Hooley sings Oregon
By Joe McFeron
Staff Writer
John Hooley says his voice didn't go bad
all-of-a-sudden; it's always been that way.
"It's just that I think these songs are
important," he told students in Mike Kep
ler's Oregon Literature class last week, "and
I'd feel silly if I had to stand here chanting
and slapping my knee, so I brought my
guitar."
Hooley,division chairman, humanities and
social sciences at Clackamas Community
College, has collected songs about Oregon's
heritage for over 15 years.
Td feel silly if
I had to stand
here chanting and
slapping my
knee ... so I
brought my
guitar.’
"I got quite a few of the stories from
my mother," Hooley said. "They have been
handed down for generations, sort of in the
'Roots' tradition. A lot of my relatives were
not certifiably crazy -- but close. When a
place had no village idiot or town drunk
they invented one. A lot of times my rela
tives supplied them.
"Uncle Noah was the town drunk in any
town he lived in," Hooley said. "He made
his living by moving in with widows until
their life insurance policies ran out. All the
relatives, being strict Menonites, prayed for
Uncle Noah and his sinful ways for 50
years.
"Finally, in his 70's, Uncle Noah got
married. Then he got cancer and became a
Christian. When he died, a lot of the rela
tives were perturbed that he'd weaseled out
at the last minute," Hooley said.
"When I was a kid we couldn't
the NBA game," he said. "My dadan
to make toys together; or the who1
would sit around and tell stories
songs. The folk tradition is as stroh
gon as anywhere."
With that, Hooley strummed hi
and broke into song.
TOWSER JENKINS
Once I had a yeller dog,H
was Towser Jenkins.
The butcher cut his tail of
cleaver.
Towser had his trademark
the cats in town,
And when he spottedg
never leave her.
He wore his legs all stubby
milk-cows round the county,
Had bunyons on his kns
jumpin' ditches.
Had all the hair worn offl
from chasin cats around thera
But empty is the dogha
Towser's poisoned.
Yes he's gone to look Ij
clear across the Swannee River.
No more will boys baptisil
the sewer.
No more homeward will1
with ten cats tied on his tail,
For empty is the dogha
Towser's poisoned.
Photo by Jenni Wheel#
John Hooley, chairman of the Division of Humanities and Social Science, war q
speaker/singer last week in Mike Kepler's Oregon Literature class. Hooley, who does I
claim expert vocal talents, strummed, hummed and told folklore stories to the CCCstuq
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Thursday, April 21,1