(March 1991, Big Shout Magazine)

Editor’s note: Philadelphia singer/songwriter Kenn Kweder, whose name is often prefaced by the tag-line “South Street Legend,” celebrates the release of his new CD, Flesh Blood & Blue, at J.C. Dobbs on Saturday, March 16, 1991. Last month, shortly after emerging from the studio, Kweder spoke with friend, collaborator and fellow musician Ben Vaughn about the new album, his current band and his theories on general nutrition.

Ben Vaughn: Kenn, the new album sounds great.

Kenn Kweder: Thanks.

BV: How did it feel to produce it yourself?

KK: It was a little scary, but I don’t know… it felt good. It felt good and scary. Scary and good, too. It felt pretty cool. It’s something I always wanted to do eventually, but I think I can do it now. A lot of times I’d turn to Bobby Jay and say “Is that guitar sound what we really need?” and he’d go, “Yeah, I think so” or “No.”

BV: Besides Bobby Jay, who else plays on the record?

KK: Daoud Shaw plays drums on the whole thing. Allen James, Mike Radcliffe, Greg Davis, Aldo Jones, Ed Robertson, Buzz Barkley, Franny Welding…

BV: So you kind of have a collection of people you’ve played with through the years.

KK: Yeah, and a few people currently I’ve been working with.

BV: Who played Hammond B3 organ?

KK: Ed Robertson’s on “Buddy Barnhill” and Buzz is on the real Al Kooper-sounding stuff, so there’s two different styles. Buzz is more of a B3 man anyway. Ed never played B3 before but Buzz locked right into that whole sound… the sound I was trying to get. I had to get a fuckin’ football team to move the B3 up the steps of the Warehouse! One guy hurt his back! He’s okay now but it’s true: computer chips can’t figure that sound out. There’s too many colors comin’ out.

BV: Was “Doctor Says” written before the AIDS virus became widespread?

KK: Yeah, definitely.

BV: How old of a song is it?

KK: That’s like 10 years old. I just never did it.

BV: It’s pretty prophetic.

KK: The thing is that it’s open to interpretation. I always just liked the images in it and always wanted to record it, so I made it the way I heard it in my head. The only thing missing is the sound of airplanes. That’s what I really wanted to get ’cause there’s a part in it where they’re dropping Bibles from this airplane. It’s really nuts. I wasn’t really about AIDS. It was just about an epidemic. It could be about anything. It’s one of my all-time favorite songs I ever wrote, but I just never recorded it.

BV: Another old one is “Man’s Got a Gun.” You finally cut that one.

KK: I know, I know. You triggered me to do that. I wasn’t sure if I should record it ’cause it was really ancient. I mean, that’s really old.

BV: What’s the story behind that song? Isn’t there a real story behind it?

KK: I was working at the Acme and a guy pulled a gun on me. He was buying some Bounty towels and when he put the money down to pay for the towels, he pulled a gun out and said, “Not only am I not paying for the Bounty towels, but I want all the money in the register. Don’t fuckin’ move ’cause I have a gun!” That’s how that was written. I mean, like, I literally took the lyrics out of his mouth. Years later I wrote those lyrics. And then once some guy wanted money off me on the street and said, “I’m not just a bum on the beg,” so I just put together things that came from other people’s mouths that I thought had kind of a poetic and mathematical bounce to them, you know?

BV: Well, I’m sure both those guys will reintroduce themselves to you now after reading this and …

KK: Try to collect! With guns and shit (laughs)

BV: How about “Buddy Barnhill?” What’s that about?

KK: There’s always these movies on serial killers going on — it’s so close to home. It’s usually a guy like John Wayne Gasey who dressed up in a clown outfit and is an upstanding individual in his community. Well, it’s the same thing. It’s like Buddy Barnhill, you know? He could be a real estate agent or something. He could be a lawyer and he’s kill’ kids and hangin’ ’em up in churches. It’s pretty surreal. It’s like a sequel to sequel to the John Wayne Gasey thing except it’s 1990 or ’91 now. A lot of the shit in the album is about how you can die at anytime, no matter how good you are. There’s like these things that exist out there. There are serial killers and diseases and shit like that. You could be the nicest person in the world and you could be killed and hung up in a church or frozen in a meat room.

BV: How do you write a song?

KK: “Doctor Says” was written on the piano. I believe that a scarecrow is, like, a bunch of sticks or wires and the wires and sticks are the melody and the clothing is the lyrics and they have to fit where the elbow joint is. The cloth has to fit. Then you have an even meter. The lyrics are even metrically against the music. I try to make the words fit perfect to the skeleton. The skeleton is first and then the flesh and the clothing.

BV: Besides Dylan and the Beatles, you’ve had some pretty odd influences like Captain Beefheart, Roger Miller and Monti Rock III. How did these people connect with you?

KK: Beefheart took the battery of language and jump-started it again. He turned my head around in terms of how to look at words from a different point of view — from around the corner. Same thing with Billy Scheid (local songwriter who passed away a few years back). Roger Miller made half a word mean more than four words to me. Just like the Platters did years ago in the ’50s. They took syllables and made them convey more emotion than really well-written erudite English language. Roger Miller proved that you could make sounds with the throat and get across an emotion.

BV: And Monti Rock III?

KK: Monti Rock showed me that to be onstage is the most important thing int he world. And when you’re there, be exactly who you are and occasionally be a little abusive to the audience, ’cause they’ll probably like it. I saw him do it.

BV: Where did you see him?

KK: I saw him at the Centrum. I think it was in Cherry Hill.

BV: Was it the Disco Tex and Sex-o-lettes period?

KK: Yeah, in 1975. It might’ve been ’74 but it turned my head around. I just liked someone with that much individuality. I think Jim Morrison had it too, but he had it in a more acceptable manner. As wild as Jim Morrison was, it was still more acceptable to like him than Monti Rock, so I liked Monti Rock that much more.

BV: What about (Philadelphia performing poet) Marty Watt?

KK: I had a dream about Marty last night, I swear to God. It was a bizarre dream. He was in a boat and it was sinking, but like, lights were coming out from under the water. I don’t know what that means… (laughs) but where he was sinking, lights were starting to come out. That’s the truth, I swear.

BV: How many times have you retired now?

KK: At least 12. Somewhere between 12 and 15. I pretty much retired for health reasons half the time ’cause business drove me so far over the edge. I think my last retirement was ’86 or ’87. We had posters going around with me in a wheelchair for sort of a retirement party. For some reason what happens is, after a couple of months it’s like a disease that goes int remission and then it comes out. Entertainment is something that controls me and then it goes into remission.

BV: Who’s in your current band now?

KK: Daoud Shaw will be in it. Allen James. Bobby Jay. Ed Robertson on keyboards. Aldo Jones will be playing bass at the record release party.

BV: Were you giving guitar lessons for awhile? The Kweder Method?

KK: The Kweder Method, yeah!

BV: What does one learn when they’re taught the Kweder Method?

KK: Well, there’s a mandatory beer before you start. I always had a six pack in the refrigerator. I didn’t force that on them, but I did fall asleep twice on two different students. That’s the truth, too, and they never came back. I saw ’em on the street later on. and they were too embarrassed to even recognize me.

BV: So you’re not doing that anymore?

KK: No. That’s been phased out now.

BV: One last question. You don’t eat anything that ends in…

KK: Vowels. I generally keep away from anything that ends in a vowel unless it comes out of the ground, like lettuce or rice.

BV: Any certain colors you won’t eat?

KK: I’ve kept away from red most of my life. Really. Green I’m really into. Green is a forward. See, there’s forward and reverse foods. Garlic is forward. Butter is reverse, right? Collard greens are really forward. Rice is forward. A McDonald’s hamburger and french fires is completely revers. If you keep eating too many eggs, you’re going to go into revers. I mean… I do believe it. It completely freaks people out, but I do want to stay alive, you know? To get back to the beginning of the interview, I’m just sayin’ that things are fragile, man. You know, death is all around. It’s not just death itself, it’s how random it is sometimes. That stuff happens.

BV: Well, good luck and be careful crossing the street, okay?

KK: Thanks. I will