My Ann Coulter Moment

I was thinking of Ann Coulter today.

It couldn't be helped. She was on NBC's Today Show early this morning, being interviewed by an empty suit named Matt Lauer, about yet another book featuring her in a black dress on the cover, this one entitled "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America." Lauer was pummeling her for the "tone" of a statement he read from her book, which didn't really have a "tone" at all, but was merely a factual statement. True, some of her comments are outrageous, and occasionally way out of line. That by itself doesn't make her wrong about the issues, but it does make it easy for guys like Lauer to steer the conversation away from...

"Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" was a 1972 hit by the British rock band "The Hollies." It's about an FBI agent who falls for a nightclub singer at a speakeasy which he was scoping in advance of a raid. Despite a lack of promotion by their label Polydor, to which they had just signed after leaving EMI/Parlophone, the song made Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 1 on Cash Box, making it their biggest hit in the USA. But what's totally cool about it, is the opening guitar riff by lead guitarist/lead vocalist Allan Clarke. Let's roll that clip of the band, featuring Clarke and his sunburst Fender Telecaster.

[flashblack]I remember back in the day at a CYO dance, when a local garage band called "Roach" played this one. John Walsh was the singer/guitarist, and the Otten brothers backed him up. Those guys sure were a lot of fun. Then after getting into drugs and stuff and being obnoxious, they all found Jesus and became even more obnoxious. Last I heard, they had started one of those "emerging churches" outside of town -- you know, the kind for people who hate going to church. Gee, I still miss those guys...[/flashback]

"Long Cool Woman" is a song worth doing by any cover band out there, just for the guitar part alone. (If you can find a guy who can sing higher than E over Middle C, more power to you.) That's why I can't get it out of my head, and don't really care to. So I'm going to let Neil Hogan at TotallyGuitars.com show you kids out there in Guitar Town the RIGHT way to play this number, as opposed to all the cheap imitators.

Party on.
.