10+10 Fishers Against the Wind. 5) Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Legendary Stardust Cowboy Paralyzed In the early eighties, the term psychobilly became a fleeting trend; it was attached to bands that performed a wilder and more "punk" version of the rockabilly that was experiencing a decent revival. Bands like the Meteors and the Sharks were part of it, and many used this label for the legendary Cramps (who never wanted to identify with this subgenre); it's believed that the term comes from a Johnny Cash song ("One Piece At A Time").
Nothing could be more wrong: psychobilly is a wilder and more animalistic form of hillbilly and country (which are the parents of rockabilly). Rockabilly is the white offspring of the rural music of deep - and white - America, trying to oppose the advance of the "black" music contained in the "race records" that were rampant among the youth.
The father and founder of the genre is Hasil Adkins, and sooner or later I will have to talk to you about this extraordinary musician (you’ve all been warned).
But the most famous (famous!), the most extreme of the psychobilly musicians is Norman Carl Odam, a.k.a. Legendary Stardust Cowboy.
Since childhood, Norman has two passions: sci-fi and cowboys. So he decides to merge the two (plus his "very personal" way of singing) and turns to country music.
In '68 he records the wildest country song ever heard with the most absurd lyrics ever heard: "Paralyzed," and it's a hit! (Here, T-Bone Burnett is playing the percussion....). He is called on TV, but during the first show he has to participate in, everyone present in the studio starts mocking him and having a good laugh, Norman gets angry and leaves. Bad luck has it that a musicians' union strike blocks his subsequent television appearances. So the train passes, and Norman is set aside.
Norman doesn’t give up and continues.
At this point, none other than David Bowie comes along, claiming that Ziggy Stardust owes his name to Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Norman declares that David could have even given him some cash for this, and David (feeling guilty) records a cover of one of Norman's songs, "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship," on "Heaten." Norman returns the favor by recording his "own" version of "Space Oddity," which I MUST make you listen to.
In short, Norman is still around today. He mostly does concerts and tries to get into every country festival he hears of.
Only often, his concerts end badly, and a couple of times he has risked getting quite a beating: the rather conservative country audience often mistakes him for a freaky hippie trying to make fun of them....
