Political crossover artists

IT’S hard to predict the outcome of the Nov. 2 election. But the campaign stances of people in the music world have seemed for the most part all too predictable, with rockers and rappers by and large supporting Sen. John F. Kerry and country figures behind President Bush. Even the exceptions -- Kid Rock and Ted Nugent as conservative rockers, the Dixie Chicks and Willie Nelson as liberal country representatives -- have been fairly predictable.

Now, though, a rebel rapper and an insurgent country collective are challenging those expectations. Sage Francis, one of the top figures in a new wave of thoughtful hip-hop, is releasing a song titled “Slow Down Gandhi,” which takes young liberals to task for knee-jerk posturing and counterproductive theatrics.

Meanwhile, a Nashville ensemble of country music sessioneers billing themselves as Honky Tonkers for Truth have recorded “Takin’ My Country Back,” heavily critical of the nation’s direction and calling for a change in the White House.

“Political consciousness seems to be at an all-time high,” says Rhode Island native Francis. “It leads to interesting conversations between people who would not normally talk politics, including me. Political awareness has been raised collectively, and with that comes some baggage -- the fly-by-night activists that almost, from what I see, can really hurt the cause they’re fighting for.”

“Slow Down Gandhi” is a centerpiece of Francis’ upcoming album, “A Healthy Distrust,” his first for Los Angeles label Epitaph Records and due in February. But he wanted the song to be available before the election and has posted it for listening on his website.

“Gandhi” in particular targets young people whom Francis believes come to their politics out of fashion and convenience without really putting themselves on the line. He specifically mentions “trustafundians,” well-off young people who affect working-class appearances and rhetoric before ultimately retreating to a life of middle-class comforts.

Lyrics include freewheeling references to Neil Young’s Vietnam-era protest song “Ohio,” the West Memphis 3 (the celebrated case of three Goth kids convicted in relation to a murder) and agro-punk band Suicidal Tendencies.

Francis in the past took similar aim at the other side of the coin with his 2001 song “Makeshift Patriot,” attacking some of the post-9/11 posturing he saw.

“This is not pro or con,” says Francis, who opposes Bush’s reelection. “It pokes at a lot of things and hopefully makes people more proud of who they are.”

Honky Tonkers for Truth came out of frustration over the country community being perceived as monolithically conservative.

“The whole point behind this project is that Nashville isn’t a lock for the red-state people,” says Paul Scholten, a Nashville studio owner and producer who commissioned the song by writer David Kent and oversaw the production with top session players and singer Tony Stampley, son of Nashville veteran Joe Stampley.

The song attacks the war in Iraq and the national debt, with a chorus that goes:

I’m takin’ my country back

Son, you ain’t been doin’ her right

Oh I been watching you and I don’t like

How you’ve been treatin’ my Stars and Stripes

It’s country music, Michael Moore style -- and in fact it was played and the lyrics projected for sing-along at a recent Moore appearance in Nashville. Scholten says part of the reason for doing the song is to encourage Nashville liberals to speak out; he says there is a fear among many that being a vocal Democrat can be harmful to a mainstream career.

“Singers who have performed at Kerry rallies in town have been labeled as traitors,” he says.

Commercial radio play is pretty much out of the question, so the song is being made available as a free download via the website www.takinmycountryback.com, and 60-second commercial spots are being bought on several radio stations to play a portion of the track.

No one’s expecting the song to pick up any actual mainstream country-radio play, given the fallout after the Dixie Chicks’ criticism of the president last year, but some believe that fear among programmers that such a thing could alienate listeners is misguided.

“Corporate radio perceives the audience as monolithic, when in fact it’s just as divided as the rest of the nation,” says Nashville music journalist Robert Oermann, himself active in an organization called Music Row Democrats. “It’s not a matter of what the audience wants, but what corporate radio gives them.”

You are what you archive

That supposed find of Beatles master tapes in a suitcase in Australia proved to be a bust. But veteran rock archivist and art director Geoff Gans’ investigation of a storage unit containing goods left by ‘60s culture vulture Alan Pariser revealed some real lost treasure, including some unseen Beatles-related film footage.

Last year, Gans was called by Barbara Pariser, a longtime family friend and sister of Alan, who among other things was one of the people behind the Monterey Pop Festival and produced the very ‘60s film “You Are What You Eat.”

Her brother died in 2001, and Barbara wanted Gans to go through some of his belongings and see if there was anything of significance. Gans didn’t expect to find much, but his curiosity was piqued, especially upon learning of Pariser’s friendship with George Harrison and Beatles publicist Derek Taylor and his role in promoting the duo Delaney & Bonnie (a Gans favorite), including instigating the participation of both Harrison and Eric Clapton in recordings and tours with that band. What he found went way beyond his expectations.

“What was there was almost his entire archives, not just all the Delaney & Bonnie tapes, every demo, master reels of entire concerts with Clapton and Harrison, but also films,” Gans says. “Alan had the best cameras available at the time and always had a camera with him. A lot of it was unlabeled and I had to do research, but among other things was 30 minutes of home movies of George Harrison from the ‘60s.”

Other films include visuals from a Rolling Stones concert celebrating Mick Jagger’s birthday at Madison Square Garden in 1972 (degenerating into a cake fight) and footage of Ringo Starr and T. Rex singer Marc Bolan at the Beatles’ Apple offices in London.

Gans is nearly finished cataloging the vast collection and he and Barbara Pariser soon will decide what to do with it. Some items, including the Delaney & Bonnie material and many hours of outtakes from the “You Are What You Eat” production, are being evaluated for potential release.

Other things, including Monterey Pop collectibles and perhaps the Harrison film footage, may be put up for auction.

“We hope to get some Harrison photos and material to his family for use on one of their projects,” Gans says. “It would make great bonus material on reissues.”