MayRee's hand battered catfish – Go Retire Psychiatrist

Big Mo Pod Show: “Planting Seeds”

The Big Mo Pod Show title is about planting seeds in a metaphorical way. One of the seeds Big Mo sows is his comedy bit on MayRee’s hand-battered catfish. It’s just one of his hilarious faux sponsor routines that he frequently tweaks, and the subtle changes are difficult to catch if you don’t listen to his show every Friday night. It evolves, kind of like a shaggy dog story joke. My lame imitation from my crippled memory is below:

You see, MayRee’s hand-battered catfish is better because it’s battered, cooked to perfection with manic delight, packed with nitrates at her shack which you can find at the corner of Highway 6 and Snowflake Drive, and if you tip her and give her a wink, she’ll set you up with a mason jar of her famous kickin’ mule’ not sure if it’s all the way legal, but it comes in 3 flavors, Classic Clear, Golden Grabass, and just right for the holidays, Pumpkin Spice, that’s Mayree’s hand-battered catfish; it’s better because it’s battered.

You get the idea. I’m still trying to sell him on my design for a MayRee’s hand-battered catfish tee shirt. Don’t know why he’s not biting that hook. The catfish could be a fire truck red color, just sayin’.

So, the pod show title is “Planting Seeds” and that’s related to the idea of fundamental, historically important basic elements of blues music, specifically in the case of Jessie Mae Hemphill’s song “Jump, Baby, Jump.” Both Big Mo and Producer Noah agree that this example of North Mississippi hill country folk trance or hypnotic griot music (or grio, pronounced Gree-oh; a kind of West African traditional oral folklorist) which serves as the seed or basis for building on other layers (instrumental or otherwise). That’s just what I picked up from the internet.

Big Mo distinguishes this from “production” style music you hear a lot of nowadays on the radio and I get his disparaging tone about it.

Big Mo Pod Show 076 – “Planting Seeds”

Anyway, that’s the rich music history part of the pod show, which you can get by listening to KCCK on your radio dial at 88.3 or click on the Listen Now to hear by internet.

Now, what is also great about the show is Big Mo’s own historical perspective on music. That’s what you get by growing older. And that’s why my favorite song from last night from the Big Mo Blues Show was Curtis Salgado’s “The Longer That I Live.” I can identify with the lyrics.

Big Mo Pod Show “BluesMore” Today

So, the Big Mo Pod Show was on just now and I listened to it because I heard the Big Mo Blues Show last night.

I just want to mention that I heard Big Mo do an extended version of his comedy bit on Mayree’s hand-battered catfish last night too. I never know when he’s going to do the long version of it and I nearly always regret not having some way to record it. It’s kooky and complicated with twists and turns like a long hairy dog story with punchlines scattered like land mines all over it.

Anyway, the pod show was pretty interesting. I think the Beth Hart song “Can’t Let Go” could be about more than a busted relationship, a frequent subject of a lot of blues songs. There’s a lot of baggage that we can’t let go of in life. The other notable feature of that song is Sonny Landreth cutting all the way loose with guitar licks spinning out beyond every nearby galaxy.

What was strange during last night’s blues show was I could have sworn I heard the lyrics of “Stand by Me” but it’s not on the list of songs. Songs sometimes don’t get on the list. Anyway, it reminded me of the Playing for Change version that starts with Roger Ridley and goes around the world, released 16 years ago.

Find a Tee for Mayree!

Sena alerted me to a news story about an Iowa City 8^th grader landing a 68-pound flathead catfish yesterday in Iowa. While it’s not the all-time record, you have to admit he landed a monster fish. The record is an 81-pounder caught in 1958.

Now why would that remind me of KCCK Jazz and Blues Radio, Iowa’s only jazz radio station? It’s because of John Heim’s (aka Big Mo) blues show comedy bit on the Friday Night Blues Show featuring Mayree’s hand-battered catfish (“It’s better because it’s battered!”). You can hear more about it and other “Sponsor De Faux” on the Big Mo Pod Show 003.

It would be cool if KCCK sold a tee shirt that featured Mayree. Hey, don’t blame me; it’s Big Mo’s idea! I’ve searched the KCCK web page, but can’t find a tee for Mayree (hey, that rhymes, good for marketing!) but there’s a nice Big Mo tee in medium and 3XL sizes.

Anyway, I was fooling around with the idea and came up with a design for the tee today. Tell Big Mo what you think at email bigmo@kcck.org. It’s OK, he reminds listeners every Friday night how to get in touch with him when he hosts the Big Mo Blues Show, starting at 6 PM in the evening.

I’m pretty sure one of you could come up with a snazzier design. And just remember, Mayree’s hand-battered catfish are cooked to perfection, with manic delight, and they are just packed with nitrates! I can’t fit all that on a tee, which would have to be bigger than a tent.

Mayree’s hand battered catfish tee shirt design!

Big Mo Blues Show KCCK

I heard this one and recognized Aretha Franklin’s voice before Big Mo ever announced her on KCCK.

I also heard a little more about MayRee and her hand-battered catfish. It’s tenderized to perfection, but you already knew that. Big Mo said her establishment is located at what sounds like the corner of Highway 73 and Snowflake Road.

I suspect it’s not on any GPS. I might have to ask somebody to draw me a map.