay their respects.
And then after some time spent making repairs to Georgia in the driveway of new-found friends Dwayne Delmont Jones Jr. and his son Dale Earnhardt Jones….
….they eased on down the road to 3614 Jackson Highway home of Muscle Shoals Studios.
Behind Richard in that unassuming building that once was a coffin factory the Stones cut Wild Horses, The Staple Singers recorded “I’ll Take You There” and Dylan laid down “Gotta Serve Somebody”. And there was Skynyrd and Paul Simon and Rod Stewart and Wilson Pickett and if you want the whole list – go look it up.
Keep your eyes on the road. Your hands upon the wheel.
Knechtel and McLean – The One Stop Tour
Knechtel and McLean will be appearing “Live and In Person” – which seems to be an odd expression, if you are appearing “Live” somewhere wouldn’t you be “In Person”? One could suppose that if they were appearing as holograms it would still be somewhat “In Person” but not necessarily “Live”. Or would the performance be considered more “Live” and less “In Person” due to the fact that while they look “Live” they aren’t actually “In Person” but represented by a reasonable facsimile? Did anyone else have a problem with that commercial when Fred Astaire danced with a vacuum cleaner?
Anyway…the boys will be at the Bleeding Carrot on Sunday April 19th for an intimate show that will be video-taped and broadcast at a later date. The show entitled “Live and In Person on Tape” – yes, Knechtel and McLean still use tape – will attempt to give the K&M fans an up close and personal look at the dauntless duo in action.
This will be quite the experience for McLean as the Bleeding Carrot is a vegetarian restaurant and he is the long time spokesperson for Joan of Arc Steakhouses. “I have told my assistant to make sure she packs a ham sandwich in my gig bag.” quipped McLean, “When on tour Elvis always carried a small black bag containing $10,000 in cash, a small revolver and his Dr. Nick prescriptions. Mine has meat.”
Making guest appearances will be cast members Slim Buck II, Honey Dip and Howdy from THAT SHOW and guitar hero Trevor MacKenzie.
Knechtel and McLean – New Release!
Knechtel and McLean are anxiously waiting on the delivery of their new business cards. Both Richard and Rob have put in long hours in the studio writing material for this new release. And of course with any artistic collaboration there is tension and disagreements. “On more than one occasion I left the studio vowing never to come back” said Richard. But he did return and everyone agrees that the hard work and time spent has been well worth it. What’s next for this intrepid duo? We can only wait and see.
Knechtel and McLean on the road
Knechtel and McLean are now accepting applications for a spring, summer, fall and winter tour. And surprisingly, we still have a few dates available for our Christmas Extravaganza entitled “Two Reindeer Walked Into A Bar”. If you or your organization are interested in having Knechtel and McLean perform in your town at your event at your favourite venue please submit in writing a detailed proposal with all pertinent, practical and petty details that would entice us to make a stop in your city.
The K&M Kamper is loaded and we’re ready to hit the road!
Knechtel & McLean 