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| As a kid I remember I loved going to my cousin’s house. They were days filled with fun and laughter and when I got tired I used to pick out my favourite album, lie down on the floor with my ear to the hi-fi speaker, close my eyes and listen to Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin. I can still hear him sing to the prisoners “San Quentin I hate every inch of you”. I loved A Boy Named Sue and Folsom Prison Blues. Then one day I arrived and my cousin said “You might like this one Ned.” It was a Kris Kristofferson album called Me and Bobby Magee. I thought it was brilliant, his voice, the lyrics, the music. For the first time I heard Sunday Morning Comin’ Down and Blame it on the Stones - to my delight I’d discovered another rebel.
When I got my first guitar at eleven I learned Folsom Prison Blues off pat. “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” Then Cocaine Blues was next on my list “I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down.” I’m sure my parents must have been uneasy about their kid singing this sort of “trash.” When I went on to high school the kids were all into their pop and rock music. They used to laugh because I liked Johnny Cash - I didn’t care, I knew they didn’t understand. After all there was no squeaky clean pop star going to sing “I can’t forget the day I shot that bad bitch down.” Since those early days my love for rebel country music hasn’t evaporated. Johnny and Kris were still making albums 30 years later and in the meantime I’d discovered Willie Nelson, Waylon, John Prine and Steve Earle. These were all country singers with an attitude who did their own unique thing, had their own style and were anti-establishment. I suppose some of their stuff rubbed off onto me and into my music, so if you hear a few country licks somewhere in among the rock’n’roll, you’ll know why. Then I discovered Jesus and found to my astonishment that he was the biggest and most famous rebel of the lot. After being brought up with a perception of a gentle Jesus meek and mild and that God loves good little boys, suddenly I found that Jesus loves bad boys too. I read about this man who claimed to be God battling against all the silly religious nonsense that was prevalent in his day - unfortunately much of it hasn’t gone away. I’m so glad God gave me a rebel spirit and a questioning mind, it’s certainly a lot more exciting (and dangerous) than conforming to the modern church which has lost any form of radical lifestyle. I rebel daily against religious bigotry, legalism, snobbery and materialism which is deeply embedded in the church today. Standing up for the oppressed, the poor and the broken is largely forgotten about and when these are brought to the fore it won’t be too long before mainstream Christianity will have you sidelined as an oddity - which is nothing new. The Jesus I read about was labelled a misfit by his religious generation - well he must have been kind of odd when he was known as a friend of sinners. Thankfully he lowered himself enough even to love country and western singers. Ned Kelly |
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