Search - Big Ed Johnson :: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waist

Dear Virgil...How Are You?

Reuben | Cedar Falls, IA | 09/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Me and cousin raggs is down here in Monterrey Mexico. We met a man. His name is Jose." From the onset of the anthem "Cat Ranch", Big Ed spins a web and draws us into his perilous trap of comedy. Think you can survive? Think again - you obviously haven't heard the witty and intelligent anthemic "Fat Wife" which is rich with social satire and "Feels fo Dwarves". Once the cassette got to "Redneck Rap", I was in overdrive - slamming brews and chowing down pizzas. I was swept away by Big Ed's illustrative portrail of the American Redneck put down over a retro-pseudo-hip-hop beat. "I hate those signs that make me nervous - No shirt, No shoes, no service." Yep - Big Ed has hit it right on the head there, and I think that we have all felt his same frustration at one time or another, being confined to shirt and shoes all in the name of some lousy service. At another point in "Redneck Rap", Ed says, "I drink that beer, never get full. All day long at the Tractor Pull." What a great illusion of Tractor Pulls past swept through me as the lyrics cascaded over my eardrums. Great Poetry from a great American songwriter, the legendary Ed Johnson - The greatest talent in America.-Reuben"