A Circus Mind by Ryan Cox
A friend of the Tank has just published his first book and it just so happens to be a collection of music prose, if you will. A Circus Mind is a look into the head of Ryan Cox and an opportunity to learn a little about rock and roll as we know it. Each week here at slayshTank we will pick one of our favorites and pass it along to our readers. Enjoy the first one called “Duane Allman” and get to know Ryan a little better by reading the forward to his book.
“Where do I get my ideas from? You might as well have asked that of Beethoven. He was goofing around in Germany like everybody else, and all of a sudden this stuff came gushing out of him. It was music. I was goofing around like everybody else in Indiana, and all of a sudden stuff came gushing out.” – Kurt Vonnegut
Where do I get my ideas from? I was goofing around in my parent’s house listening to the guitar race around the living room during Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” or having my Mom show me how to play a Beatles album backwards for the hidden clues to Paul McCartney’s death. From those early days I always took careful notes about the history of a band, legendary rock n roll tales, the influence of musicians on musicians, and the meaning of songs personally and culturally. This book is a reflection of those notes.”
Jewels and Binoculars,
Ryan Cox
Duane Allman
Duane Allman
On my back porch at the age of fourteen
I heard some country music on acoustic strings
I crashed my Harley and sold off the parts
I bought a guitar and made a new start
Visiting my family in Nashville, Tennessee
I was possessed by blues legend B.B. King
I listened to the father of the Texas blues
With reckless abandon and nothing to lose
In bed for a few weeks, muscles weak with fatigue
Pills on the table, an empty bottle is what I need
I hit the gas to six-o-three East Avalon
Managing the lead break to Wilson’s Beatles song
I lived in the Heart of Georgia direct from Muscle Shoals
I bared my soul at The Church of Rock and Roll
I slid past notes that don’t even exist
While Eric told the story of his moon princess
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